Safar 19th (Sunday)

Unfortunately life of all the aemma could not be covered as planned.
One question was that how did Shiism spread in the world. We read about Sudayr's hadith that he claimed there were hundreds of thousands of Shias whereas Imam considered not even seventeen as shias. SO the answer is that though all of them were shais but not according to the standards of the Imam i.e. true, faithful, and real Shias.
Some people thought that if an Imam did not perform jihad with a sword then he is not an imam.
When Imam would emphasize on something some people would interpret it as taqqiyya.
Then there were Ghalis who used to exxagerate. Calling the Imams sometimes god, sometimes prophet. Imams were harsh with such people. In a hadith from Muffaddal ibne Umar, who was a special student of the Imam, it is said that Imam said about the Ghalis that do not sit with them, do not eat with them and do not shake hands with them. Imam asked for a social boycott with such people.
The leader of the Ghalis was Abul Khattab. Imam said about him that Abul Khattab Mohammad Abi Zainab Al-Hajda is cursed and all his companions be cursed. Keep away from those who say what he says. I am disgusted with them. Our ancesters used to stay awy from such people*.
Our 6th Imam advised to protect our children and youth from the beliefs of the Ghalis.

About Zaid-e-Shaheed: His mother's name was Jayyad. She was a slave-girl bought by Mukhtar-e-Sakhafi for 30,000 dirham and gifted to Imam Sajjad (a.s.) . Though Zaid was a good person, a youth of good physique (21 years younger than Imam Baqir (as.)), he was emotional too. The situation was so suffocating that he could not do sabr like the aemma. He went to Imam and said that the people of Kufa are ready to rise for Bani Hashim. Imam told him that do not trust the people of Kufa so much. Zaid was also a seasoned traveller who would go to different cities and do campaign against the Bani Ummayya.
In the year 122 A.H., he began an uprising. The Kufans had agreed to support by removing the governor and capturing the 'Darul Imara". The plan was to do this right after Salatul Jum'a. Lots of people gather in the masjid but the someone leaked the plan. The governor informed Hisham who ordered the masjid to be surrounded by the soldiers and each and eveyone inside was brutally murdered. Zaid and some fo his followers were supposed to meet at an another place where an arrow hit his head. Later he was beheaded. His companions buried his body secrectly under a stream by stopping the water. But then one ofthem could not keep the secret and the this intelligence reached the caliph. Bani Ummayyia got the grave dug again and the nody of Zaid was hung at the gate of the city for four years.
There are several ahadith about Zaid-e-Shaheed. Some of them comdemn his actions and some praise him.
contd....

Safar 18th (Saturday)

When prophet was leaving this world, he left behind two weighty things: the Qur’an and the Ahlul Bayt. It is very difficult to understand the Qur’an without asbaabul nuzul, or the meanings of the ayahs. Similarly, if we do not know the conditions and the circumstances in which the aemma lived, we cannot understand their stance or their strategy. We have to know what a particular imam left behind, how many followers he had.
Aemma who were the guided ones, best leaders, with support of Allah could not take government in their hands. As already mentioned the first was the kind and quality of companions that the aemma had. A number of traditions were mentioned in which they complained about their shias. If you would have a cover on your tongues, I would have told you things that were good for you but since you cannot keep a secret I cannot tell you.* What was good for them is the Islamic state. Banu Abbas did not abide by any rule, they wanted to get the hukumah by hook or by crook, aemma were not only momin but Ameerul Momeneen. They would always take the ‘aula’ side( the better side) of everything. Banu Abbas started giving bribes, buying loyalties. During the caliphate of Imam Ali someone suggested that since he was losing popularity, he should give incentives to prominent figures, who will then support him, Imam said that this person was suggesting to him that he should take hukumat with the help of suppression, taking a piece of bread from the mouth of a poor person and giving to the rich, he will never do that*. Banu Hashim were not free since they followed the teachings of Islam. One more thing was that aemma had to calculate fairly and adequately how many people are required to take the government into their hands and convert the movement into a revolution. After the revolution, they also needed people/companions to rule afterwards. Imam alone could not do it, he was not supposed to perform a miracle but instead follow a natural path. Likewise, a problem that occurred from the days of 4th imam was the difference of opinion about imamat of every imam.
During the imamat of our 5th imam, followers of Zaid ibne Ali claimed him to be an imam. The movement weakened. Another problem that emerged was that of a sect who believed, just to escape from performance of Furu’-e-Deen (namaz, roza, hajj), there is no need to do anything. Merely crying over Imam Hussain (a.s.) is enough. Although they could see how Imam Sajjad (a.s.) emphasized on Zuhd. Those who were exploiting the ahadith, did not see that Imam is known for his salaat and sitting on the mussalla.
There is a hadíth that says, do you believe some of Islam and reject portion of Islam*. This kind of Islam will not benefit you but harm you. If you are ready to perform namaz but not ready to pay khums, then such a namaz will not be accepted*. Islam is to be accepted as a whole, and not selectively. Ghallis gave a hard time to Imam. They would distort his message by saying that the emphasis by Imam on taqwa, for example, was due to taqqiyya.
Imam had the ability to read between the lines of Qur’an.
Another raavi says whenever I go to Kufa, I find two people arguing about something, then my emaan starts shaking then I go to Muffazzil, your student, he puts me in the right perspective*. Imam replied that you are right, people have become used to blaming us with bad words, associate us with bad things that we never said. They speak these things as if they were told by Allah to say that (associate false things to us). Whenever I tell something to somebody, before he leaves our home, he actually changes the meanings of what I said and corrupts my hadíth, tells the wrong meaning to others*.
How can we say that they were not able to establish hukumah if this was the condition of the shias of those times.

