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]
Following the predecessors, if it is due to them following the intellect, the intellect exists for posterity as well, and with its existence, following the predecessors is meaningless, and if it is due to them following the religion, the religion exists for posterity as well, and with its existence, following it is more deserving than following the predecessors; rather following the predecessors due to them following the intellect and the religion is a contradictory work; because following the predecessors, if they followed the intellect and the religion, entails following the intellect and the religion, not the predecessors; considering that the predecessors, according to the presumption, have followed the intellect and religion, not the predecessors, and therefore, following the predecessors requires not following the predecessors! [Return to Islam, pp. 50 and 51]
Following the first three generations of Muslims has no basis in Islam, nor is it justifiable with any statement, and this is regardless of its impossibility in reality; because the first three generations of Muslims were different individuals and groups with contradictory sayings and actions, to the extent that they considered the sayings and actions of each other to be incorrect and fought over them. It is clear that with this description, it is not possible to follow them; because following the sayings and actions of some of them means not following the sayings and actions of some others, and this is a contradictory and meaningless work. [Return to Islam, pp. 55 and 56]
How is it that for thousands of years you have backed every imperfect animal up but have not given your hands to the perfect man?! How is it that for thousands of years you have sucked every moisture and left the sweet sea?! How is it that for thousands of years you have run after every mirage but have not taken a step toward delectable water?! Will you not come to your senses and return to the origin?! Will not you wake up from sleep, and will this nightmare not end?! Will you not come out of the darkness, and will this dark night not have dawn?! Will you not sober up from drunkenness, and will this confusion not go away from your heads?!... I see as if you were suckled from the breast of ignorance and raised on the lap of oppression, and your flesh and blood are unfamiliar to me! [Letter fourteen]
Beware! Do not entrust your guidance to anyone other than Mahdi; because no one asks the way from the blind or goes to the sea with a punctured ship! So do you seek a government other than the government of God?! While justice is only in the government of God; the government which will be realized by His guided Caliph, not by others, and caliphs, kings and jurists are alike in this matter, except that they differ in the manner of oppression, and some oppress more than some others; like killers who all kill, except that some suffocate, some decapitate, and some give poison! Listen to my words; because you will not hear words better than them: Your world will not be reformed except with justice, your Hereafter will not go right except with justice, justice will not be possible except with the government of Mahdi, and the government of Mahdi will not be established except with your help, but most of you do not know! [Letter fourteen]
The servants of God are pious people who do righteous deeds, speak the truth and forbearingly refrain from what is forbidden; those whose hearts tremble with the fear of God, and settle down in their places in hopes for Him; those whose lips have dried due to mentioning God frequently, and whose stomachs have got thin due to successive fasting; those who have freed their souls from the trap of passions, and the dust of humbleness sat on their faces; those whose hearts have been purified by remembrance of death, and the world has fallen out of their favor by the Hereafter; concern for their duties has robbed them of sleep, and paying heed to the rights has prevented them from eating; they are inclined to what people are averse to, and are averse to what people are inclined to; they know that soon they will depart to another world and must make provision for this journey; they know that they have a long way in front and must cross steep passes; a way which its travelers never return, and passes which seem to swallow its passengers. Ah, how close today is to tomorrow! So they weep at the thought of this journey and make themselves ready for it; as if they are breathing their last, or are already dead before they die! [Letter two]
The world is like a woman whose bride price is death or a dishonored prostitute whose wage is shame. Beware! Do not take her as a wife and do not sleep with her; because this treacherous one has killed her husbands and despoiled their heritages, sedated her lovers and stolen their belongings. Beware! Do not let her seduce you with her makeup and deceive you with her coquetry... The world is like a well which is dried or polluted with all kinds of impurities; so do not cast your bucket into it, and do not use it as your watering place... The world is a worn-out ladder which cannot be leaned on, or is like a snake hole that whoever has put his hand in it has bitten him; or it is like a carcass which attracts hyenas and gathers flies but drives away lions and disgusts human beings... The world is a woman who does not give birth, a tree which does not bear fruit, a cloud which does not rain, and a shadow which does not last. Beware! Do not rely on it; because relying on it is relying on the wind, and making friends with it is making friends with a wolf, and who can be friends with a wolf?! [Letter two]
