Islam Guidance

A man had returned from Hajj. He was relating his adventures to Imam Sadiq (A.S), and his companion. He was most impressed with one of his companions of Hajj, and was praising him. What a gracious man, we were so blessed to have him with us, he was busy praying and worshiping all the time. As we would stop somewhere, he would rush to a corner and start prayers.
Imam (A.S): “Then who was attending to his duties? Who was watering and feeding his animal (ride)?”
Man: “Of course, we had the honor of doing all that for him. He was busy in his sacred quest, and had nothing to do with such mundane things.”
Imam (A.S): “Then indeed, you all are better than him.”

Ref: Al-Islam.org

On the day of Arafah, on his last Hajj, the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H&H.P) gave a sermon... He talked about race, gender and brotherhood. But how much of his message do we heed today?

Imam Zayn al-Abidin was the child of the Prophet. On his pilgrimage to Hajj, he was reluctant to travel with the caravan who knew him. Instead, he wished to travel with the caravan coming from a remote area who did not recognize him. This was so that he may travel amongst them as a stranger. He joined such a caravan and asked whether he can be of service to them. They accepted. In those days, it was customary for people to travel on camel and horseback taking on average ten to twelve days to reach Mecca.
During this period, the Imam became the servant of the caravan. A certain man who knew the Imam happened to encounter this caravan. As soon as he recognized the Imam, he went to the travellers and asked, “Who is this man whom you have brought to serve you?” They replied, “We do not know.
He is a young man from the city. But he is a very good man.” The man replied, “Clearly, you are unaware, because if you knew, you would not place him at your service.” They enquired about the Imam’s identity to which the man replied, “He is ‘Ali ibn al-Hussain ibn ‘Ali, the grandchild of the Prophet.” They ran towards the Imam and dropped themselves at the Imam’s feet, “Sir! What was this you have done? We could have been punished by Allah for what we have done! How could we have been so impudent towards you? You must now be our master! Rest here while we serve you! To which the Imam replied, “No, my experience in travelling within a caravan who knows me, tells me that they will not permit me to serve the people of the caravan. That is why I choose to travel with a caravan whose travellers do not know me so that I may obtain the privilege of being of service to Muslims and friends.

Taken from: Imam Reza.Network

A number of pilgrims were narrating their experiences of Hajj to Imam Al- Sadiq (A.S), and recounting their views about their fellow pilgrims. One person was immensely impressed by a fellow pilgrim and said, ‘He was truly pious and an indefatigable worshipper of Allah. Whenever we broke journey to rest for the night, he retired to a secluded place, spread out his prayer mat and got engrossed in the worship of Allah.’
The Imam (A.S) enquired, ‘Who looked after the rest of his affairs? Who tended his camel?’
He replied, ‘Obviously, we performed all those duties for Allah’s pleasure. He remained absorbed in the holy acts, and had no time for such menial chores.’
The Imam (A.S) replied, ‘No wonder you achieved more than he did with all his piety and worship.
[Source: “Anecdotes of The AhlulBayt” by: Ayatullah Murtadha Mutahhari]

Ref: ahlulbayt islamic mission