Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Contemplations

916: The thing which is considered valuable by the Almighty, and that He has graced humanity with, is knowledge, cognition and understanding of Him (ma‘rifah), and for mankind to understand why they were created, where they came from, why they came into existence, and where will they end up.

917: If one’s intellect is perfected, one would not go after one’s desires; therefore will there be injustice, poverty, or misery? Of course not.

918: If one’s intellect is perfected, one’s belief and faith are perfected, rather even one’s life would be perfected.

919: Duty is one thing, and desire is another, and it is essential to ensure to distinguish between the two.

920: There is no doubt that the one who contemplates about the consequences of one’s affairs many times over would be able to perfect them, and would normally not err in them, just as the one who repeatedly practices something would master it and excel in it.

921: Productive discussion is a pathway to augmenting scholarly ability.

922: It is imperative that an individual has a strong resolve, robust guidance, and a will of steel in order to succeed in Almighty Allah’s obedience in the highest levels, and thus attain the highest ranks.

923: Whenever Truth and Falsehood battle it out, and a group of brave faithful emerge vowing themselves to Allah, He will guarantee them victory just as He did for the believers in [the battle of] the Confederates. This is Almighty Allah’s tradition and [you will not find any change in Allah’s tradition].

924: A human being, whoever one may be, will surely transgress the bounds,[130] or is potentially liable to transgress; it is therefore mandatory that no one may bully their way in holding on to power, and it is mandatory that no individual assume all power to himself excluding others.

925: To advance the various levels is like climbing the mountain; if one falls from a height of one meter one would have superficial injuries, but the fall from increasing heights would result in increasing severity, giving worst results.

926: Time is very; so if one of us lives one hundred years, then this would be insignificant compared to what needs to be done, and our lives fall shorter than that.

927: There are many stories and many lessons to learn from, but the important thing is to take heed and learn even from one lesson.

928: We may succeed to swindle someone who is not aware of our intentions and what goes on in our minds, but how impossible it is to cheat the Almighty Allah.

929: When we deal with others according to our own personal persuasions, we would not equal between those who are honest to us and those who cheat us. So why wouldn’t we expect this approach from Almighty Allah towards us?

930: If I swear a thousand oaths to you that I am an honest person, you wouldn’t be convinced of my honesty given the conduct you’ve seen from me or my intentions that you know of. In this case, would you deal with me like you would with a truly honest person? Of course you wouldn’t. You may pretend to do so, or even be courteous, but when it matters, and in critical circumstances, you would deal with me according to your own convictions. Therefore, if you are suspicious of me, you wouldn’t tell your secrets, and if I ask you the reason for this, you may change the subject, or you may even deny the secrets, but the real reason is that you don’t trust me. If these are the criteria in dealing with one another, and we deem them to be right and proper, why don’t we give Almighty Allah the same right, and still expect Him to deal with us like He deals with the honest individuals, although our intentions are not true towards Him?

931: There is no doubt that Almighty Allah does not equate the honest and the dishonest. Does the one who strives for material goals - whether for fame or wealth - equal the one whose endeavour is purely for Allah alone?

932: By Allah’s grace, we know our duties and if someone asks us about them we would be able to respond, but it is incumbent for us to apply and practice [our duty].

933: Whoever accomplishes the aim one has been aspiring for will feel the sense of achievement.

934: By nature, an individual is haste in attaining the results.

935: Misinterpretation, mix-up, and concealment is the root cause for great many inventions, and thus disputes, that exist between the faithful.[131]

936: There is no severance nor discontinuity in Truth, and in contrast, falsehood, sooner or later, fails its perpetrator.

937: If one is able to deceive one’s fellow human being with one’s appearance, one would not be able to do so with the Almighty, because Almighty Allah knows all too well what goes on in the consciences, and what the hearts conceal.

938: Amongst the faithful, do you think that the different parties involved know what they are doing when they dispute? And that they know it is disobedience [to the Almighty]? Not at all. Rather, the conduct of each party is made to look good, and each think they are right.

