One of the most important parts of human nature is to attach itself to a role model. This model could either be a fictional model, such as a character from a fictional book, or a movie, or this role model could be an actual person, whether religiously good or bad. The point is that it is in our nature to follow someone, who we respect or admire. Unfortunately, some people choose to follow a hollywood (or a bollywood) celebrity, a singer, an entertainer, or generally someone who is not religiously worthy to be followed or admired.
Then, why is this the case, even among some muslim youths? Why should our youths choose to admire irreligious hollywood celebrities or singers/rappers or sports players? Are celebrities the sources of morality and ethics? Are they the people from whom we should learn about morality and proper daily behaviour? Are they the people that our religion has guided us to learn from?
Some may quickly answer “no, we do not take them as role models, we do not follow them, but we like to know more about them.” Why? Why spend our limited time knowing about the lives and lifestyles of those who are not religiously worthy to be admired or followed? Isn’t our time limited?
Sometimes I wonder, do our youths know more about celebrities (i.e. singers/rappers & sports players) or about their Prophets and Imams (peace be upon them). Sometimes when I speak with our youths, I notice that they can lip sync to a rap song perfectly or they can give a detailed account of an sporting event, yet they have not chosen to memorize any tradition or any Qur’anic verse. They can tell us about which celebrity said what and when, but they cannot tell us how their Prophet or Imams behaved in certain situations. Why is this the case?
In my opinion, there are two reasons. Firstly, lack of encouragement and motivation from their family, colleagues and peers to seek and get educated about Islamic teachings. Secondly, daily bombardment of luxurious worldly lifestyles through media which in turn encourages their carnal souls to follow their worldly desires.
To combat against both reasons, in my opinion, education is the key. However, this education needs to be accessible. An important part of this education should be a focus on the subconscious activities of the brain. Most of us may not be aware about the affects of media on our subconscious. We need to realize that every image that goes through our eyes, and every word that goes through our ears, and every word that comes out of mouths, and every action that we commit with our hands and legs, directly, affects our body and brain, which in turn directly affects our perception, our thoughts and our future actions. We don’t see with our eyes, we see with our brains/minds. We hear with our ears, we hear with our brains/minds. Subsequently, any change to our brains/minds, affects our perception (Seeing and hearing included) of this world/reality. This is precisely the reason that our religion repeatedly emphasizes on staying away from bad friends and bad environments, because where we go and what we do directly affects who we are and how we perceive.
Another part of this education program should be providing links and easy access to religiously worthy role models, such as our Prophet and Imams, peace be upon them. We need to seek and focus on acceptable traditions, which clearly guide us to learn about the actions of our Prophet and Imams. This is precisely one of the reasons, why our Prophet and Imams were sent, to show to us what God through the Qur’an commands, in action. Their actions exemplify the teachings and the words of God in the Quran. The more we know and follow their actions, the better and easier we will understand the Quran and see reality for what it actually is. This is precisely why these two weighty things cannot be separated from one another. One teaches us the laws and commands in words and the other teaches us the laws and commands through actions. We cannot learn either one without the other.
What I say, I say so having neuroscience and human psychology in mind. Your environment, your experiences and your actions directly affect your neural networks in your brain and in turn your perception of the world and reality.
With this knowledge in mind, I would encourage whoever reads this post, to seek and to know the actions of our Prophet and Imams, and imitate their behaviour as closely as possible. Keep in mind that we all live in different circumstances. For this reason what we is possible for one person, may not be possible for another. Therefore, it is better to help one another to improve according to their own capacities, and it is better to not force one another to do exactly as we do.
I say what I say, hoping that we realize the importance of following the actions of our Prophet and our Imams. I apologize if I sound too “preachy.” I do not desire to be “preachy,” rather I merely want to highlight the affects of our actions and environments on our brains and perceptions.
In this post, I would like to present an Authentic tradition, which names a few of the regular actions of our beloved Prophet and Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon them, which we need to try to incorporate into our daily lives. Do not forget that even small actions on regular basis affect and change our brains and hence our perceptions.
