The fact is that many of the opinions and reasons of Muslims have not reached the ears of many of them, and therefore it is clear that they cannot know them; while Muslims’ lack of knowledge about the opinions and reasons of each other causes mistrust, vilification and malice toward each other and the domination of the enemies of Islam over them. In addition, one’s contentment with one’s own opinions and reasons and avoiding knowing the opinions and reasons of others deprive one of the possibility of becoming aware of one’s own weaknesses and the strengths of others, and prevent one from knowing “the best saying” and following it. [Return to Islam, p. 45]
New atheistic currents have appeared in the world, and secret satanic efforts against God have been organized. Satanists have come out of their dark rooms, and sorcerers have emerged from their crypts, in order to make atheistic government dominant over the world through the support of corrupt powerful people and wealthy atheists, and in the meantime, Muslims, unaware of what is going on, are preoccupied with minor and unimportant issues, and quarrel with each other over them; as for example, they dispute about placing their hands below the navel or above it during the prayer, and their utmost concern is to prevent the pilgrims of the graves from approaching them. [Return to Islam, p. 46]
In summary, ignorance about Islam is the cause of their deviation, and ignorance about Muslims is the cause of their separation, and ignorance about unbelievers is the cause of the destruction of Muslims, and that is the calamity that has befallen them, and the fitnah that has encompassed them, and the only way to become free of it is gaining knowledge and promoting it in the three aspects. [Return to Islam, p. 48]
One of the common types of “imitation” is following the saying and action of the predecessors; because many people believe that what their predecessors said and did are necessarily more correct than what they say or do; whereas this belief is nothing but an illusion and has no basis in the intellect; because undoubtedly, the correctness of what a person says and does is not subject to the time of his birth, rather to its more conformity with the intellect, which does not correlate with the time priority of the human being’s birth; as there is no dispute about incorrectness of many of sayings and actions of the predecessors, rather God Almighty has deemed most of them have gone astray and perished, and said: ﴿وَلَقَدْ ضَلَّ قَبْلَهُمْ أَكْثَرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ﴾; “And indeed, most of the predecessors went astray before them”, and said: ﴿أَلَمْ نُهْلِكِ الْأَوَّلِينَ﴾; “Did We not made the predecessors perish?!”. [Return to Islam, p. 49]
The belief in the necessity of following the predecessors has no basis in Islam and is one of the polytheists’ beliefs, and it is considered an impediment to cognition because its advocates consider the truth as falsehood if it is contrary to the predecessors’ sayings or actions; considering that, in their opinion, if it was the true, it would not remain hidden from the predecessors, and whatever has remained hidden from the predecessors is bid’ah; as God Almighty has informed of their words and said: ﴿مَا سَمِعْنَا بِهَذَا فِي الْمِلَّةِ الْآخِرَةِ إِنْ هَذَا إِلَّا اخْتِلَاقٌ﴾; “We have not heard that in the previous religion! This is nothing but a fabrication”! [Return to Islam, p. 50]
The helpers of the Mahdi are imbued with the morals of God’s Prophets and trained with the manners of God’s friends; they submit to the truth once it is revealed to them and abandon falsehood once it is exposed to them; they are neither fanatic and stubborn nor foul-mouthed and garrulous; they do not fabricate lies against God and dissociate themselves from those who fabricate lies against Him; they perform prayer at the beginning of its time and donate their belongings to the needy; they restrain their anger and forgive people’s wrongdoings; they cherish their parents and have patience with their bad tempers; they do not disrespect their friends under the pretext of friendship, nor do they wrong their enemies under the pretext of enmity; they tolerate the ignorant and do not quarrel with fools; they do not talk nor laugh nor sleep nor eat too much; they restrain their lust and do not abandon chastity; they are not oglers nor shameless, neither do they show off and talk nonsense; they do not make friends with sinners, nor do they keep company with oppressors; they are occupied with useful works and do not waste their time; they are familiar with the Book of God and know what is permissible and what is forbidden; they do not deny the scholar’s teachings and avoid being hostile to him, but rather they answer his invitation and rush to his help when he invites them toward the Mahdi in order to gather them for his help. [Letter two]
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]
