KHUTAB XII: 17. WILĀYAH TAKWĪNIYYAH
17. WILĀYAH TAKWĪNIYYAH
Definition and
Scope
The term wilāyah (وِلاَيَة) is derived from the verb waliya
(وَلِيَ) yalī (يَليْ) , “to be near (someone or something)”, “to adjoin (something)”;
(وَلَاء walā’, وَلَايَة walāyah); “to be a friends
(of someone)”, “to be friends”; وَلَايَة) walāyah, wilāyah), “to be in charge, to run, to administer, to
govern, to rule, to have power.” Therefore, the term wilāyah means
“authority, power.” According to Shia (Shī‘ah) theology, it is the
authority invested in the Prophet (ﷺ) and the ahlu
’l-bayt (the Prophet’s family) as representatives of Allah the Almighty on
this earth.
The Iranian cleric, philosopher, lecturer and politician Morteza
Motahhari مُرْتَضى
مُطَهَّرِي) , 1919–979)[1]
mentioned four dimensions of wilāyah in:
(a) Wilāyah Maḥabbah, namely, the right of love of the Prophet and
his family; (b) Wilāyah Imāmah, namely, their authority in spiritual
guidance, in guiding their followers in spiritual matters; (c) Wilāyah Zi‘āmah,
namely, their authority in socio-political guidance, in the sense that they
have to lead the Muslims in socio-political aspects of life; (d) Wilāyah Taṣarruf,
namely, universal power over the entire universe. This is also called Wilāyah
Takwīniyyah.
The term takwīniyyah (تَكْوِيْنِيَّة) is derived from kawwana
yukawwinu takwīn (كَوَّنَ
يُكَوِّنُ تَكِوِيْن) meaning “to make, to create, to produce, to form, to bring into
being, to shape, to fashion.” Therefore, in Shiite theology, wilāyah
takwīniyyah is “the universal authority given to Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and his family (Ahlu’-Bayt) that makes it possible for
them to exercise their power over everything that exists.” In Ayatollah Khomeini’s
words, "It is a vicegerency pertaining to the whole of creation, by
virtue of which all the atoms in the universe humble themselves before the
holder of authority."[2]
Khomeini elaborated the spiritual power of the imāms,
as follows:
It is one of the essential beliefs of our Shia school that
no one can attain the spiritual
status of the Imams, even
the cherubim or the prophets. In fact,
according to the traditions that have been handed down to us, the Most
Noble Messenger and the Imams
existed before the creation
of the world in the form of lights situated beneath the
divine throne; they were superior
to other men even in
the sperm from which they grew
and in their physical composition. Their exalted station is limited only by the
divine will, as indicated by the
saying of Jibra'il recorded
in the traditions on the mi'raj: 'Were I to draw closer by
as much as the breadth of a
finger, surely I would burn.'"[3]
The Persian Shiite ḥadīth
collector al-Kulaynī (d. 329/941) in his Uṣūl al-Kāfī (1/279)
narrated the following:
From Muhammad ibn Sinan
who has said the following:
“Once I was in the
presence of Abu Ja‘far (alaihis salam),
and I mentioned the differences among the Shia.
The Imam said, ‘O Muhammad, Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, is One and
eternal. He created Muhammad, Ali and Fatimah, recipients of divine supreme
covenant. They were there for a thousand Dahr (courses of time). Then He
created all other things. He made them witness the creation of all other
things. He made obedience to them obligatory
and gave
them control of the affairs of the creation.
They can, thus, make lawful whatever they wish and unlawful whatever
they wish and they never wish anything unless
Allah, the
Most Holy, the Most High,
wishes.’ He then said, ‘O Muhammad, this is a religion that, if exaggerated,
will
lead to disproportionate
belief and ignoring it will cause
degradation. Those
holding to it properly will have
proper contact. Keep it
with you, O Muhammad.’
It is also mentioned in
Al-Kulaynī in his Uṣūl al-Kāfī that the meaning of the verseوَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ
(الأعراف:١٥٦) “My Mercy embraces all
things” is that “the knowledge of the imām embraces all things.”
The
following verse is about the Doomsday:
وَأَشْرَقَتِ الْأَرْضُ بِنُورِرَبِّهَا وَوُضِعَ
الْكِتَابُ وَجِيءَ بِالنَّبِيِّينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ (الزمر:٦٩)
And
the earth will shine with the light of its Lord (Allah,
when He will come to judge among men), and the
Book
will be placed (open), and the Prophets and
the
witnesses
will be brought forward, … (Q. 39:69)
According
to the Twelver Shia scholar Fayḍ Kāshānī (1007-1091/1598-1680)[4] in his al-Tafsīr
al-Ṣāfī, “the light of its Lord” in the above verse is the
expected al-Mahdī as the Lord of the earth, when he came out from the
subterranean vault, so that people would no longer need sunshine and moonlight.
