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wa-nurīdu ʾan namunna ʿalā lladhīna stuḍʿifū fī l-ʾarḍi wa-najʿalahum ʾaʾimmatan wa-najʿalahumu l-wārithīna
And We desired to show favour to those who were abased in the land, and to make them imams, and to make them the heirs,
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Qasas - Verses 5-6
5. “And We have intended to bestow (Our) favour upon those who were oppressed in the earth, and to make them leaders (in faith) and make them heirs.”
6. “And to grant them power in the earth, and to show Pharaoh and Haman, and their hosts, what they were dreading from them.”
The worldly government of the oppressed ones and also supporting them in the length of history is Allah’s will. There is no doubt that when Allah’s will is issued for a thing to occur, that thing will certainly be performed and no barrier can hinder it. The holy Qur’an says:
So, in this verse, it says:
Then, in the next verse, it says:
How much these two verses are expressive and hope-giving! They are expressed in the form of Arabic present tense (which shows the continuation of action) and as a general law so that no one imagines that it belongs only to the oppressed ones of the Children of Israel and the government of Pharaoh. The verse implies that Pharaoh intended to disperse the Children of Israel and destroy their power and greatness, but Allah (s.w.t.) intended them to become strong and victorious.
Pharaoh wanted that their power could be in the hand of the oppressors forever, but Allah (s.w.t.) intended to give the government to the oppressed ones, and finally it happened exactly the same. By the way, the application of the Arabic word /minnat/, as we have formerly said, too, is in the sense of ‘to bestow merits and bounties’, and this usage is completely different from the verbal /minnat/ that we reiterate a bounty in order to belittle the opposite party, which is certainly a blameworthy action.
In these two noble verses Allah (s.w.t.) has removed the curtain from His Will concerning the oppressed ones, and states five affairs in this ground which are closely connected to each other. The first thing is that Allah intends to give them His bounties by saying:
Another thing is that Allah intends to make them leaders when He says:
The third thing is that Allah intends to make them the heirs of the government of the oppressors, where He says:
The fourth is that Allah gives them a strong and lasting government:
The fifth is that Allah showed their enemies that which they were afraid of and they had mobilized all their forces against them:
Such is Allah’s favour and grace unto the oppressed ones. But who are the oppressed, and what qualities do they have? We will state about them later. Haman was Pharaoh’s famous minister, and he was so influenced in the court of Pharaoh that in the above verse the forces of Egypt are called the forces of Pharaoh and Haman.5 By the way, it was said that these verses do not speak about a private, local, and limited program related to the Children of Israel, but they are stating a general law for all centuries and the entire people and generations.
The first abovementioned verse says:
This is a glad-tidings upon the field of triumph of the truth over the untruth and faith over disbelief. This is a glad-tidings for all the free men who seek for the government of justice and wiping the elements of injustice and cruelty. An example of the outward existence of Allah’s Will was the actual government of the Children of Israel and annihilation of the government of Pharaoh. And a more complete example of it was the government of the Prophet of Islam (S) and his followers after the advent of Islam. It was the government of the faithful, poor, indigent and purified oppressed people who were always mocked and despised by the Pharaohs of their time and were under their pressure, injustice and cruelty.
At last, by the hand of this very group, Allah opened the gates of the castles of those kings and brought them down of the throne of power and humiliated the tyrants. And a vaster example of it will be the advent of the government of Justice and Truth all over the world by Hadrat Mahdi (may our souls be sacrificed to him). These verses are among the verses that clearly give the glad tidings of the advent of such a government. Some Islamic traditions indicate that, commenting on this verse, the Imams of Ahl-ul-Bayt (as) have pointed to this great advent.
We read in Nahj-ul-Balaqah from Ali (as) who said:
“The world will bend towards us after having been refractory as the biting she-camel bends towards its young.”
Then Amir-ul-Mu’minin (as) recited the verse:
Also the same Imam (as), commenting on the above verse, said:
“They are the progeny of Muhammad (S). Allah will raise their Mahdi after their trouble (and pressure they receive); then He will give them honour and make their enemies despised.” 7
Imam Zayn-ul-‘Abidin, Ali-ibn-il-Husayn (as), once in a tradition said:
“By the One Who raised Muhammad (S) legitimately as the giver of glad tidings and warner, verily the righteous of us Ahl-ul-Bayt and their followers are like Moses and his followers. … (Finally we will be victorious and they will be destroyed and the government of the truth and justice will be ours.)” 8
Of course, the worldly government of Mahdi (as) at the end will never hinder the limited Islamic government to be formed before it by the oppressed ones against the oppressors. Then whenever they prepare its conditions the certain promise and Divine Will will be accomplished for them and they will gain this victory.
