Imitation is contrary to the natural principle, and therefore is indispensable for a reason, and its reason cannot be based on itself; so there is no choice but to practice ijtihad in imitation, while they are often imitators in their imitation; because they do not know any reason for it from the religion or the intellect, except for an illusion that has been created for some of them, which is that imitating scholars is from this aspect that the intellectuals refer to the expert, while this illusion is far from reality; because in the opinion of the intellectuals, the expert vary depending on subjects about which they are referred to, and in their opinion, an expert in the religion is one referring to whom brings about certainty for them, such as the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, not one referring to whom just leads to conjecture, such as mujtahids. [Return to Islam, p. 59]
To be fair, absolute obedience to someone who may willingly or unwillingly command against the commandment of God and the Prophet is not rational nor can it be obligatory, and this is one the clear and essential issues in Islam; to the extent that it is not unlikely that one who believes in it is a stupid and considered as a minor like children; especially considering that absolute obedience to a non-infallible person and giving him the authorities of an infallible person are usually the sources of various fitnahs and great corruptions such as political tyranny, and this is sufficient to avoid them. [Return to Islam, p. 61]
Imitating scholars does not suffice in any way, and ijtihad is obligatory for all Muslims; of course, if ijtihad means certain cognition of the beliefs and rulings of Islam; because if it means conjectural cognition of them, even by relying on ahad narrations and illusions such as consensus, it is not much different from imitation and therefore does not suffice; because the reason that imitation does not suffice is that relying on uncertainties in the beliefs and rulings of the religion does not suffice, and this reason is common between imitation and ijtihad which is based on uncertainties, and consequently, ijtihad which is based on uncertainties does not suffice, even though it is better than imitation; rather, whatever is necessary for certain cognition of the beliefs and rulings of the religion is obligatory for all Muslims. [Return to Islam, p. 62]
Another common type of imitation is to follow what the majority of people say and do; because many Muslims think what the majority of people say and do is more correct than what the minority of them say and do, so they follow them as their role models; while the correctness of sayings and actions certainly does not depend on the number of their followers, but on their conformity to the intellect, which is considered the criterion of cognition. [Return to Islam, p. 62]
The fame of a saying does not mean that it is true, and the prevalence of an action does not prove that it is correct; as the lack of fame of a saying and the lack of prevalence of an action is not a reason for its incorrectness; considering that the incorrectness of what most people say and do is possible, rather it is prevalent. However, many Muslims have taken what most of them say and do as a model for their sayings and actions, and have been affected by them knowingly or unknowingly; rather, most of them have taken their beliefs and actions from the majority in their societies, and they have no reason for that other than imitating them. [Return to Islam, p. 64]
Where are my true helpers? Where are those who, like Christ, left the world behind and were freed from any attachment to it? Where are those who were companions of death and saw God in front of them? They wept out of fear of fire, as if they were bereaved parents! They looked around the sky as if they saw the Angels throughout it! They worshiped God and avoided worshiping taghut. They obeyed their leader and competed with each other to help him. It was as if they were steel boards or soaring mountains! When they attacked the enemy in their ranks, it was as if they launched tornadoes and sandstorms. They watched their behavior and knew the proper time for any word. They were adorned with good morals and pure from evil morals. They were unknown on the earth and well known in the sky. Dust sat on them, and their faces were pale. They were like honey beehives during the nights! They spend the nights in performing the prayer, asking for forgiveness and reciting the Quran, and spend the days in gaining knowledge, jihad and serving people. They were neither exhausted nor hesitant. May God have mercy on them. They spent their time and left, and now you are left for us. So make the effort to be good successors to them, and follow their footsteps, and know that you will not see the Faraj unless you are like this. [Letter six]
