Chapter 3: Prophethood

Who Is The Prophet?

God, the All- Mighty, the All- Wise, is the creator of human beings. There is a goal for the creation of mankind. God Himself is Self- Sufficient 1, so His goal for the creation of Mankind is benefiting mankind, not benefiting from it; thus, He wills to lead us to the summit of perfection which is an eternal good life, therefore, He sends guidance.

Divine guidance comes in the form of our own intellect that we acquire through ratiocination, and instructions sent to us through messengers. Generally, these instructions and teachings can be organized into two groups:

There are some issues that we simply cannot learn through experiments, such as the Hereafter and that of the human soul. We get such information from God. We cannot get this information without God. There are other issues though, that through experimental knowledge human’s intellect and understanding can perceive, understand and analyse; Divine guidance in the latter cases only directs human being’s intellect, although human beings can understand these facts without Divine guidance, God still guides and mentions them lest people go astray, e.g. God says: consume the blessings but do not be wasteful2 or do not corrupt3 or do not oppresses or do give thanks4 to God and so on.

How To Know The Prophet

The Messengers were the qualified persons who were chosen by God. Their main duties were to deliver the message of God to mankind. The messengers were human beings like other human beings but they were qualified in all aspects to shoulder their duty. The degree and ranks of the Divine messengers were different. The last and the most honoured messenger of God was Muhammad (S); he received the knowledge and message from God through revelation (Wahy). According to the Qur’an and the teachings of the Islam, Muhammad (S) is the last messenger of God because God has completed His teachings with Muhammad (S).

There are several ways to know the real messenger of God:

Miracles

Miracles are extraordinary deeds which only a messenger can perform with Divine permission to prove that he is the Messenger of God. The miracles of Divine messengers are different from the deeds of magicians because no one can learn or do the miracles of the Divine messenger, but the deeds of magicians can be taught and also no one can overcome the miracles of the Messengers because in fact, it is God who permit the Messengers to perform miracle. the following verse discloses some of the miracles of Jesus:

“O Jesus, son of Mary! Remember My favour (bestowed )on you and on your mother (including) when I (helped and) confirmed you through the Holy Spirit, so you spoke to the people from (your) cradle (to prove your truthfulness) and (I helped you ) in maturity (to deliver God’s message), and I taught you the Book, and wisdom, the Torah and Gospel, and (as I helped you) when you made (a statue) from clay in the form of the bird with My permission, then you blew on it and it became a (real) bird with My permission, and (remember when I helped you to) heal those who were born blind and the leper with My permission, and you could revive the dead with My permission” (5:110).

Introducing By The Previous Messengers

All of the Messengers were commanded to confirm the previous messengers and to introduce the following one. As Jesus introduced the Messenger after him:

“And when Jesus, son of Mary, said that O Children of Israel! I am God’s messenger sent to you to confirm the Torah which was sent before me, and to give the good news of a messenger who will come after me. His name is Ahmad” (61:6).

Valid Evidences

There are valid evidences that can prove the truthfulness of the Divine messengers as follows:

Character Of The Messenger

the qualities and character of the Messengers can be a sign of his truthfulness: if he has the good qualities and avoids wrong deeds when he struggles to achieve His goal, it can be a good piece of evidence that he has a holy goal. The Qur’an praises the good qualities of the Messenger:

“Indeed, you have a high standard of qualities” (68:4).

His Goal

The goal of a messenger can be a sign of his truthfulness. The goal of Divine messengers is God and His pleasure. They lead people to attain God's pleasure.5

Method Through Which He Reaches His Goal

The Divine messengers observe God's law and avoid achieving his goal through every means. He never commits evil deeds nor sins and he shows mercy on mankind including the children and the innocent.

His Message

The message and the teachings of the Messengers can be a sign of his truthfulness. His teachings are confirmed by intellect. This is why the Qur’an invites the wise to ponder over the teachings of the Qur’an6. Hence the wise should study all of their teachings to make a proper decision.

Duties Of The Prophets

Teachings And Providing Training

God sent the Messengers to teach people in order to enable them to move towards perfection and prosperity. These messengers were human beings and of the people. Their teachings and training are classified into three stages as follows:

The messengers recited God’s signs and messages to people, therefore, people could understand what the messages of God are, so they were able to make a decision about their own fate.
The messengers purify the people: they trained them in the correct ways of worshipping, self-purification and that of avoiding all evil deeds7.
The messengers taught the people God’s book and taught them wisdom i.e. the teachings which help people to prosper e.g. tradition of the Messenger8

“We sent down from among you a messenger to you who recites Our signs to you, and purifies you, and teaches you the book, and wisdom, and what you did not know” (2:151).

