Even now, some survivors of those who consider themselves Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama‘ah have made oppressive rulers dominate Islamic lands, and consider obeying and protecting them one of their Islamic obligations; to the extent that in every Islamic land, a tyrant dictator is ruling and spending Muslims’ wealth, lives and honor on his greed, while none of them dares to oppose him or recognizes the right to confront him; to the extent that the most tyrannical and corrupt governments are in Islamic lands, and oppression that exists among Muslims does not exist among disbelievers! [Return to Islam, p. 72]
Manifest disbelief is denying God or His Prophet or the Day of judgment or the essentials such as prayer and fasting, and disbelief of one who acknowledges these things is not manifest, even though it can be deduced. Therefore, rising up against a Muslim ruler under the pretext that he has committed manifest disbelief is not justified; rather, the only permit to rise up against him is his oppression on Muslims. [Return to Islam, p. 72]
It is not permissible to take the government from an oppressor in order to give it to another oppressor; because it is not opposing and confronting the oppressor, but rather maintaining him in another form; as so far, the few oppositions and confrontations carried out by Muslims against oppressive rulers have generally been for the purpose of replacing an oppressor with another oppressor, and therefore, they have not led to the elimination of oppression and the realization of justice. [Return to Islam, p. 73]
Another common type of imitation is following the sayings and actions of disbelievers; because many Muslims, due to their weakness and the strength of disbelievers in recent centuries, have been in a passive position and followed them, either by imitating them intentionally and knowingly in order to gain the strength they have gained, or by being affected by their propaganda and suggestions and tainting their own beliefs and actions with their beliefs and actions unintentionally and unknowingly. [Return to Islam, p. 74]
The strength of disbelievers in recent centuries has been made possible, on the one hand, by exploitation of the weak and the plunder of their lands, and, on the other hand, on the basis of materialism and separation of the religion from the world, and therefore, although it has strengthened them materially, it has weakened them spiritually; to the extent that most of them have lost their individual, familial and social health, destroyed the foundations of morality and the infrastructures of culture, and left no possibility for human development in intellectual and ethical aspects. [Return to Islam, p. 74]
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 Mahdi are not those who disobey God; his helpers are the ones 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 Mahdi are imbued with the morals of God’s Prophets, and are 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 attribute lies to God and dissociate themselves from those who attribute lies to Him; they perform the prayer at its initial 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 oppress 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 teachings of the scholar and avoid being hostile to him, rather they respond to his invitation and rush to his help, when he invites them toward Mahdi in order to gather them for his help. [Letter two]
Look at the lives of those who passed away and take lesson from their end; those who forgot the days of God and denied His blessings, so the sword of misery fell on their necks, and the arrow of destruction landed on their chests, then they perished as if they had never been in the world! Now you have dwelt in their lands, and built houses over their ruins, so do not take their paths, nor follow their traditions, otherwise what befell them will befall you, then you will become a lesson to those who will come after you, as they have become a lesson to you. [Letter six]
Inform me of flowers of the earth, can they grow when there are weeds and thorn bushes among them?! Likewise, you cannot grow as long as you are afflicted with passions and attachments; for they will weaken your strength and waste your time... As milk is not poured into contaminated vessels, knowledge is not put in corrupt hearts, and as gems are not thrown in the trash can, wisdom in not put in impure chests; so that those who have removed evil thoughts from their hearts gain knowledge, and those who have driven doubts out of their chests gain wisdom, and those who have evil thoughts and doubts remain in ignorance and neglect. [Letter six]
Listen to my words to find knowledge, and ponder on it to gain wisdom; for I train you with them, as a gardener grows fruit trees, in order to make you a sufficient group for the Caliph of God on the earth. Indeed, you were created for the Hereafter and not for the world; so work for the Hereafter and do not get attached to the world. You are like a sailor on the sea whose ship was wrecked in a storm; he then hung on to a board and landed on an unknown island. When he regained consciousness and walked across it, he realized that the island is uninhabited, and there are predators and little water and food on it. Tell me about him, does he get attached to this island and start building mansions, as if he will stay there forever, or does he become content with finding a shelter and start building a ship and collect provisions in order to save himself?! [Letter 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! Obey God and obey the Prophet and those in authority from among you”, so he said: There is always someone among those who believed that obedience to him is obligatory for them like obedience to God and the Prophet, whoever obeys him, obeys God and the Prophet, and whoever disobeys him, disobeys God and the Prophet, and he is the one whom God and the Prophet have appointed, and not the one whom people have appointed with their passions, I said: They say that anyone from among believers who takes control of their authority is the one in authority from among them, he said: They are right! I said: How can they be right, while you said what you said?! He replied: Whoever other than the one whom God and the Prophet have appointed takes control of their authority is not from among believers, but from among sinners, and God has commanded to obey those in authority from among believers, and has not commanded to obey those in authority from among sinners! “Is the one who is a believer equal to the one who is a sinner?! They are not equal”! Then he said: Shall I increase for you? I said: Yes, he