Abode of Wisdom

Imam Al-Husein peace be with him wanted to liberate the people who were enslaved by the rulers, and therefore the revolution of Imam Al-Husein peace be with himwas launched based on this humanitarian aspect in order to achieve freedom for the entire mankind.

The dimensions of Imam Al-Husein's revolution:
As we read through the narration of Imam Al-Husein peace be with him, we see that when he went out to the battle to fight those who came to fight him, and when he saw his opponents invading the tents of the women, he addressed them saying: "O You the followers of Abu Sifyan, if you do not follow a religion, and if you do not fear the Judgment day, be free in your lives and return to your origins if you were Arabs."
Imam Al-Husein peace be with him raised two issues here. The first is that he laid emphasis to the freedom of man when he said: If you do not abide by religious values and you do not believe in a creed, at least be free. The free man is the one who does not sell himself or his position or opinion in return for money or positions. Do not be slaves, because you are fighting to obey those who enslave you.
The second issue he raised is that Imam peace be with him tried to provoke in them the feelings of Arabism which Islam approved: "Be Arabs", not in terms of the narrow nationalism, but on the basis of the values the Arabs lived, which Islam adopted some of them and eliminated others. This discourse is not addressed to the followers of Abu Sufyan in particular, but to every human being.

On the humanitarian level, we also read his speech when he was asked to give legitimacy to Yazid. He said: "The illegitimate, son of the illegitimate, has settled between two: between unsheathing [the sword] and humiliation, and how impossible is humiliation from us." So it is about being honored in all your life. Imam As-Sadiq peace be with him was quoted as saying upon interpreting the following Quranic verse: "God has the glory and His Prophet and the believers." (63:08) Imam As-Sadiq peace be with him said: "God has allowed the believer to run all his affairs, but he did not authorize him to humiliate himself." Glory is based on power: "The power is wholly Allah's". (02:165). So, to be honorable is to be strong and defending you humanity and freedom.

Then he said: "Do not you see that no one abides by the right and everyone embarks on the wrong?" He is talking about the righteousness which people should abide by, and righteousness is the concept that exists in all the issues of human beings, which ascend his position at the individual, political and social levels.
Therefore, we have to present Ashoura to the entire world in its humanitarian aspect, rather than restricting it to a sectarian aspect because Imam Al-Husein peace be with him is the imam of all Muslims and he obtained his Imamate from Prophet Muhammad (p.) with whom Al-Husein peace be with him lived his early childhood. He also lived with his mother, Sayyeda Az-Zahra and his father Ali peace be with him. So, he enjoyed all the elements and characters of spiritual faith these figures enjoyed. Prophet Muhammad (p.) said: "Husein is from me, and I am from Husein", which reveals the spiritual integration between the Prophet (p.) and Al-Husein peace be with him.

The values of reform in the revolution of Imam Al-Husein peace be with him:
Imam Al-Husein peace be with him said: "I revolted neither for wickedness nor for fame. Verily I rose only to seek for reform in the nation of my grandfather; the messenger of Allah." He did not speak about a certain family or region, but about the entire nation, because he was shouldering the responsibility of the whole nation through his Imamate. "I want to enjoin good and forbid wrong and evil", he said. So, he noticed the deviant situation of the nation, because the rule prevailing at that time damaged the humanitarian aspect of the people who used to love Imam Al-Husein peace be with him and his family, but at the same time, they were fighting to earn money or obtain a certain position in the authority, such as Omar BinSa'ad

🌺The Sincerity of the Prophets (Peace be with them all):

💠It is reported by one of the infallibles peace be with them:

"Solomon (peace be with him) when he saw a male sparrow saying to a female sparrow, "Why do you deprive me of yourself, for if I wanted I could take Solomon's crown with my beak and throw it in the sea!"

Solomon said to him smiling, "Are you really able to do so?"

The sparrow replied: "No, O messenger of Allah, but a man may embellish himself and greater himself in front of his wife, and a lover cannot be rebuked for what he says".

Solomon said to the female sparrow: "why do you deprive him of yourself when he loves you?"

She replied: "O Prophet of Allah, he is not a lover, but a claimant [of love], for he loves someone else besides me!"

The words of this sparrow affected Solomon's heart and he cried very much, and secluded himself for forty days praising Allah to empty his heart for his love for Him, and to not mix it with the love for anything else".

