SHAFAQNA- A scholar and researcher of religious sciences, stating that people have a high position in the eyes of Imam Ridha (AS), said: “The standard of people’s behavior is how much faith they have in God. As long as the behavior of the people is according to the Quran, they will have a high position in the eyes of the Imam, and if they are unbelieving and disbelieving and have inappropriate behavior and are cruel and oppressive towards the other people, they will have a lower position in the eyes of the Imam (AS).”
Hojjatoleslam Abbas Jafari Farahani, Scholar and Researcher of Religious Sciences, said in an interview with Shafaqna: “We believe that the morals of Imams (AS) are derived from the Messenger of God (PBUH) and the Holy Quran. In the view of the Holy Quran, humans are God’s creations and should have faith in God and be grateful to God. People have a high position in the view of the Holy Quran, as God says in Surah Al-Hujarat, Verse 13: “O’ humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may ˹get to˺ know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah (SWT) is the most righteous among you. Allah (SWT) is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware.”
Imam Ridha (AS) responded to a person who proposed to separate his table from slaves and said: “The Almighty God is one and we all were born from the same parents and our rewards and punishments are based on our deeds and It is not our skin’s color, class, or race.”
He clarified: Imam (AS) says: “I see the actions of the people; If these slaves and maidservants are servants of God in their actions and behavior, they treat me well as the grandson of the Prophet (PBUH) and the Imam of the community, they are kind to me and have a high position even if they are slaves, but if they are rich people but they don’t believe in God and are not honest with people, they have no place with me.”
He said: “People have a high status with Imam Ridha (A.) and the criterion of people’s behavior is how much they believe in God. As long as the behavior of the people is according to the Quran, they will have a high position in the eyes of the Imam, and if the people are unbelieving and disbelieving and have inappropriate behavior and are cruel and oppressive towards the other people, they will have a lower position in the eyes of the Imam. As he raises this issue in other verses of the Holy Quran, and these are the criteria of Imam Ridha’s (AS) behavior with the people of the society.”