علي بن محمد بن يعقوب

I asked Abā ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) about establishing prayers in the Ḥā`ir. Imam (a.s.) replied, “One should only establish the obligatory prayers in Taqsīr and he does not have to establish the NĀFILAH prayers.”

Everything in this book that is narrated from Marwan ibn Muslim has been transmitted by me from my father - may Allah (swt) be pleased with him - from Muhammad ibn Yahya Al-'Attar, from Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Yahya, from Sahl ibn Ziyad, from Muhammad ibn Al-Husayn, from Ali ibn Ya'qub Al-Hashimi, from Marwan ibn Muslim.

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) has said, ‘Never befriend an idiotic person; the more delightful you may become from his side the closer it will get to your misfortune.’”

I asked Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, about the exiting of women on the two Eids [1], so he said: No, except for the old woman on whom is her two footwears. Meaning the two loose indoor shoes.

This is concerning my question before abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a marriage without formal proposal (Khutbah). He (the Imam) said, ‘Is it not the case in general that when our young people marry, we prepare food and at the table we say, “O so and so, do you give so and so in marriage to so and so” and he says, “Yes, I have done so”?”’

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of breastfeeding and its minimum limit that brings unlawfulness. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is an amount of breastfeeding that makes the flesh or blood grow.’ He (the Imam) then asked, ‘Do you think once can do it?’ I replied, ‘I pray to Allah to keep you well, I ask you, can twice do it?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘No, it cannot do it.’ I kept counting up to ten times breastfeeding.”

"I asked Abu ‘Abdillah (al-Sadiq) (as), about the case of the sister of my wife who is of the same belief as we are; but in Basra very few people believe as we do; if we can give her in marriage to those who do not believe as we do?". He (the Imam) said: "No, it is not a bounty or honor. Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, says, “You must not return them to unbelievers; they (women) are not lawful for them (unbelievers) and they are not lawful for them (women).” (60:10)

“Once a man said to Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) while we were present, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, we are afraid that because of our sins we will be treated as feeble-minded people.’ The narrator has said that the Imam said, ‘No, by Allah, Allah will never do that to you.’” Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from a man from Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) a similar Hadith.

“The name of al-Qa’im will be called out (from the Heaven). It will be said to him while he is behind the temple (of Abraham): “Your name has been called out. What are you waiting for?” Then his hand will be taken to be paid homage.” Zurara said: “Praise be to Allah! We often heard that al-Qa’im would be paid homage unwillingly and we did not know the reason behind that. Then we knew that the unwillingness of the homage was not guilt.”

“Abū ʿAbdillāh said to me, ‘Let people not delude you from yourself, for verily recompense [for your deeds] will reach you, not them. And let your day not be spent on this and that [which is of no benefit], for indeed with you is one who records your deeds. And do not consider the little good [you do] to be insignificant, for indeed you will see it tomorrow in a way that will please you. And do not consider the little evil [you do] to be insignificant, for indeed you will see it tomorrow in a manner that will displease you. And do good [to others], for I have not seen anything more intense in seeking out, nor quicker in catching up with, an old sin [and effacing it] than a good deed. Indeed Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says: Verily good deeds wipe out evil deeds. That is a reminder for the mindful. (Q11:114)”

“May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, the word Muhaddith does not exist in our reading. What then is the meaning of The Messenger, Prophet and Muhaddith?” The Imam (a.s.) said, “A messenger is one to whom the angel comes openly and speaks to him. A prophet is one who sees in his dream. Sometimes prophethood and messengership may exist in one person. Al-Muhaddith is one who hears the voice but does not see the person (of the angel).” I then asked, may Allah keep you well, “How would one know that what one sees in his dream is true and that it is from the angel?” The Imam (a.s.) said, “He receives help for success to know the angel. Allah has your book the last book and your Prophet the last of prophets.”

