The 12 Infallible Imams are the teachers of the text of the Holy Qur an || Imam Reza (A.S.) Network

The 12 Infallible Imams are the teachers of the text of the Holy Qur an

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
The Holy Quran is the Eternal Miracle, the timeless eloquence and fathomless wisdom of God's final and most comprehensive Revealed Word to mankind, the holy Qur'an, which was revealed during a 23-year period to the Last and Greatest of all Messengers, Holy Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), almost a millennium and five centuries ago.
It has rightly been said that the superiority of the Speech of God over all other speeches is like the superiority of God over His creatures. To quote the Late Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abu'l-Qassem Kho'i (RA): "What can a person say in describing the eminence of the Qur'an and its glory? How can a contingent being perceive the greatness of the speech of the Absolute Being? Can a limited being describe anything that is unlimited? In views of these facts, God Almighty handed over the elucidation of the excellence of the Qur'an to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and after him to his immaculate Ahl al-Bayt, who along with the holy Qur'an are called the Thaqalayn or the Two Most Worthy Things. The 12 Infallible Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, beginning with the Prophet's cousin, son-in-law and divinely decreed vicegerent, Imam Ali (AS), are the persons most knowledgeable about the meaning and purport of the wordings of the holy Qur'an and its associates in guidance."
Absolutely true! Let us have these peerless personalities explain to us the excellence of the holy Qur'an as they are the teachers of the text of the Qur'an, and in fact the "Qur'an an-Nateq" or the Speaking and Embodied Qur'an itself. Twice in the holy Qur'an, God has called the Infallible Imams of the Prophet's Household as Rasekhouna fi Ilm, which means repositories of divine knowledge, as the heirs of the Prophet, regarding whom God says in ayah 44 of Surah Nahl: "And We have revealed to you the Reminder that you may make clear to mankind what has been revealed to them, and that haply they may reflect."
The Prophet in describing the holy Qur'an has said: "When mischief comes to confuse you like the segments of darkened night, then hold fast to the Qur'an." The Prophet in order to show the firm bond between the Book of God and his Ahl al-Bayt, also said that Ali is with the Qur'an and the Qur'an is with Ali. In turn, Imam Ali (AS) in describing the holy Qur'an has said: "It is the Light whose radiance shall not be extinguished; the Lamp whose flame shall not die; the Ocean whose depth shall not be fathomed; the Path which shall not lead astray; the Blaze whose brilliance shall not be darkened; the Criterion whose evidence shall not be suppressed; the Cure with which there is no fear of ailments; the Power whose supporters cannot be defeated; Thus, it is the source of faith and its prosperity; it is the Fountain-head of knowledge and its vastness; the meadow of justice and its flowing streams; The excerpts of this brilliant oration from the Commander of the Faithful review many important points which call for careful reflection. For instance, by saying the Qur'an is 'the Lamp whose flame shall not be extinguished,' Imam 'Ali (AS) means that the holy Qur'an is the book whose signification shall never be exhausted. In other words it will remain fresh and new until the Day of Resurrection. An ayah may have been sent down regarding a specific occasion or community, yet its relevance is not limited to that occasion, person, or community; rather, its signification and applicability are general. Here we refer ayah 7 of Surah Ra'd where God Almighty says: "For every people there is a guide". The Prophet's 5th Infallible Successor, Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS), says in this regard that the reference here is to Imam Ali (AS) "and the guide is always one of us." The 5th Imam then added: "The Qur'an lives and will not die; the ayahs live and will not die. If an ayah were to die with the death of the persons concerning whom it was revealed, then the Qur'an would have definitely died. Rather, such an ayah continues to apply to those who are alive as it did to those who died."
The Prophet's 6th Infallible Heir, Imam Ja'far Sadeq (AS) has said: "Certainly, the Qur'an lives, and has not died; and it is existent just as the day and the night and the sun and the moon are existent. And it will exist for the last among us as it has existed for the first."
In brief, when the Prophet's 12th and Last Successor, Imam Mahdi (AS) reappears in the end times, he will establish his global governance of peace, prosperity, and justice on the basis of the Glorious Qur'an and expound to people the hitherto unraveled aspects of the Book of God.
Even the non-Muslim scholars admit the authenticity of the Qur'an. For example, Laura Vaccia Vaglieri, professor at the University of Naples, has said: "The heavenly book of Islam is miraculous and inimitable. Its style is totally unprecedented in Arabic literature, and its peculiar impact on the spirit of the human being derives from its special and superior characteristics. How is it possible that such a book should be the work of Mohammad, an Arab who had never studied? We find in this book a treasury of knowledge beyond the capacity of the greatest philosophers and statesman, and for this reason it is also impossible to regard the Qur'an as the work of an educated person".
Another orientalist, Smith writes in his book: Mohammad and Islam: "I boldly assert that one day the loftiest of human philosophers and the most veracious principles of Christianity will confess and bear witness that the Qur'an is the Word of God. It is a book that has in the course of history produced thousands of other books and treatises, brought libraries into being and filled them with books, and placed before mankind laws and philosophies and educational, intellectual and ideological systems... The teachings of the Qur'an, which mentions knowledge and the pen in its opening verses, brought about a tremendous transformation. Islam proclaimed study to be a religious duty, and made the black ink of scribe and the scholar to be superior to the red blood of the martyr.
Numerous other non-Muslim scholars have attested to the fact that Quran is the word of God. However, we shall not mention them for the sake of brevity. Thus, as should be clear the holy Qur'an is not the product of the speculation and thinking of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Rather every word of the book is the word of God, which was communicated to the Prophet through the process of revelation. Descended upon the heart of 'heart' of the Prophet not metaphorically but literally - namely in the form of language known by the people who subsequently transcribed it under the guidance of the Prophet himself. Being the Revealed Word of Allah, the Qur'an imparts knowledge which is immune from all possibilities of doubt and every form of discrepancy. It is the substantiation of Truth and guidance that leads humanity from darkness towards the light. It is an embodiment of mercy and glad tidings from God to those who follow it faithfully, and the criterion which distinguishes clearly the right from the wrong. It emphasizes that all unbiased persons dedicated to knowledge are bound to uphold its truth at the time of its revelation and to attest it in later age as the horizons of human knowledge expand further and further.