Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: All 14 Infallibles are equal in knowledge

The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadiq al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held on Tuesday, the 11th of Rajab, 1445. In this session, just like the previous meetings, the Marja answered the questions of the attendees about various jurisprudence issues.

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi discussed the position and rank of the Infallibles, peace be upon them, and said: The 14 infallibles, peace be upon them, are identical to each other in every aspect, except for two things, first, prophethood, which is specific to the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family. Although Gabriel would descend upon Sayyida Fatima, peace be upon her, as well as the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, all the way to Imam Hasan al-Askari, peace be upon him, but this descent was not in the form of prophetic revelation. So, prophethood was exclusive to the Holy Prophet, and the other 13 Infallibles do not possess the status of prophethood.

In relation to the second difference between the Infallibles, peace be upon them, his Eminence said: The second difference between these noble figures is their ranks, that is the Holy Prophet is superior to the 13 other infallibles, and the Commander of the Faithful is superior to the 12 other infallibles, and Sayyida Fatima is so to the 11 other infallibles, and Imam Hassan al-Mujtaba is so to the other 10 infallibles, and Imam Hussain is so to the other 9 infallibles. It is mentioned in the narration that the Imam of the time, peace be upon him, is superior to his 8 fathers. Therefore, the difference between the infallibles, peace be upon them, lies only in these two aspects.

The Marja went on to say: From all the narrations in the hadith literature, it is understood that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, has said: There is no knowledge that the Lord of the worlds taught me, and I did not teach that knowledge to Ali, peace be upon him.

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi also emphasized: In other narrations, it is mentioned that Amirul Momineen, peace be upon him, passed on what he had learned from the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, to Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain, peace be upon them, and this knowledge was also passed on to other Pure Imams (peace be upon them), so the 14 Infallibles are equal in terms of science and knowledge.