موسى

“O Shia of Muhammad’s progeny, you are going to be tested like the kohl in the eye. One knows when the kohl is put into his eye but he does not know when it gets out of it. Just in the same way that one believes in our matter in the morning and recants it in the evening or he believes in it in the evening and when morning comes he recants it.”

Once ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) passed by a group of people among whom was Salman, may Allah bless him with mercy. So Salman told them: "Be attached to this man (i.e. ‘Ali) for no one else will inform you of the intimate things about your Prophet except he."

I asked Isa bin Musa: Have you met any of the companions of the companions? He replied: I don’t know what you are saying, but I was in Kufa, when I heard an old man narrating a tradition from Abdul Khair in Kufa Masjid. He said: Amirul Momineen (a.s) said: the Messenger of Allah (s) told me, “O Ali! The rightly guided, infallible Imams from your progeny are eleven.” And so on…

I have made a covenant not to swear by emancipation unless I set a slave free. Now I have freed all my slaves, so that no one thinks that I am superior to this slave due to being closer to God’s Prophet (S). No, I can only be superior due to having good deeds which give me nobility.” Ar-Ridha’ (a.s.) said this while pointing at one of his slaves.

God’s Prophet (sw) said, “How can a nation that begins with me, Ali and eleven of my progeny who are all men of understanding and ends with the Messiah - the son of Mary - perish? However anyone who does not belong to my nation, and I am not associated with, will perish.”

I was in bed with one of my slave-wives. Then I heard the door bell ring in the middle of the night. It made me frightened. My slave-wife said, Perhaps it was due to the wind. A short time later the door of my room opened and Masroor al-Kabir (Harun’s servant) entered the room and told me, ‘The Commander has called you in.’ He did not even greet me. Seeing that he just entered my room without seeking my permission and that he did not greet me, It occurred to me that Harun intends to kill me. I was in a state of major ritual impurity , but I did not dare ask him to let me make a major ritual ablution. When my slave-wife noticed my stress and agitation, she said, ‘Rely on the Honorable the Exalted God and get up.’ Then I got up, put on my clothes and left the house with him and went to Harun’s house. Then I greeted the Commander of the Faithful. He was in bed. He greeted back. I fell to the ground. He said, ‘Were you frightened?’ I replied, ‘O Commander of the Faithful! Yes.’ He left me alone for a while until I got calm. Then he told me, ‘Go to jail, free Musa ibn Ja’far and give him thirty-thousand Dirhams and five robes of honor. Give him three horses and inform him that he is free to decide to stay with us or go to whichever town that he wills.’ Then I said, ‘O Commander of the Faithful! Are you ordering me to free Musa ibn Ja’far?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ And he repeated it thrice. Then he asked me, ‘Yes. Do you want me to break my covenant?’ I said, ‘Which covenant?’ He replied, ‘When I was in this bed I suddenly saw a black man. I had never seen any black man that was bigger than him before. He grabbed my neck, sat on my chest and tried to choke me.” He said, ‘Have you oppressively imprisoned Musa ibn Ja’far?’ Then I told him, ‘I will free him, and give him presents and robes of honor.’ Then he had me pledge by the Honorable the Exalted God, and got off my chest. I was about to die.”The narrator of this tradition added, “Then I left him and went to Musa ibn Ja’far (s) in jail. I saw that he was standing in prayer. I waited until he finished saying his prayers. Then I expressed the greetings of the Commander of the Faithful to him and informed him about that which I had been ordered to do. I told him that the presents were ready.He (s) said, ‘Do any other things which you have been ordered to do.’ I said, ‘No. I swear by your grandfather - the Messenger of God (s) that I have not been ordered to do anything else.’”He (s) said, “I do not need the robes of honor, the horses and the property since they belong to the nation.” I said, “By God! Do not turn them down. Harun will get mad.” He (s) said, “Do with them as you please.” I took his hand and brought him out of jail. Then I asked him, “O son of God’s Prophet! Can you inform me about the reason you received all these honors from this man? You owe me that since I gave you the glad tidings of your freedom, and this was done by me.”Then he (s) said, “I saw the Prophet (s) on Wednesday night. He (s) asked me, “O Musa! Have you been oppressively imprisoned?” I replied, “O Messenger of God! Yes.” The Prophet (s) repeated this question three times, and then said, ‘I know not but that it may be a trial for you, and a grant of (worldly) livelihood (to you) for a time.’ Then the Prophet (s) told me, “Fast tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. Say twelve units of prayers at the time of breaking your fast. In each unit recite the Opening Chapter once and the Chapter ‘Al-Ikhlas twelve times. In the fourth unit of prayer, fall in prostration and say, ‘O the One who survives after everyone’s death! O the Hearer of all sounds! O the Reviver of the rotten bones after death! I implore you by Your Great Name, the Greatest! Please send Blessings upon Muhammad - Thy servant and Thy Messenger, and upon the members of his Holy Household - the Pure Ones. I beg You to expedite my relief from the conditions I am in.’ Then I did as the Prophet (s) had instructed me to do and what you saw happened.”

