An Important Benefit of Vinegar

This is a short yet quite useful post.  In my search through the books of traditions I stumbled upon the following very interesting tradition.  As we know عقل or intellect has a very significant and important place in Islam. Copious authentic and acceptable traditions are present in our books that clarify and emphasize the integral role of intellect in our faith and in our daily lives.  An individual who is aware of these traditions and an individual who understands the magnitude of the importance of intellect in our religion would naturally look for ways to train and strengthen his or her intellect.  Numerous traditions have provided us with numerous ways to strengthen our intellects.  This post just highlights one of those ways.  It’s a relatively easy way to strengthen your intellect.  Now, the main question is, why not? Why not make a simple change in our diets if it helps our faith and our health?

            After reading the following traditions, I would recommend you check this link as well, Health Benefits of Vinegar.

            Here are two very helpful related acceptable traditions, one is authentic and one is good.

9) Authentic

Arabic Text:

مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ الْحَكَمِ عَنْ سَمَاعَةَ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ خَلُّ الْخَمْرِ يَشُدُّ اللِّثَةَ وَ يَقْتُلُ دَوَابَّ الْبَطْنِ وَ يَشُدُّ الْعَقْلَ

English Translation:

Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn Al Hakam from Sama'ah from Abu Abdullah, peace be upon him, who has said:

Wine vinegar strengthens the gum, kills the creatures present inside the abdomen and makes the intellect [aql] stronger.

2) Good

Arabic Text:

عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي عُمَيْرٍ عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ سَالِمٍ عَنْ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ خَالِدٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ الْخَلُّ يَشُدُّ الْعَقْلَ

English Translation:

Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from ibn Abu Omayr from Hisham ibn Salem from Solayman ibn Khaled from Abu Abdullah, peace be upon him, who has said:  

Vinegar strengthens the intellect [aql].

Source:

Al-Kafi, Volume 6, Page 329, Tradition #2

Al-Kafi, Volume 6, Page 330, Tradition #9

Medicine For Your Body

Nowadays, due to the overarching power of pharmaceutical companies we live in cultures saturated with pills and various forms of medicine to help our bodies feel good.  Even worse, now that our latest scientific research is indicating the power of mind over body, a whole new set of cognitive enhancing drugs are beginning to infiltrate the market in order to so-called help our minds and cognition perform optimally. Day after day, more and more, we are being bombarded and deluded by various forms of advertisements telling us that so and so drug will make us feel better, physically and mentally.  This constant bombardment of misleading information imprints in our minds the false notion that pills are good and we should be quick to self-diagnose and consume various pills.  

            However, how many of us actually take the time to investigate each medication that we choose to consume? How many of us read the labels and look deeper into the possible side effects of each medicine that we take?  How many of us think past the  short-term relief and about the long-term disaster?  

            Many of us have mistakenly placed our trusts in pharmaceutical companies, and forget to realize that each company, especially multi-billion dollar companies, aim solely to maximize their annual profits.  

            There are numerous documentaries and books and articles written about the dangers of blindly and passively becoming a victim of the current pill culture.  The documentary “Big Bucks, Big Pharma” byRonit Ridberg is one of the many eye-opening documentaries that sheds light into the business world of drug making. Another documentary that is worth watching is “Pill Poppers.”  A third documentary that helps to raise some serious questions is “The Marketing of Madness: Are We All Mad?”  Lastly an interesting article that highlights this issue, which I recently stumbled upon, is the “Pill Culture Pops.”

 

            Another important point that I would like to raise, related to the upcoming tradition, is about the false old mechanistic view of the body.  For many years, falsely it was assumed that healing our bodies is similar to fixing a machine, whichever part is “broken” we should take a pill to fix that part.  However, this false mechanistic approach is, fortunately, beginning to fade away.  Unlike machines, our bodies are not merely made of parts.  We are not the sum of our parts.  We are a whole, and changing one part of the whole affects the other parts as well.  This is very important and we must always keep this in mind.  Amazingly, yet not surprisingly, our beloved Imams (as) knew this fact very well, as you will see in the following tradition. In short, and concisely, every pill that we take affects our body as a whole and not a mere part of our body.  For example, a pill that may help your headache may be very harmful to your liver. 

            Now with all that said, I am not suggesting that we must stay away from all forms of medicine and all pills.  As decades of scientific research have shown, medicinal pills do indeed help in some cases.  I would like to emphasize that the main issue is about taking medicine carelessly.  Again, I will emphasize this one more time, if you’re ill, speak with your trustworthy doctor and properly follow his or her directions. DO NOT  take this post to mean that you should stop consuming any and every pill that your trustworthy doctor has prescribed for you.  Read the tradition carefully. If your body needs a certain medicine, then take it.

