Who is the Virtuous Servant?

Who is the Virtuous Servant?

And why was he chosen rather than anyone else to meet Moses?

We learn from the aforementioned that the Virtuous Servant himself is the junction of the two seas, and the two seas are Ali and Fatima pbut. Therefore, he is one of the Imams or Mahdis pbut. Thus it remains for us to know: Who is he, and why does Moses pbuh meet him specifically? Whereas there must be a reason for specifying him in particular rather than anyone else. The truth is that the Virtuous Servant is Al-Qaim of the progeny of Muhammad. And the reason why Moses met him in particular is because Moses pbuh wished for his rank and he wished to be Al-Qaim of the progeny of Muhammad. And now after Moses had met him, he knew that he could not be Al-Qaim of the progeny of Muhammad after he felt his failure with him one time after another. So the answer of Allah for Moses pbuh to his question was practical and it was by having him meet the one whose rank he wished to have, so that Moses pbuh would know and feel his inability, shortcoming and negligence.

Salim Al-Ashil said,

I heard Abu Jafar Muhammad bin Ali Al-Baqir pbuh saying, “Moses bin Imran looked into the First Pentateuch to what is given to Al-Qaim of the progeny of Muhammad from empowerment and favor, so Moses said, ‘O Lord make me Al-Qaim of the progeny of Muhammad,’ so it was said to him, ‘That is from the progeny of Ahmad,’ then he looked into the Second Pentateuch and saw the same, so he said the same and the same was said to him. He then looked into the Third Pentateuch, and saw the same, so he said the same and the same was said to him.”^[1]

And the meeting of Moses pbuh with Al-Qaim of the progeny of Muhammad, in particular, had a major benefit for Moses pbuh, as Al-Qaim is the one who spreads knowledge and monotheism which result from the union of the two seas, Ali and Fatima pbut, meaning the twenty-seven letters [of knowledge].

And even though any of the Imams or the Mahdis pbut from the children of Ali and Fatima pbut can be called a junction of the two seas, Al-Qaim of Muhammad’s progeny has a uniqueness with this name, being the one who spreads the knowledge of monotheism which results from the union of the two seas, Ali and Fatima pbut.

Abu Abdullah pbuh said,

Knowledge is twenty-seven letters. So all that the prophets came with is two letters, so people until today know nothing other than these two letters. So if our Qaim rises, he brings out the twenty-five letters and he transmits them among the people, and he adds the two letters to them so he transmits them as twenty-seven letters.^[2]

And Moses’ issue, for which he was directed towards meeting the Virtuous Servant, was an issue of knowledge. Therefore, the best one for Moses pbuh to meet is the one who spreads the knowledge of monotheism among people, the knowledge of Monotheism which is a result of the union of the two seas of knowledge, Ali pbuh and Fatima pbuh.

And it was narrated from them pbut, in Tafseer Al-Qummi, Vol 2 page 38:

…When the Messenger of Allah pbuh told Quraish about the people of the cave, they said, “Tell us about the knowledgeable one whom Allah commanded Moses pbuh to follow and what his story was.” So Allah descended the verse,

﴾And when Moses said to his lad, “I will not give up until I reach the junction of the two seas or I spend years and years in search of it.”﴿.

So he said, “And the reason for that was, when Allah spoke to Moses in speech and He sent the tablets down unto him and they were as Allah swt said,

﴾And We wrote to him in the tablets a sermon from everything, and detailing of everything﴿,

Moses returned to the children of Israel, stood on the platform and told them that Allah has sent the Torah down unto him and that He spoke to him, and he said to himself, “Allah has not created a creation more knowledgeable than me.” So Allah inspired to Gabriel, “Save Moses for he has perished, and tell him, ‘At the junction of the two seas, at the rock, there is a man more knowledgeable than you, so go to him and learn from his knowledge.’ ” So Gabriel descended to Moses pbuh and told him, so Moses was humiliated with himself and he knew that he made a mistake, and horror entered him and he said to his successor, Joshua bin Noon, “Allah has commanded me to follow a man at the junction of the two seas and to learn from him.” So Joshua brought a salted fish and they set out, and when they did set out and reach that place they found a man lying down on his back and they did not recognize him…and they forgot the fish and that water was the water of life, so the fish came alive and entered the water. So Moses and Joshua moved along until they became hungry, so Moses said to his successor,

﴾“Bring us our lunch, we verily have found fatigue from this journey of ours.”﴿,

meaning tiredness, so his successor remembered the fish and said to Moses, “I forgot the fish at the rock.” And Moses said, “That man whom we saw at the rock is the one whom we are seeking.” So they went back ﴾tracing their footsteps﴿, meaning back to that man and he was in his prayer, so Moses sat down until he [that man] was done with his prayer, and he said salam to them.”

