Imam Askari

“He it is Who has revealed the Book to you, some of its verses are decisive, they are the basis of the Book, and others are allegorical; then as for those in whose hearts is perversity, they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation, but none knows its interpretation except Allah and those who are firmly grounded in knowledge (Rasekhouna fi’l-ilm)…(Holy Qur’an 3:7 Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) introduced exactly a dozen members of his household as the Rasekhouna fi’l-ilm. He explicitly instructed the ummah to refer to these immaculate figures whenever controversies arose regarding his sunnah and God’s Revealed Words to mankind, the Holy Qur’an, a book that the Lord Himself calls “wherein there is not the slightest doubt and (is) a guidance to those who guard against evil.” Today the birth anniversary of the 11th and penultimate member of this exclusive group affords us the opportunity to shed light on how he unraveled the timeless wisdom of the Holy Qur’an whenever fallible minds failed to comprehend the meaning and purport of the divine words. Born on 8th of Rabi ath-Thani in Medina in the year 232 AH, Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS) gave practical demonstration of what the Prophet had meant when he pronounced the famous Hadith known as Thaqalayn that reads: “I am leaving among behind you the Book of God (the Holy Qur’an) and my progeny the Ahl al-Bayt. Hold fast to them and you will never astray for the two will never separate from each other even when they return to me at the Pool (of Kowsar in paradise).” Undoubtedly, every book needs a specialized instructor. The Holy Qur’an likewise cannot be left in the hands of the unqualified and those with pretensions to its interpretation when the fact is clear that God never entrusts the path of guidance to the unworthy, however knowledgeable. Only the infallible Rasekhouna fi’l-ilm have been granted the clarity of vision to perceive correctly and expound it for the mankind, otherwise there would be chaos. One such instance occurred in the brief 28-year life of Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS). In those days lived the famous Arab philosopher Yaqoub al-Kindi, whose acquired knowledge (not divinely granted) almost proved suicidal. A satanic idea flashed across his mind and he started to write a book on what appeared to his fallible mind as flaws and contradictions in the Holy Qur’an. It was obvious in the light of the verse of the Holy Book quoted at the beginning of this column that Kindi’s philosophical brain was stuck in a dead end. However, fortunate for him one of his disciples used to frequent the hallowed assemblies of Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS) in Samarra. On being informed of the issue, the Imam smiled and asked the philosopher’s disciple to pose a question to his supposedly rational master whether or not God is referring in the supposedly ambiguous ayahs to something else beyond Kindi’s ken but plainly clear to those vested with greater wisdom. The disciple approached Kindi and when he raised the question, the philosopher pondered for a while, saying this was possible. He then grilled his pupil, asking him who actually inculcated such a brilliant idea in his mind since as the master he was aware of the mental capacity and limitations of his own students. Kindi, when told that the enlightening factor was none else than Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS), felt enlightened himself. He collected his perfidious writings and burned them by acknowledging the God-given knowledge of the Imams of the Prophet’s Household, the Rasekhouna fi’l-ilm from whom nothing is hidden and who are the correct interpreters of the unfathomable wisdom of the Holy Qur’an. The 11th Imam who saved such a renowned scholar from manifest error took extra care not to leave posterity in similar ambiguity when he would no longer be alive and when the ghaybat or absence of his son and successor, the last of the Rasekhouna fi’l-ilm, would prolong several centuries. As part of his efforts to ensure a last legacy to mankind, the 11th Imam left bezels of wisdom in the shape of his explanation of a great number of verses of the Holy Qur’an during teaching sessions to pupils from distant Khorasan, which have been compiled and published as the “Exegesis Attributed to Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS)”. The person who reposes in peace in the golden-domed mausoleum of Samarra along with his equally perfect father, Imam Ali an-Naqi (AS) continues to be an inspiring force for the faithful. That is why we continue to celebrate his blessed birthday every year with a prayer to God to hasten the reappearance of his son, Qa’em al-Mahdi (AS) in order to cleanse the planet from the filth of tyranny and disbelieve and fill it with the global government of peace, order and justice. Amen