Every philosopher is an intellectual, but not every intellectual is a philosopher, and what is considered the criterion of cognition is the intellect, not philosophy. In other words, the meaning of the intellect, where it is considered the criterion of cognition, is the typical intellect of the intellectuals, not the particular intellect of philosophers, and it is clear intellectual thinking is different from philosophical thinking. Therefore, opposition to philosophy should not lead to opposition to the intellect; because the intellect is not equal to philosophy, and commitment to it does not require commitment to philosophy. [Return to Islam, pp. 36 and 37]
The basis of goodness and badness is the commandment and prohibition of God, except that the commandment and prohibition of God have been represented in two forms: One is the legislative commandment and prohibition manifested in the religion, and the other is the creational commandment and prohibition manifested in the intellect, and since it is impossible for the commandment and prohibition of God to be combined in one subject, contradiction between the religion and the intellect is not possible. Consequently, the basis of goodness and badness is God Almighty. [Return to Islam, p. 38]
The intellect, although it requires cognition, achieves it if there is no impediment in its way, and if there is an impediment in its way, then it is not capable of it. For this reason, knowing the impediments to cognition and removing them are introductions to cognition and are therefore necessary. [Return to Islam, p. 39]
Loving Islam before knowing it is not beneficial, and working for it before gaining knowledge about it is hazardous; considering that an ignorant lover wants to benefit it, but harms it, and a negligent doer wants to serve it, but betrays it. Therefore, knowing Islam takes priority over loving it, and gaining knowledge about it is essential before working for it; but it seems that most Muslims love Islam while they do not know it, and work for it while they have no knowledge about it. [Return to Islam, p. 42]
Their ignorance about Islam has arisen from various causes; like that they do not consider the intellect as the criterion of cognition, nor do they care about the conformity of their perceptions of Islam to it, and like that they cite conjectural narrations in order to know Islamic beliefs, although they must be certain, rather they follow the sects of theologians, following whom has no principle in Islam, and like that they do not refer to the original sources of Islam in order to know its laws, but imitate the sects of jurists that there is no reason for imitating them, rather there are reasons for not imitating them. [Return to Islam, p. 42]
Take the reins of yourself from Satan and hand it over to the Caliph of God on the earth; because Satan drives you to Hell, and the Caliph of God on the earth invites you toward Heaven... The helpers of the Mahdi are not those who disobey God; his helpers are those who avoid major and minor sins; they get up at night to pray and spend the day gaining knowledge and teaching it to others. They have faith in the promises of God and fear the Day of Judgment; the Day when they will stand before the Lord and find whatever they did present. [Letter two]
The helpers of the Mahdi are imbued with the morals of God’s Prophets and trained with the manners of God’s friends; they submit to the truth once it is revealed to them and abandon falsehood once it is exposed to them; they are neither fanatic and stubborn nor foul-mouthed and garrulous; they do not fabricate lies against God and dissociate themselves from those who fabricate lies against Him; they perform prayer at the beginning of its time and donate their belongings to the needy; they restrain their anger and forgive people’s wrongdoings; they cherish their parents and have patience with their bad tempers; they do not disrespect their friends under the pretext of friendship, nor do they wrong their enemies under the pretext of enmity; they tolerate the ignorant and do not quarrel with fools; they do not talk nor laugh nor sleep nor eat too much; they restrain their lust and do not abandon chastity; they are not oglers nor shameless, neither do they show off and talk nonsense; they do not make friends with sinners, nor do they keep company with oppressors; they are occupied with useful works and do not waste their time; they are familiar with the Book of God and know what is permissible and what is forbidden; they do not deny the scholar’s teachings and avoid being hostile to him, but rather they answer his invitation and rush to his help when he invites them toward the Mahdi in order to gather them for his help. [Letter two]
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: Beware, O people! Do not rush into what is contingent on moments! The world is near to its end, and the time of promises has come. Soon the age of the absence, which you think is peaceful, will erupt, like a raging camel in spring, and will plunge its sharp teeth into your eyes. I swear to the One in Whose Hands are my life and body, what I say is not a poem, nor an exaggeration in speech. Soon the cauldron of the world will boil, and the river of time will rage and turn the mill of fitnah and rotate the millstone of chaos. Danger! Danger! Be aware that they will not have mercy on any of you! They will bring the most isolated of you and take out his butter and buttermilk. When the scythe of fitnah falls, the one who stands will be reaped and the one who sits will be crushed. Danger! Danger! Take your religion and run as long as you have the opportunity! If you found the truth with me, then come to me, even though by crawling over snow; for I will lead you toward Mahdi, and if you reject me and refuse to come to me, then leave and go as far as you can; although you cannot go far away; because, I swear to God, even if you hide behind the stars of the sky, they will find you and bring you and disgrace you; for this work is not as easy as you have thought, rather is a great plight and a huge calamity that will make the old impatient and the young sleepless. [Saying one]
