Explanation of the Methodological Error of Abolfazl Borqaei in Denying Estekhlaf Verse

Estekhlaf verse is the fifty-fifth verse of the holy Surah al-Noor, in which God makes a promise that those believers who carry out good deeds will be the successors of the rule of the righteous, disseminate the true religion and be in peace. This is one of the verses which is interpreted to refer to Imam Mahdi’s (a.s.) movement. Abolfazl Borqaei, having a background in Shiite religion and, of course, being inclined towards revisionism, came up with ideas that were contrary to the fundamental principles of Shiism and raised doubts about them. In the book ‘A Scientific Study of the Mahdi Hadiths’, he tries to deny the common opinion of Shiite commentators on the issue that the manifestation of the promised rule in estekhlaf verse is the rule of Imam Mahdi (a.s.) and his companions. In doing so, by distorting what such Shiite scholars as Sheikh Tusi, Tabarsi and Abu al-Fat-h say in “Tebyan”, “Majma’ al-Bayan” and “Ruh al-Janan” respectively, he tries to show that they are in agreement with him. This article seeks to criticize his arguments in this field by comparing the ideas in the above-mentioned works of interpretation with those of Borqaei.