Grand Ayatollah Shirazi remarks on difference between God Almighty and Ma’sumeen
The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadegh al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held on Thursday, the 6th of Dhul-Hajjah. In this session, like the previous meetings, the Marja answered the questions of the attendees about various jurisprudential issues.
On the knowledge of the Infallible Imam (peace be upon him), Grand Ayatollah Shirazi said: The Infallibles (peace be upon them) know everything, with only one exception mentioned in the narration concerning verse 39 of Surah al-Ra’ad: God will erase or establish whatever He wills (of rulings or events in the worlds), and the origin of the book (creation) lies with him, so it is possible that God Almighty may change something in some cases, which is called Bada’, and make it happen earlier or later.
His Eminence went on to say: God Almighty has placed everything at the disposal of the 14 Ma’sumeen, peace be upon them, but what He has placed at their disposal does not belong to them, but belongs to God Almighty, therefore, whatever God has, belongs to Him, and this is the difference between the Infallibles and God Almighty.
Referring to some hadiths, the Marja said: In authentic Ziyarat of Imam Hussain, peace be upon him, it is mentioned: God’s will in all its determinations is descended upon you first, and from you it is distributed to all others, so here the emphasis is on the determination of divine affairs and not people. And there are many hadiths and prayers in this regard.
Grand Ayatollah Shirazi cited an example to clarify this issue and said: The authority of Ma’sumeen, peace be upon them, is like a representative to whom authority is delegated, for example, a billionaire businessman appoints a person as a trustee and representative, and tells him to do whatever he deems appropriate, granting him the permission to use his properties at discretion, including buying and selling or any other kind of use. So, this representative, who has been delegated extensive authority, can do anything, but he is not the owner of those properties. In the same way, Almighty God has given Ma’sumeen authority over everything.
