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(Front)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Food for Thought: - Sayings of Imam Ali (A.S.) 02

2 Your Daily-Life Questions Answered 03

3 The Purpose of the Acts of Worship 04

4 Halting Place 4 of Hajj: Mount Arafat 11

5 Ghadir, the Greatest Eid of All Religions 25

6 The Book "Al-Ghadir" and its Relevance to Islamic Unity 31

7 Advantages of Ayat al-Kursi 42

8 Martyrdom of Imam Muhammad Baqir (A.S) 44

9 Pressing Need of Our Time – Cheap Marriages 49

10 Islamic Method of Slaughtering Animals 54

Kids’ CornerKids’ CornerKids’ CornerKids’ Corner

12 The Martyrdom of Tiflan-e-Muslim 61

13 Eid-e-Ghadeer is the Greatest Eid of Allah (swt) 63

THE MESSAGE

Editor: Hujjat-ul-Islam Wal Muslimeen Sheikh Shabbir H. Lakhani (Maisami)

Editorial Board: Mr. Mazher Ali Jumani, Molana Sajjad Qaimi, Dr. Hussain Kanani,

Mr. Hasnain Nanjiani.

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Disclaimer: The Editor does not necessarily agree with the views expressed in the matter published herein. The views and opinions presented in the Journal reflect the views of the authors

and not of the Journal or its Editorial Board or the Publisher.

Published by

Zahra (S.A.) Academy Institute of Islamic Education, Development & Relief

The Message Zilhajj 1440 AH

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1. Clean clothes take away

sorrow and grief, and it is [a

condition of] purity for

prayers.

2. A believer is fair to one

who is not fair to him.

3. The visitor with the great-

est reward with Allah is he

who when he visits he sits

briefly, unless the sick per-

son likes the company and

wants and asks [him to sit

longer]

4. One should not dispute

with six types of people:

the jurist, the leader, the

low, the lewd, the woman,

and the child.

5. He who jokes will not be

taken seriously.

6. He who lives in bounties is

ignorant of the worth of the

calamity.

7. The love of wealth weakens

one's religion and corrupts

one's conviction.

8. He who acquires wealth

from an unlawful source will

spend it in a place where he

will have no recompense

thereof.

9. Wealth honors its owner as

long as he spends it and it

humiliates him where he is

miserly with it.

10. Give sincere advice to your

brother, whether it be good

or bad.

11. Blessed be the one who

obeys an adviser who

guides him, and avoids a

deviant person who mis-

leads him.

12. The eye is the spy of the

heart, and the messenger of

the intellect.

13. Clean your houses of

cobwebs, for leaving them

in the house brings about

poverty.

14. Increase the remembrance

of death and what comes

after death, and do not wish

for death without [having

fulfilled] the firm condition.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT Sayings of Imam Ali (A.S.)

Zilhajj 1440 AH The Message

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Q.1: In an Islamic country

like Pakistan, if we deposit

money in a saving account

of a bank whose half shares

are owned by the Govern-

ment, what is our responsi-

bility regarding the profit

given to us by the bank?

Ans.: You are allowed to take half of the interest "that paid by the Government" provided giving the other half "that paid by the Government" to the poor religious shia people.

Q.2: The van that trans-

ports me to work plays loud

and obscene songs. What is

the Hukm in this case for

me? Am I allowed to con-

tinue riding in this van or is

it Haram?

Ans.: It is allowed without intending to listen to it.

Q.3: Is it true that all

games of betting are pro-

hibited apart from betting

on horse races and archery,

which is permissible?

Ans.: Yes it is true.

Q.4: While doing the pros-

tration in a prayer, is it

makrooh to touch the

elbow on the ground?

Ans.: It is mustahab that: Men should not make their elbows and stomach touch the ground; they should keep their arms separated from their sides. And women should place their elbows and stomachs on the ground, and should join their limbs with one another.

Q.5: I offered the prayer in

an usurped place without

knowing that it is actually

usurped. Is my prayer

valid?

Ans.: If a person does not know, or forgets that a place is a usurped one, and offers prayers on it, and learns or remembers it after offering prayers, his prayers are in order. However, if a person usurped a place himself but forgets it, and offers prayer there, his prayers are void.

Q.6: A healthy person with

low monthly income can he

be given charity?

Ans.: Yes, one can pay charity to him.

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Your Daily-Life Questions Answered Your Daily-Life Questions Answered


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The purpose of acts of worship is to draw man’s attention to the privilege he has in the universe. That purpose is achieved by fully recognizing the Creator of the universe, having a spiritual journey towards Him, shedding off of all kinds of material pollutions from oneself, being illuminated with God’s light, and being absorbed in infinite joy as a result of affinity with God Who is Absolute Beauty and Infinite Perfection.

This requires belittling the worldly pleasures against the pleasure of affinity with God hence being indifferent to fortune and misfortune in the world. In this relation, the Holy Qur’an says:

لكي? تأسوا على ما فاتكم و- تفرحوا بما آتاكم

“So that you may not grieve for what has escaped you, nor be exultant at what He has given you… (57:23)”

This is the virtue of being pious and detached from the world, which is the outcome of getting to know God and man’s full attention to a metaphysical world.

The Islamic piety is not

against the principles of

everyday life

When the topic of piety and detachment of the world comes up and quotations from the Holy Qur’an or the Imams (as) are mentioned, a kind of misunderstanding is created in the minds of certain people. They will say to themselves that these two contradict each other. Islam—the perfect religion, while inviting people to be pious and detached from the world, has taken every aspect of human life into consideration.

It is against seclusion, irresponsibility to social undertakings, and indifference to the events happening in the human society. Islam

The Purpose of the Acts of Worship

By: Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Zia Abadi


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equally blames the oppressors and the oppressed as the agents behind the spread of oppression and corruption. They are both entitled to punishment. The Hoy Qur’an depicts the assembly of the two groups in hell:

ة لعنت أختھا، كلما دخلت أمحتى إذا اداركوا فيھا جميعا قالت أخراھم oو-ھم ربنا ھؤ-ء أضلونا فآتھم عذابا ضعفا من النار، قال

.لكل ضعف ولكن - تعلمون

“Whenever a nation shall enter, it shall curse its sister, until when they have all come up with one another into it; the last of them shall say with regard to the foremost of them: our Lord! These led us astray; therefore give them a double chastisement of the fire. He will say: every one shall have double but you do not know. (7:38)”

Piety, meaning lack of interest in the worldly affairs in one’s mind and abstinence from pleasure seeking in practice, is the outcome of a kind of enlightenment in one’s soul in

a way that man sees the world as transient and subject to decline. As a result of such an insight, man considers his personality as one created for eternal life hence finding himself too dignified to have tendency towards a mortal, material life. The leader of the pious, Imam ‘Ali (as), in sermon No 32 of Nahjul Balagha, says:

نيا ولبئس المتجر أن ترى الدلك عند هللا ام م لنفسك ثمنا و

!عوضا

“How bad is the transaction that you allow, (the enjoyment of) this world to be a price for yourself as an alternative for what there is with Allah for you”

That is to say, man’s human personality and the eternal life of the Hereafter is so sublime that if he loses the two but gains the whole world, it would be a bad transaction. The pious man finds his prosperity and his ultimate goal in the illuminated world of affinity with God and His


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pleasure. In this relation, Imam Sajjad (as), in the eighth part of the Whispered Prayed of the Devotees, says:

فقد انقطعت إليك ھمتي وانصرفت نحوك رغبتي، فأنت - غيرك مرادي ولك - لسواك سھري وسھادي، ولقاؤك قرة عيني ووصلك منى نفسي...

.ورضاك بغيتي

“For my aspiration has been cut off from everything but You and my desire has turned toward You alone, You are my object, none other; to You alone belongs my waking and my sleeplessness. Meeting You is the gladness of my eye, joining You is the wish of my soul. Toward You is my yearning, in love for You my fervent craving. Your good pleasure is the aim I seek.”

Quoting Imam Sajjad (as), Abu-Hamza Thumali, says:

مو-ي، بذكرك عاش قلبي وبمناجاتك بردت ألم الخوف عني

“O Master Lord, in Your remembrance my heart takes delight, with prayers I hold

communion with You, it freezes the pain of fear that torments me.”

A pious man is not one who does not possess anything but one who is not slave of anything.

Therefore, a pious man is a sublime soul released from the humiliating, materialistic captivity and soaring in the infinite space seeking God. Such a man has become familiar with supernatural pleasures. His joy and sorrow depends on that type of pleasure, not on worldly pleasures, which are little provision and exposed to rapid annihilation.

Therefore, when a man reaches that stage of spiritual perfection to find himself above the world and its desires, he will never become captive of carnal desires. He neither violates other people’s rights nor allows them to violate the rights of other human beings. Acting on the basis of his religious duty,


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such a man is steadfast in preserving his own rights and those of others in defending justice, and will not spare his life in the path of God.

The vivid lives of the Imams (as), and at the top of them the life of Imam ‘Ali (as), is good examples. Being at the zenith of piety and detached from the world both physically and spiritually, Imam ‘Ali (as) displayed to the world the highest degree of respect for other people’s rights, defense of social justice, and proved consistency of piety with living a social life and a sound way of living.

Summary

A spiritual virtue, which makes man’s real personality outstanding and in the light of which man’s Hereafter and worldly life becomes meaningful is piety, an outcome of man’s heart being illuminated with the light of God’s cognition and man’s affinity with God. This is not possible except by

worshipping Him ad performing what is known as religious duties. The present decadence is due to man’s failure to know himself.

The reason why corruption has spread throughout the world, the human society has been entangled in the bottleneck of a bestial life, and there is no way out is because man has failed to recognize his own stand. He has been deviated from acts of worship and God seeking path, which is his special task. Man’s big sin is failure to get to know himself, which will lead to knowledge of God.

Being A Servant of God Is

Man’s Dignity

The fact that God has assigned acts of worship for human beings is a sign of God’s grace towards man. By calling man to His House and by giving him the honor of being called the servant of Allah, God has made man distinct from other creatures. If human beings could only


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understand what dignity this title gives, they would ignore all the worldly titles and would not think of anything other than qualifying for that title.

When man becomes servant of God, his heart will be put at rest. He will neither feel sad about any misfortune nor rejoice at any fortune. When he passes away, he will receive God’s mercy, will enjoy the everlasting bliss, and will associate with the prophets and the Imams, that is a great victory.

Impact of Worship at Soul

God-seekers believe that acts of worship and religious duties are different from one another in terms of leaving a certain impact on soul and its perfection. Some of them have the quality of purification while others adorn the soul; some of them remove darkness from the soul while others illuminate man’s soul. For example, charity purifies man’s heart from the evil of love for wealth.

In this relation, the Holy Qur’an says:

رھم خذ من أموالھم صدقة تطھ وتزكيھم بھا

“Take alms out of their property, you would cleanse them and purify them thereby. (9:103)”

Observing fast –Sawm- strengthens one’s will and power of resistance against carnal desires, leading to piety and immunity. In this relation, the Holy Qur’an says:

يا أيھا الذين آمنوا كتب عليكم يام كما كتب على الذين من الص

قبلكم لعلكم تتقون

“O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard against evil. (2:183)”

The virtue of prayer is to illuminate man’s soul with the light of the heavens and the earth. The Holy Qur’an says:

وأقم الص?ة لذكري

“Keep up prayer for My remembrance. (20:14)”


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Nevertheless, Hajj has a double purpose—it has the quality of purification and it is ornament as well. They both remove darkness of mammonism from heart and bring about illumination of God’s remembrance.