 

            The bottom line is this; know your medicine, know your pills, know exactly why you’re taking them and ask yourself whether it’s necessary or not.  Always be in touch with your (or a) trustworthy doctor, who could be honest and who is not under the influence of any big pharmaceutical company. 

            After reading my long initial note, you may now wonder, what the best approach towards medicine would be.  Our Imam (as) has provided us with a simple yet significant answer. 

            Now, without any further ado, here is an important tradition.

           

Arabic Text:

مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْحَسَنِ عَنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ بْنِ حُكَيْمٍ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ عُثْمَانَ الْأَحْوَالِ يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا الْحَسَنِ ع يَقُولُ لَيْسَ مِنْ دَوَاءٍ إِلَّا وَ هُوَ يُهَيِّجُ دَاءً وَ لَيْسَ شَيْ‏ءٌ فِي الْبَدَنِ أَنْفَعَ مِنْ إِمْسَاكِ الْيَدِ إِلَّا عَمَّا يُحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهِ

Farsi Translation:

عثمان احول ميگويد: از امام ابو الحسن عليه السّلام شنيدم كه مي‏فرمود: هيچ دارويى نيست مگر آنكه دردى را به جنبش درميآورد، و هيچ دارويى براى بدن بهتر از آن نيست كه آدمى امساك كند جز از آنچه بدن به آن نياز دارد

English Translation:

Narrated by Mohamed Ibn Yehya from Mohamed Ibn Al-Hassan from Mo’awiya Ibn Hukaim who said: I heard Osman Al-Ahwal say: I heard Abu Al-Hassan (pbuh) say:

“There is no medicine but which excites another ailment. Nothing is better for the body than to abstain from all which it does not require.”

Source:

Al-Kafi, Volume 8, Page 273, Tradition #409

Jesus' Teachings on Swearing in God's Name and on Adultery

In my blog post, "God Almighty's Counsel to Jesus Son of Mary (Peace be upon him)" [I, II, III], I posted a lengthy revelation of God to Jesus son of Mary. We read and learned God’s commandments to Jesus. 

 

            In this post, I present to you a Good tradition, which speaks about two of Jesus’ teachings to his apostles.  As Muslims, the more we know about our beloved prophets, peace be upon them, the better.  Such knowledge would help us distinguish truth from falsehood when and if we hold religious discussions with non-Muslims. 

 

            In the following tradition, in addition to learning about two of Jesus’ teachings, we can learn and confirm that religious and moral teachings of prophets and messengers of God may be different from one another.

 

            Lastly and most importantly, through a simple metaphor, Jesus very clearly explains to his apostles and to us, why they and we should not even speak of adultery. Let us be careful to not let destructive smokes enter and ruin our souls and selves.

 

Note:

I do not have this tradition available in Farsi.  If you are seeking the Farsi translation, leave me a message and I will provide you with a rough Farsi translation myself.

 

7)

 

Arabic Text:

عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ وَ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ أَبِي الْعَبَّاسِ الْكُوفِيِّ جَمِيعاً عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ عُثْمَانَ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ سِنَانٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ اجْتَمَعَ الْحَوَارِيُّونَ إِلَى عِيسَى ع فَقَالُوا لَهُ يَا مُعَلِّمَ الْخَيْرِ أَرْشِدْنَا فَقَالَ لَهُمْ إِنَّ مُوسَى كَلِيمَ اللَّهِ ع أَمَرَكُمْ أَنْ لَا تَحْلِفُوا بِاللَّهِ تَبَارَكَ وَ تَعَالَى كَاذِبِينَ وَ أَنَا آمُرُكُمْ أَنْ لَا تَحْلِفُوا بِاللَّهِ كَاذِبِينَ وَ لَا صَادِقِينَ قَالُوا يَا رُوحَ اللَّهِ زِدْنَا فَقَالَ إِنَّ مُوسَى نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ ع أَمَرَكُمْ أَنْ لَا تَزْنُوا وَ أَنَا آمُرُكُمْ أَنْ لَا تُحَدِّثُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ بِالزِّنَا فَضْلًا عَنْ أَنْ تَزْنُوا فَإِنَّ مَنْ حَدَّثَ نَفْسَهُ بِالزِّنَا كَانَ كَمَنْ أَوْقَدَ فِي بَيْتٍ مُزَوَّقٍ فَأَفْسَدَ التَّزَاوِيقَ الدُّخَانُ وَ إِنْ لَمْ يَحْتَرِقِ الْبَيْتُ

English Translation:

Narrated by Ali Ibn Ibrahim from his father and a number of our companions from Ahmed Ibn Mohamed from Abul Abass Al-Koufy, and all of them from Amr Ibn Osman from Abdullah Ibn Sinan from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) who said:

The apostles gathered before Jesus (peace be upon him) and said to him, ‘O righteous teacher, guide us.” He said to them, “Moses, he who spoke to God, commanded you not to swear falsely in God’s name. I command you not to swear by God’s name falsely or truthfully.”

