Islamic World

Zakir Syed Riaz Hussain Moch ( Martyred by Sipa e Sihaba - Deo Bandi Ter...

2010-12-17T08:16:00.001-08:00

Janaab Maqbool Hussain Dhakku Part 4 of 4 - Darbar e Shaam

2010-12-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

Zakir Maqbool Hussain Dhakoo Bazar aur Darbar Part 3 of 5

2010-12-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

Zakir Ghazanfar Abbas Gondal Part 4 of 4

2010-12-17T07:25:00.000-08:00

Qari Waheed Zafar Qasmi - Quran English

2010-11-16T23:40:00.000-08:00

Qari Waheed Zafar Qasmi - Quran English Recitation Translation-

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Spirit of Eid-ul Azha,Eid-ul Azha history

2010-11-16T23:29:00.000-08:00

EDITORIAL (November 17, 2010) : Eid-ul Azha is being observed in Pakistan today in circumstances unique in the country's history since its creation in 1947, in that we have never faced such heavy and multiple odds before. There has never been greater need for us to observe the spirit of Sunnat-e-Ibrahimi of sacrifice, which Eid-ul Azha commemorates.

Massive devastation and dislocation the worst floods in Pakistan's history find no parallel in our history, which have turned our national life upside down. The day commemorates willing compliance of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) with Allah's command to sacrifice his son in His name, though through a miracle the son was replaced with a lamb before the knife struck. This act of Prophet Ibrahim has rightly been termed a supreme sacrifice.

Eid-ul Azha today calls for observing a similar spirit of sacrifice by Pakistan's rich and mighty who have enjoyed perks and privileges they would probably not have anywhere in the world, because what they possess today they essentially owe it to this country. Pakistanis need to re-live the pristine spirit of Eid-ul Azha, which alone can help us tide over our national woes.

Unhappily, the paucity of internal response has prompted some of the donors to call for a matching response, though the international community seems so far to be willing to help us out in a substantial way. Pakistan's demand for a $50 billion debt write-off may not be met in its entirety, though the donors seem willing to help, largely because of the critical role we have been playing in the global war on terrorism, and have in the process suffered crippling blowbacks in terms of worsening law and order, among other things. Acts of terrorism across the country have badly hit economic activity, breeding deep public scare.

Pakistan's commercial and industrial hub of Karachi, which accounts for around 60 percent of the country's revenue generation, has become the centre of mayhem currently gripping the country. This means that our ability to make a matching contributory response will be further reduced. Pakistan needs to narrow "trust deficit" through targeted initiatives, including tax reforms, and reduction of administrative flab and corruption.

There has been a steady rise in our Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking, which in practical terms means unavoidable loss of revenue and a blow to efforts aimed at attracting FDI. The spirit of egalitarianism which Eid-ul Azha represents needs to be practiced across the board to ensure distributive justice, in which alone lies our collective salvation.

Secondly, there is a need to make healthy policy changes, China-like, that will allow us to focus mainly on our own problems. Pakistanis can enjoy fruits of economic progress only when there is peace inside the country, though this peace should not be gained at the cost of the country's long-term interests.

We should celebrate Eid-ul Azha with inclusive egalitarianism, which won't be possible without a drastic change in policy and mindset. There is a need to develop a multi-cultural national identity, which will help neutralise divisive forces. We can achieve this objective with determination and sincerity of purpose. A very happy Eid to all Pakistanis.

Matam Bazare Sham 2007 - Noha: Loriyaan Walaa - Punjabi Noha

2010-09-13T10:28:00.001-07:00

Mushkil safar hai lovely Noha by (Mahum Hashim Saania Hashim Adeeya Hashim 2009) with write up

2010-09-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

zia layyah noha By Bawa Sibtain Shah_ D.I.KHAN NOHA -HYE PARDA MERA PARDA..flv

2010-09-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

zia layyah noha New flv

2010-09-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

13 Jashan 2009 ##Sheikhupur##2009 Afshan

2010-09-11T03:44:00.001-07:00

13 Rajab Jashan sheikhupur 2

2010-09-11T03:41:00.001-07:00

Meva Khan Kaleri: Hik lehzo Zehar (as) khara khaliq. Volume 2009.

2010-09-11T03:27:00.000-07:00

Ya Ali Madad Shahdat Imam Ali A.S

2010-08-31T07:13:00.001-07:00

utth gaya aik aur janaza aaj sayda ki gher sai
shahadaton ka taluq hai gehra syeda ki gher sai

hasnain pay yateemi ajj kiyon hai chagai
kiyon zainab key nohay buland huay aaj syeda ki gher sai

musalmano nai ajj phir huqq mowaddat adda kerdia
guzar gai hai ajj aik aur qayamat syeda ki gher sai

jalatay hain kabhi daar kabhi khon baha daitay hain
kiyon adawat hai ummat ko itni syeda ki gher sai

nabowat o imamat ki goher nazer attay hai yaheen
ismat o taharat jhlakti hai syeda ki gher sai

zameen per basai thee aik behshat haider o batool nai
ajj maqtal kaa kiyon guzerta hai gumaan syeda ki gher sai

jibraiel o fizza ki maqam hi daiklay
dono nai pai hai maratib syeda ki gher sai

khuda kaa gher hai mana sajdaga bhi hai
kabay ko laiken nisbat hi kiya syeda ki gher sai

noor ki is gher ko tarikiyon nai kiyon ghair liyea
kiyon horahi hai ahh o buka syeda ki gher sai

tatheer kaa mazher malaik kaa kaba firdos bareen hai
per khon shaeedan ki bhi dekhtee hai jhalak syeda ki gher sai

jis gher ko kerti thee risalat jhok ker salam
aag kay bhi uthtay hain sholay issi syeda ki gher sai

zameen roti hai assman rota hai dewar o daar noha kuna hain
hasnain lai chalay Ali ki maiyaat syeda ki gher sai

roz mahsher khuda pukaray gaa Ali ki qasam
behshat uski hai jiski hai nisbat syeda ki gher sai

NANA WICH PARDES TAY LUTIYA MERA GHAR LOGA NAY

2010-07-23T05:12:00.002-07:00

DUA KARO DUA KARO noha

2010-07-23T05:12:00.001-07:00

NAD-E-ALI

2010-07-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

Nad-e-Ali Kabeer and Sagheer Download audio

Zakir Gazanfar Abbas Gondal

2010-07-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

Zakir Gazanfar Abbas Gondal majlis watch
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Great Saying of Imam Jafir Sadiq (AS)

2010-07-04T15:41:00.001-07:00

1- He who treats people kindly will be accepted as arbiter.

2- To trust everybody in times of injustice and cheating is disability.

3- If problems are added to each other, they will give birth of relief.

4- To recognize the actuality of your friend, you should enrage him. If he keeps up his friendship, he is true friend lest, he is false.

5- Do not appreciate one's affection before you enrage him three times.

6- Do not trust your friend perfectly, because the knockdown of the trustful is incurable.

7- Islam is a definite rank. Faith is one rank higher than Islam. Conviction is one rank higher than faith. People have been given a rank lower than conviction.

8- To remove a mountain is easier than removing faith.

9- Faith is in heart and conviction is a number of inspirations.

10- The desire for the worldly pleasures causes grief and sadness. Abstinence from the worldly pleasures brings about the rest of both heart and body.

11- Life is to rent a house and buy bread.

12- He who gains oppresson is not gaining welfare. He who mistreats people should not complain when people mistreat him.

13- In homelands, exchanging visits is the means of association. In travel, correspondence is the means of association.

14- A believer is not perfectly virtuous unless he enjoys three characters-- knowledgeability of the religious affairs, moderation in living, and steadfastness against misfortunes.

15- An actual believer is that whose sexual appetite does not overcome him and whose stomach does not shame him.

16- A twenty-year friendship is kinship.

17- Favors should be done only to the highborn or the religious. Those who show gratitude are very few.

18- Enjoining good and forbidding evil should be practiced with a faithful believer that he would learn a lesson, or an ignorant that he would earn. Enjoining good and forbidding evil become surely worthless when they are applied to the powerful tyrants.

19- Those who enjoin good and forbid evil should enjoy three characters: they should be aware of the matters that they enjoin and the matters that they forbid,fair in the matters that they enjoin and the matters that they forbid, and lenient in the matters that they enjoin and the matters that they forbid.

20- He who suffers a misfortune due to obtruding upon an unjust ruler will be neither rewarded nor endowed with patience.

21- As some people showed ingratitude for Allah's graces, He changed the graces into crises. As other people showed steadfastness against the misfortunes that inflicted them, Allah changed the misfortunes into graces.

22- The prosperity of coexistence and association are three thirds: two thirds are acumen and one is overlooking.

23- Revenging on the pauper is extremely ugly.

24- Imam As-Sadiq(A.S.) was asked about personality, he answered: Personality stands for that Allah should not see you in situations against which He warned, and miss you in situations of which He ordered.

25- Thank him who did you favor, and confer upon him who thanked you. Graces that are shown gratitude will not be removed while those that are shown ingratitude will not persist. Thanks increase the graces and saves against poverty.

26- To miss a need is better than asking it from other than its people. Bad mannerism in a misfortune is more catastrophic than the misfortune itself.

27- As a man asked him a short item of instruction that collects the welfare of this world and the world to come, the Holy Imam (A.S.) said: Never tell untruths.

28- Imam As-Sadiq (A.S.) was asked about eloquence. He answered: Eloquence is to express the idea in as few as possible words. The eloquent is that who attains his demand in the least effort.

29- Debt is grief at night and humility in day.

30- If your worldly demands are attainable, you should check your religion.

31- Treat your fathers piously so that your sons will treat you piously. Keep yourselves away from the strange women so that your harem will be chaste.

32- He who entrusts a betrayer with a deposit will be deprived of Allah's warranty.

33- Imam As-Sadiq(A.S.) said to Humran-bin-A'yun: O Humran, look to him who is less powerful that you are and do not look at him who is more powerful so that you will be more satisfied with what Allah has allotted for you and will be a greater motive to deserve the Lord's increase. Know that little permanent deed with conviction is more favorable to Allah than the many deeds that are lacking conviction. You should know also that no piety is more profitable than avoiding committing the prohibited matters and the abstinence from harming and backbiting the believers. No living is more pleasant than good mannerism, no fortune is more advantageous than satisfaction with the sufficient and the little, and no ignorance is more harmful than self-conceit.

34- Pudency is of two faces: one is weakness while the other is power, submisison, and faith.

35- Negligence of others' rights is humiliation. Certainly, the neglector of rights needs for forgery in this regard.

36- It is sufficient for one of the group to salute. Similarly, it is sufficient for one of the group to respond the salutation.

37- Salutation is voluntary while responding is obligatory.

38- Do not answer those who speak before they greet you.

39- Shaking hands is the perfect greeting of the resident and embracement is the perfect greeting of the traveler.

40- Shake hands, because this will confiscate malice.

41- Fear Allah even if to some extent. Construct a screen between Him and you even if transparent.

42- As for those who control themselves in rage, desire, fear, and lust, Allah will prevent Hell from burning their bodies.

43- Good health is a light grace; it is forgotten when found and mentioned when missed.

44- In good days, Allah endows with the grace of consent. In distress, He endows with the grace of purification.

45- It often happens that Allah endows a servant with a grace that he does not expect. It also happens that one hopes for something while his goodness is in its opposite. It also may happen that one is running for his doom, while he goes slowly for his goodness.

46- He who does not show steadfastness against every misfortune, show gratitude for every grace, and show easiness for every complexity will surely be too short to continue. Be broad-minded whenever a misfortune inflicts you, whether in your son, wealth, or other matters. The fact of every misfortune is that Allah receives his loan and takes his gift back so as to test your tolerance and thanking.

47- Everything has limits. The limit of conviction is not to fear anything besides Allah.

48- The (Faithful) believer should enjoy eight characters; he should be venerable in shaking situations, steadfast against misfortunes, thankful in luxury, satisfied with what Allah has decided to him, avoid oppressing the enemies, avoid overtasing the associates, should fatigue his body, and make people feel glad with him.

49- Knowledge is the comrade of the faithful believer, clemency is his supporter, patience is the commander of his army, lenience is his brother, and charity is his father.

50- Imam As-Sadiq(A.S.) said to Abu-Ubayda who asked him to supplicate to Allah for saving him from making his earnings pass by the mediation of the servants: Allah has arranged to make people's earnings in other people's hands. You should supplicate to Allah to make your earnings in the hands of the charitable people, because this is a sort of happiness, and not to make your earnings in the hands of the vicious, because it is a sort of despondency.

51- As for those who practice without guidance, they are like him who walks without choosing a definite path. The more he walks, the remoter he becomes.

52- The meaning of Allah's saying, "Have fear of Allah as you should be, (Holy Qur'an 3:102) is that Allah should be obeyed in such a way that He should not be disobeyed, mentioned in such a way that He should not be neglected, and thanked in such a way that He should not be shown ingratitude.

53- He who recognizes Allah accurately will fear Him. He who fears Allah accurately will disregard the worldly pleasures.

54- The actual fearful is that who cannot speak due to the intensity of fear.

55- Imam As-Sadiq(A.S.) was asked about the manners of some people who were committing the acts of disobedience to Allah and claiming that they were desiring for the mercy of Allah and kept on doing so until death attacks them.The Holy Imam(A.S.) said: As for those who act disobediently and claim expecting Allah's mercy until they die, they are rocking on hopes. They are surely liars. They do not expect Allah's mercy. He who expects something should seek it. Likewise, he who fears something should escape it.

56- We love those who are intelligent. knowledgeable, perceptive, expert, clement, courteous, patient, veracious, and loyal. Allah gave the noble characters exclusively to the prophets(a.s). He who enjoys such characters should thank Allah for them. He who does not enjoy them should supplicate to Allah for them. As he was asked about these noble characters, Imam As-Sadiq(A.S.) said: The noble characters are piety, satisfaction, patience, gratefulness, clemency, pudency, generosity, bravery, enthusiasm, veracity, charity, fulfillment of the trusts, conviction, good mannerism, and chivalry.

57- The firmest handle of faith is to love, hate, give, and deprive-all for Allah's sake.

58- Nothing will follow a dead person except three things: an alms that Allah gave permanetly in his life and it will follow him after death, a norm of guidance that others pursue, and a virtuous son that supplicates to Allah for his favor.

59- Lying invalidates the ablution (for the prayers) and breaks the fasting. The attendants said: But we use to tell lies." The Holy Imam(A.S.) said: I do not mean lying due to garrulity, but I mean forging lies against Allah, His Messenger, and the Imams(A.S.). The Holy Imam (A.S.) then added: Fasting is not abstaining from food or drink only. Mary(A.S.) said, -as the Holy Quran reported- "I have promised the Beneficent Allah to fast. (Holy Qur'an19:26) This means to keep silent. Thus, you should keep silent, turn the sights away (from whatever Allah has forbidden), and stop envying and disputing with each other. Envy consumes the faith like the fire when consumes the wood.

60- The Divine Throne will be shaken when one makes Allah the witness of a false matter.

61- Allah knew that sin is better for the believer than self-conceit lest, Allah will never test the believers through the commitment of sins.

62- He whose conducts are bad is tormenting himself.

63- Favor is well-known. Except its reward, nothing is better than doing favor.

64- Nothing like thanks in increasing the favorable matters and nothing like patience in decreasing the unfavorable matters.

65- The most effective soldiers of Eblis are women and rage.

66- The world is the believer's jail, patience is his fortress, and Paradise is his abode. The world is the disbeliever's paradise, grave is his jail, and Hell is his abode.

67- Allah has not created doubtless conviction that is more similar to unspoiled doubt than death.

68- Whenever you see a servant (of Allah) pursuing people's flaws and neglecting his own flaws, you should then realize that he has been trapped (by the Shaitan).

69- The server of food who thanks (Allah for so) will be rewarded as same as those who fast just for gaining the rewards of Allah, and the individual who is cured and thanks (Allah for curing him) will be rewarded as same as the diseased one who is steadfast against that disease (for the sake of Allah).

70- Those who are not scholars should not be regarded as happy, those who are not amiable should not be regarded as laudable, and those who are not tolerant should not be regarded as perfect. Those who do not guard themselves against the scholars' blame and censure should not be expected to gain the welfare of this world and the world to come. The intelligent should be veracious and thankful so that their sayings will be trusted and they will be given increasingly.

71- You should not trust the betrayer after you had tested him and you should not accuse him whom you trusted.

72- Imam As-Sadiq(A.S.) was asked about the people who are most respected by Allah. He answered: The people who are most respected by Allah are those who mention and obey Him more than the others. He, then, was asked about the people that are most disrespected by Allah, Imam As-Sadiq(A.S.) answered: The people that are most disrespected by Allah are those who accuse Him. "Is there anyone who accuses Allah?" I asked. The Holy Imam(A.S.) said: He who seeks Allah's decision and dissatisfies himself with it when it comes opposite to his will is accusing Allah." "Who else?" asked I. The Holy Imam(A.S.) answered: Then come those who complain against Allah." "Is there anyone who complains against Allah?" I asked. The Imam(A.S.) said: They are those who exaggerate in complaining about the misfortunes that they are suffering." Who else?" asked I. He(A.S.) answered: Then come those who neglect showing gratitude when they are endowed with a grace and show intolerance when they are inflicted by a problem." "Who are the most respected by Allah?" asked I. He(A.S.) answered: The most respected people are those who show gratitude when they are given a grace and treat with their problems tolerantly.

73- The weary are friendless and the envious are fortuneless. Much looking into wisdom pollinates the mind.

74- Fear of Allah is sufficient knowledge and deceit is sufficient ignorance.

75- The best adoration is to know Allah and behave humbly with Him.

76- One scholar is better than one thousand worshippers, one thousand ascetics, and one thousand hard-working persons in worship.

77- Everything has its tax and the tax of knowledge is to teach its people.

78- Judges are four categories three of whom will be in Hell while one only will be in Paradise. The judge who judges unjustly intentionally will surely be in Hell. The Judge who judges unjustly inadvertently will be in Hell. The Judge who judges unjustly inadverently will be in Hell. The judge who judges justly but unintentionally will be in Rell. The judge who judges justly intentionally will be in Paradise.

79- Imam As-Sadiq(a.s) was asked about the character of decency. The Holy Imam(A.S.) said: The decent is that who turns his sight away from the forbidden views, holds up his tongue from the ill wording, and abstains from oppressing others.

80- Allah will not ask people about things that are screened from them before He identifies them.

81- To put your hand to the elbow between the jaws of a dragon is better than asking those who have got newly fortune.

82- The settlement of needs is Allah's, but the ways are in the people' hands. You should thank Allah for the settlement of your needs, and you should submit, accept, and tolerate if they are not settled. Unsettlement of a need may be for your good. Allah knows your good while you do not know.

83- A man's begging from another man is an ordeal: if he gains what he asked for he will then thank the one who did not give him and if he is refuted, he will censure the one who did not refute him.

84- Allah has installed the whole goodness in leniency and courtesy.

85- Beware of associating with the lowly, because the association with them will never lead to welfare.

86- As a man worries about a little humility, this may engage him into a greater one.

87- The most advantageous thing is to precede people to the recognition of your own flaws. The heaviest thing is to hide your poverty. The less fortunate thing is to provide the advice to him who refuses it and to live next to an acquisitive individual. The most relaxing thing is to despair of people's giving. Never be weary of obscure. Be modest by submitting to the opinions of him who is higher than you (in rank) and who did you favors when such opinions oppose yours. You have submitted to his being higher than you so as to avoid disagreeing with him. He who does not submit to anybody's favor is surely self-conceited. You should know that he who does not humble himself before Allah will never gain pride and he who is not modest before Allah will never gain haughtiness.

88- To wear rings on the fingers is a prophetic tradition.

89- The most favorable friend to me is that who shows me my flaws.

90- Friendship is nil unless its limits are kept. He who does not keep these limits should not be regarded as friend. The first limit is that the inner self and the appearance should be identical. The second limit is that the friend should regard your goodness as his goodness and your evil as his evil. The third limit of friendship is that a position or fortunes should not change the friend's relation with his friends. The fourth limit is that the friend should not deprive his friend of anything that he is capable of doing. The fifth limit--which is the most comprehensive--, is that the friend should never leave his friend alone in calamities.

91- Comity is one third of the mind.

92- The believers' laughter should be only a smile.

93- There is no difference between depositing a trust with a betrayer or a negligent.

94- Imam As-Sadiq(A.S.) said to Al-Mufaddal: I instruct you to stick on six characters and relate them to my adherents-Shia. You should fulfill the trust of him who entrusts you with anything. You should like for your brother whatever you like for yourself. You should know that every matter has an end; therefore, you should beware of the outcomes of matters. Similarly, every matter has a sudden event; hence, beware of the sudden events. Beware of climbing an easy mountain if its slope is uneven. Never promise your brother of a matter that you cannot fulfill.

95- Allah has not permitted people in three matters: they should treat the parents kindly whether they are righteous or wicked, abide by the pledge whether to the righteous or the wicked, and fulfill the trust whether to the righteous or the wicked.

96- I feel sympathetic to three classes of people. Anyhow, they should be treated mercifully. They are those who suffered humiliation after honor, those who became needy after having been wealthy, and the scholars whom have been belittled by their folks and the ignorant people.

97- He whosever heart is attached to the fondness of this world will be suffering three matters-an everlasting care, an unattainable hope, and an unachievable expectation.

98- Lying and treachery are not within the ethics of the believers. Two characters are not found together in the hypocrites: they are good-looking and understanding of a tradition.

99- People are equal like the teeth of a comb. With the support of his brothers, a man can be regarded as great. No goodness is expected in the friendship of those who do not like for their friends whatever they like for themselves.

100- Understanding is the ornament of faith, self-possession is the ornament of understanding,kindness is the ornament of self-possession and easiness is the ornament of leniency.

Jaffer (a.s.) - the 6th Holy Imam

2010-03-11T09:22:00.001-08:00

Name :	Jaffer (a.s.) - the 6th Holy Imam
Title :	As-Sadiq, Sadiq-e-Aal-e-Mohammad(a.s.)
Agnomen :	Abu-Abdullah
Father :	Imam Mohammad Baqir(a.s.) - the 5th Holy Imam
Mother :	Umm-e-Farwa(a.s.)
Birth :	At Madina on 17th of Rabi-al-Awwal 83 AH (702 AD)
Martyred :	In Madina at age 65, on Monday, 15th Rajab 148 AH (765 AD) according to some traditions - 15th of Shawwal 148 AH (765 AD)
Cause of Death/Burial :	Buried in the cemetry of Baqi in Madina
View Profile in Urdu Birth and Imamate He was born in Medina in the year 83 A.H and he died in Rajab in the year 148 A.H. at the age of 65. He was buried in the cemetery of al-Baqi alongside his father, his grandfather and his (great-great) uncle. His mother was Umm Farwa, the daughter of al-Qasim b. Muhammad b. Abi Bakr. His Imamate lasted for thirty-four years. His father, Imam Mohammad Baqir(a.s.), clearly gave him the trusteeship (of the Imamate) and gave him an explicit designation (nass jali) for the Imamate. Imam's Knowledge and his Sciences Imam Jaffer Sadiq(a.s.) stood out among their group for his great merit (fadl); he was the most celebrated, the greatest in rank and the most illustrious of them in the eyes of both the non-Shia (al-amma) and the Shi'a (al-khassa). The people transmitted on his authority the religious sciences which travellers carried with them and thus his fame was spread throughout the lands. The learned scholars have transmitted on the authority of no other member of the House (ahl al-bayt) as much as they have transmitted on his authority. None of them met as many of the reporters of traditions as he did, nor did the latter transmit on their authority to the same extent as they transmitted on the authority of Abu Abd Allah Imam Jaffer Sadiq(a.s.). The specialists in tradition (ashab al- hadith) have gathered together the names of those who narrated on his authority, who were reliable despite differences in views and doctrines and they were four thousand men. The clear evidence for his Imamate was such that it overcame hearts and silenced the attempts of an opponent to denigrate it with doubts. During the imamate of the sixth Imam greater possibilities and a more favorable climate existed for him to propagate religious teachings. This came about as a result of revolts in Islamic Lands, especially the uprising of the Muswaddah to overthrow the Umayyad caliphate, and the bloody wars which finally led to the fall and extinction of the Umayyads. The greater opportunities for Shi'ite teachings were also a result of the favorable ground the fifth Imam had prepared during the twenty years of his imamate through the propagation of the true teachings of Islam and the sciences of the Household of the Prophet. The Imam took advantage of the occasion to propagate the religious sciences until the very end of his imamate, which was contemporary with the end of the Umayyad and beginning of the Abbasid caliphates. He instructed many scholars in different fields of the intellectual and transmitted sciences, such as Zorarah, Muhammad ibn Muslim, Mu'min Taq, Hisham ibn Hakam, Aban ibn Taghlib, Hisham ibn Salim, Hurayz, Hisham Kalbi Nassabah, and Jabir ibn Hayyan, the alchemist. Even some important Sunni scholars such as Sufyan Thawri, Abu Hanifah, the founder of the Hanafi school of law, Qadhi Sukuni, Qadhi Abu'l- Bakhtari, and others, had the honor of being his students. It is said that his classes and sessions of instruction produced four thousand scholars of hadith and other sciences. The number of traditions preserved from the fifth and sixth Imams is more than all the hadith, that have been recorded from the Prophet and the other ten Imams combined. There are innumerable reports about him concerning signs and revealing the unknown similar to those which we have mentioned, which would take too long to recount. He used to say: "Our knowledge is of what will be (ghabir), of what is past (mazbur), of what is marked in hearts (nakt fi al-qulub), and of what is tapped into ears (naqr fi al-asma). We have the red case (jafr), the white case, and the scroll of Fatima(s.a.) and we have (the document called) al-jami'a in which is everything the people need." He was asked to explain these words and he said: "Ghabir is knowledge of what will be; mazbur is knowledge of what was; what is marked in the hearts (nakt fi al-qulub) is inspiration; and what is tapped into the ears (naqr fi al- asma) are words of angels; we hear their speech but we do not see their forms. The red case (jafr) is a vessel in which are the weapons of the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family. It will never leave us until the one (destined) among us members of the House, to arise (qa'im), arises. The white case (jafr) is a vessel in which are the Torah of Moses, the Gospels of Jesus, the Psalms of David and the (other) Books of God. The scroll of Fatima, peace be on her, has in it every event which will take place and the names of all the rulers until the (last) hour comes. (The document called) al-jami'a is a scroll seventy yards long which the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, dictated from his own mouth and Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be on him, wrote in his own handwriting. By God, in it is everything which people need until the end of time, including even the blood-wit for wounding, and whether a (full) flogging or half a flogging (is due). He, peace be on him, used to say: "My traditions are my father's traditions; my father's traditions are my grandfather's traditions; my grandfather's traditions are the traditions of Ali b. Abi Talib, the Commander of the faithful; the traditions of Ali the Commander of the faithful are the traditions of the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family; and the traditions of the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, are the word of God, the Mighty and High. Martyrdom Toward the end of his life the Imam was subjected to severe restrictions placed upon him by the Abbasid caliph Mansur, who ordered such torture and merciless killing of many of the descendants of the Prophet who were Shi'ite that his actions even surpassed the cruelty and heedlessness of the Umayyads. At his order they were arrested in groups, some thrown into deep and dark prisons and tortured until they died, while others were beheaded or buried alive or placed at the base of or between walls of buildings, and walls were constructed over them. Hisham, the Umayyad caliph, had ordered the sixth Imam to be arrested and brought to Damascus. Later, the Imam(a.s.) was arrested by Saffah, the Abbasid caliph, and brought to Iraq. Finally, Mansur had him arrested again and brought to Samarrah where he had the Imam(a.s.) kept under supervision, was in every way harsh and discourteous to him, and several times thought of killing him. Eventually the Imam(a.s.) was allowed to return to Medina where he spent the rest of his life in hiding, until he was poisoned and martyred through the intrigue of Mansur. Upon hearing the news of the Imam's martyrdom, Mansur wrote to the governor of Medina instructing him to go to the house of the Imam(a.s.) on the pretext of expressing his condolences to the family, to ask for the Imam's will and testament and read it. Whoever was chosen by the Imam(a.s.) as his inheritor and successor should be beheaded on the spot. Of course the aim of Mansur was to put an end to the whole question of the imamate and to Shi'ite aspirations. When the governor of Medina, following orders, read the last will and testament, he saw that the Imam(a.s.) had chosen four people rather than one to administer his last will and testament: the caliph himself, the governor of Medina, 'Abdullah Aftah, the Imam's older son, and Imam Musa-e-Kazim(a.s.), his younger son. In this way the plot of Mansur failed.

