Do we need the Imam for Guidance or is God Enough?

A small but important point about human guides "other than" God.

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Contributor:

Khayal ‘Aly
Ismaili Gnosis: Senior Research Associate

Follow on Instagram @
(khayal.aly; ismaili.poetry; khana_yi_khayr)

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Who is our Guide (Hadi)?

One of the names of God, as can be expected, is Hādi (Guide), but it becomes obvious by reading the Holy Qur’an that the Prophet of God is also hādi, as is the divinely appointed Imam [see 22:54, 30:53, 13:7, 21:73 below].

وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَهَادِ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطٍۢ مُّسْتَقِيمٍۢ

And verily Allah is the Guide of those who believe to the straight path.
« 22:54 »

وَمَآ أَنتَ بِهَـٰدِ ٱلْعُمْىِ عَن ضَلَـٰلَتِهِمْ ۖ إِن تُسْمِعُ إِلَّا مَن يُؤْمِنُ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا فَهُم مُّسْلِمُونَ

And you cannot guide the blind away from their error. You will only make hear those who believe in Our signs and are submitters.
« 30:53 »

وَيَقُولُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لَوْلَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ ءَايَةٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦٓ ۗ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُنذِرٌۭ ۖ وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٍ

And those who disbelieve say: ‘Why has not a sign been sent down upon him from his Lord?’ You are only a warner and for every people there is a guide.
« 13:7 »

وَجَعَلْنَـٰهُمْ أَئِمَّةًۭ يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِنَا وَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْهِمْ فِعْلَ ٱلْخَيْرَٰتِ وَإِقَامَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ وَإِيتَآءَ ٱلزَّكَوٰةِ ۖ وَكَانُوا۟ لَنَا عَـٰبِدِينَ

And We made them Imams who guide by Our command, and We inspired to them the doing of good and the establishment of prayer and the giving of zakāh, and Us did they serve.
« 21:73 »

It is quite clear that in the Qur’an it is not God alone who is referred to as a guide; Prophets and Imams are also appointed and designated as inspired guides who guide people by the Command (amr) of Allah. Yet, in the Qur’an we also read:

وَكَفَىٰ بِرَبِّكَ هَادِيًۭا وَنَصِيرًۭا
“But your Lord is sufficient
as a guide and helper.”

— Holy Qur’an 25:31

This tells us that God Himself is sufficient for the guidance of people; He does not need ‘anyone else’. Therefore, since the Qur’an itself mentions the Prophets and Imams as guides for the people, we can be sure that the Prophets and the Imams are not to be considered, with respect to God, as ‘anyone else’. Rather, the Prophets and Imams, who guide by God’s command and are the “holders of authority” (ulu’l-amr, 4:59), are understood to be the maẓhars (persons or places of manifestation) of God’s sacred light. Therefore, their friendship and love are the friendship and love of God, since their guidance is, in fact, the guidance of God.

(All of the above, with slight editing, reformatting and minor additions, is almost entirely derived from ‘Allāmah Naṣīr al-Dīn Naṣīr Hunzai, Walāyat Nāmah, tr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai, The Book of Walāyat, 25.)

About God’s sunnah of establishing His system of guidance, ‘Allamah Hunzai writes in his book, True Vision,

In the preceding examples, the Divine law has been explained that the Holy Prophet was the guardian and guide of the religion of God, but he, by the command of God, also kept the fountainhead of knowledge, wisdom and guidance continuing forever in this world by means of the heavenly Book and the true Imām. This means that the guidance of the Imām of the time is that of the Prophet and his guidance is that of God, as it is clear from verse 25:31: “And your Lord is sufficient as a guide and helper.”

The purpose of this wisdom-filled teaching is that the system of guidance which God has ordained for mankind according to His sunnat (law) and habit is acceptable to Him and praised here. And that system is that His guidance and help always continue by means of the True Guides. Thus, it is certain that the guidance of the Prophets and Imāms is the guidance of God, because it is they who are commanded by and merged in God (wāsil bi'llāh).

‘Allāmah Naṣīr al-Dīn Naṣīr Hunzai, Ḥaqīqī Dīdār, tr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Rashida Noor-Mohamed Hunzai, True Vision,13.

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