It is clear that anthropocentrism is a movement against theism, and those who founded it did not believe in God; because in the divine worldview, God is the origin of the truth and the human being is considered subject to the truth, whereas in the atheistic worldview, the human being is the origin of the truth and God has no role in it. [Return to Islam, p. 21]
It is certain that the truth is a single and specific existence, and cannot become plural nor multiplied, and therefore it requires a single cognition and demands a single criterion. [Return to Islam, p. 23]
The human being’s cognitions must inevitably lead to a self-evident cognition that is the origin of all cognitions and is not originated from any cognition itself; because what needs to be known cannot be a criterion of cognition; because it needs a criterion of cognition itself. With this description, people who make such a thing as their criterion of cognition should not be confident of their cognition; because their cognition is weak and baseless. [Return to Islam, p. 23]
The only thing that can be the criterion of cognition for the human being is “the intellect”; because the intellect is the only means for the human being’s cognition, and there is no perceptive faculty other than the intellect in his self. In other words, there is no substitute for the intellect to be equivalent to it and can dispense with it, and this is a perceptible and conscientious matter. Moreover, the human being’s cognition is practically done by the intellect, and neither his consent nor dislike has any effect on this reality; because this fact is the inherent characteristic of the human being and the creation of the Wise God, and with this descriptions, it is not possible for the human being to change it. [Return to Islam, p. 25]
The intellect is the main and the most basic foundation of cognition, and any cognition which does not lead directly or indirectly to the intellect is meaningless. Other foundations, if they exist, return to the intellect themselves; because they are not known without the intellect and have no use except for the intellectuals; as the religion, although very useful, is itself known by the intellect and addresses only the intellectuals. [Return to Islam, p. 25]
The servants of God are pious people who do righteous deeds, speak the truth, and forbearingly refrain from what is forbidden; those whose hearts tremble with the fear of God and settle down in their places in hope of Him; those whose lips have dried due to mentioning God frequently and whose stomachs have got thin due to successive fasting; those who have freed their souls from the trap of passions, and the dust of humbleness have sat on their faces; those whose hearts have been purified by remembrance of death, and the world has fallen out of their favor by the Hereafter; concern for their duties has robbed them of sleep, and paying heed to the rights has stopped them from eating; they are inclined to what people are averse to, and are averse to what people are inclined to; they know that soon they will depart to another world and must make provision for this journey; they know that they have a long way ahead and must cross steep passes; the way which its travelers never return, and the passes which seem to swallow its passengers. Oh, how close today is to tomorrow! So they weep thinking of this journey and make themselves ready for it; as if they are breathing their last or are already dead before they die! [Letter two]
The world is like a woman whose bride price is death, or a dishonored prostitute whose wage is shame. Beware! Do not take her as a wife and do not sleep with her; because this treacherous one has killed her husbands and despoiled their heritages, sedated her lovers and stolen their belongings. Beware! Do not let her seduce you with her makeup and deceive you with her coquetry... The world is like a well that is dried or polluted with all kinds of impurities; so do not cast your bucket into it and do not use it as your watering place... The world is a worn-out ladder that cannot be leaned on or like a snake hole that whoever has put his hand in it has bitten him; or it is like a carcass that attracts hyenas and gathers flies but drives away lions and disgusts human beings... The world is a woman who does not give birth, a tree that does not bear fruit, a cloud that does not rain, and a shadow that does not last. Beware! Do not rely on it; because relying on it is relying on the wind, and making friends with it is making friends with a wolf, and who can be friends with a wolf?! [Letter two]
Do not love the world; because the world has deserted those who have loved it the most. If you do not believe me, then look at your relatives who passed away; those who were by your side for some time, but there is no trace of them today. So review their stories and learn a lesson from their end; because they were human beings like you that death grabbed onto their throats, graves swallowed their corpses, and time wiped out their traces. Do you think what befell them will not befall you?! How?! While many of them were more powerful than you, and many others were wealthier than you, and yet their power and wealth did not benefit them, and in the end, they fell into the abyss of death. Beware! Do not let association with the living make you neglect the dead so that you will compete with them in earning money, building houses, buying tools, marrying women, and immersing yourself in pleasures; because the living are the dead of future; as the dead are the living of the past... So many are those who slept and never woke up, those who traveled and never returned, and those who got sick and never recovered. Indeed, whoever is alive will die, and whoever eats will be eaten by dust. [Letter two]
