Al Mu’minūn

وإِنَّ الَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالاَخِرَةِ عَنِ الصّـِرَاطِ لَنَاكِبُونَ

74. “And verily those who do not believe in the Hereafter are deviating from the Way.”

Having faith in the Resurrection keeps us upon the Straight Way, and the lack of faith in the Resurrection makes us deviate from it. That is why, the Qur’an in this verse says:

“And verily those who do not believe in the Hereafter are deviating from the Way.”

The Arabic word /nakib/ is derived from the words /nakab/ and /nakub/ meaning deviation and turning back the world. It is clear that the purpose of ‘the Way’, mentioned in this verse, is ‘the Straight Way’ which was mentioned in the former verse. Certainly he who deviates from ‘the Straight Way’ in this world will deviate from the way that leads to Paradise in the Hereafter and will fall into Hell, for whatever a person has in Hereafter are the direct results of his actions in the world.

The verse stresses the relation of lack of faith in the Hereafter to deviation from the Way of Truth. This is because man does not feel any sense of responsibility when he does not believe in the Resurrection. Imam Ali (as) said:

“Allah has appointed us, (the religious leaders), as His gates (towards realizing His gnosis) and His path and His way by which (people can) reach Him. Thus, those who deviate from our guardianship or prefer others over us verily they are diverging from the Way of the Truth.” ³⁶

Here are some characteristics and qualities of the religious leaders extracted from the former verses. These Divine leaders were known for their goodness and their kindnesses. If they were as unknown and mysterious, as the verse says:

“Or do they not recognize their messenger, that they reject him?” ³⁷

The hypocrites would have had an excuse to dismiss their known Divine call because they would have been unknown to them. In the course of their missions, they have never yielded to the desires and whims of people, unlike today where leaders are expected to submit to public opinion. They remained steady in propagating the doctrine of the Truth, even though it might not have pleased a large number of people. In addition, they did not ask for any material reward for their mission and bore all kinds of deprivation, for relying on others for their sustenance would have constricted their freedom of thought and language to present the Divine message.

So only the Prophet’s Family (Ahl-ul-Bayt) (as) possess these noble qualities, therefore the Prophet (S) said:

“The likeness of my Ahl-ul-Bayt (progeny) is similar to Noah’s Ark; those who embark upon this ship will be saved, and those who do not embark upon it will be drowned.”

This tradition has been narrated by one hundred of great Sunni scholars, and among the Shi‘ite scholars, it has gained the state of successive transmission. It has been mentioned in the following books: Al-Ghadir, Vol. 4, P. 177, Ihqaq ul-Haqq, part 9, P. 270, and Nafahat ul-’Azhar fi Khulasah ‘Abaqat ul-’Anwar³⁸ part 4, P. 11. In this context, there is another famous tradition that has been successively transmitted by Shi‘ites and Sunnis: Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah-i-’Ansari said:

“I said:

‘O Messenger of Allah, we have known Allah and His Apostle; then who is ’Ulul-’Amr, those that Allah has made their obedience the same as your obedience?’

Then, the Prophet (S) said:

‘O Jabir! they are, after me, my successors and the Guides of Muslims; the first of them is Ali-ibn-Abitalib; then (Imam) Hassan, and (Imam) Hussayn; then Ali-ibn-il-Hussayn; then Mohammad-ibn-Ali; known in the Turah as Baqir, whom you will see.

O Jabir! when you visit him, give my regards to him. After him, there is Sadiq, - Ja‘far-ibnMuhammad; and after him Musa-ibn-Ja‘far; then Ali-ibn-Musa; then Muhammad-ibn-Ali; then Ali-ibn-Muhammad, then Hassan-ibn-Ali; and after him (there comes) Al-Gha’im, whose name and sir-name is the same as mine.

He is Allah’s Authority on the Earth and His Remainder amongst His servants. He is the son of (Imam) Hassan-ibn-Ali (al-‘Askari).

This is the very personality by whose hands Allah will open the Easts and the Wests of the worlds, and this is the very personality who will be absent from his followers and his lovers in which his mastership can not be proved by a statement of anyone except for the one whose heart Allah tests for Faith.”

This tradition has been quoted in the Commentary of Sura An-Nisa’, No. 4, verse 59. Again³⁹, this tradition has been narrated in Manhaj us-Sadiqin, The Great Commentary, and other commentaries such as Safi, Majma‘ ul-Bayan, Burhan, Nur-uth-Thaqalayn, Jawami‘-ul-Jami‘, and so on. Moreover Sunnis have also narrated this tradition: you can refer to Ihqaq ul-Haqq, Vol. 3, P. 425, and Fakhr-i-Razi’s commentary after the above-mentioned verse, Yanabi‘ ul Mawaddah, P. 117, Faraid us-Samtayn by Hamwini, Vol. 1, P. 312 Al-Ghadir by the Late Amini, ‘Abaqat ul-’Anwar, and other books by Sunnis and Shi‘ites.

Also we read in Yanabi‘-ul-Mawaddah narrated from the book Mawaddat al-Qurba by Sayyid Ali Hamadani Shafe‘i that Abuthar Ghaffari said that the Prophet (S) said:

“Ali is the gate of my knowledge. After me he will tell my people what has been sent to me. After me, loving him is to have faith, being hostile towards him will be hypocrisy, and looking at him with affection will be worship.”

This tradition has been narrated by Daylami in Firdaus al-Akhbar, Hamwini in Fara’id-us-Samtayn, and Ibn Maghazili Shafi‘i in Manaqib. It has been cited in the Book of Wasilah, and Nuzul-us-Sa’rin fi Ahadith Sayyid-ul-Mursalin from Umm-us-Salamah, the Prophet’s wife who said that the Prophet (S) said:

“Ali ibn Abi Talib (as) and his Shiites will be successful on the Day of Resurrection”

This tradition has been narrated by Hamwini Shafi‘i in Fara’id us-Samtayn, chapter 21 and Manawi in Kunuz-ul-Haqa’iq, in the margin of Jami‘-us-Saqir, Vol. 2, P. 21 by Suyuti, and Sibt ibn Jawzi in Tathkirah Khawas ul-’A’immah, P. 31, and Kharazmi in Manaqib, P. 66, have narrated it from Umm-us-Salamah. It has also been narrated in the book The Explanation of Jami‘-us-Saqir and the book Suyuti, Vol. 2, P. 21

Footnotes

1. 36. ‘Usul Kafi, narrated from Nur-uth-Thaqalayn, Vol. 3, p. 549
2. 37. The Current Sura, Verse 69
3. 38. by Sayyid Ali Hussayni Milani
4. 39. “O you who have faith! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those charged with authority (‘Ulu-l-’Amr) among you …”