In the name of Allah
The All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful
5th Muharram 1446 (12th July2024)
Islamic Universal Association
20 Penzance Place, Holland Park
London, W11 4 PG
Imam Ali (a.s)’s advice in the Nahjal-Balagha – Part 36
I quote below another valuable advice of Imam Ali (a.s.), Sermon 230 from the Nahjul Balagha:
“Certainly fear of Allah is the key to guidance, provision for the next world, freedom from slavery and deliverance from ruin. With its help the seeker succeeds and he who heads towards safety escapes and achieves his aims.
Perform (good) acts while such acts are being recorded and while repentance is beneficial, prayer is heard, conditions are peaceful and the pens (of the two angels) are in motion. Hasten towards (virtuous) actions before debilitating old age, lingering illness or death overtakes you.
Certainly, death will end your enjoyments, mar your pleasures and remove your objectives. It is an unwanted visitor, an invincible adversary and a vicious killer. Its ropes entrap you, its evils surround you, its arrow is aimed at you, its sway over you is great, its oppression on you is continuous and the chance of it missing you is remote.
Very soon you will be overwhelmed with the gloom of its shades, the severity of its illness, the darkness of its distress, the utterance of its pangs, the grievance of its destruction, the darkness of its surroundings and its unwholesome taste. It will seem as if it has come to you all of a sudden, and will silence those who were whispering to you, separating your group, destroying your doings, devastating your houses and calling upon your successors to distribute your estate amongst your relatives, who did not give you any benefit, or the grieved ones who could not protect you, or those rejoices who did not lament over you.
Therefore, it is upon you to strive, make effort, equip yourself, get ready and provide yourself from the place of provision. And let not the life of this world deceive you as it deceived those before you among the past people and by-gone periods; those who extracted its milk, benefited from its neglectfulness, passed a long time and turned its new things into old (lived long). Their abodes are now turned into graves and their wealth into inheritable estate.
They do not know who came to them (at their graves) and wept over them, nor could they respond to those who called them. Therefore, beware of this world as it is treacherous, deceitful and fraudulent, it gives and takes back, covers and uncovers. Its pleasure does not last, its hardship does not end and its calamity does not stop.” To be continued
Second Sermon
Martyrdom of Imam Hussain (a.s.)
Today is the first Friday of the month of Muharram, the month of the grief and sorrow, and I offer my deep condolences to the promised Mahdi (a.j.f.) and to the followers of the Ahlul Bait.
Imam Hussain (a.s.)’s revolution in Karbala is based on two elements: it was a movement against a corrupt, deviated and oppressive regime and a campaign against ignorance and humiliation of mankind. Looking at the surface of the event, the uprising was apparently against the corrupt and unpopular regime of Yazid. However, beneath the surface, it was an uprising for the sake of Islamic values, understanding, faith and dignity. It was intended to set the people free from corruption, subordination, lowliness and ignorance. This movement was based on justice instead of oppression, it relied on monotheism and focused on worshipping Allah (s.w.t.) rather than paganism, it relied on knowledge and wisdom instead of ignorance and on kindness and compassion rather than vengeful behaviour.
Narrating the tragedy of Karbala and what befell Imam Hussain (a.s.) and members of his family and loyal companions is an attempt to establish the emotional connection of the Shiites to Islam and to the infallible Imams .I quote below the following traditions, which have been reported in Amaali Sadooq on page 142.
- Ali ibne Al-Mughaira narrated from the poet, Abu Amara, who visited Imam Sadeq (a.s.), and recited a poem on Imam Hussain (a.s.). Whilst he was reciting the poem the Imam was weeping and so were other members of his family. After the recitation, the Imam exclaimed:
- “O Abu Amara! Whoever recites a poem or passage about Hussain and 50 people cry, the reward for that person is paradise. Should the recitation sadden 30, 20 or 10 people and they cry for Hussain, the reward for the reciter is also a place in heaven. Likewise the reward is heaven even if as little as one person cries. However, should a person recite the poem on his own and cry for Hussain, even then paradise will be his abode in the hereafter.”
- Dawood ibne Qathir narrated that one day when he was with Imam Sadeq (a.s.), the Imam asked for water. After he drank the water, he wept and exclaimed: “Curse of Allah be on the murderers of Hussain who denied him water! When I think of the sad event, I am unable to hold back my tears. Those who remember Hussain specially when they drink water and curse his brutal killers, Allah will grant him hundred thousand hasana (good deeds), erase hundred thousand of his past sins and elevate his position by hundred thousand times and he will get the reward of liberating hundred thousand slaves.” To be continued
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