عبد الله بن الحسن العلوي

“I once asked abu al-Hassan (a.s.), about al-Mut‘ah (advantageous marriage). He (the Imam) said, ‘It is lawful, permissible and available for those whom Allah has not made free of need for marriage, so he can maintain chastity by means of al-Mut‘ah (advantageous marriage), and when he is free of such need by means of marriage, then it is permissible in the absence of his wife.’”

"I asked him about the lowest level of knowledge. He said: 'The acknowledgment that there is no deity other than Him, and that there is no similarity or counterpart to Him, and that He is Eternal, Affirmed, Existing, not lacking anything, and that there is nothing like Him.'"

“The Holy Prophet would sit with three postures: al-Qurfusa . In this posture both knees are up and one holds them with both arms and hands around them, folding both legs backwards so one can sit on them and one leg folded and the other spread over the folded one. He was never seen sitting with legs squared.”

“I once wrote to abu al-Hassan (a.s.), asking about the skins of dead animals which are of the edible kind if slaughtered properly. He (the Imam) wrote in answer, ‘It is not permissible to benefit from the skins of dead animals or sinew (but you can benefit) from items from lambs, like wool even if they are pulled out, hairs, fur and rennet and nothing besides these by the will of Allah.’”

“Allah has two wills and two wishes. He has a definite will and an intended will. He prohibits but He wants it. He commands but He does not want it. Consider that He prohibited Adam and his spouse from eating of the tree but He wanted them to eat. Had He not wanted their wish would not have surpassed Allah’s wish. He commanded Ibrahim to slaughter Ishaq but He did not want it to happen. Had He wanted it the wish of Ibrahim would not have surpassed the wish of Allah, the Most High.”

“A road on my way back from Makkah to Khuransan joined me with Imam abu al-Hassan (a.s.) the 2nd who was going to Iraq and I heard him saying, “Whoever observes piety before Allah he is protected and whoever obeys Allah he is obeyed.” I calmly walked to him and on reaching him I offered my salutation and he responded likewise and said, “O fath whoever pleases Allah is not worried about the anger of people. Whoever causes the Creator to become angry with him he deserves that Allah would cause to subject him to the anger of the people. One can only speak of the attributes of the Creator the way he Himself has spoken about Himself. How can a person speak of One from Whose perceiving all the senses are frustrated and even the imagination is not able to comprehend Him or ones sharp feelings would reach Him in any way or manner or the eyes would limit Him in any manner. He is far above the description of those who speak of His attributes and the praise of those who speak of His praise. He is far in His nearness and is near in His being far. He in His far-ness is near and is far in His nearness. He is the condition of the conditions and no one can say that He is in a condition or is somewhere. No one can about Him where because He is far above the conditions and places.”

41 – al-Mughīra b. Saʿīd. Abū Jaʿfar عليه السلام came out and said: Indeed he used to lie against us. And he used to call to Muḥammad b. ʿAbdullāh b. al-Ḥasan, in the beginning of his affair.

I repent to God for the following three actions:1- Abu Bakr and I took the rule over the people from others;2- I forced the Caliph on the people;3- I ranked some people over others.’”

"There was a basket near my house containing two eggs of the Sacred Sanctuary’s pigeons. My servant, unaware of the eggs, overturned the basket, breaking them. I went out and met Abdullah ibn al-Hasan, and I mentioned this to him. He said: 'Give in charity two handfuls of flour.' Later, I met Abu Abdullah (as) and informed him. Imam (as) said: 'He must pay the price of two birds, feeding the pigeons of the Sacred Sanctuary with it.' I then met Abdullah ibn al-Hasan and informed him of this. He said: 'He (as) has spoken the truth; follow it, for He (as) has taken this from his forefathers (as).'"

“In one side of my house there were two eggs of pigeon of al-Haram (the sacred area). The boy went to move the cluster not knowing that the eggs were there and he broke them. I went out and met ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Hassan and mentioned it to him. He said, ‘You must give charity of two handful of flour.’ I then met abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and informed him (the Imam) about it. He (the Imam) said, ‘Pay the price of two birds as feed for the pigeon of al-Haram (the sacred area).’ I then met ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Hassan and informed him about it and he said, ‘He (the Imam) has told you the truth. You can narrate it because he (the Imam) has taken it from his ancestors.’”

“Abu Ja‘far al-Mansur once wrote to Muhammad ibn Khalid, his governor of al-Madinah, to ask people of al-Madinah about the amount of zakat that was five for every two hundred and how it has become seven for every two hundred which was not as such in the time of the Messenger of Allah. He commanded him to include ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Hassan and Ja‘far ibn Muhammad (a.s.), among the people asked. He (the narrator) has said, ‘He asked people of al-Madinah about it and they replied, “It is because people before us did so.’” He sent someone to ask ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Hassan about it. His answer was just like the answers of other people of al-Madinah. He then asked, ‘What do you say about it, O abu ‘Abd Allah?’ He (the Imam) replied, ‘The Messenger of Allah had levied one Awqiyyah on every forty. If you calculate, it becomes equal to seven. The weight was six and dirham was five Dawaniq each.’ He (the narrator) has said, ‘We calculate it and it was just as he (the Imam) had said.’ ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Hassan then came to the Imam and asked, ‘On the basis of what source have you come up with this calculation?’ He (the Imam) replied, ‘I read it in the book of your mother, Fatimah, ‘Alayha al-Salam .’ He (the narrator) has said, ‘He then returned. Muhammad ibn Khalid then sent his people to the Imam asking for the book of Fatimah, ‘Alayha al-Salam .’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), then sent the answer, ‘I only informed you about my reading it in the book of Fatimah, ‘Alayha al-Salam. I did not say that I have the book of Fatimah, ‘Alayha al-Salam, with me.’ Habib has said, ‘Muhammad ibn Khalid would say, “I have never seen anything like this.’””