Meesam-e-Tammar had a shop. Imam Ali (a.s.) was sitting there. Ibne Muljim cam eto buy some dates. After he left Imam asked Meesam if you know him? he said yes he is ibne Muljim, Imam said yes, he is the one who will murder me. Meesam said, why did you not tell me earlier, I would have killed him right away. Imam said, should I punish someone before he has actually committed a sin?*
Now someone can ask then why did Hazrat Khizr kill the boy?
(patience is necessary for ilm) [Knowledge is different from information. We may have a lot of information but may not have as much knowledge. ‘Ilm is a light, that Allah puts it in the hearts of selective people (whoever He pleases). A person who acts upon his knowledge, Allah rewards him with more knowledge. If someone does not act upon his knowledge then he is like a cassette player who is replaying whatever he read in books.
Once Agha Haddad-e-Aadil, 25-30 years ago, used to nail horseshoes. Haddad asked another Alim if he read salaat, he said yes, Haddad asked what do you think of while praying, he said I think of the meanings of the verses, then Haddad asked in that case when do you read salaat then?]
Khizr said that he killed the boy since he would have done a great sin in the future. When our Holy Prophet came, he was Rahmatullil Aalameen. Previous shariats had punishment for bad intentions too. But due to blessing of Holy Prophet , there are no punishments for just the intention. Another Rahmat is that a person will be rewarded for good intentions even before actually doing that good thing. In old Shariats, najis cloth could not be made tahir, but would be cut and thrown away. Previously, fat was haram to eat in those days, Azaab would come for wrongs done by a community but not any more due to the blessing of the Holy Prophet.

Eisa was a raavi who said to Imam if he can tell him about the conditions of shias. One group of shias have started worshipping you like Jesus, say la ilaha illa sadiq (Nauzo billah) , another group calls you a prophet. Imam replied If God gives me power and I did not kill them when they come in front of me, then Allah may kill my son with my own hands*. The tone shows that Imam was disgusted with such people. He cursed the group who considered the big sins as small, did shirk, were misguided themselves, and mislead others, so that they could run away from responsibilities and rights of others.

Safar 17th (Friday)

You need an Islamic government to implement the Islamic Laws. When Imam Ali (a.s.) was silent for 25 years, his goal was still the establishment of a true Islamic government.

The state of 'taqqiya' is a kind of suffocation.

When Banu Abbas ans Banu Hashim, both were trying to get the hukumah, their intentions differed. One was after the 'duniya' and the other was for 'deen'.

Now the question arises that why were Banu Abbas successful and not aemma? One reason was the fact that Imam complained about not having faithful and loyal companions. a person who does not keep the secrets does not believe in aemma. As mentioend before, aemma or messengers do not perform miracles at every occassion. Miracles are not routine but exceptions to prove imamat when someone doubts it. The other reason was that it is not allowed in Islam to use unfair means to reach a noble goal. It was necessary for the imams to seek only the right way to achieve their goals. Once there was a person in the time of our 6th Imam who used to be very generous. People did not know his source of income. Gradually it became evident that he used to steal from the rich at night and distribute among the poor during the day. Once he met Imam on the way. Imam asked him if this was true about him. He said that Quran says that if you do one wrong you get one punishment for that sin but if you do one good thing you get ten rewards for it . So at the end of the day I still have nine rewards left. Imam explained to him that the good deed that comes from halal sources is counted only otherwise you get more 'gunah' instead.

When Imam Ali (a.s. ) was the caliph apparently, a person came to him and said that you are not as popular as the ones before you because you pay the same amount from the Baytul Maal to everyone whether he is an arab or ajam, whether he is rich or poor, etc. Imam replied that he is enforcing the teachings of Islam. He said that why don't you send some extra bags secretly to special people so that they are not angry with you. Imam replied that you are advising me to cheat in order to make them my followers? Get another ruler but dont expect Ali to do that. *

Banu Abbas were doing their best to get hold of the government by hook or by crook. Imams were not like them who would deceive, suppress, kill or do any illegal act. During the battle of Siffin, Imam Ali (a.s.) did not stop the water from the enemy though some companions advised him to do so. Aemma came to protect the law of Allah.
Sudayr Surayfi, who was a reliable person, narrates that he asked Imam to take over with the help of his shias. Imam asked him how many were they and he said 100,000 and Imam repeated this with surprize to which he said 200,000 and when Imam showed astonishment again, he said half of the world is with you. At this Imam brought him outside and pointed towards a herd of sheep and said if we had even this many we would have stood up*. Sudayr says he went ahead and counted them and found them to be seventeen in number. This shows that people who called themselves shias were many but the real shias were not even seventeen. We need to look at ourselves and see which category do we put ourselves in, are we really a Shia? Or just a lover of Ahlul Bayt? Or the lover of the lovers ?

Some people who want to do business sometimes fail because they have only thought of the capital and not the period when there will be no returns. IT takes time for profits to generate.

Imam (a.s.) had to calculate too, for example, if 100 companions are martyred in this cause he should have 100 more who would be able to govern at different posts. According to a hadith our last Imam (a.s.) would have 313 such people.
Another problem that 4th Imam faced was that until then there was no dispute about the rightful Imam. Every Shia was 100% certain who the Imam is. But Mohammad Hanafia (another son of Imam Ali) claimed imamat in front of Imam Zainul Abedeen near the Kaaba saying that he too was Imam's son and he was older than the 4th Imam , therefore he is more suitable for this post. Imam Zainul Abedeen said to him that Uncle, do not make a claim that even by going near it you are inviting the azaab of Allah*. He argued. Then it was decided that they will ask the Black Stone to tell them who the real Imam is. First Mohammad Hanafia went near and after doing dua waited but nothing happened. Then Imam Zainul Abedeen went near and read a long dua, and before he was finished they heard a voice that clearly said who the real imam was. THis was a miracle to prove his imamat. Similarly, our 5th Imam had nominated the next Imam but some people claimed Zaid as the imam. 6th Imam had to confront such problems too. This was another reason why people started doubting and they movement got divided.
Our topic is actually also discussing the Role of Shias during the time of Imams. Some people like the Ghullat (those who exaggerate about the aemma) hurt the Imams and their movement a lot. Imam even boycotted them.

