ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al-Muraja'at Letter 70 Safar 11, 1330 I The Will Cannot be Repudiated, The Prophet's will regarding ‘Ali cannot be repudiated, for there is no doubt that he entrusted him, having bequeathed to him his knowledge and wisdom, as indicated in Letter 66 above, to wash his corpse, enshroud it and bury it,[^1] and to pay his dues, fulfill his promise on his behalf, defray his outstanding debts,[^2] and explain to people after him whatever matters in which they differed regarding the commandments and injunctions of Allah, the Exalted and the Sublime.[^3] He also entrusted the nation to take ‘Ali (as) as his (pbuh) successor,[^4] brother,[^5] the father of his descendants,[^6] his vizier,[^7] confidant,[^8] the executor of his will,[^9] his vicegerent,[^10] the gateway of his knowledge, according to hadith number 9 cited in Letter 48 above, the gateway of his wisdom, according to hadith number 10 cited in Letter 48, the Gate of Salvation of his nation, according to hadith number 14 cited in Letter 48 above, its security and the ark of its salvation, as testified by the traditions we quoted in Letter 8 above.

Obeying Ali is as important as obeying the Prophet himself: disobedience to him is a sin equal to that of disobeying the Prophet according to hadith number 16 cited in Letter 48 and according to others.

Following him is equal to following the Prophet; abandoning him is abandoning the Prophet, according to hadith number 17 cited in Letter 48 above and according to others, that he [Prophet] is on peaceful terms with whoever is peaceful with him, and he is an enemy of whoever bears animosity towards him,[^11] the friend of whoever befriends him and the enemy of whoever antagonizes him;[^12] whoever loves him is loved by Allah and His Messenger, and whoever hates him does in turn hate Allah and His Messenger, according to ahadith 19, 20 and 21 cited in Letter 48 above and according to others.

Whoever befriends him befriends them both, and whoever antagonizes him in fact antagonizes them both, according to hadith 23 cited in the same Letter; whoever harms him harms them too;[^13] whoever denounces him does in fact denounce both Allah and His Messenger (pbuh), according to hadith 18 cited in Letter 48 above, and according to others.