Revolutionary Leader: The line of the Imams is the line of resistance and perseverance

According to Ashura News, quoting ISNA, Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, emphasized in the mourning ceremony for the martyrdom of Imam Jafar Sadiq (peace be upon him) held today, May 24, 1404: "The line of the Imams is the line of resistance and perseverance, and the lesson of the Imams is considered a lesson in logic and reasoning."

Read the following excerpt from the Leader of the Revolution’s statements at the end of this session:

During the time of Imam Sadiq (a.s.), it was intended that a change of fate would occur in favor of the Imams of Guidance (a.s.). This is clear from the numerous narrations that have come down to us. One narration is from Imam Sadiq (a.s.) who says, “Indeed, Allah has decreed this matter in the year of seventy.”(1) Allah Almighty had decreed this matter, that is, the matter of Imamate – the Imamate in its true sense – in His own destiny for the year 70 AH.

Look; when Imam Hassan al-Mujtaba made peace with Muawiyah, a group of people would come and complain and protest. The Imam used to say: “You do not know, for it is a trial for you and a pleasure for a while.” This is for a time, this is temporary. That is, the words of Imam Hassan Mujtaba (a.s.) indicate that this incident, this domination of disbelief and hypocrisy, is not destined to be permanent; in divine destiny, this is temporary. Until when? Until the year 70. That is, according to this narration, in the year 70 AH, it is destined that whoever is alive from the Ahlul Bayt will rise up and take over the government, and the real Imamate will be realized. Then the Imam says: When Al-Hussain (a.s.) was killed, the wrath of Allah increased against the people of the earth, so he delayed it for a hundred and forty years. That is, the incident of Karbala, this disregard of the people for religious principles, this rejection of theirs, had the effect of delaying this divine destiny until the year 140. 140 is the time of Imam Sadiq (a.s.), when the Imam passed away [in the year] 148. The Shiites knew this. That is, the elite of the Shiites knew it. So, for example, in one narration, Zurarah says to his companions – Zurarah, who is one of the close ones – that you will not see anyone on their pillars except Ja’far; (2) The pillars, [meaning] the pillars of the pulpit, the pulpit of the caliphate; meaning, I see Ja’far sitting on this pulpit. This is [the case].

Or in another narration, the same Zurarah – since Zurarah was a resident of Kufa – sends a message to Imam Sadiq (a.s.) and says that one of our friends has become indebted to the Shiites and the creditors are after him. He too has left the city because he has no money and has become a refugee. If this issue, that is, the issue of the caliphate, is to be completed in just one or two years – in the narration, it says this is the order; [meaning] if this issue is to be completed in just one or two years – then this [person] should be there until you come to work, and the issues will be resolved; but if it is a long time, the comrades should collect money and lend him money. (3) That is, someone like Zurarah was waiting for the issue to be completed in just one or two years. The fact that you see them coming to Imam Sadiq and constantly saying, Sir, why don’t you rise up, [why] don’t you rise up, is because they are waiting; [meaning] they have heard something, something has reached their ears.

Then, following the same narration, which specified [the year] 140, he said: You revealed it, God delayed it. That is, if the Shiites had been quiet and had not revealed it, perhaps the issue would have been completed at that time; and you can see how much history would have changed! The path of humanity would have been a different path, and today the world would be a different world. That is, our shortcomings, our lack of speech, our lack of help, our lack of patience, our incorrect analysis of the situation, sometimes have an impact – historical impacts – meaning that this kind of path changes; therefore, we must be very careful.

And of course, the life of Imam Sadiq (a.s.) is an extraordinary life, a strange life, a successful life in terms of spreading the divine commandments and the many narrations that we have from that great man and his companions. Of course, these four thousand students that are narrated [to the Imam], the listener thinks that the Imam would start a lesson, four thousand people would sit there; this is not the case. During the lifetime of this great man, four thousand people narrated from him – as it is now in that book – he had four thousand narrators; four thousand students means this; Not that four thousand people were sitting at his lessons and he was teaching.

And we are far from the lives of the Imams; our information is scanty, both of their words, their statements, their narrations, and the circumstances of their lives.

These incidents that are in our narrations and it is narrated that they were taken to Mansur and Mansur showed intense anger towards him, and he said, “O my uncle! The elders, the prophets were wronged, they forgave, you also forgive us,” I say these categorically that they are lies; categorically that they are not true. The Imam does not speak to anyone like this; whether there is a risk of being killed or not; whatever; the Imam does not speak like this at all. Who is the narrator [of this story]? Rabi’; the narrator is Rabi’s servant! Rabi’s servant, that is, he is Mansur’s handyman; a lying courtier like this, for example. This [person] came and narrated that Imam Sadiq said this. Well, this is a good tool to destroy the spirit of the Shia; therefore, narrating these should be absolutely avoided. Some people narrate without thinking, while these narrations are not correct narrations. The Imams [taught] lessons in perseverance, perseverance, and logic; and in speaking with logic, reasoning, they trapped the party.

You see how Hazrat Zaynab speaks in the assembly of Ibn Ziyad, in the assembly of Yazid! That is correct; that line is the correct line of the Imams. Whoever stands firm is moving in the line of these great men. Today, those who are standing firm in Gaza, in Lebanon, are actually working in the line of these very Imams of religion, the Imams of guidance.

(1 Kafi, vol. 1, p. 368 (with a slight difference)

(2 Rijal Kashi, p. 156

(3 Rijal Kashi, p. 157)