Divine Leadership/Imamate is a Covenant from Allāh تعالى

Al-Imāma wa’l-Tabṣira min al-Ḥayra|Volume 1|Book 2|Chapter 3

Divine Leadership/Imamate is a Covenant from Allāh تعالى

سعد، عن عليّ بن إسماعيل، عن العبّاس بن معروف، عن عليّ ابن مهزيار، عن الحسن بن عليّ بن فضّال، قال: سأل إسماعيل بن عمّار أبا الحسن الأوّل عليه السلام، فقال له: فرض الله على الإمام أن يوصي—قبل أن يخرج من الدنيا—ويعهد؟ فقال: نعم. فقال: فریضة من الله؟ قال: نعم.

Saʿd, from ʿAlī b. Ismāʿīl, from al-ʿAbbās b. Maʿrūf, from ʿAlī b. Mahziyār, from al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. Faḍḍāl, who said: “Ismāʿīl b. ʿAmmār asked a question of the first Abā’l-Ḥasan ,[1] so he said to him: “Has Allāh obliged the Imam to bequeath to and entrust the covenant to (his successor), before he departs from this world?,” so he replied: “Yes.” Ibn ʿAmmār then said: “Is it an obligation from Allāh?” The Imam replied: “Yes.”

[1] The expression “the first Abā’l-Ḥasan” refers to the seventh Imam, Mūsā b. Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim صلوات الله عليهما, one of whose teknonyms is Abū’l-Ḥasan. He is known as “the first Abā’l-Ḥasan” here and in other contexts in order to distinguish him from his son, ʿAlī al-Riḍā, and his great-grandson, ʿAlī al-Hādī صلوات الله عليهما, who are respectively the second and the third Abū’l-Ḥasan.
Author: Haseeb Hassan