Indeed, your example in the life of the world has been like that of a child who has lost his mother in the crowd, so in the hope of finding her, he grasps the skirt of every woman and follows her for a while, until he sees unkindness from her and finds out that she is not the mother, then he leaves her while wailing and grasps the skirt of someone else, until the darkness of the night surrounds him and its cold kills him, while there is no helper for him! This has been your example in the life of the world that in the hope of achieving justice, you have set your hearts on every government and followed it for a while until you have seen oppression from it and realized that there is not justice in it, then you have overthrown it while shouting, and turned toward another government! Thus, in the search for justice, sometimes you have tended to the East and sometimes to the West; sometimes you have run to the left and sometimes to the right; sometimes you have turned toward Zayd and sometimes toward Amr; sometimes you have set your hearts on monarchy and sometimes on democracy! While justice has been neither in the East nor in the West; it has been neither in the left nor in the right; it has been neither in Zayd nor in Amr; it has been neither in monarchy nor in democracy! Justice is only in the government of God, who is aware of your measures and places, and none but He can find a way to it, even though one searches and strives hard, except for the one whom He has guided to it... [Letter fourteen]
Justice is only in the government of God, who is aware of your measures and places, and none but He can find a way to it, even though one searches and strives hard, except for the one whom He has guided to it, but you have despaired of His mercy and neglected His Mahdi, and therefore, you have entrusted the government which He has wanted for His Mahdi to those for whom He has not wanted a government! It seems the government is the inheritance of your fathers that you take it from whomever you want and give it to whomever you want, and it seems it does not belong to God who has said: ﴿قُلِ اللَّهُمَّ مَالِكَ الْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتَنْزِعُ الْمُلْكَ مِمَّنْ تَشَاءُ﴾; “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”, and He has given it to Ibrahim and made a covenant with the just from among his descendants, and said: ﴿وَإِذِ ابْتَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمَاتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا ۖ قَالَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي ۖ قَالَ لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ﴾; “And when God tested Ibrahim with some words, then he fulfilled them, He said: I am going to appoint you as an Imam for people, he said: And also my descendants? He said: My covenant does not reach the oppressors”, and the just from among his descendants are those whom God has willed to remove all impurity from them and to purify them completely, and they are in the Book of God the Ahl al-Bayt of Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family[3], and it is hereby understood that Mahdi of God is from the household of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and the Ahl al-Bayt of Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and whoever chooses a ruler other than him has gone far astray. [Letter fourteen]
It is surprising that people in every era have pledged allegiance to someone and made the covenant of guardianship with someone but have not known that no one can accomplish it and do it justice, except for the one whom God has guided and enabled to do so!... Do people not have eyes to see that their rulers are all oppressors and do not do justice?! Or do they not have ears to hear that their politicians are all liars and do not tell the truth?! Or do they not have intelligence to find out that their leaders all mislead and do not lead?! So how long will this pus-filled wound be opened, and how long will this madness continue?! Beware, O people! Tell me! How long should you, like dead drunks, stagger from the right to the left and from the left to the right until you finally understand that the right and the left are the same for you, and there is no justice in either of them?! Tell me! How many other governments should you test, and how much other obedience should you pay the price for until you finally find out that no government but the government of God will bring you to justice, and no obedience but the obedience to His Caliph will free you from oppression?! Is this thousands of years of experience not enough?! Are these heavy prices not enough?! Did you not hear Nimrods and Pharaohs? Did you not bear Khosrows and Caesars?! Did you not see caliphs and kings?! Did you not test republics and Islamics?! So have you not yet learned your lesson?! [Letter fourteen]
Beware, O cruel kings and emirs who shed the blood of the innocent to gain and maintain domination! Beware, O hypocritical jurists and mullahs who unrightfully consider yourselves to be appointed by God and guardians of Muslims of the world! Beware, O greedy politicians who vie to take over the government! Beware, O deceitful political parties who seek nothing but power! Beware, O criminal cults and groups who strive to achieve superiority on the earth! Leave these troubled people alone and go away from between them and their owner! Are thousands of years of oppression and corruption not enough?! Is a history of humiliation and poverty not enough?! Are you not tired of all these evil doings and giving rise to fitnahs?! Then when will you end this childish game?! Then when will you stop these repetitive methods?! [Letter fourteen]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: I heard Mansoor say: “Glory be to our Lord, undoubtedly our Lord’s promise was fulfilled”, He promised to appoint a Caliph on the earth, I said: They deny that there is a Caliph for God on the earth! He said: He is on it, even though all those who are on the earth deny him, then he said: I have been informed that they have appointed a caliph from people of Iraq on the earth. I said: Yes, and they shed blood for him. He said: He is the caliph of those who oppressed, and the Caliph of God is indeed Mahdi. [Passage 3 