Why Do We Need an Imam?
Once in a mosque in Iraq there was a man called 'Amr bin Ubayd who told people that he did not believe in the need of an Imam. A young student of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (the Shia’s sixth Imam), whose name was Hisham and was a clever young man, asked Amr that if he was so sure that there was no need of an Imam, could he please answer some of his questions. Amr agreed.
Hisham: “Do you have eyes?”
'Amr: “Yes, of course I have eyes.”
Hisham: “What is the use of your eyes?”
'Amr: “They are to see with.”
Hisham: “Do you have ears?”
'Amr: “Yes, I have ears.”
Hisham: “What is the use of your ears?”
'Amr: “They are to hear with.”
Hisham: “What about your nose, your mouth?
'Amr thought what foolish questions he was being asked.
Hisham: “Do you have a brain?”
'Amr: “yes, I have a brain.”
Hisham: “Of what use is the brain to you?”
'Amr: “It is with the brain that I am able to understand the information received by all the other organs.”
Hisham: “Does that mean that although all the organs that you have (eyes, ears, nose, and mouth) are healthy, they still cannot work without the brain.
'Amr: “Yes”
Hisham: “So, if Allah has made a brain to guide the organs in the body, don’t you think that Allah would leave a guide (Imam) for all the people of the world?”
'Amr could not reply!
Source: The Final Hope, January 2021, no. 4
