And we believe that love for them is true belief (iman) and...

And we believe that love for them is true belief (iman) and hatred for them is unbelief (kufr); that their command is the command of Allah, their prohibition is the prohibition of Allah; obedience to them is obedience to Allah, and disobedience to them is disobedience to Allah; their friend (wali [^17] ) is the friend of Allah, and their enemy the enemy of Allah.

We believe that the earth cannot be without the Proof (hujja) of Allah to His creatures - a leader either manifest (zahir) and well known (mashhur) [^18] , or hidden (khafi [^19] ) and obscure (maghmur).

We believe that the Proof of Allah in His earth and His vicegerent (khalifa) among His slaves in this age of ours is the Upholder (al-Qa'im) (of the law of Allah), the Expected One (al-Muntazar), Muhammad bin al-Hasan bin 'Ali bin Muhammad bin 'Ali bin Musa bin Ja'far bin Muhammad bin 'Ali bin al-Husayn bin 'Ali bin Abi Talib, on them be peace.

He it is concerning whose name and descent the Prophet was informed by Allah the Mighty and Glorious, and he it is who will fill the earth with justice and equity, just as now it is full of oppression and wrong.[^20] And he it is through whom Allah will make His faith manifest “in order to supersede all religion, though the polytheists may dislike (it)” (Qur'an 9:33, 48:28, 61:9).

He it is whom Allah will make victorious over the whole world until from every place the call to prayer will be heard, and all religion[^21] will belong entirely to Allah, Exalted is He above all. He it is, who is the Rightly Guided (mahdi), about whom the Prophet gave information that when he appears, Jesus,[^22] son of Mary, will descend upon the earth and pray behind him, and he who prays behind him is like one who prays behind the Prophet of Allah, because he is his vicegerent (khalifa).

And we believe that there can be no Qa'im other than him; he may live in the state of occultation (as long as he likes); and were he to live in the state of occultation for the space of the existence of this world, there would nevertheless be no Qa'im other than him. For, the Prophet and the Imams have indicated him by his name and descent; him they appointed as their successor, and of him they gave glad tidings - the Blessings of Allah on all of them.[^23] [^1]: Browne, Persian Literature, iv.

387-388; Donaldson, 320. In Sunni dogmatics the numbers differ from 315 apostles (Ibn Sa'd) to 224,000; but Nasafi is non-committal MC, 204; Macdonald, 312.