Based on these reports
the imāms are in control of the universe and are permitted to play with
the Sharī‘ah (Islamic law) as they wish. They can make ḥalāl what
is ḥarām, and vice versa if they want it. It is in contradiction with
the Qur’ān which states that Islam has been perfected in the times of the
Prophet. Allah said:
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ
عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي
وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ
دِينًا (المائدة:٣)
This day, I have perfected your religion for you,
completed My Favor upon you, and have chosen
for you
Islam as your religion (Q. 5:3)
One of the most influential Iranian Twelver
Shia marja' (religious
reference),[5]
Ayatullah Abū’l-Qāsim al-Khū’ī or Khoei (November 19, 1899 – August 8, 1992)[6]
said on the wilāyah takwīniyyah of the Prophet and the Ahlul Bayt
as follows:
As for the first type of wilayat [takviniya,
universal], obviously there is no doubt
in their authority over the entire creation as is clear from the ahadíth
because they are the link in creation, through them [continues] the existence,
and they are reason
for creation [of the universe]; if it had not
been for them,
Allah would not have created the people
altogether, the
people have been created for them, through
them the
people exist, and they are the means of the
pouring forth
[of the Divine grace].
"Actually, they have the universal authority just below that of the
Creator Himself; this
authority [of theirs] is
like the authority of Almighty
Allah on the creation, however,
it is weaker compared
to the authority of Almighty Allah on the
creation.”
The Persian Shia scholar
Abū Ja‘far Ibn Bābawayh al-Qummī (“the native of Qom”), also referred to as al-Shaykh
al-Ṣadūq (“the Truthful Scholar”) (ca. 923-991)[7]
in his al-Amālī (which was a collection of his lectures,
pp.252-253) mentioned the statement of ‘Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn (‘alayhim al-salām)
regarding the wilāyah takwīniyyah of the imāms as follows:
We are the imāms of the
Muslims, Allah’s ḥujaj (proofs, competent authorities) over the ‘ālamīn (human
beings,
the world, the universe), the masters of the
believers,
the guides of the inexperienced needy, the
protectors
(mawālī) of the believers; we are the amān
(the shelter, security, protection) of the inhabitants of the earth, as are
the stars amān (the
shelter, security, protection) of the inhabitants of the heaven; it is for our
sake that Allah
keeps the heavens from falling into the earth
except by
His leave; it is for our
sake that the earth keeps itself from
shaking its inhabitants violently; it is for
us the rain falls;
it is for us compassion
spreads, and it is for us the earth
brings forth its blessings; were we not on
this earth it
would have sunk its
inhabitants. Since Allah’s creation
of Adam the earth would
not be absent from a ḥujjah
for Allah, either well-known or hidden
unknown; the
earth would not be absent from a ḥujjah for
Allah till the Doomsday, without which Allah
would not have been worshiped.
Another example is the Iranian marja‘ Grand
Ayatollah Khalil Mobasher Kashani (خليل مبشر كاشاني) (b. 1951) said that al-walī al-faqīh can control
the course of events in the universe, such as the fall of rain. He said that
Ayatollah Khomeini himself can order the clouds to rain.
Having wilāyah
takwīniyyah does the imām know or is it necessary for him to know
everything including the divine secret (al-ghayb)? Some scholars among
the Shia do not accept it, such as al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī who said:
“Their view that it is
necessary for the imām to know
everything and al-ghayb (the divine secret),
there is no
doubt of its fallacy, as
it is known that all that have nothing
to do with religion, and
the imām has no control of any of
them. Therefore, how
could it be incumbent for him to
have authority to
something beyond his control?”
The Twelver Shia theologian and jurist
al-Shaykh al-Mufīd (c. 336/8- 413/948–1022)[8],
has the same view. He said:
It is neither a condition
for prophets to have com-
prehensive knowledge of
everything, nor that he
should seek information
about the inmost of every
external sense. Our Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) was
the best among the prophets and the most
knowledgeable among messengers, and yet he had no comprehensive knowledge on
astronomy, and did not turn his attention
to it; the expression of poet did not come
from him, and
being a poet was not proper for him. He was
illiterate as expressed in the divine texts. And he did not occupy
himself with learning any skill, and when he wanted
to
go to Madinah he hired a guide to show him the
way,
and he used to ask the news which were unknown
to
him as long as no
reliable person brought them to him.
This view of
al-Mufīd was supported by the later scholar al-Sayyid Muḥsin al-Amīn who said
that his statement that the imām did not know everything except the laws
was very true. Similarly, it is not proper that the Prophet (ﷺ) or the imām did not know anything
about the laws where people were in need of it, and it was not necessary for
the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) to
know all laws before they were needed.
Rejection of Wilāyah Takwīniyyah
The issue of wilāyah takwīniyyah was the object
of controversy among scholars, even among the Shia scholars themselves, some
support it, and others reject it. Among its exponents is al-Shaykh ‘Abd al-Ḥamīd
al-Muhājir (1950-now)[9]
who says that there are five foundations of Islam: al-ṣalāh (prayer), al-zakāt,
al-ḥajj (pilgrimage to Makkah), al-ṣiyām (fasting), and al-wilāyah.[10]
Al-wilāyah is the basic condition of accepting good deeds. He says, “If a
person worshipped Allah for one thousand years between the Rukn (the
corner of the Ka‘bah) and the Maqām (namely, Maqām Ibrāhīm, or
Station of Ibrāhim, a small building near the Ka‘bah in Makkah, housing
a stone with Prophet Ibrāhīm’s footprints) until his neck fell apart from
bowing and prostrating in prayer, but he did not meet Allah with his belief in
the wilāyah of Ahl-Bayt, Allah would throw him down to Hellfire.