Musa ibn-e-Jaffar - the 7th Holy Imam

2010-03-11T09:21:00.001-08:00

Name :	Musa ibn-e-Jaffar - the 7th Holy Imam
Titles :	Al-Kazim
Agnomen :	Abu Ibrahim.
Father :	Imam Jaafar as-Sadiq(a.s.) - the 6th Holy Imam
Mother :	Hamidah al - Barbariyyah.
Birth :	At Abwa' ( between Makkah and Madina ) Sunday , 7th Safar 128 AH. (744 AD)
Martyred :	In Baghdad at age 55 on 25th Rajab 183 AH (799 AD)
Cause of Death/Burial :	Poisoned by Harun-ur-Rashid and buried in Kadhmain, Baghdad
The 7th Holy Imam Musa al-Kazim(a.s.) was the son of Imam Jafar as-Sadiq(a.s.), the Sixth Imam . The name of his mother was Hamidah , the daughter of a noble man hailing from the States of Barbary. Childhood Imam Musa al-Kazim(a.s.) passed twenty years of his sacred life under the gracious patronage of his holy father . His inherent genius and gifted virtues combined with the enlightened guidance and education from Imam Jafar as-Sadiq(a.s.), showed in the manifestation of his future personality . He was fully versed with the Divine Knowledge even in his childhood. al-`Allamah al-Majlisi(a.r.) relates that once Abu Hanifah happened to call upon the holy abode of Imam Jafar as-Sadiq(a.s.) to ask him about some religious matters ( masa'il ) . The Imam(a.s.) was asleep and so he kept waiting outside till the Imam's(a.s.) awakening . Meanwhile , Imam Musa al-Kazim(a.s.) , who was then five years old , came out of his house . Abu Hanifah , after offering him his best compliment , enquired: ``O the son of the Holy Prophet ! what is your opinion about the deeds of a man ? Does he do them by himself or does God make him do them ?'' ``O Abu Hanifah'' , the five years old Imam(a.s.) replied at once , in the typical tone of his ancestors , ``the doings of a man are confined to three possibilities . First , that God alone does them while the man is quite helpless . Second , that both God and the man do equally share the commitment . Third , that man does them alone . Now , if the first assumption is true , it obviously proves the unjustness of God who punishes His creatures for sins which they have not committed . And if the second condition be acceptable , even then God becomes unjust if He punishes the man for the crimes in which He is equally a partner . But the undesirability of both these conditions is evident in the case of God . Thus , we are naturally left with the third alternative to the problem that men are absolutely responsible for their own doing .'' Imamate The Holy Imam Jafar as-Sadiq(a.s.) breathed his last on 25th Shawwal 148 AH , and with effect from the same date Imam Musa al-Kazim(a.s.) succeeded the holy office of Immamate as the Seventh Imam . The priod of his Imamate continued for thirty - five years . In the first decade of his Imamate , Imam Musa al-Kazim(a.s.) could afford a peaceful execution of the responsibilities of his sacred office and carried on the propagation of the teachings of the Holy Prophet(pbuh&hf) . But soon after , he fell a victim to the ruling kings and a greater part of his life passed in prison. Political Condition Imam Musa al-Kazim(a.s.) lived under the most crucial times in the regimes of the despotic `Abbasid kings who were marked for their tyrannical and cruel administration . He witnessed the reings of al-Mansur ad-Dawaniqi , al-Mahdi and Harun ar-Rashid . Al-Mansur and Harun ar-Rashid were the despotic kings who put a multitude of innocent descendants of the Holy Prophet(pbuh&hf) to the sword . Thousands of these martyrs were buried alive inside walls or put into horrible dark prisons during their lifetime . These depraved caliphs knew no pity or justice and they killed and tortured for the plessure they derived from human sufferings.The Holy Imam(a.s.) was saved from the tyranny of al-Mansur because the king , being occupied with his project of constructing the new city of Baghdad , could not get time to turn towards victimizing the Imam. By 157 AH the city of Baghded was built . This was soon followed by the death of its founder a year later . After al-Mansur , his son al-Mahdi ascended the throne . For a few years he remained indifferent towards the Imam(a.s.) . When in 164 AH he came to Medina and heard about the great reputation of the Imam , he could not resist his jealousy and the spark of his ancestral malice against the Ahl-al-bayt(a.s.) was rekindled . He somehow managed to take the Imam(a.s.) along with him to Baghdad and got him imprisoned there . But after a year he realized his mistake and released the Imam(a.s.) from jail . al-Mahdi was succeeded by al-Hadi who lived only for a yaer . Now , in 170 AH , the most cruel and tyrannical king Harun ar-Rashid appeared at the head of the `Abbasid Empire . It was during his reign that the Holy Imam(a.s.) passed the greater part of his life in a miserable prison till he was poisoned. Harun had the Imam(a.s.) arrested in the Prophet's)pbuh&hf) mosque whilst Imam was praying. He was handcuffed and shackled and sent to Basra. Imam(a.s.) was put into prison under the custody of Isa bin Ja'fer. After a year Isa wrote to Harun saying he could no longer imprison Imam(a.s.) as he could find only piety and righteousness in him. Harun had the Imam(a.s.) moved to Baghdad under the custody of Fadhl bin Rabi who too became a follower of Imam(a.s.). The prisons were so small that there was no room to stand and the food was a cup of water and two pieces of dry bread a day. Imam(a.s.) remained patient. Harun finally moved Imam in the care of Sindi bin Shahak (a very cruel man). Imam remained in prison for the last 19 years of his life. The 19 years of imprisonment gave the Shia population a little relief as the rulers concentrated on Imam. It enabled the Shias to disperse from Arabia to Iran, India etc. thus spreading Islam and it was one of the factors towards the popularity of the 8th Imam. Moral and Ethical Excellence As regards his morality and ethical excellence , Ibn Hajar al-Haytami remarks : ``The patience and forbearance of Imam Musa al-Kazim(a.s.) was such .hat he was given the title of al-Kazim ( one who swallows down his anger ) . He was the embodiment of virtue and generosity . He devoted his nights to the prayers of God and his days to fasting . He always forgave those who did wrong to him , His kind and generous attitude towards the people was such that he used to patronize and help the poor and destitutes of Medina and provide for them cash , food , clothes and other necessitities of sustenance secretly . It continued to be a riddle for the receivers of gifts throughout the Imam's(a.s.) lifetime as to who their benefactor was , but the secret was not revealed until after his death. Literary Attainments Time and circumstances did not premit Imam Musa al-Kazim(a.s.) to establish institutions to impart religious knowledge to his followers as his father , Imam Jafar as-Sadiq(a.s.) and his grandfather , Imam Muhammad al-Baqir(a.s.) had done . He was never allowed to address a congregation . He carried on his mission of preaching and guiding people quietly. Death In 179 AH , Harun ar-Rashid visited Medina . The fire of malice and jealousy against the Ahl-al-bayt(a.s.) was kindled in his heart when he saw the great influence and popularity which the Holy Imam(a.s.) enjoyed amongst the people there . He got the Imam(a.s.) arrested while he was busy in prayer at the tomb of the Holy Prophet(pbuh&hf) and kept him in prison in Baghded for a period of about four years . On the 25th Rajab 183 AH , he got the Imam(a.s.) martyred by poison . Even his corpse was not spared humiliation and was taken out of the prison and left on the Bridge of Baghdad . When Harun Rashid's brother Sulayman heard of this he was furious and arranged for his burial in a Quraysh cemetery outside Baghdad (the 8th Imam gave ghusl and kafan). A town grew around the tomb of Imam called Kadhmain (meaning the two Kadhims) since the 9th Imam is also buried there.

Ali ar-Riza(a.s.) - the 8th Holy Imam

2010-03-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

Name :	Ali ar-Riza(a.s.) - the 8th Holy Imam
Title :	Gharib al-Ghuraba, Moeen-uz-Zoafa-e-wal-Fuqara, Shah-e-Khurasaan
Agnomen :	Abul-Hasan
Father :	Imam Moosa-e-Kazim(a.s.) - the 7th Holy Imam
Mother :	Ummul-Baneen Bibi Najma
Birth :	At Madina on 11th of Zi-Qadah 148 AH (765 AD)
Martyred :	in Mashhad at age 55, on 23rd Zi-Qadah 203 AH (817 AD)
Cause of Death/Buried :	Martyred by Abbasid Khalifa Mamoon in Mashhad, Iran and buried there.
Birth and Demise Historians disagree a great deal about the year of his birth and even in determining the month as well, and they also disagree about determining the year and the month of his death. Their disagreements are not confined to the limit of a short span of time but they may be five years apart, and the disagreement is so confusing that it is very difficult to determine clearly such matters; however, we shall point out the statements recorded in this regard without favouring any of them due to the lack of purpose of such favouring which naturally requires research and investigation and a proof for selecting what seems to be the most accurate. He was born in Medina on Friday, or Thursday, Zi-Qadah 11, or Zil-Hijjah, or Rabi'ul-Awwal, of the Hijri year 148 or the year 153. He died on Friday, or Monday, near the end of the month of Safar, or the 17th of Safar, or Ramzan 21, or Jamadi-al-Awwal 18, or Zil-Qadah 23, or the end of Zi-Qadah, of the year 202 or 203 or 206. In his 'Uyoon Akhbar al-Rida, al-Saduq states: "What is accurate is that he died on the 13th of Ramadan, on a Friday, in the year 203." What is most likely is that his death took place in the year 203 as stated by al-Saduq. It is the same year in which al-Mamoon marched towards Iraq. To say that he died in 206 is not to agree with the truth because al-Mamoon marched towards Baghdad in the year 204, and the Imam died while he was heading in the same direction. His early Life Imam Ali ar-Riza(a.s.) lived in the care of his father for almost 35 years. He imbibed from his father his knowledge, morals and good manners. He was, thus, the most acknowledged scholar and the most qualified to be the leader and the guide of Muslims. He would later lead and feed the school of Ahl al-Bayt(a.s.) with knowledge and religious sciences. Every Imam made public the name of the Imam who would succeed him so that Muslims would know and follow him, ask him about what they did not know from the shari'ah and Islamic sciences, and receive his guidelines and teachings. Imam Musa Kazim(a.s.), accordingly, explained the position of his son Imam Ali ar-Riza(a.s.), emphasizing that he was the inheritor of his office, the trustee of his school and the Imam to whom Muslims should refer after him. Imam Musa al-Kazim(a.s.) was well aware of the aggressive designs of the government in power against the Imamate and therefore, during his lifetime he declared Imam al-Riza(a.s.) as his successor in the presence of 171 prominent religious men and called upon his sons and his family to submit to him and refer to him in all matters after him. He also left behind a written document declaring the succession of Imam ar-Ridha duly signed and endorsed. by not less than 16 prominent persons. All these necessary steps were taken by the great Imam to avoid any confusion that may have arisen after his death. Period of Imamate and conditions The period of his imamate coincided with the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid and then his sons Amin and Ma'mun. After the death of his father, Ma'mun fell into conflict with his brother Amin which led to bloody wars and finally the assassination of Amin, after which Ma'mun became the caliph. Until that day the policy of the Abbasid caliphate toward the Shi'ites had been increasingly harsh and cruel. Every once in a while one of the supporters of Imam Ali(a.s.) (alawis) would revolt, causing blood wars and rebelions which were of great difficulty and consequence for the caliphate The Shi'ite Imams would not cooperate with those who carried out the these rebellions and would not interfere with their affairs. The Shi'ites of that day, who comprised a considerable population, continued to consider the Imams as their religious leaders to whom obedience was obligatory and believed in them as the real caliphs of the Holy Prophet(pbuh&hf). They considered the caliphate to be far from the sacred authority of their Imams, for the caliphate had come to seem more like the courts of the Persian kings and Roman emperors and was being run by a group of people more interested in worldly rule than in the strict application of religious principles. The continuation of such a situation was dangerous for the structure of the caliphate and was a serious threat to it. Government's Attitude Towards the Imam The attitude of the then rulers towards Imam al-Rida(a.s.) and the other Imams may provide us with a clear view of the distinctions which raised their personalities to the zenith. And it is essential to explain the phenomenon of the government's attitude towards them which manifested itself in the surveillance imposed upon them rather than upon other distinguished dignitaries or chiefs of the Alawides, monitoring their movements and counting their steps in all their social and personal encounters. What we can mention here to explain this phenomenon are the following reasons: 1) The belief of a large number of Muslims in their Imamate and in their being the most worthy of the caliphate, and their conviction that all other caliphs are considered usurpers of authority, trespassers upon the rights ordained by God to others. This is why the politicians of the time considered them their competitors whose mere presence increased the dangers surrounding them and jeopardized the security of the very existence of their government structure. 2) Their being the magnet which attracted leading scholars and thinkers who shrank in their presence despite their intellectual advancement and distinction in the fields of the arts and knowledge and despite their genius and intellectual prowess. This caused the caliphs to feel a stronger animosity towards them and be more grudgeful towards them due to the public fascination by them and to their attempts to be close to them and to being emotionally distant from the center of the government. 3) Their being the better alternative from the public's political standpoint to take charge of the responsibilities of government, bear its burdens, carry out its obligations and doing all of that most efficiently. This frightened the rulers and made the obscure future seem to their eyes even more so. 4) The vicious incitements about them by their opponents who bore animosity towards them and who wished thereby their elimination, and the tell-tales of even some of their own kin whose judgement was blinded by jealousy, so they kept fabricating stories and attributing them to those Imams and telling them to the rulers who were pleased to hear them since they became outlets to the grudge they felt towards those Imams and, at the same time, found in them the pretexts for annihilating and harassing them and in the end a justification to put an end to their lives and rid themselves of the complex they were suffering from due to their existence. By these and by others can we explain the phenomenon of the rulers pursuing them and desperately trying to alienate them from the stage of events affecting the nation in order to secure a distance from the ghost of competition which could haunt them had they permitted the Imams to do as they pleased. Thus can we understand the general characteristics of the significant distinctions the personalities of those Imams enjoyed in all sectors of the society in its various centers of activity and in its various aspirations; otherwise, how do you explain this phenomenon, and why should those rulers pay the Imams so much attention? His Knowledge He inherited the knowledge of his grandfather the Messenger of Allah(pbuh&hf), thus becoming its pioneering fountainhead that quenched the thirst of those who were thirsty for knowledge. History narrates a great deal of his scholarly stances and intellectual discourses in which he achieved victory over those who opposed the Divine Message, excelling in various branches of scholarship with which he provided the seekers of knowledge and the thinkers of the time. Ibrahim ibn al-Abbas al-Suli is reported to have said: "I never saw al-Riza(a.s.) unable to provide the answer to any question he received, nor have I ever seen any contemporary of his more learned than he was. Al-Mamoon used to put him to test by asking him about almost everything, and he always provided him with the answer, and his answer and example was always derived from the Holy Qur'an." Rajaa ibn Abul-Dahhak, who was commissioned by al-Mamoon to escort Imam Riza(a.s.) to his court, said: "By God! I never saw anyone more pious than him nor more often remembering God at all times nor more fearful of God, the Exalted. People approached him whenever they knew he was present in their area, asking him questions regarding their faith and its aspects, and he would answer them and narrate a great deal of hadith from his father who quoted his forefathers till Ali(a.s.) who quoted the Messenger of Allah(pbuh&hf). When I arrived at al-Mamoon's court, the latter asked me about his behaviour during the trip and I told him what I observed about him during the night and during the day, while riding and while halting; so, he said: `Yes, O son of al-Dahhak! This is the best man on the face of earth, the most learned, and the most pious.'" Al-Hakim is quoted in Tarikh Nishapur as saying that the Imam(a.s.) used to issue religious verdicts when he was a little more then twenty years old. In Ibn Maja's Sunan, in the chapter on "Summary Of Cultivating Perfection," he is described as "the master of Banu Hashim, and al-Mamoon used to hold him in high esteem and surround him with utmost respect, and he even made him his successor and secured the oath of allegiance for him." Al-Mamoon said this once in response to Banu Hashim: "As regarding your reaction to the selection by al-Mamoon of Abul-Hassan al-Riza(a.s.) as his successor, be reminded that al-Mamoon did not make such a selection except upon being fully aware of its implications, knowing that there is no one on the face of earth who is more distinguished, more virtuous, more pious, more ascetic, more acceptable to the elite as well as to the commoners, or more God-fearing, than he (al-Riza,a.s.) is." Abul-Salt al-Harawi is quoted saying: "I never saw anyone more knowledgeable than Ali ibn Mousa al-Riza(a.s.). Every scholar who met him admitted the same. Al-Mamoon gathered once a large number of theologians, jurists and orators and he (al-Rida, A.S.) surpassed each and every one of them in his own respective branch of knowledge, so much so that the loser admitted his loss and the superiority of the winner over him." He is also quoted saying: "I have heard Ali ibn Mousa al-Riza(a.s.) saying, `I used to take my place at the theological center and the number of the learned scholars at Medina was quite large, yet when a question over-taxed the mind of one of those scholars, he and the rest would point at me, and they would send me their queries, and I would answer them all." Al-Manaqib records the following: "When people disputed regarding Abul-Hassan al-Riza(a.s.), Muhammad ibn 'Isa al-Yaqtini said, `I have collected as many as eighteen thousand of his answers to questions put forth to him.' A group of critics, including Abu Bakr the orator in his Tarikh and al-Tha'labi in his tafsir and al-Sam'ani in his dissertation and in al-Mu'tazz in his work, in addition to others, have all quoted hadith from him." We do not need the testimony of anyone to convince us of the distinction enjoyed by Imam al-Riza(a.s.) due to his knowledge over all others. Suffices us to review the books of hadith which are filled with his statements and dictation in various arts which every individual, regardless of the loftiness of his degree of knowledge, became dwarfed upon meeting him, feeling his inferiority and the superiority of Imam al-Riza(a.s.). Ma'mun's Problem and tactics Ma'mun thought of finding a new solution for the rapid growth of Shiaism and revolt of the Alawis which the seventy-year old policy of his Abbasid predecessors had not been able to solve. To accomplish this end he thought of choosing the eighth Imam as his successor, hoping in this way to overcome two difficulties: first of all to prevent the descendants of the Prophet(pbuh&hf) from rebelling against the government since they would be involved in the government themselves, and secondly, to cause the people to lose their spiritual belief and inner attachment to the Imams. This would be accomplished by having the Imams become engrossed in wordly matters and the politics of the caliphate itself, which had always been considered by the Shi'ites to be evil and impure. In this way their religious organization would crumble and they would no longer present any dangers to the caliphate. Obviously, after accomplishing these ends, the removal of the Imam would present no difficulties to the Abbasid. Al-Ma'mun was also conscious of the fact that he would not survive for long if he also did not express his loyalty to the great leader and his intelligence department had made it clear to him that the Iranian people were truly and sincerely loyal to the Imam(a.s.) and he could only win them over if he also pretended to give respect and sympathetic consideration to Imam al-Riza(a.s.). AI-Ma'mun was a very shrewd person. He made a plan to invite Imam al-Riza(a.s.) and to offer him the heirship to the throne. The Imam(a.s.) was summoned by a royal decree and was compelled, under the circumstances, to leave Medina where he was living a quiet life and present himself at the royal court of al-Ma 'mun. On his arrival, al-Ma'mun showed him hospitality and great respect, then he said to him: "I want to get rid of myself of the caliphate and vest the office in you." But Imam al-Riza(a.s.) refused his offer. Then al-Ma'mun repeated his offer in a letter saying: "lf you refuse what I have offered you, then you must accept being the heir after me." But again Imam al-Riza(a.s.) refused his offer vigorously. Al-Ma'mun summoned him. He was alone with al-Fadhl ibn Sahl, the man with two offices (i.e., military and civil). There was no one else in their gathering. Al-Ma'mun said to Imam al-Riza(a.s.), "I thought it appropriate to invest authority over the Muslims in you and to relieve myself of the responsibility by giving it to you." When again Imam al-Riza(a.s.) refused to accept his offer, al-Ma'mun spoke to him as if threatening him for his refusal. In his speech he said, "Umar ibn al-khattab made a committee of consultation (shura) to appoint a successor. Among them was your forefather, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib. (Omar) stipulated that any of them who opposed the decision should be executed. So there is no escape for you from accepting what I want from you. I will ignore your rejection of it." In reply, Imam al-Riza(a.s.) said: "I will agree to what you want of me as far as succession is concerned on condition that I do not command, nor order, not give legal decisions, nor judge, nor appoint, nor dismiss, nor change anything from how it is at present." al-Ma'mun accepted all of that. This event occurred in 200 AH/814 AD. On the day when al-Ma'mun ordered to make the pledge of allegiance to al-Redha, one of the close associates of al-Redha, who was present, narrates, "On that day I was in front of him. He looked at me while I was feeling happy about what had happened. He signalled me to come closer. I went closer to him and he said so that no one else could hear, Do not occupy your heart with this matter and do not be happy about it. It is something which will not be achieved. Quoting al-Allamah ash-Shibli from his book al-Ma'mun, we get a very clear picture of how al-Ma'mun decided to offer his leadership to Imam al-Redha (a.s.) Even after the declaration of succession when there was every opportunity for the Imam to live a splendid worldly royal life, he did not pay any heed to material comforts and devoted himself completely to imparting the true Islamic conception of the Prophet's teachings and the Holy Qur'an. He spent most of his time praying to God and serving the people. Taking full advantage of the concessions given to him by virtue of his elevated position in the royal court, he organized the majalis (meetings) commemorating the martyrdom of the martyrs of Karbala. These majalis were first held during the days of Imam Muhammad Baqir(a.s.) and Imam Jafar Sadiq(a.s.), but Imam al-Riza(a.s.) gave the majalis a new impetus by encouraging those poets who wrote effective poems depicting the moral aspects of the tragedy and the suffering of Imam Hussain(a.s.) and his companions. decided once and for all to check his growing popularity . , he was buried in Tus (Mashhad) and his Grand Shrine speaks well for the great personality the Imam possessed. Millions of Muslims visit his Shrine every year to pay their homage to this Imam. Martyrdom Soon Ma'mun realized that he had committed an error, for there was a rapid spread of Shi'ism a growth in the attachment of the populace to the Imam(a.s.) and an astounding reception given to the Imam by the people and even by the army and government agents. Al-Ma 'mun had been very scared of the growing popularity of the Imam and he had appointed him as his heir to the throne only for the fulfilment of his own most ambitious and sinister designs and getting the Imam's endorsement to his tricky plans. But the Imam(a.s.) naturally refused to give his endorsement to any such plans which were against the teaching of Islam. Ma'mun sought to find a remedy for this difficulty and to ensure his own survival by acting according to the old traditions of killing the Imam. Wanting to do it in a more subtle manner, he invited the Imam to dinner, and fed him poisoned grapes. The Imam died on 23rd Zi-Qadah 2O3 AH. After his death the Imam(a.s.) was buried in the city of Tus in Iran, which is now called Mashhad.

Muhammad bin Ali. - the 9th Holy Imam

2010-03-10T07:38:00.000-08:00

Name :	Muhammad bin Ali. - the 9th Holy Imam
Titles :	At-Taqi, Al-Jawad.
Agnomen :	Abu Ja'fer.
Father :	Imam Ali Riza(a.s.) - the 8th Holy Imam
Mother :	Sabika (also known as Khaizuran).
Birth :	At Madina on Friday, 10th Rajab 195 AH (809 AD)
Martyred :	In Kazmain at age 25, on Wednesday, 29th ZeQa'ad 220 AH (835 AD)
Cause of Death/Burial :	Poisoned by Abbasid Khalifa Mo'atasim in Kazmain near Baghdad, Iraq and buried there
Profile in Urdu His Parents & Birth He was the only son of the eighth Imam Ali Riza (a.s.) The Prophet (pbuh&hf) had said: "My father be sacrificed on the mother of the 9th Imam who will be a pure and pious Nubian." Imam Musa Kadhim (a.s.) had told one of his companions that his daughter-in-law (Sabika) would be one of the most pious of women and to give her his salaams. She came from the same tribe as the Prophet's(pbuh&hf) wife - Maria Kubtiya who bore the Prophet his son Ibrahim (who died in infancy). Imam Muhammad Taqi (a.s.) was born when his father was 45 years old. Till then Imam Ali Riza (a.s.) had constantly been taunted that he had no children. When the 9th Imam was born, a brother of Imam Ali Riza(a.s.) was angry because he would lose out in inheriting the Imam's property and in his jealousy spread a rumour that Imam Ali Riza(a.s.) was not the father. He was eventually proved wrong by a person who could tell parentage. Childhood The 9th Imam was 5 years old when his father was called to Baghdad by Mamun Rashid to be his 'heir apparent'. When Imam Ali Riza (a.s.) was leaving he saw his son putting sand in his hair. He asked why and the young Imam replied that this was what an orphan did. Imam Riza(a.s.) was fully aware of the treacherous character of the ruling king and was sure that he would not return to Medina. So before his departure from Medina he declared his son Muhammad al-Jawad(a.s.) as his successor , and imparted to him all his stores of Divine knowledge and spiritual genius. Imamate Imam Ali Riza(a.s.) was poisoned on 17th Safar 203 AH and with effect from the same date Imam Muhammad al-Jawad(a.s.) was commissioned by Allah to hold the responisbility of Imamate . At the tender age of eight there was no apself chance or means of the young Imam reaching great heights of knowledge and practical achievements . But after a few days he is known not only to have debated with his contemporary scholars on subjects pertaining to fiqh ( Islamic jurisprudence ) , hadith ( tradition ) , tafsir ( Qur'anic exegesis ) , ect . and outwitted them , but also to exhort their admiration and acknowledgment of his learning and superiority . Right from then the world realized that he possessed Divine knowledge and that the knowledge commanded by the Holy Imam was not acquired , but granted by Allah. His titles, life & works The ruler of the time, Mamun Rashid, thought that as all the rulers before him had oppressed the Imams and their schemes had backfired that he would try to bribe the Imams. He tried to make the 8th Imam his heir apparent and give him power and wealth but that also backfired. He now tried to use power and wealth with the 9th Imam again but from a much younger age thinking that he would be able to influence him. His main purpose was also to make sure that the 12th Imam (whom he knew would bring justice to the world) would be from his progeny and therefore intended to give his daughter Ummul Fadhl to the Imam for a wife. Mamun still continued oppressing the family and followers of the Ahlul-bayt (a.s.). Mamun called the young Imam (a.s.) to Baghdad from Madina and offered his daughter. This infuriated his family (Banu Abbas). To prove to them the excellence of Imam even at a young age he arranged a meeting between Imam and the most learned of men at that time - Yahya bin Athkam. It was a grand occasion with some 900 other scholars present. Imam (a.s.) was first asked by Yahya: What is the compensation (kaffara) for a person in Ehraam who hunted and killed his prey?" Imam replied that there were many more details required before he could answer the question: Did the Muhrim (one in Ehraam) hunt in the haram or outside? Did the Muhrim know Sharia or not? Did he hunt intentionally or not? Did he hunt for the first time or was this one of many times? Was he free or a slave? Was his prey a bird or an animal? Was it big or small? Had he hunted by day or by night? Was he baligh or not? Was he repentant or not? Was his ehraam for Hajj or Umra? Yahya was stunned. He looked down and started sweating. Mamun asked the young Imam(a.s.) to answer the question, which he did, and then Imam(a.s.) asked Yayha a question which he could not answer. Then Ma'mun addressed the audience thus : ``Did I not say that the Imam comes of a family which has been chosen by Allah as the repository of knowledge and learning ? Is there any one in the world who can match even the children of this family ?'' All of them shouted , ``Undoubtedly there is no one parallel to Muhammad ibn `Ali al - Jawad .'' In the same assembly Mamun wedded his daughter Ummul Fadl to the Imam(a.s.) and liberally distributed charity and gifts among his subjects as a mark of rejoicing . Imam (a.s.) read his own Nikah (the khutba of which is used today) with the Mehr of 500 dirhams. Imam(a.s.) wrote a letter to Mamun that he would also give Ummul Fadhl Mehr from the wealth of Aakhira. This was in the form of 10 duas which were for fulfilling any hajaat (desires) [Chain of narrators upto Prophet - Jibrail - Allah]* . Thus his title Al-Jawad (the generous one). * These duas are found in Mafatihul Jinaan (pg 447 - In margin) Imam(a.s.) lived for a year in Baghdad with Ummul Fadhl. She was very disobedient to Imam(a.s.). When she found out that Imam(a.s.) had another wife (from the progeny of Ammar-e-Yasir(a.r.)) and that there was also children she was jealous and angry realizing that her father's plan had failed. She complained to her father who also realized that his plan, to keep the 12th Imam in his progeny, had failed. He was enraged and in his rage he drank heavily and went to the 9th Imam's(a.s.) house and attacked the Imam(a.s.) with a sword. Both Ummul Fadhl and a servant saw the attack and believed that the Imam(a.s.) was dead. Mamun, on waking next morning, realized the consequences of his attack and was thinking of arranging the disposal of Imam's(a.s.) body when he saw Imam(a.s.) well without even a scratch on him. He was confused and asked Imam(a.s.) who showed him an amulet which is called Hirze Jawad. Imam(a.s.) told him it was from his grand mother Bibi Fatima Zahra (s.a.) and kept the wearer safe from all except the angel of death. Mamun asked Imam(a.s.) for it and Imam(a.s.) gave him one. Now Mamun was scared and tried a new tactic. He tried to deviate Imam(a.s.) by sending him beautiful girls and musicians. When he realised nothing was working he let Imam(a.s.) return to Madina. Imam(a.s.) used this time to prepare the masails of Taqleed and Ijtihaad in preparation for the 12th Imam(a.s.) knowing that both the 10th and the 11th Imams(a.s.) would spend most of their lives in prison. He also prepared the people of Madina teaching true Islam knowing that this would be the last time they would be able to receive guidance directly from an Imam(a.s.) for a long time. Ummul Fadhl continuously complained of Imam(a.s.) to her father who sent her letters back. Mamun died in 218 a.h. and was succeeded by his brother Mo'tasam Billah. He openly announced that all Shias were non-Muslims. He said it was required for people to kill and prosecute Shias, and to destroy property belonging to Shias. Ummul Fadhl now started complaining to her uncle who was sympathetic to her. Mo'tasam called the Imam(a.s.) to Baghdad. He asked him to pass judgement of how to punish a thief. Imam(a.s.) said only fingers could be cut as the palms were for Allah (as in Qur'an - it is one of the wajib parts to touch the ground during sajda). As this decision was contrary to the decision of the other 'Ulema' it strengthened the position of the Shias. The other 'Ulema' complained to Mo'tasam. Death & Burial With instigation from both the 'Ulema' and Ummul Fadhl, Mo'tasam sent poison which Ummul Fadhl put in Imam's(a.s.) drink and gave it to him. Imam(a.s.) died on 29th Dhulqa'ada at the age of 25 years and is buried near his grandfather in Kadhmain. His son the 10th Imam, Imam Ali Naqi(a.s.) gave him ghusl and kafan. Summary of Imam's Work It is he who prepared and wrote books for the masails of Ijtihaad and Taqleed which were essential to prepare believers for the ghaibat of the 12th Imam.

