Question 853 - 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. Yes, brother, allegiance to the Yamani is obligatory according to the explicit narration of Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him), which identifies the Yamani and explains that he is one of Allah’s Proofs, infallible, and explicitly designated as infallible. By restricting one who turns away from him as among the people of the Fire, it explains that he is a Proof; by saying he guides to truth and a straight path, it explains that he is infallible. An infallible person must be explicitly designated, because according to the family of Muhammad, infallibility is not known from creation’s outward appearance; the infallible must be explicitly designated. Imam al-Baqir’s narration identifies the Yamani as infallible, so the Yamani must present the people with a text proving his infallibility. The Yamani has indeed come presenting the text of his grandfather, the Messenger of Allah, who named him and explained the bounds of his charge: he is the First Mahdi and first believer, and the Messenger named him with three names, each identifying his person to the people when he comes invoking the text. As for allegiance, the person pledging it need not attend before the Proof. Nor does allegiance require seeing the Proof in person, whether prophet or Imam. If it were as you suppose, brother, the allegiance of the Negus, king of Abyssinia, to the Messenger would have been invalid. He pledged allegiance merely after hearing the proofs of the Messenger’s Call, remained upon his allegiance until he died, and never saw the Messenger. Your assumption that allegiance requires seeing and directly pledging to the Imam also imposes hardship and difficulty upon people, while Allah-Majestic is His power-is merciful to His servants and does not charge them with what causes hardship: ‘Strive for Allah as He deserves to be striven for. He chose you and placed no hardship upon you in religion-the creed of your father Abraham. He named you Muslims before and in this, so the Messenger may be a witness over you and you may be witnesses over the people. Establish prayer, give zakat, and hold fast to Allah. He is your Guardian; excellent is the Guardian and excellent is the Helper’ [al-Hajj 22:78]. Know, brother, that allegiance is a covenant in the heart between the servant and his Lord, Glorious is He, to hear and obey the emissary appointed by Him. Your allegiance to the Imam is not allegiance to his person but allegiance to Allah. The Imam says: ‘I did not come to have servants with me or for people to see me. I came only to demolish the structure of falsehood and establish the structure of truth, so help me in this-may Allah have mercy upon you’ (^[88]). If you resolve to pledge allegiance, that allegiance is realized in the place where you are, because it is a covenant between the servant and his Lord, Glorious is He, to carry out the command of Allah-Majestic is His power-by hearing and obeying the emissary sent by Him, Mighty and Majestic. I now ask Allah, Glorious is He, that the intended meaning and obligation of allegiance have become clear to you. We ask Allah to guide you to the truth and its support, and to abandoning falsehood and turning away from it. Praise be to Allah alone, alone, alone.