Saturday, October 22, 2011

Fast on the 25th of Dhul Qa'dah

As we are all aware, in our religion, there are certain days in which fasting is highly recommended.  One of these great days is very near, and I wanted to make a short post reminding all of us to use this opportunity and fast on this blessed day.  

            On this blessed day, according to the following Authentic tradition, three significant events have occurred. The first and second important events are the births of our beloved prophets, Jesus son of Mary as well as prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon them.  The third momentous event that has occurred on this day is the extension and formation of Earth, from under where the Ka’aba is located.  As science today confirms, at the beginning, Earth was completely molten, a big droplet of melt floating in space, a planet utterly hostile to life.  Yet amazingly, today, it is home to billions of living creatures, including humans.

            By putting this scientific fact and the following tradition together, we can imagine that on this blessed day, a significant milestone on Earth’s journey to become the habitat of billions of creatures was taken.

            Therefore, on this sacred day, we are encouraged to fast to not only appreciate God’s mercy on us for creating such a wonderful place of habitat, but also to appreciate His blessing of sending exemplary guides to us to help us attain felicity on His Earth and in the hereafter.


Arabic Text:

مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَلِيِّ بْنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بِإِسْنَادِهِ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ الْوَشَّاءِ قَالَ كُنْتُ مَعَ أَبِي وَ أَنَا غُلَامٌ فَتَعَشَّيْنَا عِنْدَ الرِّضَا ع لَيْلَةَ خَمْسٍ وَ عِشْرِينَ مِنْ ذِي الْقَعْدَةِ فَقَالَ لَهُ لَيْلَةُ خَمْسٍ وَ عِشْرِينَ مِنْ ذِي الْقَعْدَةِ وُلِدَ فِيهَا إِبْرَاهِيمَ ع وَ وُلِدَ فِيهَا عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَ فِيهَا دُحِيَتِ الْأَرْضُ مِنْ تَحْتِ الْكَعْبَةِ فَمَنْ صَامَ ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ كَانَ كَمَنْ صَامَ سِتِّينَ شَهْراً

English Translation:

Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Al Hussain has narrated from Al Hassan ibn Ali Al-Washa'a who has said: when I was young I had a dinner with my father and Al-Redha (peace be upon him) on the night of the 25th of Dhul Qa'dah and he [the Imam] said: On the night of the 25th of Dhul Qa'dah, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was born, Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him) was born as well and the Earth was extended from below the Ka’aba. Thus, if one fasts on this day it is as if one has fasted sixty months.


Source:
Wasael ul-Shia, Volume 10, Page 449, Tradition #13815

Saturday, October 15, 2011

An Example of How to Teach by Example

Every day we encounter various situations that test our patience and our faith [iman].  When we do so, we seek proper ways to respond to such situations.  One way to find the right and proper behaviour would be by asking ourselves, “how would our prophet or imams behave in this situation?” Although we are not like them in faith or patience, by doing so, we could at least envision the correct behaviour and in turn we could strive to adhere to it. 

            It is clear that the more we learn about the traditions and sayings of our prophet and imams, peace be up on them all, the more accurate our answers would be to the aforementioned question.  The more we know about how they behaved and responded to various questions and situations, the easier we would find right action to take or the right words to say.

            One of the main purposes of this blog and other blogs that are dedicated to the teachings of Ahlul bayt (peace be upon them) is precisely to fulfill this objective, and to make it simpler for the lovers of Ahlul bayt to emulate their behaviour.    

            In this post, I present a situation, in which our beloved imam taught many important lessons to his followers mostly by what he did and not necessarily by what he said.  One of the greatest lessons in this tradition is that teaching by example is preferred over teaching by words. The imam spoke very little, in this tradition, yet his actions were very effective in indicating the right course to take.  His actions loudly show us the benefits of being patient and forbearing.

            If we put this tradition under a magnifying glass, the Imam’s actions, and the little words that he spoke, show and teach us so many moral lessons. Nonetheless, I cannot go over each one of them in this post.  I am certain that if you examine this tradition closely, you’d be able to see many of them yourself.

            Before you read this tradition, ask yourself, “What would I do if I saw a beloved friend of mine unjustifiably disrespected by an individual?”  What if, in this situation, there were many of your friends and only one opposing disrespectful individual? Would you start a fight? Would you rudely respond to the rudeness of that opponent, and by doing so succumb to his ways? Would you lose control of your emotions and behave irrationally without considering the consequences? Would your ego block your rationality? Would you let your pride bring out the worst in you?

            We can never know what we would actually do until we are in that situation.  However, we can start training ourselves today and prepare ourselves for when and if that situation occurs. We can see and learn our imam’s behaviour and teaching today, contemplate upon it, and put it to practice in daily, less significant, similar situations.  Remember, practice makes perfect. It takes time to internalize the correct behaviour and to build the proper character.  Thus, the sooner we start practicing the sooner we change.

