Du'a Meaning

[samirziz]

Here's a question i've been asking myself for a while now.. In our du'a, we say O apostle, deliver to the people what has been revealed to thee from thy Lord, and if thou did not do so, then thou hast not delivered his message, and Allah will protect thee from thy people..

From my understanding, the message was to appoint Ali as his successor.. but that event has already taken place hasnt it? So why the need to say it again...

Also, the last part.. Allah is telling The Holy Prophet, if you have not done so, then you have not delivered his message, and Allah will protect you from the people.. What does this exactly mean? Was the prophet hesitant on delivering the message to the people? Is that why Allah is telling him I will protect you if they dont believe you? If so, he is the prophet of God, why should he fear anyone?

Please do not consider my questions as one who has lost faith, I am merely seeking to understand my du'a as Hazar Imam has said, I would like my spiritual children not only to know their dua but also to know the meaning of the dua'

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[kmaherali]

From my understanding, the message was to appoint Ali as his successor.. but that event has already taken place hasnt it? So why the need to say it again...

To remind us of the significance of the message in the grand scheme of things...and it is even relevant today to understand the theology behind various divisions in Islam. The Shias use this verse to explain their interpretation of faith to others.

Also, the last part.. Allah is telling The Holy Prophet, if you have not done so, then you have not delivered his message, and Allah will protect you from the people.. What does this exactly mean? Was the prophet hesitant on delivering the message to the people? Is that why Allah is telling him I will protect you if they dont believe you? If so, he is the prophet of God, why should he fear anyone?

In my opinion, the underlying message is that what the Prophet was about to reveal was to be unpalatable for the majority and hence there was a possibility of a violent revolt; as most of the Muslims had accepted the leadership of the Prophet from a worldly point of view in a political sense and not relgious and hence the notion of Imamat which has a religious significance would not have been an aspect of their perspective. This is evident from the way history unfolded subsequently; the majority did not accept Ali as the successor and even those who did, the majority ended up with the wrong Imamat. This shows that Imamat was accepted by the majority on political considerations and not religious.

We know from our history that the Prophets and Imams have not been immune to physical violence, and hence the need for Allah's assurance of protection in this critical moment.