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Proofs of Shia point of view about Caliphate-Imamate

In our previous article we explained the Shia concept of Caliphate and Imamate that Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) announced his 12 successors and mentioned their names. In this article we will give some more proofs about it. We want to say here if the successorship of Imam Ali(as) is proven over Abu Bakar that without any gap Imam Ali is the successor of Prophet Mohammad then the successorship of the other 11 Imams will be proven automatically. According to Shia point of view people have no authority to choose the successor of any Prophet nor does prophet himself select his own successor. Allah (swt) makes the Prophets to preach his message among the people. Allah himself appoints the deputy or successor of the Prophets. (When Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) announced about his successorship, or stated anything. It is all according to the revelation. Surah Najam (53:3-4) He does not speak out of his own desires. It is a revelation which has been revealed to him.) We want to give an example from Quran, Surah Baqarah (2:247) And their Prophet said to them: Surely Allah has raised Talut to be a king over you. They said: How can he hold kingship over us while we have a greater right to kingship than he, and he has not been granted an abundance of wealth? He said: Surely Allah has chosen him in preference to you, and He has increased him abundantly in knowledge and physique, and Allah grants His kingdom to whom He pleases, and Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All-Knower." In this verse we know that Allah appointed the deputy of Prophet and a chief for the people. We also found the criteria that who can be the best leader. That person must have these two qualities, best knowledge and physique (strong nerves). This is well proven reality that there is no one braver than Imam Ali among the companions. We want to ask our Sunni brothers if they could prove that these caliphs (Abu Bakar, Umar, and Usman) were braver than Imam Ali? Can our Sunni brother mention one name that was killed by them in fighting wars against Islam? While we can read in Sahi Al Bukhari that Usman run away in the battle of OHAD, Umar bin Khattab run away in the battle of Hunain by leaving the Holy Prophet in lurch. We also ask our Sunni brothers if they could show one page of words of wisdom by these three Caliphs? We invite our Sunni brothers to read Nahajul Balagha to see how
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Imam Ali is Knowledgeable, they will find out this reality that there is no one superior in knowkedge except Imam Ali after the Prophet. We invite our Sunni brothers to read this Hadiths in their books that the Prophet said "I am the City of Knowledge, and Ali is its Gate. So whoever intends to enter the City and the Wisdom, he should enter from its Gate."(Al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, Fadha'il al-Sahaba, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and many others). We want to mention one more example from holy Quran about Prophet Moses. Quran reports about Moses and Aaron. Surah Taaha (20: 25-36) Moses said, "Lord, grant me courage, Make my task easy, and my tongue fluent, so that they may understand me. Appoint a deputy (for me) from my own family, Aaron, my brother, Strengthen my back by him, And associate him (with me) in my affair, That we may glorify You much, And remember You much, You are Well Aware of our situation." [Allah] said, "You have been granted your request, O Moses. We mentioned the verses of Quran. So we can understand the position of Aaron to Moses. We can also understand that Allah appoints a deputy to prophet. Not even prophet himself or people. This is very truly proven hadith in Sunni sources (Bukhari, Muslim, Tarimzi and others) Prophet Mohammad said Ali you have same position to me like Aaron to Moses, the only difference is that there is no prophet after me We invite our Sunni brothers and sisters to pay attention on the verses of Quran that Prophet Moses asks Allah to grant him deputy his brother Aaron. Prophet Mohammad said Ali you have same position to me like Aaron to Moses. Prophet Moses left for forty nights, appointed his deputy on his nation. How come Prophet Mohammad left his nation for ever, did not appoint his deputy Ali on his nation? We invite all Muslims to pay attention only on this verse (3:61) that Prophet Mohammad brought Imam Ali in Mubahala with him on his place. This will solve the matter of successorship of Prophet Mohammad. The verse says call ourselves and yourselves. In the verse Arabic word (AN FO SA NA) is used which means ourselves. The holy prophet brought Imam Ali with him. Do our Sunni brothers have any explanation! On which position holy prophet brought Imam Ali in Mubahala? We have to accept it that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) brought Imam Ali with him as his part, either we have to accept this reality that there was no one else is deserving the same status as Imam Ali to represent Islam with the messenger of Allah. By this way holy Prophet also wanted to show the world that who is his successor after him. We again want to remind it that Dhul-Hijja 24th of 9th Hijri when the verse of Mubahala was revealed; Holy Prophets own son baby Ibrahim was still alive by that time. The verse of Mubahala says bring your children: The holy Prophet only brought these personalities with him: Ali, Fatima, Hassan and Husain. The holy Prophet did not bring his own son Ibrahim. The Prophet wanted to show the world that these are special purified personalities who will be the central figures of Islam after me.