Neither will I name him before my Lord does.’ Then Gabriel descended and said, ‘OMuhammad! The Ali Al-A’ala sends greetings to you and says, ‘In respect to you Ali is in the same rank that Aaron was to Moses with the exception that there will be no Prophets after you. Name your (grand)son the same as the son of Aaron.’’ The Prophet (S) asked, ‘What was the name of the son of Aaron?’ Gabriel said, ‘Shubbar.’ The Prophet (S) said, ‘My language is Arabic.’ Gabriel said, ‘Name him Al-Hassan.’” Asma’ added, “Then he was named Al-Hassan. Seventh days after his birth, the Prophet (S) sacrificed two gray sheep for him. He (a.s.) gave one leg to the midwife for one Dinar. He (a.s.) then shaved the child’s head and gave charity in the amount of silver equal to the weight of his hair. He then rubbed the baby’s head with saffron and said, ‘O Asma’! Rubbing blood on the baby’s head is one of the practices of the Age of Ignorance.’”Asma’ added, “Al-Husayn was born the following year. The Prophet (S) came and said, ‘O Asma’! Bring me my (grand)son.’ Asma’ handed him the baby wrapped up in white cloth. The Prophet (S) recited the call to prayer in the baby’s right ear, and the invitation to establish the prayer in his left ear. Then the Prophet (S) hugged him and started to cry. Asma’ said, ‘O Prophet of God! May my parents be your ransom! Why are you crying?’ The Prophet (S) replied, ‘I am crying for this (grand)son of mine.’ Asma’ said, ‘O Prophet of God! He was just born!’ The Prophet (S) said, ‘O Asma’! After my death, oppressors will kill him. May God deprive them of my intercession.’ Then the Prophet (S) added, ’O Asma’! Don’t inform (the Blessed Lady) Fatima about this since she has just delivered him.’ He (a.s.) then asked Ali (a.s.), ‘What did you name my (grand)son?’ Ali (a.s.) replied, ‘O Prophet of God! I have not named him before you do. However, I wish to call him Harb.’ The Prophet (S) said, ‘Neither will I name him before my Lord does.’ Then Gabriel descended and said, ‘O Muhammad! The Ali Al-A’ala sends greetings to you and says, ‘In respect to you Ali is in the same rank that Aaron was to Moses with the exception that there will be no Prophets after you. Name your (grand)son the same as the son of Aaron.’ The Prophet (S) asked Gabriel, ‘What was the name of the son of Aaron?’ Gabriel said, ‘Shobayr.’ The Prophet (S) said, ‘My language is Arabic.’ Gabriel said, ‘Name the baby Al-Husayn.’” Asma’ added, “Then he was named Al-Husayn. When the seventh day after his birth came, the Prophet (S) sacrificed two gray sheep for him. He (a.s.) gave one leg to the midwife for one Dinar. TheProphet (S) then shaved the child’s head and gave charity in the amount of silver equal to the weight of his hair. He (a.s.) then rubbed the baby’s head with saffron and said, ‘O Asma’! Rubbing blood on the baby’s head is one of the practices of the Age of Ignorance.’”

