Grand Ayatollah Shirazi remarks on status, differences of 14 Infallibles

The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadegh al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held on Monday, the 18th of Jumadi al-Thani. In this session, 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 unique to the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family. And, although Gabriel would descend upon Sayyida Zahra, peace be upon her, and would also descend upon the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, as well as all other Imams, this descent was not of prophetic revelation. Therefore, prophethood was unique to the Holy Prophet, and the other 13 Infallibles were not Prophets.

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 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 Zahra is superior to the 11 other Infallibles, and likewise, Imam Hassan al-Mojtaba is superior to the other 10 Infallibles, and Imam Hossein is superior to the other 9 Infallibles. It is mentioned in hadiths that the Imam of the Time, peace be upon him, is superior to his 8 forefathers, so the difference between the Infallibles, peace be upon them, is only in these two aspects.

The Marja went on to say: Although the Holy Prophet has said about Sayyida Zahra: “Allah is pleased with the pleasure of Fatimah,” and that such status has not been mentioned about other innocents, the essence of Infallibility dictates that God Almighty is pleased with the pleasure of Imam Ali and the rest of the Imams, including Imam al-Hujjat, and this fact highlights the meaning of their Infallibility.