Abode of Wisdom

(Part One - B)

We always have to live the great spiritual history and forget about the history of the tyrants and those who filled life with miseries and belittled mankind by enslaving it. These have gone with history.

As far as our responsibilities are concerned, we are not responsible for history, and should not lock ourselves in it: "This is a people that have passed away; they shall have what they earned and you shall have what you earn, and you shall not be called upon to answer for what they did." (02:134).

They created their history; we are responsible for creating ours.
However, our main problem lies in the backwardness we experience.

We see that this person locks himself in this history, while another resorts to another history, at a time when our reality challenges us and those creating the history of arrogance mock and ridicule,

while we are digging our own graves by our own hands, even though above the ground, because we refused to reach out to the gardens that nurture our spirits and lives.

To be continued……………

@AbodeofWisdom

The history of Ashoura:

We remember Ashoura to live the circumstances of this occasion - on which hundreds of years have passed but still beats with spiritual meanings. When we remember the figures of Ashoura, we feel that each and every personality is a spirit by itself, one that flies and ascends above and transforms the body to a spiritual beat, joining between the intellect and the emotions and between the matter and the spirit.

Therefore, we look at Ashoura based on the spiritual values and the movement whose leaders and faithful masses are open to righteousness, instead of viewing it as a tragedy. It is a movement that has two open eyes looking at the nation and the world, and staring at the Islamic and humanitarian march as a whole.

Even when we discuss Ashoura in terms of the Imamate, we do not mean to give it a sectarian aspect, but it rather gives it a spiritual framework that is open to mankind and Islam as a whole.

From Ashoura, we enrich ourselves with its various dimensions and meanings. Our problem is that we gave Ashoura sectarian meanings and locked it in the prison of our creeds and backwardness and customs which lack any cause, because we did not see the cause Al-Husein peace be with him represents, but the person who is filled with wounds, the one who experienced thirst and the tragedy of his sons and relatives.

We looked at Al-Husein peace be with him as the person, not the mission and the cause. So we abandoned the mission and did not find Al-Husein peace be with him and we will never find him if he does not represent to us a mission, freedom, glory, dignity and an entity that represents mankind and Islam. This is the real essence of Ashoura.

But we limited the Karbala (tragic) character to the extent that our tears have become cold. Only those who consider the freedom, resistance, opposition, and challenge shed warm tears when they think of the tragedy.

The issue of Ashoura through the slogans raised by Imam Al-Husein peace be with him is a humanitarian issue. Imam Al-Husein peace be with him used to look at the human being, go into his inner feelings and concerns about his humanity from those who crush the human character of the people. What did he say when he described the rulers of Bani Umayah? He said: "They took the money of Allah as theirs, and regarded His people as their slaves." He is saying that the public money which organizes the people's lives is the money that belongs to God: "And give them of the wealth of Allah which He has given you." (24:33). This money should be spent in what pleases God, and in order for the people to live in dignity and glory. But this money became the money of the prince and his entourage. In our times, the money of the nation, particularly the oil, has become the money of a certain family and a certain king and sultan and those who kiss the feet of the sultan.

Many of those who talk about the nation and Islam glorify these kings and families. They actually worship the family and its head, and then they talk to you about the belief in one God, and then hold other people as infidels through some jurisprudences, but they worship those who have money: "They took the money of Allah for themselves and enslaved His people."

The contemporary pledge and the historical pledge

During Al-Hurra battle, we saw that Yazid asked his Wali who triumphed over the people of Al-Madina to ask for their pledge in their capacity as slaves for Yazid. They used to enslave the people by the power of money and sword. If we look at history books, we see that when the pledge was obtained for Yazid, a man who has a sword in one hand, and money in the other hand, said: Who gives the pledge to Yazid will get the money, and who doesn't will get this sword. After that, Yazid was the "Commander of the Faithful."

Today, we are witnessing a contemporary kind of the pledge, one that rests on money. For example, people gave their pledge to President George Bush and today they are giving the pledge to the European Union and many Arab figures, for various considerations and ambitions.

🌴🌴🌹🌴[﷽]🌴🌹🌴🌴
💠Imam Muhammad Baqir (peace be with him) has stated:

📍"O community of Shi'a-- Shi'a of the household of Muhammad-- be like the middle saddle cushion, on which the extremist who has slid forward falls back, and with which the follower who is yet to come catches up.

🔹Upon hearing this, a man called Sa'd from among the ansar asked him: 'may I be at you ransom, who is an extremist?'

📍Imam replied: 'They are a group of people who say such things about us that we do not say about ourselves. Neither are these people from among us, nor do we associate with them'.

🔹The man asked: 'who is a follower yet to come?'

📍Imam replied: 'the one who is searching for good and wants it, and who will eventually attain it and be rewarded for it'.

