Qualities of an Imam
The imam and spiritual leader of the Muslims, who, as the successor of the prophet of the Lord, should lead the religious and worldly affairs of the people, should have the following distinctive qualities:
1- Must be protected from all kinds of sins and mistakes in order to be able to direct society to happiness, because, mired in sins and mistakes, in no case will be able to cleanse people from sins and mistakes.
2- The imam must have a connection with the divine world, possess boundless divine knowledge in order to bring to the people the Islamic truth and enlightenment as it is. For. if he, like others, speaks with a feeling of doubt or uses ordinary worldly knowledge, then his statements will not be convincing and people will not be able to comprehend the truths of Islamic enlightenment.
3- The imam must be appointed by Allah through the great prophet or through the imam who preceded him. For, except for Allah and his messenger, no one can determine the purity and innocence of a person, and people will not be able to be sure of their future.
Therefore, it is completely wrong that the election of an imam is entrusted to the people, for it is possible that people will consider some person pure and blameless, while in fact he may be a person steeped in sins and vices, or people will be able to see the present state or purity of a person, and in the future he may take the path of strength.
Only the Lord God, who knows the present and future, the external and internal world of people, can know what kind of person is worthy to be the leader and leader of the community after the great prophet (DBAR).
The merciful Qur'an commands: "Allah knows best on whom to entrust the mission and leadership of the worldly and spiritual issues of the people."
Who should be designated as the prophet's successor?
The Prophet of Islam, by order of the Lord, presented to the people all his successors and named them by name and appointed them as imams. In particular, he repeatedly reminded the people about the succession of the Emir of the Faithful Ali. It can be seen from historical books and legends that during the 23 years of his prophetic mission, his lordship, at every opportunity, recalled the question of Ali's prophetic succession. Here we will point out only two of the following cases, of which one refers to the time of the beginning of the prophetic mission of the great prophet, and the other to the last year of his lordship's life.
Prophethood and Imamat are interconnected
Almost three years after the beginning of the prophetic mission of the great prophet, the following sura descended to his lordship: "And admonish your closest relatives." Commentators of the Qur'an in their comments explain this sura as follows: "Once the Lord Almighty ordered the great messenger of the Lord to call to Ali, who was not more than fifteen years old, all his close relatives. The Prophet ordered that dinner be prepared and invited the children of Abdul-mutallib, who were forty people to announce his prophetic mission to them after dinner.On that afternoon, the uncle of the prophet Abu Lahab, with his senseless words, disrupted the entire meeting.
The great prophet called a feast for the second time and after dinner announced his mission and said: - I have been chosen by God for prophecy and have brought with me the good of this world and the other world, and I have a commission to call you to Him. Which of you is ready to support me to be my brother, helper and successor?
Ali got up from his seat and announced his readiness. The Prophet (SAW) told him to sit down and repeated his call three times in a row, but no one except Ali answered his call. At this time, his lordship, turning to those present, said: - This young man (Ali) is my brother and successor among you. Follow his path and listen to his words.
This event, which does not raise any doubts from the point of view of history and legends of Shiite and Sunni origin, clearly indicates that the issue of prophecy and imamate are inseparable and on the day when the prophet of the Lord is presented to the people, his successor, imam and the spiritual leader of the people, who will begin activities after the death of the prophet. In principle, one should know that prophecy and imamate have a single foundation and both are links in the same chain, and imamate is a continuation of the program of prophecy and the successor of the prophet carries out the same program as the prophet. The most important thing is that the prophet is the founder of the religion, and the imam is its spokesman.
The legend "Gadir"
The great prophet of Islam in the last year of his life, upon returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, made a stop at a place called Gadir, where the paths of pilgrims who arrived in Mecca from various places parted. He stood on an elevated place, where everyone could see him well, and announced to the almost hundred thousand mass of pilgrims the decree of the Lord on the appointment of Ali as his successor. He raised Ali's hand high, so that everyone could see him, and said: "O Muslims! Just as I am your ruler and can control you, Ali is also your ruler and can control you -" To whom I am the ruler, Ali is the lord."
Thus, it became clear to everyone that Ali was the invariable successor of the great prophet, and on that day all those present there congratulated on this appointment.
Yes, the great prophet of Islam several times and two and a half months before his death announced the succession of the Emir of the Faithful so that people would know that who should be the ruler of the Muslims after his death.
The legend of Jabir
Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari said: - As soon as the verse "Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and the possessors of command among you" descended (Sura Nesa, verse 59 - trans.), I said to the Messenger of the Lord: "O Messenger of God! We have known God and His Messenger and we need to know the holders of authority (i.e., imams - trans.), obedience to whom, according to the verse, is considered obligatory for us.Explain to us what is meant by the concept of "owner of the command."
The Messenger of God said: "O Jabir, these are my successors and imams after me and the first among them is Ali bin Abi Talib and then Hasan bin Ali, Hussein bin Ali, Ali bin al-Hasan, Muhammad bin Ali - in the Torah he is known as" Bakir" and you will recognize him already in old age and when you see him, say hello to him from me, after Muhammad bin Ali come Jafar bin Muhammad, Musa bin Jafar, Ali bin Musa, Muhammad bin Ali, Ali bin Muhammad, Hassan bin Muhammad and after him his son follows, the one whose name and horse (that is, a prefix to Arabic names indicating that whose son he is or who his father is) coincides with my name and my horse and this is the one whom the Lord God made omnipotent over the whole world This is the one who will hide from people's eyes and his absence will last for a long time, as long as there are people with firm faith who believe in his imamate."
Of course, there are many traditions in which the names of the successors of the prophet of the Lord are given, and we have given this tradition only as an example.
Thus, it is quite clear that the twelve Shiite imams were determined by the Lord God and through the great prophet, and in addition, each imam pointed to the imam of the next imam after him, so that people would not be mistaken in any way.
In addition to all of the above, as it was said before, the imam must be immaculate and have a connection with the divine world, and after the great prophet, no one, with the exception of these twelve imams, claimed the imam and no one could express scientific knowledge like these twelve imams.