Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

82 Questions

Author(s): Ayatullah Sayyid Abdul Husayn Dastghaib Shirazi

Translator(s): Sayyid Athar Husayn S.H. Rizvi

Publisher(s): Ansariyan Publications – Qum

www.alhassanain.org/english

Table of Contents

Preface (By the Author's son) 5

God is the protector of Islam 5

Shameless Pahalavi Regime and encouragement to irreligiosity 6

Khaalisee was an enlightened and learned man 6

Distinction of this edition 6

Discussion of Monotheism (Tawhid) 8

Question 1 8

Question 2: Refutation of Daur (dependence) and Tasalsul (postponement) 9

Question 3: Impossible to see the Almighty Allah 10

Question 3 10

Notes 11

Divine Justice (Adl) 13

Question 4 13

Question 5 16

Question 6 17

Question 7 18

Question 8 19

Question 9 21

Question 10: Where is the avenger of the martyrs of Kerbala? 24

Question 11 24

Question 12 26

Question 13 27

Question 14 28

Question 15 29

Question 16 30

Notes 31

Prophethood 32

Question 17: "I witness that you were lights in the sublime loins…." 32

Question 18 33

Question 19 37

Question 20 38

Question 21 39

Question 22 40

Question 23 40

Question 24 41

Question 25 42

Notes 43

Imamate 44

Question 26 44

Question 27 46

Question 28 47

Question 29 48

Question 30 "Peace be in you O blood of Allah!" 49

Question 31 51

Question 32 52

Notes 54

Resurrection (Maad) 55

Question 33 55

Question 34 56

Question 35 56

Question 36 57

Question 37 58

Question 38 61

Question 39 61

Question 40 62

Question 41 62

Question 42 64

Question 43 64

Questoin 44 65

Notes 65

Exegesis (Tafsir) of verses of the Holy Quran 66

Questoin 45 66

Question 46 66

Question 47 67

Question 48 67

Question 49 69

Question 50 70

Question 51 71

Notes 73

Jurisprudence (Fiqh) 74

Question 52 74

Question 53 74

Question 54 75

Question 55 75

Question 56 76

Question 57 76

Question 58 77

Wisdom behind slave-freeing in Islam 77

Question 59 78

Question 60 79

Question 61 80

Question 62 82

Question 63 82

Question 64 83

Question 65 83

Notes 83

Miscellaneous Questions 84

Question 66 84

Question 67 84

Question 68 85

Question 69 86

Question 70 87

Question 71 89

Effectiveness of good omen (Tajaul) and bad omen (Tatayyur) 89

Question 72 90

Question 73 90

Question 74 94

Question 75 94

Question 76 94

Types of Religious Penance 94

Question 77 96

Question 78 97

Question 79 98

Question 80 99

Question 81 100

Question 82 101

Notes 101

Addenda to Fourth Edition 102

Wilayat Faqih and its sources 102

Acceptance of Wilayat is a condition of Faith 102

Imam Az-Zaman (a.s.) and death of Ignorance 103

There is only one Imam at any given time 104

The Prophet introduced 'those vested with authority' (Ulil Amr) 105

Obedience of the Imam during occultation 105

General salvation of the poor is in agenda of Imam Az-Zaman (a.s.) 106

Deep consideration in laws and certainty in beliefs 106

Justice and opposing the selfish desires 107

Qualities of a leader according to Imam Ali (a.s.) 107

Scholars should also obey the leader 108

All misfortune is because of ignoring Wilayat 109

Freedom and stability under rule of Jurist 109

Reappearance of Imam Az-Zaman (a.s.) 109

Modification of laws proves invalidity of claim 110

Spread of Justice is gradual and voluntary 110

Perfection of intellects after the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (a.s.) 111

Conclusion 112

The Midnight Sun endangered Islam 113

Equal duration of days and nights in Polar Regions 114

Determination of Noon and Midnight in Polar Regions 115

Limit of Moderation is the Criterion 116

Final conclusion with a little explanation 117

Notes 117

Slavery in Islam 119

Notes 139

Preface (By the Author's son)

One of the most essential Muslim beliefs is that Islam is a permanent and an everlasting religion as mentioned clearly in a number of verses of the Holy Quran. It is mentioned that:

وَمَنْ يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَنْ يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ

"And whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers." (Aale ‘Imran, 3:85)

And so also:

مَا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَا أَحَدٍ مِنْ رِجَالِكُمْ وَلَٰكِنْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِيِّينَ

"Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Apostle of Allah and the Last of the prophets ...” (Al Ahzab, 33:40)

The Arabic word of 'Lan ' ‘ﻟﻦ ’ (never) in the first verse implies that other than Islam, nothing ever would be accepted and in the second verse since Prophet Muhammad is mentioned to be the last (seal) prophet, it shows that no other religion is to come after Islam and that Islam is a religion forever.