Some Traditions Upon the Advent of Mahdi (as)
Fadl-ibn-Shathan narrates from Hassan-ibn-Mahbub, from Malik-ibn-‘Atiyyih, from ’Abu-Hamzah Thabit-ibn-’Abi-Safiyyih Dinar, from Imam Baqir (as) who said:
“The night before ‘Ashura Imam Husayn (as) delivered a great sermon for his companions and informed them that whoever was with him would become martyr and he (as) let them go out of that land and would rescue themselves if they desired. Some of them said earnestly that they might never separate from him.
Then he delivered a sermon again and said:
“I give you glad tidings of Paradise. By Allah, after we become martyr, we will remain (in the bounty of Allah) how long He desires. Then Allah will bring you and us out at the time of the advent of Our Qa’im. Then he will take vengeance from the oppressors. Then you and I will see them in chains, yokes, and kinds of punishment and tortures.”
Some one asked:
“O son of the Prophet of Allah! Who is your Qa’im?”
He (as) said:
‘He is the seventh son of my son, Muhammad-ibn-Ali, Al-Baqir, and he is Allah’s proof, the son of Hassan-ibn-Ali-ibn-Muhammad-ibn-Ali-ibn-Musa-ibn-Ja‘far-ibn-Muhammad-ibn-Ali my son, and he is the one who will be absent for a long time, then he will reappear and fill the earth with equity and justice as it was filled with tyranny and injustice.” 9
In this tradition Imam Husayn (as) has spoken about his return to this world as well as the martyrs of Karbala. Shaykh Hurr ‘Amili has narrated the last part of this tradition from the book entitled ’Ithbat-ur-Raj‘ah, by Fadl-ibn-Shathan.10 Imam Sadiq (as) said:
“The first person to whom the earth (grave) will cleave and he returns to the world is Husayn-ibn Ali (as).” 11
Imam Baqir (as) said to Bukayr-ibn-’A‘yun:
“Verily the Messenger of Allah (S) and Ali (as) will return (to this world).” 12
Imam Husayn (as) said:
“I am the first person to whom the earth will cleave and I will come out of it and this is contemporary with the return of Amir-ul-Mu’minin and the raising up of our Qa’im.” 13
Imam Sadiq (as) said:
“Accompany with Qa’im, there will come out twenty seven persons from behind Kufah, fifteen ones of them are from the people of Moses (as), those who used to guide (to the Truth) and called (people) to justice…” 14
Imam Amir-ul-Mu’minin Ali (as) said:
“I asked the Messenger of Allah:
‘O’ Messenger of Allah! Is Mahdi from us, the progeny of Muhammad, or from other than us?’
Then the Messenger of Allah said:
‘But he is of us with whom Allah will end the religion as He began it with us, and by us people will be delivered from disturbances the same as they were delivered from polytheism; and by us they will be brethren after the sedition of the enemy as they became brethren after the enmity of polytheism.” 15
Abu Sa‘id-il-Khudri narrates from the Prophet (S) that verily he said:
“At the time of Mahdi, my Ummah will be favoured a bounty the like of which they had never been favoured. The sky will gradually send (bounties) down on them and the earth will not restrain anything of its plants but it brings them out.” 16
The Messenger of Allah (S) said:
“Mahdi (as) will come out while there will be a cloud above his head in which a caller will call: ‘This is Mahdi, the viceroy of Allah; then do follow him’.” 17
By the way, the great learned Hasan-ibn-Solayman Al-Hilly has written a book upon the virtues of Ahl-ul-Bayt (as), in which he has recorded many narrations about Raj‘at (returning to this world), and the Late ‘Allamah Majlisi has stated around two hundred explicit traditions widely transmitted from the immaculate Imams and said:
“More than forty notables of Shi‘ah, such as: Shaykh Tusi, Shaykh Mufid, Sayyid Murtada ‘Alam-ul-Huda, Shaykh Saduq, Kulayni, and the like have referred them in their valuable works.”
