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Interesting
True Stories of Ulamaa |
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The Sacrifice of Muhaqqiq Ardebili |
Rawzātul Jannat
contains an incident regarding Muhaqqiq Ardebili
that during the times of famine he used to give
away to the poor whatever he had. He used to
live in poverty himself.
One day when he had donated all his possessions
his wife became angry with him that he had
deprived his children in such times when food
was scarce.
He left his home and went to the mosque and sat
there in Ehtekāf. An unknown person arrived at
the door of his house and handed sacks of wheat
and flour saying that master Ardebili sent it
and that he was in Ehtekāf at the mosque of Kufa.
When Muhaqqiq Ardebili returned home from
Ehtekāf his wife told him that he had sent very
fine wheat and flour. When he learnt of the
details he realized that it was a Divine favor
upon him and fell down in prostration to thank
the Almighty.
Many times it was seen that the Muhaqqiq left
home with an expensive turban but if he
encountered a beggar he tore a piece from it and
gave it in alms. On numerous occasions he
returned home bare-head. |
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Ulama: Models of Sacrifice and Charity By: Ahmed
Ali al-Kuwaity |
The scholars of
our nation are stars. They are models for each
aspect of life. Some people think that scholars
are only involved in studying and learning the
religion of Islam and concerned with Fiqh, the
sciences and philosophy. People don’t think that
our scholars are concerned with good morals and
ethics, and to uplift the society.
Sacrifice and charity are the basis of Islam
that our scholars must take the lead in being
good examples, even if they become exhausted in
helping the oppressed and helping the needy and
orphans. Let us relate to you the way our
scholars have taken the lead in charity and
sacrifice. |
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He
did not have money for himself! |
Sheikh Kaasim
Muhyideen, who died in the year of 1376 A.H.,
was one of the noble scholars of the city of
Najaf. This scholar used to go to the rich
merchants and businessmen in Najaf to pledge
money for the poor and needy. Although they used
to refuse him in the morning, he used to go to
them in the afternoon and once again ask them
again. In this way he used to collect a lot of
money to distribute to the needy.
It is known that he didn’t use this wealth
personally and used to have a simple diet of
bread and milk due to his own poverty. It is
also known that when he became ill, and doctors
advised him to go abroad for medical treatment,
he had to sell his library in order to get money
for the treatment. (Mausooatul Atabaat Al
Muqadassa Page 314-317) |
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He
bought stale vegetables! |
Sayyid Ali Al
Qadhi (died in the year 1355 A.H.) is one of the
great scholars of Islam who used to teach
lessons of ethics in the city of Najaf. One of
his students relates that he once saw the Sayyid
go into a green grocer’s shop. The Sayyid then
started choosing some vegetables and contrary to
the common behavior of most customers who always
look for fresh vegetables, the Sayyid chose some
stale vegetables, paid the owner and went out of
the shop.
The student decided to follow him and ask the
reason for this. The Sayyid when asked replied,
that he knew that the owner was a poor man and
the Sayyid was in the habit of helping the poor
owner, but because it was not good to help
someone without a reason, since it would be a
cause of embarrassment, encourage laziness and
the habit of begging, the Sayyid just made an
excuse of buying some vegetables so that he
would get a chance of helping the poor man.
“As for us it doesn’t make a difference what
type of vegetables we eat, particularly so when
I know that nobody will buy the stale vegetables
from the owner and he will incur a greater
loss,” the Sayyid replied. (Seema Al Saliheen
Page 294) |
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Whoever loves his beard …! |
Sheikh Jaafer
Kashiful Gitaa, a great scholar and mujtahid
used to collect money in order to help the poor.
One day as he had distributed money amongst the
poor, a poor man from the progeny of the Prophet
(S) asked him for something to fulfil his needs.
The Sheikh was apologetic that he didn’t have
anything to help the poor man when the latter
pulled at the beard of the Sheikh and demanded
to be helped. The Sheikh announced that who ever
loved his beard i.e. respected him, should help
the poor man; and so it happened that the people
filled the beard of the Sheikh with gold and
silver in respect of him.
In this way the Sheikh diverted the love the
people had for him in the service of the poor
masses around him. (Maadhi An Najaf Wa
Haadhiruha 122-123, Qasas Al Ulama 201, 207)
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What will Allah ask us on the Day of Judgment? |
Sheikh Abdul Karim
Al Hairi was a great scholar and founder of the
great Islamic College or Hauza in the city of
Qum. One of his assistants called Sheikh Ali
relates that one night as he was sleeping, he
heard a knock on the door.
As he went to open the door, he saw a poor woman
who asked for help. She said that her husband
was sick, and in addition they didn’t have any
food, and her family was cold as they didn’t
have any fuel to get warmth.
The assistant informed her that his master could
not help her as his own condition was not good
in those days. The woman left with great
disappointment.
Sheikh Abdul Karim Al-Hairi had heard somebody
at the door and so he asked his assistant what
was going on. The assistant informed him about
the whole incident. Sheikh Abdul Karim said,
“What will Allah ask us on the day of judgment?”
Then he asked his assistant whether he knew the
house of the lady. Although it was difficult to
reach the lady’s house as the roads were covered
with snow, yet the Sheikh Hairi was determined
to reach the lady and help her. Thus they found
themselves on the way to the lady.
On reaching the lady’s house, they found the
family in a dire state. The Sheikh asked his
assistant to call a doctor who diagnosed the
husband and prescribed the medicines. Again the
Sheikh asked his assistant to go and buy the
medicine from the chemist on credit and that he
would pay for it, as well as getting some
firewood and food to give warmth to the family.