Once Sudayr Surayfi came to Imam and said after salam that Shias say so many different things about you. Some say that you hear something in your ear softly, some say that you get the revelation from an angel, some say you get Ilhaam, some say you get your answers in a dream and some claim that you have books from your ancesters that you read from. Imam said whatever is being said about us is incorrect, do not believe any such thing. We are the hujjat of Allah and a trust over His creations. When we say something is halal or haram, we extract this information from the Book of Allah.*

* Paraphrased quotes, not exact.

Safar 16th (Thursday)

Life of a hermit or celibacy is not an Islamic life. The real thing is the non-attachment to the worldly life. Worldly things are the means and not the end. To earn bread or livelihood is ibadat.

As we mentioned none of the caliphs, except Imam Ali (a.s.), were able to hold all the four portfolios simultaneously. The only people who could have held all of the four positions were the aemma who were deprived of their right. They needed the support of their followers in gaining three postions only and the fourth position, that of religious guide, did not need any support. Why is that? An example is that of a surgeon who needs surgical instruments and an operation theater in order to perform. But a philosopher does not need any lab or O.T.

Maulana used an analogy to compare the movement with a train that passes through open air and if a mountain (hurdle) is in the way a tunnel is dug to make way and while passing through the tunnel it is hidden and then later it comes out in the open again.

Those who study history of a movement can also predict its natural result and time. 5th Imam was born in 37A.H. and was martyred in 114 A.H. and the 6th Imam was born in 83 A.H. and martyred in 148 A.H. The movement that was happening during the time of both these Imams was going to bring a revolution around 140 A.H.
The fall of Bani Ummayya was in 132 A.H. and Bani Abbas were able to form a government. SO the question is why was the 6th Imam not able to take over?

Qadha & Qadr
According to Imam Ali (a.s.) Qadha and Qadr is an ocean in which you should not try to get into otherwise you will be drowned.*
Qadha is the final verdict of Allah that is unchangeable. The time of certain things have been assigned by Allah that are fixed and cannot be changed in any way. For example, the Day of Qiayamat is fixed in such a way that it will come not a second earlier nor a second late.
Qadr is that verdict of Allah which is conditional and its time is not fixed and is subject to change depending on conditions.
There is a single death which is according to qadha for every soul and there are several deaths according to qadr for a single soul. For example, it is said that sadaqa removes 70 types of deaths from a person or 70 types of illnesses from a person. Therefore, by performing certain acts we are able to push aside our death that was assigned for us conditionally.

Abu Hamza Sumali narrates that he said to the Imam that he ahd heard this from Imam Baqir (a.s.) that he said Allah ahd assigned the time for the govenment to come into our hands as the year 70 A.H. but since my grandfather, Imam Hussain (as.), was murdered that angered Allah so much that the time was changed to 140 A.H. We informed you about this date but since it was not kept a secret and was told to everyone, now even we do not know the Time.*
[A movement is supposed to be secret if the ruler is a dictator who will crush it at the first opportunity.]
Abu Hamza Suamli says that the 6th Imam said that yes this hadith is correct.

The book on Ahadith has a whole chapter dedicated to the topic of " Keeping Secrets and Condemnation of Disclosing Secrets". Out of the hundreds of Ahadith, eighty percent of them are from Imam Ja'far Saidq (a.s.). In one of the Ahadith, he says that he cannot find a person with whom he could share a secret.* In another hadith he says that even if I tell you something, it will be out fo Madinah before you do.* Anyone who discloses our secrets, rejects us. Such a person has deceived the whole community.
If I had found pious people, then I would have told them things.*
If someone sighs in over our misery, it is like doing tasbeeh; and if he sighs over and over again, then it is like ibadat; keeping our secret is a jihad in the way of Allah. This hadith should be written with gold.

A famous book called "Tohful Uqool" has some Ahadith that are 22 pages long. One hadith narrated by Abu Ja'far Naumani, also known as Momin-e-Taq, is that the 6th Imam recited the 82nd verse of Surah-e-Nisa:

أَفَلاَ يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِندِ غَيْرِ اللّهِ لَوَجَدُواْ فِيهِ اخْتِلاَفًا كَثِيراً {82}
Do they not comtemplate the Qur'an? Had it been from [someone] other than Allah, they would ahve surely found much discrepancy in it.

A human's words/thoughts/ideas cn change or develop overtime from childhood to oldage. For example, Allama Iqbal's peotry had a different tone initailly but later inlife after studying philosophy his poems had a more deeper meaning.

After reciting the above ayah, Imam spoke (a long hadith, highlighs are:) Anyone who exposes our secret is like the one who has pulled a sword against us. Mau Allah bless that person who heard our secret and buried it under his feet. One who discloses our secrets is not only our murderer but worse sinner, worse sinner, worse sinner*.


Imam Ali(a.s.) says in Nahjul Balagha that he would prefer to exchange his ten companions with one of Muawiya's companion because his companions are loyal and my companions are not faithful.

Safar 15th (Wednesday)

وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِنَا وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهِمْ فِعْلَ الْخَيْرَاتِ وَإِقَامَ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاء الزَّكَاةِ وَكَانُوا لَنَا عَابِدِينَ {73}
Surah-e-Anbiya(21), verse 73: We made them imams, guiding by Our command, and we revealed to them the performance of good deeds, the maintenance of prayers, and the giving of zakat, and they used to worship Us.

When the right of khilafat was taken away from Imam Ali (a.s.), he had asked for help, knocked many doors, nobody could say he never asked. There were two types of people: those who were with him even without asking like Abuzar and Salman and those, a large group, who would tell him to forget about taking back your right, instead should only engage in worship, since humanity was created to worship Allah, etc. Imam knew well that worship without responsibility or forsaking duty is not acceptable.
Even today, the batil wants to see if we would come out on the streets to protest when it is needed or remain in deep slumber.
After the incident of Karbala, the circumstances were such that people got secluded, busy with their individual worships, not supporting the Imam. In the disguise of Islam, not obeying Islam.
Like some people say that Imam Ali (a.s.) used to eat dry bread and Imam Baqir(a.s.) used to work in the fields, why don't the molvis of today copy their seerat? Imam Ali (a.s.) was in no need to go to Qom and do a thorough learning for 10 years, he had the 'ilm-e-ladunni from Allah. You can compare the position of an alim who is like a spiritual physician with the a doctor who studies for so many years and then serves the people and at the same time gets paid for his services.

