Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Hajj - The Islamic Pilgrimage

Effects and philosophy of Hajj, stages of Hajj, and a description of specific rites of Hajj

Author(s): Sayyid Muhammad Zia Abadi

Translator(s): Ali Akbar Aghili Ashtiani

Publisher(s): Ansariyan Publications - Qum

Table of Contents

Translators Note6

Introduction 7

Notes10

The Purpose of the Acts of Worship 11

The Islamic piety is not against the principles of everyday life11

Summary 12

Being A Servant of God Is Man’s Dignity 13

Impact of Worship at Soul13

Hajj, A Lively Act14

Hajj of most people is devoid of spirit14

Hajj Devoid of Spirit Has No Living Effects14

Notes14

Social Effects of Hajj15

Hajj, The Assembly Of Dispersed Powers In Single Forum 15

Calling to Hajj Is Calling To Unity of Power15

Hajj, Man’s Ascension To Heaven 16

The Kaaba’s Wonderful Attraction 16

How lovingly pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba16

People’s inclination towards the Kaaba, unusual16

Why should guardians of spirituality be settled in a desert17

What great asset has been given to muslims18

The Kaaba, a security for the survival of human society 18

The Kaaba, a sanctuary and a place of security 18

Ignoring Hajj means dispersion in human society 19

The Prophesy of the Abandonment of the Kaaba and Its Sinister Effects in Traditions19

Hajj, God’s Right To Man and Man’s Gratefulness To Him 19

The true benefactor is God and offering thanks is obligatory 20

God Accept Generously Every Little Deed 20

Thankfulness Benefits Man, Not God 20

Thankfulness To God Makes Man Distinct From Animals20

Call To Worship Is Man’s Dignity 20

Why is an ungrateful man more astray than beasts21

Call to Hajj Is God’s Grace to Man 21

Some of the Wonderful Blessings of Hajj According To Traditions21

Not All Hajj Pilgrims Are Equal in Terms of Reward 22

Why Is the Difference in Reward?22

Hajj Is the Market of the Hereafter22

Hajj Pilgrims Are God’s Guests22

Forsaker of Hajj Is Not Human 24

The Kaaba, Emblem of Islam 26

Hajj Removes Poverty and Social Disobedience26

Ignoring Hajj Leads To Weakness of the Religion and the Unbelievers’ Domination Over Muslims27

No Charity Can Replace Hajj27

Spending A Mountain of Red Gold in the Sake of God Does Not Equal Going On Hajj28

