Monotheism

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Hamad bin Amro Al-Nesibi that he asked Imam Jaa'far Bin Mohammad (Pbuh) about Monotheism. Imam (Pbuh) said: "One, Self-Subsistent, and Eternal who has no shadow that holds him and He holds the matters by its shadow and knows the unknown. He is know by every ignorant, Singular. His creatures aren’t in him nor is He in his creatures. He is neither felt nor touched nor perceived by sights. He is high and close, and low and far. He is disobeyed and He forgives. He is obeyed and He thanks. His earth can't contain Him and His skies can't carry Him. He carries everything by His power. He is Self-Persisting and eternal. He doesn’t forget, doesn’t toy, doesn’t commit a mistake and doesn’t play. His will is never altered and His orders are fate. He didn’t beget so that he is inherited nor he was born so that he has partners and none is competent to be like him."[1]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Al-Hassan Bin Ali from his father from his grandfather (Pbuh) that he said: "a man came to Imam Rida (Pbuh) and said: "O son of the Messenger of Allah, describe our Lord for us for that we have many different opinions about this." Imam Rida (Pbuh) said: "He who describes his lord with measures shall always be confused, averted from the methodology, falling in serpentine, stray away from the path and saying what is not beautiful. I shall define him with what he defined himself without seeing and describe him with what he described himself without an image. He is perceived by senses and not compared with people. He is known without similitude. He is near even when far. His creatures aren’t a parable of his and he is never unjust in his cases. The creatures are led towards what he already knows and heading towards what he wrote in the profound lines. They do nothing but what he knows and they only seek him. He is near but not attached and far but not remote. His realities are manifested but are not set as examples. He is one not made into parts. He is known by the verses and is proved with signs. There is no god but him, The Greatest The Transcendental."" [2]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Mohammad bin Ahmad bin Yahia that he said that a man came to Imam Al-Hassan Bin Ali (Pbuh) and said: "O son of the Messenger of Allah, describe your lord for me as if I see him." Imam Hassan Bin Ali (Pbuh) thought, then he raised his head and said: " Praise be to Allah who has neither a known beginning nor a final end and neither a perceived 'before' nor a limited 'after' nor a duration limited by 'until'. He is not a person to be divided. He has no different traits to have an end. The minds and its delusions, thoughts and imaginations can never perceive his description. You say: "When? From where did he start? He is over what? He is inside what?" He created the creatures, so he is starter and inventor. He started what he invented and he invented what he started. He did what he pleased and pleased what he wanted more. This is Allah the lord of all realms." [3]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Kulaini states in Al-Kafi Book: Mohammad bin Abou Abdellah and Mohammad bin Yahia reported from Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) that Ameer Elmo'mineen (Pbuh) called for people in the war against Moawia the second time. So when people were gathered, he stood and gave a speech: " Praise be to Allah, The One, The Only, The Self-Subsistent, The Singular who is not made from a thing and who didn’t create what he created from a thing. A power that he appeared with on objects and objects appeared by him. He doesn’t have a description and doesn’t have a limit in order to have examples. The words and adjectives of languages are below his qualities. The different profound ways of thinking are perplexed in his dominion. The explanations combined couldn’t reach his knowledge. There are veils of unseen that stop anyone from reaching his profound unseen. The most