Wise AdmonishMment From The Professor Of Theology, Imam Khomeini,May His Shade, Endure
Quite often, it so happens that a pretender does not pay attention to the fact that pretension has penetrated his actions, that his good deeds are a pretense and worth absolutely nothing. This is so because the traps of the self (nafs) and those of Satan are quite minute and transparent. Humanity's path is very narrow and dark: Unless man fully examines, he does not pay attention to what he does.
One thinks that his deeds are purely for the sake of earning the Pleasure of Allah, but they instead please Satan. Since it is the human nature to be egotistical, such love for one's own self veils him from seeing his own faults. For example, earning the science of religion, which is one of the important acts of obedience and adoration, may afflict one with pretension in this great form of adoration even whHe he is unmindful, unaware, of it. He, as we have already stated, due to the thick curtain, the curtain of self-love, likes to solve a scholarly problem in the presence of scholars and chiefs in a way which nobody else came up with. It will make him stand out, according to his own thinking. The more he explains the problem sufficiently, attracting the attention of those present, the more elated he feels. If someone opposes him, he has to overcome and humiliate him; he has to make him lower his head before people, forcing his own argument on him, his opponent, whether it is right or wrong. After vanquishing the opponent, he feels within himself that he has distinguished himself and earned a place of prominence. If a master believes what he says, so much the better. And the poor man is unaware that although he earned a status among the scholars and men of virtue, he dropped in the esteem of his Lord, the King of kings in all domains Who orders the deed of such an individual to cause him to be hurled into Sijjeen.
This pretentious deed was also mixed with various forms of disobedience: scandalizing a believer and humiliating him, harming the brother-in-faith, insulting and sometimes uncovering his faults. All these are sins and make an independent cause to render such an individual to be among the fellows of hell. If we suppose that the nafs places its trap before you and says to you, "My objective is to explain the legislative ruling and show the word of truth, which is the best form of obedience. My goal is not to demonstrate my distinction, or to brag," you must ask it about its inner self the following question: If my friend, who is like me in my scholarly degree, explains the legislative ruling, and if he solves the problem himself, and if you were subdued in that meeting place, will your attitude be contrariwise?!' If the case is positive, you will be truthful in your claim. But if the nafs approaches you through the venue of trickery, abandoning no deception, saying to you, "There is a virtue for manifesting righteousness, and Allah rewards for it, and I want you to win this virtue and let you live in the abode of Allah's rewards." you must say to it, "If we suppose that Allah, the Praised One, granted you this virtue in case you are subdued and if you believe in righteousness, will you still seek victory over your opponent?" Upon referring to your inner-self, if you find out that you love victory, too, and fame among the men of virtue as being a man of both knowledge and virtue, and that this scholarly research was in order to gain a status in their hearts, be informed that you are a pretender in this scholarly research which is one of the best forms of obedience to the Almighty and one of the best acts of worship, and that this deed was prompted by love for prominence and distinction which is more harmful to your conviction than two wolves raging in a flock the shepherd of which is absent, according to a narrative. You are obligated, as a man of knowledge who seeks reform, one who guides others towards the path of the Hereafter, a doctor of psychological ailment, to reform yourself first and to repair your own temper so you will not be among the scholars whose good deeds are void, whose condition is very well known.
Lord! Do purge our hearts of the impurity of shirk and hypocrisy! Purify the mirror of our hearts from the adornment of loving this world which is the cause of all these matters. Be our Companion, help us, we poor souls who are afflicted with loving ourselves, with loving distinction and eminence, along this dangerous journey, this path that has many obstacles, the narrow and dark one, surely You can do anything at all, Allahomma Ameen.