Allah does not want your prayers only, but also the wilāyah.”
Another Shia scholar but
with the opposite view is al-Shaykh Muḥammad Jawād Mughanniyyah
(1322-1400/1904-1979).[11]
In his book al-Falsafāt al-Islāmiyyah he insists that wilāyah
takwīniyyah is not one of the necessities of the Shia school, as there is
no evidence for it. Everything could
happen with Allah’s leave, but the consideration is whether it really happens,
not whether it could happen. Therefore, the necessity of believing in wilāyah
takwīniyyah is not one of the necessities, neither of the religion nor of
the school.
Another Lebanese Shi’ī marja‘
al-Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn Faḍlullāh (1354-1432/1935-2010)[12]
confirms that it is not an essential part of Islam, not one of the principal
beliefs, and there is no harm for a person’s faith in Islam in not believing in
it. He says further that wilāyah takwīniyyah as an authority over the
universe at someone’s disposal or setting it in motion has not occurred
to anyone among human beings, even prophets and imāms as it is not
needed for their duty in conveying their messages. Stating that it exists is
contradictory to the Qur’ān and is inconsistent with pure tawḥīd (Oneness
of Allah). He cites the following verses to indicate the Prophet’s humanness:
قُلْ
لَا أَقُولُ لَكُمْ عِنْدِي خَزَائِنُ اللَّهِ وَلَا أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ وَلَا
أَقُولُ لَكُمْ إِنِّي مَلَكٌ (الأنعام:٥٠)
Say (O Muhammad):
“I don’t tell you that with me
are the treasures of Allah, nor
(that) I know the Unseen;
nor do I tell you that I am an angel.” (Q. 6:50)
قُلْ لَا أَمْلِكُ لِنَفْسِي نَفْعًا وَلَا ضَرًّا إِلَّا
مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ وَلَوْ كُنْتُ
أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ لَاسْتَكْثَرْتُ
مِنَ الْخَيْرِ وَمَا مَسَّنِيَ السُّوءُ إِنْ أَنَا
إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ وَبَشِيرٌ
لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ (الأعراف:١٨٨)
Say (O Muhammad): “I possess no power over benefit
or harm to myself except as Allah
wills. If I had the knowledge of the Ghayb (Unseen), I should have secured for
myself an abundance of wealth, and no evil should have touched me. I am but a
warner, and a bringer of
glad tidings to a people who
believe.” (Q. 7:188)
قُلْ مَا كُنْتُ بِدْعًا مِنَ الرُّسُلِ وَمَا أَدْرِي مَا
يُفْعَلُ بِي وَلَا بِكُمْ إِنْ أَتَّبِعُ
إِلَّا مَا يُوحَى
إِلَيَّ وَمَا أَنَا إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ مُبِينٌ (الأحقاف:٩)
Say (O Muhammad): “I am not a new thing
among the Messengers (of Allah, i.e. I am not
the first Messenger) nor do I know what will be done with me
or with
you. I only follow that which is revealed to
me, and I
am but a plain warner.” (Q. 46:9)
وَقَالُوا لَنْ نُؤْمِنَ
لَكَ حَتَّى تَفْجُرَ لَنَا مِنَ الْأَرْضِ يَنْبُوعًا . أَوْ تَكُونَ لَكَ
جَنَّةٌ مِنْ نَخِيلٍ وَعِنَبٍ
فَتُفَجِّرَ الْأَنْهَارَ خِلَالَهَا تَفْجِيرًا. أَوْ تُسْقِطَ السَّمَاءَ
كَمَا زَعَمْتَ عَلَيْنَا كِسَفًا أَوْ تَأْتِيَ
بِاللَّهِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ قَبِيلًا. أَوْ يَكُونَ لَكَ بَيْتٌ
مِنْ زُخْرُفٍ أَوْ تَرْقَى فِي السَّمَاءِ وَلَنْ
نُؤْمِنَ لِرُقِيِّكَ حَتَّى تُنَزِّلَ عَلَيْنَا كِتَابًا
نَقْرَؤُهُ قُلْ سُبْحَانَ
رَبِّي هَلْ كُنْتُ إِلَّا بَشَرًا رَسُولًا (الإسراء:٩٠-٩٣)
And they say: “We shall not believe in you (O Muhammad),
until you
cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us;
Or you
have a garden of date palms and grapes, and cause rivers to gush forth in its
midst abundantly; Or you cause the heaven to fall upon us in pieces, as you
have pretended, or
you bring
Allah and the angels before (us) face to face; Or
you have
a house of Zukhruf (like silver and pure gold), or
you
ascend up into the sky and even then we will put no
faith in
your ascension until you bring down for us a Book
that we
would read.” Say (O Muhammad)” “Glorified (and Exalted) is my Lord (Allah)
above all that evil they
(polytheists) associate with Him! Am I
anything but
a man,
sent as a Messenger?” (Q. 17:90-93)
Based on these
verses al-Sayyid Faḍlullāh says that any power possessed by the Prophet
Muhammad (ﷺ) is only
from Allah given to him in accordance with its necessity in conveying his
message. There is no indication that Allah has given wilāyah takwīniyyah to
prophets and imams, but Allah gives the prophets mu‘jizāt (miracles)
in facing the challenge of infidelity in case of necessity.
