Exaggerations beyond the Imams!

These obsessions with fantasy were not limited to the Imams. By no means were the Marja’s [Ayatollahs] not going to have their share of supernatural feats and claims to knowledge of the unseen realms.

In the book Al Karamat Al Ghaybiyyah li al Imam Al Khumayni by Hussain al Kurani, he relates the story of a prison guard under a chapter bearing the title, a prisoner or a freed captive:

He used to inform me of fascinating things about this person [Ayatollah Khomeini]. He would always see him in the state of prayer; although at times he would disappear from the prison! On one occasion, after the guard could not find him, he opened the prison door which remained locked, entered the cell, but could not find him. So, he locked the door of the cell and returned to his work. After a short while, he saw him praying inside the cell! I was astonished at what my friend had related to me and wanted to confirm it for myself, so my friend and I switched duties, and I saw for myself that it was exactly as my friend had described.^[1]

Under the chapter titled, where has the Imam disappeared, he relates:

One Thursday night, at 3 am, the Security Service notified us that we needed to change shifts, so I approached the room of the Imam and ushered to him, “Ya Allah!”. When I received no response. I repeatedly called out him to leave with no avail. I then had no choice except to enter forcefully and was astonished not to see him inside! I was astounded, and hurried out to inform one of the workers in the Imam’s home to check the other rooms. Naturally, the house was not so large that I was unable to search myself, but I was not fond of entering the bedrooms. The worker did not find him—this worker still works there. So, we entered the private quarters which was usually reserved for the females. One of the workers there told me that he was not to be found there either. I asked this woman to come with us to look for him in the room one more time, so the three of us went and were still unsuccessful in locating him.

I was extremely worried and requested that Sayed Ahmed Khomeini be woken, only to be informed that he had gone to Qom to visit his wife on Thursday night. My anxiety only grew with the realization that there is no one else who I could approach to seek assistance in this dilemma. Desperate for relief, I instructed Sayed ‘Isa—the worker—to look for the Imam one more time, and when he returned, I saw from his face that he was elated. He said, “The Imam is sitting on his bed.” I was overjoyed, so I hurried to his room and found him sitting on his bed smiling. I kissed his hand and then the change of shift took place, all the while refraining from asking him the reason for his absence. Perhaps he was in a state in which he would not have liked us to see him, or perhaps he would not have liked to tell us what happened.

This episode continues to occupy our minds till this day. Incidentally, his daughter-in-law, Sayyidah Tabataba’i once brought the matter up; he simply smiled and did not respond. She said, “I did not allow myself to repeat the question after this.”^[2]

The author then annotated these incidents saying that the saints have the ability to transport themselves wherever they please, along with a host of other issues which eventually led up to his claim that Imam Khomeini knew the unseen. Among the many things he mentioned was the story of some pamphlets which Imam Khomeini instructed not be distributed. These pamphlets were then distributed without his being informed. Notwithstanding the surreptitious distribution of the pamphlets Imam Khomeini had knowledge of this.^[3]

Similarly, this statement which appears in the story of Nasr Allah Shahabadi:

When Imam Khomeini came to Najaf, I related the dream to him, whereupon he smiled and remarked, “These events will become reality.”’ I asked, “How?” He replied, “It will become clear later on.” He went on to say, “What Imam Khomeini said about these events coming to light became evidently clear to me…”^[4]

One time, one of my friends was uncertain about a matter, so he said to me, “I will contact a particular sheikh to do Istikharah[5] for me.’ After him having contacted the sheikh to seek divine guidance on this matter I asked him, “How will the sheikh do this Istihkarah?”, despite me already knowing the answer. He responded, “He will take a rosary, and then he moves two beads at a time, and if at the end of it, only one bead is left, then it means that I must go ahead with the decision. If two remain, then it means that I must not proceed with it. If three are remaining, then the Istikharah must be repeated.” I now said to him, “If you were to now request him to repeat the Istikharah, would the result not be the opposite of what he said just a little while ago?”

What difference is there between this and the superstitious rituals the pagan Arabs who resorted to arrows of divination in their decision-making? Go and seek help from the Lord of the worlds regarding your decision before consulting a rosary!

Let any sheikh that conducts this type of practice answer: Where is this proven in the Book of Allah or the Hadith of the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and his pure Ahlul Bayt? Alas, the hearts have held on to anything, even to a rosary, in seeking help in their affairs, yet we have abandoned the Lord of the worlds!

NEXT⇒ The Names Game

^[1] Khomeini: Al Karamat Al Ghaybiyyah, pg. 51.

^[2] Ibid, pg. 53.

^[3] ibid, pg. 55.

^[4] ibid, pg. 27.

[5] Istikharah: A prayer seeking counsel, which is performed when a person is in need of guidance when facing a particular decision.

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