By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz
      "They are the ones whom Allah has guided. So follow their guidance…” (Holy Qur’an 6:90)
      The Almighty commands us to follow the guidelines of those whom He has decreed as Guides. This is yet another proof that Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), whose universal message of Islam was for all humanity, did not leave Muslims stumbling in the dark without naming the divinely-designated Guide after him.
      For guidance of the Ummah after him, he also didn’t hint at any of his middle- aged and weak-willed companions who had spent the greater part of life in idolatry and sins before becoming Muslim.
      In other words, since prophets are not elected, selected or nominated by people but are chosen by the All-Wise Lord Himself, their heirs or testamentary legatees should also be Divinely-Designated, because the guidance of humanity is not the task of any misguided person, no matter if he prays, fasts, performs the Hajj, gives Zakat, or styles himself caliph, assumes political power, gathers armies, and goes on the killing spree of fellow humans.
      Thus, in view of the fact that while returning from his Farewell Hajj Pilgrimage the Seal of Messengers on the express command of Allah proclaimed his peerless cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) as "Mowla” (Leader and Guide) at the historic event of Ghadeer-Khom on Zi’l-Hijjah 18 – as recorded in all authentic books of history and hadith – all true believers are obliged to follow the One and Only Commander of the Faithful and his Eleven Infallible Successors for proper guidance in order to lead a God-pleasing life in this mortal world and to achieve salvation in afterlife, instead of following coup leaders.
      Today, the 20th of Zi’l-Hijjah, which according to a version, is the birthday of the 7th Infallible Guide of the Ahl al-Bayt or Blessed Household of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), let us cast a cursory glance at his meaningful life.
      Born in 128 AH in the town of Abwa, where his illustrious ancestress the Prophet’s mother Amena bint Wahb rests in eternal peace – despite the fact the Wahhabi heretics have destroyed her sacred tomb – he was named "Musa” in honour of Prophet Moses by his father, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS), the Reviver of the Prophet’s pure and pristine "Sunnah wa Seerah” (practice and behaviour).
     Since childhood he showed the signs of guidance vested in him by God. For instance, at the tender age of 5, when the jurist Abu Hanifa (born in a family of Zoroastrian converts to Islam from Kabul), asked him: "O son of the Messenger of Allah! What is your opinion about a person’s deeds? Does he do them by himself or does God make him do them?”
       The little boy replied: "Whatever a person does has only three possibilities. First, God Alone does them while man is quite helpless. Second, both God and man do equally share the commitment. Third, man does them alone. Now, if the first assumption is correct, it would mean God is not Just and punishes mankind for sins they have not committed.
      "If the second assumption is accepted, then also it would mean God is not Just and punishes mankind for crimes in which He is equally a partner. (God the Glorious is far removed from any negative attribute such as injustice).
      "Thus, we are naturally left with the third alternative that people are solely responsible for their deeds – on the basis of free will without being forced to do.”
      It is obvious that Abu Hanifa who is on record as saying: "If not for the two years as student of Imam Sadeq (AS) I would have perished,” was shown guidance by his teacher’s 5-year old son as well, but despite being warned by the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt he still persisted in "qiyas” – analogy or guesswork in religious matters – that has resulted in misguidance for a great number of Muslims.
      On the martyrdom of Imam Sadeq (AS) through a fatal dose of poison given by Mansour Dawaniqi, the self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, the mantle of divinely-designated imamate came to rest on the shoulders of 20-year Musa (AS), who for the next 35 years, like Prophet Moses, ably guided the seekers of truth to the path of God despite suffering intermittent bouts of imprisonment at the hands of four tyrannical Pharaohs of his time – that is, Mansour, Mahdi al-Abbasi, Hadi al-Abbasi, and Haroun Rasheed.
      A brief newspaper column cannot do justice to the memorable life of the 7th Imam who acquired the epithet "Kazem” which means "Restrainer of Anger and Emotions”, because of his great patience in tackling the grave issues of deviation, oppression, and corruption, which the misguided Abbasid caliphs and their misled scholars and administrators had unleashed on the Ummah.
      Here is a gem of a guideline from Imam Kazem (AS) for proper cognizance of Allah the Glorious when some misguided persons said God Almighty at times descends to the sky from His Throne:
      "Allah never descends (or ascends). He is the same, whether close or remote. No remote thing is far from Him, nor a close thing is near Him. He needs nobody and nothing, but everybody and everything are in need of Him. He is the Generous and Powerful. There is no god but He, the Mighty and Wise. As for those describers who say He descends, the Blessed and Exalted Allah is far above such a description. Those who say so believe that Allah is subject to decrease or increase. Any movable thing needs some outside force that moves it or serves as a medium for its movement. Doomed is he whose faith in Allah is shaken. Beware in attributing to Allah qualities that depict Him as decreasing or increasing, moving or being moved, changing or descending, standing or sitting. Allah, the Almighty and Powerful, is certainly beyond the words of the describers, the depiction of depicters, and the fancy of the fanciful"
      These and similar bezels of guidance from Imam Kazem (AS) alarmed the tyrant Haroun, who imprisoned the Prophet’s Heir and finally had him martyred at the age of 55 by poisoning his food.
      Today, the Abbasids are no more, while the 7th Imam of the Ahl al-Bayt from their capital, Baghdad rules the hearts of the believers all over the world as the "Bab al-Hawa’ej” or Gateway to Needs answered by God Almighty.
      To end the column, here is more food for thought from Imam Kazem (AS):
      "Work hard to divide your day into four times: One for praying to Allah; One for bread-winning; One for keeping company with brethren and trustworthy persons who know your faults and are faithful to you from the depths of their hearts; One for your pleasures, without doing the forbidden. It is this time that helps you to manage the other three times properly.”

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Congratulations on the Blessed Birthday of the 7th Imam