God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (may God’s peace and blessings be with him and his Family):
“O believers, Guard yourselves before God with proper guard, and die not except in surrender. Hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of God and do not be divided. Remember God’s bounties upon you when you were enemies to one another: He brought harmony to your hearts so that, by His blessing, you became brethren; You had been on the edge of a pit of fire and He saved you from it. Thus, God explain His signs to you, so that will be guided”. (Qur’an, 3:102-103)
These ayahs are concerned with various ideas which are interconnected, the main of which are taqwa or reverence for God, and the Rope of God (Hablu’llah) and the importance of being united.
Taqwa has various shades of meaning. It means to fear something, to beware, to be cautious, watchful, wary or prepared, to be preserve oneself against something, or to pay attention, and to be mindful. Therefore, when the believers are told: “ittaqu’llah”, this can be understood in two levels: we are being told “preserve yourselves against bad things”, but also “be mindful of God, be aware of the presence of the Divine”.
In the Tafsir (or Qur’anic commentary) literature many interpreters discussed what this may mean. Among the various interpretations we find that for some it meant “to abstain from ignorance, negligence, and disobedience”. Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq (peace be on him) was asked what does “Guard yourselves before God with proper guard? He said: It consists of obeying [God] and not rebelling, remembering [God] and not forgetting Him, and being grateful [to God] and not ungrateful”. For the Sufis, it means accepting God as our protector in order to guard ourselves about the worst part of ourselves and seeking the light of God for His pure generosity, rather than searching rewards for being obedient.
Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq is attributed these words: “Worship (‛ibada) is of three kinds: some people worship God, because they fear Him, and that is the worship of “slaves”; others worship God (Blessed and High is He) to seek rewards, and that is worship of “traders”; but others worship God (Mighty and Great is He) because out of love, this is the worship of the “free” and it is the most excellent worship.”
Rabi‘a, the celebrated female Sufi of the 8th century, is famous for having exclaimed: O my Lord! If I worship You out of fear of Hell, then burn me in it, and if I worship You in hope of Paradise, then exclude me from it! But if I worship You for Your own sake, then [I ask You] not to withhold from me Your Eternal Beauty!”
We may ask: How can reverence be manifested? We can by cultivating a rightful attitude and conduct. One saying that is attributed to Hazrat Ali says: “The weakest person is the one who can correct his or her defects, but does not”.
The revelation of the Qur’an often uses metaphorical images: And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of God and do not be divided. Numerous generations of Muslim scholars, whether Shi‛i or Sunni, literalist or Sufi, have asked the question what is the Rope of God? All agreed that the Rope refers to that which God sends from High Above, and which connects us on this world back to Him; but the scholars offered different interpretations: some said that it means a bond or a covenant between God and the whole of humankind; others said it refers to religion and its commands and prohibitions; yet others said that the rope of God is His revelation of the Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad. Some Sufis said it refers to the intimate connection that each individual can have with the divine Truth if they purify their soul.
In the Shi‘i tradition Holding fast to the rope of God means adhering to Tawhid (the belief that God is One) and Walaya (devotion to the Imam of the Prophet’s family, the Ahl al-Bayt). Many stories are narrated to illustrate this point. For example, Imam Zayn al-‘Abidin narrated his story: One day the Messenger of God was sitting with his companions in the mosque. A man came, sat down, greeted the Prophet and asked: “O Messenger of God, I have heard the words that God has revealed: And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of God and do not be divided. What is this rope that God has commanded us to hold fast to and not to separate from?” The Prophet bowed for a long time; he then raised his head and pointed with his hand to Hazrat Ali [another version says he took hold of Ali’s hand] saying: “This is the Rope of God, whoever holds to it will be protected by it in this world and will not go astray from it in the hereafter”. Then the man jumped to Ali and hugged him from behind while saying: “I hold fast to the Rope of God and the rope of His messenger” and stood up and left. [Another version adds that the Prophet then said: “Whoever wishes to have a glance of one of the inhabitants of paradise, let them look at that man”].
Another verse in the same sura (Q. 3:112) says that there is: “a rope from God, and a rope from the people”. The Prophet himself is said to have interpreted that as “the rope from God is His Book (Kitab), and the rope from the people is my heir (Wasiyy)” [i.e. Ali].
Imam Muhammad al-Baqir said: “Protected are those who adhere to the rope of God and the rope of God is the Qur’an, which guides towards the Imam, that’s why God has said: “This Qur’an guides to that which is most straight” (Q. 17:9). Imam al-Baqir also said: “The Family of Muhammad (Aal-i Muhammad), may God’s blessings (salawat Allah) be with them, are the Firm Rope of God that He has commanded to hold fast to.” Finally, Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq said: “We are the rope of God”.
The Qur’an emphasises that we should hold this Rope altogether, united and not divided, as a global brotherhood supporting the Imam of the Time, not only working towards the unity of the Jamat but also towards promoting what he has called “a common humanity”.
