Relationship with Imams

Acceptance of the authority of the Infallible Imams and obeying them:
As it was stated, knowing the Imam means having faith and being aware of the fact that Imam is the Conclusive argument of God and the prophet’s executor on earth and because of this he is superior in terms of possession in the lives and properties of the Muslims and making changes in this world and the divine kingdom and generally speaking not only enjoys the legislative guardianship but also by having the permission of the Lord of enjoys creational guardianship.
Accepting the guardianship of the Infallibles is manifested in obeying their teachings. God the Almighty says: “O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you” Surat An-Nisa [verse 59]. In many narration “those in authority” is interpreted as the Infallible Imam.
Regarding this topic Imam Baqir A.S. says:
The zenith, summit and key to any affair and the way of doing anything and the satisfaction of the Blessed and the Exalted God is obeying Imam knowingly.
Affection (emotional connection)
Feelings and emotions are of the undeniable dimension human soul. Sometimes these feelings and emotions are so strong which leads to love; therefore, the meaning of the emotional bond here is to love and like the Infallibles of Ummah. That kind of love that God in the Quran, has praised the Prophet and his Ahl Al Bayt because of enjoying them and says about his messenger:
''There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful” Surat At-Tawbah [verse 128].
And in contrast, He has also asked people to love the affectionate Prophet and establish an emotional bond with him and his family; therefore, the Lord revealed to the Prophet to tell people that:
“Say, [O Muhammad], "If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained, commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and jihad in His cause, then wait until Allah executes His command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.” Surat At-Tawbah [verse 24].
According to this verse, love and interest in God and the Prophet is superior to everything.
References
The emotional connection with the Imams and strengthening this love and action is possible by the following items:
A) Love for Imam
In addition to the fact that interest and love for Ahl Al Bayt has been originated from love for God who is the authority over man and it has a spiritual and logical basis, is a repeated command that God has requested the believers to do it as a sign of thankfulness and the reward of prophethood and considers the result of this affection the guidance of man.
The Holy Quran considers the love and affection for Ahl Al Bayt as the reward of the prophethood and says: “Say, [O Muhammad], "I do not ask you for this message any payment [but] only good will through kinship” Surat Ash-Shuraa [verse 23].
Ibn Abbas said: When this verse was revealed, some people asked the Holy Prophet: Who are your kinship that we must love them? He said, 'Ali, Fatima and their two children''.
The Holy Prophet said:
Anyone that is provided with the affection of my household by God, surely he has reached the goodness in this world and the hereafter and no one should be in doubt that he will be in paradise; since the love for my kinship brings about twenty results: ten in this world and ten in the Hereafter.
B) Being friends with the Infallibles' friends and foes with their enemies (Tawalla and Tabarra).
A person who is interested in another person, always tries to satisfy him or her and do the actions that he or she likes it and avoid doing the things that they don’t like; like his/her friends and hate his/her enemies. Friendship with Ahl Al Bayt is like this too; that is it is necessary for a revolutionary believer to clean his soul from impurities because of his friendship bond and be friends with their friends and enemy of their enemies.
The Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali says:
“The love for us and the love for our enemies do not gather together in one heart since God has not placed two hearts for a man to love with one of them and to hate with the other. The friendship and love of the one who loves us is pure as gold becomes pure with fire and its impurities are cleared. So everyone who wants to know about his love for us must refer to his heart, if he loves our enemies as well as us he is not from us and we are not too and the God, Gabriel and Michael are his enemy and God is the enemy of the disbelievers.
C) Concurring with Imam in happiness and sorrows
Concurring the lover with the loved one is one of the most important signs of affection. If a true lover sees his loved one in hardship he will suffer too. If a thorn is damaging his friend’s hand it is as if the thorn is in his eyes and whenever he sees him/her happy he will be happy too. Imam Sadiq has described the real Shiites of Ahl Al Bayt that the true revolutionary believer must be like them too as follows:
''Our Shiites are a part of us that we have been created from our extra clay, what is bothering us makes them upset too and what makes us happy makes them happy as well''.
D) The names and titles of the Imams as a pattern for naming
When someone is interested in another person, he tries to call his name in any possible way; since the lover will be happy even by the name of his beloved; that’s why people name the important places and centers after the name of the popular figures to make them immanent; Therefore, one way of expressing the love of the revolutionary believer for the infallible Imams is choosing children's names among their names, titles and epithet.
Rub'i ibn abd Allah narrates that someone told Imam Sadiq: "May I be thy ransom, we will name our children after your names and your father's names, is it useful for us?" He replied: "Yes, I swear to God, is religion something more than love and friendship?" The Imam adduced to this holy verse:
Say, [O Muhammad], "If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins” Surat Ali 'Imran [verse 31].
C) Sending gifts for the Imams
Another way of expressing love and emotional bond with the Infallible Imams is sending gifts to them; the best gift for divine prophets, especially the last Prophet and his innocent children, is sending peace and blessings upon them. The holy Prophet said:
In any situation you are, send me blessings, surely I will receive them.