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

Arabic Text:

محمد بن يحيى‏ [ضمير] عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مُرَازِمٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ قَالَ خَرَجْنَا مَعَ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع حَيْثُ خَرَجَ مِنْ عِنْدِ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ الْمَنْصُورِ مِنَ الْحِيرَةِ فَخَرَجَ سَاعَةَ أُذِنَ لَهُ وَ انْتَهَى إِلَى السَّالِحِينَ فِي أَوَّلِ اللَّيْلِ فَعَرَضَ لَهُ عَاشِرٌ كَانَ يَكُونُ فِي السَّالِحِينَ فِي أَوَّلِ اللَّيْلِ فَقَالَ لَهُ لَا أَدَعُكَ أَنْ تَجُوزَ فَأَلَحَّ عَلَيْهِ وَ طَلَبَ إِلَيْهِ فَأَبَى إِبَاءً وَ أَنَا وَ مُصَادِفٌ مَعَهُ فَقَالَ لَهُ مُصَادِفٌ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ إِنَّمَا هَذَا كَلْبٌ قَدْ آذَاكَ وَ أَخَافُ أَنْ يَرُدَّكَ وَ مَا أَدْرِي مَا يَكُونُ مِنْ أَمْرِ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ وَ أَنَا وَ مُرَازِمٌ أَ تَأْذَنُ لَنَا أَنْ نَضْرِبَ عُنُقَهُ ثُمَّ نَطْرَحَهُ فِي النَّهَرِ فَقَالَ كُفَّ يَا مُصَادِفُ فَلَمْ يَزَلْ يَطْلُبُ إِلَيْهِ حَتَّى ذَهَبَ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ أَكْثَرُهُ فَأَذِنَ لَهُ فَمَضَى فَقَالَ يَا مُرَازِمُ هَذَا خَيْرٌ أَمِ الَّذِي قُلْتُمَاهُ قُلْتُ هَذَا جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ فَقَالَ إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ يَخْرُجُ مِنَ الذُّلِّ الصَّغِيرِ فَيُدْخِلُهُ ذَلِكَ فِي الذُّلِّ الْكَبِيرِ

Farsi Translation:

محمّد بن مرازم به نقل از پدرش مى‏گويد: در خدمت امام صادق عليه السّلام بوديم كه در حيره از نزد ابو جعفر منصور دوانيقى، رخصت خروج دريافت كرد و آزاد شد و در همان ساعت اجازه، بى‏درنگ حركت كرد و سر شب به پاسبانان گشتى برخورد و يك گمركچى كه در ميان پاسبانهاى گشتى بود همان وقت، به حضرت درآويخت و گفت: نخواهم گذاشت تو از اينجا بگذرى. حضرت به او اصرار كرد و از او خواهش كرد ولى او به سختى سرباز زد و جلو حضرت را گرفت. من و مصادف در خدمت حضرت بوديم، مصادف به امام عليه السّلام عرض كرد: قربانت گردم اين پاسبان سگى است كه تو را مى‏آزارد و مى‏ترسم تو را نزد منصور برگرداند و نمى‏دانم منصور اين بار با شما چه خواهد كرد، من با مرازم هر دو حاضريم كه اگر اجازه دهى گردن او را بزنيم و جسد او را به رودخانه بيفكنيم. امام عليه السّلام در پاسخ فرمود: اى مصادف! خويشتن دار باش، و امام عليه السّلام پيوسته از پاسبان طلب رفع مزاحمت مى‏كرد تا وقتى كه بيشتر شب گذشت و آنگاه او به حضرت اجازه گذر داد و حضرت به راه خود رفت و پس از آن فرمود: اى مرازم! اين بهتر است يا آنچه تو گفتى؟ عرض كردم: قربانت گردم اين بهتر است. امام عليه السّلام فرمود: اى بسا كه آدمى از ذلّت كوچكى برآيد و به ذلّت بزرگترى گرفتار آيد.

English Translation:

Narrated by Ahmed Ibn Mohamed from Mohamed Ibn Morazem from his father who said:

We accompanied Abu Abdullah (pbuh) when we were set free from the home of Abu Ja’far Al-Mansour in Al-Heira. We arrived at Al-Saleheen by nightfall. A sentinel from Al-Saleheen barred the way and said to him [the Imam], “I shall not let you enter.” He [the Imam] pleaded with the man and persisted [in doing so] but the man firmly refused.

Musadaf and I [Morazem] were in his [The Imam’s] company.
Musadaf said to him [the Imam], “Upon my honor, this dog insults you; I fear you may have to turn back. I know not what Abu Ja’far [Al-Mansour] will do to you this [second] time around.”
[Musadaf continued:] “Permit Morazem and I to smite his neck and throw him into the river.”
He [the Imam] said, “Be silent, O Musadaf.”
He [the Imam] continued to persist until the night was half spent and finally he [the man] left.
[Abu Abdullah] said, “O Morazem, is this better or what you said?”
I [Morazem] said, “What you have done, may I be your sacrifice.”

He [the Imam] said, “Verily, man walks away from a small humiliation and brings upon himself a bigger one.”


Source:
Al-Kafi, Volume 8, Page 87, Tradition #49