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 has said: “Indeed, I am the Appointer of a Caliph on the earth”, then I said: They say that by Caliph He meant only Adam, peace be upon him, and He has not appointed any Caliph on the earth after him, he said: They are lying, then who has said to Dawud, peace be upon him: “We appointed you as a Caliph on the earth, so Judge rightly among people and do not follow your passions”?! I said: They say that it was in the past nations, and He has not appointed a Caliph like Adam and Dawud, peace be upon them, in this nation, he said: They are lying, then who has said to this nation: “God has promised those of you who believed and did righteous deeds that He will surely appoint them as Caliphs on the earth, as He appointed some people before them as Caliphs”?! I said: They say that He meant those Muslims who came to power, such as the Umayyads, the Abbasids and those who came after them, he said: They are lying, did anyone other than rebellious tyrants from among them come to power?! Indeed, God has promised to appoint those who believed and did righteous deeds as Caliphs, so whoever has become a polytheist in his faith or has done an unrighteous deed is not one of those whom God has appointed as Caliphs, even though he comes to power and is called a caliph. I said: They say He appoints them by domination or by the election of Ahl al-Hall wal-Aqd, he said: They are lying, rather He will appoint them as Caliphs “as He appointed some people before them as Caliphs”, people such as Adam and Dawud, peace be upon them, and He did not appoint them as Caliphs by domination or by the election of Ahl al-Hall wal-Aqd, rather He did so by a revelation from Himself; as He revealed: “O Dawud! We appointed you as a Caliph on the earth”, “and their Prophet said to them that God has appointed Talut as a ruler for you”. [Passage 5 from Saying six]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: Mansoor heard a reciter recite these words of God Almighty: “O Dawud! We appointed you as a Caliph on the earth, so Judge rightly among people and do not follow your passions”, so he raised his voice and said: Listen! Listen! The Caliph of God on the earth is just one who rules righteously among people and does not follow his passions, so do not let those who claim to be caliphs while they are oppressors deceive you! Then he lowered his voice and said: Indeed, this nation does not lack a Caliph like Dawud; because God has said: “As He appointed those before them as Caliphs”, and He appointed Dawud as a Caliph before them! [Passage 6 from Saying six]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: I said to Mansoor: I have a very knowledgeable neighbor who has memorized a thousand Hadiths with their chain of narrators, and he is not asked anything about the Book of God Almighty unless he answers, and he is also familiar with jurisprudence, words and interpretation! He said: Does he know that there is a Caliph for God on the earth?! I said: No, he said: Then he is one of the ignorant! [Passage 7 from Saying six]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: I was sitting next to Mansoor, then he looked at me and said: O fellow! Do you not see these misguided people who think that God has not explained the Caliphate in the Quran?! Do you think they do not know or pretend to not know?! I said: I do not know, may I be sacrificed for you, maybe they do not know, he said: Woe to them, how do they not know?! While they read the words of God in the Quran that has said: “God has promised those of you who believed and did righteous deeds that He will surely appoint them as Caliphs on the earth, as He appointed some people before them as Caliphs”, do they want words clearer than these?! Or do they think that He has violated His promise, then He has not appointed anyone as a Caliph among them as He appointed among those before them?! I said: Who did He appoint as a Caliph among those before them? He said: Dawud, peace be upon him; do they not find him written in the Quran where He says: “O Dawud! We appointed you as a Caliph on the earth”, so He appointed him and others like him from among the Prophets and the righteous as Caliphs, I said: May I be sacrificed for you, they are more misguided than this! They think that God has appointed anyone among them as a caliph to whom they pledged Bay’ah (allegiance) as a caliph after the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family! He said: Woe to them, did they pledge Bay’ah to anyone other than rebellious tyrants after Hasan [That is, Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib]?! Indeed, God promised to appoint those of them as Caliphs who believed and did righteous deeds, and it is not that God promises them good and then gives them evil, rather He fulfills His promise, and He appoints a man like Dawud, peace be upon him, as a Caliph in every era, and he is one whose faith and righteous deeds are greater than all of them, so do they know him to select him?! Never, but God knows and selects him, “but most of them do not know”. [Passage 8 from Saying six]
Translation: Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Saffār [Died in 290 AH] has narrated in the book of “Basā’ir al-Darajāt”, has said: Ahmad ibn Muhammad narrated to us, from Safwān, from ibn Muskān, from Hujr, from Humrān, from Abu Ja’far, meaning Muhammad ibn Ali al-Bāqir, peace be upon him that about the words of God Almighty: “And of those whom We have created are a group who lead toward the truth and act justly upon it”, said: They are the Imams.