Almsgiving, being far from one’s family, having no ease and comfort of one’s home, one’s business and jobs, tolerating the sufferings of a trip, having to put up with short-tempered co-travelers, sunburn, insufficient sleep, performing rather unfamiliar acts are not pleasant by the norms of the superficial intellect. Yet, throwing pebbles at Satan in Mina, waling at fast pace, getting out of one’s normal clothes, and shaving one’s hair are extremely useful in purifying man’s heart from the evil of arrogance, egotism and in taming the haughty and the disobedient souls. This is part of the purifying quality of Hajj. As for the ornamental virtue of Hajj, it is both moral

and spiritual. Hajj congregation leads to Ummah’s supremacy among other nations.

Hajj, A Lively Act

Hajj, which is full of meaning and spirit, can be inspiring and bring about such ritual effects. Ceremonial rites devoid of truth are not expected to bring about prosperity or dignity. In this relation, the Holy Quran says:

إن في ذلك لذكرى لمن كان له مع وھو شھيد .قلب أو ألقى الس

“Most surely, there is a reminder in this for him who has a heart or he gives ear and is a witness. (50:38)”

Beyond doubt, like healing medicine, religious duties are composed of ingredients with divine formula, which will leave great effects on the human societies. Neverthe-less, susceptible tempera-ments are needed to manifest those effects.

Hajj Of Most People Is

Devoid Of Spirit


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Unfortunately, most people who go on Hajj have neither a heart to understand the meaning of Hajj nor give an ear to those who have a heart so as to perform the Hajj rites which are full of spirit. They would rather perform the Hajj rites hastily, get out of the state of Ihram and restriction, and then engage in taking photos, buying souvenirs, or doing business. They think they have achieved the ultimate goal of Hajj and return home purified like when they were born of their mother!

Hajj Devoid Of Spirit Has

No Living Effects

Hajj devoid of spirit cannot possibly purify man’s heart from vices and adorn it with virtues nor can it turn human beings divine. Socially too, it cannot give dignity to the ummah nor can it give supremacy or world leadership to the ummah. A clear proof of Muslim’s Hajj being abortive in our times is the fact that this great

religious duty is performed every year with much glory but, unfortunately, does not produce the intended result. Its radiant effects, including purification of the soul and the ummah’s supremacy, some of the inevitable results of Hajj as mentioned in the Holy Quran and Sunnah, are not noticeable.

��

Sayings Of Imam

Muhammad Baqir (A.S.)

"Our followers are of three

kinds, one who follows us but

depends on others, one who is

like a glass involved in his own

reflections, but the best are

those who are like gold, the

more they suffer the more they

shine.

"Seize the opportunity in asking

for dua on five occasions: (a)

After reciting the Qur'an, (b) At

the time of azan, (c) When an

oppressed invokes assistance, (d)

When two armies are facing

each other seeking martyrdom,

(e) At the time of raining."

��


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The first days of Dhu’l-Hijja are full of tumult in Mecca. Like a kind mother, this holy city opens her arms to the pilgrims. Thanks to the blessing God has bestowed on Mecca, pilgrims are not in strait in terms of accommoda-tions. They all feel comforta-ble and have peace of mind.

Those pilgrims who intend to perform Hajj at-Tamattu’ have to stay in Mecca to perform Umrah first. Those intending to perform Hajj al-Qiran and Hajj al-Ifrad and those whose Hajj precedes Umrah enter Mecca in groups so as to put on Ihram, to say Labbayk, and to leave Mecca for Arafat.

Umrah is an individual rite that does not need to be coordinated with others and can be performed on any day. However, Hajj, being a social event, must begin and end on a special day. Therefore, all those who intend to perform Hajj have to come to Mecca

before the eighth of Dhu’l-Hijja and those who are late for an excuse have to join the pilgrims on the ninth of Dhu’l-Hijja before noon.

The huge caravan of the pilgrims moves towards Arafat in the afternoon of the eighth day. Heads are bare and bodies covered with two pieces of white unstitched clothes. Having with them provision for a few-day stay in the plain, and saying Labbayk whose spiritual echo is filling Mecca and the north-eastern plains, the pilgrims move in groups to gather in the plain of Arafat at noon of the ninth day.

Where Is Arafat?

Arafat is a smooth and flat plain about twenty-four kilometers away from North-ern Mecca in the lap of Jabal ur-Rahmah (literally meaning, Mount of Mercy). Arafat is a holy place God has appointed to receive His guests. The

Halting Place 4 of Hajj: Mount Arafat

Edited excerpts from the Book, “Hajj - The Islamic Pilgrimage” By: Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Zia Abadi


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banquet is in Mount Mercy so that all guests can enjoy God’s infinite blessings each according to his capacity.

Man will not become

familiar with God as long

as he is attached to the

world

If man is left to himself, like children who have no power of distinction, he is attracted towards colorful toys. During Prophet Muhammad’s Mid-night Ascension, God said to him:

“O Ahmed, beware of being like a child who is deceived when looking at something green and yellow or tasting something sour and sweet.”

God’s address is aimed to make man aware of his grave position. In the plain of Arafat, a pilgrim is like a dead man who has been detached from everything and wearing a shroud and waiting for God’s mercy. It is in this state that man can have commun-ion with God and say from the bottom of his heart:

“Let those eyes which do not see You as Watching be blind and let the asset (life) of a servant who has no share of Your love lead to loss.”

The rite of staying in Arafat begins at the noon of the ninth of Dhu’l-Hijja and ends at the sunset of the same day. The time of this religious act is short but its divine blessings are great. Hearing a beggar asking people for something, Imam Sajjad (as) said:

“Woe to you! Are you asking people for help in this place while Allah’s mercy today is so comprehensive that what is in mountains is hoped to receive His general mercy and be-come prosperous.”

By ‘what is in mountains’ the Imam (as) perhaps meant plants growing on the moun-tains as a result of whose transformation a prosperous man would be born. A man in the Sacred Mosque asked Imam Sadiq (as): “Whose sin is greater than others?” The Imam (as) answered:


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“He who stays in Arafat and al-Muzdelifa, performs the Sa’y between Mount Safa and Mount Marwa, circumambu-lates the Kaaba, performs prayer in the standing-place of Ibrahim, and after complet-ing all these acts says to himself or has the impression that Allah has not forgiven him is the biggest sinner.”

Imam Baqir (as) says:

“The duaas –supplications- of every pious or impious man who stays in Arafat and al-Mash’ar will be absolutely answered. The duaas of a pious man will be fulfilled in matters regarding this world and the Hereafter but the duaas of an impious man will be fulfilled only in matters regarding this world.”

Imam Sadiq (as) says:

“For a believing man of any village who stays in Arafat, Allah will forgive all the believing people of that village, and for a single man of a believing family who stays in Arafat, Allah will

forgive all the believing members of that family.”

Day of Arafat Is the Day of

Supplication To God

The Day of Arafat among all the days of the year has a special advantage for duaas—supplication to God. Duaas and asking for settlement of the needs of this world and the Hereafter are some of the most important acts of today. Fasting on such a day with all its virtues, if it leads to weakness in supplication will become blameworthy. Duaa opens the gates of God’s mercy to His servants.

Duaa Has Its Own Effect

The Immaculate Imams (as) say that there are two ways to win God’s mercy: deed and duaa. Those who practice good deeds enter through the gate of justice and are rewarded, but those who resort to duaa enter through the gate of grace and receive mercy.

Ibn-Fahd Hilli, in his book titled Oddatol Daee, quotes


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the prayer book of Muham-mad ibn Saffar on the authori-ty of the Holy Prophet (saww) as saying:

“Request from Allah so that He will grant. Allah bestows blessing upon a group of His servants in return for their deeds, and to another group in return for their sincere supplications. Then He will gather both groups in Para-dise. The first will say: Our Lord, We were men of good deeds and You granted our requests but how about these people? Allah will say: My servants, I gave you your rewards fully. Those people too requested from Me and I gave them a share of My abundant Grace and Mercy. I will give to anyone I wish.”

Those who perform their religious duties and reach the highest degree of eternal prosperity enter Paradise through the gate of Deed according to the Qur’anic Verse:

“(This is) a reward for what they used to do. (56:24)”

There is another gate by the name of Request or supplica-tion. Not all people can enter through this gate. In the same way that practicing good deed is not easy, requesting from God is not easy either, for it requires a living heart, weeping eyes, and a spiritual state. God says:

“Call upon Me, I will answer you.(The Holy Qur’an; 40:60)”

Let us now become unison with Imam Sajjad (as) and say:

“And I, my Allah, am Thy servant whom Thou com-manded to supplicate and who said: I am at Thy service and disposal. Here I am, my Lord, thrown before Thee. I am he whose back offenses have weighed down! I am he whose lifetime sins have consumed! I am he who was disobedient in his ignorance, while Thou didst not deserve that from him!”

Muhammad ibn Hasan Saffar, in his book of supplication,


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quotes the Holy Prophet (saww) as saying:

“Two persons whose deeds were the same will enter Paradise. But one of the two will see the other superior. Hence, he will say: ‘My Lord, we have done the same deeds. What is his superior position for?’ Allah will say: ‘He requested from Me but you did not.’ (Then the Holy Prophet (saww) said:) “Re-quest from Allah as much as you can, for your request is not great for Allah.”

Moyasser, a narrator, quotes Imam Sadiq (as) as saying:

“O Moyasser, call upon Allah and do not say what is destined will happen. There is with Allah a position you will not attain save through supplication. If a servant shuts his mouth and does not request anything from Allah, he will be given nothing. Therefore, request so that you will be given. O Moyesser, every door that is knocked will be opened.”

Beware! Here Is Arafat

Here is the plain of Arafat, resembling the Day of Judg-ment. What a tumult! Millions of pilgrims from different nations have converged on this plain. Wearing shrouds and bareheaded, all the pilgrims have raised their hands in supplication in this hot plain. What incentive has brought them to this waste-land from their homes?

Have they come here under any force or allure of any-thing? They have come here to give positive response to God’s call. They have come here to enjoy the divine banquet to win God’s pleas-ure. It is the day of benefac-tion. O Lord, this edifice is the same place where Adam confessed his sin and was forgiven. It is the place where Ibrahim supplicated to God and won His favor.

All messengers of God pros-trated themselves in this place. The Holy Prophet (saww), too, expressed his


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servitude to God here. Ac-companied by his friends, Imam Husayn (as), too, raised his hands in supplication to God in this place. The sun on the day of Arafat set amidst the moaning and weeping of Imam Husayn (as) and his companions. Can a person not be moved to tears in this place where God does not withhold His generosity and forgiveness? It is said that the biggest sin belongs to one who returns from Arafat thinking that he has not been forgiven; that is, he is disap-pointed with God’s mercy.

Addressing Jesus (as), God says: “O Jesus, how long should I wait and show well wish for the people to turn to Me?”

A Hadith Qudsi says:

“If they who turn their backs to Me know how eager I am for their turning to Me, they will certainly die out of eagerness to Me and their body joints will fall apart.”

“O, He who comes toward those who come towards Him

and grants gifts and bestows bounty upon them through tenderness! He is Compas-sionate and Clement toward those heedless of His remem-brance and loving and tender in drawing them to His door!”

“And He it is Who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons the evil deeds. (The Holy Qur’an; 42:25)”

Calling upon God and saying, ‘O Lord’ from the bottom of heart is sufficient to be answered.

“I know well that for the travelers who set out onto Thee, the destination is very near.”

Not only is God Forgiving but also, “Allah changes the evil deeds to good ones. (The Holy Qur’an; 25:70)”

Imam Sajjad (as) words: “O’ He Who changes the evil deeds into manifold good deeds.”