They said, “O spirit of God, tell us more.” He said, “Moses, the prophet of God, commanded you not to commit adultery. I command you not to speak to yourselves of adultery in addition to not committing adultery; for he who speaks of adultery is like one who sets fire to an ornamented house, for the smoke will ruin the ornaments even should the house not burn down.”

Source:

Al-Kafi, Volume 5, Page 542, Tradition #7

Parents of Mary, Mother of Jesus

This post is supposed to bring to our attentions a relatively short period in history.  It is meant to highlight for us the communication between Imran, Hannah the wife of Imran, peace be upon them, and God.  Although initially this post may not seem to contain any important or interesting points in it, after a better examination, we can infer the following points.

            Firstly, in this post, a few of Jesus’ miracles, which we often hear from Christians and are found in the Bible, are confirmed.  We, as Muslims, can now confirm and be certain that Jesus, peace be upon him, did indeed heal the blind and the leper, and did indeed resurrect the dead with God’s permission. 

            Secondly, we can notice that Imran’s wife’s name is Hannah.  Therefore, Hannah is the mother of Mary and the grandmother of Jesus, peace be upon them all. 

            Thirdly, we can notice that, like Mary, Hannah also communicated with Allah, and Allah did respond to Hannah’s concern about her new-born child.

            Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, we learn from the following tradition that there is a direct connection between a man, his sons and his grandsons.  When God makes a promise to a man, or when an event is prophesized about a man, and it doesn’t happen to him, it could be because it may in fact happen to his sons or even grandsons. 

            Now, we could ask ourselves, is this tradition and the exposition of this family connection meant to hint towards the biological genetic connections between parents and offsprings?  I do not know if this is the case. However, if you are interested to research this matter further, keeping this tradition in mind could certainly come in handy.

            At the end, if there are any other points that you see in this tradition that I missed and did not notice, please do not hesitate to point them out in the comment section.

Now, without any further ado, I present to you the following Authentic tradition.

1)

Arabic Text:

مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ جَمِيعاً عَنِ ابْنِ مَحْبُوبٍ عَنِ ابْنِ رِئَابٍ عَنْ أَبِي بَصِيرٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى أَوْحَى إِلَى عِمْرَانَ أَنِّي وَاهِبٌ لَكَ ذَكَراً سَوِيّاً مُبَارَكاً يُبْرِئُ الْأَكْمَهَ وَ الْأَبْرَصَ وَ يُحْيِي الْمَوْتَى بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَ جَاعِلُهُ رَسُولًا إِلَى بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ فَحَدَّثَ عِمْرَانُ امْرَأَتَهُ حَنَّةَ بِذَلِكَ وَ هِيَ أُمُّ مَرْيَمَ فَلَمَّا حَمَلَتْ كَانَ حَمْلُهَا بِهَا عِنْدَ نَفْسِهَا غُلَامٌ فَلَمَّا وَضَعَتْها قالَتْ رَبِّ إِنِّي وَضَعْتُها أُنْثى‏ (آل ‏عمران: 36)... وَ لَيْسَ الذَّكَرُ كَالْأُنْثى‏ (آل‏ عمران: 36) أَيْ لَا يَكُونُ الْبِنْتُ رَسُولًا يَقُولُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ وَ اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِما وَضَعَتْ (آل ‏عمران: 36) فَلَمَّا وَهَبَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى لِمَرْيَمَ عِيسَى كَانَ هُوَ الَّذِي بَشَّرَ بِهِ عِمْرَانَ وَ وَعَدَهُ إِيَّاهُ فَإِذَا قُلْنَا فِي الرَّجُلِ مِنَّا شَيْئاً وَ كَانَ فِي وَلَدِهِ أَوْ وَلَدِ وَلَدِهِ فَلَا تُنْكِرُوا ذَلِكَ

Farsi Translation:

