Salam !!

● First we need to understand what is the actual meanning of role model before we dive deeper & decide who can be our role model & not . We will look up to some historical examples &
narrations to clarify the topic !

• ROLE MODEL: A role model is someone who serves an example to others by inspiring and guiding them through their behaviour , accheivments & qualities . They help individuals pursue goals
by demonstrating what is possible . They provide a living example of what is possible & helps others to set & pursue same goals .

● Secondly lets look up to some narrations of our holy Imam (as) regarding this topic as he is the best guide for people after Prophet Muhammad :

• NARRATION 1 : Imam Ali (as) says -” Remember that every follower has a leader whom he follows & from the effulgence of whose knowledge he takes light.”

• EXPLANATION : By this hadith we come to know that its obvious that every follower has a leader or a role model whom they admire & follow their steps , follow their teachings & sometime
wants to become the same . Its upto him whether to follow a role model who guides towards light(truth) by his knowledge or to follow a role model who guides towards darkness
(falsehood) becasue we become like the person whom we love & admire .

• NARRATION 2 : Imam Ali (as) says -“Never measure Haq based on personality , measure personality based on Haq
Identify Haq & then you won’t play in hands of personality .”

• EXPLANATION : Following the incident of Jan E Siffin , A man came to Ali (as) & he asked him about the situation of war where both the opposite parties are helding high the same flag
mentioning ” La Illaha Illallah ” but yet are against each other . How can one decide which party is on the Haq (truth) ?
Imam Ali (as) could have narrated to him the hadith of the Prophet that goes like ” Ali is with truth & truth is with Ali ” but he decided not to mention this even though
he could do that . At that instance Imam Ali spoke the exact words mentioned above ( Narration 2 ) . This narration can be supported by an example as well where its recored
in various sources that the flagbearer of Muaviah that was holding up the Flag of ” La Illaha Illallah ” was the same person who once used to do the same for the flag of
pagan Arab stone gods !

• The conclusion we get from this incident is that : The right flag could be in wrong hands & vice versa .

• To support my conclusion from the narration lets look up to another example :
The example I am gonna take here is Jang E Jamal in which Aisha fought against Ali(as) in which people supported Aisha & among the people were people like Talha & Zubair .
As Zubair was a great personality among the people so when he went against Imam Ali (as) & supported Aisha in her cause people also started to blindly follow him just
because of his personality .

• Another example I will give is of the first two Caliphs of sunnis :
Abu Bakar & Umar had ceased the Caliphate from Ahlebait E Rasool many people accepted their caliphate & some others rejected but still after sometime of observing they
also gave bay’ah to them because of their decisive behaviour i.e they used to wear simple clothes like others when they were among the people and used to give some
speeches also that would help them to look good & attract the remaining people who firstly rejected their caliphate . In this case we see those two caliphs aren’t
on Haq but due to their decisive personality people followed them & made them as their leader & role model . But surely they were in a great error !

• Another example I will give will be the case of Al-Shalmaghani :
According to some historical accounts, when Husayn b. Ruh became the deputy of Imam al-Mahdi (a), he appointed al-Shalmaghani to be in charge of Shi’a affairs in Baghdad .

Al-Shalmaghani did not leave the Imam and Shi’a beliefs right after his deviation. His Ghali (exaggerative) tendencies, such as incarnation of God, are clear in attributed words to him. He believed that God has appeared in human shape.
In other words, God incarnated in Adam (a) and then the following prophets and after the Prophet Muhammad (s) in the bodies of Imams (a) and after the
last Imam – Imam al-Mahdi (a) – in his own (al-Shalmaghani) body, and on the other hand Satan incarnates in the body of wicked people. According to his opinion,
God wanted to prove his existence and exaltedness by incarnation. Even his personality among the people was of great respect but again he wasn’t on Haq &
neither the people measured him by Haq . As a result He & his followers who blindly followed him went stray & deviated from the Haq .

• Last example I wanna give is of Ali b.abi Hamza Al Bataini :

When Imam Reza (as) asked him for zakat & khums he denied giving it to the Imam outta ignorance & he denounced the Holy Imamate of Imam Reza (as) after this incident
the people who took Ali b.abi Hamza Al Bataini as their role model & leader also rejected the Imamate of Imam Reza (as) . This was because people followed him by
measure of his personality & not by measuring him by Haq .

● CONCLUSION : So we have now clearly seen from narrations & other historical refrences that we shouldn’t follow or admire people based on their personality but by Haq by verfiying that
the person is on Haq or not otherwise the consequence of following somebody on the basis of personality are clearly explained in above examples . In the present time ,
we have some person like Hassan Allahyari & Yasir AL Habbeb who are of the same ideolgy as Abu Bakar , Umar , Aisha , Talha & Zubair . They decive people by their
personality & the people belive them & follow them blindly as most of the people are unaware . We should follow someone and measure him/her by Haq & not by personality .
Refer these two personalities Hassan Allahyari & Yasir AL Habib to the incident of the flagbearer of Muaviah i.e even though by his personality he seemed to be worthy
of admiring by when we measured him by Haq he wasn’t among the one we should admire but was among the ones that are to be opposed !

The ones we should admire & see them as our role model are those who are obident to Allah (swt) , those who follow the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (saw) & love him more
than anyone in the creation of Allah (swt) . Reffering to the hadith of “Two weighty thing” , our role model should be the one who follows this teaching of Prophet
& take guidance from the Holy Quran & The Ahlulbayt of Muhammad . Who follows them whole heartedly , respects them , acknowledges them , refers to them whenever faces
any problem in his faith . Above all these things we shouldn’t follow anyone who claims to do so but we can’t see him acting according to it !
One who both claim to have these things & applies these things in their life , to their actions are the people we should take as role models , leaders,the ones we
love & the one we reach out when we are needy of knowledge as they will then surely lead us to light with their knowledge & understanding !

Imam Hasan ibn Ali (as) said :

“And among jurist(Fuqaha) those who protect themselves from sins , guard their religion , defy their carnal desires & are obedient to their Master , it is incumbent upon
the people to follow them . Such characteristics are found only in a few of them & not all.”

( GREATER Sins Vol 1 , Part 3 , Page 68 )

~ Jazakallah