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In the Name of God, the
Compassionate the Merciful
The grand Ayatullah H.E. Sayyed M. H. Fadlullah delivered the
two Friday prayer sermons at the Imamain Al-Hassanain Mosque,
Rajab 20, 1423h - September 27, 2002, several prominent
religious scholars, dignitaries and thousands of believers
attended the Jumu’a prayer
The Death Anniversary of Imam
Al-Kazim (a.s.)-A Life Dedicated to Piety, Giving and
Knowledge
Allah says in His Glorious Book:
(Allah’s wish is but to remove uncleanness far from you,
O Folk of the Household and cleanse you with a thorough
cleansing) [33:33].
One of the Imams and the Members
of this Household is Imam Musa bin Jaa’far Al-Kazim (a.s.)
whom we meet with his death anniversary on the 25th of Rajab.
He is one of the examples of how those blessed Imams served
Islam dedicating all their lives to worshiping Allah (S.W.T),
and trying to solve the problems of Muslims, living with them
like one of them. For they were modest and humble, following
the example of their grandfather, the Messenger (p.), who was
told by Allah: {And lower your wing (in tenderness) for the
believers}[15:88] , and also {Restrain thyself along with
those who cry unto their Lord at morn and evening, seeking His
countenance; and let not your eyes overlook them, desiring the
pomp of the life of the world; and obey not him whose heart We
have made heedless of Our remembrance, who follows his own
lust and whose case has been abandoned}[18:29].
The Members of the Household used
to live with the old and the young, the noble and the common,
the rich and the poor… For they used to respect the humanity
of man and they used to answer all questions. They also used
to urge people to ask them if they did not do so by
themselves. Allah (S.W.T) has inspired them with this
knowledge and they were eager to spread it.
The Imam (a.s.) lived in a time
of turmoil and had to suffer a lot from several Abbasid
caliphs who used to rule by force and exploit the vast
resources of the caliphate to stay in power.
At any rate, those caliphs envied
the Imams (a.s.) for the love and respect they enjoyed among
Muslims. They conspired against them and held them most of the
time either in custody or in close supervision, for they knew
how much the nation was impressed by their spirituality,
knowledge and morality.
The Imam’s Sufferings
Haroun Al-Rashid (an Abbasid
caliph) in particular was extremely harsh on the Imam. For he
was aware, as he told his son, of his virtues: “Had the
nation known what we know regarding the virtues of Musa bin
Jaa’far they would not have kept us in our place not even
for a moment”. Al-Rashid, Kept the Imam in jail and he used
to transfer him from one jail to another, until Al-Sindi bin
Shahik poisoned him in his jail, following the orders of Al-Rashid.
The prison wardens, used to tell
Al- Rashid that he has to let him free or send him to another
jail, for the Imam used to spend his time in worship. In his
first jail in Basra (a city in Iraq) he said in his prayers:
“O God I have asked you to
dedicate me to worshipping You. I am thankful because You have
done that”.
The warden of this jail sent to
his master saying: I have never heard him saying any word
against you or me. He was above hatred and envy…
The Imam (a.s.) was known for his
tolerance, prudence, the spirit of forgiveness and a tight
control of his temper, even against those who hurt him. He was
like his grandfather, the Messenger (p.), of great
morals. He had a soft heart and a soft tongue; he was a role
model in his ethics just as he was a model for others in
belief.
A Life of Knowledge and Giving
On his death anniversary, we are
going to review some of his sayings, especially those that
serve as a guide and a set of principles for us in our lives.
We start by his childhood and
early youth when he was living with his father, Imam Al-Sadiq
(a.s.).
Abi Hanifa Al-Nua’man, who was
a student of Imam Al-Sadiq (a.s.) is quoted as saying:
“I performed pilgrimage
during the times of Imam Al-Sadiq (a.s.). When I went to
Al-Medina to see him, I saw a boy coming out of his lobby, I
asked the boy: where does a stranger urinate in this city?
he answered:
Keep away from river banks,
for people come there to drink, trees, mosque corridors, and
roads. Then go behind a wall and do not face the Qibila (The
Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca) or turn your back to it…
I liked what I heard and asked
the boy what is your name, he said: I am Musa b.
