3. ALLAH (swt)sent his final
message through Prophet
Muhammad(as), who taught
and explained it to the
people and guided them to
the straight path
4. But was this teaching
and guidance only for
Muslims of the time of
Prophet Muhammad (as)?
5. What would happen to
the Muslims after the
holy Prophet?
Who would guide
them?
6. Prophet hood would end with Prophet
Muhammad (as)
So would our creator leave the coming
generations without any guide?
7. Journey of mankind
Who leads after the Prophets?
End of chain of
Prophets (632 AD)
Beginning of Chain of
prophets
Adam(as) Muhammad (as) ? ? Day of Judgement
8. After the death of the Prophet in
632 A.D. and hence the end of
Prophet hood, would mankind be
left on their own, without a guide
appointed by the all Mighty?
9. ALLAH (swt ) in his infinite wisdom,
sent his selected servants, who
would take up the work left by the
Holy Prophet (saw) and guide the
generations to come
11. “I am leaving among you two
weighty things. If you keep
attached to them firmly after
me, you will never go astray.
One is the Quran and the other
my descendants, the AhlulBait.”
Prophet Muhammad (saww)
14. Journey of mankind
IMAMS complete the leadership gap
End of chain of
Prophets (632 AD)
Beginning of Chain of
prophets
Adam(as) Muhammad (as) Imams Day of Judgement
16. ALLAH (swt) would never leave the
people to find their own guidance,
hence he chose Imams who he
Purified and gave them knowledge
to be capable to guide the Muslims
towards the straight path
1. ALLAH (swt) would never leave
us without a guide
17. There fore, after Prophet
Muhammad(as) passed
away, ALLAH (swt) gave the
duty of teaching and guiding
of the final message to his
selected servants….the
IMAMS
CONTINUATION OF GUIDANCE
18. These imams had special
qualities, just like Prophet
Muhammad(as) and the
prophets before him in order
to continue guiding the
people
19. ALLAH (swt) wanted leaders
who would guard Islam from
being destroyed, corrupted
and the pure message from
being changed.
2.Guardians of Islam
20. ALLAH (swt) has always wanted his
representative to be present amongst
mankind.
First it was the prophets
And after the end of Prophet hood, it
was the Imams
3. Representative
21. ALLAH swt wanted to unite all Muslims
under one leader. A leader who would be in
his time ;
The most learned
The most Just
The bravest
The most pious
The most kind and generous
4. Need to unite the Muslims
22. From the family of Prophet Ibrahim
And (remember) when his Lord tried Ibrahim
with certain words, then he fulfilled them. He
said: "Surely I am going to make you an Imam for
mankind" (Ibrahim) said: "And of my
descendants?" He ALLAH (swt)said: "My promise
will not include the unjust”
(Qur’an 2:124)
Origin of IMAMS
23. Hence from the verse 2:124 we
can conclude that the Imams
had to be from the family of
Prophet Ibrahim(as), through
Prophet Muhammad (saw)
Descendants of Prophet Ibrahim
25. PR. IBRAHIM
ISHMAEEL ISHAK
ABDUL MUTALIB JACOB
ABDULLAH ABU TALIB
PR.MUHAMMAD(SAWW)
IMAM
SYEDA FATIMA ZAHRA IMAM ALI (As) 1ST
IMAM HASSAN(AS) 2ND
IMAM HUSSEIN (AS) 3RD
IMAM ZAINUL ABEDIN(AS) 4TH
IMAM MUHAMMAD BAQIR (AS) 5TH
IMAM JAFFER AS-SADIQ(AS) 6TH
IMAM MUSA AL-KAZIM(AS) 7TH
IMAM ALI RIDHA (AS) 8TH
IMAM MUHAMMAD AL-TAQI (AS) 9TH
IMAM ALI AL-NAQI (AS) 10TH
IMAM HASSAN AL-ASKARY (AS) 11TH
IMAM MUHAMMAD MAHDI (AS) 12TH
26.
27. An Imam must be free from committing any
SIN or ERROR-just like the Nabi and Rasool
An imam who commits sins
cannot be a role model and
hence cannot be an example to
others to guide them
Qualities of Imams
1.Must be Masum (free of sin)
28. Therefore an Imam must be strong in
his belief and refrain from
committing any sin
29. A man asked Imam Sadiq (as) if he was free from
sin. The Imam took him to a butcher shop and
took him to the back where all the rotten meat
was kept. It was swarming with insect, bad odor,
and discoloration.
30. Then the Imam turned to the
man and said;
"This is what a sin looks like to
us-smelly and rotten. We
hence avoid sins”
31. An Imam has to have the most
knowledge of the Quran, Islam and
even general knowledge ,so he can
answer any question that he is
asked.
2. The Most knowledgeable
32. Power of knowledge
ALLAH swt had given all the Imams
the power of knowledge and they
answered all questions without
referring to any one.
For if they hesitated or gave the
wrong answer , they cannot be
counted as a representative of the all
33. A man asked Imam Ali (a.s.) "What is
the distance between me and
(pointing towards the sun) and the
sun”?