Ali ibn Mohammad - the 10th Holy Imam

2010-03-10T07:37:00.001-08:00

Name :	Ali ibn Mohammad - the 10th Holy Imam
Titles :	an-Naqi, al-Hadi
Agnomen :	Abul-Hasan
Father :	Imam Muhammad at-Taqi al-Jawwad(a.s.) - the 9th Holy Imam
Mother :	Bibi Sumanah
Birth :	In Suryah ( in the environs of Medina ) , on Friday , 2nd (or 5th) Rajab, 214 AH (817 AD)
Death :	In Samarrah at the age of 42 on Monday 26th Jumadi-us-Sani (or 3 Rajab) 254 AH (868 AD)
Cause of Death/Burial :	Poisoned by al-Mu'tazz, the Abbasid caliph buried in Samarrah
THE TENTH Holy Imam , like his father , was also elevated to the rank of Imam in his childhood . He was six years old when his father Imam Muhammad al - Jawad(a.s.) died . After the death of al - Ma'mun , al-Mu`tasim succeeded him , and was later followed by the caliph al-Wathiq . In the first five years of the reign of al-Wathiq , Imam Ali al-Hadi (an-Naqi(a.s.) ) lived peacefully . After al-Wathiq , al-Mutawakkil came to power . Being too occupied in State affairs , al-Mutawakkil did not get any time to harass the Imam and his followers for four years . But as soon as he freed himself from State affairs , he started to molest the Imam . The Holy Imam(a.s.) devoted himself to the sacred mission of preaching in Medina and did thus earn the faith of the people as well as their allegiance and recognition of his great knowledge and attributes . This reputation of the Imam evored the jealousy and malice of al-Mutawakkil against him. The governor of Medina wrote to al-Mutawakkil that Imam Ali Naqi(a.s.) had been manoeuvring a coup against the government and a multitude of Shi'ites were pledged to his support . Although enraged by this news al-Mutawakkil still preferred the diplomacy of not arresting the Holy Imam(a.s.). Under the garb of pretended respect and love towards the Imam , he planned to put him under life imporisonment after inviting him to his palace. Prior to his imprisonment , in a series of correspondence with the Imam(a.s.), he expressed the view that he was convinced of all the claims of the Imam(a.s.) and was ready to settle them amicably . He wrote to the Imam(a.s.) that having been acquainted with his great personality , his matchless knowledge and his peerless attributes , he was impatiently looking forward to the honour of seeing him , and he most cordially invited him to Samarrah . Although the Imam(a.s.) was well aware of al-Mutawakkil's treacherous intentions , he anticipating the fatal consequences of refusing the offer , reluctantly decided to leave Medina . But when the Imam(a.s.) arrived at Samarrah and al-Mutawakkil was informed about it , he took no notice of the Imam's arrival. when asked about where the Imam (a.s.) should stay , he ordered that the Imam should be put up in the inn meant for beggars , destitutes and homeless people. Al - Mutawakkil who was a deadly enemy of the Ahl-ul-bayt , removed the Imam(a.s.) from this inn and entrusted him to the custody of a stone - hearted brute named Zurafah . But , by the grace of Allah(swt) , his enmity was, in a short time , transformed into love and devotion for the Imam(a.s.). When al-Mutawakkil learnt about it, he shifted the Imam(a.s.) into the custody of another cruel man called Sa'id . The Imam(a.s.) remained under his strict vigilance for a number of years , during which he was subjected to boundless tortures . But even in this miserable imprisonment , the Imam(a.s.) kept devoting himself at all times to the worship of Allah(swt) . The watchman of the prison used to comment that Imam Ali al-Hadi(a.s.) seemed to be an angel in human garb. When Fath ibn Khaqan became the vizier of al-Mutawakkil , he being a Shi`ah could not stand the idea of the Imam's captivity . He endeavoured to have him released from imprisonment and arranged for his comfortable residence in a personally purchased house at Samarrah . Still al-Mutawakkil could hardly refrain from his antagonism to the Imam(a.s.) and he appointed spies to watch the Imam(a.s.) and his connections . But through all these attempts , his hope of creating some fabrication to prove the Imam's activity against himself could not be realized. In the time of al-Mutawakkil there was a woman named Zaynab who claimed to be a decendant of Imam Hussain(a.s.). Al-Mutawakkil sought the confirmation of Zaynab's claim from the Imam(a.s.) and said : "`That as the beasts are prohibited to eat the flesh of the descendants of Imam Hussain(a.s.) he would throw Zaynab to the beasts and test her claim" .' On hearing this , Zaynab began to tremble and confessed that she was a fake . Al-Mutawakkil then ordered the Imam(a.s.) to be thrown to the beasts to test the claim . To his great surprise , he witnessed the beasts prostrating their heads before the Imam(a.s.). Once Al-Mutawakkil happened to suffer from a serious malady which was eventually declared incurable by his physicians . When the Imam(a.s.) was approached for some remedy , he prescribed an application which resulted in a spontaneous cure. Once al-Mutawakkil was informed that the Imam(a.s.) was preparing a revolt against him . Thereupon , he ordered a detachment of the army to launch a raid on the Imam's residence . When the soldiers entered his house , they found him sitting on a mat , reciting the Holy Qur'an. Not only al-Mutawakkil , but his successors' opposition to the Imam(a.s.) was fierce . After the death of al-Mutawakkil , al-Mustansir , al-Musta`in and al-Mu`tazz carried on the same mission of harassent against the family of the Imam. al - Mu`tazz , understanding the uncontrollable and intense devotion of the people towards the Imam(a.s.) , eventually contrived the Imam's assassination. He got him poisoned through an ambassador which resulted in the Imam's death within a few hours . The martyrdom occurred on 26th Jumadi-as-Sani 254 AH , and his funeral prayer was conducted by his son , Imam Hasan al-Askari(a.s.). The Imam(a.s.) was only forty-two years old at the time of death . The period of his Imamate was thirty-five years . He was buried in Samarrah, Iraq.

Hasan ibn Ali - the 11th Holy Imam

2010-03-10T07:36:00.001-08:00

Name :	Hasan ibn Ali - the 11th Holy Imam
Title :	al-Askari
Agnomen :	Abu Muhammad
Father :	Imam Ali Naqi-al-Hadi(a.s.) - the 10th Holy Imam
Mother :	Bibi Hadithah ( or Susan )
Birth :	At Madina, on Monday, 10th Rabi-us-Sani 232 AH (845 AD)
Martyred :	In Samarrah at the age of 28 on Friday, 8th Rabi-ul-Awwal 260 AH (872 AD)
Cause of Death/Burial:	Poisoned by al-Mu`tamid ,the Abbasid ruler and buried at Samarrah in Iraq
Imam Hasan al-Askari(a.s.) spent twenty-two years of his life under the patronage of his father , Imam Ali Naqi al-Hadi(a.s.) after whose martyrdom he became his divinely commissioned Imam . Imam Hasan al-Askari(a.s.), the son of the Tenth Imam , was born in 232 AH and according to some Shi`ite sources was poisoned and killed in 260 AH through the instigation of the Abbasid caliph al-Mu`tamid . The Eleventh Imam(a.s.) gained the Imamate , after the death of his noble father , through Divine Command and through the decree of the previous Imams. During the seven years of his Imamate, due to untold restrictions placed upon him by the caliphate , he lived in hiding and dissimulation ( taqiyyah ) . He did not have any social contact with even the common people among the Shi`ite population . Only the elite of the Shi`ah were able to see him . Even so , he spent most of his time in prison . There was extreme repression at that time because the Shi`ite population had reached a considerable lavel in both numbers and power . Everyone knew that the Shi`ah believed in the Imamate , and the identity of the Shi`ite Imams was also known . Therefore , the caliphate kept the Imams under its close supervision more than ever before . It tried through every possible means and through secret plans to remove and destroy them . Also , the caliphate had come to know that the elite among the Shi`ah believed that the Eleventh Imam , according to traditions cited by him as well as his , forefathers , would have a son who was the promised Mahdi . The coming of the Mahdi had been foretold in authenticated hadith of the Prophet(pbuh&hf) in both Sunni and Shi`ite sources . For this reason the Eleventh Imam(a.s.), more than other Imams, was kept under close watch by the caliphate . The caliph of the time had decided definitely to put an end to the Imamate in Shi`ism through every possible means and to close the door to the Imamate once and for all . Therefore , as soon as the news of the illness of Imam Hasan Askari(a.s.) reached al-Mu`tamid , he sent a physician and a few of his trusted agents and judges to the house of the Imam(a.s.) to be with him and observe his condition and the situation within his house at all times . After the death of the Imam(a.s.), they had the house investigated and all his female slaves examined by the midwife . For two years the secret ageins of the caliph searched for the successor of the Imam(a.s.) until they lost all hope . The Eleventh Imam(a.s.) was buried in his house in Samarrah next to his noble father. Birth & Childhood When he was born his father said that it was an order from the prophet s.a.w. that he should be named Hasan. It was so well known that the last Imams father would be called Hasan that people had previously looked for the 12th Imam amongst the sons of Imam Hasan Al-Mujtaba (a.s.) His mother was Sulail (or Hudaitha) who was a slave of the 10th Imam whom he had freed and subsequently married. The 10th Imam said of her that she was one who was free from all vice and pollution and that she was one of the righteous ones. After the 11th Imam's martyrdom he left all the "orders" of Imamate with her (his mother). Once when Imam Hasan Al-Askari(a.s.) was a young child he fell into a well near their house. His father Imam Ali An-Naqi(a.s.) was praying and didn't even notice the commotion around him of the ladies crying. When he finished praying and asked what had happened, he was told. He went towards the well. The water rose and all saw the 11th Imam(a.s.) sitting peacefully on the water and playing. Bahlool once saw the young Imam crying in the street where all the other children were busy playing with their toys. He asked whether Imam(a.s.) was crying because he had no toys to play with. Imam(a.s.) replied: "We have not been created to play!" Bahlool asked where he had learnt this from and the Imam said : "Have you not read the Qur'an where it says - "Do you think we have created you in vain and that you will not be returned to us". When Bahlool heard this he asked Imam(a.s.) for some advice. Imam(a.s.) talked about death, barzakh and qiyama and cried so much, he fainted. When he came to, Bahlool asked him why he was so fearful as he was not even baligh yet. Imam(a.s.) said: "I have watched my mother light a fire; she uses the little twigs to get the big pieces of wood to burn; I fear that on qiyama Allah(swt) too will use little ones to light the big ones". Title: Al-Askery The 10th and 11th Imamayn were both called Al-Askery as they lived in an area of Samarra called Askery. Another reason that the 11th Imam was called Askery is said to be that once Mutawakkil wanted to show the Imam the strength of his army of 90,000 men and so he asked his men to fill their sacks with sand and pile all the sacks up. He then showed Imam this mountain of sacks. Imam asked Mutawakkil, to look through his (Imam's) two fingers, where he saw a an army of armed Angels. Imam told him that they were at his disposal but he would not use them. (An army is called Askery). Life & Works Ahmed Bin Ishaq relates that when he heard of the death of the 10th Imam he went to Samarra and asked for the whereabouts of the 11th Imam. He was told that Imam had been imprisoned by Mo'taz Billah. After bribing the guards he was able to visit Imam one night. He described the prison as a tunnel under the Khalifa's home where there was no space to stretch ones legs nor room to be able to stand. Ahmed says he cried when he saw Imams condition. Food was only one glass of water and a piece of dry bread a day. He was imprisoned because all the rulers knew of the justice that was promised to come with the coming of the 12th Imam and they wished to prevent anyone being born of the 11th Imam. Whilst in prison he told his companions to accumulate all the masails of Fiqh and he completed the masails on the chapters that were found missing. He introduced the institution of "Taqleed" advising people to follow those who were learned, "Muttaqi", and just, as he was in prison and it was extremely difficult for people to meet him. Khums was collected through his representative and masails too asked to him, Abu-Ja'fer Uthman bin Saeed, who was later to become the representative of the 12th Imam. There was once a severe drought in Samarra and a Christian priest came who whenever he raised his hands caused rain to fall from the heavens. The Muslims faith started wavering and the Khalifa Mo'taz Billah got worried for if they left Islam he would have none to rule over. He went to the 11th Imam saying that Imam's grandfathers religion was in trouble. Imam asked him to call all the people outside Samarra with the Christian priest. He asked the Christian priest to pray for rain. When he raised his hands to pray it started to rain. Imam asked for whatever was in this hands to be taken away and then asked him to pray for rain again. There was no rain this time. Imam showed that what the priest had in this hand was the bone of a Prophet which whenever placed under the open sky caused it to rain. Imam then prayed for rain and it rained. Mo'taz could not re imprison Imam for some time for when the people saw the miracle they all wanted to visit Imam and asked where they might find him. Imam pointed to the Khalifa and asked them to ask him. Mo'taz told them that Imam was staying at the house where the 10th Imam used to reside. Bibi Nargis was there and it was in that year that the 12th Imam was born. Imam was allowed out of prison for 13 months after which he was rearrested. Martyrdom In the six years of his Imamate several attempts were made on his life. On the 1st of Rabi-ul Awwal 260 a.h. Mo'tamad arranged for Imam(a.s.) to be poisoned in prison and then sent him home. Imam(a.s.) was in great pain and difficulty for 8 days. On the 8th of Rabi-ul Awwal he asked his son, the 12th Imam, to bring him some water and then leave him. He died that day and was given ghusl & kafan by his son, Imam Mahdi(a.s.). Burial The funeral prayers were led by the 12th Imam and it was then that a lot of Shia's saw him for the first time. A large number of people attended the funeral and he is buried in Samarra. Additional Notes The 11th Imam was once asked of the signs of a mo'min (believer).He listed the following signs. He is one prays 51 rakaats of salaa daily. He prostates on Khake Shafaa. He wears rings on his right hand. He repeats the verses of Azhan & Ikama. He recites "Bismillah" loudly in Salaa. He prays his Fajr Salaa before the stars disappear and his Dhuhr prayers before the sun starts to decline. He recite Qunoot in Salaa. He dyes his hair and beard. He recites 5 takbirs in Salatul Mayyit.

Mohammad(a.s.) - the 12th and the last Holy Imam

2010-03-10T07:33:00.000-08:00

Name :	Mohammad(a.s.) - the 12th and the last Holy Imam
Title(s) :	Sahib al-Asr waz-Zamaan (Imam of the time/space), Al-Hujjat (proof of Allah), Al-Qaim (the present one), Al-Muntazar (one who is awaited), Al-Muntazir (one who waits the order of Allah), Al-Mahdi (one who guides)
Agnomen :	Abul Qasim
Father :	Imam Hasan Askari(a.s.)
Mother :	Bibi Nargis Khatoon(a.s.)
Birth :	In Samarrah on 15th Shabaan 255 AH (868 AD)
Occultation :	The 12th Imam is still alive but is in occultation by the will of Allah(swt)
Birth and Imamate The promised Mahdi, who is usually mentioned by his title of Imam-i 'Asr (the Imam of the "Period") and Sahib al-Zaman (the Lord of the Age), is the son of the eleventh Imam. His name is the same as that of the Holy Prophet. He was born in Samarrah in 256/868 and until 260/872 when his father was martyred, lived under his father's care and guidance. Sayyida Hakima who was the sister of the 10th Imam (Imam Mohammad Taqi(a.s.)) relates that she went to her nephew's (11th Imam - Imam Hasan Askari(a.s.)) house for iftaar on the 14th of Sha'ban 255 A.H.The 11th Imam asked her to stay as his son was to be born soon. There was no sign of pregnancy on Sayyida Narjis. The 11th Imam asked her to recite Suratul Qadr on Sayyida Narjis. At the time of Fajr on 15th Sha'ban Sayyida Hakima heard the Sura being recited from the womb of Sayyida Narjis. The 11th imam told her that the birth would occur very soon. As soon as the 12th Imam was born he did sijda and proclaimed the oneness of Allah and the Prophet hood of the Prophet (S.A.W.) He also recited the 5th aya of Suratul-Qasas "And We intend to bestow (Our) favours upon those who are weak in the land and make them the Imams (leaders) and make them the heirs". On his right hand was written the 82nd aya of Suratu Bani Israel "The truth has come and falsehood has vanished; Indeed falsehood (is a thing by nature) vanishing". The 11th Imam only told a handful of his most trusted believers of the birth of his son and to a few of his household slaves. One of the women slaves called Naseema relates that when she went to see the baby Imam in his cradle she greeted him with salaam and was replied to. She then sneezed and the Imam said: "Yarhamukallah - it is a blessing from Allah and you have 3 days immunity from death". The last Imam(a.s.) was hidden from public view and only a few of the elite among the Shi'ah were able to meet him. After the martyrdom of his father he became Imam and by Divine Command went into occultation (ghaybat). Thereafter he appeared only to his deputies (na'ib) and even then only in exceptional circumstances. Ghaibat (occultation) of the last Imam (a.s.) The Imam's ghaibat (occultation) was in two phase - Ghaibat-e-Sughra (minor occultation) was for about 69 years - 260 A.H. (872 A.D.) to 329 A.H. (939 A.D.) and the Ghaibat-e-Kubra (greater occultation) started in 329 A.H. (939 A.D.)and will continue until Allah(swt) so wills. Why Ghaibat? the 6th Imam, Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) states the reason of the ghaibat as prevention against being killed. Ishaq bin Yaqub (on authority from 12th Imam) says that all the Imams were under oppressive rulers. Our 12th Imam is hidden in order to rise in arms with obedience to no one. Muhammad Yaqub Al-Kulayni has said that ghaibat is a test from Allah to test the steadfastness of belief in Imam. If he is to remain in Ghaibat, what is the use of his existence? Belief creates hope giving strength to the oppressed. It is a deterrent for the committing of injustice as one is always aware of the constant presence of the Imam. Why insist on 12? Why Imamat not continued and last Imam near Quiyama to do 12th Imam's work? For one who is to cleanse the earth of all wrong and injustice is necessary for him to be born near early Islam and carry pure and pristine Islamic ideas. It is necessary to look from his vantage point at all the upheavals in the world. Personal experience of the past will make him fearless of the seemingly invincible superpowers no matter how strong they are. Why Ghaibat-e-Sughra? To make the Shias used to approaching scholars instead of Imam himself. It started during the time of the 10th Imam who was under almost constant house arrest in Samarra and continuing through GHAIBAT-E-SUGHRA (160 A.H. to 329 A.H.) During Ghaibut-us-Sughra, the Imam(a.s.) appointed four deputies/representatives to represent him among the people. After the death of the fourth deputy, the Imam(a.s.) went into Ghaibut-e-Kubra (major occultation). This was on the 10th Shawal 329 A.H. The 4 representatives were : 1. Janabe Abu Amr Usman Ibne Saeed Amri(a.r.) It is said that at the age of 11 years he was a servant in the house of the 9th Imam(a.s.) later to enjoy the confidence of Imam. He occupied the same position of trust with the 10th and 11th Imam who told their Shias that after him they would not see the 12th Imam and would have to obey Uthman. After the 11th Imam's martyrdom Uthman moved to Baghdad and disguised as a butter seller he set up the collection of khums for Imam. He served the 12th Imam for 18 months and received a letter near his death from Imam(a.s.) telling him to appoint his son Mohammed as the next representative. 2. Janab Abu Jafar Mohammad Ibne Usman Ibne Saeed Amri (a.r.) He continued in his fathers footsteps also acting as a butter seller. He managed to keep Imam's existence a secret from the Abbasids until the early years of the reign of Al-Mutadid. The rulers then started searching hard for Imam and killed countless mu'mineen with even the slightest resemblance to Imam. Spies were set up to probe the khums network. Imam issued an order for Shias not to take his name nor show mas'ala of khums to anyone until absolutely sure of them. As instructed by Imam he appointed Husayn bin Rawh as the next representative after his death in 305 A.H. 3. Janab Abul Qasim Husain Ibne Rauh Nawbakhti (a.r.) His kuniyya was Abul Qasim. His sociable nature won him respect even from the Ahlul-Sunnah. He managed to keep his activities a secret from the rulers whilst maintaining good relations with them. It is to him that we address the 'ariza' to be delivered to Imam. He served faithfully until he died in Sha'ban 326 a.h. revealing the appointment of Ali bin Muhammad Samry after him. 4. Janab Abul Hasan Ali Ibne Mohammad Seymouri (a.r.) He served for only three years. A week before his death he received a letter from the Imam(a.s.) telling him of his forthcoming death and that there would be no representative after him and that Imam(a.s.) was now going into Ghaibat-e-Kubra (major occultation). Imam(a.s.) would then appear when Allah(swt) wills it. Ali bin Muhammad Samry(a.r.) died on 15th Sha'ban 329 A.H. GHAIBAT E KUBRA (329 A.H. to present) Imam's ghaibat is described by the Aimma like that of Prophet Yusuf (A.S.) who was amongst his brothers yet they did not recognise him. Imam is known to meet a believer on 3 occasions: 1. At the time of trouble. 2. He is present at every Hajj. 3. He attends the funeral of every believer who has no religious obligations pending on him/her e.g. Khums. During this time he continues to guide. Numerous letters have been received from him by (to quote a few) Ishaq bin Yaqub, Sheikh Mufeed... . It is reported that 30 people all over the world meet with him regularly. It is also reported that Jaziratul Khadra (green islands or Bermuda Triangle) is a vast land in Imam's kingdom occupied by a large number of Shia and governed by Imam's family. *Responsibilities During Ghaibat e Kubra* Pray for the safety of Imam(a.s.) at all time. Be in waiting for Imam(a.s.) at all times. Give Sadaqa for Imam(a.s.). Pray for his re-appearance. Whenever faced with difficulty (whether small or big) ask for assistance from Imam(a.s.). Whenever his name is heard or recited, one should stand if possible, send salaams on him, put hand on head and bow. If possible perform Hajj/Umra for Imam(a.s.). (Hajj-After own Wajibat) RE-APPEARANCE OF IMAM AL MAHDI (A.S.) " The actual time of appearance is only known by Allah" However various indications have been given by our Aimma. - It will be the day of Friday. - It will be the 10th of Muharram. - The century will be an odd number. - There will be both a solar and lunar eclipse in the month of Ramadhan but contrary to all norms and calculations. - A voice will be heard announcing the appearance of Imam which will be heard by all in their own language. - Imam Ali (a.s.) related to Sa'sa bin Sawhaan: The 12th Imam will appear when: There will be a loud noise from the sky with which the eardrums will pierce. - Nasibayn (Iraq) will burn on all four sides. - Basra will be abandoned. - Turkey will be ruled by Usmanis. - People will usurp that which they are trusted with. - People will 'kill' Salaa. (It will not be abandoned but its essence destroyed). - People will carry music in their pockets. - The 5th , 6th and 7th Imams have said: "A great man from the people of Qum will rise up and take a stand. He will invite people will invite people towards the truth. Brave people like strong mountains, not fearing fighting and having trust in Allah will come to his help.......... Finally the enemy of Islam will withdraw.............. The rule of Islamic Law will be established by the people themselves". "Kufa will become barren of Islamic knowledge........... whilst Qum will become the centre of Islamic Fiqh............ so much so that it will spread throughout the world that not a single person will remain ignorant of the message of Islam". "These people will be the vicegerents of the 12th Imam. Their rule will continue and link with the appearance of the 12th Imam. They will not entrust the rule established by them to any but Imam on his reappearance". - Imam Ali (a.s.) took Kumayl bin Ziyad to the outskirts of Kufa and showed him where he was to be buried. He then told him that all round his grave there would be tall buildings carrying the sign of Shaitan on them. The sign would be called Antennae. - Sufyani will appear. He will be a Jew but make himself apparent as a Muslim. He will be supported fully by the Christian governments and his mission will be to destroy Shias. He will offer booty to anyone who kills a Shia. The result will be such that even neighbours who have lived as brothers for years will kill Shias for money. He will be finally killed by Prophet Isa (A.S.) - Imam will appear in Makka and his 'zahoor' will be in two stages (similar to Prophet hood of the Prophet). 1st Stage - This will be in secret and not announced to all (only to close followers). 2nd Stage - Open announcement on the 10th of Muharram (Ashura). - In the Zil-Hajjah of the preceding to Imam's appearance on Ashura, 40 momineen who will be Imam's closest companions will realise the nearness of 'zahoor' and go for Hajj. They will not return home and on the 15th of Zil-Hijjah they will go to the Ka'ba and cry a lot. - One of them will be called by Imam(a.s.), introduced and told to be the representative of the 40. They will all meet Imam(a.s.) between the 16th and 22nd of Zil-Hijjah. Imam will tell them that one of them will have to announce the arrival of Imam(a.s.) at the door of the Ka'ba but whosoever would do this would be killed immediately. - On the 25th Zil-Hijjah the announcement will be made and the announcer killed (This is the blood of Nafse Zakiyya - pure soul, those whose blood will touch the Ka'ba and who is mentioned in numerous prophecies). His blood will be avenged 2 weeks later when Imam(a.s.) will appear himself at the Ka'ba. - Those who answer the first call will be 313 in number. - Imam's army will consist of 10.000 momineen. - Imam will establish his government in Kufa and his treasury in Masjidus Sahla. Additional notes on the re-appearance of Imam(a.s.). In Sheikh Tusi's 'Ghaybat', Abu Baseer quoted Imam Ja'fer As-Sadiq (A.S.) as saying "The call in the name of QAIM (i.e. Imam Al Mahdi (a.s.) ) will be made in the night of the 23rd Ramadhan and he will make his appearance on the day of Ashura, the day of Imam Hussain's (a.s.) martyrdom". Sheikh Sudooq in his book Kamaaluddin relates from Zararah that Imam Jafer as-Sadiq(a.s.) said "The announcer will call the name of the Qaim(a.s.)". I asked whether this call is for a particular group or if it is meant for everyone, Imam Jafer Sadiq(a.s.) said: "Shaitan will not leave the people alone. He will call late in the night and will plunge people into doubt". In the 13th volume of Bihar-ul-Anwar, Imam Al-Baqir(a.s.) is quoted as saying that "The Qaim (Imam Al-Mahdi(a.s.)) will send one of his companions to Makka and will ask him to inform them that I'm sent by so-and-so to you and that we are the merciful Ahlul-Bayt and the Store-house of 'Risalat' (religious guidance) and 'Khilafat' and we are the progeny of Muhammad(pbuh&hf) and from the time that the Prophet of Islam(pbuh&hf) left this world until now, we've been oppressed and deprived and our rights have been usurped. So we call you to befriend us. When that young man will utter these words, he will be caught and beheaded between 'Rukn' and 'madam' (in Masjidul Haram) and this young man is the 'Nafse Zaki'.......... And between the death of the 'Nafse Zaki' and the re-appearance of Imam Al-Mahdi (A.S.) there will not be a gap of fifteen nights". Other signs heralding the reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (a.s) Prophet Muhammed (saws) has said: "Even if the entire duration of the world’s existence has already been exhausted and only one day is left before Doomsday, Allah will expand that day to such length of time as to accommodate the kingdom of a person from my Ahlul-Bayt who will be called by name. He will fill out the earth with and justice as it will have been full of injustice and tyranny (by then)" From this Hadith, it is clear to every Muslim that the twelfth Imam will reappear when this world is full of sins and injustice. There are many signs mentioned by the Masumeen (a.s) on the reappearance of the 12th Imam. It is reported in Biharul Anwar that after the last pilgrimage the Prophet made, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) stood near the Kaaba, and called his people to listen to him. The Prophet said: “listen to me carefully so that you transmit these words of mine to those who are absent today.” The Prophet began, “My people, a time will come when kings and rulers will be tyrannical.” The Prophet also said that the payment of Zakat will be stopped. According to the Masumeen(a.s), Muslim countries will seek aid from non Muslim countries. This is already evident in a number of Muslim countries. Another prediction that is come true is that 60 impostors will claim to be Prophets. By their attractiveness, their persuasion, and their personality, they will misguide the people. 58 false Prophets have already emerged since the days of the Prophet (s.a.w.). We have only two more to witness. It is reported in Qayamat-e-Sughra citing “Oqdatud-Durr” that Hazrat Amir(a.s) has said that the Mahdi will not appear until one-third of the world population will die by being killed and one-third will die as a result of epidemics. The Last Signs Heralding the Appearance of Imam al-Mahdi (a.s) There is a Hadith from Imam Muhammed Baqir (a.s) that for three or seven consecutive days, one will see reddish yellow fire raging in the East. Sufiani will emerge in Palestine, where he will start a revolt in the month of Rajab. He will be an uncompassionate rebel and his rule will last for eight consecutive months. He will conquer and rule Egypt for four consecutive months. Sufiani will conquer Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, and Syria. Sufiani has been specifically described by Aimma A.S. as an ugly, blistered, green-eyed, cross-eyed person who will be an enemy of the friends of the Ahlul-Bait. Imam Ali (a.s) has said that Sufiani’s hatred of the devotees of the Ahlul-Bait will be such that any person named Ali, Fatema, Hassan, Hussein, Zainab, Ruquaiya will be arrested and beheaded straight away without further investigations. Sufiani will rip the Mimber of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.). The holy house of the Prophet which contains his grave will be pulled and used as a stable. Horses will be tied in that Holy place. Sufiani will then decide to attack Makka. His purpose would be to demolish the Holy Kaaba and kill the entire population of Makka. Sufiani’s army will set out via Baghdad but, as Allah would have it, when they get between Medina and Makka, in the desert of Baida, suddenly one night they will hear a voice from the sky which will say, “O Baida eat up the entire army of Sufiani.” It is said that the entire army numbering 100,000 persons will be swallowed up by the earth, except for two. The two who will be spared will suddenly encounter an angel. He will slap both of them turning their faces right round, looking behind instead of front. And that will be the time when Imam al-Mahdi (a.s) will already have reappeared in Makka. The Imam will establish his authority in the Holy Mosque at Makka in the Haram. The angel will then order one of them calling him Bashir. “O Bashir, go straight to Makka, into the Haram and inform the Imam that Sufiani’s army has been swallowed up by the land. The other called Nazir will be ordered to go to Sufiani and tell him that the Imam has already appeared. He should proceed straight to Makka and declare allegiance to him. Sufiani will prepare to attack the Imam but will not have enough courage. The Imam will catch Sufiani in Jerusalem and will kill him. Imam Ali (a.s) has said that nine definite signs will precede the emergence of Hazrat Mahdi (a.s). These nine signs are: Dajaal will emerge. A loud voice will be heard from the sky. Sufiani will appear and wage a fierce war. The army of Sufiani will be swallowed by a sudden opening of the land between Makka and Medina in the desert of Baida. A revered wise saint will be murdered in Makka. (This saint is to be a Hashimite descent.) A Seyyid descendant of Imam Hassan (a.s) will emerge with his army. The army of Seyyid-e-Hassan and an image of a man will appear in the sky opposite the sun. There will be two eclipses in the holy month of Ramadhan contrary to the normal order and calculation and the eclipse of the moon. On three occasions a loud voice from the sky will be heard in the holy month of Ramadhan. Other Prophets(pbut) will join the Imam(a.s.) Hazrat Isa, Hazrat Khizr, Hazrat Ilias, and Hazrat Idris(pbut) will give allegiance to the Imam(a.s.) when he reapers. Also Hazrat Jibrael(a.s.) will announce 313 companions of the Imam(a.s.). These 313 companions will be people of eminent piety, great knowledge and absolutely steadfast in their determination and faith towards the Imam(a.s.). Another 1000 people will be in the army of the Imam(a.s.). These people will fight battles and kill enemies like Dajjal, who will appear from India. Dajjal will have the musical tunes with him. Then the Imam(a.s.) will lead the prayers, Hazrat Isa(pbuh) will be behind him. Lets us all pray for the reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi(a.s).

