JANNAT-UL-BAQII’ – The Graveyard that Shook the Saudi Dynasty

Demolition of Jannat-ul-Baqi’: Saudi dynasty digs its own grave

Jannat-ul-Baqi’ is a much revered graveyard located in Madinah Munawwarah in Saudi Arabia. Many great personalities of the Ahle Bait (a.s.), immaculate members of his (s.a.w.a.) household including his (s.a.w.a.) successors are laid to rest here:

  1. Hazrat Fatemah al-Zahra (a.s.), the Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) highly-revered daughter
  2. Imam Hasan b. Ali – Al Mujtaba (a.s.)
  3. Imam Ali b. Husain – Zain al-Aabedeen (a.s.)
  4. Imam Muhammad b. Ali – Al-Baqir (a.s.) and
  5. Imam Jafar b. Muhammad – Al-Sadiq (a.s.)

In addition to the successors of the Messenger (s.a.w.a.), prominent and famous companions of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and his (s.a.w.a.) close relatives are also buried here:

  1. Abbas b. Abdul Muttalib (Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) uncle)
  2. Safiyyah bint Abdil Muttallib and Aatika bint Abdil Muttalib (Prophet’s aunts (s.a.w.a.))
  3. Ibrahim b. Muhammad (Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) son)
  4. Hazrat Fatima binte Asad (Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) aunt and Ameerul Momineen’s (a.s.) mother (a.s.))
  5. Aqeel b. Abi Talib (Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) cousin and Ameerul Momineen’s (a.s.) brother)
  6. Muhammad b. Ali b. Abi Taalib, famous as Muhammad-e-Hanafiyyah (his mother’s name was Hanafiyyah)
  7. Hazrat Ummul Baneen (mother of Hazrat Abul Fazl Abbas b. Ali b. Abi Taalib (a.s.))
  8. Ismail b. Imam Sadiq (a.s.)
  9. Abdullah b. Jafar-e-Tayyaar (a.s.)

These are the individuals buried in Baqi’ and their graves were adorned with mausoleums and tombs. Even today Muslims have preserved pictures of the tombs and these are widely available on internet websites. These tombs were present till 8th Shavval 1344 A.H. Apart from these great personalities, graves of approximately seven thousand famous companions are located in Baqi’. Similarly, many scholars of the early days of Islam are also buried here, like Imam Maalik – the founder of the Maaliki sect. Like with other graves, a tomb was also built over his grave.

The first attack on Baqi’ – 1220 A.H.
The attack was first engineered by the Wahhabis in 1220 A.H. i.e. when the first Saudi government was overthrown by the Ottoman government. In 1220 A.H. Wahhabis entered Medinah to demolish Baqi’ and tried to demolish many mosques instead of Baqi’. They initially tried to pull down the dome of the mausoleum of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) but apparently refrained due to fear of reprisal.
The Ottoman government renovated the mausoleums and Shias and Sunnis from all over the world accumulated funds for its renovation. Consequently, beautiful tombs were created in Baqi’ and visitors from all over the world at the time of Hajj, Umrah and Ziyaarah paid their respects to these tombs.
However, this was just the beginning of the nightmare for the Islamic world.

The Day of Demolition
The Day of Demolition as it came to be known later was the day of breaking down of all mausoleums and tombs in Baqi’.
In 1344 A.H. when Aal-e-Saud – Saudi family gained complete control of Makkah, Madinah and its neighborhood, they decided to wipe out the signs of the holy places, Jannatul Baqi’, companions and family of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) from the map of Islam. For this, they obtained rulings from the scholars of Madinah to make it easy for themselves and to gain support of the people of Hijaz who were previously not ready for their rule.

Rulings for Demolition
Aal-e-Saud dispatched the Chief Justice Sulaiman b, Bulaihar so that he could obtain the desired rulings from the scholars of Madinah. For this, he posed questions to the scholars of Madinah in such a manner that the answers, as per the Wahhabi viewpoint, were present in the questions themselves. Similarly, the jurists (muftis) were informed beforehand to respond with the desired answers or they would be declared polytheists and killed if they failed to repent. The questions and answers were published in a Makkah-based magazine ‘Ummul Qura’ in the Shavval 1344 A.H. edition.

