Divine Knowledge is an essential criterion that a divinely appointed Messenger must possess. This means that he has God-given knowledge that allows him to know the unseen and answer people’s questions, specifically in these great matters that are only revealed by a divine Messenger, the matters that are referred to as the greatest of matters or Aza’im Al-O’moor.
We have this criterion of knowledge in the Holy Qur’an in the following verses in regard to the appointment of Adam (PBUH) as the Caliph of Allah:
And He taught Adam all of the names; then he presented them to the angels, and said, “Tell Me the names of these, if you are sincere."
- The Holy Qur'an, Chapter 2 (Al-Baqarah), Verse 31
He said, "O Adam, tell them their names." And when he told them their names, He said, "Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of the heavens and the earth, and that I know what you reveal and what you conceal?"
- The Holy Qur'an, Chapter 2 (Al-Baqarah), Verse 33
Here are a few examples of previous prophets who possessed divine knowledge.
God's vicegerent Joseph (PBUH) interpreted dreams through divinely inspired knowledge.
And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 41, Verse 1
And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 41, Verse 8
... until Pharaoh called for Joseph upon the advice of Joseph's fellow prisoner. God made this dream a reason that the guidelines of Joseph (PBUH) became apparent and that he was superior to all fortune tellers and scholars because he interpreted the dream of Pharaoh and thereby proved that he was a Messenger of God. His knowledge served as proof of his relation with God:
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 41, Verses 15-16
Then Joseph continues his line of argument and shows, that the knowledge, which God has given him does not only cover the interpretation of dreams but also political and administrative knowledge:
Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 41, Verse 33
Prophet Daniel proved his truthfulness through his knowledge astonishing the scholars and elders of his time. God bestowed upon the King of Iraq a vision so that he may come to know the knowledge of Daniel (PBUH) and he would realize that Daniel is in contact with God. Nebuchadnezzar saw a great image, a stone cut from the mountain without hands destroyed the image, and the stone grew and filled the whole earth - The stone was said to be the latter-day kingdom of God.
And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
- The Holy Bible, Book of Daniel, Chapter 2, Verse 1-2
And none of the scholars or wise men were capable of interpreting or explaining the dream:
For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
- The Holy Bible, Book of Daniel, Chapter 2, Verses 12-13
To have this knowledge was Daniel's proof of his relation with God and that he was sent by Him. And the king of Iraq had to admit this:
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
- The Holy Bible, Book of Daniel, Chapter 2, Verses 27-28
[…] the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
- The Holy Bible, Book of Daniel, Chapter 2, Verses 45-47
Jesus (PBUH) debated his opponents, answered their questions and passed their tests. And here are some excerpts from the Bible:
And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
- The Holy Bible, Book of Matthew, Chapter 13, Verse 53-54
And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.
- The Holy Bible, Book of Mark, Chapter 1, Verse 21
And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again. And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
- The Holy Bible, Book of Mark, Chapter 10, Verses 1-2
Jesus (PBUH) also made evident that knowledge is an independent proof of the validity of a Prophet. He furthermore said that a miracle can differ from Prophet to Prophet and does not occur according to the whims of the people.
And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way, And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.
- The Holy Bible, Book of Luke, Chapter 4, Verses 22-32
So the person claiming to be a divine Messenger from God has to be somebody who knows things from the unseen, who knows and reveals incarnations, and who comes forth with answers to questions that nobody was able to answer before. And he has to be able to show this knowledge.
Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan and Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq (From Them is Peace) have demonstrated that they have this knowledge. They demonstrated it through their interpretation of the Qur'an, through their answers to the people's questions and through revealing great matters that can only be revealed by a divinely appointed Messenger from God.
Al-Mufaddel ibn Umar said: I heard Abu Abdillah Al-Sadiq (PBUH) saying: “The companion of this matter has two absences. After one of them, he comes back to his family and regarding the other one it is said: “He has perished, which valley has he followed?” I said: “If that takes place, then what will we do?” He said: “If a claimant claims it, you are to ask him about the great matters, which no one will answer except him”.
