صراط عشق صراط عشق
Seyyed Ali Shahbaz
“Delay of repentance is (self) deception, excessive procrastination is perplexity, and arrogance against Allah is perdition…”
The above words are worth pondering upon. They are food for thought. They teach us how to control our tongue and not to open our mouths concerning issues of which we lack proper knowledge and sufficient information, or regarding matters that do not concern us.
Even a cursory glance at the environment around us and the course of history and civilization proves the sagacity of these golden words, since it is an undeniable fact that whatever crises have been created and the streams of blood that have been made to flow incessantly, are all due to sedition that spreads through the babbling of the ignorant and the threats of arrogant.
Thus a sensible person, especially a Muslim, ought to be generous to a fault and admit his or her own error instead of disobeying God by being obstinate, arrogant, irrational, and stuck up in self-deceit.
These bezels of wisdom that guide us towards peace, fraternity and success, both in this transient world and in afterlife, were expressed by the person whose birthday we celebrate every year on the 10th of the lunar month of Rajab – this year the coincidence of this auspicious anniversary with the Ten-Day Dawn that marks the 1979 victory of the Islamic Revolution has indeed doubled the joys of the Iranian nation.
He was the 9th Infallible Heir of the Almighty’s Last Messenger to mankind, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA). He was born in Medina in the year 195 AH and was the namesake of the Prophet.
He was so spotlessly pure that he came to acquire the epithet “at-Taqi”. At the same time he was so generous with not whatever meager worldly possessions God had given but also his infinite Divinely-granted knowledge and wisdom that he soon earned fame as “al-Jawad”.
Thus when we speak of Imam Muhammad at-Taqi al-Jawad (AS), several scenes vividly flash across our mind from his brief but bright life that continues to be a beacon of light for believers till this day despite the passing of a millennium and two centuries.
For instance, we remember his tearful farewell – as a six-year old – to his father, Imam Reza (AS), who was forced to leave Medina for distant Khorasan by the Abbasid regime.
At the age of 8 the mantle of Divinely-designated leadership came to rest on his shoulders following his father’s martyrdom, but despite his tender years he proved he was the pride of such Prophets as John (Yahya) and Jesus, who were entrusted with the Divine Mission by God in childhood.
Next we come across his initial encounter with his father’s assassin, Mamoun. The haughty self-styled caliph gapes wide in disbelief at the sight of a boy standing calm and unperturbed as other boys of the same age flee in awe and reverence at the approach of the heavily armed entourage – all mounted on caparisoned horses.
Having discovered the identity of the boy-Imam the crafty caliph is rather relieved that the one who punctured his pomp and pride was not an ordinary Arab but a member of a family known for its steadfastness right from the cradle.
The next scene that brightens our mind’s eye is Mamoun’s bewilderment when his hopes of belittling the still beardless Imam Muhammad Taqi (AS) by pitting him in a scholarly debate with the Mu’tazalite ideologue Yahya ibn Aktham, are shattered.
To the astonishment of the whole court the Prophet’s young successor coolly provides elaborate answers to the complicated questions posed by the grey-bearded scholar, but when it is the latter’s turn to reply to the Imam’s queries, he is short of words and stutters for answers that appear beyond his comprehension until the boy-Imam himself explains.
Mamoun is clearly stupefied. He is at his wit’s end, but it is little he can do to confront the God-given knowledge and wisdom beyond years of a lad who is actually demonstrating to the people of his age, the Power of the Almighty, as the Prophets, John and Prophet, had demonstrated.
The reason the treacherous caliph decides to give his daughter in marriage to the youth is not out of any sincerity for the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt but to try to keep the 9th Imam under surveillance and prevent the populace from recognizing their true and rightful leader – as he had done earlier by forcing Imam Reza (AS) to accept being his heir, leave Medina and come to live at his capital in Marv.
In spite of Abbasid stratagems so magnanimous was the 9th Imam that when his mortal enemy Mamoun requested a supplication for safety during the wars, he readily obliged. He taught him the Herz al-Jawad – a talisman the faithful wear till this day to successfully ward off evil, long after Mamoun and the Abbasids have passed into oblivion without any success since all their endeavours were evil. Without purity of purpose and sincerity of intention no prayer or supplication works.
There are several other momentous scenes, whether in Baghdad or in Medina, during the 17-year mission of Imam Jawad (AS). Volumes would be required to go into details. How astutely he checked Abbasid oppression. How he transmitted to the Ummah the genuine hadith and pristine Sunnah (practice) of his ancestor the Prophet. How he expounded the exact meanings of the Revealed Word of God, and on this firm basis how he unravelled the dynamism of the shari’ah, ranging from social norms to the correct form of punishment for habitual thieves, whose four fingers ought to be cut off – after due warning and probing of the case – and not the entire hand as some misconstrue. The culprit, after all, is a creature of God, in need of Divine mercy and therefore cannot be deprived of the right way to pray, which requires the placing of both the palms on the ground during prostration.
I end this brief column by recalling another vivid scene from the life of the 9th Imam. The place is the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. A serious discussion on religious issues is in progress. The centre of the gathering is a venerable old man. He is Ali ibn Ja’far, the son of the Prophet’s 6th Infallible Successor, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS). At this moment a lad enters. The elderly gentleman instantly stands to his feet. Without bothering to put on the cloak on his shoulders as is customary, he comes forward barefoot and kisses the lad on his forehead. He addresses him in a most respectful manner and places him on his own seat. The people chide Ali ibn Ja’far for behaving in such a humble way to the grandson of his late brother Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS).
Ali ibn Ja’far rebukes them saying: How can I not respect him when it is God Almighty, Who has placed the Divine Trust in this boy.