This view of al-Sayyid Faḍlullāh as well his rejection
and prohibition of cursing some of the Prophet’s companions, such as Abū Bakr,
‘Umar and ‘Ā’ishah, are contradictory to that of the majority of the Shia. The
Iranian scholar Jawād al-Tibrīzī criticized him and called him الضَالُّ الْمُضِلُّ (“the misled and misleading”), and
prohibited people from following him, reading his books and spreading his
views. Another Iranian scholar Ḥusayn Waḥīd al-Khurasānī who criticized him
said that his belief was اِضْلالٌ عَنْ سَبِيْلِ اللَّه وَ اِفْسَادٌ فِي
الْعَقَائِدِ الْحَقَّة (“misguiding from the
path of Allah and undermining the true beliefs”). Eventually, al-Sayyid
al-Khāminī (Khamenei) issued a fatwā prohibiting criticism against him
and stating that “he was one of the authorities of the school with his purity,
faith and jihad.”
The contemporary
Shiite marja‘ Kamāl ibn Bāqir ibn
Ḥasan al-Ḥaydarī (1956-now),[13]
admits that there is no solid evidence in the Qur’ān stating that imāmah (including
wilāyah) is one of the fundamentals of faith.
The Sunnī View of the Wilāyah
Takwīniyyah
Shaykh
Khālid al-Wuṣābī in an interview on the wilāyah takwīniyyah in Qanāt Ṣafā
(Ṣafā Channel) with Muḥammad Ṣābir he talked about its possibility
or impossibility to occur. He said that suppose a group of people in Asia,
Africa, Europe and Australia ask ‘Alī, “O ‘Ali!” can he hear them all at the
same time and answer their request also at the same time? If the Shia say that
it is possible, then is it also possible to take place with Abū Bakr, as the wilāyah
takwīniyyah is not exclusively for the twelve īmams. If they say
“no”, then they would become infidel by denying Allah’s power and claiming Him
to be weak. If they say “yes”, then there will be no privilege for the imāms
over ordinary people.
Shaykh Khālid al-Wuṣābī
says further that there is no clear evidence in the Qur’ān and the Ḥadīth
indicating that Allah has given wilāyah takwīniyyah to any of the human
beings. What they are trying to find is evidence to support the existence of wilāyah
takwīniyyah by using analogy comparing the miracles given to prophets like wilāyah
takwīniyyah given to imams. But miracles of prophets are different, as
they have no full knowledge and full control on them, as they are gifts from
Allah for certain occasions. Some examples are as follows:
Prophet Moses a.s. did
not know that his staff would turn into a serpent, otherwise he would not have
been scared and run away. Allah said:
وَأَلْقِ عَصَاكَ فَلَمَّا رَآهَا تَهْتَزُّ كَأَنَّهَا
جَانٌّ وَلَّى مُدْبِرًا وَلَمْ يُعَقِّبْ
يَا مُوسَى لَا تَخَفْ إِنِّي لَا
يَخَافُ لَدَيَّ الْمُرْسَلُونَ (النمل:١٠)
“And throw down your stick!”
But when he saw it moving
as if it
were a snake, he turned in flight, and did not look
back. (It
was said: “O Mūsā (Moses)! Fear not: verily,
the
Messengers fear not in front of Me.” (Q.
27:10)
Similarly, Moses had not known beforehand that Pharaoh
and his army who were chasing him and his followers would be drowned. Allah
ordered him to strike the sea with his staff to rescue him and his followers.
He said:
فَأَوْحَيْنَا
إِلَى مُوسَى أَنِ اضْرِبْ بِعَصَاكَ الْبَحْرَ فَانْفَلَقَ فَكَانَ كُلُّ
فِرْقٍ كَالطَّوْدِ الْعَظِيمِ
. وَأَزْلَفْنَا ثَمَّ الْآخَرِينَ. وَأَنْجَيْنَا مُوسَى وَمَنْ
مَعَهُ أَجْمَعِينَ. ثُمَّ أَغْرَقْنَا
الْآخَرِينَ (الشعراء:٦٣-٦٦)
Then We revealed to Mūsā (Moses) (saying): “Strike the
sea with your stick.” And it parted, and each
separate part
(of the sea water) became like huge mountain.
Then We brought near the others [Fir‘awn’s (Pharaoh’s) party] to
the place. And We saved Mūsā (Moses) and all
those
with him. Then We drowned
the others. (Q. 26:63-66)[14]
Prophet
Aaron (Hārūn) was powerless to make people listen to him, and was unable to
stop them from worshiping idols, as mentioned in the following verse:
وَلَقَدْ قَالَ لَهُمْ هَارُونُ مِنْ قَبْلُ يَا
قَوْمِ إِنَّمَا فُتِنْتُمْ بِهِ وَإِنَّ
رَبَّكُمُ الرَّحْمَنُ فَاتَّبِعُونِي
وَأَطِيعُوا أَمْرِي. قَالُوا لَنْ نَبْرَحَ عَلَيْهِ
عَاكِفِينَ حَتَّى يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْنَا مُوسَى (طه:٩٠-٩١)
And Hārūn (Aaron) indeed
had said to them beforehand:
“O my people! You are being tried in this, and
verily, your
Lord is (Allah) the Most Gracious, so follow
me and obey
my order.” They said: “We will not stop
worshipping it (i.e.