He says:
“If the traditions of Raj‘at were not widely transmitted, there could not be any one to claim widely transmitted of.”
Also The Late Tabarsi in Majma‘-ul-Bayan, when discussing Raj‘at, says:
“It has been narrated widely transmitted from the Imams of Ahl-ul-Bayt that at the time of raising of Mahdi (as) Allah will cause some of his friends and followers to return to this world, who had formerly passed away, in order to help him and get the reward of his assistant and see his victorious government and become happy.
Allah will also bring back some of his enemies to be taken vengeance and be killed as punishment, and to be involved of being abject and contemptible by seeing Mahdi’s glory and grandeur.” 18
For proving Raj‘at, the Late Shaykh-i-Tusi, in his valuable commentary, Tibyan, has reasoned to many holy verses of the Qur’an, and then he has claimed that some of the traditions of Raj‘at are widely transmitted. The Late Shaykh Hurr ‘Amily, by means of different statements, has also proved that the traditions of Raj‘at are widely transmitted. There have been recorded five hundred and twenty traditions in the valuable book entitled “’Iqath” concerning Raj‘at.19
Upon the explanation of Tahthib, the Late Muhaddith Jaza’iri has stated that he had seen six hundred and twenty traditions about Raj‘at.20 However, the abovementioned matters have been taken from the book entitled: Raj‘at-i-Daulat-i-Karimeh Khandan-i-Wahy, pp. 141, 142.
Who The Oppressed and Oppressors Are
We know that the Arabic term /mustad‘af/ is derived from the word /da‘f/ (weakness). But, here, it does not mean someone who is weak, unable, and not having power, it means someone who has powers both in actuality and potentiality but he has been under serious pressure from the side of the unjust and tyrants so that he is in weakness, chains, and yokes. He always tries to break the chains in order to become free, and send the oppressors away so that he can establish the right religion and justice everywhere.
Allah has promised such a group that He will help them and give them the government of the earth. This promise is not for those shiftless and coward people who are not ready even to make a shout, let alone that they enter the field of struggle and be sacrificed. That day, the Children of Israel could become the heirs of the government of Pharaohs, too, when they supported their leader, Moses (as), and mobilized their forces in a single row. They completed the remaining faith that they had inherited from their grand father Abraham (as) with the invitation of Moses (as), and after wiping out superstitions from their thought, they became ready to raise.
Of course, there are various kinds of Mustad‘af (oppressed). They are ideological, cultural, economical, ethical and political oppressed. That which the Qur’an has emphasized on more, are the political and ethical oppressed. No doubt the arrogant tyrants, in order to strengthen the bases of their tyrannical policy, at first try to mentally and culturally weaken their preys and to economic weakness so that power and ability may not remain for them and they do not think about raising and taking the rein of government in their hand.
In five occurrences of the holy Qur’an the oppressed are referred to in which the words are about the believers who were under the pressure of the oppressors. In one place, the Qur’an invites the believers to struggle in the way of Allah and helping the Faithful oppressed ones. It says:
Only in one instance the Qur’an speaks about the ones who are unjust and cooperate with disbelievers while they claim that they are oppressed but the Qur’an negates their claim, where it says:
But since they did not so, their abide is Hell.22 Yet, the Qur’an has, however, supported the oppressed everywhere and has mentioned them fairly and has considered them the under-pressure-believers who are strugglers and are in the grace of Allah.
The General Style of All Oppressors
It was not only Pharaoh who, for the captivity of the Children of Israel, slaughtered their men and kept their women alive to be as maid servants, but all the tyrants of history used to do like that and caused the active powers to be useless by any mean they could. Wherever they could not break the men, they broke their manliness. They stopped the spirit of bravery, courage and faith in them by spreading means of corruption, narcotic materials, expansion of indecency, sexual libertinage, the development of liquor and gambling, and kinds of unsafe amusement so that they could continue their self-interest government with peace of mind.
But the Divine prophets, specially the Prophet of Islam (S), tried to awaken the inactive powers of the young persons; and even taught manliness to women and set them in the row of men against the oppressors. The evidences of these two programs are so manifest in the history of the past, and nowadays in all Islamic countries, that there is no need of mentioning them.
Footnotes