Chapter 34-Thirty Fourth Assembly

Chapter 34 

Thirty Fourth Assembly

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Met on Saturday, the 26th of Shaban in the year 410 Hijrah. Our grand Sheikh al-Mufid, Abu Abdillah Muhammad b. Muhammad b. al-No'man, may Allah continue to protect him, narrated:

1. Deeds coupled with Taqwa

He said: Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Umar al-Je'abi, reported to me from Abul Abbas Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Saeed Ibn Uqdah, who reported from Muhammad b. Haroon b. Abdul Rehman al-Hijazi, who reported from his father, who reported from Isa b. Abul Ward, from Ahmad b. Abdul Aziz, from Abu Abdillah Ja'far b. Muhammad, peace be upon him, who reported that:

Amirul Mo'mineen, Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon him, said: "Any deed performed with Taqwa is not little. And how can that which is accepted (by Allah) be little?"

2. Sign on certitude

He said: Abu Nasr Muhammad b. al-Husain al-Muqri reported to me from Abul Qasim Ali b. Muhammad, who reported from Abul Abbas al-Ahwas b. Ali b. Mardas, who reported from Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. Isa al-Rawasi, who reported from Sama'ah b. Mahran, that:

Abu Abdillah Ja'far b. Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: "Among the signs of certitude is that you will never please the people by earning the wrath of Allah, Most High, nor will you blame them if Allah did not grant you from His favour. Because sustenance is not led by the greed of the avaricious, nor is it prevented by the aversion of someone grudging. If anyone from you were to run away from his sustenance, the way he runs away from death, it would find him out, the way death would."

3. The status of Ali on the Day of Qiyamah

He said: Abu Ja'far Muhammad b.Ali b. al-Husain b.Babawayh, may Allah bless him with mercy, reported to me from his father, who reported from Sa'd b. Abdillah, from Ayyub b. Nuh, from Safwan Ibn Yahya, from Aban b. Uthman, who reported that:

Abu Abdullah, Ja'far b. Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: On the Day of Resurrection, an announcer will announce from inside the Throne: "Where is the Khalifa of Allah on earth?" So Dawood, the Prophet, will stand up and the voice from Allah, Most High, will say: "We do not mean you, although you were Allah's Khalifa." Then a second announcement will be made: "Where is Allah's Khalifa on earth?" Then Amirul Mo'mineen, Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon him, will rise. So a voice will come from Allah, Most High: "O people! This Ali b. Abi Talib is the khalifa of Allah on His earth and His proof over His slaves. So whoever adhered to his rope while on earth, should hang on to his rope here (also), so that he may have the benefit of his light and may follow him in the rising ranks of Paradise."

He said: A group of people will rise who had adhered to his rope during life on earth, and will follow him into Paradise. Then there will be announcement from Allah, Most High: "O those who followed a leader while living on earth, follow him as he goes, and they will go with him." That will be the time when those who led will dissociate themselves from those who followed them, and they will see the chastisement, and all relations between them will be severed. 'And those who followed will say: if only we had one more chance, we would dissociate ourselves from them, as they have disowned themselves from us. Thus will Allah show them their deeds as anguish for them and never will they come out of the hellfire.' (2:166,167).

 

4. Ibn Abbas on Khilafah

He said: Abul Mudhaffar Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Balkhi reported to me from Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Ahmad b. Abul-Thalj, who reported from Abu Abdillah Ja'far b. Muhammad al-Hasani, who reported from Isa b. Mahran, who reported from Hafs b. Umar al-Farra, who reported from Abu Muaz al-Khazzaz, who reported from Yunus b. Abd al-Warith, from his father who said:

Once Ibn Abbas was addressing us from the pulpit at Basrah. When he turned his face towards the people and said: "O group of people, bewildered in their religious affairs! If you had given precedence to he who Allah had given precedence, and put back he who Allah had put back, and if you had kept the heritage and the authority where Allah had kept them, no part of divine determinate share would have been unfairly distributed, and no friend of Allah would have been humiliated, and no two persons would have differed on the law of Allah. So taste the evil consequence of your negligence about what you sent forth, and those who do wrong shall come to know what punishment awaits them."