Reminding

One of the main duties of the Messengers is reminding. They remind people about the Divine teachings, the Day of Judgment, and their duties concerning God in order to enable them to get ready for world to come, so the Qur’an also names itself as a reminder 9 and it says that Muhammad (S) is a reminder too.

“Remind! Indeed, you are of the reminders” (88:21).

Warning

The messengers were to warn people about the upcoming calamities when death comes and the events after Death this is why the Qur’an repeatedly says to Muhammad (S) that he is a warner10.

Giving Ultimatum

The messengers delivered God’s message and clarified His teachings to the people in order to disclose to them what will happen and how they can save themselves, this was a kind of ultimatum because after the Messengers clarified the facts i.e. Message and guidance for people, their pretext will not be acceptable if they fail to prosper because they knowingly choose the path of failure in the world to come:

“(We sent down) the Messengers who were givers of good news and warners lest people argue against God (or make excuses for their disobedience) after the Messengers” (4:165).

Justice

Justice is a demand of all mankind, however, they may interpret it according to their own understanding or benefit or even misuse it, so God, the All-Wise, the All- Merciful, provided the Messengers with a Criterion in order that they establish true justice for mankind and observe the rights of all mankind.

“Indeed, We provided Our messengers with clear (evidences) and We sent book and scales with them that people be just (in everything they do)” (57:25).

Law Maker

God who created mankind loves His servants and leads them towards perfection. He created mankind to live in the world, in order to get ready for the life of eternity; He provided them with law, This law has been sent by God and clarified with the Messenger. The messengers also in some cases were allowed to create law with God's permission. God's law are the Divine limits and are generally known in the Qur’an as Taqwa.

Conditions Of Law Maker

He should have comprehensive knowledge in all aspects about the human being, his needs and the universe, otherwise, his law will not fulfil the needs of all.

Law maker should not benefit from the law otherwise his desires have effect on the law.
Accordingly, human beings in most cases cannot create a perfect law for all of mankind because he does not have comprehensive and exact knowledge about them and their needs, but God has comprehensive knowledge11 and He is Self- Sufficient12.

Revelation

Revelation is the special and mysterious connection between God and the Messengers through which the Messengers receive God's messages13; this connection and conveying of the Divine message to the Messengers were done through a very secure process which was protected by God14, so nothing wrong could ever affect them or the message. The messengers were never mistaken when they received the Divine message or saw what God displayed to them, they understood the message correctly and completely 15 as such, it was not comparable with any other kind of connection which occurs between usual people. It was God who delivered the message to His Messenger:

“God only speaks to human beings through revelation, (producing sounds from) behind a curtain, or He sends (an angel as) a messenger to reveal, with His permission, what God desires. Indeed, He is All-Exalted, All-Wise” (42:51).

According to the aforementioned verse revelation occurred in following ways:

A secret and direct talk between God and the Messengers through which messages are conveyed to the hearts of the Messengers16.

“Indeed, We will revealed you to a weighty word” (73:5).

Revelation behind a curtain: Divine speaking to the Messenger without seeing the Messengers. Through which the Messengers did not see the one who speaks but rather he hears the voice through something such as a tree, as the case with prophet Moses (‘a) or during sleep. In this case God produces voices to convey the message to the Messenger or God speaks to the Messenger through a dream17. These kinds of dreams are exclusively for the Messengers and other people are not qualified to receive such messages:

“When he reached there, he was called from the right bank of the valley in the blessed part (which issued) from the tree, “O Moses! I am God, the Lord of all the worlds” (28:30).

Revelation by an angel: the Divine message is conveyed to the Messengers by an angel:

“The powerful (angel, Gabriel) taught him.” (53:5).

Therefore, according to the Qur’an the reality of the revelation is delivering God's message to the Messenger of God thus there is no relationship between hypnotism, dreams of usual people and development of mind or souls in the usual people and the reality of revelation.

