Had there existed a possibility of his issuing any erroneous...

Had there existed a possibility of his issuing any erroneous command or prohibition, the holy Qur’anic verse would have restricted the obedience to the Prophet (but it has not.) When ordering that parents should be obeyed which is far less important than obeying the Prophet, God the Most Exalted says, “ And we have enjoined on man goodness to his parents, and if they contend with you that you should associate ( others ) with me, of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them **”**.

(29:8) Because the parents might enjoin (their children) to associate someone with God they must not be obeyed if it comes to association with God. In the verse of Aulu al–Amr , however, obeying the Prophet (saws) is not restricted to any circumstances or situations.

Yet another evidence confirming and emphasizing the unrestricted obedience to the Prophet (saws) is that in many verses the phrase “obedience to the Prophet” comes directly after the phrase “obedience to God”, without repeating the verb اطيعوا meaning “obey”.

For example, in, “ And obey Allah and the Apostle, that you may be shown mercy **”** (3:132) the verb “obey” is used only once before the words “Allah” and “the Apostle”, indicating that one has to obey the Prophet in all commands and prohibitions he issues, just as one has to obey God’s commands and prohibitions. Therefore, the obedience to the Prophet (saws) is undoubtedly absolute.

Obedience to Those in Authority Aulu al–Amr When we want to examine the issues of imamate and inerrancy of the Imams, God bless them all, in the verse of Aulu al–Amr we need to consider the following: What the term Aulu al–Amr means. To whom it is ascribed. Aulu al–Amr , in the traditions of “ Manzilah ”, “ Ita’ah ” and “ Thaqalayn ”. The traditions on “ Aulu al–Amr ” in Shi’ite and Sunnite sources.