said: Those in authority are its owners, and they are the ones whom God and the Prophet have appointed, and whoever other than them takes control of it is a usurper, and the usurper is not considered from among the owners, “If only they could understand”! I said: May God reward you well; because you gave me two perfect wisdom that I had never heard before! He said: “They are two proofs from your Lord”! [Passage 25 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 believe in His Prophet, then He will grant you two portions of His mercy and place for you a light to walk in”, so he said: The two portions of His mercy are the Book and the Sunnah, and the light is an Imam who illuminates those two for them until the Day of Judgment arrives. Then fear God and believe in His Prophet, then He will grant you the Book and the Sunnah and appoint an Imam for you who illuminates those two for you until the Day of Judgment arrives. [Passage 28 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: “God is the light of the skies and the earth”, so he said: He is their Guide, and the light of God is His guidance, and it is “in houses that God has permitted to be raised up and His name to be mentioned therein”, and they are the houses of the Prophets, “in them, morning and evening, He is praised by men that no business or occupation makes them neglect the remembrance of God”, and they are the households of the Prophets, do you not see that He says they praise Him morning and evening in them? So they are their family, and God’s guidance does not leave the houses of the Prophets until the Day of Judgment arrives, then seek it from the household of the Prophet, and do not seek it from others, for you will go astray! [Passage 29 from Saying six]
Translation of the saying: In the midst of this era, in this time that the sun of the religion is hidden behind dark clouds, God has servants that He is always in their hearts. They light a lamp in the eyes of people from the light of vigilance, and remind people of the days of God, and inform them of the exemplary fate of those who passed away. They are like guides in horrible and unmarked desserts. They give good tidings to those who joined the truth, and warn those who turned to falsehood. Yes, in the corners of this vast earth, there are people for God who have chosen the remembrance of God over the attachments of the world, and trading does not keep them from performing the prayer at its initial time. They spend day and night worshipping God, and convey His warnings to the heedless. They invite others toward justice, and practice it themselves before them. They have abandoned the world, and joined people of Heaven. It is as if they have left this world, and migrated to the Hereafter, or are still in the world and have seen what is behind the veil. It is as if they know about the hidden conditions of people of Barzakh, and spent some time in it. It is as if the Day of Judgment has shown them its horrible face, or the blazing fire of Hell has engulfed them. It is as if they see secrets that others do not see, and hear things that people do not hear. [Saying eleven]
Translation of the saying: If you find them and see their high position that how they have opened their book of deeds and are prepared for judgment; they contemplate how many big and small works they were commanded and failed to do, and how many works they were forbidden to do but did! They feel the weight of their sins and are unable to bear them, and have been brought to their knees, weeping and writhing as if in pain. How many nights they are unable to sleep and sit in a dark and lonely corner, hugging their knees and thinking! Sometimes they stand up for the prayer, and sometimes they prostrate, and sometimes they stare at the sky with eyes overflowing with tears, as if they are looking for something among its stars. If the veil is lifted from before your eyes, you will see the Angels have descended upon and surrounded them, and the doors of the sky have opened to them, and Heavens full of blessings have been prepared for them. [Saying eleven]
Translation: Mansoor may God protect him, said: Indeed, God would not be worshipped on earth through a deceased Imam; because His worship on it is establishment of the limits and enforcement of the laws and management of the properties and performing Jihad against His enemies, and these works need a living Imam. So if he dies or get killed, God replaces him with someone like him or better than him, according to His tradition regarding abrogating and making forgotten; as He has said: “Any sign which We abrogate or make it to be forgotten, We bring a sign better than it or like it. Have you not known that God is Capable in doing everything?” and Ja’far ibn Muhammad peace be upon them, referred to this speech of mine, in that which has been narrated from him, when he said to Isā ibn Abdullah: Know that O Isā, you will not be faithful until you know the abrogator from the abrogated, he said: May I be your sacrifice, what is to know the abrogator from the abrogated? He said: Is it not that you are with the Imam while you have made yourself obey him with goodwill, then he passes away and another Imam comes, then you make yourself obey him with goodwill? He said: Yes, he said: This is to know the abrogator from the abrogated, and it has been narrated that Mu’allā ibn Khunays asked him about a narration which has been received from the past Imams, so he said: Take it as long as it comes to you through a living Imam, then if it came to you through a living Imam, take his speech. [Lesson one, p. 42]
Translation: Mansoor may God protect him, said: Indeed, God would not be worshipped on earth through an absent Imam; because he cannot establish the limits and collect the charities and enforce the laws and fight against the enemies in his absence, and if someone other than him carries them out, he will fail in many of them; because God would not guide him and would not bestow the success on him, and if he accomplishes something, it will not be accepted from him; because he has not accomplished it through the way God had commanded, whereas God has said: “Beneficence is not that you enter houses from behind them, but the benefactor is someone who acts upon piety, and enter houses through their doors, and fear God, may it be that you gain salvation”. [Lesson one, p. 42]
Translation: Ali ibn Bābawayh [Died in 329 AH] has narrated in the book of “al-Imāmah wa al-Tabsirah”, from al-Himyari, from Sindi ibn Muhammad, from ‘Alā ibn Razin, from Muhammad ibn Muslim, from Abu Ja’far (al-Bāqir) peace be upon him that said: The earth would not be without a hidden or visible Imam!