ZAKIR MUKHTAR KHOKHER

2010-03-09T08:02:00.000-08:00

فرمائش کرو فرمائش کرو

FERMAISH KERO Download

ہم ہیں منتظر مولا

HUM HAIN MUNTZER MOULA Download

پنجتن کو مانتے ہیں

PANJATAN KO MANTAY HAIN Download

Zakir Aashiq Hussain B.a QASEEDAY

2010-03-09T07:56:00.000-08:00

آج کا موضوعِ سخن میرا

aaj-ka-mozowe-sukhan-hai-me Download

آ سیدھا راستہ دکھاوان

aa-sidha-rasta Download

ہر جا علی علی اے

har-jaa-ali-ali-eh Download

ramadan Quranic Verse

2010-02-18T08:52:00.000-08:00

ramadan wallpaper 1

Quranic Verse about Ramadan

Mosque Al Azhar Cairo

2010-02-18T08:48:00.000-08:00

Mosque Al Azhar Cairo

Ramadan Karim 2

Aye sham aye sham noha by Mohsin Raza Kazmi

2010-02-07T07:33:00.001-08:00

ZAKIR AARIF SHAH BHAKHER!!!

2010-01-31T07:05:00.000-08:00

ZAKIR AARAF SHAH BAKHAR ( DERBAR-E-YAZEED) Download

ZAKIR AAMIR ABBAS RUBANI!!!

2010-01-31T07:01:00.000-08:00

1	ZAKIR AAMIR ABBAS RUBANI ( 20TH OCTOBER 2007 ) IMAM BARGAH MAZAFAR PUR
2	ZAKIR AAMIR ABBAS RUBANI ( BI BI ZAINAB (A.S) 2008 LAHORE
3	ZAKIR AAMIR ABBAS RUBANI ( FARZAND-E-IMAM MOSA KAZAM (A.S) MAY 2008
4	ZAKIR AAMIR ABBAS RUBANI ( GHAZI SARKAR (A.S) 2008 LAHORE
5	ZAKIR AAMIR ABBAS RUBANI ( JORI) 23 MOHERM 2008
6	ZAKIR AAMIR ABBAS RUBANI ( KHAT-E-SAEED ) 2008 LAHOR
7	ZAKIR AAMIR ABBAS RUBANI ( SHAHZADA ALI ASGHAR (A.S) 21 JUNE 2008 LAHORE
8	ZAKIR AAMIR ABBAS RUBANI ( SHAM-E-GHEREEBAN ) 2008 LAHOR
9	ZAKIR AAMIR ABBAS RUBANI ( WAPSI MADINA)
10	ZAKIR AAMIR ABBAS RUBANI (BIBI ZAINAB (S.A)
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12	ZAKIR AAMIR RUBANI ( 1ST JUNE 2008 PINOWAL GONDAL ROAD SIALKOT
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16	ZAKIR AAMMIR ABBAS RUBANI ( 8TH NOVEMBER 2008 ) IMAM BARGAH MAZAFAR PUR SIALKOT

majlis in sheikhupur

2010-01-31T06:39:00.000-08:00

AZAN by Raja Raza

2010-01-31T06:34:00.000-08:00

Imamate of the Ahl al-Bayt

2009-12-18T22:41:00.001-08:00

Most of the early Shia as well as Zaydis differed only marginally from mainstream Sunnis in their views on political leadership, but it is possible in this sect to see a refinement of Shīa doctrine. Early Sunnis traditionally held that the political leader must come from the tribe of Muhammad—namely, the Quraysh. The Zaydīs narrowed the political claims of the Ali's supporters, claiming that not just any descendant of 'Alī would be eligible to lead the Muslim community (ummah) but only those males directly descended from Muḥammad through the union of 'Alī and Fāṭimah. But during Abbasid revolts, other Shīa, who came to be known as imāmiyyah (followers of the Imams) follow theological school of Ja'far al-Sadiq. They asserted a more exalted religious role for Imams and insisted that, at any given time, whether in power or not, a single male descendant of 'Alī and Fāṭimah was the divinely appointed Imam and the sole authority, in his time, on all matters of faith and law. To those Shīʿites, love of the imams and of their persecuted cause became as important as belief in God’s oneness and the mission of Muhammad.^[21]

Later most of Shia, including Twelver and Ismaili, became Imami. Imamis Shia believe that Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad.^[21] Imams are human individual who not only rules over the community with justice, but also is able to keep and interpret the Divine Law and its esoteric meaning. Muhammad and Imams' words and deeds are a guide and model for the community to follow; as a result, they must be free from error and sin, and must be chosen by divine decree, or nass, through Muhammad.^[22]^[23]

According to this view, there is always an Imam of the Age, who is the divinely appointed authority on all matters of faith and law in the Muslim community. ‘Alī was the first Imam of this line, the rightful successor to Muhammad, followed by male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah Zahra.^[21]

This difference between following either the Ahl al-Bayt (Muhammad's family and descendants) or the Caliph Abu Bakr has shaped Shia and non-Shia views on some of the Qur'an, the Hadith (narrations from Muhammad) and other areas of Islam. For instance, the collection of Hadith venerated by Shia Muslims is centered on narrations by members of the Ahl al-Bayt and their supporters, while some Hadith by narrators not belonging to or supporting the Ahl al-Bayt are not included (those of Abu Huraira, for example). According to the Sunnis, Ali was the third successor to Abu Bakr however, the Shia maintain that Ali was the first divinely sanctioned "Imam," or successor of Muhammad. The seminal event in Shia history is the martyrdom in 680 CE at the Battle of Karbala of Ali's son Hussein, who led an non-allegiance movement against the defiant caliph (71 of Hussein's followers were killed as well). Hussein came to symbolize resistance to tyranny.

It is believed in Twelver and Ismaili Shī‘ah Islam that ‘aql, divine wisdom, was the source of the souls of the prophets and imams and gave them esoteric knowledge called ḥikmah and that their sufferings were a means of divine grace to their devotees.^[3]^[21]^[24] Although the imam was not the recipient of a divine revelation, he had a close relationship with God, through which God guides him, and the Imam in turn guides the people. Imamate, or belief in the divine guide is a fundamental belief in the Twelver and Ismaili Shī‘ī branches and is based on the concept that God would not leave humanity without access to divine guidance.^[25]

[edit] Ismah

Main article: Ismah

Ismah is the concept of infallibility or "divinely bestowed freedom from error and sin" in Islam.^[26] Muslims believe that Muhammad and other prophets in Islam possessed ‘iṣmah. Twelver and Ismaili Shī‘ah Muslims also attribute the quality to Imāms as well as to Fatima Zahra, daughter of Muhammad, in contrast to the Zaidi, who do not attribute ‘ismah to the Imāms.

According to Shī‘ah theologians, infallibility is considered a rational necessary precondition for spiritual and religious guidance. They argue that since God has commanded absolute obedience from these figures they must only order that which is right. The state of infallibility is based on the Shī‘ah interpretation of the verse of purification.^{[Qur'an 33:33]}^[27] Thus they are, the most pure ones, the only immaculate ones preserved from, and immune to, all uncleanness.^[28] It doesn't mean that supernatural powers prevent them from committing a sin, but it is due to the fact that they have an absolute belief in God so that they find themselves in presence of God.^[29] They have also complete knowledge about God's will. They are in possession of all the knowledge brought by the angels to the prophets (nabi) and the messengers (Rasul). Their knowledge encompasses the totality of all times. Thus they act without fault in religious matters.^[30]

Succession of Ali

2009-12-18T22:40:00.001-08:00

Shī‘ah Muslims believe that just as a prophet is appointed by God alone, only God has the prerogative to appoint the successor to his prophet. They believe that God chose ‘Alī to be the successor, infallible and divinely chosen. Thus they say that Muhammad, before his death, appointed Ali as his successor.

‘Ali was Muhammad's first cousin and closest living male relative, as well as his son-in-law, having married his daughter Fatimah.^[12]^[15]^[16] ‘Ali would eventually become the fourth Muslim caliph.^[17]

Shia Muslims believe that Muhammad had appointed ‘Ali to be his successor.^[15] However, others made arrangements that prevented ‘Ali from being recognised as such for thirty-five years.

When Muhammad died, ‘Ali and Muhammad's closest relatives made the funeral arrangements. While they were preparing his body, Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and Abu ‘Ubayda met with the leaders of Medina and elected Abu Bakr as khalifa ("caliph"). ‘Ali and his family were dismayed, but accepted the appointment for the sake of unity in the early Muslim community.^[15]

It was not until the murder of the third khalifa, ‘Uthman, that the Muslims in Medina invited ‘Ali to become the fourth khalifa.^[15]

While ‘Ali was caliph, his capital was in Kufah, Iraq.^[18]

‘Ali's rule over the early Muslim community was often contested. As a result, he had to struggle to maintain his power, waging "increasingly unsuccessful wars." After Ali's murder in 661 CE, his main rival Mu‘awiya claimed the caliphate.^[19] Some of the problems came from the very people who had initially supported ‘Ali's claim to rule. While the rebels who accused ‘Uthman of nepotism affirmed ‘Ali's khilafa, they later turned against him and fought him.^[15]

‘Ali ruled from 656 CE to 661 CE,^[15] when he was assassinated.^[20]

Shia Islam

2009-12-18T22:36:00.000-08:00

Shia Islam (Arabic: شيعة‎ Shī‘ah, sometimes spelled Shi'a), is the second largest denomination of Islam, after Sunni Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'as.

Similar to other schools of thought in Islam, Shia Islam is based on the teachings of the Islamic holy book, the Qur'an and the message of the final prophet of Islam,^[1] Muhammad.^[2] In contrast to other schools of thought, Shia Islam holds that Muhammad's family, the Ahl al-Bayt ("the People of the House"), and certain individuals among his descendants, who are known as Imams, have special spiritual and political rule over the community.^[1]^[3] Shia Muslims further believe that Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, was the first of these Imams and was the rightful successor to Muhammad^[4] and thus reject the legitimacy of the first three Rashidun caliphs.^[4]^[5] Shīʿites have come to account for roughly one-tenth of the Muslim population worldwide.

Shi'a Islam is divided into three branches.^[6] The largest Shīʿite sect in the early 21st century is the Ithnā ʿAshariyyah^[7], commonly referred to in English as the Twelvers; in fact the term Shi'a often refers to Twelver Shi'a only^{[citation needed]}. Twelvers constitute the majority of the population in Iran,^[8] Azerbaijan,^[9] Bahrain,^[10], and Iraq. Countries with a significant minority of Shia are Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, Oman and Yemen. Other smaller branches include the Ismaili and Zaidi, who dispute the Twelver lineage of Imams and beliefs.^[11]

The Shia Islamic faith is vast and inclusive of many different groups.^[12] There are various Shia theological beliefs, schools of jurisprudence, philosophical beliefs, and spiritual movements.^{[citation needed]} Shi'a Islam embodies a completely independent system of religious interpretation and political authority in the Muslim world.^{[citation needed]} The Shi'a identity emerged during the lifetime of Muhammad,^[13] and Shia theology was formulated in the second century.^[14] The first Shi'a governments and societies were established by the end of the third century (after Hijra).[

The Discourse of Ayatullah Murtaza Mutahhari

2009-12-15T08:56:00.000-08:00

Discourse One:

The Criteria for Humanity

By Ayatullah Murtaza Mutahhari

Extracted from Spiritual Discourses

I have been asked to discuss the question of the criteria for humanity. If we were to do so from the viewpoint of biology, this would be an easy matter since we would be dealing with the human body and the place of human beings in the animal world, in which case there is no difference between individuals. By the standard of anatomy, medicine, and, even to some extent, psychology, there are no major differences between two or more individuals.

But is humanity limited to the body? Is human per- fection and mobility confined to man's physical aspect? In humanistic sciences there is talk of perfect and imper- fect man, of the low and high kind. What type of human being is ethically and socially worthy of respect because of his or her perfection, or deserving of contempt because of his or her imperfections? This is a topic which has al- ways attracted attention not only in human knowledge, but also in various religions. For example, the Quran speaks of human beings who are higher than angels and worthy of homage by the latter. It also mentions human beings who are inferior to animals.

What is the criteria which measures the differences be- tween human beings? This question is not only related to religion. Materialistic philosophers, too, who do not believe in God and religion, discuss the question of man, humanity and superior and inferior beings.

What is the criteria according to these philosophers? Can we say that human beings are equal genetically, but that they differ in knowledge. That is, something which is acquired not inherited, so that a person with more know- ledge is higher than one with less? Is this related to acade- mic knowledge which gives superiority according to the level and stage of one's studies? Do we respect people only in proportion to their learning? Is Abudhar honoured be- cause he was more learned than his contemporaries? Is Mu'awiyyah blameworthy and disliked because he had inferior knowledge?

Part II.

I do not believe that learning is a criterion for humanity. If it were so, we should say that Einstein was the most endowed with qualities of humanity since he was the most learned man of his time.

Another view is that although knowledge is one of the requisites of humanity, and although the importance of awareness of the self, of the society and of the world can- not be denied, it is inadequate. This view claims that humanity is measured by character and disposition. A per- son may be very learned, but if he has a bad character, would he be considered to be a real human being?

An animal behaves according to its instincts and it possesses no will to rule over its instincts. When we call a dog a faithful animal, its faithfulness is instinctive. An ant is prudent by instinct. There are also human beings in the world who have a disposition resembling that of an animal. They possess their natural instincts, but have done nothing to refine themselves, and are condemned only to follow their nature.

The awareness of an animal is limited to its own time and place, while man's awareness allows him to know the past and have an idea of the future and also step beyond his own area and even his own planet. But the question of character is a different matter. Knowledge is related to what one is taught, while character is related to training and the forming of habits.

I do not think that knowledge as a criterion of humani- ty is acceptable and I will later explain what type of people support it. The second view, i.e., characteristics as a criter- ion of humanity, has more supporters. But we may ask what kind of characteristics and dispositions? One of the answers to this question is that love is the desired criterion, love, which is the mother of other fine dispositions. Thus, if one bases one's character on the love of human beings, one has real humanity. Such a person is as interested in others as in one's '"self " or even more interested in them.

In religion this is called self-sacrifice. There is a state- ment in a book that there is an instruction in all religions to love for others what you love for yourself, and dislike for them what you dislike for yourself. This has been stated in our traditions. This is the logic of love. As we know, in the Hindu schools and in Christianity, much emphasis is laid on love. But they have gone so far as to lose sight of everything else and maintain that love is to be a course of action in all circumstances. Thus the love of both these ideologies is a kind of stupefaction and the adequacy of love as a criterion of humanity is to be discussed.

Part III.

But if we accept the love for other human beings as the criterion, the issue will be solved more easily than if we accept knowledge as the criterion. For example, concerning our preference for Abudhar over Mu'awiyyah, we are in a better position to judge them on the basis of love . Mu'awiy- yah was a selfish and ambitious man who exploited others by force. Abudhar was the reverse, and although he had all the possibilities and even though Mu'awiyyah was prepared to offer him many privileges, yet he was anxious about the fate of others, particularly those who were oppressed by Mu'awiyyah. That is why he arose against this wicked man and spent his last years in exile where he died. Thus, we call Abudhar human as he loved others, and we consider Mu'a- wiyyah inhuman as he was only interested in himself.

Or, similarly, why do we think Hadrat Ali, peace be upon him, is a perfect human being? Because he felt soc- iety's pain, and his 'I' had become 'We'. His personality attracted all others. He was not an individual separated from others. He was a limb or organ of a whole body. He himself said that a pain in one part of society, as in a body, made itself felt in the other parts, one of which was himself. Ali had declared this long before the humanistic philosophy of the twentieth century claimed it as an ideal.

When he heard that a governor appointed by him had attended a feast, he wrote him a letter of protest which is quoted in the Nahj ul-Balagha. It is not mentioned what kind of a feast it had been, whether there had been drinking or gambling or dancing. The governor was considered guilty by Hadrat Ali because he had participated in an aristocratic feast which was not attended by any poor people.

He says, "I never believed a governor and representative of mine would attend such a party of the nobility." He then describes his own life and says that he felt other people's pain more than his own and their pain prevented him from feeling his own. His words show that he was a truly learned and wise sage. Yet the reason why we honor him so deeply is not only because of his wide knowledge, but because he was human. He was not unaware of the destiny of others.

Another school of thought considers resolution and will- power as the criterion for humanity. It claims that if a person can dominate himself, his instincts, nerves and passions by his will-power and reason and not be dominated over by his inclinations and desires, he is really human.

Part IV.

There is a difference between desire and will. Desire is an attraction by an exterior force, a relation between man and external objects, like a hungry man drawn by food, or sexual attraction. Even sleep is an attraction. So is desire for rank and position. But resolution is something internal, which liberates one from the urges of desire. It places desires at the disposal of will-power to employ them as it considers expedient. Most of our past moralists emphasized resolution as a criterion for humanity. People, unlike ani- mals, which are ruled by instinct, can decide to act against their own inclinations. Thus a person of resolution is more human than one who cannot control the 'self'.

Another criterion for humanity is freedom. What does this mean? It means that to the extent that one tolerates no force, and is not captivated by any power and can choose freely, one is human. In modern schools of thought, much emphasis is laid on freedom as one of the criteria of humanity. Is this view correct or not? It is both correct and incorrect. As a requisite for humanity, it is correct, but as the sole criterion for humanity, it is wrong.

Islam has laid great emphasis on self-control. I relate a story here in connection with it. It is narrated that the Pro- phet was passing by a place in Medina where a number of young men were testing their strength by lifting a heavy stone. When they saw the Prophet, they asked him to act as judge. The Prophet agreed, and at the end of the com- petition he said, "Do you know who is the strongest? It is he who controls his anger and does not allow it to over- come him. He must not use his anger in a way contrary to God's satisfaction and should be able to dominate over his own desires."

On that day, the Prophet transformed a physical contest into a spiritual one. What he meant was that physical strength shows manliness but it is not the only sign of it. True manliness is in the strength of will power.

We call Hadrat Ali the 'Lion of God', for he was more manly than all in two ways: Externally in society and on the battlefield where he could overthrow his strongest opponents; and, more important than that, internally, meaning that he was in perfect control of himself and of every whim and wish.

Part V.

Jalal al-din Rumi tells a story in his Mathnavi about Hadrat Ali as a young man of 24 or 25 in which he por- trays a fine picture of manliness. He had thrown down his adversary in a battle and was sitting on his chest, about to kill him. The man spit on Hadrat's face. Annoyed, Hadrat Ali temporarily leaves the man and walks about for a while. The man asks why he left him to himself. Hadrat answers, "If I had killed you then, it would have been in anger, not in the way of my duty to my goal and for the sake of God." This is a wonderful example of self control.

Hadrat Ali says in his testament to his son, Imam Hasan, peace be upon him, "Consider yourself and your life above every mean deed. In return for what you pay out of your life for desires, you receive nothing. Do not make yourself a slave of others, for God has created you free." The ques- tion of freedom is something that the school of existential- ism, too, accepts as a criterion for humanity.

Another criterion for humanity is the question of duty and responsibility which began with Kant and has been em- phasized in our own time. This means feeling responsible to society, to oneself and to one's family. How should one obtain this feeling and what is its basis? Is it created in one's conscience?

Another school of thought, including Plato, considers beauty as the criterion for humanity. All schools recognize and approve of justice. One school approves of justice from an ethical viewpoint. Another one approves of it because it considers that there is a relation between justice and free- dom, while Plato thinks justice is good in both the indivi- dual and society, because it leads to poise and beauty. Of course, his idea of beauty is obviously spiritual beauty.

On another occasion we will judge between all these schools and we will review the views of Islam on this issue.

Ref :

Spiritual Discourses

by Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari

Discourse Two; The School of Humanity

By Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari

Extracted from Spiritual Discourses

The subject of our discourse is 'the school of humanity'. The human being who is the only inquisitive being in the world that we know, has always been subjected to investi- gation and discussion.

The word 'humanity' has always been connected with a sense of loftiness and sanctity as a being superior to animals from various points of view, such as knowledge justice, freedom, moral conscience, etc. Although many of humani- ty's sacred objects have been subjected to doubt and even denial, apparently no school of thought has yet gone so far as to scorn the special dignity of humanity and its superiority over other Creatures.

This fact has been elegantly expressed in the poems of Rumi and Sa'adi and by other poets of ours. This topic is also the theme of most of the world's literature, both reli- gious and non-religious, in which the question of humanity and its glorification has been described. In Islamic literature, too, both in Persian and Arabic, we come across many such statements.

In the last two centuries, with the great advance of science, humanity has suddenly fallen from that pedestal of sanctity it had always been given. It fell with a real crash since the more one is elevated, the greater is the damage Caused by the fall. In the past, mankind has been ex- acted to the rank of a demi-god as witnessed in the poems of Hafiz and other poets.

The first discovery of humanity was the form of the universe which revolutionized its ideas. Before that, the earth was believed to be the center of the universe round which all the plants and stars revolved. Science proved that the earth was a small planet which revolved around the sun and the solar System was only an insignificant part of the universe.

It was then that the position of humanity as the center of all possibilities and as the goal of creation was subjected to doubt and denial, and no one dared any longer to make claims about its exalted position. Then, another severe blow dealt, was the idea that the human being was no longer a divine creature and vice gerent of God upon the earth was given up.

Biological research on the question of evolution and the origin of species at once showed the relationship of people with those same animals which they Scorned and despised. It proved them to be an evolved form of a monkey or some other animal and thus they lost their divine origin.

Another strong blow as against humanity's apparently brilliant record of activities, namely, that it could act in such a way that showed only goodness and benevolence, whose motive was only the love of Cod, and lacking all animal aspects. The new thesis was that the claim of humanity to all that sanctity and virtue was false and all the activities to which it had given the name of the love of knowledge, art, beauty, morality and conscience, prayer and devotion and everything supernatural, are similar to those which can be found in animals, too, except in a more complex form and mechanism. It was said that the stomach is the source and cause of all activities. Some went so far as to say that the stomach was also the basis of its thoughts and feelings. There were still others who considered this position too high and claimed that the human being was even lower than he is.

Eventually it was concluded that this being who had formerly claimed divine origin and exaltation must be sub- jected to a careful study to discover its true nature. Another theory was offered that there is no difference between hu- mans, plants and even inanimate objects. There is, of course, a difference in the texture and form, but not in the sub- stance of which they were all made. It was stated that spirit and divine breath were non-existent because the human being is a machine which is only more complicated than other machines such as cars, planes, and satellites; that is, only a mechanical creature.

This was a great blow to humanity and yet human values were not wholly condemned except in some schools of thought where ideas like peace, freedom, spirituality, justice and compassion were considered as jokes.

But since the middle of the 19th century, humanity has won fresh attention in philosophical schools Such as schools of humanity and even worship of human beings. In the past the human being was only a sign of spirituality and the Quran speaks of the human being as being the worthiest creature through whom God could be understood.

Now the human being is trying to recover its former honor and sanctity and become a goal in itself but without the adoption of the former criteria and without a regard for its divine or non-divine aspect, or the points stated in the Quran that everything that is created on earth is for it and that God has breathed some of this spirit into it to making it a manifestation of Himself.

Part II

There is no longer any talk of the above matters, nor even a discussion of internal human motives, but only a belief in the sanctity of humanity and its intelligence. Now we see all schools of thought and even the declaration of human rights beginning their claims with respect for the inherent dignity of human beings. They say this in order to base their education on its foundation and though each individual is able to violate the rights of others, this respect for the dignity and sanctity of humanity will serve as a check to such violations.

Most of those who follow the philosophy of humani- tarianism, have criteria different from those of the past. But the difficulty lies in this same contradiction in the life, thought and logic of mankind today, a logic which lacks foundation .

I do not think that there are any scholars in the world who would interpret humanitarianism to mean universal peace. There are, of course, ordinary people who think all human beings in the world are the same and of equal worth. But this is not true. One is learned, another is ignorant; one is virtuous, another is impure; one is tyrannical, another is oppressed; one is benevolent, another is malevolent. Should we consider them all the same from a humanitarian point of view, irrespective of their knowledge, faith, chasti- ty and benevolence or vice versa?

If we say so, we are betraying humanity. Let me give an example. Both A and B are human beings who are biologi- cally similar. If you dislike one of them, it has nothing to do with his blood group. But if you are humanitarian, you cannot be indifferent to both of them and claim that they are equally human; for then both should be equally liked, or both equally disliked. But this is not so since the human being's basic difference with animals is that the human being has more potentiality than animals and less actuality. What does that mean? A horse on its birth possesses all the peculiarities that a horse should have and if it has less than that, it can gain it by practice. But a human being has potential only at birth. lt is not known what he or she will be in the future. The shape is human hut that person may, in reality, become a wolf or a sheep or a human being.

Mulla Sadra, the great Iranian Islamic philosopher, in pointing out the error of people in thinking human beings equal in everything, says that there are as many kinds of individuals as there are individuals. He is, of courses regard- ing the human being philosophically, not biologically. A biologist pays attention to human organs and limbs, while a philosopher concentrates on the human being's qualities and thus he cannot believe that human beings are all of the same kind. That is why human values are potential. Some attain the height of humanity while others fail to do so. As Hadrat Ali says, "The shape is humans but the mind may be a beast." Not all individuals have an interior proportio- nate to their exterior.

As I said before, to a great extent, the world is returning, once again to the school of humanity, meaning that philoso- phies of humanity have appeared; and the strangest of them all is the creed of humanity which Auguste Compte originated in the middle of the 19th century. This man wavered between his intelligence and mind on the one hand and his heart and conscience on the other and came to the conclusion that the human being needed a creed, the ab- sence of which results in all kinds of social corruption. According to him, past religion (Catholicism) is not ade- quate enough for modern mankind. He describes three stages of religion; The divine supernatural stage, the philoso phical reasoning stage and the scientific positive stage. He said that Catholicism belonged to the human being's super- natural thinking and this is not acceptable to the person of the scientific age. His invented religion however, lacked an occult root, but he accepted all the traditions and rites which existed before, and even proposed having priests in this new creed, presenting himself as its prophet, but a prophet without a god. They say about him that he got his rites from Catholicism and he was criticized for this since he disbelieved that religion but imitated and adopted its ceremonies and traditions. He was right in one thing, that the human being needs worship and devotion as well as the performance of a number of rites.

He seems to have found a large number of followers in Europe and America and his house has become a center of pilgrimage for them. According to some Arabic books, he had fallen in love with a lady whose husband had been condemned to life imprisonment, but she died before he could win her and consequently he turned away frown the world of the intellect to the world of sentiments and even- tually started his creed of humanity. This lady-love is con- sidered by his followers as holy as Mary, the mother of Christ. But this school of humanity underwent a number of changes which gave it its present form.

One of the questions concerning the human being is freedom and responsibility. Is the human being really free and independent or does it have a responsibility and a mis- sion to perform? According to the Quran, the human being is faced with no compulsion before God. On the contrary, the human being is created a free being with a fixed res- ponsibility and mission. The Holy Quran refers to the human being as the vice-gerent of God, while no others Holy book has given such sanctity to the human being.

Part III

God says in the Quran, "And when your Lord said to the angels, I am setting on the earth a vice-gerent, they said, What will You set therein one who will do corruption there and shed blood ... But God answered, Assuredly I know what you know not."

All that, is evidence of the human being's talents and potentialities. You see, then, that Islam, which is a school of humanity, believes in the exalted position of the human being from a philosophical point of view. The Quran says again that God taught the human being the names of all things. Then it showed itself superior to the angels in this knowledge and God reproached the angels for what they did not know about humanity and while they supposed the human being to be a creature of wrath and lust, they had ignored the other side of its character. The angels confessed their ignorance and begged for His forgiveness. Then God told the angels to prostrate themselves before His creature.

The greatest interpretation that can be given to this command in order to show the human being's mission freedom and option is that God makes it the vice-gerent of and the successor to himself. God is the Creator and here He confers some of His creative power on the human being to benefit from.

Another question shout the human being is its hap- piness and pleasure. I say briefly that the human being seeks pleasure. Where Should it be found? Is it from within the self or from without, or from both within and without and in what proportion? Those who focus their attention on sures outside themselves, wrongly supposing that the whole joy of life is this, have not been able to know themselves as human beings. They cannot consider the life within them- selves as a source of joy and pleasure. Their exhilaration lies in a wine-cup, a cabaret.

How well does Rumi describe a person addicted to drinking and direct that person to righteousness and away from evil saying,

             You are the symbol of existence, wherefore do you
               seek annihilation?
            You who are an ocean, what do you intend to be-
               come?
            Why do you make yourself indebted to wine?
            He continues to say that the human being is the es-
               sence and the world is the form.

It is equally wrong to reject all external things and go to the other extreme of thinking that all joys must be sought internally. In some poems of Rumi we come across such an exaggeration when he says,

       
            Consider that the way of pleasure is all
               from within, not without
            And think it foolish to abandon
               customs and traditions.
            Someone is happy and intoxicated in
               the corner of prison,
            And another is full of grief in his garden.

He does not mean that all external things should be put aside but, at the same time, it Should not be supposed that all joys are found in material things. The self is the center of joy and there should be an equilibrium between the internal and external.

There are many things to say about the human being. The school of thought which considers itself human should be able to answer certain questions in order to be accepted as a true human school. The human being was considered as the door of spirituality, that is, one could discover the spiritual work through one's own essence. Spirituality and humanism or religion and humanism are two inseparable matters. We cannot accept one of them and abandon the other . The contradiction which we claim to exist in various genuine humanistic schools lies in this point that when humanity suffered a downfall, however wrongly, namely through a change in the Ptolemaic astronomy, it should not make us doubt the exalted position of the human being as a goal in the course of creation. The human being is the goal of the universe whether the earth is the center of the universe or not. What does the phrase 'goal of the universe' mean? It means that nature moves in a certain direction in its evolutionary course whether we consider the human be- ing a spontaneously created being or a continuation of other animal species. it makes no difference to this process whether we think it to possess a divine spirit or not.