When the sick husband took the medicine he felt
better and they had food and warmth restored in
the house. Then only did the Sheikh find it
suitable to leave and return. In addition, the
Sheikh asked his assistant to divide the portion
of firewood which was supplied to their house
daily and give it to the poor family. Such were
these great scholars who served Islam by
example. |
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Why didn’t you give out all your wealth? |
In Nahjul Balagha,
the believers have been described as people in
whose heart Allah has become so magnified that
the world has become microscopic for them and of
little significance. One of the people who fit
this description is Mullah Sabzwari who died in
1289 A.H.
He owned land and wealth on which he took out
the Zakaat (charity) and distributed it amongst
the poor personally. Every Thursday he had an
appointment with the needy and distressed, so
that he would fulfill their wishes.
On the last three days of the month of Saffar he
commemorated Majlis for Imam Husayn (a.s.) in
which he called the poor. A man would be chosen
amongst them who would recite the majlis, a poor
man not known in the society, but the Mullah
would give such people a chance to recite, after
which food and money was distributed to each and
every poor man.
It is said that in his youth he inherited a lot
of properties, yet he sold shops and houses and
distributed the wealth to the poor. He repeated
the same procedure in his old age and were it
not that the Qur’an asks people to adopt a
medium way between miserliness and to be over
charitable such that if a man dies his orphans
do not have to beg and curse their father, he
would have given all his wealth to Allah.
People asked him why he didn’t give all his
wealth away and sit as a monk. It is interesting
to hear his answer in which he said that he
would love to do so but his children did not
favour the same type of life, and what wealth
remained with him was for only his children. (Qasas
wal Ibar lil Imam Al Shirazi Page 89) |
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Marja’s Secret! |
One of the
scholars in the U.S.A. was conversing with the
representative of Imam Mohammed Shirazi, may
Allah have mercy on him. The scholar stated that
he thought that the Imam was one of the richest
Marja of the world.
The representative of the Imam queried the
scholar as to why he made this statement. The
scholar replied that it was because of so many
organizations and centers in so many countries
of the world from America to Asia, Europe,
Africa and Australia. The representative of Imam
Shirazi replied that on the contrary the Marja
had a great debt and faced many problems.
The scholar was puzzled and said that how then
was it possible for so many mosques and
organizations to exist if the Marja was not so
rich. It is here that the representative gave
the scholar the Marja’s secret.
The great Marja always inspired his friends and
believers a love of starting a project such as a
mosque, a printing press, a library, publishing
a book, etc. just so as to renew the spirit of a
Muslim to contribute and sacrifice for his/her
religion. The great Marja’s philosophy was to
awaken the nation and exploit the potentials of
each and every individual however small the
potentials may be as expressed in his book (The
Awakening of the Nation).
The scholar was amazed and remarked that it
seems that the Marja had a spirit of sacrifice
and of that of encouraging and inspiring others.
It must be noted that due to his encouragement,
management, planning and foresight more than
hundred mosques, organizations, publication of
magazines and books in addition to charitable
trusts and humanitarian institutes have been
established all over the world. |
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Start the work and Allah will help ! |
One great scholar
related to the representative of Imam Muhammad
Shirazi, that he once decided to build a
Madrassah although he didn’t have any money. The
Islamic tradition states that man should make
the first move, and Allah will shower the
blessings on him. One should always start the
work first and Allah will help to find the
necessary funds for it, and not wait for the
funds to start the work.
Thus he decided to ask some laborers to start
the work making a clear agreement that they
would be paid when the money was available. The
agency that supplied them with the building
materials did so under the same agreement.
Sometimes the laborers would work till evening
while the funds were not available, yet in the
evening by Allah’s blessings they would be paid.
Shortly after, the walls of the Madrassah
reached up to a meter in height.
One day it so happened, that a man knocked the
door of the scholar and said that he had been
passing by and was impressed with the
determination of the scholar to build the
Madrassah. He handed over an envelope to the
scholar saying that it was a meager donation.
Expecting that it was a small amount, the
scholar was excited to see a huge sum of money
when he opened it.
Soon the project reached its peak with the
handsome donation, and the donor contributed a
second amount of money to complete the project.
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Help the debtors! |
Sayyid Nematullahi
Al Jazairi says that I looked for a teacher who
would teach me and I heard about Allamah
Muhammad Baqer Al Majlisi who is the author of
the book Bihaarul Anwaar in Isfahaan. I went to
him and he taught me and took great care of me
as if I was one of his children.
We in the course of our stay with each other had
promised that whoever out of us died first would
come in the dream of the other and relate about
the world Hereafter.
Sayyid Jazairi says that he stayed with Allamah
Majlisi for a long time until the Allamah fell
sick and died. The funeral procession was an
event which showed how respected he was.
Shortly after his death, Sayyid Jazairi went to
the graveyard and sat and recited verses of the
Holy Qur’an for him and cried in his remembrance
of him and as a result fell asleep. In his
dream, he saw Allamah Majlisi richly dressed and
apparently in good condition.
Sayyid Jazairi remembered that Allamah had died
and so asked him what happened to him when he
was put in the grave. The Allamah replied that
as soon as he was buried he was addressed by a
voice which asked him what he had brought of
good deeds in the world hereafter. The Allamah
mentioned various deeds that he had performed
but the voice was not satisfied and asked
repeatedly.
The Allamah was terrified, and as he pondered he
remembered an act of charity. He related that
once as he was walking in the streets of Isfahan,
he saw a poor old man being harassed by many
pedestrians. The Allamah felt pity on the poor
man and decided to gather courage to confront
the crowd.
When he asked the crowd of people about the
reason for their harassment, they replied that
the poor man owed them all some amounts of
money. The Allamah asked them to stop the
harassment and to follow him to his house so
that he would pay them the amount which the poor
man owed them.
When the Allamah had related this event, a door
to heaven was opened for him and so many
blessings were showered for him. (Jamiul Qasas
Lil Redha Kadhimi Page 99) |
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Use of Turban! |
It is related that
Muqaddas Ardabili who was a very great scholar
in the tenth A.H., was a man of great piety and
good morals. Ardabili used to donate so much
food to the needy during famines that he often
was left with very little food for himself.
