Shaykh Abu Ja’far said that our view regarding the tyrants and despots was that they were evil people and far removed from the grace and blessing of God. It was mandatory to show disgust and revulsion against them1.

God said:

وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنصَارٍ

“…And there shall be no helpers for the unjust (on the Day of Judgement)” (2:270; 3:192; 5:72).

At another juncture the Qur’an said,

وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَىٰ عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا أُولَٰئِكَ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ وَيَقُولُ الْأَشْهَادُ هَٰؤُلَاءِ الَّذِينَ كَذَبُوا عَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ أَلَا لَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى الظَّالِمِينَ

“Who doth more wrong than those who invent a life against Allah? They will be turned back to the presence of their Lord, and the witnesses will say, These are the ones who lied against their Lord! Behold! the Curse of Allah is on those who do wrong!” (11:18).

الَّذِينَ يَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَيَبْغُونَهَا عِوَجًا وَهُم بِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ كَافِرُونَ

“Those who would hinder (men) from the path of Allah and would seek in it something crooked: these were they who denied the Hereafter!” (11:19).

Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Abbas said in connection with the explanation of the above quotation that the phrase ‘Path of God’ in the Verse was meant for Amir Al-Mu’minin Ali Ibn Abi Talib (‘a) and the other Imams.

In the book of God, two kinds of Imams were mentioned - Imams of guidance and Imams of deviation and destruction. God said:

وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَدْعُونَ إِلَى النَّارِ وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ لَا يُنصَرُونَ

“And we made them (but) imams (leaders) inviting to the Fire; and on the Day of Judgment no help shall they find” (28:41).

وَأَتْبَعْنَاهُمْ فِي هَٰذِهِ الدُّنْيَا لَعْنَةً وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ هُم مِّنَ الْمَقْبُوحِينَ

“In this world We made a curse to follow them and on the Day of Judgment they will be among the loathed (and despised)” (28:42).

When this Verse was revealed:

وَاتَّقُوا فِتْنَةً لَّا تُصِيبَنَّ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنكُمْ خَاصَّةً وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ

“And fear tumult or oppression, which affecteth not in particular (only) those of you who do wrong: and know that Allah is strict in punishment” (8:25).

the Prophet of God said, “Anyone who is to initiate dispute on the caliphate of Ali after my death will be like a person who has denied my Prophethood and that of the previous Prophets, therefore, anyone who socialises with despots is also a despot.”

God said in this respect:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا آبَاءَكُمْ وَإِخْوَانَكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ إِنِ اسْتَحَبُّوا الْكُفْرَ عَلَى الْإِيمَانِ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّهُم مِّنكُمْ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ

“O ye who believe! Choose not your fathers nor your brethren for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith. Whoso of you taketh them for friends, such are wrong-doers” (9:23).

Again, God said:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَوَلَّوْا قَوْمًا غَضِبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ قَدْ يَئِسُوا مِنَ الْآخِرَةِ كَمَا يَئِسَ الْكُفَّارُ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْقُبُورِ

“O ye who believe! Turn not (for friendship) to people on whom is the Wrath of Allah, of the Hereafter they are already in despair, just as the Unbelievers are in despair about those (buried) in graves” (60:13).

That was why God was saying:

لَّا تَجِدُ قَوْمًا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ يُوَادُّونَ مَنْ حَادَّ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَلَوْ كَانُوا آبَاءَهُمْ أَوْ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ أَوْ إِخْوَانَهُمْ أَوْ عَشِيرَتَهُمْ أُولَٰئِكَ كَتَبَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الْإِيمَانَ

“Thou wilt not find folk who believe in Allah and the Last Day loving those who oppose Allah and His messenger, even though they be their fathers or their sons or their brethren or their clan. As for such, He hath written faith upon their hearts” (58:22).

Again, God said:

وَمَن يَتَوَلَّهُم مِّنكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ

“... And whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people” (5:51).

At another place, the Qur’an warned:

وَلَا تَرْكَنُوا إِلَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا فَتَمَسَّكُمُ النَّارُ وَمَا لَكُم مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاءَ ثُمَّ لَا تُنصَرُونَ

“And do not incline to those who are unjust, lest the fire touch you, and you have no guardians besides Allah, then you shall not be helped” (11:113).