Reference 📚
-Mizan ul-Hikmah, pg. 602, no. 3429
-Bihar ul-Anwar, vol. 10, p. 368, no. 7

@AbodeofWisdom

Letter of Imam Ali to Malik e Ashtar

(Part Three)

Ruling should be in favor of the people as a whole.

💠The way most coveted by you should be that which is the most equitable for what is right, the most universal by way of justice and the
💠most comprehensive with regard to the agreement with those under you because the disagreement among the common people sweeps away the arguments of the chiefs and can be disregarded when compared with the agreement of the common people.💠

💠No one among those under you is more burdensome to the ruler in the comfort of life, less helpful in distress, more disliking of equitable treatment, more tricky in asking favors, less thankful at the time of giving, less appreciative of reasons at the time of refusal and weaker in endurance at the time of the discomforts of life than the chiefs.💠

💠It is the common people of the community who are the pillars of the religion, the power of the Muslims and the defense against the enemies. Your learning should, therefore, be towards them and your inclination with them.💠

💠The one among the people under you who is furthest from you and the worst of them in your view should be whoever is the most
💠inquisitive of the shortcomings of the people because people do have shortcomings and the ruler is the most appropriate person to cover them.💠

💠Do not disclose whatever of it is hidden from you because your obligation is to correct what is manifest to you, while Allah will deal with whatever is hidden from you.💠

💠Therefore, cover shortcomings as far as you can; Allah will cover those of your shortcomings which you will like to remain under cover from your subjects. Unfasten every knot of hatred in the people and cut away from yourself the cause of every enmity.💠

💠Feign ignorance from what is not clear to you. Do not hasten to second a backbiter because a backbiter is a cheat although he looks like those who wish well.💠

💠💠@AbodeofWisdom💠💠

We notice in several Ayahs a call for man to look into the effects of the past people and study how they rebelled, how they failed and the chastisement Allah punished them with due to the rebellion they demonstrated against Allah and His messengers. Allah says: “Therefore travel in the land, then see what was the end of the rejecters” (16:36), and: “So how many a town did We destroy while it was unjust, so it was fallen down upon its roofs, and (how many a) deserted well and palace raised high. Have they not travelled in the land so that they should have hearts with which to understand…” (22:46) and: “Have they not travelled in the earth and seen how the end of those before them was? They were stronger than these in prowess, and dug up the earth, and built on it in greater abundance than these have built on it, and there came to them their messengers with clear arguments; so it was not beseeming for Allah that He should deal with them unjustly, but they dealt unjustly with their own souls” (30:09) and several other Ayahs.

Therefore, in his sermon, Imam Ali (a.s.) was urging us to comprehend history by studying its experiences, for he said: “You should also fear what calamities befell peoples before you”, and calamities here are the punishments they received as a result of their deviation from the straight path, “on account of their evil deeds and detestable actions”, which they carried out and led to bad results, “so remember”, as we recall the past and try to grasp its effects and situations, “during good or bad circumstances what happened to them”, meaning to study all the positions of goodness they had and their results and all the positions of evil they had and their results, so as not to pass as mere memories and rather have stands whereby we deduce the right thoughts that establish goodness in one’s life. In the end, he called on us to “be cautious that we do not become like them”; i.e. not to follow them and adopt their methodology and consequently be entrapped with what they were entrapped with and suffer from what they suffered from. He continued to say: “After you have thought over both the conditions of these people, attach yourself to everything with which their position became honorable”, explaining the elements of goodness and success and how they upheld honor that is based on strength, for there is no such thing as honor without strength, be it a spiritual strength, a physical strength or the strength of one’s stand that prevents others from offending or ending him.

“On account of which enemies remained away from them”, so try to understand what kept the enemies far from them when they saw them arming themselves with strength, as well as with dignity and honor, “through which safety spread over them”, meaning that safety was reached after trials and after offenses having acquired the elements of honor, “by reason of which riches bowed before them”, for when they communicate and complement and strengthen each other, it would be natural that all the riches will be provided for them, for they increase through the development and investment process and as one attains gains and profits here and there, “and as a result of which privilege connected itself with their rope”, where Allah privileged them and showered them with His mercy, thus attaching this privilege to them.

“These things were abstention from division, sticking to unity”, and all that happened because they rejected division which could have disrupted their society and ended their unity. Division leads to each party standing against the other with all the aggressiveness and negativity entailed. And once this happens, the enemies will make use of that to destroy the society. So, the people here avoided division and stuck to unity, whilst opening their hearts to one another.

@AbodeofWidom

💠💠💠﷽💠💠 💠

💠"Eid Al Fitr is not the end of the month of Ramadhan. Eid is the the rebirth of the human being from the dust of his (habitual) lifestyle, similar to the birth of the human from his mothers womb.