We live in a time that the ornaments of the world have increased, and fitnah and chaos have spread. People have forgotten God, and He has forgotten them as well. In such a disastrous time, only those whom the world has not changed can change the world... When people are busy with the world, you get busy with the Hereafter to surpass them. Do not grieve over the world; for the world does not grieve over you. Let it be a pasture for those who do not believe in the signs of God, nor do they know any difference between humanity and animality. They are for it and it is for them. They are like a child who plays on the beach and builds himself structures from the sand and thinks that they will last, but suddenly a wave comes and destroys them all; so the child falls into sorrow and looks at the sands with regret that how much he has suffered in vain! [Letter six]
Translation of the saying: O people! Know that no treasure is of use to you more than knowledge, and people are one of the three: one who knows, one who seeks to know, and one who is no one. O people! Do not immerse yourselves in your lives, and do not remain unaware of what is happening in your world and your Hereafter. Unawareness is nowadays a great sin. Incline toward the Quran and act on it. Know the Sunnah of the Prophet and his household and follow it. Use your intellects and assess the words of these people –and he pointed toward the scholars and elders of the village; if you found them in accordance with your intellects and in accordance with the Quran and the Sunnah, accept it, otherwise throw them into the wall, and I shall bear its sin. Do not consider anyone worthy of obedience except for God and His Caliphs on the earth; for the Jews went astray because they obeyed their scholars and elders; as it has been said in the Quran: ﴿اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ﴾; “They considered their scholars and monks as lords apart from God”. Imitation withers the root of the intellect and leaves no room for thinking. [Saying fourteen]
Translation of the saying: Do not be prejudiced toward your old beliefs and misconceptions, for such a prejudice is a gate from the gates of Hell. The best of you is one who has more knowledge, not one who performs the prayer and fast more. Faith and righteous deed are joined together like these two fingers of mine –and he joined the middle and index fingers together-, and neither of them will benefit you without the other. Faith is correct beliefs, and one who does not have correct beliefs will not gain salvation, even if he is one of the most devout worshipers. So put your beliefs in the balance of the intellect, and present them to the Quran and the Sunnah, lest you go astray. Do not fall in love with the world, nor sell your Hereafter for it. Whoever has sold his Hereafter for this world has made a loss-making deal and gone bankrupt. Do not follow your desires, for there is no end to desires, rather listen to the call of conscience, for it will not bring about regret. My last word to you is, know the Imam of your time; because whoever does not know the Imam of his time does not known his religion, and there is no good in such a person [By “the Imam of the time”, he means the one whom God has appointed as the Imam for people of this time, and he is Mahdi, peace be upon him]. [Saying fourteen]
Translation of the saying: If you had seen the endless blessings of Heaven and known about its mysterious beauties, nothing would be more worthless to you than the world and its ornaments. If you had seen the green trees of Heaven, how their foliage shake in the breeze blowing from under the Throne, their roots are in hills of musk and saffron, rosewater springs spout from beneath them, you would loathe the desires of the world and leave them for its people. Do you not know that amber hangs from the trunks of the trees of Heaven, jasmine and lily bushes are wrapped around them, and those trees have grown among fields covered with colorful flowers and eye-caching greenswards? Do you not know that among those lush fields and around those fruitful trees, there are rivers of pure water, rivers of fresh milk, rivers of tasty honey, and rivers of clean wine? And among them is a river called Tasnim, and another river called Salsabil which tastes like ginger. Do you not know that diamond icicles hang from the roofs of the houses of Heaven and the walls of its caves, its pebbles are made of pearls and rubies, its brushwood is made of agate and turquoise, and its soil is made of musk and saffron? [Saying twenty one]
