The Sealing of Prophethood and the Book of F\u0101\u1e6dima
\nLike other Islamic sects, the Im\u0101miyya believe that the Messenger of Islam is the last prophet to be ordained by God and that his book is the final scripture. After his departure, no more divine revelation has taken place. His prophethood brought an end to legislation. While performing ritual ablutions on the body of the Prophet, Imam \u02bfAl\u012b said: \u2018May my father and my mother shed their lives for you. O Messenger of Allah! With your death the process of prophethood, revelation and heavenly messages has stopped, which had not stopped at the death of others prophets.\u2019 (Nahj al-Bal\u0101gha, Sermon 234)
\nThe finality of the Prophet of Islam is a principle in Islam. Anyone denying this principle will be considered an apostate. Some questions have been raised to that effect:
\nIf the Prophet is the last messenger of God, why do the Prophet\u2019s Household still refer to the Book of \u02bfAl\u012b for instructions?
\nIf F\u0101\u1e6dima, the daughter of the Prophet, received a scroll (mu\u1e63\u1e25af), then divine revelation has not ended.
\nThe Im\u0101miyya follow traditions attributed to the their Imams without these being connected to the Prophet.
\nNow, we answer these questions.
\nThe Book of \u02bfAl\u012b
\nIn response to the first question, it is important to note that the Book of \u02bfAl\u012b is nothing more than a collection of the sayings of the Prophet. The Prophet dictated them to Imam \u02bfAl\u012b, who wrote them down. That is why it is called \u02bfAl\u012b\u2019s Book.
\nThe Sunn\u012bs view the a\u1e25\u0101d\u012bth narrated in the \u1e62a\u1e25\u012b\u1e25 of Bukh\u0101r\u012b as reliable even they have been recorded more than two centuries after the death of the Prophet and they are likely to have been distorted. On the other hand, Imam \u02bfAl\u012b took the a\u1e25\u0101d\u012bth directly from the Prophet without any change. Imam \u02bfAl\u012b was born in the Prophet\u2019s house and was in his company until his passing away. He describes his upbringing as follows:
\n\u2018I used to follow him like a young camel following in the footprints of its mother. Every day he would show me in the form of a banner some of his high traits and commanded me to follow it. Every year he used to go in seclusion to the cave of Hira, where I saw him but no one else saw him. In those days Islam did not exist in any house except that of the Prophet of God and Khad\u012bja, while I was the third after these two. I used to see and watch the effulgence of divine revelation and message, and breathed the scent of Prophethood.\u2019 (Nahj al-Bal\u0101gha, sermon no. 192)
\nImam \u02bfAl\u012b was always in the company of the Prophet. It was only during the campaign to Tabuk, when the Prophet assigned him the task of protecting Medina from the hypocrites, that they were apart. Indeed, the close relationship between the Prophet and the Imam continued until the former\u2019s death. \u02bfAl\u012b recounts the story of the Prophet\u2019s departure as follows:
\n\u2018The Messenger of God died while his head was on my chest. I performed ablutions on his body with the help of the angels. The angels used to come in groups to mourn his passing and I heard nothing from them but salutations upon the Prophet.\u2019
\nThis episode in the history shows that the Imam was firmly linked to the Prophet and he never separated from him. It was a characteristic of \u02bfAl\u012b. Anyone reading history with open eyes will perceive this unique quality of the Imam.
\nIt was due to this close affinity and familial connection that \u02bfAl\u012b was always ready to learn from the Prophet. To that effect, he says: \u2018Whenever I asked a question, he answered me and anytime I was silent he opened the conversation.\u2019 (T\u0101r\u012bkh al-Kulaf\u0101\u02be)
\nThe prophet ordered \u02bfAl\u012b to write down whatever he told him. Once \u02bfAl\u012b asked him: \u2018Are you worried that I will forget them?\u2019 The prophet replied: \u2018No, I don\u2019t worry because I have asked God to give you a good memory, but you should write them down for your partners.\u2019
\n\u2018What do you mean by my partners?\u2019 \u02bfAl\u012b asked.
\n\u2018The children who will be born in your family.\u2019 He replied.
