Imam Ridha berättar om en hadith från Profeten saw:
Imamen (a.s) tog upp kedjans förmedlare fram till sin förfader Profeten (saw) som sade; Allah sade till mig – ”Trosbekännelsen Det finns ingen Gud förutom Allah”, är min fästning. Den som säger denna mening, går in i Min fästning; och den som går in i Min fästning kommer vara skyddad från Mitt straff. Imamen (a.s) pausade en stund och fortsatte – ”Det finns vissa villkor för att man ska kunna få gå in i denna fästning, och Jag är ett av dessa villkor”
Denna hadith kallas för Silsalatul Dhahab och anses vara en Hadith Qudsi. Imam Ridha a.s, bekräftar att bön till Allah, kommer accepteras, om det är byggt på åtlydnad av de ofelbara imamerna. Denna hadith bekräftar detta
(The Hadith of Golden Chain)
This hadith has been narrated by both Shia and Sunni scholars. In the hadith books of Sunnis, it’s famous that 20 thousand different people reported this hadith from Imam Reza (as). It has been narrated from Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and Abbaslat Haravi that if chain of narrators of this hadith is recited to a madman, he will surely become sane or be cured.
”When Ali al-Ridha was entering Neyshabour a large crowd had gathered outside the city and some of the great scholars such as Muhammad ibn al-Rafi, Ahmad ibn al-Harith, Ishaq ibn al-Rahuwayh, and Yahya ibn al-Yahya were accompanying him. Twenty (or ten or thirty) thousands have reported the event. The narrations mentioning ”twenty thousands” reporters are more famous. Many sunni laymen and scholars participated in welcoming the Imam. Scholars asked Imam Ali al-Reza (as) to narrate hadith for them. So Imam (as) announced al-Silsilat uz-Zahab:
”I heard my father Musa ibn Ja’far (as) say that his father Ja’far ibn Muhammad (as) quoted on the authority of his father Muhammad ibn Ali (as), on the authority of his father Ali ibn Al-Hussein (s), on the authority of his father Al-Hussein ibn Ali (s), on the authority of his father Ali ibn Abi Talib (as), on the authority of the Prophet (sawa) that he had heard Gabriel say that Allah the Honorable the Exalted said,
”The kalimatu Laa ilaaha illallah (the saying that there’s no god but Allah) is My fortress. Whoever chants it, enters My fortress; and whoever enters My fortress shall be safe from My punishment’”. The Imam (A.S.) then paused for a moment and continued, “There are few conditions entitling entrance to the fortress and I am one of its conditions.”
This means on one hand, monotheism takes the believers to ”Allah’s fortress”, which is a safe shelter, and from the other hand Imamah is a fundamental precondition of entering this shelter. Tawheed (monotheism) without Wilayat (guardianship) of Ahlulbayt (a.s.) is useless and cannot save one from the hellfire.
Uyun Akhbar Al-Reza, Vol. 2, Ch. 37, H. 4, Pg. 152