In literature, the meaning of Dhulm was not to place an object at its rightful place. Hence anyone who claimed to be an Imam, but in reality, he was not, then he was Dhalim (unjust) and the cursed, the same was true for those who were to agree with the Imamate of such people.

The Prophet of God has also said, “Anyone who has denied the caliphate of Ali after me is like a person, who has denied my Prophethood and that of the previous Prophets, including the Majesty of God. O, Ali you will be treated unjustly after me, but remember, whoever was malicious and spiteful to you, is certainly cruel to me. Anybody who is just to you is just to me and whoever denies you deny me; whoever loves you loves me; whoever bears grudge against you shows resentment against me.”

We believe that according to our faith; anyone who denied the Imamate of the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt was like a person who had denied the Prophethood of all the Prophets. If someone accepted the Imamate of Hazrat Ali (‘a), but denied the Imamate of anyone of the remaining eleven Imams, then such a person was to us the like of the one who had faith in all the previous Prophets but had denied the Prophethood of Muhammad al-Mustafa (S).

Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (‘a) said that whosoever denied our last Imam was like a person who denied our first Imam. The Prophet of God had said, “In my Ummah there will be twelve legatees of mine, their first is Ali Ibn Abi Talib (‘a) and the last is Al-Mahdi Al-Qaim (‘a); their obedience is mine and their defiance is to contest me. If someone has denied the Imamate of anyone of them, he is just like a person who had denied my Prophethood.”

Imam Ja’far (‘a) said that the one who had doubts on the infidelity of those who committed aggression against the Imams was also an infidel.

Amir Al-Mu’minin said that he was under repression from the time of his birth, in a way that if Aqeel had some eye sore then he used to ask to put the medicine first in Imam Ali’s eyes and then to commit the rest to his own eyes. Imam Ali said that. “The medicine used to be dispensed in my eyes, although I was not suffering from any kind of eye infection.”

Our belief about those who waged armed conflicts against Ali was the same as the Prophet of God had said, “Anyone, who fights Ali, fights me and one who fights me fights God.”

Similarly, while addressing the Holy Household (Amir Al-Mu’minin, the Lady of Light - Fatimah, Imams Hasan and Husayn, ‘a), the Prophet (S) had said, “I shall fight those, who fight you and I shall be peaceful with those who are peaceful to you”.

We believed that Lady Fatimah (‘a) was سيدة نساء العالمين, the Principal of all ladies at all times. God would be angry when she was annoyed and He would be pleased when she was blissful, as God had freed her and her followers from the fire of hell.

We also believed that when she left the world, she was very irate with some people who have forfeited her rights, committed brutality with her and deprived her of the legacy of her father, although the Prophet of God had often said that Fatimah (‘a) was a piece of his heart and anyone who had impaired her had impaired him and the one who had made her cheerful, had made him happy, because Fatimah (‘a) was his part and her soul resided within right and left of his body. Anything that hurt her would hurt him and anything that pleased her made him blissful.

So far as our faith in acquittal (freeing from the influence of some deities) was concerned we were committed to show our disgust towards four idols, Yagoos, Yaooq, Nasr and Hubl along with those who were considered to be godlike. They were Laat, Manat, Uzza and Shaara and their followers, who were worst of the creation. One could not claim to be in line with the Imamate of the Imams of Huda (Guidance), Prophethood of Muhammad (S) and the unity of God, unless one completely defied their enemies and exhibited absolute break up with their culture.

Our belief regarding assassins of the Prophets, Messengers and the Imams was that such people were infidels and mushriks, and they would remain in the worst compartments of the hell forever. If anyone possessed any doctrine other than what we have proposed here, he did not qualify for a share of God’s religion.

• 1. In this chapter, the honourable author has discussed the following subjects - seeking severance with tyrants, despots and enemies of the progeny of the Prophet, ultimate outcome of those who denied Imams of, final position of those who chose to fight Ali Ibn Abi Talib, preference of Fatimah Az-Zahra’ over women of all eras and the infidelity of the assassins of the Prophets and Imams.