Chapter 11
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Conflicting writings about the Caliphate and Imamate being interchangeable.
In passage 1 below,
Shoghi Effendi indicates the terms Caliphate and Imamate are
interchangeable ("Either term could be used"), which is not in keeping
with the Holy Writings. The only valid successorship in Islam is the Imamate, consisting of the pre-existent Holy Imams, who are Manifestations of God (Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Muhammad, one of the two classes of Prophets).
The Caliphate was a system of leadership established by Muslims
(Sunnis) who disobeyed Muhammad and the Quran (in other words, they
disobeyed God) regarding Muhammad's successors. In passage 2, The Bab says of them, "since they have turned aside from the Imamate (vilayat), these deeds are worthless in the sight of God". Based on the Holy Writings, the terms Caliphate and Imamate
are not interchangeable; there is no comparison between the two, as reflected in passages 2 - 6.
1)
34 CALIPHATE AND IMAMATE
"Both Caliphate and Imamate mean successorship. Either term could be used."
-- Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian, p. 12
2)
No doubt is there that obedience is unacceptable except through obedience to the Proof of God. Had that not been so, then the deeds of them that showed enmity towards the People of the House [the Family of Muhammad, the Holy Imams]
would have been mentioned before God, whereas in this day, all decree
that none should worship them, nor have their deeds borne any fruit. In
this way, the non- Shi'is today act in accordance with the decrees of
the Qur'án, whereas, since they have turned aside from the Imamate (vilayat), these deeds are worthless in the sight of God.
-- The Bab, The Persian Bayan
3)
In response to thy request the Pen of Glory hath graciously described the stations and grades of the Most Great Infallibility. The purpose is that all should know of a certainty that the Seal of the Prophets [Muhammad]--may
the souls of all else but Him be offered up for His sake--is without
likeness, peer or partner in His Own station. The Holy Ones [the Holy Imams]--may
the blessings of God be upon them--were created through the potency of
His Word, and after Him they were the most learned and the most
distinguished among the people and abide in the utmost station of
servitude. The divine Essence, sanctified from every comparison and
likeness, is established in the Prophet [Independent Prophet],
and God's inmost Reality, exalted above any peer or partner, is
manifest in Him. This is the station of true unity and of véritable
singleness. The followers of the previous Dispensation [Islam] grievously failed to acquire an adequate understanding of this station. The Primal Point [The Bab]
--may the life of all else but Him be offered up for His sake--saith:
`If the Seal of the Prophets had not uttered the word "Successorship",
such a station would not have been created.'
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 123
4)
Say I swear by God! They to whom you attribute knowledge and have
accepted them as your divines they are in the sight of God the worst of
men nay the quintessence of evil flees from them. Thus has the matter
been inscribed in the scrolls of God's knowledge. We testify that they
have not drunk from the fountains of knowledge and they have not
attained unto a word of Wisdom and have not become aware of the
mysteries of Revelation and have been racing in the land of their
selfish desires. Nothing of rejection and denial against a prophet or a
successor of a prophet has come to pass except after their permission.
Thus has always been their injunction carried out on the Countenances of holiness.
Say to them: O ignorant ones! Did We not reveal in the past: "A Day that God shall come in the canopies of clouds."[4] How is it that when He came down in the clouds of Revelation in the Temple of 'Ali [Imam Ali],
you turned away and rejected Him and waxed haughty and brought about
your own perdition?[5] Was it not also revealed in your Book: " the Day
when Thy Lord comes or certain of the signs
of Thy Lord."[6] And when He did come with evident signs wherefore did
ye turn away from those signs and veiled yourselves with the veils of
self?..
[4] Qur'án 2:210.
[5] Qur'án 25:18 and 48:12.
[6] Qur'an 6:158.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih-i-Sabr (Lawh-i-Ayyúb), Surih of Patience or Tablet of Job -- (translation by K. Fananapazir)
2:208. O ye who believe! enter into Islam whole-heartedly; and follow
not the footsteps of the Evil One; for he is to you an avowed enemy.
2:209. If ye backslide after the clear (signs) have come to you, then know that Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.
2:210. Will they wait until Allah comes to them in canopies of clouds, with angels (in His train) and the question is (thus) settled? But to Allah do all questions go back (for decision).
2:211. Ask the Children of Israel how many Clear (Signs) We have sent
them. But if anyone, after Allah's favor has come to him, substitutes
(something else), Allah is strict in punishment.
2:212. The life of this world is alluring to those who reject faith,
and they scoff at those who believe. But the righteous will be above
them on the Day of Resurrection; for Allah bestows His abundance without measures on whom He will.
-- The Qur'an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 2.
5)
The Holy Qur'án hath testified that true Faith is recognition of divine unity and confession to both the Prophet [Muhammad, the Independent Prophet, the Manifestation of God] and the Imámate [the Holy Imams, the Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Muhammad, the Manifestations of God].
He who attaineth unto both hath fulfilled his faith. A true believer is
the one who does not reject any matter pertaining to Us, for God
Himself hath dilated His Breast such that He may accept all. He will
not doubt or be mistrustful. He who cavileth why and wherefore becometh
a disbeliever. We are, verily, the Cause of God![15]
-- Imam Ali, The Sermon of Ma'rifat bin-Nurániyyat (Recognition with Luminousness). Translation by K. Fananapazir.
6)
And likewise in the sacred verse: "Obey God and obey the Apostle, and
those among you invested with authority." By "those invested with
authority" is meant primarily and more especially the Imáms
-- the blessings of God rest upon them! They, verily, are the
manifestations of the power of God, and the sources of His authority,
and the repositories of His knowledge, and the daysprings of His
commandments.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 90
More references on the successorship of the Holy Imams at the following link.
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