💠 Ramadhan is an oven in which the essential existence is baked to perfection and a new human is brought about. Eid Fitr is not an event or incident of joy for the passing of Ramadhan, rather it marks the rebirth of a new day and a new life for humans.

💠 It is expected that Ramadhan, with all it's dawns and breaking of fasts  (iftaar) and the significant nights of Qadr and supplications, is destined to make a human out of us.

💠 If we truly feel that we have renewed ourselves spiritually, then be sure that this Eid is not just a means of (only) recognition and understanding, but rather it is based upon the condition that we solely be with God sincerely while in service to (learning and loving) the progeny of Prophet Muhammad (peace be with him and his progeny).

💠 Oh God we are grateful that we were your guests for a month. And you gave us leeway to such privelage from the dawns of love in which we had chances to speak to you and share our heart with you, and now you have blessed us with the first of Shawwal, an Eid of love (to us miserly beings) to which you have blessed us with".
💠@AbodeofWisdom 💠

PROPHET'S HISTORIC GHADIR SERMON

PART Vlll

The Prophet continued his historic sermon thus: O people! I am calling for it to be an Imamate and a succession confined to my offspring till the Day of Judgment, and I have conveyed only what I have been commanded (by my Lord) to convey to drive the argument home against everyone present or absent and on everyone who has witnessed or who has not, who is already born or he is yet to be born; therefore, let those present here convey it to those who are absent, and let the father convey it to his son, and so on till the Day of Judgment.

And they shall make the Imamate after me a property, a usurpation; may Allah curse the usurpers who usurp1, and it is then that you, O jinns and mankind, will get the full attention of the One Who shall cause a flame of fire and brass to be hurled upon you, and you shall not achieve any victory!

O people! Allah, the Exalted and the Sublime, is not to let you be whatever you want to be except so that He may distinguish the bad ones from among you from the good, and Allah is not to make you acquainted with the unknown.

O people! There shall be no town that falsifies except that Allah shall annihilate it on account of its falsehood before the Day of Judgment, and He shall give al-lmam al-Mehdi (U authority over it, and surely Allah's promise is true.

1 This is surely a Prophetic prediction that' Ali's right to the caliphate would be usurped. The usurpers were the very first to swear the oath of allegiance to Ameerul-Mo'mineen ' Ali and the very first to violate it.

O people! Most of the early generations before you have strayed, and by Allah, He surely annihilated the early generations, and He shall annihilate the later ones. Allah Almighty has said, "Did We not destroy the former generations? Then did We follow them up with later ones. Even thus shall We deal with the guilty. Woe on that Day to the rejecters!" (Qur'an, 77: 16-19).

O people! Allah has ordered me to do and not to do, and I have ordered 'Ali to do and not to do, so he learned what should be done and what should not; therefore. you should listen to his orders so that you may be safe, and you should obey him so that you may be rightly guided. Do not do what he forbids you from doing so that you may acquire wisdom. Agree with him, and do not let your paths be different from his.

O people! I am al-Sirat al-Mustaqeem (the Straight Path) of Allah whom He commanded you to follow, and it is after me 'Ali then my offspring from his loins, the Imams of Guidance: they guide to the truth and act accordingly.

Then the Prophet recited the entire text of Surat al-Fatiha and commented by saying: It is in my honor that this (Sura) was revealed, including them (the Imams) specifically; they are the friends of Allah for whom there shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve; truly the Party of Allah are the winners. Indeed, it is their enemies who are the impudent ones, the deviators, the brethren of Satan; they inspire each other with embellished speech out of their haughtiness.

@AbodeofWisdom

Sūrah (chapter) Al Shūra (council)

🔅⭐️🍀⭐️﷽⭐️🍀⭐️🔅

⭐️ And those who argue concerning Allah after He has been responded to - their argument is invalid with their Lord, and upon them is [His] wrath, and for them is a severe punishment. (16)

⭐️ It is Allah who has sent down the Book in truth and [also] the balance. And what will make you perceive? Perhaps the Hour is near. (17)

⭐️ Those who do not believe in it are impatient for it, but those who believe are fearful of it and know that it is the truth. Unquestionably, those who dispute concerning the Hour are in extreme error. (18)

⭐️ Allah is Subtle with His servants; He gives provisions to whom He wills. And He is the Powerful, the Exalted in Might. (19)

⭐️ Whoever desires the harvest of the Hereafter - We increase for him in his harvest. And whoever desires the harvest of this world - We give him thereof, but there is not for him in the Hereafter any share. (20)

⭐️ Or have they other deities who have ordained for them a religion to which Allah has not consented? But if not for the decisive word, it would have been concluded between them. And indeed, the wrongdoers will have a painful punishment. (21)

⭐️ You will see the wrongdoers fearful of what they have earned, and it will [certainly] befall them. And those who have believed and done righteous deeds will be in lush regions of the gardens [in Paradise] having whatever they will in the presence of their Lord. That is what is the great bounty. (22)

Nahju-l Balāghah. Letter No 27

Given to Muhammad Ibn Abu Bakr (May Allah Be Pleased with Him), When Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (peace be with them) Appointed Him as Governor of Egypt:

Deal humbly with the public. Remain lenient. Meet them large-heartedly, accord them equal treatment so that the mighty should not expect injustice from you in their favor and the lowly should not be despondent of your justice.

