محمد بن عرفة

1. Imam Ridha narrates that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said, “When my community stops enjoining good and restraining from evil, it should be prepared to wage war against Allah, hallowed be His name.”

“Once al-Rida (a.s.) said to me, ‘Woe upon you, O ibn ‘Arafah, you must work without showing off and publicity; those who work for anyone other than Allah, He assigns him to whomever he has worked. Woe upon you, whatever one does, Allah returns it back, good (result) if it is good and evil (results) if it is bad.’”

“Abu al-Hassan al-Rida (a.s.), has said, ‘O ibn ‘Arafah, bounties are like guarded camels around drinking water. It is up to people to maintain good relations with the camel. If they fail to keep the good relations, the camel runs away from them.’”

“You must enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, else the bad people will rule over you, and the prayers of your good people will not be answered.”

“O Ibn Arafat! In fact, God’s Blessings are like a camel tied up near a river where it rests. The people can gain benefits from it for as long as they treat it well. However, as soon as they mistreat it, it will leave them and they will lose it.”

Ar-Ridha’ (a.s.), “O son of the Prophet of God! What forced you to accept the succession to the throne?” The Imam (a.s.) replied, “The same thing which forced my grandfather the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) to join the arbItraion council.”

Muhammad ibn `Isa, on the authority of Muhammad ibn `Arafah that I asked al-Rida (AS): “Did Allah create things through His Omnipotence or without it?” Thus, He (AS) replied, You cannot say that Allah created things using His Omnipotence since that would mean that Allah created things by means of His Omnipotence. In so doing, you are saying that His Omnipotence is something other than Him. You are saying that He used His Omnipotence as a tool with which He creates, and that would be polytheism. When you say that Allah has created things using His Omnipotence, it is as if you consider Omnipotence to be separate from Him, and that He obtains His Power over things through it. However, Allah is neither weak nor incapable, nor is He is need of others. Muhammad ibn `Ali, the Compiler of this book says: When we say that Allah is Omnipotent, we negate any inability from Him. We do not affirm that Omnipotence co-exists along with Him, because He, the Mighty and High, is the One and Only. I will explain the difference between the attributes of essence and attributes of action under the chapter, Allah willing.

“I heard abu al-Hassan, al-Rida (a.s.), saying, ‘The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, would say, “When my followers postpone asking others to do good and prohibit them from committing evil they, in so doing, allow affliction to befall upon them from Allah.’””

“I asked Al-Ridha (s), ‘Did God create things using His Might or without it?’ The Imam (s) replied, ‘You cannot say that God created things using His Might since when you say that God has created thing using His Might, you are considering His Might to be something other than Him. Saying that God has created things using the Might He has had over them is like saying that God’s Might is something other than Him, and He has used it as a tool with which He creates. This is polytheism. When you say that God has created things using some other Might, it is as if you consider that Might to be separate from Him and He gets His Power over things using it. However, God is neither weak and incapable, nor is He in need of others. He is Glorified, and Mighty in nature, and not via an external power.’”

“It was asked from Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) ‘How do I pray for a Jew or a Christian?’ He had said, ‘Say, “May Allah grant you blessing in this world.’””

“Whoever is not satisfied with anything but a large quantity of sustenance, his deeds will not be enough unless they are a great deal. Whoever is comfortable with little amount of sustenance, even little good deeds will be sufficient for him.”

“The Holy Prophet once asked, ‘Do you want me to tell you who is more similar to me? They replied, ‘Yes, O Messenger of Allah.’ The Holy Prophet then said, ‘It is he whose moral behavior is most excellent, whose sheltering for protection is most gentle, who is most virtuous toward his relatives, of the most intense love for his brothers in religion, who bears the most patience for the truth, who suppresses his anger the most, whose forgiveness is most graceful and whose yielding to justice is most strict in both relaxed and irritated conditions.’”