Mansoor may God protect him, said: Indeed, God would not be worshiped on earth except through a visible and living Imam; because His worship on it is establishment of the limits and enforcement of the laws and management of the properties and performing Jihad against His enemies, and these works need a visible and living Imam. So if He does not appoint a visible and living Imam, He has not perfected His Favor for His servants and has not set a way for them to worship Him. Therefore, if they abandon worshiping Him, there is no proof for God against them, unless He appoint a visible and living Imam, but they make him hide; because whenever they do so and then abandon worshiping God, they have set a proof for God against themselves; as God has said: “It is because of that which your hands have sent forth, and God is not oppressive toward servants” and has said: “And God has not oppressed them, but they have oppressed themselves” and it is not that if He appoints a visible and living Imam for them, but they kill him out of oppression; because whenever they make him hide, they can make him appear whenever they repent and reform, but if they kill him, they cannot make him alive, and Imam whenever he is hidden, can help them repent and reform with his prayer and blessings and his communication with some of the righteous, and maybe he enjoins them to good and forbids them from evil without them knowing him, but if he dies, he can do nothing and therefore, it is permissible for God in His Justice and Grace to make Imam hide whenever He sees evil in His servants, but it is not permissible for Him to take him from this world without setting a substitute for him. [Lesson one, p. 43]
Translation: Mansoor may God protect him, said: Some of those who do not like what God has revealed, have thought that the narration of the Prophet peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, stating that his Ahl al-Bayt are a protection for the inhabitants of earth, is fabricated, but it is not what they have thought, rather it is a correct narration which is compatible with Quran and the Sunnah and is compatible with the intellect; as Hākim (al-Neyshāburi) [Died in 495 AH] has considered it to be correct in the book of “al-Mustadrak”. The fabricated is the narration which they have considered to be correct so that they oppose the truth (that is, this correct narration) by it, and it has been said in it that the Prophet peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, said: “My companions are a protection for my nation, so when my companions are gone, what has been promised to my nation will come to them” and this is a false narration which is in conflict with Quran and the Sunnah and is in conflict with the intellect; because if the meaning of the Prophet peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, from “what has been promised to my nation” in it, has been the punishment or the Resurrection Day, none of them came to his nation when his companions went away, and if his meaning from it, has been disagreement, the disagreement came to them when his companions were still among them, rather his companions founded it by the disagreement they made among themselves, whereas the Prophet peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, cannot say something that is not true, and accordingly he did not say so. This narration has been narrated by Abu Burdah ibn Abu Musa, and he is a bad man that was hostile toward Ali and befriended his enemies, and at the command of Zyād ibn his father, he testified against Hujr ibn ‘Adi may God be pleased with him. It is thought that he has distorted this narration out of enmity toward Ahl al-Bayt, and the one who trusts him regarding this narration is a fool. The correct is that which has been received from the Prophet peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, about his Ahl al-Bayt that God has removed any impurity from them and has made them completely pure, and it has been received through Ali, Jābir ibn Abdullah, Salamah ibn al-Akwa’, Abdullah ibn Abbās, Abu Sa’id al-Khudri and Abu Musa al-Ash’ari. [Lesson one, p. 47]
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]
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 10]
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 17]
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 26]
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 26]
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]
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 13]
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 13]
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 13]
Know that Mansoor attempts to gather Muslims of the world altogether around Mahdi, peace be upon him, by relying on Islamic certainties, and you must cooperate with him in this good and blessed work, not make it more difficult for him by beating the drum for accusations of disbelief and blowing into the fire of division. We invite you and other Muslims of the world to “return to the pure and perfect Islam”; because it is the preparation of the ground for the advent of Mahdi, and the advent of Mahdi is the preparation of the ground for the earth to be filled with justice and equity after it has been filled with oppression and cruelty, and this is a happiness that there is no happiness greater than that. So join Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, support him in this great Islamic movement, and allow him to change your old disagreements into a union in the light of the government of Mahdi, peace be upon him. [Critique and Response 13]
Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani does not take allegiance from any Muslim for himself; Since he considers the allegiance only belongs to God, and his meaning by that is to pledge allegiance to someone whom God has commanded to pledge allegiance to and he is nobody except Mahdi that pledging allegiance to him is obligtory upon every Muslim. Accordingly, Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani takes allegiance from Muslims of this world for Mahdi; In the meaning that he takes promise and oath from them that if Mahdi appears to them, they protect, support and obey him and do not leave him alone like those who were before them. This is the context of the allegiance which Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani takes from every Muslim, and if sufficient number of Muslims pledge such allegiance to him, the grounds for the advent of Mahdi will be prepared. [Critique and Response 19]
The elements of hypocrisy have come to power in Muslim countries and have taken over the rule over Muslims; the rulers who seem to be Muslims but their subjection and submission to unbelievers or their opposition and hostility against Islamic streams indicates their disbelief in their heart. A group of them spread the deviant Umayyad and Abbasid ideas over the majority of Islamic countries by Sunni slogans, and by spreading extremism and political and arms support to terrorist groups, they target innocent Muslims’ lives and properties and honor, and a group of them spread superstition and religious invented heresies in Islamic countries by Shia slogans, and they cause insult against Islam and conflicts among Muslims, and it is interesting that both of them are unanimous in their opposition to the purest call of the time for realization of pure and complete Islam in the world, and in order to preserve their power and prevent the Caliph of God on earth from coming to power, they do every wicked and evil work! As for example, their mercenary and self-sold elements, who do not believe in any god other than their masters, are plotting daily to hit the purified movement “Return to Islam” and block the way for its free and great leader Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani and for this purpose, they do every lie, slander, cruelty and evil act. How many educated and committed youth who are in their prisons and suffer for accepting the right invitation toward pure and complete Islam, and how many honorable and respected men and women who become infamous and dishonored for the crime of preferring Mahdi over their gods, and they get blamed and insulted! [Article 6]
There is no doubt that ending this evil chaos will be accomplished by the Caliph of God on earth; because no one except for him has the ability to overcome these seditious wicked people with their big bellies and rough necks, and he is the Mahdi from the household of Mohammad who, by the definite promise of God and His Messenger, will fill the world with justice and fairness as it is filled with oppression and cruelty, but the reality is that to fulfill the sovereignty of this noble man and his confrontation against evil hypocrites, one cannot sit and do nothing and only pray and repent for his Excellency’s advent, but it is necessary to form a community of sincere and warrior Muslims for a comprehensive support and to help his Excellency and declare readiness to protect and assist him and break the vicious allegiance to other rulers and pledge allegiance to the true Caliph of God on earth; because without forming such community, the advent of Mahdi would not be possible and there would be no guarantee for survival and victory for him and this is the supreme goal that his honor Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani is pursuing with his Islamic and public movement and tries to achieve it and therefore, his blessed movement is the best chance for gathering and forming a community of the youth who love Mahdi and the true waiters for his advent in order to announce loyalty and allegiance to his Excellency; the movement which with the slogan of “Allegiance to God” considers any allegiance except to the caliph of God on earth equal to allegiance to Taughut and with the belief in the possibility of realizing Mahdi’s sovereignty on the condition that the aforementioned grounds are provided, is preparing the grounds for the sovereignty of his Excellency objectively and practically. Therefore, it is imperative that all those who are honest in their claim to help, love, and wait for the advent of household of Mohammad, come forward as soon as possible and gather around this flag of guidance for getting close and practical realization of Mahdi’s advent and shout loud the informing and awakening call of “Return to Islam”, even though the blind-hearted and evil hypocrites do not like it and burst with jealousy and anger! [Article 6]
Elsewhere in the book Return to Islam, Khorasani considers the establishment of Islam to be useful and effective only in its pure and perfect form, and believes that establishing a part of it alone or mixed with something outside of it, not only is it not useful and effective, but can be harmful and dangerous, and this is contrary to the belief of most Muslims who think that establishing a part of Islam is also desirable and effective. He likens Islam to a single system with interconnected components that if one component does not work, the other components will also lose their efficiency and the whole system will fail. Therefore, Muslims have no choice but to establish the entire Islam in its purest form, and this is possible only if the Caliph of God on the earth teaches it. Another fundamental and important issue in this book is that the author considers the implementation of Islamic hudud and punishments contingent upon the implementation of all general and political rulings of Islam, and believes that legislating these hudud and punishments has been done in view of the rule of God on the earth, proportional to the time and place that all rulings of Islam are implemented as deterrents. Therefore, the implementation of these hudud and punishments in another time and place is not fair and proportional; especially considering that from the author’s point of view, the rulings of Islam are interdependent and interconnected and affect each other and are influenced by each other. [Article 1]
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]
