Subtleties and Allusions

1) Submission and Obedience of the Heart

True Islam is when a person is not only verbally submissive and obedient, but also submits and obeys with their heart. Just as they have accepted the general principles of religion, they should also accept its details_—_even in cases where it may be to their detriment.

One of the aspects of the religion of Islam is to make the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.) the arbiter in disputes and disagreements, whether in matters of belief or otherwise, and to outwardly accept and inwardly submit and obey his judgment: “But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you [O Muhammad] judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission”(294). A believer is one who refers all disputes to the court of the Noble Prophet, and when they see the dispute resolved, not only accepts it outwardly without objection, but also submits and obeys it in their inner soul. The “losing party” should be as satisfied and submissive to the Prophet’s judgment as the “winning party”, and both should return with an open heart and intellectual (not emotional) happiness, feeling no distress or unease. This satisfaction and acceptance is faith and Islam: “and submit in [full, willing] submission”. If the individuals of an Islamic society do not reach this level of elevation, they will not be true believers, even if they possess the lower stages and ranks of Islam that are achieved by reciting the two testimonies (shahādatayn) and which protect one’s life and property.

A higher and more perfect level than the one mentioned in the aforementioned verse is the station of absolute submission and obedience. The wayfarer who has reached this station places all their intellectual and practical affairs at the disposal of God Almighty, to the extent that they never have a thought before God’s actual knowledge or a motivation before His actual will.

2) Polytheistic Believers

Islam has degrees, and between the initial Islam and the final Islam, there are numerous ranks. A pure believer is one who has reached all the degrees of Islam. It should be noted that for every degree of Islam, there is a corresponding degree of disbelief, polytheism, and hypocrisy. Therefore, if someone attains one of the degrees of Islam, but there are higher degrees above it, then to the extent that they have not reached that higher degree, they possess a form of disbelief, polytheism, and hypocrisy of which they are unaware. Wherever there is no light of submission and monotheism, there is darkness and falsehood of polytheism, because polytheism is the absence of Islam. On this basis, one who abandons the Hajj pilgrimage is threatened with practical disbelief: “Pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed to God by people who are able to undertake it. Those who reject this [should know that] God has no need of anyone”(295). Similarly, rejecting the ruling of a qualified jurist (faqīh), as well as the deputy of the Imam and the guardian of the Muslims, is apostasy, polytheism, and practical disbelief; not doctrinal: “When he rules with our ruling and it is not accepted from him… it is rejection of us, and rejection of us is rejection of God”(296). Therefore, it is possible for a person to be afflicted with some forms of disbelief and polytheism while still being a Muslim.

The secret behind why most believers are polytheists: “And most of them do not believe in God except while associating others with Him”(297) is this: the faith of most people is not pure, because they ascribe to God Almighty a divinity that has a second to it in some things and persons, as it is commonly said: “First God, second such-and-such thing or person,” while God is both the First and the Last: “He is the First and the Last”(298). God never has a second, third, or fourth.

Imam al-Ṣādiq (a.s.), in response to the question of how most believers are polytheists, said: “When a person says, ‘If it weren’t for so-and-so, I would have perished or been harmed…’, he has ascribed a partner to God Almighty, as if this thing or person provides for him and defends and protects him.” Then, in response to the questioner’s inquiry about a solution, asking, “Can one say instead, ‘If God Almighty had not bestowed His favor upon me through so-and-so, I would have perished’?” He replied, “This expression is not problematic.”(299)

On this basis, the way of a Muslim should be the way of Abraham, who said: “And it is He who feeds me and gives me drink. And when I am ill, it is He who cures me”(300). He does not say: If there were no water or cupbearer, I would die. Rather, he says: God is the One who provides drink and food, and water, bread, medicine, and the physician are channels of His mercy.

The monotheist sees all blessings as coming from God Almighty: “Whatever blessing you have is from God”(301). Therefore, in supplication or otherwise, he does not rely on things like his people, wealth, ability, work, status, or reputation.