Question 65 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 2

Ahmed al-Hasan Response:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them abundant peace. The Exalted said: ‘Indeed, it is a noble Quran, in a concealed book, which none touch except the purified’ (^[59]). If what was intended by the Quran in these verses-‘Indeed, it is a noble Quran’-were only the words available to all people, the Exalted would not have said, ‘in a concealed book.’ Concealed here means preserved and stored. Moreover, it is not merely preserved in a book; rather, this book ‘none touch except the purified.’ These ‘upright books’ about which you ask are touched by ‘none except the purified,’ because they are in ‘purified pages’ (^[60]). Burayd al-Ijli said: ‘I asked Abu Jafar (a) about the words of Allah, the Exalted, “purified pages in which are upright books.” He said, “It is our discourse in pages purified of falsehood”’ (^[61]). Jabir narrated from Abu Jafar (a), concerning His words, Mighty and Majestic, ‘Those who disbelieved among the People of the Book were not …’ He said: ‘They are the deniers among the Shia, because the Book is the signs and the People of the Book are the Shia. His words, “and the polytheists would not desist,” mean the Murji’a, “until the clear proof comes to them.”’ He said: ‘The truth becomes clear to them. His words, “a messenger from Allah,” mean Muhammad (s); “reciting purified pages” means that he points to those vested with authority after him. They are the Imams (a), and they are the purified pages. His words, “in which are upright books,” mean that with them is the manifest truth. His words, “Those who were given the Book did not divide,” mean the deniers among the Shia. His words, “except after the clear proof had come to them,” mean after the truth had come to them. “These groups were commanded only to worship Allah, devoting the religion sincerely to Him”; sincerity is faith in Allah, His messenger (s), and the Imams (a) …’ (^[62]).