Among the important acts of adoration in Islam is the congregational prayer service in which the distinction of the imam is greater: therefore, Satan penetrates in it more than in others. His enmity towards the imam is greater. Satan stands to deprive the imam of this virtue, empty his deed of sincerity, thus .causing him to be lodged in Sijjeen, rendering him associating a partner with Allah, the most Great. Satan enters into the heart of imams of congregational prayers from various paths such as conceit and pretension, which is making a show of this form of worship before the public in order to win a status in their hearts and earn the reputation of being great and sublime. For example, Satan sees so-and-so, who is a great worshipper, having attended his congregational prayers, whereupon he increases his submission, bringing him closer to himself through various means and tricks in order to get him in the end to fall in his trap. He reminds the imam in his place of meeting, or through another way, to let people know that "So- and-so worshipper attends my congregational prayer service," finding in his heart love for this person who attends his service, demonstrating love and sincerity to him in a degree which he does not demonstrate to Allah Almighty or to His close servants even for one moment in his lifetime, especially if the attendant of the prayer service is a respected businessman. If, God forbid, a man of distinction attends the prayer service because of losing track of his path, so he joins the ranks in his congregation, the calamity will then be greater. Satan, at the same time, does not leave the imam alone whose group is smaller in number. He attends and insinuates to him to let people understand that "I have abandoned the world and I pray in the quarter's small mosque with the poor and the indigents." [his imam is like his predecessor, even worse, because he nurtures in his heart the vice of jealousy, too, permitting its tree to produce its fruit. Since he had no share of the good things in this life. Satan deprives him of his share in the Hereafter as well, rendering him a loser in this life and in the one to come.
This Satan does not leave me or yourselves alone when we are not imams of the congregational prayer service not because we shy away from it but our hands fall short of it, so he insinuates to us to defame the group of Muslims, to charge them, to suggest that there are faults with that group, counting our deprivation of the group as our isolation from it and abandonment of this life. We identify ourselves as being free of love for the self and for prominence. We, then, are in a worse shape than both previous groups. We do not have the complete life enjoyed by the first group nor the incomplete one for the second group, nor do we have the Hereafter. Had we been able, our seeking eminence and our love for distinction and wealth would have been greater than both those groups.
Satan is not satisfied with playing tricks on the group's imam, nor is the fire of his desire quenched by turning the imam into a fellow of hell, but he also enters the rows of those who follow the imam as well to commit his mischief.
Since the first row is the best, and since the right side of a row is better than the left, it is his first target. Satan takes the hand of the poor worshipper and gets him out of his house despite the distance from the place where the group congregates and seats him in the right side of the first row. He starts insinuating to him to inform people of this virtue which he attained. This poor man, too, without Satan tempting him, manifests the distinction of his own self with twinkling and coddling, thus his inner shirk shows itself, entering his deed into the Sijjeen (the sinners' record).
Then Satan enters in the rest of rows, mobilizing then folks to hold on to the first row and to throw the poor worshipper, who is sitting in the first rank, with their arrows of defamation and curses whHe labeling themselves with integrity. It may be noticed that Satan takes the hand of a respected person, especially if he is among the people of knowledge and distinction, to seat him in the other row so that this person may show people that despite his status among the public or in the world of knowledge, whHe a man like him ought not emulate such an imam, but "On account of my renunciation of this life and abandonment of the selfs desire, I attended his congregational service. Despite all of this.. I even sat in the last row..." The likes of this individual are never seen in the first row at all! Satan does not contend himself with only the imam and those who follow him but sticks to the heard of one who prays individually, taking his rein, pulling him out of the home or market, spreading a carpet for him with twinkling and coddling in a corner in the mosque, a man who does not see any imam as being just, so he prolongs his bowing and prostrating as people look on, repeating lengthy sacred verses. This person hides inside himself his desire that people must understand the folloowing: "Due to the plentitude of my sanctity and precaution, I abandon the group so I may not be afflicted by praying with an imam who is not just." Besides being conceited and pretentious, this man is also ignorant of the issues of the Islamic Shari'a because the emulation authority of this person perhaps does not apply any criterion besides a good appearance so he may emulate an imam. Thus do we place the rest of our matters at the disposal of Satan whHe whenever this cursed one finds an impure heart to which he resorts, he burns the apparent and the hidden deeds, rendering him among the fellows of hell even through good deeds. Thus ends the wise admonishment of Imam al-Khomeini.
EXPLAINING HOW TO SCIENTIFICALLY AND PRACTICALLY CURE THE HEART OF THE DISEASE OF PRETENSION
Some scholars of the hereafter have made statements in this regard which I would like to cite here briefly with sonic explanations :
You have come to know that pretension voids the good deeds and causes Allah to hold one in contempt, that it is one of the major lethal sins; so, you have to get ready, be serious and struggle whHe bearing the hardship of uprooting this tree from the heart. Reaching the ladders of sublime humanity is not easy without bearing hardships. Likewise, getting rid of terminal diseases cannot be achieved except by taking bitter medicines. This struggle, though tough in the beginning, fails vyithin the practical field: its hardship gradually dissipates completely.