“Do you not claim that Allah is the Creator of Everything?” Abu `Abd Allah (AS) replied, “Most certainly.” He said: “I also create.” The Imam (AS) asked him, “How do you create?” He responded, “I relieve my bowels in a place, then I stay away from it, and it makes insects. Therefore, this is my creation.” Abu `Abd Allah (AS) replied, “Is not the creator of something aware of what he has created?” He answered, “Why not?” The Imam (AS) said: “So, can you distinguish the male from the female, and the young from the old, among those insects?” The reporter says: Ibn Abu al-`Awja’ kept silent.

“My brother in his will made a beautiful singer slave-girl a gift to the Bayt of Allah al-Haram (the Sacred House of Allah). I then went to Makkah and asked about it. I was told to give her to banu Shaybah. In addition, other things were said to me. It became confusing to me. One man from the Masjid asked me, ‘Can I show someone who can instruct you in this matter of rights?’ I replied, ‘Yes, please do so.’ He showed me a shaykh who was sitting in the Masjid and said, ‘This is Ja’far ibn Muhammad (a.s.). Ask him your question.’ I then went to him (the Imam), asked my question and explained to him the story. He (the Imam) said, ‘Al-Ka‘bah does not eat and drink, so whatever is given as gift to al-Ka‘bah is for those who visit al-Ka‘bah. Sell the slave-girl, stand up near the Black Stone and announce, “Those looted on the way and any needy of the visitors of al- Ka‘bah (can come to me).” Distribute the amount among them.’ I then said, ‘Certain people have told me to give it to banu Shaybah.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘When it is the rise of our al-Qa’im with divine authority, he will arrest them, cutoff their hands and make them walk (among people); they are thieves who steal from Allah.’”

I told Abal Ḥasan (Imam Kāżim (a.s.)) about the way in which Yaḥyā ibn Mūsā bothers those who go to the Ziyārah of the Commander of the Believers (a.s.). I explained that he goes to Thawiyyah for picnics and verily the grave of the Commander of the Believers (a.s.) is a little further than Thawiyyah. I told (the Imam (a.s.)) that – based on the narration of Safwān Al-Jammāl – this is the place that Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) described to him (as follows): Once you arrive in the land of Gharī, which is behind Kūfah, turn your back to Gharī and move forward slightly to the right toward Najaf. When you come to the white-coloured gravel with the mountain road ahead of you, you will find the grave of the Commander of the Believers (a.s.). I told the Imam that I had gone to that place many times but that some of our companions do not believe that the Commander of the Believers (a.s.) was buried there. Some believe that he was buried in the Mosque (of Kūfah) while others believe that he was buried in the palace (of Kūfah), but I always responded to them by saying that Allāh would not allow the grave of the Commander of the Believers (a.s.) to be in a palace, for it is the abode of oppressors, nor can it be in the mosque because his children wanted to hide his grave. I asked the Imam (a.s.), “Which one of us is correct?” Imam (a.s.) replied, “You are correct because you have followed the words of Ja’far ibn Muḥammad (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)). O Abā Muḥammad! None of our companions say that which you say or believe in that which you believe.” I asked, “May I sacrifice my life for you! Is this one of the (blessings of) Allāh (on me)?” Imam (a.s.) replied, “Yes. Verily Allāh gives success to and secures (from falsehood) whomever He wills. Therefore, praise Allāh and say, ‘This is a success from Allāh.” The above Ḥadīth had also been narrated to me through the following chain: Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan and Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥusain, both from Ḥasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Mahziyār, from his father ‘Ali, from Ḥasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Faďďāl, from Ḥasan ibn Jahm ibn Bukayr, from Abil Ḥasan (a.s.).

