Deniers of Imam al-Zaman Are Like Iblis, Who Refused to Prostrate Before Adam

Those who deny the Imam who is hidden from sight are like Iblis, who disobeyed the Exalted Truth by refusing to prostrate before Adam.

God Almighty says: “Indeed, I am placing upon the earth a vicegerent.” The existence of God’s vicegerent on earth precedes creation, and this shows that the existence of God’s vicegerent and successor on earth is far more important than the existence of creatures on earth; for the existence of God’s vicegerent and successor is a proof for creation. Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, said concerning this: “The proof is before creation, with creation, and after creation.” Thus, God’s proof exists before human beings come into existence. Otherwise, corrupt and wicked people would be excused for their oppression and injustice on earth, and God—having not appointed a proof for them—would have exposed them to destruction and corruption.

When God Almighty appointed Adam as vicegerent on earth, He commanded the inhabitants of the heavens to obey him. The angels were commanded to prostrate before Adam, who was God’s vicegerent, and only one of the jinn refused to prostrate before Adam, God’s proof and vicegerent. God brought humiliation, lowliness, and destruction upon him, disgraced him, and subjected him to His curse until the Day of Resurrection. From this, the rank and station of the Imam are known, as are the accursedness and utmost humiliation and abasement of one who opposes the Imam.

God has appointed a vicegerent on earth, and God’s appointment is not confined to one time rather than another. This noble verse indicates that as long as the earth exists, God’s appointment of His successor on earth also exists. Thus, the earth has never been, is not, and will never be devoid of God’s proof; for if the earth were without an Imam even for a moment, it would swallow its inhabitants: “If the earth remained without an Imam, it would collapse.” (1) Therefore, there will always be an Imam on earth who is God’s vicegerent.

God Almighty commanded the angels to prostrate before His successor and proof on earth, in veneration of Adam, while concealing from their eyes a reality: God Almighty had placed the spirits of the divine proofs in Adam’s loins. Thus, that prostration was worship for God Almighty, obedience toward Adam, and veneration and honor for what had been placed in Adam’s loins.

But Iblis, out of envy of Adam, refrained from prostrating before him, because God had placed the spirits of the divine proofs in Adam’s loins, not in his own. Because of this envy and refusal, he became an unbeliever; through disobedience to his Lord’s command, he became sinful; he was expelled and cursed from the precinct of His mercy and was called the accursed one. All this was because he denied the “hiddenness,” and his reason for refusing to prostrate before Adam was that he said: “I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay.” (2)

Iblis denied what was concealed from his sight and did not believe it. Before God, he argued on the basis of the outward form he saw. He saw only Adam’s body and denied that Adam bore the sacred lights of the divine proofs. Yet Adam became the qiblah of the angels because of the lights placed in his loins; therefore, Iblis could not believe in the unseen.

Those who believe in the Imam who is hidden from sight believe in him so fully that his appearance and occultation make no difference to them. They are like the angels who obeyed the Exalted Truth in prostrating before Adam. Just as the outward clay form of Adam’s creation did not prevent the angels from obeying, the outward occultation of the Twelfth Imam does not prevent them from believing that he exists and shines like the sun behind clouds.

Those who argue from outward appearances, take not seeing God’s final proof as evidence that he does not exist, and continually say, “If he exists, then where is he? If al-Mahdi, may God hasten his relief, existed, we should have seen him. Since we do not see him, we cannot believe in him,” are like Iblis, who refused to prostrate before Adam: “He refused and acted arrogantly and became of the disbelievers.”

Adapted from Kamal al-Din by al-Saduq, vol. 1, p. 26.

1. Al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 179, chapter “The earth is never devoid of a proof ...”

2. Al-A‘raf, verse 12.