( 67 ) Let it be known that the origin of pretension is love for prominence. If love for prominence is analyzed, it will be rendered to three roots :
1. Love for praise: man loves to be praised and lauded; he finds pleasure in hearing compliments.
2. Flight from ill reputation; man hates to be the source of ill reputation; he is harmed and feels the pain when hearing that his reputation is being chewed.
3. Greed for what people possess.
These three often cause pretension.
It may he observed how one does not desire praise, nor does he covet lauding, nor does he look at what others enjoy, but he cannot tolerate to be reprimanded and spoken ill of, so he undertakes a pretentious act. He is like a miser individual who participates in a deed of righteousness when he sees others doing likewise, spending money for that cause. He finds himself among generous people who offer plenty of money by way of charity. He offers little of it by way of charity so he may not be described as a stingy person. Or he may be like a young man among youths who are worshipping, keeping themselves busy-with prayer and supplication, so he, too, prays and supplicates so that he may not be spoken ill of and accused of being lazy and idle. And there are among the scholars those who do not covet to be praised by people, but he cannot tolerate to be identified as knowing very little. If he is asked about an issue with which he is not familiar, he is swill to issue a verdict without knowledge rather than convincing himself of asking someone else who is familiar with it for fear he may be held as ignorant. Generally speaking, one can be patient with regard to the pleasure of praise but cannot tolerate the pain of being spoken ill of.
One who treats these three causes has to know that one seeks and desires something due to thinking that it is good, useful and sweet to him, whether it is so now or it will be in the future. If he gets to know that it is pleasurable in the present time but is harmful in its outcome, it will be easy for him not to desire it. It is like one who knows that honey is delicious, so he craves eating it, but if it becomes obvious to him that it contains poison, it will be easy for him to shy away from it. Thus is the case with our subject. No matter how much a servant of Allah knows that pretension is harmful, that it causes him not to reform his harm, that it deprives him of imminent success and the loss of a station in the hereafter, in the final outcome, bringing him punishment, contempt and infamy, when someone cries out as witnesses testify: "O debauchee, treacherous, pretender, polytheist! Did you ever feel the shame when you traded the obedience to Allah for what the short life offered'? Did you not watch people's hearts but did not watch out when you meet the Truth, Praise to Him? Did you not seek popularity among the servants of Allah by doing what brings about wrath from Allah? Did you not decorate yourself with what makes you look bad in the eyes of Allah'? Did you not seek nearness to the servants of Allah by being distant from Him? Did you not seek their praise by being ill spoken of by Allah? Did you not seek their pleasure by exposing yourself to Allah's anger'? Did anyone else stand in your eyes as being thus less important than Allah?!" We seek refuge with Allah from such humiliation and exposure. "If only you could see when the guilty ones bend their heads down before their Lord..." (Qur'an, 32 : 12).
So, no matter how much a servant of Allah thinks about this humiliation, comparing it with what he earns from His servants, from making himself look good in their eyes, a status among them attained through the venue of pretension, one which he may not even get, comparing it with what he will face of shame and infamy in the Hereafter..., he will then come to know that pretension is fire that has burnt his good deeds, rendering them into the record of the sinners. He may have lost a high status with Allah by earning this good deed which he spoiled with pretension, a status that places him in the company of the prophets and the righteous. Surely pretension has taken him out of the latter's company and send him to the row of the accursed, add to this what he will be exposed to in the life of this world of worries because of trying to please others. To please others is an unattainable objective; whenever you please a group, another is displeased with you. What goal does he achieve when he earns their praise? What does he get when he drops in the eyes of Allah whHe raising himself in the eyes of His servants whHe such praise does not increase his sustenance, nor does it prolong his lifespan, nor does it benefit him on the day when he realizes his poverty and want? So, 0 pretender who lets pretension covet his good deeds, be informed that Allah, Praise to Him, is the One Who manipulates the hearts to either withhold or to give, and the beings have no choice in this regard, nor is there anyone to sustain them besides Allah. One who sets his hopes on people will never be free of humiliation and disappointment. Even if he arrives at his goal, he will not be without indebtedness to others, without receiving humiliation; so, how could you abandon what Allah has in store with Him in exchange for a false hope, for a bad whim that may hit the mark or miss it: If it hits the mark, its pleasure does not compensate for the pain of its bad outcome and humiliation?!
