Imams (as) are Waseela (means) to approach Allah(swt)

ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ بَعْضِ أَصْحَابِهِ عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ حَنَانٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ سَوْرَةَ عَنْ سَمَاعَةَ قَالَ قَالَ لِي أَبُو الْحَسَنِ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) إِذَا كَانَ لَكَ يَا سَمَاعَةُ إِلَى الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ حَاجَةٌ فَقُلِ اللهمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ بِحَقِّ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلِيٍّ فَإِنَّ لَهُمَا عِنْدَكَ شَأْناً مِنَ الشَّأْنِ وَقَدْراً مِنَ الْقَدْرِ فَبِحَقِّ ذَلِكَ الشَّأْنِ وَبِحَقِّ ذَلِكَ الْقَدْرِ أَنْ تُصَلِّيَ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَأَنْ تَفْعَلَ بِي كَذَا وَكَذَا فَإِنَّهُ إِذَا كَانَ يَوْمُ الْقِيَامَةِ لَمْ يَبْقَ مَلَكٌ مُقَرَّبٌ وَلا نَبِيٌّ مُرْسَلٌ وَلا مُؤْمِنٌ مُمْتَحَنٌ إِلا وَهُوَ يَحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهِمَا فِي ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمِ.

Narrated by Sama'a that Abu al-Hasan Imam Kazim (ع) said,

"O Sama’a, whenever you have a need from Allah (عز وجل), then say: "O Allah, I ask You through the rights of Muhammad (ص) and Ali (ع), as they have a special rank/significance and value near You, so by the rights of that rank and value, bestow favors (salawaat) upon Muhammad and his family (ع), and do for me such & such (ask for the needs)."

For Indeed, On the Day of Judgment, there will remain no closest angels, no Messenger Prophets, and no tested believers, but that they will be in need of these two (i.e. Muhammad ص & Ali ع) on that Day."

[Source: al-Kafi, Vol. 2, Pg. 564]

Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) said:

When Adam (a.s.) failed to cling to the preferable and left it, he confessed to his sin and sought pardon saying: O Lord! Kindly accept my repentance and excuse and grant me my earlier rank and raise my status, because the effect of this fault of mine has appeared in all parts of my body.

At that time, Almighty said: O Adam! Do you not remember that I had called upon you that when you face calamities and troubles, you must give the mediation of Muhammad and his progeny (a.s.) and then you should pray to Me?

Adam said: Indeed O Lord! I do recall it.

Allah said: Seek the mediation, especially of Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain (a.s.) and ask from Me. I will answer your request and grant you more than your want.

Adam submitted: O Allah! O my Lord! Their rank, in my sight, has reached so much that, through their mediation, my mistake has been pardoned by You, though You had commanded the angels to prostrate before me and You made Your Paradise available to me and You married Your slave-girl, Hawwa, with me and You made angels my servants (how much beneficent You are)!

In reply, Almighty said: O Adam! I had asked angels to prostrate only because you were the container of these Five Precious Personalities and had you, before your mistake, requested me, making them mediators to protect you from mistake and even to make you aware of the delusion of Iblees for being protected from his evil, I would have accepted that request also. But whatever becomes known to Me earlier comes true. Now you may pray to Me making them your Waseelah. I will certainly accept it.

Then Adam (a.s.) prayed like this: O Allah, I give You the Waseelah of Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and of his Purified Progeny, I repeat, of the mediation of Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain (a.s.) and of their progeny (a.s.), please forgive my mistake and make me regain the rank You have so graciously granted to me and grant me more through Your generosity.

In reply the Almighty Allah said: O Adam! I have accepted your prayer and am pleased with you and I have turned My gifts and grants towards you and re-established you to your earlier rank, which I had granted you by My grace and now I have given full benefits of My unfathomable bounties.

Source: Tafseer of Imam Hasan Askari(as), Sura-e-Baqara, Verse 35-39

Imam Zainul Aabideen (a.s.) said:

When the Almighty Allah transferred our forms from Paradise to earth, that is when He placed the forms of we five from above Arsh to the back of Adam (a.s.) they did see your light but could not see our shades or figures.

So they asked the Almighty: O Lord! What is behind this Light?

Almighty Allah said: These are radiances of figures I have transferred from higher stations to your loins and since you are made the carrier of these figures, I have ordered the angels to prostrate before you. Upon hearing this divine voice, Adam (a.s.) submitted to the Almighty: O Lord! I wish to look at them. Came the Command: O Adam! Look towards the High Arsh.