People often used to gift him with expensive
shawls with which turbans were worn. When he
wore these expensive turbans and came across
poor people, he would remove his turban and cut
a meter or two of the expensive shawl like cloth
and give it to the poor. In this way he repeated
this act several times and when he would come
home he would often be left with a mere piece of
cloth. It has been said that it was for this
reason that he wore very big turbans. (Mustadrak
Al Wasail Page 392-393, Aqaid Al Shia Page 298) |
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Envelopes! |
It has been
related that a great scholar called Allama
Shaheed Sayyid Abdu Sahib Al-Hakim, once
received a big sum of money as charity, the
amount totalling up to twenty thousand dinars.
The Allamah at once set to put various sums of
money into envelopes and wrote the names of
numerous people on the envelope. He would put
hundred dinars in some and two hundred in
others, until he completed dividing the money.
The man who relates this incident says that the
Allamah then told him to accompany him and as
they came up to the house of a person the
narrator was told to knock the door, while the
Allamah stood a distance away. As soon as the
door was opened the narrator threw the envelope
and they hurried away with the Allamah.
In this way all the money was distributed in one
night while the Allamah didn’t keep anything for
himself. (Kitaab Al Najafiat Page 175) |
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I
will not consume the Kababs! |
Sheikh Fadhil Al
Muwahhidi, relates that he had the opportunity
of accompanying the great Marja of Islam, called
Sayyid Al Burujardi who died in the year 1370
A.H., to the hot springs situated in the city of
Mahallat, which are known to be the cure of
bones and muscles, as the great Marja was
complaining of pain in the legs.
Sheikh Fadhil says that they remained in that
city for a short time, and when the people came
to know that their Marja was residing in their
city as a guest, they warmly welcomed him and it
became obvious that most of the people were very
poor.
The Marja on appraising the situation asked
Sheikh Fadhil to buy cattle and have them
slaughtered so as to distribute the meat to the
poor. Sheikh Fadhil carried out the order and as
the meat was distributed, a bit of the meat was
set aside and delicious Kabaabs or broiled meat
were cooked and put in front of the Marja.
The Marja only drank some milk with bread and
cucumbers, and ignored the kabaabs completely.
When he was asked the reason for his action he
said that how could he consume the kabaabs when
the poor people were not offered the same. As a
result all the kabaabs were distributed amongst
the poor. (Mardare Ilm Dar Miaane Ali, Page 212)
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Charity even in the state of grief! |
It has been
related by Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Al Husayni Al
Milaani, that Sayyid Abdullah Al Shiraazi once
told him that a young scholar in the city of
Najaf once came to the great Marja Sayyid Abil
Hassan Al Isfahani, and asked him to give him
some money as a help to get married.
The great Marja promised to help him the next
day. Now it so happened that within that day the
great Marja’s son was assassinated while praying
behind his father in the congregational prayer.
This incident is famous and well known in Najaf.
The following day during the burial ceremony,
the great Marja was seen to be looking around as
if searching for someone. His followers thought
that he was mentally disturbed since it was an
odd behaviour potrayed by the Marja as it was a
time of poignant sadness for the Sayyid at the
sad demise of his son.
As he kept looking around they saw him calling
somebody, and found a young man approaching the
Marja and they then saw the Marja give a bag of
gold coins to the young man as he had promised
to do so, and did not forget this even though he
was surrounded with grief. (Qasas Wal Khawatir
Page 157) |
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The Expensive Cloak! |
One of the
followers of Sheikh Murtaza Ansaari gifted him
an expensive winter cloak whose color quality
and material was indeed extra ordinary. The
Sheikh wore the cloak on the first day to the
mosque, but it was observed by the man who had
given him the cloak that the next day the Sheikh
wore his old ordinary cloak.
When the disciple asked him the reason for not
wearing the cloak which he had gifted to the
Sheikh, the Sheikh replied that he didn’t feel
comfortable wearing the cloak, while so many
people around him were poor, so he had sold the
cloak and bought about twelve ordinary winter
cloaks and given them to the poor people. (Al
Mubaligh Al Risaali Page 32) |
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He
sold his own house to publish a book! |
Sheikh Jawaad Al
Balaghi An-Najafi was an author of great
prowess, who discussed and debated with people
of various faiths: the Jews, Christians,
Marxists and even atheists who believed that the
world has come about through coincidence.
A man of such great talents used to live in
great poverty, in a poor house, his bed made of
palm leaves. It is related that the extent of
his poverty was so great that when he wanted to
publish his writings, he had no money, and thus
had to sell his own house.
This shows how our scholars sacrificed their
basic necessities just so as to spread the
religion of Allah. (Aalame Barzakh Page 210) |
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Closeness to Prophet (S) |
Mullah Muhammad
Taqi Al Barghani who is commonly known as the
‘Third Martyr’ related that his father saw in
his dream the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S)
surrounded by so many Scholars of Islam.
However, he saw the son of the scholar called
Fahad Al Hilli sitting very close to the Prophet
(S). Mullah Barghani says that he was surprised
to see this when there were other scholars who
were greater in calibre, knowledge and their
service to Islam who were not sitting so close
to the Holy Prophet (S).
Mullah Barghani’s father asked the Prophet (S)
the reason for this, and the Prophet replied
that it was because all the scholars surrounding
him used to give charity when they possessed
something, but if they didn’t have any property
they didn’t give anything to the person who was
begging or in need. However the son of Fahad Al
Hilli used to give in charity despite not
possessing anything extra, and used to sacrifice
his personal belongings in order to fulfil other
people’s needs. This gave him a higher degree of
proximity to the Prophet. (Mardaane Ilm Dar Amal
Page 228) |
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Under the Mattress! |
Al-Hajj Muhammad
Hassan Shaukat who lived in Isfahan relates that
he heard from one of the relatives of Sheikh
Baid Abaadi that the former used to be a servant
of Sheikh Baid Abaadi.