📚Reference
-Bihar ul Anwar, v. 14, pg. 14, no. 3

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🕯️Simple Logics.. Continued
🔹🔹🔹🔹🍃🌹🌹🍃🔹🔹🔹🔹

🔸In the words of Allamah Tabātabā'i...

✔️"In many of its words and utterances, the Quran attests to the validity of intellectual proof and rational demonstration, that is, it does not claim that man should first accept the validity of these sciences and then through intellectual proofs justify these sciences.

✔️Rather, with complete confidence in the truth of it's own position it proclaims that man should use his intellect to discover the truth of the Islamic sciences, and only then accept the truth.

✔️He should seek the affirmation of the words contained in the Islamic message in the world of creation which is itself a truthful witness.

✔️And finally man should find the affirmation of his faith in the results of rational demonstration; he should not have to gain faith first and then, in obedience to it, seek proofs".

📚Reference📚
"Shi'ite Islam" by Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabātabā'i, pg. 90

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The Ultimate Truth

A young curious seeker was bothered by a question: "what is the ultimate truth?" He wandered the city asking this question until finally someone told him to see the Wiseman living in the rural region.

The young man entered the hut of the sage, whereat he asked his question. The sage said let me pour you some tea... As he did, he overfilled it and continued pouring despite the cup being full.

The young man exclaimed: "it's full!"

Whereat the Wiseman replied, "the ultimate truth to life is that you should not stop seeking. Be like the cup which is always receptive to knowledge and wisdom".

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The Two Oil Drops

A merchant sent his son to learn the Secret of Happiness from the wisest of men. The young man wandered through the desert for forty days until he reached a beautiful castle at the top of a mountain. There lived the sage that the young man was looking for.

However, instead of finding a holy man, our hero entered a room and saw a great deal of activity; merchants coming and going, people chatting in the corners, a small orchestra playing sweet melodies, and there was a table laden with the most delectable dishes of that part of the world.

The wise man talked to everybody, and the young man had to wait for two hours until it was time for his audience.

The Sage listened attentively to the reason for the boy’s visit, but told him that at that moment he did not have the time to explain to him the Secret of Happiness.

He suggested that the young man take a stroll around his palace and come back in two hours’ time.

“However, I want to ask you a favor,”� he added, handling the boy a teaspoon, in which he poured two drops of oil. “While you walk, carry this spoon and don’t let the oil spill.”�

The young man began to climb up and down the palace staircases, always keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. At the end of two hours he returned to the presence of the wise man.

“So,”� asked the sage, “did you see the Persian tapestries hanging in my dining room? Did you see the garden that the Master of Gardeners took ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?”�

Embarrassed, the young man confessed that he had seen nothing. His only concern was not to spill the drops of oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

“So, go back and see the wonders of my world,”� said the wise man. “You can’t trust a man if you don’t know his house.”�

Now more at ease, the young man took the spoon and strolled again through the palace, this time paying attention to all the works of art that hung from the ceiling and walls.
He saw the gardens, the mountains all around the palace, the delicacy of the flowers, the taste with which each work of art was placed in its niche. Returning to the sage, he reported in detail all that he had seen.

“But where are the two drops of oil that I entrusted to you?”� asked the sage.

Looking down at the spoon, the young man realized that he had spilled the oil.

“Well, that is the only advice I have to give you,”� said the sage of sages.

“The Secret of Happiness lies in both looking at all the wonders of the world and never forgetting to maintain balance of yourself internally".

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Imam Zain-ul Abideen:

“.And the right of your father is that you should know that he is your root and you are his branch. And without him, you would not be.

Whenever you see anything in yourself which pleases you, you should know that your father is the root of its blessing upon you.

So praise God and thank Him in recognition of that. And there is no power but in God”

Book of Rights; Imam Sajjad Zain-ul Abedin peace be with him.

@AbodeofWisdom

PROPHET'S HISTORIC GHADIR SERMON

PART IV

O people! Prefer him (' Ali) over all others! There is no knowledge except that Allah has divulged it to me, and all the knowledge I have learned I have divulged to Imam al-Muttaqin (leader of the righteous), and there is no knowledge (that I know) except that I divulged it to' Ali, and he is al-Imam al-Mubin (the evident Imam) whom Allah mentions in Surat ya-Sin: "... and everything We have computed is in (the knowledge of) an evident Imam" (Qur'an, 36:12).