If Islam is a lasting religion, it implies that it must be perfect. Regarding this, the Quran says:

الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا ۚ فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ فِي مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِإِثْمٍ ۙ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

"This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion…” (Al Maidah, 5:3)

According to this holy verse, Islam is complete and is without any defect, not only with regard to the day this verse was revealed, as popularly known, during the Farewell Hajj during the last days of Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.), on the contrary it is complete and defectless for all times; therefore it deserves to endure forever and that its lawful and prohibited would remain in force till Judgment Day, that which is declared as lawful by Muhammad would remain lawful till Judgment Day and that it does not require any other prophet or religion to make it perfect.

The perfection of Islam pertains to all its aspects: like beliefs, ethics, political, social, worship and economic laws. All its rules and regulations are perfect. This miraculous aspect of Islam is concealed in the Holy Quran and manifested through the words and actions of Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) who themselves are defectless and pure.

God is the protector of Islam

Almighty Allah has protected this noble religion of Islam in every age; as He says:

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ

"Surely We revealed the reminder and We will most surely be its Guardian.” (Al Hijr, 15:9)

Thus after the passing of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.), Allah protected it through the Twelve Holy Imams (a.s.) whenever unbelievers and atheists tried to harm it and created trouble by means of intrigues, plots and doubts to weaken the belief of people. The Almighty Allah rebutted them through the words and writings of Imams; and mischief-makers were always defeated. This can be known clearly from books like Ihtijaaj of Shaykh Tabarsi etc.

During the occultation of His Eminence, the Master of the Age (a.t.f.s.) the divine religion is supported through practicing scholars and supporters of faith. Whenever an atheist tries to create misguidance, providence brings out one or more scholars of Islam and helps Islam through them.

Shameless Pahalavi Regime and encouragement to irreligiosity

Simultaneous with establishment of the disgraceful Pahalavi regime in Iran, rule of Kamal Pasha in Turkey and Saud family in Hijaz etc. through colonialism, a devastating flood of irreligiosity in the name of communism and materialism or at least, disbelief overtook the entire area, polluting the pure and noble natures of inexperienced teenagers by insinuating delusive doubts by some selfish persons who were apparently highly learned.

These antique doubts, which were already replied to years ago in books, were again put to the uninformed youth and they, instead of referri ng to reliable religious scholars, turned to some false groups having religious titles, such as Bahai, Wahabi and Kisravi etc. invented and nourished by colonialist powers.

Khaalisee was an enlightened and learned man

In these sensitive circumstances, the late Muhammad Khaalisee, who died nearly fifteen years ago in Tehran, was an intelligent and a studious man; he had benefited to great extent from the company of scholars, some of whom were in the forefront in their struggle against other sects. As can be seen from question 30 (in this book) in which he has hinted about his debates against Christians.

A few years before his death, he sent his booklet to us for correction and printing. It was about some objections raised by false and misguided groups. But I, on the basis of the saying that "falsehood is wiped out by discarding it", did not approve its printing. This upright gentleman, under the impact of his own studies and also due to his association with some other people, approached the divine scholar, His Eminence Ayatullah Haaj Sayyid Abdul Husain Dastghaib (r.a.) in whom he had much faith and behind whom he had prayed, and requested for written replies to the said questions. He was very much impressed by the replies of the great scholar. The grand scholar was also pleased and he granted him permission to print that book. Subsequent editions of it also thereafter were sold out soon.

Ayatullah Dastghaib was highly concerned about revising some replies and also a number of activities delayed the publication of this book. But now, by the grace of Allah, it is being presented to the readers in a much attractive style and in enough number of copies. It is in many ways, better than the earlier editions.