Mansoor may God protect him, said: This narration is correct; because the mentioned description is suitable for the Imams; considering that the leadership of the people and performing justice among them upon the truth, are their works, ... and the verse signifies that the earth belongs does not remain empty from an Imam who guides toward and act justly upon the truth; as the intellectual people of the nation, old and new, have acknowledged it; such as al-Jubbā’I [Died in 303 AH] who has said: “This verse signifies that no era remains empty from someone who rises up for the truth and guides toward it” and (such as) al-Nahhās [Died in 338 AH] who has said: “God Almighty has stated through this verse that the world, in no era of eras, remains empty from someone who leads toward the truth” and (such as) al-Qurtubi [Died in 671 AH] who has said: “The verse signifies that God, in no era of eras, leaves the world be empty from an inviter who invites toward the truth” and (such as) al-Khāzin [Died in 741 AH] who has said: “The verse signifies that no time remains empty from someone who rises up for the truth and acts upon and guides toward it” and ibn al-Jawzi [Died in 597 AH] has said: “Undoubtedly God does not leave the earth empty from a someone who rises up for the truth who is collector between knowledge and action and knows the right of God Almighty and fears Him, and he is the axis of the world and whenever he dies, God appoints a successor for him, and he may not die until he sees the one who deserves to be his successor in any event, and the earth never remains empty of such a person, and he is like the Prophet among the nation”, ... and this is what we say, and it is a surprise that some people do not tolerate it from us, while they find it in the Book of God and many of their knowledgeable ones from old and new have said it! [Lesson one, p. 19]
Translation: Mansoor may God protect him, said: ibn al-Jawzi [Died in 597 AH] has said: “Undoubtedly God does not leave the earth empty from a someone who rises up for the truth who is collector between knowledge and action and knows the right of God Almighty and fears Him, and he is the axis of the world and whenever he dies, God appoints a successor for him, and he may not die until he sees the one who deserves to be his successor in any event, and the earth never remains empty of such a person, and he is like the Prophet among the nation”. His speech is over, and this is what we say, and it is a surprise that some people do not tolerate it from us, while they find it in the Book of God and many of their knowledgeable ones from old and new have said it! So, do they blame us on anything other than that we say they are from the Ahl al-Bayt of our Prophet?! While we do not say this because they are our fathers, but because of the virtue we find for them in the Quran and Sunnah, and we do not deny the virtue of others who accompanied our Prophet, but no one shall be compared with the Ahl al-Bayt of our Prophet; as it has been narrated from Abdullah ibn ‘Umar that said: “Whenever we counted the companions of the Prophet peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, we said: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthmān, then a man said: O father of Abd al-Rahmān! What about Ali?! He said: Woe to you! Ali is from the Ahl al-Bayt, no one shall compare with them” and this is a famous speech from Ahmad ibn Hanbal [Died in 241 AH] and he is Imam of the Sunnis and is not considered to be a Shia; as Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal has narrated, he has said: “I asked my father: Who was the best people after the Messenger of God peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family? He said: Abu Bakr, I said: Father! Who is next? He said: ‘Umar, I said: Father! Who is next? He said: ‘Uthmān, I said: Father! What about Ali? He said: My son! Ali is from the Ahl al-Bayt with whom no one shall be compared”, ... and this is a truth that every knowledgeable one says it and Ahmad ibn Hanbal has said it as well, but when we say it, those who are not knowledgeable say: They are Rafidhah! “In this way God seals the hearts of those who do not know”! [Lesson one, p. 19]
Translation: Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Bābawayh [Died in 381 AH] has narrated in the book of “Kamāl al-Din wa Tamām al-Ni’mah”, ... from Muhammad ibn Muslim that said: I said to Abu Abdullah, meaning Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq, peace be upon him about the word of God Almighty that says: “You are only a warner and there is a guide for every nation”, so he said: Each Imam is the guide of each nation in their time.
Mansoor may God protect him, said: This is a correct narration; because the word of God Almighty is general and includes every nation until the Day of Judgment, and the nation means the century (meaning generation and period); as He has said: “And indeed, We destroyed the centuries before you when they did wrong and their Prophets came to them with clear signs and they refused to believe in, in this way We punish the guilty people”.
Also, Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal [Died in 290 AH] has narrated in that which he has added to “Musnad”, has said: ‘Uthmān ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to me, he said: Muttalib ibn Zyad narrated to us, from al-Suddi, from Abd Khayr, from Ali that about the word of God: “You are only a warner and there is a guide for every nation”, he said: The Messenger of God peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, is the warner and the guide is a man from Bani Hāshim.
