Theology and Creed

Those who remove their hijab in the name of opposing the system, or appear naked in public, fall into a category of disbelief, and their actions must be disavowed. Under certain conditions, the duty to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong must not be neglected in dealing with them. In this context, disbelief means abandoning God’s commands and committing what He has forbidden.

Philosophical theories can be regarded as Islamic only when they are confirmed by the explicit text of the Two Weighty Things—the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Household. The material world was created by God’s will, and by His will it will also cease to exist. The continuation of divine effusion likewise depends solely on His will, and He has complete mastery over His acts. There is no consensus in support of the theory of the personal unity of existence.

Human clay takes one of two forms—Illiyyīn or Sijjīn—and provides the basic substance of a person’s character and inner qualities. These forms combine with the six modes of being (light, substance, air, water, fire, and earth), as well as the bodily and inward faculties, giving rise to the diversity of creation. The primordial covenant is only one of the realms through which human beings have passed, and it is possible to transform Sijjīn clay into Illiyyīn clay through prayer and repentance.

Political authority comes from God. For a righteous person, it is granted out of love and to guide the community; for an unrighteous person, it is a means of discipline, punishment and trial. The Qur’an says that if people did not repel one another, the earth would fall into corruption. Yet this is a divine pattern, brought about by God’s will.

Poverty does not mean merely a lack of money. It also includes being deprived of inner peace and joy—things sinful people lack even when they possess great wealth. True provision lies in enjoying life’s blessings, and great wealth may become a burden. Divine punishment will inevitably come, in this world or the next; its delay does not mean escape.

The general deputy is the sound, expounded narration and the voice of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS)—that is, the living book and computer of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS). The Imam of the Age (AS) is the tree of life in the worship of God, and connection to it is general deputation, which has different ranks. Whoever does not recognize the most learned has not recognized the Imam of his time.

To designate a particular person as the general deputy after the period of the special deputies is to deny the very idea of general deputyship. People differ in their level of intellect, and each person regards whoever accords with his own thinking as the most learned. Identifying the most distinguished general deputies requires comprehensive research, since there may be little-known individuals who merit such standing but are not widely known.

Special deputyship is a specific appointment, directly endorsed by Imam al-Mahdi (AS). The deputy’s words and statements are regarded as proof from God, and the appointment is not made by the people. General deputyship, however, arises from the community’s collective judgment and discernment and serves as a reference for resolving religious and legal questions, although it is not known whether the Imam (AS) approves or rejects it.

The term “general deputation” is used loosely for the era of Occultation. Religious authority is determined by scholarly expertise and the judgment of the community’s members; it is not confined to any one person. Anyone who is identified as the most learned becomes a point of reference for people’s religious needs, so there may be several such authorities.

The divine spirit breathed into the human being is a created and chosen spirit, which God has ascribed to Himself and thereby ennobled—just as He has ascribed the Kaaba to Himself or given the Prophet the title “Khalil” (His intimate friend). This spirit is in motion and akin to the wind; indeed, the word “spirit” derives from it. It is created, fashioned, brought into being, sustained, and governed.

Creating man from dried clay made from putrid mud is a test: will he rise from lowliness to the highest station and, by resisting the possibility of sin and what is disliked, demonstrate the art of servitude to God? This foul-smelling clay is the raw material for sin. Yet by transforming it into goodness and beauty, a person returns to his primordial nature. On the Day of Resurrection, good and evil return to those who brought them forth.

The divine proof, who is the Sultan, encompasses both this world and the next. The Ahl al-Bayt (AS) are the supreme manifestation of the Sultan of God and the divine proofs over the inhabitants of this world and the next; divine mercy and blessings descend through them. Connecting with this divine proof is the way to attain the strength and ability needed to pass beyond the boundaries of the worlds.

Angels can disobey, but their disobedience differs in kind from human sin. They have no lower desires, yet they are tested within the order of creation and can attain higher degrees. The verse «لا يسبقونه بٱلقول و هم بأمره یعملون» refers to particular ranks of angels who, in the account of Adam’s creation, tried to prevent him from being created and were punished for it.

The division of the universe into the divine realm (lāhūt), the realm of power (jabarūt), the realm of the unseen (malakūt), and the material realm (nāsūt) is a mystical classification, and religious texts contain no specific teaching about it. The levels of being of the Prophet (PBUH) and the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) are complex and mysterious; the cited hadiths reflect some of the wonders of their existence.

Describing the Lord through His sublime attributes prevents human understanding from being shut down and helps us recognise the transcendence of His essence. Trust in God grows when we understand that His attributes surpass our own grasp of His essence. His justice and wisdom exceed our imagination, affirming that creation and the afterlife have purpose.

The Fire of Hell is forbidden to Lady Fatima (SA) and her pure progeny, and God keeps the Fire away from their followers on their account. Likewise, earthly fire has no power to affect their purified bodies, except as a test and trial. Numerous narrations speak of their luminous nature and infallibility, and of their connection to the Verse of Light.

The saying “العلم نقطة کثرها الجاهلون” points to the origin and unity of knowledge, which ultimately lead back to the Prophet and the Family of Muhammad (PBUH). True knowledge is unified and boundless; its apparent multiplicity arises from ignorance. The point is the center and source of creation, and a manifestation of divine knowledge.

Drawing on his knowledge of human faculties, the interplay of desire and reason, and reports from the heavens, Satan surmised that he would be unable to lead only a small number of people astray. His words were more like a threat and a show of power, uttered out of partisanship, zeal, vanity, arrogance, and envy. The similarities between the inclinations of jinn and humans, together with human free will, strengthened his conjecture.

Human resolve is a decision and a pledge of the heart, whose fulfilment depends on God’s will and decree. God’s all-prevailing power means that all created beings are utterly subject to Him. No resolve can be carried through without God’s permission; any resolve made without awareness of this truth is a sign of presumption.

The Divine Names and Attributes are one in the Divine Essence, and a narrator may have transposed them when transmitting a hadith. Even so, an attribute may be understood as an expanded, more detailed name: the name expresses the meaning concisely, while the attribute sets it out in detail. Worshipping a name without its referent is disbelief.