to judge between them, is to say, ‘We hear and obey.’ It is they who are successful.”
He also says:
“Whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger will be with those whom Allah has blessed: the prophets, the steadfastly truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous. What excellent companions they are!”
Allah Most High also says:
“These are the limits set by Allah. Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, He will admit them into Gardens beneath which rivers flow, to remain there forever. That is the great triumph.”
“But whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits, He will admit him into a Fire, to remain there forever, and he will have a humiliating punishment.”
Allah Most High also says:
“Messengers bearing good news and warnings, so that people would have no argument against Allah after the messengers.”
Allah Most High also says:
“We never punish until We have sent a messenger.”
Allah Most High also says:
“If you establish prayer, give zakah, believe in My messengers and support them, and lend Allah a good loan, I will surely absolve you of your misdeeds.”
There are many such passages in the Quran in which He explains the bliss of those who believe in the messengers, follow them, and obey them, and the misery of those who do not believe in them or follow them, but instead disobey them. If anyone other than the Messenger were infallible in what he commands and forbids, his standing in this respect would be the same as that of the Messenger. A prophet sent to people is a messenger to them, unlike one who has not been sent to them.
Thus, if anyone who issues commands and prohibitions to people—whether an imam, a scholar, a religious guide, or any other person in authority, from the Prophet’s household or otherwise—were infallible, he would have the same standing as the Messenger in this respect. Whoever obeyed him would be assured of Paradise, and whoever disobeyed him would be condemned to the Fire, as those who assert the infallibility of ‘Alī or other imams maintain. Indeed, whoever obeyed him would be a believer, and whoever disobeyed him would be a disbeliever. These people would be like the prophets of the Children of Israel, and it would therefore not