ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Role of Holy Imams in Revival of Religion The Guardian After the Prophet In another narrative mentioned in the previous lesson, pertaining to Imam Ali (a.s)'s military excursion to Yemen, we saw that the Prophet sent two groups of soldiers to Yemen: One was under the command of the Imam and the other under the jurisdiction of Khaled Ibn Valid with the stipulation that if these two divisions should meet, their leadership would be taken over by Ali (a.s).

Khaled, who possessed the habits and particularities of the ignorant Arabs, was angered by this order. Therefore after the completion of his mission he sent several persons to the Prophet with a letter of complaint against Ali (a.s). Barideh, the companion who bore the letter said: "I gave the letter I was carrying to the Holy Prophet. The letter was read to him. The Prophet became so enraged that I saw its traces in his blessed face. It was then that I said: "O' Holy Prophet!

I seek refuge to you. Khaled sent the letter and ordered me to deliver it to you. I obeyed him because he was my commander". The Holy Prophet (s.a.w) then said: "Do not speak against Ali, he is of me and I am of him and he is your guardian, leader and authority after me". 153 In one of the texts of this Hadith something is added to the above. According to it, after Barideh saw the Prophets reaction and his great rage he begins to doubt his own faith in Islam.

Because of this he says: "O' Prophet of God! I swear you by the friendship between us---since I have enraged you --- give me your hand so that I may once again pledge my allegiance to Islam with you, and that my sins may be forgiven".

154 According to this narrative the Imam is the guardian, authority and master over the Muslims after the Prophet; precisely meaning the Prophets successor in the guardianship he has over the peoples lives and property --- of course, this power and authority being used in all aspects in the best interests of their religious and worldly duties.

In another narrative by Ibn Abbas we read that the Prophet had said to Amir al-Mu'meneen: "Your are the master, guardian and authority of every believer after me". 155 In the fourth narrative, we observed that because the narrator had brought a complaint against the Imam to the Prophet, he says: "No, don't speak like this regarding Ali. After me, he has the highest mastery, weight of judgement and strength of determination over the people".