ثعلبة بن ميمون

"When you purchase a bondwoman, say: O Allah (swt), I seek Your (swt) counsel and ask for Your (swt) guidance. And when you purchase an animal or livestock, say: O Allah (swt), decree for me the longest life, the greatest benefit, and the best outcome among them."

I asked Abu Abdullah Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq (as) about a man who bequeathed a portion of his wealth. Imam (as) replied: "A portion is one-tenth." Allah (swt), the Almighty, said: "Then place on every mountain a portion (juz') of them" (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:260), and the mountains were ten.

God’s Prophet (MGB) taught Ali (MGB) a gate to knowledge which opens the doors to one-thousand gates to knowledge each of which opens up to the gates to another one- thousand gates.”

““I once heard abu Ja‘far (a.s.), say, ‘The Messenger of Allah did not fast on the day of ‘Arafah from the time fasting of the month of Ramadan came down.’”

“Abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) has said, ‘There is no issue which would be disputed between two people but that there is a principle for it the book of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, only the man’s power of Intelligence is not able to reach it.’”

“I asked Imam abu Ja‘far (a.s.) a question and he answered me. Then an other man came and asked the same question but the Imam gave a different answer. Then a third man came and asked the same question but the Imam gave him an answer that was different from both of the previous answers. When the other two men left I asked the Imam (a.s.), “Two of your followers from Iraq asked you the same question, how is it that you gave each one a different answer? The Imam replied, “O Zurarah, it is better for us and it gives all of us more time. If you all would say the same thing, people will know that you speak the truth from us and this will leave all of us with less time. Zurarah has said, “I then asked Imam abu ‘Abdallah, ‘Your follows would walk on spears and fire if you would ask them but they come out of your presence with different answers for the same question and the same answer as his father had given.”

“About the words of Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, ‘. . . speak righteous words to people. . . .’ (2:83), the Imam said it means, ‘Do not say anything about a people except good until you actually learn all about it.’”

“When al-Qa’im appears, he will invite the people to a new mission as the Prophet (sw) has invited the people to a new mission. Islam has begun strange and it will return strange as it has begun. Blessed are the strangers!”

It is not unlawful.’”

“I once complained before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the difficulties we faced and deprivation from our belongings. He (the Imam) said, ‘You must plead (before Allah) when you are in Sajdah (prostration) position; the nearest position to Allah for a servant of Allah is one’s position in Sajdah (prostration).’ I then asked, ‘Can I plead (before Allah) in obligatory Salah (prayer) and mention my needs?’ He (the Imam) replied, ‘Yes, you can do so; the Messenger of Allah had done so. He pleaded (before Allah) against a people and mentioned their names and the names of their fathers. After him Ali (a.s.), also had done so.’” (Hadith 11 is best explained in the form of fatwa.)

“I once asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about the minimum of what is sufficient for Tashahhud (testimonies of belief). He (the Imam) said, ‘It is the two testimonies of belief.”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.), married a slave-girl who belonged to al-Hassan ibn Ali (a.s) and ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan was informed about it. He wrote a letter to him (the Imam) that said, ‘I have heard that you have become the husband of a slave-girl!’ Ali ibn al-Husayn wrote back to him saying, ‘With Islam, Allah has removed the lowliness and has completed the shortcomings, exonerated of the blame and there is no blame on a Muslim. Blame certainly is the blame of ignorance. The Messenger of Allah (s.w) arranged marriage for his male slave and married with his slave-girl.’ When the letter reached ‘Abd al-Malik he asked those near him, ‘Tell me who is such a man that when something that makes people low and humiliating comes to him it increases for him nothing other than honor?’ They replied, ‘That is ’Amir al-Mu’minin (‘Abd al-Malik).’ He (‘Abd al-Malik) said, ‘No, by Allah that is not it.’ They then said, ‘We do not know anyone to be as such except ’Amir al-Mu’minin.’ He said, ‘No, by Allah, he is not ’Amir al-Mu’minin but he is Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.)’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about when al-‘Atmah (al-‘Isha’) becomes obligatory? He (the Imam) said, ‘When al-Shafaq (redness) disappears. Al-Shafaq is the redness.’ ‘Ubayd Allah then said, ‘I pray to Allah to keep you well, after the disappearance of redness there remains a strong light visible.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said, ‘Brightness (al-Shafaq) is the redness and light (or rays) are not from al-Shafaq.’”