Revelation has occurred through different ways, as follows:

Conveying the meaning to the hearts of the Messenger:

“He sent it down through the Reliable Spirit (i.e. angel); to your heart that you may be a warner” (16:2).

God revealed the messages to the hearts of the Messenger and protected the Messenger, and the message from all aspect of deviations. This is the direct way of revelation. the other two ways are indirect ways of revelation or speech which can be from behind a curtain or an angel brings the message.

Creating the voice: God creates a voice in order to convey the message to a messenger:

“When he reached there, he was called from the right bank of the valley in the blessed part (which issued) from the tree, “O Moses! I am God, the Lord of all the worlds” (28:30).

In this case, the Messenger does not see angels or the one who speaks but he only hears the voices and God provides him with convincing evidences to know that it is God who is giving the messages.

The third way of revelation to the Messengers are with an angel. e.g. when Gabriel came to Muhammad (S) in the Cave of Hara.

Revelation in its technical sense which was classified in the three aforementioned forms is exclusively for the Divine messengers, not for the others and according to the Qur’an, Muhammad was the last Divine messenger and God will not send any messenger after Muhammad (S)

Inspiration

Sometimes revelation is used in the meaning of inspiration. When the Qur’an says that He inspired to some type of animal or insect it means that God has created an exclusive nature for it; e.g. And your Lord inspired the bee,

“Make your home in the mountains, trees, and that which they erect” (16:68).

Sometimes the Qur’an refers to inspiration provided to some believers e.g. the mother of Moses, in these cases inspiration means that God guides him/her to a straight path to perform his/her duty. These are contrary to the cases in which Satan inspires someone and enjoins him/her to commit evil deeds; thus, when human beings are inspired, they should refer to the Qur’an and teachings of the Messenger and his Household to see whether that inspiration is Divine or non-Divine.

Infallibility Of The Messengers

What is the meaning of Infallibility with respect to the Messengers? Are they forced to give up sins? Do they not willingly refrain sinning? Do they not have power or free will to disobey God?

On one hand the Divine messengers had very profound insight and knowledge, so they could see the realities of the grave and the fatal and harmful consequences of Divine disobedience, on the other hand they had an iron will and felt a very deep and sincere love for God, therefore, they even did not think about disobedience and they never disobeyed God even though they had free will to do so. God knew this fact and He was fully aware of them, so He chose them as His Messengers

“Indeed, they are definitely among the elect of the best in Our sight” (38:47).

Thus, Satan understood that this group of servants i.e. the sincere, among which are the Messengers, will not follow him, so he confessed that he will not be able to deceive them18

The Divine messengers, including Muhammad (S), spoke only according to what God commanded and revealed to them. They never attributed anything from themselves to religion, and never acted against God’s pleasure 19.

Accordingly, Divine messengers never committed a sin, however, some texts talk of messengers committing a sin. Sin, in such cases, doesn’t mean disobedience as we know it, it simply means that they could have acted better.

Muhammad (S) used to put himself under supreme pressure, ignoring his own rights, to keep his wives pleased. The Qur’an, saying it’s a sin, tells him that he shouldn’t have neglected his own rights 20 because his wives were wrongfully displeased with him.

Hence, when we analyse such verses, we should seriously take the holy position of the Messengers into consideration. We may not compare them with usual people nor are we allowed to narrow-mindedly degrade their holy position. Their physical body was like the rest of us 21, but they and their deeds are our Criterion. God says Muhammad (S) is a good example for mankind 22, therefore, such a good example cannot be the one who sins, because God chose a perfect example with whom He is completely pleased.

The Messenger Of Islam

We mentioned that all Divine messengers have been sent by God and He confirms all of them. Hence, Muslims should respect all prophets, they are not allowed to accept some and reject others:

“The messenger believed in what his Lord has sent down to him, and all the believers (like the Messenger) believe in God, His angels, His books, and His Messengers. (The believers should say,) ‘We do not make distinction between any of His Messengers’” (2:285).

God sent many messengers and perfected His law step by step, since Man could not understand and practice the perfect law from the beginning. He finalized and completed His religion by Muhammad (S); this why Muhammad (S) is the last messenger of God, because he provided mankind with the complete formula for guidance.

“Muhammad is not the father of anyone among you, but he is a messenger of God and the final prophet (who has been chosen and sent by God, so respect and follow His commands); and (you should know that) God knows all things” (33:40).