Mansoor may God protect him, said: It has been said that his meaning from this man has been he himself, but it seems that he has spoken in general, and his meaning has been that for every nation (that is, every century) after the Messenger of God peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, there is a guide from Bani Hāshim. [Lesson one, p. 20]
Translation: Mansoor may God protect him, said: The Imam is called “the Caliph of God on earth” from this aspect that God has placed him on earth and he leads by the command of God, and this is a correct attribution, like the words of those who say: “The soul of God” and “the House of God” and “the earth of God”, and its application to Adam peace be upon him has been mentioned in the narration of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri and its application to Mahdi in the narration of “al-Rāyāt” is proved, But the ignorant people think that it is not a correct attribution and the ignorance of some of them has reached a point where they have considered the narration of al-Rāyāt to be correct except for the part that mentions “the Caliph of God Mahdi”, and the most ignorant of them have exaggerated so much in opposing this attribution that have considered the one who says it as a sinner; with this reasoning that only a person can have a caliph who disappears or dies, but God does not disappear and does not die, and (with this reasoning that) someone said to Abu Bakr: “O caliph of God” then Abu Bakr said: “I am not the caliph of God”, whereas this speech is a great ignorance; because attribution of Caliph to God is the attribution of ownership and respect; like the word of God who has said: “My soul” and “My House” and “My earth”, and whoever does not understand this is far from knowledge, like the distance of the west from the east, and Abu Bakr forbade its application to himself because he was not the Caliph of God; because God had not appointed him, but people had appointed him, ... and whoever has such a state should not be called “the Caliph of God”, ... as it has been narrated that a man called ‘Umar ibn Abd al-‘Aziz and said: “O caliph of God on earth”! So ‘Umar said to him: “Come on! ... when you entrusted me with the reins of your affairs, you called me Amir al-Mu’minin, so if you call me Amir al-Mu’minin, I will answer as well, but I am not the Caliph of God on earth, rather the Caliph of God on the earth is Prophet Dāwud peace be upon him and the likes of him”, ... and the Messenger of God peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, has called Mahdi “the Caliph of God” because God has appointed him as a Caliph on earth, and he leads by the command of God like Dāwud peace be upon him... [Lesson one, p. 22]
Translation: Ali ibn Bābawayh [Died in 329 AH] has narrated in the book of “al-Imāmah wa al-Tabsirah”, from Sa’d ibn Abdullah, from Muhammad ibn Isā, from Safwān ibn Yahyā, from ibn Muskān, from Hasan ibn Ziyād, from Abu Abdullah — meaning Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq — peace be upon him that said: People are not ordered and the earth does not get reformed except by the Imam.
Mansoor may God protect him, said: We believe in this and invite toward this, and he said: The situation of people will always get worse until they return toward the Imam whom God has commanded them to obey. [Lesson one, p. 32]
The manner of Imam Mahdi for introducing Islam to people of the world is the manner of his ancestor, the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, which is to invite them to one of the three:
1. Converting to true Islam and abandoning false religions
2. Submitting to rulings of the true Islam while remaining true to their religions
3. Fighting
Of course, it is clear that because of his perfect knowledge about what God has sent down by virtue of him being God’s Caliph on the earth, and his complete purity from all impurity by virtue of him being a member of the Ahl al-Bayt, he will invite with wisdom and good advice as long as he is an inviter, rule justly as long as he is a ruler, and observe all rulings of God regarding fighting, peace, the promise of security, prisoners and spoils as long as he fights, and will not oppress anyone in any of these three. [Question and Answer 67]
It is not intellectually or religiously impossible for Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, to have a successor or messenger or child, based on the statement that he exists at the present time; because Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, based on the statement that he exists at the present time, is a human being like other people, and consequently, like any of them, he can delegate some of his works to someone else, or send a messenger, or take a wife to have a child with, however, considering that being a successor or messenger or child of someone is against the principle, the claimant must prove it with a valid religious reason, but it is clear that dreams or ahad narrations are not valid religious reasons; because there is nothing in the Quran and the Sunnah that indicates the permissibility of acting on a dream in order to accept the claims of people when they have no proof or the proof is against them, and it is not acceptable from a judge to adjudicate without a proof or against it, with the excuse that he has dreamed about it. Therefore, one cannot believe or act on something for which there is no proof from the intellect and the religion, with the reasoning that he saw something in a dream that indicates it, and this is explicitly stated in the Hadiths from the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them; as they have said: “Indeed, the religion of God is more firm than to be seen in dreams”. The only exception to that is what an infallible person sees; like what Ibrahim, peace be upon him, saw... and also what a fallible person sees but an infallible person interprets; like what Pharaoh saw, and Yusuf, peace be upon him, interpreted... Therefore, other dreams that people see or interpret have no validity and cause conjecture at most; as the issuance of ahad narrations is conjectural, so it is not permissible to act on them in what is related to the religion; because of the explicit of the words of God Almighty that has said: “Indeed, conjecture is not sufficient for (proving) the truth”. Therefore, the claimants who now, by relying on dreams and interpreting some ahad narrations, consider themselves to be children, successors and messengers of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, claim something that cannot be religiously acknowledged. [Question and Answer 4]