Sulaiman b. Bulaihar posed the following question:

  1. What do the scholars of Al-Madinahh Al-Munawwarah, may Allah increase their knowledge and understanding, have to say – Is it permissible to construct a structure and mosque over graves?
  2. If it is not permissible and Islam strongly prohibits it, then is it obligatory to demolish them and stop Muslims from praying namaz there?
  3. Can graves, structures and tombs constructed on an endowed land like Baqi’ whose some parts are not useful considered as usurped? Should not they be demolished at the earliest to do away with the oppression perpetrated on the deserving ones?

The scholars of Madinah, out of fear and greed replied to Sulaiman ibn Bulaihar as stated below:
Building a structure over graves has been collectively prohibited in traditions. Hence many scholars have given the verdict of the necessity of breaking them and we would like to take support of a tradition on the authority of Imam Ali (a.s.) wherein he instructed Abil Hayyaj: I command you to accomplish something which the Messenger of God (s.a.w.a.) had ordered me. It is that you destroy any image and any grave that you see before making it level (with the ground).

At this stage, we do not wish to comment on this tradition except that Quran permits building of a structure on graves as advocated in Surah Kahf (18): Verse XX. The Muslim nation is united on this reality and has been building graves in every era. In fact, the companions have never opposed building structure over graves, which explains why tombs and mausoleums existed in Baqi’ until they were destroyed and the graves of the first and second caliphs continue to be enshrined.

Lastly, the tradition of Abil Hayyaj, which the Wahhabis quote freely, is unreliable as it does not meet the criteria of a Sahih tradition from aspects of text and chain of narrators and more importantly contravenes the Noble Quran, the foremost test of a tradition’s reliability.

Destruction and Looting
Between 1205 A.H. and 1217 A.H., the Wahhabis attempted to occupy Hijaz several times but failed until they captured Taaef in 1217 A.H. killing many Muslims in the process. In 1218 A.H., they attacked Makkah and destroyed all the holy places including the structure built over the well of Zam Zam.
In 1216 A.H., in the month of Zilqad, the Wahhabis attacked the holy city of Karbala, laid a siege to it, killed many people in the streets and markets and plundered it until midday before fleeing the city with lot of wealth and goods. Saud himself took one-fifth of the looted amount and gave one part of the remaining loot to the soldiers on foot and two parts to the horsemen (because as per them this was a war against the disbelievers).

Attack on the Holy City of Makkah
In 1344 A.H. i.e. 1925 A.D. before the Wahhabis attacked Jannatul Baqi’, they attacked the graveyard of Makkah which is still known as Jannat ul Mo’alla and is the most venerated cemetery after Baqi’. The Prophet of God (s.a.w.a.) used to visit this graveyard, where

  1. His (s.a.w.a.) great grandfather Abdul Manaf
  2. Grandfather Abdul Muttalib (a.s.)
  3. Uncle Abu Talib (a.s.) and
  4. Wife Khadija (s.a.) are buried.

There was a mausoleum and a tomb on each of their graves. The Wahabbis demolished all of them before turning towards Madinah. It should be noted that their destructive aims were accomplished only after many Muslims were martyred in the skirmishes. The Wahhabis did not stop at killing; they made sure to plunder the mausoleums afterwards.

Destruction and Disrespect of Baqi’
It was on Wednesday, 8th Shavval 1344 A.H. i.e. 21st April 1925, under the commandership of Abdul Aziz b. Saud – the Wahhabis surrounded Madinah and fought its defenders and evicted the officials of the Ottoman government out of Madinah and then went on to destroy the graves of Imams (a.s.) i.e. grave of Imam Hasan-e-Mujtaba (a.s.), Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s.), Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) and Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s.).
Other graves were also not spared viz. those of Abbas b. Abdil Muttalib, Safiyya bint Abdil Muttalib, Aatika bint Abdil Muttalib, Ibrahim son of Messenger (s.a.w.a.), Ummul Baneen, Ismael b. Imam Sadiq (a.s.), Abdullah b. Jafar-e-Tayyaar, Halimah-e-Sa’diyyah and approximately seven thousand companions of Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.a.). Imam Malik’s grave was also demolished.

Killing and Plunder by the Wahhabis
Whenever the Wahabbis attacked the holy places, they not only killed Muslim men, women, children and the aged, but also plundered the streets and markets and escaped with abundant wealth.
Historians have documented that the Wahhabis looted forty trunks of diamonds, ornaments, and rubies and nearly one hundred swords with pure gold sheaths laden with diamonds and rubies from the mausoleums of Baqi’ in Madinah.

