Ep 26 — The Bonds of the Islamic Ummah

Session 24: The Bonds of the Islamic Ummah. delivered Saturday, 20 Mehr 1353 / 25 Ramadan al-Mubarak 1394 Surat al-Ma'idah (5:51). O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies (awliya'). Some of them are allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you — then indeed, he is one of them. Indeed, God does not guide the wrongdoing people. So you see those in whose hearts is disease hastening into [allegiance with\ them, saying, 'We fear lest a turn of fortune strike us.' But perhaps God will bring [you] victory, or a decision from Him, and they will become, over what they had concealed within themselves, regretful.] (First, before we begin our discussion, I want to mention to our friends and brothers a tradition from the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family and grant them peace. In that tradition the Messenger of God is reported to have said: rahima-llahu imra'an 'amila 'amalan fa-atqanahu — that is, may God have mercy on a person who, whatever he does, does it firmly and soundly. Let him do his work solidly; meaning, let him also take account of the possibilities in his work. The possibility that the electricity may go out, the possibility that the microphone may fail, the possibility of dozens of other such incidents. Today's incident became a lesson for us. How good it is for us to think in advance about the things that might happen. Our master, the Commander of the Faithful — God's blessings and peace be upon him — expresses this very point in a sermon of the Nahj al-Balagha. He says: I am not like that stunned, dazed animal that sleeps in its lair until the hunter comes and seizes it; rather, from the events — from what has befallen me and occurred to me — I make use of them for understanding subsequent matters; I gather experience. And this is a lesson for us, that in all the affairs of life we should gather experiences from what has passed for what remains, and take account of the possibilities and the events that may occur.) Permit me to speak in summary, although the discussion requires elaboration. Of course I too will elaborate it to the extent I deem necessary for it to continue; I will carry it on for another day or two, until the matter becomes clear. In brief, here is what needs to be presented as the discussion of Wilayat continues. Take an Islamic society, a community formed as the Islamic Ummah — meaning a community administered by divine regulations, by a divine mode of thought, and by legislation and the execution of law through divine power. If this Islamic Ummah wishes to possess Wilayat in that Qur'anic sense which I spoke of yesterday — little by little we arrive at that meaning of Wilayat held in the minds of the elite. That Wilayat which is in the minds of the common people, we are not concerned with now; that Wilayat which is in the minds of the elite — that is, the scholars and the learned and the men of knowledge who are versed in Islamic and Shi'i sciences — we will come to that now. But for now the discussion is about Qur'anic Wilayat. If they wish to attain that Qur'anic Wilayat — that Wilayat which is raised in the Qur'an — if the Islamic Ummah wishes to secure it for itself, it must observe two directions. One direction is the direction of internal relations, within the Islamic society; one direction is the direction of external relations — that is, the relation of the Islamic world and the Islamic Ummah and the Islamic society with other communities. In the sphere of internal relations, the Islamic Ummah possesses Wilayat in the Qur'anic sense only when it secures within itself the utmost solidarity, connection, relationship, and unity of ranks, and the greatest possible cohesion of its various individuals and factions. Let there be no kind of division or disagreement throughout the great Islamic Ummah. Let no separate ranks be formed within this Ummah. Suppose two units within the Islamic Ummah rise up against one another in war — say, a group in the east of the Islamic lands and a group in the northeast set out to fight and do battle with one another. The rule, the Qur'anic command, is that the rest of the Muslims should strive as much as they can to reconcile those two hostile and mutually hostile parties. But suppose they see that of these two adversaries one is willing to reconcile while the other is not, or that the word of the one is a word of coercion while the word of the other is a word of truth — and the man who backs coercion will not submit to the word of truth or incline toward the just word. In such a situation, the whole Islamic world must become as one, must join hands, must go after that aggressor and silence him. They must contend with him until they set him back in his place. It is a verse of the Qur'an: And if two factions among the believers fight, then make reconciliation between the two. But if one of them oppresses the other, then fight against the one that oppresses until it returns to the command of God. "And if two factions among the believers fight" — if two parties, two groups among the Muslim groups, fight one another; "then make reconciliation between the two" — reconcile between these two Muslim groups. "But if one