Allah, the Sublime, will certainly question you, O community of His creatures, about your actions, small or big, open or concealed. If He punishes you, it is because you have been oppressive, and if He forgives you, then it is because He is the most Generous.

Be informed, O servants of Allah, that the God-fearing share the joys of this transient world as well as those of the next, for they share with the people of this world in their worldly matters while their people did not share with them in the matters of the next.

They lived in this world in the best manner of living. They ate the choicest food and enjoyed herein all that the people with ease of life enjoyed. They secured from it what the haughty and the vain secured. Then they departed from it after taking provision enough to take them to the end of their journey, having contracted a profitable transaction.

They tasted the pleasure of renouncing the life in this world, firmly believing that on the Coming Day, they will be neighbors of Allah, where their call will not be repulsed, nor will their share of pleasure be small.

O servants of Allah! Fear death and its measures, and prepare all that is needed for it. It will come as a big event and a great affair, either as something good in which there will never be any evil, or an evil one in which there will never be any good. Who is nearer to Paradise than one who works towards it, and who is nearer to Hell than one who works for it?

You are being chased by death. If you stop, it will catch you, and if you run away from it, it will grab you. It is more attached to you than your own shadow. Death is tied to your forelocks while the world is being wrapped up from behind you. Therefore, fear the Fire whose hollow is deep, whose flames are severe and whose punishment is novel.

It is a place wherein there is no mercy. No call is heard in it. No pain is healed in it. If it is possible for you to have severe fear of Allah and to rest hope in Him, then do both these things because every individual can have hope in His Lord to the extent of his fear of His Lord. Certainly, the most hopeful person with Allah is whoever fears Him the most.

O Muhammad son of Abu Bakr! Be informed that I have given you charge of Egypt which is my biggest force. You are duty-bound to oppose your passions and to serve as a shield against your religion even though you may get only an hour in the world.

Do not enrage Allah for pleasing others because (Allah) is such that He may take the place of others, yet others cannot take the place of Allah. Say prayers at their appointed times. Do not say your prayers earlier for the sake of (available) leisure, nor should you delay them on account of any preoccupation. Remember that every deed of yours is dependent on your prayers.

@AbodeofWisdom

Do we have the right to ask about the Logic behind Islamic Laws?


Do we have the right to ask about the Logic behind Islamic Laws?

We discuss the most important topics about Islamic laws, its rules and regulations and their philosophy and most of the questions and answers are based on this.

“Why should we pray Prayers is the question every person asks himself? Why should a person go for the pilgrimage of House of Allah? Why it is forbidden to take interest in Islam? What is the philosophy for prohibiting pork? Why is polygamy allowed in Islam? Why it is prohibited to eat in gold and silver utensils? Etc.

Some learned people and scholars have discussed about these in a beautiful way. From them some have derived only one side of the question. Some think that we should not inquire about the logic behind the Islamic laws and others think the opposite of this; that it is necessary to understand the logic behind the Islamic laws.

Keeping in mind the views of these scholars, we present our views on the subject:

You may be astonished that both the groups are right. We have this right to ask and we also do not have this right. We mean that while idea of each group is not accepted, but only the special part of it is accepted.

It can be explained in this way:

From the holy Quran, Holy Prophet (a.s.) and the traditions of Holy Imams (a.s.) and from the sayings of their companions and friends we come to know that there was always a tradition of discussing the philosophy of Islamic laws among themselves and it should also be like that because they were thinking that the holy Quran was an independent and logical way and they had given the right to themselves that they should discuss the Islamic laws in a logical way and ask questions about its philosophy.

According to the principles of Islam, this introduces Allah in this way:

He is such an existence, which has infinite knowledge and wisdom and He is independent from all things and persons. All His acts are based on wisdom, whether we understand it or not. His acts never include any foolishness or meaninglessness and He has sent the Prophets for teaching, training and inviting the people towards truth and justice.

The introduction of Allah in such a way encourages us to question about the Islamic laws, their effect and their philosophy, which naturally have great influence on our life.