Now, without any further ado, I present to you the following Authentic tradition.
Arabic Text:
مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ الْحَكَمِ عَنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ بْنِ وَهْبٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ مَا أَكَلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص مُتَّكِئاً مُنْذُ بَعَثَهُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ إِلَى أَنْ قَبَضَهُ تَوَاضُعاً لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ وَ مَا رَأَى رُكْبَتَيْهِ أَمَامَ جَلِيسِهِ فِي مَجْلِسٍ قَطُّ وَ لَا صَافَحَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص رَجُلًا قَطُّ فَنَزَعَ يَدَهُ مِنْ يَدِهِ حَتَّى يَكُونَ الرَّجُلُ هُوَ الَّذِي يَنْزِعُ يَدَهُ وَ لَا كَافَأَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص بِسَيِّئَةٍ قَطُّ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى لَهُ ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ السَّيِّئَةَ (المؤمنون: 96) فَفَعَلَ وَ مَا مَنَعَ سَائِلًا قَطُّ إِنْ كَانَ عِنْدَهُ أَعْطَى وَ إِلَّا قَالَ يَأْتِي اللَّهُ بِهِ وَ لَا أَعْطَى عَلَى اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ شَيْئاً قَطُّ إِلَّا أَجَازَهُ اللَّهُ إِنْ كَانَ لَيُعْطِي الْجَنَّةَ فَيُجِيزُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ لَهُ ذَلِكَ قَالَ وَ كَانَ أَخُوهُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ وَ الَّذِي ذَهَبَ بِنَفْسِهِ مَا أَكَلَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا حَرَاماً قَطُّ حَتَّى خَرَجَ مِنْهَا وَ اللَّهِ إِنْ كَانَ لَيَعْرِضُ لَهُ الْأَمْرَانِ كِلَاهُمَا لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ طَاعَةٌ فَيَأْخُذُ بِأَشَدِّهِمَا عَلَى بَدَنِهِ وَ اللَّهِ لَقَدْ أَعْتَقَ أَلْفَ مَمْلُوكٍ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ دَبِرَتْ فِيهِمْ يَدَاهُ وَ اللَّهِ مَا أَطَاقَ عَمَلَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ص مِنْ بَعْدِهِ أَحَدٌ غَيْرُهُ وَ اللَّهِ مَا نَزَلَتْ بِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ص نَازِلَةٌ قَطُّ إِلَّا قَدَّمَهُ فِيهَا ثِقَةً مِنْهُ بِهِ وَ إِنْ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص لَيَبْعَثُهُ بِرَايَتِهِ فَيُقَاتِلُ جَبْرَئِيلُ عَنْ يَمِينِهِ وَ مِيكَائِيلُ عَنْ يَسَارِهِ ثُمَّ مَا يَرْجِعُ حَتَّى يَفْتَحَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ لَهُ
Farsi Translation:
معاوية بن وهب از امام صادق عليه السّلام روايت كرده كه فرمود: هيچ گاه رسول خدا (ص) از روزى كه خدا او را به پيامبرى برانگيخت تا وقتى كه از اين دنيا رفت در حال تكيه زدن خوراك نخورد و اين بخاطر فروتنى و تواضع براى خداى عز و جل بود، و هيچ گاه دو زانوى او جلوتر از همنشين (بغلى) او ديده نشد ]يعنى جلوتر از ديگران نمينشست، و مجلسى (ره) احتمال ديگرى نيز داده و گفته: يعنى هيچ گاه زانويش را گرچه مورد حاجت هم بود برفيقش كه در مجلس نشسته بود نشان نميداد بخاطر شرمى كه از او داشت ...[ و هيچ گاه رسول خدا (ص) با مردى دست نداد كه پيش از رها كردن او دست خود را از دستش بكشد تا وقتى كه آن مرد دستش را ميكشيد، و هيچ گاه بدى را ببدى مكافات نكرد، خداى تعالى بدو فرمود: «بدى را بآنچه نيكوتر است دفع كن» (سوره مؤمنون آيه 96) و او نيز اين دستور را بكار بست. و هيچ گاه كسى چيزى از او نخواست كه او را رد كند (بدين ترتيب كه) اگر داشت باو ميداد، و اگر نداشت ميفرمود: خدا ميدهد، و هرگز از طرف خدا چيزى نبخشيد و تعهد نكرد جز آنكه خداوند آن را امضاء ميفرمود، اگر بهشت را نيز بكسى ميبخشيد خدا باو ميداد.