Do not love the world; because the world has deserted those who have loved it the most. If you do not believe me, then look at your relatives who passed away; those who were by your side for a period of time, but there is no trace of them today. So review their story, and learn a lesson from their end; because they were human beings like you whom death grabbed onto their throats, and graves swallowed their corpses, and time wiped out their traces. Do you think what befell them will not befall you?! How?! While many of them were more powerful than you, and many others were wealthier than you, and yet their power and wealth did not benefit them, and in the end, they fell into the abyss of death. Beware! Do not let association with the living make you neglect the dead, so that you would compete with them in earning money and building houses and buying tools and marrying women and immersing yourself in pleasures; because the living are the dead of future; as the dead are the living of the past... So many are those who slept and never woke up, and those who traveled and never returned, and those who got sick and never recovered. Indeed, whoever is alive will die, and whoever eats will be eaten by dust. [Letter two]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: I asked Mansoor about the words of God Almighty that says: “Say, this is my way that I invite toward God with insight, I and whoever follows me”, so he said: The earth is not empty of one who follows the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, in everything, and he is the one who invites toward God with insight after the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family. [Passage 24 from Saying six]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: I asked Mansoor about the words of God Almighty that says: “O you who believed! Obey God and obey the Prophet and those in authority from among you”, so he said: There is always someone among those who believed that obedience to him is obligatory for them like obedience to God and the Prophet, whoever obeys him, obeys God and the Prophet, and whoever disobeys him, disobeys God and the Prophet, and he is the one whom God and the Prophet have appointed, and not the one whom people have appointed with their passions, I said: They say that anyone from among believers who takes control of their authority is the one in authority from among them, he said: They are right! I said: How can they be right, while you said what you said?! He replied: Whoever other than the one whom God and the Prophet have appointed takes control of their authority is not from among believers, but from among sinners, and God has commanded to obey those in authority from among believers, and has not commanded to obey those in authority from among sinners! “Is the one who is a believer equal to the one who is a sinner?! They are not equal”! Then he said: Shall I increase for you? I said: Yes, he said: Those in authority are its owners, and they are the ones whom God and the Prophet have appointed, and whoever other than them takes control of it is a usurper, and the usurper is not considered from among the owners, “If only they could understand”! I said: May God reward you well; because you gave me two perfect wisdom that I had never heard before! He said: “They are two proofs from your Lord”! [Passage 25 from Saying six]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: I asked Mansoor about the words of God Almighty that says: “O you who believed! Fear God and believe in His Prophet, then He will grant you two portions of His mercy and place for you a light to walk in”, so he said: The two portions of His mercy are the Book and the Sunnah, and the light is an Imam who illuminates those two for them until the Day of Judgment arrives. Then fear God and believe in His Prophet, then He will grant you the Book and the Sunnah and appoint an Imam for you who illuminates those two for you until the Day of Judgment arrives. [Passage 28 from Saying six]
Translation of the saying: One of our companions informed us, he said: I asked Mansoor about the words of God Almighty that says: “God is the light of the skies and the earth”, so he said: He is their Guide, and the light of God is His guidance, and it is “in houses that God has permitted to be raised up and His name to be mentioned therein”, and they are the houses of the Prophets, “in them, morning and evening, He is praised by men that no business or occupation makes them neglect the remembrance of God”, and they are the households of the Prophets, do you not see that He says they praise Him morning and evening in them? So they are their family, and God’s guidance does not leave the houses of the Prophets until the Day of Judgment arrives, then seek it from the household of the Prophet, and do not seek it from others, for you will go astray! [Passage 29 from Saying six]
Translation of the saying: In the midst of this era, in this time that the sun of the religion is hidden behind dark clouds, God has servants that He is always in their hearts. They light a lamp in the eyes of people from the light of vigilance, and remind people of the days of God, and inform them of the exemplary fate of those who passed away. They are like guides in horrible and unmarked desserts. They give good tidings to those who joined the truth, and warn those who turned to falsehood. Yes, in the corners of this vast earth, there are people for God who have chosen the remembrance of God over the attachments of the world, and trading does not keep them from performing the prayer at its initial time. They spend day and night worshipping God, and convey His warnings to the heedless. They invite others toward justice, and practice it themselves before them. They have abandoned the world, and joined people of Heaven. It is as if they have left this world, and migrated to the Hereafter, or are still in the world and have seen what is behind the veil. It is as if they know about the hidden conditions of people of Barzakh, and spent some time in it. It is as if the Day of Judgment has shown them its horrible face, or the blazing fire of Hell has engulfed them. It is as if they see secrets that others do not see, and hear things that people do not hear. [Saying eleven]
