A Reference to the Imamate of Zayn al-‘Ābidīn
A Reference to the Imamate of Zayn al-‘Ābidīn
‘Ali ibn al-Husayn — Peace Be Upon Him
In the words of Imam al-Hādī ilā al-Ḥaqq, as narrated in Sharḥ al-Asās, there is that which indicates that the Master of the Worshippers, ‘Ali ibn al-Ḥusayn (peace be upon him), is among the Imam-callers. He said:
“The righteous from among the descendants of al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn — their first is ‘Ali ibn al-Ḥusayn, and their last is al-Mahdī, with the Imams between them.”
This is because the establishment of the Imamate, in the view of the People of Truth, among these Imams is from God (Glorified be He) upon the tongue of the Messenger of God ﷺ. Therefore, whoever God has established the Imamate in, chosen, and selected — and has made manifest in him the qualities of the Imam — he is the Imam in their view, rightfully deserving of the Imamate, in accordance with the saying of the Prophet ﷺ:
“Whoever commands what is right and forbids what is wrong from among my progeny, he is the vicegerent of God upon His earth, the vicegerent of His Book, and the vicegerent of His Messenger.”1
…and so forth.
The above commentary serves as the context for the following verse from Al-Zulaf, in which the author addresses the martyrdom of Zayd ibn ‘Ali (peace be upon him):
And Zayd — the companion of remembrance — was destroyed by a nation;
may it never be sanctified, with its rejection — how it hastens!
Scholarly References & Annotations
Kitāb al-Aḥkām (2/505), Chapter on the Merit of the Just Imam.