Take the reins of yourself from Satan and hand it over to the Caliph of God on the earth; because Satan drives you to Hell, and the Caliph of God on the earth invites you toward Heaven... The helpers of the Mahdi are not those who disobey God; his helpers are those who avoid major and minor sins; they get up at night to pray and spend the day gaining knowledge and teaching it to others. They have faith in the promises of God and fear the Day of Judgment; the Day when they will stand before the Lord and find whatever they did present. [Letter two]
The helpers of the Mahdi are imbued with the morals of God’s Prophets and trained with the manners of God’s friends; they submit to the truth once it is revealed to them and abandon falsehood once it is exposed to them; they are neither fanatic and stubborn nor foul-mouthed and garrulous; they do not fabricate lies against God and dissociate themselves from those who fabricate lies against Him; they perform prayer at the beginning of its time and donate their belongings to the needy; they restrain their anger and forgive people’s wrongdoings; they cherish their parents and have patience with their bad tempers; they do not disrespect their friends under the pretext of friendship, nor do they wrong their enemies under the pretext of enmity; they tolerate the ignorant and do not quarrel with fools; they do not talk nor laugh nor sleep nor eat too much; they restrain their lust and do not abandon chastity; they are not oglers nor shameless, neither do they show off and talk nonsense; they do not make friends with sinners, nor do they keep company with oppressors; they are occupied with useful works and do not waste their time; they are familiar with the Book of God and know what is permissible and what is forbidden; they do not deny the scholar’s teachings and avoid being hostile to him, but rather they answer his invitation and rush to his help when he invites them toward the Mahdi in order to gather them for his help. [Letter two]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: I asked Mansoor about the rope of God in His words that has said: “Hold firmly to the rope of God all together and do not become divided into groups”, so he said: What do they say? I said: They say it is the Quran, then he said: The Quran is the Book of God, and the rope of God is the Prophet. Do you not see that they were not divided into groups as long as the Prophet was among them, so when he passed away, they were divided into groups whereas the Quran was among them?! So the rope of God was the Prophet as long as he was among them, then when he passed away, it was a man from his Ahl al-Bayt who taught them his Sunnah perfectly, and it will always be the same until the Day of Judgment arrives. Then he said: Indeed, the rope of God is His Caliph on the earth, so if you hold firmly to him, you will never be divided into groups, and if you do not do so, you will never be united! Be aware that I swear to God I explained to you with a healing statement, so do not say on the Day of Judgment that we were unaware of this! [Passage 10 from Saying six]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: I asked Mansoor about the words of God Almighty that says: “Ignominy will overtake them wherever they are found, except with a rope from God and a rope from people”, so he said: A rope from God is His Book and a rope from people is His Caliph. I said: I know His Book, but who is His Caliph? He said: He is a man from the Ahl al-Bayt who explains His Book to people until the Day of Judgment arrives, have you not heard the words of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, that said: “I leave among you two precious things that if you hold firmly to them, you will never go astray after me, one of them is greater than the other: The Book of God, which is a rope stretched from the sky to the earth, and my Itrah, my Ahl al-Bayt, and those two will never be separated until they come to me by the Pond” [A famous mutawatir Hadith]?! I said: I swear to God, this is a strong statement, but interpreters do not believe in it! He said: Do you worship interpreters? I said: No, he said: Then will you be gathered toward them and they will punish you? I said: No, he said: Then will they bear a portion of the punishment of God instead of you? I said: No, he said: Then believe in the truth and leave the sayings of interpreters! [Passage 11 from Saying six]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: I asked Mansoor about the words of God Almighty that says: “There is a guide for every nation”, so he said: How obvious it is! No nation is empty of one who guides them by the command of God, I said: What does nation mean? He said: Time –that is, people of the same time. [Passage 12 from Saying six]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: I asked Mansoor about the words of God Almighty that says: “And among those We have created there are some who guide with the truth and establish justice with it”, so he said: They are the Imams of guidance and justice, then he said: There is always a man among people who guides with the truth and establishes justice with it, if they obey him, they will gain salvation, and if they disobey him, they will be ruined! I swear to God, this is quite clear, but most of them do not know! [Passage 13 from Saying six]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: I asked Mansoor about the words of God Almighty that says: “O you who believed! Fear God and be with the truthful”, so he said: The earth is never empty of a truthful one that the believers are obliged to be with him, to not go ahead of him and to not fall behind him. So whoever dies while he is not with the truthful one of his time, has died while disobeying his Lord, and this is the purpose of the wise, where they say: O Lord! “Make us die with the righteous”! [Passage 14 from Saying six]