the calf), until Mūsā (Moses) returns to us.” (Q. 20:90-91)
Prophet Ya‘qub (Jacob) a.s. had not known the
whereabouts of Yūsuf (Joseph) when he asked his children to keep looking for
him without losing hope. He said:
يَا بَنِيَّ اذْهَبُوا فَتَحَسَّسُوا مِنْ يُوسُفَ
وَأَخِيهِ وَلَا تَيْأَسُوا مِنْ رَوْحِ
اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَا يَيْأَسُ مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ
إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الْكَافِرُونَ (يوسف:٨٧)
“O my sons! Go and enquire
about Yūsuf (Joseph) and
his
brother, and never give up hope of Allah’s Mercy.
Certainly no one despairs of Allah’s Mercy,
except
the people who disbelieve.” (Q. 12:87)
Prophet Yūsuf (Joseph) a.s.
because of women’s trick would prefer prison as mentioned in the following
verse:
قَالَ رَبِّ السِّجْنُ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِمَّا يَدْعُونَنِي
إِلَيْهِ وَإِلَّا تَصْرِفْ عَنِّي
كَيْدَهُنَّ أَصْبُ إِلَيْهِنَّ
وَأَكُنْ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ (يوسف:٣٣)
He said: “O my Lord! Prison
is dearer to me than that
to which they invite me. Unless You turn away
their plot
from me, I will feel
inclined towards them and be one (of
those who commit sin and deserve blame or
those
who do deeds) of the ignorant.” (Q. 12:33)
Prophet Ibrāhīm
(Abraham) a.s. had not known beforehand that he would be saved when he
was thrown into fire. He later learned that Allah had made the fire cool and
harmless to him, as in the following verse:
قُلْنَا يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلَامًا عَلَى
إِبْرَاهِيمَ (الأنبياء:٦٩)
We (Allah) said: “O fire! Be you coolness and safety
for Ibrāhīm
(Abraham).” (Q.
21:69)
Allah gave miracles to Prophet Jesus (‘Īsā) a.s. as
mentioned in the Qur’ān, as follows:
وَرَسُولًا
إِلَى بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنِّي قَدْ جِئْتُكُمْ بِآيَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ أَنِّي أَخْلُقُ
لَكُمْ
مِنَ الطِّينِ كَهَيْئَةِ الطَّيْرِ فَأَنْفُخُ
فِيهِ فَيَكُونُ طَيْرًا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَأُبْرِئُ الْأَكْمَهَ
وَالْأَبْرَصَ وَأُحْيِ الْمَوْتَى بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ
وَأُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا تَأْكُلُونَ وَمَا تَدَّخِرُونَ
فِي بُيُوتِكُمْ... (آل عمران:٤٩)
And will make him [‘Īsā (Jesus)] a Messenger to the
Children of Israel (saying): “I have come to you
with
a sign
from your Lord, That I design for you out of clay,
a figure
like that of a bird, and breathe into it, and it
becomes a
bird by Allah’s Leave; and I heal him who
was born blind, and the leper, and I bring the
dead to
life by
Allah’s Leave. And I inform you of what you eat,
and what
you store in your houses…” (Q. 3:49)
Allah gave miracles to Prophet
Sulaymān (Solomon) mentioned in the
Qur’ān as follows:
وَلِسُلَيْمَانَ الرِّيحَ غُدُوُّهَا شَهْرٌ وَرَوَاحُهَا
شَهْرٌ وَأَسَلْنَا لَهُ عَيْنَ الْقِطْرِ
وَمِنَ الْجِنِّ مَنْ يَعْمَلُ
بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِ وَمَنْ يَزِغْ مِنْهُمْ عَنْ أَمْرِنَا
نُذِقْهُ مِنْ عَذَابِ السَّعِيرِ. يَعْمَلُونَ
لَهُ مَا يَشَاءُ مِنْ مَحَارِيبَ وَتَمَاثِيلَ
وَجِفَانٍ كَالْجَوَابِ وَقُدُورٍ رَاسِيَاتٍ
... (سبآ:١٢-١٣)
And to |Sulaymān (Solomon) (We subjected) the
wind,
its morning (stride from sunrise till midnoon)
was a month’s (journey, and its afternoon (stride from the midday decline
of the
sun to sunset was a month’s (journey, i.e. in one day
he could travel two
months’ journey). And We caused a fount of
(molten) brass to flow for him,
and there were jinn that worked in front
of him, by the Leave of his Lord. And
whoso-ever of them turned aside from Our Command, We shall
cause him
to taste of the torment of the blazing
Fire. They worked for him as he desired, (making) high rooms, images, basins as
large as reservoirs, and (cooking) cauldrons
fixed (in
their places) … (Q. 34:12-13)[15]
Then could we say that Prophet ‘Īsā (Jesus) had wilāyah
takwīniyyah? He did not control the jinn and the wind as Prophet Solomon a.s.
did, but Prophet Solomon could not revive the dead as Prophet Jesus did.
Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) had
neither control the jinn and the wind, nor revive the dead. Therefore, prophets
had limited miracles given by Allah, and they could not control the universe.