It is a mistake to think that the holy Quran is not about the practical law and other information; and that it only is about the roots of religion and beliefs because we see that the holy Quran after the command of fasting in the holy month of Ramadan says:

“You keep fast so that you can become pious.” [Surah Baqarah 2:183]

In this way, He wants us to know that the logic behind fasting is to remain away from sins, which can be attained through this spiritual exercise and through controlling the desires. The Quran says about the sick and travelers who are exempted from keeping the fast:

And whoever is sick or upon a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire for you difficulty… [Surah Baqarah 2:185]

And Allah does not want hardships and mistakes; this is the philosophy behind it.

The Quran prohibits gambling and wine and says about them:

The Shaitan only desires to cause enmity and hatred to spring in your midst by means of intoxicants and games of chance, and to keep you off from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. Will you then desist? (Surah al-Ma’idah 5:91)

The Quran says about the strange women by not looking at them:

Say to the believing men that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts; that is purer for them; surely, Allah is Aware of what they do. (Surah al-Nur 24:30)

@AbodeofWisdom

This deed is good for their chastity. And it says about the prohibition of entering of the infidels in the mosque of Makkah that:

O you who believe! The idolaters are nothing but unclean, so they shall not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year… [Surah Tauba 9:28]

The infidels are impure and that is why they are not allowed to enter the holy mosque.

The Quran says about the public property and its one part should be spent on the poor people that:

Whatever Allah has restored to His Apostle from the people of the towns, it is for Allah and for the Apostle, and for the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, so that it may not be a thing taken by turns among the rich of you… [Surah Hashr 59:7]

Allah has reserved this wealth for the Prophet (a.s.) and general expenses so that the wealth may not be limited between the rich and wealthy people and that the common people may not remain poor.

And in this way many philosophies of the Islamic laws are explained, to mention all of which would lengthen the book unduly.

We also get such examples from the traditions of the Holy Prophet (a.s.) and Imams (a.s.). The Imams (a.s.) themselves explained the philosophies of the Islamic laws or replied when asked by their companions. The great scholar Shaykh al-Saduq (a.r.) has written a famous book, Ilal al-Shara’i, as the name itself shows the book is the collection of such traditions.

Therefore, when we see that the glorious Quran itself and the Islamic leaders on many occasions have explained the logic behind Islamic laws, it is a proof that they have given us the right to discuss about it. If the situation were opposite, they would have prevented us from contemplation and research in the Islamic laws.

From whatever is said above, we conclude that it is allowed to do research and find the reasons behind Islamic laws.

And in this way the style and explanation of the Holy Prophet (a.s.) and the Holy Imams (a.s.) has given us the right to know the secrets of Islamic laws.

It is wrong to think that by explaining the philosophies of Islamic laws their importance and value is decreased, but in fact explanation of these things satisfies intellect and reason of a person and then he applies laws in his practical life, which makes his life more dynamic. And in this way a person does not follow the Islamic law in a dry way but acts on the laws of Islam with great fervor. This was one side of the question.

The other is that, as the time goes no matter how much our knowledge increases, it shall always be limited. We cannot come to know everything. If man had known all the things of the world, then the caravan of knowledge and research would have been stopped.

Rather the things, which we do not know are like a huge sea and the things, which we know are just like a __drop, or the things, which we know are like one line from a big book. And to know the things, which we do not know, we will require a professor from the other world, then also we will not be able to understand them. In the same way if the people who lived a thousand years ago were taught the scientific knowledge of this age so they would not have been able to understand. They would not have been able to reach the depth through their own thinking and intelligence.

We all know that the source of heavenly wisdom is from the infinite knowledge of the Almighty Allah. He is such a source that He is aware of the whole universe. For Him words like past, future, absent, present have no meaning; rather He is all knowing and aware of everything.

@AbodeofWisdom

We notice in several Ayahs a call for man to look into the effects of the past people and study how they rebelled, how they failed and the chastisement Allah punished them with due to the rebellion they demonstrated against Allah and His messengers. Allah says: “Therefore travel in the land, then see what was the end of the rejecters” (16:36), and: “So how many a town did We destroy while it was unjust, so it was fallen down upon its roofs, and (how many a) deserted well and palace raised high. Have they not travelled in the land so that they should have hearts with which to understand…” (22:46) and: “Have they not travelled in the earth and seen how the end of those before them was? They were stronger than these in prowess, and dug up the earth, and built on it in greater abundance than these have built on it, and there came to them their messengers with clear arguments; so it was not beseeming for Allah that He should deal with them unjustly, but they dealt unjustly with their own souls” (30:09) and several other Ayahs.