O people! Do not abandon him, nor should you flee away from him, nor should you be too arrogant to accept his authority, for he is the one who guides to righteousness and who acts according to it. He defeats falsehood and prohibits others from acting according to it, accepting no blame from anyone while seeking to please Allah. He is the first to believe in Allah and in His Messenger; none preceded him as such. And he is the one who offered his life as a sacrifice for the Messenger of Allah and who was in the company of the Messenger of Allah while no other man was. He is the first of all people to offer prayers and the first to worship Allah with me. I ordered him, on behalf of Allah, to sleep in my bed, and he did, offering his life as a sacrifice for my sake.

O people! Prefer him (over all others), for Allah has preferred him, and accept him, for Allah has appointed him (as your leader).

O people! He is an Imam appointed by Allah, and Allah shall never accept the repentance of anyone who denies his authority, nor shall He forgive him; this is a must decree from Allah never to do so to anyone who opposes him, and that He shall torment him with a most painful torment for all time to come, for eternity; so, beware lest you should oppose him and thus enter the fire the fuel of which is the people and the stones prepared for the unbelievers.

O people! By Allah! All past prophets and messengers conveyed the glad tiding of my advent, and I, by Allah, am the seal of the prophets and of the messengers and the argument against all beings in the heavens and on earth. Anyone who doubts this commits apostasy similar to that of the early jahiliyya, and anyone who doubts anything of what I have just said doubts everything which has been revealed to me, and anyone who doubts any of the Imams doubts all of them, and anyone who doubts us shall be lodged in the fire.

O people! Allah, the most Exalted and the Almighty, has bestowed this virtue upon me out of His kindness towards' Ali and as a boon to' Ali and there is no god but He; to Him all praise belongs in all times, for eternity, and in all circumstances.

O people! Prefer' Ali (over all others), for he is the very best of all people after me, be they males or females, so long as Allah sends down His sustenance, so long as there are beings. Cursed and again cursed, condemned and again condemned, is anyone who does not accept this statement of mine and who does not agree to it. Gabriel himself has informed me of the same on behalf of Allah Almighty Who he said (in Gabriel's words): " Anyone who antagonizes' Ali and refuses to accept his wilayat shall incur My curse upon him and My wrath." "... and let every soul consider what it has sent forth for the morrow, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah" (Qur'an, 59:18), "And do not make your oaths a means of deceit between you lest a foot should slip after its stability" (Qur'an, 16:94), " Allah is fully aware of all what you do" (Qur'an, 58: 13).

O people! He (' Ali) is janb-Allah mentioned in the Book of Allah, the Sublime One: The Almighty, forewarning his (' Ali's) adversaries, says, "Lest a soul should say: O woe unto me for what I fell short of my duty to Allah, and most surely I was of those who laughed to scorn" (Qur'an, 39:56).

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Given to One of His Officers Whom He Sent for the Collection of Zakat and Charities.

🔰✍🏼 He (Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be with them) ordered him to fear Allah in his secret matters and hidden actions, where there is no witness except the One and only Who watches over all.

🔰✍🏼 He also orders him that whatever he does in obedience to Allah openly should not be different from what he does secretly.

🔰✍🏼 Anyone whose hidden attitude is not different from his open one and whose action is not different from his words has discharged his obligation and his adoration is pure.

🔰✍🏼 He also ordered him that he should not harass the public. He should not be harsh to them and should not turn away from them because of the superiority of his official status over them because they are all brethren in faith and assist in the recovery of taxes:

🔰✍🏼 Certainly, you have a fixed share and a known right in this levy, and there are others who are poor, weak and starving. We shall discharge your rights. So, you should [first] discharge their rights. If you do not do so, you will have the largest number of enemies on the Day of Judgement.

🔰✍🏼 How wretched is the man whose enemies in the view of Allah are the needy, the destitute, the beggars, the turned away, the indebted and the (penniless) travellers?! Whoever treats the trust lightly, indulges in treachery and does not keep himself and his faith untarnished by it has certainly secured humiliation in this world while his humiliation and disgrace in the next world will be much greater.

🔰✍🏼 Surely, the greatest treachery is the treachery against the believers community, and the most ugly deceit is deceiving the faithful leaders, and that is the end of the matter.

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🍃 I said: 'and what is the meaning of abstinence?'
💠 He (jibraeel) said: 'that one loves whatever his Creator loves and hates whatever his Creator hates, and is very careful about what is lawful and does not glance at what is unlawful; for what is lawful is to be accounted for and what is unlawful will entail punishment. He is merciful to all Muslims and he is merciful to himself. He avoids useless speech just as he avoids a corpse with an intensely foul smell. He avoids possessions and embellishments of this world just as he keeps away from fire -- ensuring that it does not cover him. He has no great (worldly) hopes or desires and he always remembers (the inevitable occurrence) of his death'.