One Dirham Is Better Than Thousands28

Neither Forsake Hajj Nor Dissuade Others28

The blessings of Hajj on all people of the world 29

Where Are the Positive Effects of Hajj On the Ummah?29

The Holy Prophet Worries about Hajj at the End of the World 30

We Have To Confess This Bitter Fact30

The Fault Lies With Us30

Notes31

Spiritual Philosophy of Hajj32

God’s favor to man 32

The King Makes A Palace in A Ruined Village32

Hajj, A Display of Man’s Spiritual Journey 33

The Holy Qur’an has blamed the heedless worshippers33

The Imams; the Truth of the Religion and Religious Duties35

The Imam is the criterion of the belief, ethics, and deeds36

The Imam, the straight path of god 36

Summary 38

Hajj, Spiritual Journey Not Physical Acts38

The Hajj of Prophet Ibrahim (as), A Spiritual One38

Content, Not Form, Is Important39

Read the Following Reports and Get To Know the Feature of A Shiite Muslim40

Note41

What Is the Cause of Skepticism 41

The Skepticism of A Materialist Thirteen Centuries Ago 42

Why Was God’s House Not Built in A Pleasant Area?43

Why Do Hajj Acts Not Please the Intellect and Temperament?44

God’s Trial Is Difficult46

Failure of People of Sabbath in God’s Trial46

Trial of Talut’s Army 46

Another trial of the children of Israel47

Prophet Ibrahim and God’s Strange Trial48

Summary 49

Questions of Practical Laws of Islam 49

Note50

The Aim of Questioning the Philosophy of the Practical Laws of Islam 50

Why Are We in Need For A Divine Revelation?51

What Is Religious Obedience?51

God Is in No Need For Our Obedience53

Notes57

Stages of Hajj58

Beginning of the journey and going through different stages58

Stage One: Pure Intention 58

Stage Two: Repentance58

Stage Three: Detachment From What Is Not Godly 59

Choosing A Co-Traveler59

Good Temperament60

Notes60

Halting Places61

Halting Place 1: Miqat61

Holding of Tongue Important in State of Ihram 62

Halting Place 2: Mataaf63

Imam Baqir (as) by the side of the Kaaba64

Beware, This Is the Precinct of the Kaaba, and A Holy Place64

Survival of the Kaaba, A Wonder65

Importance of the Circumambulation of the Kaaba65

The position of one who has the honor of circumambulation 66

Halting Place 3: Mas’aa67

Halting Place 4: Mount Arafat69

Where Is Arafat?69

Man will not become familiar with God as long as he is attached to the world70

Day of Arafat Is the Day of Supplication To God 71

Duaa Has Its Own Effect71

Beware! Here Is Arafat73

Good Tidings: Imam Mahdi (as) is present in Arafat74

Take the Opportunity For Duaa75

Ask forgiveness for your parents, relatives, and all believers in Arafat77

Now, Supplication To God 78

The Sun in Arafat Is Setting 78

Good Tidings79

Halting Place 5: Al-Mash’ar Al-Haram 80

Restrain Your Anger80

Al-Mash’ar or The Meeting Place of God’s Lovers80

Night, Time of Communion With God 81

Now It Is Night, the Even of Feast of Sacrifice in Al-Mash’ar Al-Haram 82

Reflect For An Hour84

Night in Al-Mash’ar Al-Haram and Reflection 84

The Philosophy of Staying Overnight in Al-Mash’ar84

Praiseworthiness of Picking Up Pebbles in Al-Mash’ar85

Al-Mash’ar Al-Haram, A Sign of Islamic Education 85

Halting Place 6: Mina, the Place of Sacrifice86

Ramy Al-Jamarat in Mina and Its Philosophy 86

Offering Animal Sacrifice in Mina and Its Philosophy 87

Islam Has Two Official Feasts89

Social Aspect of Sacrifice in Mina89

A Living Religion Needs Both Mosque and Sacrifice90

Sacrifice, Existed Among Former Nations91

The Spiritual Philosophy of Offering Sacrifice92

Economic Profits in Sacrifice94

How to use the meat of a sacrificed animal according to the Holy Qur’an and traditions94

Halq and Taqsir in Mina and the Philosophy 95

Summary 97

Staying Overnight in Mina98

Understanding Among the Ummah in Mina98

Nights in Mina and Communion With God 99

Kheif Mosque in Mina101

Halting Place 7: Visitation of the Kaaba and Kissing the Black Stone101

The Black Stone, God’s Hand On the Earth 101

The Black Stone Is of Heavenly Essence and God’s Trustee among Servants102

Note103

All Beings in the World Have Two Features105

Summary 105

Some Notes105

Kissing and Caressing the Black Stone by Causing Inconvenience to Others105

Avoid Dropping Pebbles Round the Kaaba106

Take Part in the Congregational Prayer and Do Not Leave the Mosque106

Do Not Miss the Opportunity of Performing Circumambulation and Prayer in the Sacred Mosque and Reading the Holy Qur’an 107

The Virtue of Prayer in the Sacred Mosque107

The Virtue of Reading the Whole Qur’an in Mecca108

Do Not Miss the Umrah Mufradah 108

Notes110

Conclusion of the Hajj Rites112

People of the Pre-Islamic Era Performed Hajj, Too 112

O Pilgrims of the Sacred House112

Sermon of Man of Letter113

Imam Sajjad’s Comprehensive Reference To the Secrets of Hajj114

Imam Sadiq’s (as) full instruction on Hajj122

An Analogy Between Man’s Life and the Hajj Rites124

Notes127

Visitation 128

Visitation To the Holy Shrine of God’s Messenger128

Love For the Ahl ul-Bayt is Reward of Prophethood 128

Wilayat Makes the Hajj Rites Perfect128

Acceptable Hajj130

Visiting the Prophet’s Tomb 131

Peace Be Upon You, O Messenger of Allah and Upon Your Pure and Immaculate Household133

Souls of True Believers Keep On Living After Death and They Are Aware of All Events133

Dust from Messengers’ footsteps is life-giving 135

Shiites Are in Search of Fatima’s Grave in Medina136

Al-Baqie Cemetery, the Sacred Hall of Audience137

The Martyrs of the Battle of Uhud 137

Conclusion of the Journey 138

Notes140

Translators Note

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In The Name of Allah, The Most Compassionate, The Most Merciful

All Praise Is Due To Allah, The Lord of The Worlds. May The Peace And Blessings of Allah Be Upon Muhammad And His Pure Progeny.