God has said, "We have breathed some Our spirit into him." He has not said that the human being is the race of God. If He had said that thee substance of which the human being is made was brought from another world, then the human being would be a lofty and sacred being.

Part IV

To those of you whose philosophy is humanitarian, we say, is there a sentiment in the human being either called benevolence, goodness or service, or not? If you say there is not, then to attribute Such a quality to the human being would be as meaningless as calling him a stone or an animal. But the human being has the sentiment. What is it? Some one may say the feeling of service in us is a kind of sub- stitution. What does that mean? When we witness some- thing and our humanitarian feeling is supposedly roused to go and instruct, serve and save the oppressed, we are told that if we ponder about it, we as human beings are putting ourselves in their place, thinking of them first as belonging to our group or our group related to them and then we substitute ourselves for them. Then, the feeling of self- ishness which makes us defend ourselves is roused to defend the oppressed; otherwise there is no genuine sentiment in the human being to defend an oppressed person directly.

The school of humanity must firstly answer whether such a sentiment exists in the human being or not? We answer that it does on the basis of its being appointed the vice-gerent of God and as the manifestation of divine generosity and benevolence. It means that while the human bring in its Selfishness is duty-bound to show activity for its survival, tile whole of its existence is not selfishness. The human being also has benevolence, humanity, world-build ing and moral conscience.

Some time ago when I was in Shiraz, an organization called the Happy Organization was introduced to me consisting of individuals with an internal sentiment and personal faith and a gathering of the deaf and dumb. I visited one of their classes. For us fastidious people it would he exhausting to spend even one hour in such a class and watch them and their strange gesticulations for a remark. Their teacher was a Sayyid who was named after the first son of Imam and he was showing a great deal of interest and sympathy in those children even though his salary was less than an elementary school teacher's, for that organi- zation was short of funds. He taught them how to write and made them understand words with a great expendi- ture of effort.

What is this sentiment in the human being? It is the manifestation of humanity and its genuineness. Generally speaking, what is this sense of praise for the good and dis- like for the sick, even though they belong to the distant past? When we hear the names of Yazid and Shimr and re- member their wickedness and crimes, and on the other hand, when the names of the martyrs of Karbala are men- tioned, we have a feeling of hatred for the first group and a sense of wonder and respect for the latter. What is the rea- son for it? Is it a class feeling which makes us think of our- selves as belonging to the group of the martyrs of Karbala and dislike Yazid and Shimr as we dislike our enemies? Do we project our feelings of sympathy and hatred on to each group respectively, while in truth both are related to our- selves? If this is so then the person you consider your enemy will be no different from you. For in his turn he has the right to praise those you dislike and hate those you praise.

On the contrary you may look upon it from a different angle which is not personal and individual but is related to the whole of humanity in which there is no question of per- sonal dislike but the truth. There your connection with the martyrs in your praise, and your dislike of their enemies, is not personal but general and universal.

The school of humanity must supply an answer to what these feelings are and whence they arise and to such pro- blems as the human being's honest love of gratitude, to some one who has done a good deed. When the genuineness of human values are discovered, then the question of the human being crops up. Is the human being who has such genuine qualities the same person spoken of by materialism? Is that person a machine, a satellite? A machine, however big, is only big, if a machine is made a thousand times bigger than an Apollo, what could we say about it? We could say it is great, amazing and extraordinary but not noble or sacred. Even if it is made a billion times bigger, possessing a billion pieces, again it can only be called amazing and extraordinary but never noble, holy and honorable. How can the declaration of human rights and communist philoso- phers who support human genuineness in various forms, speak of the human being's inherent prestige and sacred- ness without paying attention to God's words saying, "We breathed some of Our spirit into him," When they ascer- tain the genuineness of these values then they can realize the genuineness of the human being itself.

Now supposing we realize this genuineness of the human being is it only the human being who exists in this universe which is in infinite darkness? As a European says, is the human being only a drop of sweat in an ocean of poison created accidentally? Or is the human being a drop of sweet water in a sweet ocean? Does this small light re- present universal light?

Here the relation of the genuineness of the human being with God will become clear, for both of them are inseparable. In the phrase of the Holy Quran, God is the light of the heavens and the earth, the word God is not what Aristotle calls the first Cause for that is different from the God of Islam. His god is separate from and foreign to the universe. But the God Of Islam, when the phrase, He is the First, He is the Last, He is the Outer and He is the Inner. (57:3) is heard, it at once gives you a different view of the universe. Then you understand the meaning of all the genuine qualities within yourself and realize that there is a goal. You will see that if you are a beam of light then a whole world of light exists and if you are a drop of sweat water it is because an infinite ocean of sweetness exists there and a ray of His light is within you.

Islam is a humanistic school based on human criteria There is nothing in it based on wrong discriminations be- tween human beings. In Islam there exists no country, race, blood, zone and language. These things are not an evidence and criterion of privilege for human beings. That criterion in Islam is those human values. If it respects those values, it is because it believes in the genuineness of the human being and the universe; that is, it believes in God Almighty. That is why Islam is the only humanistic school that has for its foundation proper logic and there exists no other such school in the world.

The Battle of Uhud

2009-12-15T08:55:00.000-08:00

The Qureshites came out from the Battle of Badr with an astonishing result which they did not expect. They were confident of their capability to annihilate the Muslims easily. For the Qureshites were more numerous and with a bigger reserve and more logistics. Yet, they suddenly found themselves losing seventy of their warriors and leaders, along with seventy captives, in a one-day battle. And above all, the resounding defeat which they received was at the hand of a group whom they used to belittle.

The Qureshites were unwilling to admit a final defeat. They lost a battle, but they believed that they would never lose the war. All they needed was to mobilize forces to which the Muslims would not be able to stand. The burning hatred in the hearts of Qureshites and their desire to wash away the shame of the defeat at Badr and their eagerness to avenge their lost leaders added to their physical superiority a tremendous psychological strength.

The Qureshites mobilized for the battle of avenge three thousand fighters compared to nine hundred and fifty fighters al the Battle of Badr. This army was financed and its logistics were secured through the gross income of the commercial caravan which was allotted to the battle of avenge. Thus, the community of Quraish, one year after the Battle of Badr, marched towards Medina to annihilate the Muslims, their religion, and their Prophet. The Meccan army arrived at the area of Ohod which is five miles away from Medina. There, the expected battle took place.

The Holy Prophet went on deploying his forces, placing them in strategic positions. He placed fifty marksmen at the slope of the Mount of Ohod, directing them to protect the back of the Muslims against the pagan cavalry (which was led by Khalid Ibn Al-Waleed). He commanded them not to leave their position whether the Muslims defeated the pagans or the pagans defeated the Muslims.

The Elements of the Islamic Defense

In this second battle of destiny for the Muslims, the Islamic defense consisted of the same three important ele- ments which played their roles at the battle of Badr:

1. The ideal leadership of the Messenger and his firm- ness.

2. The members of the house of the Holy Prophet and their heroism.

3. An Islamic army consisting of seven hundred com- panions, the hearts of many of them were filled with faith and readiness for sacrifice.

The start of the Battle of Ohod followed the method of the beginning or the Battle or Badr. Talhah Ibn Abu Talhah ( from Banu Abdul-Dar clan ), the bearer of the banner or the pagans, challenged the Muslims, saying: "Are there any duelers?" The respondent to his call was the same respondent of the Battle of Badr. Ali came to him and when they faced each other between the two hosts, Ali swiftly dealt him a blow by his sword through which his head was split. The Holy Prophet was pleased. He exclaimed: AIlahu Akbar (God Is Great), and so did the Muslims, for the biggest hero of the pagan army had died .

Abu Saad Ibn Abu Talhah (brother of Talhah) car- ried the banner and challenged the Muslims, saying Companions of Mohammad, you allege that your dead go to Paradise and our dead go to Hell. By Al Lat, you lie. If you were so confident, some of you could have faced me. Let one of you come to fight me.

Ref: Dr. M. Haykal, Life of Muhammad, p 289

Ali came to him and Abu Saad was not luckier than his brother Talhah. The men of Abdul-Dar continued re- placing the bearers of their banner with their men, and the Muslims continued annihilating them. Ali destroyed Artat Ibn Sharhabeel, Shureih Ibn Qaridh and their servant, Sawab.

Historians reported that Al-Hamzah killed Othman Ibn Abu Talhah. Assim Ibn Thabit shot by his arrows Musafi, and Al-Harith, two sons of Talhah, Al-Zubeir killed their brother Kilab, and Talhah Ibn Obeidullah killed their other brother Al-Jallas.

Ali and the Banner Bearers

However, Ibn Al-Atheer reported that Ali, alone, de- stroyed all the standard bearers at the Battle of Ohod and said that Abu Rafi reported that. And so did Al-Tabari.

Ref: Ibn Al Atheer, Al Kamil, vol 3 p 107

The death of the bearers of the banner heightened the morale of the Muslims and shook the hearts of the pagans. Following the death of the banner bearers, the Muslims undertook a general offensive led by Ali, Al-Hamzah, Abu Dujanh, and others. The Islamic offensive terrified the pagan army, but the Muslims lost during this operation a giant hero Al-Hamzah, Lion of God, and uncle of the Messenger of God. Wahshi, an Abbysinian, transfixed him with his dart while he was fighting. However, the pagans were forced to flee and leave their camps. The Muslims entered the pagan camps and went on collecting what they found of equipment and material without meeting any resistance from the pagans.

Defeat After Victory

This scene watered the mouths of the fifty marksmen whom the Prophet placed at the slope of the Mount of Ohod to protect the back of the Muslims against the pagan cavalry. The majority of these marksmen left their place and joined the collectors of the spoils. They did not heed the word of their leader Abdullah Ibn Jubeir, who reminded them of the instructions of the Messenger which made it mandatory for them not to leave their place. Not more than ten of them heeded his words. Noticing the small number of the marksmen, Khalid Ibn Al-Waleed and his horsemen killed them then started a general offensive.

The fleeing pagans beheld their horsemen fighting and attacking. They came back to the battle while the Muslims were preoccupied collecting the spoils.

The Muslims were astonished and confused. They start- ed to fight but they did not know whom they were fighting Many Muslims were killed by the Muslims themselves, then they fled turning their backs and refusing to look behind, while the Messenger was calling upon them to come back to the battle. The Holy Our'an informs us of the situation of the Muslims in this terrifying hour:

God certainly made good His promise unto you when you routed them by His leave, until the moment when your courage failed you and ye disobeyed after He had showed that for which ye long. Among you are some that hanker after this world and some that desire the Hereafter. Then did He divert you from your foes in order to test you. But He forgave you. For God is full of grace to those who believe. Behold ye were climbing up (the high ground) without casting a side glance at anyone, and the Apostle was calling you back. There did God give you one distress after another by way of requital, to teach you not to grieve for what ye miss, or for (the ill) that had befallen you. For God is well aware of all that ye do. [Quran 3:151-52]

Who remained with the Prophet (pbuh&hf)

The companions fled away, concerned only with their own safety. History recorded seven exceptional Meccans (Ali, Abu Bakr, Abdul-Rahman Ibn Ouf, Saad Ibn Abu Waqass, Talhah Ibn Obeidah, Al-Zubeir Ibn Al-Awam, Abu Obeidah Ibn Al-Jarrah); And Seven exceptional Medi- nites (Al-Hubab Ibn Al-Munthir, Abu Dujanah, Sahl Ibn Huneif, Assim Ibn Thabit, Saad Ibn Mu ath, As-ad Ibn Hudheir or Saad lbn Abadah and Mohammad Ibn Musli- mah). These men, according to some historians, remained with the Prophet when the other companions deserted him.

Ref: Al Waqidi, Al Maghazi (Conveyed by Ibn Abu Al Hadeed in his Commentary on Nahjul Balagha, vol 3 p 388

From what we read in Al-Mustadrak by Al-Hakim, we understand that Ali Ibn Abu Talib was the only defend- er who stayed with the Prophet for the duration of the battle. The other companions who were mentioned to be among those who remained with the Prophet were actually the first ones to come back to the Messenger of God after they left him. Al-Hakim recorded that Ibn Abbas said:

        Ali has four distinctions no one shares with him: He was
       the first male who prayed with the Messenger of God. He
       was the bearer of his banner in every battle and he was the
       one who stayed with him at the Battle on the day of Al-
       Mihras (the Battle of Ohod, where there is gathered water
       called Al-Mihras ), and he is the one who washed his
       blessed body and laid him in his tomb.

Ref: Al Hakim, al Mustadrak, vol 3 p 111

Al-Hakim reported also that Saad lbn Abu Waqass said: When people left the Messenger on the day of Ohod, I went aside and said to myself I shall defend myself ... then Al-Miqdad told him: "Saad, this is the Messenger."

Ref: Al Hakim, al Mustadrak vol 3 p 26-28

Al-Hakim reported also that Al-Zubeir said about the Battle of Ohod, "And they exposed our back to the horse- men, so we were attacked from behind, and a man shouted: Mohammad has been killed. We retreated and the enemies pursued us.

Ref: Al Hakim, al Mustadrak, vol 3 p 27-28

He also reported that Abu Bakr said: When people left the Messenger of God on the day of Ohod I was the first one to come back to the Messenger of God ... then he mentioned in the hadith that Abu Obeidah lbn Al-Jarrah followed him."

Ref: Al Hakim, Al-Mustadrak, vol 3 p 78

The Prophet (pbuh&hf) Participated

The Messenger stayed at the battlefield with full deter- mination and firmness after the pagans came up to him. He himself fought vigorously. Saad Ibn Abu Waqaas reported that he witnessed a man whose face was covered, and he did not know who he was. The pagans came towards him and Saad thought that they were going to overpower him. But that man took a handful of gravel and threw it at their faces and they retreated . . . Finally Saad discovered that that man was the Prophet. He used his bow and expended all his arrows until his bow could not be used any longer.

Ref: Ibn Husham, Biography of the Prophet, v 2 p 78

When the Prophet was exposed to the enemies by the retreat of his army, Obay Ibn Khalaf tried to attack him. Some of his companions tried to bar Obay from reaching the Prophet, but the. Prophet prevented them from doing that. He faced Obay with a blow which did not seem to be effective. But Obay said: "By God, Mohammad has killed me...." He told me in Mecca: "I shall kill you. By God, if he spits on me he kills me." Obay died in "Saraf" while returning to Mecca.

Imam Ali's (as) endeavor

Al-Tabari reported that Abu Rafi said: The Messenger of God witnessed a group of pagans coming to him. He said to Ali: Charge them. Ali charged them and forced them to retreat and killed Amr Ibn Abdullah Al-Jumahi. The Prophet beheld another group coming and told Ali to charge them and he did. He scattered them and killed Sheibah Ibn Malik, one of the children of Amir Ibn Lu-ay. Amazed by Ali's sacrifice Gabriel said:

                   Messenger of God, what a redeemer Ali is!

The Prophet replied:

                    He is from me, and I am from him.

Gabriel said:

                        And I am from both of you.

They heard at that time a voice saying:

               There is no youth (full of manhood) but Ali, and no
                  sword comparable to Zulfiqar (Ali's sword).

Ref: Sayed Muhsin, Al Ameen, in his Aayan Al Shiah, vol 2 p 195 Al Fairoozbadi, Fadail al Khamsah, vol 2 p 317 (from Tabari) Ibn Al Atheer, In his Biography, vol 2 p 107

A regiment arrived from Kinanah in which four of the children of Sufyan Ibn Oweif were present. Khalid, Abu AI-Sha-atha, Abu Al-Hamra, and Ghurab. The Messenger of God said to Ali: "Take care of this regiment." Ali charged the regiment, and it was about fifty horsemen. He fought them while he was on foot until he scattered them. They gathered again and he charged them again. This was repeated several times until he killed the four children of Sufyan and added to them six more ...

Ref: Ibn Abu Al Hadeed, in his Commentary, vol 1 p 372

Ibn Husham reported that the Messenger fell into one of the pits which were excavated and covered up by Abu Amir, who expected the Muslims to fall in them. The knee of the Messenger was cut. Ali held the hand of the Mes- senger and pulled him up and Talhah Ibn Obeidullah help- ed him until the Prophet stood up.

Ref: Ibn Husham, Biography of Prophet, vol 2 p 80

Muslim in his "Sahih" (Authentic) reported that Sahl Ibn Saad said the following:

The face of the Messenger was cut, and one of his teeth was broken, and the protective dress of his head was broken. Fatima, daughter of the Messenger, was washing the blood and Ali was pouring water he brought by his shield from Al-Mihras. Beholding that the water increased the flow of blood, she burned a mat, put some of its ashes on the wound and the blood stopped.

Ref: Muslim, in his Sahih, vol 12 p 148

The Conclusion

It would not be difficult for the reader to infer the following:

1. The Battle of Ohod was one of the battles on which the future of Islam depended.

2. The death of the bearers of the banners of the pagan army at the beginning of the battle had its important effect in raising the morale of the Muslims and breaking the mo- rale of the pagans who were four times more numerous than the Muslims. The bearers of the banners in the eyes of the warriors in those days were the leaders of the army. Their death had a great effect on the morale of the army. History recorded that Abu Sufyan said to Banu Abdul Dar:

O Banu Abdul-Dar, we recognize that you have more right than any other Meccan clan to carry the banner (because the Meccan tradition gives the clan of Abdul- Dar the right to carry the banner at war). We were defeated in Badr because of the banner. Hold your ban- ner firmly and protect it or hand it to us.

This infuriated the clan of Abdul-Dar. As they refused to surrender their right of carrying the banners Abu Sufyan said:

Let another banner be added to it." They said: "Yes, but the additional banner will be carried also by a man from Banu Abdul-Dar, and nothing other than this will be accepted.

The Meccan pagans witnessed at the beginning of the battle their banner fallen ten times, and their hearts fell with the banner ten times. They found, to their astonish- ment, that they are facing a tremendous power. Ali was the one who destroyed the banner bearers or most of them. This signalled the defeat of the Meccan army in the first round.

3. When the Muslims were defeated in the second round, no one remained with the Prophet except Ali and thirteen others of the companions of the Messenger. These thirteen were the first to come back to the Messenger after their flight. It is clear that Ali's defense in that decisive hour was much more valuable than the defense of the thirteen companions put together.

The Messenger of clod became the target of the pagan's attacks. Whenever a regiment aimed at the Prophet Ali charged the regiment and forced it to retreat.

Thus, we would not be erroneous if we say that Ali in this decisive battle had the exclusive honor of being the main defender of the Messenger and his Message, against the forces which no one other than Ali could face success- fully. The Battle of Badr laid the foundation of the Islamic state, but the Battle of Ohod was about to destroy the foundation, had not a small number of heroes headed by Ali been present.

The pagans found that the Battle of Ohod ended in their favor. They defeated the army of the Prophet, and the Mus- lims lost seventy companions, among them the giant hero: Al-Hamzah, uncle of the Messenger and Lion of God. But the pagan victory was not decisive. Their target was Mo- hammad and Muhammad was still alive. He was the biggest danger to them Therefore, it was necessary for them to have another decisive battle in which they would realize the goal that they could not realize at the Battle of Ohod.

The Battle of Ohod took place during the third year after the Hijrah. Two years later, the third decisive battle in which the pagans gathered their biggest task force, took place.

The Battle of Badr

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In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

The battle of Badr was the most important among the Islamic battles of Destiny. For the first time the followers of the new faith were put into a serious test. Had victory been the lot of the pagan army while the Islamic forces were still at the beginning of their developments, the faith of Islam could have come to an end.

No one was aware of the importance of the outcome of the battle as the Prophet (saww) himself. We might read the depth of his fervor in his prayer before the beginning of the battle when he stood up supplicating his Lord:

        God this is Quraish. It has come with all its
       arrogance and boastfulness, trying to discredit
       Thy Apostle. God, I ask Thee to humiliate them
       tomorrow. God, if this Muslim band will perish
       today, Thou shall not be worshipped. [1]

At this battle in which the pagan army consisted of 950 fighters and the Muslim army consisted of 314 (including the Messenger), the Islamic defense was a combination of three defensive lines:

1. The personality of the Messenger, his leadership and his unequalled firmness. He (saww) was to the Muslims the final refuge at Badr and at every battle he attended.

2. The Hashimites (the clan of the Prophet) were led by Ali Ibn Abu Talib who entered this battle relatively obscure and came out with unequalled military fame. His military performances became the most popular subject of the Arab caravans' conversations throughout the Arabian Peninsula.

3. The hundreds of companions of the Messenger had hearts that were filled with the faith and readiness for sacrifice. Many of them viewed matyrdom to be a gain, equal to life and victory. These good companions were the army of Islam, its first line of defense and a thick wall behind which the Messenger (saww) used to stand. They were the attackers and the defenders.

As to the clan of the Messenger, they were the ones he used to call before anyone else, to offer the heavy sacrifices. They used to stand in the first line of defense opening for the army the way through enemy ranks with their thrusts pushing forward. When the general offensives began and every companion participated, the clan of the Messenger (saww) was the most damaging to the enemies. They were so at Badr and the subsequent battles.

The battle began when Utbah Ibn Rabiah, his son Al Walid and his brother Sheibah (all from the Ommayad clan) stood in front of the pagan army and asked the Prophet (saww) to send to them their equals for a dual. Hundreds of companions were around him and many of them were expecting to be called upon by the Prophet (saw) but he choose to start from his own family. The duty to fight first was most arduous, so he called upon Ali, Al Hamza and Obeidah Al Harith (all from the clan of the Prophet) to face the three warriors. Ali destroyed Al Walid and Al Hamza killed Utbah; then they both assisted Obeidah against his opponent Sheibah. Sheibah died immediately and Obeidah was the first martyr in this battle. He died after losing his leg.

When the general offensive began, hundreds of companions participated in the battle and offered sacrifices to please their Lord. But the members of the house of the Messenger (saww) distinguished themselves. Ali's valour was unique in this battle. When Hanzala Ibn Abu Sufyan faced him, Ali ripped his eyes with one blow of his sword. He annihilated Al Aus Ibn Saeed, and met Tuaima Ibn Oday and transfixed him with his spear, saying "You shall not dispute with us in God after today."

The Messsenger (saww) took a handful of gravel when the battle was extremely heated. He threw it at the faces of the pagans saying "May your faces be disfigured. God, terrify their hearts and invalidated their feet." The pagans ran away, turning their faces to no one.

The Muslims went on killing them and taking prisoners. 70 pagans met their death, and the Muslims took from them 70 prisoners. History preserved in its records only a fifth of the names out of the 70 pagans. Twenty [20] or twenty two [23] of them died with Ali's hand.

This battle laid the foundation of the Islamic State and made out of the Muslims a force to be reckoned with by the dwellers of the Arabian Peninsula.

The Birth Anniversary of Imam Ali B. Hossein (A.S.)

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The Birth Anniversary of Imam Ali B. Hossein (A.S.)

Reprinted with permission from IRNA (12/6/97). The following article has been slightly edited for the Shi'a Homepage

"Agreement in error is far worse than division for the sake of truth."

By Ali Amin-Nia

The Imam after Hossein b. Ali (AS) was his son Ali b. Hossein Zayn al-Abidin (AS). He was also known as Imam Sajjad. He was born in Medina in the year 38 A.H. (659). He lived with his grandfather, the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (AS), for two years, with his uncle, Imam Hassan (AS), for twelve years, and with his father, for twenty-three years. After his father, he lived a further year as an Imam.

His Imamate was confirmed in several ways. He was the most meritorious of the creatures of God, after his father in traditional knowledge and practices. He was more appropriate for authority by virtue of his father and more entitled to his position after him through his merit and lineage.

His grandfather designated him during the lifetime of his father. The testamentary bequests were made by his father and they were deposited with Umm Salama for him. He received them when his father was martyred. Although any revelations of the official atrocities against his father inevitably provoke a sense of disgust denouncing the horrifying and shocking policies of the ruling elite as repugnant to the conscience of man, I do not think that the fact of cruelty as such is any more tolerable at any time. The circumstances of his father's martyrdom still vivid in the minds of the people were crucially important for his activities in the spreading of Islamic principles and expressing his views of the incident.

Indeed, atrocity is a weapon of the weak or imbalanced authority. This is a factual observation: it does not exonerate those who use savagery as a weapon from any moral blame that may be put on them by their victims or by anyone else. Nor does it imply that the victims are morally inferior to the one who is perpetrating the barbarity. This is particularly more so when involving the noble members of the Household of the Prophet. All acts of enormity irrespective of its year are open to severe criticism on moral grounds if on nothing else.

The extreme wickedness of the perpetrator can take to many forms and shapes.The atrocious ruling elite are as an agent often miles away from where the atrocity is taking place. The perpetrator of the evil instruction is more often than not physically close to his victim. Often enough, the victims of atrocity are the God-fearing members of the community.

The one who commits a wrongdoing and he who is being wronged are irreconcilable and unlikely partners. It seems that there will never be any agreement about the morality or immorality of actions when involving the ruling elite and the subjects. However, agreement in error is far worse than division for the sake of truth. The atrocious ruling elite justifies its use of anomalies and eradicating of its opponents by its conviction of the absolute righteousness of its cause.

The innocent godly people justify their opposition and overt and covert activities to entice people in their enjoining good and forbidding the evil.Those who dispute the righteousness of the ruling body or dismiss the relevance of the opposition will disagree without the subjective judgments of those whose actions they disapprove. Nevertheless, a cruel and atrocious power structure may indeed be awesomely tyrannical and oppressive and an opposition may be absolutely justified, yet people would still rather remain as passive observers. Such is the eccentricity of human nature!

Of course, the ruling body has a right to defend itself -- implicit in the absolute necessity of the power structure. A properly constituted system of government, atrocious or not, nevertheless is threatened with extinction. The idiosyncrasy of man often cannot tolerate any set of standard for a long period of time. In the confusion of such misunderstandings nothing can be helpful unless derived from the divine constitution that is implicit in man.

Having objectives, for instance, is grand. Achieving these objectives has nonetheless its limits. There are many things in life for which man does not have to do anything or use ruthless methods but wait. These will come to man tried or not. Here, it is only fair to add that man can easily lose his remarkable tradition of seeking help from godly people or the Almighty God in his private hours. Ruthlessness never pays in the end. Is it not fairer to blame the shortcomings of man on man himself and his whims?

It could be argued that if the godly people were to insist on people's right to an honest life, the people themselves would have, perhaps, revolted against these very same sincere people. These are the peculiar In many ways, the time of Imam Ali b. Hossein known as Imam Sajjad in 659 was a classic case of post-insurgency and the response of the ruling elite was conducted on classical counter-insurgency lines. Suppressive measures of one kind or another were adopted and designed to deprive the Imam of the popular support for his cause.

Against the advantage of this polity, there were serious disadvantages. For one thing, the vivid memories of the incident of Karbala and the people's ill-treatment of Imam Hossein and the fact that the people did let him down at the most crucial moment of his effort to uphold Islamic principles meant that the full glare of publicity was permanently trained upon these events. Any departure from the recommendations of Imam Sajjad and his standard of studying Islam and performing prayers was immediately criticized by the public at large.

Moreover, for the first time in a situation of this kind involving the Household of the Prophet, public support instead of the shame they carried for their disappointing behaviors concerning Imam Hossein, played a major role in the determination of public opinion, however tacit. We all know that even in those days public opinion was never impartial, and that it could have been easily marred. It can always be conditioned to favor the atrocities of the ruling elite and place the godly people at a disadvantage. A further disadvantage was of Imam's experience of the people.

The excessive and unrestricted control of the unjust rulers of the situation was undoubtedly a grave handicap to the efforts of Imam Sajjad in spreading the Islamic codes of conduct, as any such restriction always is in a situation of this kind. Moreover, the undoubted need for a humane social behavior served to reduce the momentum of the official ferocious drive, giving some form of advantage to the Household of the Prophet.

The Journey of Imam Husain (A.S.)

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Imam Hussain (as) sets out on his Journey

Al Husyan, the blessings of God be on him, set out from Mecca to Iraq on the day of Muslim's (attempted) rising in Kufa, that is the day of Tarwiya, after staying in Mecca for the rest of Shaban, the month of Rmadhan, Shawwal and Dhu al Qada and eight days of Dhu- al-Hijja in the year 60 A.H. (680). During his stay in Mecca, peace be on him, a number of Hijazis and Basrans had gathered around him, joining themselves to his household and his retainers (mawali).

When he determined on journeying to Iraq, he made the circumbulation of the (sacred) House and the ritual running between al-Safa and al-Marwa. Then he left the state of consecration (for the pilgrimage) (after) he had performed the lesser pilgrimage (umra) because he was not able to perform the greater pilgrimage (hajj). Through fear of being apprehended in Mecca, and being taken to Yazid b. Muiawiya, he, peace be on him, had set out early with his House, his sons and those of his Shia who had joined him.

[As it has been reported to us:]

News of Muslim's (capture and death) had not yet reached him because (it had only happened) on the day he set out.

[It is reported that al-Farazdaq, the poet, said:]

I made the pilgrimage with my mother in the year 60 A.H. (680). I was driving her camel when I entered the sanctuary. (There) I met al- Husayn b. Ali, peace be on them, leaving Mecca accompanied by (some men carrying) swords and shields.

"Whose caravan is this?" I asked.

"Al-Husayn b. Ali's, peace be on them," was the reply. So I went up and greeted him.

"May God grant you your request and (fulfil) your hope in what you want, by my father and mother, son of the Apostle of God," I said to him. "But what is making you hurry away from the pilgrimage?"

"If I did not hurry away, I would be apprehended," he replied. Then he asked me: "Who are you?"

"An Arab," I answered and he did not question me (about myself) any further.

"Tell me about the people you have left behind you," he asked.

"You have asked a good (question)," I answered. "The hearts of the people are with you but their swords are against you. The decision comes from Heaven and God does what he wishes."

"You have spoken truly of the affair belonging to God," he replied.

"Every day He (is involved) in (every) matter" (LV, 29) If fate sends down what we like and are pleased with, we praise God for His blessings. He is the One from Whom help should be sought in order to give thanks to Him. However, although fate may frustrate (our) hopes, yet He does not destroy (the souls of) those whose intention is the truth and whose hearts are pious."

"True, God brings you what you wish for (ultimately) and guards you against what you are threatened by," I said. Then I asked him about matters concerning vows and pilgrimage rites. He told me about them and then moved his mount off, saying farewell, and so we parted.