ابو بصير گويد: امام صادق عليه السلام فرمود: خداى تعالى بعمران (پدرم مريم مادر عيسى عليه السلام) وحى كرد كه من بتو پسرى ميبخشم، سالم و مبارك كه باذن خدا كور مادر زاد و پيس را درمان كند و مردگان را زنده كند و پيغمبر بنى اسرائيلش قرار دهم، عمران اين مطلب را بهمسرش حنة كه مادر مريم است گزارش داد، چون بمريم حامله گشت، فكر ميكرد كه حملش پسر است، چون او را زائيد (و ديد دختر است) گفت: “پروردگارا من دختر زائيدم ...  و پسر مانند دختر نيست”  (3:36)يعنى دختر كه پيغمبر نميشود. خداى عز و جل (در باره او) ميفرمايد: “خدا بآنچه او زائيده داناتر است (3:36)”، سپس چون خداى تعالى عيسى را بمريم بخشيد، او همان پيغمبرى بود كه بعمران بشارت داده شده بود و باو وعده كرده بودند.

پس هر گاه ما در باره مردى از خاندان خود چيزى گفتيم. و در فرزند يا فرزند زاده او پيدا شد آن را انكار مكنيد.

English Translation:

Narrated by Mohamed Ibn Yehya from Ahmed Ibn Mohamed and Ali bin Ibrahim, from his father, narrated by all of these from Ibn Mahboub from Ibn Re’ab, from Abu Baseer from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him). He said:

“Allah the Almighty revealed to Imran, ‘I shall bestow upon you a pleasing, blessed male child who shall heal the blind and the leper and raise the dead in the name of Allah. We shall make him a prophet to the children of Israel.’ Imran notified his wife Hannah, the mother of Maryam. And when she became with a child she imagined the child would be a boy. When she gave birth to her (Maryam) she said, “O Lord, I have given birth to a girl child… A male is not the same as a female.” (3 :36) for a female cannot be a messenger [of Allah].   Allah the almighty said, “I know best what you have given birth to.” (3:36) When God the Almighty bestowed Jesus upon Maryam, he was the child foretold by Him to Imran and bestowed upon him.

Thus, when a thing is foretold about a man and it appears in his sons or grandsons [instead], do not deny it.”

 Source:

Al-Kafi, Volume 1, Page 535, Tradition #1

The Reward of Being Patient During Affliction

Martyrdom is a concept that is greatly praised in the religion of Islam.  There are, indubitably, numerous traditions that vividly clarify the significance of martyrdom in Islam. Achieving such honourable end is a request that most believers ask from God after their prayers or in their supplications. 

            In religious lectures, and in Islamic political speeches, we are continuously and constantly reminded of its worth. 

            Although the constant glorification of martyrdom certainly has its positive consequences for the trained and educated minds, an imbalanced emphasis of it may indirectly lead to an unhealthy fascination with it, and may in turn blind our eyes to many other worthy ends and means, which we should hope and aim for.

            One of these worthy means and ends that we must seek and pray for is patience.  Many of us do not spend sufficient amount of time and effort to contemplate and learn about patience. Many of us do not consider patience to be a “big deal” and instead of praying for it, we pray for what we, falsely, assume to be much worthier than patience, namely martyrdom.  In other words, many of us may think and ask “why pray for patience, when I could pray for martyrdom?”

            In this post, I will present a very short tradition that is graded Good.   God willing, after reading this tradition, most of us would re-assess our priorities, and those of us who haven’t already done so would place praying for patience before praying for martyrdom.  Therefore, what I would like to get across is this, praying for martyrdom is good, but pray for patience first.

            Lastly, and directly related to the concept of patience, is the concept of suffering.  Keep in mind, without suffering, without life’s tests and trials, we cannot learn about patience, we cannot strengthen our patience, and we cannot become patient.  Thus, when you do pray for patience, do so with an open-mind and a proper understanding of what patience is, and know that seeking patience attracts life’s tests and trials.  

            Nevertheless, once the concept of patience is properly understood, tests and trials in life can be seen as blessings as opposed to punishments; blessings that teach us about patience, blessings that strengthen our patience, and subsequently blessings that pave our paths to Paradise.

            There is of course much more that could be said and written about patience.  Please consider this post, to be a post that encourages you to seriously seek patience, to learn about it, and to practice it.

            The following tradition is indeed quite short, however, a deeper examination and understanding of it could be life-changing. 

17)

Arabic Text:

عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي عُمَيْرٍ عَنْ سَيْفِ بْنِ عَمِيرَةَ عَنْ أَبِي حَمْزَةَ الثُّمَالِيِّ قَالَ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع مَنِ ابْتُلِيَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ بِبَلَاءٍ فَصَبَرَ عَلَيْهِ كَانَ لَهُ مِثْلُ أَجْرِ أَلْفِ شَهِيدٍ

Farsi Translation:

امام صادق عليه السّلام فرمود: هر كس از مؤمنين ببلائى گرفتار شود و صبر كند، برايش اجر هزار شهيد باشد

English Translation:

Narrated by Ali Ibn Ibrahim from his father from Ibn Abu Omeir from Seif Ibn Omeira from Abu Hamza Al-Tamali who said, Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) said:

“When a believer is afflicted with an infliction and bears it with patience, his reward is that of a thousand martyrs.”