This is the third book of its kind I have translated into English for Ansariyan Publications. The other two books are Uddatul Da’i by Allama Hilli and Ethos of Prophets by Taaj Langaroodi.

It is an honor for me to translate a book into English on Hajj, a religious duty that prepares man for his spiritual journey towards God. The present book not only discusses the physical acts of Hajj rites but also elaborates on the spiritual and mystical aspects of this divine ritual, which has greatly impressed mm.

Like a mystic poet who has to go through seven cities of love, namely quest, love, gnosis, detachment, unity, amazement, and finally annihilation in order to become united with the Beloved, the pilgrim of God’s house too has to go though seven stages similar to the seven cities of love in order to be received by God.

This book can serve as a handbook for the pilgrims who wish to have more knowledge about the physical and spiritual aspects of Hajj.

The translation of this book is dedicated to the souls of my parents, Safar ‘Ali Aghili and Roghayyeh Aghili as well as my sister, Ghamar Aghili, may their souls rest in peace forever.

Aghili Ashtiani

Introduction

Praise is due to Allah who made the House a pilgrimage for man and a place of security. Greetings of Allah be upon Muhammad; the chosen messenger whom Allah has sent as witness, bearer of good tidings, warner, and to “call people to Allah, with His permission, and the bright lamp.” And greetings be upon the members of his household from whom Allah kept away the uncleanness and purified a thorough purifying.

In this materialistic world, man’s spiritual assets are being plundered. The sublime spiritual virtues, being the only source of man’s dignity and a criterion for humanity, have lost their values and are gradually being removed from man’s life. A beastly atmosphere is turning the world into a quagmire.

The freedom-fighting and hearty human beings are naturally living in depression under such circumstances. Like taking breath in a polluted environment, living has become painful for them. Hence, they are always looking for a chance to hear a heavenly and divine call amidst the mammonists’ yellings so that it will remove fatigue from their lives and depression from their hearts, take them to a world above this boring one, and satiate them with the elixir of affinity with God, prophets, and saints. That is the call of the Hajj pilgrimage and the call of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) (as)1 , which generates much enthusiasm in the ummah -Muslim community- with the coming of the Hajj rites.

Enthusiasm in the hearts and spirits of the believers who rush to the Kaaba2 - the House of their Beloved, fills Mecca’s plain and mountain with Labbayk Allahumma labbayk (Yes, here I am, O Lord, here I am). Bare-footed, they shed off all worldly attachments and signs of distinction, reach for the House of their Beloved, embrace it, circumambulate it, voice their love from the bottom of their hearts, confide their grievances with God, hear the soothing answer of the Lord of the House, and return home with a spiritual joy.

The Kaaba is truly a spiritual sanctuary for human society in this stormy world. Those believers who have been fed up with the automated life and the wearisome account of mammonists’ profit and loss, those who are desperate for a happy life for themselves and others, by seeking refuge in the Kaaba, will find such tranquility that all problems will be made easy for them. With their heart at rest and an expanded breast as a result of relying on God’s imperishable power, the unleveled paths of life will become smooth for them, hence, they are prepared for fighting the hardships and creating an ideal life for human beings.

Nevertheless, attaining the life-giving impact of religious acts in general and the Hajj rite in particular depends on full attention to the philosophy of these great heavenly instructions, or an act devoid of spirit will evidently not yield any sublime socio-humane result. Perhaps one can assert that the main reason we, Muslims, are deprived of the effects of our religious instruction is lack of attention to the spirit of divine laws.

We are only content with their external forms. We notice that certain Muslims go to perform Hajj and Umrah. They know the Hajj rites very well but, amazingly, there is neither revolution in them in terms of evolution of spirit and connection with God nor have they been disciplined from the viewpoint of social relations and rights of human beings.

In the same way, they are deprived of spiritual effects of such other religious acts as prayer, fasting, visiting the holy shrines, mourning for Imam Husayn (as) and holding sessions or learning the Holy Qur’an and other religious rites.