By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz
“Delay of repentance is (self) deception, excessive procrastination is perplexity, and arrogance against Allah is perdition…”
The above words are worth pondering upon. They are food for thought. They teach us how to control our tongue and not to open our mouths concerning issues of which we lack proper knowledge and sufficient information, or regarding matters that do not concern us.
Even a cursory glance at the environment around us and the course of history and civilization proves the sagacity of these golden words, since it is an undeniable fact that whatever crises have been created and the streams of blood that have been made to flow incessantly, are all due to sedition that spreads through the babbling of the ignorant and the threats of arrogant.
Thus a sensible person, especially a Muslim, ought to be generous to a fault and admit his or her own error instead of disobeying God by being obstinate, arrogant, irrational, and stuck up in self-deceit.
These bezels of wisdom that guide us towards peace, fraternity and success, both in this transient world and in afterlife, were expressed by the person whose birthday we celebrate every year on the 10th of the lunar month of Rajab – this year the coincidence of this auspicious anniversary with the Ten-Day Dawn that marks the 1979 victory of the Islamic Revolution has indeed doubled the joys of the Iranian nation.
He was the 9th Infallible Heir of the Almighty’s Last Messenger to mankind, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA). He was born in Medina in the year 195 AH and was the namesake of the Prophet.
He was so spotlessly pure that he came to acquire the epithet “at-Taqi”. At the same time he was so generous with not whatever meager worldly possessions God had given but also his infinite Divinely-granted knowledge and wisdom that he soon earned fame as “al-Jawad”.
Thus when we speak of Imam Muhammad at-Taqi al-Jawad (AS), several scenes vividly flash across our mind from his brief but bright life that continues to be a beacon of light for believers till this day despite the passing of a millennium and two centuries.
For instance, we remember his tearful farewell – as a six-year old – to his father, Imam Reza (AS), who was forced to leave Medina for distant Khorasan by the Abbasid regime.
At the age of 8 the mantle of Divinely-designated leadership came to rest on his shoulders following his father’s martyrdom, but despite his tender years he proved he was the pride of such Prophets as John (Yahya) and Jesus, who were entrusted with the Divine Mission by God in childhood.
Next we come across his initial encounter with his father’s assassin, Mamoun. The haughty self-styled caliph gapes wide in disbelief at the sight of a boy standing calm and unperturbed as other boys of the same age flee in awe and reverence at the approach of the heavily armed entourage – all mounted on caparisoned horses.
Having discovered the identity of the boy-Imam the crafty caliph is rather relieved that the one who punctured his pomp and pride was not an ordinary Arab but a member of a family known for its steadfastness right from the cradle.
The next scene that brightens our mind’s eye is Mamoun’s bewilderment when his hopes of belittling the still beardless Imam Muhammad Taqi (AS) by pitting him in a scholarly debate with the Mu’tazalite ideologue Yahya ibn Aktham, are shattered.
To the astonishment of the whole court the Prophet’s young successor coolly provides elaborate answers to the complicated questions posed by the grey-bearded scholar, but when it is the latter’s turn to reply to the Imam’s queries, he is short of words and stutters for answers that appear beyond his comprehension until the boy-Imam himself explains.
Mamoun is clearly stupefied. He is at his wit’s end, but it is little he can do to confront the God-given knowledge and wisdom beyond years of a lad who is actually demonstrating to the people of his age, the Power of the Almighty, as the Prophets, John and Prophet, had demonstrated.
The reason the treacherous caliph decides to give his daughter in marriage to the youth is not out of any sincerity for the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt but to try to keep the 9th Imam under surveillance and prevent the populace from recognizing their true and rightful leader – as he had done earlier by forcing Imam Reza (AS) to accept being his heir, leave Medina and come to live at his capital in Marv.
In spite of Abbasid stratagems so magnanimous was the 9th Imam that when his mortal enemy Mamoun requested a supplication for safety during the wars, he readily obliged. He taught him the Herz al-Jawad – a talisman the faithful wear till this day to successfully ward off evil, long after Mamoun and the Abbasids have passed into oblivion without any success since all their endeavours were evil. Without purity of purpose and sincerity of intention no prayer or supplication works.
There are several other momentous scenes, whether in Baghdad or in Medina, during the 17-year mission of Imam Jawad (AS). Volumes would be required to go into details. How astutely he checked Abbasid oppression. How he transmitted to the Ummah the genuine hadith and pristine Sunnah (practice) of his ancestor the Prophet. How he expounded the exact meanings of the Revealed Word of God, and on this firm basis how he unravelled the dynamism of the shari’ah, ranging from social norms to the correct form of punishment for habitual thieves, whose four fingers ought to be cut off – after due warning and probing of the case – and not the entire hand as some misconstrue. The culprit, after all, is a creature of God, in need of Divine mercy and therefore cannot be deprived of the right way to pray, which requires the placing of both the palms on the ground during prostration.
I end this brief column by recalling another vivid scene from the life of the 9th Imam. The place is the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. A serious discussion on religious issues is in progress. The centre of the gathering is a venerable old man. He is Ali ibn Ja’far, the son of the Prophet’s 6th Infallible Successor, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS). At this moment a lad enters. The elderly gentleman instantly stands to his feet. Without bothering to put on the cloak on his shoulders as is customary, he comes forward barefoot and kisses the lad on his forehead. He addresses him in a most respectful manner and places him on his own seat. The people chide Ali ibn Ja’far for behaving in such a humble way to the grandson of his late brother Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS).
Ali ibn Ja’far rebukes them saying: How can I not respect him when it is God Almighty, Who has placed the Divine Trust in this boy.