Translation: 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]
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 29]
The secret of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani’s use of the black flag is four things: Firstly, it is Sunnah; because the flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, was black; as ibn Abbas and Buraydah and Jabir and Aisha and others have narrated it... and the flag of Ali ibn Abi Talib in his wars was also black... Therefore, Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani’s use of the black flags is based on the Sunnah of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and the Sunnah of his guided Caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, and this is not strange; because he follows their Sunnah in everything and continues their blessed movement in order to establish the pure religion and fill the earth with justice, and there is no doubt that the most proper flag for the one who does so and invites people to “Return to Islam” and prepares the ground for Mahdi to come to power, is the flag of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, and the flag of Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him. Secondly, the use of the black flag is more beneficial to believers on the day they gather and fight in the way of God... Thirdly, the use of the black flag is a common and conventional work among those who have been afflicted with a great tragedy; to the extent that it conventionally indicates the occurrence of an important and unfortunate event, and is considered a kind of announcement of calamity, and it is probably one of the things that have encouraged Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani to use the black flags; because he has been afflicted with a great tragedy that has never happened since God made the children of Adam dwell on the earth, and it is the absence of the Caliph of God on the earth, which has led to the filling of the earth with ignorance, disbelief, oppression and sins... Fourthly, the use of the black flag is a clear opposition to an oppressive and corrupt group called “ISIS”; because they emerged in the Levant and Iraq shortly before the emergence of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani in Khorasan, and used the black flags to invite toward the government of a misguided and misleading man, so when Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani noticed it, he used the black flags to invite toward the government of Mahdi in order to stand against this great and dangerous deviation from the path of Islam. [Question and Answer 10]
His Excellency Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani believes that the main problem in the Islamic world is lack of God’s sovereignty over it, which has been manifested in lack of His Caliph’s sovereignty over it; because lack of God’s sovereignty over the world entails not knowing nor applying His rulings, and not knowing nor applying His rulings entails the emergence of corruption on land and sea; as He has said: “Corruption has emerged on land and sea because of what the hands of people have earned, so He may let them taste some of what they have done that perhaps they will return”; especially considering that lack of God’s sovereignty over the world correlates with sovereignty of people other than Him over it; because the world is a human society, and human society needs a ruler, and because of this need it does not remain empty of a ruler, and therefore, if God does not rule over it, then someone other than Him will inevitably rule over it, while sovereignty of people other than Him over it leads to the spread of corruption on the earth and the destruction of nature and generations; as He has said: “And when he achieves sovereignty, he tries on the earth to cause corruption therein and destroy crops and lives, while God does not like corruption”. This is the situation today; those other than God who rule over the world do everything they can to cause corruption in it, and commit genocide and destroy prosperous lands. How many innocent women and men burn in the fire of their wars, and how many inhabited cities and villages are laid waste by their invasions! This is the coercive consequence of sovereignty of other than God over the world; because the world that God does not rule over is the territory of Satan, and there is nothing in it except for ignorance, unbelief, corruption and oppression. This is the fate of the human being who submits to the sovereignty of other than God, and whoever submits to the sovereignty of other than God is doomed. This is why the fire of their wars does not go out, nor do their ignominy and misery diminish; because God does not govern them, and their government is in the hands of others; rather their wars will continue to intensify, and their ignominy and misery will increase every day; because God is not their ruler, and their ruler is devil. [Question and Answer 17]