Having the greatest intellectual and spiritual assets, this deprivation of sublime human virtues is regrettable, for it has no justification other than failing to know the truth of Islam and the spirit of the Qur’anic teachings. It is regrettable to see that Muslims work hard to learn about issues related to prayer, the rules of reciting the Holy Qur’an but fail to learn about the spirit of prayer and the aim behind this divine injunction to nourish their soul in the light of those injunctions, to make their heart turn into a mirror to reflect God’s manifestations and to purify their individual and social life from the filth of all vices thanks to prayer.

It is seen that Muslims perform prayer, take part in congregational prayers, invoke, and supplicate, but remembrance of and spiritual attention to God and abstinence from indecency and evil, which are the ultimate goal of prayer, are missing in most worshippers. The prayer of most people is mixed with wrongdoing and is not different from ignoring God and not praying attention to Him. This is because we have failed to understand the ultimate goal of prayer as part of our religious program. Rather, we consider the ritual prayer and its external form as criterion for being religious.

The same detrimental negligence is seen in Hajj pilgrimage but more conspicuously. Those who intend to go on Hajj pilgrimage do not forget to take with them the smallest things they may need during the trip nor fail to learn some of the rites related to the state of Ihram,3 Tawaf,4 Sa’y5 and Ramy.6 Nevertheless, they are so ignorant of the spirit of Hajj and the ultimate goal of this divine journey that they will never discuss with anyone nor consider it as default.

Getting to know that truth and materializing those objectives in their hearts and on the scene of action is not part of the Hajj rites. The only thing the performer of Hajj has been asked to do seems to be to wrap himself in two pieces of cloth, to say Labbayk,7 to go round the House, to walk between Safa and Marwa, to shave his head, to offer sacrifices, to throw pebbles at Satan, and to return home with trunks filled with gifts! It is for this reason that among those who have performed Hajj Umrah and those having visited the shrines of the Holy Prophet (saw)8 and the Imams (as), many deviations, impious acts, and undisciplined behavior, which have no conformity with the spirit of Hajj rites, are seen. It therefore becomes evident that most of those who have gone to Mecca have failed to understand the spirit of Hajj and the aim behind it. Hence, they are engaged in contradictory acts.

We, Muslims, are duty-bound to submit ourselves to the sublime Qur’anic teachings and try to comprehend the humane objectives of those wise and heavenly injunctions far more than the externals of religion. Elaborating on the sublime objectives of the Hajj rites, Imam Sajjad (as) while meeting a man who had performed Hajj rites posed the following questions:

Were you thinking of abandoning sin and living a pious life until the end of your life when you got into the state of Ihram and saying Labbayk?

Did you pay attention to the aim of the act you were doing?

Were you such and such in Tawaf, Wuquf, al-Mashar, Ramy, and Mina while you were shaving your head and offering a sacrifice?

The man’s answer was ‘No’. Then the Imam (as) said:

Since you have not performed those acts to materialize their objectives, actually you have not performed Hajj, that is to say, the results of the Hajj rites have not been obtained. In this case, you neither reached Mina, nor did you throw these pebbles on Satan, nor did you shave your head, nor did you perform the rituals of the Hajj, nor did you offer prayer in Kheif Mosque, nor did you perform Tawaf al-Ifadha, nor did you offer sacrifice for the Lord. Go back, you did not perform Hajj.”9

Therefore, every Muslim who intends to go on Hajj is duty-bound to pay full attention to its inner objectives in addition to learning about the externals of this great religious duty according to the jurisprudents’ -fuqaha- decrees found in practical laws of Islam -Risala-, so that the visitation of God will leave an indelible impression on his hear that has turned into God’s House and a center for His remembrance.

In this relation, the Holy Qur’an says:

فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُمْ مَنَاسِكَكُمْ فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَذِكْرِكُمْ آبَاءَكُمْ أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْرًا فَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَقُولُ رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَمَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلَاقٍ

“So when you have performed your devotions, then laud Allah as you lauded your fathers, rather a greater lauding. (2:200)”

This book, which consists of quotations from the Holy Qur’an, the hadihs of the Holy Prophet and the immaculate Imams (as), the decrees of the religious authorities as well as my own opinion on Hajj, is dedicated to Imam Mahdi (may Allah expedite his reappearance).