Therefore, in his sermon, Imam Ali (a.s.) was urging us to comprehend history by studying its experiences, for he said: “You should also fear what calamities befell peoples before you”, and calamities here are the punishments they received as a result of their deviation from the straight path, “on account of their evil deeds and detestable actions”, which they carried out and led to bad results, “so remember”, as we recall the past and try to grasp its effects and situations, “during good or bad circumstances what happened to them”, meaning to study all the positions of goodness they had and their results and all the positions of evil they had and their results, so as not to pass as mere memories and rather have stands whereby we deduce the right thoughts that establish goodness in one’s life. In the end, he called on us to “be cautious that we do not become like them”; i.e. not to follow them and adopt their methodology and consequently be entrapped with what they were entrapped with and suffer from what they suffered from. He continued to say: “After you have thought over both the conditions of these people, attach yourself to everything with which their position became honorable”, explaining the elements of goodness and success and how they upheld honor that is based on strength, for there is no such thing as honor without strength, be it a spiritual strength, a physical strength or the strength of one’s stand that prevents others from offending or ending him.

“On account of which enemies remained away from them”, so try to understand what kept the enemies far from them when they saw them arming themselves with strength, as well as with dignity and honor, “through which safety spread over them”, meaning that safety was reached after trials and after offenses having acquired the elements of honor, “by reason of which riches bowed before them”, for when they communicate and complement and strengthen each other, it would be natural that all the riches will be provided for them, for they increase through the development and investment process and as one attains gains and profits here and there, “and as a result of which privilege connected itself with their rope”, where Allah privileged them and showered them with His mercy, thus attaching this privilege to them.

“These things were abstention from division, sticking to unity”, and all that happened because they rejected division which could have disrupted their society and ended their unity. Division leads to each party standing against the other with all the aggressiveness and negativity entailed. And once this happens, the enemies will make use of that to destroy the society. So, the people here avoided division and stuck to unity, whilst opening their hearts to one another.

@AbodeofWidom

Ashoura: Reviving the Islamic Values

(Part One)

The speech of His Eminence, the Religious Authority Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Husein Fadhlullah in opening the conference held by the Contemporary Islamic Thought Institution, under the title of "Ashoura: The Concept and the Function and the Potentials of Expressing", on 02/02/1430 H., 28/01/2009 A.D

Translated by: Manal Samhat

Is history sacred

Are we a nation that sanctifies history, memorizes and repeats it, and lives in its caves and grottos, while forgetting the present and killing the future? Are we the remains of this history, who live its battles as though they were ours, and adopt its hatred, and move through its narrow lanes?

Why should we consider history, while we live in the present and look forward for the future?

The Quran mentioned a certain issue when it addressed the sacred history of the prophets, and the non-sacred history of the pharos and the tyrants.

This issue is that history is a wave of events that remain in our lives, because these events have contributed to forming the system of life. However, the time during which these events took place did not besiege them, but was a mere framework for these events to occur. After all, time fades away, and the events and causes are those that remain.

There are certain issues that fade away with time, or even before time passes away; they just die in the morning, and we miss them in the evening. Therefore, God wants us to take lessons from the history that survives, through studying the positive and negative elements of the spiritual character or the tyrants: "In their histories there is certainly a lesson for men of understanding." (12:111)

The lesson is to study all the cultural dimensions that accompany the circumstances of the issue, and to reach out to the idea which is rich in cultural values. This idea is thus, transformed to innovation which prompts the mind to innovate and the heart to beat lively. Thus, our movement will be rich with values, and the history is no more restricted to historical events, but rather becomes a renewed life.

So, when we embrace these lively elements that do not die, they might grant us a life, if we manage to overcome the obstructions that prevent us from opening up to these elements, because sometimes life becomes death and death becomes life itself:
He who dies and rests is not dead
The dead is the one who dies while still alive

The body might still beat with life, but the spirit living inside is dead, and vice versa.

Thus, the history of those who gave mankind life and a spiritual movement, must rest on faith and creed, especially when we open up to the lives of the prophets who ascended above, and lives the essence of the spiritual meanings, and granted love to all mankind, even those who do not believe in them and oppress them.

Prophet Muhammad peace be with him and his progeny used to tell those who contested him and his mission: "I gave you good advice, but you do not love those who give good advice" (07:79)

We should consider these humanitarian models that ascended above to the sky, and transformed the world to a sky, whose sun enlightens our lives with spiritual values. As such, we have two suns: one that lights the spaces and objects, and another one that enlightens our minds with reason, fills our hearts with love, and our movement with justice, good, and life.

We always have to live the great spiritual history and forget about the history of the tyrants and those who filled life with miseries and belittled mankind by enslaving it. These have gone with history.

As far as our responsibilities are concerned, we are not responsible for history, and should not lock ourselves in it: "This is a people that have passed away; they shall have what they earned and you shall have what you earn, and you shall not be called upon to answer for what they did." (02:134).

They created their history; we are responsible for creating ours.
However, our main problem lies in the backwardness we experience.

