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A Pragmatic Analysis of Al-Ashter’s ‘Epistle

A Pragmatic Analysis of Al-Ashter’s ‘Epistle Author: Firas Abdul-Munim Jawad
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2023-05-25 17:25:42

A Pragmatic Analysis of Al-Ashter’s ‘Epistle

Author: Firas Abdul-Munim Jawad
Publisher: www.uobabylon.edu.iq

Arabic Language and Literature

^English ^{2023-05-25 17:25:42}

This book is corrected and edited by Al-Hassanain (p) Institue for Islamic Heritage and Thought

[A Pragmatic Analysis of Al-Ashter’s ‘Epistle]

Original Subject:

A Pragmatic Analysis of Illocutionary Speech Acts in Standard Arabic with a Special Reference to Al-Ashter’s ‘Epistle’

By: Firas Abdul-Munim Jawad

Babylon University/College of Education /Safi yil Deen Alhilli

Table of Contents

Abstract 3

Introduction: 4

Analysis: 6

1) Declarations: 7

2) Representative: 8

3) Expressives: 9

4) Commissives: 10

5) Directives 11

1-Command: 12

2-Prohibition: 13

3-Advice: 14

4-Praying: 15

Auxiliary speech acts: 16

1-Explanation: 17

2- Justification: 18

3- Addition: 19

4- Condition: 20

Speech acts indirectness: 21

1- Representative: 22

2- Declaration: 23

3- Expressive: 24

4- Commissive: 25

5- Directive: 26

1-Command: 27

2-Prohibition: 28

3-Advice: 29

4-Warning 30

5-Praying: 31

Findings: 32

References: 34

Appendix(1): 35

Abstract

Illocutionary speech acts in Standard Arabic makes the subject matter of the present study. It has some points of theoretical and cultural significance. Searle’s (1969) model to analyze the major speech acts of the discourse under study, namely, the ‘Epistle’ which is a letter from the Muslim Caliph Ali bin Abi-Talib fourteen centuries ago to one of his governors ,i.e., Malik Al-Ashter, the new ruler of Egypt then. That letter could be claimed to resemble the constitution. Most speech acts were ‘directives’ because of the instructive nature of the ‘Epistle’. Many other speech acts were miner rather than major. Van Dijk (1977b) model is adopted to analyze the miner speech acts. A further point of analysis is considered, i.e., (in) directness where the overwhelming majority of speech acts are used directly rather than indirectly under the influence of the instructive nature of the discourse under study.

Introduction:

This paper is in the field of pragmatics where the speech act theory represents the specific field of this study. Despite the extensive application of this theory in many languages ,the possibility of its application to Standard Arabic (SA, henceforth) needs some more investigation .As a point of significance for the present study, this application offers some more additional theoretical evidence on the universality of the speech act theory. Another point of significance concerns with the discourse under study itself. The selected discourse is a letter resembling the constitution legislated by the Muslim Caliph Ali bin Abi-Talib fourteen centuries ago. This book is translated by Sayyid Ali Reza. That letter was addressed to the man who was chosen by the Caliph to be the ruler of Egypt, namely, Malik al-Ashter. Because of its exceptional value, the UN has considered this letter as one of its formal documents. This letter, which is called 'The Epistle', offers a good possibility to investigate illocutionary speech acts in general and directive speech acts in specific. The different uses of the directive speech acts will make the basic subject matter of the present study. Concerning limitation, the present study is limited to the illocutionary speech acts in a given discourse in SA , namely, 'The Epistle'.

Objectives: the present study aims at achieving the following objectives put in the form of questions below:

1-Qualitatively and quantatively, how and why are illocutionary speech acts in the present study used?

2-Concerning illocutionary speech acts in general and directive speech acts in specific, is directness or indirectness preferred?

Concerning methodology, certain procedures are followed in this paper. The whole discourse under study is going to be categorized into illocutionary speech acts according to Searle’s (1969) model. The available representations of the model’s parameters or components will be analyzed. A further need for an additional analytical model will be met by Dijk’s (1977b) model to deal with auxiliary speech acts. Finally, directness and indirectness will be considered and analyzed.

The present study is in the field of speech act theory. The adopted model is Searle’s (1969) in which illocutionary speech acts are put in five classes. These are 1-declaration, 2-representative, 3-expressive, 4-commissive,and 5-directive. Shedding more light on these speech acts will be done through the analysis later on.

Every speech act could be represented differently through several representations. Directive speech acts, for example, could be represented by command, prohibition, advice, warning, etc. as will be shown later on.

Searle’s five class speech acts do not cover all speech acts. There is still a group of speech acts playing different minor roles in supporting the major speech acts. That is why such speech acts are called ‘auxiliary’ ones. Dijk (1977b), as referred to in Al-Khaz’ali (2009:28) ,states that they are eight ,namely, 1-justification,2-explanation, 3-addition, 4-conclusion, 5-contradiction, 6-explication, 7-correction and

8-condition.They will be highlighted and analyzed later on.

A further consideration adopted in the present study is (in)directness. The illocutionary speech acts under study are examined whether they are direct or indirect.

A final point to be covered before moving to the analytical phase is concerned with the felicity conditions which make an obligatory element in doing any analysis of speech acts. Felicity conditions are defined by Crystal (2003:178) as “a term used in the theory of speech acts to refer to the criteria which must be satisfied if the speech act is to achieve its purpose.” Four kinds of felicity conditions are suggested by Searle (1969). The first one is the propositional content conditions. They, as Al-Sulaiman (2010:289) states, “specify what can be expressed by the utterance uttered to perform the illocutionary act.” For example, commissive illocutionary speech acts indicate future action of the speaker whereas directives indicate the addresser’s attempt to make the addressee(s) do or not to do a given thing.

The second kind of felicity conditions is the preparatory conditions in which, as stated by Verschueren (1999:23) “the speaker/writer has adequate information to form a ‘valid’ opinion about the future state of affairs.”

Sincerity conditions, the third kind of felicity conditions , “require the speaker to be sincere” (Cruse:2006:62). These conditions assure that the speaker’s intention of his speech is what is expressed. The fourth kind of felicity conditions is the essential conditions which “ relate to the way the speaker is committed to a certain kind belief or behavior ,having performed a speech act (e.g. accepting an object that one has just requested” (Crystal:2003:179).

The presence of this set of conditions is obligatory to make a given discourse valid.