As giving Sadaqah on behalf of Imam Mahdi (a.j.) and for his health is among the gifts that is considered as one of the duties of real believers and the revolutionary believer is one of the examples of the real believers who are waiting for him.
Giving gifts to Imam and Sadaqah on behalf of him does not mean that he needs them rather God has assigned the Holy prophet to receive the Sadaqah and the other obligatory and recommended financial rights and in this way he will purify the soul of man; “Take, [O, Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them” Surat At-Tawbah [verse 103].
Imam Mahdi a.j writes to one of the Shiite people:
''We take your properties - Khums and Zakat to purify your lives and wealth, then everyone who was willing to pay do it, and whoever was unwilling, does not pay it, and what God has bestowed us is better than what give us''.
Call for reinforcements and assistance:
Moving in the straight path of God, is difficult and dangerous because an enemy from the inside called passion and another enemy from outside called Satan are in ambush. The way of being freed from the traps of Satan and achieving salvation, is (Taqwa) the fear of God and by cramming for achieving nearness to God and Jihad in the way of God
O you who have believed, fear Allah and seek the means [of nearness] to Him and strive in His cause that you may succeed” Surat Al-Ma'idah [verse 35]. ]
The means of reaching the proximity of God is the existence of the Infallible Imams from the prophet's household; as Hazrat Zahra (SA) in his famous sermon says: “We – Ahl al-Bayt- are God’s agents amongst people''.
The innocent household who are close to God and the means of grace; the Holy Prophet considers the way of salvation, survival and being freed as resorting to them
''I am leaving behind two precious successors among you, one of which is greater. The one who holds it fast would be on right guidance. One of them is the Book of God and the other is my Ahl alBayt (household). The two will never separate until they come back to me by the Pond (of alKawthar on the Day of Judgment)''.
Therefore, the meaning of calling for assistance is resorting and supplication to them to reach guidance and salvation and the acceptance of worldly and otherworldly needs and enjoying their interceding before God.
References
A) Resort
In the Islamic lifestyle, one way for a revolutionary believer to have connection with the prophet and his Ahl Al Bayt is resort. Resort means intercession of good deeds and righteous people favored by Allah to ask for the acceptance of the requests and answering of the prayer.
The word “means” in the abovementioned verse means a thing that man becomes close something else through it and in the verse it is anything that makes man close to God but of course it can have many examples.
Sometime sit means the righteous deeds that is done by a person and sometimes is resorting to the great men of God; it means that man makes connection with those who are near to God and make himself/herself near to Him by their affection and resorting to them. The holy Quran has referred to this fact that if the sinners resort to the holy Prophet in addition to seeking forgiveness from God and ask him to seek forgiveness from God for them, God will forgive them:
“And if, when they wronged themselves, they had come to you, [O Muhammad], and asked forgiveness of Allah and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Accepting of repentance and Merciful” Surat An-Nisa [verse 64].
Accordingly, the infallible Imams has also taught the way of resort and supplication to Almighty God for requesting the needs and acceptance of the prayers. According to the narration of Sama-a bin Mehran Imam Kadhim said:
Oh God, I asking you by the right of Muhammad and Ali in fact the two of them have majesty before you and value so by the right of such majesty and by the right of such value send blessings to Muhammad and his Ahl Al Bayt and do for me so and so.
B) Intercession
Another way of having connection with the Infallibles in the Islamic lifestyle, is asking intercession from them because the intercession for Ummah, is among the ranks that God has bestowed on the Holy Prophet and his family in the light of servitude; “And from [part of] the night, pray with it as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station” Surat Al-Isra [verse 79].
Allamah Tabaresi He writes in his commentary: "Commentators agreed that the meaning of praised station is the same as intercession''.
In saying, the Prophet said: The intercessors are five: 1 Koran 2. Kinship 3. Trust 4. The Holy Prophet PBUH and his progeny 5. The Ahlul-Bayt.
But what can be said about the nature of intercession is that the intercession of the Holy Prophet and other intercessors is the same as praying to God and seeking forgiveness for the sinners and God will answer their prayers in special conditions and they don't pray to God in cases that they are not allowed to do that.
Our knowledge on the reality of intercession on the Day of Resurrection is not complete, maybe there is another stage there, but anyway praying is one of its stages; Therefore, a person who says the following prayer in front of the tomb of the prophet: O intimate of Allah, Stand by us when Allah sits in judgment over us, doesn’t want anything except this prayer.
C) Nazr (to make a spiritual vow
Nazr is also another way of seeking help; Nazr means that someone is committed to do a good deed for the sake of God or when he avoids doing actions that not doing them is better.
In fact Nazr is a kind of covenant between man and God that if by the permission of God his needs are fulfilled, he will do something good; For example, fasting or helping a number of poor people and if his Nazr is accepted through one of the good servants of God, he will go on pilgrimage to the tomb of that righteous person or donate money for repairing his grave, or give some money to charity and donate its Reward of blessing to the pure soul of that righteous person. This kind of Nazr must be offered in case of the acceptance of prayer. The current supposition for Nazr, that is the intercession of one of the righteous servants of God like the prophets, the Imams and the righteous people, has special provisions have that been quoted in Risalahs.