“I heard Muhammad bin al-Hanafiyya (may Allah be pleased with him) saying: “Before our banner (the banner of al-Qa’im) there will be a banner (rule or state) of the family of Ja’far and another one of the family of Mardas. As for the banner of aal Ja’far, it will begin with nothing (important) and will end to nothing.” I became angry on hearing that. I said to him: “May I die for you! Will there be banners before yours?” He said: “Yes, there will. By Allah, aal Mardas will have a strong rule but with no goodness. Their state will be full of difficulties but with no easiness. They will bring the foreigners closer and will remove the near. When they feel that they are safe from the punishment of Allah and that their state does never decline, a cry will come upon them and then no ruler will remain to gather them, no one to listen to them and no people to support them. Allah has given an example in His Book when saying, ‘Until when the earth puts on its golden raiment and it becomes garnished, and its people think that they have power over it, Our command comes to it, by night or by day.” Then Muhammad bin al-Hanafiyya swore by Allah that this verse had been revealed concerning those people. I said to him: “May I die for you! You have told about a great thing concerning those people, then when will they perish?” He said: “O Muhammad (bin Bishr), Allah reverses the timing of the diviners. Prophet Moses (as) promised his people (that Allah would do away with their enemy) after thirty days but Allah had determined further ten days and He had not told Prophet Moses (as) of that. When the appointment of the promise passed, the people of Moses disbelieved and began to worship the calf. Prophet Younus (Jonah) (as) warned his people that they would be tortured but Allah had willed to forgive them but without informing Prophet Younus (as) of that and then happened what had happened to them. When you see neediness spread and one says that he has spent his night without eating anything and when one receives you in a manner and the other day he receives you in a different manner then you expect it!” I said: “I know what neediness is. What is the other thing?” He said: “It is when one meets you smilingly but when you go to borrow something from him, he will meet you in a different manner. Then the cry (from the Heaven) will occur somehow soon.”

I was holding the hand of the Messenger of Allah (s) and we were walking together. We did not stop looking to the Sun until it set. So, I said: O Messenger of Allah! Where does it go? He said: In the sky. Then, it rises from heaven to heaven until it reaches the highest, seventh heaven; till it is beneath the Throne. It then falls in prostration, and the angels of the kingdom of heaven prostrate with it. Then, it says: “O Lord! Where do You order me to rise from: from my setting place, or from my rising place?” That is His saying, “The Sun travels for a fixed term. That is the design of the Almighty, the Knowing” (36:38) – meaning, that is the contrivance of the Mighty Lord in His kingdom with His creation. He said: So, Gabriel (as) comes to it with a garment which glows with the light of the Throne, which is in accordance with the hours of the day – it lengthens in the summer, it shortens in the winter, and it is in between that in the fall and the spring. He said: Then, it wears that garment just as one of you wears his clothes. Then, it goes with it in the sky until it rises from its rising point. The Prophet (s) said: It is as though I am with it as it is confined for three nights, and it is not cloaked in [its] glow, and it is ordered to rise from its setting place. That is His saying, “When the Sun is turned, and when the stars darken” (81:1-2). The Moon is like that from its rise, to its journey to the horizon of the sky, to its setting, to its ascension to the seventh heaven. It prostrates beneath the Throne, and Gabriel (as) comes to it with a garment of the light of the Seat. That is His saying, “He is the one that made the Sun a shining glow and the Moon a light.” (10:5) Abu Dharr (rh) said: Then, I withdrew with the Messenger of Allah (s) and we prayed Maghrib.