Analysis:

The discourse under study is going to be classified according to the five categories of speech acts adopted by Searle (1969).The frequencies of occurrence of these categories are shown below in table (1) and illustrated in figure (1):

Table (1): Frequency of occurrence of speech acts according to Searle (1969)

Declaration		Representative		Expressive		Commissive		Directive
No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
3	%1.77	5	%2.95	1	%0.59	0	%0	160	%94.67

Figure (1): Frequency of occurrence of speech acts according to Searle (1969)

1) Declarations:

It is a kind of illocutionary speech acts. Searle (1979:16-17) states that “the successful performance of one of its members brings about the correspondence between the propositional contents and reality, successful performance guarantees that the propositional content corresponds to the world.” Only three out of (169) speech acts functions as declarations making (%1.77) frequency of occurrence .This low percentage is explained when the relationship between the nature of the text under study on the one hand and the function of declarations on the other hand is highlighted. The text under study is in fact a letter which includes a list of instructions from the chief Ruler (Caliph) to one of his state rulers. It is supposed to be full of instructions and the like. Declaration is defined by Yule (1996:128) as “ a speech act that brings about a change by being uttered, e.g. a judge pronouncing a sentence.”The communicative message indicated in a declaration speech act as defined by the self-explanatory definition above has almost nothing to do with the instructive communicative message of the text under study. That’s why the percentage of the frequency of utterance of declaration speech acts is too low, being (%1.77).However, there is still a few number of declaration speech acts available in the text.

Thus, suitable justifications should be offered to justify the existence as well as low frequency of occurrence of the speech acts of declaration. In order to do that ,it seems that analyzing a given declaration speech act is expected to be expressive. The first speech act in the discourse under study is a declaration which is :

“IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL”

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

This part of the discourse functions as a declaration of starting or beginning something, a letter in our case. By beginning with this sentence, the letter writer i.e., addresser, intends to say ,i.e. DECLARE that the letter with all its communicative requirements has just begun. Another speech act of declaration is the following one:

Peace be on the Messenger of Allah-may Allah shower His blessings and plentiful salutation on him and his pure and chaste descendants

والسلام على رسول الله- صلى الله عليه واله وسلم- واله الطيبين الطاهرين وسلم تسليما كثيرا

The addresser intends to express or DECLARE finalization at the end of the message.

2) Representative:

Five speech acts out of (169) making (2.95%) frequency of occurrence are labeled as ‘representative.’ A representative speech act ,as defined by Crystal (2003:397) is a “term used in the theory of SPEECH ACTs to refer to a type of UTTERANCE where speakers convey their belief about the truth of a PROPOSITION.”

Investigating the function of a ‘representative’ helps in studying its relationship with the text under study since it is basically instructive. A representative speech act deals with the past and present. It could come as an ‘evaluation’. A self-explanatory example of ‘representative’ as an ‘evaluation’ is the following:

“and this is heavy on the officers”

وذلك على الولاة ثقيل

Here, there is an evaluation to something that took place in the past and its results are still valid to the present time. Whereas ‘evaluation’ ,as a representative speech act, issuing judgments on things or (people’s) actions took place in the past, directive speech acts deal with the present and future.

The lack of correspondence between the representative speech acts on the one hand and the overwhelming majority of the directive speech acts of the present study explains the low percentage of the representative speech acts, as shown in table (1) above.

3) Expressives:

They are explained by Verschueren (1999:24) as “expressing a variety of psychological states, having no direction of fit between words and world, and simply counting as expressions of psychological states.” This self explanatory definition could be seen when expressing psychological states like ‘thanks’ or ‘apologies’ (ibid.).However, an additional kind of psychological states has been shown in the discourse under study which could be called ‘sorrow showing’. The addresser says:

“Surely, we have to return to Him”.

وإنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون

He refers to his as well as the addressee’s expected martyrdom. Expressing this kind of ideas or psychological states does not reflect the controlling atmosphere of the discourse under study. Obviously, there is no correspondence between the discourse under study, being directive in nature, and the expressiveness of the expressive speech act above. That is why there is no more than one speech act of the expressive kind out of (169) ones making ( 0.59%) frequency of occurrences shown and illustrated in table (1) and figure (1) above.

4) Commissives:

This kind of speech acts refers to “a type of UTTERANCE where the speaker makes a commitment to a future course of action”(Crystal:2003:84).Commissive speech acts are performed through a relatively small class of verbs like ‘offer, promise, swear, volunteer, vow, etc. (Leech:1983:206).While commissives function to convey the addresser’s intention(Verschueren:1999:132),conveying intention as well as instructing i.e., commissives and directives respectively are related to the future. However, they are not required equally in the discourse under study. As a matter of fact, commissives prove not to be required at all since there is no single speech act of this kind in the discourse under study making the frequency of utterance (0%). The reason behind that is that there is no correspondence between the communicative function of commissives with the discourse under study which is ment for giving instructions.

5) Directives

A directive is “a speech act used to get someone else to do something” (Yule:1996:129).The frequency of occurrence of directives makes (%95.26) frequency of occurrence since there are (160) out of (169) of this kind of speech acts. The reason behind this high percentage is the correspondence between the communicative goal of the discourse under study and the directive nature of the overwhelming majority of the speech acts used. However, directives are of various kinds whose frequencies of occurrence are different. These kinds are: command, prohibition, advice, warning and praying. This availability could be justified when correspondence between the communicative functions of the available directives with the communicative purpose of the discourse under study is established. Below, the available directives are investigated. Table (2) and figure (2) offer some explanation and illustration as given below:

Table (2):Frequency of occurrence of the available directive speech acts

Command		Prohibition		Advice		Warning		Praying
No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
106	%66.25	46	%28.75	3	%1.87	3	%1.87	2	%1.25

Figure(2):Frequency of occurrence of the available directive speech acts

The frequencies of occurrence of the available directive speech acts are discussed below:

1-Command:

Directives of ‘command’ ,as shown in table (2) and illustrated in figure (2) are (106) out of (160) making (%66,25) frequency of occurrence which is the highest one. The instructive nature of the ‘Epistle’ justifies this high frequency of occurrence of ‘command’. Directive speech acts of ‘command’ could be of two kinds: positive and negative. The ‘positive command’ on the one hand, indicates ordering someone to do something as shown below:l

“Habituate your heart to mercy for the subject and to affection and kindness for them.”

وأشعر قلبك الرحمة والمحبة لهم واللطف بهم

On the other hand, the ‘negative order’ indicates ordering someone NOT to do a given thing. The ‘negative command’ which could be called ‘prohibition’ is explained below.

2-Prohibition:

Prohibition directives , as shown in table (2) and illustrated in figure (2), are (46) out of (160) making (%28.75) frequency of occurrence. It is relatively high since ‘prohibition’ is a negative command ;however, ‘prohibition’ speech acts occur less frequently than ‘commands’. This frequency of occurrence could be related to the fact that the addresser i.e., the Caliph has concentrated on providing the addressee i.e., the new ruler what is urgently and specifically needed. This concentration has been shown obviously through issuing a good number of positive instructions i.e., commands to do things which have not been made before by the preceding rulers. Obviously ,there is a preference of the addresser to issue positive commands to do things rather than issuing negative commands, i.e., prohibitions, not to do things. That is why both commands and prohibitions are used in high frequencies of occurrence with a preference to use commands being positive rather than negative as that of prohibitions. The following example illustrates prohibition:

“Do not stand over them like greedy beasts who feel it is enough to devour them.”