Through improper analogy
they say that since prophets had miracles, then the imāms also possess
miracles, even more, namely, wilāyah takwīniyyah, to control the
universe. Miracles are limited, whereas wilāyah takwīniyyah is an
extended power to control the universe.
According to the Shia the imāms are greater
than prophets. Even if prophets had wilāyah takwīniyyah the imāms
with wilāyah takwīniyyah had high position, as Khomeini put it, “has not
been reached by a sent prophet or an angel.”
Allah said that He had spoken to
Prophet Mūsā (Moses)
وَكَلَّمَ اللَّهُ مُوسَى
تَكْلِيمًا (النساء:١٦٤)
-
And to Mūsā (Moses) Allah spoke directly (Q. 4:164)
قَالَ يَا مُوسَى إِنِّي
اصْطَفَيْتُكَ عَلَى النَّاسِ بِرِسَالَاتِي وَبِكَلَامِي
فَخُذْ مَا آتَيْتُكَ وَكُنْ
مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ (الأعراف:١٤٤)
(Allah) said: “O Mūsā (Moses) I have chosen you above
men by My Messenger, and by My speaking (to
you).
So hold that which I have given you and be of
the grateful.”
(Q. 7:144)
Did it happen that Allah had talked to ‘Ali? If He did, then he was
himself a prophet, but He did not, and therefore he was not a prophet. Allah
says in the Qur’ān:
هَذَا خَلْقُ اللَّهِ فَأَرُونِي مَاذَا خَلَقَ
الَّذِينَ مِنْ دُونِهِ (لقمان:١١)
This is the creation of Allah. So, show Me that
which those (whom you worship) besides Him have created… (Q. 31:11)
Wilāyah takwīniyyah means
creation, followed by possession and authority, then arrangement and
management. According to Sunni’s view as well as that of some Shia scholars
Allah has not given such authority to anybody, but He kept it for Himself. The
Sunni debater Shaykh ‘Adnān al-Ar‘ūr (عَدْنَان الْعَرْعُور) of
the Wiṣāl Channel (قَنَاةُ الْوِصَال)
asked: “When ‘Ali pledged allegiance to Abū Bakr, then to ‘Umar and ‘Uthmān as
caliphs, did he do it because (1) he had inspiration from Allah to do so, (2)
he was weak, (3) he was afraid and was practicing taqiyyah (dissimulation
or under duress), (4) he was making ijtihād (individual judgment), (5)
he had abdicated the wilāyah, or (6) he had disobeyed Allah?” His other
question was: “Why did Imām Ḥusayn let himself and his followers suffer from
thirst when he did not use his power wilāyah takwīniyyah to create
water?” Prophet Īsā (Jesus) a.s. had created before a bird out of clay
with Allah’s leave, why then none of the imāms had ever exercised this
special favor to create something as evidence? Having millions of dollars in
the bank without ability to withdraw it is like not having it: rich in theory,
but poor in reality, and it is reality that counts. “A book remains shut is
but a block,” says the proverb.
(Turner, 4 October 2017)
Bibliography:
http://thenewkhalij.org
https://www.space.com/24073-how-big-is-the-universe.html
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160610-it-took-centuries-but-we-now-know-the-size-of-the-universe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_al-Qasim_al-Khoei
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marja%27
https://gift2shias.com/2014/06/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morteza_Motahhari
https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/مرتضى_مطهرى
https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/كمال_الحيدرى
https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/محمد_محسن_فضل_الله
https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/محمد_جواد_مغنية
https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/عبد_الحميد_المهاجر
http://albadri.info/ مرجعية-آية-الله-الحكيم
https://www.al-islam.org/shiism-imamate-and-wilayat-sayyid-muhammad-rizvi/wilayat-and-its-scope
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Babawayh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shaykh_Al-Mufid
http://www.aqaed.com/faq/1828/
http://arabic.bayynat.org/ArticlePage.aspx?id=3682
http://www.aqaed.com/faq/1829/
https://www.islam4u.com/ar/shobahat/ الولاية-التكوينية-للحسين-تجعله-منتحراً
https://al-marsd.com/141786.html
http://www.shiachat.com/forum/topic/234931430-ayatullah-fadlallah/
https://sonsofsunnah.com/2013/11/15/mostafa-husseini-tabatabai-shiite-reformist-friend-of-al-borqei/
خالد الوصابي, الباحث
في الفرق المعاصرة .
حوار عن الولاية التكوينية في قناة صفا الفضائية. كلمة سواء. شبكة الطريق إلى الله. فيدو يوطوب
عدنان العرعور. قناة
الوصال. حوار بين السنة و الشيعة. فيدو يوطوب
[1] Mortaza Mutahhari was an Iranian Shiite (Shī‘ī,
(شيعي religious scholar, a
philosopher, a thinker and a prolific writer. He was one the prominent student
of the Islamic philosopher Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-Ṭabāṭabā’ī and Rūḥ Allāh
al-Khumaynī (Khomeini). He was born in the province of Khorasan in 31 of January
1919 from a family originated from Herat, Afghanistan. He attended the
religious centre in Qom from 1944 till 1952. As a politician he was arrested
three times: in 1963 for joining demonstration against the arrest of Khomeini;
1969 for his participation in collecting donations for Palestinian people; and
in 1972 for his activity in al-Jawād mosque. In 1979 he went to Paris where he
was assigned by Khomeini to form the Council of the Islamic Revolution and
became its chairman, and in 1979 he was assigned by Khomeini to be responsible
for a committee for his reception. In 1 May 1979 less than three months after
the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Mutahhari was assassinated by a member
of fighters of a group of dissidents. He was a prolific writer in various
subjects, such as: نقد
الماركسية (Critiques on Marxism), العدل الإلهي (The
Divine Justice), فلسفة
التاريخ (Philosophy of History), الإنسان الكامل (The
Perfect Man), هدف
الحياة الإنسانية (The Purpose of Human Life),
and شمس الدين لن تغيب (The Sun of the Religion—of Islam—will never Set).