Isaac bin Ammar said that Abu Abdullah pbuh said,

The likeness of Ali pbuh and the likeness of us after him from this nation is like that of Moses pbuh and the knowledgeable one, when he met him and made him speak and requested his company, so from their matter was that which Allah told His prophet in His book, and that is that Allah said to Moses,

﴾I selected you over people by my messages and my words, so take what I have given you and be from those who are thankful﴿,

and He then said,

﴾And We wrote to him in the tablets a sermon from everything, and detailing of everything﴿.

And the knowledgeable one had knowledge which was not written for Moses in the tablets, and Moses believed that all the things he needed were in his tablets, and that all the knowledge was written for him in the tablets, just like those who claim to be clerics and knowledgeable believe. [They believe] that they proved all the knowledge and jurisprudence in the religion from what this nation needs, and what they knew from the Messenger of Allah and learned and memorized. And they did not know all the knowledge of the Messenger of Allah pbuhap, nor did they take it from the Messenger of Allah nor did they understand it, [for example] the matter of the Halal and Haram and other verdicts would be directed to them and they would be asked about them, and they would not have a narration about these matters from the Messenger of Allah pbuhap, and they find it embarrassing that people attribute ignorance to them, and they hate to be asked and not answer and people would, in that case, request knowledge from its source, so therefore they used opinion and analogy in the religion of Allah and they left the narrations, and they attributed innovations to Allah, and the Messenger of Allah pbuhap said, “Each innovation is misguidance.”

So if at any time they were asked about anything from the religion of Allah, and they had no narration about it from the Messenger of Allah, if they returned it to Allah, to the messenger and to those of authority from among them, then those who derive it from among them would have known it, that is, from the progeny of Muhammad pbut. And the reason they refused to request knowledge from us is because of animosity and envy towards us. No, by Allah, Moses pbuh has not envied the knowledgeable one, and Moses is a prophet of Allah whom Allah inspires, as he met the knowledgeable one, made him speak, and recognized him by knowledge, and he did not envy him like this nation envied us after the Messenger of Allah pbuhap for what we knew and inherited from the Messenger of Allah pbuhap, and they did not want us and our knowledge like Moses wanted the knowledgeable one and requested his company to learn from him and take guidance from him.

So when he asked the knowledgeable one for that, the knowledgeable one knew that Moses pbuh cannot be of his company, and he does not tolerate his knowledge, and he does not have patience with him. At that time, the knowledgeable one said,

﴾“And how are you to be patient about that which you have not been told about?”﴿,

so Moses said to him, in submission to him and in request of his compassion and acceptance,

﴾“You will find me, if Allah wills, to be patient and not disobeying a command of yours.”﴿.

And the knowledgeable one knew that Moses pbuh has no patience concerning his knowledge.

And like that, by Allah O Isaac bin Ammar, is the case of the judges of those, their clerics, and their group today. They do not bear, by Allah, our knowledge. They do not accept it nor tolerate it. They do not take it nor have patience concerning it, just like Moses had no patience over the knowledge of the knowledgeable one when he was in his company, and saw what he had seen from his knowledge. That [the knowledge] was detestable to Moses, but to Allah it was to his satisfaction and it is the truth. The same applies to our knowledge, it is detested by the ignorant ones and it is not taken, while to Allah it is the truth.”^[3]

Abu Abdullah pbuh said,

Moses pbuh stood on the platform and his platform had three steps, so he said to himself that Allah did not create a creation more knowledgeable than him, so Gabriel came to him and said, “You have been afflicted, so get down as there is one in this earth who knows more than you, so request him,” so he relayed to Joshua, “I have been afflicted so make food for us and let us set out.”^[4]

The narrations clarify that the issue of Moses was an issue of knowledge, as it has been clarified to he who reads the narrations that Moses pbuh said to himself that he was a knowledgeable one, so this meeting was a response to him. And he meant by knowledge [he thought he was most knowledgeable] that he fought himself and triumphed over his “I” which is within him, especially after he fought against himself and Allah spoke to him and he passed the test, and did not even consider himself better than a mangy dog, and it is not as those who do not know the facts imagine, that he thought he is more knowledgeable in the jurisprudence alone. And the last narration has a clarification that the matter is about elevation and perfection,

Moses pbuh stood on the platform and his platform had three steps.

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