Translation of the saying: How will they see days without the sun and plants of the earth without water?! Rather their nights will last forever, and their earth will be like a wasteland; because God’s Caliph is not governing them and His rulings are not applied among them. Let those who do not believe in God and those who associate partners with Him mock my words and plunge in their (vain) games; because they will regret it like one who kills himself, and vomit like one who eats filth! At that time, they will rush into the seas and cross steep passes in order to find me, rather they will search for me in crevices of the rocks and ask about me from the shepherds in the plains, so that I repeat them the words that they do not hear from me today, and show them the path that they do not accept from me now! [Saying two]
Translation of the saying: When people are tending to the right and the left, you hold on to the middle path, and when people are inclining toward Zayd and Amr, you turn to Mahdi. Remember God Almighty a lot, and set Heaven as your desire, and perform the prayer at its initial time, and pay Zakat to its people, and do good to your parents, for you will not stay with them for long, and enjoin the good and forbid the evil, and lighten your works, and leave what is ought to be left, and hold on to what is ought to be held on to, and be prepared to migrate toward Mahdi; because I will migrate toward him when I find enough companions, even if there are seven seas between me and him. Who is he that guarantees me ten thousand men, so that I guarantee him the advent of Mahdi?! The earth is rotten, and time is like a pus-filled boil that has opened up, but future belongs to the pious. [Saying three]
Translation of the saying: I advise you and the rest of my companions and followers to fear God in secret and in public, and enjoin all of you and whoever will join you later to do what is right, and forbid you to do what is wrong. Perform the obligations of God, abandon His prohibitions, and observe His hudud. Be merciful to each other, and avoid grudges! Set humility and politeness as your adornments, for the child of Adam has not been adorned with anything more beautiful than those two, and take strength from patience and prayer, for the servant of God has not taken strength from anything more than those two. Make plans for the Day of Judgment, which will come sooner or later, and think of a solution to the disgrace that it will bring. Remember death, for the remembrance of death is a deterrent shield, and do not forget God, for His remembrance is a healing cure. [Saying five]
Translation of the saying: Your young ones shall respect your old ones, and your old ones shall have mercy on your young ones. Accompany and interact with the righteous, and shun the wicked and flee from them. Warn the heedless, and teach the ignorant. Guide the misguided, and answer the questioners. Be patient with the foolishness of fools, and grind your teeth, when they swear at you to hurt you, and defame you to bring sadness upon you; because they did so to the Prophets of God before you, and they do so to us more than you. Your example among them is like the example of a honey bee among birds; there is no bird unless it underestimates it, while if it knew what it carries with itself, it would, of course, not underestimate it. The earth has been rotten, and time is like a swollen corpse, but we have not seen a night that is not followed by a day. Then be patient, for your relief is at hand. [Saying five]
The rule in the opinion of His Excellency Allamah, may God protect him, is the authority of mutawatir narrations and lack of authority of ahad narrations. In his opinion, a mutawatir narration is what has been narrated by more than four men at each level, provided that they are not related and do not differ on the meaning, and what they have narrated should not conflict with the Book of God or the proved Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, or the sound intellect. Also, what have been narrated by four men at each level is considered mutawatir, provided that they are just, in addition to the previous three conditions, and this is what makes it necessary to examine the condition of the narrators whenever their number does not exceed four. However, His Excellency Allamah, may God protect him, examines their condition whenever they are less or more than this number in terms of obligation; because most Muslims believe in the authority of ahad narrations from a trustworthy or a truthful person, and perhaps they do not consider what has been narrated by five men as mutawatir. Therefore, His Excellency Allamah, may God protect him, selects what their trustworthy or truthful narrators have narrated in order to be a proof for them, may they be guided. [Lesson one, introduction]
But his condition for selecting Hadiths, after the compatibility of their meaning with the Book of God and the proved Sunnah of the Prophet and the sound intellect, is that their narrators should be famous for trustworthiness or truthfulness among their companions excluding their opponents; as he has stated it in the explanation of the condition of Jabir ibn Yazid al-Ju’fi, and said: “The criterion is the condition of the person among his companions (meaning the people of his sect); because they are more aware of his condition, and the opinion of other people is not proof when it contradicts the opinion of his companions; because they are farther away from him, and they may say bad things about him because they do not like his sect, and the witness to it is the action of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, when he said to the Jews: ‘What kind of a man is Abdullah ibn Salam among you?’, so they said: ‘He is our noble man and the son of our noble man and our master and the