Why Are the Infallibles (AS) Called the Pillars of Divine Unity?

Question

Peace be upon you, esteemed teacher.

Why, in one passage of Ziyārat Jāmiʿa al-Kabīra, are the Infallible Imams described as “اَفَلا ینظُرونَ اِلَى الاِبِلِ کیفَ خُلِقَت *  اِلَى السَّماءِ کیفَ رُفِعَت *  اِلَى الجِبالِ کیفَ نُصِبَت *  اِلَى الاَرضِ کیفَ سُطِحَت”?

As we know, the literal meaning of “pillar” is a support or column. The most fundamental support of anything is called its pillar, and if that pillar collapses, the thing itself is destroyed. Prayer, for example, has five pillars, and it is said that if even one of them is deliberately or inadvertently omitted, the prayer is invalid.

My question is this: In what sense does the existence of tawḥīd—the oneness of God—depend on something or someone (the Infallibles, peace be upon them), such that their absence would endanger or undermine the attainment of tawḥīd, or belief and knowledge of it? Secondly, God’s exalted essence is infinite, whereas the Infallibles, peace be upon them, are finite in comparison with the Divine.

Given all this, why are the Infallibles, peace be upon them, referred to as the pillars of tawḥīd? Does this mean that without belief in them, it is impossible to attain any degree of tawḥīd? Or what is meant?

If we wish—God forbid—to speak of attaining tawḥīd without taking the Infallibles into account, I will offer just one example: reflecting on the order of creation can lead a person towards tawḥīd and to its recognition—not necessarily practical tawḥīd, but at least theoretical tawḥīd. The Qur’an points to this in many places, including:

«* و* و* و» (Sūrat al-Ghāshiya, 17–20)

Reflection on creation, then, offers powerful guidance towards the oneness and power of God.

I would be grateful for your guidance.
َّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ

Accepted Answer

Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, is the most perfect order of the Almighty Lord on earth. Indeed, one meaning of “the Remnant of God” is this enduring sign of God’s most perfect order on earth. Others have bent their own order away from perfection, to varying degrees and in different directions.

His Holiness is tawhid embodied in its original, God-given nature. In others, that nature is veiled to varying degrees.

He is a divine gift through whom others can swiftly reach the highest goal of servitude to God and restore and revive their innate nature. Through him, they can turn the moon of their tawhid into its sun.

His Holiness is the mighty sun of tawhid. If someone can find their way and grow in servitude without the sun, there is no obstacle. But His Holiness is like the heart, eyes, ears and tongue of the unseen realm, while others resemble those whose hearts are blind, whose eyes cannot see, whose ears cannot hear and whose tongues are mute in that realm—though the degree varies from person to person. Truly, through His Holiness we are connected to the unseen, and our bond with heaven remains unbroken.

أَيْنَ السَّبَبُ الْمُتَّصِلُ بَيْنَ الْأَرْضِ وَ السَّمَاء

We have not yet studied even a single camel deeply enough to uncover all its secrets, nor have we been able to count the stars of the lowest heaven, and so on. Yet His Holiness is the child of the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary, the child of the distance of two bow-lengths…

يَا ابْنَ مَنْ دَنا فَتَدَلَّى، فَكانَ قابَ قَوْسَيْنِ أَوْ أَدْنى‏، دُنُوّاً وَ اقْتِرَاباً مِنَ الْعَلِيِّ الْأَعْلَى.

The Mahdi is the son of Ali, Commander of the Faithful—the very one who used to say: أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ سَلُونِي قَبْلَ أَنْ تَفْقِدُونِي فَلَأَنَا بِطُرُقِ السَّمَاءِ أَعْلَمُ مِنِّي بِطُرُقِ الْأَرْض‏ “People, ask me before you lose me. I know the paths of heaven better than the paths of earth…”

His Holiness is the firmest pillar of tawhid and its highest summit.

Needless to say, tawhid has a perfection of sincerity. Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, has not merely attained perfect sincerity in tawhid; he himself is “perfect sincerity in tawhid.”

Why Are the Infallibles (AS) Called the Pillars of Divine Unity?

The essence and first answer at a glance (60-word summary)

Answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat)

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