\nTherefore, the Book of \u02bfAl\u012b referred to by Sh\u012b\u02bfa and Sunn\u012b scholars is in fact a collection of the Prophet\u2019s words dictated to \u02bfAl\u012b. This book will be of use to the believers until Judgment Day. The infallible successors to the Prophet have regularly referred to this book to answer people\u2019s questions. (Was\u0101\u02beil al-sh\u012b\u02bfa)
\nThis book has fortunately been spared any harm. But other Companions of the Prophet saw their writings burnt and destroyed (Kha\u1e6d\u012bb Baghd\u0101d\u012b, Taqy\u012bd al-\u02bfIlm; A\u1e25mad, Musnad). The burning of the writings was never compensated and it played well into the hands of liars who falsely quoted traditions from the Prophet. However, the Book of \u02bfAl\u012b remained intact.
\nSome quotes about the Book of \u02bfAl\u012b :
\nImam al-S\u0101diq says: \u2018We possess a book dictated by the Prophet and written by \u02bfAl\u012b. It contains everything about the permissible and the prohibited.\u2019 (al-K\u0101f\u012b)
\nImam al-B\u0101qir says: \u2018We possess the Book of \u02bfAl\u012b, whose length is seventy cubits and which contains any knowledge mankind may need, even the compensation for a scratch!\u2019
\nThe Book of \u02bfAl\u012b was often referred to as \u2018Jami\u2018a\u2019 (comprehensive). Imam al-B\u0101qir says: \u2018We hold the J\u0101mi\u02bfa. But what do people know about J\u0101mi\u02bfa?\u2019
\n\u2018What\u2019s J\u0101mi\u02bfa?\u2019 the Imam was asked.
\nImam al-B\u0101qir explained that J\u0101mi\u02bfa is a book whose length is seventy cubits \u2013 measured by the cubit of the Messenger of God \u2013 written by Imam \u02bfAl\u012b directly from the mouth of the Prophet.\u2019 (Ba\u1e63\u0101\u02beir al-daraj\u0101t)
\nTherefore, \u02bfAl\u012b was the first person who wrote down the Prophet\u2019s words. The writing of the book indicates that Imam \u02bfAl\u012b attached importance to the preservation of traditions.
\nAt that time, the School of Caliphs sought to undermine the views of the Prophet. \u02bfUmar b. Kha\u1e6d\u1e6d\u0101b had ordered his governors to promote only the Qur\u2019an only and prevent any traditions being narrated from the Prophet (\u1e6cabar\u012b, T\u0101r\u012bkh). \u02bfUmar even punished anyone repeating the Prophet\u2019s quotes. He regularly asked Ab\u016b Dharr and \u02bfAbd All\u0101h b. Mas\u02bf\u016bd: \u2018Why are you always spreading the words of Mu\u1e25ammad?\u2019 (Kanz al-\u02bfUmm\u0101l)
\nAt a time when narrating a\u1e25\u0101d\u012bth amounted to a major offense, Imam \u02bfAl\u012b and his children protected this book regardless of the Caliph\u2019s directives. Here is evidence:
\nAb\u016b Bas\u012br says: \u2018I was with Imam al-B\u0101qir. He asked for J\u0101mi\u02bfa, looked at it and read us this tradition: \u201cAfter a woman dies, her husband will inherit everything from here unless she has other inheritors.\u201d\u2019 (Ba\u1e63\u0101\u02beir al-Daraj\u0101t)
\nAb\u016b Bas\u012br says: \u2018I asked Imam al-S\u0101diq a question about inheritance. He said if I was interested in the Book of \u02bfAl\u012b. Then he opened the book to this page: \u201cA man dies, leaving his maternal uncle and paternal uncle; the paternal uncle inherits two-thirds and the maternal uncle inherits one.\u201d\u2019 (al-K\u0101f\u012b)