The purpose of the lessons of His Excellency Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may God protect him, is to purify people and teach them the Book and wisdom, and their center and basis are the Quran and the Sunnah, and their subject matter is Islamic beliefs, laws and morals, and we have selected from them what is related to the most important and most needed issues, and arranged it in a way that facilitates the studies and researches for the readers, and written annotations for them, which contains references to the sources and some necessary explanations. [Lesson one, introduction]
Each lesson is about a belief or a jurisprudential or moral issue, and consists of three chapters:
• The first chapter is the statement of some verses of the Quran that are related to the issue, and contains invaluable interpretations which we have extracted from the enlightening sayings of His Excellency Allamah, may God protect him, and explain the meaning of the verses in a way that heals hearts and brings people out of darkness into light.
• The second chapter is the statement of some authentic Hadiths from the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, which are related to the issue, along with mentioning their witnesses and follow-ups, and contains precise points and useful explanations from His Excellency Allamah, may God protect him, clarifying the meanings of the Hadiths, the condition of the narrators, and the opinions of scholars.
• The third chapter is the statement of some authentic Hadiths from the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, which are related to the issue, along with mentioning their witnesses and follow-ups, and contains things similar to those of the second chapter. [Lesson one, introduction]
The rule in the opinion of His Excellency Allamah, may God protect him, is the authority of mutawatir narrations and lack of authority of ahad narrations. In his opinion, a mutawatir narration is what has been narrated by more than four men at each level, provided that they are not related and do not differ on the meaning, and what they have narrated should not conflict with the Book of God or the proved Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, or the sound intellect. Also, what have been narrated by four men at each level is considered mutawatir, provided that they are just, in addition to the previous three conditions, and this is what makes it necessary to examine the condition of the narrators whenever their number does not exceed four. However, His Excellency Allamah, may God protect him, examines their condition whenever they are less or more than this number in terms of obligation; because most Muslims believe in the authority of ahad narrations from a trustworthy or a truthful person, and perhaps they do not consider what has been narrated by five men as mutawatir. Therefore, His Excellency Allamah, may God protect him, selects what their trustworthy or truthful narrators have narrated in order to be a proof for them, may they be guided. [Lesson one, introduction]
But his condition for selecting Hadiths, after the compatibility of their meaning with the Book of God and the proved Sunnah of the Prophet and the sound intellect, is that their narrators should be famous for trustworthiness or truthfulness among their companions excluding their opponents; as he has stated it in the explanation of the condition of Jabir ibn Yazid al-Ju’fi, and said: “The criterion is the condition of the person among his companions (meaning the people of his sect); because they are more aware of his condition, and the opinion of other people is not proof when it contradicts the opinion of his companions; because they are farther away from him, and they may say bad things about him because they do not like his sect, and the witness to it is the action of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, when he said to the Jews: ‘What kind of a man is Abdullah ibn Salam among you?’, so they said: ‘He is our noble man and the son of our noble man and our master and the son of our master and our scholar and the son of our scholar’, so he accepted their words about him; because they were his companions. Then he informed them that he had converted to Islam, so they started to talk bad about him and said: ‘He is our worst man and the son of our worst man’, but he did not accept their words about him after they opposed him because of his sect, and if the words of opponents in the sect are accepted, nothing will be left of the Hadith; because every group says bad things about another group; as you can see the Shias do not care about what the Sunnis narrate except for that which they use as a proof against them, and you see the Sunnis do not look at what the Shias narrate except with astonishment and mockery, and both have gone astray from the middle path, but we, without being fanatical about any of the sects, accept anything that Muslims narrate in accordance with the Book of God, as long as they are famous among their companions for truthfulness”. [Lesson one, introduction]
