أحمد بن عمر الحلال

“I said to (Imam) abu al-Hassan al-Rida (a.s.), ‘One of our people gives me a book but he does not say whether I can narrate any thing from it or not. Can I narrate it from him?’” He (the narrator) said that he (a.s.) said, “If you knew that the book is his then narrate it from him.”

“I once asked abu Ibrahim (a.s.), about the case of a woman who performs Tawaf and after the fifth Tawaf begins to experience Hayd (menses). He (the Imam) said, ‘If a woman begins to experience Hayd (menses) when performing Tawaf or Sa‘y between al-Safa’ and al-Marwah after passing half of Tawaf, she can mark that point. (After becoming clean she can return to that place and continue to complete the remaining part of Tawaf) but if she discontinues Tawaf before half of it is complete, she must do her Tawaf all over again.’”

I asked Imam (as) about the saying of Allah (swt), the Almighty and Majestic: "Two just men from among you or two others from outside you." (Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:106) Imam (as) said: "The two from among you are Muslims, and the two from outside you are from the People of the Book (Ahl al-Kitab). And if none from the People of the Book can be found, then from the Magians, because the Messenger of Allah (swt), peace be upon him and his family, said: 'Deal with them as you would with the People of the Book.' And this applies if a man dies in a foreign land and cannot find two Muslims to bear witness, then two men from the People of the Book may act as witnesses."

“I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) saying, ‘Had the people known how Allah, the Most Blessed, the Most High, has created this creation no one would blame others.’ 1 then said, ‘May Allah grant you well being, how is that?’ The Imam said, ‘Allah, the Most Blessed, the Most High, created parts numbering ninety-four parts. He then made them into tenths; thus, He made one part into ten parts. He then distributed them among the creatures. In one man He placed one tenth, in another person He placed two tenths until there came a man in whom He place a whole part. In another He placed one part and one tenth, in another person one part and two tenths and in another one part and three tenths up to a man in whom He placed two whole parts and so on up to the highest one in whom He placed ninety-four whole parts. Therefore, one in whom only one tenth of a part is placed cannot be like the one in whom two tenths are placed. The one in whom two tenths of a part are placed cannot be like the one in whom three tenths are placed. So also the owner of one part cannot be like the owner of two whole parts. Had the people known that Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, has created them in this way no one would have blamed the others.’”

he asked Imam abu al-Hassan (a.s.) about the meaning of the following verse of the holy Quran: “Should they be compared with those whose Lord has given them a guidance which is testified by a witness from among their own people . .” (11:17) The Imam (a.s.) said, “Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.) testified to support the holy Prophet (s.a.) and the holy Prophet received supporting evidence from his Lord.”

“I asked abi al-Hasan (a.s): Inform me about those who, as a descendant of Fatima, opposed you and did not know your right, would his punishment be the same as the rest of other people?” He replied, “Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.) used to say that their punishment will twice as much.”

“I asked abu al-Hassan (a.s.) about the words of Allah, the Most High. “. . someone will cry out, “God has condemned the unjust,” (7:44) The Imam (a.s.) said, “The caller will be Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.).”

I asked abu al-Hassan al-Rida (a.s.) about the words of Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High. “Allah (God) commands you to return that which had been entrusted to you to the rightful owners. Be just when passing judgment among people. . .” (4:58) The Imam (a.s.) said, “They are the Imams (a.s.) from the family of Muhammad (s.a.) who are commanded to deliver the trust to the succeeding Imam (a.s.) exclusively and to no one else and that the succeeding Imams must not be deprived of this trust.”

The following seven people spoil their deeds.1- A wise highly knowledgeable man who doesn’t teach his knowledge to the people and is unknown to the extent that nobody mentions his name2- A wise man who entrusts his wealth to wicked liars who would not return it to him3- Those who trust mischievous and disloyal people4- Noble people who are not compassionate to others5- Mothers who do not protect the secrets of their offspring and divulge them6- Those who rush to blame their companions and brethren7- Those who continually quarrel with their colleagues and brethren.”

“Once I asked abu al-Hassan (a.s.) about the feeling of self-importance that destroys good deeds. The Imam said, ‘The feeling of self-importance is of several degrees. Of such feeling is that one’s bad deeds seem attractive to him. He considers it good and it gives him a feeling of self-importance. He thinks that he is doing well. Of such a feeling is that a servant (of Allah) believes in his Lord and begins to like doing a favor to Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, in fact, Allah has done him the favor.’”

“I asked abu al-Hassan 1 st (a.s.) about the words of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy: ‘Whoever trusts Allah, He is enough protection against all (harms).’ (65:3) ‘‘The Imam said, ‘Trust in Allah is of several degrees. One level of such trust is to trust Him in all matters. Whatever He does, you must remain happy and agree with His decision, knowing that He does not keep anything good and excellent from you and that the decision in the matter is in His hands. You then must leave all the affairs to Allah to be the person in charge (of all affairs) and have confidence in Him in this and other issues.’”

I asked him about the veils which invalidate deeds. He said: The veils are (different) ranks: among them is what beautifies for a servant his evil deed, by which he sees it as good, admires it and assumes that he is doing good; and among them is that a servant believes in his Lord, by which he (assumes that he) performs a favor upon Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, whereas Allah, Exalted is He, is the One who granted him a favor.