Imam ALI’s (saw) knowledge
34. Imam Ali (a.s.) answered : "If an Arabian horse starts
running from here and continues running for 500
years, then he (horse) will reach the sun."
35. the average speed of an arab horse
is 22 mph
22x 24 hours= 528 miles in one day
96,360,000 miles a horse would
cover in 500 years
37. 192720miles x 500 years
comes to
96,360,000 miles
covered by the horse
38. The Sun is at a distance of
about 95Million miles
At its farthest.
Imam Ali calculated it at
96Million miles without any
instruments or calculators
39. “I am the City of Knowledge and ´Ali
is its Gate; whoever intends to enter
the City should come through its
Gate”
The Prophet (saww) said ;
40. Imam Mohamed Baqir (as) and his
father Imam Jaffer Al-Sadiq (As)
established a university in
Madinah which had 4000
students.
Knowledge of the Imams
41. Apart form religious education, the imams
taught:
Science
Mathematics
Medicine
Astronomy
And other subjects
Knowledge of the Imams
42. An imam, being the representative of ALLAH
swt, must have and show the best of;
Manners (akhlaq)
Bravery
Justice
Generosity
Kindness
Superior in all good qualities
43. Once Imams Hassan (as) and Hussein(as), when they
were young, noticed an old man performing his
Wudhu, which had some errors.
Instead of criticizing the old man, they approached the
old man and asked him to judge who amongst the two
was performing a better Wudhu.
As the old man watched the 2 grandsons of the
prophet perform Wudhu, he realized his mistake and
was grateful to the two young boys
Manners (Akhlaq)
44. Imam Ali (as) was known for his extraordinary acts of bravery
The enemies of Islam planned to murder Prophet Muhammad(as)
as he slept,
ALLAH (swt) informed the Prophet and commanded him to leave
for Madina.
It was Imam Ali (As) who took the Prophet’s place in the bed as the
enemies gathered outside with swords ready to kill.
Bravery of the Imams
45. Imam Ali(as) also fought many battles to defend Islam. In the battle
of Khandaq, Imam stood up to fight Arabia’s greatest warrior, when
the rest of the companions retreated in fear.
Imam fearlessly defended Islam and the holy Prophet , when the
enemies attacked the Muslims in the battles of;
Badr
Uhud
Khandaq
Khaybar
Bravery of Imams
46. A candle burnt by Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib's (as) side, as he was
working
Just then Talha and Zubair appeared.
They wanted to talk personal business with the imam(as)
Just as they sat down, Imam Ali (as) put out the candle and lit
another one.
Justice of the Imams
47. Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (as) replied: "That was a
candle bought of State Treasury (Baitul Mal) funds.
As long as I worked for the treasury, I used it.
Now you have come for some personal work, so I use
the candle bought of my personal fund."
48. An imam must not love this world and cannot be
distracted from all worldly things.
If he did, he would amass wealth, build palaces
and gain power over others and be tempted with
bribery and corruption
An imam must live a simple lifestyle
Free from the love of this world
49. It was well known that the Holy Prophet Muhammad(saww) and
all the Imams lived a simple lifestyle.
They had simple homes and their food was very simple and they
all worked hard for a living in the day and worshipped at night
Abu Nuziya, a tailor of Kufa narrates that Imam Ali purchased two
shirts from his shop, one was of superior quality, which he
handed over to his slave Qambar to put on and the other which
was cheap, reserved it for himself.
A simple lifestyle
Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (as) also lived a simple life. He himself would work in his
garden.
50. ALL IMAMS LIVED A SIMPLE LIFESTYLE. THEY WORKED FOR A
LIVING, WHILE OFFERING GUIDANCE TO WHOEVER ASKED. THEY
LIVED IN SIMPLE DWELLINGS AMONGST THE PEOPLE. THEIR DIET
WAS SIMPLE LIKE BREAD AND MILK
IN CONTRAST, THE SO CALLED “LEADERS” OF ISLAM LIKE
MUAWIYAH IBN ABU SFYAN, HIS SON YAZEED AND THE LIKES OF
HARUN AL RASHID AND THE ABBASIDES LIVED IN MANSIONS AND
PALACES LIKE KINGS, FEASTING AND ENJOYING MONEY FROM
THE PUBLIC TREASURY
A SIMPLE LIFESTYLE
51. Kindness and generosity of the IMAMS
Imam Ali(as), Sayeda Fatima(as) their two sons Hassan
(as) and Hussain(as) and also Fizza their servant made
avow to fast for 3 days.
In the first day, Imam Ali (as) brought flour enough for 3
days to feed the family. Fatima(as) baked 5 loaves of
bread. And as they were preparing to break their fast a
beggar came asking for food
Without hesitation, they all gave him their bread
and they drank only water and slept
52. The next day, they fasted and Fatima (as)
ground some more flour and baked
another 5 loaves of bread.
As they were about to break their fast, an
Orphan knocked on the door complaining
that he had not eaten for days
Again, without hesitation the family and
their maid gave away their food.