939: If the principal criterion in our conducts is to take the ma‘soom Imams as our role models, and that“the one who goes ahead of them is a renegade, he who lags behind them is in falsehood, and he who adheres to them is following in their footsteps” , then we should open hearts and minds to all people and encourage them to say whatever goes on in their hearts and minds; for this was the policy of the grand Prophet and the ma‘soom Imams from his family, peace be upon them.

940: There is no doubt that the advices and exhortations of the holy Prophet and the holy Qur’an are many; rather most of the holy Qur’an is advices and exhortations, and no doubt, all that the prophets brought forth or was revealed to them are summarised in the holy Qur’an, for it is the essence of the all the divine messages in their entireties.

941: Prophet Muhammad’s advices and exhortations are the essence of those of all the prophets before him, i.e. the one-hundred-and-twenty-four-thousands of them. However Almighty Allah instructs His messenger to summarise all the advices and exhortations into one expression. He instructs His gracious messenger: [Say: I exhort you only to one exhortation].

So what is the exhortation that Allah instructs His Messenger to admonish the people with, and nothing else? The holy verse continues: [that you rise up for Allah] i.e. your rising, your intention, your dedication, and your contemplation be purely and sincerely for Allah. By“rising for Allah” it is not meant to perform the daily prayers or other acts of worship, but it is intended to be the contemplation, dedication, and sincerity of one’s intention when doing any deed. In other words, it is“self-discipline” and“distancing [from the ego]” , and that only Almighty Allah be the goal, intention, and direction, and not the self and its interests in any way.

942: When in solitude, especially when others are asleep, let every one of us reflect and contemplate, and to say to oneself;“Who am I to wrong or hurt others? Or to commit the prohibited? And what will my destiny be? Where are my father, grandfather, friends and relatives who have passed away? Will I forever stay, or will I pass away in the same way? Is death and reckoning for them only and not for me, or will we all have this fate?” This line of thought is the essence of the holy Qur’an’s admonishments and exhortations. Indeed if one has such scruples, and thinks along those lines, it would be impossible for an individual to embark on committing a sin.

943: The one who takes one’s desire for one’s god, in that case, one’s self and ego becomes more important [for him] than anything else, and thus one wouldn’t care about committing disobedience of Allah in the process. The important thing for such an individual is to provide for one’s self and to see to its wishes [at any cost, and that’s the crux of selfishness].

944: Do we value and respect Allah’s laws as much as some of us do for money? There are some who, if told about money or gold to be found somewhere, would endeavour to find it, but if told about that a particular thing being prohibited, would reply;“is this all that matters?” They do not value Allah’s laws even by as little as ten coins; who would chase them and strive to find them, though he is not even certain those may be found.

945: How can it be right to compare nothing with abundance? It is necessary that there is a number to compare the great with. This is why it is said that whoever favours Ali over Mo‘awiyah has disbelieved. This is because Mo‘awiyah has no merit so that one may say Ali is better than him.

Rather, not a single one from this nation - nor indeed from any other nation - may be compared with any one of Prophet Muhammad’s progeny; for they represented the holy Qur’an through their conduct and way of life.[132]

946: Both encouragement and dissuasion have their effects on the soul of the individual, but for the one who has attained the level of sincerity, these have no effect on one’s endeavour.

947: An individual’s deeds and conducts emanate from one’s soul or self. Therefore, the good deeds and praiseworthy traits either emanate from souls that are likewise, such as the souls of the ma‘soomeen, peace be upon them, and Allah’s devotees, or from souls that their owners have taken them under control [through self-discipline].

948: If an individual is in Almighty Allah’s Light, then one would not slip, or deviate, or transgress, nor would one’s evil-commanding ego control him. One would not allow Satan to seduce him, and the world would be the least of all in his view. This is because with this Light one sees the realities of things, just as with physical light one sees various things and distinguishes one thing from another, and takes what one wants and refrains from what one does not.

949: If an individual is not in Almighty Allah’s Light, he would be lost in darkness, bewilderment, and go astray, even if he did not realise this, and imagined himself to be aware of his status and surrounding.