In those days, people got used to staying away from other things and living in seclusion. And such people got more respect while those who worked became less respectful.
Once Mohammed Ibne Mankedar saw our 5th Imam working in the field in severe heat. He thought to himself that today he will go and preach him about indulging in worldly matters. He went near and said salam to the imam. Imam (a.s.) replied. That man objected to him and said that if you die right away how will you show your face to Allah? Imam replied that if I die in this condition, it would be the best Ibadat.
When he heard this he realized that he wanted to preach the imam but he has in fact taught him something instead.
Another ravi says that once he visited the Imam in a house that was well decorated. He also, saw that the imam was wearing a dress (that was slightly wet) with a shawl of bright color over his shoulders. He also noticed that the color of the shawl was not fast and the color had come on the shirt. This person started looking around and at the Imam without saying anything. Imam asked him what is it? He didnt want to say but when the Imam insisted, he said that the clothes that you are wearing, our youth wear such clothes. Imam read an ayah.
A good house is a blessing, although this is my wife's house and I have just been married. My house is the same that you have already seen. *

The reason that aemma did not wear simple or mended clothes all the time is because such an act would have been percieved as wajib by the people if all the fourteen Masoomeen did something exactly the same way. If our aemma would have always read the salat at the time of fazilat, then the people would have thought that reading 15 minutes late is not allowed. Therefore, if a house is built with halal money then there is no harm in it.
Due to the dicoveries and availbility of raw material and other advancements , the standard of living of the people has also been raised. At the time of Hazrat Eisa (a.s.) riding a donkey was an ordinary thing but now it is not considered as appropriate.

Once Sufyaan-e-Sauri saw our 6th Imam who was wearing good clothes. He went upto him and objected saying that the Ahlul Bayt did not wear such clothes. Imam pulled up his shirt to show the shirt under which was old and rough and said that this is for Allah. Then Imam asked him to show what he was wearing under his simple clothes and saw silken and soft shirt underneath.

Zuhd means that if any blessing is taken away, it would not make any difference to you.

Once when Hisham came for hajj to Makkah, Imam Ja'far Sadiq gave a sermon in the presence of his father to the hajjis. Some of the highlights of his sermon were: Praise of Allah who send down the Prophet and gave us respect due to his messenger; He made us better than all the people; only he would succeed who follows us and someone who is against us is unlucky. Hisham could not bear this and he moved away to another spot and started giving a speech himself but hardly anyone came to hear him. This made him so mad that when he returned to Sham he called for these two Imams to come to Syria.
There was a time when Imam Sajjad (a.s.) could not say things so openly therefore he used to say them through duas but now the 6th Imam is able to say in front of the king that the government belongs to the Imams.

Hisham called the Imam twice to humiliate him. Once he gathered his ulema, qari and mullas to criticise the imam. Then he himself said to Imam that you always spread disunity among the Muslims. Imam spoke to the people and asked them where are you going and where are you being taken to? The first person guided was because of us and the last person to be guided would be because of us. You have the control of the goventment now , don't forget that one day it will be ours. Hisham became so angry at this that he put the Imam in the prison but there was so much agitation that within three days he had to free the Imam and send him back to Madinah.

We draw the conclusion from it that the imam was openly claiming his right as compared to the 4th Imam who at that time was only introducing the Ahlul Bayt.
If we gather all the sayings of Imam Zainul Abedeen, we see that the message is that of zuhd whereas today our 6th Imam's tone is harsh. Today the same duas became the sermons. At that time there were very few followers but now there is a crowd waiting to see him. Many ulema of other sects would come to learn a few words from him.

It was the struggle and aim of every Imam to work for the creation of an Islamic goventment based on justice.
The Movement started by the Holy Prophet was halted at his demise. When after 25 years the people came to Imam Ali (a.s.) asking him to become the Caliph, his 'aba got torn due to the multitude of people and he was afraid that his children (Hasan & Hussain ) may get crushed in crowd. The movement started gaining on but at the time of Imam Hasan (a.s.) due to the lack of loyal companions he had to accept the treaty with Muawiya. This was another blow to the movement. Again it grew and then the tragedy of Karbala took place. Then with low amplitude it moved forward. There was a time when nobody but three people came to visit Imam Zainul Abedeen and now the house of Imam Baqir is flooded with people. Among them an old man holding a cane came forward and said to the Imam that he loves him and loves those who love him and he is an enemy of the enemies of the Imam. Whatever Imam says is haram is haram and whatever the Imam says is halal is halal. I am waiting for your governance and I hope I am able to see that day. Imam replied that someone had asked a similar question from my father. If you die, you will be in the presence of the Holy Prophet, my grandfather and father; and if you live you will be our supporter*.

As we mentioned that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) had four posts. Imams were able to take only one post and that is of the spritiual leader. The movement moved forward with the spread of knowledge which has so much blessings that can reach upto the govenment.

*Note: Quotes from the Mausoomeen are paraphrased.

Safar 14th (Tuesday)

وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِنَا وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهِمْ فِعْلَ الْخَيْرَاتِ وَإِقَامَ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاء الزَّكَاةِ وَكَانُوا لَنَا عَابِدِينَ {73}
Surah-e-Anbiya(21), verse 73: We made them imams, guiding by Our command, and we revealed to them the performance of good deeds, the maintenance of prayers, and the giving of zakat, and they used to worship Us.