تكونن عليهم سبعا ضاريا تغتنم اكلهم ولا

3-Advice:

Directive speech acts of ‘advice’ are used with a very low frequency of occurrence ,being (%1.87) since there are only three speech acts of this kind. Advice is negotiatiable since the addresser has the capacity not to consider it. That is how it differs from command and prohibition. The discourse under study is basically instructive since it includes a big number of commands issued by the superior to the inferior. However, the matter is different concerning the directive speech act of ‘advice’ since it is used between equals. That is why the frequencies of occurrence of the positive commands and negative ones ,i.e., ‘prohibitions’ on the one hand are high whereas ‘advice’ directive speech acts ,on the other hand ,is low. Authority does not restrict equality or inequality in ‘advice’ because the addressee has the capacity not to accept the advice since it is a subjective rather than an objective matter. The following example is illustrative:

“Therefore, the best collection with you should be the collection of good deeds.”

فليكن أحب الذخائر إليك ذخيرة العمل الصالح

4-Praying:

This kind of speech acts is directive since it implies the process of asking the addressee by the addresser to do something. Two speech acts out of (160) of ‘praying’ making (%1.25) frequency of occurrence are available in the discourse under study. Concerning authority, as a felicity condition, the addresser is inferior to the addressee and the speech acts indicate futurity. The special case here is that of ‘response’ whether negotiatiable or no. Negotiatiable directive speech acts, like an ‘invitation’ or ‘offer’ take place between equal sides where the addressee is authorized to refuse what is directed to him. Non-negotiatiable speech acts like ‘command’ or ‘prohibition’ etc. take place between sides of unequal authorities in which the addresser is usually superior to the addressee. However, the directive speech act of ‘praying’ is negotiatable i.e., the addressee has the authority to accept or refuse since the addressee i.e., ‘Allah’ is superior to the addresser. The following example illustrates the ‘praying’ directive speech act:

“I ask my Allah through the extent of His mercy and the greatness of His power of giving a good inclination that He may prompt me and you to advance a clear plea before Him and His creatures.”

وأنا أسأل الله بسعة رحمته وعظيم قدرته على إعطاء كل رغبة أن يوفقني وإياك لما فيه رضاه من الإقامة على العذر الواضح إليه والى خلقه

The two speech acts of ‘praying’ are positioned at the end of the Epistle. The end of a given discourse usually includes some hints telling the addressee(s) that the discourse has arrived at the last stage. One of such hints is wishing the good to the addressee according to the addresser’s belief. That is why the two ‘praying’ speech acts are positioned finally.

Auxiliary speech acts:

Although Searle’s model (1969) classifies speech acts into five classes , some speech acts could be classified under non. However, this kind of speech acts are not completely independent. There are some forms of relationships between these speech acts on the one hand and speech acts in Searle’s model (1969) on the other hand. This kind of relationship makes this incompletely independent speech acts be called ‘auxiliary.’ These speech acts are considered auxiliary since their role is not to convey the major communicative massages, as the major SAs in Searle’s model (1969) do. They rather take parts in conveying miner parts of the communicative message of the major SA. This difference in function will be highlighted in the analysis below.

Van Dijk (1977,b), as put in Al-Khaza’li (2009), investigates eight auxiliary speech acts. They are as follows: justification, explanation, addition, conclusion, contradiction, explication, correction and condition. Only some of these auxiliary speech acts are found in the discourse under study. The total number of speech acts is (298) consisting of (169) main speech acts making, directives, (56.71%) and (129) auxiliary speech acts making (%43.28).The distribution of auxiliary speech acts is illustrated in table (3):

Table (3): The frequency of occurrence of the auxiliary speech acts

Explanation	Addition	Condition	Justification
70	54	4	1
%54.26	%41.86	%3.1007	%0.775

Figure (3): The frequency of occurrence of the auxiliary speech acts

1-Explanation:

There are various speech act relations between speech acts of various natures. These natures are based on “the function achieved by a certain speech act in relation to another speech act” (Al-Khaza’li:2009:28). This function basically, comes with the authority speech act and one of the main component acts in compound (related) speech acts consisting of a main speech act followed by another main one.(ibid.) The function of the ‘explanation’ auxiliary speech act is to offer some clarification to the previous speech act as in the example below:

“Control your passions and check your heart from doing what is not lawful for you, because checking the heart means detaining it just half way between what it likes and dislikes.”

وشح بنفسك عما لا يحل لك فان الشح بالنفس الإنصاف منها فيما أحبت أو كرهت

Table (3) shows that (70) out of (129) auxiliary speech acts of explanation are used making (%54.26) frequency of occurrence .This is the highest, and then the most important, kind of auxiliary speech acts used in the discourse under study.

2- Justification:

Another related kind of auxiliary speech acts is that one of ‘justification’. Dijk (1977b:101),as referred to in Al-Khaza’ali (2009:29 ), points out that some speakers use speech acts as a motivation or a reason for making another speech act more felicitous.

The auxiliary speech act of ‘justification’ precedes the following main speech act. Al-Hindawi (1999) claims that the difference between ‘explanation’ and ‘justification’ is in position. He (ibid.) argues that ‘explanation’ is a variant of ‘justification’ whereas ‘justification’ is the subordinate act that justifies the issuance of the following act ‘explanation’ which justifies the initiation of the preceding act.

A compound directive speech act actually consists of two constituents, one concerns the addresser and the other one concerns the addressee. What concerns the addresser is how to send the intended communicative message, directive in this case, clearly. What concerns the addressee is how to receive the message accurately in order to respond appropriately. Since the addresser in a directive speech act is in most cases superior all what is related to him is focused on to all what is related to the addressee. Focus is considered here through applying the strategy of ‘Fronting’. What concerns the addresser is to explain, i.e., make his intention clear whereas what concerns the addressee is to comprehend the message through making use of the addresser’s ‘justification’. That is why the frequency of occurrence of ‘explanation’ is high ,being (%54.26) whereas it is low, being (%0.77) for ‘justification’. Thus, position is critically important in deciding the frequency of occurrence. The following example is illustrative:

“The worst minister for you is he who has been a minister for mischievous persons before you and who joined them in sin(justification). Therefore, he should not be your chief man.(main speech act of command)”

إن شر وزرائك من كان للأشرار قبلك وزيرا ومن شركهم في الآثام فلا يكونن لك بطانة

3- Addition:

The ‘addition’ auxiliary speech acts are (52) out of(126) making a relatively high frequency of occurrence of (%41.26). Van Dijk (1977a:211) ,as referred to in Al-Khaz’ali (2009:32), points out that some speech acts indicat that the speaker wants to add something to the preceding speech act where an assertion is added to previous assertions. The process of addition is often done by using ‘and’ and ‘moreover.’ This strategy of joining speech acts via subsequent utterances within the discourse is adopted in SA. Adding a given assertion to a previous one is made syntactically through subordination which is adopted strongly in SA. Kaplan (1980:41), Ostler (1987:173) and Sa’adedeen (1989:36).Subordination in SA is used to join subsequent assertions. This strong preference in SA explains the relatively high frequency of occurrence of ‘addition’ auxiliary speech acts. The following example clarifies this speech act:

“You are over them (people) and your responsible Commander (Imam) is over you.”

