The night before last we proved that Shi’as'ism was founded...

The night before last we proved that Shi’as'ism was founded in the time of the Prophet on his own instructions. The chief of the Shi’as, the Commander of the Faithful, ‘Ali, was brought up and trained by the Prophet from early childhood and received his religious knowledge from him. According to the records in your own authentic books, the Holy Prophet called him the Gate of Knowledge.

He explicitly said: "Obedience to ‘Ali is obedience to me, and disobedience to ‘Ali is disobedience to me." In a gathering of 70,000 people, he appointed him Amir and caliph and ordered all Muslims, including ‘Umar and Abu Bakr, to pay allegiance to him.

But it is not known how your four schools of law came to be established, nor which of the four Imams saw neither the Prophet nor whether any authorization has been reported from the Prophet about them so as to explain why Muslims should be forced to follow them. Without any compelling reason you follow your elders and offer nothing to authorize their Imamate except that they were great mujtahids, men of learning and piety.

But, if these qualities are present to the highest degree in the progeny of the Prophet, then isn't it obligatory for us to follow them? Are these schools of law, which have no link with the Prophet, innovations, or is that sect founded by the Prophet and led by his descendant an innovation? In the same way, there are the other eleven Imams about whom there are separate hadith showing that they are the equals of the Holy Qur'an.

In the Hadith al-Thaqalain it is clearly stated that "Whoever is attached to these two is rescued, and whosoever stays away from them is lost." In the Hadith al-Safina the Prophet said: "Whosoever keeps aloof from them is drowned and lost." Ibn Hajar in Sawa'iq (Bab al-Wasiyyatu'n-Nabi, page 135), quotes a hadith from the Prophet saying that: "The Qur'an and my progeny are my Trusts; if you keep yourselves attached to these two, never shall you go astray." In support of this, Ibn Hajar quotes another hadith from the Prophet about the Holy Qur'an and his purified progeny: "Do not go beyond the bounds of the Qur'an and my progeny; do not neglect them.

Otherwise, you will be destroyed. And do not teach my descendants since they know more than you do." After this, Ibn Hajar comments that the above hadith proves that the descendants of the Prophet are superior to all others in knowledge and in discharging religious responsibilities.