Due to the vacuum created by the ban on the narration of Hadith, other ideas came into being in the Sunni World like 'Istehsaan', 'Masalayha Mursala', 'Raiy', and 'Qiyas'. During the 5th Imam, Sunnis became Maliki or Hanafi. Abu Hanifa started doing Qiyas which means to solve the problems according to one's own intellect. The caliphs who were ruling the Muslim world were heedless and did not pay any attention to what was developing . There were Muslims who did not know the real Islam. Although, it was perpetuated by the aemma but very few Sunnis came to their doorstep. Most of them were following the Qiyas and Istehsaan of Abu Hanifa. Whereas, among the Shias, their number was very small, as already mentioned in the hadith from Ibne Maymoon. Due to 'taqqiya' shias were not able to go out and ask about thier problems from aemma. All that they knew was learnt from their ancesters. During this time Murjia sect also emerged. Jews who were hypocrites and disguised as Muslims corrupted the history of Islam.

At that time there were three groups among the Muslims as far as beliefs were concerned: Ash'ari, Mua'tezali, and Imami. But this division was five in number as far as practices were concerned: Hanbali, Shaf'ei, Maliki, Hanafi, and Imami.
Though Shias were under persecution, why did the Sunnis get divided, they were free.

We can understand this more by using an example. A walnut is hard from outside, and the inside cannot expand unless the shell also expands. In order for Shia ideology to grow, it was necessary that the Sunnis also develop their ideas. Once someone asked our sixth Imam (a.s.) that according to the definition anyone who denies God, or the Prophet or the obvious facts of Islam is a kafir, therefore other sects should be called kafirs. Imam told his that he was right according to the definiton but the reason we accept them as Muslims is that they are like a shield for us. If Imam wanted to explain something in detail, they would have called this 'bid'at' (innovation). But since there is a competition among them too, in the field of knowledge that they cannot stop Shias from promoting their Shariat. The development of the Sunni Shariat was a reactionary movemnent. The Imams did not exploit the situation of the Sunnis by following the divide and rule policy (ideologically). Instead they challenged them so that they may do better. Imam Ali (a.s.) had said 'salooni...' ask me whatever you want to ask.. '. But 5th Imam said about Sunni Alims, Salma ibne Kuhail and Hakam ibne Qaeyna, that go to East or West but you will not find true 'ilm but from the doorstep of Ahlul Bayt.
The first masala of tawzeehul Masail says that taqleed is not allowed in Beliefs. It means that you may go and search/research but you will find Islam as the best and truest religion.
He made those people like Hasan Basri his students. He narrated ahadith so much that he revived this important source of Islam. One of the rulers of the Ummayyid Dynasty was Omar ibne Abdul Aziz, he was obliged to remove the ban of narrating ahadith.

The Sunnis were able to fill the political void but they were not successful in other areas. According to Ayatullah Mutahheri, Holy Prophet had three positions.
1) He was the religious leader; he received revelations from God.
2) He was the social leader.
3) He was the Qazi (judge) to solve the differences between two Muslims or groups of Muslims.
And Maulana added another position and that was of
4)Chief of Army. The Holy Prophet used to go to the battles, decide who would be the flag-bearer, define the strategy as in battle of Uhud when he asked 50 archers to stay put at the top of a hill; or when ordering to dig a moat during the battle of Khandaq, etc.

But when the apparent Caliphs took charge they could only hold one position and that was of a social leader. Neither were they a judge nor were they a commander nor were they a spiritual guide. At the time of the 5th Imam , the caliphs were only rulers.

Safar 13th (Monday)

وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِنَا وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهِمْ فِعْلَ الْخَيْرَاتِ وَإِقَامَ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاء الزَّكَاةِ وَكَانُوا لَنَا عَابِدِينَ {73}
Surah-e-Anbiya(21), verse 73: We made them imams, guiding by Our command, and we revealed to them the performance of good deeds, the manitenance of prayers, and the giving of zakat, and they used to worship Us.


All aemma are role models for us. In the duas, there is some message that is conveyed to us after the merits.
Let us discuss the difficulties faced by Imam Zainul Abedeen(a.s).
1) His face was not very well known. People knew Ali Akbar(a.s.) as Ali ibnul Hussain and not Imam Zainul Abedeen(a.s.).
2) One year had passed after the tragedy of Karbala and it was very difficult to gather companions and do jihad. Also, Madinah was far from Sham which was the center of government, how to start a successful movement that was so far away from the capital was the question. He did this in the shape of duas. He introduced the concept of real imamat. The 220 salawat show that Ale Mohammad have the same dignity as before and that they are still struggling and are at war with them (the usurpers).
When during hajj, Imam (a.s.) wanted to kiss the Black Stone and the crowd gave way to him compared to Hisham, the governor, whose soldiers could not even move the crowd for him. Can anyone say that this was the same Imam who was defamed? Allah restored his 'izzah'.

Imam Baqir (a.s.) was born on 25th of Rajab in 37th Hijri. At the time of the incident of Karbala, he was 3 or 4 years old. He himself says that when my grandfather was killed , I was four years old at that time and I remember his martyrdom vividly and the tragedies that befell us.

The title of 'Baqir'(meaning one who splits, penetrates, break opens as, for example, a walnut; he opened the closed globe of knowledge) was given to him by the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.). Once when his brother, Zaid-e-Shaheed who was a lover of Ahlul Bayt and a supporter of Imam's movement, was called by Hisham to his court and after asking him about other matters, he asked him how his brother 'Baqara' (meaning cow) was doing in Madinah; Zaid replied that the title of Baqirul Uloom was given to him by the Holy Prophet (s.a.) himself. If you are saying baqara, then you are differing from the Prophet and one who disputes the Prophet in this world will differ with him in the next world. Prophet would go to the Heaven and don't know about you.
From this we understand that this title became famous during his time.

