[Appointing the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet as his Caliphs]

From what passed, it was made clear that it is obligatory for God to appoint a person on His behalf as a ruler, Imam, and Caliph on the earth in every time after the Prophet so that through him He makes it possible for people of every time, like people of the time of the Prophet , to achieve certainty about the entirety of the Sunnah of the Prophet , like the certainty about the entirety of the Quran, and that by doing so, He paves the way for the pure and perfect implementation of the rulings of Islam for everyone in a just manner, and it is clear that to know the person appointed by God in this position, there is no choice but to go to God, and going to God is possible by referring to His Book and His Prophet; because His Book and His Prophet definitely represent His will and action; with the explanation that going to His Prophet for those who come after him, unlike people of his time, is possible only by referring to mutawatir narrations from him; because it is only mutawatir narrations from him that definitely represent his will and action, and ahad narrations from him do not indicate certainty about them.

To be fair, referring to the Book of God and mutawatir narrations from His Prophet, if it is in light of the intellect and away from the impediments to cognition, such as imitation, fanaticism, and passions, indicates certainty about the fact that God has appointed the Ahl al-Bayt of His Prophet as rulers, Imams, and Caliphs on the earth; as it has been explicitly stated in His Book, addressing to them: ﴿إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا﴾[1]; “Indeed, God wants to remove any impurity from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and make you completely pure”; considering that His intended meaning of “impurity” here cannot be material and outward impurity, but rather it is spiritual and inward impurity; as He has used it in this meaning and said: ﴿كَذَلِكَ يَجْعَلُ اللَّهُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ﴾[2]; “This is how God places impurity on those who do not believe,” and said: ﴿وَيَجْعَلُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ﴾[3]; “And He places impurity on those who do not use the intellect”;