When al-Husayn b. Ali, peace be on them, left Mecca, Yahya b. Said b. al-'As met him with a group (of men). They had been sent to him by 'Amr b. Said.

"Come back from where you are going," they ordered. But he refused (to obey) them and continued. The two groups came to blows and hit at each other with whips. However al-Husayn and his followers resisted fiercely. Al-Husayn continued until he got to al- Tanim. There he met a camel-train which had come from Yemen. He hired from its people (additional) camels for himself and his followers to ride.

Then he said to the owners (of the camels): "Whoever (of you) wants to come with us to Iraq, we will pay his hire and enjoy his company and whoever wants to leave some way along the road we will pay his hire for the distance he has travelled."

Some of the people went with him but others refused. Abd Allah b. Jafar sent his sons, Awn and Muhammad, after him, and he wrote a letter to him which he gave to them. In it, he said:



      I ask you before God (to return) if you have set out when you
      see my letter. For I am very concerned because the direction in
      which you are heading will have within it your destruction, and
      the extirpation of your House. If you are destroyed today, the
      light of the land will be extinguished; for you are the (standard)
      of those who are rightly-guided and the hope of the believers.
      Do not hurry on your journey as I am following this letter.
    
      Greetings.

Abd Allah, then went to 'Amr b. Sad and asked him to write to al-Husayn (offering him) a guarantee of security, and (promising) to favour him, so that he would return from where he was going. Amr b. Said wrote a letter in which he offered him favour and a guarantee of security for himself. He dispatched it with his brother Yahya b. Said. Yahya b. Said went after him (as did) Abd Allah after dispatching his sons. The two handed ('Amr's) letter to him and strove (to persuade) him to return.

"I have seen the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, in my sleep," answered (al-Husayn), "and he ordered me (to do) what I am carrying out."

"What was that vision?" they both asked.

"I have not told anyone of it," he answered, "and I am not going to tell anyone until I meet my Lord, the Mighty and Exalted."

When 'Abd Allah b. Ja'far despaired of (persuading) him, he told his sons, Awn and Muhammad, to stay with him, to go with him and to struggle on behalf of him. He returned with Yahya b. Sa'id to Mecca.

Al Husayn, peace be on him, pressed on swiftly and directly towards Iraq until he reached Dhat' Irq.

When Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad had learnt of the journey of al- Husayn, peace be on him, from Mecca to Kufa, he had sent al- Husayn b. Numayr, the commander of the bodyguard (shurta), to station himself at al-Qadisiyya and to set up a (protective) link of cavalry between the area of al-Qadisiyya to Khaffan and the area of al-Qadisiyya to al-Qutqutaniyya. He informed the men that al- Husayn was heading for Iraq.

When al-Husayn, peace be on him, reached al-Hajiz (a hill above) Batn al-Rumma, he sent Qays b. Mushir al Saydawi - some say it was his brother-in-nurture, Abd Allah b. Yuqtur to Kufa. For he, peace be upon him, had not yet learnt the news of (the fate of) Ibn 'Aqil. He sent a letter with him:



      In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
      From al-Husayn b. Ali
      To his brother believers and Muslims,
    
      Greetings to you, I praise God before you, other than Whom
      there is no deity. Muslim b. Aqil's letter came to me, informing
      me of your sound judgement and the agreement of your leaders
      to support us, and to seek our rights. I have asked God to make
      your actions good and reward you with the greatest reward. I
      set out to you from Mecca on 8th of Dhu al-Hijja, the Day of
      Tarwiya. When my messenger reaches you, be urgent and
      purposeful in your affiars, for I am coming to you within the
      (next few) days.
    
    
      Greeting and the mercy and blessings of God.

Muslim had written to al-Husayn seventeen days before he was killed and the Kufans had written to him: "Here you have a hundred thousand swords. Do not delay."

Qays b. Mushir went towards Kufa with the letter. However, when he reached al-Qadisiyya, al-Husayn b. Numayr apprehended him and sent him to Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad.

"Go up on the pulpit," Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad ordered him, "and curse the liar, al-Husayn b. Ali, peace be on him"

Qays went up on the pulpit and praised and glorified God. Then he said:

        
      People, this man, al-Husayn b. 'Ali the best of God's
      creatures, the son of Fatima, the daughter of the Apostle,
      may God bless him and his family and grant them peace,
      (is nearby). I am his messenger to you. Answer him.

Then he cursed Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad and his father and prayed for forgiveness for Ali b. Abi Talib and blessed him. 'Ubayd Allah ordered him to be thrown from the top of the palace. They threw him and he was smashed to pieces.

[It is (also) reported:]

He fell on the ground in chains and his bones were crushed and there only remained to him his last breath. A man called 'Abd al- Malik b. 'Umayr al-Lakhmi came to him and cut his throat. When he was told that that had been a shameful (thing to do) and he was blamed for it, he said: "I wanted to relieve him (of his suffering)."

Index

Part II

The Continuation of the Journey

(While this had been going on) al-Husayn, peace be on him, had left Hajiz in the direction of Kufa until he came to one of the watering (places) of the Arabs. There there was 'Abd Allah b. Muti al-'Adawli, who was staying there. When he saw al-Husayn, peace be on him, he got up and said to him: "(May I ransom) my father and mother for you, son of the Apostle of God, what has brought you (here)?" He brought him (forward) and helped him to dismount.

"It is a result of the death of Muawiya as you would know," replied al Husayn, peace be on him. "The Iraqis have written to me urging me to (come to) them"

"I remind you, son of the Apostle of God, (of God) and the sacredness of Islam, lest it be violated. I adjure you before God (to think) about the sacredness of Quraysh. I adjure you before God (to think) about the sacredness of the Arabs. By God, if you seek that which is in the hands of Banu Umayya, they will kill you. If they kill you, they will never fear anyone after you. Then it will be the sacredness of Islam which is violated, and the sacredness of Quraysh and the sacredness of the Arabs. Don't do it! Don't go to Kufa! Don't expose yourself to Banu Umayya!"

Al-Husayn, peace be on him, insisted on continuing his journey. (In the meantime) 'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad had ordered (the area) which was between Waqisa and the roads to Syria and Basra to be occupied (so that) they should not let anyone enter, nor anyone leave (Kufa).

However, al-Husayn, peace be on him, went on without knowing anything (of that) until he met some Arabs. He asked them (about the situation) and they told him: "No, by God, we don't know (anything about it) except that we cannot get into or out of (Kufa)."

He continued on his journey.

[A group of Fazara and Bajila reported (the following account). They said:]

We were with Zuhayr b. al-Qayn al-Bajah when we came from Mecca. (Although) we were travelling alongside al Husayn, peace be on him, there was nothing more hateful to us than that we should stop with him at a halting place. (Yet) when al-Husayn, peace be on him, travelled and halted, we could not avoid halting with him. Al-Husayn halted at the side (of the road) and we halted at the (other) side (of the road). While we were sitting, eating our food, a messenger of al- Husayn, peace be on him, approached, greeted us and entered (our camp).

"Zuhayr b. al-Qayn," he said, "Abu 'Abd Allah al-Husayn, peace be on him, has sent me to you (to ask) you to come to him."

Each man of us threw away what was in his hands (i.e. threw up his hands in horror); it was (as surprising) as if birds had alighted on our heads.

"Glory be to God," (Zuhayr's) wife said to him, "did the son of the Messenger of God send for you? Then aren't you going to him? If you went to him, you would hear what he had to say. Then you could leave him (if you wanted to)."

Zuhayr b. al-Qayn went (across) to him. It was not long before he returned to announce that he was heading east. He ordered his tent (to be struck) and (called for) his luggage, mounts and equipment. His tent was pulled down and taken to al-Husayn, peace be on him, then he said to his wife: "You are divorced, go back to your family, for I do not want anything to befall you except good."

Then he said to his companions:


      Whoever wants to follow me (may do so), otherwise he is
      at the end of his covenant with me (i.e. released from
      obedience to follow Zuhayr as the leader of his tribal
      group). I will tell you a story (of something which happened
      to me once): we were raiding a rich land. God granted us
      victory and we won (a lot of) booty. Salman al-Farsl, the
      mercy of God be on him, said to us: 'Are you happy with the
      victory which God has granted you and the booty you have won?'
      We said: 'Yes.' Then he said: 'Therefore when you meet the
      lord of the young men of the family of Muhammad be happier to
      fight with them than you are with the booty which you have obtained
      today.' As for me. I pray that God may be with you."

He remained among the people with al-Husayn until he was killed.

[Abd Allah b. Sulayman and al-Mundhir b. Mushamill both from Asad, reported:]

When we had finished the pilgrimage, there was no concern more important to us than to join al-Husayn, peace be on him, on the road, so that we might see what happened in his affair. We went along trotting our two camels speedily until we joined him at Zarud. As we approached, there we (saw) a man from Kufa who had changed his route when he had seen al-Husayn, peace be on him. Al-Husayn, peace be on him, had stopped as if he wanted (to speak to) him, but (the man) ignored him and went on. We went on towards the man. One of us said to the other: "Come with us to ask this man if he has news of Kufa."

We came up to him and greeted him. He returned out greeting.

"From which (tribe) do you come, fellow?" we asked.

"(I am) an Asadi," he answered.

"We also are Asadis," we said. "Who are you?"

"I am Bakr b. so and so," he answered and we told him our lineage.

"Tell us of the people (you have left) behind you?" we asked.

"Yes," he replied, "I only left Kufa after Muslim b. 'Aqil and Hani' b. 'Urwa had been killed. I saw them being dragged by their legs into the market-place."

We went on to join al-Husayn, peace be on him, and we were travelling close to him until he stopped at al-Thalabiyya in the evening. We caught up with him when he stopped and we greeted him. He returned our greeting.

"May God have mercy on you," we said, "we have news. If you wish, we will tell it to you publicly or if you wish, secretly."

He looked at us and at his followers.

"There is no veil for these men," he answered.

"Did you see the rider whom you were near, yesterday evening?"

"Yes," he answered, "I had wanted to question him."

"We have got the news from him and spared you (the trouble of) questioning him," we said. "He was a man from our (tribe), of sound judgment, honesty and intelligence. He told us that he had only left Kufa after Muslim and Hani' had been killed, and he had seen them being dragged by their legs into the market-place."

"We belong to God and to Him we shall return; may God have mercy on them both," said al-Husayn, and he repeated that several times.

"We adjure you before God," we exhorted him, "for your own life and for your House that you do not go from this place, for you have no one to support you in Kufa and no Shia. Indeed we fear that such men (will be the very ones who) will be against you."

"What is your opinion," he asked, looking towards the sons of 'Aqil, "now that Muslim has been killed?"

"By God," they declared, "we will not go back until we have taken our vengeance or have tasted (the death) which he tasted."

Al-Husayn, peace be on him, came near us and said: "There is nothing good (left) in life for these men."

Then we knew that his decision had been taken to continue the journey.

"May God be good to you," we said.

"May God have mercy on you both," he answered.

Then his followers said to him: "By God, you are not the same as Muslim b. Aqil. If you go to Kufa, the people will rush to (support) you."

He was silent and waited until daybreak. Then he ordered his boys and servants to get a lot of water, to give (the people) to drink and more for the journey. They set out (once more) and went on to Zubala. News of eAbd Allah b. Yuqtur reached him. He took out a written statement to the people and read it to them:


      In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,
      News of the dreadful murder of Muslim b. Aqil Hani' b.
      Urwa, and Abd Allah b. Yuqtur has reached us. Our Shia
      have deserted us . Those of you who would prefer to leave
      us, may leave freely without guilt.

The people began to disperse from him to right and left until there were only left with him those followers who had come with him from Medina, and a small group of those who had joined him. Al-Husayn had done that because he realised that the Arabs who had followed him had only followed him because they thought that he was going to a land where the inhabitants' obedience to him had already been established. And he did not want them to accompany him without being (fully) aware of what they were going to.

At dawn, he ordered his followers to provide themselves with water and with extra (supplies of it). Then they set out until they passed Batn al Aqaba. He stopped there and was met by a shaykh of the Banu Ikrima called Amr b. Lawdhan.

"Where are you headings." he asked.

"Kufa," replied al-Husayn, peace be on him.

"I implore you before God," exhorted the shaykh, "why are you going there? You won't come to anything there except the points of spears and the edges of swords. If those who sent for you were enough to support you in battle and had prepared the ground for you, and you came to them, that would be a wise decision. However, in the light of the situation as it has been described I don't think that you ought to do it."


      Servant of God," he answered, "wise decisions are not
      hidden from me. yet the commands of God, the Exalted,
      cannot be resisted. By God, (my enemies) will not leave
      me till they have torn the very heart from the depths
      of my guts. If they do that, God will cause them to be
      dominated and humiliated until they become the most
      humiliated of the factions among nations.

Index

Part 3 (Continued from Part 2)

He, peace be on him, went on from Batn al Aqaba until he stopped at Sharaf (for the night). At dawn he ordered his boys to get water and more (for the journeys When he continued from there until midday. While he was journeying, one of his followers exclaimed:

"God is greater (Allahu akbar)!"

"God is greater (AllAhu akbar)!" responded al-Husayn, peace be on him. Then he asked: "Why did you say Allahu akbar?"

"I saw palm-trees," answered the man.

"This is a place in which we never see a palm-tree," a group of his followers asserted.

"What do you think it is then?" asked al-Husayn, peace be on him.

"We think it is the ears of horses," they answered.

"By God, I think so too," he declared. Then he said: "(So that) we can face them in one direction (i.e. so that we are not surrounded), we should put at our rear whatever place of refuge (we can find)."

"Yes," said to him, "there is Dhu Husam over on your left. If you reach it before them,it will be (in) just (the position) you want." So he veered left towards it and we went in that direction with him. Even before we had had time to change direction the vanguard of the cavalry appeared in front of us and we could see them clearly. We left the road and when they saw that we had moved off the road, they (also) moved off the road towards us. Their spears looked like palm branches stripped of their leaves and their standards were like birds' wings. Al-Husayn ordered his tents (to be put up) and they were erected. The people came up; (there were) about one thousand horsemen under the command of al-Hurr b. Yazid al-Tamimi. (It was) during the heat of midday (that) he and his cavalry stood (thus) facing al-Husayn, peace be on him. Al-Husayn, peace be on him, and his followers were all wearing their turbans and their swords (ready to fight).

"Provide (our) people with water and let them quench their thirst and give their horses water to drink little by little," al Husayn ordered his boys. They did that and they began filling their bowls and cups and took them to the horses. When a horse had drunk three or four or five draughts, the water was taken away and given to another horse-until they had all been watered.

[ Ali b. al Taan al Muharibi reported: ]

I was with al-Hurr on that day, I was among the last of his followers to arrive. When al-Husayn, peace be on him, saw how thirsty both I and my horse were, he said: "Make your beast (rawiya) kneel." I thought rawiya meant water-skin so he said: "Cousin, make your camel (jamal) kneel." I did so. Then he said: "Drink." I did so, but when I drank, water flowed from my water-skin.

"Bend your water-skin," said al-Husayn. I did not know how to do that. He came up (to me) and bent it (into the proper position for drinking). Then I drank and gave my horse to drink.

Al-Hurr b. Yazid had come from al-Qadisiyya. Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad had sent al-Husayn b. Numayr and ordered him to take up (his) position at al-Qadisiyya. Then al-Hurr had been sent in advance with one thousand horsemen to meet al-Husayn.

Al-Hurr remained positioned opposite to al-Husayn, peace be on him, until the time for the midday prayer drew near. Al-Husayn, peace be on him, ordered al-Hajjaj b. Masruq to give the call to prayer. When the second call to prayer immediately preceding the prayer (iqama) was about (to be made) al-Husayn came out (before the people) dressed in a waist-cloth czar) and cloak (rida') and wearing a pair of sandals. He praised and glorified God, then he said:

People, I did not come to you until your letters came to me,
and they were brought by your messengers (saying), 'Come to
us for we have no Imam. Through you may God unite us under
guidance and truth.' Since this was your view, I have come to
you. Therefore give me what you guaranteed in your covenants
and (sworn) testimonies. If you will not and (if you) are (now)
averse to my coming, I will leave you (and go back) to the place
from which I came.They were silent before him. Not one of them said a word.

"Recite the iqama," he said to the caller for prayer (mu'adhdhin) and he recited the iqama.

"Do you want to lead your followers in prayer?" he asked al-Hurr b. Yazid.

"No," he replied, "but you pray and we will pray (following the lead of) your prayer."

Al-Husayn, peace be on him, prayed before them. Then he returned (to his tent) and his followers gathered around him. Al-Hurr went back to the place where he had positioned (his men) and entered a tent which had been put up for him. A group of his followers gathered around him while the rest returned to their ranks, which they had been in and which now they went back to. Each of them held the reins of his mount and sat in the shade (of its body).

At the time for the afternoon (asr) prayer, al-Husayn, peace be on him, ordered his followers to prepare for departure. Then he ordered the call to be made, and the call for the easr prayer was made, and the iqama. Al-Husayn, peace be on him, came forward, stood and prayed. Then he said the final greeting (of the prayer) and turned his face towards them (al-Hurr's men). He praised and glorified God and said:


       People, if you fear God and recognise the rights of those
       who have rights, God will be more satisfied with you. We
       are the House of Muhammad and as such are more entitled to
       the authority (wilaya) of this affair (i.e. the rule of the
       community) over you than these pretenders who claim what does
       not belong to them. They have brought tyranny and aggression
       among you. If you refuse (us) because you dislike (us) or do
       not know our rights, and your view has now changed from what
       came to us in your letters and what your messengers brought,
       then I will leave you.

"By God," declared al-Hurr, "I know nothing of these letters and messengers which you mention."

"Uqba b. Siman," al-Husayn, peace be on him, called to one of his followers, "bring out the two saddle-bags in which the letters to me are kept."

He brought out two saddle-bags which were full of documents, and they were put before him.

"We are not among those who wrote these letters to you," said al- Hurr, "and we have been ordered that when we meet you we should not leave you until we have brought you to Kufa to 'Ubayd Allah."

"Death will come to you before that (happens)," al-Husayn, peace be on him, told him. Then he ordered his followers, "Get up and get mounted."

They got mounted and (then) waited until their women had been mounted,

"Depart," he ordered his followers.

When they set out to leave, the men (with al-Hurr) got in between them and the direction they were going in.

"May God deprive your mother of you," said al-Husayn, peace be on him, to al-Hurr, "what do you want?"

"If any of the Arabs other than you were to say that to me," retorted al-Hurr, "even though he were in the same situation as you, I would not leave him without mentioning his mother being deprived (of him), whoever he might be. But by God there is no way for me to mention your mother except by (saying) the best things possible."

"What do you want?" al-Husayn, peace be on him, demanded.

"I want to go with you to the governor, Ubayd Allah," he replied.

"Then by God I will not follow you."

"Then by God I will not let you (go anywhere else)."

These statements were repeated three times, and when their conversation was getting more (heated) al-Hurr said: "I have not been ordered to fight you. I have only been ordered not to leave you until I come with you to Kufa. If you refuse (to do that), then take any road which will not bring you into Kufa nor take you back to Medina, and let that be a compromise between us while I write to the governor, 'Ubayd Allah. Perhaps God will cause something to happen which will relieve me from having to do anything against you. Therefore take this (road) here and bear to the left of the road (to) al Udhayb and al-Qadisiyya."

Al-Husayn, peace be on him, departed and al-Hurr with his followers (also) set out travelling close by him, while al Hurr was saying to him:

         Al-Husayn, I remind you (before) God to (think of) your
       life; for I testify that you will be killed if you fight.

"Do you think that you can frighten me with death?" said al- Husayn, peace be on him. "Could a worse disaster happen to you than killing me? I can only speak (to you) as the brother of al-Aws said to his cousin when he wanted to help the Apostle of God, may God bless him and grant him and his family peace. His cousin feared for him and said: 'Where are you going, for you will be killed?' but he replied:


       I will depart for there is no shame in death for a young
       man, whenever he intends (to do what is) right and he
       strives like a Muslim,
     
       (Who) has soothed righteous men through (the sacrifice
       of) his life, who has scattered the cursed and opposed
       the criminal.
     
       If I live, I will not regret (what I have done) and if
       I die, I will not suffer. Let it be enough for you to
       live in humiliation and be reviled.

When al-Hurr heard that he drew away from him. He and his followers travelled on one side (of the road) while al-Husayn, peace be on him, travelled on the other, until they reached Udhayb al- Hijanat. Al-Husayn, peace be on him, went on to Qasr Bani Muqatil. He stopped there and there a large tent had (already) been erected.

"Whose is that?" he asked.

"That belongs to Ubayd Allah b. al-Hurr al-Jufi," he was told.

"Ask him to come to me," he said.

The messenger went to him and said: "This is al-Husayn b. Ali, peace be on them, and he asks you to come to him."

"We belong to God and to Him we shall return," said 'Ubayd Allah. "By God, I only left Kufa out of dread that al-Husayn, peace be on him, would enter Kufa while I was there. By God, I do not want to see him, nor him to see me."

The messenger returned to him (al-H. usayn). Al-Husayn, peace be on him, rose and went over to him. He greeted him and sat down. Then he asked him to go with him. Ubayd Allah b. al Hurr repeated what he had said before and sought to excuse himself from what he was asking him (to do).

"If you are not going to help us," al-Husayn, peace be on him, said to him, "then be sure that you are not one of those who fight against us. For, by God, no one will hear our cry and not help us without being destroyed."

"As for that (fighting against you)," he replied, "it will never happen, if God, the Exalted, wishes."

Then al-Husayn, peace be on him, left him and continued to his camp. Towards the end of the night, he ordered his boys to get provisions of water. Then he ordered the journey (to continue). He set out from Qasr Bani Muqatil.

Index

Part 4 (continued from Part 3)

['Uqba b. Sim'an reported:]

We set out at once with him and he became drowsy while he was on his horse's back. He woke up, saying: "We belong to God and to Him we will return. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds."

He did that twice or three times, then his son, 'Ali b. al-Husayn approached him and asked: "Why are you praising God and repeating the verse of returning to Him?"

"My son," he answered, "I nodded off and a horseman appeared to me, riding a horse and he said: 'Men are travelling and the fates travel towards them.' Then I knew it was our own souls announcing our deaths to us."

"Father," asked (the youth), "does God regard you as evil? Are we not in the right?"

"Indeed (we are)," he answered, "by Him to Whom all His servants must return."

"Father," said (the youth), "then we need have no concern, if we are going to die righteously."

"May God give you the best reward a son can get for (his behaviour towards) his father," answered al-Husayn, peace be on him.

In the morning, he stopped and prayed the morning prayer. Then he hurried to remount and to continue the journey with his followers, veering to the left with the intention of separating from (al-Hurr's men). However al-Hurr b. Yazid came towards him and stopped him and his followers (from going in that direction) and he began to (exert pressure to) turn them towards Kufa, but they resisted him. So they stopped (doing that) but they still accompanied them in the same way until they reached Ninawa, (which was) the place where al-Husayn, peace be on him, stopped. Suddenly there appeared a rider on a fast mount, bearing weapons and carrying a bow on his shoulder, coming from Kufa. They all stopped and watched him. When he reached them, he greeted al-Hurr and his followers and did not greet al- Husayn and his followers. He handed a letter from Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad to al-Hurr. In it (was the following):


       When this letter reaches you and my messenger comes
       to you, make al-Husayn come to a halt. But only let
       him stop in an open place without vegetation. I have
       ordered my messenger to stay with you and not to leave
       you until he brings me (news of) your carrying out my
       instructions.

       Greetings.

When al-Hurr had read the letter, he told them: "This is a letter from the governor Ubayd Allah. He has ordered me to bring you to a halt at a place which his letter suggests. This is his messenger and he has ordered him not to leave me until I carry out the order with regard to you."

Yazid (b. Ziyad) b. al-Muhajir al-Kindi who was with al-Husayn, peace be on him, looked at the messenger of Ibn Ziyad and he recognized him.

"May your mother be deprived of you," he exclaimed, "what a business you have come to!"

"I have obeyed my Imam and remained faithful to my pledge of allegiance," (the other man) answered.


       You have been disobedient to your Lord and have obeyed
       your Imam in bringing about the destruction of your soul,"
       responded Ibn al-Muhajir. "You have acquired (eternal) shame
       (for yourself) and (the punishment of) Hell-fire. What a
       wicked Imam your Imam is! Indeed God has said: we have made
       them Imams who summon (people) to Hellfire and on the Day of
       Resurrection they will not be helped. (XXVIII, 41) Your Imam
       is one of those.

Al-Hurr b. Yazid began to make the people stop in a place that was without water and where there was no village.

"Shame upon you, let us stop at this village or that one," said al- Husayn, peace be on him. He meant by this, Ninawa and al- Ghadiriyya, and by that, Shufayya."

"By God, I cannot do that," replied (al-Hurr), "for this man has been sent to me as a spy."

"Son of the Apostle of God," said Zuhayr b. al-Qayn, "I can only think that after what you have seen, the situation will get worse than what you have seen. Fighting these people, now, will be easier for us than fighting those who will come against us after them. For by my life, after them will come against us such (a number) as we will not have the power (to fight) against."

"I will not begin to fight against them," answered al-Husayn.

That was Thursday, 2nd of (the month of) Muharram in the year 61 A.H.(680). On the next day, Umar b. Sad b. Abi Waqqas, set out from Kufa with four thousand horsemen. He stopped at Ninawa and sent for 'Urwa b. Qays al-Ahmasi and told him: "Go to him (al- Husayn) and ask him: What brought you, and what do you want?"

Urwa was one of those who had written to al-Husayn, peace be on him, and he was ashamed to do that. The same was the case with all the leaders who had written to him, and all of them refused and were unwilling to do that. Kathir b. Abd Allah al-Shabi stood up - he was a brave knight who never turned his face away from anything - and said: "I will go to him. By God, if you wish, I will rush on him."

"I don't want you to attack him," said 'Umar, "but go to him and ask him what has brought him."

As Kathir was approaching him, Abu Thumama al-Saidi saw him and said to al-Husayn, "May God benefit you, Abu Abd Allah, the wickedest man in the land, the one who has shed the most blood and the boldest of them all in attack, is coming towards you."

Then (Abu Thumama) stood facing him and said: "Put down your sword."

"No, by God," he replied, "I am only a messenger. If you will listen to me, I will tell you (the message) which I have been sent to bring to you. If you refuse, I will go away."

"I will take the hilt of your sword," answered (Abu Thumama), "and you can say what you need to."

"No, by God, you will not touch it," he retorted.

"Then tell me what you have brought and I will inform him for you. But I will not let you go near him, for you are a charlatan."

They both (stood there and) cursed each other. Then (Kathlr) went back to Umar b. Sad and told him the news (of what had happened). Umar summoned Qurra b. Qays al-Hanzali and said to him: "Shame upon you Qurra, go and meet al-Husayn and ask him what brought him and what he wants."

Qurra began to approach him. When al-Husayn, peace be on him, saw him approaching, he asked: "Do you know that man?"

"Yes," replied Habib b. Muzahir, "he is from the Hanzala clan of Tamim. He is the son of our sister. I used to know him as a man of sound judgement. I would not have thought that he would be present at this scene."

He came and greeted al-Husayn, peace be on him. Then he informed him of 'Umar b. Sa'd's message.

"The people of this town of yours wrote to me that I should come," answered al Husayn, peace be on him. "However, if now you have come to dislike me, then I will leave you."

"Shame upon you, Qurra," Habib b. Muzahir said to him, "will you return to those unjust men? Help this man through whose fathers God will grant you (great) favour."

"I will (first) return to my leader with the answer to his message," replied Qurra, "and then I will reflect on my views."

He went back to 'Umar b. Sa'd and gave him his report.

"I hope that God will spare me from making war on him and fighting against him," said 'Umar and then he wrote to 'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad:


       In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
       I am (writing this from) where I have positioned myself,
       near al Husayn, and I have asked him what brought him and
       what he wants. He answered: 'The people of this land wrote
       to me and their messengers came to me asking me to come and
       I have done so. However if (now) they have some to dislike
       me and (the position) now appears different to them from
       what their messengers brought to me, I will go away from
       them.

[Hassan b. Qa'id al-'Absi reported:]

I was with 'Ubayd Allah when this letter came to him, he read it and then he recited:


       Now when our claws cling to him, he hopes for escape
       but he will be prevented (now) from (getting) any refuge.

He wrote to 'Umar b. Sa'd:


       Your letter has reached me and I have understood what
       you mentioned. Offer al-Husayn (the opportunity) of him
       and all his followers pledging allegiance to Yazid. If
       he does that, we will then see what our judgement will be.

When the answer reached Umar b. Sa'd, he said: "I fear that 'Ubayd Allah will not accept that I should be spared (fighting al- Husayn)."

(Almost immediately) after it, there came (another) letter from Ibn Ziyad (in which he said):


       Prevent al-Husayn and his followers from (getting) water.
     
       Do not let them taste a drop of it just as was done with
       'Uthman b. Affan.

At once Umar b. Said sent Amr b al-Hajjaj with five hundred horsemen to occupy the path to the water and prevent al-Husayn and his followers from (getting) water in order that they should (not) drink a drop of it. That was three days before the battle against al- Husayn, peace be on him.

Abd Allah b. al-Husayn al-Azdi, who was numbered among Bajila, called out at the top of his voice: "Husayn, don't you see that the water is as if in the middle of heaven. By God, you will not taste a drop of it until you die of thirst."

"O God, make him die of thirst and never forgive him", cried al- Husayn, peace be on him.

Index.

Part 5 (continued from Part 4)

[Humayd b. Muslim reported:]


       By God, later I visited him when he was ill. By God, other
       than Whom there is no deity, I saw him drinking water without
       being able to quench his thirst, and then vomiting. He would
       cry out, "The thirst, the thirst!" Again he would drink water
       without being able to quench his thirst, again he would vomit.
       He would then burn with thirst. This went on until he died,
       may God curse him.

When al-Husayn saw the extent of the number of troops encamped with 'Umar b. Sa'd, may God curse him, at Ninawa in order to do battle against him, he sent to 'Umar b. Sa'd that he wanted to meet him. The two men met at night and talked together for a long time. (When) 'Umar b. Sa'd went back to his camp, he wrote to Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad, may he be cursed.