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(We have provided the link of Wikipedia about the date of birth and date of death of Hazrat Ibrahim the son of holy Prophet. please find the link. We would like to mention the Hadiths from Tarimdhi chapter virtues of Imam Ali, the Holy Prophet said: "Ali is the part of me and I am the part of Ali, No one conveys something on my behalf except me or Ali." Everyone accepts that this is true hadith. The holy Prophet said this on the occasion when the Prophet gave responsibility to Imam Ali upon Abu Baker to announce the verses of Surah Taubah during Hajj. If we pay the attention that the Holy Prophet took the responsibity from Abu Baker and gave it to Imam Ali to announce these verses. If Abu Baker cannot announce only 10 verses on behalf of Prophet of Islam, how come he can be the interpreter of whole Quran upon Imam Ali? Please read this hadith again, it will help to understand the matter of successorship of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) "Ali is part of me and I am the part of Ali, No one conveys something on my behalf except me or Ali." We also find this hadith in Bukhari, chapter virtues of Imam Ali that Holy Prophet said O Ali you are from and I am from you. We are posting the link from Saudi official website, Ministry of religious affairs. please find the link. we are also giving the screen shot in PDF. We also find these words of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) that Ali is the part of me and I am the part of Ali, these are the proven words of the Prophet which Sunni fellows cannot deny. May we ask simple question from our Sunni brothers if they could give us the satisfactory explanation of these words of the holy Prophet about Imam Ali? It will help them to understand the matter of succesorship of the holy Prophet. We are easily able to understand from the words of Prophet that Imam Ali is the true picture of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh); Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) speaks through Imam Ali and Imam Ali is the original successor of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). We find the same wordingS of Holy Prophet about Imam Hussein in Tirmidhi and other books. It has exactly the same meaning as above that Imam Hussein is also the successor of Prophet Mohammad and the teachings of Prophet Mohammad are preserved through Imam Hussein. Some of our Sunni fellows say that the holy Prophet said this about Imam Ali and Imam Hussein because they had spiritual relation with the Prophet. We want to inform them that all companions of the Prophet and whole nation of Islam have spiritual relation with Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). Show us this wording about anybody else? Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) started to announce his successor from the beginning of his prophet hood. It is a long narration which is reported in Sunni sources, Ahmad bin Hunbal, Ibne khawaarizimi, ibne Jurair Tabri and others reported when the verse (26:214) was revealed "And warn your nearest relations," Prophet Mohammad invited his close relatives and announced his prophet hood, The Prophet called them to oneness
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of Allah and said at the end The one who first of all acknowledges my call and helps me in my mission is my brother, my helper, my heir, and my successor after me." The Prophet repeated the last sentence three times, and each time none except Ali responded to him, saying, "I will aid and help you, O Prophet of Allah!" So the Prophet declared: "This Ali is my brother, and he is my successor and Caliph among you." There are many verses in Quran that we can prove the successorship of Imam Ali after the Holy Prophet. We mention the famous one verse here verse of wilayat. (5:55-56) Only Allah is your Wali (Guardian-master), and His Messenger, and those who believe those who keep up prayers and pay the poor-rate while they bow. And whoever takes Allah and His messenger and those who believe for a mastership, and then surely the party of Allah is they that shall be triumphant. About the above verses all Shia scholars state that this verse was revealed about Imam Ali. There are also many Sunni scholars who testify that this verse was revealed about Imam. There is a hadith in Musnad Ahmad bin Hunbal and Nissaie by Abu Zar Ghaffari that Imam Ali while he was praying, somebody asked help, nobody helped him, he complained that he is going empty handed from the mosque of prophet. Imam Ali stretched his hand and let him to take the ring. The holy prophet prayed about Imam Ali, and then this verse was revealed. Sunni Tafseers, thalabi, Quratbi, Tafseer Tabari and many others. Our Sunni fellows make the meanings of Wali as friend and also say that plural wording is used in this verse after the Prophet. Shia sources say that this is verse starts from INNAMA which rule out all others and specify special people, that no one is your master except these, In Arabic language plural wording could be used for respect; there are many examples in Quran, Allah himself refer plural word for him in many verses, in Mubahala verse NISSA, ANA plural words is used while holy prophet got only Lady Fatima. Our Sunni fellows also make different translation about the verse that those believers who pray, give zakat and bow down. Shia sources say that it is not right translation bowing down is already part of prayer. Why Allah have to say it separately that those who pray and bow down? Sometimes our Sunni fellows say how come Zakat is given in the form of ring or Imam Ali was not rich. Shia sources say that the word of Zakat can be used as spending something on the way of Allah as MUSTAHAB not always wajib. Our Sunni fellows try to make different reasons not to accept this verse about Imam Ali. But Shia scholars answer all those excuses one by one and prove that verse is announcing who are your masters, not friends. For more details about this verse we linked our page to Answering-ansar.org We want to mention one more Hadith from Tirmidhi and Nisaaie, this is not a weak Hadith, (this Hadith is Hassan in Chapter of virtues of Imam Ali) the holy Prophet said Ali is from me I am from Ali; Ali is the master of all believers after me.