Background:
Let us analyze the Sunni world at that time. There was a ban on the narration of any tradition from the Holy Prophet during the time of the first khalifa. This ban became more strong during the time of the second khalifa. The governors had orders not to narrate hadith. People were deprived of this source. Therefore, gradually it became more and more difficult to understand the Holy Qur'an. We know that everything is not mentioned in the Qur'an. For example, if we want to give our kidney to someone else, or donate blood, etc; what is the ruling? Why is it that only our nation (Shiites) asks questions about the Shar'i opinion in this regard? Because no other religion is capable of providing these answers. Have we ever heard what the Budhists have to say about this? They don't have Shari'at but we consider Islam as a living religion that is why we seek answers from Islam.
The sayings of the Holy Prophet were the explanation of the Qur'an. When new lands were annexed to the Islamic world, new problems and new cases arose. Since these people gave up the door of the Ahlul Bayt, there became a vacuum of knowledge and information. That is the reason that every thing got sucked into it.
We have a few hundred mujtahids at one time but they did not have any real mujtahid , instead every mulla was a mujtahid in himself and would give a fatwa from his own. In the book, Kashf fina fi hujjatiya, it is mentioned that during the second half of the century , people had forgotten how to pray or how to do hajj. Once Ibn-e-Abbas went to Basra during the month of Ramadhan. On the last night of the month, fitra was mentioned. He asked the people to pay the sadaqa for their fasts, to take out the fitra, nobody understood him. Then he asked if anyone from Madinah was present there? A few stood up, he asked them to explain.. .. In another sunni book, Nazarat-e-aemma, the historian says that during the middle of the government of Bani Ummayia, people did not know the Fiqh except for the people of Madinah. We can well imagine the reason for this, it was the blessing of the presence of the Ahlul Bayt.

Anas ibne Malik said that he cannot see anything that would resemble Prophet's, people asked him: not even salat? and he said not even salat.
When Imam Zainul Abedeen once read the Azan and reached 'hayya 'ala khairil 'amal', someone objected , then Imam told him that this is how it used to be during the time of the Holy Prophet.

Now let us look at the condition of the Shi'i World.
There were oppressive rulers like Hajjaj bin Yusuf who used to call Shias Kafirs and their murder as wajib. Once he ordered his soldiers to surround a masjid (full of lovers of the Ahlul Bayt) and himself went inside and killed each and everyone of them. It is really amazing how Shiaism still survived.
The author of the book, Fazail-e-Ali, wrote that what you are seeing is not ink but my blood since I will be killed after this attempt.

Taqqiya grew more and more until a time when, according to Rijal-e-Kashfi, Shias knew about religion only as much as an elder in the house had taught them. We can compare this with the fact 25-30 years ago , when in India and Pakistan, we knew what our elders taught us or whatever was in 'Tohfatul Awaam'. But with the blessings of the Islamic Revolution, so many books were written and printed, so much knowledge spread that now most of us know a lot already.

When during the time of our fifth Imam, Jewish people became Muslim apprarently, they brought with them the information from their books regarding, for example, the messengers which is know as Israeliaat. The Sunnis adopted those narrations. It is said about Prophet Dawood that he wanted to marry the wife of his commander (Auriya) , so he sent him on a mission where he would definitely die, and then he married his wife. Such things about the immacualte messengers creeped in the books of Sunni world from Jews. Imam Baqir (a.s.) said about them that whoever comes in front of me claiming to be a Muslim and says that Hazrat Dawood married Auriya's wife, then I will punish him on account of two things: one, blasphemy against the nabi and other leaving the religion.

Then there were Khawarij who though many were killed in the Battle of Neherwan but some nine were left and one of them was Ibne Muljim.
Another sect that came up was called 'Murjia' who said that beliefs are enough and no need for practicing anything.
One more problem was of 'Ghalis'. These were the people who went over the limits regarding the aemma. Sometimes we have this problem in the marsias or qasidaas when the poet praises the belief of 'Nusayris'. This is a fine line that they cross over towards shirk.

Imam Ja'far Sadiq (a.s.) has said that praise us in any way you like, but don't call us Rab.

In one hadith it is narrated by Ibne Maymoon that when Imam asked him how many were they in Makkah, he said four, he said you are like a ray of hope (a light in darkness). We know that people had made way for the fourth Imam when he wanted to touch the Black Stone, it was because he was popular, possessed high moral character, not because those people accepted him as Imam.

It was the goal of all the aemma to establish an Islamic government. This is the only way where you can enforce the laws of the Shariat. Otherwise how can you implement laws, how can you punish transgressors?
Ravi says he told Imam that we are big in numbers, if you order us we will follow you (in battle). Imam asked him if you took some money from the pocket of you brother, will he object to it? He said of course, then Imam said if people are not willing to part from their money how can they give their blood? Only if there is so much unity and brotherhood that one does not mind the other taking his money. People are more stingy in regard to their lives.
Once our 5th Imam was sitting with his back to wall of Zamzam with his slave called Aslam. Hazrat Mohammad s/o Abdullah s/o Hasan-e-Mussanna s/o Imam Hasan(a.s.) passed by. Imam foretold Aslam that Mohammad ibne Abdullah will be killed brutally. Then he also told him not to tell this to anyone. But Aslam says he could not keep this and told someone who came and asked the Imam if it was true. Imam turned to Aslam and said that you can't keep a secret. Even if the whole word became Shia then 3/4 of them would still doubt our Imamat and 1/4 would be foolish. If you can't keep a secret , put your mouth in a well and say it.

It was Imam Hussain (a.s.) who had claimed that I have not seen any companions more faithful and loyal than mine.

Safar 12th (Sunday)