The criterion in the opinion of His Excellency Allamah, may God protect him, is Islam and the reputation of the narrator for trustworthiness or truthfulness among his companions, not his sect or what his opponents say to weaken him without an acceptable reason. Therefore, if the narrator is from the Sunnis, the criterion is his condition in the opinion of the Sunnis, and his condition in the opinion of the Shias has no validity, and if the narrator is from the Shias, the criterion is his condition in the opinion of the Shias, and his condition in the opinion of the Sunnis has no validity, and there is no difference between Shia and Sunni narrations whenever they are compatible with the three aforementioned principles and their narrators are famous for trustworthiness or truthfulness among their companions. This is why His Excellency Allamah, may God protect him, selects Shia narrations as he selects Sunni narrations, and he does not leave anyone’s narration because of his sect as long as his sect does not oppose the essentials of the religion, in a way that indicates he is out of Islam; because in this case he is a hypocrite, and the hypocrite is not trustworthy in any field, even though all people consider him trustworthy. [Lesson one, introduction]
The secret of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani’s use of the black flag is four things: Firstly, it is Sunnah; because the flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, was black; as ibn Abbas and Buraydah and Jabir and Aisha and others have narrated it... and the flag of Ali ibn Abi Talib in his wars was also black... Therefore, Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani’s use of the black flags is based on the Sunnah of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and the Sunnah of his guided Caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, and this is not strange; because he follows their Sunnah in everything and continues their blessed movement in order to establish the pure religion and fill the earth with justice, and there is no doubt that the most proper flag for the one who does so and invites people to “Return to Islam” and prepares the ground for Mahdi to come to power, is the flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and the flag of Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him. Secondly, the use of the black flag is more beneficial to believers on the day they gather and fight in the way of God... Thirdly, the use of the black flag is a common and conventional work among those who have been afflicted with a great tragedy; to the extent that it conventionally indicates the occurrence of an important and unfortunate event, and is considered a kind of announcement of calamity, and it is probably one of the things that have encouraged Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani to use the black flags; because he has been afflicted with a great tragedy that has never happened since God made the children of Adam dwell on the earth, and it is the absence of the Caliph of God on the earth, which has led to the filling of the earth with ignorance, disbelief, oppression and sins... Fourthly, the use of the black flag is a clear opposition to an oppressive and corrupt group called “ISIS”; because they emerged in the Levant and Iraq shortly before the emergence of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani in Khorasan, and used the black flags to invite toward the government of a misguided and misleading man, so when Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani noticed it, he used the black flags to invite toward the government of Mahdi in order to stand against this great and dangerous deviation from the path of Islam. [Question and Answer 9]
His Excellency Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani believes that the main problem in the Islamic world is lack of God’s sovereignty over it, which has been manifested in lack of His Caliph’s sovereignty over it; because lack of God’s sovereignty over the world entails not knowing nor applying His rulings, and not knowing nor applying His rulings entails the emergence of corruption on land and sea; as He has said: “Corruption has emerged on land and sea because of what the hands of people have earned, so He may let them taste some of what they have done that perhaps they will return”; especially considering that lack of God’s sovereignty over the world correlates with sovereignty of people other than Him over it; because the world is a human society, and human society needs a ruler, and because of this need it does not remain empty of a ruler, and therefore, if God does not rule over it, then someone other than Him will inevitably rule over it, while sovereignty of people other than Him over it leads to the spread of corruption on the earth and the destruction of nature and generations; as He has said: “And when he achieves sovereignty, he tries on the earth to cause corruption therein and destroy crops and lives, while God does not like corruption”. This is the situation today; those other than God who rule over the world do everything they can to cause corruption in it, and commit genocide and destroy prosperous lands. How many innocent women and men burn in the fire of their wars, and how many inhabited cities and villages are laid waste by their invasions! This is the coercive consequence of sovereignty of other than God over the world; because the world that God does not rule over is the territory of Satan, and there is nothing in it except for ignorance, unbelief, corruption and oppression. This is the fate of the human being who submits to the sovereignty of other than God, and whoever submits to the sovereignty of other than God is doomed. This is why the fire of their wars does not go out, nor do their ignominy and misery diminish; because God does not govern them, and their government is in the hands of others; rather their wars will continue to intensify, and their ignominy and misery will increase every day; because God is not their ruler, and their ruler is devil. [Question and Answer 15]