– Al-Kafi, Al-Shaikh Al-Kulayni, Vol. 1, p. 340; Bihar Al-Anwar, Al-Allamah Al-Majlisi, Vol. 52, p.157; Ithbat Al-Hudat, Al-Hurr Al-Amili, Vol. 3, p. 445; Mo’jam Ahadeeth Al-Imam Al-Mahdi, Ali Al-Korani, Vol. 3, p. 357; Kitab Al-Ghayba (Book of Occultation), Al-Numani, Vol. 1, p. 176
And also:
The Messenger of Allah Mohammed (PBUH & His Family):
"…He has knowledge which, if the time of his emergence comes, it will spread from its own self, and Allah will make it speak, so the knowledge will call to him: ‘Emerge, O Wali of Allah. Kill the enemies of Allah’!"z
- Bihar Al-Anwar, Al-Allamah Al-Majlisi, Vol. 52, p. 311
Here is further proof of the unique knowledge Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan and Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace) came with.
In the Qur'an it says:
And they ask you, [O Mohammed], about the soul. Say, "The soul is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little".
- The Holy Qur'an, Chapter 17 (Al-Isra), Verse 85
It is this specific knowledge that is mentioned in the hadith as a key proof to identify the Riser of the Family of Mohammed, for Imam Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace) said:
Imam Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace) said: “Verily, God chose between the souls in the shadows and then made them enter the bodies, and if our Qaim emerges he shall make the brother inherit from the brother whom God paired him with in the shadows, and he does not make him inherit from his physical brother, know him from that, and whoever knows him from that there shall not remain upon him a stronger proof.”
- Al-Haft Al-Shareef, Al-Mufaddal ibn Omar Al-Jofi, as Translated by Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace), Door 66, p. 367
Nobody on this planet ever came forth and revealed the true soul lineages and soul family kinship except Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq, the Riser of the Family of Mohammed and successor of Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan (From Them is Peace).
Just the fact that they have brought forth the Law of Recognizing the Vicegerent is enough to show that they are knowledgeable.
It is known that the Qaim comes with the twenty-seven letters of knowledge and has the knowledge of the Torah, Gospel, and Qur'an.
Abi Abdullah Imam Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace) said:
“Knowledge is twenty-seven letters in total and everything which the Messengers brought forth are only two letters and the people to this very day know nothing but two letters, so if the Qaim emerges he will bring forth the twenty-five letters and spread them amongst the people and will add it to the previous two letters, until he spreads a total of twenty-seven letters.”
- Bihar Al-Anwar, Al-Allamah Al-Majlisi, Vol. 52, p. 336
A man entered upon Abi Ja’far Al-Baqir (PBUH) and said to him: “May Allah keep you healthy, please take these five hundred dirhams from me,” So Abu Ja’far (PBUH) said to him: “You take it, spend it on your neighbors from the people of Islam and the poor ones from your Muslim brothers,” then he said: “If the Riser/Qaim of the Ahlul-Bayt rises, he shall divide equally, and he shall be fair to the people, whoever obeys him has obeyed God and whoever disobeys him disobeyed God, and he is called a Guide because he guides to a matter which has been previously hidden/unknown, and he shall bring forth the Torah and the rest of the books of God out of a cave in Antioch. He shall then rule between the people of the Torah by the Torah and between the people of the Gospels by their Gospels, and between the people of the Psalms (Zabur) by their Psalms (Zabur), and between the people of the Qur’an by their Qur’an. And the money of the world is gathered for him, from the inner of the earth and from the top of it. And he shall say to the people: ‘Come to that which you cut ties with your families over, and that which you spilt blood over, and that which you did what God forbade over,’ and the Riser/Qaim will be given what no one was given before him and he shall fill the Earth with justice and equity and light as it had been filled with injustice and oppression and evil.”
- Kitab Al-Ghayba (Book of Occultation), Al-Numani, Vol. 1, pp. 240-241