Hazrat Shaykh Abu Ja’far said that our belief about Sirat was that it was a reality, and it was a bridge that was to be setup on the Day of Judgement to cross over the Hell, and it was a passage for all the creation. God said in the Qur’an:

وَإِن مِّنكُمْ إِلَّا وَارِدُهَا كَانَ عَلَىٰ رَبِّكَ حَتْمًا مَّقْضِيًّا

“And there is not one of you but shall come to It (the hell); this is an unavoidable decree of your Lord” (19:71).

In another sense Sirat was also a name for the signs of God, and whoever acknowledged the significance of those symbols in the present world, and obeyed them then God would issue a permit for him to cross over that bridge on the Day of Judgement. The Prophet (S), while addressing Ali (‘a) had said, “O, Ali - Gabriel, You and I will be stationed on the Sirat and no one could pass through it, unless he held the permit of your Wilayat.”