We already discussed the circumstances and conditions during the time of Imam Zainul Abedeen (a.s.). A hadith from him says that 'there were not twenty people in the whole of Makkah and Madinah who would love them.' Imam Mohammed Baqir (a.s.) says that everybody became murtad except three people: abwa Kabuli, Yahya, Jubair. They used to visit the Ahlul Bayt.
Tonight, some of the responsibilities that Imam Zainul Abedeen had to shoulder will be discussed .
1) His first responsibility was that he had to take care of the orphans who had survived the event of Kerbala. He said about Mukhtar that do not abuse him since he killed our killers, provided husbands to our widows and took upon himself their expenditure.
2) His second responsibility was to introduce the real Ahlul Bayt to the people of Syria. If we analyze the two khutbas given by the Imam at Kufa and at Sham, we see that in Kufa he does not say who he was but in Sham he had a different tone.
The third responsibility was to introduce the Holy Qur'an in the proper way.
Yazid had recited a couplet when the caravan had reached his court that 'Bani Hashim had played a game to grab power and there was no wahy nor any prophet who came'.
Imam had to prove him wrong. He knew that he will never get another chance and it was a very difficult task.
4) The fourth duty was to make new companions since all the faithful and loyal people were martyred at Karbala.
THis is his message for us: how to survive, how to introduce Islam, Ahlul Bayt, Qur'an and their teachings without any resources. How difficult it was for him to do this without companions or resources. Even all messengers did not perform miracles. Imam performed like any other preacher. One was to save himself from the plots of the ruler, etc. He saw six rulers of Bani Ummayia during his lifespan of 45 years. One of them was Hajjaj bin Yusuf, a very brutal dictator. The famous incident of Hurra took place under his orders.
After the return of the Ahlul Bayt from Kufa and SHam to Madinah, people started realizing their own disloyalty and out of this guilt, they started agitating against Yazid's rule. At that time the governor of Madinah, Usman, sent four people to the court of Yazid so that they may change their opinion about him by the treatment and gifts from him. Instead they witnessed Yazid's character first hand, how he openly drank wine, etc. After their return the people revolted which was brutally crushed. At the end the people were forced to do bay'at of Yazid accepting to be his slaves. At that time Imam Zainul Abedeen was in the city of Madinah. It was very difficult for him, either to support them or to be against them.
In Nahjul Balagha, Imam Ali(a.s.) has said that during the time of 'fitna' be like a young camel who is too young to either be used for carrying weight or for milking. Imam too said queitly.
He preached through the duas and supplications. It was not easy to get the title of 'Syed-e-Sajjad' or Zainul Abideen' from among the twelve Imams. He had to protect against the plots of the ruler. If he would have raised the sword, history would have called that insanity.
Coming back to what Yazid said in his couplet mentioned above, Imam responded by a sermon in the fully packed court of Yazid.

Imam Zainul Abedeen (a.s.) was not very well known since the person known as Ali ibnul Hussain was Hazrat Ali Akbar. That is why when hte caravan reached the court of Ibne Ziyad he asked you Imam was and when he said he is Ali Ibnul Hussain, he said but Allah killed him at Kabala. Imam replied that he was his brother who was killed by you people. This shows that they thought they had killed Ali Ibnul Hussain.

For any movement to succeed, it should be near the capital whereas Madinah was very far from Sham. It was not possible without companions, resources, etc.

The first duty that Imam Zainul Abedeen performed as an Imam was when at the time of burning of tents, Hazrat Zainab shook his shoulder and asked him their Shar'i duty (though she would have already known the answer but she taught us to seek the answer from the Imam). Next, he pulled the curtain away of hte tent and send his salam to the severed head of Syedush Shuhuda. Once someone asked him in Sham as who won the battle, he replied when you hear the azan you will know who won.

Most ulema say that the biggest achievement of Imam Zainul Abedeen was Sahifa-e-Sajjadia which is a collection of duas and supplications. Does that mean he wwas in seclusion? Actually, when the circumstances are not favorable, jihad is done through duas.

He introduced that aemma through their qualities and merits. By saying that Allah has sent his blessings on this household, these are the appointed people, have the knowledge, means to reach God, heaven, etc.
There are 56 duas in which salawat has been sent 217 times directly and about 22-23 times indirectly. After every sentence there is a salawat. We can say that this was in response to the Yazid's peotry and Muawiya's curses.
If we compare with dua-e-Kumayl, we see that there is only one salawat at the end of the dua. Dua-e-Abu Hamza Sumali shakes the mind with its salawat.
They tried to curse the Imams, but the words or these people remained until this day (translated into many even into CHechen language).

We were discussing the attitude of the people of three places: Madinah, Kufa and Sham.
With the people of Madinah, Imam did not even talk to them and could not share his feelings. TO the people of Kufa , he showed that we are still strong, you cut the heasds but were not able to make them bow. When in the court of Ibne Ziyad, Imam spoke , he gave the order to kill him but Hazrat Zainab came in between and in this way Allah saved him. He said to the people of Kufa, those who know me they know who I am, but those who do not, should know that I am Ali ibnul Husain. He furthur said that I am the brother of someone who was killed by Furat(river)....In other words, he was mentioning the details of what happened at Karbala to let them know.
But in Sham, he had to introduced the Ahlul Bayt and their merits. He said that they had six qualities: We had Prophet Mohammad among us, we were given knowledge, Allah was pleased with us and Who gave knowledge to us and wealth to our enemies; He gave us Courage, Bravery, Eloquence, Our love in the hearts of momeneen; among us were Siddeeq, Tayyar, Asadullah, Assadu rasul (Hamza), two leaders of the youth of Heaven, Mahdi Akhiruzzaman.

Safar 11th (Saturday)

Prophet (s.a.w) left behind two great and weighty things: the Qur'an and the Ahlul Bayt as mentioned in the Hadith-e-Thaqalain.

Though there is no hard and fast rule but practice of ulema has been that they talk about the ma'refat of Qur'an during the month of Ramdhan and about the Ahlul Bayt during the month of Moharram.
In the ayah, Aemma(a.s.) are mentioned as the real worshippers.
Last night in connection with Imam Zainaul Abedeen (a.s.), the condition and circumstances of Sham, Madina and Kufa was mentioned.

