Question 851 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 7

Scientific Committee 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 peace. Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you. There is no contradiction, much less one you can describe as clear. First, the testament explicitly states that the six names, including al-Mahdi, are Ali’s names in heaven, and there is a difference between heavenly and earthly names. Second, it explicitly states that these names are not proper for anyone other than Ali: ‘These names are not proper for anyone other than you.’ That is, these names do not all come together in anyone other than the Commander of the Believers. Had it meant that no individual name was proper for anyone else, it would have said, for example, ‘No name among them is proper for anyone other than you.’ Accordingly, someone other than the Commander of the Believers may bear one of these six names, though not all of them, except a name concerning which evidence expressly prohibits its use, such as ‘Commander of the Believers.’ Third, the Messenger may have intended to strip legitimacy from those who adopted the Commander of the Believers’ names and usurped the right Allah Most High gave him. That is, the words concern establishing the Commander of the Believers’ right against those who usurped it without evidence or proof, adopted the title Commander of the Believers, and appointed themselves guides who distinguish truth from falsehood. The Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt would thereby not be included in the prohibition on bearing one of these names, except a name that evidence shows is specific to Ali ibn Abi Talib. These are three aspects or answers I have quickly recorded for you. The least that can be said is that they are possible or preponderant. One who wishes to invalidate or object to a religious text or proof must present a decisive objection or refutation, because establishing an objection or refutation depends upon its decisiveness. So long as it is not decisive and countervailing aspects or possibilities exist, it is neither an objection nor a refutation. By what evidence, brother, did you decide to attack the testament of the Messenger of Allah, a testament witnessed to by the Quran and the narrations of the pure ones? If you seek the truth, I direct you to two books concerning the testament by the supporters of Imam al-Mahdi, available in the Yamani Library section of their website, http://vb.al-mehdyoon.org: Difaʿan ʿan al-Wasiyyah, and al-Wasiyyah wal-Wasi Ahmad Alhasan (peace be upon him). Praise be to Allah alone, alone, alone.