The true ground preparers for the advent of Mahdi are a group of people from Khorasan, who have risen with the black flags in order to search for Mahdi and invite people toward him with a pure invitation, without any polytheism and Shubha, and their leader, Mansoor, is a righteous scholar who does not say anything undue about himself. He does not claim to be Mahdi nor his child nor his successor nor his messenger, but he practically invites people toward him, and actually prepares the ground for his advent, and Whoever God has wanted good for him will rush toward him, even though by crawling on snow. [Question and Answer 4 Appendices]
A very important rule that every Muslim must know and pay attention to is that conjecture has no authority in Islam. God Almighty has explicitly stated in the Quran: ﴿إِنَّ الظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئًا﴾ which means, “Indeed, conjecture is not sufficient for (proving) the truth”, and He has rebuked those who follow conjecture and said: ﴿إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَخْرُصُونَ﴾ which means, “They follow nothing but conjecture and do nothing but guess”. This means that Muslims’ beliefs and actions must always be based on certainty, and those beliefs and actions that are based on conjecture, are not correct nor acceptable to God. This is while imitating others in beliefs and actions, in the sense of following their words and deeds without knowing their reasons, obviously does not lead to certainty, but leads to conjecture, and therefore, according to the explicit words of God Almighty in His Book, “[It] is not sufficient for (proving) the truth”. But the proof of those who believe imitation in actions is permissible is that they consider actions to be different from beliefs, whereas this difference is not proved in Islam, and God’s words in the Quran are general and include both beliefs and actions. This means that every Muslim must learn his Islamic beliefs and actions, just as he learns reading, writing and other necessities of life, and must not accept or perform any belief and action unless with a certain reason, and the certain reasons in Islam, as explained by Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may God protect him, in his book Return to Islam, are the verses of the Quran and mutawatir Hadiths and of course hearing from the Caliph of God on the earth. This is the pure and complete Islam which is not tainted by conjectures. [Question and Answer 1]
Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani does not consider Muslim scholars as maraji’ al-taqlid for Muslims, and believes that acting on their fatwas without knowing their reasons is not sufficient; as it is not sufficient if their reasons are conjectural either. Therefore, Muslims must request fatwas of Muslim scholars with their reasons, and Muslim scholars must inform them about the reasons for their fatwas in detail, and tell them, for example, “The reason for our such and such fatwa is such and such verse of the Quran, or such and such mutawatir Hadith, or the direct hearing from God’s Caliph on the earth”, and in this case Muslims can act on their fatwas; because this is not considered imitating them, rather it is acting on their certain reasons, and in fact acting on the Quran and the Sunnah. But if they do not inform Muslims about the reasons for their fatwas in detail, or the reasons for their fatwas are conjectural, such as fame, consensus, and wahid narrations, then it is not sufficient to act on their fatwas, and it is obligatory to search for the certain reasons, then take precaution if possible, and then stop until it becomes possible to access God’s Caliph on the earth, and of course, the preparation of the ground for the advent of God’s Caliph on the earth is as necessary as the preparation of the ground for reaching the Sacred Mosque for the one who is obligated to perform Hajj, and this is a fact that Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani calls out loudly, may those who have listening ears in the East and West of the world hear and accept it. [Question and Answer 7]
The fact that Hadiths are conjectural, with the exception of mutawatir Hadiths, is not just “the opinion of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani”, rather it is the general opinion of Muslim scholars from all Islamic sects except for a group of Salafis, and this is an obvious fact perceived by common sense, to the extent that according to some Muslim scholars such as al-Nawawi (d. 676 AH) in Sharh Sahih Muslim, “denying it is nothing but obstinacy against the perceptible"; because wahid Hadiths are such that there is the possibility of mistake, distortion and lying in them, and naturally, with this possibility, they do not lead to certainty... The fact that conjecture is not proof is not just “the opinion of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani”, rather it is the explicit saying of God Almighty in the Holy Quran, where He has said repeatedly and affirmatively: “Indeed, conjecture is not sufficient for the truth”, and it is clear that this explicit saying of God is a guide to an intellectual law, because the intellect also considers certainty alone as the criterion for knowing the truth, and does not consider conjecture and doubt and illusion sufficient to know the truth, taking into account the possibility of the opposite in them, and it is clear that intellectual laws cannot be specified; as the explicit saying of God refuses to be specified, in the sense that considering its decisive and explicit context and also its guidance toward the nature of conjecture, it does not tolerate specification... and this is not considered the sin of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani! [Critique and Response 1]