Regarding Syria, which was conseidered a province and was annexed during the time of the first Caliph, Muawiya won that battle and was made the governor of Sham. He introduced Islam to the Syrians who had no background of Islam. [In this way they were made familiar with Islam.] He introduced himself as the'qurbah' (family) of the Prophet. One of the ancesters of the Holy Prophet was Abd-e-Manaf who had four sons: Naufil, Muttalib, Hashim and Abd-e-Shams. Ummayya was either the son or a slave of Abd Shams (there are different views in this regard) who was the grandson of Abd Manaf. Holy Prophet descended from Hashim. Mauawiya said he was a relative of the Holy Prophet; he claimed the ayah of 'mowadddat' was about him. Syrians were bluffed by him. He introduced Imam Ali (a.s.) as a fasiq (Nau'zo Billah).
There is no historical record that any of the imams, before the tragedy of Kerbala, ever visited Syria. Therefore, the Syrians did not know them at all. The only instance where they were able to see Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) was in the Battle of Siffin. But in Siffin, Imam Ali (a.s.) disguised himself a number of times and sometimes he wore the clothes of Ibn-e-Abbas and sometimes he put on the clothes of other companions because the army of Muawiya was so scared and the awe of Hazrat Ali (a.s.) was so great that nobody was ready to come against him and fight with him.
On the other hand the historical record of Siffin tells us that Imam Ali (a.s.) preferred to send his son Mohammad-e-Hanafia instead of Imam Hasan (a.s.) and Imam Hussain (a.s.). In other words, though these two Imams (Hasan & Hussain (a.s.)) were in the army of Hazrat Ali (a.s.)but they rarely went to the frontline to fight. In this way, most of the people belonging to the army of Muawiyah could not see Imam Ali(a.s.) and his two sons namely Imam Hasan (a.s.) and Imam Hussain (a.s.).
So when Imam Zainul Abedeen (a.s.) passes through the markets of Sham and faces the people; they who do not know him or the real ahlul bayt.More details on this in the next night.
Muawiya used to curse Imam Ali (a.s) from the mimbar. And the Syrians had no real image of the Ahlul Bayt. People of Madinah were very faithful to the Holy Prophet but were not the same with his family. In other words, when the Prophet (s.a.w.) migrated to Madinah, they welcomed him but as soon as he passed away, the same people did not support Maula Ali (a.s.) taking his right of succession. The same people when Imam Hasan(a.s.) was martyred, did not side with Imam Hussain(a.s.) to help him bury his brother near the Prophet's grave.
After the demise of the Holy Prophet(s.a.w.), they did not support the imams. They had seen the Ahlul Bayt for 60 years. At the time of Imam Hussain's coming out against Yazid, a large number of Medinites should have supported him. Unfortunately, a small number of people came with him.
Contrary to the common belief, Kufans were more faithful. There were 12,000 Kufans out of 16,000 people in the army of Imam Ali(a.s.) in Siffin. Likewise, in the army of Imam Hussain (a.s.) 60% were from Kufa. The top companions of Imam Hussain (a.s.) like Zuhayr Ibne Qayn, Habib Ibne Mazahir and others were from Kufa. We draw the conclusion that Kufans were faithful.
How can we say that they were not loyal? they came to support Imam Hussain (a.s.) inspite of the restrictions imposed by Ibne Ziyad. Ibne Ziyad managed to stop many people, he even imprisoned Mukhtar who wanted to join Imam Hussain.

Few special things that Kerbala bears are that Imam Hussain (a.s.) took all the best people and every faithful person with him. Imam Husayn asked Zuhayr Ibne Qain to join hiim. He even asked the Christians like Wahab who was encamped near Imam Hussain who converted and joined the Imam. He took with him the cream of the society, what weas left behind was of no good quality. When Imam Hussain(a.s.) was in Makkah, the hajjis there were fully aware that he is going to Kufa to remove Yazid, how many joined him? We have no shaheed that was a Yemeni or Irani or Misri.
After the tragedy of Kerbala, it was very hard for Imam Zainul Abedeen (a.s.) to start a movement since he had no supporters.
Another special aspect of Kerbala was that in the history of early Islam, this was the first battle in which hte Islamic army was apparently defeated and the leader was martyred. Before this, the ladies never accompanied to the warfront, never saw their beloved ones killed and they themselves made prisoners. It was very difficult for them to see all this, what an impact on their mental condition, how they managed all this?

Let us put aside our feelings and sentiments and imagine the conditions of Imam's time: the apparent defeat, killings, imprisonment, etc. A messenger of God who had become the ruler of an empire, whose fame reached Rome, Iran and Ethopia; after him the conditions were so changed suddenly that his grandson was killed brutally and defeated apparently.
The people of those times must have thought about it. Even now, for example, when the incident of Sammarra took place, many people started asking why did not Allah save the tomb? Their belief was so weak that they started questioning? The people who did not go to Kerbala had a weak iman. They thought that if Allah did not save Imam Hussain, why would he save us.

Safar 10th (Friday)

The topic of Maulana Shahid Husain's majlises for this ashra is 'the Role of Our Imams in the Survival and Revival of Islam'.
He is going to present an analysis of the situation of that time. There may be many things that are not heard of before or that might be different from the common beliefs.

Since from among the aimma, the first three imams are mostly spoken of during the months of Moharram and Ramadhan, he is going to start from Imam Zainul Abedeen (a.s.)'s role.
Imam Zainul Abedeen (a.s.) was born 15th of Jamadul Awwal in 37 Hijri. He spent three years during Imam Ali's life, ten years during Imam Hasan's time and twenty years during Imam Hussain's life, was martyred at age 54.

It is important to understand the mentality of the people of Syria before the tragedy of Kerbala.
It is said that Syria came under the rule of the Muslims either at the end of the Khilafat of the first caliph or during the khilafat of the second caligh. Anyway, Muawiya was part of the army that led teh Muslim forces and then he was made the governor of that province. By the time the Khilafat reached Imam Ali(a.s.) Muawiyah ahd already developed his roots in Syria because he was ruling there for 25 years. The duration of 25 years is a whole generation.
The people of Shaam (Syria) had cultivated a kind of hatred for Imam Ali(a.s). One example follows. His right hand/adviser, Amr-e-Aas who was a very cunning and shrewd man, asked Muawiya to follow his advise to make his position stronger. He asked for information regarding households with small children; then he asked each one of them to be given a baby goat as a pet and told them that Muawiyah had gifted that baby goat to them. Few months passed and the children started loving those baby goats. Then one night, after some time when the children were in bed, he ordered the baby goats to be removed from their houses and the fathers were told to tell them that Ali stole them. This was one example how he managed to sow the seed of hatred among the children who would be the next generation.