Since repentance is good deed, it has a tenfold reward: “Whoever brings a good deed,


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he shall have ten like it. (The Holy Qur’an; 6:160)”

As long as we are in Arafat, we can do nothing except requesting from Him.

A mystic was asked, ‘What have you brought to this door?’ He answered: “A beggar who comes to the House of the King is not asked, what have you brought, rather he is asked: What do you need, beggar?”

It is said that a Dervish set out for a king’s palace. They said to him: Take off your tattered clothes and put on new ones, for they do not fit the occasion. The Dervish said: What shall I do, for I have no other clothes? There is no blame in going to the royal palace in tatters, but there is blame if one comes out of the palace in tatters.

Likewise, if a man with sins goes to God’s House, he is in no way to be blamed, but if he returns from His House with the same sins and ashamed of his sins, it is

contrary to God’s dignity and expectation.

Good Tidings: Imam

Mahdi (as) is present in

Arafat

A great source of happiness and hope for forgiveness of those staying in Arafat is the presence of Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his reap-pearance) in the plain of Arafat every Hajj season; hence, Arafat becomes dignified and descending place for the angels and a source of blessings for those staying there.

Ubaid ibn Zurara quotes Imam Sadiq (as) as saying: “People will miss their Imam, but he will witness every season of Hajj. Yet, he can see them but they cannot.”

“By Allah I swear, Imam Mahdi witnesses the season of Hajj every year. He can see and know people and they can see him but cannot know him.”

O God, we, pilgrims, turn to You and raise our hands in


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begging through the grace of Imam Mahdi (as) who has blessed this plain and has raised his hands in duaa in front of our gathering. We are sure the Imam’s honor is so great that whoever turns to You under his shelter and raises his hand in supplication under the shelter of his hands will not be deprived of God’s mercy.

The Holy Prophet (saww) is quoted by Salman the Persian as saying: “Allah says: O My servant, has it not happened that someone requests something great from you but you will not fulfill his desire unless he brings an interces-sor who is dear to you? Let it be known to you that the most honorable and respecta-ble men to Me are Muham-mad (saww), his brother ‘Ali (as), and the Imams (as) who are the media of nearness to Me. Therefore, if you have a desire for a profit or removing of a loss, call Me through Muhammad (saww) and his pure household. Then I will

fulfill the desire in the best manner.”

Take the Opportunity For

Duaa

As requirements for duaa to be answered have been met and thousands of hands have been raised in supplication, the pilgrims in Arafat should speak to God with the suppli-cations reached us from the Imams (as) in this relation, Imam Husayn’s Duaa recited on such a day in Arafat is the most comprehensive. Also, Duaa 47 of al-Sahifat al-Sajjadiyya, containing theme of servitude is extremely useful for those who do not know Arabic can simply talk to God in their own languages and confide their grievances with their Most Kind Creator and know that there is no better confidant for them than God Who has said:

“And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on


19

Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way. (Holy Qur’an; 2:186)”

Considering the above-mentioned Qur’anic Verse, is there any fear or concern left in man’s heart? The answer is a definite ‘No,’ for God Himself says: “So whoever believes in his Lord, he should neither fear loss nor being overtaken by disgrace. (The Holy Qur’an; 27:13)”

When there are no ears to listen to our grievances, it is God Who is to listen to our requests.

“O my adjacent Neighbor, O my sturdy pillar, O companion of every stranger, O intimate of everyone alone, O refuge of every outcast, O shelter of every wanderer…”

Duaa For Reappearance of

Imam Mahdi (as)

The desire for the reappear-ance of Imam Mahdi (may our souls be ransoms for him) who is a cure of the physical

and spiritual diseases of human society must be at the top of the list of our requests today. All social and individual misfortunes, ignorance, poverty, moral corruption, and maladies afflicting human beings will be removed with the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (as) and security and justice will prevail in the world in the light of his divine guidance. So, let us supplicate to God in unison and say:

“Where is the one prepared to annihilate the oppressors? Where is the one awaited for straightening the crookedness and dishonesty? Where is the one expected (Imam Mahdi) for abolishing oppression and transgression? Where is the one stored for reviving the obligatory command and Sunnah (of the Holy Prophet)? Where is the one selected for resuscitating the reality of the nation and the religion? Where is the one expected for enlivening the Book and the doctrinal provisions? Where is


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the enlivener of the facts of the religion and its adherents?

Where is the breaker of the might of the transgressors? Where is the demolisher of the edifices of polytheism and hypocrisy? Where is the destroyer of the followers of transgression, disobedience, and rebellion? Where is the eradicator of the branches of errors and dispute? Where is the destroyer of the signs of evil and egoistic tendencies? Where is the severer of the cords of falsehood and calumniation? Where is the destroyer of the vicious and disobedient people?

Where is the eradicator of the followers of obstinacy and misguidance and the rene-gade? Where is the one who honors the friends and debases the enemy? Where is the gate of Allah through which all should enter? Where is the countenance of Allah through which the friends attend towards him? Where is the means stretching from the earth to the heaven?

Where is the uniter of the companions of virtue and divine pleasure? Where is the avenger of the blood of the prophets and their children? Where is the seeker of revenge for the blood of the martyred ones of Karbala? Where is the triumphant one (who will overcome) over one who transgressed against him and maligned him? O son of Ahmed, is there a way through which you may be met? May our day (of separa-tion) join the day of reap-pearance by which we enjoy? When shall we arrive at your streams to quench our thirst?”

When we are said infinite oppression and grave injustice pave the way for the reap-pearance of Imam Mahdi (as), despair gives its place to hope in our hearts making waiting for you something pleasant. So, we tolerate all hardship in the hope of your reappear-ance and keep on supplicat-ing.

“So, help, O’ helper of those who seek help, your poor


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afflicted servant. And show him his Master: O severer of strength and through him (Imam Mahdi) remove his (Your servant’s) grief and sorrow. And cool the burning of his hurt, O You who are firm in the Heavenly Throne of power and towards Whom is the return and ultimate end.”

Ask forgiveness for your parents, relatives, and all believers in Arafat

Now that we are blessed with this divine grace and our requests and desires are fulfilled, we should seek forgiveness for our parents, relatives, neighbors, all believers, and the deceased ones. Imam Sadiq (as) says:

“A man’s supplication for his absent brother increases the sustenance and saves from evils.”

Imam Kazim (as) says:

“Whoever supplicates for his absent brother in faith, a call from the Divine Throne will say: let one hundred thou-

sand times more be for you. So, I thought it was not advisable to leave one hun-dred thousand supplications certainly answered for one that might or might not be answered.”

What A Blessed Duaa!

Ibn Abi-Umeir reports the following on the authority of Zeid an-Nersi:

Muawieh ibn Wahab and I were in Arafat. He was reciting duaa while his eyes were full of tears. Listening carefully to him, I found out that he was not reciting a singly duaa for himself, rather he was supplicating for people from here and there mention-ing their names and father’s names. When the pilgrims left Arafat, I said to him, ‘O uncle, I saw something strange about you.’ He asked, ‘what was strange?’

I answered, ‘In this holy place, you considered your brethren prior to yourself and recited duaa for them!’ He said, ‘O my nephew, do not


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be surprised, for I heard my master and master of every believing man and woman and master of the former and the coming generations after his immaculate fathers (as) (if I lie, let my ears become deaf, my eyes blind, and deprived of the Holy Prophet’s interces-sion) as saying:

“Whoever supplicates Allah for his absent brother in faith, an angel from heaven will call: ‘O servant of Allah, let a hundred thousand times more than it be for you.’ And an angel from the second heaven will call: ‘O servant of Allah, let there be two hundred thou-sand times more for you.’ And an angel from the third heaven will call: ‘O servant of Allah, let there be three hundred thousand times more for you.’

And an angel from the fourth heaven will call: ‘O servant of Allah, let there be four hundred thousand times for you.’ And an angel from the fifth heaven will call: ‘O servant of Allah, let there be

five hundred thousand time more for you.’ And an angel from the sixth heaven will call: ‘O servant of Allah, let there be six hundred thou-sand times more for you.’ And an angel from the seventh heaven will call: ‘O servant of Allah, let there be seven hundred thousand times more for you.’ Then, Allah will say: ‘I am the Rich Who will never become poor. O servant of Allah, let there be a million times more for you.’”

‘O my nephew, which is better: to supplicate for oneself or for others?’

Now, Supplication To God

O Lord, now that You like to hear Your servant’s duaa for others and fulfill them, we ask You through the affinity and love of Your most beloved creatures; Muhammad and his household (as) to hasten the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (as) and guide the human society on the right path of guidance. Also, make the ummah united to defend itself


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against atheism. Protect our youths against corruption. Do not separate our children and us from the Holy Qur’an and the household of the Holy Prophet (saww) in this world and the Hereafter. Fill our hearts with Your love and that of the Imams (as). Heal the patients all over the world very soon. Make our women chaste. Give a share of this reward to our parents, relatives, neighbors, friends, and the deceased. Keep us from the fire of Your wrath.

The Sun in Arafat Is

Setting

The sun in Arafat is setting and God’s banquet is coming to an end. O my beloved, I know this much that this humble person was Your guest and You, the Lord of the heavens and the earth were my Generous Host. Then, I have the right to say:

“My Allah, who is the one who has come before Thee seeking hospitability? Who is the one who has dismounted at Thy door hoping for magnanimity,

and to who Thou hast not shown it? Is it good that I come back from Thy door, turned away in disappoint-ment, while I know of no patron qualified by benefi-cence but Thee?”

How proper it is to conclude the last moment of staying in Arafat with the prayer of Imam Husayn (as) on such a day. Here is a summarized translation of the prayer:

“O Allah, we are turning our faces to You in this evening that You glorified and honored by Muhammad— Your Proph-et, Messenger, Chosen one among Your creatures, Keeper of Your revelation, bearer of Your good tidings and warn-ings, and the bright light with whom You have blessed the Muslims and whom You have made mercy from people. Bless him and his household— the chosen ones, the pure, and the immaculate, and include us by means of Your reprieve. To You, voices of different tongues have directed.


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O Allah, give us in this even-ing a share of the blessings that you give to Your serv-ants, light of guidance, mercy that You spread, blessings that You reveal, wellbeing that You extend, and abun-dant sustenance; You are certainly the Most Merciful of the merciful ones. O Allah, in this very time, include us with the successful, the thriving, the blessed, and the winning, and do not deprive us of Your mercy and of that for which we hope, and do not refute us with disappointment, and do not reject us from Your door. You are certainly the Most Generous of the generous ones and the Most Munificent of the munificent. We are directing towards You with full confidence and towards yours Sacred House with full inten-tions”

The sun in Arafat set amid tears, moaning, and lamenta-tions of Imam Husayn (as) and his companions who then set out for al-Mash’ar al-Haram.

Good Tidings

Imam Sajjad (as) says:

“During the Farewell Hajj, the pilgrims’ stay in Arafat was completed, the Holy Prophet (saww) said: “O Bilal, tell people to keep silent.” When they did, he (saww) said: “Today, Allah has favored you. He has forgiven the good ones among you and be-stowed upon you the right of intercession for the bad ones. Hence, He forgave the bad ones with the intercession of the good ones. Now, set out and all of you have been forgiven by Allah’s mercy.”48

Obviously the question of people’s rights is another topic in a way that the consent and satisfaction of the owner of a right is pre-requisite for God’s for-giveness. Hence, all were forgiven “save those who violate people’s rights, for God in Just and will take the right of the oppressed from the oppressors.”

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Today I have perfected your religion and completed my favor upon you, and I was satisfied that Islam be your religion.” (The Holy Quran, 5:3)

Eid al-Ghadir, which is known as Eid al-Akbar (the greatest Eid) in Islamic narrations, could be referred to as the greatest celebration (Eid) of all religions. For the result of the mission of all the messen-gers of Allah (SWT) became accomplished on this day.