ambitious minds were lost in the lowest of the lowest simplest matters. Exalted I blessings is Allah that is neither reached by high determinations nor reached by profound minds. Exalted in highness is he who has neither counted time nor stretched duration nor limited adjective. Exalted is he who has neither a start that began nor a goal that is reached nor an end that ends. Exalted is he as he described himself with. The describers can't describe his qualities. He unified everything when he created in order to show how it resembles him and how he resembles it. He is not in it so that no one says: 'he is in it.' He is not in a distance away from it so that no one says: 'he is separate from it.' He is not outside it so that no one says: 'Where?' But Exalted is He, His knowledge surrounded it, his origination made it and his safeguarding encompassed it. He is not unaware of what is hidden in the unseen of air or the mysteries of the profound darkness or what is in the highest skies and lowest earths. There is a keeper and a watcher for everything. Every matter is surrounded by another matter and who surrounds them is The One the Only the Self-Subsistent who is not altered by the conditions of time and creating anything doesn’t weary him. Yet he only ordered what he pleased to be and so it was. He invented the creations without a prior example of it and without weariness. Every inventor made a thing from another thing but Allah invented things from nothing. Every knowledgeable learned after ignorance but Allah was never ignorant and didn’t learn yet he had knowledge of things before it was created. So his knowledge didn’t increase after it was created. His knowledge of it is the same before and after it was created. He didn’t create it to increase his power or out of fear of perishment or shortage or to seek aid against an opposite or an enemy or an arrogant partner. Yet they are creatures with a lord above them and they are obeying servants. Exalted is he who neither creating what he started wearies him nor managing what he created. Not out of incapability and He didn’t reach satisfaction because of what he created. He knew what he created and he created what he knew. Not because thinking of a new knowledge he did create and not because of a confusion he didn’t create. Yet it is an unalterable verdict, an incontrovertible knowledge, and an accurate matter. His Godliness is solitary, and he made singularity exclusive for himself. He is unique in glory and praise and singular in monotheism, glory and highness. He is solitary in being thanked and glorified by glorification. He is high above having children, more pure and holy than touching women and more glorious and honorable than being next to partners. He has no opposite in what he created or an enemy in what he owned or had a partner sharing his dominion with him. The One, the Only, the Self-Subsistent, the Exterminator of extermination, and the inheritor of time. He was is and will still be singular and eternal before the start of time and after the establishment of matter who doesn’t perish or end. This is how I describe my lord. There is no god but Allah, Great is how great he is, glorious is how glorious he is, and honorable is how honorable he is. He is way high above what the unjust say." [4]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Al-Nazal Ibn Subra that he said that a Hebrew came to Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib (Pbuh) and said: "O Ameer Elmo'mineen, when was our lord?" Imam (Pbuh) said: "you say 'when was?' for a matter that didn’t exist and then it existed. But our lord exists before existence. He exists with no need for the way to exist. He exists and persists without persistence or existence. He exists and persists and he has no 'before'. He is before the before. He is with no before, no destination, and no end. A destination and no destination leading to a destination. Destinations can't reach him thus he is the destination of every destination. [5] 