The Ruthlessness and Mercilessness of the Wahabbis
Noted historian Jameel Siddiqui Zahavi has documented details of the Wahhabi attack on Taaef – The head of a suckling child was severed while still clutched to the mother’s neck. People gathering the Holy Quran were killed. When houses were abandoned out of fear, they entered shops and mosques and killed the people in varying states of worship – be it bowing or prostration. Books, mostly Quran and books of jurisprudence including extracts from Sahih-e-Bukhari and Muslim were thrown in the markets and trampled on.
Such killing and plundering was not surprising from the followers of Muhammad b. Abdul Wahhab as they deemed other Muslims as disbelievers and polytheists and considered Makkah and Madinah as House of War and House of Disbelief which they redeemed after gaining control over it.

Views of the great jurist Ayatullah al-Uzma Lutfullah Saafi Gulpaigani (r.a.)
The great and renowned jurist and Marja-e-Taqleed of the Shias, author of various books, defender of Imamat and Wilayat of Ahle Bait (a.s.), the propagator of Imamat and Wilayat with the special grace of Imam-e-Zamana (a.t.f.s.), the author of the renowned book Muntakhab al-Asar fi al-Imam al-Saani Ashar, declared Sunday 8th Shavval, as a day of great calamity for the Muslim nation. He declared – This calamity has occurred not only on the Shias and the Ahle Bait (a.s.) but on the entire Muslim nation and is a loss and detriment which has befallen on Islam through this most deplorable incident and appalling action. It is a loss equal to several losses put together.

The Holy Mausoleum in the History of Islam
Ayatullah Saafi Gulpaigani (r.a.) has declared the blessed mausoleums and other effects related to Imams (a.s.) as the complete history of Islam. He stated – Wahhabis have destroyed the history of Islam and worse is that in these eighty years, they did not stop at only this act but destroyed and desolated everything which bore a trace the Prophet’s Ahle Bait (a.s.). These were memorials of Islam, blessings of Islam and the history of Islam does not have any apparent signs without them.

This great jurist of the Shias has pointed towards the fact that all nations and religions have protected and renovated their historical signs and effects. This act persuades the Muslims to protect and safeguard the corporal history of Islam. He declared – Just as these symbols are protected in the entire world, the signs of Islam should also be protected so that whoever is blessed with the visitation of Makkah and Madinah, witnesses Islam closely even centuries after its advent.

Ayatullah Saafi Gulpaigani (r.a.) blames the enemies of Islam and the selfish nature of the Salafis for this incident and elaborates – The real intention of the enemies of Islam and the Salafis is to destroy Islam and since they found this act as a debasement and an ignominy for themselves, they persuaded a group to commit this crime.

A ‘Day of Grief’ for Muslims
Ayatullah Saafi Gulpaigani (r.a.) addressed the Muslims, particularly the Shias and said – The Shias and Muslims should be aggrieved and sorrowful on this day (8th Shavval) and should curse and condemn these criminals.

Certainly the Proof of Allah – Imam-e-Zamana (a.t.f.s.) is also mournful and grief-stricken when he witnesses the desolate state of Baqi’, particularly the state of his grandmother, Hazrat Zahra (s.a.) and his forefathers’ (a.s.) graves.

Let us participate in the grief of the Ahle Bait (a.s.) and express our sense of disgust at the actions of the Wahhabis and pray for the earliest reappearance of Imam-e-Zamana (a.t.f.s.).

O Allah! Hasten the reappearance of Imam-e-Zamana (a.t.f.s.)

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Ramadhan: The month of the Quran

Article by: Ibne Yaqoob
“Verily We sent it (The Quran) down in the Night of Qadr! What will explain to you what the Night of Qadr is? The Night of Qadr is better than a thousand months!
(The Holy Quran, Chapter of The Power, verses 1-3)

The Holy month of Ramadhan marks the onset of disciplined fasting and abstinence. It is a month of supreme glory and splendor for Allah calls it “His month”. Allah reminds the believers in the Quran that fasting is ordained for them so that they guard against evil. For some of us, Ramadhan is a time for introspection – the hunger and thirst endured being a reminder of the severe conditions on the Day of Judgment and for others, a time for self-control and restraint from sins.

