SERMON 88
About the division of the community into
factions
So now, certainly, Allah did
not break the neck of any unruly tyrant in this world except after
allowing him time and opportunity and did not join the broken bone of any
people (ummah) until He did not inflict calamity and distress upon them.
Even less than what
sufferings and misfortunes have yet to fall upon you or have already
befallen you are enough for giving lessons. Every man with a heart is not
intelligent, every ear does not listen and every eye does not see.
I wonder, and there is no
reason why I should not wonder, about the faults of these groups who have
introduced alterations in their religious pleas, who do not move on the
footsteps of their Prophet nor follow the actions of the vicegerent. They
do not believe in the unknown and do not avoid the evil. They act on the
doubts and tread in (the way of) their passions.
For them good is whatever
they consider good and evil is whatever they consider evil. Their reliance
for resolving distresses is on themselves.
Their confidence in regard
to dubious matters is on their own opinions as if every one of them is the
Leader (Imam) of himself. Whatever he has decided himself he considers it
to have been taken through reliable sources and strong factors.
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