Jaa’far b. Muhammad b. Ali b. Al-Hussein b. Ali b. Abitalib
(a.s). I then asked him where does the sin come from? He said
it is either from God, and this cannot be the case, for God
does not punish His servant for things he has not done, or
from the servant, who is actually the one who committed them.
In this case, if God forgives, it’s because God is
forgiving, and if the servant is punished it is because the
servant has committed a sin.
I felt that I no longer needed to
meet his father, for the son enriched me well enough.
From this story, that was
narrated by Ab-Hunifa, the Imam of the Hanifi Sunni sect which
is adopted by the majority of the Sunnis, we learn that the
Imams had an innate knowledge even as children which can only
be inspired by Allah. In another story, the Imam was asked
about who is the generous, he answered: If you are asking
about men, the generous among them are those who pay what
Allah has ordained, while the miser is the one who does not fulfil
this duty. As for the Creator, He is generous when He gives
and when He does not. Because when He gives you, He is giving
you what is not yours, and if He does not, He is also not
giving you what is not yours in the first place.
In another saying, the Imam (a.s.)
divides man’s time between four actions, the first part is
for worshiping, the second should be for earning a living, the
third is for socializing with friends-they should be
trustworthy, for they will know all your weaknesses. And the
fourth and last is for lawful pleasures; because it will help
you in benefiting form the other periods. One cannot be
expected to seek knowledge and earn a living if he feels tense
and depressed.
Moreover, Islam does not want one
to feel that he is deprived, but rather fulfilling his
personal needs according to the lawful manner that Allah (S.W.T)
has set out for him.
A Call for Independence
In another saying, the Imam (a.s.) deals with a mentality that has always existed.
It is the
mentality of those who do not have a mind of their own.
Each and every one of us has a
mind, a knowledge, a personality, a will power …and
therefore he is required to have his own say in all aspects of
life whether political, social, cultural.
However, there are those who when
asked to determine where they stand towards any issue, they
tend to follow their family or their party...etc. Thus, they
refuse to think and want others to think for them. This is
something totally rejected by Islam, because there is a great
difference between asking others to think for you or with you;
when they think for you, they will have their own interests in
mind, and Islam wants man to be responsible for the stands he
takes, and he will be accounted for them on the Day of
Judgment.
The Imam says: When you want to
convey something, convey what serves goodness and say what is
good, and do not say I am with the people and I am like any of
them - I fight when the tribe or party fight and hold peace
when they do.
This saying teaches us to be
independent, free, and not enslave ourselves to others.
Nevertheless, this does not mean
that you should be stubborn and autocratic. On the contrary,
you have to consult others and think with them before you make
up your mind…
This attitude reflects itself on
the general level of the nation: If the Islamic nation lets
the super powers think for them, these powers will have their
own interests in mind and not those of the nation.
I have always told you: Do not
get along with anybody who tells you that you should not
think. No, we should think, but we are always ready to listen
to whoever wants to guide us as to where we went wrong.
You are not only supposed to
think, but you should also educate your children on the need
to think. A nation that is not free to think is a nation that
will be dominated by others. The more you think the freer you
are; freedom is not issued by decree. It is something that
springs from the inside, from the core of man’s humanity.
Teaching Modesty and Self-Righteousness
In another saying for the Imam (a.s.),
in which he addresses a companion of his, Hisham bin Al-Hakam,
the Imam(a.s.) emphasizes the same theme by saying:
“If you had a nut in your hands and people kept telling you
it is a pearl and you know it is a nut, it will do you no
good. On the other hand, if you had a pearl and people said it
is a nut it will not harm you”. From this saying we
deduce that we have not to acquire our self-confidence from
others. When we hear praise or criticism we have to study
ourselves before we react. Praise should not make us conceited
and criticism should not make us lose our self-esteem.
The Members of the House have
taught us that we ought to become more modest when we are
praised. Imam Al-Sajad (a.s.) says in one of his supplications
(The best morals) :
O God do not raise me one degree among the people, unless you
lower me in view of myself with the same degree…
So that those who highlight
our weakness will not make us fall, and those who praise us
will not make us conceited.
Finally, we have to review what
the Imams said and did, for their actions and sayings are
those of the Messenger (p.). Let us drink from the clear
waters; the thought of Islam from its primary sources, so as
we would benefit from them in this world and in the Hereafter.
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