Undoubtedly, one of the qualities and specialities of Allah’s messenger is to invite people towards Allah. He (Allah) says:
“O prophet! Surely We have sent you as a witness, and as a bearer of good news and as a warner, And as one inviting to Allah by His permission, and as a light-giving torch.” (Qur’an, 33: 45&46)
In spite of this, the aforesaid verse does not draw any limitation and exclusivity and does not say that ‘invitation’ is confined merely to the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.). Besides, in the following verses this state (of inviting people towards Allah) is applied to others too. For example:
“And who speaks better than he who calls to Allah while he himself does good and says: I am surely of those who submit.” (Qur’an, 41:33)
Moreover, in Shia and Sunni traditions, great emphasis is laid to invite people towards goodness. For instance:
“Call the people towards religion; not with your tongue (but deeds).”[xi]
We see our noble Imams commanding us to invite the people towards goodness. In reality, every missionary of religion and inviter of goodness is “داعي الي الله” (inviter towards Allah) and the most perfect exemplar are the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) and Imams (a.s.) who call the people towards none but Allah.
In Ziarat-e- Jame’ah, we read about the immaculate Imams (a.s.):
“Peace by upon the inviters towards Allah.”
To sum up, Hazrat Mahdi (a.t.f.s.) calls the people towards Allah. This attribute is not confined to any prophet or Imam but all the Apostles and Imams call the people towards Allah.