Enter into submission...

Enter into submission, all together, and do not follow in Satan’s steps; he is indeed your manifest enemy.” [^4] The deceased ‘Allamah Tabataba’i, may Allah be pleased with him, interprets this verse thus: the words ‘ salam ’ and ‘ islam ’ and ‘ taslim ’ all denote one meaning and the word ‘ kaffah ’ just like the word ‘ jami‘an ’ is used for emphasis and because the verse addresses the believers, and they have been ordered to enter into submission, the order in this verse is addressed to the people of the society altogether as a group and as individual persons.

Therefore, submission is incumbent on every individual of the society and on the community as a whole; that is to say, they ought not to ask questions in regard to the [orders of the] religion of Allah and they have to submit to the commands of Allah and His Noble Prophet (S). In addition, because the verse is especially addressed to the believers, the surrender which the believers have been invited to connotes yielding to Allah and His Noble Prophet (S).

Therefore, submission means surrender to Him after believing in Him. For this reason, it is obligatory for the believers to yield to Allah and not to choose a path which has not been enjoined by Allah and the Prophet (S) because every nation that has ever been destroyed fell into ruin for forsaking the way of Allah and for following their own carnal desires; a path for which they had no justification from Allah.[^5] Those who have attained the station of submission do not have any personal desires and their will is the will of Allah.

They do not worry about how and by what means their sustenance will be provided. They are only pre-occupied with how to be devoted to Allah in order to please Him more.

This group definitely attains deliverance and prosperity as Imam al-Sadiq ( ‘a ) stated: “A person who holds fast to the strong divine rope has attained deliverance.”[^6] When it was asked of him what ‘holding fast to the strong divine rope’ meant, he responded: “It means submission to the will of Allah.” There is no doubt conception of the station of submission is difficult for us.