this divine command, until these verses descended amidst the final
revelation:
“O Apostle, convey that which was sent down to you from your
Lord; for if you do not, you will not have conveyed his message.
God will protect you from the people; surely God guides not the
rejecters of faith”.4
Shiites believe that Muhammad heeded this decree by declaring ‘Ali
as his successor before a mass of followers at the spring of Ghadir
Khumm, on the way back from his final pilgrimage. From the start
there was dissent and some even plotted to kill the prophet.5
Aside from verse 5:67, Shiites ground their esotericism in verses
3:6-7 of the Quran, where the Book declares concerning itself: It is He who has revealed to you the Book. Some of its verses
are precise in meaning – they are the foundation of the Book –
and others are ambiguous. Those whose hearts are infected with
disbelief follow the ambiguous part, so as to create dissension
by seeking to explain it. But no one knows its meaning except
God. [And] Those who are well-grounded in knowledge say: ‘We
believe in it; it is all from our Lord.’
In the original Arabic the text lacks punctuation, and so while
Sunni’s see a break between “except God” and “[And] [T]hose who
are firmly grounded in knowledge…”, Shiites read them as a single
sentence. Two completely contradictory meanings emerge. On the
one hand, Sunnis (unless they also happen to be Sufis) insist that
the verse is a command by God forbidding all human beings from
interpreting the mysterious verses of the Quran, whose meanings 3 Ibid., 193.
4 N.J. Dawood (translator) The Koran (New York: Penguin Classics, 1995), 5:67.
5 Ayoub, “The Speaking Qur’an and the Silent Qur’an”, 195-196.
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are known to God alone, and instead adhere to the legal and ethical
precepts of the clear verses. On the other hand, Shiites (as well as
Sufi Sunnis) interpret the verse as meaning that there is an esoteric
mystical dimension of the Quran which is hidden from ordinary
people, but is understood by “those firmly rooted in knowledge”
whom God has made “pure” in the sense of being infallible. These
chosen ones, argue the Shiites, are the twelve Imams. Ayoub explains
how Shiites see them as vice-regents that rein after every messenger
of God, serving as intermediaries between the message entrusted to
the Prophet and the people to receive it.
According to Shiites the interpretive medium of the Imams is
necessary for people to understand and properly follow the Quran.6
This is because, as Ayoub writes:
“…the Quran has many levels or dimensions of meaning. The
most important principle of Shi’i tafsir, therefore, is that ‘the Quran has an outer dimension ( zahir) and an inner dimension ( batin); its inner dimension has yet another dimension, up to
seven inner dimensions.’”7
While previous religions have also had Imams, they are accorded
an unprecedented place in Islam. This is on account of Muhammad
being the ‘seal of the prophets’, which means that in the wake of his
death there will not be another messenger, and so the message of God
is entrusted to the Imams until the end of Time. These Imams were
so persecuted that the twelfth of them, son of Hassan Al-Asghari,
was forced into hiding during childhood in the year 874 AD. He
communicated with his followers indirectly, issuing decrees through
a few messengers until the time of what should be his natural death.
Thereafter, Shiites believe, he enters ‘greater occultation’ (a mystical veiled presence in the world), from which he will return as the
Messiah at the end of Time. He will then judge Muslims according
to the true exegesis of the Quran and establish a millennial kingdom of righteousness on Earth preceding Judgment Day.
6 Ibid., 182-183; 186-187.
7 Ibid., 187.
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Ayoub admits that Shiites believe that the Imams are the very
purpose of God’s creation, their luminous bodies being born, and
their authority being decreed, before all else.8 He quotes Imam Ja’far saying:
“God made our authority the pole of the Quran and the pole of
all scriptures. Around it the clear verses of the Quran revolve; through it scriptures were elucidated and through it faith
becomes manifest.”9
In fact, being created neither in the manner nor at the same time
as human beings, the Imams do not even seem to be ‘human’ but
rather arch-principles on the basis of which God creates the world
of time and space: “[the Imams] are the purpose of the creation, and
the purpose of their creation is the purpose of the Truth [that is,
God].”10
A close reading of the Quran poses serious problems for
this scheme of Shiite (and Sufi) esotericism. The idea of Imams
introduces a hierarchy of believers into Islam that is fundamental y
against the spirit of the Quran. Adam’s (read humanity’s) covenant with God is marked by his recognition of servitude,11 and God
repeatedly reminds Muslims that even the most exalted messengers
are not beyond his wrathful reproach.12 Prophets are different
from their fellow human beings only in their perfect submission
to God. Furthermore, with an eye to the idolatrous sin committed
by Christians who ‘associated’ the prophet Jesus with God,
Muhammad time and again explicitly forbid praise and worship
of himself, especial y by forbidding all forms of religious imagery
including portraits of himself. While Shiites claim that the Imams
are infallible, we clearly see Muhammad’s fallibility in verse 80:1 of a 8 Ibid., 180.
