What is the purpose served by a Prophet -as or an Imam -asws ?

What is the purpose served by a Prophet -as or an Imam -asws ? Imam -asws replied, to stabilise the universe and to manage and organise its operations.

[1] ) حدثنا محمد بن عيسى عن ابن سنان وعلى بن النعمان عن عبد الله مسكان عن ابى بصير عن ابى عبد الله عليه السلام انه قال ان الله لم يدع الارض الا وفيها عالم يعلم الزيادة والنقصان في الارض فإذا زاد المؤمنون شيئا ردهم وإذا نقصوا اكمله لهم فقال خذوه كاملا ولولا ذلك لالتبس على المؤمنين امرهم ولم يفرقوا بين الحق والباطل It has been narrated to us by Muhammad Bin Isa, from Ibn Sinan and Ali Bin Al-No’man, from Abdullah Muskaan, from Abu Baseer, who has said: ‘Abu Abdullah -asws has said: ‘Allah -azwj does not Leave the earth except there is in it a knowledgeable one -asws who knows (where are) the excesses and deficiencies in the Earth.

If the believers exceed in something, he -asws takes it away from them, and if they are deficient in something, he -asws completes it for them. He -asws takes them to completion, and were it not for that, the affairs of the believers would become confusing for them and they would not be able to distinguish between the truth and the falsehood’.

عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي عُمَيْرٍ عَنْ مَنْصُورِ بْنِ يُونُسَ وَ سَعْدَانَ بْنِ مُسْلِمٍ عَنْ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ عَمَّارٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ( عليه السلام ) قَالَ سَمِعْتُهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّ الْأَرْضَ لَا تَخْلُو إِلَّا وَ فِيهَا إِمَامٌ كَيْمَا إِنْ زَادَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ شَيْئاً رَدَّهُمْ وَ إِنْ نَقَصُوا شَيْئاً أَتَمَّهُ لَهُمْ .

Ali Bin Ibrahim, from his father, from Muhammad Bin Abu Umeyr, from Mansour Bin Yunus and Sa’dan Bin Muslim, from Is’haq Bin Ammar, Abu Abdullah -asws , said, ‘I heard him -asws saying: ‘The earth cannot be empty except there would be an Imam -asws so that if the Momineen exceed in something, he -asws would return them, and if they are deficient in something, he -asws would complete it for them’. [2] Additional Ahadith are given in Appendix I.

The Role of a Divine Prophet -as and an Imam -asws : The role of a Prophet -as and/or a Divine Imam -asws is two-fold; (1) to warn the unbelievers and (2) to cleanse the souls of believers, guide them to the righteous path, enlighten them to ‘Hikmat and Maurifat’ [3] , as per a number of Verses of the Holy Quran, see for example: (1) رَبَّنَا وَابْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِكَ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ Our Lord!

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