When Prophet Nuh (Noah) (PBUH) was appointed, he introduced his people to his religion and told them: “Allah has called upon you to have faith in this religion; however, there shall be a prophet after me whose religion is more perfect than mine, so have faith in him and be aware that the most perfect religion will be brought by the last proph-et”. Similar to that, Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus) (PBUT) were appoint-

ed and they gradually made the religion more perfect, and they spoke of the most perfect religion, the one brought by the last prophet.

Now, Islam has been brought to people and the religion has reached its most perfect state, and the mission of all Allah’s (SWT) messengers is mani-fested in Islam. Prophet Muhammad (saww) has established Islam within 23 years of enormous endeavors, and has conveyed brother-hood and equality amongst all the Muslims. Now, he is preparing to visit the house of Allah (SWT), and he has called upon all Muslims, no matter what their race or tribe is, to join him in performing Hajjah al-Weedaa’ (farewell pilgrimage), his last pilgrim-age.

People were accompanying Prophet Muhammad (saww) in performing the Hajj rituals and meanwhile, they heard the last words of him. When

Ghadir, the Greatest Eid of All Religions

Source: SHAFAQNA


26

returning, Gabriel comes down to Prophet Muhammad (saww) saying:” O Messenger! Proclaim what has been revealed to you from your Lord.”Prophet Muhammad (saww) was worried about the reaction of some of his companions since he was aware of their hypocrisy through revelation (2).

Then, Gabriel came down for the second time:” O Messen-ger! Proclaim what has been revealed to you from your Lord”. Prophet Muhammad (saww), the mercy upon mankind, was worried about the ailing hearts and weak faith of new Muslims. As he was looking for a solution, Gabriel came down for the third time:” O Messenger! Proclaim what has been revealed to you from your Lord, for if you do it not you have not conveyed His message and Allah will protect you from the (evil designs of) people.” (3)

What is this message that if not proclaimed, the Prophet’s

mission would not be con-veyed?

Prophet Muhammad (saww), who possesses both the states of Prophethood and Imamate, is addressed as “O Messen-ger!”, which reveals that his state of Prophethood is targeted. On the other hand, the phrase “you have not conveyed His message” indicates that not proclaiming this message would result in not having accomplished the duty of Prophethood.

In the following section of the verse, Allah (SWT) assures Prophet Muhammad (saww) by saying that:” Allah will protect you from the (evil designs of) people.” Here protection does not mean to address physical, financial… protection; because Prophet Muhammad (saww) never felt fear during the battles, and his life’s history testifies that he never stood back even a single step in the battles. Even in the battle of Uhud, when the Muslims were seemingly defeated and their


27

army was collapsed, Prophet Muhammad (saww) was still fighting against the pagans. In addition to that, Allah (SWT) describes not only Prophet Muhammad (saww), but also other prophets as:” those who proclaim the messages of Allah and have fear in Him, and have fear in no one but Allah.”(4) There-fore, Prophet Muhammad’s (saww) fear was about damages to the religion and the ignorance of people; hence, the good tidings by Allah (SWT) were about the victory over the ignorance of people, just like as he told Prophet Moses (PBUH):” Fear not; you are the superior”(5).

Prophet Muhammad (saww) stops at a place called Ghadir. He summons those who have gone forward to return and wait for the followers to join. Them, he climbs an eminence and gives a sermon:

“Praise be to Allah; I testify that He is the Lord and I am His servant. Gabriel has descended to me thrice, and

has ordered me from Allah to stop on this land to proclaim His message. Am I not your Wali (more precious to you than your own lives)?" People replied:" Yes". He continued:” Am I not your prophet and leader?” Again, all the people confirmed. It was then that he took Ali ibn Abi Talib's (PBUH) hands and raised them high, and said, "Whoever has me as his Master (Wali), Ali is his Master (Wali)”.

After that, those that were present came to Ali (PBUH) at the tent which Prophet Muhammad (saww) had ordered to be set up, and congratulated him on his new position. They addressed him as Amir al-Mu’minin (Ruler of the Faithful). Historians have mentioned numbers up to 120000 for the people present at that time.

Then, the following verse of the Quran was revealed:” Today, those who disbelieve have despaired of your religion; so fear them not and fear Me. Today I have per-


28

fected for you your religion and have completed My favor upon you, and I was satisfied that Islam be your reli-gion.”(6)

In the Holy Quran, the terms "Yaum" and “Yauma’izin” usually refer to the resurrec-tion day; however, the former is used in this verse referring to the issue of Imamate. Since the Holy Quran starts talking about important issues with the terms “Al” and “Yaum”, it is indicated that the aforementioned verse, in which the term “al-Yaum” is repeated twice, contains important news. That im-portant news is indeed appointing the Master and Ruler of the Muslim communi-ty after Prophet Muhammad (saww).

This important event made the disbelievers disappointed. The enemies of Islam would say: " … we are waiting to see him die” (7), so his religion would be removed; because it is possible to fight against the book and the law and to

interpret them according to one’s desires; however, such divine Leader could not be fought. Therefore, the event of Ghadir made the disbeliev-ers despair of this hope due to the fact that a leader was appointed for the Muslims who possessed virtues such as bravery, wisdom, patience and constancy, just like Prophet Muhammad (saww). There, a divine successor was appointed by Allah to continue Prophet’s path and supervise the Muslims after Prophet Muhammad (saww).

The next section of the verse talks about perfection of religion and completion of favor. Obviously, it does not refer to materialistic favors, because the creatures are constantly blessed by such favors from Allah (SWT), and they are not such that could be completed; hence, another type of favor (which is indeed superior to and more im-portant than materialistic favors) is meant. According to the event of Ghadir, this favor


29

is nothing but the favor ofImamat (Leadership) and Wilayat (Mastership). Even Allah (SWT) has admired the favor of prophethood and Imamat as His greatest favors in the Holy Quran, and has used the term Minnah (a significant and enormous favor which is difficult to receive and maintain) regard-ing these two fa-vors:”Certainly Allah conferred a great favor upon the believers when He raised among them a Messenger from amongst themselves.” (8); “And We desired to bestow a great favor upon those who were deemed weak in the land, and to make them the Imams, and to make them the inheritors.”(9)

And finally, the endeavors of all the prophets before Islam and the 23 year endeavors of Prophet Muhammad (saww) became fruitful on the day of Ghadir, and the argument on mankind became complete.

It is noteworthy that accord-ing to the knowledge of

Hadith, there are few events reported to be as authentic as the event of Ghadir. Mas’ood ibn Nasser Sajestani in the book “Wilayatkade”, which is printed in seventeen volumes, narrates this event on the authority of one hundred twenty people. Muhammad bin Jarir Tabari in the book “Radd Alaa al-Kharqouziah”, narrates the event of Ghadir from seventy-five different routes, and Ibn Ouqdah mentions 125 different narrators for this Hadith in the book of Wilayat. It is quoted from Abou al-Ma’ali Jowni that:” I saw a book in a bookbinding store which contained the Hadith of Ghadir, and it was written on its back:” Volume 28 of the routes for the Hadith of Man Kuntu Mawlah (the beginning phrase of the Hadith of Ghadir which means whoever has me as Master)”. Sayyid Murtada writes that:” We have not come up to a single Islamic sect that denies the event of Ghadir”. Finally, the book of


30

Al-Ghadir by Allamah Amini is the most general and com-plete encyclopedia for narra-tions about the Ghadir event.

Based on the above, it is on us to celebrate this great Eid. There is a Hadith in Sahih Muslim narrating from Taariq ibn Shahab that:” A group of Jews told the second Caliph that:” If such a verse had been revealed to us (Today I have perfected for you your religion and have completed my favor upon you) and we knew that day it had been revealed, We would have celebrated that day.”

References:

- Al-Ghadir, by Allamah Amini

- Tafsir al-Mizan, by Ayatullah Jawadi Amuli

- Explanations of the Event of Ghadir, by Ayatullah Jawadi Amuli

- Haqq al-Yaqin, by Allamah Majlisi

Footnotes:

1- The Holy Quran, (5:3)









��

Sayings Of Imam


“I admonish you regarding five

things; if you are wronged, do

not commit wrong doing to

others, if you are betrayed, do

not betray anyone, if you are

called a liar, do not be furious, if

you are praised, do not be

jubilant, if you are criticized do

not fret and think of what is said

in criticism, if you find in yourself

what is criticized about you, then

you are falling down in the eyes

of God; when you are furious

about the truth, it is much

greater calamity then your

falling down in the eyes of the

people. And if you are opposite

of what is said (in criticism)

about you, then it is a merit you

acquired without having to tire

yourself in obtaining it.”

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The distinguished book entitled "al-Ghadir" has raised a huge wave in the world of Islam. Islamic thinkers shed light on the book in different perspectives; in literature, history, theology, tradition, tafsir, and sociology. From the social perspective we can deal with the Islamic unity. In this review the Islamic unity has been dealt with from a social point of view.

Contemporary Muslim thinkers and reformists are of the view that unity and solidarity of Muslims are the most impera-tive Islamic exigencies at the present juncture when the enemies have made extensive inroads upon the Islamic community and have tried to resort to different ways and means to spread the old differences and create new ones. We are aware that Islamic unity and fraternity is the focus of attention of the Holy Legislator of Islam and is

actually the major objective pursued by this Divine religion as firmed by the Qur'an, the "Sunnah", and the history of Islam.

For this reason, some people have been faced with this question: Wouldn't the compilation and publication of a book such as "al-Ghadir" which deals with the oldest issue of differences among the Muslims- create a barrier in the way of the sublime and lofty objective of the Islamic unity?

To answer this question, it is necessary first to elucidate the essence of this issue, that is, the Islamic unity, and then proceed to examine the role of the magnum opus entitled "al-Ghadir" and its eminent compiler 'Allamah Amini in bringing about Islamic unity.

Islamic Unity

What is meant by the Islamic unity? Does it mean that one

The Book "Al-Ghadir" and its Relevance

to Islamic Unity By: Ayatullah Murtaza Mutahhari


32

Islamic school of thought should be unanimously followed and others be set aside? Or does it mean that the commonalties of all Islamic schools of thought should be taken up and their differences be put away to make up a new denomination which is not completely the same as the previous ones? Or does it mean that Islamic unity is in no way related to the unity of the different schools of Fiqh (jurispru-dence) but signifies the unity of the Muslims and the unity of the followers of different schools of Fiqh, with their different religious ideas and views, vis-a-vis the aliens?

To give an illogical and impractical meaning to the issue of the Islamic unity, the opponents of the issue have called it to be the formation of a single Madhhab, so as to defeat it in the very first step. Without doubt, by the term Islamic unity, the intellectual Islamic 'Ulama' (scholars) do not mean that all denomina-

tions should give in to one denomination or that the commonalties should be taken up and the different views and ideas be set aside, as these are neither rational and logical nor favorable and practical. By the Islamic unity these scholars mean that all Muslims should unite in one line against their common enemies.

These scholars state that Muslims have many things in common, which can serve as the foundations of a firm unity. All Muslims worship the One Almighty and believe in the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet (s). The Qur'an is the Book of all Muslims and Ka'abah is their "qiblah" (direction of prayer). They go to "hajj" pilgrimage with each other and perform the "hajj" rites and rituals like one another. They say the daily prayers and fast like each other. They establish families and engage in transactions like one another. They have similar ways of bringing up


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their children and burying their dead. Apart from minor affairs, they share similarities in all the aforementioned cases. Muslims also share one kind of world view, one common culture, and one grand, glorious, and long-standing civilization.