son of our master and our scholar and the son of our scholar’, so he accepted their words about him; because they were his companions. Then he informed them that he had converted to Islam, so they started to talk bad about him and said: ‘He is our worst man and the son of our worst man’, but he did not accept their words about him after they opposed him because of his sect, and if the words of opponents in the sect are accepted, nothing will be left of the Hadith; because every group says bad things about another group; as you can see the Shias do not care about what the Sunnis narrate except for that which they use as a proof against them, and you see the Sunnis do not look at what the Shias narrate except with astonishment and mockery, and both have gone astray from the middle path, but we, without being fanatical about any of the sects, accept anything that Muslims narrate in accordance with the Book of God, as long as they are famous among their companions for truthfulness”. [Lesson one, introduction]
The criterion in the opinion of His Excellency Allamah, may God protect him, is Islam and the reputation of the narrator for trustworthiness or truthfulness among his companions, not his sect or what his opponents say to weaken him without an acceptable reason. Therefore, if the narrator is from the Sunnis, the criterion is his condition in the opinion of the Sunnis, and his condition in the opinion of the Shias has no validity, and if the narrator is from the Shias, the criterion is his condition in the opinion of the Shias, and his condition in the opinion of the Sunnis has no validity, and there is no difference between Shia and Sunni narrations whenever they are compatible with the three aforementioned principles and their narrators are famous for trustworthiness or truthfulness among their companions. This is why His Excellency Allamah, may God protect him, selects Shia narrations as he selects Sunni narrations, and he does not leave anyone’s narration because of his sect as long as his sect does not oppose the essentials of the religion, in a way that indicates he is out of Islam; because in this case he is a hypocrite, and the hypocrite is not trustworthy in any field, even though all people consider him trustworthy. [Lesson one, introduction]
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]
Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani is one of the servants of God and the nation of His Prophet, Muhammad peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, who follows the Quran and the mutawatir Sunnah of His Excellency in the light of the intellect; he does not claim to be a Prophet or Imam appointed by God, nor is he in affiliation with any government or sect or group in the world; he only invites toward the Caliph of God, Mahdi, and prepares the ground for his advent through cultural activities such as writing books and conversing with Muslims, and in return for this righteous and hard work, he does not ask people for reward, for he believes that his reward is with God; he does not devour people’s belongings falsely, nor does he take anyone’s life unrightfully, nor does he oppress a small ant or a bigger creature, and therefore, if someone responds to his invitation and helps him, he does so because of the truthfulness of his words and the rightness of his work based on intellectual and religious reasons, and with intention of preparing the ground for the advent of Mahdi, and if someone does not do so or instead becomes hostile to him, he will not harm him, and will only divest himself of a good or cause himself an evil, “And God is Fully Aware of what they do”. Therefore, Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani is just a pious and Muslim scholar who prohibits Muslims from following oppressive and tyrannical rulers, and invites them to follow Mahdi, and prevents them from following conjectures and illusions, and orders them to follow knowledge and certainties, and warns them against ignorance, imitation, passions, worldliness, fanaticism, arrogance and superstitionism, and enjoins them to establish the pure and perfect Islam in the light of the Quran, the Sunnah and the sound intellect, and therefore, those who are hostile to him have no excuse before God and must prepare themselves for His punishment; because clearly it is not permissible to be hostile to such a righteous man, rather it is obligatory to make friends with him, and whoever is hostile to him is a misguided oppressor; such as one who tries to kill him, or labels him as a disbeliever, or insults him, or mocks him, or slanders him, or harms him, or tempts people against him, and it is clear that all of these people are in an obvious error. [Question and Answer 8]
His Excellency Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may God help him, is the preparer of the ground for the advent of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, and has no other claim. The preparation of the ground for the advent of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, is not a privilege for him either, rather it is a good deed from him, which is being carried out in the form of gathering and training a sufficient number of Muslims in order to protect and support Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, and this is a perceptible reality on the earth. Therefore, it is obligatory to help him by virtue of the commandment ﴿وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى ۖ ﴾; “And help one another in goodness and piety”, and abandoning what is obligatory is a sin that will undoubtedly result in punishment. [Question and Answer 27]
