notifications_active Weekly Meshkat-e Noor Session: Thursdays at 20:30 at Haj Reza Mosque
In verse 8 of Sūrat al-Taghābun, God says:
“So believe in God and His Messenger, and the light that We have sent down. God is fully aware of what you do.”
The question is: What—or who—is meant by “light”?.
In verse 8 of Sūrat al-Taghābun, “light” refers to the Imams of the Household of the Prophet (AS). This is the light of God in the heavens and the earth, which illumines the hearts of believers and guides them. Imam al-Bāqir (AS) said that the light of the Imam in a believer’s heart is brighter than the sun shining in broad daylight.
Al-Taghābun 64:8: فآمنوا بالله و رسوله و النور الذی أنزلنا و الله بما تعملون خبیر
Believe in God and His Messenger and the Light We have sent down; and know that God is fully aware of what you do.
What was revealed to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and what we are commanded to believe in, is the Qur’an. Yet the Qur’an in its entirety—with all its interpretation and exegesis, its speaking and outward and inward dimensions—is the Qur’an in the company of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS). In truth, this is the living Qur’an, the Qur’an made manifest by God: foremost, the Master, the Commander of the Faithful (AS), and then the Ahl al-Bayt (AS).
عن أبی أیوب عن أبی خالد الکابلی قال: سألت أبا جعفر علیه السلام عن قول الله عز و جل: فآمنوا بالله و رسوله و النور الذی أنزلنا فقال: یا با خالد النور و الله الأئمه من آل محمد صلى الله علیه و آله إلى یوم القیامه، و هم و الله نور الله الذی أنزل، و هم و الله نور الله فی السماوات و فی الأرض، و الله یا با خالد لنور الإمام فی قلوب المؤمنین أنور من الشمس المضیئه بالنهار. و هم و الله ینورون قلوب المؤمنین و یحجب الله عز و جل نورهم عمن یشاء فتظلم قلوبهم؛ و الله یا با خالد لا یحبنا عبد و یتولانا حتى یطهر الله قلبه، و لا یطهر الله قلب عبد حتى یسلم لنا و یکون سلما لنا، فإذا کان سلما لنا سلمه الله من شدید الحساب و آمنه من فزع یوم القیامه الأکبر.
Tafsīr Nūr al-Thaqalayn, vol. 5, p. 341
Abū Khālid al-Kābulī relates: “I asked Imam al-Bāqir (AS) about the meaning of God Almighty’s words (Qur’an 64:8): ‘Believe in God and His Messenger and the Light We have sent down.’ He replied: ‘O Abū Khālid, by God, the Light means the Imams from the family of Muhammad (AS), until the Day of Resurrection. By God, they are the Light of God that He sent down, and by God, they are the Light of God in the heavens and on earth. By God, O Abū Khālid, the light of the Imam in the hearts of believers is brighter than the sun shining in broad daylight. By God, they illumine the hearts of believers, while God Almighty veils their light from whomever He wills, leaving their hearts in darkness. By God, O Abū Khālid, no servant loves us and follows us until God purifies his heart; and God does not purify a servant’s heart until that servant submits to us and is at peace with us. When he is at peace with us, God will spare him the severity of the reckoning and grant him safety from the great terror of the Day of Resurrection.’”
Uṣūl al-Kāfī, translated by Kamara’i, vol. 2, p. 103