Imamat, during the Prophet's (s.a.w.s.) time and after(1)

There is no doubt that no matter how clear and precise divine laws may be, they still need clarification. All nations may have laws in their own languages, yet they require interpreters of these laws.

The Holy Prophet's (s.a.w.s.) prophethood can be divided in two parts - his life in Mecca and his life in Medina. The difficulties of Mecca did not allow the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) enough respite to explain the different laws and commands (ahkam) of Islam. His life in Mecca comprised mostly of discussions based on beliefs (aqaed). When he (s.a.w.s.) migrated to Medina and faced fewer restrictions there, he started explaining (in detail) the Islamic commands and law. Although in Medina there was no persecution as in Mecca, but persistent battles with the disbelievers occupied his time. Probably this is the reason we find various methods employed by the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) in the explanations of Islamic laws. Therefore it is necessary for a Muslim to have comprehensive knowledge of Islamic laws and commands if he wishes to follow Islam correctly.

Some Muslims claim that after the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.), the common Muslims are enough for the clarification of laws (i.e. the Muslims themselves can clarify the laws and do not need any other medium). The following incident shows how false this perception is. A person at the time of Umar complained to him 'I have not been married for more than six months and my wife has already given birth to a child.' The judge heard the case and ordered the woman to be stoned to death. On the way, the woman saw Ameerul Mo'mineen - Hazrat Ali (a.s.) and beseeched him to rescue her. Hazrat Ali (a.s.) after hearing the entire incident sent the executioners back and asked the Caliph - 'What kind of a judgment is this?' The Caliph said, 'It is not more than 6 months and she has already given birth to a child. This clearly means that she has committed adultery.' Hazrat Ali (a.s.) replied, "Has the Quran not revealed:'and her terms of pregnancy and suckling is 30 months.'

The Caliph replied 'Yes, I have read this verse.' Hazrat Ali (a.s.) said that another Quranic verse (Baqarah: 232) points out, 'Mothers should suckle their children for a complete 2 years.'

'Yes I have read this verse too.' Ameerul Mo'mineen (a.s.) then explained, 'If we subtract 24 months from a total of 30 months, 6 months remain. If suckling period is 24 months, then the minimum period of pregnancy invariably is the remaining 6 months. So a woman cannot be liable for punishment if she delivers a child within that period.'

It is indeed noteworthy that if this was the case with the people that they could not discern the divine command when it was clearly mentioned in the Quran, then what about those laws, which were not clearly specified?? And if this is the situation with the Caliph of the Muslims, then what about the common man??