Chapter 11-Eleventh Assembly

Chapter 11 

Eleventh Assembly

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Met on Monday, 7th Rajab of the year 407 Hijra. Our grand Sheikh al-Mufid, Abu Abdillah Muhammad b. Muhammad al-No'man - may Allah perpetuate His beneficence for him, narrated to us in his Mosque at Rabah, in this month.

1. "Today, it is deed and no account; tomorrow, it will be account and no deeds."

He said: Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Umar al-Je'abi reported to me from al-Fadhl b. al-Habbab al-Jamhiy, who reported from Muslim b. Abdillah al-Basriy, who reported from his father, who reported from Muhammad b. Abdul Rahman al-Nahdiy, who reported from Sha'bah, from Salemah b. Kuhayl, from Habbah al-Araniy who said:

I heard Amirul Mo'mineen Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon him, say: "I fear for you about two things: long ambitions and the submission to base desire. As for the long ambitions, they cause you to forget the next world; and as for obedience to your desires, they prevent you from (following) the Truth. Surely, this world passes with its back turned to you, and the next world arrives facing you. And they both have their sons. So, be the sons of the next world and do not be the sons of this world. For today, it is (your) deed and no account; and tomorrow, it will be account (for your acts) and no deeds."

2. Allah does for His servants that which is best

He said: Abul Hasan Ahmad b. Muhammad b. al-Hasan reported to me from his father, who reported from Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Saffar, from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa, from al-Hasan b. Mahboob, from Malik b. Atiyyah, from Dawood b. Farqad, who reported that:

Abu Abdillah al-Sadiq Ja'far b. Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: Among the words spoken to Allah to Musa son of Imran, peace be upon him, He revealed: "O, Musa! I have not created anything more beloved and preferred to Me than My faithful, believing servants. And when I try him, it is for his own good. I take away from him what he desires most, for his own good; and I grant him for his own benefit. And I know best what is beneficial for My servant. So, it is for him to be patient, when I try him, to be grateful when I bless him with My bounties, and he should remain pleased with My judgement. (Then) I write his name among My Truthfuls when he acts according to My pleasure and obeys My orders."

3. The sun returned for Ali (AS)

He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad b. Imran al-Marzbani reported to me from Abu Bakr Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa al-Makki, who reported from al-Sheikh al-Swaleh Abu Abdil Rahman Abdullah b. Muhammad b. Hanbal, who reportted from Abdul Rahman b. Sharik, from his father, who reported that Urwah b. Abdillah b. Qyshayr al-Ja'fiy said:

(Once) I called upon Fatemah, daughter of Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon him, when she was quite advanced in age. She wore beads around her neck and two bangles on her hands, and she said: "It is abominable for women to resemble men." Then she said: "Asma b. Umays reported to me that, once, the revelation from Allah descended upon His Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, and it overwhelmed him. Ali b. Abi Talib, may peace be upon him, covered him (i.e. the Prophet) with his cloth, till the sun set. When the revelation ceased, the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, said: "O Ali! Have you offered your Asr prayers?" He said: "No O, messenger of Allah! My attendance upon you prevented me from that." Then the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, prayed: "O Allah, cause the sun to return for Ali b. Abi Talib". The sun had set, so it rose again till its rays reached my room and half the height of the Mosque."

4. The pleasure and displeasure of Fatimah (SA)

He said: Abu Hafs Umar b. Muhammad al-Sayrafi reported to me from Abu Ali Muhammad b. Hammam al-Katib al-Iskafi, who reported from Muhammad b. al-Qasim al-Maharibi, who reported from Ismail b. Ishaq at Rashidi, who reported from Muhammad b. Ali from Muhammad b al-Fudhail al-Azdi, from Abu Hamza al-Thumali, who reported that Abu Ja'far Al-Baqir Muhammad b. Ali, peace be upon him, reported from his father and grandfather that:

The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, said: "Surely, Allah is displeased when Fatimah (peace be upon her) is displeased, and He is pleased when she displays her pleasure."

5. Fatimah (SA) after the khilafat of Abu Bakr

He said: Abul Hasan Ali b. Muhammad al-Katib reported to me from al-Hasan b. Ali al-Zafarani, who reported from Ibrahim b. Muhammad al-Thaqafi, who reported from Abu Ismail al-Attar, from Ibn Luhaya'h, from Abul Aswad, from Urwah b. al-Zubayr that:

When people swore allegiance to Abu Bakr, Fatimah, the daughter of (Prophet) Muhammad, peace be upon him and his progeny, came to the door of her house and said: "Never have I witnessed a day like this. They have indeed, set a worst record. They left their Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, with his corpse in our midst and preoccupied themselves with the matter (of succession) without us."