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) that he said: "He who regarded Allah as similar to His creatures is a polytheist and he who denies His power is an infidel."[6]  

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Khisal Book: Reported from Al-Miqdam bin Shareeh bin Hani' from his father that he said that once an Arabian went to Ameer Elmo'mineen (Pbuh) on Al-Jamal Day and said: "O Ameer Elmo'mineen, Do you believe that Allah is one?" So people yelled at him and said: "Don’t you see that Ameer Elmo'mineen is much occupied at the moment?" Imam (Pbuh) said: "Leave him, because what he is seeking to learn is the same with what we are seeking to teach these people." Then Imam (Pbuh) told him: "O Arabian, saying that Allah is one has four aspects. Two of them can't be said about Allah and two aspects that can. Saying that Allah is one meaning the number one is not right. This is because who doesn’t have a second cannot be regarded as a number. Don’t you know that he is an infidel he who says: "the third of three." Saying that Allah is one among people as in a type among species is also wrong because it is a similitude and our lord is exalted above that. As for the two that can be said about Allah. It is saying that Allah is one that has no similitude with anything. This is how our lord is. It is also saying that His meaning is one, meaning that he is not divided in an existence, mind or illusion. This is how our lord is." [7]  

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Mohammad bin Issa bin Obeid that he said that Imam Abou Al-Hassan (Pbuh) told him: " What would you say if you were asked if Allah is a thing or not?" He said: "Allah stated that he is a thing when he said: {Say: what thing is a greater witness. Say: Allah is the witness between me and you.} So I would say that he is a thing not like things because negating that he is a thing leads to falsifying and negating him." Then Imam said: "You are right. People are in three parties regarding monotheism: Negation, similitude, and proving without similitude. Negation is not right. Similitude is not right because Allah is not similar to anything. Proving without similitude is the right way." [8]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Kulaini states in Al-Kafi Book:  Reported from Al-Fateh bin Yazeed that he asked Imam Abou Al-Hassan (Pbuh) about the least knowledge. Imam (Pbuh) said: "It is admitting that there is no god but Him, that he has no similar, he has no match, and that he is ancient, proved, existing, not missing and that there is nothing like him."[9]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Mohammad bin Marid that Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) was asked about this saying of Allah {The Most Gracious is equally established on the throne}. Imam (Pbuh) said: "he is in equidistant with everything. Nothing is closer to him than another." [10]  

* Al-Sheikh Al-Kulaini states in Al-Kafi Book: Reported from Ibn Ri'ab from Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) that he said: "He he worships Allah by illusions is an infidel and he who worships the name with the meaning is an infidel. He who worships the name along with the meaning is a polytheist. He who worships the meanings by the reflections of the names on it by the qualities that he described himself with, believes in this by his heart and speaks of this by his tongue in sorcery and public, then these are the true companions of Ameer Elmo'mineen(Pbuhp)." [11]  

* Al-Sheikh Al-Kulaini states in Al-Kafi Book: Reported from Abou Al-Hassan Al-Mousili from Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) that he said that once Habr went to Ameer Elmo'mineen (Pbuh) and said: "O Ameer Elmo'mineen, did you see your lord after you worshiped him?" Imam (Pbuh) said: "Wayl is to you. I never worship a god that I don’t see." He said: "How did you see him?" Imam (Pbuh) said: "Wayl is to you. He is not perceived by sights of eyes yet the hearts see him through the realities of faith." [12]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Kulaini states in Al-Kafi Book: Reported from Mohammad bin Muslim that he asked Imam Abou Jaa'far (Pbuh) about what people say of Allah creating Adam in his image. Imam (Pbuh) said: "It is an image, invented, and created. Allah chosen it above all different images and related it to himself as He related Kaa'ba to himself and the soul to himself when He said: {My house} and {I breathed in him from My Soul}."[13]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Abdelrahman bin Katheer the servant of Imam Abou Jaa'far (Pbuh) from Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) that he said about this saying of Allah {The innate nature of Allah that he created people having it}: "Monotheism, Mohammad the Messenger of Allah and Ali Ameer Elmo'mineen." [14]

* Ali Bin Ibrahim Al-Qummi states in his Tafseer Book: Reported from Abdellah Al-Rammani that he said that Imam Ali Bin Moussa Al-Rida (Pbuh) reported from his father from his grandfather Mohammad Bin Ali Bin Al-Hussein (Pbut) that he said about this saying of Allah {The innate nature of Allah that he created people having it} " It is: There is no god but Allah, Mohammad is the Messenger of Allah, and Ali Ameer Elmo'mineen is the custodian of Allah. Till here is Monotheism."[15]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Amali Book: Reported from Is'haq bin Rahuia that he said: " When Imam Abou Al-Hassan Al-Rida (Pbuh) reached Nisabour City and was about to leave to Al-Ma'amoun, men of narrations and historians gathered around him and said: "O son of the Messenger of Allah, will you leave without telling us a narration that we benefit from." Imam was sitting in the howdah and so he peered and said: "I heard my father Moussa Bin Jaa'far say that he heard his father Jaa'far Bin Mohammad say that he heard his father Mohammad Bin Ali say that he heard his father Ali Bin Al-Hussein say that he heard his father Al-Hussein Bin Ali say that he heard his father Ameer Elmo'mineen Ali Bin Abi Talib (Pbuh) say that he heard the Messenger of Allah (Pbuhp) say that he heard Jibraeel (pbuh) say that he heard Allah say: " 'There is no God but Allah' is my fortress. He who enters my fortress shall be safe and saved from my torment." As the carriage started going, Imam called them and said: " By its conditions, and I'm one of its conditions." [16]

