From A Grieving Heart!

As soon as the preacher went up to the pulpit, the Ummah started to lament and weep – There was a presence of tremendous grief and sorrow. They all knew what was coming and the tragic events of Kerbala that were going to be revealed in minute detail.. The plight of the beloved Imam, his loneliness, his being away from his home, his parting from his family, his having lost everything he had, his thirst and his hunger, his grief and his broken heart all was going to be revealed at this moment – The hearts sunk at the bewilderment at the state of endurance of  this one person on a mission – A mission to uphold the truth and fight against injustice and tyranny – A fight against power and authority –.

The preacher started to summarize firstly, all that happened on this day – Significantly he talked about Hur’s round turn and the great pardon followed by his martyrdom – All Hur needed was a process of thinking what he was doing and that was it – He died a hero.

Alas, how many a times we know we did a wrong thing and we fail to make that small turnabout and put matters back in order and become heroes ourselves by submitting to that small acceptance of fault.

The preacher then said that it had taken three days for Umr Ibn Saa’d to take up his stand against the beloved Imam and he did that because of an opportunity to get his hands upon a kingdom and governorship of a place called Ra’i. Alas how many times do we submit to the wrong just to gain a small importance and an opportunity to ‘be someone’ in the authority. By the way Umr ibn Saad never got what he thrived for in the end. How could he? Divine justice is supreme.

He talked about so many relevant and substantially relevant episodes to be reflected upon and we went on weeping and lamenting – and then we made a significant statement – Had I been there, Oh our beloved Imam, we would have been with you and we would have laid down our lives for you – All the while, inside us we knew even today we cannot really uphold justice and fairness. Even today we let go of simple, evident principles for small gains, we slander, we backbite and we deceive – and we gain temporary victories exactly the way it happened in Kerbala, on this day of Ashura.

The desert calm vibrated with the voices of the ‘wrong’ proclaiming Allaho Akber while the family of the prophet sat on the warm sands of the desert shelter less and lonely – The bodies of the ‘rights’ lying in appalling condition some without their heads on them – The ‘wrongs’ were buried, the ‘rights’ lay unshrouded and unburied – What kind of Allaho Akber chants were these ? And yet, they thought they were holy and had carried out a holy duty –

So what was it all ? Wasn’t that a fight of justice against injustice ? We lamented not knowing what it was, really. We lamented the episode – We did not lament the flouting of the principles by the army opposing justice. But we wept, nevertheless, and we wept so that we be counted amongst the followers and supporters of this great Imam –

For the first time, I lamented because even after 1400 years I had failed to ‘see’ – I was glad I was not born then, for I am not sure where I would have been – I have not been a HUR even today, and for most of the time I think like gaining something out of situations by deception, lying and manipulation of the weak. Yes, I wept – Perhaps the opportunity had come for me to make a HUR turnabout or be condemned to live with injustice. I knew I could only really lament the Imam’s plight if I were sincere in my daily life and uphold values and principles – failure to do that, I now know, would just dismiss this Ashura as any other that went by in my life so far..

And the preacher summed up – he said ‘ even if you did not belong to any religion, to uphold the principles of justice and fairness is built-in by the creator in you – and, if you follow the religion of Hussain then to flout these principles cannot simply ‘fit in’ – How would you do such a thing , and to make it worse keep on lamenting? What are you grieving about?

The Correct Wages

Suleiman, one of the friends of Imam Ali Ridha (A.S.) says, "I went along with the Imam (A.S.) to his house. The labors were busy at work. There was a stranger among them whom the Imam (A.S.) did not recognize.

He said, "Who is this man?"

They said: “We have brought him from outside, so that he may help us”.

He said, "Have you concluded an agreement with him and fixed his wages?"

They said, "No, he is a good man, whatever we pay him he accepts it and does not utter a word."

Imam (A.S.) was angry and annoyed and said, "I have always told you that when you employ someone for a job first of all fix his wages. Because, when his wages are fixed and you give more than that to him, he will become happy. But if you do not fix his wages and give him three times the amount, he thinks you have not given him the correct wages."

