ভূমিকা

Obey Allah and obey the Apostle and those in authority from among you; then if you quarrel about anything, refer it to Allah and the Apostle, if you ( truly ) believe in Allah and the last day; this is better and fairer in the end **”** . (4:59) In the above Qur’anic verse, God, the Most Exalted, orders people to obey Him and to obey the Prophet (saws) and those in authority.

It is clear that obedience to God primarily includes obedience to the commands that God has revealed in the Qur’an and imparted to the people through the Prophet (saws) as in the verse, “ Keep up prayers and pay the poor–rate **”** .

(2:43) Obeying the commands of Prophet (saws) can be discussed under two headings: The Prophet’s Commands handed Down to us as his Sunnah These are Divine commands inspired to the Prophet, who imparted them to the people, but in case they begin with such phrases as “I command you to...” and “I forbid you from”, abundantly found in fiqhi sources, they are called Prophetic orders. Obeying them means obeying the Prophet.

Acting according to them means obeying God’s commands since they are ascribed to the Divine. Commands Issued by the Prophet as a Wali and Ruler of the Muslims These commands are not classified as “Divine commands”, but they are commands issued by the Prophet as a wali , guardian and ruler of the Islamic community, such as the commands concerning war, peace, administration of the Islamic government and community.

The Qur’anic words, “ … and obey the Apostle **”**, in the verse includes both kids of commands. The Impeccability of the Prophet (saws) in All Commands and Prohibitions The irrefutable reasons raised in theology ( kalam ), prove that the Prophet (saws) is divinely protected against error when issuing any commands or prohibitions. He never orders others to commit sins, nor does he issue erroneous commands or prohibitions.

In the above mentioned Qur’anic verse a mention is made that the obedience to the Prophet is absolute.