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The history of Ashoura:

We remember Ashoura to live the circumstances of this occasion - on which hundreds of years have passed but still beats with spiritual meanings. When we remember the figures of Ashoura, we feel that each and every personality is a spirit by itself, one that flies and ascends above and transforms the body to a spiritual beat, joining between the intellect and the emotions and between the matter and the spirit.

Therefore, we look at Ashoura based on the spiritual values and the movement whose leaders and faithful masses are open to righteousness, instead of viewing it as a tragedy. It is a movement that has two open eyes looking at the nation and the world, and staring at the Islamic and humanitarian march as a whole.

Even when we discuss Ashoura in terms of the Imamate, we do not mean to give it a sectarian aspect, but it rather gives it a spiritual framework that is open to mankind and Islam as a whole.

From Ashoura, we enrich ourselves with its various dimensions and meanings. Our problem is that we gave Ashoura sectarian meanings and locked it in the prison of our creeds and backwardness and customs which lack any cause, because we did not see the cause Al-Husein peace be with him represents, but the person who is filled with wounds, the one who experienced thirst and the tragedy of his sons and relatives.

We looked at Al-Husein peace be with him as the person, not the mission and the cause. So we abandoned the mission and did not find Al-Husein peace be with him and we will never find him if he does not represent to us a mission, freedom, glory, dignity and an entity that represents mankind and Islam. This is the real essence of Ashoura.

But we limited the Karbala (tragic) character to the extent that our tears have become cold. Only those who consider the freedom, resistance, opposition, and challenge shed warm tears when they think of the tragedy.

The issue of Ashoura through the slogans raised by Imam Al-Husein peace be with him is a humanitarian issue. Imam Al-Husein peace be with him used to look at the human being, go into his inner feelings and concerns about his humanity from those who crush the human character of the people. What did he say when he described the rulers of Bani Umayah? He said: "They took the money of Allah as theirs, and regarded His people as their slaves." He is saying that the public money which organizes the people's lives is the money that belongs to God: "And give them of the wealth of Allah which He has given you." (24:33). This money should be spent in what pleases God, and in order for the people to live in dignity and glory. But this money became the money of the prince and his entourage. In our times, the money of the nation, particularly the oil, has become the money of a certain family and a certain king and sultan and those who kiss the feet of the sultan.

Many of those who talk about the nation and Islam glorify these kings and families. They actually worship the family and its head, and then they talk to you about the belief in one God, and then hold other people as infidels through some jurisprudences, but they worship those who have money: "They took the money of Allah for themselves and enslaved His people."

The contemporary pledge and the historical pledge

During Al-Hurra battle, we saw that Yazid asked his Wali who triumphed over the people of Al-Madina to ask for their pledge in their capacity as slaves for Yazid. They used to enslave the people by the power of money and sword. If we look at history books, we see that when the pledge was obtained for Yazid, a man who has a sword in one hand, and money in the other hand, said: Who gives the pledge to Yazid will get the money, and who doesn't will get this sword. After that, Yazid was the "Commander of the Faithful."

Today, we are witnessing a contemporary kind of the pledge, one that rests on money. For example, people gave their pledge to President George Bush and today they are giving the pledge to the European Union and many Arab figures, for various considerations and ambitions.

PROPHET'S HISTORIC GHADIR SERMON

PART Vlll

The Prophet continued his historic sermon thus: O people! I am calling for it to be an Imamate and a succession confined to my offspring till the Day of Judgment, and I have conveyed only what I have been commanded (by my Lord) to convey to drive the argument home against everyone present or absent and on everyone who has witnessed or who has not, who is already born or he is yet to be born; therefore, let those present here convey it to those who are absent, and let the father convey it to his son, and so on till the Day of Judgment.

And they shall make the Imamate after me a property, a usurpation; may Allah curse the usurpers who usurp1, and it is then that you, O jinns and mankind, will get the full attention of the One Who shall cause a flame of fire and brass to be hurled upon you, and you shall not achieve any victory!

O people! Allah, the Exalted and the Sublime, is not to let you be whatever you want to be except so that He may distinguish the bad ones from among you from the good, and Allah is not to make you acquainted with the unknown.

O people! There shall be no town that falsifies except that Allah shall annihilate it on account of its falsehood before the Day of Judgment, and He shall give al-lmam al-Mehdi (U authority over it, and surely Allah's promise is true.

1 This is surely a Prophetic prediction that' Ali's right to the caliphate would be usurped. The usurpers were the very first to swear the oath of allegiance to Ameerul-Mo'mineen ' Ali and the very first to violate it.