He used to be sent on a daily basis to a friend
of the Sheikh who used to sell perfumes and was
called Al Haj Sayyid Musa to get some money,
some few Riyals. Sheikh Abaadi used to
distribute this money amongst the needy. The
Sheikh used to keep the money under a mattress
under his feet, and when ever he was approached
by the poor and destitute, he would extend his
hand under the mattress and come out with a few
coins.
The nephew of the Sheikh relates that he used to
often visit his uncle when in need and he found
out that what the Sheikh gave him was less than
what he gave to others. When he enquired his
uncle, he was told by his uncle that the latter
didn’t decide what to give to various people,
rather he only extended his hand under the
mattress and gave out what came in his fist.
Many people kept the coins given to them, since
it was believed that the coins were blessed. (Qasas
Al Ajeeba Li Dastghib Page 405) |
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Ayatullah Syed Abdulhussein Dastghaib (qs) Story |
Syed Muhammad
Hashim Dastghaib narrates that: "On the day
after the 40th day of martyrdom of Imam Husain (a.s.)
of the year 1402 H. in the morning when I went,
according of the routine, to my father’s house (Ayatullah
Abdulhussein Dastghaib), the office secretary
came to me. After Salaam and inquiries about
health etc., began to talk about the dream of
one Syed lady as follows:
Pieces of Flesh
“A respectable Syed lady who I know very well
and who lives in our neighbourhood, says, “Last
night I saw the late Martyr Ayatullah Syed
Abdulhussein Dastghaib (qs) in my dream. He told
me, ‘Some pieces of my flesh are stuck between
bricks in the wall in this street (where the
late Ayatullah was shot). Please recollect those
pieces and join them with my body.’”
At first I did not give importance to this news.
I heard the discussions of people in the office
and this continued for about two hours.
Thereafter I stepped out along with some of them
with the intention of participating in a
programme of ‘Fatihakhaani’ (recitation of Quran
for gifting the divine rewards to the departed
soul). Per chance, we had to pass through the
aforesaid street where my father was martyred.
So when we reached that fateful spot, I suddenly
remembered the aforesaid dream and I told about
it to my companions as it was related to me that
morning and said that there was nothing wrong if
we walked looking around. Then suddenly our eyes
fell for the first time on that wall and all of
us saw that some pieces of flesh were stuck in
the gaps between bricks at a spot on that wall.
Two of our companions went forward to collect
those pieces of the body of Ayatullah Dastghaib,
the Martyr of the Prayer Niche and placed them
in a plastic bag safely. The news of this event
spread in the city like wild fire especially due
to fact that the 40th day of Imam Husain’s
martyrdom had just passed and there was a total
holiday in Shiraz.
Double Burial
During Friday eve, in the Jame Masjid of
Shiraz, as usual, and as per the tradition of
the Martyr of the Prayer niche for the last
several years, a Dua Kumail prayer meeting was
held and a huge gathering of mourners heard the
event. Then and there it was announced that:
This night at ten o’clock the remaining parts of
the martyred Ayatullah will be buried. So it was
done and several groups of mourners continued
their mourning rituals till late night in the
courtyard of the shrine of Ahmed bin Musa Kazim.
Finally, on the day of Arbaeen, with the fresh
remembrance of the burial of the remaining part
of the Holy body of Imam Husain (a.s.) the
aforesaid two plastic bags containing the
remaining parts of the Ayatullah’s body were
brought and the contents were placed in the foot
side hole dug in the grave of the great martyr.
Two Other Persons also had that Dream
In fact, this event was very wonderful and
strange. On that very day when the scattered
pieces of the Holy body were retrieved from the
bricks of the said wall, a gentleman, who is one
of the sincere persons belonging to the clergy
and commands respect and reliability, told me
that last night two other persons including a
relative of the martyr had also seen the same
dream.
After hearing this narration, this event assumed
much importance in my opinion. So finally I sent
a messenger to the aforesaid Syed lady and
requested her to write back to us her full
description of the said dream and also to
mention her full name and address along with the
names of her husband and other family members.
So the lady conceded to my request and sent me
the accurate and detailed account, which is
presently before me. I seek the consent of the
honourable readers to quote a few parts of the
said report so that it may be preserved as a
part of history and be a means of admonition and
guidance for future generations.
The vision (dream) was, “I was in a big garden.
Suddenly I saw Ayatullah Dastghaib walking ahead
of me. I was walking behind him. This was the
middle part of the garden and the Ayatullah had
put on a coffee coloured cloak. He asked me,
“Please go and tell the people that some
particles of my flesh have been left in that
wall. He repeated these words several times. So
I was extremely astonished when I woke up.”
A Story More Revealing Than a Book
You yourself may decide what truth this true
dream tells. This dream is in fact a 'talking
testimony' of a truth about the LIFE AFTER
DEATH, which is more convincing than a whole
book of admonition. The Martyr of the Prayer
Niche Ayatullah Dastghaib used to mention
several times that, “Death is not
destruction; rather it is the door for
attainment of Divine Mercy.” Surely the
martyrs in the path of God are alive and they
are getting provision from their Lord.
This great learned Scholar has, in his book
MA'AD (The Hereafter), given detailed
description of events in the world of Barzakh
(Purgatory between Death and Resurrection) . In
the same book he also discussed about the return
of the soul to body on the Day of judgement.
Definitely all these things are HAQ (truth) but
this great martyr has personally announced this
and proved thus by coming to the dream of
believers talking about his pieces of flesh,
Subhaanallah. Should we still doubt about the
life after death and do not prepare fully for
it?
His Shrine in Shiraz Iran in the
complex of Shah Chirag |
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Repelling Calamities |
Ayatullah Al
Hajj Sheikh ˜Abdul Karim Haeri (r.a.) founder of
the hawzah ˜Ilmiyyah of Qum recounts
Ayatullah Al Hajj Sheikh ˜Abdul Karim Haeri (r.a.),
the:
"During
the time when I was engaged in religious
studies in the city of Samarra, an
epidemic, in the form of plague, spread
amongst the inhabitants of the city and
everyday several people would die of the
disease.
