His adopting such a policy was...

His adopting such a policy was, in the belief of the Shi‘a, in accordance with a command of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) that was disclosed to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) by revelation. In addition, every Imam recognizes better than all else his duty in light of the existing conditions and always gives precedence to the most important matters over all other matters.

In this issue, too, if the Imam (peace be upon him) were to accept rulership, the important interests of Islam would be lost, since it was apparent to every authority that in those conditions there was no possibility of implementing the luminous laws of Islam and establishing a just Islamic system of government. [^1]: Surah Anfal (8), Verse 6 [^2]: Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 1, p. 226 [^3]: Nahj al-Balaghah, edited by Subhi al-Salih, sermon 3, section 1 Previous…