Just by looking at the surface of the very profound Hadith of Thaqalain, we ,Allah-Willing, receive a celestial Light of Knowledge which can enlighten our souls and hearts; but, what if we took a deeper look?!

First, let us read together, this precious and priceless Hadith from our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP):

I leave among you, Thaqalain (two precious and weighty things), the Book of Allah, and my Etrat, my Ahl-Ol-Bayt; as long as you hang on and cling two them both together, you shall Never ever, go astray after me. And, those two, are absolutely inseparable from one another, until the Day (Hereafter) that they shall enter and be next to me by the Hawd(z) of Kawthar (Pool of Abundance) ... .

(Shi'ah documents: Behaar-Ol-Anwaar; Wasaa'el-O-Shshi’ah; ...)

(Sunni documents: Sonan Al-termadhy; Sahih Al-Moslem; ...)

Looking at the surface of this beautiful and everlasting Hadith from our beloved Prophet (PBUH&HP), we at the very least, realize that in order for humankind not to go astray after the Last Prophet and Messenger of Allah, there is absolutely only one way; human must cling to Qur'an -the last, most perfect and only undistorted Book of Allah- and the AhlulBayt -the Allah-Chosen Successors of the Last Prophet of Allah, those who have been the true manifestation of Qur'an as the Prophet himself was, those whose words have been the heart and only true interpretation of Qur'an- simultaneously; the Qur'an and the AhlulBayt which, as the Prophet of Allah has stated -he whose words, according to Qur'an, were nothing but Divine Revelations- must absolutely not be considered as two separate phenomena, rather as one single and united Truth, and therefore any one accepting one and denying the other, will definitely go astray. Thus if we seek Salvation, we must learn Qur'an and the Ahaadith of Mohammad and his beloved AhlulBayt (PBUT) simultaneously and continuously.

But let us read the Hadith more carefully and have a deeper look; The Prophet (PBUH&HP) has said that we must cling to the AhlulBayt (PBUT), being among us along with Qur'an until that Day; i.e. clinging to themselves not just studying their words! Actually what the Prophet has implied implicitly in this wonderful Hadith is that until the Day in which the Holy Qur'an and the AhlulBayt will join the Prophet, the inseparable Qur'an and one of the AhlulBayt would be among us, and we must cling to him and never let go!

Imagine if we were falling from a cliff, but there was a rope there to cling to, how, would we cling to that rope? Clinging and not letting go, not even for one second, would mean, living, and letting go, even for one second, would mean, dying! That is, the meaning of clinging! We are always standing on the sharp edge of the cliff of deviation, and many times we are falling, but if, while learning Qur'an and the Ahaadith of the Infallible Ones (PBUT), we cling to that last member of the AhlulBayt (PBUT) who is still among us and is with the Holy Qur'an, and implore him to guide us and shine the Light of understanding Qur'an and Ahaadith upon our hearts, moment by moment, then we are hopeful that we, Allah-Willing, will not fall and die!

Yes, clinging to the Imam of our time, Hadrat Mahdi (PBUH), is the way to Salvation and letting go, is the sure way to Perdition.

Once again, we are going through the end of Safar, and we are reminded again of the grave consequence of disregarding the aforementioned vital concept which has caused, the deviation of so many from the Path to Salvation, and the hearts which have turned so dark and sunk so deep in the filth of Perdition that they have allowed themselves to martyr or to be indifferent to the martyrdom of the most beloved ones by Allah. Ah! How low can one who disobeys Allah, sink?!