🍃 I said: 'oh Jibreel, and what is the meaning of sincerity?'
💠 He (jibraeel) said: 'a sincere person is one who does not ask for anything from people until he obtains it (himself) and whenever he obtains it, he is pleased with it. If something extra remains with him, he gives it in the way of Allah. By not asking for anything from others, he has shown that he is truly a servant of Allah. If he obtains what he wants, he becomes happy and is pleased with Allah, and Allah the Almighty is pleased with him. When he gives from it in the way of Allah, he has reached the stage of fully relying on his Lord'.

🍃 I said: 'And what is certainty'?
💠 He (jibraeel) said: 'a man with certainty performs actions for the sake of Allah as though he sees Him. Even if he does not see Allah, he knows Allah sees him; and he is certain that what is coming to him (by the will of Allah') will not pass by him, and what is not meant to be for him will not come to him. These are all branches of trust in Allah' and abstinence'".

🍃 🍃 Reference 🍃 🍃
📚 Sunan an Nabi: 54
📚 Ma'āni al Akhbār: 260
📚 Uddat al-Dā'i: 94


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🏞️🌅🌎Life and Death🌍🌅🏞️

📍Why We Live...

💠The Qur'an states: "He who created death and life that He may test you [to see] which of you is best in conduct" (67:2).

💠Ayatollah Mutahhari explains this: "It should be noted that the Divine 'test' is really to actualize potentials and abilities. The actualization of a potential is to develop and perfect it. This test is not designed to discover the secret of beings (by the 'tester' [God]), rather it is to actualize their hidden potentials. So in this case, 'disclosure' is an act of creation and the Divine test 'reveals' the human traits from the hidden phase of potential and capability to the external and concrete phase of actualization and perfection. The Divine test is not there to asses weight, rather it is there to increase the mass. With this elaboration it becomes clear that the above mentioned verse (67:2) reflects this truth that the world is a place for training and perfecting human potentials.

📍Why do we die?

💠Rumi narrates the following story...

💠Moses asked God, "why did you create form and bless it with your spirit and then only to ruin it"?

💠God responded, "I know you (ask) to discover in My actions the wisdom and hidden meaning of (phenomenal) duration...

💠O Moses, sow some seed in the earth, that thou thyself may render justice (to this question)".

💠When Moses had sown and the seed-corn was complete (in growth) and it's ears had gained beauty and symmetry, He (Moses) took the sickle and was cutting that (crop); then a voice from the Unseen reached his ear, saying: 'why do you sow and tend some seed-corn and now are cutting it when it has attained perfection'?

💠Moses replied, "O Lord, I destroy and lay it low because the straw is here and also grain. The grain is not suitable to be stored in the straw-barn; the straw likewise is bad for putting in the corn-barn".

💠...it is necessary to make manifest (the difference between) this good and evil, just as it is necessary to make manifest (distinguish) the wheat from the straw".

📚"Divine Justice" p. 190-196

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Imam Zain-ul Abideen:

“.And the right of your father is that you should know that he is your root and you are his branch. And without him, you would not be.

Whenever you see anything in yourself which pleases you, you should know that your father is the root of its blessing upon you.

So praise God and thank Him in recognition of that. And there is no power but in God”

Book of Rights; Imam Sajjad Zain-ul Abedin peace be with him.

@AbodeofWisdom

🍃 I said: 'and what is the meaning of abstinence?'
💠 He (jibraeel) said: 'that one loves whatever his Creator loves and hates whatever his Creator hates, and is very careful about what is lawful and does not glance at what is unlawful; for what is lawful is to be accounted for and what is unlawful will entail punishment. He is merciful to all Muslims and he is merciful to himself. He avoids useless speech just as he avoids a corpse with an intensely foul smell. He avoids possessions and embellishments of this world just as he keeps away from fire -- ensuring that it does not cover him. He has no great (worldly) hopes or desires and he always remembers (the inevitable occurrence) of his death'.

🍃 I said: 'oh Jibreel, and what is the meaning of sincerity?'
💠 He (jibraeel) said: 'a sincere person is one who does not ask for anything from people until he obtains it (himself) and whenever he obtains it, he is pleased with it. If something extra remains with him, he gives it in the way of Allah. By not asking for anything from others, he has shown that he is truly a servant of Allah. If he obtains what he wants, he becomes happy and is pleased with Allah, and Allah the Almighty is pleased with him. When he gives from it in the way of Allah, he has reached the stage of fully relying on his Lord'.

