Meaning of Imam in Quran
God says in Verses 14-18 of Surah Al-Hijr: “Had We opened a door for them in the sky through which they could easily pass, they would have said, ‘Our eyes are bewildered and we have been affected by magic.’ We have made constellations in the sky and decorated them for the onlookers. We have protected them from every condemned devil, except for those who stealthily try to listen to the heavens, but who are chased away by a bright flame.”
According to Allameh Tabatabaei, the word sky in these verses refers to the spiritual sky where the angels reside.
He believes that the language of the Quran in describing these things is symbolic and what the sky means is a level of existence.
Some jinns who heard the verses of the Quran found them amazing and believed in God. These believing jinns say that some other jinns attribute false things to God. They thought people and jinns may lie about anything and anything but not about God. However, they realized that people and jinns also lie about God and attribute false things to Him. For example some of them said God has a spouse and children. Or some others said there will be no Resurrection Day.
At times, some people would go to jinns and that caused their sins to grow. What the verses here mean is that if a person goes to jinns, as people did in the past or some Satanists do today, this will not help them find guidance but will lead them astray.
The Quran also says in Verse 71 of Surah Al-Isra: “On the day when We call every nation with their leaders, those whose record of deeds are given to their right hands will read the book and the least wrong will not be done to them.”
Sheikh Tusi says about this verse that those receiving the records of their deeds in the left hand cannot read the records and wonder what sins they have committed to receive such a harsh punishment.
Allameh Tabatabaei rejects all interpretations of this verse that refer to the issue of Imam, saying that Imam is someone who is followed by the people. Those whose book of records is given to their right hand are the ones who have followed the true Imam.
However, as Sheikh Tusi puts it, those whose book of records is given to their left hand have followed the false Imam and are now in such a disordered situation that they cannot read their own book of records and are too ashamed to invite others to this path.
