In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Why Do We Need Imam? (for 10 years old and more)
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 A’immah [AS]. A young student of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq [AS], whose name was Hisham, 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, mouth) are healthy, they still cannot work without the brain.
Amr: “Yes”
Hisham: “So, if Allah [SWT] has made a brain to guide the organs in the body, don’t you think that Allah [SWT] would leave a guide (Imam) for all the people of the world?”
Amr could not reply!