Unity in the world view, in culture, in the civilization, in insight and disposition, in religious beliefs, in acts of worship and prayers, in social rites and customs can well turn the Muslim into a unified nation to serve as a massive and dominant power before which the big global powers would have to bow down. This is especially true in view of the stress laid by Islam on this principle. According to the explicit wording of the Qur'an, the Muslims are brothers, and special rights and duties link them together. So, why shouldn't the Muslims use all these extensive facilities accorded to them as the blessing of Islam?

This group of 'Ulama' are of the view that there is no need for the Muslims to make any compromise on the primary or secondary principles of their religion for the sake of Islamic unity. Also it is not necessary for the Muslims to avoid engaging in discussions and reasons and writing books on primary and secondary principles about which they have differences. The only consideration for Islamic unity in this case is that the Mus-lims - in order to avoid the emergence or accentuation of vengeance - preserve their possession, avoid insulting and accusing each other and uttering fabrications, abandon ridiculing the logic of one another, and finally abstain from hurting one another and going beyond the borders of logic and reasoning. In fact, they should, at least, observe the limits which Islam has set forth for inviting non-Muslims to embrace it: "Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good exhortation, and have


34

disputations with them in the best manner... "(16: 125)

Some people are of the view that those schools of fiqh, such as, Shafi'i and Hanafi which have no differences in principle should establish brotherhood and stand in one line. They believe that denom-inations which have differ-ences in the principles can in no way be brothers. This group view the religious principles as an interconnect-ed set as termed by scholars of Usul, as an interrelated and interdependent set; any damage to one principle harms all principles.

As a result, those who believe in this principle are of the view that when, for instance, the principle of "imamah" is damaged and victimized, unity and fraternity will bear no meaning and for this reason the Shi'ah and the Sunnis cannot shake hands as two Muslim brothers and be in the same rank, no matter who their enemy is.

The first group answers this group by saying: "There is no reason for us to consider the principles as an interrelated set and follow the principle of "all or none". Imam 'Ali ('a) chose a very logical and reasonable approach. He left no stone unturned to retrieve his right. He used everything within his power to restore the principle of "imamah", but he never adhered to the motto of "all or none". 'Ali ('a) did not rise up for his right, and that was not compulsory. On the contrary, it was a calculated and chosen ap-proach. He did not fear death. Why didn't he rise up? There could have been nothing above martyrdom. Being killed for the cause of the Almighty was his ultimate desire. He was more intimate with martyrdom than a child is with his mother's breast. But in his sound calculations, Imam 'All ('a) had reached the conclu-sion that under the existing conditions it was to the interest of Islam to foster


35

collaboration and cooperation among the Muslims and give up revolt. He repeatedly stressed this point.

In one of his letters (No. 62 "Nahj al Balaghah") to Malik al-Ashtar, he wrote the following:

"First I pulled back my hand until I realized that a group of people converted from Islam and invited the people toward annihilating the religion of Muhammad(s). So I feared that if I did not rush to help Islam and the Muslims, I would see gaps or destruction which calamity would be far worse than the several-day-long demise of caliphate."

In the six-man council, after appointment of 'Uthman by 'Abdul-Rahman ibn 'Awf, 'Ali ('a) set forth his objection as well as his readiness for collaboration as follows:

"You well know that I am more deserving than others for caliphate. But now by Allah, so long as the affairs of the Muslims are in order and

my rivals suffice with setting me aside and only I am alone subjected to oppression, I will not oppose (the move) and will give in (to it)." (Sermon 72, "Nahj al- Balaghah").

These indicate that in this issue 'Ali ('a) condemned the principle of "all or none". There is no need to further elaborate the approach taken by 'Ali ('a) toward this issue. There are ample historical proofs and reasons in this regard.

Allamah Amini

Now it is time to see to which group the eminent 'Allamah, Ayatullah Amini - the distin-guished compiler of the "al-Ghadir" - belonged and how he thought. Did he approve of the unity of the Muslims only within the light of Shi'ism? Or did he consider Islamic fraternity to be broader? Did he believe that Islam which is embraced by uttering the "shahadatayn" (the Muslim creed) would willy-nilly create some rights for the Muslims


36

and that the brotherhood and fraternity set forth in the Qur'an exists among all Muslims?

'Allamah Amini personally considered this point - i.e. the need to elucidate his view-point on this subject and elaborate whether "al-Ghadir" has a positive or a negative role in (the establishment of) Islamic unity. In order not to be subject to abuse by his opponent - be they among the pros and cons - he has repeatedly explained and elucidated his views.

'Allamah Amini supported Islamic unity and viewed an open mind and clear insight. On different occasions, he set forth this matter in various volumes of the "al-Ghadir'. Reference will be made to some of them below:

In the preface to volume I, he briefly mentions the role of "al-Ghadir" in the world of Islam. He states: "And we consider all this as service to religion, sublimation of the

word of the truth, and resto-ration of the Islamic 'ummah' (community)."

In volume 3 (page 77), after quoting the fabrications of Ibn Taymiyah, Alusi, and Qasimi to the effect that Shi'ism is hostile to some of the Ahl al-Bayt (the Household of the Prophet) such as Zayd bin 'Ali bin al-Hussein, he notes the following under the title of "Criticism and Correction":

"These fabrications and accusations sow the seeds of corruption, stir hostilities among the 'ummah', create discord among the Islamic community, divide the 'um-mah', and clash with the public interests of the Mus-lims.

Again in volume 3 (page 268), he quotes the accusation leveled on the Shi'ahs by Sayyid Muhammad Rashid Rida to the effect that "Shi'ahs are pleased with any defeat incurred by Muslims, so much as they celebrated the victory of the Russians over the


37

Muslims." Then he says: "These falsehoods are fabri-cated by persons like Sayyid Muhammad Rashid Rida. The Shi'ahs of Iran and Iraq against whom this accusation is leveled, as well as the orientalists, tourists, envoys of Islamic countries, and those who traveled and still travel to Iran and Iraq, have no information about this trend. Shi'ahs, without exception, respect the lives, blood, reputation, and property of the Muslims be they Shi'ahs or Sunnis. Whenever a calamity has befallen the Islamic community anywhere, in any region, and for any sects, the Shi'ahs have shared their sorrow. The Shi'ahs have never been confined to the Shi'ah world, the (concept of) Islamic brotherhood which has been set forth in the Qur'an and the 'sunnah' (the Prophet's sayings and ac-tions), and in this respect, no discrimination has been made between the Shi'ahs and the Sunnis."

Also at the close of volume 3, he criticizes several books penned by the ancients such as "Iqd al-Farid" by Ibn Abd al-Rabbih, "al-Intisar" by Abu al-Husayn Khayyat al-Mu'tazili, "al Farq bayn al-Firaq" by Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi, "al-Fasl" by Ibn Hazm al-Andulusi, "al-Milal wa al-Nihal" by Muham-mad ibn Abdul-Karim al-Shahristani "Minhaj al-Sunnah" by Ibn Taymiah and "al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah" by Ibn Kathir and several by the later writers such as "Tarikh al-Umam al-Islamiyyah" by Shaykh Muhammad Khizri, "Fajr al Islam" by Ahmad Amin, "al-Jawlat fi Rubu al-Sharq al-Adna" by Muhammad Thabit al-Mesri, "al-Sira Bayn al-Islam wa al-Wathaniyah" by Qasimi, and "al- Washi'ah" by Musa Jarallah. Then he states the following:

"By quoting and criticizing these books, we aim at warning and awakening the Islamic 'ummah' (to the fact) that these books create the greatest danger for the


38

Islamic community, they destabilize the Islamic unity and scatter the Muslim lines. In fact nothing can disrupt the ranks of the Muslims, destroy their unity, and tear their Islamic fraternity more severely than these books."

'Allamah Amini, in the preface to volume 5, under title of "Nazariyah Karimah" on the occasion of a plaque of honor forwarded from Egypt for "al-Ghadir", clearly sets forth his view on this issue and leaves no room for any doubt. He remarks:

"People are free to express views and ideas on religion. These (views and ideas) will never tear apart the bond of Islamic brotherhood to which the holy Qur'an has referred by stating that 'surely the believers are brethren'; even though academic discussion and theological and religious debates reach a peak. This has been the style of the predecessors, and of the 'sahaba' and the 'tabi'un', at the head of them."

"Notwithstanding all the differences that we have in the primary and secondary principles, we, the compilers and writers in nooks and corners of the world of Islam, share a common point and that is belief in the Almighty and His Prophet. A single spirit and one (form of) sentiment exists in all our bodies, and that is the spirit of Islam and the term 'ikhlas,"

"We, the Muslim compilers, all live under the banner of truth and carry out our duties under the guidance of the Qur'an and the Prophetic Mission of the Holy Prophet (s). The message of all of us is 'Surely the (true) religion with Allah is Islam ... (3:18)' and the slogan of all of us is 'There is no god but Allah and Mu-hammad is His Messenger.' Indeed, we are (the members of) the party of Allah and the supporters of his religion."

In the preface to volume 8, under the title of "al-Ghadir Yowahhad al-Sufuf fil-Mila al-Islami", 'Allamah Amini


39

directly makes researches into the role of "Al- Ghadir" in (the establishment of) Islamic unity. In this discussion, this great scholar categorically rejects the accusations leveled by those who said: 'Al-Ghadir' causes greater discord among the Muslims. He proves that, on the contrary, "Al-Ghadir" removes many misunder-standings and brings the Muslims closer to one anoth-er. Then he brings evidence by mentioning the confessions of the non-Shi'i Islamic scholars. At the close, he quotes the letter of Shaykh Muhammad Saeed Dahduh written in this connection.

To avoid prolongation of this article, we will not quote and translate the entire state-ments of 'Allamah Amini in explaining the positive role of "al-Ghadir" in (establishing) Islamic unity, since what has already been mentioned sufficiently proves this fact.

The positive role of "al-Ghadir" is established by the facts that it firstly clarifies the

proven logic of the Shi'ahs and proves that the inclination of Muslims to Shi'ism - notwithstanding the poison-ous publicity of some people - is not due to political, ethnic, or other trends and considera-tions. It also verifies that a powerful logic based on the Qur'an and the "sunnah" has given rise to this tendency.

Secondly, it reflects that some accusations leveled on Shi'ism - which have made other Muslims distanced from the Shi'ah - are totally baseless and false. Examples of these accusations are the notion that the Shi'ites prefer the non-Muslims to the non- Shi'i Muslims, rejoice at the defeat of non-Shi'ite Muslims at the hands of non-Muslims, and other accusations such as the idea that instead of going to hajj pilgrimage, the Shi'ahs go on pilgrimage to shrines of the Imams, or have particular rites in prayers and in tempo-rary marriage.

Thirdly, it introduces to the world of Islam the eminent


40

Commander of the faithful 'Ali ('a) who is the most op-pressed and the least praised grand Islamic personality and who could be the leader of all Muslims, as well as his pure offspring.

Other Comments on "al-

Ghadir"

Many unbiased non-Shia Muslims interpret the "al-Ghadir" in the same way that has already been mentioned.

Muhammad Abdul-Ghani Hasan al-Mesri, in his fore-word on "al-Ghadir", which has been published in the preface to volume I, second edition, states:

"I call on the Almighty to make your limpid brook (in Arabic, 'Ghadir' means brook) the cause of peace and cordiality between the Shia and Sunni brothers to cooper-ate with one another in building the Islamic "ummah."

