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3. Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (p): The eminence of Imam Ali (p) is that
he accepted what was brought by Prophet Muhammad (p), and refrained
from what he forbade. Obligation to obey him (Imam Ali (p)) was
established after the demise of the Prophet Muhammad (p) in the
same way as that for the Prophet Muhammad (p), but superiority belongs
to the Prophet Muhammad (p). One who projects himself ahead of Imam
Ali (p) is as though he wished to project himself ahead of God and
His Prophet. And one who imagines himself to be superior to Imam
Ali (p) is as if he imagined himself to be superior to the Prophet
Muhammad (p). And one, who rejects any of the rulings of Imam Ali
(p), small or big, reflects polytheism.
Prophet Muhammad (p) is the door to God. No one reaches God unless
he passes through this door. The Prophet Muhammad (p) is the path
to God. And whoever took this path found God, to Whom belong Might
and Majesty. And after the Prophet Muhammad (p), Imam Ali (p) is
(of) the same (degree), after him the Imams (p); one after the other.
God has made them the pillars of the earth who kept it stable with
all its inhabitants. God has made the Imams the mainstay of Islam
and the keepers of the path of true guidance to Him. No one is guided
except through their guidance and no one will go astray except through
his negligence in fulfilling his obligations towards the Imams (p).
The Imams (p) are the custodians of the knowledge of God, the bounties,
and the warnings that God has sent down. The Imams (p) are the established
Proof for whoever is on the earth. All that was established for
the first of them (Imams (p)) is established by God for the last
of them. And no one can reach this status except with the help of
God.
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