When Adam (a.s.) looked up and when the light of our figures fell on the Arsh and it got reflected there like in a mirror, Adam (a.s.) saw our figures and submitted: O Allah! Who are these?

Came the Voice: O Adam! These are the figures of those who are higher in rank than of all My Creation. This one is Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and I am Mahmood, that is, I have been praised for each of My deeds and I have given him a branch of my Name and this is Ali and I am High and Mighty (Aliun Azeem) and I have granted him a branch from My Names. I am the Creator of the skies and the earth and this is Fatima (a.s.), that is, she is the separator of My enemies from My Mercy on Judgment Day and also is the distancer of My friends from the causes of defects in them and thus I have granted her a branch from My names and this is Hasan (a.s.) and this is Husain (a.s.) and I am the Mohsin (the Benefactor) and Mujmal (the provider of good) and I have branched the names of these two also from My names and these five personalities are the most high ranking and dearly selected from My creation and I will accept all obedience and worships because of them, grant forgiveness due to them, chastise the evildoers on account of them and will reward good-doers due to them and therefore, O Adam! You should take Waseelah (medium) while approaching Me and whenever you face any calamity, make them your intercessor while praying and asking from Me because I have vowed not to disappoint anyone who asks from Me by making them intercessors.

The Imam (a.s.) says that this is why when Adam (a.s.) erred (Tark-e-Awla) and he, thereafter, giving the mediation (Waseelah) of these five personalities, sought forgiveness from Him, the Almighty Allah accepted his repentance and pardoned him.

Source: Tafseer of Imam Hasan Askari(as), Sura-e-Baqara, Verse 34

Regarding the Almighty’s words in Sura-e-Baqara, Verse 54:

و اذ قال موسي لقومه يا قوم انكم ظلمتم انفسكم باتخاذكم العجل فتوبوا الي باريكم فاقتلوا انفسكم ذلكم خير لكم عند باريكم فتاب عليكم انه هو التواب الرحيم

And when Musa said to his people: O my people! you have surely been unjust to yourselves by taking the calf (for a god), therefore turn to your Creator (penitently), so kill your people, that is best for you with your Creator: so He turned to you (mercifully), for surely He is the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful.

Imam Hasan Askqari(as) narrates the whole event:

When Almighty Allah falsified the calf drama through the hands of Musa (a.s.), He granted power of speech to that animal so that Samiri’s trick and cheating may be revealed to all. His Eminence, Musa (a.s.) then ordered that those who refrained from calf-worship may kill the calf-worshippers.

Most calf-worshippers then denied their sin saying: We did not worship it. At that time Allah asked Musa (a.s.) to break down that metal statue into tiny particles and throw that dust in the river. Then those who had worshipped it and who drank that water, found that their lips and nose have turned black. This made them distinct offenders.

Then Allah ordered those 12000 who did not worship the calf, to kill with their swords the black-faced ones. Then an announcer announced from Almighty that there is a cursed one from among the killed ones who tried to keep back the killer with their hands and feet. And from the killers too those are cursed ones who, while so killing, may leave out friends and near and dear ones and kill only those who were not known to them. In short, the sinners bowed down their heads to be killed and the killers who were innocent said to Musa (a.s.): Though we did not worship the calf our offence is more severe because we have to kill our fathers, mothers, brothers and friends with our own hands. Thus we became equal in this punishment.

Then the Almighty Allah sent a revelation to Musa (a.s.) informing him: O Musa! We entangled these people in the said difficulty because when others were worshipping the false god, they did not go away and did not leave their company. They did not show their enmity towards the sinners. Now tell them: Whoever from them will pray to Me, making Muhammad and his Progeny a medium, it will become easy for those who are ordered to kill others. Accordingly, when they prayed as taught, Allah changed the atmosphere in such a way that the killing became very easy for them. Their number was 6,00,000 besides those who did not worship false god. Thereafter Allah gave good sense to some whereby some of them, before the end of the killing, began to talk among themselves: When the Almighty Allah has made the mediation of Muhammad and his progeny (a.s.) so effective that whoever does so never remains deprived of his wish when even Messengers took full benefit of such mediation at the time of most severe hardships, why not should we also, then, make them our Waseelah? Thereafter, all of them jointly raised a prayer: O Our Lord! We give You the mediation of Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) who, in Your view, is the best creation and the mediation of Ali (a.s.) who is, after him, the best creation and the mediation of Fatima and of Hasan (a.s.) and of Husain (a.s.), who are the grandchildren of the chief of all messengers and the mediation the Holy Imams (a.s.), kindly forgive our sins and overlook our errors and remove this calamity of killing from us.

