1. The verse of the imamate (Qur'an 5: 55)

Allah (B) says: (Verily, your Wali [Protector or Helper] is none other than Allah, His Messenger, and the believers, - those who perform As-Saliih [Iqiimah-as-Saliih], and give ZaMh, and they are Riiki'oon [those who bow down or submit themselves with obedience to Allah in (Quran 5: 55) Their commentary on this verse is indicative of their claim that it is speaking abont the imamate of 'Ali. Shaykh at-TiYifah, whom they call at-Toosi, said: "As for evidence of his imamate in the Quran, the strongest evidence for it is the verse in which Allah (s) says...", then he goes on to quote the verse mentioned above.467 AtTnb~usi said: 'This verse is one of the clearest indications of the validity of the imamate of 'Ali after the Prophet, with no dispute."468 Their shaykhs are virtually agreed that this is the strongest evidence they have, and they present it as the main proof when quoting the evidence in their books.469 AS to how they derive any evidence from this verse to support their claim, they say: "The regular and prominent interpreters of Qnr'an and scholars of Hadith are agreed that it was revealed concerning 'Ali (&), when he gave his ring in 'Ali's attitude towards the Kharijites and Shia charity to the poor man when he was praying, in the presence of the Companions, and it is mentioned in the six sound books."470 The word innama (translated here as 'verily') is indicative of exclusivity (as in 'no one but...'), according to the consensus of the linguists. The word 'wali' means the most fitting to be in charge; in other words, the most fitting to be the Imam or caliph?" We can see that when they quote this verse as evidence, they rely on what was narrated about the reason for its revelation, because there is nothing in the text of the verse to support what they are hying to prove. Thus their argument ends up being based on the report about the reason for revelation and not on the Quran itself. But is the report proven, and is that argument sound?

This question may be answered by noting the following points: 1.a. Their claim that the Sunnis are unanimously agreed that this verse was revealed concerning 'Ali (&) is one of the greatest false claims. On the contrary, the scholars of hadith agreed that it was not revealed specifically about 'Ali (&) and that he did not give his ring in charity while praying; they agreed that this story is false and fabricated.472 The assertion that it is mentioned in the six sound hooks473 is also a lie, because this report does not appear in any of the six books. Ibn Katheer quoted the reports saying that this verse was revealed concerning 'Ali (&) when he gave his ring in charity, and he commented on them by noting: "None of them is sound at all because of the weakness of their chains of narration and the fact that the men (in these chains of narration) are unknown."474 'Abdul- 'Azeez ad-Dahlawi said: "As for the idea that it was revealed concerning 'Ali ibn Ahi Taih (&), and the reports about the beggar and 'Ali giving his ring to him in charity while he was bowing in prayer, this was narrated by z~th-Tha'labi~~~ only. He is the only one who narrated it, and the Sunni schola~s of hadith do not pay any attention to ath-Tha'lahi at all.

They called him 'one who cuts wood 'AIi ibn Abi Tllib at night and cannot tell fresh wood from dry wood'; in other words, they said that he does not know what he is doing. Most of these reports come from al-Kalbi from Abu Siilih, and these are the weakest of reports on Qur'anic interpretation according to them."476 According to sound reports, the reason for the revelation of this verse was that Banu Qaynuqa' betrayed the Messenger (g) and went to 'Ubidah ibn as-Sinit - as Ibn Jareer mentioned in his Tafseer - wanting 'Ubidah to join them. He rejected them, regarding them as enemies, and he declared his love and support for AUah (s) and His Messenger. Then Allah (s) revealed these words: $Verily, your Wali [Protector or Helper] is none other than Allah, His Messenger, and the believers - those who perform AsSalcih [Zqiimah-as-Salcih], and give Zakcih, and they are Ri?ki'oon [those who bow down or submit themselves with obedience to Allah in (Quran 5: 55). This means that when they pray and give zakih, they do so with humility and submission to Allah (&) in all their affairs.

At the beginning of this passage, Allah (&) says: 4 0 you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as Awliyci' [friends, protectors, helpers], they are but AwliyLi' of each other. And if any amongst you takes them [as Awliyi?'], then surely, he is one of them. Verily, Allah guides not those people who are the &ilimoon [polytheists and wrongdoers and unjustlb (Quran S: 51). This refers to Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salool; he allied himself with Banu Qaynuqa' and when a dispute arose between them and the Prophet (g), he showed loyalty to them and stood with them, and he went to the Prophet (g) . - to intercede for them.

'Ubidah ibn as-Sinit, on the other hand, disavowed them and rejected them. Allah (s) followed that with a description of the attributes of the believers, which applied to 'Ubzdah ibn as-Shit and those who were with him: eerily, your Wali [Protector or Helper] is none other than Allah, His Messenger, 'Ali's attitude towards the Kharijites and Shiu and the believers), (Quran 5: 55). So this verse was revealed concerning 'Ubidah ibn as-~%nit?77 These verses enjoin helping and supporting the believers and forbid taking disbelievers as friends. This meaning is also clearly supported - after one learns the real reason for its revelation - by the context of the verse. Before this verse, Allah (s) says: 40 you who believe!

Take not the Jews and the Christians as Awliyi' [friends, protectors, helpers], they are but Awliyi' of each other. And if any amongst you takes them [as Awliyi'], then surely, he is one of them. Verily, Allah guides not those people who are the mlimoon [polytheists and wrongdoers and unjust]) (Quran 5: 51). This is a clear prohibition on taking the Jews and Christians as close friends or loving and supporting them. 'Wiliyah' in this context, according to scholarly consensus, does not refer to leadership; there is no reference to leadership in these verses at all.