One day, some of the inhabitants of
Samarra had gathered in the house of my
teacher, the late Sayyid Mu¡ammad
Fisharki (r.a.), when Ayatullah
Mirza Muhammad Taqi Shirazi ( r.a.)
(d. 1338 AH), who, in terms of
knowledge, was at par with the late
Sayyid Fisharki, suddenly arrived. In
the course of the conversation, the talk
drifted towards the issue of the plague
that had threatened the lives of all the
people.
The late Mirza said:
"If I were to issue a hukm (ruling),
would it not be mandatory for it to be
executed?"
All those present said:
"Yes."
He said:
"I rule that from today onwards, for
a period of ten days, the entire Shi'ite
community of Samarra should recite "Ziyarat-e-
Ashura" and gift the rewards of this
recitation to Hadhrat Narjis Khatoon (s.a.)
- the mother of Imam Mahdi (a.t.f.s.) -
in order that this calamity is repelled
from them."
Those present in the gathering informed
the other Shi'ites of this ruling and
all of them engaged themselves in
reciting the "Ziyarat-e- Ashura." The
following days onward, it was observed
that none of the Shi'ites would die due
to the disease whereas the non-Shi'ites
continued to suffer deaths - and
this became plainly manifest for all the
inhabitants of the city, such that some
of the non-Shi'ites used to question
their Shi'ite friends:
"How is it that our people die due to
the disease, whereas there are no deaths
on your side?"
The Shi'ites would answer:
"All of us recite "Ziyarat-e-
Ashura" of Imam Husain (a.s.) in
order to remain protected from the
epidemic and Allah wards away the
calamity from us!"
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How Ayatullah
al-Uzma Najafi Marashi Established the Library? |
One
prominent scholar and authority on Islam
called Ayatullah al-Uzma Sayyid Mar’ashi
established a famous library in the city
of Qum. He did this with his own
personal effort by toiling hard for many
years.
Libraries play a very important role in
causing awareness to the people, giving
the people a good hobby and pass time,
to spread good virtues, to be a source
of pleasure, for the preservation of our
culture and for the continuation of our
culture and knowledge. It is due to all
these reasons that our scholars toiled
hard to establish public and private
libraries and preserved valuable and
ancient manuscripts in it.
I will relate some examples which will
touch our emotions and find in front of
us a man of great caliber and cause us
to question ourselves as to why we don’t
exploit our potentials.
The doors of this library were opened
since 1394 A.H. Sayyid Mar’ashi didn’t
get much financial assistance in
establishing this library. In many of
the books in this library I have seen a
caption in which the Sayyid has written
that he bought the particular book in
question by praying and fasting on
behalf of people who had died and whose
relatives paid for these acts of
worship. This is called ‘Salaat of
Istijara’. This prayer is incumbent on
the eldest son of a dead man to pray or
fast or go to pilgrimage on behalf of
his dead father in case the dead man did
not perform these acts. The son may pay
somebody reliable to perform these acts.
How great are these scholars who used
each and every opportunity to do
something which would help them in the
life Hereafter. Sayyid Mar’ashi bought
some great and rare books by praying on
behalf of the dead, and sometimes a sum
total of two years prayers in conditions
of hunger and extreme fatigue. (Qasas
Wal Khawatir page 238) |
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Ayatullah Shaykh Ja’far Shustari (R.A.)
The eminent philosopher and jurist,
Marhum Ayatullah Shaykh Ja’far Shustari
is the author of the important book of
Maqtal:
“Khasais al-Husainiyyah”, meaning “The
Attributes of Husain’s Movement”.
He relates the following incident
about his meeting with our 3rd
Imam, Imam Husain (A.S.):
“When I completed my studies at the
Hawza of Najaf and returned to my home
in Shustar,
I found that there was a need to make the people more aware
of the teachings of the Qur’an and Islam
in general.
As a first step, I decided to
start giving public lectures every
Friday. When the month of Ramadhan
came, I continued with my lecturing. I
would take Tafsir-e Safi (of Mulla
Muhsin Fayz Kashani) with me and teach
from it.
I would
always end my talk with a few words of
masaib of Imam Husain (A.S.)
from the book
“Rawdhatu’l
Shuhada” (“The Garden of the Martyrs”)
because, as the popular saying
goes,
every food requires salt, and the salt
of any religious lecture is the
remembrance of the tragedy of Kerbala.
However, no matter how much I tried, I
could not recite the masaib of Imam
Husain (A.S.) i.e. the tragedy of
Kerbala on the mimbar/pulpit
without reading from the book.
As a result, it did not have that much
effect on the people. In any case, I
persisted in this manner for a whole
year. The following year, when the
month of Muharram arrived, I said to
myself, “How long will I have to
carry on reciting the masaib from a
book? When will I manage to recite from
memory?” I knew that I had to find
a way out of this undesirable situation,
but no matter how much I tried, I could
not manage to find a solution.
I
began to constantly worry about it and
one day, exhausted after thinking about
the same matter, I fell asleep.
That day, I dreamt that I was on the
plains of Kerbala, and that too, at the
time when Imam Husain (A.S.)’s caravan
was there. I entered the camp and
greeted that holy and radiant
personality. The Imam (A.S.) seated me
next to himself and then said to Hazarat
Habib bin Mazahir, “Habib! Shaykh Ja’far
is our guest,
and a guest must always be made welcome.
It is true that there is no water in the
camp, but there is some flour and oil –
so go and prepare some food for our
guest.”
At the words of Imam (A.S.), Habib bin
Mazahir rose up at once and after
sometime, returned and placed some food
in front of me. I will never forget
that there was a spoon in the dish of
food as well. I had eaten only a few
spoonfuls of that heavenly food when I
woke up. I found that because of the
blessing of that ziyarat of Imam
Husain (A.S.) and his kindness to me,
I had been inspired with a special
knowledge about the family of the
Prophet (SWW), including many facts and
subtle details of their lives, which was
not known to anybody else before this.”