From a historical perspective, the month of Ramadhan is fairly eventful. Its 10th day marks the death anniversary of Khadija, the first and most beloved wife of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). The 15th day of this month announces the birth of Hazrat Hasan, the grandson of the Prophet (pbuh). Hazrat Ali, the son-in-law of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) was martyred on the 21st of Ramadhan after being struck by a sword in the mosque on the 19th day of the month.

However, the greatest testimony to the excellence of Ramadhan lies in the fact that it is the month in which Allah chose to reveal His final dispensation – The Holy Quran. Incidentally, from the point of view of revelation, almost all divine books were revealed in this month. The Torah (Old Testament) was revealed on Moses on the 6th of the month, while the Injeel (New Testament) was revealed on Jesus on the 12th. The Psalms of David were also revealed on the 18th of the month. The Holy Quran – the guide for all Mankind till the Day of Judgment – was revealed in the Night of Qadr (Power). Majority of the Muslim scholars agree that the Night of Qadr is one of the odd nights in the latter half of the month of Ramadhan.

The Holy Quran, having remained unchanged since its revelation more than 1,400 years ago is the everlasting miracle of the last prophet, Mohammed (pbuh). The world was mesmerized by its eloquence and captivated by the beauty of its language for it was revealed in a form and style which was hitherto unknown. Littérateurs, till today, pronounce the matchlessness of the Quran in these aspects. The excellence of the Holy Quran also lies in its consistency. This is affirmed by Allah in the verse, “If it (Quran) had been from any besides God, they would have found therein many contradictions.”

The influence of the Holy Quran can be gauged from the narrations of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) in which he established it as the beacon of guidance till the end of time with no revelation from Allah to follow it. Indeed the famous narration at the time of his death “I leave behind you two weighty things for your guidance till the Day of Judgment – the Book of Allah (The Quran) and my Family (The Ahlul Bayt)” is testimony to the elevated status of the Quran. This narration conclusively establishes that the Quran would remain unchanged in its form and fulfillment of its role of guidance of Mankind till the Day of Judgment.

The unchanged nature of the Quran is attributed to it having been blessed with a protection no less than that of the Creator Himself. Allah declares, “Verily We have sent down the Reminder (The Quran) and verily We unto it will certainly be the Guardian (Chapter of The Rock, verse 9).”

The month of Ramadhan is the month of the Quran. In these turbulent times, there is an urgent need to turn towards it for it is the book which Allah chose to be His last for Mankind till the Day of Judgment. This urgent need is both in letter and in spirit and to model our lives on its marvelous teachings.

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Women in Qur’anic Society: Equal status and worth of the sexes

The first of these characteristics of a Qur’anic society which affect women is that both sexes are held to be equal in status and worth. In other words, the Qur’an teaches us that women and men are all creatures of Allah, existing on a level of equal worth and value, although their equal importance does not substantiate a claim for their equivalence or perfect identity. This equality of male and female is documentable in the Qur’an in passages pertaining to at least four aspects of human existence and interaction.

A. Religious Matters

The first of these Qur’anic confirmations of male-female equality are contained in statements pertaining to such religious matters as the origins of humanity, or to religious obligations and rewards.

1. Origins of Humanity. The Qur’an is devoid of the stories found in the Old Testament which denigrate women. There is no hint that the first woman created by God is a creature of lesser worth than the first male, or that she is a kind of appendage formed from one of his ribs. Instead, male and female are created, we read, min nafsin wahidatin (“from a single soul or self”) to complement each other (Qur’an 4:1; 7:189). Whereas the Torah or Old Testament treats Eve as the temptress of the Garden of Eden, who aids Satan in enticing Adam to disobey God, the Qur’an deals with the pair with perfect equity. Both are equally guilty of sinning; both are equally punished by God with expulsion from the Garden; and both are equally forgiven when they repent.

2. Religious Obligations and Rewards. The Qur’an is not less clear in commanding equality for men and women in its directives regarding religious obligations and rewards. We read:

Lo! Men who surrender unto Allah, and women who surrender, and men who believe and women who believe, and men who obey and women who obey, and men who speak the truth and women who speak the truth, and men who persevere (in righteousness) and women who persevere and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give aims and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their modesty and women who guard (their modesty), and men who remember Allah and women who remember-Allah hath prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward. (33:35)

B. Ethical Obligations and Rewards

Secondly, the Qur’an reveals to mankind the desired equality of the two sexes by establishing the same ethical obligations and rewards for women and men.

