EDITORIAL

In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Unforgettable Role-Models
Role-models looked up to for a variety of reasons; they are also classified in various categories, e.g., economic, scholarly, political, religious, and so forth. Of them, scholarly and religious role models are those whose names are recorded for far longer periods of time. Few people may readily recall the names of the local rulers and major politicians in the time of Plato in ancient Greece and Panini in ancient India. Likewise, the names of the local merchants in
the time of Noah, Jacob, or Jesus Christ may not be readily remembered. Conversely, the names of the Divine prophets and scholars seldom sink into oblivion. The unforgettable in turn can be put into two categories: eternal books and role-models. Amongst the eternal books, the Holy Quran has been the only Divine Book of guidance that has remained intact. As such, it has been packed with the noble teachings, eternal and true for all times and places. It speaks in a simple language of the human instinct. Perhaps this is why the Divine prophets and the Infallible Imams have remained more influential than philosophers and great teachers.
    Assuming the Holy Quran as the eternal Divine Manifesto, with real-life examples included for more elucidation, then this Manifesto
needs some role-model personalities to put its wisdom and teachings into practice. Apart from the Divine prophets whose names are mentioned in the Holy Quran, the Prophet Muhammad and the Infallible Imams are those personalities who put the Quranic guidelines into practice. It is their God-granted infallibility that has made them worthy of being so respected and followed up. Their lives in the time of comfort and danger, in all their time and tide, show how a morally educated and developed person may behave and treat others alongside with moral standards endorsed by the Divine Book, hence acceptable to any sane individual. 
May God make us perceptive enough of taking lessons from them. Amen!
Dr. Muhammad-Reza Fakhr-Rohani