His valuable book,
“Khasais al-Husainiyyah”,
contains many such details and
inferences which is probably from the
knowledge he received as a result of his
meeting with the Imam Husain (A.S.), and
which was not previously known to anyone
else.
[Taken
from: “Khasais al-Husainiyyah” p.
8, as quoted in “Karamat wa Hikayate
Ashiqane Khuda” - “Miracles and
Anecdotes of the Close Servants of
Allah”. Translated AJ/141105.
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MORE AT
Tales narrated by Ayt Taqi Behjat
Other Lessons from the Lives of Ulema
Meetings of Ulema with Imam (atfs) |
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BACK TO MAIN PAGE |
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These stories are from the
book THE WAYS OF THE RIGHTEOUS by Shaikh Jaffer Ladak
Buy Book here
ebook
Copy right
www.world-federation.org
1)Shaikh Tabrisi buried Alive & comes back to write tafsir
The family and friends of Shaykh al-Tabarsi thought he had died. He was given
his ghusl (religious bath) and kafan (shroud); the prayer of the dead was
recited over him and he was taken to the graveyard and buried as normal. The
difference between Shaykh al-Tabarsi and others who are buried is that whilst he
was in his grave, he opened his eyes - he had been buried alive by accident!
Whilst he was in the grave, he made an oath that if Allah rescued him and he
came out of his grave alive, he would write a commentary of the Holy Qur’an.
No sooner had a few minutes passed when a grave robber approached the grave to
take the shroud of the Shaykh so he could sell it in the market. He began to dig
through the grave until he reached the body. As the thief started to remove the
shroud, Shaykh al-Tabarsi suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand, terrifying
him! Trying to quickly calm the thief down, he said, ‘Don’t be afraid!’ and
explained what had happened, saying, ‘Allah has answered my prayer and my vow
through you.
“Go to my house, bring my clothes and I will give you more than this so that you
do not go back to committing this crime for it is a forbidden action.’
Shaykh al-Tabarsi returned to his house to the surprise of everyone!64 He then
started writing a Qura’nic commentary in fulfilment of his vow. The commentary
that resulted from Shaykh al-Tabarsi’s promise is considered to be one of the
great Shi’a commentaries.65
When Shaykh al-Tabarsi died, by the blessings of Allah, he died as a martyr.
When he was buried, he was placed next to the body of Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha
(A).”
2.
Allama Majlisi & the conern for a fly a creature of Allah swt
“Allamah Majlisi had a close scholarly companion and each made a commitment to
the other that, Allah willing, if he died before the other, he would enter into
the dream of his friend to describe and explain what death and the hereafter was
like.
It so happened that Allamah Majlisi was the first to die. One night, after many
weeks had passed, Allamah Majlisi entered the dream of his friend. His friend
asked, ‘So much time has passed; why has it taken so long to enter into my
dream?’ The Allamah replied, ‘During the entire time that has passed, I was
being questioned by the Angels!’ His companion asked, ‘How is it there? What
happened to you?’ The Allamah replied, ‘It was very difficult but it is
wonderful and blissful now that my questioning has been completed. Whilst I was
being questioned, the Angel asked me, “What do you have to offer Allah? What
have you done in His way?” I replied to the”
“replied to the Angel that I had written and compiled the work, Bihar al-Anwar,
which consists of more than 100 volumes of verses, narrations and comments on
the Ahlul Bayt. The Angel replied, “Not this. What else do you have to present
to Allah?” I was shocked as this was such an extensive and thorough work! I
thought for a moment and this time said to the Angel that I had Mir’at al-Uqul
to present but again the Angel rejected this offering before Allah. Again I was
shocked as this compilation also included so many volumes. And so I continued to
offer different books and accomplishments one after the other and each time the
Angel rejected them.
‘So I began to think long and hard and then I remembered an incident in my life
and presented this to the Angel. One night, as I was studying and writing, I
noticed a fly was buzzing and circling around the room. He was circling all
around and eventually landed near my pen and ink. I could have waved him away
from my writing tools but I thought to myself, “Maybe the fly is thirsty or
tired so I should[…]”
“I should not wave him away but rather I should let him take rest where he is
sitting.” Anyhow, shortly afterwards, the creature flew around and away and I
thought nothing more of this incident.
‘The Angel responded to my account, saying, “This pure moment of mercy in your
life was the most accepted action before Allah.” And so, after presenting this
incident to Allah, my questioning was completed.”
3) Ayatullah
Behbahani & Russian lady jewels
“One of the senior students of the great scholar, Ayatullah al-Udhma Sayyid
Muhammad Baqir al-Isfahani (commonly known as al-Wahid al-Behbahani), narrates
that he was sitting beside the great scholar in the courtyard of the shrine of
Imam Husayn (A), when a strange visitor arrived, embraced the hand of Ayatullah
al-Behbahani and unwrapped a bag full of gold and women’s jewellery, stating,
‘Spend these in any way you view to be good and useful.’
The scholar asked, ‘Where did you obtain these from and what’s the story behind
this?’
The visitor replied, ‘My story is truly strange and if you permit, I can narrate
it to you now.’ The scholar replied, ‘Please go on.’ The visitor then narrated:”
“I am from the Iranian city of Saravan. I used to travel to Russian lands for
business and trade and I managed to earn a great amount of wealth. Once, during
my travels, my eyes fell upon a Russian lady and I wished to seek her hand in
marriage. She replied, ‘I am a Christian and you are a Muslim and only if you
join my religion, shall I permit this marriage.’ I was very bewildered and
confused as to what step I should take. Whilst I was very heartbroken and hurt
to be obliged to sacrifice my religion, eventually a Christian marriage ceremony
took place between us. After a very short time, I truly regretted my decision. I
was very disappointed in myself and I began to criticise my past decision,
thinking, ‘It is now difficult to return back to my home country and I actually
do not believe in the Christian faith.’