فانك فوقهم ووالي الامر عليك فوقك

4- Condition:

The frequency of occurrence of the ‘condition’ auxiliary speech acts is low, being (%3.17)since there are no more than four out of (126) speech acts of this kind. Below is some illustrative examples:

(auxiliary-condition) “If the authority in which you are placed produces pride or vanity in you then (main –command) look at the greatness of the realm of Allah over you and His might the like of which might you do not even possess over yourself.”

وإذا أحدث لك ما أنت فيه من سلطانك أبهة أو مخيلة فأنظر إلى عظم ملك الله فوقك وقدرته منك على ما لا تقدر عليه من نفسك

“If you are involved in it be error and you exceed in the use of your whip or sword, or are hard in inflicting punishment, as sometimes even a blow by the fist or a smaller stroke causes death ,then the haughtiness of your authority should not prevent you from paying the blood price to the successors of the killed person.”

وان ابتليت بخطأ وأفرط عليك سوطك أو سيفك أو يدك بعقوبة فان في الوكزة فما فوقها مقتلة فلا تطمحن بك نخوة السلطان عن أن تؤدي إلى أولياء المقتول حقهم

The directive speech acts are conditioned since they are restricted to a condition. The low frequency of occurrence of the conditioned directives , as compared to unconditioned directives, reveals that conditioning is not preferable by the addresser in the discourse under study. The reason behind that is that conditioned directives are commonly used in specific and limited cases. Although such directives ,i.e., conditional one are needed in the discourse under study, unconditional directives are used more heavily. It is because that the general nature of the discourse under study which is in fact a constitution is intended basically to deal with general rather than specific cases. However, there is still some need for specification. That is why conditioned directives, though specific, are also needed, though slightly.

Speech acts indirectness:

Basically, there is a direct relationship between a structure of a given speech act and its function ,e.g., an interrogative form to express a question. Yule (1996:129) defines a direct speech act as “a speech act where a direct relationship exists between the structure and communicative function of an utterance.”

An indirect speech act is defined by Cruse(2006:87) as “an utterance that has the typical form of one kind of speech act, but which functions either typically or in specific contexts, as a different type of speech act.”For example, an interrogative form, e.g., ’Could you help me?’ is used not to function as a question asking the addressee about his capacity to help the addresser but it is a directive speech act of ‘request’.

The choice of (in)directness is governed by the addresser’s communicative message. The comprehending of the communicative message between the addresser and addressee is based on “their mutually shared background information both linguistic and nonlinguistic”(Alan,K :2001:203) Below, there is some discussion of using (in)direct speech acts in the discourse under study. The five categories of speech acts according to Searle’s (1969) model are used concerning (in)directness ,as shown in tables (4) and (5):

Table (4):Frequencies of occurrences of direct and indirect speech acts

Representative				Declaration				Expressive				Commissive
Direct		Indirect		Direct		Indirect		Direct		Indirect		Direct		Indirect
No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
5	%2.9	0	%0	1	%0.59	2	%1.18	0	%o	1	%o.59	0	%0	0	%0

The frequencies of occurrence of direct as well as indirect speech acts of representation, declaration, expressive, and commissive in table (4) are very low. The reason behind that is that the instructive nature of the discourse under study does not correspond with the communicative message of these kinds of speech acts. The results shown in table (4) above are discussed below:

1- Representative:

The frequency of occurrence of direct speech act of representative is (%2.95) since there are only five speech acts of this kind. Indirect speech acts of representative make (%0) since there is no single speech acts of this kind See the following example:

"and this is heavy on the officers"

وذلك على الولاة ثقيل

The direct representative speech act in this example is represented through ‘evaluation’. The representative speech acts are preferred to be put directly rather than indirectly by the addressee.

2- Declaration:

One single speech act making (%0.59) frequency of occurrence is used in the discourse under study functioning as a starting speech act. Muslims always begin their discourse by a specific utterance called ‘basmala’ meaning “In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful” .This utterance includes an implicit part. That part is implied since it is commonly understood. If we paraphrase this utterance we will have : “In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful I (declare that I) begin my speech (discourse / letter , etc. ). Thus, ‘basmala’ is a direct declaration though it has an implicit part but the structure is still of a declaration.

The two other speech acts of declaration are used to declare finalization by saying a special leave-taking greeting

"Peace be on the Messenger of Allah-may Allah shower His blessings and plentiful salutation on him and his pure and chaste descendants; and that is an end to the matter.

والسلام على رسول الله- صلى الله عليه واله وسلم- واله الطيبين الطاهرين, وسلم تسليما كثيرا والسلام.

Finalizing a discourse or letter in this way does not imply using a direct verb for declaration. But, it is socially adopted to declare finalization by ending a discourse with a fixed greeting. That is why these two speech acts are considered indirect.

3- Expressive:

One expressive speech act making (%0.59) frequency of occurrence is used in the discourse under study. It could be labeled as ‘sorrow showing’ since it is expressed by using a well-known Islamic utterance:

“Surely, we have to return to Him"

“ إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون ”

This speech act is indirect since there is no need to make it direct. The social use of this speech act in this sense i.e., ‘sorrow showing’ is extensively accepted.

4- Commissive:

The results shown in table (4) reveal that commissive speech acts are used neither directly nor indirectly since the frequencies of occurrences make (%0) for both of them. The reason behind that is the lack of correspondence between the communicative message of commissive speech acts on the one hand and the instructive nature of the discourse under study.

PART 2

The Imam should be Infallible (inerrant/sinless) from all sins

We should know that the Imamite scholars have all agreed that an Imam is always immaculate from all small or big sins right from his childhood to the end of his life. He commits no sin either wilfully or by mistake. None except Ibne Babawayh and his teacher Muhammad bin Al Hasan (r.a.) have differed from this opinion. These gentlemen have justified that excepting the Divine Commandments and the propagation of Divine Messages, it is permissible that due to some hidden wisdom they (Imams) can commit a sahv (slight oversight). For example Sahv is allowed in Prayer and all other worship acts. But white explaining or describing of the orders (divine) and in the propagation of the divine message, they do not admit any kind of mistake on the part of Imam. Excepting the Ismailis all Islamic sects do not consider infallibility as a condition of Imamate.

According to the Imamis there are many logical as well as Naqali (narrative) arguments in support of this belief. Some of them have been described in volume one. Yet we quote some arguments below:

First Argument

The Imam is appointed because the people can make a mistake. So there must be someone to protect them. But if that person were also likely to make mistake then he too will be in need of another Imam, leader or guide. Therefore it will require either continuity of such appointments which is impossible or, ultimately, such an Imam will have to be there who cannot err and then only will he be the Imam.

