And He said:

“We desire to show favor to those who were oppressed in the land, to make them leaders and inheritors, and to establish them in the land.”

[Surah al-Qasas: 5–6]

These, then, are several Quranic texts in which Allah appointed [imams](1) from among Abraham’s descendants before our community.

If, however, “the supplication culminated in us” is intended to mean that there would be no imam after us, it would follow that neither al-Hasan, al-Husayn, nor anyone else could be an imam. This is false by consensus(2). Furthermore, the reasoning that he had never prostrated before an idol [is](3) itself a rationale that applies equally to all Muslims who came after them.

Fourth: A person’s never having prostrated before an idol is a virtue shared by everyone born into Islam. Yet the earliest forerunners are superior to him; how, then, could the less virtuous be deemed worthy of this rank to the exclusion of the more virtuous?

Fifth: If it were said that he never prostrated before an idol because he embraced Islam before puberty and thus did not prostrate after embracing Islam, the same is true of every Muslim, while a child is not legally accountable.

If it is claimed that he had never prostrated before accepting Islam, this claim is not established, nor is its proponent someone whose word can be trusted.

It may further be said: It is not invariably the case that everyone who has never disbelieved or committed a major sin is superior to someone who repented of it. Indeed, one who repents of unbelief and wickedness may be superior to one who has neither disbelieved nor acted wickedly, as the [Mighty](4) Book indicates. Allah favored those who spent and fought before the Conquest over those who spent and fought afterward. All the former embraced Islam after [unbelief](5), whereas among the latter are some who were born into Islam. He also favored