Sheikh Saduk narrates through the words of Ibrahim bin Abbas that, "I never saw Imam Ridha (A.S.) committing excess over anyone in talking and interrupting anybody's speech before its coming to the end. He did not stretch his legs in the presence of others. When the meal table was laid he invited the servants to it, and took his meals with them. After taking rest in the nights he got up and made himself busy with the prayers to God. Similar to his fore fathers he carried food to the houses of the afflicted ones at the mid of nights."

"Mohammad bin Abi Ebad" says about Imam (A.S.) "He used mats of palm date leaves, straws and marsh reed in the summer season, and woolen carpets in the winter. He led a simple life in his home, but when he went out he used to decorate himself and put on new and clean dress.

“He respected and honored the guests to the extent that one night a lamp of the house went out of order, the guest got to his feet to put it right. Imam (A.S.) made him sit and himself set the lamp right, and said, "We do not employ our guests (exploit) upon work."

Yasir, the servant of Imam (A.S.) says, Imam (A.S.) said to us, "Whenever you are busy taking your meal, if I call you, do not get up till you have finished up eating."

Another friend of Imam (A.S.) says, "One day a stranger came to Imam's (A.S.) house and said, I am one of your friends and am also not a poor man but my money has finished up and I do not have the expanses to return. You give me an amount and when I return to my city I will give it out as alms on you behalf."

Imam (A.S.) got up and went to another room, brought an amount of two hundred dirhams and gave it to him from upside the door and said, "Take this and go and it is not necessary to give it away as alms on my behalf."

They asked the Imam (A.S.), "Why did you do it this way that he may not see you."

He said, "So that he does not catch my sight and get ashamed (embarrassed)."

Value of drop of tear on Imam Hussain (as)

One day Sheikh Bahjat (ra) talked about the generosity of the Imams (as) saying: ‘In Iraq, there is a small town near the place where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet called al-Musayyab. A Shia man used to pass by this town from time to time whenever he went to perform the Ziyarat of the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (as) in Najaf. A Sunni man, too, was residing in this same town.

 

The latter quite often used to make fun of the Shia man whenever he saw him going to visit the shrine of the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (as), so much so that he dared once to speak ill of the Holy Imam (as).

The Shia was very angry and he complained about this matter to the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (as) during one of his visits. During that night, he saw the Imam (as) in his vision and once more complained to him about this matter.

 

Imam Ali (as) said, ‘He [the Sunni man] has done us a favour, and we cannot punish him in the life of this world no matter what sins he commits.’

 

The Shia asked, ‘What favour is it? Did he do you a favour when he dared to speak ill of you?’

 

The Imam (as) said, ‘No, but he was sitting one day at the meeting place of both rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, and he was looking at the Euphrates. He remembered the story of Karbala and the thirst of Imam al-Husain (as), so he said this to himself: ‘Omer ibn Sa’d was wrong when he killed Imam Hussein (as) and his followers as they were thirsty, and it was better for him to give them water before killing them.’

 

A tear trickled down his eyes out of grief for Abu Abdullah Al-Hussein (as); therefore, it became mandatory on us never to punish him in this life.’

 

The Shia says, I woke up from my sleep and returned to al-Musayyab and met the Sunni man on the road. He said to me in ridicule: ‘Did you visit your Imam, and did you convey our message to him?!’

I said, ‘Yes, I conveyed your message to him, and I carry his message to you.’

 

The man laughed and said. ‘What is this message which you carry to me?’

 

He narrated to him the incident from beginning to end. The Sunni man lowered his head to the ground and kept thinking: ‘O Lord! Nobody at that moment was near me, and I did not talk about this incident to anyone; so, how did Imam Ali (as) become familiar with it?’

 

Then he said, ‘I testify that there is no God save Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and that Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, is a friend of Allah and the Wasi of the Messenger of Allah.’

 

From the book: “ Uswat Al-Aarifeen A Look at the Life of Ayatullah Bahjat” under the chapter: Tales Narrated by Grand Ayatullah Sheikh Bahjat, title: Clemency and Generosity of the Imams (as)