The fact that you did not know his excellency Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani before and did not hear his name, is not a reason for him to not exist. As the wise people have said: “To not find is not the reason for to not exist”! As you surely do not know many of scholars of the world of Islam in different countries too, and have not heard their names and nonetheless, they exist and whether you know or not, are doing their scientific and cultural activities... Yes, unfortunately you are under the influence of inductions of ignorant, rancorous and sick people, otherwise you know that on the contrary the most righteous servants of God are those who are unknown and flee from fame and this does not mean they do not exist, rather it may be that the existing of others is due to the good omen of their existence and others are given time by the blessing of their existence! They are the ones that by the explanation of some narrations “are unknown and anonymous on earth, but are famous and famed in heaven”... Anyway, remember that a wise human is the one who does not recognize the right by individuals, rather recognizes individuals by the right, while the ignorant human does the opposite and considers the fame or the status or the title of people as a reason for them being right and their anonymity as a reason for them being false. This undoubtedly is an obvious ignorance! [Critique and Response 5]
If you do not see Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, you also do not see Mahdi peace be upon him, but this does not prevent you from being in conformity with his excellency; As you do not see the prophet of God peace be upon him and his family, yet you live on his religion and you will die on his religion, if God wills; Since his book is available to you and his teachings has been reached to you and this alone suffices you to follow him. Be aware that Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani’s concealment is the result of inconvenient situations which exist at the moment and is changeable by changing these situations, if God wills. [Critique and Response 14]
Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani is just a Muslim scholar who has risen up with the purpose of making Mahdi, peace be upon him, appear and bringing him to power, and invites Muslims to pledge allegiance to him instead of pledging allegiance to others, and in this way, he prepares the ground for the establishment of the pure and perfect Islam in this world, and for this reason, it is obligatory for every Muslim to support him. However, if it has been made clear to you and to some other Muslims, for whatever reason, that in addition to this objective and evident character, he is also a promised person, supporting him is a fortiori obligatory for you; as supporting him is also obligatory for Muslims to whom this matter has not been made clear; because this Muslim scholar invites toward Mahdi, peace be upon him, and prepares the ground for his advent in a perceptible and evident manner, and this is sufficient for every Muslim to support him; as God Almighty has said: “And help one another in goodness and piety”. [Critique and Response 19]
Although some Muslims from among people of knowledge consider him the promised person who will prepare the ground for the advent of Mahdi, peace be upon him, and believe that it is obvious in view of his intellectual, practical and outward characteristics, and there is no need for doubt and dispute in this regard, but he does not direct his concern to such a claim, and only strives to prepare the ground for the advent of Mahdi, peace be upon him, in a practical and realistic manner, and believes that the intellectual and religious necessity to accompany him in this regard is dependent on this practical and realistic preparation, not on his claim that he is the promised person; because there are many who claim that they are promised people, but there is not a single person who prepares the ground for his advent in a practical and realistic manner! Considering that claimants have no concern but to prove their claim, and do nothing but dispute about who they are and what their status and virtue are, while clearly, the stature of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani is beyond such selfish acts, and he is busy with more important works than them, which is teaching the pure and perfect Islam to Muslims of the world and training a sufficient number of them in order to help Mahdi, peace be upon him; the works that if accomplished by him, the advent of Mahdi, peace be upon him, will be realized, even though no one considers him the promised person who will prepare the ground for it. [Critique and Response 12]
