محمد بن علي الباقر عليه السلام

'There is no harm if he travels, breaks his fast, and does not fast.'"

In the Torah, it is written among that which Allah said to Musa (as): O Musa! Fear Me with regards to the secret of your matter, and I will protect you in your absence. Remember Me when you are alone and when you are pleased with yourself, and I will remember you when you are asleep. Withhold your anger from those I have made you rule over, and I will restrain My anger from you. Conceal My hidden secret in your bed. Be courteous to your enemies in public for Me, and do not insult Me by revealing My concealed secret, or else you will have associated your enemies with My enemies in insulting Me.

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), once addressed with the following speech: ‘All praise belongs to Allah, I praise Him, beg assistance from Him, ask forgiveness from Him, seek His guidance, believe in Him and place my trust with Him and I testify that no one deserves worship except Allah alone who has no partners and I testify that Muhammad (SAW), is His servant and His Messenger. He sent him with guidance and true religion to make it dominant over all other religions, as a guide to Him and calling to Him. So he destroyed the pillars of disbelief and lit up the beacon of belief. Whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger of Allah, the right guidance becomes his path and the light of piety becomes his guide. Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger misses the straight path altogether and harms no one except himself. I recommend you, O servants of Allah, to become pious before Allah with an advice from an adviser and a preaching of one who delivers and strives. Thereafter, Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, has made Islam the bright landmarks with shining light houses. In it hearts come together and on its basis are brotherhood and what is between us and you, of such facts are to love Him and old memories among us and everyone knowing everyone else of that on which we are based. May Allah forgive us and you and peace be with you and the blessing of Allah and His kindness.’”

“I asked abu Ja’far (a.s.), about lost property found. He (the Imam) said, ’He must not pick it up, and if he did so, it becomes his responsibility to announce for it up to one year. If the owner did not come forward, it then becomes subject to what his other properties are until someone searching for it comes forward; and if no one came forward he must make a will about it.’”

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘There is no definite prayer and supplication for the evening of the day of ‘Arafah.’” (Hadith 6 of this Chapter is best explained by Fatwa)

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, sent al-‘Ajwah and al-‘Atiq from the sky.’ I then asked, ‘What is al-‘Atiq ?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is the male.’”

“Abu Ja‘far, and abu ‘Abd Allah, ‘Alayhim al-Salam, have said, ‘There is no one without a share in fornication. Fornication of the eyes is looking, of the mouth is kissing, of hands is touching, regardless if the genital organs materialize it or not.’”

Verily Allāh, the Blessed and the Exalted, has elevated some lands and (bodies of) water above others. Some of these lands and waters boasted to others and some of them transgressed and they have all been punished for not being humble before Allāh. Therefore, Allāh empowered the polytheists over (the land of the) Ka’bah and made the water of Zamzam salty which has ruined its taste. Verily the land of Karbalā and the water of the Euphrates (River) were the first land and (body of) water which glorified Allāh, the Blessed and the Exalted. Therefore, Allāh blessed them and said to the land of Karbalā, “Speak of that with which Allāh, the Exalted, has honoured you, for verily the lands and the waters have boasted to one another.” The land of Karbalā said: I am the sacred and blessed land of Allāh. The (power to) cure has been placed in my dust and in my water, and I am not arrogant. Rather, I am humble and humiliated before He who has blessed me. I do not boast to those who are lower (in rank) than me. Rather, I am thankful to Allāh. Therefore, Allāh honoured it, increased His blessing on it for its humility, and rewarded it with Ḥusain (a.s.) and his companions. Then Abū ‘Abdillāh (a.s.) added, “Allāh elevates those who humble themselves before Him. And Allāh, the Exalted, degrades those who are arrogant.”

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘Do not go to bed with a (underage) girl before she becomes nine or ten years old.’”

“Abu la’ far (a.s.), has said that if you want to ask your Lord for something, take Wudu’ properly, perform two Rak‘at Salah (prayer), speak of the greatness of Allah. Say, ‘Allahumma Salli ‘Ala Muhammad wa ‘Ali Muhammad (O Allah grant Muhammad and his family a compensation worthy of their serving Your cause). 5 After Salam say, ‘O Allah, I appeal before You, You are the Owner and the King and have power over all things. You are dominant and whatever You want it comes into existence. O Allah I turn to You through Your prophet, Muhammad, the prophet of mercy. O Muhammad, O Messenger of Allah, I turn to you before Allah, Your Cherisher and my Cherisher so that He makes my wish to come true. O Allah, through Your prophet, Muhammad, make my wish come true. 5 Then ask for your needs.”

