By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

“It is He who sends down manifest signs to His servant (the Prophet) that He may bring you out of darkness into light, and indeed Allah is Most Kind and Merciful (Raouf ar-Raheem) to you.” (Holy Qur’an 57:9)
As is obvious from the wording of the above Ayah, Almighty Allah calls Himself “Raouf ar-Raheem” (Most Kind and Merciful), while directing our thoughts to the manifest signs He has entrusted to His Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) for enlightening our minds, souls and hearts in order to remove the stains of darkness that gather because of ignorance and arrogance.
On eleven occasions the All-Merciful Lord has called Himself “Raouf ar-Raheem” in the Holy Qur’an, and in one Ayah has used this same phrase for Prophet Muhammad (SAWA):
“There has certainly come to you a Prophet from among yourselves; grievous to him is your distress; he has deep concern for you and is “raouf ar-raheem” (most kind and merciful) to the faithful.” (Holy Qur’an 9:128)
Indeed Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), as the “Mercy unto the creation” (Holy Qur’an 21:107) entrusted with the universal message of Islam, embodied the most sublime virtues, as reflection of the attributes of the Unseen but Omnipresent Lord Who cannot be encompassed by the eyes of the creatures.
This was necessary for guidance of human societies on the path of perfection. It means that after the passing away of the Prophet there ought to be his Divinely-Designated Heirs who personify these same God-given virtues of the Messenger of Mercy, including the attribute of “raouf ar-raheem”, so as to serve as Barometers of Belief for Muslims.
To remove any doubts in this regard and to draw a permanent line between truth and falsehood, or between the righteous Imams and the imposters, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), towards the end of his 23-year mission, as commanded by the Lord Most High, proclaimed his dear cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) as his Heir, Vicegerent, and Caliph with that historical sentence:
“For whomsoever I am Master, this Ali is his Master.”
Glory to the Lord Most High Who never leaves mankind without guidance. The Commander of the Faithful throughout his memorable life – during the lifetime of the Prophet, during the 25-years he patiently endured on the usurpation of his political right of leadership, and during his four-and-a-half rule as Head of the Islamic realm – gave a manifest demonstration of all his God-given virtues, including the phrase “raouf ar-raheem” (most kind and merciful).
The Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt after him continued the path of the Prophet as paragons-par-excellence of virtue, even under the most adverse circumstances, as Imam Husain (AS) displayed in Karbala the Godly Attribute of “raouf ar-raheem” vis-à-vis his unrepentant mortal enemies who heartlessly continued to martyr his friends, cousins, brothers, nephews, and sons, including the 6-month infant Ali Asghar, before his own tragic martyrdom.
Today on the blessed birthday of the Prophet’s 8th Infallible Heir, Imam Reza (AS), whom millions of devotees from far and near salute as “Ya Imam ar-Raouf” – inside his holy mausoleum, at mosques, hussainiyyas, homes all over the world, as well as on TV and radio channels, and in newspaper columns – we become better cognizant of the Words of Allah the All-Wise in the Holy Qur’an regarding bestowal of this Divine Attribute to the Seal of Messengers.
This is ample proof of the fact that Imamate is the Divinely-decreed succession to Prophethood, and in every era the Infallible Heirs of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) made manifest their God-given traits for the guidance of Muslims, including the epithet “most kind and merciful” (raouf ar-raheem).
Imam Reza (AS) needs no introduction. Born in the Prophet’s city Medina on the 11th of Zil-Qa’dah in 148 AH (766 AD) – some two weeks after the martyrdom of his grandfather, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS) – he was destined to find his final resting place at the age of 55 in distant Khorasan, northeastern Iran, which today wears a festive look – bedecked with flowers and colourful fluorescent lights in honour of his birthday.
He was named by his father Imam Musa Kazem (AS) as “Ali” in honour of his illustrious ancestor, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS).
It was clear he was bestowed with Divine Knowledge for which he was respected. As the eldest son, he shouldered a heavy responsibility especially during the intermittent bouts of imprisonment lasting several years to which his noble father was subjected by the self-styled caliphs of the usurper Abbasid regime.
Thus, in the absence of his father, he was the Beacon of Light for guiding all those who called on the threshold of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt.
He was 35-years old, when the mantle of the Divine Trust of Imamate came to rest on his shoulders in 183 AH on the martyrdom of Imam Kazem (AS) through poisoning in the dungeon of Baghdad.
For the next twenty years, before his own life was cut short in 203 AH at the age of 55, again by poisoning, he spared no efforts to steer the ship of Islam to the shores of salvation through stormy seas of Abbasid tyranny.
So dexterously did he discharge his duties that he was hailed by the Ummah as “Reza”, or the person who is completely satisfied with the Will of God and with whom all other people, whatever their jurisprudential denomination, and whether friend or foe, are also satisfied.
For seventeen years in his hometown Medina if the spiritual leadership of Imam Reza (AS) pleased the masses, it aroused the displeasure of the Abbasid regime, especially the new self-styled caliph, Mamoun, who had made distant Marv in Khorasan, his capital, and to which he forced the Prophet’s Heir to come in the year 201 AH. The deceitful Mamoun tried 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 “Imam ar-Raouf”, however, exposed Mamoun and the entire institution of the caliphate as scandalous and devoid of any Islamic legitimacy, by expressing those immortal words: “If the caliphate is yours, you cannot give it to others what God has given you, but if it is not yours, you cannot give to others what does not belong to you.”
Imam Reza (AS) thus showed that his position as the Prophet’s Infallible Heir was beyond the grasp of anyone, and whether or not he possessed political powers, real authority belonged to him as God’s representative on earth during his lifetime.
That is the reason when time has erased the graves of the imposter caliphs, let alone their palaces of pleasure, the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, whether in the grand mausoleums of Mashhad, Najaf, Karbala, Kazemayn and Samarra, or in their roofless resting places in the criminally destroyed Jannat al-Baqie Cemetery of Medina, continue to rule the hearts and minds of the faithful, as the Divinely-designated “Raouf ar-Raheem”.