Second Argument

The Imam is the guardian or protector of the Shariat because the Holy Quran does not contain details of the Shariat rules. Similarly each and every detail of Divine code of conduct cannot be drawn from the Sunnah and traditions of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) nor can they be known through the Ijma (consensus) of the Ummah. It is so because, in a gathering wherein there is no Imam, and when everyone can err the entire gathering of such fallible persons can also err. The required details cannot be known from Qiyas (analogy) because, in arguments, in principles, deeds done according it have been proved wrong. Even if it is taken for granted it is impossible to guard and guide all the orders of the Shariat nor of the original clearance (Baraat-e-Asaliyah) because had it been possible to be acted upon it, the appointment of prophet would not have been necessary. Therefore the Shariat cannot be protected without an Imam. If it is believed that he can also make a mistake then his word cannot be relied upon in the matter of worship and responsibility fixed by Allah, and this is against the aim of takleef (responsibility viz. the obedience of Divine Commandments).

Third Argument

That if he can make a mistake then people must deny him, and this is against his obedience being compulsory, vide Divine commandments:

Obey Allah and obey the messenger and the Ulil Amr (those in command) in you. 4:59

Moreover, if he is not Infallible, it is possible that he may order a sin and may prevent from Allah’s obedience and the people will have to obey him and by obeying him in a sinful act it will result in one and the same act being a worship on one hand and an offence on the other. This is not possible.

Fourth Argument

That if he can make an offence then the aim of the appointment of an Imam and the obedience of his words and deeds will become invalid and this is against the appointments of an Imam. In short, it is not possible to collect all the arguments based on reason in this book. So whatever has been mentioned in the beginning of this book and also here is enough for the purpose of the subject.

The Ahle Sunnat scholars that do not believe that an Imam must be Infallible and also believe that oppression and wrongdoing cannot nullify Imamate. That is why, they believe in the Imamate of the caliphs of Bani Umayyah and Bani Abbas despite their tyranny, injustices and oppression. One of their famous scholars even says that an Imam cannot be dismissed due to his oppression and injustice and Mulla Sa’duddin who has written an explanatory book about his beliefs argues that, after the rightly guided caliphs (Khulafaa-e-Raashideen) the Imams committed injustice and tyranny though the earlier people were obedient and submissive to them. Then he further explains that the wise men of the Ummah have agreed upon the eligibility of the caliphs of Bani Abbas. Then Mulla Sa’duddin writes inSharhe Maqasid that Imamate gets established through force and power even if he is a wrongdoer and a sinner. Then he writes that if someone becomes an Imam by force and thereafter someone else overpowers him and dismisses him then the latter one (who overpowers the former) will become the Imam. These are senseless words. Which wise one will believe that Imam can be a man of the Hell? Allah has said that a transgressor is a man of Hell. At one place He says:

وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ فَسَقُوا فَمَأْوَاهُمْ النَّارُ.

And as for those who transgress, their abode is the fire; 32:20

At another place Allah says: do not rely on the news given by a transgressor:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَنْ تُصِيبُوا قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ.

O you who believe! If an evil-doer comes to you with a report, look carefully into it, lest you harm a people in ignorance, then be sorry for what you have done. 49:6

and says:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ.

Surely Allah does not guide the transgressing people. 63:6

So when it is proved that Infallibility is a condition for an Imam then the Imamate of the first caliph became invalid because all agree that he was not infallible and the Imamate of Amirul Momineen is proved correct indirectly because the entire Ummah agrees that, after the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.), Imamate was disputed between Amirul Momineen and Abu Bakr and if that of one is not proved, necessarily that of the other is confirmed.

It must be known that those who believe in Infallibility have disputed whether the Infallible has control over his act of Infallibility or not. So those who believe that the Imam has no control, some of them say these is a speciality in the body or spirit of the Imam which demands that it is impossible for the Imam to sin. Some say that to be able to obey and not to be able to disobey (sin) is Infallibility. Most of the scholars believe that Imam can sin (is able to sin) and some of them have defined Infallibility saying that it is a favor of Allah which brings a servant near obedience because of which a servant cannot go forward in sinning, provided that it does not extend to the extent of atheism and compulsion and coercion and some have said that it is a spiritual power and that whosever attains it cannot commit a sin and some have said that it is a Divine favor on a servant because of which he cannot entertain a wish to disobey and to sin and that there are four reasons for it:

First : There is such a speciality in his heart or body which gives him power that prevents him from sinning and committing offences.

Second : He gets knowledge of the harms of sinning and blessings of obedience.

Third : Being subordinate to Wahy (revelation) and Ilhaam (inspiration) this knowledge becomes more effective.

Fourth : Allah’s arresting him on account of doing an undesirable thing and of avoiding a desirable thing so that he may know that when Allah catches hold of him because of avoiding non-obligatory deeds He would surely not be lenient to him in the matter of obligatory duties, that is, in avoiding compulsory things and indulging in prohibited matters. In short, when these qualities join together in somebody he will be sinless and it is true that his strength is not wasted in sinful deeds otherwise he would not be worthy of praise for giving up sins. For him there will be neither reward nor chastisement. In such circumstance he will get out of responsibility. This is wrong according to Divine principles and consensus of scholars. Moreover, in these circumstances Infallibility will not have any distinction or perfection and grace, because, in that case only he will be Infallible whom Allah will put under pressure (no free will). Research shows that it is because of man’s intelligence and wisdom and maximum engagement in worship and self-discipline and Allah’s guidance that man reaches a stage where his total attention is only to his Lord of Lords; rather his heart becomes totally devoid of personal wishes and desires as has been mentioned in the Divine Verses:

وَمَا تَشَاءُونَ إِلَّا أَنْ يَشَاءَ اللَّهُ.

You do not desire anything except what Allah wants… 76:30

And, the servant sees through My eyes and hears with My ears and walks with My legs. In this state it is impossible for one to give up worship, indulging in sins and even avoiding a desired thing For example, suppose there is a man who enjoys maximum love and kindness and gifts and reward from the king. At the same time he is also well convinced of the king’s power and strength and also loves the king wholeheartedly. In these circumstances it is impossible for such person to do anything against the liking of the king even if that thing is very easy for three reasons:

First - extreme love, because, when a lover reaches the truth of love it becomes totally impossible for him to do anything against the liking of his beloved.

Second - feeling of shame and modesty, which does not allow him to go against the wish of the beloved even in the absence of the latter. How then will he do anything disliked by the beloved in his presence?

Third - fear and fright, because despite this speciality and ability and free will if he does not care for His pleasure he would certainly be liable to His wrath and he would not be safe from extreme punishment. In the case of such a person which punishment can be more than a change in love and being degraded from the position of nearness. It is quite clear that it is impossible for such a person to do anything sinful. Compulsion (Jabr) is also impossible because compulsion is a state wherein man’s power and intention has no scope at all. At this stage such a man’s ability and strength is never less than any other’s as is the case with all sinners. For example, they can go forward in drinking wine. An Infallible also has this strength (ability) and can do so. Therefore, there is not even an iota of compulsion here. The verses which prove the existence of Imam include the one in which Allah Almighty has addressed Ibrahim (a.s.) saying:

إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا قَالَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي قَالَ لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ.

