Things (al-Hadīth ath-Thaqalayn) and the Hadīth of the Ark (al-Hadīth as-Safīna). The 12ers also recognize the authenticity of these hadīths. These hadīths are narrated by Shiites and Sunnites. We use these two hadīths as our proofs which are recognized by all of the communities, similar to the statement of the Exalted: {Verily Allah wills to remove from you sin, O People of the House, and purify you thoroughly} (33:33) and {Say: I ask you for no reward but only affection toward the kin} (42:23). This applies to all of the People of the House (Ahlul Bayt) and not restricted to the nine descendants of al-Hussein.
The Imamites do not deny that all of the People of the House at a time may be an imam from among their imams; however, they do not say that that imam is included in the Imamate. [According to them] he does not have to establish [his Imamate] or call [people to him]. Even though he established [his Imamate] or called [people to them] with perfect conditions, they say that Imam ar-Riža4 is included in the Imamate. Then, he is an imam to us because he established [his Imamate] and called [people to him].
We do not claim that their imams called the Imamate to themselves. We don‟t believe in that and censure them for that. Allah commands us to obey the People of the House and not obey a sect of the Shiites like the command of Allah and the command of His Messenger. The command did not comply with command of their emulation. Whoever calls [to himself] without apparent evidence, then his call is invalid. One does not differentiate right from wrong unless there is evidence. Whether this application pertains to the nine or the other People of the House, there is disagreement.
However, there is no dispute when it comes to them standing against injustice by means of jihad and in defence of oneself and one‟s precious things, while objecting the jihad done by the oppressive Umayyads and „Abbāsids. They pursued and killed under every stone and clay, brutally suppressed opposition and displaced the truthful prospects like the statement of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny: ((My offspring will be killed and turned from their homes by my community…)).
They call to Allah: {O our people! Respond to the Caller of Allah and believe in him} to {whomever doesn‟t respond to the Caller of Allah will not cause failure upon the earth} (Q. 46:31-32). Concerning that, the 12er school is contrary to justice and wisdom. This causes the community after al-Hassan al-Askari to neglect commanding the good and forbidding the evil, to not establish the punishments, and to expel the opponents of our time. This is more than 1000 years without them commanding the good and forbidding the evil by struggling till our times (1400 A.H).
This is similar to the words of the Allah, the Powerful and Majestic: {And let there be among you a nation commanding the good and forbidding the evil…} (Q. 3:104), {Those of the children of Israel who were bent on denying the truth have [already] been cursed by the tongue of David and of Jesus, the son of Mary; this, because they rebelled [against Allah] and persisted in transgressing the bounds of what is right. They would not prevent one another from doing whatever hateful things they did: evil indeed was what they were wont to do!} (Q. 5:78-79), {You are indeed the best community that has ever been brought forth for [the good of] mankind: you command the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong} (Q. 3:110), {Such of the believers as remain passive other than the disabled – cannot be considered equal to those who strive hard in Allah‟s cause} (Q. 4:95) How much is in the sunnah regarding the urging of that
4 He is Imam ar-Riža „Ali bin Musa (d. 818 AD). According to the 12ers, he is the 8th of the 12 divinely ordained imams.