Distinction of this edition

Formerly this book was divided into seven parts containing questions about Monotheism, Divine Justice, Prophethood, Imamate, Resurrection, Islamic law and Miscellany. There were in all 82 questions, which became the title of this book. In this edition:

1. A supplement is added comprising of two important questions on current topics: Governance of the Jurist and the preamble to reappearance of Imam Mahdi (a.s.).

2. More explanation is added to almost all replies.

3. Regarding question 57 about prayers in Polar Regions, benefit is obtained from the writings of the respected Agha Nasir Makarim and while replying to question 58 about slavery in Islam, we have benefited from the writings of Sayyid Qutub. These two articles are given at the end and they are satisfactory replies to today's most debated topics.

Sayyid Muhammad Hashim Dastghaib

Discussion of Monotheism (Tawhid)

"He is inside the things through His power, but He is not like something which is inside something. He is outside the things but He is not like something which comes out of something. "

Question 1

Q. 1: Please explain the above tradition. What do those who believe in unity of existence (Wahdatul Wujud) say and how to contradict them?

A: The object of this question is a sentence from the tradition of Amirul Momineen 's (a.s.) mentioned in Usu/ Kafi. It explains that the Almighty Allah is free from all physical qualities. The complete tradition is as follows:

Amirul Momineen (a.s.) was asked, "How did you recognize your Lord?"

He replied:

"Through that with which He has introduced His self."

"How has He introduced Himself?" asked the inquirer.

Imam (a.s.) replied: "He is not alike any form and neither is he perceived by the senses. Nor can He be compared to anything. In spite of being far, He is near and despite being near, He is far. He is above everything and nothing is above Him. He is ahead of everything and nothing is ahead of Him. He is inside the things through His power, but He is not like something, which is inside something. He is outside the things but He is not like something, which comes out of something. Purified is one Who is such and other than Him is not like this and He is the beginning of everything."1

'He is inside the things' means that nothing and no part of a thing is empty of Him in the sense of His control over them· and His knowledge and His grace on them. '

But He is not like something, which is inside something' means that His being in them is not like entering of something or someone into a place, for example sitting on a throne, nor it is like the entrance of warmth or heat in water, because each of these is among the qualities of a body.

'He is outside the things ' means that He is beyond being near or close to anything. He is beyond anything that can be imagined and His attributes are dissimilar to all qualities of anything or anyone.

'He is not like something, which comes out of something', means that his being out is not the getting out of anything from anything; either from the viewpoint of being distant in space, area or environment. Thus divine existence and lordship over everything and tenseness of His nearness and the overwhelmingness of His coverage has no example. So also no there is no example of His separation from things.

Although to make it understandable instance can be given of the spirit and the rational soul of man. It is agreed that spirit is not a part of the body, but the body is under the control, and coverage of the soul which does not inhabit any particular part of the body. Thus it is both in the body as well as out of it. At the same time, it’s being in and out is not like the entrance and exit of a thing as mentioned earlier.

Also the soul is nearer to the body from the viewpoint of control and coverage. So also it is away from the body from the angle of actual existence in a place. It is independent and clear of physical ailments.

It would be clear that the nearness and remoteness of the Almighty Allah concerning the entire universe is above the nearness and remoteness of the soul from the body as mentioned.

Since man is unable to perceive the nearness and remoteness of the soul from the body it is all the more impossible for him to understand the form of nearness and remoteness of God from anything.

"(So glorified be Allah) Whom the height of intellectual courage cannot appreciate, and the divings of understanding cannot reach...”2

As for the question of the unity of existence, those who believe in it are of various sorts. Some say that there is only a Single Existence and that all other numerous existences are mere manifestation and illuminations of Him. They give the example of the sea and its waves. However this is illogical in the view of intelligent people. How can a sensible person believe that all these existences, having have their own specialties are all only imaginations and that they are no more than a single existence?