The basis of “Islamic government” is the permission of God and the appointment of the ruler by Him... Based on this, the government that should be formed in the world to be considered Islamic is only the government of one whom God has authorized and appointed for it, and at the present time, he is Mahdi according to definite intellectual and religious reasons, and this is considered the official opinion of Islam... one of the most important facts explained in the invaluable book Return to Islam, which can be considered the theoretical basis for Mahdi’s global revolution and the starting point toward his advent, is the possibility of his advent if a sufficient number of Muslims gather to protect and support him. Based on this, the purpose of His Excellency Mansoor is to form this gathering and deliver it to Mahdi so that he can appear with its help. Therefore, the government that His Excellency Mansoor intends to form is the government of Mahdi, which, like any other government, can be formed by preparing the ground for it, and the legitimacy of preparing the ground for it through the formation of the aforementioned gathering is subject to the legitimacy of the government of Mahdi; in the sense that when the government of Mahdi is legitimate, preparing the ground for it is legitimate as well, and this is due to achieving the preliminaries to what is obligatory, which is rationally considered obligatory, to the extent that it is not possible that the Legislator prohibits it; because the prohibition of a rational obligation is abhorrent, like the prohibition of preparing water for ghusl and traveling for Hajj. [Question and Answer 26]
The formation of Islamic government in the absence of Mahdi, if it means the formation of his government by preparing the ground for it, in the order explained in the invaluable book Return to Islam, is possible; except that in this case it is not considered the formation of Islamic government in the absence of Mahdi, but its formation by putting an end to his absence; but if it means the formation of a government other than the government of Mahdi, then is not possible, and this impossibility is one of the consequences of people’s fault in protecting and supporting him, which has caused his absence, and therefore, the responsibility for its consequences lies with them. The result is that the formation of Islamic government is possible at any time by making Mahdi appear, and therefore, the formation of Islamic government in his absence is meaningless. [Question and Answer 26]
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]
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 13]
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 13]
Zayd ibn Arqam, Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib, Wathila, Umm Salamah and Safiyya have narrated that the part ﴿إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا﴾; “Indeed, God wants to remove any impurity from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and make you completely pure” was revealed separately in the house of Umm Salamah as an actuality-proposition, and was not revealed with the part ﴿وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَى ۖ وَأَقِمْنَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتِينَ الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِعْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ ۚ﴾, which means: “And stay in your houses, do not flaunt your charms as in the former times of ignorance, perform prayer, pay zakat, and obey God and His Messenger”, and this indicates that they are two separate verses that were brought together in writing; considering that the order of writing the verses does not correlate with the order of their revelation. What strengthens this fact is the difference in pronouns in the two parts; because the pronoun in the part ﴿وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ...﴾ is a second-person pronoun for the plural feminine, but the pronoun in the part ﴿إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا﴾ is a second-person pronoun for the plural masculine; as al-Tahawi (d. 321 AH) has also pointed this out in Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, when he said after mentioning the narrations: “What we narrated from the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, (that said) to Umm Salamah, indicates that the verse intends the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain, peace be upon them, not other than them. So if one says: The Book of God indicates that the wives of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, are the ones whom are intended in this verse; because before that in the same chapter He said: ‘O Prophet! say to your wives: If you’ to His words ‘as in the former times of ignorance’ then He said: ‘Indeed, God wants to remove any impurity from you’, our answer to him is: What has been stated in it up to before His words: ‘Indeed, God wants to’, addresses his wives, then God continued His words by addressing his Ahl (al-Bayt): ‘Indeed, God wants to remove’, and it addresses men, because He said in it: ‘to remove any impurity from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and make you pure’, and this is how men are addressed, while what comes before that, uses the letter ‘N («ن»)’, and this is how women are addressed. So we understand that ‘Indeed, God wants to remove’ is an address to men whom He has willed to make them aware of His honor for them and His elevation in their dignity, if He made their women what He has described, for what has been stated in the verses before the one addressing them”, and it is not just al-Tahawi that has said so, but rather ibn Atiyyah (d. 542 AH) has attributed it to the majority, and said after pointing out the narrations: “One of the proofs of the majority is God’s words: «عَنْكُمُ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ» with the letter ‘M («م»)’, while if it had been exclusive to women, it would have been «عَنْكُنَّ»”. [Critique and Response 13]
Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani does not worship the god of ibn Hamid, ibn Taymiyyah, ibn Abd al-Wahhab and others like them; the god who is above and not below, has two eyes, two ears, two feet, and ten real fingers, moves from one place to another, can be seen by eyes like the moon in the sky, and is a perfect example of al-Lat, Hubal, and al-‘Uzza, hidden behind the veil of “without knowing how or what”! But he worships the God of Ibrahim, Isma‘il, Ishaq, Ya‘qub, the Descendants, Isa and Musa, who said: “O Lord! Show me so that I see You”, and He replied: “You will never see Me”, then he repented of his expectation: “He said: Glory be to You, I repent to You”; the God who destroyed seventy men of the children of Israel with a thunderbolt because they wanted to see Him with their eyes: “They said: Show us God manifestly”; because “Eyes cannot perceive Him, but He perceives all eyes, and He is the Subtle, the Aware”; the God that wherever you go He is there, and His presence is not limited to places and directions; as He has said: “Wherever you turn, there is the presence of God”, and said: “He is with you wherever you are”; the God who does not move from one place to another, nor does He rely on His creatures, nor is it possible to divide Him into parts, nor is He characterized by human characteristics; as He has said: “There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing”; the God that does not fit into any description, nor is He perceived by any imagination, and He is Glorified, Exalted from anything imaginable; as He has said: “They do not know God as He deserves to be known”, and said: “Glorified and Exalted is He, from whatever they describe”; the God that has all the Most Excellent Names, without the multiplicity of His Names leading to the multiplicity or division of His Essence; as He has said: “God, there is no god but He; He has the Most Excellent Names”; as the two attributes “the All-Seeing” and “the All-Hearing” do not transform Him into two beings, nor do they create two parts for Him, but rather He is the All-Hearing in His Essence, the All-Seeing in His Essence, and hearing and seeing are two aspects of one attribute of Him, which is “knowledge”; because there is no way for multiplicity to His presence, and He is pure from any plurality in His Essence; as He has said: “Say: He is the One God”, and said: “And Our command is but one”. [Critique and Response 13]
Another group are some scholars and celebrities who receive the news about the book, but because they consider themselves entirely knowledgeable and perfect and without need to ask and know, they may not refer to the book or may read the book but their pride does not allow them to bow down before its facts and to say something about it. Of course, these people have made a mistake in their calculations in several respects. Because on the one hand, accepting a wrongdoing and confessing to an ignorance not only does not bring down someone’s rank nor dignity, but rather it will bring them up. On the other hand, the real greatness is someone who is great before God, not before people, and the true prominent is someone who is prominent in the heaven, not on the earth! And only those are great before God and are prominent in His pure heaven who are afraid of Him and are pious, and see and listen to the truth and express it and follow it and invite toward it. But unfortunately, few people understand this great truth. Furthermore, eventually whether these so-called great people and celebrities want it or not, the truth traverses its path and reaches the point of destination and by that day, there will be nothing left for this group except for scandal! Hence, intellect commands that today they should think of tomorrow, and today they should step over their pride, so that tomorrow all their existence would not be stepped over! [Article 4]
Some people also look at the book with their preconceptions. They have not yet seen and read it, they deny it and consider it invalid and label it a lot. They are those who have already taken their decisions and if they read the book, they read it not for understanding and guidance and promotion, but for defamation, denegation, making excuses and mockery, and they are not seeking wisdom and guidance. This group, only on that day of regret in which the eyes will be out of the pupils, will understand that how fast they made decision and were deceived by the devil and lost the field... A group of people are also so prejudiced such that as soon as they confront the slightest difference in the book with things and people whom they believe in, lose their control with no hesitance and cast aspersion, use invective language, insult and practice accusation. This group also will only understand the truth in the day that will be entered into the hellfire with their beloveds and idols. A fire that has been ignited by their blind prejudice and ignorant disgrace. That day is the day of a great regret, and from that day we must seek refuge toward God... Some people are also so much of imitators that they do not even drink water without the permission of their imitative authority and forerunner, let alone reading, understanding and obligation to a valuable book such as “Return to Islam”! They also close their eyes as soon as they encounter the book, and do whatever their imitative authority and forerunner states. They will also face a great regret in a hard day when their imitative authority and forerunner will not help them. [Article 4]
