The website of Isra foundation: The weekly classes of Grand Ayatollah Javadi Amoli on Islamic ethics was held on Wednesday (November 19) in the Aʿzam Mosque of Qom. The class was attended by different groups of people. Continuing his commentary on Nahj al-Balāghah and interpreting one of the short aphorisms of Amir al-Muʾminīn (ʿa), namely aphorism no. 184 in Nahj al-Balāghah: “I have never doubted the truth since it was shown to me”, grand Ayatollah Javadi Amoli stated: True knowledge, when offered by God to a servant, is never mixed with doubts; doubts can no longer affect such knowledge.

His eminence then noted: Infallibility and miracles are two divinely-granted bounties that are neither obtained through study nor are they of the same kind as ordinary human knowledge. These special capabilities are divinely-bestowed favors to God’s vicegerents and proofs. He then asserted: performance of miracles does not fall within the category of acquired knowledge; its bestowal depends on God’s will and the divinely-ordained station of vicegerency, not on human skill or learned expertise.

Referring to the station of the Vicegerent of God (khalifah Allāh), his eminence further noted: The vicegerent of God is one who actually acts based on divine orders and he is not merely a scholar, researcher, or teacher. Scholars and jurists acquire knowledge through their own effort, but divine vicegerency is a station realized only by God’s choosing and bestowal. 

In clarifying the distinction between the knowledge of the Infallibles and human knowledge, he stated: Divinely-granted knowledge is a knowledge which is unaffected by error, nor can anyone cause the possessor of this knowledge to deviate from what is right. The fact that, according to Nahj al-Balāghah, Imam Ali (ʿa) has been quoted as saying: “I have not lied, nor have I been lied to; I have not gone astray, nor has anyone led me astray,” indicates that neither are the Infallibles themselves go astray, nor could anyone cause them to go astray. 

Referring to oppression and its consequences and citing the short aphorism no. 186 in Nahj al-Balāghah [The one who begins oppression will, tomorrow, bite his own hand in regret], Grand Ayatollah Javadi Amoli stated: The world is incompatible with injustice. Just as the human body rejects food that is unsavory, the world likewise does not tolerate oppression and injustice.

Referring to the events in Gaza and the injustice and atrocities committed by the Zionists, he then stated: The ultimate fate of oppressors is nothing but destruction, and God’s precedent concerning the eradication of injustice will certainly prevail.

In another part of his speech, his eminence referred to the instructive nature of the Ziarat texts, and noted: Ziarat texts are not merely words to be recited; rather, they are great lessons in spiritual knowledge and insight for the wayfarers of the path of truth. Sometimes one may not be able to personally visit one of the holy shrines [to recite Ziarat in], yet, for instance, a careful study of the Ziyārat al-Jāmiʿah al-Kabīrah reveals an ocean of knowledge and an abundance of profound teachings to one.

Grand Ayatollah Javadi Amoli then asserted: when reciting the Ziyārat al-Jāmiʿah, one prays for numerous things and asks God to fulfill all those needs. Yet alongside all these needs, there is one principal and fundamental request that Shiʿahs make to God in the presence of the Infallibles (ʿa): gaining knowledge of the school of the Ahl al-Bayt (ʿa), which is the kind of knowledge which even the angels need to learn, and whose true scope is accessible only to the divinely-sent prophets and the Archangels.

His eminence further noted: These Ziarat texts teach us that the reality of the knowledge of the Ahl al-Bayt (ʿa) is beyond the capacity of ordinary human beings, and that we must ask God to grant us a share of this enlightening knowledge, for even a small portion of it can protect one against errors, slips, and misguidance. 

His eminence then asserted: The Islamic seminaries must make use of these lofty teachings and guide the Islamic society toward the full realization of justice and the governance of the truth.