The example of the sea and its waves etc. are blatantly against the dictum of: "He is not like anything and He is above all that they attribute to Him." Moreover such belief leads to going out of the pale of faith. That is why Agha Sayyid Mohsin Hakim (t.s.), one of the Maraja Taqlid (a religious authority), writes in the commentary on Urwathul Wuthqa, regarding the believers in oneness of existence (Wahdatul Wujud)3 :

"Since religion wants us to have a good opinion about everyone who is a Muslim, we are also required to have a good opinion of their words and deeds. Therefore we may say that the aim of those who believe in oneness of existence (Wahdatul Wujud) is not what their words apparently show, which results in corruption including denial of the laws of Shariat although their real intention is correct. Otherwise the apparent words are against Shariat as mentioned earlier that:

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ

"Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Honor, above what they describe.” (As-Saffat,37: 180)

وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ

"And they do not assign to Allah the attributes due to Him ...''4 (Al Anam 6:91)

Question 2: Refutation of Daur (dependence) and Tasalsul (postponement)

Q.2: Describe 'Daur' (dependence) and 'Tasalsul' (postponement) and please tell us how to reject them?

A: Daur means dependence of inquiring about a thing which also depends on knowing the former thing either directly or indirectly.5 Like dependence of A on B in the meaning that B is the cause of A and vice versa. Thus everything is both a cause and effect of the other, which is obviously wrong and illogical, because it makes one to believe in the falsehood that a thing is at a time both existing and non-existing. For example, A as an effect of B makes it both absent and non-existent, because B is also its effect.

Tasalsul means postponement of the inquiry about a thing on unending matters and the evitable consequence of which is that at no point in time that thing and all matters related to it do not exist, because it is impossible for a thing to exist before the existence of its cause. So when the chain of the cause and effect continues without break, we will have to believe that neither of them becomes non-existent. Therefore, we say quite logically that all existent things must end at an existence that exists by itself, because everything needs it for its existence. Hence the chain of existence must end with the cause of causes, which is self-existent.6

Question 3: Impossible to see the Almighty Allah

وَلَمَّا جَاءَ مُوسَىٰ لِمِيقَاتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهُ رَبُّهُ قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِي أَنْظُرْ إِلَيْكَ ۚ قَالَ لَنْ تَرَانِي وَلَٰكِنِ انْظُرْ إِلَى الْجَبَلِ فَإِنِ اسْتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُ فَسَوْفَ تَرَانِي ۚ فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّىٰ رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ مُوسَىٰ صَعِقًا ۚ فَلَمَّا أَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

"And when Musa came at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said: My Lord! show me (Thyself), so that I may look upon Thee. He said: You cannot (bear to) see Me but look at the mountain, if it remains firm in its place, then will you see Me ..." (Al A’araaf, 7: 143)

Question 3

Q.3: With reference to the above verse of the Holy Quran, Mamun Abbasid asked Imam Ridha’ (a.s.): Prophet Musa (a.s.) was a prophet and he knew that God cannot be seen. Then how did he ask for the same? Please narrate the summary of the reply given by the Imam to Abbasid to convince him.

A: The summary of the reply given by the Imam, as mentioned in Uyun Akhbar ar-Ridha’ is that he said: Prophet Musa (a.s.) did know that Allah cannot be seen by an eye as He is pure from being seen by an eye. But as he had informed his community that Almighty Allah had spoken to him, they said:

'We will not believe you unless we also hear the Word of God., So Musa (a.s.) took seventy persons and placed them at the foot of Mount Tur. He went up the hill and requested Allah to speak with him and make those people hear His words. So they heard the Word of God from six directions as He had created voice from the tree. But they insisted that would not trust him and testify that it was the Word of God unless and until they see God clearly. When they uttered this audacity, He sent down a thunderbolt on them, which killed them.

Musa (a.s.) said: 'My Lord, what shall I say when I return to Bani Israel? They will tell me: You took seventy men with you and got them killed.' God made them alive again. After being revived, they asked Musa (a.s.): 'O Musa, ask God to make Himself visible to you. Then tell us how is He? Then we would recognize Him as recognition deserves.

Musa (a.s.) replied: 'O people, Allah cannot be seen by a physical eye and He has no shape or likeness. He cannot be recognized with signs and examples.' But they insisted: 'We will not believe in you unless and until you ask God what we told you to. ' Musa (a.s.) said: 'My Lord, You have heard these people and only You know what is good for them, Then Musa (a.s.) got a revelation: 'Well, ask what they want You to ask. 'Musa (a.s.) said: 'O Lord, make Yourself visible to me.' The Almighty Allah said:

'You can never see Me, but just look at the mountain. If it remains intact you may see Me. ' When God made His majesty descend on the mountain, it shattered the mountain into particles; Musa (a.s.) fainted. When he recovered, he said: 'O Lord, You are above being visible. I repent for the ignorance of my people and I do know by the knowledge bestowed by You that You can never be seen and really I am the first of those who believe that You cannot be seen.'