Some people also read this honorable book and find out its hierology, but in the turmoil of sedition, chaos, marginalization, demagogy and poisonous propagandas of the enemies of God are being deceived and pessimistic, and their hearts become darkened, and instead of the context they consider the margin, and ultimately get far away from the truth. Of course, there is no doubt that those sedition-makers who prevent from the path of God, first of all are in charge of that great sin and a painful torment awaits them. These demagogue, despite the openness of the gate of scholarly and logical critique, since they have no proof and logic, try to poison the environment. But anyway, the audience of this honorable book must know that the truthful movement of all Prophets and Guardians of God throughout history has been accompanied by poisoning, insulting, accusing, sedition-making of authoritarians, tyrants and dictators, and the enemies of God have always poisoned the environment in the worst manner, and prevented people from the path of God. Hence, this is not something new that has happened and the audience of this honorable book must consider its proofs and reasons freely and fairly, and regardless of the temporary emotions and false excitements, should find the truth and act in accordance with its requirements, Insha’Allah. [Article 4]
In fact, maybe by relying on the pure hierology “criterion and impediments to cognition” which his Excellency Allamah has explained in the honorable book “Return to Islam”, one can say that whenever someone adheres to the criterion of cognition and stays away from the impediments to cognition, will achieve the truth by the permission of God, and by the divine success, will be successful in performing its requirements. But the point here is that the book Return to Islam is the starting point. The book begins with epistemology and then teaches us the correct way of cognition, and then does not abandon us, but rather in the very same way that taught us that, shows us the truth of Islam and the true Islam. One may say that this honorable book provides a thorough and comprehensive knowledge for its reader that this knowledge (certainty) is an introduction for action. But it is important that this thorough and comprehensive knowledge has a brief knowledge in its introduction, and that is the knowledge of our ignorance. It means someone who presumes that he/she does not know something and it is possible that he/she is wrong, and also presumes that those whom he/she is in love with and respects and obeys, have been wrong, such a person finds the book and goes to a corner and with these mere possibilities and with fairness and without suspicion, reads it and will be guided by God’s will. We may bring an example to clarify this subject which is in fact an example from Quran. A doctor can treat and heal a patient by the permission of God, but cannot do the same for a dead person! His Excellency Allamah can guide those who are sick but alive with this honorable book by the permission of God. Someone whose heart is dead in the marsh of compound ignorance and the fear of non-God and ignorant prejudices and arrogance and blind imitation, cannot be brought to path of truth with any wisdom. As He has said: ﴿وَمَا أَنْتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَنْ فِي الْقُبُورِ﴾. Therefore, it is necessary for me and people to seek refuge to God from these defects that will kill the wisdom and sicken the heart, and we should ask Him for guidance and progression, May it be with His compassion, people’s heart soften, and they return to His Caliph on earth and establish pure and complete Islam and universal justice on earth, and this is the cognition which the great scholar Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may God protect him, has explained in his book and invites toward it . And praise be to God, the lord of the worlds. [Article 4]
There is no doubt that at the top of all the common desires and goals of the Islamic world, there is the establishment of global justice and the elimination of oppression and corruption on the earth through the formation of an independent and truthful Islamic government; a government that Islam has promised to Muslims since the early days, and undoubtedly, any other legitimate and correct desire will come true only in this way, and all Muslims of the world have such a desire, whether they know it or not. Meanwhile, what led many Muslims astray and caused them to deviate from the original path of Islam is this ominous and baseless illusion that they do not need the guidance of God to achieve this long-held and beautiful desire, and each group of them can follow whatever path they think is right and choose anyone they like to lead them toward this great goal! But we can clearly see the evil results of such an ominous illusion and naive imagination and the calamities it has brought upon Muslims of the world! Today, every group of Muslims have made someone dominant over themselves and pledged allegiance to a ruler they like. A group of them allies themselves with unbelievers, and made Muslim rulers who are in fact traitorous and malevolent hypocrites rule over them, and another group of them, with a strange willfulness and recklessness, pledge allegiance to their self-proclaimed rulers and caliphs and support them to have more power and authority. Therefore, ignorance, oppression, enmity, war and poverty have prevailed over them, and destruction and collapse have overshadowed them. [Article 5]
