محمد

I heard Abu Ja'far Imam Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Baqir (as) say regarding a woman who has reached menopause and her husband divorces her: "She is separated from him, and there is no waiting period ('iddah) upon her."

“I once asked one of the two Imam, ‘Alayhim al-Salam, about mistakes in optional Salah (prayer). He (the Imam) said, ‘There is not anything upon him.’”

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘I dislike two kinds of transactions: To say, “Drop the merchandise and receive payment”, and buying something without seeing it.’”

I heard Abu Ja`far Muhammad b. `Ali al-Baqir (as) say: For Allah, there are angels assigned to those who fast. They seek repentance for them every day in the month of Ramadan until its end. They call to those who fast every night at the time of their breakfast: “Rejoice, servants of Allah, for you have hungered little and will be satiated much. You will be blessed, and blessing will come by you” – until the end of the night in the month of Ramadan, wherein they will call to them: “Rejoice, servants of Allah, for Allah has forgiven your sins and accepted your repentance. So, see how you will be when you continue.”

“O Ali! A believer should have eight characteristics:1- He should maintain his dignity when calamities befall him.2- He should be patient when he is in trouble.3- He should be grateful when he has plenty of blessings.4- He should be content with his share of God-given daily bread.5- He should not oppress his enemies.6- He should not be a burden on his friends.7- He should use his body (to perform his duties).8- The people should be safe from him.”

“One day I was in the presence of Abu Ja‘far (a.s.) that a pair of turtledoves came and sat on the wall and exchanged voices as they usually do. Abu Ja‘far (a.s.) then also exchanged voices with them for a while. They then flew away and on the other wall the male sounded to the female for a while and then both of them flew away. I then asked The Imam (a.s.), “May Allah take my soul in service for your cause, What were these birds?” The Imam (a.s.) said, “O Ibn Muslim, all that Allah has created, such as birds, animals or other things that have life obey us better than people. The male dove was suspicious about the female and she denied it on oath which the male did not accept. Then she asked if he would abide by the decision of Muhammad ibn Ali. He agreed and I told him that he had wronged her then he believed her.”

While the Messenger of Allah (SA) was on one of his journeys, some riders met him, and said: “Peace be upon you, O messenger of Allah.” So, he turned to them and asked, ”Who are you?” They answered, “We are believers.” He (SA) asked, “What is the nature of your belief?” They replied, “Pleasure in the destiny of Allah, submission to the command of Allah, and relinquishment to Allah (of all affairs).” The Messenger of Allah (SA) responded, “You are learned and wise. You are almost as wise as the prophets. If you are truthful, then do not build what you will not inhabit, do not collect what you will not eat, and fear Allah to whom you shall return.”

The Messenger of Allah (s) came out to us on the eve of `Arafat and said: Surely, Allah has dignified and forgiven you all in general, and `Ali in particular. Surely, I am the Messenger of Allah to you rather than [just] a lover of my relatives. Gabriel here informs me that all true happiness is for one who loves `Ali in his life and after his death, and that all true wretchedness is for one who hates `Ali in his life and after his passing.

“Once abu Ja’far (a.s.) said, ‘O Muhammad ibn Muslim, if believing people repent for their sins they will be forgiven. Believing people must resume their good deeds after repentance and forgiveness. By Allah, this is only for the believers.’ I then asked, ‘What if he goes back to sin after repenting and asking for forgiveness and repents again?’ The Imam said, ‘O Muhammad ibn Muslim, do you think a believing servant (of Allah) regrets his sins, asks forgiveness and repents but Allah does not accept his repentance?’ I said, ‘He, however, has done it many times. He sins, repents and asks forgiveness (from Allah).’ The Imam said, ‘Whenever a believing servant (of Allah) returns back for repentance and pleas for forgiveness, Allah returns to him with forgiveness; Allah is forgiving and merciful. He accepts repentance and effaces the evil deeds. You must never cause a believer to lose hope in the favor and mercy of Allah.’”

“Abu Basir and his friends drank al-Nabidh and they broke it with water. I mentioned it before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and he (the Imam) said to me, ‘How can water make intoxicating liquor lawful? Command them not to drink from it in large or small quantities.’ I then said that they say, ‘The approval of the family of Muhammad makes it lawful for them.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Why should family of Muhammad make intoxicating liquor lawful when they do not drink it in large or small quantities? You must refrain from drinking it.’ We then came together before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and abu Basir said, ‘This has come to us from you as such and such.’ He (the Imam (a.s.) ) said, ‘You must accept it as true, O abu Muhammad, water does not make intoxicating liquor lawful. You must not drink it in large or small quantities.’”

The Messenger of Allah (swt), peace and blessings be upon him and his family, forbade eating while in a state of major ritual impurity (janabah) and said that it causes poverty, and he narrated the hadith in its entirety as recorded in this book.