 

 

 

6. Ahlul Bait, the key to all wisdom

He said: Abul Qasim Ja'far b. Muhammad reported to me from his father, from Sa'd b.Abdillah, from Ahmed b. Muhammad b. Isa, from al-Hasan b. Mahboob, from Abu Ayyub al-Khazzaz, from Muhammad b. Muslim, who reported that:

Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Ali, peace be upon him said: "People (who have discarded us) have no truth, nor any propriety, except that which they have learnt from us Ahlul Bait. None from them can judge truly or with justice, unless he has taken its guidance from Amirul Mo'mineen Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon him, the key, the gate, the path blazer, the way. And when they are confused in any matter, the fault is theirs if they commit an error; and if they decide rightly, the credit goes to Ali b. Abi Talib (AS)."

7. Shaddad b. Aws and Mu'awiyah

He said: Abu al-Tayyib al-Husain b. Muhammad al-Tammar reported to me at the Great Mosque of Al-Mansoor during Muharram of 347 Hijra, from Abu Bakr Muhammad b. al-Qasim al-Anbari, who reported from Ahmed b. Yahya, who reported from Ibn al-A'arabi, from Habib b. Basshar, from his father, who reported from Ali b. Asim, from al-Sha'bi who said:

When Shaddad b. Aws called upon Muawiyah b. Abu Sufyan, he honoured and welcomed him, did not reprimand him for his past lapses and gave him good promises of reward. Then one day he invited Shaddad at a public assembly and said: "O Shaddad, stand before people and speak about Ali and revile his so that I know the measure of your love for me."

Shaddad said: "I beg to be excused, for Ali has already gone to his Maker and has been rewarded for his deeds. And you have been sufficiently relieved of your worry about him. Now, the affairs are under your full control because of your generosity, so do not seek from people things which do not behove your magnanimity."

Muawiyah said: "You shall indeed rise to speak, otherwise (our) suspicion about you is established."

Then Shaddad stood up and said: "Praise be to Allah Who made His obedience obligatory upon His servants and placed His Pleasure with the people of Taqwa, who preferred His pleasure over the pleasure of those He created; upon that path have the predecessors gone and upon that path shall the followers go.

O People, the next world is indeed a true promise, a Day on which the Omnipotent King shall judge; and this world has a limited tenure, where every pious and impious eats his share. He who listens and obeys the truth, fears no judgement against him and he who listens and disobeys, expects no judgement in his favour. Surely, when Allah intends good for His servants, He gives them the righteous people to govern them and the learned jurists to decide among them; and places wealth in the hands of the generous among them. And when intends evil for them, He causes the fools to rule over them and the ignorant to decide among them and places wealth in the hands of the misers and niggardly among them.

And for the rulers, the most befitting thing is to have the righteous companies around them. O Muawiyah, whoever displeases you for the truth, he is your good advisor and whoever seeks your pleasure by ways which are untrue, he deceives you. I have indeed, given you a good advice in whatever I have said already and I will not deceive you by saying to the contrary."

Muawiyah said: "Sit down O, Shaddad." So, he sat down. Then Muawiyah said: "I ordered for you enough wealth to make you self-sufficient. Am I not among those generous who Allah has blessed with abundance, for the sake of the welfare of His creation?" Shaddad said: "If the wealth you possess belongs to you, to the exclusion of what belongs to the Muslims and (if) you earned and spent it in legitimate ways, after having amassed it so that it may not be squandered, then, of course, yes. And if the wealth you have, belongs to you jointly with the Muslims and you deprived them from having access to it; amassing it in abundance and then spending it excessively, then Allah, Most High, says: 'Verily, the extravagants are the brothers of the Devils' (Al-Asra' V.27)." (Upon hearing this) Muawiyah said: "I believe you have gone mad, O Shaddad! (Then turning to his people, he said), "Give him what we have set aside for him, so that he may reach his people before he gets totally demented."

Shaddad rose on his feet saying: "Someone else, other than me, has lost his sanity to his desires." He then left, without taking anything from Muawiyah.

8. Evil consequences of three traits one will see before death

He said: Abul Hasan Ahmad b. Muhammad b. al-Hasan reported to me from his father, from Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Saffar, from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa, from al-Hasan b. Mahboob, from Malik b. Atiyyah, from Abu Ubaidah al-Hazza', who reported that:

Abu Ja'far al-Baqir Muhammad b. Ali, peace be upon him, said: "It is recorded in the book of Amirul Mo'mineen, peace be upon him: three traits are such that whoever possess them, would not die before seeing their evil consequences: injustice, breaking off with blood (womb) relations and false oath." And the quickest way to earning a reward (from Allah) is to mend the relations with your kith and kin; for these are people who transgress, but when they mend their relations with each other, their wealth grows and they become rich. And false oaths and breaking off from one's relatives turn the villages into the wastelands.

And may Allah bless our master Muhammad and his progeny, with peace and salutaions.

 

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