Sayyid Muhammad Zia Abadi

Notes

1. (as) stands for ‘peace be upon him/her/them’

2. The Kaaba is the square-shaped building in the centre of the Great Mosque in Mecca, in the direction of which Muslims must face in doing the obligatory prayer.

3. Ihram, being one of the rites of Hajj, is (1)The sacred state into which a Muslim must enter before performing a pilgrimage (Hajj), during which sexual intercourse, shaving, cutting one's nails, and several other actions are forbidden, and, (2) the costume worn by a Muslim in this state, consisting of two lengths of seamless usu. white fabric, one worn about the hips, the other over the shoulders or sometimes only over the left shoulder.

4. Tawaf, being one of the rites of Hajj, is the circumambulation of the Kaaba - the Holy House of God.

5. Sa’y, being one of the rites of Hajj, is the running between Mount Safa and Mount Marwa.

6. Ramy, being one of the rites of Hajj, is throwing seven stones, thrice, on an emblem representing Satan.

7. Labbayk -or Labbaykah- is the talbiya -one of the pillars of the Hajj- the obligation of which is a matter very much discussed by the ulema, yet they did not reach consensus. Labbayk, however, means: Here I am at your service.

8. (saw) stands for ‘peace be upon him and his family’

9. See Mustadrak al-Wasaail; vol. 2 p.186, Section 17, Hadith 5

my feet’s are my conveyance.” I explained, “I am asking you regarding bread and water.”

He replied! “Oh Shaykh if someone invited you to his house, would it be appropriate to take your

own food?” I exclaimed, “No!” “Similarly, My Lord has invited His servant to His house, it is only

the weakness of your Yaqeen that makes us carry provisions. Despite this, do you think Allah will

let me go to waste?” “Never” I replied. He then left. Sometime later I saw him in Makkah. He

approached me and inquired, “Oh Shaykh are you still of weak belief?”

Source: Stories of the Pious by Shaikh Ahmad Ali.

AVERYPOWERFULSTORY

He remembered his grandmother’s warning about praying on time: “My son, you shouldn’t leave

prayer to this late time.” His grandmother’s age was 70 but whenever she heard the Adhan, she got

up like an arrow and performed Salah/Namaz/prayer. He, however could never win over his ego to

get up and pray. Whatever he did, his Salah was always the last to be offered and he prayed it

quickly to get it in on time. Thinking of this, he got up and realized that there were only 15 minutes

left before Salat-ul Isha. He quickly made Wudhu and performed Salat-ul Maghrib. While making

Tasbih, he again remembered his grandmother and was embarrassed by how he had prayed. His

grandmother prayed with such tranquility and peace. He began making Dua and went down to

make Sajdah and stayed like that for a while.

He had been at school all day and was tired, so tired. He awoke abruptly to the sound of noise and

shouting. He was sweating profusely. He looked around. It was very crowded. Every direction he

looked in was filled with people. Some stood frozen looking around, some were running left and

right and some were on their knees with their heads in their hands just waiting. Pure fear and

apprehension filled him as he realized where he was.

His heart was about to burst. It was the Day of Judgment. When he was alive, he had heard many

things about the questioning on the Day of Judgment, but that seemed so long ago. Could this be

something his mind made up? No, the wait and the fear were so great that he could not have imag-

ined this. The interrogation was still going on. He began moving frantically from people to people

to ask if his name had been called. No one could answer him. All of a sudden his name was called

and the crowd split into two and made a passageway for him. Two people grabbed his arms and led

him forward. He walked with unknowing eyes through the crowd. The angels brought him to the

center and left him there. His head was bent down and his whole life was passing in front of his

eyes like a movie. He opened his eyes but saw only another world. The people were all helping oth-

ers. He saw his father running from one lecture to the other, spending his wealth in the way of

Islam. His mother invited guests to their house and one table was being set while the other was

being cleared.

He pleaded his case; “I too was always on this path. I helped others. I spread the word of Allah.

I performed my Salah. I fasted in the month of Ramadan. Whatever Allah ordered us to do, I did.