Translation of the saying: There are houses in there made of golden bricks and decorated with silver sheets, with green emerald doors, solid bronze windows, and transparent crystal glasses. In their rooms and around the rivers and in the orchards and under the fruitful trees, there are beds made of oak and walnut, and engraved with beautiful patterns, and on those beds are carpets made of pure silk, and on those carpets are mattresses made of green velvet, and on those mattresses are cushions made of blue silk fabric, and on each bed a table is set, on which there are fruits of the four season fruits, such as apples, grapes, bananas, pears, figs, pomegranates, plums, oranges, peaches, and fruits that do not exist in the world, colorful fragrant delicious foods, plates made of crystal, bowls made of gold, and spoons made of silver, and at each table is a beautiful lady who desires her husband, while she has worn dresses made of blue chiffon and white silk, adorned herself with jewels, and perfumed herself with incense. The hair of these ladies is as dark as the darkness of the night, their faces are as bright as the brightness of the sun, and their bodies are as delicate as spring blossoms, and the hair of some of them is golden and some others maroon; they have black, blue, green eyes, thin lips, and long eyebrows, unimaginable in beauty; they hold silver cups of wine and honey juice to offer to their husband, while they surpass each other to accompany him and compete to attract his attention. [Saying twenty one]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: I came to Mansoor while he was in a mosque, then I heard him say: O people! Indeed, God has appointed Mahdi as your guardian, so take him as the guardian, and do not take guardians other than him, little you heed to advice! At this time, a squint-eyed man stood up from among people and said: Has God created Mahdi?! He said: Yes, and indeed, he eats and walks in the markets! The man said: Have you seen him with your own eyes?! Then Mansoor fell silent and did not answer him until the man repeated his question three times; at this time, he said: I do not invite you toward someone I have not seen! The man said: Then why does he not come out toward us so that we follow him?! He said: He is afraid! The man said: Of what?! He said: Of being killed- and he pointed at his throat! [Passage 1 from Saying twenty two]
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]
Translation: Ali ibn Bābawayh [Died in 329 AH] has narrated in the book of “al-Imāmah wa al-Tabsirah”, from Sa’d, from Muhammad ibn Isā ibn Ubayd, from Muhammad ibn Sinān and Safwān ibn Yahyā and Abdullah ibn Mughayrah and Ali ibn al-Nu’mān all of them, from Abdullah ibn Muskān, from Abu Baseer, from Abu Abdullah — meaning Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq — peace be upon him that said: Indeed, God has not left the earth be unless there is a knowledgeable one therein who knows excess and defect, so that if the believers increased, he makes them return, and if they decreased, he completes for them, so he says: ‘Take it completely’, and if had not been like this, the affairs of the believers would have become doubtful for them, and the truth would have not been distinguished from falsehood.
Mansoor may God protect him, said: This is our speech that we say to people: Take the religion completely and purely, so that no defect be in it nor any excess with it, for its likeness is that of fire, if it increases it burns the food, and if it decreases it does not cook it. [Lesson one, p. 37]
Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, is the Imam of all Muslims and does not belong to a particular madhhab, but some Islamic madhhabs may have more knowledge about him. In fact, his relationship to Muslims is like that of Amir al-Mu’minin Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, to them; all of them accept him as a Caliph, but some of them consider him as the fourth Caliph and some of them as the first Caliph. But there are less disagreements among them about Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him; because they all consider him to be the twelfth Caliph and appointed by God and His Prophet. They only disagree about the name of his father and the time of his birth, and this disagreement does not harm the necessity of preparing the ground for his advent; because the necessity of preparing the ground for his advent does not stem from the name of his father or the time of his birth, but from the necessity of his advent as the Caliph of God and His Prophet, whether the name of his father is Abdullah or Hasan, and whether he was born before or will be born later. [Question and Answer 26]
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]
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 12]
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 15]
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 10]
It is clear that whoever believes in the oneness of God in creation, legislation and sovereignty, and believes in His last Prophet, Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and does not deny any of the pillars of His religion such as the Book, the Angels, the Day of Judgment, the Qiblah, prayer, Zakat, fasting, Hajj and jihad, is a Muslim, even though he does not think like you about the rest of his beliefs and has a different interpretation. This is a well-known fact from the Book of God and the mutawatir Sunnah of His Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and the righteous predecessors were in agreement with it, to the extent that it may be considered one of the obvious facts of Islam, and its denier can be accused of ignorance and misguidance. Therefore, it is clear that “all Shias” are not considered disbelievers and polytheists; because most of them believe in the oneness of God, His last Prophet, and the pillars of His religion; so considering all of them as disbelievers and polytheists, even though due to some of their deviations and mistakes, is pure imperiousness and unfairness. [Critique and Response 11]