Muhammad (S) was introduced in the words and books of previous prophets too. Although the People of Book completely knew him like they knew their sons 23, they denied him. They were given all sorts of evidences and signs, which they refuted as magic 24. In one instance, he even agreed to the disbelievers’ request to crack the moon, which he did with God’s permission 25. However, none of these were Muhammad’s (S) greatest sign. Muhammad’s (S) greatest sign is the Qur’an, which anyone skilled in Arabic would find that it cannot be the doing of a human. The Qur’an itself presents a very simple challenge, in attempting to disprove it and its entire message; bring a chapter like the Qur’an if you can.

Universal Religion Of Muhammad (S)

The Qur’an explicitly declares that Muhammad is a messenger for all the people of the world and anyone who receives his messages should take it into consideration.

“Glorified is He who sent down the Criterion to His servant that he may be a warner to all the people” (25:1).

“This Qur’an was revealed to me to warn you and whoever receives it” (6:19).

The Qur’an

The Qur’an is the main miracle of Muhammad (S), the unschooled Prophet, that was taught by God and given this unique book.

The Qur’an is a book of guidance which shows the straight path. According to the Messenger 26, the Qur’an and his Holy Household 27 are two valuable and inseparable treasures which Muslims should cling to in order to prosper and never lose the path of reality.

What are some of the features of this book?

News Of The Unseen

The Qur’an teaches us about the life we are yet to meet. It has also predicted the future. The Qur’an predicted Rome’s victory over Persia 28, although for nine years no sign that Rome would overcome Persia could be seen. After Muhammad (S) fled Mecca, God promised he would come back and liberate Mecca, and he did 29.

Harmony In The Qur’anic Verses

When we read great works that are the product of years of thinking and one or two years of writing, we can find inconsistencies throughout the work. Writers may contradict themselves or say things that doesn’t fit in with what they had claimed a few chapters before. That is human, imperfect.

The Qur’an was revealed over a period of 23 years, with more than 6000 verses, however, the verses of the Qur’an are in the highest level of accuracy and eloquence. There are no contradictions between the verses. There is no sign that a human being has written it or Muhammad (S) fabricating it. If the Qur’an was a human product, there would have been differences and contradictions among its verses (think about it, 23 years!); in addition, Muhammad (S) was uneducated and it was impossible to fabricate the Qur’an. This is what the Qur’an emphasizes:

“Will they not use reason about the Qur’an? If this Qur’an had been sent down from (someone) other than God, indeed, you would have found in it many contradictions” (4:82).

Differences Between Shi’as And Sunnis

Shi’as and Sunnis are Muslim with the same God, messenger, book, and Qiblah. The main difference between the two schools stems from the issue of Muhammad’s (S) successorship. The Sunni school believes the Islamic nation was trusted with choosing Muhammad’s (S) successor, since he left without declaring one. The Shi’a on the other hand believe that successorship is such an important issue in the continuation and integrity of religion, that only God Himself can determine who succeeds the Prophet. God must have done this and no other person or group has the authority to do so.

According to the Sunni school, it doesn’t matter which companion you follow. The qualities each have are irrelevant, whichever you follow will take you to prosperity. The Shi’a do not agree and consider competence and quality to be a vital issue, only determinable by God. Muhammad (S) announced his successor as decreed by God.

They refer to several very well-known hadiths by Muhammad (S) which were repeated by his companions. Hadith of Manzilat, Hadith of Thaqalayn, and Hadith of Ghadir Khumm are some of the examples that show that Muhammad (S) never forgot his people. He shed light on the path of his people before his demise. The Shi’a say that the matter of religion is a matter of the Divine, therefore, people must follow what God and his messenger say and they are not allowed to direct it as they wish. Human naturally desires effect his decisions, but his knowledge is finite, so he cannot know who is truly qualified to hold the position of successorship to the Messenger after his demise.

Therefore, the Shi’a 30 consider the matter of successorship a Divine theological issue, but Sunnis do not do so.

Imamah

Imamah 31 ‎

God is qualified to be obeyed because He is All- Perfect, All- Wise, All- Knowing, and All- Compassionate, so He leads mankind to prosperity and has mercy on them. If we are to be correctly guided, then His Messengers should also be true obedient servants of God and act upon what God commands. They must not exercise their worldly desires over their decisions; they should do exactly what God desires, this is why they are God’s chosen successors.