At that moment a voice came to Musa (a.s.) from the sky: O Musa! Now stop this killing because some of them have requested Me and given me such a vow that had they done it before calf-worship, I would have protected them from it and if even satan had given me such an oath I would have guided him rightly and had Firon and Nimrod done so, I would have given salvation to them too. In short, the slaughtering came to an end. They were telling themselves: Would that we had realized earlier. Woe unto us that we ignored the giving of mediation of Muhammad and his purified progeny. Otherwise Allah would have surely guided us rightly.

Source: Tafseer of Imam Hasan Askari(as), Sura-e-Baqara, Verse 54

The Messenger of Allah(saww) said, “When you want to ask Allah for your needs ask him through the medium.”

So I (Abi Saeed Al Khodri) asked, “What is the medium?”

The Prophet(saw) replied:

The medium is my ladder. It is in Paradise and it has one thousand stairs. The distance between each stair is the distance that a Persian horse will run in one month. The stairs are made of diamonds, aquamarines, corundum, silver and gold.

On the day of judgement, it will be brought and placed in the middle of the ladders of the prophets, and compared to their ladders, my ladder will be like the moon shining amongst the stars.

So there will not be any prophet, truthful being or martyr who does not say “Blessed is the owner of this ladder.”

Then Allah will call with a voice that all of His prophets and all of the creation will hear, “This is the ladder of Mohammad.”

Then I will come with an ABA (gown) of light on my shoulders and I will have the crown of the kingdom and dignity on my head. Ali bin Abi Taleb will be walking in front of me and he will be carrying my flag, the flag of praise which has the following written on it: There is no god but Allah and those who achieve salvation are those with whom Allah is pleased.

When we [the Prophet(saww) and Imam Ali(as)] will pass by the prophets, they will say, “These two are high ranked angels who we do not know and whom we have never seen before.” And when we will pass by the angels, they will say, “These two are two prophets.”

I will reach the ladder and start climbing it and Ali will be following me. When we get to the top, I will sit on the highest stair and Ali will sit on the nest stair below.

There will not be any prophet, truthful one or martyr who does not say, “Blessed are these two slaves. Look at how honourable they are in Allah’s eyes.”

Then Allah will call with a voice that all of the prophets, truthful ones, martyrs and believers will say, “This is My love, Mohammad and this is My Wali, Ali. Blessed are those who loved him [Ali bin Abi Taleb(as)] and woe unto those who hated him and lied about him.”

After hearing this, there will not remain anyone who loved Ali bin Abi Taleb who will not feel relieved and safe and their faces will shine brightly. And there will not remain anyone who hated Ali, fought Ali or ignored his rights who will not be scared. (Rather they will) be trembling with fear and their faces will become dark.

Then two angels will approach Me, Rizwan, the keeper of Paradise and Malik, the keeper of Hell.

Rizwan will say, “Assalamo Alaika Ya Ahmad”

And I will reply, “Wa Alaika Assalaam. Which angel are you? And how beautiful you look and how good you smell.”

He will reply, “I am Rizwan, the keeper of Paradise, and these are the keys of Paradise. Allah sends them to you. So take them, O Ahmad.”

I will tell him, “I have accepted this from Allah. Praise be to Allah who has honoured me with this. Give the keys to my brother Ali bin Abi Taleb.”

Then Malik will come forward and say, “Assalamo Alaika Ya Ahmad”

And I will reply, “Wa Alaika Assalaam. Which angel are you? How ugly you look and how scary is your face!”

He will reply, “I am Malik, the keeper of Hell. These are the keys of Hell. Allah sends them to you. So take them, O Ahmad.”

I will tell him, “I have accepted this from Allah. Praise be to Allah who has honoured me with this. Give the keys to my brother Ali bin Abi Taleb.”

Then Ali bin Abi Taleb will move with the keys in his hand until he stands on the top of Hell. The blazes of fire will be flying, the flames will be extremely high and the heat will be maximised. Ali will be holding Hell’s bridle.

Hell will say to Ali, “Be easy on me because your light is turning off my flames.”

Ali will reply, “Rest assured, O Jahannam(Hell)!”

Then Ali will say, “Take this and leave that alone. Take him – he is my enemy and leave him – he is my friend.”

Hell will be obeying Ali more (obediently) than any slave obeying his master. If he wants, Ali will move Hell right or left. On that day Hell will be obeying Ali more than anyone else ever obeyed Ali.

Source: Basharat ul Mustafa Le Shiyyat e Murtuza, Chapter 1, Hadees 36/Amaali of Sheikh Sudooq, Pg. 102