Question 512 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 5

Supporters Response:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send abundant prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them peace. The following statement from Sayyed Ahmed Alhasan (a) was issued concerning this: Q: What is the ruling concerning one who insults a prophet or successor? Some ignorant people insult Sayyed Ahmed Alhasan, the successor and messenger of Imam al-Mahdi (a). How should one behave toward them? A: The ruling concerning one who insults a prophet, successor, Lady al-Zahra (a), or one who is at their station, such as al-Abbas ibn Ali (a) and Zaynab (a), is death after ascertaining that he persists in the insult. As for one who insults me in particular, I pardon him. It is either insult for insult or pardon for a sin. An ignorant man insulted the mother of one of the infallibles (a), so he said: ‘If you are truthful, may Allah forgive her; and if you are lying, may Allah forgive you’ (^[90]). An ignorant man insulted Imam al-Hasan (a), and Imam al-Hasan (a) pardoned him and treated him kindly. This was repeated with Imam al-Kazim (a), and he met it with kindness. Pardon and kindness are their nature (a), and the nature of the prophets and successors. I hope from Allah that I will be so. Al-Sadiq (a) said: ‘It is written in the Torah: O son of Adam, remember Me when you become angry, and I will remember you when I become angry, so that I do not obliterate you among those whom I obliterate. When you are wronged, be content with My taking victory for you, for My taking victory for you is better than your taking victory for yourself’ (^[91]). I am content with Allah’s taking victory for me, for He is the excellent Guardian and the excellent Helper. Know, O brothers, that these ignorant people know that this Call is true: ‘They denied them, while their souls were certain of them, out of wrongdoing and arrogance. So see how the end of the corrupters was’ (^[92]). They found themselves utterly incapable of refuting its conclusive proofs, which are from the two weighty things-the Quran and the Household (a)-and from the Kingdom of the Heavens. They found nothing but the braying of devils and the snarling of dogs as a response and a cloak in which to wrap themselves after envy had taken complete possession of their souls. ‘Or do they envy the people for what Allah has given them of His bounty? We gave the family of Abraham the Book and wisdom, and We gave them a great kingdom’ (^[93]). Their likeness is ‘like that of the dog: if you attack it, it pants, and if you leave it, it pants. That is the likeness of the people who denied Our signs. So relate the accounts, that perhaps they may reflect’ (^[94]). We are the family of Muhammad and the family of Abraham, and we are the envied people. I tell you what the wronged Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (a) said to Ammar ibn Yasir when he saw him speaking to one of those who denied his Imamate (a): ‘Leave him, O Ammar, for deliberately he has made doubts an excuse for his lapses’ (^[95]). So do not exhaust yourselves with these wrongdoers. Let them fabricate, lie, defame however they wish, and perpetrate what they perpetrate. Allah is an excellent Judge, and the appointed time is the Resurrection. I have met, will meet, and my sons (a) after me will meet worse than what my fathers (a) met: ‘So beautiful patience; and Allah is the One whose help is sought against what you describe’ (^[96]). Abu Abdullah (a) said: ‘When our Qa’im rises, he will face from the people’s ignorance more severe than what the Messenger of Allah (s) faced from the ignorant people of the Age of Ignorance.’ I said, ‘How is that?’ He said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (s) came to the people while they worshipped stones, rocks, sticks, and carved wood. When our Qa’im rises, he will come to the people while every one of them interprets the Book of Allah against him and argues against him with it.’ Then he said: ‘By Allah, his justice will enter the innermost parts of their houses just as heat and cold enter’ (^[97]). Engaging in falsehood is their habit, and they have no recourse other than it after the truth has struck them in their vital places. Let them follow the way of their predecessors, who accused David (a) of looking at a naked woman; accused Zechariah (a) of adultery; accused Mary (a) of adultery; accused Muhammad (s) of looking at the wife of his adopted son Zayd ibn Haritha; accused him of caring for the rich and turning away and frowning in the face of the poor; accused him of negligence in obeying Allah and implementing the law, until he rose in anger and addressed them; accused Ali (a) of ignorance of warfare, although he plunged into its depths before reaching twenty; accused him of drinking wine; and accused him … and accused him … They do not fail to follow the footsteps of their predecessors-may Allah curse them-just as I do not fail to follow the way of my fathers (a). I am not an innovation among the messengers: ‘Say: I am not an innovation among the messengers, and I do not know what will be done with me or with you. I follow only what is revealed to me, and I am only a clear warner’ (^[98]). The Scientific Committee Supporters of Imam al-Mahdi (may Allah establish him upon the earth) Mr. Abu Muhammad al-Ansari 20 Rajab 1431 AH