‘As I was in this sorrowful state, I remembered the tragedy of Imam Husayn (A)
and I started to weep, shedding tears as I remembered the oppression against our
master. Even though I did not know a great deal regarding Islam, I was aware
that[…]”
“Imam Husayn (A) was oppressed whilst defending the true teachings of Islam and
was brutally murdered. My Christian wife looked at me and she was shocked to see
me in such a distraught state, enquiring as to the reason behind my many tears.
I placed my trust in Allah and decided to tell her the truth. I admitted, ‘Deep
down, I am a Muslim and wish to remain a Muslim and these tears are in
remembrance of the tragic martyrdom of Imam Husayn (A).’ Upon hearing the name
of Imam Husayn (A), and listening to the tragedy of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn
(A), her heart was filled with love of the Ahlul Bayt and Islam. She immediately
embraced Islam and joined me in shedding tears for Imam Husayn (A).
‘One day, I told my wife, ‘Without informing others, let us head towards Karbala
and visit the holy shrine of Imam Husayn (A) and you can announce your reversion
to Islam within the holy shrine.’ She agreed with my suggestion and we started
to arrange our necessary travel requirements. Then suddenly, my wife fell
extremely ill and sadly passed away and her family buried her along with all her
gold and jewellery in the Russian Christian cemeteries.
‘Her departure from this world was extremely painful for me and I decided to
have her reburied in a Muslim graveyard. In the middle of the night, I went to
her grave, and quietly started to dig it up, until I reached the coffin. When I
opened the coffin, I was absolutely shocked to find that instead of my wife,
there was a man with a moustache! What I witnessed was extremely strange and
that same night, when I fell asleep, I saw a person in my dream who reassured me
with these words, “Glad tidings to you, for the Angels have transferred the body
of your wife to Karbala, in the holy place near the holy shrine of Imam Husayn
(A) and they have replaced her body with that man’s as he was a man who used to
always consume forbidden financial interest and so, the trouble and task of
transferring her blessed body to the Muslim cemetery has been relieved from
you.”
“I was very joyful and immediately headed towards Karbala and after visiting the
holy shrine of Imam Husayn (A), I approached the senior staff members and
enquired as to who was buried in this specific place on this particular day.
Their reply was that a man famous for consuming forbidden financial interest was
buried there. I informed them of the intriguing events that had occurred and
they opened the specific grave. I found that it was indeed my wife who was
buried there near the shrine of Imam Husayn (A), with all the gold and jewellery
that her family buried with her. I took the gold and jewellery and have now
brought them here to you so that you may spend it on what you find beneficial
and that which would bless her soul.’
The grand scholar, Ayatullah Sayyid al-Behbahani, took the gold and jewellery
and all of it was used in aiding the poor residents of Karbala.”
4) Shaikh Abbas Qummi fingers a
cure
Abbas Qumi, the great
narrator and scholar, who has written more than fifty volumes of useful books,
is one of the most pious men of God whose chastity and faith nobody may doubt.
He has had a lot of adventures, one of which I will mention here. It was
narrated to me by his son Haj Mirza Ali Agha Mohaddes. He said;
Due to the great volume
of edition and worship, my father fell ill in Nafaf. The physicians were unable
to cure him. One day, while in great pain he told my mother: My dear and kind
spouse, fetch me a teapot with an empty bowl. He asked us to raise him from his
bed. He sat on his bed, telling us: using my fingers I have been writing “the
God said,” “Imam Sadiq said,” and “Imam Baqir said,” for the last fifty years.
These fingers should be spiritually effective now. If they are not so, they had
better be cut off. Then he kept his fingers above the bowl, pouring water over
them from the tea-pot. Then he drank the water. After some hours he was
completely cured.
He, as well, narrated
the following event from his father, telling us: My father, Mohaddes Qumi was
suffering from a severe eye-ache. The Iraqi physicians were unable to cure him.
One day, he asked my mother to take him the book called Osul Kafi. She gave it
to my father. My father said: the writer of this book, Koleyni, was one of the
most pious men of his day and his book is a source of miraculous, spiritual
events. It could not be ineffective. He rubbed the book on his eyes once or
twice. Two hours later, there was no sign of the pain.
5) Ayatullah Marashi
Najafi & Poliecemans ghusl money
I knew a policeman who resigned in the era of the Shah. I asked him what
convinced him to resign from the post, to which he replied, “It was a meeting
with Ayatullah Sayyid Najafi Mar’ashi who came to me and told me to retire from
my position!” I asked him to tell me the story. The former policeman related:
‘“On the night in which I met Ayatullah Najafi, I was working a shift from ten
thirty at
night to three in the morning on the streets close to the shrine of Lady Fatimah
Ma’suma. I was in need of performing Ghusl al- Janabah (Ghusl that becomes
mandatory upon having sexual relations) but I did not have any money so that I
may visit a public bath.
‘“As the end of the night approached, a bus from the city of Isfahan arrived and
parked and many visitors disembarked. I took this opportunity to trouble the bus
driver, demanding, ‘Why did you park here? Show me your driver’s license!’
‘“By intimidating the bus driver, I managed to obtain 5 tomans from him. Having
the money in hand, I told him to drive on quickly. I said to myself,
“Now that you have received this money, you can go the bath house.’
‘“I went to the bath house and performed my ablution for my prayers. Before the
time for the morning prayer set in, I saw Ayatullah Sayyid Mar’ashi approaching
the holy shrine. He called out to me, ‘Come here!’ I went to him and he extended
his hand and gave me 5 tomans, saying, ‘With these 5 tomans, go to the bathhouse
and perform your ablution. It would not be correct for you to perform your bath
with that money.’ I was shocked and all I could repeat was, ‘OK Sayyid, OK
Sayyid.’
‘“On that same day, I decided to leave my job as a policeman and find a job that
gave me my independence. And since then, by the grace of God, I have had good
jobs and have even managed to go for hajj.””