of them oppresses the other" — if among these two groups one wrongs the other, commits transgression and aggression and excess, speaks the language of coercion and seeks to play the bully; "then fight against the one that oppresses" — against the one that speaks coercion, fight; "until it returns to the command of God" — until it is forced to return to God's command, until it is compelled to accept God's command. This is the command of God in the sphere of preserving unity within the Islamic society. As for the sphere of external relations: here the Islamic world must strive — the Islamic Ummah must strive — to so order its relations with the non-Muslim world and with those outside this Ummah that it does not fall in the slightest under their command, does not come in the slightest under the influence of their thinking, and does not let its independent politics lose even a fraction of their independence under the influence of theirs. Sharing a front and joining together with them is altogether forbidden — that is, when this joining together causes the Muslim Ummah to come under their influence. There is a famous account here, whose details I will not now relate. It is a narration mentioned in most of the reliable books of the Shi'a. It pertains to the time of Imam al-Baqir — God's blessings be upon him — when the coinage of the Islamic world was being brought from the land of Rome (Byzantium), and the Byzantine ruler made a threat, and they were left helpless and at a loss. Then the Imam, peace be upon him, guided the apparatus of the caliphate. It is very strange! This is the only point — one or two exceptional cases — in which I see that the Imams of guidance, peace be upon them, showed a slight favorable face to the apparatus of the caliphate. One of them is here. The Imam guided the apparatus of the caliphate and instructed them that you should mint the coin in this way. They did not know how to mint coinage; they did not know the measure of the silver, where to obtain it and how to provide it — the measure of a dirham and a half-dirham and those things upon which the coin had to be struck. The Imam guided them. Therefore, from the standpoint of external relations, the slightest receptivity to influence from anti-Islamic or non-Islamic factions — and especially the anti-Islamic — is forbidden. The Islamic society and the Islamic Ummah have no right to establish their bond with the world outside Islam except as the upper hand, the superior. Take an exploitative relationship between the Islamic Ummah and a non-Muslim Ummah — of the kind of the Tobacco affair and the Regie company, which you gentlemen know and have heard about. The Islamic world has no right to enter into this relationship. Or take those Mughal sultans and rulers of India who permitted foreign governments to come and establish companies there: they performed an act contrary to the Wilayat of the Islamic world. This act of letting a company come was not permissible — because they knew, or if they did not know, they should have known, they must know, what the company would do. The East India Company, for example — when it entered that region, when it entered that land, what calamity it would bring upon the lives of those people, and how it would spread the cancer of colonialism into the very veins and sinews of that vast subcontinent. They should have understood these things; they did not understand. And the Islamic world and the Islamic Ummah never permit relations of this kind. Take note. When we say that relations are cut off with non-Muslim governments and with non-Muslim nations, this does not mean that the Islamic world and the Islamic Ummah will live in political isolation. No; the issue is not the issue of political isolation, such that you might imagine that the Islamic world has no commercial relation with anyone, no political relation, no diplomatic relations, neither sends an ambassador nor receives an ambassador — no, it is not like that; it has ordinary relations. It has no Wilayat with them, no attachment with them. It has no essential and substantial bond with them. It will not be such that, if they wish, they can place the Islamic world under their own influence. So Wilayat has two facets — Qur'anic Wilayat. One facet is that within the Islamic society all elements must step toward one goal, toward one direction, by one path, with one footstep. Outside the Islamic society, the Islamic Ummah must sever its bonds with all the blocs and the anti-Islamic factions. Here there exists a precise point which shows that Wilayat in this sense, which has come in the Qur'an, is in the very same sense of the Wilayat that we, the Shi'a, hold. Pay attention so that I may express this point, so that you all may understand how Wilayat in Shi'ism connects with Qur'anic Wilayat. It is possible that four persons may be present who, out of devotional acceptance, or [as] the past generation may have been present and, out of devotional acceptance, heard certain things about Wilayat and accepted them — but this young person who wishes to understand and is connected with the Qur'an must pay attention to where Shi'i Wilayat comes from. This [fact] that we have considered the connection with the Imam to