By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

“The day We shall summon every group of people with their Imam, then whoever is given his book in his right hand —they will read it, and they will not be wronged so much as a single date-thread.” (Holy Qur’an 17:71)
The above words of God Almighty refer to the vital issue of “Wilayah” or Leadership of mankind for guidance in the transient life of the mortal world as well as for the crucial issue of salvation on the Day of Resurrection.
This “Ayah” refers to the acknowledgement of the contemporary Leader of every age – whether a Prophet or an Infallible Imam – and means to say that those given the report-card of their deeds in the right hand on the Day of Judgement, are guaranteed salvation.
A famous hadith in this regard from the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), recorded by both Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, explicitly says: “Whoever dies without being cognizant of the Imam of the Age, dies the death of ignorance.”
Today, when we are living in the period of Occultation of the Prophet’s 12 and Last Infallible Heir, Imam Mahdi (AS) with full confidence that he will appear in the end times to cleanse Planet Earth of all vestiges of corruption and oppression by establishing the global government of peace, property, and justice, the 11th of Zi’l-Qa’dah, the birthday of the 8th Infallible Heir of the Seal of Messengers, affords us an excellent opportunity to further dwell on the explanation of these Divine Phrase of Surah al-Isra’.
Imam Ali ar-Reza (AS), who is hailed by many Muslims, whatever their jurisprudential denomination, as “Imam-e Zamen” or the Leader, who is an indisputable Protector/Guardian/Guarantor of anyone who entrusts himself/herself to his care, says while expounding the meaning of this particular “Ayah”:
“On that Day (Resurrection), every nation will be called along with its contemporary Imam (Leader), and the Book of their Lord, as well as the course of practice of their Prophet.”
Imam Reza (AS), who was born in 148 AH in the Prophet’s city Medina, some two weeks after the martyrdom of his grandfather, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS), and became the Divinely-Decreed Trustee of Imamate (Wilayah) at the age of 35 on the martyrdom of his father, Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS) through poisoning in Baghdad, has analyzed in detail the issue of Leadership in Islam.
He has called it “God-given authority” for continuation of the mission of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and the Vicegerency of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), followed by that of his sons, Imam Hassan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS), and the Infallible Heirs of the Martyr of Karbala.
Then Imam Reza (AS) said: “The Imam strives to establish the limits ordained by Allah and defends the creed decreed by the Lord Most High by inviting (the people) to the path of Allah through wisdom, good admonitions, and self-explanatory proofs. And, finally, the Imam is the Head of religion, the order of Muslims, the benefit to the believers in the world and their glory.”
He also said: “The Imam is the flourishing root of Islam and its prime branch. The Imam is an honest friend, a kind and friendly father, a truly-loyal brother and companion, just like an affectionate and selfless mother towards her young child, and a refuge for Allah’s servants.”
These wise words are proof of the fact that every Infallible Imam, by God’s permission, is the Guarantor and Guardian (Zamen) of the believers, especially those who seek refuge in him.
Now we understand why Imam Reza (AS), whose period of Imamate was cut short in its 20th year at the age of 55 in Khorasan where he was forcibly brought by Mamoun the self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, was famous in his times as “Imam-e Zamen”.
Many instances from his memorable life point to these facts, such as the guarantee provided by him for the safety of pilgrims to the holy shrine of his ancestor, Imam Husain (AS) in Karbala, which the tyrant Haroun had forbidden.
Another instance is the case of a doe which a hunter had caught and when she rubbed her head on the 8th Imam’s feet, the Imam who by Divine Intuition knew the language of the animals, asked the hunter to let her go to the forest to suckle her young ones, promising to stand as Guarantor for the animal until its return. The guarantee was fulfilled and made the astounded hunter release the doe and her roes, back into the forest.
Then there was the deceit of Mamoun to dupe the people into believing that he was willing to hand over the temporal power of the Islamic realm to the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt by declaring Imam Reza (AS) as “Heir Apparent” and minting coins with the 8th Imam’s name to celebrate the occasion.
The plot of the crafty caliph to tarnish the image of the Imam and alienate the Ummah from him, backfired, as people started revering these particular coins and tying them in a band of cloth on the right arm of any traveler as guarantee for safe journey, so that anyone encountering the traveler would refrain from harming him as a person under protection of Imam Reza (AS). Later after the journey the coin or coins would be distributed amongst the needy as charity.
No wonder, God says in the “Ayah” quoted at the start of this column: “whoever is given his book in his right hand —they will read it, and they will not be wronged so much as a single date-thread.”
Interestingly, this practice of tying the amulet known simply as “Imam-e Zamen” on the right arm of a traveler or of newlyweds, continues to this day among the people of the Subcontinent whether Sunni or Shi’a Muslims.
Last but not the least, is the account of a person blamed for theft whose hands were ordered by Mamoun to be chopped off, prompting the accused to cite three reasons against such a verdict!
When asked to elaborate, the accused said that as ruler Mamoun was responsible for creating a flourishing economy to eradicate poverty so as to prevent the poor from resorting to any unlawful act for feeding the starving family. Secondly, the accused claimed to be a descendant of the Prophet and charged Mamoun by stealing public property and depriving him of “Khoms”. And thirdly, Mamoun was a slave and cannot punish a freeman.
The caliph became livid with rage at what he deemed a personal attack and demanded an explanation, to which the accused said: “Your father Haroun had bought a female slave from public treasury (and not his personal wealth) and you were born from her womb. This means that you remain as a slave and are considered as public property”.
On hearing this, Imam Reza (AS) said the accused was correct and his hands cannot be chopped off. Thus, it was the “Zamanat” or Guarantee of the 8th Imam that saved the poor man, much to the chagrin of the self-styled caliph.
Today there is no sign of Mamoun and the Abbasids, while Imam Reza (AS) reigns supreme from Mashhad where millions of pilgrims from all over Iran and the world have assembled at the sprawling golden-dome shrine to felicitate his birth anniversary, and seek his intercession with God on the Day of Resurrection when every nation will be raised with their Imam(s).