When Mutawakkil carried our Master, Abu’l-Hasan, peace be upon him, I came to ask about his news. He said: Then Zarqani looked at me, and he was a guard for Mutawakkil, and then he pointed to me that I should enter into his place, so I entered into his place. Then he said: O Saqr, what is your case? So I said: Good, O teacher. So he said: Sit. Then I was taken by what preceded and what came late, and I said: I have been mistaken in my coming. He said: Then he pushed the people away from him, and then he said: What is your matter? And for what did you come? So I said: For a certain news. Then he said: Perhaps you have come to ask about the news of your Master? So I said to him: And who is my Master? My Master is the Commander of the Believers. Then he said: Be silent, your Master is the truth, so do not be intimidated from me, for indeed, I am on your sect. So I said: Praise be to Allah. Then he said: Do you want to see him? So I said: Yes. Then he said: Sit until the man of the post exits from him. He said: So I sat, and when I exited, he said to a young man of his: Take the hand of Saqr and let him enter into the room in which is the imprisoned Alawi, and leave from between him and him. He said: So he made me enter the cell and pointed towards a house, so I entered. He said: It was, suddenly, him, peace be upon him, sitting on the middle of a straw mat, and opposite to him was a dug grave. He said: Then I wished peace, and he replied, and then told commanded me to sit. Then he said to me: O Saqr, what brought you? I said: My Master, I have come to know your news. He said: Then I looked at the grave and wept, so he looked at me and said: O Saqr, let it not be upon you, they will not reach us with harm. So I said: Praise be to Allah. Then I said: O my Master, there is a narration narrated of the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, which I do not know its meaning. Then he said: And what is it? Then I said: His saying: «Do not antagonize the Days, lest they antagonize you». What is its meaning? Then he said: Yes, the Days are us, as long as the Heavens and the earth are established. Saturday is a name for Allah’s Messenger, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family; Sunday is the Commander of the Believers; Monday is Hasan and Hussain; Tuesday is Ali bin Hussain, Muhammed bin Ali and Ja’far bin Muhammed; Wednesday is Musa bin Ja’far, Ali bin Musa, Muhammed bin Ali and myself; Thursday is my son, Hasan; and Friday is the son of my son, to whom the group of truth is joined, and he is the one who will fill it with rightness and justice like how it has been filled with oppression and tyranny. This is the meaning of the Days, so do not antagonize them in this world, lest they antagonize you in the Hereafter. Then he said: Say farewell and leave, for I am not assured for you.

O Commander! Do not rush. Call me forward to give you some advice.’ Then Al-Hassan ibn Fadhl ordered the executioner to withdraw the sword and called Al-Haj’jaj ibn Khaythama forward. Al-Hajjaj ibn Khaythama asked, ‘O Commander! Has the Commander of the Faithful (Harun Ar-Rashid) ordered that Zayd be executed?’ He replied, ‘No.’ Then Al-Haj’jaj ibn Khaythama said, ’Then what allows you to kill the cousin of the Commander of the Faithful (Harun Ar-Rashid), while Harun has not issued this order, and you yourself have not sought his permission either?’ Then Al-Hajjaj ibn Khaythama told Al-Hassan ibn Fadhl the story of Abdullah ibn Aftas - Harun Ar-Rashid’s cousin - who had been imprisoned by Harun by Ja’far ibn Yahya. Ja’far ibn Yahya had killed Abdullah ibn Aftas during the New Year holidays, placed his head on a tray and sent it to Harun as a gift. Later, when Harun issued the order Masrur al-Kabir to kill Ja’far ibn Yahya, he told him, ‘If Ja’far ibn Yahya asks the reason for killing him, tell him that this is the reward for you for killing my cousin Abdullah ibn al-Aftas without my order to do so.’Then al-Hajjaj ibn al-Khaythama asked Hassan ibn Sahl, ‘Are you sure that if anything happens to your relationship with the Commander of the Faithful Harun, he would not make killing his cousin an excuse to kill you just as he (Harun) did to Ja’far ibn Yahya?’ Then Al-Hassan ibn Fadhl told Al-Hassan al-Hajjaj said, ‘May God grant you a good reward!’ Then Al-Hassan ibn Fadhl ordered that Zayd be returned to jail. He stayed in jail until the reign of Ibrahim ibn Al-Mahdi when the people of Baghdad rebelled against Hassan ibn Sahl and threw him out of Baghdad. Then Al-Ma’mun’s agents released Zayd from jail, and Al-Ma’mun sent him to his brother Ar-Ridha’ (a.s.). Zayd ibn Musa lived until the end of Al-Mutawakkil’s rule and then died.”

The Quran has spoken of Ibrahim and that his mother gave birth to him in secrecy and how she hid him in a cave until he grew up and then his story unraveled. It mentions the story of Musa (a.s) that his mother left him in the river fearing for his life from Firon. This famous, and the Quran has mentioned it. The story of the Master of the Age is similar to these. So how can it be said that it is against the ordinary? Some people have children from concubines that they hide from their wives, until they are at their deathbed and then they confess.