O pretender! Beware of fearing being spoken ill of! When people speak ill of you, it does not speed up your demise, nor does it postpone it, nor does it render you among the residents of hell if you are a resident of Paradise, nor does it make you contemptible in the eyes of Allah if you are praised by Him, for all the servants are incapacitated: They cannot cause any harm to their own souls, nor benefit, nor life, nor death, nor resurrection; so, perfection is not achieved through their praise, nor is it diminished because of their criticism. A poet from Banu Tamim once said, "Praise for me is good, whHe criticizing me is bad." whereupon the Messenger of Allah (a.s) said to him. "You have lied! This applies to Allah: There is nothing good except in praising, nor is there anything bad more than saving something bad about Him. What good would you get when people praise you whHe you arc held in contempt by Allah'? And what evil could touch you if people speak ill of YOU whHe Allah praises you'?"
Generally speaking, it is through thinking about these matters that it is hoped that one's heart is directed towards Allah, so he gets rid of the humiliation of pretension and the cruelty of people's hearts. Lights from his sincerity reflect themselves on his heart whereby his chest is pleased. Through them will beautiful revelations be opened up that increase his feeling of happiness for being in the company of Allah, of being unhappy when he is in the company of people. He will then hold life in contempt whHe holding the Hereafter with high regards. The status of the creation drops from his heart. The reason for pretension collapses, and the paths of sincerity will be facilitated for him ...
WHEN SHOWING OFF ACTS OF WORSHIP IS PERMISSIBLE :
ADVICE BY IMAM KHOMEINI, MAY I BE HIS SACRIFICE,
FOR THOSE WHO WANT ADMONISHMENT
PRACTICAL TREATMENT FOR PRETENSION
Contemplating upon and making plans for the issues which we have stated, though it has a strong effect in treating this disease, ought not suffice to scientifically treat this dangerous ailment. Rather, the disease has also to be practically monitored. The practical medication is that one must accustom himself to hiding his acts of adoration and closing the doors whHe doing them just as the doors are closed when sins are committed, till his heart is convinced that Allah knows about and is familiar with his acts of adoration, and his soul does not stop him from seeking anyone to know about them save Allah. It has been narrated that a companion of Abu Hafs, the blacksmith, spoke ill of this life and of its people, whereupon Abu Hafs said to him. "You have manifested what you should have hidden. From this day on, do not keep us company." He did not even permit showing this much because in speaking ill of this life there is a sort of invitation to asceticism, and such an invitation often stems out of pretension; therefore, this student made him the object of his teacher's reprimanding, There is no cure for pretension like hiding. This is so even though it, in the beginning, is very difficult to do, but if one perseveres about it by forcing himself, he will be aided by divine acts of kindness, and good success will be his; it will then be easier for him and his burden will fall through support and help from the Almighty.
Let me cite for you, kind reader, some of what has been narrated about the biographies of the Imams of Guidance who are the doctors of the souls :
Al-Qummi, the narrator of traditions, may Allah be pleased with him, has narrated saying that Imam Ali son of Imam al-Hussain (peace be with them both) used to come out during the pitch dark of the night carrying a sack on his back in which he placed small bundles containing [gold] dinars and [silver] dirhams, and he might also have carried on his back food or firewood. He would come to a house door and knock it then hand over something to whoever comes out to open it, covering his face mean hHe so the poor recipient may not know who he is. When his corpse was placed down for the burial bath, his hack showed marks of swellings as large as camel humps. He used to sustain a hundred families from among the poor of Medina.
The son of Aisha is quoted as having said, "I heard the residents of Medina saying, 'We have now lost the secret charity when Ali son of al-Hussain (a.s) died.' When he died and was stripped for the funeral burial, they kept looking at the marks on his back. They said that he used to carry flour sacks on his back during the night in order to get them to reach the poor of Medina stealthily, and he used to say that secret charities put out the wrath of the Lord."
The Prophet (a.s) has said, "The greatest rewards for an act of worship are for one who hides them." 1
The Commander of the Faithful, peace be with him, has said, "One of the treasures of Paradise are: hiding a good deed, persevering whHe facing calamities, and hiding hardships." 2
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1 Safeenat al-Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 15.
2 Ibid.
The Imams, peace be with them, are also cited as having said, "The distinction of a good deed done in secrecy over one done openly is that the first will be rewarded seventy times as much."
There are many other such narratives.
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1 I say that the professor, may my soul be his sacrifice, has transmitted this statement from his own great mentor Shah-Abadi (may Allah be pleased with him). But I saw it recorded in the book titled Mirsad al-lbad by Sheikh Najm ad-Deen, and favor belongs to the one who does a good deed first.
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Author: Sayyid Ahmed al-Fahri