“Whoever recites this Surah would be kept safe by Allah from acting upon the mischief of Dajjal and he would remain safe from the chastisement of Hell.”

Whoever recites Surah Maoon in his obligatory and optional prayers would be among those whose prayers and fasts are accepted by Allah, the Mighty and the Sublime, and that man would not be subjected to reckoning for whatever he has done in the world.

“The Messenger of Allah has said in one of his speeches, ‘Beware of causing suffering and disappointment to parents. The fragrance of paradise can be sensed from a distance of a one thousand year journey, but those causing suffering and disappointments to parents, those failing to maintain good relations with relatives, an old fornicating man and one who drags his garments out of arrogance and boastfulness will not sense such fragrance. Greatness belongs only to Allah, Lord of the worlds.’”

The Messenger of Allah (s) said: On the night that Allah made me ascend to heaven, my Lord said to me: “O Muhammad!” So, I said: “I am at Your service, my Lord.” So, he said: “Surely, `Ali is My Proof over My creation after you. He is the Imam of the people of My obedience. Whoever obeys him has obeyed Me, and whoever disobeys him has disobeyed Me. Establish him as a sign for your Nation so that they may be guided after you.”

The worst of worshipers is a worshiper with two faces and two tongues. He commends his brother when he is around, and he consumes him [in gossip] when he is absent. When he is given, he envies, and when he suffers, he lets him down.

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said that abu al-Hassan (a.s.), shrouded ‘Usamah ibn Zayd with a red Burd which was made in Hibarah and Ali (a.s.), shrouded Sahl ibn Hunayf with a red Burd which was made in Hibarah.”

“They have not died except due to God's wrath. Had they died one by one, they would have buried each other.” The disciples said: “O' Spirit of God! Ask God to revive them so that they could tell us what they did so that we can avoid those deeds.” Jesus (a.s) then called upon God. A voice from Heaven said: “Call them.” At nighttime Jesus (a.s) went on top of a hill and said: “O' residents of this village!” Someone said: “O' Spirit of God! Yes.” Jesus (a.s) said: “Woe to you! What were your deeds?” The man said: “Worship of false gods and love for this world, little fear of God, high ambitions, being delved in ignorance, and pleasure-seeking.” Jesus (a.s) asked: “How did you love this world?” He said: “Just as a child loves his mother, and we got happy whenever it turned towards us and cried whenever it turned away from us.” Jesus (a.s) asked: “How did you worship false gods?” He said: “We followed those who committed sins.” Jesus (a.s) asked: “What was your final end?” He said: “One night we were all healthy and went to sleep. But in the morning we were all in 'Havieh'“. Jesus (a.s) asked: “What is 'Havieh'. He replied: “It is Sejjeen”. Jesus (a.s) asked: “What is Sejjeen?” He replied: “It is mountains full of blazing fire that will burn us until the Resurrection Day.” Jesus (a.s) asked: “What did you say?” He said: We said: “Return us to the world and we will be abstinent there. But we were told that we were liars.” Jesus (a.s) said: “Woe to you. How come you only talk with me?” He said: “O' spirit of God! They have fiery mouthpieces put on them and are in the hands of angry and stern angels. I am among them, but I am not one of them. When the punishment descended upon them, it overtook me too. I am now hanging over Hell by a very fine piece of thread, and do not know whether I will fall into Hell, or be saved from it.” Jesus (a.s) faced his disciples and said: “O' Friends of God! Eating bread and coarse salt, and sleeping in trash yards is the utmost prosperity if it is combined with the prosperity of this world and the Hereafter.”

“When Jesus, the son of Mary, may God's blessings be upon him passed by a group of people who were crying, he asked: “What has made them cry?” They said: “Their sins.” He said: “Stop crying, you will be forgiven.”

“The noblest of you during the era of Ignorance are the noblest ones in the era of Islam.” Then Imam Baqir said: “This means that the people who were good- tempered, most generous, best with their neighbors and did not hurt others in the era of Ignorance were the closest to the people. Islam did not add anything but honor to them.”

“Both the teacher and the student are partners in reward. There are two rewards for the teacher and the scientist, and one reward for the student. And there is no good in anything else.”