محمد بن أحمد بن محمد أبو جعفر

38 – Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Sinān, Abū ʿĪsā. His lineage and his ḥadīth are confused.

“One who recites Surah Baqarah and Surah Aale Imran, these Surahs will cover him like a cloud on the Day of Judgment.”

One of the good-doers saw the Prophet of God (a.s.) in his dream. He asked the Prophet (S), ‘O Prophet of God! Which of your offspring should I go to visit?’ The Prophet (S) said, ‘A few of my descendants who have been poisoned have come to me. Also a few of my offspring who have been murdered have come to me.’ Then he asked the Prophet (S), ‘O Prophet of God! Given the great distances between their shrines (or locations), which one of them do you recommend me to go and visit?’ The Prophet (S) said, ‘Visit the one who is closest to you - that is whom you are near to and is buried in the land of loneliness.’ Then he asked the Prophet (S), ‘O Prophet of God! Do you mean Ar-Ridha’ (a.s.)?’ God’s Prophet (S) said, ‘Say: God’s Blessings be upon him. Say: God’s blessings be upon him three times.’”

A man and his slave went to Mashhad and they both went to visit the Shrine. Then the man started to pray at the position of the Imam’s head, and the slave started to pray at the position of the Imam’s feet. Then when they finished praying, they both prostrated - long prostrations. Then the man rose up his head from the position of prostration before his slave did and called out to his slave. The slave rose up his head from the position of prostration and said, “Yes, my master!”Then the man asked him, “Do you want me to set you free?” He said, “Yes.” The man said, “You are set free for the sake of God the Highest. I also set my female slave in Balkh free for the sake of God. I marry her off to you for such and such an amount of nuptial gift for which I take responsibility on your behalf. I also endow such and such property for both of you, your children and your grand-children from your progeny. Be this Imam Ar-Ridha’ (a.s.) a witness to this.” Then the slave man cried and attested by God the Highest and the Imam (a.s.), that this was exactly what he had asked for in his prostration. And he recognized that prayers were quickly fulfilled by God the Highest.”

I asked Abu al-Hasan Musa ibn Ja`far (AS) about the meaning of the Word of the Messenger of Allah (SA): “The adverse is one who had been adverse in the womb of his mother, and the privileged in one who had been privileged in womb of his mother.” So he (AS) replied, The adverse person is he who Allah knows from the womb of his mother that he will perform the deeds of the adverse. And the privileged person is the one who Allah knows from the womb of his mother that he will perform the deeds of the privileged. I asked him, ,”Then what is the meaning of his (SA) Word: `All of you act! Everything has been made easy when created.’” He replied, Verily, Allah, the Mighty and High, created the jinn and the human beings to serve Him and not to disobey Him. Hence, the Word of the Mighty and High: And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me. Therefore, He made everything easy when He created it. Woe to him who preferred blindness over guidance.

I got so seriously ill that my tongue got numb and I could not talk. Then, I decided to go to visit the Shrine of Imam Ar-Ridha’ (a.s.) to pray to God the Highest and set the Imam (a.s.) up to intercede on my behalf to Him so that God would heal my ailment and I would be able to talk. Then I rode on a donkey, set out for Mashhad and went to visit Ar-Ridha’ (a.s.). I stood at the position of the Imam’s head and said two units of prayers and then went into the position of prostration. I said as many prayers as I could while crying and seeking the intercession of the tomb owner in the presence of God the Highest to heal my ailment and help me become able to talk.Then I fell asleep while I was prostrating. I saw in a dream that the grave opened up and an old tanned man walked out, approached me and told me, ’O Aba Nasr! Say: There is no god but God.’ I pointed at my tongue and meant to say how I could speak with a closed-up tongue.’ He (a.s.) shouted at me saying, ‘Are you denying His Power? Say: There is no god but God.’ Then my tongue opened and I said, ‘There is no god but God.’ Then (after I woke up) I walked back home and kept saying, ‘There is no god but God. I can talk.’ Then after this my tongue never became numb like that again.”

“Should we first go to visit the Shrine of Ar-Ridha’ (a.s.) and then head towards Bokhara?” The man from Qum said, “Indeed, we have been appointed by our ruler as representatives to go to Bokhara, and we are not allowed to do anything else until we finish our mission.” They set out for Bokhara, performed their mission and returned. Then they reached Toos. Then the man from Ray asked the other one from Qum, “Shouldn’t we go visit the Shrine of Ar-Ridha’ (a.s.)?” The man from Qum replied, “I have left Qum as a Sunni. I shall not return there as a Shiite.” The man from Ray entrusted him with all his properties and animals, rode on a donkey, and set out for the Shrine of Ar-Ridha’ (a.s.). He told the Shrine servants, “Please let me stay inside the shrine tonight and leave the keys with me.” They did so. He said, “I went into the Shrine, locked the door and visited Ar-Ridha’ (a.s.). Then I stood up at the position of the Imam’s head, and prayed as much as God the Highest had willed. Then I started to recite the Qur’an from the beginning.” He added, “I heard a voice reciting the Qur’an just as I did. I stopped reciting the Qur’an, visited all parts of the Shrine, and looked around all the areas, but I did not find anyone there. Then I returned to my previous position and started reciting the Qur’an from the very beginning. Again, I heard that voice reciting the Qur’an along with me reciting as I did, until I reached the end of the Chapter Mary, when I recited it as ‘Yoma Nahshor al-Mottaqoon ilar Rahman wafdan va nasooq ul-Mojremeen ila jahannama wirda’ to the end. However, I heard the voice coming from the tomb recite that part of the Qur’an as follows: ‘Yoma yohshar al-Mottaqoon ilar Rahman wafdan wa yusaq ul-Mojremoon ila jahannama wirda’ to the end. I continued reciting the Qur’an as the voice did, until we finished reciting the whole Qur’an. Then when the morning came, I returned to Nowqan. I asked the Qur’an reciters about this form of reciting the above Qur’anic verse. They said, “This is a correct form of recital and is correct in meaning. However, we know of no one who has recited it in this way.” The man added, “Then I went to Neishaboor and asked about this form of recitation of the above verse from the reciters there. None of them knew anything about it. Then I returned to Ray and asked a few of the reciters about this form of recitation, ‘Yo’ma yohshar al-Mottaqoon ilar Rahman wafdan wa yusaq ul-Mojremoon ila jahannama wirda’ to the end. One of the reciters asked me, “Where did you hear this?”Then I told him, “Something has happened to me due to which I must recognize what has been recited to me.” Then he said, “This is the way the Prophet of God (a.s.) recited it as it has been narrated by the Members of the Holy Household (a.s.).” Then he asked me to tell him why I wanted to know about this form of recitation of the verse. Then I told him what had happened to me, and accepted this form of recitation to be the correct form.