Hūd

بَقِيَّتُ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُؤْمِنِينَ وَمَآ أَنَاْ عَلَيْكُمْ بِحَفِيظٍ

86. “(The lawful wealth) which is left by Allah is better for you, if you be believers. And I am not a guardian over you.”

The Qur’anic term /baqiyatullah/, mentioned in this verse, refers to the dividends which one can obtain through a godly and allowed capital, and it is certainly a hundred percent clean. However, according to the Islamic narrations, it refers to everything Divinely sanctioned that is left for humanity as a whole. One example of this are the faithful soldiers who return victoriously from a holy war, for they have remained alive by the Divine will. It refers also to the contemporary Imam, Imam Mahdi (May Allah hasten his auspicious advent), who is also known as /baqiyatullah/ since that noble person has been retained and stored for the guidance of mankind by the Divine Will.

Some Islamic narrations denote that one of the names of this honorable man (Hadrat Mahdi) is /baqiyatullah/¹ whom we greet with this name saying: /’assalamu ‘alayka ya baqiatullah fi ’ardeh/. When he appears in Mecca, he will recite the above verse in a loud voice and say:

“I am that promised Godly being kept by Allah. ²

Certainly the other immaculate Imams (as) have been also entitled as: /baqiatullah/.

Footnotes

1. 1. Bihar ul ’Anwar, vol. 46, p. 259
2. 2. Tafsir-us-Safi, vol. 2, p. 468