Surely I will make you an Imam of men. 2:124

Ibrahim said: And of my offspring?

My covenant does not include the unjust, said He.

Every sinner is oppressing his own self. Many traditions about Infallibility have been quoted in the first volume of this book.

Ibne Babawayh has, in his bookKhisal , writes under the Tafsir of the captioned verse that a man who had ever worshipped idols and who had, even for a second, made anything or anybody a partner of Allah is not qualified for being an Imam, even if he had become a Muslim thereafter. The definition of injustice or oppression is to put or place anything at an improper or unfitting place, and the greatest injustice is to make anyone or anything a partner of Allah. Allah Almighty says:

إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ.

Surely polytheism is the greatest injustice. 31:13

Similarly, unfit for Imamate is one who had ever committed a prohibited deed, be it small or big; even if he had repented thereafter. And a man who was ever convicted cannot convict anyone else. Thereafter it is essential that an Imam must be Infallible and this Infallibility cannot be known unless it is declared by Allah through a messenger in explicit wording because such declaration (Nass) is not visible in creation like whiteness or blackness etc. rather it is a hidden thing which is unknown except when shown by Allah Who knows the unseen. Traditions relating to this matter have also been quoted in the first volume of this book.

Ibne Babawayh has, inUyoon Akhbar Ar Reza, reported from Imam Reza (a.s.) that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said:

Whoever wants to see and touch the tree of red ruby which has been planted by Almighty’s own hand himself should believe in the Imamate of Ali (a.s.) and his sons because they are the Imams who have been, among the creations, selected by Allah and are free from every sin and fault.

Moreover, he has in most of his books, reported from Hasan bin Umair that: During the companionship of Hisham bin Hakam, I have not obtained anything better than this. One day I asked him whether an Imam is Infallible. He replied: Yes. I asked him on which argument should he be considered Infallible? He replied: There are always four reasons for the commitment of a sin and never a fifth one. The four things are greed, envy, anger and passion. An Imam has none of them. It is not possible that an Imam can be greedy of the world because the entire world is under him and he is the treasurer of Muslims so for what will he have any greed? He cannot be envious also because a man envies the one who is higher than him. So when no one is higher than Imam why should he envy anyone? Thirdly it is not possible that he should be angry about any worldly thing as his anger is only for the sake of Allah because Allah had appointed him to maintain limits (divine commands), that is, no one can ever come in the way of the issuance of divine commands and in the Divine religion mercy does not prevent the issuance of commands (punishments). Fourth it is not possible that an Imam may submit himself to the worldly pleasures and passions and to adopt the world instead of the Hereafter because Allah has made the Hereafter the most beloved thing in his eyes just as this world is dear to us. So the Imam fixes his eyes only on the Hereafter as our eyes are focused on this world. Have you ever seen anybody who rejects a beautiful face for the sake an ugly one or who gives up eating tasty foods for the sake of bitter things or who may leave soft dress in exchange of coarse clothing and who rejects the everlasting blessing and picks up a passing one?

InManiul Akhbar, Imam Zainul Aabedeen (a.s.) is quoted saying that an Imam is always Infallible and that Infallibility is not an apparent creation which can be seen. So Imam can be only one who has been appointed through a Nass (clear statement) by Allah and His messenger. People asked: O son of the prophet! Then what is the meaning of Infallible? He said: Infallible is the one who is Motasim (immune from sin) and who clings to the rope of Allah and the rope of Allah is the Holy Quran and the Imam. The Imam and the Quran will not depart from one another till the Day of Qiyamat. The Imam guides people towards the Quran and the Quran directs people to the Imam. The Almighty Allah says:

إِنَّ هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ يَهْدِي لِلَّتِي هِيَ أَقْوَمُ وَيُبَشِّرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ الَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ الصَّالِحَاتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ أَجْرًا كَبِيرًا.

Surely this Quran guides to that which is most upright and gives good news to the believers who do good that they shall have a great reward. 17:9

That is, the path of following and believing in the true Imams.[8]

It is also narrated that once Hisham bin Hakam asked about the meaning of Infallible from Imam Sadiq (a.s.). He replied: Infallible is the one who, by the guidance of Allah, prevents himself from all those things which have been prohibited by Allah. Allah says:

وَمَنْ يَعْتَصِمْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدْ هُدِيَ إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ.

And whoever holds fast to Allah, he indeed is guided to the right path. 3:101

According to the hidden meaning (Ta’wil) explained by Imam Sadiq (a.s.) the meaning of this verse is: A man who, under Allah’s Guidance, keeps himself safe from every sin is doubtlessly guided towards the Right Path,’

Karajiki has, inKanzul Fawaid , reports from the Messenger of Allah that he says: Jibraeel (a.s.) has informed me that the writers (two angels appointed for recording the deeds) of Amirul Momineen say that ever since we are with Hazrat we had found no occasion to write any sin committed by him.

And he has, through the Ahle Sunnat sources, narrated that Ammar Yasir said: the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said: Those angels who are writing the deeds of Amirul Momineen (a.s.) feel proud over all other writers of deeds because they are in company of the one, none of whose deeds which we took to sky was ever to the dislike of Allah.

It is mentioned inAqaide Imamiyah that Imam Sadiq (a.s.) said to A’mash that all the messengers and all the Wasis (legatees) are clean of sins and of all undesirable (lowly) habits.

It is mentioned in theAqaide Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) that Imam Reza (a.s.) had written to Mamoon Rashid that Allah never makes it obligatory for the creation to obey a man about whom He knows that he will become disbeliever (apostate) and who will worship Him while obeying the devil.

It is written inIlalush Sharai with reliable chains of narrators through Sulaym Ibne Qays Hilali that Amirul Momineen (a.s.) said:

Obedience of only Allah and the Messenger and the Ulil Amr is obligatory and the obedience of the Ulil Amr is ordered only because they are pure of sins and clean of evils, that is, only because they are thus Infallible and never order to disobey Allah.

Shaykh Tabarsi has inMajalis and Ibne Maghazali Shafei has, through Ahle Sunnat sources, reported from Ibne Masood that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said:

I am the supplication (dua) of my father Ibrahim (a.s.).

I asked: O Prophet of Allah! How are you his Dua? The Prophet (s.a.) replied:

The Lord Almighty revealed to Ibrahim (a.s.): ‘I am going to make you the Imam of the people. Ibrahim (a.s.) became very pleased to hear this and wishing this rank also to remain in his progeny, he prayed for it. Allah revealed: I will not give you any promise that I may not fulfil? Ibrahim (a.s.) asked: O Lord! What is that promise which You do not wish to fulfil? Allah said: I will not give the word that I will make anyone from your progeny who is a tyrant an Imam. Ibrahim (a.s.) asked: O Lord! Who is that tyrant who will not be an Imam? Allah replied: Anyone who may have prostrated before an idol. I will never make such a person an Imam. Then Ibrahim (a.s.) prayed: ‘Protect me and my progeny from worshipping idols. O Lord, these idols have misguided many people. 14:35-36

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said:

Thereafter the prayer of Ibrahim (a.s.) extended upto me and my brother Ali (a.s.) because neither of us have at any time bowed before an idol. So Allah made me the messenger and Ali my legatee.

