Obey Allah...

Obey Allah, and Obey Apostle and those from among you who are given authority (by Allah)." (Quran 4:59) Who are those Imams whom Allah gave them authority and are to be obeyed beside the Prophet? The above verses of Quran prove beyond doubt that a divinely appointed Imam has authority and he guides. The authority of Imam is not restricted over a group of people but also covers every other creatures (see Quran 36:12 which uses the word Imam for keeping the account of everything).

Again, this authority is controlled by Allah. Allah also said in Quran: "(O' Muhammad!) You are but a Warner, and for every community there exists a Guide." (Quran 13:7). was a Warner, and the Imams of his Ahlul-Bayt were each a Guide for the people of their time.

In fact, the following Sunni commentators of Quran narrated that the word "Guide" in the above verse was Imam Ali (AS): Tafsir al-Tabari, v13, p72; Tafsir al-Kabir, by Fakhr al-Razi, on the commentary of verse 13:7 Tafsir al-Durr al-Manthoor, by al-Suyuti, under verse 13:7 of Quran Kanz al-Ummal, by al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, v6, p157 Noor al-Absar, by al-Shablanji, p70 Kunooz al-Haqa'iq, by al-Manawi, p42.

If there should be a Guide for each time, as the verse 13:7 testifies, then my question is: Who is this guide today? There should be an alive Imam in every instant of time, in order the above verses make sense. This is another proof for the fact that Imam al-Mahdi (AS) is alive. Moreover, Allah said: That which is spared by Allah (on the earth) is better for you if you are believers.

(Quran 11:86) The above verse is another proof for the fact that there exists one individual at each era who is spared by Allah (Baqiyyatullah) on the earth to maintain the cause of faith and he is the Imam of that age, and this position was never vacated so long as the earth carries even one human being. This, in fact, is a doctrine of Shia Muslims that a "Proof (Hujjah) of Allah" should always exist on earth for earth to continue its function as a living place for human being.

It is NOT that Hujjah is god or life-giver, rather it is because Allah has created the world for the best of His servants. The best of Allah's creation is the one who is the most obedient to him at each time. Other creatures are considered to be secondary objects in the sight of Allah. Besides, there are traditions stating that if it happens that there exists only one human on the earth, he is the "Proof (Hujjah) of Allah".