be so important, this [fact] that we have considered the command of the Imam to be in force in all the affairs of the life of the society — what is this for? From where does it come? Here the Qur'an speaks to us — and that point is the very thing I am saying. Suppose a society and an Ummah wishes to possess Qur'anic Wilayat in this sense: it wishes all its internal forces to set out in one direction, toward one goal, along one line, and it wishes all its internal forces to be mobilized against the anti-Islamic powers abroad. Then it needs a point of concentrated power at the heart of the Islamic society. It needs a point to which all the internal forces are joined, from which all draw inspiration, and to whom all listen and obey, and who knows all aspects of the interests and harms, so that — like a strong, powerful-handed, keen-eyed watchman — he may assign each person on the battlefront to his own particular task. There must exist a leadership, a command, a concentrated power in the Islamic society, which knows what can be expected of you, what can be expected of me, what can be expected of other human beings, so that to each it may assign the task that is required of him, saying: act. For example, by way of analogy — if I want to make an analogy: have you seen these carpet-weaving workshops? A number of people are seated weaving a carpet; each is working — every child or grown person seated there is weaving thread so that by dusk he may receive two or three tomans. Each is expending some enthusiasm and labor here. If these works are not coordinated, if there is no higher thought and eye and power that continually reads out that pattern of the carpet according to those particular instructions, so that they may know which thread to use, and how to strike it, and how to cut it — if such a concentrated power does not exist, how will this carpet come out?! You will see that its right side tells of the East, and its left side tells of the West! One part speaks of a Kurdish carpet, another part speaks of a Turkmen carpet! The patterns disordered, it comes out something altogether absurd. The orderliness of the carpet — this [feature] that you see, that a flower has appeared on this side, [and] like that flower, without any addition or subtraction, on this side too one has grown, has appeared, and both have reached that medallion (toranj) in the center, and just like these two, on that side of the carpet also there are two more, and all things are orderly and everything is in its place — what is this for? It is because, first, the instruction is determined, and one person too is seated, calling out in a loud voice — I don't know — "Bring two of those down from above, strike that thread from that side, cut that one from that side." Which I have never heard and do not know how to do; the carpet-sellers know it. The carpet-sellers too do not know it; the carpet-weavers know it. Did you notice? A society needs a concentrated power if it wants all its forces put to work, and all working in one direction, and none of them wasted, and all the forces of the society brought to bear — in the form of one concentrated power — upon the collective interests of humanity, and the society able to stand like a single fist in the face of the opposing factions and ranks and powers. To have these, it needs a concentrated power. It needs a heart; this society, this general body of the Islamic Ummah, needs a heart. And that heart has its conditions. He must be very aware, must know very much, must be very resolute, his eye must possess a different kind of vision, he must fear nothing on the path of God, he must, when necessary, sacrifice even himself. What do we name such a being? The Imam. The Imam means that ruler and leader who is appointed in the society on the part of the Lord. This that I say, "on the part of God," what does it mean? It means either that God appoints [him] by name and designation — as He appointed the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Hasan, Imam Husayn, and the rest of the Imams; the Prophet himself too is an Imam; the Prophet himself too is an Imam: Indeed, I will make you an Imam for the people. God the Exalted says to Abraham: I have made you an Imam. The Imam means that leader and ruler and guide in a society. At one time God appoints this Imam by name and designation, saying: after the Prophet it must be 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, for example. At another time God the Exalted does not appoint the Imam by name; He appoints [him] by a mark (sign). Like what? Like the statement of the Imam, peace be upon him: fa-amma man kana mina al-fuqaha'i sa'inan li-nafsihi hafizan li-dinihi mukhalifan 'ala hawahu muti'an li-amri mawlahu fa-li-l-'awammi an yuqalliduhu — the Imam has appointed [him], you see; this too is a designated Imam (imam mansus), he is himself an Imam, he is an Imam. That jurist (faqih) who is the successor [of the Imam] — but he is an Imam who has not been appointed by name; he has been appointed by a mark. Whoever this mark applies to, he becomes the Imam. I wished to explain for you the word "Imam." The Imam means leader, means ruler, means the one who holds the reins, means the one whom — wherever he goes — human beings follow; who must be on the part of God, must be just, must be fair, must be religious, must be resolute, and the like of these statements which exist concerning the Imamate, which we are not now in a position [to discuss]. So the principle of Qur'anic Wilayat necessitated — what thing? The existence of the Imam. The discussion is not yet finished; pay attention. If this great body, whose name is the Islamic Ummah, wishes to remain alive, to remain successful, to be ever enduring, what must it do? Its connection with this center, with this moving and impassioned heart, must always — all of it, ever — be firm, powerful, established. So what does Wilayat mean? Let all pay close attention: the other dimension of Wilayat — what does it mean? It means the firm and powerful connection of each of the individuals of the Islamic Ummah, in every state, with that heart of the Ummah. Connection of what? Intellectual connection and practical connection. That is, taking one's pattern truly from him, truly following him in thoughts and visions, and truly following him in deeds and conduct and activities and movements. So what does the Wilayat of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib mean? It means that in your thoughts you be a follower of 'Ali; in your deeds you be a follower of 'Ali; that a powerful, firm, unbreakable bond has tied you to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, so that you do not become separated from 'Ali. This is the meaning of Wilayat. Have you understood well what Wilayat is? It is here that we understand the meaning of this tradition: wilayatu 'ali ibn abi talibin hisni — the Wilayat of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib is my fortress and stronghold — [said] on the part of God — fa-man dakhala hisni amina min 'adhabi — whoever enters this stronghold will remain safe and secure from the punishment of God. It is a very interesting statement. What does it mean? It means that the Muslims, the followers of the Qur'an — if both from the standpoint of thought and reflection and from the standpoint of deed and effort and activity they are connected to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib — they are safe and protected from God's punishment. Is it other than this? Is it anything but this? If 'Ali ibn Abi Talib is recognized today, [and] after he is recognized, you and I act like him, then we attain Wilayat; Wilayat means this. Take a servant of God who deems the Qur'an incapable of being understood — and let me be clear: of course I myself do understand it; God forbid that I should deem the Qur'an incapable of being understood; I mean the one who does not. How can such a servant say "I have the Wilayat of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and I am connected with 'Ali from the standpoint of thought," while 'Ali ibn Abi Talib says in a sermon of the Nahj al-Balagha: wa-a'lamu anna hadha al-qur'ana huwa al-nasihu alladhi la yaghushshu wa-l-hadi alladhi la yudillu wa-l-muhaddithu alladhi la yakdhibu wa-ma jalasa hadha al-qur'ana ahadun illa qama 'anhu bi-ziyadatin aw nuqsanin: ziyadatin fi hudan aw nuqsanin min 'aman? The Commander of the Faithful is in this manner referring people to the Qur'an, in this manner driving people toward the Qur'an. So that servant of God who says "the Qur'an cannot be understood" — does he have the Wilayat of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib? Never. 'Ali ibn Abi Talib is willing, for the sake of God, to give up his entire being; the conduct of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib is this. This fellow is not willing to give up a single mithqal of his money, of his life, of his social standing, of his comfort, of his lordliness, for the sake of God — does he have the Wilayat of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib? The Wilayat of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib is possessed by the one who is joined to 'Ali with an unbreakable bond — both from the standpoint of thought and reflection, and from the standpoint of deed. If you reflect well, brothers, this meaning which I have given of Wilayat is the most precise and most subtle meaning that can be expounded, that can be expressed, concerning Wilayat; and this too emerges from the Qur'an. Now listen so that I may read the verses of the Qur'an for you, for in these verses of the Qur'an from Surat al-Ma'idah, eloquent allusions have been made to all these things: to the positive aspect of Wilayat — that is, the internal bond; to the negative aspect of Wilayat — that is, the severing of external bonds; and to that other dimension of Wilayat — that is, the connection and link with the wali (the wali meaning that pole, meaning that heart, meaning that ruler and Imam). Now pay attention so that the matter may be grasped. "O you who have believed" — O you who have believed; "do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies (awliya')" — do not take the Jews and the Christians, the Jewish and Christian peoples, as your awliya'. Awliya' is the plural of wali; wali is from wilayat; wilayat means attachment, wali means one who is attached and bonded. Do not take the Jews and the Christians as those bonded and attached