950: The utterance of [to Allah we belong and to Him we return][133] makes the individual in Almighty Allah’s Light; that is, Allah bestows the Light and vision upon the individual to recognise what is beneficial to him and what is detrimental, for what [purpose] he should spend his life, how to interact with people, how to control his self and desires, how to escape from the love of the world and its adornments, and indeed how to be able to discern what is appropriate and thus accept it, and what is dispraised and thus refrain from it. This is the state of the individual who is in Almighty Allah’s Light.

951: Let there be an example and a lesson for us in the case of Owais al-Qarani. This devout servant was never honoured to meet Allah’s Messenger even though he lived at the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his holy family. He used to live in Yemen, and when he came to Medina to see Allah’s messenger, he did not see him, as he had been martyred. Owais was rather saddened by that. But do you realise that this Owais is preferred over many of those who had accompanied the Prophet, peace be upon him and his holy family?

952: A scholar’s sleep is never considered a mere abandonment (of duty), rather it is preliminary to it; because when a scholar sleeps this would constitute rest for him, and this rest is a prelude to serving, guiding, and directing the people, and transferring them from darkness to light, and from fire to paradise. Therefore a scholar is rewarded for sleeping.[134]

953: One of the consequences of being distant from Allah’s laws in life in Western civilisation is the number of mental hospitals there, which are far greater than other hospitals - contrary to our countries. It is evident that 90% of psychological illnesses are due to problems. But where do these problems come from? Does the Almighty descend them on mankind with the sun’s rays? Or do the seas flood us with the problems? No… these come from our own thoughts, when we assume the wrong role or put ourselves in the inappropriate situation.

954: Almighty Allah is mankind’s creator and He knows better what suits mankind; both in terms of creation and legislation (takwini and tashri‘i); thus the Almighty laid down the laws for the benefit of mankind and his life system; some of them creationist (takwini) to which a human being is coerced, while others are legislative (tashri‘i) which one has the freedom to uphold. If mankind adheres to Allah’s Sharia laws, his life would improve and blessings would descend on him; otherwise, mankind would lead a hectic and wretched life.

955: There is a difference between one who is proactively-sincere (mokhlis) and one who is inherently-sincere (mokhlas). The proactively-sincere is one whose conducts and deeds are purely for Allah - they are done for Allah only and share it with no one else… while the inherently-sincere is the one whom Allah has chosen, made his natural disposition sincere, and approved his sincerity.[135]

956: If we explore [our knowledge] we would find out that there are many things that we do not know of, and would discover there are numerous issues that we never thought of their details or possibilities. In other words, we would discover we were ignorant of many issues, and we will not be excused for our ignorance as long as we have the ability to learn and explore.

957: It is good to recall that there were people who were sinful and disobedient, but at some stage they upturned, because of the readiness of their hearts, through one or two admonishments to good and devout individuals.

958: We will be regretful and sorrowful on the day of resurrection, when there is no chance for one’s reform or development, when we learn that an individual who was remote from religious matters and discourses, reversed to become a good and devout individual and acquired a better status with Almighty Allah than us while we did not manage to reform and develop ourselves, while we knew the religious matters better than him.

959: There are some who give the impression that they lead their lives while observing religion soundly, but their destiny at the end of their lives would end up bad, and the opposite is also true.

960: It is truly unfortunate that some people sell their faith for the insignificant. Even though one may not be working as an agent for the secret service, is not on their pay role, or receive any payment from them, but one gives all one has to the oppressors for nothing in return, and makes one’s neck a bridge for them, and therefore such an individual will be one of those about whom the Almighty declares: [And when the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, say: Allah and His messenger promised us naught but delusion].[136]

961: Today the Western politics is devoid of faith, morality, and virtue; and as a result, knowledge, which is the best means for advancement and development, and culture, which is the best tool to realise understanding, coexistence, security, and peace in the nation, or rather in the world, have become the means for decadence and disownment, for disseminating fear and panic, chaos and turmoil, war and destruction throughout the world.