[2] According to scientists the sphere appears almost 28
billion light-years in diameter, but it is far larger. It is because the
universe is expanding. They say that while they “might see a spot that lay
13.8 billion light-years from Earth at the time of the Big Bang, the universe
has continued to expand over its lifetime. If inflation occurred at a constant
rate through the life of the universe, that same spot is 46 billion light-years
away today, making the diameter of the observable universe a sphere around 92
billion light-years.” Other scientists say that its diameter is about 93
billion light years. They say further
that the whole Universe is roughly 250 times as large as the observable
Universe. If we consider the speed of light in kilo meters per second (kps), it
is 299,794.58 (almost 300,000 kps), or 186,282.39705122 miles per second (mps),
traveling from one corner of the observable Universe to the other with the
speed of light will take between 92 and 93 billion years. This indicates the
huge unimaginable authority given to the imāms according to the Shiis.
[3] This quotation was taken from Khomeini, Islam and
Revolution, tr. Hamid Algar (Berkeley: Mizan Press, 1981), pp. 64-65.
[4]Muhsin Fayd (Fayz, or Feyz) Kashani was born in
Kashan, Iran. He was a poet, philosopher and muḥaddith (narrator of ḥadīths).
At the age of twenty he travelled to Isfahan to study, and a year later he
moved to Shiraz to study ḥadīth and fiqh. He studied from Molla
Sadra ascetic exercises and other disciplines for eight years. A prolific
writer in Persian and Arabic, he wrote 122 works, such as: Abwāb al-Jinān
(“The Doors of Paradise”), Mohjat al-Beyza which was al-Ghazālī’s Iḥyā
Ulūm al-Dīn (Revival of Religious Sciences) rewritten from the Shiite point
of view. He was one of those who said that Islamic prayer does not have to be
in Arabic. He passed away in Kashan in 1680.
[5]Marja‘ (pl. marāji‘)
is a title given to highest level of Shia
authority on religious laws after the Qur’ān, the prophets and imāms.
It accords with Ajatollah Uzma(آية الله العظمى) . Previously the titles ‘Allāmah and Imām have
also been used. His role as the representative of al-Mahdī during his
occultation is to understand and explain religious jurisprudence. In 2014 there
were 64 living marāji‘, mostly living in Najaf and Qom. Among them is Ali Khamenei, the Supreme
Leader of Iran in Tehran.
[6]Al-Khū’ī was the spiritual leader of the Shia world
until his death in 1992. He was born in
the Iranian city of Khoy, West Azerbaijan province in 1899, and grew up in
Iran. Around the age of 13, he moved to Najaf (Negev) in Iraq where he began
studying Shia theology until he eventually attained the rank of Ayatollah and
was made a marja‘. Khoei would
continue to live in Najaf, becoming a teacher for the remainder of his life,
and overseeing the studies of scholars who would be qualified to issue fatāwā
based on Shia theology. In 1971 he was made the most prominent Grand Ayatollah
after the death of the marja‘ Muḥsin al-Ḥakīm (d. 1390/1970) -- who had
prohibited people from fighting the Kurds, and who had interfered with Gamal
Abdel Nasser’s decision to execute
Sayyid Quṭub in Egypt. Al-Khū’ī was prominent in various
branches of Islamic studies, such as the principles of jurisprudence and
Islamic law, and one of the leading exponents of 'kalām'-scholastic
theology- and 'rijāl'- study of the biographies of transmitters of aḥādīth,
the prophetic traditions, 'fiqh'- jurisprudence- and 'tafsīr'-
exegesis of the Qur'an. He was also interested in astronomy, mathematics, and
philosophy. As a prolific writer he wrote 37 books and treatises, most of which
have been published, including: Lectures in the Principles of Jurisprudence,
10 volumes; Biographies of
Narrators of Tradition, 24 volumes; Islamic
Law, 18 volumes; and Al-Bayan fī Tafsīr al-Qur’ān (The
Elucidation of the Exegesis of The Qur'ān and sometimes entitled The
Prolegomena to the Qur’ān).
