"In the name of Allah (swt), the All-Merciful, the Compassionate"
إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ
“We have indeed revealed this (Message) in
the Night of Power” (97:1)
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ
“And what will make you comprehend what
the grand night is” (97:2)
·
A man once approached Imam Ja’far Al-Sadiq (as)
demanding an answer: “You claim your grandfather Hussain (as) died on a
Monday, whilst your Aunt Zainab says he was killed on a Friday. Which of these
is correct?”
The Imam (as) replied: “Both are correct. One
of the dates symbolizes when the Prophet of God’s (s) eyes closed”
-
Meaning that Imam Hussain (as) was killed (in the metaphorical
sense) when the Prophet (s) passed away- tragedy upon tragedy befell the
Ahlulbayt (as) after this.
- “The entire dynamics of the Islamic empire
were tied upside down in a space of a second” (Highlighting how the
Prophet’s (s) death was a significant turning point in Islamic history, after
23 years of Prophethood, his Nation effectively turn against him)
·
Ibn Kathir narrates a hadith by Aa’isha:
“It was as if Medina had turned apostate”
- People weren’t even willing to
give zakat and khums (obligatory charity-giving in Islam)” (meaning
people had openly dissociated from/abandoned religion)
·
The people kept silent: Amirulmu’mineen (Imam
Ali) would go to each house asking for people to pledge their support
and would get false promises (when he reached the mosque, nobody had shown up)
- This is where the tragedy begins.
·
In recent years, we find there have been
continuous attacks upon our practice of commemoration. This led to our maraji’
(scholars) to gather in the cities of Qum and Najaf, and despite
their old ages and the hot weather, to come out barefoot in solidarity and
insist on displaying their commemoration to the rest of the world (including
the likes of Ayatollah Tabrizi and Ayatollah Wahid Khorasani).
·
Narration by the 8th
Imam (Ali Ibn Musa Al-Redha):
He removes his turban and his shoes, and
unbuttons his shirt, before proceeding to walk and shedding his tears.
He is approached by someone who questions his
actions, to which he replies “I don’t want you to forget Imam Hussain (as)
like how you forgot (what happened at) Ghadeer”.
·
"Fatimatul Zahra is like a magnet; she takes goodness
& rejects evil. In the same way, if we understand her, we understand all of
creation? No, even more than that, we understand goodness." - Because she is a manifestation/beauty of the
Creator.
·
She (Fatima) is in fact Laylatul Qadr (the
Night of Power)- going back to the opening verses 97:1-2:
- Narration:
A person approaches Imam Ja’far Al-Sadiq (as) asking him “What
is Laylatul Qadr?”
To which the Imam
replied: “الليلة
هي فاطمة” (the Night is Fatima)
- Why? Ayatollah Hassan Zadeh Amoli
defines Laylatul Qadr in one of his books as the night in which the Qur’an
was revealed (a night worth more than a thousand nights), and
compares it to the status of Fatima (as):
A single Qur’an being revealed
characterised Laylatul Qadr, but from Fatima (as) came 11 Qur’an
Alnatiq* (‘the speaking Qur’an’)! (I.e. the 11 Imams)
(* القرآن
الناطق: This is a famous title given to the Shi'a
Imams to describe their proximity to the Qur'an; they are the
custodians of the Qur'anic message and its interpretation; they
are the embodiment of the Qur'anic values and its ideals. This concept
is based on the various sayings of the Prophet in which the Qur'an
and the Ahlulbayt (as) are shown to never separate from
one another1.)
- Battle of Siffin: 40 Qur’ans are
raised on spears (by Mu’awiya’s army, in an attempt to confuse and
divide Imam Ali’s (as) army), and Imam Ali (as) tells his army
not to be fooled, reminding them that he is Al-Qur’an Alnatiq (‘the
speaking Qur’an).
·
Amirulmu’mineen (Imam Ali (as)) says: “Understand the truth, and
you will understand those who are on the side of truth”.
-
- We are
quick to neglect the above saying in practice, meaning we tend to read and
digest it, but fail to apply it. We wrongly associate the ‘truth’ with those we
believe to be pious on an irrational basis (I.e. judging people by their
titles, their lineage, and their beard length etc).
- Truth
is not a person, but rather, it is a concept. It is a concept
that as Muslims we appear to have forgotten. If we understand the truth, then
we are capable of identifying the necessary criteria in people.
- Problem we face practically: We spend a lot
of time with those we believe to be pious. Over time, we begin to overlook
their faults (their sins, and their un-Islamic behaviour) to such an extent
that we accept them.
The criteria of piety are not within a
person, but rather, within a description. Indeed we should be
forgiving, and people are fallible (i.e. prone to sinning and making mistakes),
but we should work towards understanding the true characteristics of truth in
people.
·
انهم حجتي عليكم وانا حجة الله (“They (the scholars) are
my proof upon you, and I am the Proof of Allah (swt)”) ~ Imam
Mahdi (af)
- Scholars who have reached the stage of Allema
Rabbani, are deemed as the deputies of the Imam of our time (af) (hence the
quote above).
- However, despite their great status, certain vices
exist even among the Ulluma (scholars)
- Imam Ali (as) says that the vice
for an A’lim (scholar) is حب الرياسة
(The desire to be in power/lead/govern etc)
- The Sayed speaks of his personal
experiences at the Hawza (Islamic study institute): Observing the arrogance
of some Hawza students who feel they are superior to others
(describing this inferiority complex* being present). Arguably, such
behaviour should disqualify an individual from being a scholar, for a scholar
by definition is one who both theoretically and practically derives
knowledge and applies it (regardless of whether you are the foundation of
that institute or not).
(* describing a weird sense of low self-esteem and insecurity)
(END OF PART 1)