The basis of “Islamic government” is the permission of God and the appointment of the ruler by Him... Based on this, the government that should be formed in the world to be considered Islamic is only the government of one whom God has authorized and appointed for it, and at the present time, he is Mahdi according to definite intellectual and religious reasons, and this is considered the official opinion of Islam... one of the most important facts explained in the invaluable book Return to Islam, which can be considered the theoretical basis for Mahdi’s global revolution and the starting point toward his advent, is the possibility of his advent if a sufficient number of Muslims gather to protect and support him. Based on this, the purpose of His Excellency Mansoor is to form this gathering and deliver it to Mahdi so that he can appear with its help. Therefore, the government that His Excellency Mansoor intends to form is the government of Mahdi, which, like any other government, can be formed by preparing the ground for it, and the legitimacy of preparing the ground for it through the formation of the aforementioned gathering is subject to the legitimacy of the government of Mahdi; in the sense that when the government of Mahdi is legitimate, preparing the ground for it is legitimate as well, and this is due to achieving the preliminaries to what is obligatory, which is rationally considered obligatory, to the extent that it is not possible that the Legislator prohibits it; because the prohibition of a rational obligation is abhorrent, like the prohibition of preparing water for ghusl and traveling for Hajj. [Question and Answer 24]
The formation of Islamic government in the absence of Mahdi, if it means the formation of his government by preparing the ground for it, in the order explained in the invaluable book Return to Islam, is possible; except that in this case it is not considered the formation of Islamic government in the absence of Mahdi, but its formation by putting an end to his absence; but if it means the formation of a government other than the government of Mahdi, then is not possible, and this impossibility is one of the consequences of people’s fault in protecting and supporting him, which has caused his absence, and therefore, the responsibility for its consequences lies with them. The result is that the formation of Islamic government is possible at any time by making Mahdi appear, and therefore, the formation of Islamic government in his absence is meaningless. [Question and Answer 24]
Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani is one of the Muslim scholars himself, and accordingly, he believes that they have the same role and duty that he has, and it is the preparation of the ground for the establishment of the pure and perfect Islam in the world through the establishment and maintenance of the government of God’s Caliph on the earth, as explained in the invaluable book Return to Islam. Therefore, in his opinion, Muslim scholars must invite toward the Caliph of God on the earth instead of inviting toward themselves, and establish and maintain his government instead of establishing and maintaining their own government; because this work is possible if Muslims provide its preconditions, and its preconditions are to a large extent the same as the preconditions necessary for the establishment and maintenance of other governments. Therefore, any Muslim scholar who orders Muslims to pledge allegiance to Mahdi and prohibits them from pledging allegiance to anyone other than him, performs his Islamic duty, and it is obligatory for Muslims to respond to his invitation and help him in this work, but Muslim scholars who do not order Muslims to pledge allegiance to Mahdi, nor do they prohibit them from pledging allegiance to anyone other than him, do not perform their Islamic duty, and it is obligatory for Muslims to stay away from them. [Question and Answer 7]
It is clear that whoever believes in the oneness of God in creation, legislation and sovereignty, and believes in His last Prophet, Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and does not deny any of the pillars of His religion such as the Book, the Angels, the Day of Judgment, the Qiblah, prayer, Zakat, fasting, Hajj and jihad, is a Muslim, even though he does not think like you about the rest of his beliefs and has a different interpretation. This is a well-known fact from the Book of God and the mutawatir Sunnah of His Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and the righteous predecessors were in agreement with it, to the extent that it may be considered one of the obvious facts of Islam, and its denier can be accused of ignorance and misguidance. Therefore, it is clear that “all Shias” are not considered disbelievers and polytheists; because most of them believe in the oneness of God, His last Prophet, and the pillars of His religion; so considering all of them as disbelievers and polytheists, even though due to some of their deviations and mistakes, is pure imperiousness and unfairness. [Critique and Response 11]