🍃 I said: 'And what is certainty'?
💠 He (jibraeel) said: 'a man with certainty performs actions for the sake of Allah as though he sees Him. Even if he does not see Allah, he knows Allah sees him; and he is certain that what is coming to him (by the will of Allah') will not pass by him, and what is not meant to be for him will not come to him. These are all branches of trust in Allah' and abstinence'".

🍃 🍃 Reference 🍃 🍃
📚 Sunan an Nabi: 54
📚 Ma'āni al Akhbār: 260
📚 Uddat al-Dā'i: 94


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Imam Al-Husein peace be with him wanted to liberate the people who were enslaved by the rulers, and therefore the revolution of Imam Al-Husein peace be with himwas launched based on this humanitarian aspect in order to achieve freedom for the entire mankind.

The dimensions of Imam Al-Husein's revolution:

As we read through the narration of Imam Al-Husein peace be with him, we see that when he went out to the battle to fight those who came to fight him, and when he saw his opponents invading the tents of the women, he addressed them saying: "O You the followers of Abu Sifyan, if you do not follow a religion, and if you do not fear the Judgment day, be free in your lives and return to your origins if you were Arabs."

Imam Al-Husein peace be with him raised two issues here. The first is that he laid emphasis to the freedom of man when he said: If you do not abide by religious values and you do not believe in a creed, at least be free. The free man is the one who does not sell himself or his position or opinion in return for money or positions. Do not be slaves, because you are fighting to obey those who enslave you.

The second issue he raised is that Imam peace be with him tried to provoke in them the feelings of Arabism which Islam approved: "Be Arabs", not in terms of the narrow nationalism, but on the basis of the values the Arabs lived, which Islam adopted some of them and eliminated others. This discourse is not addressed to the followers of Abu Sufyan in particular, but to every human being.

On the humanitarian level, we also read his speech when he was asked to give legitimacy to Yazid. He said: "The illegitimate, son of the illegitimate, has settled between two: between unsheathing [the sword] and humiliation, and how impossible is humiliation from us." So it is about being honored in all your life. Imam As-Sadiq peace be with him was quoted as saying upon interpreting the following Quranic verse: "God has the glory and His Prophet and the believers." (63:08) Imam As-Sadiq peace be with him said: "God has allowed the believer to run all his affairs, but he did not authorize him to humiliate himself." Glory is based on power: "The power is wholly Allah's". (02:165). So, to be honorable is to be strong and defending you humanity and freedom.

Then he said: "Do not you see that no one abides by the right and everyone embarks on the wrong?" He is talking about the righteousness which people should abide by, and righteousness is the concept that exists in all the issues of human beings, which ascend his position at the individual, political and social levels.

Therefore, we have to present Ashoura to the entire world in its humanitarian aspect, rather than restricting it to a sectarian aspect because Imam Al-Husein peace be with him is the imam of all Muslims and he obtained his Imamate from Prophet Muhammad (p.) with whom Al-Husein peace be with him lived his early childhood. He also lived with his mother, Sayyeda Az-Zahra and his father Ali peace be with him. So, he enjoyed all the elements and characters of spiritual faith these figures enjoyed. Prophet Muhammad (p.) said: "Husein is from me, and I am from Husein", which reveals the spiritual integration between the Prophet (p.) and Al-Husein peace be with him.

The values of reform in the revolution of Imam Al-Husein peace be with him:

Imam Al-Husein peace be with him said: "I revolted neither for wickedness nor for fame. Verily I rose only to seek for reform in the nation of my grandfather; the messenger of Allah." He did not speak about a certain family or region, but about the entire nation, because he was shouldering the responsibility of the whole nation through his Imamate. "I want to enjoin good and forbid wrong and evil", he said. So, he noticed the deviant situation of the nation, because the rule prevailing at that time damaged the humanitarian aspect of the people who used to love Imam Al-Husein peace be with him and his family, but at the same time, they were fighting to earn money or obtain a certain position in the authority, such as Omar Bin

🌺The Sincerity of the Prophets (Peace be with them all):

💠It is reported by one of the infallibles peace be with them:

"Solomon (peace be with him) when he saw a male sparrow saying to a female sparrow, "Why do you deprive me of yourself, for if I wanted I could take Solomon's crown with my beak and throw it in the sea!"