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Our Sunni brothers accept this is true hadith. They cannot reject it that this weak or fake hadith. But they change the translation and meanings of this hadith. Our Sunni brothers say, the prophet said Ali is from me I am from Ali, Ali is MAWLA of all believers after me. which means Ali is friend of all believers after me because MAWLA has one meaning friend. This is a misinterpretation in order not to accept the truth. Yes MAWLA has one meanings as friend, one meaning as salve, some other meanings also but MAWLA has one meaning being Master (the person who has more authority on someone more than him). The above mentioned hadith from Nessie and Tirmidhi, it is a long narration which says that Imam Ali was the chief of one army. He used his right as a chief and kept one female slave for himself. Some people complained about Imam Ali to the Prophet. On that occasion the Prophet said Ali is from me I am from Ali, Ali is the master of all believers after me. The prophet (pbuh) again one more time reminded to people that Ali is same as me and he is your master as I am your master. And he is the master of all believers after me. It does not make sense that the prophet (pbuh) told his companions on that occasion; Ali is the friend of all believers after me. We want to quote here one verse from Quran (33:6) The Prophet has more authority over the believers than themselves. His wives are their mothers. In this verse word AWALA is used for the prophet. This word is related to MAWLA. It is not correct if we will put the other meanings of AWALA here as friend, closer etc. There are many Quranic verses and true Ahadiths which Sunni accept as true Ahadith on this topic. We recommend for our brothers and sisters to see more details in the books. We do not want to make this article longer. At the end we want to mention that the holy Prophet held his last gathering at the occasion of his last pilgrimage at the place of Ghadir e khum near to Mecca. It was a place where people from different provinces should say Good bye to each other and take different routes for their home. The holy Prophet stopped all his followers on that place for few hours and delivered a long speech. There the Messenger of Allah again announced about his successorship and showed Imam Ali to all his followers. This hadith is well proven reality in Islam. There are hundreds of chains of narration of this hadith because there were so many people (about 100,000) in that gathering. We want to mention here the names of some books of hadith narrated the event of Ghadir. Tirmidhi, Sunan Ibn Maja, Khasa'is, by al-Nisa'I, al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and many other books. The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Do I not have more right over the believers than what they have over themselves?" People cried and answered: "Yes, O' Messenger of God." Then Prophet (PBUH) held up the hand of Ali and said: "Whoever I am his Master (Mawla),
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Ali is his Master (Mawla). O' God, love those who love him, and be hostile to those who are hostile to him." This is well proven true hadith in Sunni source but again they do not reject the hadith but change the meanings of hadith. They say the meaning of MAWLA here is friend. If we pay attention on this hadith, before announcing the walayah of Imam Ali, the prophet asked Do I not have more right over the believers than what they have over themselves?" If our Sunni brothers make any other meanings of WALI (friend, nearer, slave etc.) it is not right. There is no other choice to make the meanings of these words of the Prophet (ALAST O AWLA ) that Do I not have more right over the believers than what they have over themselves?" If we have to make meaning of AWLA that the Prophet is the master of believers then we have to take the meanings of the next words of the prophet as Master. The Prophet let them acknowledge first the statement "do I am not your master", the believers acknowledged it, then the Prophet announced that anybody who acknowledges me as the master, Ali is his Master. The prophet raised Imam Ali's hand and showed to people and prayed for Imam Ali O' God, love those who love him, and be hostile to those who are hostile to him." The Prophet already told his followers in his whole life many times that he loves Imam Ali, Ali is his brother etc. It was a special occasion. The Prophet held this ceremony, ordered people to make the stage, stopped his all followers in hot day for few hours. There he announced and showed his successor after him. Our Sunni brothers acknowledge that the Prophet delivered a speech at Ghadir e Khum. But where is that speech? They do not mention the speech in their books because all the speech is about Imam Ali and his successorship. We find a small piece of that prophets speech in Sahih Muslim (chapter virtues of Imam Ali). Zaid bin Arqam (rz) narrated that the Prophet said at Ghadir e Khum I am leaving two weighty things among you Quran and my Ahlalbait. If we read more details about the event of Ghadir e Khum in Sunni books, after his speech, the Messenger of Allah asked everybody to give the oath of allegiance to Ali (as) and congratulate him. Among those who gave him the oath were Umar, Abu Bakar, and Uthman. It is narrated that Umar and Abu Bakar said: "Well done Ibn Abi Talib! Today you became the master (Mawla) of all believing men and women."(Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, al-Musannaf, by Ibn Abi Shaybah, Tarikh, by Khatib al-Baghdadi, v8, p 290,596 from Abu Hurayrah) Did the companions of prophet congratulated Imam Ali for friendship? That Ali is their friend now?
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Arabic language is very rich. It is important we need to make true translation of Quran and Hadith in order to get guidance. (Otherwise Mirza Qadiyani (India) made his own religion, claimed as a prophet by twisting the meanings of Arabic words) We will stop our article here. In next article we will discuss that how Shia point of view about Caliphate (Imamate) is logical and fulfill all the requirements of Islam. May Allah (swt) guide those who seek for truth and send blessings to holy prophet Mohammad and his Ahlalbait May Allah (swt) guide those who seek for truth and send blessings to holy prophet Mohammad and his Ahlalbait.