I asked Al-Ridha (s) about the Honorable the Exalted God’s words, ‘O Satan! What prevents thee from prostrating thyself to the one whom I have created with my hands?…’ The Imam (s) said, ‘This means by my Might and Power.’”The author of this book (Sheikh Sadooq) said, “I have heard from some of the Shiite Sheikhs that the Divine Leaders read ‘O Satan! What prevents thee from prostrating thyself to the one whom I have created…’ and then paused on the word ‘created’ and started again with the words ‘with my hands.’ The verse continues with ‘…Art thou haughty? Or art thou one of the high (and mighty) ones?’ This is similar to saying, ‘Do you fight me using my own sword? Do you hit meusing my own spears?’ Therefore, the Honorable the Exalted God is saying, ‘You have been empowered to be arrogant and disobedient using my own blessings given to you and kindnesses rendered to you.’”

“I heard abu al-Hassan (a.s.) say, ‘Once when the Messenger of Allah was sitting an angel who had twenty four faces came to him. The Messenger of Allah said to him, “My friend Jibril, I had not seen you in this form before.” The angel said, “ Iam not Jibril, O Muhammad. Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most gracious, has sent me to join in marriage the light with the light.” He then asked, “Who with who?” The angel said, “Fatima and Ali (a.s.).” The Imam (a.s.) said, “When the angel turned back on his shoulder it said, “Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, and Ali (a.s.) the executor of his will.” The Messenger of Allah asked, “Since when this has been written on your shoulder?” The angel replied, “It was there twenty two thousand year before Allah created Adam.”

Amir al-Mu'minin (as) said: I will describe Islam in a way that no one before me nor after me has described it: Islam is submission, and submission is sincerity, and sincerity is certainty, and certainty is performance, and performance is [good] action. The believer takes his religion from his Lord and not his opinion. O people! Your religion, your religion! Hold onto it, and do not allow anyone to hinder you or remove you from it. A sin in Islam is better than a good deed in other religions, for a sin in Islam can be forgiven, while a good deed in another religion is not accepted.

The Commander of the Believers, peace be upon him, said: Verily, I will, indeed, attribute Islam an attribution which none has attributed before me and which none will attribute after me. Islam is submission, and submission is credence, and credence is certainty, and certainty is performance, and performance is action. Indeed, the believer takes his religion from his Lord, and he did not take it from his opinion. O people, (observe) your Religion, your Religion, adhere to it, and let yourselves, verily, not be dispersed, and let yourselves, verily, not be repelled from it by anyone, because a misdeed (whilst believing) in it is better than a good deed (whilst believing) in other than it, because a misdeed (whilst believing) in it may be forgiven, whereas a good deed (whilst believing) in other than it will not be accepted.

O Ali! Four issues are the quickest in punishment: to recompense the favor with mistreatment, to be hostile with one who is not hostile to you; to break the faith of the party who keeps up his faith; and to rupture the relations with the relatives who respect you.”The Prophet (MGB) then added, “O Ali, rest will depart from him who is predominated by discontent.”

I was with Abu Abdullah (as) when Isa ibn Abi Mansur approached, and he (the Imam) said to me: "If you want to see the best in this world and the best in the hereafter, then look at him."

“Once I went to see abu al-Hassan (a.s.) and he said to me, ‘Allah, the Most Blessed, the Most High, supports a believer with a spirit from His side who attends him in all times that he performs a good deed and observes piety. The spirit remains absent in all times that he commits sins and transgresses. The spirit vibrates with joy when he does a good deed and turns into a despicable thing and lowly to earth when he commits a sin. O servants of Allah, be committed to benefit from the favors of Allah to correct and reform yourselves; it (commitment) will increase your certainty and you earn fine and valuable things. May Allah grant favors to those who think of doing good and perform it or think of committing something bad, but refrain and desist.’ The Imam then said, ‘We support and strengthen the spirit by means of obeying Allah and working for Him.’”

Al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad (as) said: Surely, the people worship Allah for three reasons. (1) One group worship Him out of desire for His reward – that is the worship of the possessive, and it is of greed. (2) Others who worship out of fear of the Fire – that is the worship of the slaves, and it is of fright. (3) But, I worship Him out of love for Him – that is the worship of the nobles, and it is of safety, as He says, “and they will be safe from the horror of that day” (27:89), and as He says, “Say: If you love Allah, then follow me; and Allah will love you and forgive your sins.” (3:31) Whoever loves Allah, Allah will love him; and whoever Allah loves, he will be of the safe ones.

Betake to noble character (makarim al-akhlaq), for Allah loves it. Beware of evil actions, for Allah hates them. Betake to reciting the Quran, for the degrees of Paradise are proportionate to the verses of the Quran. On the Day of Resurrection, a reciter will be told: “Recite and climb”, and when he recites a verse, he will climb a degree. Betake to beautiful character, because that will take one to the rank of one who is fasting and standing [in prayer]. Betake to beautiful neighbourliness, for surely, Allah ordered that. Betake to the tooth stick, for it is a purifier and a beautiful tradition. Betake to what Allah has obligated and fulfill them. Beware of what Allah has prohibited and abstain from them.