6)Ayatullah Sayyid
Gulpaygani & burial place
One of the relatives of Ayatullah Sayyid Ridha Gulpaygani narrates:
‘Sayyid [Gulpaygani] contacted us some hours before his death from his hospital
bed. He said, “It seems that the doctors will not be successful in curing me. Go
and search the earth opposite my teacher, Ayatullah Abd al-Karim al-Ha’iri in
the haram of Lady Fatimah Ma’sumah al-Qom. You will find a space there for me.
‘I replied, “You will live long, God-willing, and return to us in good health!”
‘Ayatollah Gulpaygani responded, “No. Go to the place I have mentioned and
prepare it; it may be something will happen.”
‘We went to the place and we dug the place and we didn’t expect to find any
space that was empty as we knew the spaces were all already occupied by great
jurists and scholars. But to our surprise, we found a space never touched and it
appeared exactly two meters long as if it had already been prepared! We touched
the soil and found no evidence of anyone being buried there before.”
🌹 Extract from the book Only for You (God)
By Mehdi Khudamiyan 🌹
Syed Hussain Kohkamrahi & Shaikh Ansari
I
am a famous teacher and I have many students who respect me.
I come to class every morning at 10 am to teach the students.
I left home this morning at 8 o'clock to meet a friend.
When I left my friend's house, it was 9:30 am. I thought it would be better
to go straight to the mosque where I used to teach and wait for the
students.
So I rushed to the mosque and sat in a corner.
Meanwhile, in a corner. I saw a man surrounded by five people and he was
teaching them.
I realized at that moment that he was a great teacher. When I looked at him,
I saw that he was wearing very simple clothes. And no more than 5 people
were close to him.
My students started coming. I thought I should start teaching. And I should
get up and go to the pulpit to start teaching.
But I was wondering about who were teaching in the corner of the mosque?
Next day I hurried to the mosque and sat nearer to him so that I could hear
his voice better.
Yes! Guess right, he's a great scholar, he was teaching very well, he
doesn't know me, but he really is a great teacher.
Now I am standing in between two pathways as I have come to know the
position of knowledge of this Sheikh. Believe me, my heart wants me to
become his disciple and learn from him.
On the other hand, I am a teacher of thousands of pupils. Is it right to
destroy my position and fame?
The devil was telling me to try as much as possible not to recognized this
Sheikh here. If your students know their place of knowledge, then everyone
will go to them, and no one will respect you.
But I have not been deceived by the devil and I have intended.
Do you know what I intend to do? Do you know what I want to do?
I have made a promise to myself that teaching and teaching is for the sake
of God, when a person can teach better than me, why should I be an obstacle?
Why should I worry about my position?
I have to wait a little while for all the students to come. The whole mosque
is full and I sit on the pulpit like every day.
The students have opened their pens and books. Everyone is ready for me to
start teaching.
This is a very important moment. I am at a crossroads in this moment of my
life.
O God, help me to overcome my ego and inside evil! Help me to overcome this
lust for this position.
I turned to everyone and said: My disciples! Today I want to say something
important to you. Pay attention! All the students were staring at me. I said
to them:
Just look there, the old sheikh sit in corner of the mosque.
All eyes were on him. I continued my talk. He is your real teacher. I myself
would like to be his disciple. We should all go to him so that to attain his
discipleship.
I got up from the pulpit and went to them with all the disciples.
At my insistence, he appeared on the pulpit and started teaching. Everyone
became convinced that the teacher they were looking for are the Sheikh.
Oh yes, do you know who this anonymous Sheikh is?
Would you like to know?
This is Sheikh Ansari who had recently visited Najaf. No one knew him.But
through this process, teacher gradually became famous and after that he
emerged as the leader of the Shia world.
Whenever I remember this incident, I am proud and thankful that Allah helped
me on this occasion that I was able to overcome the evil.
I know you want me to introduce myself.
I am Syed Hussain Kohkamrahi
🌹 Extract from the book
Only for You (God)
By Mehdi Khudamiyan 🌹
What a large group prays behind me. 🌹
Shaikh Abbas Qummi
I live in Mashhad. I found out that Hajj Sheikh Abbas Qami, the
author of Mufatih Al-Jannan, has come to Mashhad.
Considering that there are one or two days left until the beginning
of the month of Ramadan, I went with a group of friends and requested him to
be a prayer leader
during holy month at Gohar Shad Mosque which is located in the
courtyard of Imam Reza.
At our insistence, he accepted the offer. A few days passed and the
month of Ramadan began. Congregational prayers were held under his
leadership.
The number of people in congregational prayers were increasing day by
day, people were spreading the news of his Imamate to each other. Therefore,
the congregation was increasing day by day.
I myself was very happy that people were gaining the virtue of
congregational prayers.
Until the tenth of Ramadan arrived. Hajj Sheikh Abbas Qami came half
an hour before the call to prayer. He sat in the mihrab and engaged in
recitation of the Qur'an.
Adhan was given and Zuhr prayers were offered. After Zuhr prayers, he
called me.
When I approached, he said: I cannot continue to be prayer leader
from Asr prayers today.
Then he got up from his seat and left for home. I went to his house
after prayers. He looked at me and said: I will not come to offer
congregational prayers anymore.
I was very shocked and asked him the reason. He said: Actually today
when I was in the fourth rak'ah (of Zuhr) I heard a request call to wait (
Ya Allah ) as the voice was coming from far away . I realized that a very
large number of people were praying behind me. Suddenly I was feeling happy
to see how many people were praying behind me.
A person who is happy to lead a large congregation is not qualified
to lead the congregational prayers.
I had no answer to that. In fact, he was a great example of piety and
sincerity.
Yes! The moment he realized that his congregational prayers were not
for God, he did not continue the work. And he also knew that only sincerity
is the reason for the acceptance of deeds, and without sincerity in any your
work nothing will acceptable by God.
🌹 Extract from the book
Only for You (God)
By Mehdi Khudamiyan 🌹