Interpreting the verse of purification as Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain, and not interpreting it as the mothers of believers, is the interpretation of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, which has been narrated from him by many of his companions, such as Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas, Anas ibn Malik, Wathila ibn al-Asqa‘, Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib, Zayd ibn Arqam, Bara’ ibn Azib, Jabir ibn Abdullah, Abu Huraira, Abu Hamra, Abu Barza, Umm Salamah, Aisha, Safiyya, and others, and it has been narrated that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, said explicitly: “This verse was revealed concerning five persons: I, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain: ‘Indeed, God wants to remove any impurity from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and make you completely pure’”, and that one of the wives of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, said: “I said: O Messenger of God, am I not one of the Ahl al-Bayt? He said: You are upon good, you are one of the wives of the Messenger of God”, and in another narration: “I said: O Messenger of God, what about me? Then I swear to God, he did not say yes, and said: You are upon good”, and in another narration: “I said: O Messenger of God, am I not one of the Ahl al-Bayt? He said: You are one of the wives of the Messenger of God, and did not say: You are one of the Ahl al-Bayt”. Therefore, he made it clear that his wives are not from the members of his Ahl al-Bayt intended in the verse of purification. [Critique and Response 11]
Zayd ibn Arqam, Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib, Wathila, Umm Salamah and Safiyya have narrated that the part ﴿إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا﴾; “Indeed, God wants to remove any impurity from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and make you completely pure” was revealed separately in the house of Umm Salamah as an actuality-proposition, and was not revealed with the part ﴿وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَى ۖ وَأَقِمْنَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتِينَ الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِعْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ﴾, which means: “And stay in your houses, do not flaunt your charms as in the former times of ignorance, perform prayer, pay zakat, and obey God and His Messenger”, and this indicates that they are two separate verses that were brought together in writing; considering that the order of writing the verses does not correlate with the order of their revelation. What strengthens this fact is the difference in pronouns in the two parts; because the pronoun in the part ﴿وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ...﴾ is a second-person pronoun for the plural feminine, but the pronoun in the part ﴿إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا﴾ is a second-person pronoun for the plural masculine; as al-Tahawi (d. 321 AH) has also pointed this out in Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, when he said after mentioning the narrations: “What we narrated from the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, (that said) to Umm Salamah, indicates that the verse intends the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain, peace be upon them, not other than them. So if one says: The Book of God indicates that the wives of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, are the ones whom are intended in this verse; because before that in the same chapter He said: ‘O Prophet! say to your wives: If you’ to His words ‘as in the former times of ignorance’ then He said: ‘Indeed, God wants to remove any impurity from you’, our answer to him is: What has been stated in it up to before His words: ‘Indeed, God wants to’, addresses his wives, then God continued His words by addressing his Ahl (al-Bayt): ‘Indeed, God wants to remove’, and it addresses men, because He said in it: ‘to remove any impurity from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and make you pure’, and this is how men are addressed, while what comes before that, uses the letter ‘N («ن»)’, and this is how women are addressed. So we understand that ‘Indeed, God wants to remove’ is an address to men whom He has willed to make them aware of His honor for them and His elevation in their dignity, if He made their women what He has described, for what has been stated in the verses before the one addressing them”, and it is not just al-Tahawi that has said so, but rather ibn Atiyyah (d. 542 AH) has attributed it to the majority, and said after pointing out the narrations: “One of the proofs of the majority is God’s words: «عَنْكُمُ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ» with the letter ‘M («م»)’, while if it had been exclusive to women, it would have been «عَنْكُنَّ»”. [Critique and Response 11]
Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani does not worship the god of ibn Hamid, ibn Taymiyyah, ibn Abd al-Wahhab and others like them; the god who is above and not below, has two eyes, two ears, two feet, and ten real fingers, moves from one place to another, can be seen by eyes like the moon in the sky, and is a perfect example of al-Lat, Hubal, and al-‘Uzza, hidden behind the veil of “without knowing how or what”! But he worships the God of Ibrahim, Isma‘il, Ishaq, Ya‘qub, the Descendants, Isa and Musa, who said: “O Lord! Show me so that I see You”, and He replied: “You will never see Me”, then he repented of his expectation: “He said: Glory be to You, I repent to You”; the God who destroyed seventy men of the children of Israel with a thunderbolt because they wanted to see Him with their eyes: “They said: Show us God manifestly”; because “Eyes cannot perceive Him, but He perceives all eyes, and He is the Subtle, the Aware”; the God that wherever you go He is there, and His presence is not limited to places and directions; as He has said: “Wherever you turn, there is the presence of God”, and said: “He is with you wherever you are”; the God who does not move from one place to another, nor does He rely on His creatures, nor is it possible to divide Him into parts, nor is He characterized by human characteristics; as He has said: “There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing”; the God that does not fit into any description, nor is He perceived by any imagination, and He is Glorified, Exalted from anything imaginable; as He has said: “They do not know God as He deserves to be known”, and said: “Glorified and Exalted is He, from whatever they describe”; the God that has all the Most Excellent Names, without the multiplicity of His Names leading to the multiplicity or division of His Essence; as He has said: “God, there is no god but He; He has the Most Excellent Names”; as the two attributes “the All-Seeing” and “the All-Hearing” do not transform Him into two beings, nor do they create two parts for Him, but rather He is the All-Hearing in His Essence, the All-Seeing in His Essence, and hearing and seeing are two aspects of one attribute of Him, which is “knowledge”; because there is no way for multiplicity to His presence, and He is pure from any plurality in His Essence; as He has said: “Say: He is the One God”, and said: “And Our command is but one”. [Critique and Response 11]
Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani worships the Lord of Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and does not associate anyone with Him in creation, legislation and sovereignty; in the sense that he believes in His oneness in creating all the creatures, providing sustenance for them and managing them, and does not submit to any law other than His law, or to any government other than His government, and believes that His government is the government of one who rules with His permission, even though most people do not know... The God that legislation belongs to Him, and none but He makes a thing obligatory or forbidden; as He has said: “Or do they have partners who legislate for them as the religion that which God has not permitted?!”; the God that the government belongs to Him, and none but He appoints or removes a ruler; as He has said: “Say: O God! You are the Owner of the government! You give the government to whomever You will and take the government from whomever You will”; so He has no partner in the government; as He has said: ﴿وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ شَرِيكٌ فِي الْمُلْكِ﴾! This is the God of Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and the God of Ibrahim and his family, and this is the God of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, the flag-bearer of monotheism in the current era with the monotheistic call “Allegiance belongs to God”. [Critique and Response 11]
In another part of the book Return to Islam, Mansoor Hashemi considers disagreements among Muslims, sovereignty of anyone other than God, mixing with non-Islamic nations and cultures, emergence of sects and their rivalry with each other, moral decline, and prevention of enemies as the most important impediments to the establishment of the perfect and pure Islam since the demise of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and talks about each of them in detail, with a historical, pathological and trans-sectarian perspective. He also considers the tendency to Hadiths as one of the impediments to knowing the pure and perfect Islam and its establishment by Muslims; because in his opinion, Hadiths, in the sense of conjectural narrations from the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, have no validity due to the invalidity of conjecture in Islam, and it is not sufficient to rely on them in order to deduce a belief or a law. He believes that there is no reason to exclude the conjecture arising from Hadiths from other conjectures; because the invalidity of conjecture is one of the rulings of the intellect which do not accept exceptions. Therefore, only a mutawatir Hadith whose narrators are numerous and leads to certainty is valid, while such Hadiths are very few and are not available enough. However, from the author’s point of view, the solution to this predicament is not to refer to non-mutawatir Hadiths, but to refer to the Caliph of God on the earth, and if it is not possible to refer to him at the present time, it is because of the fault of people for not making its arrangements, and therefore, there is no excuse for them to refer to non-mutawatir Hadiths. Hashemi Khorasani believes that people have put themselves in a desperate situation by their own fault for not making the necessary arrangements to access the Caliph of God on the earth, and that this situation is not imposed upon us from God to be in conflict with His grace. However, he believes that it is possible for them to get out of this desperation; because their access to the Caliph of God on the earth is possible when his security is guaranteed by them; as his sovereignty over them is possible when their demand, support and obedience to him are guaranteed by them. [Article 1]
