Question 677 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 7

Ahmed al-Hasan Response:

Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you. Praise be to Allah. Beloved believers in Kuwait and elsewhere-may Allah protect you and direct your steps aright-I address you on this noble day, Friday, the twenty-fourth of the blessed month of Sha‘ban, to explain that referring to Allah’s vicegerent and asking him about the teachings of the religion in every matter, small and great, is Allah’s religion, Allah’s path, and the path of the Household. Allah’s religion is that there is one protected from error whom the believers follow and to whom they refer in learning the teachings of their religion. There is no such thing as a person who is charged with following Allah’s vicegerent undertaking interpretation and deriving jurisprudential rulings or doctrines from visions, narrations, my words, or religious text in general. This is misguidance upon misguidance. Text in general is either decisive or allegorical. If it is decisive, it is accepted and acted upon. If it is allegorical, it is referred to us, the Household, so that we explain it and define it according to its intended aspect. Praise be to Allah, today the one protected from error is present among you, and you can ask him and refer to him in every matter, small and great. Whoever turns away from referring to the present one protected from error and following him in his religion in every matter, small and great, has deviated from the straight path and from us, the Household. Whoever claims that he is capable of interpretation and of knowing rulings or doctrines from religious text, visions, or the like without referring to us and asking us, and then calls the people to accept his words or the path he has innovated, is calling to himself as an imam to be followed, or to a path and religion he has innovated himself as an imam to be followed. This is deviation from Allah’s religion and from Allah’s vicegerent. He must turn back from this and correct his path if he is a believer and follower of us, the Household. The place of visions in religion is to confirm the text designating the Imam and the vicegerent-as in the testament of the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s) on the night of his death. Doctrine and religious rulings are taken from Allah’s vicegerent. No new doctrine is taken from visions, and no new jurisprudential ruling is taken from visions. Whoever comes to you with visions and wants this from you, throw them back in his face, with neither affection nor honor. This is regardless of discussing whether he is truthful or lying, or whether the visions are from Allah, Satan, or the desire of the self. A believer may contemplate the Quran. This is distinct from interpretation and the attempt to make the allegorical decisive and determine the intended aspect of an allegorical text with certainty and conviction.