و برادرش [على عليه السّلام] نيز- سوگند بدان كه جانش را گرفت- هرگز چيز حرامى از مال دنيا نخورد تا وقتى كه از اين جهان رفت، و بخدا سوگند هر گاه دو كار براى او پيش مي آمد كه هر دوى آنها مورد اطاعت و فرمانبردارى خداى عز و جل بود آنكه انجام آن بر تنش سختتر بود آن را انتخاب ميفرمود، و بخدا قسم هزار بنده در راه خدا آزاد كرد كه براى پيدا كردن پول خريد آنها دستش تاول زده و مجروح شده بود، و بخدا سوگند كسى تاب عمل و كار رسول خدا (ص) را پس از آن حضرت (ص) جز على نداشت، و بخدا سوگند هيچ گاه براى رسول خدا (ص) پيش آمد ناگوارى رخ نداد جز آنكه على عليه السّلام را روى اطمينان و اعتمادى كه باو داشت براى انجام آن كار جلو مي انداخت و روانه ميكرد، و چنان بود كه رسول خدا (ص) پرچم جنگ خود را بدست او ميداد و جبرئيل از طرف راست و ميكائيل از سمت چپش ميجنگيدند، و از جنگ باز نميگشت تا خداى عز و جل او را پيروز و فاتح سازد.
English Translation:
Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmed ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn Al-Hakam from Mo'aweya ibn Wahb from Abu Abd Allah (peace be upon him) who has said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) never, since the day his open mission began until his death, ate while he was lying or on his side, due to his modesty. His knees were never seen by anyone sitting in front of him. When he shook hand with any man he met, he didn't remove his hands unless the other man showed that he wanted to. He has never punished anyone, who insulted him as Allah told him: Repel evil with that which is better (Al Mo'minoon:96) and he did so.
He never rejected anyone who asked him; if he had something that could be given, he would give it, otherwise [if he didn’t have what he was asked for] he would say: Allah will give it to you. And any promises he gave to anyone for things from Allah, Allah the Almighty had given him permission to do so. If he had promised Paradise to anyone, it would be due to Allah the Almighty’s permission to do so.
And I swear by Allah that his brother [Ali ibn Abi Talib] also never ate anything forbidden until he died. I swear by Allah that when he was choosing between two things that were permitted by Allah, he used to choose the one harder to his body. I swear by Allah that he liberated one thousand slaves for Allah, and to do so he worked with his own hands to the point of exhaustion. I swear by Allah that no one could afford to follow the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) except him. I swear by Allah that almost every hard time that was passed over to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), he assigned them to him because he trusted him. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to send him as the commander of his army with the flag of the army, and Gibre’el [Gabriel] on the right of him and Meka'el [Mikael] on the left of him would fight [side-by-side with him against the enemies], and he did not come back until they achieved victory.
List of the Dos and Don’ts from this tradition:
1) Do not eat while you are lying or leaning on your side.
2) Keep your knees covered from others.
3) Do not be the first person to pull your hand away when you are shaking hands.
4) Do not react severely or harshly when someone wrongs you.
5) Do not reject anyone when they ask you for something. If you have what they ask for give it and if you do not then pray for them to Allah so Allah gives it to them.
6) Do not make any false promises. Only promise what is permissible to promise.
7) When faced with two permissible actions, choose the one that is harder on your body.
8) Work extremely hard to free slaves. [Keep in mind that slavery comes in many forms]
Source:
Al-Kafi, Volume 8, Page 164, Tradition #175
