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PRAISEWORTHINESS OF PICKING UP PEBBLES IN AL-MASH'AR

PRAISEWORTHINESS OF PICKING UP PEBBLES
IN AL-MASH'AR
A pilgrim's recommended act in al-Mash'ar is to pick up pebbles as many as seventy to take them to Mina to be thrown at the symbolic Satan. This act, yet not much pleasant, is a sign of man's obedience to God's command.

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1 Part of Duaa of Imam Hussein (a.s) on Day of Arafat
2 See Nahjul Balagha, sermon 184 Qualities of the God-fearing
3 See Rawdhat ul-Kafi; p. 247 H.347

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AL-MASH'AR AL-HARAM, A SIGN OF ISLAMIC
EDUCATION

The educational school of Islam displays the world and its pleasures to the eyes of a Muslim as worthless as pebbles, for all crimes and corruptions in the world are the result of love of the world in a way the Holy Prophet (saw) says:

حُبُّ الدّنيا رَأْسُ كلِّ خَطيئَةٍ

Love for this world is the source of all wrongdoings.1
On the other hand, if a man is destitute, the desires which are inherent in his being and have not been properly satisfied will overflow making him rebel and disobedient especially if he lives in an environment with injustice and class differences. Imam Ali (a.s) says to his son Mohammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah:

يا بُنيّ، إنّي أَخافُ عَليكَ الفَقْرَ فَاستَعِذْ باللهِ منهُ. فَإن الفَقْرَ مَنقَصَةٌ لِلدّينِ، مَدهَشَةٌ لِلعَقلِ، داعِيَةٌ للمَقْتِ.

O my son, I fear lest destitution overtakes you. So, you should seek Allah's protection from it, because destitution is deficiency of religious belief, perplexity of intelligence, and it is conductive to hatred of obstinate people.2
The Holy Prophet (saw) says:

كادَ الفَقْرُ أنْ يَكونَ كُفْراً

Destitution is very close to the boundary of disbelief.3
Today, material manifestations have become criteria of supremacy. If the ummah do not care about material manifestations, they will be undermined. In addition, since some Muslims do not enjoy sound religious training and they are not people who ?shall not fear the censure of any censurer (The Holy Quran; 5:44),? they should not only promote their moral and spiritual virtues, but they should have enough wealth to preserve their supremacy in the world and honor and prosperity in the Hereafter. The Holy Quran says: وَأَعِدُّوا لَهُمْ مَا

اسْتَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ قُوَّةٍ وَمِنْ رِباطِ الخَيْلِ تُرْهِبُونَ بِهِ عَدُوَّ اللهِ وَعَدُوَّكُمْ

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1 See Collection of Waraam; vol. 1 p.128
2 See Nahjul Balagha, p. 1228 saying 311
3 See Collection of Waraam; vol. 1

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And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to frighten thereby the enemy of Allah and your enemy. (8:60)
Imam Kazim (a.s) says:

إنّكُم قَومٌ أعداؤكُم كَثيرةٌ، يا مَعاشِرَ الشّيعَةِ، إنّكُم قَد عاداكُمُ الخَلقُ فَتَزيَّنوا لهُم بما قَدِرتُم عليهِ


O Shiites, you have lots of enemies looking for a pretext to attack and humiliate you. So, be prepared against them as much as you can.?1

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