\n\u02bfAbd al-Malik b. A\u02bfyan says: \u2018I was with Imam al-B\u0101qir. He asked for the Book of \u02bfAl\u012b. His son, Ja\u02bffar, brought it to him. It was a thick scroll as thick as a human knee. The following \u1e25ad\u012bth was inside: \u201cWomen have no share in their husband\u2019s residence when he dies.\u201d Imam al-B\u0101qir vowed that it was the dictation of the Messenger of God and the handwriting of \u02bfAl\u012b.\u2019 (Was\u0101\u02beil al-Sh\u012b\u02bfa)
\n\u1e62ayraf\u012b remembers a difference of view between Imam al-B\u0101qir and \u1e24akam b. \u02bfUtayba: \u2018Imam al-B\u0101qir asked his son to bring him the Book of \u02bfAl\u012b. He brought a massive book whose leaves were rolled up. He opened the book. The Imam was looking for an answer to \u1e24akam b. \u02bfUtayba\u2019s question. He said: \u2018This is \u02bfAl\u012b\u2019s handwriting and the Messenger of God\u2019s dictation.\u2019 (Naj\u0101sh\u012b, Rij\u0101l)
\nIbn Bak\u012br says: \u2018Zur\u0101ra asked Imam al-S\u0101diq about performing prayers while dressed in the skin of animals whose meat is forbidden to eat. The Imam opened a book whose words he said were from the Messenger of God. The following \u1e25ad\u012bth was there: \u201cPrayers performed on the body of animals with forbidden meat are invalid. There is no exception for the skin, fleece, urine, excrement and milk of these animals. God will not accept such prayers. The animal\u2019s meat needs to be unforbidden.\u201d Then he said: \u2018Zur\u0101ra! This \u1e25ad\u012bth is from the Messenger of God.\u2019 (K\u0101f\u012b)
\nThey were just five quotes from the Book of \u02bfAl\u012b. We don\u2019t have the book, but senior Sh\u012b\u02bfa scholars have quoted a\u1e25\u0101d\u012bth from the book. The adept researcher Mirza \u02bfAl\u012b A\u1e25mad\u012b Miy\u0101nj\u012b has collected them in his work, Mak\u0101tib al-Ras\u016bl.
\nQuestion: Sunn\u012b scholars have said that Imam \u02bfAl\u012b always held a book in his sword sheath. Was this the Book of \u02bfAl\u012b? According to A\u1e25mad\u2019s Musnad, Ab\u016b \u1e24aj\u012bfa had asked \u02bfAl\u012b if he had any other book than the Qur\u2019an. In response, the Imam had said that he held only a scroll which enjoined wisdom, called for the liberation of slaves and said that believers will not be defeated by unbelievers.
\nAnswer: This narration could not be correct because it implies that Imam \u02bfAl\u012b had only learnt these three things from the Prophet. This \u1e25ad\u012bth does not conform with the real level of Imam \u02bfAl\u012b\u2019s knowledge. This quote of him has been mentioned differently in different books. (A\u1e25mad, Musnad; Muslim, \u1e62a\u1e25\u012b\u1e25; al-Bid\u0101ya wa al-Nih\u0101ya)
\nThe best proof to the falsity of such accounts is the following \u1e25ad\u012bth from the Prophet:
\n\u2018I am the city of knowledge and \u02bfAl\u012b is the gate.\u2019
\nThis tradition has been narrated by more than 143 scholars and there are 70 documents for it. (See Shar\u012bf, Gh\u0101d\u012br)
\nIs it really reasonable to suppose that Imam \u02bfAl\u012b had learnt only these three things? He was the one to whom all Caliphs and Companions referred to when they were ignorant of something. He must have been a knowledgeable man. Fa\u1e0dl b. R\u016bzbih\u0101n says Imam \u02bfAl\u012b was doubtlessly a scholar whom people desperately needed. He used to carry the Prophet\u2019s message to people. (Dal\u0101\u02beil al-\u1e62idq)
\nTherefore, nobody can question the authenticity of these two a\u1e25\u0101d\u012bth. Otherwise, there have been some attempts to underestimate the knowledge of Imam \u02bfAl\u012b.