This is followed by mention of those to whom loyalty must be shown, namely Allah (%),His Messenger and the believers. It is clear that the loyalty, love and support that Allah (s) forbids in the first part of the verse are exactly the same as that which He enjoins on the believers in this verse; the one is the opposite of the other, as is clear in the ~rabic.4~' Ar-R&i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Whereas in the previous verse, Allah forbade loyalty to the disbelievers, in this verse He enjoined loyalty to those to whom loyalty is due."479 Ibn Taymiyah said: "It is well established and well known among the scholars of Qur'anic commentary, of the earlier and later generations, that this verse was revealed to prohibit loyalty and love towards the disbelievers and to enjoin loyalty and love towards the believers."480 1.b. Allah (B) does not praise anyone except for that which is praiseworthy before Him, whether it is obligatory or recommended. According to scholarly consensus, giving in charity while praying is 'Ali ibn Abi Tilib not recommended. If it were, the Messenger (g) would have done it and encouraged others to do it, and he would have done it repeatedly.

During prayer, a person is preoccupied, and giving to a beggar is something that can he done later, so the one who wants to give charity can give it after saying the s a l h (at the end of the prayer). Ln fact, being distracted by giving to people who are begging invalidates the prayer, in the view of a number of scholars.481 Even if we assume that this is allowed during prayer, what reason is there for specifying the position of bowing? How can it be said that there is no wali (friend, helper or protector) except those who give charity while they are howing? If it is said that this was for the purpose of identifying 'Ali (&), the response is that 'Ali (&) had many other obvious qualities by which he could be identified, so why would he not be identified by his known qualities and instead he identified by this, by which no one would recognise him except those who heard this story and believed in it? The majority of the Umrnah has never heard of this report, which is not in any of the reliable hooks of the ~ u s l i r n s . ~ ~ ~ Their idea that 'Ali (&) gave his ring in zak2l1 when he was bowing, then this verse was revealed, is contrary to reality.

He was poor, and the zak% on silver is only required one year after taking possession of it, so 'Ali (4) was not one of those from whom zaka was due at the time of the Prophet (&).483 The basic principle with regard to zak& is that it must he given at the initiative of the one who is paying it; he should not wait until someone comes to him seeking it. Which is better: hastening to pay zak% or sitting in your house with your z& beside you, waiting 'Ali's attitude towards the Kharijites and Shia for someone to knock at your door before you give the zakih due on your wealth? Undoubtedly the former is be1ter.4'~ 1.f. Their saying that leadership is meant by the word 'wali' in this verse is not in accordance with the words of Allah (&): (Verily, your WaE [Protector or Helper] is none other than Allah, His Messenger, and the believers) (Quran 5: 55). Allah (g) cannot be described as being the ruler and leader of His slaves.

He is their Creator, Provider, Lord and Sovereign, and His is the creation and commandment,485 but it cannot be said that Allah (a) is the leader (amir) of the believers as it is said that a ruler such as 'Ali is Amir al- ~ u ' m i n e e n . 4 ~ ~ With regard to its meaning friendship as opposed to enmity, Allah takes care of His believing slaves. He loves them, and they love Him; He is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him. Whoever takes a friend of His as an enemy, Allah (B) declares war on him!87 This type of friendship is what is meant in the verse. Moreover, the phrase Band they are Rriki'oon [those who bow down or submit themselves with obedience to AUah in prayer]) (Quran 5: 55) means that they are submitting to their Lord and following His commands. Tbe word rukoo' (which may mean bowing) originally means submission, so it means that they establish prayer and pay zakih in a state of submission, which is humility and humbleness before ~ l l a h . 4 ~ ~ Allah (g) said, concerning Dswood (@I: (And Diwood [David] guessed that We have hied him and he sought forgiveness of his Lord, and he fell down prostrate [kharra r&ki'an] and turned [to AUah] in repentance) (Quran 38: 24).

He fell down in prostration, but it is described as rriki'an [lit. bowing] here because it was an expression of his state of humility and submission to Allah (&). Allah also says: (And when it is said to them: 'Bow down [irka'u]!' They bow not down) (Quran 77: 48). Here, 'bow down' means humble yourselves and submit to the command of ~llah.4'~ 'Ali ibn Abi Tilib 1.g. They quote as evidence the word innama; as we noted above, it is translated here as 'verily', but it indicates exclusivity. They argue that it refers to 'Ali (&) in particular and thus declares invalid the rulership of the previous caliphs, but if this were the case, it would also declare invalid the rulership of the later Imams.

According to this logic, the imamate of the two sons of 'Ali and the Imams who came after them is also rendered invalid. If their response to this dilemma is to say that what is meant by limiting imamate or mlership is limiting it to a particular time, as in the time when he was a ruler and not the time of the Imams after him, then this means that they are agreeing with the Sunnis that general rulership was for him only during the time when he was the Imam or ruler, and not before that.490 Lf - as their shaykhs say -this is the strongest evidence they have, then it is clear that they do not have a leg to stand on. The basic principle with regard to such an important and fundamental issue - which for the Rz&s is the most important matter of religion, and the one who denies it is regarded as a disbeliever - is that it should he based on texts with very clear wording that can be grasped by people of all levels.& should be understood by the common folk as it is understood by the scholars, understood by later generations as it was understood by those who heard it directly, and understood by desert people as it is understood by city dwellers. Since there is no such clear text in the Book of Allah, this proves that there is no statement appointing 'Ali (&) by name to be the Prophet's successor as they claimed.491 This is the strongest verse they quoted as evidence from the Book of Allah, and they call it the verse of the imamate. They also cling to other verses which were quoted by Ibn al-Mutahhar al-Hilli, to which Ibn Taymiyah gave a comprehensive answer.492 'Ali's attitude towards the Kharijites and Shia