962: The life and body of a human being move towards death and conclusion, but on the contrary, his metaphysical and his spirit move towards ascension and transcendence instead of decline and disappearing.

963: There is nothing in Allah’s Beautiful Names that prompt or inspire fear or repulsion.

964: Almighty Allah’s mercy, compassion, forgiveness, and all His names and attributes do not carry anything of the meanings of fear or dread.

965: Why shouldn’t one fear the Almighty Allah’s justice when one knows that there is no pause in Allah’s punishment [for the oppressor] on the day of resurrection, that it is eternal, and that the means of perdition and destruction - of every kind - pour on to the sinner on that day, and despite that he does not die, but continues to taste the severest punishment.

966: If one contemplates the holy Qur’an’s description of hellfire and its torment, one would have no peace of mind.

967: The wretched is not the one who sleeps while hungry, or languishes in the depths of dungeons and suffers the severest of torture, because all that are for a set time, and after that the hungry would be filled, and the prisoner released. But the wretched is the one who is met with Allah’s justice and reckoned for his evil deeds, on the day when the creatures’ deeds are presented before the Almighty, and nothing is left out; small or big.

968: The Almighty attributed the Ka‘bah to Himself, and so it is called Allah’s House, which is to sanctify its station and honour its standing. Since Almighty Allah does not actually have a house, and He is in no need for a place. He elevated this piece of land from the depths of the earth to the peak of the heavens, and honoured it by attributing it to Himself.

969: The reality is that we are slaves to Almighty Allah, whether we like it or not, but some motives propel us to be inattentive to this reality. As a result, this leaves us in a state of denial about the reality and the relation between us and our creator.

970: The one who admits to servitude to Allah, and make oneself recognise this, the Lord will not evict one from His mercy, even if some disobediences emanate from the individual, because soon one would realise this, apologises for them and decides not to repeat such conduct.

971: A simple slip or a small deviation due to some negligence might lead to suffering anguish and hardship for decades. For example, when working with a needle and due to inattentiveness one pierces one’s eye; the same goes for spiritual matters. Thus a simple mistake or a slip will make the individual to live with regret and sorrow for millennia in the hereafter.

972: A human being normally tries to smarten up his appearance, rather, he is wired to do so and to cover up his faults and deficiencies; therefore he tries to cover up his reality and interior so that others would not discover there is disagreement between his inward [reality] and outward appearances and whatever he pretends to be. This is because it is normally supposed that there is agreement between one’s inward and outward appearances, and this is the first impression of any individual, unless proven otherwise.

973: Almighty Allah did not take the lives of our ancestors because He had a negative view of them, and He did not give us life because He viewed us positively; neither all of those individuals did bad things which made them deserve death, nor did we all do good things which made us deserve life. Rather, Almighty Allah gives each an opportunity in this world to reveal how we perform.

974: There is a wrong phenomenon in society, where many people would say, if so-and-so who has such a societal, scholarly, or religious status and yet commits bad things, or there are slips in his life, then what do you expect from us mortals? There is no doubt this attitude is not right, it represents a wrong phenomenon, and proves that the heart of he who says such a thing is not linked to Allah, but to other than Him - as if he has forgotten that Almighty Allah asses our hearts and not our appearances.

975: We follow our leaders and scholars and learn from them, but if any one of them deviate by a fingertip, then it is imperative for us not to deviate with him, even if he was the means for our guidance [to begin with]. This is because the heart should relate to Almighty Allah, and Allah witnesses our hearts as to whether or not they are linked to Him. If they are linked to Him alone, then this is the required quality for which we have been created, otherwise none of our deeds would benefit us.

976: This nation’s common practice must - always and forever - be the endeavour that is emphasised upon by the Holy Qur’an, so that all affairs run accordingly with ease and simplicity, and distant from tragedies and hardship.

977: It was the will of Almighty Allah to take martyrs from this nation to be beacons for the faithful and role models for generations throughout history - in patience, perseverance and sacrifice.

Glossary