A Glance at the Fundamentals
of Wilayat al-faqih

by

Ayatollah Jawadi Amuli

A Glance at the Fundamentals of the Trusteeship
of the Jurisprudent (Wilayat al-faqih)

Regarding the worship of the men, what is understood/derived from the Holy Quran is that the most perfect and outstanding attribute for the man is to be the servant of Allah, because the perfection of every being/creature is to move on the basis of its own genetic system. And since he himself is not fully aware of this route and its aim, Allah should guide him and clarify the reality of the man and the universe and the mutual relation of the man and the universe.

The relation/connection of the man with all the phenomena from the one hand and his ignorance/negligence to the quality of these relations from the other hand specify the necessity of a guide that is an absolute knowing.

If the man distinguishes this route properly, in other words if he is the servant of Allah and accepts His Lordship and His Awareness about all of these cases, then he will attain the best perfection.

Therefore, the most important perfection that the Glorious Allah propounds in the Holy Quran is "uboudiyah" that means servantship or devotion'.

" All praise is God's' Who sent down upon His servant the Book (the Qur'an)..." (Quran: XVIII, 1)

Just as isra' and ascension (urouj) are based on uboudiyah, the revelation of the Divine Book and its descent are on the basis of uboudiyah.

The man should fly from the platform of uboudiyah if he wants to have isra' or ascension (miraj) and likes/wills that his heart becomes the place of the descent of revelation.

The verses "Glory be to Him Who carried His servant (Apostle Muhammad) by night ... " (Quran, XVII, 1) and "Then revealed He unto His servant what He did reveal." (Quran: LIII, 10), and the verse " All praise is God's' Who sent down upon His servant the Book (the Qur'an) ..." (Quran: XVIII, 1) all are on the basis of uboudiyah.

This fact is not special for the religious sciences [/knowledge if the religion] and the eternal sciences, but also the people who have wilayee knowledge and rule of the basis of inwardness guide the others, they too have attained this position on the basis of uboudiyah.

While mentioning the story of Khidr (the prophet), Allah the Exhaled says: "Then found they one, from among Our servants ..." (Quran, XVIII, 65).

Moses, the Interlocutor of Allah had already been appointed to benefit from one of special servants of Allah that has taken some advantage of intuitive knowledge (ilm ladunni). So both Khidr and the Holy Prophet [of Islam] have attained this position through uboudiyah and Allah's Favor.

The nest point is that in order to attain the state of prophecy, caliphate, Imamate and similar states, uboudiyah is the essential although not sufficient condition, whereas the Divine Favor and Grace and Allah's knowledge to the futurity, all have efficient roles.

It is not true that if a person becomes a perfect servant of Allah, he will become a prophet or an Imam. However, he will become a friend (waliyy) of Allah and not his prophet of messenger, since "God knoweth best where to place His apostleship" (Quran: VI, 124). Furthermore the man himself should possess the perfection of uboudiyah.

At times Allah grants the knowledge, spirituality and even greatness to some people but none of them are used properly. As the holy verse "Relate unto them the news of him whom We gave Our signs, but he withdrew (himself) from them..." (Quran: VII, 175) indicates, Allah grants the vital/key positions such as prophecy, caliphate, Imamate and so on to particular individuals but it is possible that He grants some greatness, intuitions and spiritual knowledge to other people as tentative positions, because the human perfection is through uboudiyah and it is exclusively for Allah [/just Allah deserves it (uboudiyah)]. "hAnd commanded thy Lord hath that thou shalt worship not (any one) but Him," (Quran: XVII, 23) that indicates that nobody deserves to be worshiped and worshipping other than Allah is not permissible.

Guardianship of the Saints (Righteous)

If it is proved that the perfection of man is amidst servantship, and man is exclusively a servant of Allah, so whosoever other than Allah cannot be the real guardian of anybody so that we could say that God is the genuine guardian. And whosoever other than Him, like the prophets and saints are subordinate guardians.

After it became clear that the guardianship of the prophets and saints is not genuine, the guardianship of jurisconsult (wilayat al-faqih) becomes clear and many doubts will be solved.

It is important to make it clear that how many real guardians in a linear sequence there are for man.

Consider the guardianship of a father or a grandfather upon the interdicted child. Either of them who executes the guardianship, there will be no opportunities for guardianship of the latter. Is the guardianship upon the society of this kind/category? Or is it in a linear sequence? ...

The intellectual argument that is confirmed by Quranic verses necessitates that the perfection of man is to submit/obey one who is aware of the reality of the man and the universe and the mutual relation/... between them. He is nobody but Allah; therefore, the worship and guardianship are exclusively for Him, that is the only guardian of man is Allah.

So it cannot be true that the man has many guardians some of them are genuine and the others are subordinate, in other words, some are close guardians and some are far ones, rather the man has one real guardian that is Allah.

Considering the lifestyle of the prophets, their most elegant courtesy is the monotheist courtesy. All their acts are based on this verse: " Verily my prayer and my sacrifice, my life and my death, (are all, only) for God, the Lord of the worlds." (Quran: VI, 162). Although this verse addresses the Holy Prophet, however, the life and death of all the prophets and the Infallible are for the sake of Allah.

