Criterions of Truth

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
“Allah, there is no god except Him, is the Living One, the All-Sustainer; He has sent down to you the Book with the truth confirming what was [revealed] before it, and He had sent down the Torah and the Evangel before as guidance for mankind, and He has sent down the Criterion (Qur’an). Indeed those who defy the signs of Allah, there is a severe punishment for them; and Allah is All-mighty, Avenger.” (Holy Qur’an 3:2-4)
We are on the eve of the Great Day of Grief, when the Recipient of the Last and Final Scripture for the guidance of mankind, departed from the mortal world on completion of his 23-year mission.
Entrusted with the Criterion that would stay forever after him to determine truth from falsehood, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), whose universal mission had been prophesied by all prophets of the past, including Moses the Recipient of the Torah and Jesus the Recipient of the Evangel, made sure that the Qur’an will never meet the sorrowful fate of the previous scriptures.
In order to ensure the evergreen purity of his message, the Seal of Prophets emphasized time and again on the famous Hadith Thaqalayn, reiterating in crystal clear words: “I am leaving behind among you the Thaqalayn (Two Weighty Things); the Book of God (Qur’an) and my progeny, the Ahl al-Bayt. Hold fast to them and you will never go astray, since the two will never separate from each other, even when they return to me at the Pool (of Kowthar on Resurrection Day).”
It would be blasphemy to think Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) was imposing his offspring on the Muslims, especially when it is God Himself Who has vouchsafed the spotless purity of the Ahl al-Bayt in the holy Qur’an (33:33).
It means that in order to have a proper and correct understanding of the Book of God, the Ummah needs practical guides, who ought to be Divinely-Ordained and to whom the Qur’an has also referred as “Rasekhouna fi Ilm” (Repositories of Knowledge).
For this reason, the Prophet did not suffice on merely repeating this Divinely-inspired statement which was recorded by scribes and is found in the texts of all denominations of Islam. He was also not content with the historic proclamation he had made at Ghadeer-Khom on God’s express commandment (5:67), while returning from his farewell Hajj, when he lifted his dear cousin and son-in-law in front of a huge gathering of 120,000, with the words: “For whomsoever I am Master, this Ali is his Master.”
The Prophet knew that like the Israelites, who had ignored the instructions of Moses to follow Aaron while he was on Mount Sinai, his companions would conveniently forget the pledge of allegiance they had made to Imam Ali (AS) as vicegerent.
Wasn’t Judas Iscariot, who tried to betray Jesus to the Romans, a disciple of the Messiah – whose monotheistic message was distorted beyond recognition by another contemporary, Paul, the Hellenized Jew?
In view of these facts, during his last days the Prophet called for ink and paper to write down his will so that Muslims will never splinter into sects after him. Alas, he was prevented from doing so by one of his senior companions, who not just uttered the illogical statement “hasbuna Kitab-Allah (the Book of God is sufficient for us)”, but also committed sacrilege by calling the Prophet “delirious” in violation of God’s words in the Qur’an that Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) neither errs nor goes astray and whatever he says is revelation revealed (53:3-5).
Interested readers can search books of Hadith and Seerah for the name of this person, as well as the Judas Iscariots and the Pauls amongst the Arabs of the Prophet’s days at a time when the West is celebrating Christmas on the assumption that it is the birthday of Jesus.
Irrespective of the fact that the virgin-born Messiah was not born on the 25th of December and never claimed to be godhead, on closer scrutiny of the Gospels we find that his mission was limited to the Children of Israel, as St, Luke quotes him as saying: “I have not been sent but to the lost sheep of Israel”. (15:24)
In contrast God Almighty says in the holy Qur’an: “We have not sent you but as Mercy unto the creation.” (21:107)
Thus, the universal mission of Islam needs heavenly leaders, after the end of the mission of the Last and Greatest of God’s Messengers, in order to guide people towards the straight and unwavering path that leads to paradise.
It was for this reason the Prophet had hailed his grandsons as: “Hasan and Husain are the Leaders of the Youth of Paradise”.
Now we understand the meaning and purport of the Hadith Thaqalayn that stresses the inseparability between the Ahl al-Bayt and the Qur’an.
It was Divine Providence that on the 39th anniversary of the Prophet’s passing away, his elder grandson left the world, a martyr, on being fatally poisoned on the orders of Mu’awiyyah – who, not content with the mere seizure of the caliphate, was intent upon violating the letter and spirit of the holy Qur’an by reviling the Ahl al-Bayt and forging hadith.
Imam Hasan (AS) succeeded in unmasking hypocrisy that had confounded the beliefs of Muslims after the Prophet as a result of their negligence of the event of Ghadeer and the Hadith of Thaqalayn, by handing over political rule to the self-styled Muslim, who soon violated all the terms of the Treaty.
When arrows riddled the coffin and corpse of the Prophet’s elder grandson in Medina on the instigation of a seditious woman, it became clear to Muslims that the holy Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt are indeed inseparable, while it is their enemies who are against the letter and spirit of the Book of God, which they shamelessly hoist on spear points and distort its contents even while claiming to be its reciters and memorizers – just as the Israelites have done with the Torah and the Evangel.
Safar 28 is indeed a day of Double Grief
Condolences on the Double Day of Grief