9 Ibid., 181.
10 Ibid., 180.
11 Dawood,
The Koran, 7:172.
12 Ibid., 5:17-18, 110-118.
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Surrah that takes its theme from God’s chastisement of the Prophet
for having turned a deaf ear to a sincere believer while seeking to
persuade wealthy hypocrites. The Quran also explicitly claims that Muhammad did not have any secret knowledge of the kind Shiites
impute to him. In verse 6:50 God tel s Muhammad to: “Say: I do not
tell you that I possess God’s treasures or know what is hidden…I
follow only that which is revealed to me.” Of course, aside from the
ambiguous verses 3:6-7 and 5:67 cited above, the Quran makes no mention of the Imams whatsoever. Rather, it repeatedly announces
itself to be addressed to the soul of each and every believer, on behalf of which no one can mediate or intercede on the Day of Judgment.
It is noteworthy that the passage 3:6-7 cited above from the
Quran speaks of the clear and ambiguous verses of the book as
two distinct kinds of verses, and exhorts the believers to follow the
former without a doubt. The context of verses 3:6-7 of the Quran
make it clear that the foundation of the text is actual y what Shiites claim to be the ‘exoteric’, and what they claim to be ‘esoteric’ is merely peripheral: “[S]ome of the verses are precise in meaning – they are
the foundation of the book – others are ambiguous.” Yet Imam Ja’far
says that the entire Quran enfolds a mysterious dimension that lies beyond the literal meaning of its verses. He says: “We possess such
knowledge of God’s sanctions and prohibitions as would oblige us
to keep its secret, not telling anyone about it.”13 If by this mysterious pronouncement the Sixth Imam means to at all suggest that
knowledge of the interior dimension of the Quran would challenge the ordinary believer’s adherence to exoteric dogmas and decrees,
there is no basis for this in the Quran whatsoever.
Genuinely mysterious passages ( mutashabih) in the Quran are rare and they are clearly different in tone from its straightforward
precepts ( muhkam). One example is the evocation of God’s
omnipresent Light, lit by a metaphorical olive tree, in verse 24:35:
“God is the light of the heavens and the earth. His light may be
compared to a niche that enshrines a lamp, the lamp within a
13 Ayoub, “The Speaking Qur’an and the Silent Qur’an”, 187.
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crystal of star-like brilliance. It is lit from a blessed olive tree
neither eastern nor western. Its very oil would almost shine
forth, though no fire touched it. Light upon light; God guides to
His light whom He wil ”.
Another example is verse 18:109, which may suggest that God’s
Word extends beyond the portion of it that has been recorded in the
Quran revealed to Muhammad:
“Say, if every sea became ink for the words of my Lord, surely,
the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were
exhausted, even if a similar amount is brought as additional
supply”.
However, these passages are ‘mysterious’ precisely because we who
are fallible would only be guessing at their meanings, and thus
running the risk of heretical “innovation” ( bidah). This would be especial y heretical if we were to suggest that whatever inner
meaning they possessed were to call into question the clear precepts
of the faith. Even if the mysterious image of verse 24:35 ends with
the phrase “God speaks in metaphors to men/ God has knowledge
of all things”, it is emphatical y clear from verses 3:6-7 that this
does not mean that all of the verses and precepts of the Quran are metaphorical, only a few, while the others are explicitly clear
( muhkam) and it these latter verses that constitute the foundation of the faith to be followed by all believers. Likewise, if 18:109 implies that God’s word extends to other precepts not encompassed by the
Quran revealed to Muhammad, this can only mean that God did not wish the Islamic ‘umma to live by these precepts but rather by those which were indeed revealed.
To be sure, there are certain statements in the Quran that imply there is an essence of the faith that underlies its rituals. However,
there is nothing mystical about this, rather it concerns an almost
perpetual dread of the judgment and a profound hope for God’s
mercy. In 25:63-64 we hear: ”True servants of the Merciful are
those who walk humbly on the earth and say: ‘Peace!’ to the
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ignorant who accost them; who pass the night standing and on
their knees in adoration of their Lord; who say: ‘Lord, ward off
from us the punishment of Hel , for its punishment is everlasting:
an evil dwelling and an evil resting place’.” Verse 32:15-16 echoes the suggestion that only believers of this kind are ‘true’ servants of God, and Verse 76:25-27 again evokes the all-night vigil of sincere prayer
as well as perpetual remembrance of the Lord: “Remember the name
of your Lord morning and evening; in the night-time worship Him:
praise Him all night long.”