O people! Most of the early generations before you have strayed, and by Allah, He surely annihilated the early generations, and He shall annihilate the later ones. Allah Almighty has said, "Did We not destroy the former generations? Then did We follow them up with later ones. Even thus shall We deal with the guilty. Woe on that Day to the rejecters!" (Qur'an, 77: 16-19).

O people! Allah has ordered me to do and not to do, and I have ordered 'Ali to do and not to do, so he learned what should be done and what should not; therefore. you should listen to his orders so that you may be safe, and you should obey him so that you may be rightly guided. Do not do what he forbids you from doing so that you may acquire wisdom. Agree with him, and do not let your paths be different from his.

O people! I am al-Sirat al-Mustaqeem (the Straight Path) of Allah whom He commanded you to follow, and it is after me 'Ali then my offspring from his loins, the Imams of Guidance: they guide to the truth and act accordingly.

Then the Prophet recited the entire text of Surat al-Fatiha and commented by saying: It is in my honor that this (Sura) was revealed, including them (the Imams) specifically; they are the friends of Allah for whom there shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve; truly the Party of Allah are the winners. Indeed, it is their enemies who are the impudent ones, the deviators, the brethren of Satan; they inspire each other with embellished speech out of their haughtiness.

@AbodeofWisdom

🔊Emam Khomeini:

📍“We still haven’t begun journeying. 80 years of our life has passed, but still we haven’t begun.

📍We haven’t migrated yet. We became anchored to this worldly life, and seems to be the case till the end.

📍We have to start the journey. There’s no other way. You, the youth can find this path (of journeying) better. We have aged, our abilities and strengths have withered. You can better self-refine yourselves.

📍You are nearer to the Divine Kingdom than us old ones. The roots of corruption are less in you (youth). Its extensions have decreased. It hasn’t developed.

📍Each day we wait, chances of our development will decrease. Each day we delay and postpone, it gets harder.

📍For an old man it is very difficult to be reformed, however, it’s much easier for a youth. A thousand youth can become reformed and one elder can’t.

📍Don’t postpone for the days when you have aged. Now that you’re young, start your journey, and try your best now.

📍Align yourselves with the teachings of the prophets. That is the the origin. You have to start from there. They’ve shown the path. We do not know the way, they do.

📍They’re the healers, they know the way, the way of well-being. They’ve told it to us. They know. If you want to be preserved and well, you must walk their path.

📍All this attentiveness to our worldly desires, ego, and selfishness should be eliminated. Of course, It will not be an overnight transformation, rather it will take time and require step by step consistency.

📍All of our ambitions and aspirations shall soon be buried underground, annihilated. All this extra attention to our worldly wants and desires will end up against us (and is perishing along with us as we age day by day).

✅Only that will remain which is associated with God.”

————————————————
💠بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

❀ كُلُّ مَنْ عَلَيْهَا فَانٍ
❀ وَيَبْقَی وَجْهُ رَبِّكَ ذُو الْـجَلَآلِ وَالْإِكْرَامِ

💠“Whatsoever is on the earth is transient. And only the Essence of your Lord full of Majesty and Honor shall remain forever.” (Qur’an 55: 26-27)

@AbodeofWisdom

🌴🌴🌹🌴[﷽]🌴🌹🌴🌴
💠Imam Muhammad Baqir (peace be with him) has stated:

📍"O community of Shi'a-- Shi'a of the household of Muhammad-- be like the middle saddle cushion, on which the extremist who has slid forward falls back, and with which the follower who is yet to come catches up.

🔹Upon hearing this, a man called Sa'd from among the ansar asked him: 'may I be at you ransom, who is an extremist?'

📍Imam replied: 'They are a group of people who say such things about us that we do not say about ourselves. Neither are these people from among us, nor do we associate with them'.

🔹The man asked: 'who is a follower yet to come?'

📍Imam replied: 'the one who is searching for good and wants it, and who will eventually attain it and be rewarded for it'.

Reference 📚
-Mizan ul-Hikmah, pg. 602, no. 3429
-Bihar ul-Anwar, vol. 10, p. 368, no. 7

@AbodeofWisdom

(Part One - B)

We always have to live the great spiritual history and forget about the history of the tyrants and those who filled life with miseries and belittled mankind by enslaving it. These have gone with history.

As far as our responsibilities are concerned, we are not responsible for history, and should not lock ourselves in it: "This is a people that have passed away; they shall have what they earned and you shall have what you earn, and you shall not be called upon to answer for what they did." (02:134).

They created their history; we are responsible for creating ours.
However, our main problem lies in the backwardness we experience.

We see that this person locks himself in this history, while another resorts to another history, at a time when our reality challenges us and those creating the history of arrogance mock and ridicule,

while we are digging our own graves by our own hands, even though above the ground, because we refused to reach out to the gardens that nurture our spirits and lives.

To be continued……………

@AbodeofWisdom