'Adil Ghadban, the managing editor of the Egyptian maga-zine entitled "al-Kitab", said

the following in the preface to volume 3:

"This book clarifies the Shi'ite logic. The Sunnis can correctly learn about the Shi'i through this book. Correct recognition of the Shi'ahs brings the views of the Shi'ahs and the Sunnis closer, and they can make a unified rank".

In his foreword to the "al-Ghadir" which was published in the preface to volume 4, Dr. Muhammad Ghallab, professor of philosophy at the Faculty of Religious Studies al-Azhar University said:

"I got hold of your book at a very opportune time, because right now I am busy collecting and compiling a book on the lives of the Muslims from various perspectives. There-fore, I am highly avid for obtaining sound information about 'Imamiyah' Shi'ism. Your book will help me. And I will not make mistakes about the Shi'ahs as others have".

In this foreword published in the preface to volume 4 of the


41

"al-Ghadir", Dr. 'Abdul-Rahman Kiali Halabi says the following after referring to the decline of the Muslims in the present age and the factors which can lead to the Muslims' salvation, one of which is the sound recognition of the successor of the Holy Prophet (s):

"The book entitled "al-Ghadir" and its rich content deserves to be known by every Muslim to learn how historians have been negligent and see where the truth lies. Through this means, we should compen-sate for the past, and by striving to foster the unity of the Muslims, we should try to gain the due rewards".

These were the views of 'Allamah Amini about the important social issues of our age and such were his sound reflections in the world of Islam.

Peace be upon him.

��

Sayings Of Imam


“The height of perfection is

excellence in the understanding

of the religion, endurance in

hardships and administration of

the affairs of life according to

one's means, in the right

measure.”

O Jabir it is not enough that a

person says; I am a Shia and I

love the Prophet and the

Prophet’s family and the Imams.

By God, a Shia is the one who is

perfectly pious and obedient to

God’s commands. Anyone else is

not a Shia no matter how much

they say they love Ali and no

matter what they call them-

selves. O Jabir. our Shias are

known by these signs: They are

truthful, trustworthy and loyal.

They always remember God.

They offer their prayers and

observe fasts and read the

Quran. They help their neigh-

bours and take care of orphans

and say nothing but good of

people. They behave well

towards their parents. They are

worthy of people’s trust and

confidence.

��


42

Verse 255 of Surah-e-Baqarah (chapter: The cow) in holy Quran is called Ayat Al-Kursi: “Allah—there is no god except Him— is the Living One, the All-sustainer. Neither drowsi-ness befalls Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that may intercede with Him except with His permission? He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them, and they do not com-prehend anything of His knowledge except what He wishes. His seat embraces the heavens and the earth, and He is not wearied by their preservation, and He is the All-exalted, the All-supreme.

The benefits of Ayat Al-Kursi are:

1. Holy prophet (saww) said: whoever recites the first 4 ayats of Surae Baqarah, then Ayatul Kursi and then the last 3 ayats of Surah e Baqarah, will not be inflicted with any

kind of difficulty in his wealth or himself, Satan will not come near him and he will not forget the Qur’an.

2. Holy Prophet (saww) said: Qur’an is a great word, and Surae Baqarah is the leader of the Qur’an and Ayatul Kursi is the leader of Surae Baqarah. In Ayatul Kursi there are 50 words and for each word there are 50 blessings and good in it.

3. One who recites Ayatul Kursi every morning will be in the protection, safety of Allah until the night.

4. If one ties this to one’s wealth or children, they will be safe from Satan

5. Our Holy Prophet (saww) has said: These things in-crease ones memory: sweets, meat of an animal near the neck, Adas (Lentils), cold bread and recitation of Ayatul Kursi.

6. For those of our dear ones who have passed away,

Advantages of Ayat al-Kursi

Source: http://www.jafariyanews.com


43

recitation of Ayatul Kursi and giving it as Hadiya to them, gives them light in the grave.

7. Frequent recitation makes one’s own death easy.

8. When leaving home, if one recites it once, the Almighty has one group of Angels to come and protect you. If recited twice, 2 groups of Angels are assigned to do this. If recited 3 times Allah tells the Angels not to worry as the Almighty himself takes care of him.

9. When one is alone in the house, recitation of Ayatul Kursi and asking Allah for help will make you remain calm and you will not fear.

10. The Holy Prophet has said: When leaving home,if one recites Ayatul Kursi, then Allah will send 70,000 Angels to do Istighfaar for him until he returns home, and upon his return Poverty will be removed from him.

11. If one recites this after performing Wudhoo, the 5th Imam Hadhrat Imam Mu-

hammad Baqir (AS) has said: Allah will give him a reward of 40 years of Ibadaat, his position will be raised in the Heavens 40 times (levels) and will marry him to 40 Horains.

12. One who recites it after every prayer, their salaat will be accepted, they will remain in the safety of the Almighty and He will protect them.

13. Allah told Prophet Musa (AS): If one recites it after every salaat, the Almighty will make his heart a thankful one (Shakireen), will give him a reward of the prophets, and his deeds will be like those of the truthful (Siddiqeen).

14. To increase light or vision (noor) in the eyes, recite Surae Alhamd once, then Ayatul Kursi and then once the following dua:- “U-eedhu nora basaree binuril lahi alladhi la yutfaa”, “I seek refuge for the light of my eyes by the light of Allah (SwT), which does not become extinguished”.

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44

Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) was born in Medina on 1st Rajab 57 Hijri (676 AD) and died in Medina on 7th Zilhajj 114 Hijri (733 AD) at the age of 57 years. His period of Imamate was 19 years.

After the death of the 4th Imam in 95 Hijri, the caliphs in Damascus were so preoc-cupied with their conquests of foreign lands that they did not have time to worry about the people in Medina, their loyalties or their hostilities. They were also satisfied that the Imams of the Ahlulbait would not divulge in any rebellion against them due to the most peaceful and quite life of the 4th Imam Zaynul Abedeen (a.s.). They left the people of Medina to their activities in some peace. This was the time Imams of Ahlulbait were waiting for. Our 5th Imam opened a school to teach Quran and Hadiths as it was taught by the Holy Prophet and Imam Ali (a.s.).

Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir was said to have been high esteemed for his learning and eloquence as well as on account of his noble birth. According to Ibne Khalikan, the Imam received the title of Baqir (Splitter of knowledge) due to his ample knowledge of Deen and his enthusiasm to teach to other people. Many historians like Yakubi asserts that the Imam split open knowledge, that is scrutinized it and examined the depths of it so that it can be spread to all people truly and correctly.

The Role of Imam Mo-

hammad Baqir (a.s.) in

Political life:

As counselor to the Govern-ment of the day, to rule and to administer the Muslim world was certainly the right of the Ahlulbait of the Proph-et, but as common people who had no such right suc-cumbed to the temporal power, The Imams had to lead calm and quiet lives. As

Martyrdom of Imam Muhammad Baqir (A.S)

Source: tebyan.net


45

such, they could have refused to give any advice or counsel to the Government of the day. But the moral height of these noble Imams rose above the standards of commoners. Like Imam Ali (a.s.) who cooperat-ed with the contemporary caliphs and offered sound advice concerning the affairs of the Muslims, all the Imams followed the same example and never hesitated to give well balanced pieces of advice to their contemporary rulers. Imam Baqir (a.s.) was no exception. The Umayyad Government had till then no currency of its own. The Byzantine currency of the Eastern Roman Empire was valid tender in Damascus as well. But during the reign of Walid Ibne Abdul Malik, there rose a rift between him and the Byzantine ruler when the later decided to stamp a new currency with the phrase which was considered derog-atory to the Holy Prophet.

This created suspense among the Muslim Ummah. Walid

convened a committee in which prominent Muslim scholars participated. Imam Baqir (a.s.) expressed his opinion that the Government ought to strike its own cur-rency on one side of which it should stamp the statement "La Ilaha Illallah" and on the other side "Mu-hammad Rasul Allah". The opinion of the Imam was unanimously approved and for the first time an Islamic coin was minted.

Fadak was handed back to

the Ahlulbayt

It was during the caliphate of Umar Ibne Abdul Aziz the Umayyad caliph, that the Prophets descendants enjoyed a brief period of peace which lasted for only two years and five months which is the period of his Government. He lifted from them a great deal of atroci-ties and prohibited the cursing of Imam Ali (a.s.) on the pulpit on Friday.

When the Imam met the caliph Umar Ibne Abdul Aziz,


46

he found him weeping for the injustice inflicted by his predecessors upon the Ahlulbait. The Imam admon-ished him with pieces of wisdom till the caliph sobbed, knelt down and begged for more. Then the Imam asked Umar Ibne Abdul Aziz what wrong doing he was brought here to rectify? It was none other than Fadak which the messenger of God gave to his daughter Fatima as a gift and to her descendants. As quoted in Biharul Anwar, v.4, "Umar took some writing pad and pen and wrote, "In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate. This is what Umar Ibne Abdul Aziz had handed back to Muhammad Ibne Ali to rectify the wrong doing with regard to Fadak." After this event the land of "Fadak" was handed back to the Ahlulbayt.

Harassed by the Umayyad

Government

Hisham Ibne Abdul Malik succeeded Umar Ibne Abdul Aziz. He was a stone hearted,

immoral person and racist. His prejudice against non-Arab Muslims caused him to double the taxes they had to pay, and his reign was a replay of the bloody days of Yazid Ibne Moawiya and Hajjaj Ibne Yusuf Thaqafi. It was then that the revolution of Zaid Ibne Ali brought as a continu-ation of the revolution of Imam Hussain (a.s.) and Imam Ali (a.s.).

Imam Baqir (a.s.) never expressed any interest nor participated in political mat-ters except when the ruler invited him. Since his peaceful living was devoted to people’s spiritual guidance, he was not tolerated by the Government. Hisham Ibne Abdul Malik wrote to his Governor of Medina instructing him to send Imam Baqir and his son Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s.) to Damascus intending to humiliate them in front of an audience. When they reached Damascus, he kept them waiting for three days. On the fourth day he called them in


47

his presence. He sat on a throne surrounded by his armed guards. In the centre of the courtyard, a target was set on which the elite were shooting arrows. Immediately the Imam entered, Hisham bluntly asked him to shoot arrows with others.

Imam Baqir tried to evade Hisham’s order, but the latter kept insisting and he planned to ridicule the Imam. Since the Imam led a secluded life, Hisham thought he might not have any connection with martial arts. He did not know that each descendant of the Prophet had inherited the might of Imam Ali (a.s.) and the courage of Imam Hussain (a.s.). He could not realize that their calm and quiet life was lived in fulfillment of the demands of Divine Provi-dence.

Compelled by Hisham, Imam Baqir (a.s.) took the bow, handling it skillfully; he shot a few arrows continuously, all sitting straight in the very heart of the centre spot. A

shout of praise burst from the throats of astonished elites standing right and left of the caliph. Hisham outwit-ted, began to discuss the problems of the Imamate and the virtues of Ahlulbait. He clearly saw that the Imams stay in Damascus might lead to popular respect for Ahlulbait. So he permit-ted them to return home to Medina. Inwardly his enmity of the Prophet’s family had in-creased.

While in Medina Imam Baqir (a.s.) continued with the progress of the schools of theology opened up on his advice and with the support of the companions of Ahlulbait. It is noted by many historians that until the death of our 5th Imam there were 25000 students in these schools learning Fiqh, Theology and Islamic science. It was at this time that 400 books of Hadith were com-piled by the stu-dents of these schools under the guidance of Imam Baqir (a.s.).


48

Now was the time to bring out books on Hadith, true sayings of the Prophet and also to show people in practical terms how duties were performed by the Prophet himself. It was because of this deeper and truer spread of knowledge that he became known as Baqir. The 400 books of Hadith that were written and later confirmed by his son Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s.) when he became Imam after the death of his father, that Kulayni compiled his monu-mental books of Traditions named Al-Kafi, during the period of the Twelfth Imam.

