'O God, carry us in the ships of Thy deliverance, give us to enjoy the pleasure of whispered prayer to Thee, make us drink at the pools of Thy love, let us taste the sweetness of Thy affection and nearness, allow us to struggle in Thee, preoccupy us with obeying Thee, and purify our intentions in devoting works to Thee, for we exist through Thee and belong to Thee, and we have no one to mediate with Thee but Thee!' Imam Sajjad ('A); Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya

Monday 22 February 2010

3 Reasons why Salman Al-Farsi was called Salman Al-Muhammadi

[Amaali of Sh Tousi 1:133]

Mohamed Bin Yusuf narrated from Mansour bin Borzaj who said:
I said to Abu Abdillah Jafar bin Muhammad, 'O my master, you mention Salman Al-Farsi frequently.'
Abu Abdillah said, 'Do not call him Salman Al-Farsi. Call him Salman Al-Muhammadi. Do you know why I mention him frequently?'
'No' I replied.
Abu Abdillah said, 'For three reasons:First, he always used to give preference to the desires of the Commander of the Believers (as) over his own desires;
Second, he used to love the needy and choose them as his friends instead of the wealthy and powerful ones;
Third, he used to love knowledge and the knowledgeable ones.

Verily Salman was a righteous slave. He was an upright Muslim and he was not among the polythiests.'

Wednesday 3 February 2010

Martyrs of Karbala - a distinctive perspective

The Holy Quran says:
'We said: O fire! be a comfort and peace to Ibrahim!' (21:59)

Jabir narrates from Imam al-Baqir [a]:'Before his martyrdom, Imam al-Husayn bin Ali [a] said to his companions:
Indeed the Apostle of Allah [s] said [to me]:
O my dear young son, surely you will be led to ‘Iraq; it is a land where Prophets of Allah and Successors of the Prophets have met; It is a land called Amura.
And indeed you shall be martyred there together with a group among your companions who would not sense the pain of the touch of iron.
Then Imam al-Husayn [a] read the  verse: ‘O Fire, be cool and peaceful for Ibrahim’ (21:59). The war will be cool and peaceful on you and them.'
(Qutb al-Din al-Rawandi, al-Khara'ij wa al-Jarayih, v.2, p. 848)


Explaining this situation of the Imam, the grand Ayatullah Jawadi Àmuli says:
According to a tradition from Imam al-Baqir [a] the army of al-Husayn [a] did not feel the pain of the blows and wounds on ‘Ashura’ day save a pinch...why is that?

This is because the spirit is the origin of pain and happiness.
One of you may fast and feel the pangs of hunger and thirst...
whereas another would fast but we would find in him nothing but happiness and high-spiritedness...
aren’t the physical conditions similar for both?

So why is the first in torment while the second does not feel anything?
This is because the spirit of the second is attached to a realm distant from the material conditions.
Indeed the gallant warriors of Karbala were among those great spirits overcome by the unseen plane of existence.
(Ayatullah Jawadi Amuli, Thawrat al-’Ishq al-Ilahi, p. 232)

Shaykh Muhammad Khalfan; The Sacred Effusion
Muhammad bin Marwan is reported to have said:
I heard him Imam al-Sadiq [a] say:
Visit al-Husayn [a], even if it is once a year, for whosoever comes to him, with knowledge of his station, and not a nonbeliever, would not be given other than Paradise, and he would bebestowed with extensive sustenance, and Allah would quickly relieve him (from his problems).

Indeed Allah entrusted four thousand angels on the grave of al-Husayn [a], all of who weep for him.
They accompany the visitor until he returns to his family, and if the visitor gets sick they visit him, and if he dies, they witness his bier and seek for his forgiveness and mercy.

Ibn Qulawayh, Kamil al-Ziyarat, pp. 175-176