Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: Condition of Justice for Congregation Imam is established through consensus
The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadiq Hosseini Shirazi was held on Friday and Saturday, the 15th and 16th of Safar.
In these sessions, just like the previous meetings, the Supreme Religious Authority answered the questions of the attendees about various jurisprudence issues.
In this meeting, Grand Ayatollah Shirazi discussed the “Condition of Justice” for the Congregation Imam, and said: “This condition is necessary and none of the jurisprudents has said anything contrary to it.”
His Eminence cited a narration from Imam Baqir, peace be upon him, which says: “Do not pray but behind someone whose religion and trustworthiness you are sure of,” and explained: “In this narration, having confidence in his religion means being sure he is a Twelver Momin, and being a Muslim is not sufficient. Also, trustworthiness means being just.”
He further elaborated that the Justice of the Congregation Imam must be verified, and therefore, if someone does not know whether the Congregation Imam is just or not, he/she cannot pray behind him.
“Sometimes a person who is trustworthy confirms that a congregation imam is just, and sometimes justice is ascertained from other aspects. But there is a discussion on this point that is also mentioned in the book of Urwa al-Wuthqa. Accordingly, a group of jurists believe, and I also subscribe to this opinion, that apparent decency is sufficient to establish the Justice in question, that is, it is not necessary for a person to become certain of essential decency. Of course, this issue is a matter of disagreement and there is no consensus, but many among the latter fuqaha are of this opinion.” said Grand Ayatollah Shirazi regarding the method for establishing the Justice of the Congregation Imam.
Other jurisprudential issues discussed by Grand Ayatollah Shirazi in this meeting included: Rulings on usury in loans, cases of mutual rights of husband and wife, rulings on transactions involving waiver of all rights, explanations regarding the reward of congregational prayer, the difference between and rulings on conditions and promises in contracts, the ruling on conflicting priority between performing religious rituals and helping the poor, some rulings on ablution and prayer, the difference between recommended charity and obligatory zakat, ruling on divorce during the days of purity and menstruation, explanation of verse 54 of Surah Maryam based on a narration from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), some of the rulings on inheritance and drawing lots to divide the inheritance, and the meaning of asking for forgiveness and repentance.
