عمر بن أذينة

I asked him about the sick person – how does he prostrate? He said: on a small palm-leaf mat or on a hand-held fan or on a tooth-stick which is raised to him [made to touch his forehead], and it is better than gesturing [without the forehead touching anything], verily the one who dislikes prostrating on the hand-held fan dislikes it because of the idols which used to be worshiped apart from Allah, and we never worship anything besides Allah ever – so prostrate on the fan and on the tooth-stick and on a piece of wood.

Allah created the Will on its own (by itself). Then He created the things through (the intermediacy of) the Will.

I was seated at Abi Ja’far’s عليه السلام place and there was no one with him except his son Ja’far, so he (Abu Ja’far) said: O Zurara, Abu Dhar رضي الله عنه and Uthman argued in the life-time of the prophet, so Uthman said: every kind wealth whether it be gold or silver which circulates [is active i.e. having in-flow and out-flow], is worked with [as a capital], and is used for business – then there is Zakat on it if a year elapses, so Abu Dhar رضي الله عنه said: as for that which is used for business, is active, and is worked with – then there is no Zakat on it, rather Zakat is on that which is buried treasure (found fortuitously) and also on stored-up (saved) wealth, so if a year elapses on it then on it is Zakat, so they argued and referred it back to the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله, so he said: the true position is what was said by Abu Dhar, so Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to his father: you do not want anything else but that such a one [narration] comes out [and is spread among the people] so that the people stop giving their poor and needy (anything of Zakat)?! So his father said: keep to yourself [don’t interfere], I do not find any option other than it (to narrate what happened and speak the truth).

I asked Aba Abdillah عليه السلام about Mut’a so he said: go and see Abd al-Malik b. Jurayj and ask him about it for he has some knowledge about it, so I met him and he (Ibn Jurayj) dictated a lot of material in regards its permissibility to me, so from among that which Ibn Jurayj transmitted to me included: it (Mut’ah) has no fixed duration nor limit in number [of partners with whom you can contract], it has the same status as [union with] slave girls, a man marries with them as he likes, even someone who already has four wives can marry as many as he wishes, without [permission from] guardian required nor witnesses, so when the period terminates she departs from him without divorce, and he gives her some small thing [as her Mahr], and her Idda is two menstrual cycles, and if she does not menstruate then forty five days, so I came with the book to Aba Abdillah عليه السلام and presented its contents to him, so he said: he is truthful, and he agreed with it.

I asked Aba Abdillah عليه السلام about Mut`a so he said: go and see Abd al-Malik b. Jurayj and ask him about it for he has some knowledge in it, so I met him and he (Ibn Jurayj) dictated a lot of material in regards its permissibility to me … then I came with the book to Aba Abdillah عليه السلام and presented its contents to him, so he said: he (Ibn Jurayj) is truthful, and he (al-Sadiq) affirmed it.

I said to Abi Abdillah عليه السلام: The people say that the Qur’an came down upon seven Ahruf? So he (i.e. the Imam) said: The enemies of Allah have lied! Rather it came down upon one Harf from the One

Abdallah b. Umayr al-Laythi came to Abi Ja`far عليه السلام and said to him: what do you say about Mut`a of women? He said: Allah made it Halal in His book and upon the tongue of His prophet صلى الله عليه وآله – so it is Halal up to the day of judgment. He said: O Aba Ja`far – someone like you says this while Umar forbade it and prohibited others from it! he said: even if he had done so! He said: I seek refuge for you with Allah from permitting something which was forbidden by Umar, he [Zurara] said: so he [al-Baqir] said to him: then you are upon the verdict of your man [Umar] while I am upon the verdict of the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله – come forth I challenge you to an imprecation [Mubahila] confirming that the truth is that which the messenger of Allah said and that what your man said is false, so Abdallah b. Umayr drew near to him and said: would it please you that your women-folk, daughters, sisters, and cousins do that? so Abu Ja`far turned away from him when he brought up his women-folk and cousins.

The Will (of God) is originated (temporal i.e. came into existence).

I asked Aba Ja’far عليه السلام about the words of Allah Mighty and Majestic: “Hunafa for Allah, not associating with Him (anything)” (22:31). I said: What is the Hanifiyya? He said: The Fitra.

Muhammad b. Abi Bakr gave the pledge of allegiance to Ali عليه السلام upon the condition of disassociating from his father [Abu Bakr].

He is One. Unique in Essence. Distinct from His creation. That is how He described Himself. He encompasses everything in terms of supervision, awareness and power. Nothing escapes Him even the weight of a particle in the Heavens and in the earth nor smaller than that or bigger - in terms of awareness and knowledge not by (His) essence, for locations are bounded, delimited by the four bounds (height, width, depth), so if it was by essence then that would necessarily imply containment.

