In the name of Allah

The All Compassionate, the All Merciful

6th Dhil-Qadah 1444 (26th May 2023)

Islamic Universal Association

20 Penzance Place, Holland Park

London, W11 4 PG

www.arafeh.co.uk

 

 

Jihad An-Nafs – Part 133

Purification of the heart-Part 75

I quote below the following Ayahs, which highlight what the disbelievers will face on the Day of Resurrection:

Ayah 43 of Surah Ar-Rahman: “This is Hell which the guilty ones used to deny”

Ayahs 4-17 of Surah Al-Mutaffifin: “Do not they think that they shall be raised

For a mighty Day? On the Day when mankind stands before their Lord of the worlds? Nay! The record of the wicked) has been preserved in Sijjin. And what will make you know what Sijjin is? It is written Book;

Woe, on to the falsifiers on that DayThey rejected the Day of JudgmentAnd none belies it save a transgressing sinnerWhen Our signs are recited unto him, he says: “These are only stories of yore.”Nay! What they used to do has rusted their hearts. Nay! On that Day they will be shut out, away from the mercy of their Lord Verily they shall be committed to the flaming fire. Then, it will be said to them: “This is that which you rejected!”

Valuable point

• The Great Day is the Day of Resurrection when all men and jinn will be called to account in the Divine Court of Allah (s.w.t) about how they spent their life on earth, and then decisions of vital importance will be made pertaining to rewards and punishments.
• The disbelievers are wrong in assuming that they will be let off, when they have committed acts of crime and atrocities in the world.
• Whenever the Holy Quran was recited to them, they denied its veracity by calling it: “Stories of yore.”
• The word sijjin is derived from sijn (prison) which refers to the Register in which the actions and deeds of people, who deserve punishment, are recorded.
• The disbeliever’ hearts have become rusty because of their sins; hence, that which is reasonable appears unreal and unreasonable to them. The Holy Prophet (s.a.) has said: “When a servant commits a sin, it leaves a black stain on his heart. If he repents, the stain is cleared, but if he persists in wrongdoing, it spreads over his entire heart”. The disbelievers will be deprived of Allah (s.w.t)’s mercy and magnanimity. In other words, they will be deprived of the vision of Allah (s.w.t) with which the righteous will be blessed.
• They will be cast into the flaming fire of hell and it will be said to them, “Taste the punishment of the Fire that you used to de” To be continued

 

 

Second Sermon

Birth anniversary of Imam Ali ibne Al-Musa (a.s.)

The 11th of Dhil Qadah marks the birth anniversary of our eighth Imam, Ali ibne Musa Al-Reza (a.s.), and I congratulate Hazrat Mahdi (a.j.f.) and the lovers of the Ahlul Bait on this auspicious occasion.

According to a tradition Imam Reza (a.s.) was born on the 11th of Dhil Qadah, 148 Hijri in the city of Medina and he was martyred in Tus (Mashad), Iran, on the 28th of Safar, 203 Hijri. The period of his Imamate lasted for 20 years. He was born one month after the martyrdom of his grandfather, Imam Jafar As-Sadeq, who was longing to see his grandson, but it was not meant to be. He was brought up and instructed by his father for 31 years, until his father was taken to Baghdad to suffer the hardships of imprisonment for 4 years until his death. Imam Reza (a.s.) was 35 years old then and the responsibilities of the Imamate devolved on him. At that time Harun ar-Rashid was the ruler of Baghdad and the descendants of Imam Ali were going through trials and tribulations because of the tyranny of the Abbasid ruler.

When Mamun came into power he invited the Imam to Marv, where his seat of caliphate was located, to show his support and friendship to him with the evil intention of keeping a close eye on him. To accomplish his goals, he sent some of his special agents to the Imam in Medina to force him to set on a journey to Khorasan through a route that had the least number of Shiites. His agents also watched him continuously and reported all his activities to Mamun. He arrived in Marv on the 10th of Shawwal, 201 Hijri, via Basra, Khorramshahr, Ahwaz, Rey, Neyshabur, Sanabad and Sarakhs. Throughout his long journey, he was cordially received by the people living in those cities and villages. It has been reported that the Imam stayed in Qom for a few months where he established commemorative Majalis on the atrocities of Karbala. These Majalis were also re-established in Tus, where he lived as heir-apparent.

Mamun’s policies were contrary to the principles of Islam and the teachings of the Holy Prophet (s.a.). However, on the Imam’s arrival at Marv, he welcomed the Imam with great pomp and ceremony and treated him with great honor and offered him the caliphate in the presence of all the key personalities of his government in order to gain control of the Shiites and to make the Imam settle near him to control him and suppress his followers. The Imam refused and said: “I am the servant of Allah and by my supplications and in obedience to Him I hope to attain the divine status. O Mamun, if Allah has appointed you as Caliph, then you cannot present it to anyone and if caliphate is not yours in the first place, then you are not authorized to offer it to anyone either.” The Imam was finally compelled by Mamun to be his successor. According to Yakubi, on the 27th of Ramadan, 201 Hijri, the Imam was officially designated as Mamun’s heir-apparent and his name was engraved on gold and silver coins.