Solomon said to him smiling, "Are you really able to do so?"

The sparrow replied: "No, O messenger of Allah, but a man may embellish himself and greater himself in front of his wife, and a lover cannot be rebuked for what he says".

Solomon said to the female sparrow: "why do you deprive him of yourself when he loves you?"

She replied: "O Prophet of Allah, he is not a lover, but a claimant [of love], for he loves someone else besides me!"

The words of this sparrow affected Solomon's heart and he cried very much, and secluded himself for forty days praising Allah to empty his heart for his love for Him, and to not mix it with the love for anything else".

📚Reference
-Bihar ul Anwar, v. 14, pg. 14, no. 3

@AbodeofWisdom

PROPHET'S HISTORIC GHADIR SERMON

PART IV

O people! Prefer him (' Ali) over all others! There is no knowledge except that Allah has divulged it to me, and all the knowledge I have learned I have divulged to Imam al-Muttaqin (leader of the righteous), and there is no knowledge (that I know) except that I divulged it to' Ali, and he is al-Imam al-Mubin (the evident Imam) whom Allah mentions in Surat ya-Sin: "... and everything We have computed is in (the knowledge of) an evident Imam" (Qur'an, 36:12).

O people! Do not abandon him, nor should you flee away from him, nor should you be too arrogant to accept his authority, for he is the one who guides to righteousness and who acts according to it. He defeats falsehood and prohibits others from acting according to it, accepting no blame from anyone while seeking to please Allah. He is the first to believe in Allah and in His Messenger; none preceded him as such. And he is the one who offered his life as a sacrifice for the Messenger of Allah and who was in the company of the Messenger of Allah while no other man was. He is the first of all people to offer prayers and the first to worship Allah with me. I ordered him, on behalf of Allah, to sleep in my bed, and he did, offering his life as a sacrifice for my sake.

O people! Prefer him (over all others), for Allah has preferred him, and accept him, for Allah has appointed him (as your leader).

O people! He is an Imam appointed by Allah, and Allah shall never accept the repentance of anyone who denies his authority, nor shall He forgive him; this is a must decree from Allah never to do so to anyone who opposes him, and that He shall torment him with a most painful torment for all time to come, for eternity; so, beware lest you should oppose him and thus enter the fire the fuel of which is the people and the stones prepared for the unbelievers.

O people! By Allah! All past prophets and messengers conveyed the glad tiding of my advent, and I, by Allah, am the seal of the prophets and of the messengers and the argument against all beings in the heavens and on earth. Anyone who doubts this commits apostasy similar to that of the early jahiliyya, and anyone who doubts anything of what I have just said doubts everything which has been revealed to me, and anyone who doubts any of the Imams doubts all of them, and anyone who doubts us shall be lodged in the fire.

O people! Allah, the most Exalted and the Almighty, has bestowed this virtue upon me out of His kindness towards' Ali and as a boon to' Ali and there is no god but He; to Him all praise belongs in all times, for eternity, and in all circumstances.

O people! Prefer' Ali (over all others), for he is the very best of all people after me, be they males or females, so long as Allah sends down His sustenance, so long as there are beings. Cursed and again cursed, condemned and again condemned, is anyone who does not accept this statement of mine and who does not agree to it. Gabriel himself has informed me of the same on behalf of Allah Almighty Who he said (in Gabriel's words): " Anyone who antagonizes' Ali and refuses to accept his wilayat shall incur My curse upon him and My wrath." "... and let every soul consider what it has sent forth for the morrow, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah" (Qur'an, 59:18), "And do not make your oaths a means of deceit between you lest a foot should slip after its stability" (Qur'an, 16:94), " Allah is fully aware of all what you do" (Qur'an, 58: 13).

O people! He (' Ali) is janb-Allah mentioned in the Book of Allah, the Sublime One: The Almighty, forewarning his (' Ali's) adversaries, says, "Lest a soul should say: O woe unto me for what I fell short of my duty to Allah, and most surely I was of those who laughed to scorn" (Qur'an, 39:56).

@AbodeofWisdom

PROPHET'S HISTORIC GHADIR SERMON

Part Xll

O people! You are more numerous than (it is practical) to shake hands with me all at the same time, and Allah, the Exalted and the Sublime, commanded me to require you to confirm what authority I have vested upon 'Ali Ameerul-Mo'mineen and to whoever succeeds him of the Imams from me and from him, since I have just informed you that my offspring are from his loins.