He is One. Unique in Essence. Distinct from His creation. That is how He described Himself. He encompasses everything in terms of (His) supervision, awareness and power (over them). Nothing escapes Him even the weight of a particle in the Heavens and in the Earth nor smaller than that or larger - in terms of awareness and knowledge not by (His) essence, for locations (space) are bounded, delimited by the four bounds (left-side, right-side, in-front, behind), so if it was (that He was encompassing) by essence than that would necessarily imply containment (which is impossible for Him).

I asked him about the words of Allah Mighty and Majestic: “Hunafa for Allah, not associating with Him (anything)” (22:31) and about the Hanifiyya (what is it)? He said: It is the Fitra which He created the people upon, there is no change in the creation of Allah. He (also) said: Allah created them upon the Ma’rifa (Recognition). Zurara said: and I asked him about the words of Allah: “and when your Lord took from the children of Adam from their backs …” (7:172). He said: He removed from the back of Adam his descendants up to the Day of Judgment, they came out like particles, then he made known to them and showed them His creation, and if it were not for that then no one would recognize (know) his Lord. He (the Imam) also said: The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله said: “Every new born is born upon the Fitra”, that is, with the Ma’rifa (Recognition) that Allah Mighty and Majestic is his Creator. This then is His (Allah’s) words: “and if you were to ask them - who created the heavens and the earth - they will say Allah” (39:38)

I said to Abi Abdillah عليه السلام: what is the least thing by which the slave becomes Kafir? So he took a pebble from the ground and said: that he says about this pebble ‘it is a date-stone’ and goes on to disassociate from anyone who opposes him in that, and he worships Allāh by disassociating from the one who professes a belief other than his own, so this is a hostile opponent who has ascribed partners to Allāh and disbelieved without knowing.

“Ghayri l-Maghdhub Alayhim wa Ghayr al-Dhalin”: The Maghdhub Alayhim (those angered upon) are the Nussab (i.e. haters of the Ahl al-Bayt) while the Dhalin (those astray) are the Shakkak (doubters) who do not know the Imam

I said to Abi Abdillah عليه السلام: I hear the narration from you – am I allowed to add or decrease (some words to/from it)? he said: if you intend to convey the same meaning then there is no harm.

I journeyed to Madina when I was a young man and entered a pavilion of Abi Ja`far عليه السلام in Mina. I saw a group sitting in the tent and no one was at the front of the gathering. I saw a man seated at the back being cupped. I felt that it was Abu Ja`far عليه السلام and came near him and greeted, he replied the greeting. I sat in front of him while the cupper was behind him. He said: are you from the children of A`yan? I said: yes, I am Zurara b. A`yan, he said: I recognized you because of your familiar looks, did Humran make the Hajj? I said: no, but he sends you greetings, he said: he is truly a believer who will never turn back, if you meet him convey my greetings to him and say to him: why did you narrate to al-Hakam b. Utayba my saying that the Awsiya are Muhadath [spoken to by angels], do not narrate such narrations to him and his fellows. Zurara said: then I praised Allah the Exalted and extolled Him by saying: “All praise belongs to Allah” he also said: “All praise belongs to Allah” then I said: “I praise Him and seek His aid” he in turn said: “I praise Him and seek His aid”. Whenever I would mention Allah in my talk he would also mention Him in the same way I did until I finished my conversation.

I was seated in the presence of Abi Abdillah عليه السلام together with Humran when Humran said to him: what do you say about what Zurara says – and I have opposed him in it? Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: and what is that? He (Humran) said: he (Zurara) believes that the timings of the prayers were delegated to the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله and that he صلى الله عليه وآله was the one who fixed them. Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: and what do you say? I (Humran) said: Jibril عليه السلام came to him the first day with the starting time and on the second day with the ending time – and then Jibril said [to the messenger]: what is between these two points is the time. So Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said: O Humran, verily what Zurara means is that Jibril came to the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله to indicate to him, and Zurara has spoken the truth, for that was given to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله, and he was the one who fixed them, Jibril gave only indications about it.

Abu Abdillah عليه السلام was asked about the one in the state of Janaba who is bathing so [some of the used water] sprays off the ground and into the utensil, he said: there is no harm – this is covered by what Allāh the Exalted said: “He has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty” (22:78).

I said to Abi Ja’far عليه السلام: … he said: … and Allāh Blessed and Exalted did not place in the religion any discomfort for “difficulty” is more extreme than “discomfort”.