And who so does good works, whether male or female, and he (or she) is a believer, such will enter Paradise and they will not be wronged the dint in a date-stone. (4:124)

Whosoever does right, whether male or female, and is a believer, him verily We shall quicken with good life, and We shall pay them a recompense according to the best of what they do. (16:97)

If Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala had not deemed the two sexes of equal status and value, such explicit statements of their equality in ethical obligations and rewards would not have been made in the Qur’an.

C. Education

Although the more specific commands for the equal rights of women and men to pursue education can be found in the hadith literature, the Qur’an does at least imply the pursuit of knowledge by all Muslims regardless of their sex. For example, it repeatedly commands all readers to read, to recite, to think, to contemplate, as well as to learn from the signs (ayat) of Allah in nature. In fact, the very first revelation to Prophet Muhammad (S) was concerned with knowledge. In a Qur’anic society, there can never be a restriction of this knowledge to one sex. It is the duty of every Muslim and every Muslimah to pursue knowledge throughout life, even if it should lead the seeker to China, we are told. The Prophet (S) even commanded that the slave girls be educated, and he asked Shifa’ bint `Abdillah to instruct his wife Hafsah bint `Umar. Lectures of the Prophet (S) were attended by audiences of both men and women; and by the time of the Prophet’s death, there were many women scholars.

D. Legal Rights

A fourth evidence in the Qur’an for the equality of men and women is its specification of legal rights which are guaranteed for every individual from cradle to grave. Unlike the situation in the West, where until the last century it was impossible for a married woman to hold property on her own, to contract with other persons, or to dispose of her property without the consent of her husband, the Qur’an proclaims the right of every woman to buy and sell, to contract and to earn, and to hold and manage her own money and property. In addition to these rights, the Qur’an grants woman a share in the inheritance of the family (4:7-11), warns against depriving her of that inheritance (4:19), specifies that the dower (mahr) of her marriage should belong to her alone and never be taken by her husband (2:229; 4:19-21,25) unless offered by the woman as a free gift (4:44).

As with any privilege, these rights of women carry corresponding responsibilities. If she commits a civil offence, the Qur’an tells us, woman’s penalty is no less or no more than that of a man in a similar case (5:41; 24:2). If she is wronged or harmed, she is entitled to compensation just like a man.

It is clear that the Qur’an not only recommends, but is even insistent upon, the equality of women and men as an essential characteristic of a Qur’anic society.

The claim of the non-Muslim critics that Islam denigrates women is denied emphatically by the Qur’an. Similarly denied are the arguments of certain Muslims that women are religiously, intellectually and ethically inferior to men, as Jewish and Christian literatures had earlier maintained.

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Why Prostration in Prayers must be done on Earth

Abu Sa’eed used to relate that he had seen the Prophet doing his prostration (Sijdah ) on wet mud, so much so that he could see the stains of mud on his forehead.
Saheeh Bukhari, Part I, p. 104

The Prophet used to rest his forehead on the earth (turba) while prostrating.
Saheeh Bukhari, Part 1, p. 97

The Prophet used to do his prostration on Khumrah (Sijdaghah).
(1) Saheeh Bukhari, Part 2, p. 214 & p.243
(2) Jam’a Tirmizee, p.46
(3) Kanzul Ummal, Part 2, p. 12

The Prophet declared that the best spot for prostration was the earth or a thing that grows from the earth.
Kanz-ul-Ummal Part 4. p. 113

“The Prophet said to his wife Umme Salma, “Please fetch the `Khamrah’ (Sajdaghah) from the mosque.” The word Khumrah means a small piece of chatai made from palmleaf on which only the head could be rested when prostrating. lbn-e-Aseer in his Jam’a-ul-Usool has written, “Khumrah is the Sijdagah on which the Shi’as of our time perform their prostration on.”

“I maintain that by this tradition it is `sunnat’ to keep a `sajdagah’. Those who forbid it and call it the way of the `Rafzees’ are wrong. To practice this `sunnat’, I often perform my prostration on a fan made from palmleaf and do not care about the criticism of the ignorant. We are concerned only with the `sunnat’ of the Prophet, no matter whether they call it the way of the `Rafzees’ or `Kharijees’. Let them rave about it.”