You, therefore, should say in one voice: "We hear, and we obey; we accept and we are bound by what you have conveyed to us from our Lord and yours with regard to our Imam' Ali (V' Ameerul-Mo'mineen, and to the Imams, your sons from his loins. We swear the oath of allegiance to you in this regard with our hearts, with our souls, with our tongues, with our hands. According to it shall we live, and according to it shall we die, and according to it shall we be resurrected. We shall not alter anything or substitute anything with another, nor shall we doubt nor deny nor suspect, nor shall we violate our covenant nor abrogate the pledge. You admonished us on behalf of Allah with regard to' Ali (V' Ameerul-Mo'mineen, and to the Imams whom you mentioned to be from your offspring from among his descendants after him: al-Hasan and al-Husain and to whoever is appointed (as such) by Allah after them. The covenant and the pledge are taken from us, from our hearts, from our souls, from our tongues, from our conscience, from our hands. Whoever does so by his handshake, it shall be so, or otherwise testified to it by his tongue, and we do not seek any substitute for it, nor shall Allah see our souls deviating there from. We shall convey the same on your behalf to anyone near and far of our offspring and families, and we implore Allah to testify to it, and surely Allah suffices as the Witness and you, too, shall testify for us."

O people! What are you going to say?! Allah knows every sound and the innermost of every soul; "Whoever chooses the right guidance, it is for his own soul that he is rightly guided, and whoever strays, it is only to its detriment that he goes astray" (Qur'an, 17:15).

O people! Swear the oath of allegiance to Allah, and swear it to me, and swear it to' Ali Ameerul-Mo'mineen, and to al-Hasan and al-Husain and to the Imams from their offspring in the life of this world and in the hereafter, a word that shall always remain so. Allah shall annihilate anyone guilty of treachery and be merciful upon everyone who remains true to his word: "Whoever reneges (from his oath), he reneges only to the harm of his own soul, and whoever fulfills what he has covenanted with Allah, He will grant him a mighty reward" (Qur'an, 48:10)

O people! Repeat what I have just told you to, and greet' Ali with the title of authority of "Ameerul-Mo'mineen" and say: "We hear, and we obey, O Lord! Your forgiveness (do we seek), and to You is the eventual course" (Qur'an, 2:285), and you should say: "All praise is due to Allah Who guided us to this, and we would not have found the way had it not been for Allah Who guided us" (Qur'an, 7:43).

O people! The merits of' Ali ibn Abu Talib with Allah, the Exalted and the Sublime, the merits which are revealed in the Qur'an, are more numerous than I can recount in one speech; so, whoever informs you of them and defines them for you, you should believe him.

@AbodeofWisdom

🏞️🌅🌎Life and Death🌍🌅🏞️

📍Why We Live...

💠The Qur'an states: "He who created death and life that He may test you [to see] which of you is best in conduct" (67:2).

💠Ayatollah Mutahhari explains this: "It should be noted that the Divine 'test' is really to actualize potentials and abilities. The actualization of a potential is to develop and perfect it. This test is not designed to discover the secret of beings (by the 'tester' [God]), rather it is to actualize their hidden potentials. So in this case, 'disclosure' is an act of creation and the Divine test 'reveals' the human traits from the hidden phase of potential and capability to the external and concrete phase of actualization and perfection. The Divine test is not there to asses weight, rather it is there to increase the mass. With this elaboration it becomes clear that the above mentioned verse (67:2) reflects this truth that the world is a place for training and perfecting human potentials.

📍Why do we die?

💠Rumi narrates the following story...

💠Moses asked God, "why did you create form and bless it with your spirit and then only to ruin it"?

💠God responded, "I know you (ask) to discover in My actions the wisdom and hidden meaning of (phenomenal) duration...

💠O Moses, sow some seed in the earth, that thou thyself may render justice (to this question)".

💠When Moses had sown and the seed-corn was complete (in growth) and it's ears had gained beauty and symmetry, He (Moses) took the sickle and was cutting that (crop); then a voice from the Unseen reached his ear, saying: 'why do you sow and tend some seed-corn and now are cutting it when it has attained perfection'?

💠Moses replied, "O Lord, I destroy and lay it low because the straw is here and also grain. The grain is not suitable to be stored in the straw-barn; the straw likewise is bad for putting in the corn-barn".

💠...it is necessary to make manifest (the difference between) this good and evil, just as it is necessary to make manifest (distinguish) the wheat from the straw".

📚"Divine Justice" p. 190-196

@AbodeofWisdom

🏞️🌅🌎Life and Death🌍🌅🏞️

📍Why We Live...