Source:

Al-Kafi, Volume 2, Page 92, Tradition #17

Unwilled Offences

In this post I will present a very short yet insightful tradition.  This tradition is about a specific phrase inside a Quranic verse, “إِلَّا اللَّمَمَ.” 

           

            Just like other traditions, multiple lessons can be extracted from this tradition as well.   However, what caught my eyes, as an individual who is interested in cognitive sciences, was how our Imam, peace be upon him, concisely clarified that quitting habits cannot occur suddenly and overnight.  The frequency of committing the habit may decrease more and more over time, if the individual has decided to quit that habit, but it is almost impossible, if possible at all, to quit  a well-established habit overnight. 

           

            For those who are interested about the scientific reason behind such behaviour, “unwilled offences”, I recommend you study the phenomenon of Neuroplasticity, which investigates the formation and plasticity of connections amongst neurons in our brains.

            Very briefly speaking, every action we commit is directly related to specific neurons in our brains.  Our experiences and our actions form and change the neuron network in our brains.  If we commit an action frequently, that network, which is formed by that action, gains strength and stability, and hence a habit will be formed. Since our brain likes stability and homeostasis, once a network is strengthened and firm in our brains, disconnecting it and dismantling it would not be easy, and requires persistence and a strong will power. This is why quitting habits is not easy and takes time.

            This is of course an extremely brief overview of the neuroscience behind the formation of habits.  I like to emphasize the fact that this was an extremely brief overview, and if you are interested in the neuroscience behind habits, I suggest you examine the phenomenon of Neuroplasticity.

            Here’s an excellent book, which I strongly recommend on this topic.  Read and learn how you can use brain science to help yourself quit your negative habits.

The Brain That Changes Itself:

Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

 

            Initially, if this is the first time you hear about the neuroscience behind habits, you may not see the significance behind this tradition.  However, the more you study cognitive sciences, and the significance of our subconscious mind, you may appreciate this tradition more and more.

            Lastly, when you read this tradition, if you could think of any other lessons that could be extracted from it, please do share them by writing a comment and letting all the readers know about other possible lessons from this tradition.  

Without any further ado here’s the tradition. This tradition is graded as Good.

5)

Arabic Text:

عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ حَمَّادِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنْ حَرِيزٍ عَنْ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ عَمَّارٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ مَا مِنْ ذَنْبٍ إِلَّا وَ قَدْ طُبِعَ عَلَيْهِ عَبْدٌ مُؤْمِنٌ يَهْجُرُهُ الزَّمَانَ ثُمَّ يُلِمُّ بِهِ وَ هُوَ قَوْلُ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ الَّذِينَ يَجْتَنِبُونَ كَبائِرَ الْإِثْمِ وَ الْفَواحِشَ إِلَّا اللَّمَمَ (53:32)  قَالَ اللَّمَّامُ الْعَبْدُ الَّذِي يُلِمُّ الذَّنْبَ بَعْدَ الذَّنْبِ لَيْسَ مِنْ سَلِيقَتِهِ أَيْ مِنْ

طَبِيعَتِهِ

Farsi Translation:

حضرت صادق عليه السّلام فرمود: هيچ گناهى نيست جز آنكه بنده مؤمنى بدان خو گرفته، مدتى آن را واگذارد سپس (دوباره) بآن دست زند، و آن است گفتار خداى عز و جل: «آنان كه دورى گزينند از گناهان بزرگ و ناشايسته‏ ها جز لمم» (53:32)  فرمود: امام: آن بنده‏ ايست كه بگناهى پس از گناهى دست زند كه موافق سليقه او يعنى از طبيعت او نيست

English Translation:

Narrated by Ali Ibn Ibrahim from his father from Hammad Ibn Eissa from Huraiz from Ishaaq Ibn Ammar from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) who said:

Every sin that becomes a habit and then is abandoned by a believing servant for a period of time, he repeats unwillingly. This is in the words of Allah the Most Exalted: “Those who avoid enormities of sin and abominations save the unwilled offences.” (53:32) The minor offender is a servant who commits sin after sin, which are not in line with his disposition, meaning his nature.

Source:

Al-Kafi, Volume 2, Page 442, Tradition #5