Muslims ignored God and did not take His will and desire about this matter into account and left behind the way He set for them to achieve this great goal. Muslims forgot that the permission of God and His command are the origin and foundation of creation and the cornerstone of the formation of the world, and all matters, equations and calculations take place only with His will and desire, and without them not even a pebble will move on the earth. Muslims forgot that God has determined a way and a method for fulfilling His promises, and has made it necessary to be commitment to this way and method in order to fulfill them. Muslims of the world neglected this great fact that God Almighty has considered exemplary and exemplary exclusively for Himself, and has forbidden them from associating partners with Him in them, and has considered associating partners with Him in them as an example of polytheism toward God. Indeed, how can they reach such a sacred goal by associating partners with Him and disobeying His commands?! Undoubtedly, God the Exalted is the true Ruler and the main Owner of this world, and the rule over it belongs to Him alone. Therefore, the realization of global justice is possible only through the way He has wants, and the ruler He has chosen for people is the only one who can establish justice, no one else. This is a fact that has been completely neglected and forgotten, despite its clarity and rightness, and of course this neglect is very strange; because all Muslims agree that the one who rises for the truth and establishes justice on the earth, and the only one whom God has announced his movement and uprising for the truth and justice and his final victory, according to mutawatir narrations, is Mahdi from the household of Muhammad; “the one who will fill the earth with justice and equity, as it has been filled with oppression and cruelty”, and there is no such agreement about anyone else. This means that he is the only legitimate ruler who is approved by God at this time, and at present the only one to whom pledging allegiance is permitted and even obligatory for Muslims of the world is Mahdi, and any allegiance to anyone other than him is disobedience to God’s command and thus following Satan, and, according to the statement of the Quran, it is considered as resorting to arbitration of Taghut, and this indicates the importance and centrality of pledging allegiance to Mahdi in Islamic teachings. [Article 5]
Pledging allegiance to Mahdi is an alternative to pledging allegiance to oppressors and Taghuts of the world, and therefore, it will be the cause for the weakening of their power and the fall of their sovereignty, and on the other hand, it will guarantee the unity of Muslims of the world and their gathering under one flag; because it seems that the disagreements and divisions among the Ummah stem from political factors and numerous and divided governments, and the division among Muslims is the effect of them following various rulers and political powers, and it is natural that each sect, group and nation of Muslims follow the leader of their own, and all of the leaders of the Islamic world invite toward themselves too, and have forgotten Mahdi; because they either ignore him basically and are unable to mention his name, or they propagate that the advent of Mahdi is very far away and it is not known when it will happen. This is how the leaders the Islamic world act against Mahdi, whether they know it or not, and prevent Muslim’s public opinion from reflecting on him. In such circumstances, if we imagine that the call of inviting toward Mahdi and joining him and separating from others reaches to all Muslims of the world and all of them leave the rulers whom they have chosen without God’s permission, and rush to Mahdi, then what will happen? What changes will actually happen in the region and in the world with the launch of the awakening movement for support and obedience to Mahdi and the rise of the slogan of Muslims’ return to Mahdi? [Article 5]
Apparently, the first blessed result of such an awakening movement is the unity of Muslims in one rank and under one flag, as well as their cooperation and agreement through pledging allegiance to the Caliph of God, and this is the first step toward the realization of our great Islamic goal, meaning the realization of the sovereignty of Mahdi, peace be upon him; because undoubtedly, the true unity and deep solidarity among the ranks of Muslims are considered as preludes to the global revolution of Mahdi. We believe that such a blessed Islamic movement that has aimed for the unity of all Muslims under the flag of Mahdi has already begun and chanted the call of “Return to Islam”. This movement is led by the vigilant and courageous scholar, His Excellency Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, who with his extraordinary and exemplary courage, has set the word «البيعة للّه»; “the allegiance is for God” as the slogan of his movement and believes that the only example of pledging allegiance to God in our time is pledging allegiance to the Caliph of God, Mahdi from the household of Muhammad, and any other allegiance at this time is considered as an allegiance to Taghut. Therefore, “the allegiance is for God” means the government and authority exclusively belong to the one whom God has chosen as His Caliph, and he is no one other than Mahdi. This flag-bearer of the pure and complete Islam, by presenting such a pure and authentic understanding, believes that Mahdi is the iron pillar of the tent of Islam, and the tent of Islam will not be erected until this iron pillar is established on the earth. Therefore, the duty of each and every one of Muslims of the world is to support Mahdi completely and sincerely, and help, protect and obey him. This is why we can call the movement of this great scholar the “Return to Islam” movement or the return to Mahdi movement; because he is the strong pillar and the promised establisher of Islam, and returning to him is in fact returning to the real Islam. [Article 5]
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]
