First, to clarify what kind of business this is and how it saves people, we mention a narrative.
On the interpretation of the noble verse,
«يا أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ آمَنُوا هَلْ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلى تِجارَةٍ تُنْجيكُمْ مِنْ عَذابٍ أَليمٍ»”
O you who have believed, shall I guide you to a transaction that will save you from a painful punishment?” (1),
Imam Sadiq, peace be upon him says: Amir al-mu’minin, Ali, peace be upon him, said:
أنا التجارة العظمى المربحة المنجية من عذاب اللَّه الأليم الّتي دلّ اللَّه تعالى في كتابه:
I am that great profitable business through which you will be freed from the painful punishment of the Almighty God; A business that God has guided to which in his book.(2)
Also, in another narration, “Salim ibn Qays” says: I asked Miqdad: May God have mercy on you! Tell me the best thing you have heard from the Prophet, may God bless him, about Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon them
Miqdad said: I heard the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, says:
و الّذي نفسي بيده! ما تنبّأ نبيّ قطّ إلّا بمعرفته و الإقرار لنا بالولاية ،و لا استأهل خلق من اللَّه النظر إليه إلّا بالعبوديّة له و الإقرار لعليّ عليهالسلام بعدي.
I swear to God that my life is in his hand! No prophet became a prophet except due to recognition and acknowledgment of our authority, and no creature was qualified by God to look upon him except through servitude before God and acknowledgment of Ali, peace be upon him, after me.
Then Miqdad fell silent.
I said: God bless you! Is there anything else?
He said: Yes, I heard from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, who said: Ali is the supervisor and manager of this nation, a witness against them, and the attendant of their affairs. He is highly exalted, he is the clear path of truth, he is Serat Mostaqim (the straight path) of God.
People will be guided from misleading by him after me, and they will go to insight and discernment from being inwardly blindness, and those who are rescued will be saved by him, and they will be protected from death by him, and will be safe from fear. Through him, sins are erased, oppression is removed, and (divine) mercy is revealed.
He is the strong and firm rope of God and His firm handle that never is broken. He is the entrance of God through which you should come in.
He will be God’s ensign and standard on the Serat (path) on the day of Judgment in which people are awakening. whoever recognizes him will be saved into heaven and whoever denies him will fall into hell. (3) (Of course, the above narration is part of the complete narration we have briefly quoted here)
Since this world is temporary and the afterlife is eternal, and also after death, the guardianship of Ahl al-Bayt is needed to enter heaven, faith in Ahl al-Bayt is the license to enter heaven and profitable business.
1.Al-Saff, verse 10.
2.Tafsir al-Burhan, 4/330, volume 1 (with difference in words).
3. The Book of Sulaym ibn Qays, 247, Bihar Anwar: 40/96.