Ibne Babawayh has quoted Ibne Abbas saying that he said: I have heard the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) saying:

I, Ali, Hasan, Husain and nine sons of Husain (a.s.) are clean of every defect and are Infallible (clean) of sins.

Ayyashi and others have narrated from Safwan Jamal that he said: We were in Mecca when there began a discussion about the meaning of the captioned verses. Imam Sadiq (a.s.) said:

Allah has concluded Imamate by Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and Ali (a.s.) and sons of Ali (a.s.) saying thatOffspring one of the other; and Allah is Hearing, Knowing. (3:34) And then said:

إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا قَالَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي قَالَ لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ.

Surely I will make you an Imam of men. Ibrahim said: And of my offspring? My covenant does not include the unjust, said He. 2:124

Ibrahim (a.s.) said: O Lord! Fulfil the promise soon which You have given to me about Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and Ali (a.s.) and make haste in aiding and assisting them. This is an indication towards the Lord’s words:

وَمَنْ يَرْغَبُ عَنْ مِلَّةِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِلَّا مَنْ سَفِهَ نَفْسَهُ وَلَقَدْ اصْطَفَيْنَاهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَإِنَّهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ لَمِنْ الصَّالِحِينَ.

And who forsakes the religion of Ibrahim but he who makes himself a fool, and most certainly We chose him in this world, and in the hereafter he is most surely among the righteous. 2:130

What it conveys is that who is there who will go against the religion (Millat) of Ibrahim (a.s.) except who makes himself unwise and senseless? Verily We have selected him in this world and, in the Hereafter too, he is among the gentlemen. The Hazrat said: here Millat means Imamate. When Ibrahim (a.s.) made his progeny to live in Mecca he said:

رَبَّنَا إِنِّي أَسْكَنتُ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي بِوَادٍ غَيْرِ ذِي زَرْعٍ عِنْدَ بَيْتِكَ الْمُحَرَّمِ رَبَّنَا لِيُقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ فَاجْعَلْ أَفْئِدَةً مِنْ النَّاسِ تَهْوِي إِلَيْهِمْ وَارْزُقْهُمْ مِنْ الثَّمَرَاتِ.

O our Lord! Surely I have settled a part of my offspring in a valley unproductive of fruit near Thy Sacred House, our Lord! That they may keep up prayer; therefore make the hearts of some people yearn towards them and provide them with fruits… 14:37

At another place it is mentioned:

وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ اجْعَلْ هَذَا بَلَدًا آمِنًا وَارْزُقْ أَهْلَهُ مِنْ الثَّمَرَاتِ مَنْ آمَنَ مِنْهُمْ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ قَالَ وَمَنْ كَفَرَ فَأُمَتِّعُهُ قَلِيلًا ثُمَّ أَضْطَرُّهُ إِلَى عَذَابِ النَّارِ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ.

And when Ibrahim said: My Lord, make it a secure town and provide its people with fruits, such of them as believe in Allah and the last day. He said: And whoever disbelieves, I will grant him enjoyment for a short while, then I will drive him to the chastisement of the fire; and it is an evil destination. 2:126

The apparent translation of the first verse is: ‘O Lord! I have made some of my family members (progeny) to live near Your Holy House in such a desert where no vegetation grows. O our Lord! So that they may maintain Prayer. So make people’s hearts incline towards them and provide fruits to them. The translation of the other verse is: O Lord! Make this city a place of peace and provide fruits to its inhabitants who may believe in Allah and in the Day of Justice. The Hazrat said: When Ibrahim (a.s.) reserved this prayer in favor of only believers fearing that, like the request about Imamate, this prayer may also not be answered in favor of all residents (of Mecca) as Allah has said: This promise of Mine will not include the oppressor. In short, Allah said: I will give little provision only in this worldly life to the one who will become disbeliever (unbelievers), then I will torture him through a painful punishment of Hell which is a very bad place of return. ( 2:126) When Allah said this, Ibrahim (a.s.) asked: Who are those whose return will be to Hell? Allah revealed to him that they will be tyrant caliphs and their followers.

Kulaini, Shaykh Mufeed and others have narrated from Imam Sadiq (a.s.) that the Lord of the universe has mentioned Ibrahim’s (a.s.) servanthood before his Prophethood and called him a Rasool before calling him a Prophet and He made him His Rasool before making him His Khaleel and made him His Khaleel before making him Imam. So, when He gave him these five high ranks then said: I made you Imam of the people. So as in the sight of Ibrahim (a.s.) this rank appeared very high he wished that this grace should not be detached from his progeny, he said: O Lord! Give this Grace to people of my progeny also. Allah replied: This promise of Mine will not apply to oppressors. Imam (a.s.) said: A fool and a senseless man cannot be the leader of people.

It has also been narrated from the Infallible Imam (a.s.) that there are four ranks of Prophets and Messengers:

First : there is the one who is a prophet only for himself and who does not preach to others. He sees an angel in the sleep but not when awake and hears only the voice of the angel and he is not appointed over others and an Imam oversees him. For example Lut (a.s.) whose Imam was Ibrahim (a.s.).

Second : A prophet who sees the angel both in sleep and when awake. He also hears his voice. He is appointed over a group, be it a big group or a small one. Allah Almighty says about Yunus (a.s.):

وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ.

And We sent him towards a hundred thousand or more people. And there was an Imam over him. 37:147

Third: The prophet who sees in dream and hears the voice also of the angel and himself is an Imam. In the beginning Ibrahim (a.s.) was a prophet, not an Imam until Allah told him: I have made you an Imam of the people, and when he made a request regarding his progeny Allah said: My Covenant shall not reach the unjust: meaning a man who will worship any idol or a picture or a figure (cannot be an Imam).

Thalabi has narrated from Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) that Allah has, by saying Rijs (impurity), which is doubt and sin, hinted towards Ahlul Bayt’s (a.s.) being pure (clean). He has said in the verse of purification:

إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمْ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا.

Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying. 33:33

Muhammad Bin Abbas and Ibne Mahyar have, in their Tafsir, narrated from Imam Sadiq (a.s.) that he said: The Lord of the Worlds does not leaves us to our own condition. If He leaves us to ourselves, we also may become like others in the matter of sin and error. But Allah has said about us:

ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ.