Notes

1. Usul Kafi, Vol. I , Pg. 86

2. Nahjul Balagha. Subh i Salih. Sermon no.1. (We should know that the understanding of anything is a kind of coverage and superiority over that thing. It is obvious that a creation can never be superior to or above the Lord Creator whereby one may be able to know fully about Him. If a man thinks of tracing God he should know that he is after impossibility.

"'Mind can perceive God if a straw can reach the bottom of the sea."

In fact the maximum knowledge about God is to know the inability of ourselves to understand the Infallible One. Imam Baq ir (a.s.) has said in Usul Kafi:

“You talk about God but never talk about His Self, because discussion about God 's Self results only in confusion."

It is mentioned in another tradition: "'One who thinks how is God, has destroyed himself."

Therefore, instead of thinking about His Self and about nearness to Him, which cannot result except in confusion, you should ponder over the limitless powers and wisdoms of Almighty God, which are concealed in all the particles of the universe.

"In the eyes of the wise, the leaves of green trees are all like a whole file describing the Lord’s introduction".

Man must also keep in mind his littleness, powerlessness and ignorance and he should compare himself with the vast universe of existence and then recognize his inferiority and valuelessness so that he may not fall in the fallacy of trying to know the everlasting Self of the Great Creator of the cosmos.

"'In an assembly wherein the sun is like an atom, to consider oneself the centre is a kind of indiscipline indeed ."

And about what some unwise people say that how can one believe in a God who cannot be seen and whose howness cannot be understood by anyone we say in reply that is it correct to deny the existence of life, because man is unable to know about its truth. In this case also only its signs are understood by man. Similar is the case of lightning and the soul of man; their existence is obvious, though there is no way to find out their reality. We also ask such people: Do you have the intellect? If they reply positively, we may ask them: How do you believe in the existence of intelligence, which cannot be touched or seen and when you are unable to know about its howness? If they say: We don't have any intelligence, the matter is over and that is all.

The whole world is unanimous about His Divinity though it is unable to know anything about His self. Intelligence cannot reach His Howness (How He is). Nature cannot reach the knowledge of His attributes. Neither flight of imagination reach the height whereby it can now have the know-how of His qualities. All are absolutely incapable to encompass Him by any faculty of i ntelligence.

3. Musramsik. Vol. 1, Pg. 391

4. Some of Islamic scholars have opined that oneness of existence (Wahdatul Wujud) means the unity of the owner of ranks like Light (Noor) which is a true fact but it has different levels from the angle of high and low power. Likewise, existence is one truth and that He is necessarily Eternal and Everlasting by Himself and All-knowing and All-powerful by Himself and the ranks of other existences are having local and limited powers and such existences are innumerable.

Some have explained oneness of existence (Wahdatul Wujud) in various other ways and quoting them is unnecessary and would also be very lengthy.

5. (Daur in the terminology of philosophers and intellectuals means dependence of two things on one another. Daur is of two kinds:

1 - Daur e Masrah which is dependence of two things on one another in such a way that each one is dependent on the other like the example of text.

2 – Daur e Muzmir which means rotation which necessitates the dependence of a thing on itself through the medium of a third thing -

(Asfaar , Vol. l , p. 31).

6. To explain Daur and Tasalsul we can say that since wheat cultivation depends on wheat and similarly the production of a fowl depends on a existence of an egg and the production of the egg, in turn, depends on a fowl and the production of every living thing depends on the existence of the sperm in the womb of its mother and again the production of sperm depends on a being in whom the sperm must be there.

Thus you can see in these examples that the production of wheat depends on the production of wheat and the birth of an animal depends on the birth of an animal and this i s obviously a Daur.

And if this dependence is taken backward, we see a similar continuity (Tasalsu{). For example we may say that the production of wheat next year is dependan t on i ts cultivation in the last year and that cultivation on the cultivation two years back and again that three years ago and thus on that of a thousand years and so on. Likewise, the bird before us depends on the egg of an earlier bird and that from before that and thus it goes unendi ngly, which is impossible. So necessari ly we must say that in the beginning the Lord creator created an animal along wi th the arrangement of the production of seed and sperm for reproduction destined by Him.