Interpreting the verse of purification as Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain, and not interpreting it as the mothers of believers, is the interpretation of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, which has been narrated from him by many of his companions, such as Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas, Anas ibn Malik, Wathila ibn al-Asqa‘, Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib, Zayd ibn Arqam, Bara’ ibn Azib, Jabir ibn Abdullah, Abu Huraira, Abu Hamra, Abu Barza, Umm Salamah, Aisha, Safiyya, and others, and it has been narrated that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, said explicitly: “This verse was revealed concerning five persons: I, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain: ‘Indeed, God wants to remove any impurity from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and make you completely pure’”, and that one of the wives of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, said: “I said: O Messenger of God, am I not one of the Ahl al-Bayt? He said: You are upon good, you are one of the wives of the Messenger of God”, and in another narration: “I said: O Messenger of God, what about me? Then I swear to God, he did not say yes, and said: You are upon good”, and in another narration: “I said: O Messenger of God, am I not one of the Ahl al-Bayt? He said: You are one of the wives of the Messenger of God, and did not say: You are one of the Ahl al-Bayt”. Therefore, he made it clear that his wives are not from the members of his Ahl al-Bayt intended in the verse of purification. [Critique and Response 11]
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]
After examining the definitive Islamic texts, including the verses of the Quran and the mutawatir Hadiths of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, the author proves in an elaborate and convincing manner to all Muslims, free from any sectarian orientation, that the Caliphs after the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, are twelve people from his Ahl al-Bayt, the first three of whom are Ali, Hasan and Husayn and the last of them is Mahdi. He then studies the position of Mahdi and his role in the realization of the ideal of Islam, which is global justice, and in this regard, he brings up some accurate and profound details that are completely novel and unprecedented. For example, unlike others who believe that the creation and advent of Mahdi depends first on the will and action of God and subject to His wisdom and expediency, he believes that it depends first on the will and action of people and subject to their free will and readiness, and explicitly and decisively asserts that their access to Mahdi is possible, and therefore, they should only think of protecting, supporting and obeying him, and should not make themselves busy protecting, supporting and obeying people other than him, whoever they are. [Article 1]
In the end of his book, Hashemi explains the most important principle of Islam, which is monotheism, and divides it into three parts: monotheism in creation, monotheism in legislation, and monotheism in judgment or sovereignty, and explains each of them in detail. He then introduces the rest of the principles of the beliefs and the foundations of the rulings of Islam, and redefines each of them with a distinct and particular method, and opens new doors to jurists about Zakat, Hajj and Jihad, from each of them new doors are opened. In this way, he redefines the beliefs and rulings of Islam by relying on clear intellectual rules and based on definite religious texts, which are nothing but verses of the Quran and mutawatir Hadiths of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and presents a new and distinct understanding of it that can be considered an Islamic school and ideology, capable of revolutionizing the attitude and approach of Muslims of the world and preparing the ground for their unity and mutual closeness in the near future and for major and fundamental changes in their political and cultural structures. We recommend all Muslims of the world, especially scholars, to study this important and influential book, and we expect them and the officials of Islamic countries to show the necessary patience and forbearance in face of it by observing freedom of thought and expression and adhering to Islamic ethics and scholarly etiquette and to avoid hasty and irrational confrontations with thoughts and thinkers. [Article 1]