As mentioned earlier the Umayyad Caliph Hisham Ibne Abdul Malik was not happy with the progress our 5th Imam was making in reach-ing out to the people of not only Medina but throughout the Muslim Lands. This spiritual influence would change into political influence and this would jeopardize the Caliphs own position as head of the state. The more the

Umayyad Government learnt about Imam’s prestige and popularity, the more intolera-ble his existence became. At last they resorted to the same soundless weapon, poison which used to be applied by the cunning monarchs quite often to eliminate their opponents or suspects. A saddle was presented to the Imam in which poison was applied most skillfully. When he mounted on it the poison affected his whole body. After few days in pain the Imam expired on 7th of Zilhajj 114 Hijri.

According to his Will he was shrouded in three pieces of cloth. These included a Yamani sheet which he used to put on Friday prayers and a shirt which he always wore. He was laid to rest under-neath the same dome in Jannatul Baqi where Imam Hasan (a.s.) and Imam Zaynul Abedeen (a.s.) were buried.

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49

Cheap marriages? Did I hear it right? Like seriously? If I said this out loud, I’d probably be the black sheep in the family. Alright, let us talk facts: the hall booking must be done six months prior to the wedding. Why? Of course because the bridal couple loved the name of the hall - The Palace. Regardless of the fact whether they are from royalty. The venue for tying the knot must be royale. Next let us look at the figures – Rs.300,000/- for the banquet hall. If I get my math right, that is almost my gross salary for a year. If that is not enough, the bridal wear which of course must be from a designer who would charge approximately Rs.250,000/- for an outfit you can never wear the same again. Next on the list is the food which must be mouth-watering and prepared by the best chefs in town. After all you only get

married once, so you might as well make the most of it. The decor, floral arrangement, pre-wedding functions, post-wedding functions all total to a staggering Rs.1,000,000/- which again is a rough estimate. The actual figures could probably leave you numb for hours.

Following the pre-wedding arrangements is the wedding day where the influx of guests leaves the bridal couple more jittery and flabbergasted than excited. Guests come in many forms - your family, friends, co-workers, friends of your siblings, your parent’s friends, friends of your spouse you never heard about and the list goes on and only leaves you baffled. The list of complaints begin - complaints of the choice of venue, about the food, about the bride’s makeup and so many things that you could even imagine could be considered. This

Pressing Need of Our Time –

Cheap Marriages

By: Ms. Maimoona Mumtaz & Maha Fayyaz


50

leaves only a handful of people who are genuinely happy for the bridal couple and whose primary purpose of attendance is to pray for the newly-wed, shower them with genuinely-sincere blessings for their future together.

The most important question now arises: how much of this really matters? Does spending extravagantly guarantee a long and happily married life? How do these two concepts complement each other? Quite iconic as it seems, none of this reflects any of our ideologies of the constitution of marriage. In fact in light of our religious and societal beliefs we have been instilled with value that include the foundations of honesty and must in the marriage concept. We have grown in household where we witness to be marriage to be based on mutual trust, companionships, tolerance and love. No where do we come across discussion on the amount of money spend on these irrelevant

events. Our forefathers led by examples as did our prophets; none of them focused on expenses of his nature.

Therefore contrary to the trending perspective of extravagant weddings, I remain steadfast in my opinion that we must direct our attention to much more important things including spending quality time with your spouse’s family or understanding each other rather than delving into a financial crunch only to satisfy our social wants. I think it is about a time that we, the youth of today contemplates about spending on their marriage instead of the wedding: focus upon estab-lishing a life-long relationship with your spouse instead of spending the rest of your lives repaying the debt you took to finance your wedding. We need to step back and look at the bigger picture, and the bigger picture exhibits mini-mal cash reserves for the big day of your lives get paints all


51

colours of the rainbow in the newly-weds eyes. With this food for thought, I hereby rest my case. Cheap may not explain quite clearly the desperation, yet the most effective word would rather be rationale to explain the spending patterns. It is the growing need to realize that societal pressures can never outweigh one’s personal values - to spend minimal on the weddings and rather more on the relationship in itself. This sums up my point of view on this trending practice.

***** Islam unlike other religions is a strong advocate of mar-riage. Marriage is a religious duty and is consequently a moral safeguard as well as a social necessity because through marriages families are established that are a fundamental unit of our society. However, an often ignored reality that has plagued Pakistani society is that getting married is a financial nightmare that often

drowns you in loans. We have forgotten the importance of marriage as a relationship.

Marriage in our country is an occasion for insane displays of spending’s an outrageously lavish valimas, expensive banquets, buffet dinners, jewelry, giveaways and dowry. An elaborate display of wealth is in the form of dowry. Dowry is the custom of giving gifts like money, land, jewelry to a bride that she takes with her to her spouse's family. The intention is to equip the newly-wed couple with the necessities to start a new life together. Be it a family from the upper or a lower class, almost everyone in our society indulges in this social evil.

However, violent acts and domestic disputes are often related to dowry. Dowry is no longer a gift, it has become an obligatory custom that the bride's family has to abide by. Primary reason for spending too much in wedding is showing off to the society.


52

Our upper class uses the occasion to show how wealthy they are. Their show of wealth through week long festivities and branded items, gifting luxury cars and houses as part of the dowry have increased expectations in a wedding event. Not only socialites but our politicians promote such rash spending at weddings. These big fat weddings are the outcome of the societal pressure and expectations. The middle class, as always born between the echelons of society tries its best to spend as much as it can and register itself wither the upper class so as to feel accomplished. However the poor take out the money from their children's education, health and everyday basics and saves money for years to marry off a daughter.

Beneath all the glitter and enjoyment is the endless effort that the families of the bride and groom make to please their quests. Long established traditions of

wedding functions and obligations of giving jewelry, dowry and giveaways has created a standard on which each family tries to excel more than it can. People spend more than the re-sources they have due to the fear of being mocked by the society, the society as a whole fails to realize that the money spent on weddings would be better invested in improving living standards, education, health and the overall well-being of the family.

The irony is that although most people do realize that this behavior is a social anomaly, we all seem re-signed to it but no one bothers to fix it. Everyone talks but no one actually does anything to help society put an end to it.

There may be the occasional sermon in the mosques on not having extravagant weddings and the elderly in the family do tell their children to be humble in their lifestyle, but very little is done beyond


53

verbal discussions. In fact our society seems paralyzed on how to change this terrible system. Putting an end to the cushion of dowry might prove to be the first step in cutting down other wedding expens-es.

In a nutshell it is unfortunately not that easy to change long standing traditions because everyone here is tied up in notions of trend, traditions and social pressures, and no one in either family would agree to a dowry free mar-riage. There is no message to be followed if a poor spends no money on marriage.

A message is only given when you have a lot to spend and you choose not to!

��

Sayings Of Imam


“There were two things in this

world, which softened the Wrath

of God and prevented its

descent upon man: One has

been taken away from you; hold

the other steadfastly. The one

which has been taken away from

men is the Holy Prophet and the

one which is still left with them

and which they must hold

steadfastly is repentance and

atonement for sins because God

at one place in the Book ad-

dressed the Prophet and said

‘God would not punish them

while you were among them nor

while they were asking for

forgiveness”. (8:33)

“Indeed if you are good in

teaching the people and do not

show pride towards them, then

God will increase you from His

favour. However if you prevent

them from learning your

knowledge, then it is incumbent

upon God, the Great and

Almighty, to deprive you of

knowledge and its splendour and

to drop your position from the

hearts of people.”

“I hate the person who is jobless

and who merely lies on his back

and says, ‘O God! Give me

sustenance! He asks God to do

him a favour while the small ant

comes out of its ant colony to

seek its livelihood!”

“One who disobeys God has no

knowledge of him.”

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54

Al Shaddad Bin Aous has quoted this tradition of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) "God calls for mercy in everything, so be merciful when you kill and when you slaughter, sharpen your blade to relieve its pain".

Many allegations have been made that Islamic slaughter is not humane to animals. However, Professor Schultz and his colleague Dr. Hazim of the Hanover University, Germany, proved through an experiment, using an electro-encephalograph (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) that *Islamic slaughter is the humane method of slaughter* and captive bolt stunning, practiced by the Western method, causes severe pain to the animal. The results surprised many.

Experimental Details:

1. Several electrodes were surgically implanted at various points of the skull of all

animals, touching the surface of the brain.

2. The animals were allowed to recover for several weeks.

3. Some animals were slaugh-tered by making a swift, deep incision with a sharp knife on the neck cutting the jugular veins and carotid Arteries of both sides; as also the tra-chea and esophagus Halaal Method.

4. Some animals were stunned using a captive bolt pistol humane slaughter by the western method.

5. During the experiment, EEG and ECG were recorded on all animals to record the condi-tion of the brain and heart during the course of slaughter and stunning.

Results and Discussion:

I - Halaal Method

1. The first three seconds from the time of Islamic slaughter as recorded on the

Islamic Method of Slaughtering Animals

Source: Al-Eijaz Magazine (Scientific Miracles), vol. 3&4.


55

EEG did not show any change from the graph before slaugh-ter, thus indicating that the animal did not feel any pain during or immediately after the incision.

2. For the following 3 sec-onds, the EEG recorded a condition of deep sleep - unconsciousness. This is due to a large quantity of blood gushing out from the body.

3. After the above-mentioned 6 seconds, the EEG recorded zero level, showing no feeling of pain at all.

4. As the brain message (EEG) dropped to zero level, the heart was still pounding and the body convulsing vigorously (a reflex action of the spinal cord) driving maximum blood from the body: resulting in hygienic meat for the consumer.

II - Western method by

C.B.P. Stunning

1. The animals were appar-ently unconscious soon after stunning.

2. EEG showed severe pain immediately after stunning.

3. The hearts of the animal stunned by C.B.P. stopped beating earlier as compared to those of the animals slaugh-tered according to the Halaal method resulting in the retention of more blood in the meat. This in turn is unhy-gienic for the consumer. (Many thanks to Muslim Students Organization - University of Miami) Western Method used on cattle before slaughter can send brain tissue scattering throughout the animal, which could provide a route for madcow disease.

Slaughtering Beasts

before Death Guarantees

Purification of Flesh &

Being Free From Microbes

In Quran, Allah says: Forbid-den unto you (for food) are carrion and blood and swine flesh, and that which hath been dedicated unto any other than Allah, and the strangled, and the dead


56

through beating, and the dead through falling from a height, and that which hath been killed by (the going of) horns, and the devoured of wild beasts, saving that which ye make lawful (by the death stroke), and that which hath been immolated unto idols. And (forbidden is it) that ye swear by the divining arrows. This is an abomination. This day are those who disbelieve in despair of (ever harming) your religion; so fear them not, fear Me! This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed My favor unto you, and have chosen for you as religion AL-ISLAM. [Al_Quran.005:003]

This case of Islamic sacrifice by slaughtering - legitimate - beasts before eating is one of the cases used against Islam based on unawareness of The Divine orders, which are perfect and complete. Many debates with Islamic, minor, communities in Britain, USA, France, and other western countries regarding this case,

specially societies caring for animals which condemns this rite and tries to show the sheep, after being slaugh-tered, while they are kicking and twisting in pain, and thus accusing Muslims by savagery and wildness. This position, in addition to being a face of spite and distortion, is consid-ered a duplicated unaware-ness of what has been discovered and proven through the modern science. In what follows we try to show the wisdom behind this Islamic way of slaughtering and why the other kinds, mentioned in the holy verse above, are forbidden, in the light of the modern science:

The Carrion and Blood:

The carrion is a store of microbes and severe diseases. Consider if we put one gram of blood and one gram of flesh in an open place, and then, after 3 or 4 hours, we wanted to eat them ... will this cause any harm? YES ... a severe harm. For the blood, the disease causing microbes


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are likely to be transferred to it through the knife used for slaughtering, or through the surrounding air, or maybe from any close source. When a microbe gets into blood it's geometrically multiplied every 30 minutes and becomes 2 microbes. It's well known that blood already contains a huge amount of microbes, even after death it becomes much harmful if drunk or stored then drunk.

