The Principle of Grace and the Imamah of the Concealed Imam
(part 3)
وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمْ اُدْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ
"Your Lord has said, Call on Me that I may answer you."
اَسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّاراً يُرْسِلُ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِدْرَاراً
"Seek forgiveness from your Lord, since He is Ever-Forgiving; He constantly sends rain upon you from the sky."
وَوَاعَدْنَا مُوْسَى ثَلَثِينَ لَيْلَةً وَأَتْمَمْنَاهَا بِعَشْرٍ
"We covenanted Musa thirty nights, then completed them with ten (nights more)."
فَلَوْلاَ كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٍ آمَنَتْ فَنَفْعِهَا إِيْمَانُهَا إِلاَّ قَوْمُ يُوْنُسٍ لَمَّا آمَنُوا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الْخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَعْنَاهُمْ إِلى حِيَن
"So why did not one of the cities believe that its belief might benefit it except the people of Yunus; when they believed we remove from them the debasing punishment in this world and cause them to enjoy until a specified time."[88]
لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدِنَّكُمْ
"Verily, if you be grateful, I shall increase you (in blessings)."[89]
وَمَنْ يَتَّقِ اللهَ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ مَخْرَجاً وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لاَ يَحْتَسِبُ
"Whoever adopts piety with regard to Allah, He creates for him an escape (from difficulty) and grants him sustenance whence he does not expect."[90]
ذَالِكَ بِأَنَّ اللهَ لَمْ يَكُ مُغَيِّراً نِعْمَةٍ أَنْعَمَهَا عَلَى قَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِم
"That is because Allah does not change any blessing He had granted unto a people until they change what is in themselves."
The bada’ that the Shi‘a believe in, along with belief in the absolute knowledge and power of Allah, is a concept that is understood from such verses. For example, in them it is said that gratitude causes blessings from Allah to increase; Allah delivers a pious person from hardships by virtue of piety (taqwa) and sustains him from an unexpected source; He fulfills needs through prayer; on account of repentance and faith, He distances people from punishment; and because of misuse of blessings, He removes them from people.
Of course, abundant traditions that have been narrated by Shi‘a and Sunnis and similarly manifold stories which have been related in original Islamic sources indicate this point. In fact, if bada’ were not to exist, many religious concepts, such as prayer, reliance on Allah, repentance, charity, kindness towards relatives, gratitude, seeking forgiveness, admonition, granting tidings, and threatening, will be impossible to explain. Bada’ means belief in the effect of these affairs in the life of a person.
Whether we are able to explain bada’ in view of Allah’s absolute knowledge and cognizance of all affairs or are unable to understand its secret and reality, in any case we must believe in the issue of bada’ in accordance with the content of manifold verses of Qur’an and mutawatir traditions.
This is because sometimes, though all the factors and preliminaries for the occurrence of something are present, other factors strip them of their effect and as a result prevent that thing from occurring. In such a case, the existence of those factors, their continuation, and the factors that strip them of their effect are all preserved in the Umm al-Kitab by Divine decree in accordance with the order and arrangement He has specified. Those affairs are also linked to people’s actions by choice, they occur through the will of Allah and His decree. That is, neither compulsion (jabr) is involved, nor delegation (tafwid); rather it is a reality between the two:
لاَ جَبْرَ وَلاَ تَفْوِيضَ بَلْ أَمْرَ بَيْنَ الأَمْرَينِ.
"Neither compulsion (jabr) nor delegation (tafwid), but a matter between the two ideas."
As an example, Allah has decreed that fire should burn or that every created being should develop in its particular course, and if an obstacle comes about, that thing will not exist. Of course, it should be kept in mind that in matters pertaining to matter, if an obstacle to their coming about blocks the causes of an event, this is not called bada’. Only in instances when things like charity, kindness to family, and prayer influence the occurrence or nonoccurrence of an affair such that humanity considers its existence or non-existence definite from the point of view of apparent causes and then the opposite occurs, that is called bada’.
This is though apparently this instance does not have much difference from the previous instance except that the object of effacement and affirmation in the first issue was observable matters and able to be perceived by most or all people, but in the second issue it is non-observable matters; thus, most individuals are unable to perceive it. The second type indicates the existence and influence of the unseen world and the existence of Allah more than the first, though all affairs are from Him.
In summary, the concept of bada’ is the same concept that is well understood from this verse of Qur’an in which Allah the Exalted refutes the false belief of the Jews:
وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ يَدُ اللهِ مَغْلُوْلَةً غُلَّتْ أَيْدِيهِمِ وَلُعِنُوا بِمَا قَالُوا بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ يُنْفِقُ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُ
"And the Jews said, Allah’s hand is fettered, may their hands be fettered and they be cursed on account of what they said. Rather His hands are outspread; He bestows howsoever He wishes."
Thus bada’ in its correct meaning is the negation of this erroneous belief of the Jews, who say that Allah’s hand is fettered from acting in affairs. In other words, bada’ means that Allah’s hands are extended and His absolute power is unlimited, without this having any conflict with His absolute knowledge.
In other words, the reality of bada’, with its correct meaning such that it is compatible with Allah’s absolute knowledge, in accordance with His freedom from all forms of ignorance, and opposed to the erroneous view of the Jews and all other deniers of the issue of bada’ who view Allah’s power as limited, must be explained thus: According to Divine decree, everything has particular effects, and things take place in accordance with those effects in conformance to Divine Will.
In other words, it is a Divine decree that, for example, fire should burn, but the realization of this characteristic””its occurrence””is pursuant to Divine Will. In addition, there are a number of unseen causes, such as reliance on Allah, charity, and prayer””which are not common material affairs””all of which have a peculiar effect. In the stage of action, whichever of those material or non-material causes””apparent or unseen””is stronger will be effective in the occurrence of affairs, and its entailed result will come about. For example, in many cases, in spite of the existence of barriers, kindness to relatives, which has been decreed as a factor in lengthening one’s life overcomes all other factors and as a result a person’s life is lengthened. Thus, it has come in a tradition:
صِلَّةُ الرَّحْمِ تُزِيدُ فِي الْعُمْرِ وَتُدْفَعُ مِيْتَةَ السُّوْءِ
Source: imamalmahdi.com
Other Links:
Responding to Some Points Raised By Ibn Khaldun (Part 2)
The Existence of the Mahdi is certain
Other Opinions from Ibn Khaldun
People Awaited the Appearance of the Mahdi
The Jurists of Medina and the Mahdi Traditions