5. Ali, the best judge

He said: Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Umar al-Je'abi reported to me from Abul Abbas Abmad b. Muhammad b. Saeed, who reported from Ubaid b. Hamdoon al-Rawasi, who reported from al-Hasan Ibn Zareef, who said:

I heard Abu Abdillah Ja'far b. Muhammad, peace be upon him, say: "Whenever I came across any judgement given by Ali, peace be upon him, I always found it based on the principle of (Prophet's) tradition." Then he said: Ali used to say: "If two disputants brought a case to me and I gave my judgement, and then if they came with the same case to me after years, I would give the same judgement, because judgement never expires nor does it disappear."

6. The effect of parents' displeasure

He said: Abu Nasr Muhammad b. al-Husain al-Baseer al-Muqri reported to me from Abul Qasim Ali b. Muhammad, who reported from Ali b. al-Husain, who reported from al-Hasan b. Ali b. Yusuf, from Abu Abdullah Zakariyya b. Muhammad al-Mo'min, from Saeed b. Yasar, who said:

I heard Abu Abdillah Ja'far b. Muhammad, peace be upon him, saying: Once the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, was present at the death bed of a young man; so he said to him: "Say, there is no god but Allah." (He said): "The Youth was tongue-tied every time (he tried)." So the Prophet asked a lady sitting near his head: "Does he have a mother?" She said: "Yes, I am his mother." He (i.e. the Prophet) asked: "Are you displeased with him?" She said: "Yes. I have not talked to him for years." He said: "Then grant him your pleasure." She said: "May Allah be pleased with him, O messenger of Allah, (together) with your pleasure."

Then the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, said (to the young man): "Say there is no god but Allah!" And he uttered the words. Then the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, asked: "What do you see?" He said: "I see a man with dark face, ugly looks, dirty dress, evil smelling, now drawing near me and strangling me." The Prophet said: "Recite: O He who accepts little, and forgives much! Accept from me little, and forgive me much, for surely, You are Forgiving and Merciful."

The young man recited the prayers; then the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny asked: "Look, what you see?" He said: "I see a man with bright face, handsome, good smelling, well-dressed, coming near me; and I see the man with dark face turning away from me." The Prophet asked him to repeat, so he repeated. Then he (i.e. the Prophet) asked: "What do you see (now)?" He said: "(Now) I do not see the man with dark face (at all) and I see the man with bright face drawn closer to me." Then he (the young man) died in that state.

7. Predictions by the Prophet

He said: Abul Hasan Ali b. Bilal al-Mahlabi, reported to me from Abul Abbas Ahmad b. al-Husain al-Baghdadi, who reported from al-Husain b. Umar al-Muqri, from Ali b. al-Azhar from Ali b. Swaleh al-Makki, from Muhammad b. Umar b. Ali, from his father, from his grandfather, peace be upon him, who said:

When the following verses were revealed to the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny: 'When the victory granted by Allah and the conquest comes' (110:1), he said to me: "O Ali, surely the victory from Allah and the conquest has come! So when you see people entering into the fold of religion of Allah in throngs, then celebrate the praise of Your Lord and seek His forgiveness, for He is ever Relenting.

O Ali, Allah has ordained for the believers to fight the confusion created by the dissenters after I have gone, the way He has ordained for them to fight the unbelievers with me." So I said: "O messenger of Allah! What is that dissent against which we are ordained to combat?" He said: "Dissent by a group which will (outwardly) testify that there is no god but Allah, and that I am His messenger, (but) they will contradict my traditions, and will be levelling invectives against my religion." So I asked: "On what basis should we fight them, O messenger of Allah, when they will be testifying Allah's Oneness, and your Prophethood?" He said: "On the basis of their innovation in their religion and departure from my command, and for consenting to spill the blood of my kinsfolk."

He said: I said: "O Prophet of Allah, you had once promised me martyrdom. So pray to Allah to hasten it for me." He said: "Yes, I had promised you martyrdom. So how patient will you be when this will be dyed by this?" - (and he pointed to my head and my beard). I said: "O messenger of Allah! When the time you have indicated will dawn, it will not be an occasion for patience, it will be an occasion of glad tidings and thanksgiving."

He said: "Well, then prepare for the opposition, for you will have a dispute against my Ummah." I said: "O messenger of Allah! Guide me about the (expected) split?" He said: "When you find a group of people turning away from (true) guidance towards deviation, oppose them. For true guidance is from Allah, and as from the devil it is only going astray.

