Month: February 2023

Hostility with Ahele Bayt enemies is sunnah:

According to Zaid bin al-Arqam, The Messenger said to Ali, Fathima Hasan and Husayn: ‘I will befriend your friends and will fight those who fight with you.” Reported by Ibn Maja-145.

O Allah! enlighten our hearts with the love of Prophet’s Household and especially the five pious personalities.

A Sermon without Dots

The knowledge, wisdom and eloquence of Imam ‘Ali b. Abi Talib (a) is well known among Muslims of all schools of thought. One such example of his mastery over the Arabic language manifested itself in this extempore sermon which, in its written form, is devoid of any dots !!

All praise be to Allah: the praised King, the affectionate Owner, the Fashioner of all who are born, the Recourse for every downtrodden, the Outstretcher of lands, the Establisher of firm mountains, the Sender of rain, the Alleviator of difficulties, the Knower and Perceiver of secrets, the Destroyer of kingdoms and Perisher of possessions, the Renewer of eras and their Repetitor, the Source of all things and their Destination. Widespread is His generosity and sufficient are the layered clouds and the supply of rain. He responds to the one who asks or hopes, giving wide and with abundance.

I praise Him endlessly. I consider Him one as He is considered one by those who turn to Him. Lo ! He is Allah, there is no god for the nations except Him. No one can distort what He set upright and established. He sent Muhammad as the standard-bearer of submission (Islam), the leader for the rulers and preventer of their oppression, The crippler of the authorities of Wudd and Sawa` (two idols). He informed and educated, appointed and perfected. He founded the fundamentals and eased them in. He emphasized the appointed promise (Day of Judgment) and forewarned. Allah has linked him with honor and granted his soul the peace, and may Allah have mercy on his progeny and his venerated family; as long as the guiding stars shine, the crescent continues to rise, and the chant of the oneness (La ilaha illa Allah) is made to be heard around.May God protect ye! Work towards the best of deeds. So tread the path seeking the lawful, and give up the forbidden and abandon it. Listen to the command of Allah and be aware of it. Maintain the ties with relations and nurture them. Disobey desires and repel them. Bond as kins with the righteous and pious, and discontinue the company of amusement and greed.

Your groom is the most impeccable of free men by birth, most generous and honorable with glories, and of the sweetest of descent. Here he came to you, took your kin with permission, in marriage, the gracious bride. Offered a dowry, just as the Messenger of Allah did to Umm Salamah. Certainly, he [s] was the most gracious son-in-law. Kind to his progeny. He gave them in marriage to whom he wanted. He was neither confused in his choice of wife nor had an oversight.

I ask Allah, on your behalf, for the lasting graciousness of His connection. And the continuation of His pleasures, and that He may inspire all: the reform of their own condition, and the preparation for their individual destiny and the hereafter. Gratitude is for Him forever and the praise for His Messenger Ahmad [s].

This sermon appears to have been delivered by Imam ‘Ali (a) on the occasion of someone’s marriage (nikah), and may well have been his own marriage. It has been quoted by several scholars such as:

MOST COMMENDABLE FEATURE OF HIS SPEECH

Although the people, assembled to listen to his speeches were of different conditions and states of mind, the commendable feature of his speech was such that everyone though our Saint was directing his attention towards him and referring to his desires and expectations. In this way every one was benefitted and satisfied that his main purpose was achieved.

Incident of Four Devotees with different requests satisfied by one speech of Sarkar Waris addressed to the gathering:

Once four devotees of different minds with different objects paid a visit to Sarkar Waris and never openly expressed their personal difficulties. But our Saint addressing their said, “whoever trusts God, surely he helps them. You remain today but tomorrow you will depart,” The four devotees took leave of him but were pleased with his speech. When asked the reason for their happiness, the first one said that this case was pending in High Court and he had come in this connection wondering whether he would be successful. The second came to clear some tenets of Islam with which he differed. The third one wanted some formula for the invocation of God and the fourth wanted to know the truth of the unity of God. As such each was happy in obtaining his object. Later the four devotees were benefitted: the first won the court case the seconds doubts on tenets of Islam were cleared the third continued invocation of God; and the fourth realized the truth of unity of God. The glory of our Saint’s ordinary words conveyed the meaning to each and everyone according to their desires. In his off-hand speeches there was a streak of spirituality which uprooted the selfishness and ill-feelings from the hearts of his disciples.

Another exalted symptom of his talk was that he addressed his disciples in their absence and it was heard in their respective places.

Once after sunset Sarkar Waris uttered spontaneously, “Read! Ya Basit’ when there was nobody with him. His biographer heard this and wondered what it meant, carefully nothing the date of its utterance. A few days later Choudhery Khuda Bakhsh Saheb, contractor and resident of Ottawa came to pay his respects to our Saint. Being on old devotee the biographer, enquired about his business and why he came? The Choudhery related that prior to this he was sunk deep in debt. So on a particular day after the evening prayer he was thinking of our Saint entirely absorbed in contemplation and heard our Saint’s injunction to repeat “Ya Basit” and from that time his monetary conditions had completely changed, for the better. Our Saint clearly declared “Anyone who reads with conviction “Ya-Basitu” will never come into straitened circumstances.

THE MOST MERCIFUL TOWARDS THE SINNERS

The mercy of the Prophet encompasses all people, even those who are sinners. This mercy will become most perceptible on the Day of Judgement when God will judge all of humanity for their actions and give people their just recompense for their actions. On that day, the justice of God will be dominant and there will be no chance of escape from His wrath and punishment. The whole of humanity will be in trouble that day and will look towards Prophet Muhammad to be their intercessor to save them from the punishment. Many will be saved from the Hellfire through the intercession of the Prophet Muhammad and many will be taken out of the Hellfire on account of it. The Prophet will intercede for all the sinners until the last of them are freed from the fire of Hell.¹

Concerning this intercession, the esteemed Prophet said, “My intercession is for the sinners of my nation.”² Giving details about this intercession, he said, “I was given an option between intercession and half of my nation entering Paradise, and I chose the intercession because it is more encompassing. Do you think the intercession is for the pious and righteous? No, in fact it is for the sinners and the wrongdoers.” This illuminating explanation shows the mercy of the Prophet Muhammad that by being ‘God’s Beloved’ and a ‘Mercy for all mankind’, he will redeem the sinners from the divine wrath and punishment. Through his intercession, he extended this mercy to those who are in dire need without the need for a blood sacrifice. This reality demonstrates the purity of Islam’s doctrine of salvation and the encompassing mercy of Prophet Muhammad


I Set forth by al-Bukhārī in al-Ṣaḥīḥ, 6:2695-2696 $6975. Muslim in al-Ṣaḥīḥ, 1:180 S193.

2 Set forth by Aḥmad b. Hanbal in al-Musnad, 3:213 S13245. •al-Tirmidhi in al-Sunan, 4:625 $2436.

● 3 Set forth by Aḥmad b. Hanbal in al-Musnad, 2:75 $5452. Ibn Abi ‘Āṣim in al-Sunna, 2:368 $791.