When (Harun) Ar-Rashid arrested Musa ibn Ja’far (s), they arrested him while he was praying at the position of the head of the Prophet (s). They stopped his prayer, and took him away while he (s) was crying andsaying, “O Messenger of God! I complain to you about this situation.” The people were running towards him from every direction while they were crying. When they took the Imam (s) to (Harun) Ar-Rashid, he swore at him and disrespected him. When the night came, Harun ordered that two carriages be prepared. He had the Imam (s) carried away in secret to one of the two carriages. Harun put Hassaan ash-Sarawi in charge and ordered him to take the Imam (s) to Basra and hand him (s) over to Isa ibn Ja’far ibn Abi Ja’far (Harun’s cousin) who was the governor there. He had the other carriage moved in public in the daytime towards Kufa along with some people so as to hide the affairs of Musa ibn Ja’far ( al-Kadhim) (s) from the people. Hassaan entered Basra one day before the sighting of the moon and handed him (s) over to Isa ibn Ja’far ibn Abi Ja’far in the daytime in public. Thus it became known publicly and the news was spread around. Isa imprisoned him (s) in the building in which he himself resided and he locked him in. Isa was so busy with the ‘Eid ul-Adha ’s ceremonies that he totally forgot about the Imam (s). They only opened the door for him on two occasions: to allow him to make ablutions and to bring him some food.My father said, “Al-Faydh ibn Abi Salih, who was a Christian before, made a display of being Muslim. He was really an infidel and was the secretary of Isa ibn Ja’far. He was one of my good friends, too. He told me, “O Aba Abdullah! You cannot imagine how much music this pious man had to hear during the days that he was in that house - music which contained much indecent and abominable things which he did not know about and undoubtedly could not even imagine.” My father added, “In those days, Ali ibn Yaqoob ibn Oun ibn Al-Abbas ibn Rabee’ had written bad things about me in a letter to Isa ibn Ja’far ibn Abi Ja’far. Ahmad ibn Osyd who was the gate-keeper for Isa had handed him that letter.”He added, “Ali ibn Yaqoob was one of the elders of the Hashemites. He was older than the rest of them, but drank in spite of his old age. He used to invite Ahmad ibn Osyd to his house, gave parties for him and invited male and female singers. This way he wanted Ahmad to help raise his rank near Isa. Included in the things written were, “You prefer Muhammad ibn Soleiman to us in granting permission to come see you, in respect, and in giving him gifts of musk, while I am older than him and he believes in obeying Musa ibn Ja’far who is imprisoned by you.”My father added, “I was sleeping in the middle of a very hot day when I heard the doorbell ring. I asked, “Who is it?” My servant said, “It is Qa’nab ibn Yahya who is at the door. He says that he must immediately see you.” I said, “He must have something important to do. Let him in.” Then he came in and informed me about the letter and the story of al-Faydh ibn Abil Salih. He said that al-Faydh had told him not to tell me about this issue since I might get upset. Al-Faydh had said that the contents of the letter had not influenced him. He had asked the Commander if he had any doubts and if he wished Abu Abdullah (an-Nawfali) to come in person and swear that the contents of the letter was untrue.”But the Commander said, “There is no need to inform Aba Abdullah. He has said these things against him out of jealousy.”I said, “O Commander! You yourself know that no one is as close as he is to your private issues. Has he ever tried to make you revolt against anyone?”He said, “No. May God forbid.”I said, “Had he followed a religion other than that of the other people, he would have certainly tried to make you become attracted to his religion.” He said, “Yes, of course. I know him better myself.”My father added, “I ordered that my horse be prepared for riding. Then I rode over to al-Faydh at that time. Qa’nab ibn Yahya accompanied me. We asked for permission to see him. He sent someone to me and said, “May I be your ransom! Now I am in a position which is not suitable for you to see.” He was sitting and drinking wine. Then I sent him a message swearing by God that I had to see him right then. He came out to me wearing a thin shirt and a red loin-cloth. I told him about what I had heard. He asked Qa’nab, “May you not be given a good reward! Did I not tell you not to inform Aba Abdullah! Did I not tell you that he will get upset?” Then he told me, “Do not worry. The Commander has not believed any of this jargon.”My father added, “Only a few days had passed by when they secretly took Musa ibn Ja’far (s) to Baghdad and imprisoned him. Then they freed him. Then they imprisoned him. They handed him over to As-Sandi ibn Shahak who imprisoned him. He was rough with the Imam (s). Then(Harun) Ar-Rashid sent him some poisoned dates, and ordered him to take them to the Imam, and force him to eat the dates. He did this and that was how the Imam (s) died.”