\nThe Book of F\u0101\u1e6dima
\nThe second question pertains to the Book of F\u0101\u1e6dima (Mu\u1e63\u1e25af F\u0101\u1e6dima). Some wrongly imagine that this book is the same as the Qur\u2019an, but such a view is in stark contrast with the end of prophecy. In Arabic, \u2018mu\u1e63\u1e25af\u2019 means a \u2018scroll\u2019, not the Qur\u2019an. The Qur\u2019an says: \u2018And when the scrolls (su\u1e25uf) are unrolled.\u2019 (Q81:10)
\nIn some traditions, the word mu\u1e63\u1e25af might have be used for the Qur\u2019an because during the time of the Prophet, the Qur\u2019an was the only important book of the time. For example, Imam al-S\u0101diq says: \u2018Whoever recites the Qur\u2019an upon the page (mu\u1e63\u1e25af) makes use of his sight\u2019. (al-K\u0101f\u012b)
\nAnother tradition refers to the word \u2018mu\u1e63\u1e25af\u2019 is as follows: \u2018Reciting the Qur\u2019an upon the page will reduce punishment for one\u2019s parents.\u2019 (al-K\u0101f\u012b)
\nGiven these traditions and many other quotations from scholars, mu\u1e63\u1e25af does not mean Qur\u2019an: it is a bound book in which its owner recorded their knowledge. If Qur\u2019an has been referred to as mu\u1e63\u1e25af later it has been due to the fact that it was no longer oral and it had become a written work.
\nIt has been no surprise to hear that F\u0101\u1e6dima, the daughter of the Prophet has had a notebook to record what she learnt from her father. F\u0101\u1e6dima\u2019s children have mentioned in their traditions and narrations that they took note of what they learnt from their parents.
\nImam \u1e24asan says: \u2018We have a comprehensive book (j\u0101mi\u02bfa) defining everything permitted and prohibited. There is also the Book of F\u0101\u1e6dima \u2013 which is not the Qur\u2019an \u2013 dictated by the Prophet and written by Imam \u02bfAl\u012b. We possess all of them.\u2019 (Ba\u1e63\u0101\u02beir al-Daraj\u0101t)
\nThe Imam has noted that the mu\u1e63\u1e25af is totally different from Qur\u2019an. In another tradition, Imam al-S\u0101diq says: \u2018I swear by God that there is not a single word from the Qur\u2019an in this. When asked if it contained knowledge, the Imam replied: \u2018Yes, but not ordinary knowledge.\u2019 (al-K\u0101f\u012b)
\nThe Book of F\u0101\u1e6dima is different from the Qur\u2019an and some individuals are spitefully or ignorantly speaking about it in a bid to accuse Sh\u012b\u02bfa of deviation.<\/p>\n
\u2018Mu\u1e25addath\u2019 persons in Islam
\nIn the Islamic tradition, a mu\u1e25addath refers to a person who, while not a prophet and not receiving in revelation, nevertheless is spoken to by angels. This is why the title is the passive participle (ism maf\u02bf\u016bl) of ta\u1e25d\u012bth, i.e. \u2018one spoken to.\u2019 The Prophet is quoted, by Bukh\u0101r\u012b, as saying: \u2018Among those who lived before Israelites, there were men who had been addressed from heaven without having been prophets. In my community, \u02bfUmar b. Kha\u1e6d\u1e6d\u0101b is such a person.\u2019 (\u1e62a\u1e25\u012b\u1e25 Bukh\u0101r\u012b)
\nThere are so many narrations about mu\u1e25addaths in the Islamic community. Commentators on Bukh\u0101r\u012b\u2019s \u1e62a\u1e25\u012b\u1e25 have provided sufficient explanation to that effect (e.g. see Irsh\u0101d al-S\u0101r\u012b). Kulayn\u012b has noted in his book K\u0101f\u012b that a mu\u1e25addath hears the voice of angel without seeing it. He also mentions that the Sh\u012b\u02bf\u012b Imams are all mu\u1e25addaths. (al-K\u0101f\u012b)
\nTherefore, the daughter of the Prophet is a mu\u1e25addath due to her qualifications. She used to hear the voice of angels but she did not see them. This happened after the departure of his father when Gabriel came to her and told her about the future in a bid to console her for her loss.
\nImam al-S\u0101diq says: \u2018After God took back His Messenger, F\u0101\u1e6dima plunged into a deep sorrow. God sent an angel to offer condolences to her. F\u0101\u1e6dima told this to Imam \u02bfAl\u012b. \u02bfAl\u012b said: \u2018Anytime you hear the voice of the angles let me know so that I will write whatever they say.\u2019 F\u0101\u1e6dima told \u02bfAl\u012b everything she heard from the angels and all these words were collected in a book known as the mu\u1e63\u1e25af. The book does not talk about permissible and prohibited \u2013 it only contains reports about the future.\u2019 (al-K\u0101f\u012b)<\/p>\n
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Shia Islam: The Righteousness of the Prophet\u2019s Companions \/19<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n