“Once abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), was asked about the case of a newborn who is not a male or female except that the child has an anus and about the inheritance of such child. He (the Imam) said, ‘The Imam with Muslim people sits in a gathering and prays to Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, then mixes the arrows (tokens) to find out thereby if the child must receive from the legacy as a male or a female person. Whichever ’s token or arrow comes out it then is taken as means of settlement. He (the Imam) then said, ‘No other means is as fair as raffle; Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, has said, ‘They cast raffle and he was of those who failed in the raffle.’ (37:141)” He (the Imam) said, ‘For every matter about which two people dispute, there is a principle for it in the book of Allah but the power of reason of people cannot reach it.’”

“‘I still give goods to this man and he says that it is destroyed or is spent, so what kind of plan can help it?’ He (the planner) said, ‘You can give the man one thousand dirham and give it to him as loan; then give him twenty dirham to work with the asset and say to him, “This is my capital and that is your capital. Whatever you gain thereof is between both of us.’” I asked about it from ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), who said, ‘It is not unlawful.’”

“I once left for Makkah and my financial condition was the worst among people. I mentioned to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.). When I left his meeting at the door I found a bag with seven hundred dinar in it. I immediately returned to the Imam and informed him about it. He (the Imam) said, ‘Sa‘id, be pious before Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious. You must announce your finding in all the places (Mashahid) where people perform the acts of Hajj.’ I had a degree of hope about Imam’s permission for me to use some of that money. I then left and I was sad. I went to Mina and moved far from people, searched around and ended up to the places endowed for the benefit of people. I found a room away from people and then announced, ‘I have found a bag. Whoever has lost it must give proper description and collect it from me.’ As soon as I made the announcement a man stood over my head saying, ‘I am the owner of the bag/ I (the narrator) said to myself I wish you had not said it. I then asked, ‘What is the description of the bag?’ He gave me the exact description and I gave it to him.’ He moved to one side and counted them and found it to be the same amount. He then counted seventy dinars and said, ‘Take this lawful money; it is better than seven hundred unlawful dinars.’ I took them and visited abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and informed him of the story in details. He (the Imam) said, ‘When you complained before me about your condition I ordered to keep aside thirty dinars for you. O girl, bring for him those dinars.’ I took them and was of the best financial condition in my people.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If you need something, perform two Rak‘at Salah (prayer) and say, “Allahumma Salli ‘Ala Muhammad wa ‘Ali Muhammad (O Allah grant Muhammad and his family a compensation worthy of their serving Your cause).” Ask for your needs. They will be fulfilled.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘When you want to buy a slave-girl say this, ‘O Allah, I consult You and pray to You to grant me what is good.’”

“’Ubaydah has said, ‘Once I was a partner of abu Ja’far (a.s.) on a journey. During the journey, first I would take my seat in the carriage set up on the back of the carry animal and then he would take his seat. He after settling down on his place properly would offer me the greeting of peace and ask a question like a person who has never met the other person. He would also shake hands. ’ The narrator has said, ‘He after dismounting would do so before me and after finding our places on the ground he would offer the greeting of peace and ask questions like he had never met me.’ 1 then said, ‘O descendent of the Messenger of Allah, you do things that no one before us has done. Doing (such formalities) only once is more than enough.’ The Imam asked, ‘Do you know what is in a handshake? The believers meet and shake hands, the sins continue falling off of them just like leaves fall off the trees, and Allah looks upon them until they depart from each other.’”

“I once asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about one suffering from illness if one is required to perform one’s Salah (prayer) again which is missed during the time of fainting condition. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, one is not required to perform such Salah (prayer) again.’”