Again they slept hungry, with only water
to fill their stomach
53. On the third day they again fasted to
complete the vow. Fatima (as)
ground the final measure of flour and
made bread. This time a traveler, who
was lost and hungry came to their
doorstep. They again happily gave
away their dinner
54. Imam Musa al-Kazim was very generous and no beggar ever
returned from his door empty handed. Even after his death,
people came to his holy tomb with prayers which are granted by
God.
Once a group of poor persons, were sitting on the ground and
eating pieces of bread. When they saw Imam Hasan(a.s.) they said
to him: "Son of the Apostle of Allah, come to lunch!" So he
dismounted his camel and said: "Indeed, Allah does not love the
proud." He began eating with them. Then he invited them and
gave them food and clothes.
kindness and generosity of Imams
55. Imam Ali (as) would fill a sack full of
food and distribute it to the poor at
night, covering his face so no one
would recognize him
Imam Hasan (a.s) was the most hospitable person.
His dinner cloth was very vast. The poor, the
deprived, travelers and orphans dined on his food
spread. He had the best possible food cooked for
the guests, but he never partook anything from it.
His diet consisted of barley bread and salt.
56. Ali Ibn Ibrahim relates: I went to meet Imam Hasan Askari (a.s)
and found him in a disturbed state. When I asked the reason he
said, “I am having some guests today but I have nothing to serve
them.” I said, “Son of Allah's Messenger, just mention it, I will get
all that is needed.” The Imam said, “We Ahl ul-Bayt do not serve
our guests at the expense of others.” “All right! Then tell me
what I can do?” I said. He told me, “Go and sell this blanket of
mine. It was cold and imam sold his blanket.From the sale of the
blanket Imam prepared for dinner for his guests
Jabir Al- ansari has said; I have seen that when a person becomes
Imam Hussayn’s (as) guest he serves him to the best of his ability. If
he is in debt, the Imam repays his debts. If he is on foot, the Imam
gives him a Horse. If he is sick the Imam arranges treatment for him.
57. An Imam should be able to perform miracles
to convince people.
ALLAH swt gave the imams such a power,
just like he did to the Prophets
Imams Should be able to perform miracles
58. After the martyrdom of Imam Husain (A.S) and after Imam Zainul
Abidin (A.S) had returned to Medina, some people began to
consider Hazrat Muhammad Hanafiya as their Imam. Hazrat
Muhammad Hanafiya was Imam Husain's younger brother He was
very pious and had not himself said that he was Imam. Only some
misguided people began to consider him as their Imam.
It became necessary to remove this misunderstanding. Therefore,
Imam (A.S) and his uncle, Muhammad Hanafiya decided to go
together to where "Hajar Aswad" (The black stone near Ka'aba)
was.
Miracle by Imam Zainul Abidin
59. At first, Hazrat
Muhammad Hanafiya
addressed the Hajar
asking it to confirm who
the Imam was. But there
was no reply. Then Imam
Zainul Abidin (A.S)
addressed the Hajar.
Aloud and clear voice
came from "Hajar
Aswad" saluting the
Imam by his full name
and confirming that he
and he alone was the
Imam of the time.
60. The Prophet (pbuh) foretold about the
twelve succeeding Imams to many of
his Companions, at different occasions.
(Sahih Al-Bukhari Vol 4, Page 164. Also Sahih Muslim Page 119 Both are Sunni
sources).
IMAMS IN SUNNI BOOKS
61. As for the choice of his first successor-in-command, this
took place on a special occasion after his last Haj. After
arriving at a place called Ghadeer Khum, 3 miles north of
Mecca, Muhammad (pbuh) received a Revelation as a
command to announce his appointment:
(Surah 5: Ayah 67)
O' MESSENGER, DELIVER WHAT HAS BEEN SENT TO YOU
FROM YOUR LORD, AND IF YOU DO NOT, THEN, (IT IS AS
IF) YOU HAVE NOT DELIVERED HIS MESSAGE, AND ALLAH
WILL PROTECT YOU FROM (THE MISCHIEF OF) PEOPLE.
Appointment of the 1st Imam
62. Muhammad (pbuh) gave a speech, a long oration. It was a speech that
was resolute and firm, whereby he also spoke of his approaching end.
Then, he raised Ali's arm, and affectionately declared:
WHOMSO I AM HIS OVERLORD SO THIS ALI WILL BE HIS OVERLORD
(after I die),
O' LORD! UPHOLD HIM WHO UPHOLDS ALI;
ANTAGONIZE HIM WHO ANTAGONIZES ALI;
ADVANCE HIM WHO ADVANCES ALI;
IMPEDE HIM WHO IMPEDES ALI,
AND TURN THE TRUTH WITH ALI WHEREVER HE GOES!
(Sahih Muslim Vol 2, Page 362. Also Mustadrak Al-Haakim Vol 3, Page
154. Also Masnad Ahmad Vol 4, Page 33 (all Sunni sources.)
Ghadeer