 * Al-Sheikh Al-Kulaini states in Al-Kafi Book: Reported from Dawood Al-Riqqi that he asked Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) about this saying of Allah {And his throne was on the water}. Imam told him: "What do they say about this?" He: "They say that the throne was on the water and the Lord is above it." Imam: "They lied. He who said this has claimed that Allah is carried and thus he described him with qualities of the creatures and so the thing that is carrying him is more powerful than him." He: "May you clarify to me, May I be sacrificed for your sake?" Imam: "Allah made the water carry his religion and knowledge before there were land, sky, Jinn, humans, sun and moon. So when He willed to create the creatures He scattered them before him and told them: "Who is your Lord?" The first ones to speak were the Messenger of Allah, Ameer Elmo'mineen and the Imams (Pbut). They said: "You are our Lord." So He made them carry his knowledge and religion. Then he told the angels: "These are the carriers of my religion and knowledge. They are my trustees over my creatures and they are the ones in authority." Then Allah told the humans: "Admit the Deity of Allah, and Loyalty and Obedience to these few." They said: "Indeed our Lord, we admit." Then Allah told the angels: "Bear witness." The Angels said: "we've borne witness" So that they don’t say after that {"Of this we were never mindful":Or they would say: "Our fathers before us may have taken false gods, but we are (their) descendants after them: will you then destroy us because of the deeds of men who were futile?"} O Dawood, our divine guardianship is ensured over them in the pledge." [17] 

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Amali Book: Reported from Abdel-Azeem Al-Hassani that he said: "I went to my master Ali Bin Mohammad Bin Ali Bin Moussa Bin Jaa'far Bin Mohammad Bin Ali Bin Al-Hussein Bin Ali Bin Abi Talib (Pbut)." So when Imam saw him he said: "You are welcome O Abou Al-Qasem. You are truly our saint." He said: "O son of the Messenger of Allah. I want to recite my faith before you. If it was pleasing I will stay on it till I meet Allah." Imam: "Tell me O Abou Al-Qasem." He: " I believe that Allah is one and nothing is like him. He is out of the two limits, the limit of negation and the limit of similitude. He is not a body, an image, a width or an essence. Yet He created bodies, images, widths and essences and He is the Lord of everything, its owner, creator, inventor and innovator. Mohammad is his servant and messenger and the last of prophets. There will be no prophet after him till Resurrection Day. His laws are the last of laws and there will be no laws after it till Resurrection Day. I believe that the Imam the Successor and the Caretaker after him is Ameer Elmo'mineen Ali Bin Abi Talib (Pbuh), then Al-Hassan then Al-Hussein then Ali Bin Al-Hussein then Mohammad Bin Ali then Jaa'far Bin Mohammad then Moussa Bin Jaa'far Then Ali Bin Moussa them Mohammad Bin Ali then You my master." Imam: "After me is Al-Hassan my son. How will be the succession after him?" He said: "How, My Master?" Imam: "Because he will not be seen and he will not be mentioned by his name until he rises and fills the earth with justice and fairness as it was filled with injustice and oppression." He said: "I Admit and I believe that their follower is the follower of Allah and their enemy is the enemy of Allah. Obeying them is obeying Allah and disobeying them is disobeying Allah. I believe that Al-Mi'raj is true, questioning in the grave is true, heaven is true, hell is true, Sirat is true, balance is true and that the hour is coming and there is no doubt about that and that Allah sends back who are in the graves. I believe that the obligated duties after Wilaya (Loyalty to AL Mohammad) are Prayer, Zakat, Fasting, Pilgrimage, Jihad, Commanding virtue and Prohibiting vice." Then Imam Ali Bin Mohammad (Pbuh) said: "O Abou Al-Qasem, this is indeed the religion of Allah that he accepted for his servants. Keep on it, may Allah keep you on true speech in your earthly life and after life." [18]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Saed bin Saed that he said: "I asked Imam Abou Al-Hassan Al-Rida (Pbuh) about Monotheism. Imam (Pbuh) said: "It is what you are on."" [19]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Abou Baseer from Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) that he said that Imam Ameer Elmo'mineen (Pbuh) said in a speech of his: "I'm the guide and I'm the guided. I'm the father of orphans and poor and the husband of widows. I'm the refuge of every weak and the safe shelter of everyone in fear. I'm the leader of believers to heaven. I'm the strong rope of Allah. I'm the tight handhold of Allah and the word of piousness. I'm the eye of Allah and his honest tongue and his hand. I'm the side of Allah as in {A self would say: "How sorrow I am for neglecting the side of Allah"}. I'm the outstretched hand of Allah to his servants with mercy and forgiveness. I'm the door of remittance. He who knows me and my right know Allah because I'm the custodian of his prophet in his land and his argument over his creatures. None denies that but a one who rejected Allah and his Messenger." [20]