The Swine Flesh:

A so-called microbe, Yarsine, wasn't found except in the swine flesh, and it lives in a very low temperature around -40C. Many Europeans are infected by this microbe, and it's the responsible for many of backbone and joints diseases. Research proved the existence of this microbe in water and many sorts of food, but when human eats them it isn't as harm as those in the swine's mouth which is considered a suitable envi-ronment for it to grow. Although swine is treated by

penicillin and many antibiot-ics, it carries a lot of bacteria, and day after another science exposes a new disease caused by eating swine flesh. Some statistics showed a new infection by tapeworm in Denmark, and it's known that the life cycle of tapeworm takes place only in man or swine!!

The Strangled:

Is there any harm caused by eating the flesh of a strangled beast? A relation was recently discovered between the human health and the diseas-es by which the strangled beast was infected. The wall of the large intestine acts as a barrier preventing passage of microbes from inside the large intestine - where excrements exist - to the beast body and blood as long as it's alive. When the beast is strangled it slowly dies. This slow death is dangerous because the resistance of the wall of the large intestine is gradually lost causing the harmful microbes to pass to blood and flesh,


58

and through blood circulation these microbes are further transferred to all parts of the beast, which haven't died yet. Moreover, microbes get through the blood vessels to flesh because of low re-sistance of those vessels membranes. The beast thus becomes a store of harmful microbes after death.

The Dead through Beat-

ing:

Is there resemblance between death by strangling and beating?

Yes, the beast, which dies through beating also, suffers slow death exactly the same as the strangled, and the same scenario happens here. In addition: beating causes disruption of vessels and cells in the position of beating, so a mixture between blood components and cells compo-nents occurs, and probably causes interaction of toxic materials. That's why a tumor appears at the beating position. It's caused by these

toxic chemical interactions, besides the slough skin. Thus the beast dead through beating has become a store of harmful microbes dangerous for human health.

The Dead through Falling

from a Height:

The beast may die differently by falling from a height … then what about its flesh? The beast, which dies in that way, is just like which dies through beating, because in the position of falling the disruption occurs and it slowly dies. Even if it died just after falling, the microbes rapidly attack its body and that's why rottenness appears soon on its carrion, as a sign of the dangerous microbes inside it.

The killed by horns:

Some beasts die by each other's horns, is there any danger caused by eating the flesh of them?

Dying like that is similar to death through beating, but even more dangerous. Often,


59

when a beast butts by its horns it hits abdomen posi-tion, specially in the intestine, so the dirty horn gets into the blood in the intestine of the other beast, and this polluted blood circulates in its body causing death. It's a true danger to eat such flesh.

The Devoured of Wild

Beasts:

When a wild beast ravens some beast, then what about eating its flesh?

It's well known that the claws of a wild beast are filled with microbes, and when it sticks them into the other's body the microbes moves through its blood, thus it slowly dies and becomes a store of harmful microbes.

Saving that which Ye

Make Lawful [The Wisdom

of Islamic Sacrifice]:

What if a beast was exposed to any of the above methods, but it remained alive till we slaughtered it before it dies? Thus we have extracted the

main source of transferring microbes, that's blood, and they can't go further to other organs.

When a beast is slaughtered before death then its body gets rid of this substance, which spreads microbes inside it, because blood is the important biological liquid in the body of a living being, and which can resist millions of parasites through white corpuscles and antibodies as long as the living being is still alive in its natural tempera-ture. But when it dies and blood stops circulation, microbes faces no resistance, and in this case the best way is to completely pour out that blood from the body as soon as possible.

Mercy for Animals in

Islam:

When we slaughter a beast and cut its vessels, does it feel pain?

The answer is simple: try to press any person in the same position of slaughtering; he


60

will fall faint in moments. The centers of pain sensing become inoperative if the blood pumping stopped for 3 minutes only, because they need Oxygen continuously. How can we say that the beast doesn't feel any pain while we find it kicking and twisting in pain?

This is because the nervous system is still working and it just lost its awareness. Since the neck wasn't broken yet, then the nervous system isn't invaded and so still working. In the Islamic way of sacrifice the nervous system tends to sending signals from brain to heart requesting blood because it has depletion of it, and signals to muscles to send blood to heart, and signals to whole body to help brain by sending blood. Immediately, the muscles shrink and a strong move-ment happens in the guts and interior and exterior muscles, pressing strongly to pump all of the blood to heart, which in turn beats rapidly to be full of

blood, and then sends it to the brain. However, on the way, blood gets out of the body through the cut vessels and don't reach brain. So, we see the beast twisting and bleeding until its body be-comes empty of blood … thus it gets rid of the main envi-ronment of microbes growth. Thus the slaughtered beast dies in 3 seconds only if it's slaughtered in the right way, and what we see as kicking, twisting, spasm and the like are just indications of the still alive nervous system, while the slaughtered beast doesn't feel any pain.

Conclusion:

All of these medical secrets and healthy insights were mentioned in The Holy Quran. {Falsehood cannot come at it from before it or behind it. (It is) a revelation from the Wise, the Owner of praise} [Al_Quraan.041:042]. It guides us to every benefit and warns us from every evil.

��


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Kids

Corner

The Martyrdom of

Tiflan-e-Muslim

Hazrat Muslim bin Aqeel bin

Abi Talib (a.s.) was martyred

on Zilhajj 9 in the year 60

AH in the city of Kufa where

he was sent by Chief of

Martyrs, Grandson of Holy

Prophet Hazrat Muhammad

(saww), Hazrat Imam

Hussain (as) as his envoy to

look closely the situation

before Imam’s arrival there.

Hazrat Muslim had taken

with him his two sons Mu-

hammad and Ibrahim. After

Hazrat Muslim was killed,

Muham-mad and Ibrahim

were also arrested and put

into a dungeon. It is said

that Muhammad was just ten

years old and Ibrahim was

eight years old.

On the 20th of Zilhajj in 60

AH, when the jailer came to

give the children their

evening meal, he saw them

saying their prayers. The

jailer waited. When the boys

had finished their prayers,

he asked them who they

were. When the jailer learnt

that they were the sons of

Muslim Ibne Aqil and the

grandsons of Hazrat Ali

(a.s.), he let them escape.

The children came out of

the prison.

It was a dark night. Their

first thought was to go to

Imam Hussain (a.s.) and warn

him not to go to Kufa.

Everywhere they went, they

found the roads blocked by

Ibne Ziyad soldiers. It was

impossible to get out of

Kufa. Now it was almost day-

break. Where could these

two young boys go?

They found themselves by

the side of the river Eu-

phra-tes. They drank some

water from the river and

then went up a tree to hide


62

for the day. Just then a

woman came to the river to

get water. She saw the two

young boys and asked them

who they were. Ibrahim

said, "We are two orphans,

could you please leave us

alone and not tell anyone

that you have seen us?" The

woman asked them to

accompany her to her

mistress who would help

them.

The woman's mistress was a

kind lady. After talking to

the boys for a while she

realized who they were. She

gave them food and said to

them, "You can spend the

day here and I will try to

help you. Unfortunately my

husband Harith is working

for Ibne Ziyad. He is out at

the moment. You can rest in

the spare room but make no

noise otherwise when he

comes back, he will find out

you are here".

The children said their pray-

ers and went to sleep. In the

evening Muhammad woke up

and started crying. Ibrahim

asked him why he was crying.

Muhammad said "I saw our

father in a dream. He was

calling out for us". Ibrahim

said, "Brother, be patient. I

also saw our father in a

dream beckoning us to him".

They both started weeping.

Harith, who had come back,

heard the children crying.

He opened the door and

asked the children who they

were. On learning they were

the sons of Muslim Ibne

Aqil, he tied both the boys

to a pillar. Harith's wife

tried to stop him, but he

beat her up. Harith wanted

to collect the reward which

Ibne Ziyad had offered to

anyone capturing the chil-

dren.

The children spent the

whole night tied to the

pillar. In the morning Harith

dragged them to the river-

bank. He took out his sword.

Ibrahim asked him, "Harith,

are you going to kill us?"

Harith said "Yes!" Ibrahim


63

said, "In that case give us

time to finish our morning

prayers". The two boys said

their prayers. They raised

their hands and cried out

"Inna Lillah wa Inna Ilay-hi

Raje'oon! O Allah we are

coming to you. Give our

mother courage when she

hears of our death and

judge between us and our

killers!!" The sword came

down! There were splashes

in the water. Two young

bodies were seen floating

away in the water of the

river Furaat.

��

Eid-e-Ghadeer is the Greatest Eid of Allah

(swt)

The closed schools and

workplaces, clean and shining

roads, perfumed houses,

happy smiling people with

rose like faces, new dresses,

variety of meals and the

noise of playing kids, which

day does you remember by

all this???

Everyone will say that all

these things are the signs of

“Eid-day”. This is the atmos-

phere on “Eid-ul-Fitr” or

Eid-ul-Azha”. The only

difference between the two

is that, “Fitra” is paid on one

of the days and “Sacrifice”

is offered on another.

Pleasure and happiness of

these days are very im-

portant to everyone hence

along with elders, the youths

and children impatiently wait

for the Eid-Day. Hence

every year “Eid” is celebrat-

ed with great enthusiasm.

People want to share the

happiness, hence even if

they don’t usually help the

needy, on “Eid-Day” they

make it a point to help.

You must be thinking that

what’s the point in reminding

all these things???

Well! There is definitely an

aim behind it, which is to ask

an important question.

The question is, whether

these two are the only


64

“Eids” for the celebrations

and happiness?????

There are two answers to

this question.

First Yes! As there is no Eid

for Muslims other than

“Fitr” and Azha” (Friday is

considered to be a weekly

Eid with limited joy).

Second No! But the problem

is that our way of Eid

celebrations reveals some-

thing else. Those who

believe in the Wilayat of

Ahlulbait (as) do admit at

heart and say that the

Greatest Eid” is “Eid-ul-

Ghadeer”.

But this belief has to be put

in action, because there are

a lot of Ahadith from

Infallibles (as) on this

matter.

The readers may decide

themselves that our routine

works and business on “Eid-

ul-Ghadeer” speak volumes!

(Although we do enjoy a

separate “Eid-Holiday” even

if the holiday was announced

some other day due to moon

sighting problems).

What is proved by no special

arrangements in our houses,

dresses, meals etc???

Do we consider “Eid-ul-

Ghadeer” to be greater than

“Fitr” and “Azha”???

Well! Congratulations to

those who celebrate in a

special way (Jashn of

Ghadeer). But generally we

see that the celebration in

Ghadeer is not even equal to

“Eid-ul-Fitr” and “Azha”. We

would like to draw your

attention towards a very

important point in the end.

All the other Eids are called

“Eid-Lil-Muslimeen” i.e. Eid

for the Muslims, but “Eid-ul-

Ghadeer” is called to be the

great Eid of the great Lord.

Hence we pray that all the

followers of Wilayat may

celebrate “Eid-ul-Akbar”

(great Eid) in the great

manner and get the Tawfiq

of propagating Wilayat as a

gift on Eid-Day. ��


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