God knows all. He knows what we truly are, who we really are deep down. He knows who is qualified to act as His Messenger. A messenger must be completely trusted for he shall lead the lives and the afterlife of the people. In addition, those who succeed the Messenger must be like the Messenger too because they too shall lead the lives and wealth of the people.

Such demands mean that it would serve against God’s goal if any ordinary person was to occupy this crucial position. Therefore, the successors of messengers should be as good as messengers and practice what God commands. It’s impossible for the mass of people to recognize such figures. You’ll need to know all about them and all about the creation, therefore it is God who should introduce them to the people. They are imams, or ‘Ul Al-’Amr as mentioned in the following verse:

“O Those Who Believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger, and ‘Ul Al-’Amr (who are in authority among you)” (4:59).

We see in the aforementioned verse that God says, “Obey God, the Messenger, and the ‘Ul Al-’Amr” that is, one must obey the ‘Ul Al-’Amr like he obeys God and His Messenger. Can people select and elect the ‘Ul Al-’Amr if God does not introduce him to mankind?

The aforementioned verse commands the believers to obey the ‘Ul Al-’Amr as they obey God and the Messenger, therefore, the ‘Ul Al-’Amr must have the same qualities, knowledge, and spirituality of the Messenger, otherwise, they cannot lead people towards the straight path! This is why God should choose the ‘Ul Al-’Amr; the ‘Ul Al-’Amr ‎ are the real successors of the Messengers whose commands hold the same authority as the commands of God and his messengers, because they only say and command to what God commands, otherwise they do not deserve to be followed.

The issue of Imamah (absolute leadership) is a very controversial and important issue of the Qur’an, because accepting or refusing it has crucial role in the belief of a Muslim.

The Shi’a believe that the successors of Muhammad (S) should be as knowledgeable and pious as Muhammad (S) himself, in order to be able to shoulder the duty of the last messenger. A normal companion obviously does not have those traits. This is why God commands the Messenger to introduce his successor and warned him that if he avoids from doing so, it’s as if he has not done his mission as a messenger:

“O Prophet! Deliver to them what has been sent down to you from your Lord, and if you do not do so (it is) as if you have not delivered His message (so far, and you have not done your duty as a prophet at all). And God will protect you against the people. Indeed, God does not guide disbelieving people” (5:67).

There are several points about this verse:

This is no usual command, because God says if he fails to fulfil this, it will be as if he has done nothing at all throughout all these years. This message must be something very important that equates to all Muhammad’s (S) endeavours and is directly related to his mission.
For some reason, the Prophet was delaying this announcement. The last part of the verse implies that there were people amongst the Muslims who would be a threat if this message was announced. God therefore promises to guard him against the people. These people aren’t the usual disbelievers or hypocrites, for they existed all throughout Muhammad’s (S) prophethood and Muhammad (S) has always been strong against them. 32

Level Of Imam’s Spirituality

Imamah is a very special level of qualification. Some of the Messengers were not only prophets but were also titled as Imam. This position is a very higher level of leadership and needs special qualifications. Abraham was a messenger of God, but when he passed a set of difficult Divine tests, God granted him the position of being an imam. He asked God to give this status to some of his progeny, to which God replied that his covenant is not given to the wrongdoers. 33

Divine Knowledge Of Imam

Messengers were connected to God through revelation; it is an exclusive method of receiving Divine message. Other methods are not exclusive to Prophets. They are a kind of inspiration through which the righteous servants of God perceive God’s guidance. The inspiration has been mentioned in some verses of the Qur’an as follows:

And when we inspired the disciples (saying), “Have belief in Me and in My messengers” they replied, “We believe, and be witness that we are certainly submissive (to you)” (5:111).

The aforementioned verse shows how God connected with the disciples of Jesus even though they were not messengers.

“And We inspired the mother of Moses that, “Suckle him and (place him in a box and) put him in the river when you fear for him, and do not fear nor grieve (for him, because) indeed We will give him back to you and We will appoint him (as one of Our) messengers” (28:7).

God commanded the mother of Moses as to what she had to do and thus He saved her child, Moses. Imams are not messengers, but they are Divine successors of the Messengers and God inspires them. This is in addition to the Divine knowledge they inherit from the Prophets.

