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

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