O Ali, true guidance is to follow the orders of Allah, without falling prey to base desires and ones own opinion. It is as if I see you facing a group of people interpreting the Qur'an the way they like, and creating (dubious) analogies; so they will make intoxicants lawful by calling it grape juice, they will pay Zakat to make lawful the wealth earned by cheating people in weight, they will accept bribery and call it a gift." I said: "O messenger of Allah! How do we classify them when they start doing that? Are they apostates or just rebellious dissenters?" He said: "They will be the dissenters, blindly wandering in it, till they are dealt with by justice." I asked: "O messenger of Allah, will that justice be meted out by us or by others?" He said: "Of course, it will be by us, for with us Allah has commenced and with us shall He end. It was by us that Allah united the hearts after it had suffered disbelief, and it will be by us that He will unite the hearts after the dissent." Then I said: "Praise be to Allah, for the merit that He has granted us."

8. Shiahs of Ali are saved

He said: Abul Qasim Ja'far b. Muhammad b. Qawlawayh, may Allah bless him with mercy, reported to me from Al-Husain b. Muhammad b. Amir, from Mualla b. Muhamamd al-Basri, from Muhammad b. Jamhur al-Ammi, who reported from Abu Ali al-Hasan b. Mahbub, who heard from Abu Muhammad al-Wabishi, reporting from Abu al-Ward who said:

I heard Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Ali al-Baqir, peace be upon him, say: "When the Day of Resurrection will dawn, Allah will gather all people together on one plane, naked and barefooted, and they will be ranged on the road to the gathering place, till they will sweat profusely and their breathing will become difficult. They will be there for as long as Allah wills, and that is what Allah says in Qur'an: '... and you shall hear nothing but whispers.' (20:108)"

He said: Then an announcer will announce from the Throne: "Where is the Makkan Prophet?" (He said), the people will say: "You have caused all to hear, now name him." It will be announced: "Where is the Prophet of mercy, Muhammad, son of Abdullah?" Then the messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, will rise and proceed before the people till he reaches the Pool, its length equal to the distance between Ayla and Sana; and then your master (i.e. Ali) will be called and he will proceed in front of the people and stand with him (i.e the Prophet). Then people will be summoned to pass by.

Abu Ja'far, peace be upon him said: "Among them on that Day, some will arrive (to stay) and some will be driven away. When the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, will see that those sent away are from those who love us the Ahlul Bait, he will weep and say: "O Lord, these are partisans of Ali, O Lord, these are partisans of Ali!" He said: Allah will send an angel who will say: "O Muhammad! What makes you weep?" He will say: "Why should I not weep for the fate of those who followed my brother Ali b. Abi Talib. I see they are being sent off with the inmates of hell, and are prevented form being at my Pool?" He said: Then Allah will say: "O Muhammad, I give them away to you, and pardon them their sins for your sake, and I will unite them with those who loved your progeny; I will keep them in your group, and station them at your Pool, and accept your intercession for them. This is how I have honoured you."

Then Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Ali b. al-Husain said: There will be several men and women weeping on that Day, when they witness this, exclaiming: "O Muhammad, (help us). So no one who is our partisan and loves us will remain except that he will be in our party and with us, and will arrive at our Pool."

9. The best and the worst among people

He said: Abul Qasim Ja'far b. Muhammad, may Allah bless him with mercy, reported to me from Abu Ali Muhammad b. Hammam al-Iskafi, who reported from Abdullah b. Ala, who reported from Abu Saeed al-Adami, who reported from Umar b. Abdul Aziz, commonly known as Zohl, from Jamil b. Darraj, who reported that:

Abu Abdillah Ja'far b. Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: "The best people among you are those who are generous, and the worst among you are the misers. And the best deed is to treat your brothers well, and to strive to fulfil their needs, for that is what Satan dislikes; and in that is salvation from hellfire and entrance into Paradise. O Jamil, narrate this tradition to your special friends." I said: "Who are my special friends?" He said: "Those who are kind to their brothers in the time of hardship and ease." Then he said: "For those who are blessed with plenty, that is very easy. Indeed, Allah has praised those who have little. He said (in Qur'an): ' ... and they prefer others above themselves, even though poverty may afflict them. And whoever is saved from the greed of his own soul, those are the ones who prosper.' (59:0)"

And Allah is Sufficient for us and the Best Trustee, and may Allah bless our master Muhammad, the Prophet and his progeny.

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