Documents of the Right Word

and somewhere between Mekka and Medina].
I answered, “Your saying that ‘it was wâjib (compulsory,
necessary) for Rabb-ul-’âlamîn to appoint an imâm’, is identical
with the Mu’tazila group’s thesis that ‘it is wâjib for Allâhu ta’âlâ
to do things, not doing which would run counter to the hikmat
(ultimate divine wisdom of Allâhu ta’âlâ).’ This statement of yours
is corrupt, wrong. For we know that, though all the deeds of
Allâhu ta’âlâ are suitable with hikmat and always useful, it cannot
be wâjib for Allâhu ta’âlâ to do something because it seems to be
suitable with hikmat and useful. The Koranic verse which
purports, ‘He cannot be questioned on what He has done. His
born slaves shall be questioned on what they have done,’ shows
clearly that your statement is wrong. If it were wâjib for Allâhu
ta’âlâ to appoint an imâm, humanity would necesarily never have
been without an imâm. It is a must for the imâm to be known by
everybody, to have strength and power, to possess qualifications of
an imâm, to be able to extirpate evil deeds and offensive customs,
to effect good deeds, and to protect Muslims from harms. While
asserting that the earth cannot be without an imâm and
nominating only a certain number of innocent people including
hadrat Alî for the position, you on the one hand presume that it is
wâjib for Allâhu ta’âlâ to make them imâm, and on the other hand
maintain that none of them has the qualifications of an imâm. You
state that they all lived in a state of weakness, incapability, trouble
and oppression, without being able to do anything or have any
effect. What kind of use or hikmat could be expected from making
imâm such an incompetent person who has to submit to others’
power so incapacitantly?
“This stubborn insistence of yours means to make Allâhu
ta’âlâ weak and incapable – may Allâhu ta’âlâ protect us against
such a belief! For, (according to your thesis), He has been unable
to do something. Allâhu ta’âlâ is far and free from such
suppositions.
“Another way to refute your thesis is this: Is being suitable with
hikmat or being useful always necessary or not? If you say that
being suitable with hikmat is not always good, you will have agreed
with us. In that case we may say that the hikmats you have cited
above did not exist at the time when Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi
wasallam’ was about to pass away. For when it is said that
existence of hikmats makes no difference, their existence cannot
be better than a situation in which they do not exist. On the other
hand, if you say that existence of hikmats is better, this time these
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