Imams Are Infallible

We discussed the meaning of infallibility of messengers. The household of the final messenger are also infallible like the Messenger himself 34. It is God who confirms that the family of the Messenger are infallible and that He has purified them from all kinds of sins:

“Indeed, God wills to remove all kinds of impurity from you and completely purify you” (30:30).

God has purified them because they were to shoulder the duty of leading the Ummah after Muhammad (S) 35. When someone is an example to a nation, he should have very high standards and qualities.

1. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:267; 3:97; 31:12; 39:7; 64:6; 112:2.
2. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 7:31.
3. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:60.
4. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:172.
5. Divine pleasure is attainable through acquiring good qualities and by avoiding sinning.
6. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 14:52, 38:29.
7. Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 1/330, Ibn ʿAshur 1405 A.H., 2/48, N. Makarim Shirazi 1373 Sh., 1/511, F.-D. Razi 1420 A.H., 4/123.
8. F.-D. Razi 1420 A.H., 4/123, A. I.-F. Razi 1408 A.H., 2/228.
9. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 73:19; 74:54; 76:29; 80:11.
10. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 79:45; 13:7; 38:4; 38:65; 50:2.
11. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:29.
12. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:263; 2:267.
13. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 15:9.
14. See what God discloses about Muhammad in 53:11.
15. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 53:11.
16. Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 18/73.
17. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 37:102.
18. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 38:83.
19. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 53:3-4.
20. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 66:1.
21. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 18:110.
22. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 33:21; 60:4.
23. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:146.
24. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:146.
25. Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 19/55, Tabrisi 1372 Sh, 9/281, Alusi 1415 A.H., 14:74, Tabari 1412 A.H., 27/50, Zamakhshari 1986, 4/430.
26. Refer to the Hadith of Thaqalayn.
27. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 42:23.
28. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 30:1-4.
29. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 29:85.
30. The Shi’a say that Muhammad (S), by the commands of God, introduced his ‎successors. They hold belief that his successors are not usual companions, but they are at a very high spiritual level ‎and that of divine knowledge. These successors were commanded to lead the ‎people as Muhammad (S) led them. Shi’a call these leaders Imams. The first Imam is Ali and the others are from the offspring of Ali and Fatimah, daughter of the Messenger. These 12 ‎Imams are known as Ahl al-Bayt the People of the House of Messenger. The Shi’a hold belief that according to the Quran, the Ahl al- Bayt are purified and infallible 30:30, However, while Ali was busy with the burial ceremony of the Prophet, a small group of ‎companions with a prior plan neglected the Prophet’s commands ‎and chose a successor from themselves.
This is why Fatimah strongly opposed them, ‎saying ‘why should they neglect the command of the Messenger and follow other groups ‎[other than Ahl al- Bayt]?’. Fatimah made strong critical remarks against them. Some‎ decided to kill her, therefore, they attacked her house and severely hit Fatimah. She died of the injuries. Before her ‎demise, Fatimah willed that none of these people are allowed to attend her burial ceremony ‎and she must be buried in an unknown grave as a sign of her disapproval. Hence, her grave remains unknown forever. In addition, the ‎son of Fatimah and Ali i.e. Husayn was also killed by some Muslims commanded by Yazid, son of Mu‘wiyah, who was a caliph. Husayn is buried in Karbala.
31. God commanded His Messenger to say that Muslims must honour his close relatives as a wage for being a messenger 42:23; while no messenger demanded a wage for himself and their wage is with God, but here God commanded him to do so! Why? Because the matter of leadership of the Ummah nation resides in his close relatives i.e. the holy members of his family i.e. imams. Obeying them is the continuation of obeying the Messenger.
32. After this verse was revealed, Muhammad (S) announced the leadership of his successor in a place called Ghadir Khumm and many companions of the Messenger narrated this event. For more information, refer to the book al- Ghadir by Sayyid Abd al- Husayn Amini who has gathered thousands of evidences in 10 volumes narrated by Sunnis scholars to prove this event.
33. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:124.
34. Infallibility has the same meaning concerning the Messenger and his household.
35. Various hadiths from Muhammad (S) declare that the Ahl al-Bayt are his divine successors and they are also specific members of his family, not all of them. They have been introduced by the Messenger: Ali, his two sons from Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn, and the progeny of Husayn. They are 12 imams chosen by God and introduced by Muhammad (S).

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