In this part of his book, after introducing the last Prophet of God and proving his Prophethood, the author explains the position of the Quran and the Sunnah, and points out very important and fundamental points in this regard. One of these points is the impossibility of abrogating, specifying and generalizing the Quran by the Sunnah; considering that the only duty of the Sunnah is to explain the Quran and cannot contradict it in any way; as it is conjectural in most cases and not capable of contradicting the Quran which is certain; rather, in mutawatir cases, it is not as mutawatir as the Quran either and cannot stand in an equal position to it. In another part of the book Return to Islam, the author considers the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, authentic which can be followed forever, but he believes that access to it in a certain way is possible mainly for people of his time and not for future generations. Therefore, future generations need another authority to achieve certainty about the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and that authority is the Caliph of God on the earth, who is considered the successor to the Prophet in implementing God’s rulings, and of course, like the Quran, is always available to people. [Article 1]
After examining the definitive Islamic texts, including the verses of the Quran and the mutawatir Hadiths of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, the author proves in an elaborate and convincing manner to all Muslims, free from any sectarian orientation, that the Caliphs after the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, are twelve people from his Ahl al-Bayt, the first three of whom are Ali, Hasan and Husayn and the last of them is Mahdi. He then studies the position of Mahdi and his role in the realization of the ideal of Islam, which is global justice, and in this regard, he brings up some accurate and profound details that are completely novel and unprecedented. For example, unlike others who believe that the creation and advent of Mahdi depends first on the will and action of God and subject to His wisdom and expediency, he believes that it depends first on the will and action of people and subject to their free will and readiness, and explicitly and decisively asserts that their access to Mahdi is possible, and therefore, they should only think of protecting, supporting and obeying him, and should not make themselves busy protecting, supporting and obeying people other than him, whoever they are. [Article 1]
In the end of his book, Hashemi explains the most important principle of Islam, which is monotheism, and divides it into three parts: monotheism in creation, monotheism in legislation, and monotheism in judgment or sovereignty, and explains each of them in detail. He then introduces the rest of the principles of the beliefs and the foundations of the rulings of Islam, and redefines each of them with a distinct and particular method, and opens new doors to jurists about Zakat, Hajj and Jihad, from each of them new doors are opened. In this way, he redefines the beliefs and rulings of Islam by relying on clear intellectual rules and based on definite religious texts, which are nothing but verses of the Quran and mutawatir Hadiths of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and presents a new and distinct understanding of it that can be considered an Islamic school and ideology, capable of revolutionizing the attitude and approach of Muslims of the world and preparing the ground for their unity and mutual closeness in the near future and for major and fundamental changes in their political and cultural structures. We recommend all Muslims of the world, especially scholars, to study this important and influential book, and we expect them and the officials of Islamic countries to show the necessary patience and forbearance in face of it by observing freedom of thought and expression and adhering to Islamic ethics and scholarly etiquette and to avoid hasty and irrational confrontations with thoughts and thinkers. [Article 1]
A group of people are those who may read the book and find out the existing facts in it, but are afraid because of the suppression and pressure governing the political atmosphere of the country and do not say anything about the book or cannot gain the permission to talk about it! What should be reminded to these people is the fearing of God and the day of resurrection and the fearing of divine trial. Because the content of this book is nothing but the pure and complete Islam based on certitudes, meaning verses of Quran and the Mutawatir Sunnah and firm intellectual proofs, and these are the salient examples of Good. Therefore, inviting toward it is a salient example of promotion of Good and therefore, it is obligatory. Hence, somebody who is afraid of the governments’ trial more than God’s trial, is not an intelligent and wise person, and is making a mistake and will immediately lose and regret. [Article 4]
