Question 239 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 3

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. I ask Allah, Glorious is He, to keep from you the worst of evil-His wrath and the Fire-and grant you success in the best of good-His satisfaction and the Garden. He is my Guardian, and He takes charge of the righteous. The Exalted said: ‘Deliver to me the servants of Allah; indeed, I am a trustworthy messenger to you.’ That is: obey my command because I am Allah’s successor upon His earth. This is the same as Abraham’s call (a): ‘Proclaim the pilgrimage among the people; they will come to you on foot and on every lean mount, coming from every distant pass’ (^[80]). That is, the Proof’s mere statement and his calling the people are sufficient for them to comply with his command, believe in him, and obey him; he need not present a proof. It is presumed that the people know him if he is truthful, because they have a relationship and connection with Allah, who sent him, created them, and spread them upon this earth. In reality, however, they squandered this relationship and their share, becoming blind, neither seeing nor hearing from Allah. The problem then lies within them, and they deserve punishment because they did not recognize and distinguish Allah’s successor upon His earth, although the means of distinguishing is present within them: asking Allah and hearing from Him, Glorious is He. Allah gave them the ability, but they squandered it. Despite this, Allah’s mercy prevailed in most messages, so Allah sent signs and proofs with the messengers so that people who had polluted and lost the innate nature Allah bestowed upon them for recognizing the truth could know them. It is therefore presumed that the people respond with knowledge and recognition as soon as Allah’s Proof calls: ‘Proclaim the pilgrimage among the people; they will come to you.’ As soon as you proclaim, they come to you; it is presumed that they recognize you and come to you. Allah, Glorious is He, did not command him at the beginning to present a proof-only to proclaim, meaning call out and declare the call openly. There are people who have not polluted their innate nature; they hear from Allah, ask Allah, and respond as soon as the call is issued. These are a proof against the rest of the people, for they are like all other people except that they did not pollute their innate nature. They knew the messenger was truly from Allah, so as soon as he called-‘proclaim’-they came to him-‘they will come to you.’ The reality is that all the people came to him, just as the Exalted informed him. As for the rest of creation, Allah knows what they are, but they certainly are not people even if they are called by this name. Ahmed Alhasan