Moreover...

Moreover, according to reliable chains of narrators, Kulaini and others have narrated from Muhammad bin Zaid Tabari that: I was standing behind Imam Ridha (a.s.) in Khorasan when a number of people of Bani Hashim were present including Ishaq bin Moosa bin Isa Abbasi. The Hazrat asked him: I have heard that people say that we claim that people are our slaves because of our near relation with the Holy Prophet (S)?

I have never said this nor have I heard it from any of our ancestors nor have I ever got news that anyone of our elders said so. But we do say that, in the matter of obedience people are our slaves meaning servants, that is, they are like slaves because it is compulsory for them to obey and thus all of them are our slaves in the affairs of Religion, that is, they have been freed from hellfire on account of obeying us.

Hence it is incumbent on those who are present here to convey this to all those who are absent. Kulaini has, according to reliable chains of narrators, narrated from Abi Salmah that he said: I have heard Imam Sadiq (a.s.) saying: We are the group whose obedience has been made a must for the creation by the Lord Almighty and people must recognize us (they cannot do without our recognition) and people are not helpless in knowing us and the one who knows us with our Imamate is a believer and the one who denies is a disbeliever and the one who neither knows us nor denies us is like a man of weak belief and misguided until he returns to our compulsory obedience, the obedience which has been made obligatory by Allah.

If such a fellow dies in a condition of this misguidance, it is for the Almighty Allah either to punish him or to forgive him. Also it has been reliably reported that people asked Imam Ridha (a.s.) about the best thing by which servants (human beings) can get nearer to Allah. He replied: The best way to get closer to Allah is to obey Allah and to obey the Messenger and to obey the Ulil Amr and Imam Baqir (a.s.) said: Our friendship is faith and our enmity (being our enemy) is disbelief.

Likewise, he reports through reliable sources that: I asked Imam Baqir (a.s.): I want to describe before you my religion through which I worship Allah. He said: Do describe.