[7] Abū Ja‘far Muḥammad Ibn ‘Alī Ibn Bābawayh (Bābūyah in
Persian)) was born and raised in Qom, a town about 125 kilometres (78 miles)
southwest of modern day Tehran, in Iran. His father ‘Alī was one of Islamic
scholars in that town which was the centre of study of Shiite traditions. In
966 he left Qom for Baghdad. He compiled traditions and wrote al-I‘tiqādāt (Creed)
of Shiite Islam, later revised with some critiques as Taṣḥīḥ al-I‘tiqād (“the
Correction of Creed”) by his student al-Shaykh al-Mufīd. His main work was Man
lā Yaḥḍuruhu ‘l-Faqīh (lit. “for him who is not in the presence of a
jurisprudent”) translated as “Every Man his own Lawyer” dealing with
jurisprudence. It is one of the “Four Books” (the basic authorities of the
doctrine of the Twelver Shia). Among his other important works are: ‘Ilal
al-Sharā’ī‘ (“the Causes of Situations”), namely, the philosophy behind
Islamic ordinances, and I‘tiqādāt al-Imāmiyyah (“the Shiite Creed”). In 991 he died at Rayy.
[8] Al-Shaykh al-Mufīd was born in ‘Ukbarā (عكبرا) a small town on the left bank
of the Tigris between Samarra and Baghdad. He later migrated with his father to
Baghdad in the time of the Shia Buwayhids’ ruling where he studied with Ibn
Babawayh. Among his students were Sharif al-Murtaza and al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsi. He tended to believe that the Imāms are
superior to all the prophets and messengers, with the exception of Muhammad and
can "take the place of the prophets in enforcing judgments, seeing to the
execution of the legal penalties, safeguarding the Law, and educating
mankind", so that they are not only "the head of the community in
administrative, judicial, and military matters", but also an
"authoritative teacher of mankind". He also believes that the imām is immune
from sin or error, and it is necessary to have an imām in all the times.
He is said to have written 200 works, but a few more than ten have survived, such as
al-Amālī, also known as "al-Majālis", traditions recorded
by his students during the sessions where he gave the chain of narration ending
up with himself; Taṣḥīḥ al-I‘tiqādāt, a correction of al-Ṣadūq's Risālat
al-I‘tiqādāt.
[9] ‘[Abd al-Ḥamīd al-Muhājir was a Shiite Iraqi preacher
and public speaker, writer of several books on Islam and history, and founder
of كُلِّيَّةُ الإمَام الْحُسَيْنِ لِلْخِطَابة (Al-Imām al-Ḥusayn
Academy for Oratory) in Karbala. Besides his mother-tongue Arabic he was
fluent in English and Persian. He gave many speeches in Syrian, Lebanese and
Iranian televisions; he gave lectures at the University of Kuwait, and Arabic
University of Beirut. He also gave lectures in the American television as well
as lectures in the University of Albany, N.Y. His speeches can be heard in the
Shiite channels, such as al-Anwār, al-Zahrā’, al-Mahdī and
Fadak. Among his writings are: اِعْلَمُوا
أَنِّيْ قَاطِمَةُ (Be aware that I am Fāṭimah), in 7
vols., الْمِنْبَرُ الْحُرُّ (the
Free Pulpit) in 4 vols., عَلِيٌّ وَ فَاطِمَةُ
بَحْرَانِ يَلْتَقِيَان
(‘Ali and Fāṭimah
two Oceans Merging), and أَهْلُ الْبِيْتِ أَسْمَاءٌ لاَ تُنْسَى
(Ahl al-Bayt, the Unforgettable Names).
[10] For the Sunnis, there are also five foundations of
Islam, but instead of wilāyah, it is the shahādah, the
declaration that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah and
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. It is the key to Paradise, as whoever
believes in it will eventually enter Paradise, even after long suffering in
Hell.
[11] Al-Shaykh Mughanniyyah
was one of the Lebanese leading scholars and a prolific writer. He wrote over sixty books, among which
were: النُّبُوَّةُ وَالْعَقْل (Prophethood and Reason),
الآخِرَةُ وَ الْعَقْل (The Last Day and Reason), الْمَهْدِي الْمُنْتَطَرُ وَ الِعَقْل (the
Expected Mahdī and Reason), عَلِيٌّ وَ الْقُرْآن (‘Alī and the Qur’ān), and الْحُسَيْنُ
وَ الْقُرْآن (al-Ḥusayn and the Qur’ān).
[12] Al-Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn Faḍlullāh was a Lebanese
Shiite marja‘. He was born in Najaf (Negev) in Iraq in 1354/1935 and
died in Lebanon in 1432/2010. While in Najaf he was interested in studying in
the religious centre as well as cultural activity. When he moved to Lebanon in
1966, he started preaching in the mosque, establishing charitable
organizations, orphanages and charitable hospitals which made him popular. He
received many criticisms for his views, but al-Sayyid ‘Ali al-Khāminī
(Khamenei) issued a fatwa defending him stating that he was one of the
prominent figures in the Shia school for his purity, faith, and jihād.
[13]Kamāl Ḥaydarī who is living now in Qom in Iran was one
of the authorities in Reformation of Islamic Legacy Movement and was well-known
with his debates on beliefs with other schools and groups on television. He was
born in Karbala in Iraq, and then he moved to Najaf (Negev) in Central Iraq in
1974 where he obtained his B.A. degree in Islamic studies with honours in 1978.
Then he emigrated to Kuwait in 1980 because of the government’s legal
persecution, then to Damascus where he stayed for almost four months, then to Iran
through Turkey where he settled in Qom.
[14] For a similar verse see also Q. 2:50)
[15]See also Q. 21:81)
Comments
Post a Comment