       God has put out the fire of hatred, united (the people)
       in one opinion (lit. word), and set right the affairs of
       the community. This man, al-Husayn, has given me a promise
       that he will return to the place which he came from, or he
       will go to one of the border outposts - he will become
       like any (other) of the Muslims, with the same rights and
       duties as them; or he will go to Yazid, the Commander of
       the faithful, and offer him his hand and see (if the
       difference) between them (can be reconciled). In this (offer)
       you have the consent (to what you have demanded) and the
       community gains benefit.

When Ubayd Allah read the letter, he said: "This is the letter about a sincere man who is anxious for his people."

"Are you going vo accept this from him," demanded Shamir b. Dhi al-Jawshan, jumping up,


       When he has encamped on your land nearby? By God if he was
       a man from your land and he would not put his hand in yours,
       whether he was in a position of power and strength (or) whether
       he was in a position of weakness and impotence you would not
       give this concession, for it would be (a mark) of weakness.
       Rather let him and his followers submit to your authority.
       Then if you punish them, (it will be because) you are the (person)
       most appropriate to punish, and if you forgive them, you have
       the right (to do so)."

"What you have suggested is good," replied Ibn Ziyad. "Your view is the correct view. Take this message to 'Umar b. Sad and let him offer al-Husayn and his followers (the opportunity of) submitting to my authority. If they do that, let him send them to me in peace. If they refuse, he should fight them. If he ('Umar b. Sa'd) acts (according to) my instructions, then listen to him and obey him. However if he refuses to fight them then you are the commander of the army (lit. people), attack him, cut his head off and send it to me."

Then he wrote to Umar b. Sa'd:


       I did not send you to al-Husayn for you to restrain
       yourself from (fighting) him, nor to idle the time
       away with him, nor to promise him peace and preservation
       (of his life), nor to make excuses for him, nor to be an
       intercessor on his behalf with me. Therefore see that if
       al-Husayn and his followers submit to my authority and
       surrender, you send them to me in peace. If they refuse,
       then march against them to fight them and to punish them;
       for they deserve that. If al-Husayn is killed, make the
       horses trample on his body, both front and back; for he is a
       disobedient rebel, and I do not consider that this will be
       in any way wrong after death. But it is my view that you
       should do this to him if you kill him. If you carry out your
       command concerning him, we will give you the reward due to
       one who is attentive and obedient. If you refuse, then we
       withdraw (the command of) our province and army from you and
       leave the army to Shamir b. Dhl al-Jawshan. We have given him
       our authority.

       Greetings.

Shamir b. Dhi al-Jawshan brought the letter to 'Umar b. Sad. After he had brought it and read it, 'Umar said to him:


       Shame upon you, what is this to you? May God never show
       favour to your house. May God make abominable what you
       have brought to me! By God, I did not think that you would
       cause him to refuse what I had written to him, and ruin for
       us a matter which we had hoped to set right. Al Husayn will
       not surrender, for there is a spirit like (his) father's
       in his body."

"Tell me what you are going to do," demanded Shamir. "Are you going to carry out the governor's command and fight his enemy or are you going to leave the command of the army to me?"

"No, (there is going to be) no advantage to you. I will carry that out instead of you. you take command of the foot-soldiers."

'Umar b. Sa'd prepared to (do battle with) al-Husayn, peace be on him, on the night of Thursday, 9th of the month of Muharram. (In the meantime) Shamir went out and stood in front of the followers of al- Husayn, peace be on him.

"Where are my sister's sons?" he demanded. Al Abbas,

Jafar, Abd Allah and Uthman, sons of Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be on him, came forward.

"What do you want?" they asked.

"Sons of my sister, you are guaranteed security," he said.

"God curse you and curse the security which you offer without offering itlto the son of the Apostle of God," the young men replied.

"Cavalry of God, mount and announce the news of Heaven (i.e. death)," Umar b. Sa'd called out and the people mounted and he approached (the supporters of al-Husayn) after the afternoon (asr) prayer.

Meanwhile, al-Husayn, peace be on him, was sitting in front of his tent dozing with his head on his knees. His sister heard the clamour (from the enemy's ranks). She came up to him and said, "My brother, don't you hear the sounds which are getting nearer?"


       I have just seen the Apostle of God, may God bless him
       and grant him peace, in my sleep," said al-Husayn, peace
       be on him, as he raised his head. "He said to me: 'You are
       coming to us.'

His sister struck at her face and cried out in grief.

"You have no (reason) to lament, sister," al-Husayn, peace be on him, told her. "Be quiet, may God have mercy on you."

Then he turned to al-Abbas b. Ali "Brother, the enemy have come, so get ready; but first, al-Abbas, you, yourself, ride out to meet them, to talk to them about what they have (in mind) and what appears (appropriate) to them and to ask about what has brought them (against us)."

Al-Abbas went towards them with about twenty horsemen, among whom was Zuhayr b. al-Qayn.

"How do you see (the situation)?" he asked. "What do you want?'

"The command of the governor has arrived that we should offer you (the opportunity of) submitting to his authority, otherwise we (must) attack you," they answered.

"Do not hurry (to do anything) until I have gone back to Abu Abd Allah (al-Husayn) and told him what you have said, 'Abbas requested.

They stopped (where they were) and told him: "Go to him and inform him, and tell us what he says to you."

Al 'Abbas went galloping back to al Husayn, peace be on him, to give him the information. While his companions remained exchanging words with the enemy, trying to test them and dissuade them from fighting against al-Husayn, peace be on him, (al-'Abbas) told him what the enemy had said.


       Go back to them," he, peace be on him, said, "if you can,
       delay them until the morning and (persuade) them to keep
       from us during the evening. Then, perhaps, we may be able
       to pray to our Lord during the night to call upon Him and
       seek His forgiveness. He knows that I have always loved His
       formal prayer, the recitation of His Book and (making) many
       invocations to Him, seeking His forgiveness.

Al Abbas went back to the people, and returned (after) being with them, accompanied by a messenger on behalf of Umar b. Saed, who had said: "We will grant you a day until tomorrow. Then if you surrender, we will send you to our governor, Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad but if you refuse we will not leave you (any longer)."

(After) he departed, towards the evening al-Husayn gathered his followers around him.

Index

Part 6 (continued from Part 5)

[ Ali b. al Husayn, Zayn al Abidin, reported: ]


       I went near to hear what he would say to them (even
       though)  at that time I was sick. I heard my father
       say to his followers: I glorify God with the most perfect
       glorification and I praise  Him in happiness and misfortune.
       O God, I praise You for blessing  us with prophethood,
       teaching us the Qur'an and making us understand  the religion.
       You have given us hearing, sight and hearts, and have made
       us among those who give thanks (to You). I know of no followers
       more loyal and more virtuous than my followers, nor of any
       House more pious and more close-knit than my House. May God
       reward you well on my behalf. Indeed, I do not think that there
       will be (any  further) days (left) to us by these men. I
       permit you to leave me. All (of  you) go away with the absolution
       of your oath (to follow me),  for there will be no (further)
       obligation on you from me. This  is a night (whose darkness) will
       give cover to you. Use it as a  camel (i.e. ride away in it).

His brothers and sons, the sons of his sisters and the sons of 'Abd Allah b. Ja'far said:


      We will not leave you to make ourselves continue living
      after your (death). God will never see us (do) such a thing.

Al Abbas b. Ali, peace be on them, was the first of them to make this declaration. Then the (whole) group followed him, (all) declaring the same thing.

"Sons of 'Aqil" said al-Husayn, "enough of your (family) has been killed. So go away as I have permitted you."

"Glory be to God," they replied, "what would the people say?


      They would say that we deserted our shaykh, our lord, the
      sons of our uncle, who was the best of uncles; that we had
      not shot arrows alongside them, we had not thrust spears
      alongside them, we had not struck swords alongside them.
      (At such an accusation) we do not know what we would do.
      No, by God, we will not do (such a thing). Rather we will
      ransom you with our lives, property and families. We will
      fight for you until we reach your destination. May God make
      life abominable (for us) after your (death)."

Then Muslim b. Awsaja arose and spoke:


      Could we leave you alone? How should we excuse ourselves
      before God concerning the performance of our duty to your
      By God, I  will stab them with my spear (until it breaks),
      I will strike  them with my sword as long as the hilt is
      in my hand. If I have no weapon (left) to fight them with,
      I will throw stones (at them). By God we will never leave
      you until God knows that we have preserved through you (the
      company of His Apostle) in his absence. By God, if I knew
      what I would die and then be revived and then burnt and then
      revived, and then scattered, and that would be done to me
      seventy times, I would never leave you until I met my death
      (fighting) on your behalf. So how could I do it when there
      can only be one death, which is a great blessing which can
      never be rejected.

Zuhayr b. al-Qayn, may God have mercy on him, spoke:


      By God, I would prefer to be killed and then recalled to
      life; and then be killed a thousand times in this manner;
      and that in this way God, the Mighty and Exalted, should
      protect your life and the lives of these young men of
      your House.

All his followers spoke in similar vein, one after the other. Al- Husayn, peace be on him, called (on God to) reward them well and then went back to his tent.

[ Ali b. al-Husayn, peace be on them, Zayn al Abidin reported: ]

I was sitting on that evening (before the morning of the day) in which my father was killed. With me was my aunt, Zaynab, who was nursing me when my father left to go to his tent. With him was Juwayn, the retainer (mawla) of Abu Dharr al-Ghiffarl, who was preparing his sword and putting it right My father recited:


       Time, shame on you as a friend! At the day's dawning and the
       sun's setting,
     
       How many a companion or seeker will be a corpse! Time will
       not be satisfied with any substitute.
     
       The matter will rest with the Mighty One, and every living
       creature will have to journey along my path.

He repeated it twice or three times. I understood it and realised what he meant. Tears choked me and I pushed them back. I kept silent and knew that tribulation had come upon us. As for my aunt, she heard what I heard - but she is a woman and weakness and grief are part of the qualities of women; she could not control herself, she jumped up, tearing at her clothes and sighing, and went to him.

"Then I will lose (a brother)," Zaynab said to him. "Would that death deprived me of life today, (for) my mother, Fatima, is dead, and my father, 'Ah, and my brother, al-Hasan, peace be on them (all)."

"O sister,' al-Husayn said to her as he looked at her with his eyes full of tears, " don't let Satan take away your forbearance. (Remember:) If the sandgrouse are left (alone) at night, they will sleep (i.e. let nature take its course)."

"O my grief, your life will be violently wrenched from you and that is more wounding to my heart and harsher to my soul," she lamented, and then she struck at her face. she bent down to (the hem of) her garment and (began to) tear it. Then she fell down in a faint.

Al-Husayn, peace be on him, got up and bathed her face with water Then he said to her:


       Sister, fear God and take comfort in the consolation of God.
       Know that the people on the earth will die and the inhabitants
       of heaven will not continue to exist (for ever). For everything
       will be destroyed except the face of God Who created creation
       by His power (qudra); He sends forth creatures and He causes
       them to return; He is unique and alone. My grandfather was
       better than me, my father was better than me and my mother was
       better than me. I and every Muslim have an ideal model in the
       Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family.

By This and the like he tried to console her and he said:


       Sister, I swear to you - and I (always) keep my oaths - that
       you must not tear your clothes, nor scratch your face, nor
       cry out with grief and loss when I am destroyed.

Then he brought her and made her sit with me. He went out to his followers and ordered them to bring their tents (much) closer together so that the tent-pegs came within the area of each other's tents, and so that if they remained among their tents, the enemy could only approach (them), from one side (for there would be) tents behind them, and to their right and left. Thus (the tents completely) surrounded them except for the one way which the enemy could come against them.

(After that) he, peace be on him, returned to his place and spent the whole night in performing the prayer, in calling on God's forgiveness and in making invocations. In the same way, his followers performed the prayer, made invocations and sought God's forgiveness.

[ Al Dahhak b. Abd Allah reported: ]

(A contingent of) Umar b. Sa'd's (continually) passed us keeping watch over us while al-Husayn, himself, recited:


       Let not those who disbelieve think that our giving them a
       delay is better for their souls. We give them a delay only
       that they might increase their wickedness. They shall have
       a disgraceful punishment. God does not leave the believers
       in the situation you are in until He has made the evil
       distinct from the good.  [ Quran III, 117/8 ]

A man called 'Abd Allah b. Samir, (who was) among those horsemen heard that. He was given to much laughter, and was a brave fighter, a treacherous knight and a noble. He cried out: "By the Lord of the Ka'ba, we are the good, we have been distinguished from you."

"O terrible sinner," cried Burayr b. Hudayr, "has God made you one of the good?"

"A curse on you, whoever you are?" he shouted back.

"I am Burayr b. Hudayr," he replied. And they both cursed each other.

Hazrat Muhammad al-Mahdi (AS)

2009-12-15T08:47:00.000-08:00

The Twelfth Imam

Name - Muhammad

Title - Al-Mahdi, Sahib-ul-Asr, Al-Hujjat, Al-Qa'im

Kunyat - Abul Qasim

Born - Friday 15th of Shaban 255 A.H., at Samarra

Father's Name - Imam Hasan-al-Askari

Mother's Name - Nargis Khatoon

Died - Still living but in hiding and will appear before the Day of Judgement to establish justice on earth.

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

Hazrat Hasan al-Askari (AS)

2009-12-15T08:46:00.002-08:00

The Eleventh Imam

Name - Hasan

Title - Al-Askari

Kunyat - Abu Muhammad

Born - Monday 8th of Rabi-ul-Akhar 232 A.H. , at Medina

Father's Name - Ali ibn Muhammad

Mother's Name - Saleel

Died - At the age of 28 years, at Samarra, on Friday 8th Rabi-ul-Awwal 260 AH. Poisoned by Mo'tamad the Abbaside Caliph

Buried - at Samarra, Baghdad.

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

Hazrat Ali An-Naqi (AS)

2009-12-15T08:46:00.001-08:00

The Tenth Imam

Name - Ali

Title - An-Naqi and Al-Hadi

Kunyat - Abul Hasan

Born - Friday 15th of Zilhajj 212 A.H., at Surba

Father's Name - Muhammad ibn Ali

Mother's Name - Summana Khatoon

Died - At the age of 42 years, at Samarra , on Monday, 26th Jamadi-ul-Akhar 254 AH. Poisoned by Mu'taz the Abbaside Caliph

Buried - at Samarra, Baghdad.

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

Hazrat Muhammad At-Taqi (AS)

2009-12-15T08:44:00.001-08:00

The Ninth Imam

Name - Muhammad

Title - At-Taqi and Al-Jawad

Kunyat - Abu Ja'far

Born - Friday 10th of Rajab 195 A.H. , at Medina

Father's Name - Ali ibn Musa

Mother's Name - Khaizuran

Died - At the age of 25 years, at Kazmain , on Wednesday, 29th Zilqad 220 AH. Poisoned by Mu'tasin the Abbaside Caliph

Buried - in Kazmain, Bagdad.

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

Hazrat Ali Ar-Ridha (AS)

2009-12-15T08:36:00.000-08:00

The Eighth Imam

Name - Ali

Title - Ar-Ridha

Kunyat - Abul Hasan

Born - Thursday 11th of Zilqad 148 A.H. , at Medina

Father's Name - Moosa ibn Ja'far

Mother's Name - Ummul Baneen Najma

Died - At the age of 55 years, at Mashad in Khorasan, on Tuesday, 17th Safar 203 AH. Poisoned by Mamoon the Abbaside Caliph

Buried - in Mashad, Iran .

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

Hazrat Musa-al Kadhim (AS)

2009-12-15T08:35:00.000-08:00

The Seventh Imam

Name - Musa

Title - Al-Kadhim

Kunyat - Abu Ibrahim

Born - Sunday 7st of Safarb 128 A.H. , at Abwa (Between Mecca and Medina)

Father's Name - Ja'far ibn Muhammad

Mother's Name - Hamida Khatoon

Died - At the age of 55 years, at Baghdad, on Friday, 25th Rajab 183 AH. Poisoned by Harun-al-Rashid the Abbaside caliph

Buried - Kazmain, Baghdad .

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

Hazrat Ja'far As-Sadiq (AS)

2009-12-15T08:34:00.000-08:00

The Sixth Imam

Name - Ja'far

Title - As-Sadiq

Kunyat - Abu Abdullah

Born - Monday 17th of Rabi-ul-Awwal 83 A.H. in Medina

Father's Name - Muhammad ibn Ali

Mother's Name - Umme-e-Farwah

Died - At the age of 65 years, at Medina, on Monday, 15th Rajab 148 AH. Poisoned by Mansur Dawaneeqi the Abbasite

Buried - Jannat-ul-Baqi .

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

Hazrat Muhammad Baqir (AS)

2009-12-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

The Fifth Imam

Name - Muhammad

Title - Al-Baqir

Kunyat - Abu Jafar

Born - Tuesday 1st of Rajab 57 A.H. , at Medina

Father's Name - Ali ibn Husain

Mother's Name - Fatima binte Hassan

Died - At the age of 59 years, at Medina, on Monday, 7th Zilhajj 116 AH. Poisoned by Hisham bin Abdul Malik

Buried - Jannat-ul-Baqi .

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

Hazrat Zain-ul-Abideen (AS)

2009-12-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

The Fourth Imam

Name - Ali-ibn-ul Husain

Title - Zain-ul Abideen

Kunyat - Abu Muhammad

Born - Saturday 15th of Jamadi-ul-Awwal, at Medina

Father's Name - Husain ibn Ali

Mother's Name - Shahr Banoo, daughter of King Yazdigard II

Died - at the age of 58 years, in Medina , on the 21st of Muharram 95 AH. Poisoned by Waleed bin Abdul Malik Marwan.

Buried - Jannat-ul-Baqi .

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

Hazrat Husain As-Shaheed (AS)

2009-12-15T08:29:00.000-08:00

The Third Imam

Name - Husain

Title - Sayyid-ush-Shohada (Leader of Martyrs)

Kunyat - Abu Abdullah

Born - Thursday, 3rd Shaban 4 AH at Medina

Father's Name - Ali ibne abu Talib

Mother's Name - Fatima (Daughter of the Holy Prophet)

Martyred - at the age of 57 years, in Kerbala, on 10th Muharram 61 AH by Yazid-ibn-Muawiya and his ruthless army.

Buried - in Kerbala

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

Hazrat Hasan Al-Mujtaba (AS)

2009-12-15T08:27:00.000-08:00

The Second Imam

Name - Hasan

Title - Al-Mujtaba

Kunyat - Abul Muhammad

Born - Tuesday, 15th Ramadan 3 AH at Medina

Father's Name - Ali ibne abu Talib

Mother's Name - Fatima (Daughter of the Holy Prophet)

Died - at the age of 46 years, at Medina, on Thursday, 28th Safar, 50 AH.

Buried - at the cemetery of Jannat-ul-Baqi in Medina

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

Hazrat Fatima Zahra (AS) Leader of the Women of Paradise

2009-12-15T08:26:00.000-08:00

The Daughter of the Holy Prophet and the Wife of Imam Ali

Name - Fatima

Title - Az-Zahra

Kunyat - Umm-ul-Aimma

Born - Friday 20th of Jamadi-ul-Akhar in Mecca

Father's Name - Holy Prophet Muhammad Ibn-e-Abdulla (PBUH)

Mother's Name - Khadija bint-e-Khuwailid

Died - 14th Jamadi-ul-Awwal at Medina at the age of 18 years (due to injury inflicted upon her through force of a falling door by a hypocrite).

Buried - The cemetery of Jannatul Baqi at Medina

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

Hazrat Ali Al-Murtaza (AS) Amir-ul-Mo'mineen

2009-12-15T08:24:00.000-08:00

Name - Ali

Title - Al-Murtaza, Al-Amir-ul-Mo'mineen, Abu-Turab, Asadullah

Kunyat - Abul Hasan

Born - Friday 13th of Rajab, in the Holy Ka'ba

Father's Name - Abu Talib-ibne-Abdul Muttalib

Mother's Name - Fatima bint-e-Asad

Died - at the age of 63 years, at Kufa, on Monday, the 21st Ramadan 40 AH, murdered by an assassin who mortally wounded him with a poisoned sword in the Mosque at Kufa during morning prayers on the 19th of Ramadan.

Buried - Najaf, near Kufa.

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

The Seal of the Prophets Prophet Muhammad al-Mustafa (PBUH&HF)

2009-12-15T08:22:00.000-08:00

Name - Muhammad

Title - Al-Mustafa, Al-Amin, Ar-Rasool

Kunyat - Abul Qasim

Born - Friday, the 17th of Rabi-ul Awwal

Father's Name - Abdullah Ibn Abdul Muttalib

Mother's Name - Amina bint-e-Wahab

Died - at the age of 63 years on Monday, 28th Safar 11 AH

Buried- in his house adjoining the mosque at Medina

Taken from Know Your Islam by Yousuf N. Lalljee

Ali Akbar, the Hashmite Prince History

2009-12-15T08:21:00.000-08:00

The whole town of Medina was humming with activity. People from all parts of the town were looking into the street of the Hashimites where a caravan was getting ready for a journey. The elders of the town were talking to each I other in hushed tones, recalling the words of the Prophet, that a day will dawn when his beloved grandson Husain (as) would leave Medina with his sons, brothers, nephews and kinsmen never to return. There was sadness on the faces of all, young and old. The elderly people were aghast at the thought of Husain going away for ever. They were accustomed to turning to him in all their needs. The youths of Medina were saddened by the thought of Abbas and Ali Akbar and Qasim going away for good. Their anxious inquiries could only elicit this much information, that Husain with his kinsmen and children, was going for Hajj and from there to an unknown destination.

Thoughts of parting were tormenting not only the male population of Medina but also the womenfolk of the town. They too were accustomed to the munificence of the ladies of the Prophet's house. Who was there amongst them who had not received help and counsel from the daughters of Fatima? Who would be left now to whom they could turn in their hour of need, when Zainab and Kulsum, Umme Rubab and Umme Laila had left Medina? Had not times out of number their children received gifts and favours from Sakina and Rukayya?

As was their wont, the people of Medina, men and women, young and old, had gone to the tomb of the Prophet to pray and seek solace to pray to God with the invocations of His Prophet that they might be spared the ordeal of separation from Husain and his family. There at the tomb of the Prophet they witnessed a heart-rending scene. They saw Husain and Zain prostrate with grief and sorrow, bidding farewell to the Prophet. They saw both of them visiting the grave of Fatima and lamenting over the separation, as if they were parting for ever.

It was rumoured that Husain was leaving Medina to arrange the marriage of his son Ali Akbar with some Princess, some lady of a noble stocks I it in some distant land. Could this rumour be correct? They all knew that there was not a young lad of marriage able age in Arabia who could be said to be fit to hold a candle before him. His handsome looks were matched by his handsome deeds. His nobility of character, his sense of duty, his generosity, his chivalry, his geniality, his love of justice and fairplay had endeared him to every soul. It was a well-known fact amongst the Arabs throughout Hejaz that Ali Akbar was bearing a remarkable resemblance to the Holy Prophet. In looks, in voice, in mannerism, in gait and in every way, he resembled the Prophet. The resemblance was so marked that people from far and wide were coming to see him, to be reminded of the Prophet whom they were missing so much. Those who had not had the good fortune to see the Prophet were told by their elders that Ali Akbar was the very image of Muhammad, may Peace of Allah be on Him. There could, therefore, be no room for doubt that the noblest families of Arabia would consider it a signal honour if this scion of the Prophet's family were to ask for their daughter in marriage. But then, if Husain and his family were leaving Medina for Ali Akbar's marriage, they would not be secretive about it. The Prophet's grandson would in that case have given out the good tidings to the public. There was not a living being in that town whose heart would not have been filled with joy to hear about the betrothal of Ali Akbar. And if marriage of Ali Akbar was the purpose, surely Husain would not choose this season when outside the oasis of Medina, the scorching heat of summer was baking the desert sands!

After long discussions, by a consensus of opinion, it was decided to approach Husain in a delegation and to dissuade him from undertaking the journey. Some of the venerable companions of the Prophet undertook to apprise Husain of their forebodings and their recollection of his grandfather's prophecy that, if Husain migrated from Medina with his family, he would not return.

The caravan was almost ready to depart. The horses were neighing with impatience and champing their bits in the oppressive heat of the day. Husain was standing near his horse intently watching the arrangements being made by Abbas and Ali Akbar. He was reflectively following their movements as they were helping each lady and each child to mount the camels, as they were lending a helping hand to the ladies with tender care and affection; as the ladies were graciously and profusely thanking them for the excellent arrangements they had made for their comfort and for protecting them from the unbearable heat by holding their own gowns over their heads as a canopy. This sight had some inexplicable effect on Husain, for his eyes were glittering with tears. The solicitude displayed by his brother and son for the ladies and children should have filled him with happiness; but instead, the effect on him was just the opposite. Was he beholding the shadows of some coming events?

At this moment came the representatives of the people of Medina. With one voice they entreated Husain to abandon the idea of undertaking this journey. Their leader, with supplication in his faltering voice, besought Husain to tell them why he had decided to leave them and the Prophet's tomb for which he had so much attachment.

         O Son of the Prophet, if we have displeased you in any
        way, please forgive us.

At this display of love and affection Husain was moved to tears. Suppressing his sobs he replied:

         My dear brethren, believe me that my heart is bleeding
        at this parting, parting from you and from the graves of
        my beloved grandfather, my dearest mother and my brother,
        whom I held dearer than my life. Had it not been for the
        call of duty, I assure you I would have abandoned the idea
        of leaving Medina. It grieves me most that I cannot for
        once grant you your wishes when you all love me so dearly.
        But Almighty Allah has so willed it and in His divine
        dispensation ordained that I should undertake this journey.
        I know what hardships await me; but the Prophet has groomed
        me from my childhood to face them.

Seeing that the hand of destiny was snatching away Husain from them, they conferred amongst themselves and suggested that, if his decision to go from Medina was final, he should take with him all the able-bodied persons of the town so that they could protect him and his people. They reminded him of the treachery that was pervading the atmosphere in the adjoining regions. Husain, obviously moved by their sincere consideration for his safety, thanked them profusely. But he told them that, in accordance with the wishes of the Prophet, he had to fulfill the mission of his fife only with those who were destined to be associated with him in the task confronting him.

When they received this reply to their entreaties, from Husain, the representative of the Medinites requested Husain to grant them one wish to leave Ali Akbar behind him in Medina.

         O Husain," they said, "we cannot bear the thought of
        parting with your son Ali Akbar, He is the very image
        of the Prophet. Whenever we feel overcome by the remembrance
        of Muhammad, we go to Ali Akbar to have a look at him
        and take comfort. We shall look after him better than
        we look after our own sons. We promise that we shall treat
        his every wish as a command. In fair weather and foul we
        shall stand by him. Even if we die, we shall command our
        children as our dying wish to attend to all his comforts and
        needs. His exemplary life has been an object lesson for our
        sons who are devoted to him as if he were their brother.

These pleading, which had a ring of sincerity and earnestness, rendered Husain quite speechless for a time. How could he tell them what was in store for Ali Akbar who they loved and adored so much? When his sad reflections had subsided, he replied to them in a tone tinged with pathos,

         Alas, I only wish I could entrust my Ali Akbar to your
        care! In my mission he has to play a role, the importance
        of which time alone will tell. I cannot accede to your
        request for reasons which I cannot reveal to you; but rest
        assured that I shall always remember your kindness to me.
        I shall carry with me vivid memories of this parting and
        remember you in my prayers.

When the heavens were glowing with the last rays of day, the caravan left on its long-drawn journey to the unknown destination. Soon darkness descended upon Medina as if symbolic of the darkness and gloom which the departure of Husain had cast on the town, associated with a myriad memories of his childhood.

Meandering through the desert, the caravan had reached its destination, a destination which Allah had willed for it. The march of Husain and his kinsmen in this world had ended; but it was just the beginning of their march toward their real goal. With the dawn of the 10th day of the month of Muharram the events, for which the Prophet and Ali and Fatima had prepared Husain, started unfolding themselves. What a day it was and what fateful events it encompassed!

One by one the faithful followers went out to fight for the cause of Islam which forces of evil were attempting to stifle, and in the process faced death. In their glorious deaths they demonstrated what steadfastness and unflin- ching faith, what courage of conviction can achieve and attain against all odds. With his devoted supporters now sleeping the sweet slumber of death from which nothing could awaken them, the turn of Husain's sons and brothers and nephews came. In spite of Husain's best efforts to send his son Ali Akbar to the battlefield before all his devoted friends and faithful followers, they would not even let him mention it. The thought of Ali Akbar, Husain's beloved son, laying down his iffy in battle, when they were still alive, was too much for them. It would be blasphemous for them even to entertain such an idea!

Ali Akbar went over to his father to ask his permission to go out into that gory arena from which no person from his camp had returned. Husain looked at his face; it would be more correct to say that for a couple of minutes his stare was fixed on that face which he loved so much; which reminded him every time of his grandfather whom he resembled every inch. He tried to say something but his voice failed him. With considerable effort he whispered with downcast eyes:

         Akbar, I wish you had become a father; then you would have
        known what I am experiencing at this moment. My son, how can
        a father ask his son to go, when he knows that the parting
        would be for ever! But Akbar, the call of duty makes me
        helpless in this matter. Go to your mother, and to your aunt
        Zainab who has brought you up from childhood and loved you and
        cared for you more than for her own sons, and seek their
        permission.

Ali Akbar entered the tent of his aunt Zainab. He found her and his mother Umme Laila gazing vacantly towards the battlefield and listening intently to the battle-cries of the enemy hordes. Their instinct made them aware that, now that all the devoted followers of Husain had laid down their dear lives defending him and them, the turn of his sons, and brothers and nephews had come. It was now only a question of time. It was only a question who would go first from amongst them.

The light footsteps of Ali Akbar roused both of them from their reverie. Both of them fixed their gaze on him without uttering a word. Zainab broke the silence with an exclamation:

         Oh God, can it be true that Akbar has come to bid me and
        his mother the last farewell Akbar do not say that you are
        ready for the last journey. So long as my sons Aun and Muhammad
        are there, it is impossible for me to let you go.