H 371 - Sa'ad Ibn Abdullah said: Muhammad Ibn Nusayr an-Numairi claimed that he was a messenger and a prophet, and that Ali Ibn Muhammad (a.s.) had sent him. He believed in reincarnation and exaggerated about the position of Abul Hasan (a.s.) and deified him. He believed in the permissibility of marrying blood relations of prohibited degree (Mahrams) and same sex marriage. He believed that sodomy was an act of humility, meekness and modesty on the part of the receiver and that it was an occasion of pleasure and delight for the active partner, and that Allah does not disallow any of such things. Muhammad Ibn Musa Ibn Hasan Ibn Furat supported the authenticity of these reports.

We also demonstrated the invalidity of the promoters of the Imamate of Ja’far Ibn Ali, namely, the Fatahiyya, who believe in the Imamate of Abdullah Ibn Ja’far after the demise of Imam Sadiq (a.s). And when Abdullah passed away without leaving any son, they came back to the Imamate of Musa Ibn Ja’far and after him proclaimed the Imamate of Hasan Ibn Ali. And when Hasan Ibn Ali died, they claimed the Imamate of Ja’far. Their belief is false for the reasons we invalidated the Imamate of Ja’far Ibn Ali and because there is no disagreement amongst the Imamiyah that Imamate cannot pass from one brother to another after Hasan and Husain and we have brought in that regard great many traditions.

Miracles shown by Imam Ali Ridha (a.s), which prove the rightfulness of his Imamate and which are mentioned in books of Shia and which also refute the beliefs of the Waqifite sect, were the same through whose blessings some believers in Waqifite creed, like Abdur Rahman bin Hajjaj, Rifaa bin Musa, Yunus bin Yaqub, Jamil bin Darraj, Hammad bin Isa and others reverted from invalid beliefs. They were companions of the father of Imam Ali Ridha (a.s) and doubted about Imam Ali Ridha (a.s), but repented later. In the same way, those who were present during the time of the Imam, like: Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Abi Nasr, Hasan bin Ali Washa and others; they also believed in Waqf [but seeing the proofs of Imam Ridha (a.s)] they accepted his Wilayat, became bound to him and accepted the Imamate of Imam Ali Ridha (a.s) and the Imams after him from his descendants.

I heard Abā ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) say: The heavens wept over Ḥusain ibn ‘Ali (a.s.) and Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā (a.s.) and they have never wept over anyone other than them. I asked, “How did the heavens weep?” Imam (a.s.) replied, “The heavens became red for forty days like the sun at the time of sunrise and sunset.” I asked, “Is that how the heavens weep?” Imam (a.s.) replied, “Yes.”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that Moses, the prophet, passed on his way to Makkah over the hillsides of al-Rawha’ on a red camel harnessed with fibers. He had two gowns, made in al- Qatwan and said, ‘Here I am, O Gracious Lord, to obey Your command; here I am.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Yunus ibn Mathew passed over the hillsides of al-Rawha’ on his way to Makkah, saying, ‘Here I am, O remover of greatly intense suffering; here I am to obey Your command.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Jesus son of Mary passed over the hillsides of al-Rawha’ on his way to Makkah saying, ‘Here I am, Your servant, the son of Your female servant; here I am, to obey Your command, O Lord.’ Muhammad (SAW), passed over the hillsides of al-Rawha’ on his way to Makkah, saying, ‘Here I am to obey your command, O Most Exalted Lord; here I am to obey Your command.’”

“When al-Qa’im appears in Mecca, his caller will announce that no one is to carry with him food or drink. He (al-Qa’im) will carry with him the rock of Prophet Moses, which is as a burden of a camel. Whenever they stop to rest, the rock will well. Hungry and thirsty ones will eat and drink and feed their cattle until they will reach Najaf, which is near Kufa.”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ’If a plaintiff agrees with the defendant’s taking an oath who then swears that the plaintiff does not have any right on him, it abolishes the right of the plaintiff and the case is dismissed.’ I then asked, ‘What happens if he can present just testimony?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, even so, an oath by Allah fifty times abolishes and invalidates his claim because of which he had asked for an oath.’”

Prophet (MGB) said, “Whoever possesses four characteristics is a hypocrite. Even if one has only one of these characteristics he is a hypocrite, unless he gives up that characteristic: one who lies when he talks; one who breaks his promises; one who breaks his pledges; and one who cheats when he fights.”