* Mohammad bin Al-Hassan Al-Saffar states in Basa'er Al-Darajat Book: Reported from Abdellah bin Suleiman that he asked Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) about this saying of Allah {A self would say: "How sorrow I am for neglecting the side of Allah"}. Imam (Pbuh) said: "Ali is the side of Allah." [21]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Khaithama that he asked Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) about this saying of Allah {Everything will perish but his face}. Imam (Pbuh) said: "His religion. The Messenger of Allah (Pbuhp) and Ameer Elmo'mineen (Pbuh) are his religion, face, eye on his servants, his speaking tongue, his hand over his creatures and we are the face of Allah from where you reach him. We will stay among his servants as long as Allah wants to have a look at them." He said: "what is this look?" Imam: " A will. If he had no will that he wants to accomplish in them He would raise us to him and do what he pleases." [22]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Kulaini states in Al-Kafi Book:  Reported from Marwan bin Sabah that he said that Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) said: "Allah created us in the best images and made us his eye on his servants, his speaking tongue to his creatures, his outstretched hand to his servants with compassion and mercy, his face from where he is reached, his door that leads to him and his treasure in his sky and land. By us trees flourished, fruits grew and rivers ran. By us rain falls and grass grows. By worshiping us (Obeying) Allah is worshiped and if it hadn’t been for us Allah wouldn’t have been worshiped."[23]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Mohammad bin Muslim that he said that he heard Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) say: " Allah has creatures that are made from his mercy, he created them from his light and mercy from his mercy to his mercy. Thus they are his looking eye, hearing ear, and speaking tongue among his creatures by his permission. They are his trustees over what he descended of excuse, vow, or argument. By them He erases the sins, by them he exterminates injustice, by them he bestows mercy, by them he revives the dead, by them he kills the alive, by them he afflicts his creatures and by them he destines the destiny for his creatures." He said: "May I be sacrificed for you sake! Who are they?" Imam: "The custodians." [24]

 * Al-Sheikh Al-Kulaini states in Al-Kafi Book: Reported from Moawia bin Ammar that he asked Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) about this saying of Allah {To Allah belong the Supreme Names so plead him by it}. Imam: "I swear to Allah, we are the Supreme Names that only by knowing us Allah accepts the deeds of the servants."[25]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Abdelrahman bin Katheer from Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) that he said that Ameer Elmo'mineen (Pbuh) said: "I'm the knowledge of Allah, I'm the heart of Allah who is all-aware, I'm the speaking tongue of Allah, the eye of Allah side of Allah and I'm the hand of Allah."[26]