Akbar knew what love and affection his aunt Zainab had for him. He was conscious of the pangs of sorrow she was experiencing at that moment. Her affection for him transcended everything except her love for Husain. He looked at her face, and at his mother's who was rendered speechless by her surging feelings of anguish. He knew not how to tell them that he had prepared himself for the journey to Heaven that lay ahead. He summoned to his aid his most coaxing manners that had always made his mother and Zainab accede to his requests and said:

         My aunt, for all my father's kinsmen the inevitable hour
        has come. I implore you, by the love you bear for your brother,
        to let me go so that it may not be said that he spared me
        till all his brothers and nephews were killed. Abbas, my uncle,
        is Commander of our army. The others are all younger than me.
        When death is a certainty, let me die first so that I can quench
        my thirst at the heavenly spring of Kausar at the hands of my
        grandfather.

The earnestness of Akbar's tone convinced Zainab and his mother that he was determined to go. It seemed to be his last wish to lay down his life before all his kinsmen. Since on no other occasion they had denied him his wishes, it seemed so difficult to say no to his last desire. With a gasp Zainab could only say,

         Akbar, my child, if the call of death has come to you, go.

His mother could only say:

         May God be with you, my son. With you I am losing all I had
        and cared for in this world. Your father has told me what
        destiny has in store for me. After you, for me pleasure and
        pain will have no difference.

With these words she fell unconscious in Ali Akbar's arms.

The battle-cry from the enemy's ranks was becoming louder and louder. Ali Akbar knew that he had to go out quickly lest the enemy, seeing that their challenges for combat were remaining unanswered, got emboldened to make a concerted attack on his father's camp. Even such a thought was unbearable for him. So long as he was alive, how could he permit the onslaught of Yazid's forces on his camp where helpless women and defenseless children were lying huddled together? He gently put his mother in his aunt Zainab's arms saying:

        Zainab, my aunt, I am leaving my mother to your care. I
       know, from your childhood, your mother Bibi Fatima has
       prepared you for the soul-stirring events of today and
       what is to come hereafter. My mother will not be able to
       bear the blows and calamities that are to befall her,
       unless you lend her your courage. I implore you by the
       infinite love you bear for me to show the fortitude that
       you are capable of, so that your patience may sustain my
       mother when she sees my dead body brought into the camp's
       morgue. I entrust her to your care because there will be
       none to solace her and look after her in the years of dismay
       and despondency that lie ahead of her.

Ali Akbar embraced his loving aunt Zainab with tender love and affection for the last time. she exclaimed:

         Akbar, go. My child, I entrust you to God, To ease your last
        moments I promise you that, so long as I live, I shall after
        Umme Laila with the affection of a mother.

With a heavy heart Ali Akbar returned to his father. There was no need for him to say that he had bid farewell to his mother and aunt Zainab, for the sorrow depicted on his face spoke volumes to Husain. Silently he rose and put the Prophet's turban on Akbar's head, tied the scabbard on his waist and imprinted a kiss on his forehead. In a failing, faltering voice he muttered:

                     Go Akbar, God is there to help you.

Treading heavily Akbar came out of the tent with Husain following closely behind him. He was about to mount his horse when he felt somebody tugging at his robe. He could hardly see, because his eyes were almost blinded with tears. He heard the voice of his young aster Sakina supplicating him not to leave her.

         O my brother," she was saying, "do no go to the battleground
        from which nobody has returned alive since this mornings."

Softly Akbar lifted her, gently and affectionately kissed her on her face and put her down. His grief was too deep for words. Husain understood the depth of Akbar's feelings and picked up Sakina to console her.

The scene of Ali Akbar's march towards the battlefield was such as would defy description. The cries of ladies and children of Husain's camp were rising above the din of battle-cries and beating of enemy drums. It was appearing as if a dead body of an only son, dead in the prime of youth, was being taken out of a house for the last rites.

Ali Akbar was now facing the enemy hordes. He was addressing the forces of Amr Ibne Saad with an eloquence which he had inherited from his Grandfather and the Prophet. He was telling them that Husain, his father, had done them no harm and had devoted his life to the cause of Islam. He was explaining to them that by shedding the blood of Husain and his kinsmen. They would be incurring the wrath of God and displeasure of the Prophet who had loved Husain more than any other person. He was exhorting them not to smear their hands with the blood of a person so holy, so God-fearing and so righteous. His words cast a spell on the army of the opponents. The older ones from amongst them were blinking their eyes in amazement and wondering whether the Prophet had descended from the Heavens to warn them against the shedding of Husain's blood. What a resemblance there was with the Prophet, in face, features and even mannerism! Even the voice was of Muhammad! But on second thoughts, they realized that this was Ali Akbar, the 18 year old son of Husain, about whose close resemblance with the Prophet people were talking so much.

Seeing the effect which Ali Akbar's address had produced on his soldiers, Amr Saad exhorted them to challenge him to single combat. A few of them, coveting the honour and rewards they would get if they overpowered and killed this brave son of Husain, emaciated by three days of hunger and thirst, came forward to challenge him. One by one he met them in battle, gave them a taste of his skill and prowess in fighting and flung them from their horseback to meet the doom they so much deserved. Now it was his turn to challenge the warriors of Yazid to come forward. Seeing that in spite of his handicaps, he was capable of displaying valour and battle craft for which his grandfather Ali had acquired name and fame and which had struck terror into the hearts of enemies of Islam none dared to come forward.

Ali Akbar had received several gaping wounds in the course of his victorious single combats. He was fast losing blood and the effect of his thirst was getting accentuated with every second that was passing. He realized that the treacherous enemies would attack him en masse. He had left his mother in a dazed condition. An irresistible urge to see his dear ones for the last time seized him and he turned his horse towards his camp.

He found his father standing at the doorstep of the tent and his mother and aunt standing inside the tent. Husain had been watching the battles of this thirsty youth and the two ladies were watching his face: they knew that if any calamity befell Ali Akbar, Husain's expression would indicate it. Whilst watching Husain's face, they were both praying offering silent prayers:

         O Allah, Who brought back Ismail to Hajra; O Allah, Who granted
        the prayers of the mother Musa and restored her son to her; O
        Allah, Who reunited Yakoob with his son Yusuf in response to the
        aged father's supplications, grant us our one wish to see Ali Akbar
        for once.

Was it the effect of these prayers that brought back Ali Akbar to the camp?

Ali Akbar was now facing his aged father and his loving mother and Zainab. With an exclamation of joy and relief they clung to him. Husain lovingly embraced his son saying:

         Bravo, my son. The gallantry you how displayed today
        reminded me of the battles of my revered father, Ali.
        The only difference was that, during his fights, my
        father Ali had not to battle against hunger and thirst
        as you had to.

Ali Akbar with his head bent replied:

       
        Father, thirst is killing me because my wounds have added
        to its effect. It is usual to ask for rewards from parents
        for celebrating victories in single combats and I would
        have asked for a cup of refreshing water from you. But alas!
        I know that you have not even a drop of water with which
        you can quench the thirst of the young children. Father,
        knowing this, I shall not embarrass you by asking for water.
        I have come only to see you and my dear ones for the
        last time.

Ali Akbar met each and every one of his family. The second parting was sad as the first one, perhaps sadder. Without being told, every one realised that this was the last time they were beholding Akbar. Fizza, the faithful maid of Fatima and Zainab, was as disconsolate with grief as Zainab and Umme Laila. Husain followed Ali Akbar out of the tent. As he rode away, Husain walked behind him with a brisk pace for some distance, as a man follows his sacrificial lamb in Mina. When Akbar disappeared from his sight, he turned heavenwards and, with his hands raised, he prayed:

        
        O Allah, Thou art my Witness that on this day I have sent
        away for sacrifice one whom I loved and cherished most, to
        defend the cause of righteousness and truth.

He sat on the ground as if trying to listen expectantly to some call from the battlefield.

It was not very long before he received a wailing call, a call from Ali Akbar, a call of anguish and pain:

         Father, Akbar has fallen with a mortal wound in his chest.
        Father, come to me for I have not long to live. If you
        cannot reach me, I convey my last salutations to you and
        my dear ones.

Though Husain was anticipating such a call, what a ghastly effect it had on him! He rose from the ground and fell; he rose again and fell again. With one hand on his heart he struggled to his feet. Torrential tears were flooding his eyes. He rushed in the direction from which the cry had come. It seemed as Husain's strength had ebbed away on hearing that fateful cry of his dearest son, for he was falling at every few steps. He was sobbing:

         Akbar, give me another shout so that I can follow its
        direction. Akbar, my sight is gone with the shock I have
        received and there is nobody to guide me to where you lie.

Abbas came rushing to the aid of his master. Holding his hand he led him on to the place from where Akbar's dying cry had come.

Now Husain was stumbling his way onwards resting his hands on Abbas' shoulders. The distance seemed interminable but at last Husain and Abbas reached the place where Akbar was lying in a pool of his own blood. Ah, that tragic sight! May no father have occasion to see his young on in such a conditions. With one hand on his chest covering a deep wound from which blood was gushing out, with his face writhing with pain, Akbar was lying on the ground prostrate and unconscious. With the agony he was enduring on account of the wound and the thirst that he was Offering, he was digging his feet into the sand. With a cry of anguish Husain fell on the body of Akbar.

         My son, tell me where you are hurt; tell me who has wounded
        you in the chest. Why don't you say something? My Akbar, I
        have come in response to your call. Say one word to me, Akbar.

Seeing that Akbar was lying there without any response to his entreaties, Husain turned to Abbas and said:

         Abbas, why don't you tell Akbar to say something to me. My
        dutiful son, who used to get up on seeing me, is lying on
        the ground pressed by the hand of death.

Husain once again flung himself on the body of Akbar. His breathing was now heavier, a gurgling sound was coming from his throat. It seemed that his young life was engaged in an uneven struggle with death. Husain put his head on Akbar's chest. He lifted it and put his own cheeks against Akbar's and wailed

        Akbar, for once open your eyes and smile, as you were always
       smiling to gladden my heart.

Though Akbar did not open his eyes, a faint smile appeared on his lips as if he had listened to his father's request. With the sweet smile still playing on his lips, he heaved a gasp and with that his soul departed. The cheeks of the father were still touching the cheeks of the son, in death as so many time in life.

On seeing his son, his beloved son, breathe his last in his own hands, Husain's condition became such as no words can describe. For quite some time he remained there weeping as only an aged father who has lost a son, in his prime of youth, in such tragic circumstances, can weep. Abbas sat there by his side shedding tears. What words of consolation could he offer when the tragedy was of such a magnitude? All words of solace and comfort would sound hollow and be in vain when a father, an aged father, gives vent to his pent up emotions. After a time, Abbas reverentially touched Husain on his shoulders and reminded him that, since he had rushed out of the camp, Zainab and the other ladies of his house were waiting for him, tormented by anxiety, demented by the thoughts of the tragedy that had befallen them. Only mention of this was enough for Husain. He knew that, as the head of the family, it was his duty to rally by the side of the grief-stricken mother, his grief-stricken sister Zainab, and the children for whom this bereavement was the greatest calamity.

Husain slowly rose from the ground and tried to pick up the dead body of Akbar but he himself fell on the ground. Abbas, seeing this, bent over him and said:

         My master, Abbas is still alive by your side. How can I leave
        you carry the body of Akbar and remain a silent spectator. Let
        me carry his body to the camp. "
       
        No Abbas, replied Husain, let me do this as a last token of
        my love. To hold him by my heart, even in his death, gives
        me some comfort, the only comfort that is now left to me.

Saying this, he made all the efforts that he was capable of and, assisted by Abbas, he lifted the body of Akbar. Clasping it close to his bosom, he started the long walk to his camp. How he reached is difficult to say. It would not be too much to imagine that his grandfather Muhammad, his father Ali, his brother Hasan and perhaps his mother Fatima had descended from heaven to help him in this task.

Husain reached the camp and laid down Akbar's body on the ground. He called Umme Laila and Zainab and Kulsum, Sakina and Rokayya, Fizza and the other ladies of the house to see the face of Akbar for the last time. The loving mother came, the loving aunts came, the children came, and surrounded the body of Ali Akbar. They looked at Akbar's face and then at Husain's. They knew that their weeping would add to Husain's grief which was already brimful. Ali Akbar's mother went up to her husband, and with stifled sobs and bent head, she said to him:

       
        My master, I am proud of Akbar for dying such a noble death.
        He has laid down his life in the noblest cause and this thought
        will sustain me through the rest of my life. I implore you to
        pray for me, to pray for ail of us, that Almighty Allah may
        grant us patience and solace.

Saying this she turned to the dead body of her son lying on the ground and put her face on his. Zainab and Kulsum, Sakina and Rokayya had all flung themselves on Akbar's body. The tears that were flowing from their eyes were sufficient to wash away the clotted blood from the wounds of Akbar.

Husain sat for a few minutes near the dead body of his son; the son whom he had lost in such tragic circumstances; the son who had died craving for a drop of water to quench his thirst. He felt dazed with grief. He was awakened from his stupor by Qasim, the son of his brother, who had come to seek his permission to go to the battlefield. He rose from the ground, wiped the tears from his aged eyes and muttered

       
        Verily from God we come, and unto Him is our return.

Ref:

 Tears and Tributes by Zakir
 Shaheed Associates, Hyderabad, India
 5th Revised Edition - 1980

Converted to HTML Format from original document written by Ali Abbas

Janabe -e- Fida History

2009-12-15T08:19:00.000-08:00

In the name of Allah the Beneficient the Merciful

The Muslims in the life time of the Prophet (saw ) were brought up
to learn the Quran as _Ibadat_ ( Devotion ), to recite it as _Devotion_, to
write it down as _Devotion_, to teach their children and other people and
make them learn it by heart and understand it as _Devotion_. They became
so familiar with it that they used the Verses of the Holy Quran in their
daily conversation. History records that Janab e Fidah, the noble Abysinian
housemaid of Hazrat Fatima Az Zahra, the Lady of Paradise, the daughter of
the Holy Prophet ( saw ) was in the habit of using the verses and words of
the Quran in her Conversation.
 Abul Qasim Qashiri relates the dialogue between Fidah and
Abdullah bin Mubarak; I saw a woman passing through the desert who had
fallen behind the caravan, and asked her " Who are You and where are you
from ?."
 She said : " Say Sallam !....  Soon shall ye know it ."
     ( Chapter 6 Verse 67 )

I learned that she expected me to greet her and say Assalam o
Alaikum first, before any question. I did as she reminded, and inquired why
she was in this desert.
 She answered :
 " Whomesoever God guideth, then none shall beguille . "
    ( Chapter 39 Verse 37 )

I gathered that she was left behind and thus restless, so I asked
again are you a human being or a jinn ?
 She returned :
" O children of Adam ! Be Ye adorned at every time of prostration ."
   ( Chapter 7 Verse 31 )

I discovered that she was a human being, so I continued my
enquiry,
Where are You coming from ?

 She said : ".... Who are called to from a place far off. "
    ( Chapter 41 Verse 44 )

 I found out that she was coming from a place far off and
inquired her destination.

  She immediately responded :
 " ........ And for God is incumbent upon mankind the Pilgrimage of
 the House..... "   ( Chapter 3 Verse 97 )

 I realized that she was going for Hajj ( Pilgrimage of the Kaaba ),
and asked her how many days she had been travelling ?

 She told me :
 " Indeed created We ( God ) the heavens and the earth
 and what is between them to in Six days . "
        (Chapter  7 Verse 54 ) and ( Chapter 50 Verse 38 )

 I concluded it was six days. I requested her to have food and
water if she was so inclined.

 She politely indicated :
" We ( God ) made them not such bodies that  do not eat food, and
they will not abide ( in this world ) for ever. "    ( Chapter 21
Verse 8 )

 She accepted my refreshment. Then to catch the caravan,
I suggested her to make haste.

 She reminded me again :
 " God tasks not any soul beyond ( individual ) ability...... "
   ( Chapter 2 Verse 286 )

 I told her that if she could'nt do so, let her ride on the back of my
camel behind me.
 
 She recited another Quranic Verse :
" If there were therein gods besides Allah, then verily both ( the
heavens and the earth ) would have been disordered ...."
  ( Chapter 21 Verse 22 )

 It was a reminder of piety that when a man was not a husband of
a woman, it was un-lawful to ride together on the same animal. [ It is an
Islamic Law concerning the relatives of persons of prohibited degree -
Namahiram ].
 Qashiri says that he got down and requested her to ride the
camel.
 She occupied the seat and recited :
" Hallowed is He who subjected this ( animal ) unto us ."
   ( Chapter  43 Verse 13 ).

 She thanked Allah who brought the animal under her control. When
we reached the caravan, I asked her do you know any one among them ?
 She recounted :
 " O Dawud ( David ), We have appointed thee a vicegerent in the
   earth .........."
                                ( Chapter 38 Verse 26 );
 " And Muhammad is not but an Apostle ...... " 
     ( Chapter 3 Verse 144 );
 " O Yahya ( John the Baptist ) ! Hold thou the Book fast !"
     ( Chapter 19 Verse 12 );
 " O Musa ( Moses ) ! Verily it is, I am God the All-Mighty ."
    ( Chapter 27 Verse 9 )

I understood that Dawud, Muhammad, Yahya and Musa were the names of
her sons. When the boys appeared, I asked her who they were ?
 She said in her habitual manner :
 " Wealth and Children are the adornment of this World "
    (Chapter 18 Verse 46 )
 I recognized them as her sons. The woman looked at her
sons with the feeling of contentment and uttered
 " ... O my father ! Employ him verily the best of those
  who canst employ is the strongman and trusted ones. "
    ( Chapter 28 Verse 26 )
 In these words of the Quran, she informed the sons
indicating towards me that
 " ..... This man offered me a gift ( i.e help ), so
verliy God giveth manifold increase to whomsoever He willeth . "
    ( Chapter 2 Verse 261 )

The sons grasped their mothers indications, and so they paid me
twice as much as I ought to have been paid. To satisfy my
curiosity I asked the sons, Who is this honorable Lady that speaks
nothing but the Quran ?. They responded that she was their mother,
the housemaid of Hazrat Fatima Al Zahra ( peace be upon her and
her progeny ), the daughter of the Holy Prophet ( saw ) and the
Wife of Amir Al Momineen. She was raised under the shade of
supreme knowledge and piety of the daughter of the Prophet ( saw
). Since 20 years she spoke nothing but the Quran in her daily
conversations.
May Allah Bless her soul ( Amen ! ) ........


Reference : -
 Essence Of The Holy Quran
 The Eternal Light by
 Ayatullah Agha Haji Mirza Mahdi Pooya
 Edited by Syed Muhammad Murtaza &
 Husain P Taylor ISBN 0-944880-02-9 ( Hard Back )
          03-7 ( Paper Back )

Abbas - The Standard Bearer of Husain

2009-12-15T08:10:00.000-08:00

Abbas - The Standard Bearer of Husain

The shifting sand dunes of Karbala were smeared with blood.
Near one of wash dunes, on the bank of Alkoma,
lay the prostrate figure of a youth with blood gushing
out from innumerable wounds. The crimson life-tide was
ebbing fast. Even so,
it seemed as if he was anxiously expecting somebody
to come to him, to be near him before he breathed his
last. Through his starched throat he was feebly calling
somebody. Yes, Abbas was anxiously expecting his master
to come to him before he parted with his life, as he had
come to the side of all his devoted friends who had laid
down their dear lives for him and in espousing his cause.

It is said that before a man's death al the past event of his

life pass before his mind's eye in a flash-back. In his last

moments Abbas was experiencing this. He was seeing

himself as a child in Medina following Husain with a

devotion which was considered unique even for a brother.

He was seeing the events of that hot and sultry day in Kufa

when his illustrious father Ali was addressing a

congregation in the mosque and he, as a child, with his

characteristic devotion, was looking at the face of his

beloved brother watching him intently so that he could

attend to his wishes on an instant command. Seeing from

the parched lips of Husain that he was feeling extremely

thirsty, how he had darted out from the mosque and returned

with a tumbler full of cool, refreshing water and in the hurry

to carry the water as quickly as possible to quench the

consuming thirst of his dearest brother, how he had spilled

water on his own clothes. He was recalling how this incident

had made his illustrious father stop in the midst of his speech,

with tears rolling down his cheeks at the sight of his young son all wet with

water. He was remembering his father's reply to the queries

from his

faithful followers as to what had brought tears in his eyes,

that Abbas who had wetted his body with water in the process

of quenching Husain's thirst would in the not too distant

future wet his body with his own blood in attempting to

quench the thirst of his young children. He was vividly

seeing the scene on the 21st Ramazan, way back in 40

Hijra, when his father

mortally wounded, was lying on his death-bed and entrusting

his children and dependents to the care of the his eldest

brother, Hasan - all except him. Seeing that his father had

commended all but him to the care of Hasan - how he,

a child of 12, had burst out into uncontrollable tears. His

father, on hearing him sobbing, had called him to his side

and given his hand in Husain's hand with the words:

         Husain, this child I am entrusting to you.
 He will represent
      me on the day of your supreme sacrifice and

lay down his life
      in defending you and your dear ones, much as
I would have done
      if alive on that day.

How his father had turned to him and affectionately told him:

         Abbas, my child, I know your unbounded
love for Husain.
      Though you are too young to be told about it,
 when that
      day dawns, consider no sacrifice too great
for Husain and
      his children.

He saw before his mind's eye that parting with his aged

mother Fatima in Medina. How she had affectionately

embraced him and reminded him of the dying desire

of his father to lay down his life in the defense of Husain

and his dear ones.

A faint smile of satisfaction flickered for a brief moment

on his parched lips a smile of satisfaction that he had fulfilled

his father's wish; that he had performed his duty for which

he was brought up. It just flitted for a moment and vanished as other scenes came before his mind's eye. He was re- living the events of the

night before. He was seeing Shimr stealthily coming to him;

and talking to him

about his ties of relationship; about the protection he had

been promised for

Abbas by the Commander of Yazid's forces, only if he

would leave Husain and go over to Yazid's camp; about

the promises of riches and rewards that he would get;

how he had spurned the suggestion of Shimr with the

utmost disdain to the chagrin of that servile minion who

had sold his soul for a mess of pottage. How he had scared

away that coward by his scathing rage saying:

         You worshipper of Mammon, do not think that
 Abbas will be
      lured by your tempting offer of power and pelf.
 If I die in
      fending my master, Husain, I shall consider
myself the luckiest
      person. O coward, remember that valiants die

 but once. Nobody
      is born to live eternally. By betraying my
master, you have
      betrayed the Prophet, whose religion you profess
 to follow.
      On the Day of Judgement you will be doomed to
 eternal perdition.
      I am ashamed to own any relationship with you.
 Had it not been
      for the fact that you have come here unarmed,
 I would have given
      you the chastisement you deserve for your
impudence in asking me
      to become a turncoat.

How that wretch had scampered from there seeing him

roaring like an enraged lion. The thought of that unpleasant

interlude contracted his brows. Or was it the excruciating

pain he was suffering on account of the deep gashes he had

all over his body?

Yet another scene passed before Abbas's eyes - Sakina leading

42 children, each with a dry water-bag.

The children were shouting as if in chorus

                 Thirst, consuming thirst,
is killing us.

Sakina coming to him and putting her dry water-

bag at his feet and saying to him:

         O uncle, I know you will do something
 to get water for us. Even
      if you can bring one bag full of water,
 we can wet our parched
      throats.

He could see that thirst, aggravated by the scorching
heat of the desert, was squeezing their young lives out
of them. The sight of these youngsters had moved him more
than any other soul-stirring events of that faithful day.
How he had picked up the water-bag with assurance to
Sakina that he would go and bring water - God Willing.

How he had taken Husain's permission and marched out

of the camp with a sword in one hand, the flag in the other,

and the bag on his shoulder, with the children following

him in a group up to the outer perimeter of the camp.

How Husain had repeatedly requested him to avoid

fighting as much as possible and confine himself to

the task of bringing water!

His thoughts switched over to the events that had

preceded his fall from the horse. With the object

of procuring water for his dear little Sakina, he had

charged on the enemy who held the river banks. He

had run through the enemy ranks like a knife through

butter. Again this surging onslaught the cowards

could not stand and had run helter-skelter shouting

for protection. For a moment it seemed as if Ali, the

Lion of God, had descended from heaven. In no time

Abbas was near the rivulet. He had jumped down from

the horse and bent to fill the water-bag. When it was

filled to the brim, he had taken some water in his

cupped hand to drink and satisfy his killing thirst.

But, on second thoughts, he had thrown the water

away. How could he drink water when Sakina and the

children were still withering without it? How could he

be so callous as to forget that his master Husain had not

had a drop of water since the last three days.

He had turned to his horse which had been

let loose so that it could satisfy its thirst.

The animal had been intently looking at its master as if to say:

         I too am aware that, so long as our master
 and his children
      remain without water, our thirst cannot be
 quenched.

With the water-bag filled he had jumped into the saddle
with one thought uppermost in his mind, to get the water
to the anxiously waiting children as quickly as possible
. Seeing him galloping towards the camp of Husain, the
enemy had turned. Somebody had shouted from the enemy
ranks that if Husain and his people got water, it would be
difficult to fight them on the battlefield. Though it
was an uneven fight, he fought them with valour which
was so characteristic of his fathers Though he was thirsty
and hungry, he charged on them and scattered them. The
mercenaries of Yazid were running like lambs in a fold
when charged by a lion. Seeing that a frontal assault on a
man so brave was not
possible, they had resorted to a barrage of arrows. When
arrows were coming form all sides, Abbas had only one
thought in his mind, how to protect the water-bag than
his life. Seeing that Abbas was preoccupied with this thought,
one treacherous foe, hiding behind a sand-dune, had rushed
out and dealt a blow on his right hand and cut it off. In a flash
Abbas had transferred his sword to his left hand and the
standard he was bearing he had hugged to his chest. Now
that the Lion of Ali was crippled, the foes had found courage
to surround him. A blow from an enemy's sword severed his
left arm. The odds were now mounting against him. He held
the bag with his teeth and protected the flag with his chest
pressed on the horse's back. Now the paramount thought in
his mind was to reach the camp somehow or the other.
A silent prayer had escaped his lips:

             Merciful Allah, spare me long enough to
 fulfill my
          mission.

But that was not to be. An arrow had pierced the water-
bag and water had started gushing out of it. Was it water
that was flowing out of that bag or the hopes of Abbas?
All his efforts had been in vain. After all Sakina's thirst
would remain unsatisfied and all her hopes would be
frustrated. The enemies who had made bold to surround
him, now seeing his helpless condition, were now gathering
thick round him. One of them came near him and struck
mortal blow with an iron mace. He reeled over and fell from
the horse.

He tossed on the burning sand with excruciating pain.

He felt that life was fast ebbing out but his wish to see his

master had remained unfulfilled. With one last effort, with

all the strength that was left in him, he shouted:

                 O my master, do come to me before I
 die.

As it in answer to his prayers he felt some footsteps near him,
Yes, his instinct told him that it was his lord. His one eye had
been blinded by an arrow and the other filled with blood
and so he could not see. But he felt his master kneeling
down beside him, lifting his head and taking it into his
lap. Not a word was said for a few seconds because both
were choked with emotion. At last he heard Husain's
voice, a half-sob, half-muffled cry:

               Abbas, my brother, what have they
done to you?

If Abbas could see, would he have recognized his master?
With back bent and beard turned white and hoary,
on hearing the parting cry of his beloved brother,
Husain's plight was such that nobody could have
recognized him - such was his transformation.
Abbas was now feeling the loving touch of his master's hand.
With effort he muttered:

         You have come at last, my Master. I
thought I was not destined
      to have a last farewell with you but,
thank God, you are here.

With these words he put his head on the sand. Tenderly
Husain lifted his head and again put it on his lap,
inquiring why he had removed it from there.

         My Master, replied Abbas, the thought
that when you will be
      breathing your last, nobody will be there
 to put your head in
      a lap and to comfort you, makes me feel
that it would be
      better if my head lies on the sand when
I die, just as yours
      would be. Besides, I am your slave and
 you are my master. It
      is too much for me to put my head on
 your lap.

Husain burst into uncontrollable tears. The sight
of his brother, whose name was to become a byword for
devotion and unflinching faithfulness, laying down his
dear life in his arms, was heart-rending.

Abbas was heard to whisper softly:

         My master, I have some last wishes to
express. When I was
      born, I had my first look at your face
and it is my last
      desire that when I die, my gaze may be
on it, too. My one
      eye is pierced by an arrow and the other
 is filled with
      blood. If you will clear the blood from my
 one eye, I'll
      be able to see you and fulfill my last dying
desire. My
      second wish is that when I die you may not
 carry my body
      to the camp. I had promised to bring water
 to Sakina and,
      since I have failed in my attempt to bring
 her water, I
      cannot face her even in death. Besides, I
know that the
      blows that you have received since morning
 have all but
      crushed you and carrying my body to the
camp will be heart
      breaking work for you. And my third wish
is that Sakina
      may not be brought here to see my plight.
 I know with what
      love and affection she was devoted to me.
The sight of my
      dead body lying here will kill her.

Husain sobbingly promised him that he would carry out
his last wishes added:

         Abbas, I too have a wish to be fulfilled.
 Since childhood
      you have always called me master. For once
at least call
      me brother with your dying breath.

The blood was cleared from the eye, one brother looked at
the other with a longing lingering look. Abbas was heard
to whisper:

        
                        My brother, my brother

and with these words he surrendered his soul to his Maker:
Husain fell unconscious on the dead body of Abbas with a cry:

      
      O Abbas, who is left to protect me and
Sakina after you?

The flow of Furat became dark as winter and a
murmur arose from the flowing water as if to protest against the killing of a thirsty water-bearer on its banks.

Ali Raza Charania علی چارانی۔ دبئی

2009-12-15T07:33:00.000-08:00

Noha Khan Name	Ali Raza Charania /علی چارانی۔ دبئی
Released Year	2010
Total Track:-	09
Location:-	Dubi
Added Date:-	Sunday, 13th December 2009
Effort:-	Ali Raza , aleraza110@gmail.com, alicharania.com
Total Downloads:-	1371 Times
Total Played:-	717 Times
Report Broken Link:	diek110@yahoo.com
Bit Rate:-	48Kbps

: Al Ajal a.s

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Sakina a.s Utho |

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Gujrati AawayChayyad

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Ya Mosa Kazim a.s

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:	Aao Akbar a.s

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Karbala Walo PayDownload
Dekho Aye KufiyoDownload
Alwida Hussain a.sDownload

Imamia Jantari (2010)

2009-12-14T09:40:00.000-08:00

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