Question 17: What is the reason behind selecting the prophets, messengers, and Imams pbut from amongst others and distinguishing them with infallibility?
Answer: When Allah gathered the children of Adam in His Hands and said to them,
{…Am I not your Lord?…} [The Quran 7:172],
they split into groups according to their response:
The first group are those who had seen the light from behind the veils, so they responded, “Yes,” before the question reached their hearings. And this group divides into several subgroups according to the number of veils from behind which they saw the light.
And those are the ones who penetrated the veils of light and reached the Core of Greatness. [1] The Prince of Believers pbuh said,
“O Lord! Bestow upon me complete devotion to You, and enlighten the insights of our hearts with the light of looking at You until the insights of the hearts penetrate the veils of light, so they reach the Core of Greatness, and our spirits become attached to the Glory of Your Holiness.” [A part from the Dua of Sha’ban, refer to: Iqbal Al-Amal, page 687.]
The second group are those who had seen the light after it had penetrated the veils, so they responded, “Yes,” after the question reached their hearings. They also divided into several subgroups according to the swiftness of hearing and responding, and these groups are the free ones.
Then comes the group of the servants, and they are those who said, “Yes,” after hearing the word “Yes” from others.
Then comes the group of the hypocrites; they said, “Yes,” but they had doubt in their hearts about what they heard. [2]
Then comes the group of disbelievers; they are those who did not say “Yes.” [3]
And the prophets, messengers, and Imams pbut are from the first group, and they have seen the light from behind the veils because they did not turn right or left, rather their souls were attached to the people of the seventh sky, and they restricted their sight to the side of the Divine overflow, so they did not overlook Allah swt. And they pbut are also in ranks as some of them focused all their existence into looking at the side of the Divine overflow, and some of them are less than that. Each one of them pbut has been given according to what he gave, and saw from the signs of his Lord based on how much he pursued looking at them.
{And man has only what he pursued And his pursuit will be seen And afterward he will be repaid for it with fullest payment And to your Lord is the final stage.} [The Quran 53:39–42]
So, in that world, all the children of Adam had the freedom of choice, and each one of them has the nature of Allah that He created the people upon, and anyone who restricts his sight to the light, by his own will, becomes from those who are brought near, or [restricts his sight] to the darkness and so he becomes from the people of hell. Thus the prophets, messengers, and Imams pbut are the ones who chose Allah swt, and restricted their sight to the light, and for that Allah swt selected them.
As for the infallibility, it is in ranks and not only one rank as many imagine, and each one of the prophets, messengers, and Imams pbut is distinguished by a rank of infallibility based on his choice. [4] Thus the infallible is the one who holds fast to Allah to refrain from what is prohibited by Allah swt.
In the book of Maani Al-Akhbar, Hisham said,
“I said to Abi Abdullah pbuh, ‘What is the meaning of your saying that the Imam must be infallible?’ So he pbuh said, ‘The infallible is the one who refrains by Allah from all that is prohibited by Allah. He swt said, {He who holds fast to Allah is verily guided unto a straight path.} [The Quran 3:101]’.” [Maani Al-Akhbar by Sheikh Al-Sadooq, page 132]
Abu Abdullah Al-Sadiq pbuh said,
“The infallible is the one who holds fast to the rope of Allah; and the rope of Allah is the Quran; and the Quran guides to the Imam, just as The Almighty said, {Indeed, this Quran guides unto that which is most straight.} [The Quran 17:9].” [Maani Al-Akhbar by Sheikh Al-Sadooq, page 132.]
Ahmed Alhasan
The Allegories – volume 1
[1] Dawood Al-Raqqi narrated that Abu Abdullah pbuh said, “When Allah (m) wanted to create the creation, He created them and gathered them between His hands and asked them, ‘Who is your Lord?’ So the first to speak was the Messenger of Allah pbuhap, and the Prince of Believers, and the Imams pbut, so they said, ‘You are our Lord.’ So He made them carry the knowledge and religion, and then He said to the angels, ‘Those are the carriers of My religion and knowledge, and they are My trustees in My creation, and they are the ones in charge.’ Then He said to the children of Adam, ‘Acknowledge that the Divinity is for Allah, and that obedience and allegiance are to them.’ So they said, ‘Yes, our Lord, we acknowledge.’ So Allah (m) said to the angels, ‘Testify to that,’ so the angels said, ‘Verily, we testify, lest they should say tomorrow, “Verily, of this we were unaware,” or they say, “It is only that our ancestors of old associated partners with Allah and we were their progeny. So, will You punish us for that which those who follow falsehood have done?” O Dawood, the prophets are confirmed in the Covenant.” Bihar Al-Anwar, Vol. 5, page 244
[2] Ibn Meskan narrated that he asked Abu Abdullah pbuh about Allah’s saying, {And [remember] when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, their seeds, and made them testify over themselves [saying], ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes, we verily testify’}, “Was this face to face?” He answered pbuh, “Yes, knowledge was affirmed, and they have forgotten the incident, and they will remember it, and if not for that, no one would know who created him and bestowed upon Some of them acknowledged it by their tongue in the world of Al-Thar and did not believe it in their hearts, so Allah said, {They would have never believed in that which they denied before}[The Quran 7:101].” Bihar Al-Anwar Vol. 5 page 237.
[3] Abu Jafar narrated that his father said his grandfather pbut said, “The Messenger of Allah pbuhahp said to Ali pbuh, ‘You are Allah’s proof from when He initiated the creation, where He made them as ghosts and asked them, “Am I not your Lord?”; so, they said, ‘Yes.’ And He said, ‘Is Muhammad the Prophet of Allah?’; so, they said, ‘Yes.’ And He said, ‘And is Ali the Prince of Believers?’; so, all the creation refused [to acknowledge so] arrogantly and insolently to pledge allegiance to you, except for a few people, and they are the minority from the few, and they are the people of Right’” Bihar Al-Anwar Vol. 24 page 2.
[4] And from this point and beyond, they excel, one over the other, as The Almighty said, {These messengers, We favored some of them over the From them, those who spoke to Allah, and He raised some of them in ranks. And We gave Jesus son of Mary the clear proofs and We supported him by the Holy Spirit.} The Quran 2:253.
First Mahdi : Yamani : Ahmed Alhasan 