Call upon Me, I will answer you. 40:60

That is, Allah answers whatever supplication we make.[9]

PART 3

Imamate is established through the explicit mention

Imamate is established through the explicit mention (Nass) of Allah and His Messenger, not through the choice and allegiance of the community (Ummah)

It is a must for every Imam to give a Nass (explicit mention) about his successor Imam (who must be obeyed after him). Some arguments about this have been mentioned in the First part. It must be remembered that the Imamiyah scholars are unanimous on this point that Imam is always appointed by Allah and His Rasool (messenger). The Abbasids say that it is through Nass or Meeraas (inheritance) and the Zaidis say either through Nass or through an invitation given by himself (Imam). All the Ahle Sunnat say that Imam is appointed either through Nass or through the choice of the leading people of the community. There are many arguments based on logic in favor of the stand of the Imamites:

First argument

As is known by now that the Imam must be Infallible and Infallibility is an unseen or hidden matter which is known to none but Allah. It is essential that the Nass should be from Allah because only He knows about Infallibility, none else.

Second argument

It becomes known by observing the habits of the children of Adam (mankind) and the nature and leanings of the people of the world that when they do not have, over them, a powerful ruler or a strong king who can prevent them from injustice, oppression, lust and such other evils, many people become desirous of suppressing and exploiting the members of their own species and to overpower others through highhandedness and murder etc. which will cause all sorts of corruption and chaos for the entire society and deprivation of peace and tranquillity. It is certain that Allah Almighty does not like such a situation as He says:

وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْفَسَادَ.

And Allah does not like mischief… 2:204

So it is for Allah Almighty to remove corruption and this does not occur automatically. Rather it is necessary that the administration and management of the mankind must be entrusted to a person who may never deviate from the path of welfare, truthfulness and justice and fairplay and who may protect the interests of all in the matter of both this world and the Hereafter in accordance with the Divine Shariat (code of life). So, if Allah does not appoint such an Imam, in every age it would imply that He is pleased with corruption. But corruption is an ugly thing. Allah cannot be pleased with an ugly and improper thing.

Third argument

It has been be proved through both texts and logic that Allah always cares the most, on account of His extremes love for them, for the guidance towards the right path of welfare of His servants, in the matter of their lives in both the worlds (on earth and in the Hereafter). It is mentioned in the Holy Quran:

وَاللَّهُ رَءُوفٌ بِالْعِبَادِ.

Verily the merciful Allah is very kind to the servants. 2:207

The proof of His being extremely kind and merciful for His servant is that he never allows any shortcoming in the details of acts and deeds. Therefore He has made His servants aware of even little things like depilation and moustache cutting and about cleaning of private parts with stone and water and even about copulating, through His merciful and kind messengers explicitly. Thus it becomes clear that it is extremely essential for the messenger to appoint his caliph or successor who may protect the laws, rules and regulations of the Shariat after his (messenger’s) departure and who may defend his followers from enemies and opponents and that this is more important and essential than the aforesaid details. Now when Allah is never slack even in the matter of things of little importance then how can He neglect the most important need of perfecting such great essentiality, which is the greatest pillar of religion? So it must be believed that Allah has appointed such an Imam who is the ruler of all servants. So when He revealed to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) to appoint his successor (Imam) all the Muslims agreed that the Nass was in favor of none but Amirul Momineen (a.s.).

Fourth argument

The Ahle Sunnat agree that, according to the Divine rule, Allah has never called back (made to die) any of His messenger, right from Adam (a.s.) to Khatam (Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.s.), without appointing their successor. The same had been the rule of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) too. He had never left for any travel or any battlefield, without first appointing his caliph. Even when he did not go out of town he used to appoint rulers for every place where Muslims lived either in a small numbers or big. Even while sending someone for a battle he never failed to appoint a chief or leader and this appointment never depended on the liking of the people. He himself used to make such appointment according to the divine command. This was his rule during his every absence, be it a long or a short one. How then could he leave the administration, according to Shariat rules of all the Muslims of the world till Qiyamat (without appointing an Imam)?

Fifth argument

The office of Imamate is like Prophethood because both have to do with an administration and governance and are concerned with all responsible elements in all the worldly and otherworldly matters. It is not possible for the people to recognize such a person who may qualify for this office, (because), even if it is their unanimous choice about a person that selection will be according only to their defective mind (reasoning) and wrong selfishness (self-interest) which cannot be in accordance with an overall common interest and the divine wisdom. Everyone will propose the name of only that person who will be, in his opinion, useful for him or his community. Of course such unanimity is possible under pressure such as in the government of tyrant, oppressor kings and dictators. It cannot be Imamate (leadership) of the general public and so not a religious rule. Again, if the masses can, according to divine strategy, select an Imam they can also select a messenger (prophet), which is wrong unanimously. It is worth noting that, suppose, at some place, a king dismisses the governor but does not appoint anybody else in that post or if the administrator of some place goes out of station but appoints no one in charge of his office to take care of the public but leaves the matter to the choice of the people, then, certainly those who do not believe that an Imam must be appointed by Allah, will criticize the above mentioned governor or ruler severely. How strange that those who find fault with the above-mentioned situation think that it is all right in the case of Allah and the Messenger and say that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) passed away from the world but he did not appoint anyone as his successor but left such selection to the public.

Sixth argument

Take for granted that the Ummat (community) gives up all selfishness and desires and selects an Imam after a serious and sincere thought. But since to err is human it is possible that someone makes some mistake in selection and they may leave aside a proper person and select an unworthy fellow, as often happens in kingdoms and dictatorships and general elections wherein they elect a person for a period, considering him quite fit but subsequently their choice proves to be erroneous. This matter will, Insha Allah, be discussed in depth in the description of Hazrat Sahibul Amr (a.t.f.s.).

Seventh argument

Take it for granted that the selection of an Imam by an Ummat itself is correct and all right, but it is quite obvious that the Most Merciful Allah is the knower of all open and hidden matters and is most aware of His servants and of who is appropriate for which work or job. Verily this is quite easy for Him. Then despite this fact, to give it up and to entrust it to others who hardly know these things is like preferring a less preferable thing and it is improper and ugly and impossible on the part of the Omniscient, Omnipotent and the All Wise Allah.

Eight argument

If the selection of Imam is at the discretion of the Ummat then there are two possibilities. Their selection will be erroneous. Now since the Creator knew beforehand that they will be making mistakes it will be extremely ugly on the part of the Omniscient and All wise (Allah who is very Kind and Merciful) to entrust such important matters of managing religious affairs and training of the Ummat to those who err and select tyrant rulers. The Omniscient can never do this. Moreover, when the divine knowledge had encompassed that people would be selecting a worthy person for Imamate, though it is extremely difficult to recognize such a man and to make the people recognize him and to prepare them for his obedience and to remove the enmity of the quarrelling and the envy of the envious for people. But as it is quite easy for the Lord of the Universe, it is extremely ugly on His part to leave so much hard work to others and to appoint a group of weak persons for such a big job. It is totally impossible on the part of the Omnipotent and Omniscient. He Himself asserts:

يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ بِكُمْ الْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمْ الْعُسْرَ.

Allah likes ease for you and does not want hardship. 2:185

Again He says:

وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ.

He has not laid upon you a hardship in religion. 22:78

And what is more difficult than the above-mentioned task? This argument combines the past two arguments.