Islam is above all other religions in this regard [for it is the final message]. The supplications [that our holy Imāms have uttered] are to rid people from the desires that have made them wretched, from the miseries of this world that have bewildered and confused them, and to save them by driving them to the true path of humanity. There is no other way; the Right Path is the only way for humanity. And our holy Imāms, not being able to guide people openly as the result of the situation they were in, utilized these supplications as the means of guidance.
Sahifeh-ye-Imam. V 13. P 31
http://en.imam-khomeini.ir/en/n8324/The-Supplication-for-the-23th-Day-of-Ramadan