Sunni `Alim Maulana Vahidul Zamankhan
Anwar-ul-Laghat, Chap. 7, p. 118

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Who are Ahlul bayt

Qur’an in Sura 42, V 23 tells us in the words of Prophet Muhammad (saw), ” I do not ask you for any recompense for this (communication of the revelation) except the love of the near kinship.” (Mawaddata fil-Qurba). Asking the believers to love the Prophet and his Ahlulbayt.

In Sura 33 (Ahzab) V.33 there is further elaboration of the Ahlulbayt and their status.

This state of purity, which distinguished Hadhrat Muhammad (a.s.) and his family (Ahlulbayt) from the common Muslims, agreed with the elevated ranks of the families of the earlier Prophets, but this elevation was not unconditional, they had to be rightly guided to achieve that status. This guidance was confirmed by the following verses, Verse 33 goes like this:

“God desires only to remove any impurities from you, o’people of the House (Ahlulbayt) and to purify you completely.”

Who are the people of the House (Ahlulbayt)? The pronoun referring to them is in the masculine plural, while the preceding part of the verse is in the feminine plural. This change in gender has evidently pointed the finger to the Five people of the mantle (Ahl Al-Kisa) i.e. Muhammad-Ali-Fatima-Hasan-Husain. For this Verse was revealed when the Prophet (saw) was in the house of his daughter Fatima under a Kisa. She is the narrator of this Tradition. When these Five persons were under the Kisa she used a sentence “Fa Lamma Aktamalna” And when we were complete (Under the Kisa). She did not use the word Ajtam’ana, i.e. when were all gathered or assembled together for it would show the possibility of addition or subtraction from the Five. The word `Aktamalna‘ clarified the position that these Five had completed the assembly without further additions.

Tabari in his commentary and Imam Fakhruddin Raazi in his Tafseer-e-Kabir in their commentaries on this verse support this interpretation and the names of Five people with the exclusion of the wives of the Prophet.

The Ahlulbayt of Muhammad (saw) meant, as was consistent with the general usage of the term at the time, primarily his blood relations, the same people who were also forbidden to receive alms ( Sadaqah) in order that their state of purity not be soiled or questioned. This also elevates them to the status of infallible (Masoom), that is, free of mistakes in all avenues of life.

To further confirm the names of these Five persons, in Sura III,V.61, the Verse of Mubahela clarifies this position in front of the large audience of Muslims as well as Christians.. This Verse goes like this:

” If one disputes with you in this matter (concerning Jesus) after the knowledge which has come to you, come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves, then let us swear an oath and place the curse of God on those who lie.”

And the personalities Muhammad (saw) took with him were the same Five people of the Kisa.

He himself as Prophet of Allah, his Daughter Fatima (saw) as the women of the family, his two grand sons as the sons and his cousin Ali (a.s.) as the “Self” of the Prophet.

When the Bishop of Najran saw these faces he realised the truth of the Prophet and refrained from verbal confrontation of curse on those who lie. Qur’an’s logic plays a great part in understanding what Allah wanted us to know and what to do when matters are under dispute or subject to various interpretations. Sura III V.31 tells us,

” Say (O’ Muhammad) if you love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive your sins.”

In this Verse, the Prophet is introduced as an exemplar to whose behaviour and morality people should conform their own behaviour and morality, and whom they should take as their precedent. This in itself is a proof of the Prophet’s immunity from sin and error, because, if it were possible for sin and error to proceed from him, there would be no purpose in God, introducing him as a leader and a precedent.

This position then after the Prophet, passed to the Household (Ahlulbayt) and according to a Hadith, which many Sunni and Shi’ah scholars have narrated in their books on the life of the Prophet, in histories and in their own books on Hadith from nearly thirty companions of the Prophet. The Prophet chose his Household (Ahlulbayt) for the leadership and Imamate. He said,

” I leave among you two precious things: the Book of Allah and my Ahlulbayt. These two will not be separated until they encounter me at the pool of Kawther (in paradise). Do not run ahead of them, for you will be ruined, do not neglect them, for you will be ruined and do not seek to instruct them for they are wiser than you.”

Looking at the above Verses of the Holy Book, let there be no doubt in the minds of any readers, believers or non believers, that the Prophet on orders of the Qur’an was a Masoom and so were his Ahlulbayt.

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