to yourselves; do not choose them. "Some of them are allies of one another (ba'duhum awliya'u ba'd)" — they are awliya' of one another, sharers of a front and attached to one another. Do not look at the fact that their blocs are separate from each other; in meaning, for the sake of enmity against your authenticities, they are all one front. "Ba'duhum awliya'u ba'd" — some are of the same front as others. "And whoever is an ally to them among you (wa-man yatawallahum minkum)" — whoever takes them as his wali — tawalli means accepting Wilayat, of the form tafa'ul — whoever sets foot in the valley of their Wilayat and bonds himself with them, connects himself with them, establishes a relationship; "then indeed, he is one of them (fa-innahu minhum)" — without doubt he himself is one of them. "Indeed, God does not guide the wrongdoing people (inna-llaha la yahdi al-qawma al-zalimin)" — and God will not guide the wrongdoing people. "So you see those in whose hearts is disease (fa-tara alladhina fi qulubihim marad)" — those in whose hearts there is disease, which we have translated "the sick of heart"; "fa-tara alladhina fi qulubihim marad" — those who in their heart have disease and sickness, do you see them? "Hastening into [allegiance with] them (yusari'una fihim)" — they hasten amid the front of the enemies of religion; they are not content merely to go toward them, but they hasten; they are not content merely to go up beside them — they go all the way into the depths of their front. If you ask, "Sir, why do you make so [much] friendship with the enemy of religion? With someone whom you know to be against religion, why do you not only not oppose him at all, but even expend friendship?" If you ask this of him, he answers you thus: "Saying, 'We fear lest a turn of fortune strike us (yaquluna nakhsha an tusibana da'irah)'" — they say: we fear that some harm may reach us; if I do not befriend [them], I fear they will inflict some harm on me, or [someone] will inflict it. How familiar these words are to one's ear! "Nakhsha an tusibana da'irah" — we fear that some trouble will be made for us, we fear that some occasion of distress will be made for us. See what familiar words these are — it is the very same: "nakhsha an tusibana da'irah." What does God say in answer to these [people]? He says: "But perhaps God will bring victory, or a decision from Him (fa-'asa-llahu an ya'tiya bi-l-fathi aw amrin min 'indihi)" — it is hoped that God will grant victory to the front of the believers, or will bring about, on His own [initiative], some event in their favor. After this happens, then: "and they will become, over what they had concealed within themselves, regretful (fa-yusbihu 'ala ma asarru fi anfusihim nadimin)" — so that these wretches who had aligned with them may become regretful, may be put to shame, may say: "Did you see what a blunder we made; if we had known that the front of the believers would be so victorious and powerful, we would not have aligned with the enemy of religion, with the enemy of God; we would not have disgraced ourselves." And those who believed will say, 'Are these the ones who swore by God their strongest oaths that indeed they were with you?' Their deeds have become worthless, and they have become losers. "And those who believed will say (wa-yaqulu alladhina amanu)" — after they [the hypocrites] have disgraced themselves and aligned with the enemies, what do the believers say? Those who believed say: "Are these (a-ha'ula'i alladhina aqsamu bi-llahi jahda aymanihim innahum la-ma'akum)" — the believers, the poor ones, sink into astonishment and bewilderment: "Eh! These were the very ones! These fair-faced, respectable countenances, who used to swear, with stern and weighty oaths, that they were with us." Whenever we spoke with them, whenever we said anything to them, they would say: yes, we too are of the same belief as you, we too have no disagreement with you, we too say the very thing you say. In their manner of expression, they used to speak with one in this way; later it became clear that the hearts of these [people] had been diseased, and despite their good outward appearance, they had filthy, black, hypocritical hearts. The believers, on that day, say: "Amazing! Look what an oath these [people] used to swear. Are these really them?" "A-ha'ula'i alladhina aqsamu bi-llahi jahda aymanihim" — are these the very ones, those who used to swear by God with hard and stern oaths? "Innahum la-ma'akum" — that they were with you, of the same belief and same mind as you. "Their deeds have become worthless (habitat a'maluhum)" — the works they had done became void and useless and destroyed; "and they have become losers (fa-asbahu khasirin)" — they became losers — the true losers. Well, this was concerning external relations. Now, concerning internal relations, pay attention: O you who have believed, whoever of you reverts from his religion — God will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him, humble toward the believers, mighty against the disbelievers; they strive in the way of God and do not fear the blame of any blamer. That is the favor of God; He gives it to whom He wills. And God is all-Encompassing, all-Knowing. "O you who have believed (ya ayyuha alladhina amanu)" — O you who have believed; "whoever of you reverts from his religion (man yartadda minkum 'an dinih)" — if you turn back from your religion, if you set down from your shoulders onto the ground this burden of the mission and responsibility which you had accepted with faith in God, and do not deliver it to its destination — do not imagine that this burden will fail to reach its destination; this imagining would be a false notion. No, this burden of God will reach its destination; only, someone else will carry its felicity, another community will be granted this honor — to carry this burden to its destination. "Man yartadda minkum 'an dinih" — whoever of you turns back from his religion and apostatizes; "God will bring a people (fa-sawfa ya'ti-llahu bi-qawm)" — God will bring a people. This people is that very ideal Islamic people. That ideal Islamic society, in terms of internal and external bonds and relations, is as has come in this verse. "God will bring a people whom He loves (fa-sawfa ya'ti-llahu bi-qawmin yuhibbuhum)" — God the Exalted will bring forth a community whom God Himself loves; "and who love Him (wa-yuhibbunahu)" — and they too love God. Do we too love God? No! This little bit of love that you sometimes [express], saying "O God, may I be sacrificed for You" — though God has no need at all of such "sacrifice"-saying or sacrificing — and on top of that we are lying, for we are by no means willing to go and be sacrificed for God — this is not love. The love of God: Say, if you love God, then follow me, [and\ God will love you,nofn] is [the standard]. This is the Qur'an. If you love God, follow me, who am the Prophet, so that God too may love you. So "yuhibbuhum wa-yuhibbunahu" — meaning these [people] were one hundred percent submitted to the command of God, [and] thus were the object of God's love. Well, this is one property and attribute: that affection and love between them and God is mutual. "Humble toward the believers (adhillatin 'ala al-mu'minin)" — they are humble before the believers; this is the sign of the perfection of intimate relation and bond. Before the believers, before this mass of Muslims who have filled the body of the Islamic society, there exists in them no kind of arrogance, no kind of pride, no kind of excessive expectation, no kind of vain and empty pretension. That is, when they stand before the people, they are part of the people, they are with the people, they are on the path of the people, they are for the people; they do not pull themselves out from among the people, they do not entrench themselves in an ivory tower so as to view the people from afar and occasionally show some pity for the people. They are among the people. "Humble toward the believers (adhillatin 'ala al-mu'minin)" — they make themselves humble and small before those who believe in God. "Mighty against the disbelievers (a'izzatin 'ala al-kafirin)" — the opposite point — before the disbelievers and the enemies of religion and the opponents of the Qur'an, they are "a'izzah" (mighty); that is, immune to influence, that is, lofty-headed, that is, having wrapped and drawn around themselves a fortress of Islamic thought, so that they accept no infiltration from them. "They strive in the way of God (yujahiduna fi sabili-llah)" — another property of theirs is that they wage jihad and struggle in the way of God, relentlessly, unconditionally, just as in the verse it occurs: "And they do not fear the blame of any blamer (wa-la yakhafuna lawmata la'im)" — they do not fear or dread the blame of any blamer. As to what sort of blamer now — think for yourselves; I can no longer explain, I am tired. "That is the favor of God; He gives it to whom He wills (dhalika fadlu-llahi yu'tihi man yasha')" — this is the bounty and grace and favor of God, which He gives to whomever He wills. "And God is all-Encompassing, all-Knowing (wa-llahu wasi'un 'alim)" — God is open-handed, generous-handed, and Knowing. Then, concerning the connection and bond of the parts of the Islamic society with that heart, with that power, with that Imam, with that leader, the next verse comes following the previous verses. See how fitting and beautiful it is. See how much pondering (tadabbur) in the Qur'an enlightens a person regarding these matters which he had thought were not Qur'anic — how eloquently the Qur'an speaks. It spoke of external relations, it spoke of internal bonds; now it states the heart of the internal bonds — that is, the leader, the guide, the Imam. Your wali is only God and His Messenger and those who have believed — those who establish prayer and give zakat while they are bowing (in ruku'). It says: "Innama waliyyukumu-llah" — your wali, and the one who upholds the command, the one to whom all the energies and activities of the society and the Islamic Ummah must return and from whom they must draw inspiration, is God. Well, but God does not become embodied to come and sit among the people and command and forbid — so who else? "And His Messenger (wa-rasuluh)" — it is evident that between the Messenger and God there is never any rivalry or contention or mutual aversion; the Messenger is His Messenger after all. [It is] God and His Messenger. Well, but