Imam in Quran
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask
for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever
He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that
there is no one (no idol, no
person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai, nobody!) worthy of
worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant
and the seal of His Messengers.
Allah mentions the word ‘imam’ many times in the Holy
Quran; and the word ‘imam’ has several meanings in the Arabic language,
depending on the context in which it has been used.
Basically, an ‘imaam’ is used to mean a leader or a
guide, but Allah has also used the
world ‘imaam’ to mean ‘Book’ (Chapter 11 Surah Hud verse 17 and Chapter 36
Surah Ya Seen verse 3) , or a ‘way’ (Chapter 15 Surah Hijr verse 79).
In spoken Arabic, Imam also means one who leads, just like
every person who leads the congregational prayer is called an ‘Imam”.
Now, to your specific question:
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 17 Surah
Israa verse 71:One day We shall call together all human beings with their
(respective) Imams: those who are given their record in their right hand will
read it (with pleasure), and they will not be dealt with unjustly in the least.
It is a natural phenomena and fact that every people or
every community has a leader. And the main
leader or ‘imaam’ of the Islamic Ummah will be the Prophet of Allah
(saws). Then, after the death of the
Prophet of Allah (saws), whoever took over the leadership of the believers, and
then so on and so forth until the end of time.
What Allah is portraying to us is something that will
happen on the Day of Judgment in His Court.
He will gather all mankind together, and group them with their
respective ‘imams’ or leaders.
Thus, to understand or picturize the concept of the
gathering of the people with their respective leader or Imam as used in aayah
71, it will be like a army is gathered in a parade in this world. The Messenger of Allah (saws) will be the
Supreme Imam or leader of the Islamic Ummah and he will have the whole Ummah of
the believers behind him. Then there
will be smaller imams or leaders within the ranks whom the people followed,
just like behind the Generals in the Army there are smaller positions like a
Major, a Captain, a Lieutenant, and then each leader has a battalion of foot
soldiers behind the leader.
Thus, if the leader that one follows is a true god-fearing
leader, he would have done right and called on his people to obey Allah and the
Messenger (saws), and will lead himself and his followers to success in the
hereafter.
But if a leader was a fraud, and was more interested in
earning the paltry gains and profits of the world, he would have guided his followers to falsehood and told them
to invoke and worship him and his
ancestors in their graves or other things, without any authority from Allah and His Messenger (saws); these leaders and imams will lead themselves
and their followers into the Hell Fire.
This can be better understood from the continuing verse 72 of the same
Surah Isra:
And the one who leads his life in this world as if he were
blind (to the Signs of Allah), shall be (raised up) blind in the Hereafter
too. Nay! He shall fare even worse than a blind person in finding the Way.
There are many aayahs in the Holy Quran where Allah show
how these false leaders and imams will lead their followers into Hell Fire, and
the conversations that these false leaders will have with their congregation in
the Fire of Hell, when they will openly oppose and curse and blame each other
for their state.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 11 Surah
Hud verses 96-98:And We sent Moses with Our Signs and a manifest authority of
appointment to Pharaoh and the chiefs of his kingdom. But they followed the command of Pharaoh, and unrighteous was
Pharaoh’s command! On the Day of
Resurrection, he will head his people
and lead them to Hell! What a wretched
goal for one to reach!!!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 40 Surah
Mumin verse 47-48:Then imagine the time when these people will be disputing
with one another in Hell. The weak
ones will say to the haughty ones, “We were your followers! Now, can you save us from some part of our
punishment in Hell?” The haughty ones
will say, “We are all in the same state here, and Allah has already passed
judgment between His servants.”
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah
Ahzab verse 66-68:On the Day their faces are rolled about on the Fire, they
will say, “Would that we had obeyed Allah and His Messenger!” And they will say, “O our Lord, we obeyed
our CHIEFS and our GREAT MEN, and they led us astray from the Right Path. O our Lord, give them a double chastisement
and curse them severely”.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 19 Surah
Maryam verses 81-82:These people have set up other gods that Allah, so that they
may become their supporters! There
will be no supporters! They will not
only disown your worship, but also become their opponents.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter16 Surah
Nahl verses 86-87:When the people who had committed shirk in this world will
see those whom they had made associates with Allah, they will say, “Our Lord,
here are those associate-deities whom we used to invoke besides You.” At this their deities will retort, “You are
liars!” At that time, all of them will
proffer submission before Allah, and all that they used to forge in this world
shall vanish from them.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 25 Surah
Furqan verses 17-19:And on that Day,
(Your Lord) will gather all these people together as well as those whom
they used to invoke besides Allah and ask them, “Did you mislead these servants
of Mine, or did they themselves go astray?”
Those associate-deities will answer, “Glory be to You! We dared not take any ‘auliya’ besides You.
You did give them and their forefathers all the good things of life till they
forgot the Admonition, and incurred the punishment.” Thus will your deities deny all that you are professing
today! Then you shall neither be able
to repel your punishment, nor shall you be able to get any help from anywhere. And whoever is guilty of iniquity among you,
We shall make him taste a severe torment!
There, we must always be careful to choose our leaders. We
must choose good righteous leaders, who call us to worship Allah and obey and
follow the commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws). But if we choose false leaders and obey
them in invoking and worshipping others besides Allah Subhanah, we will be
raised up with them and thrown together with them in the Hell Fire for denying
the Truth from Allah and His Messenger (saws).
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to
Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only
Source of Strength.
Your Brother in
Islam,
Burhan