* Mohammad bin Ahmad Al-Qummi states in Al-Ma'at Manqiba Book: Reported from Ibn Abbas that he said that the Messenger of Allah (Pbuhp) said: "I swear to the one who sent me to warn and preach. The chair, throne and orbital of planets neither settled nor the skies and lands but after writing on them: "There is no god but Allah, Mohammad is the Messenger of Allah and Ali is the custodian of Allah.""[27]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Kulaini states in Al-Kafi Book: Reported from Abou Baseer that Imam Abou Jaa'far (Pbuh) said about this saying of Allah {set your face towards faith in true piety}: "It is the Wilaya"[28]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Saleh bin Sahel from Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) that he said about this saying of Allah {Everything will perish but his face}: "Us." [29]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Al-Fadel bin Yasar that he told Imam Abou Abdellah Al-Sadiq (Pbuh): "{Allah is the light of the skies and earth}?" Imam: "This is how Allah is." He: "{The Parable of his Light}?" Imam: "Mohammad." He: "{As if there was a Niche}?" Imam: "The chest of Mohammad." He: "{and within a lamp}?" Imam: "He has the light of knowledge with in him, meaning the Prophecy." He: "{The lamp enclosed in a glass}?" Imam: "The knowledge of the Messenger of Allah (Pbuhp) was transformed to the heart of Ali (Pbuh)." He: "{As if it were}?" Imam: "Why are you asking about {As if it were}" He: "Then what? May I be sacrificed for your sake." Imam: "{As if it were a brilliant star}" He: "Lit from an Olive Blessed Tree neither of east nor west}?" Imam: "This is Ameer Elmo'mineen Ali Bin Abi Talib (Pbuh) He is neither a Hebrew nor a Christian." He: "{whose oil is well-luminous, thought fire scarce touched it}?" Imam: "Knowledge is about to rise from the mouth of the knowledgeable man of AL Mohammad though he hasn’t spoken yet." He: "{Light upon Light}?" Imam: "Imam after Imam (Pbut)." [30]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Kulaini states in Al-Kafi Book: Reported from Asem bin Hameed that Imam Ali Bin Al-Hussein (Pbuh) was asked about Monotheism. Thus Imam (Pbuh) said: "Allah knew that there will come people at the end of time who will have deep knowledge thus he descended {Say "He is Allah, the One and Only"} and the verses of Al-Hadeed Surat till His saying {He knows what is inside the chests}. He who seeks other than that shall perish." [31]  

* Al-Sheikh Al-Sadouq states in Al-Tawheed Book: Reported from Abou Baseer that he told Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh): "Tell me about Allah, will the believers see him on Resurrection Day?" Imam: "Yes. They have seen him before Resurrection Day." He: "When?" Imam: "When Allah told them {Am I not your Lord. They say "Yes"} then Imam was silent for an hour and then he said: "The believers will see him in the earthly life before Resurrection Day. Don’t you see him at this time?" Abou Baseer said: " Shall I tell people about this speech of yours?" Imam: "No. because a denier might deny out of being ignorant of what you are speaking of and he might think that this is a sort of infidelity. Seeing by heart is not like seeing by the eye. Allah is exalted above what the infidels and people of similitude describe him with."[32]

* Al-Sheikh Al-Kulaini states in Al-Kafi Book: Reported from Mohammad bin Muslim that Imam Abou Jaa'far (Pbuh) said: "Never contemplate Allah. Yet if you wanted to behold his greatness then behold the greatness of his creatures." [33]

* Mohammad bin Masoud Al-Ayashi states in his Tafseer Book: Reported from Amr bin Abdelrahman Al-Hashimi the servant of Imam Abou Jaa'far (Pbuh) from Imam Abou Abdellah (Pbuh) that he said about this saying of Allah {The dye of Allah and who is to dye better than Allah}: "The dye is knowing Ameer Elmo'mineen by the Wilaya in the pledge." [34]