💠The Qur'an states: "He who created death and life that He may test you [to see] which of you is best in conduct" (67:2).

💠Ayatollah Mutahhari explains this: "It should be noted that the Divine 'test' is really to actualize potentials and abilities. The actualization of a potential is to develop and perfect it. This test is not designed to discover the secret of beings (by the 'tester' [God]), rather it is to actualize their hidden potentials. So in this case, 'disclosure' is an act of creation and the Divine test 'reveals' the human traits from the hidden phase of potential and capability to the external and concrete phase of actualization and perfection. The Divine test is not there to asses weight, rather it is there to increase the mass. With this elaboration it becomes clear that the above mentioned verse (67:2) reflects this truth that the world is a place for training and perfecting human potentials.

📍Why do we die?

💠Rumi narrates the following story...

💠Moses asked God, "why did you create form and bless it with your spirit and then only to ruin it"?

💠God responded, "I know you (ask) to discover in My actions the wisdom and hidden meaning of (phenomenal) duration...

💠O Moses, sow some seed in the earth, that thou thyself may render justice (to this question)".

💠When Moses had sown and the seed-corn was complete (in growth) and it's ears had gained beauty and symmetry, He (Moses) took the sickle and was cutting that (crop); then a voice from the Unseen reached his ear, saying: 'why do you sow and tend some seed-corn and now are cutting it when it has attained perfection'?

💠Moses replied, "O Lord, I destroy and lay it low because the straw is here and also grain. The grain is not suitable to be stored in the straw-barn; the straw likewise is bad for putting in the corn-barn".

💠...it is necessary to make manifest (the difference between) this good and evil, just as it is necessary to make manifest (distinguish) the wheat from the straw".

📚"Divine Justice" p. 190-196

@AbodeofWisdom

❇️The Return to Our Primordial Nature

Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim
📝By Rebecca Masterton

Part 1/2

The last hundred and fifty years in Europe have seen the breaking away of society from religious structures, religious thought and a religious 'way of being'. Conflating the teachings of the prophets with the authority of priests, Europe has sought to liberate itself not only from religious structures, but from the Divine itself. Man has cut himself free of God, it would seem, and thus catapulted himself into what he calls 'existence'; he has felt the intoxication of being able to challenge, question and deconstruct, of being able to say 'No'. Thus he has found himself in a kind of permanent adolescence, where the pinnacle of human development is a triumphant defiance against all that is apparently oppressive.

So man has come up with questions, and a way of life that revolves around challenging and defying, and in addition to that, experimenting and exploring free of all apparent restrictions, enjoying the intoxication of breaking boundaries. But what man has not come up with, is answers. And while, in the twentieth century, he may have attempted to move beyond the stage Of deconstruction, he has struggled to come up with any effective means of reconstruction, and restoration. He cut himself free, and drifted into the wide open waste lands of existence, and he tasted existence, up to a point. He tasted everything that man might like to taste: all kinds of power, different fashions, different moral boundaries, different relationships, different lifestyles. And he became very sophisticated too: experimenting with art that asks questions; experimenting with literature that asks questions; experimenting with film that asks questions. And when he discovered that he couldn't find any clear answers, he began to scoff at the desire for clarity. And then he became depressed, but he didn't let it show. Nevertheless, in his sophisticated way, he produced art that reflected his sense of loss, emptiness and confusion; and literature that commented on our dysfunctional dystopic lives; and film that expressed our ultimate alienation from ourselves. After the intoxication of being free to run around in the open wastelands of existence, comes the sobriety of realising that existence in itself is just existence.

It has nothing to say to us, for all its colour and entertainment. Both Nietzsche and Heidegger attempted to build some kind Of philosophical edifice that told us how wonderful existence is, and how our truth can be revealed through it in an everlasting journey. And that's what it's all about. But when compared to the praxes of the prophets, these philosophical constructions look like mere hypotheses, and hypotheses which still fail to provide the real answer: what, ultimately, is the Truth? Should we be satisfied with being told that 'it's an ongoing journey to find out'? Because that's the point that the philosophers of our time have reached: 'well, we don't really know, but hey, enjoy the journey.' And our daily lives reflect this philosophy. 'well, we don't really know why we are living our lives, but hey, let's just carry on living them anyway.' And we could say that this emptiness and pointlessness lies at the heart of much of European culture as it is today. It's better, and safer, not to ask questions anymore.

@AbodeofWisdom