It may be the case that if one’s faith in these profound and
essential certain infractions of sharia will be overlooked because one’s nafs is general y mortified by the dread of God (in a sense somewhat similar to Pauline Christian ‘mortification’ rendering
one ‘sinless’). In respect to dietary restrictions, verse 5:93 declares:
“No blame shall be attached to those that have embraced the Faith
and done good works in regard to any food they may have eaten, so
long as they fear God and believe in Him and do good works… God
loves the charitable.” In respect to ritual prayer verse 29:45 declares:
“Prayer fends off indecency and evil. But your foremost duty is
to remember God. God has knowledge of all your actions.”
Verses 5:44-45 offer forgiving non-retaliation as a way to expiate
one’s sins. This offer is made in the context of citing the Torah’s law of commensurate punishment, and this would imply that similar
laws in the Quran that decree certain proper recompense for certain wrongs done to individuals can be discarded by the wronged
individuals themselves in favor of forgiveness. However, the verse
ends by clearly making the point that this does not mean one can
invent other (harsher or more lenient) laws dealing with punishment
for transgressions against oneself or others. The verse only gives the choice between total forgiveness, by which some of one’s sins may
be expiated, or complete adherence to the letter of the Quran’s own code of justice:
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“We have revealed the Torah, in which there is a guidance and
a light...We decreed [therein] for them a life for a life, an eye
for eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth,
and a wound for a wound. But if a man charitably forbears from
retaliation, his remission shall atone for him. Transgressors are those that do not judge according to God’s revelations.”
Thus we see that the pardons explicitly mentioned by the Quran
are restricted to infractions concerning dietary restrictions and
spontaneously perpetual remembrance of God), but certainly not
the legal precepts of the Quran. Moreover, the infractions remain as such, i.e. as ‘sins’ against real prohibitions, but they are outweighed by the believer’s righteousness: “As for those that have faith and do
good works, We shall cleanse them of their sins and reward them
according to their noblest deeds.”14
This notion of essential verses superficial belief and practice
is supported by the Quran’s use of the two terms mu’minin and muslimin to refer to believers. The former simply means ‘believer’, while the latter means ‘submitter’. Every Muslim, with a capital ‘M’,
is a ‘believer’ in the dogma of the Quran, but only certain believers
truly live in submission to God with their whole heart, soul and
wil . These two stages of belief are most clearly contrasted in verse
3:102 of the Quran: “O believers ( mu’minin), fear God as He ought to be feared, and become true submitters ( muslimin) before you die.” Here those who have already accepted the Islamic religion are
being addressed, not unbelievers, and so there is the implication
that adherence to dogma does not necessitate the heartfelt or sincere
faith upon which salvation depends.
In addition to verses 3:6-7 discussed above, the Quran takes
great pains to make clear that its injunctions are perfect, eternal y
valid, and are to be followed without any alteration. Verses 6:114-116
depict the Quran as a perfect and complete guide to life that should be follow
ed over the opinions of the majority of people in the world:
14 Dawood,
The Koran, 29:7.
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“Should I seek a judge other than God when it is he who has
revealed the Book for you with all its precepts? Those to whom
we gave the scriptures know that it is the truth revealed by your
Lord. Therefore have no doubts. Perfected are the words of your
Lord in truth and justice. None can change his words. If you
obeyed the greater part of those on earth, they would lead you
away from God’s path.”
Verses 43:2 and 85:21-22 both clearly state that the Quran is a literal transcript of an “eternal book” inscribed on an “imperishable tablet”
in God’s keeping:
“We have revealed the Koran in the Arabic tongue that you may
understand its meaning. It is a transcript of the eternal book in
Our keeping, sublime, full of wisdom”;15 “Surely this is a glorious
Koran, inscribed on an imperishable tablet”.16
If one has any remaining doubt as to the eternal validity of the verses of this book inscribed on the heavenly tablet and merely translated
for Muhammad, verses 86:12-14 leave us with no doubt: “By the
sky that thunders, by the earth that splits, this [Qur’an] is a word
once and for al , not meant lightly.” Verse 2:85 insists that the Quran must be followed in the entirety of its injunctions, which means
that whether or not one has a more profound inner faith one is still
bound by its legal precepts:
“Can you believe in one part of the Scriptures and deny another?
Those of you that act thus shall be rewarded with disgrace
in this world and with grievous punishment on the Day of
Resurrection.”
This condemnation for heresy on account of selective belief is
echoed by verses 2:174-177:
15 Ibid., 43:2.
16 Ibid., 85:21-22.
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“Those that suppress any part of the Scriptures which God has
revealed in order to gain some paltry end shall swallow nothing
but fire into their bellies…That is because God has revealed the
Book with the truth; those that disagree about it are in extreme
schism.”
In light of these passages verses 3:6-7, which are used by Shiites as
evidence of an esoteric dimension of the Quran and of the authority of the Imams to interpret it, cannot mean that the gnosis of this ‘esoteric’