Emigrants were closer, then the People of the House are the closest of all people. {Those who believe and their descendants that followed them in faith…} (Q. 52:21). Then Allah says regarding kin: {And we made in his descendants Prophethood and the Book} (Q. 29:27).

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, said:

((The one who commands the good and forbids the evil, is from my offspring and he is the caliph of Allah on earth; as well as, the caliph of His Book and the Caliph of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny)).

Al-Hādi, upon him be peace, narrated this in Al-Ahkām, in the chapter entitled “The Virtues of a Just Imam.”

He also narrated on the authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny:

((Whoever withholds himself from the call of the People of the House, they should wait for us to stand like the mathashtaha between the sword and shield in the way of Allah by his blood)).

It is also narrated by the author of Al-Muhīt [i.e. „Ali bin al-Hussein] concerning the Imamate on the authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny: ((Whoever listens when the People of the House calls them and refuses to accompany them, Allah will fling them to the bottom of Hell)). Al-Hādi narrated this with different wording but same meaning.

Imam Zayd bin „Ali, upon him be peace, narrated in the previous hadīth concerning the Rafidites:

“They reject the jihad with the good of the People of my House! It is as it states in the hadīth: ((There are three people that I will intercede for on the Day of Judgment: the one who strikes with the sword on behalf of an imam from my offspring…)) and the hadīth: ((The one who fights us in these times will be similar to the one who fights along with the Antichrist (ad-dajjāl) when he comes)).”

Imam „Ali, upon him be peace, said in the Nahjul Balagha:

((Where are those who falsely and unjustly claimed that they are deeply versed in knowledge, as against us, although Allah raised us in position and kept them down, bestowed upon us knowledge but deprived them, and entered us [in the fortress of knowledge] but kept them out. With us guidance is to be sought and blindness [of misguidance] is to be changed into brightness. Surely, the imams will be from the Quraysh. They have been planted in this line through Hāshim. It would not suit others nor would others be suitable as heads of affairs19)).

There is proof from the statements of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny: ((„Ali is with the truth and the truth is with „Ali)), ((O Ammār, if people call to you and „Ali calls to you, follow the call of „Ali rather than the people)), and ((I am the city of knowledge and „Ali is its gate. If one desires knowledge, they cannot get it but through the gate)). We can provide many other proofs for example the proof of the Verse of Purification mentioned previously.

The significance of ((I am the city of knowledge…)) as a proof is that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, commands us to take knowledge from him and shows us that he

19 This is in Nahjul Balagha sermon #144 under the section: “The Virtues of the People of the House”