Past eventOther · The Lantern of the Path · Session 14

The Responsibility of Belief in Prophethood

Wednesday, 26 February 2025

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Prophethood, Part 9 You can say the creed correctly every day of your life and, by this session's argument, still not be a believer. The session opens with a deliberately unflattering comparison: a person who learns a distant religious office has changed hands changes nothing about how he lives — the news carries no obligation. Is testifying that Muhammad is God's messenger, said daily in the call to prayer, the same kind of belief? The answer given is no. Belief in prophethood is framed as a contract, not a slogan: it commits the believer to continuing the Prophet's unfinished work, in whatever measure he is able, and failing to do so while still calling himself a believer makes the testimony a lie — the same charge the Qur'an levels at the hypocrites who told the Prophet to his face, "we bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of God". The most vivid image is of a man who sees two sides forming — the Prophet's, and everyone opposed to him — and, wanting neither the discomfort of joining nor the guilt of openly opposing, pitches his tent in the empty ground between them. He is told plainly that this position does not exist: neutrality between truth and falsehood is not neutral. Imam Husayn's road to Karbala is invoked, where people who offered a horse or a sword from a safe distance, rather than themselves, were counted among those who had not come at all. Once you have said the words, what precisely do you now owe? What the evening covers A belief that changes nothing. Why a creed that makes no difference to how you live is not the kind of belief prophethood asks for. The hypocrites' oath. Why God calls a verbal testimony of faith a lie when it is not backed by action. The man in the middle. The allegory of the believer who tries to stand between the Prophet's side and its opponents, and why the option does not exist. Karbala's offer. Why a horse or a sword sent from a distance was not counted as standing with Imam Husayn, peace be upon him.

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وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام): الْمَنِيَّةُ وَلَا الدَّنِيَّةُ وَالتّقَلُّلُ وَلَا التَّوَسُّلُ وَمَنْ لَمْ يُعْطَ قَاعِداً لَمْ يُعْطَ قَائِماً وَالدَّهْرُ يَوْمَانِ: يَوْمٌ لَكَ، وَيَوْمٌ عَلَيْكَ؛ فَإذَا كَانَ لَكَ فَلاَ تَبْطَرْ، وَإِذَا كَانَ عَلَيْكَ فَاصْبِرْ!

Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: Let it be death but not humiliation. Let it be little but not through others. He who does not get while sitting will not get by standing either. The world has two days one for you and the other against you. When the day is for you, do not feel proud but when it is against you endure it.

Nahjul Balagha, Saying 396, Section 1