Today, we continue to discuss the elevated status of the Prophet of Islam, Mohammad (Blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

We continue this discussion, with a glance upon the 59^th ayah of Surah al-Nisa, in Holy Quran. In this ayah, God Almighty notes: “O you who have faith! Obey Allah and obey the Apostle and those vested with authority among you. And if you dispute concerning anything, refer it to Allah and the Apostle, if you have faith in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more favorable in outcome.”

This ayah discusses one of the topics of importance in the divine religion of Islam which is leadership, clarifying the main source of reference of Muslims in religious and social matters. Firstly, this ayah instructs faithful individuals to comply with God. Obviously, for a faithful individual, any kind of leadership and governance should originate from the pure and chaste nature of the one and only creator of the world, God Almighty, and should be based upon God’s instruction. This is because God is the main ruler and owner of the world.

Further on, this ayah also refers to compliance with the Prophet of Islam; a divine prophet who is the Last and Greatest Messenger of God and is an infallible figure. Afterwards, God instructs servitudes of God to ‘obey those vested with authority among you.’ Now, let’s see who God is referring to by stating those vested with authority among you. Many discussions have been carried out among the exegetes of Holy Quran about who are the ones that God refers to as ‘those vested with authority among you.’

Some of the exegetes of Holy Quran opine that this statement of the said ayah is referring to the rulers of countries in any phase in time. These exegetes do not consider any exception in this regard. In the view of these exegetes, Muslims are duty-bound to comply with any ruling system, in any form or shape. Obviously, this standpoint is in contrast to the spirit of Islamic teachings, because any unconditional compliance with any ruling system does not match abidance by God and the Prophet of Islam. Thus, in addition to all Shia exegetes of Holy Quran, some of the major Sunni exegetes of Holy Quran have also rejected this theory.

In accordance with some of the other exegetes of Holy Quran, the statement “those vested with authority among you” in this ayah refers to the spiritual leaders, being Ulema and scientists; the scientists who are just and completely aware of the contents of Word of God and the tradition of the Prophet of Islam. This exegesis also does not match the contents of this ayah, because in order to follow Ulema and scientists, a number of conditions should be fulfilled. For instance, the remarks and actions of these Ulema and scientists should not violate the Word of God and Prophet’s tradition. However, given that these Ulema and scientists are not infallible; if they make a mistake or for any reason derail from the righteous path; their compliance would not be necessary. But, this ayah has named compliance with those vested with authority among you in absolute terms, and similar to compliance with the Prophet of God.

Meanwhile, a number of other views have also been presented, which are not discussed here.
However, another view which completely matches the contents of this ayah and other ayahs of Holy Quran, and all Shia thinkers and theologians agree upon, is that the statement “those vested with authority among you” refers to Infallible Imams, who have been delegated with the responsibility of material and spiritual leadership of the Islamic Ummah on behalf of God and the Prophet of Islam.

If we consider the kings and rulers of countries as the examples of the Quranic statement “those vested with authority among you”, the fact of the matter is that these figures are not infallible, while some of them have been known to be unjust. Now, should we follow such individuals? This is certainly not the case, because God never calls on the faithful to obey those who commit misdeeds and offenses.

In this ayah, God calls on us to follow the Almighty, Prophet of God, and ‘those vested with authority among you’. But, if we follow the rulers who are unjust and have derailed from the right path; such a measure would be in contract to Quranic teachings. So the Quranic statement “those vested with authority among you” does not refer to any ruler and Sultan who has been empowered. In fact the said Quranic statement refers to those, who never commit sins.

The well-known Sunni exegete of Holy Quran, Fakhr-e Razi, in elaboration of this ayah, applies the same reasoning, noting: “Someone who God has instructed us to obey should certainly be infallible. Otherwise, if God had called on us to comply with someone who commits wrongdoings, such an instruction would have been in contrast to divine orders. So, the Quranic statement ‘those vested with authority among you’ certainly refers to Infallible Imams of the Prophet of Islam’s Household (Peace be upon them).”

Quranic teachings forbid us from obedience of those, who have derailed from the righteous path, such as the unjust, corrupt, and misguided individuals. Thus, the Quranic statement ‘those vested with authority among you” refers to those, whose obedience has not been negated in Holy Quran. The important point in this ayah is that obedience of those who are vested with authority among you has been stated in line with obedience of Prophet of Islam, and given that compliance with the Prophet of Islam is a multilateral obedience, so compliance with those vested with authority among you should also be multilateral in nature. This goes to show that the statement “those vested with authority among you” in fact refers to Infallible and chaste individuals.
Let’s present an example to further clarify this fact. Assume that a vehicle is moving in a highway, in which green traffic lights have been installed. The driver realizes that he doesn’t face any problem. Otherwise, if there were barriers ahead, warning signs should have been installed. Now, when God asks mankind to obey ‘those vested with authority among you’, and has not set any conditions or warning signs en route this path, this means that we can openly follow those vested with authority among us and no threat is posed against mankind in this path, because ‘those vested with authority’ refers to figures who are infallible and chaste.

Several hadiths also point out that the Quranic statement “those vested with authority among you” in fact refers to the Infallible Imams of Prophet Mohammad’s Household. For instance, the well-known exegete of Holy Quran, Abu-Hayan Andolosi Maqrebi, notes that this ayah refers to the First Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad, Imam Ali (Peace be upon him), and the Prophet’s Infallible Household.

Well-Known Sunni scholar, Sheikh Soleyman Hanafi Qandouzi, has cited Salim ibn Qais Halali, as saying: One day, a man approached Imam Ali, asking what is the least measure that enlists a man among the faithful, and what is the least measure which enlists a man among disbelievers?

Imam Ali said that the least measure that enlists man among the misguided is that he would not know the vicegerents of God, who should be obeyed. The man asked Imam Ali to introduce the vicegerents of God. In response to the man, Imam Ali said: “Those whom the Prophet of God referred to on several occasions and in the sermon which the Prophet delivered in his waning days. The Prophet noted that he leaves two legacies among us, which if we resort to, we will never derail from the righteous path. Those two legacies are the Word of God and the Prophet’s Infallible Household.”

A number of valid sources have cited the Prophet of Islam as saying that the Quranic statement “those vested with authority among you” in fact refers to the Infallible Imams. Even in some of these hadiths, Prophet Mohammad (Blessings of God upon him and his progeny) has named his twelve infallible successors.

MR/EA