Rasa – Hujjat al-Islam Vaez-Shahidi spoke about tawassul and said, “We don’t consider the intercession of Imam as a act which is independent of his domain but rather, we’re aware that the permission of the Lord to intercede and heal was given as a result of their to the Lord.”" RNA – In a lecture to a group of pilgrims at the Holy Shrine of Imam al-Ridha in Mashhad, Hujjat al-Islam Abdolhamid Vaez-Shahidi spoke about the issue of tawhid (monotheism and the unity of God).
The professor at Mashhad’s Shahid Motahhari University referred to the fact that shirk, which means associating a partner with God, can be rooted in two forms in the existence of man – either khafi (inconspicuous) or jali (open) shirk – and stated, “God said to the Prophet Muhammad, ‘if you engage in shirk, all of your actions will be destroyed.’ The exegetists have explained that shirk is the inconspicuous association of partners with God and that by showing off, conceit, pride and so on such issues arise in man. For this reason, man must seek God’s assistance at any moment.”
He added, “One of the most important pitfalls of our actions is conceit and pride. Sometimes a person prays and in the same prayer, he remembers God. This is while Imam al-Sajjad addressed God and said, ‘Oh my God, how can I give thanks to you, for my thanking you will require me to thank you for giving me the capacity to thank!’ So if we do something, it must only be to gain God’s satisfaction so it becomes worthy.”
Hujjat al-Islam Vaez-Shahidi said, “Imam al-Sadiq has said that sometimes a believing man enters a mosque with a corrupt man, but when they leave the mosque, they switch places. A believing man who receives credit from God for his prayer and becomes proud of his prayers and destroys his actions but the corrupt man who realizes his mistakes and prays with hope in God’s favour and kindness, God will be kind to him.”
In response to the doubt that “resorting to the Infallible Imams can be considered as shirk,” he said the Sunnis have a firm belief in Ahl al-Bayt, especially the eighth Imam [Imam al-Ridha], but the Wahhabis, who are a false movement, are opposed to Shi’ahs and say, “Why do you seek the intercession (tawassul) of the Ahl al-Bayt or seek the healing of the ill from the Imams?” The answer is that we don’t consider the intercession of Imam as a act which is independent of his domain but rather, we’re aware that the permission of the Lord to intercede and heal was given as a result of theor servitude to the Lord.”
In conclusion, Hujjat al-Islam Vaez-Shahidi emphasized, “God has said to us that we can ask Him for our needs through the Ahl al-Bayt and explained that Lady Fatimah al-Ma’sumah and the Ahl al-Bayt are the means of divine grace of God to His servants.”
Rasa News Agency
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