While the Holy Quran ascribes the power, strength, glory/honor, bread and some other affairs to other than Allah, it concludes that these are exclusively for Allah.

Regarding glory/honor Allah bid: "But for God is all honor and for His Apostle and for the believers" (Quran: LXIII, 8) At the same time in another surah He bid: "God's (alone) is all honor..." (Quran: XXXV, 10). Concerning power/might' bid: " (The Lord said unto Zachariah's son) O' Yahya! Hold thou the Book fast!" (Quran: XIX, 12). And addressed the children of Israel: "Hold ye fast that which We have bestowed upon you with the strength (of determination) " (Quran: II, 63) and addressed the Muslim combatants: but at the same time then bid: "And prepare ye against them wgatever (force) ye can" (Quran: VIII, 60).

Then Allah bid: "Unto God belongeth all power" (Quran: II, 165)

Another instance is sustenance/bread'. Allah is introduced as the Best Provider', that indicates that there are some other providers but Allah is the best of them. However, in another verse Allah bid: "Verily, God He (alone) is the Bestower of sustenance, the Lord of unbreakable strength." (Quran: LI, 58) According to Arabic rhetoric in indicates that God is the only provider.

Regarding intercession (shafaah), a number of intercessors are recognized in the Holy Quran as God says: " It is denoted that there are many intercessors, however, in other verses emphasizes that the genuine intercession is only for God "Who is he that can intercede with Him but with His permission?" (Quran: II, 255).

It is true for guardianship. In surah Ma'idah God says: "Verily, your guardian is (none else but) God and His Apostle (Muhammad) and those who believe, - those who establish prayer and pay the poor-rate, while they be (even) bowing down (in prayer)." (Quran: V, 57). In this verse by assistance of the traditions the guardianship is proved for the Holy Prophet and the members of his household (Ahl al-Bayt). The issue is even clearer in surah Ahzab in which God says: "The Prophet (Muhammad) hath a greater claim on the believers than they have on their own selves" (Quran: XXXIII, 6). The guardianship of the Holy Prophet upon the lives and the properties of the individuals is higher than /prior to their own selves. That is why God says in surah Ahzab: "And it is not for a believer man or woman to have any choice in their affair when God and His Apostle have decided a matter..." (Quran: XXXIII, 36). Despite these three verses God underscores in another surah that guardianship is exclusively for God: "Or have they taken besides Him guardians? But God, He is the Guardian ..." (Quran: XLII, 9).

This indicates that the guardianship of the apostle, the Infallible and the saints are not equal to that of Allah. And since the guardianship is exclusively for Him,

His guardianship cannot be an intermediary of affirmation of the guardianship for anybody except Allah.

As a [philosophical] example, if water is placed beside fire, it really gets warm. This nearness to fire is an intermediary for getting water warm. In this state the qualification of water to warmth is a real qualification, and this nearness to fire is an intermediary in affirmation and not in occurrence. But consider the same fire placed in front of a mirror. In the mirror you can see the flames of fire rising but it is only the reflection of fire, so the mirror does not get warm due to the flames reflected therein.

The verses * and * do not mean that the Glory of God is an intermediary for affirmation of glory for the Holy Prophet and the saints. Otherwise the Glory of God will become limited, because if a number of glories exist, then none of them can be unlimited. The infinite leaves no opportunities for another individual however limited, rather the Glory of God becomes the intermediary for occurrence of glory for them. The Holy Quran has an elegant term/statement in this regard that is that these are signs and tokens/symbols of God, namely if a believer is glorious, he is a sign and token/symbol of God's Glory. Also if the Holy Prophet is a guardian, his guardianship is a symbol of God's Guardianship. The saints of God are symbols of the Divine Guardianship, and they demonstrate the Divine Attributes, while others are dark and obscure and do not indicate the nominal, attributive or actual perfection.

Allamah Tabataba'i, our teacher said frequently: "This fact that the religion has declared that there is no creature in no conditions that is not the symbol/token of God, is an elegant expression. Because, if it is a symbol of God, then it is not independent, since if it was independent, then it could not reflect/manifest God.

Therefore, * and * are essentially (bi al-dhat), then * is accidental (bi al-arad). By this explanation the interpretation of the verses *, * and * becomes clear.

Allah, the Exalted, asked Moses, the interlocutor:

... "Why didn't you visit me when I was sick?"

Moses answered: "But You never become sick."

... "That believer servant that was sick is my manifestation (incarnates Me). If you respected him, you would respect Me."

These are not allusion, trope/allegory, metaphor and simile, rather they indicate seeing God reflected in the mirror of [the heart of] a believer. Then one understands that the others (other than Allah) are nothing, and Allah has not ** in anybody. The same as fire flame or sunshine that do not ** in the mirror, and do not unite with it. Thus the ** and the unification are impossible.

By the assistance of such a sight the divine guardian knows his position properly and is aware of being the creatures symbols/tokens [of God].