1 – Muʿallā b. Khunays, client of Abū ʿAbdillāh عليه السلام . The beginning of his affair was variable, then he called towards Muahmmad b. ʿAbdullāh b. al-Ḥasan, and in this supposition Dāwud b. ʿAlī took him and killed him. The ghulāt attached much to him. I do not regard anything of his ḥadīth to be credible.

“I heard the Imam saying, ‘He (Allah) is the Subtle, All-aware, All-hearing, All-seeing, the One, the Self-sufficient, Who does not have any children, is not any one’s child and there is no one similar to Him. Had Allah been as those believing in similitude (al-Mushabbihah) say there would have been no distinction between the Creator and the created, the inventor and the invented but He is the Inventor. There would have been no distinction between Allah and what He has given body and form to bring into existence. In fact, nothing is similar to Him and He is not similar to anything.” I then said, “Yes, may Allah take my soul in your service, but you just said, The One the Self-sufficient, that no one is similar to Him. Allah is One and a man is one. Are the two not similar in oneness?” The Imam replied, “O Fath, you said something impossible. May Allah grant you steadfastness. Similarity is in meaning. In the case of names they are all the same. The names refer to the nominee. When it is said a man it, at the same time, is a report about one body and not two bodies. In fact, man is not one thing. His parts, colors and the color of his colors that consist of distinct parts, that are not equal. His blood is different from his flesh. His nerves are different from his vines, his hairs are different from his skin. The black things in him are different from the white things therein. The same is true of all other creatures. Human beings are one in name but not in meaning. Allah, Great Whose Majesty is, is only One and no one other than Him is one. There is no difference, imbalance, increase or decrease in Him. Human beings are created, designed, compounded of different parts and various substances. Only when combined becomes one.” I then said, “May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, and grant you happiness, would you explain to me the meaning of your words “Subtle and All-aware? Explain it as you just did with the One? I know that His Subtlety or kindness is different from those of His creatures but I like more clarity.” The Imam said, “O Fath, we said He is Subtle it is because of His knowledge of the delicate creatures, may Allah give you success and steadfastness, so you should consider His creation. Consider His design in delicate and not so delicate plants and other creatures like animals, small and large such as flies and cricket and smaller ones that even eyes can not. Because of their small size no one knows which is male and which is female, which is new born and which is old. We find tremendously delicate things with signs of His Subtlety, in their desire for reproduction, running away from death, collecting what is good for them and what is in the depth of the oceans and on the barks of trees, in the wilderness and desolate places. We find more fastidiousness in such animals and their ability to communicate with each other, and what their offspring understand from them, their transporting food to their young and their colors, red along with yellow, white along with red so fine that our eyes are not able to catch for their very exquisite shape. Our eyes are not able to see them and our hands are not able to touch them. All these show that the Creator of all such marvelous creatures are Subtle Who is kind to all the creatures we mentioned. He has done it without instruments and means. Every designer and manufacturer builds and manufactures some thing from something but Allah does it from nothing.”

“Once a conversation took place between Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) and ‘Abd Allah ibn al- Hassan and it had become quite noisy and people had gathered around. They departed from each other that evening. The next morning I was out for a task and I saw Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) at the door of ‘Abd Allah ibn al- Hassan who was saying, ‘O girl, tell abu Muhammad to come out.’ He came out and said, ‘O abu ‘Abd Allah what has made you come out this early?’ He replied, ‘Last night I read a verse of the book of Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, and it worried me.’ He asked, ‘Which verse is it?’ He said, ‘It is the words of Allah, Most Glorious, Most Majestic is Whose mention, “. . . who maintain all the proper relations that Allah has commanded them to maintain, who have fear of their Lord and the hardships of the Day of Judgment,” (13:21) He said, ‘You have spoken the truth. It seems I have never come across this verse in the book of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy.’ They both wept and hugged each other.’”

The Messenger of Allāh (s.a.a.w.) said: Those who come to my Ziyārah after my death are like those who have come to visit me during my life, and I will be their witness and their intercessor on the Day of Judgment.

Whoever comes to the grave of al-Husayn (as), recognizing his right, Allah will forgive his past and future sins.

“Peace be with the Family of Yasin” (37:130), he said: With the Family of Muhammad (s).

Whenever a revelation would come down to the Prophet (s) during the day, he would not sleep until he informed `Ali of it. When it would come down to him during the night, he would not awake [for the morning] until he informed `Ali of it.

"I went to Abdullah ibn al-Hasan and said, 'Teach me a supplication for sustenance.' He said, 'Say: O Allah, take charge of my affairs and do not entrust my affairs to anyone other than You.' I presented this to Abu Abdillah (AS), and he said, 'Shall I not guide you to what is more beneficial than this for sustenance? Trim your nails and moustache every Friday, even if by scratching them.'"

“The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘On the Day of Judgment all the treacherous people will come with an Imam whose mouth will be badly deformed and end up in the fire.’”