The secret of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani’s use of the black flag is four things: Firstly, it is Sunnah; because the flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, was black; as ibn Abbas and Buraydah and Jabir and Aisha and others have narrated it... and the flag of Ali ibn Abi Talib in his wars was also black... Therefore, Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani’s use of the black flags is based on the Sunnah of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and the Sunnah of his guided Caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, and this is not strange; because he follows their Sunnah in everything and continues their blessed movement in order to establish the pure religion and fill the earth with justice, and there is no doubt that the most proper flag for the one who does so and invites people to “Return to Islam” and prepares the ground for Mahdi to come to power, is the flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and the flag of Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him. Secondly, the use of the black flag is more beneficial to believers on the day they gather and fight in the way of God... Thirdly, the use of the black flag is a common and conventional work among those who have been afflicted with a great tragedy; to the extent that it conventionally indicates the occurrence of an important and unfortunate event, and is considered a kind of announcement of calamity, and it is probably one of the things that have encouraged Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani to use the black flags; because he has been afflicted with a great tragedy that has never happened since God made the children of Adam dwell on the earth, and it is the absence of the Caliph of God on the earth, which has led to the filling of the earth with ignorance, disbelief, oppression and sins... Fourthly, the use of the black flag is a clear opposition to an oppressive and corrupt group called “ISIS”; because they emerged in the Levant and Iraq shortly before the emergence of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani in Khorasan, and used the black flags to invite toward the government of a misguided and misleading man, so when Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani noticed it, he used the black flags to invite toward the government of Mahdi in order to stand against this great and dangerous deviation from the path of Islam. [Question and Answer 9]
His Excellency Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani believes that the main problem in the Islamic world is lack of God’s sovereignty over it, which has been manifested in lack of His Caliph’s sovereignty over it; because lack of God’s sovereignty over the world entails not knowing nor applying His rulings, and not knowing nor applying His rulings entails the emergence of corruption on land and sea; as He has said: “Corruption has emerged on land and sea because of what the hands of people have earned, so He may let them taste some of what they have done that perhaps they will return”; especially considering that lack of God’s sovereignty over the world correlates with sovereignty of people other than Him over it; because the world is a human society, and human society needs a ruler, and because of this need it does not remain empty of a ruler, and therefore, if God does not rule over it, then someone other than Him will inevitably rule over it, while sovereignty of people other than Him over it leads to the spread of corruption on the earth and the destruction of nature and generations; as He has said: “And when he achieves sovereignty, he tries on the earth to cause corruption therein and destroy crops and lives, while God does not like corruption”. This is the situation today; those other than God who rule over the world do everything they can to cause corruption in it, and commit genocide and destroy prosperous lands. How many innocent women and men burn in the fire of their wars, and how many inhabited cities and villages are laid waste by their invasions! This is the coercive consequence of sovereignty of other than God over the world; because the world that God does not rule over is the territory of Satan, and there is nothing in it except for ignorance, unbelief, corruption and oppression. This is the fate of the human being who submits to the sovereignty of other than God, and whoever submits to the sovereignty of other than God is doomed. This is why the fire of their wars does not go out, nor do their ignominy and misery diminish; because God does not govern them, and their government is in the hands of others; rather their wars will continue to intensify, and their ignominy and misery will increase every day; because God is not their ruler, and their ruler is devil. [Question and Answer 15]
The basis of “Islamic government” is the permission of God and the appointment of the ruler by Him... Based on this, the government that should be formed in the world to be considered Islamic is only the government of one whom God has authorized and appointed for it, and at the present time, he is Mahdi according to definite intellectual and religious reasons, and this is considered the official opinion of Islam... one of the most important facts explained in the invaluable book Return to Islam, which can be considered the theoretical basis for Mahdi’s global revolution and the starting point toward his advent, is the possibility of his advent if a sufficient number of Muslims gather to protect and support him. Based on this, the purpose of His Excellency Mansoor is to form this gathering and deliver it to Mahdi so that he can appear with its help. Therefore, the government that His Excellency Mansoor intends to form is the government of Mahdi, which, like any other government, can be formed by preparing the ground for it, and the legitimacy of preparing the ground for it through the formation of the aforementioned gathering is subject to the legitimacy of the government of Mahdi; in the sense that when the government of Mahdi is legitimate, preparing the ground for it is legitimate as well, and this is due to achieving the preliminaries to what is obligatory, which is rationally considered obligatory, to the extent that it is not possible that the Legislator prohibits it; because the prohibition of a rational obligation is abhorrent, like the prohibition of preparing water for ghusl and traveling for Hajj. [Question and Answer 24]
