عبد العزيز بن إسحاق

Abul Qasim Ishaq ibn Ja’far Al-Alawi quoted on the authority of Abi Ja’far ibn Muhammad ibn Ali, on the authority of Soleiman ibn Muhammad al-Qurashi, on the authority of Isma’il ibn Abi Ziyad, on the authority of Ja’far ibn Muhammad (s), on the authority of his father (s), on the authority of his grandfather Ali ibn Al-Hussein (s), on the authority of Ali (s). The same tradition was narrated by Abul Hussein Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Ishaq al-Farsi al-Aza’emi who quoted on the authority of Abu Sa’eed Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Romayh an-Nasawi at Gorgan, on the authority of Abdul Aziz ibn Ishaq ibn Ja’far at Baghdad, on the authority of Abdul Wahhab ibn Isa al-Marwazi, on the authority of Al-Hassan ibn Ali ibn Muhammad al-Balawi, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Nujayh, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ja’far ibn Muhammad (s), on the authority of his father (s), on the authority of his grandfather (s), on the authority of his father (s). The same tradition was narrated by Al-Hassan ibn Ali al-Sokkari who quoted on the authority of Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Jowhari, on the authority of Al-Abbas ibn Bakkar al-Dhabiy, on the authority of Abu Bakr al-Hothali, on the authority of Ikremah, on the authority of Ibn Abbas, “When the Commander of the Faithful Ali ibn Abi Talib (s) returned from the Siffin Battle, one of the elders who had seen the events in the battle with him stood up and said, ‘O Commander of the Faithful! Let us know if our course was destined by the Sublime God and by His Power?’” Al-Ridha (s) has also narrated in another tradition on the authority of his forefathers, on the authority of Ali ibn Al-Hussein ibn Ali (s), “A man from Iraq went to the Commander of the Faithful (s) and said, ‘Let me know if our departure from Sham has been destined by the Sublime God and by His Power?’ The Commander of the Faithful (s) replied, ‘O old man! Yes. By God, you did not climb any hills and did not go down any valleys except through God’s destiny and by His Power.’ Then theold man said, ‘O Commander of the Faithful! Do my sufferings then have any rewards?’ Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (s) told him, ‘O old man! Wait a moment! It seems that you have thought that what I meant by God’s destiny was that it was a certainty. If so there would be no reward or punishment, no admonishing or advice, nor any Divine Promises. Then a sinner could not be blamed, and a good-doer will not deserve to be praised. Then a good-doer would even deserve to be blamed more than a sinner does. This is what the idol worshippers, the enemies of the Merciful God, the Qadarites and the Magi (Zoroastrians) in this nation say. O old man! The Sublime God has made the people responsible. However, the people are free to choose. He has admonished them but He has only warned them. He has granted a great reward for the very minute good deeds. One who disobeys does not defeat God. One who obeys Him is not forced to do so. God has not created the heavens and the Earth without a purpose, ‘Not without purpose did We create heaven and earth and all between! that were the thought of Unbelievers! but woe be to the Unbelievers because of the Fire (of Hell)!’ “The narrator added, “As the old man was standing up he recited the following,‘You are the Leader through whose obedience we hope to be saved by the Merciful on the Day of Saving (Resurrection). You clarified for us that part of the religion which was vague for us. May God grant you a good reward! There are no excuses for doing any wicked deeds which I do - Acts of corruption and disobedience. No! No! I never think that Him who has admonished against doing evil Himself forces one to do evil. You will be serving Satan if you ever think so. God does not like it. He does not want corruption. He has never allowed animosity with and oppressively killing God’s Friend. How could He - the Owner of Both Thrones - have done so while His tradition has itself clearly declared this.’”The author of this book (Sheikh Sadooq) said, “Muhammad ibn Umar Al-Hafiz has only included the first two couplets at the end of this tradition.”