the Messenger does not always remain: Indeed, you will die, and indeed, they will die. After the Messenger, what? After the Messenger too we have [a wali]: "And those who have believed (wa-alladhina amanu)" — those believers. Which believers? Is it enough that anyone simply believes? No, there is a sign. "Those who establish prayer (alladhina yuqimuna al-salah)" — they establish the prayer; "and give zakat (wa-yu'tuna al-zakah)" — they give the zakat; "while they are bowing (wa-hum raki'un)" — the exegetes took the waw as the waw of state (haliyya): while they are in ruku', in the state of bowing they give zakat. Meaning whom? Meaning the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, who is appointed as wali. Now, you may at one time derive this from the verse, taking the waw as the waw of state — very good indeed. If, supposing, you raise a doubt even about this, saying "no, it means the absolute [body of] believers who possess this characteristic" — I ask: who can be the symbol and emblem of such a totality in the Islamic society? We know of no one other than 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. In that Islamic society, the one who could be the symbol of such a firm and solid faithful faction is 'Ali ibn Abi Talib — even if we suppose that the verse does not have his Eminence in view (although, by reason of the historical reality that has been narrated, it does have [him] in view). Of course, let the attention of the gentlemen be [noted]; I found it necessary to give this reminder regarding yesterday's discussion or today's discussion: if our discussion is in the matter of the Imamate or Wilayat or the emphasis upon Shi'ism, the positive aspect of the matter is what we have in view, not the negative aspect of the matter. As we have repeatedly said, we deem it necessary that the Shi'a should know himself, should know his own thought, should make his own faith as firm and effective as possible — this we believe. We who are conducting this discussion wish to establish Shi'ism; we do not wish to negate others. We do not wish to needlessly create disagreement of opinion and taste again — no. But it is necessary for you to understand how you comprehend Shi'ism. When I say "Shi'ism," do not say to yourself, "Sir, first establish Islam, [and] let Shi'ism be afterward" — no; that Shi'ism which I speak of is nothing other than Islam, [and] Islam is nothing other than Shi'ism. The viewers see Islam in ten ways; one way of seeing — that is the seeing which Shi'ism sees — true Islam is that very [thing]. The understanding which the Shi'a has of Islam and the Qur'an, that understanding is the correct and logical and just and rational understanding. Do you note? Therefore, we are stating the Islamic principles; in our own opinion and to our own view, these things we are discussing and expounding are the ideological principles of Islam. And I do not think that you too, if you reflect, would have a view contrary to this. Therefore, the positive matters and the positive aspects of the matter are what we have in view. We are expounding Islam just as we understand and know it in the school of Shi'ism. We are not concerned now with other factions who may know and understand it in another way; we do not even debate with them; for now, we have neither quarrel nor conflict nor opposition with them — we are brothers, we even extend the hand of friendship. Why? Because we have an enemy, because outside the house an enemy stands. We two brothers have no right, right now, to beat each other about the head and face. This too is our way, which I wanted to mention so that you gentlemen may know: the discussion concerning Shi'ism and the Shi'a is for the sake of the authenticity of Shi'ism, for the sake of the fact that we believe in Shi'ism, for the sake of the fact that we see Islam from the viewpoint of Shi'ism — not for the sake of wishing to create disagreement between Shi'a and Sunni; never. We deem this disagreement forbidden too. Your wali is only God and His Messenger and those who have believed — those who establish prayer and give zakat while they are bowing. Well, now, if we observe Wilayat, what comes of it? Does it have an effect for us too? Up to now Wilayat has had three dimensions, which we have expounded: first, the preservation of internal bonds; second, the severing of bond and dependence upon the opposing external poles; and third, the preservation of a permanent and deep connection with the heart of the body of Islam and the heart of the Islamic Ummah — that is, the Imam and leader. Now, if we observe these three dimensions, how will it be? The verse of the Qur'an answers us: And whoever takes God and His Messenger and those who have believed as allies — then indeed, the party of God — they are the victorious. "And whoever takes God and His Messenger as his wali (wa-man yatawalla-llaha wa-rasulah)" — the one who accepts Wilayat with God and with His Messenger and with those who have believed, [and] observes and preserves this bond with the believers and does not sever it — these are the dominant ones, the victorious ones. Of all, these very ones are the most victorious, and it is they who will have the upper hand over all the other factions.