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]
Zayd ibn Arqam, Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib, Wathila, Umm Salamah and Safiyya have narrated that the part ﴿إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا﴾; “Indeed, God wants to remove any impurity from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and make you completely pure” was revealed separately in the house of Umm Salamah as an actuality-proposition, and was not revealed with the part ﴿وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَى ۖ وَأَقِمْنَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتِينَ الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِعْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ﴾, which means: “And stay in your houses, do not flaunt your charms as in the former times of ignorance, perform prayer, pay zakat, and obey God and His Messenger”, and this indicates that they are two separate verses that were brought together in writing; considering that the order of writing the verses does not correlate with the order of their revelation. What strengthens this fact is the difference in pronouns in the two parts; because the pronoun in the part ﴿وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ...﴾ is a second-person pronoun for the plural feminine, but the pronoun in the part ﴿إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا﴾ is a second-person pronoun for the plural masculine; as al-Tahawi (d. 321 AH) has also pointed this out in Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, when he said after mentioning the narrations: “What we narrated from the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, (that said) to Umm Salamah, indicates that the verse intends the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain, peace be upon them, not other than them. So if one says: The Book of God indicates that the wives of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, are the ones whom are intended in this verse; because before that in the same chapter He said: ‘O Prophet! say to your wives: If you’ to His words ‘as in the former times of ignorance’ then He said: ‘Indeed, God wants to remove any impurity from you’, our answer to him is: What has been stated in it up to before His words: ‘Indeed, God wants to’, addresses his wives, then God continued His words by addressing his Ahl (al-Bayt): ‘Indeed, God wants to remove’, and it addresses men, because He said in it: ‘to remove any impurity from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and make you pure’, and this is how men are addressed, while what comes before that, uses the letter ‘N («ن»)’, and this is how women are addressed. So we understand that ‘Indeed, God wants to remove’ is an address to men whom He has willed to make them aware of His honor for them and His elevation in their dignity, if He made their women what He has described, for what has been stated in the verses before the one addressing them”, and it is not just al-Tahawi that has said so, but rather ibn Atiyyah (d. 542 AH) has attributed it to the majority, and said after pointing out the narrations: “One of the proofs of the majority is God’s words: «عَنْكُمُ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ» with the letter ‘M («م»)’, while if it had been exclusive to women, it would have been «عَنْكُنَّ»”. [Critique and Response 11]
Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani does not worship the god of ibn Hamid, ibn Taymiyyah, ibn Abd al-Wahhab and others like them; the god who is above and not below, has two eyes, two ears, two feet, and ten real fingers, moves from one place to another, can be seen by eyes like the moon in the sky, and is a perfect example of al-Lat, Hubal, and al-‘Uzza, hidden behind the veil of “without knowing how or what”! But he worships the God of Ibrahim, Isma‘il, Ishaq, Ya‘qub, the Descendants, Isa and Musa, who said: “O Lord! Show me so that I see You”, and He replied: “You will never see Me”, then he repented of his expectation: “He said: Glory be to You, I repent to You”; the God who destroyed seventy men of the children of Israel with a thunderbolt because they wanted to see Him with their eyes: “They said: Show us God manifestly”; because “Eyes cannot perceive Him, but He perceives all eyes, and He is the Subtle, the Aware”; the God that wherever you go He is there, and His presence is not limited to places and directions; as He has said: “Wherever you turn, there is the presence of God”, and said: “He is with you wherever you are”; the God who does not move from one place to another, nor does He rely on His creatures, nor is it possible to divide Him into parts, nor is He characterized by human characteristics; as He has said: “There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing”; the God that does not fit into any description, nor is He perceived by any imagination, and He is Glorified, Exalted from anything imaginable; as He has said: “They do not know God as He deserves to be known”, and said: “Glorified and Exalted is He, from whatever they describe”; the God that has all the Most Excellent Names, without the multiplicity of His Names leading to the multiplicity or division of His Essence; as He has said: “God, there is no god but He; He has the Most Excellent Names”; as the two attributes “the All-Seeing” and “the All-Hearing” do not transform Him into two beings, nor do they create two parts for Him, but rather He is the All-Hearing in His Essence, the All-Seeing in His Essence, and hearing and seeing are two aspects of one attribute of Him, which is “knowledge”; because there is no way for multiplicity to His presence, and He is pure from any plurality in His Essence; as He has said: “Say: He is the One God”, and said: “And Our command is but one”. [Critique and Response 11]
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]