Whatever he ordered us not to do, I did not.” He began to cry and think about how much he loved

Allah. He knew that whatever he had done in life would be less than what Allah deserved and his

only protector was Allah. He was sweating like never before and was shaking all over. His eyes were

fixed on the scale, waiting for the final decision. At last, the decision was made. The two angels with

sheets of paper in their hands, turned to the crowd. His legs felt like they were going to collapse. He

closed his eyes as they began to read the names of those people who were to enter Jahannam/Hell.

His name was read first. He fell on his knees and yelled that this couldn’t be, “How could I go to

Jahannam? I served others all my life, I spread the word of Allah to others.” His eyes had become

blurry and he was shaking with sweat. The two angels took him by the arms. As his feet dragged,

they went through the crowd and advanced toward the blazing flames of Jahannam. He was yelling

and wondered if there was any person who was going to help him. He was yelling of all the good

deeds he had done, how he had helped his father, his fasts, prayers, the Qur’an that he read, he was

asking if none of them would help him. The Jahannam angels continued to drag him. They had got-

ten closer to the Hellfire. He looked back and these were his last pleas. Had not Rasulullah [saw]

said, “How clean would a person be who bathes in a river five times a day, so too does the Salah

performed five times cleanse someone of their sins?” He began yelling, “My prayers? My prayers?

My prayers?”

The two angels did not stop, and they came to the edge of the abyss of Jahannam. The flames of the

fire were burning his face. He looked back one last time, but his eyes were dry of hope and he had

nothing left in him. One of the angels pushed him in.

He found himself in the air and falling towards the

flames. He had just fallen five or six feet when a hand

grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. He lifted

his head and saw an old man with a long white beard.

He wiped some dust off himself and asked him,

“Who are you?” The old man replied, “I am your prayers.”

“Why are you so late! I was almost in the Fire! You

rescued me at the last minute before I fell in.”

The old man smiled and shook his head. “You always

performed me at the last minute, and did you forget?”

At that instant, he blinked and lifted his head from

Sajdah. He was in a sweat. He listened to the voices

coming from outside. He heard the adhan for Salat-ul

Isha. He got up quickly and went to perform Wudhu.

“Say Your Prayers Before Prayers For You Are Said.”

“Namaz Parh Is Se Pehle Ke Teri Namaz Parhi Jaye.”

WORDS AND ACTIONS SHOULD BE THE SAME

There once was a boy who loved eating sweets. He always asked for sweets from his father. His

father was a poor man. He could not always afford sweets for his son. But the little boy did not

understand this, and demanded sweets all the time.

The boy’s father thought hard about how to stop the child asking for so many sweets. There was a

very holy man living nearby at that time. The boy’s father had an idea. He decided to take the boy

to the great man who might be able to persuade the child to stop asking for sweets all the time.

The boy and his father went along to the great man. The father said to him, “O great saint, could

you ask my son to stop asking for sweets which I cannot afford?” The great man was in difficulty,

because he liked sweets himself. How could he ask the boy to give up asking for sweets? The holy

man told the father to bring his son back after one month.

During that month, the holy man gave up eating sweets, and when the boy and his father returned

after a month, the holy man said to the boy “My dear child, will you stop asking for sweets which

your father cannot afford to give you?”

From then on, the boy stopped asking for sweets.

The boy’s father asked the saint, “Why did you not ask

my son to give up asking for sweets when we came to

you a month ago?” The saint replied, “How could I ask a

boy to give up sweets when I loved sweets myself. In the

last month I gave up eating sweets.” A person’s example

is much more powerful than just his words. When we ask

someone to do something, we must do it ourselves also. We should not ask others to do what we do

not do ourselves.

Always make sure that your actions and your words are same.

YOU'RE FAR MORE PRECIOUS THAN DIAMONDS AND PEARLS

“If memory serves me correctly, I was wearing a little white tank top and a

short black skirt. I had been raised Orthodox Muslim, so I had never before

worn such revealing clothing while in my father’s presence. When we finally

arrived, the chauffer escorted my younger sister, Laila, and me up to my

father's suite.

As usual, he was hiding behind the door waiting to scare us. We exchanged

many hugs and kisses as we could possibly give in one day. My father took a

good look at us. Then he sat me down on his lap and said something that I

will never forget.

He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Hana, everything that God

made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to. Where do you find

diamonds? Deep down in the ground covered and protected. Where do you

find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean covered up and protected in a beautiful shell.

Where do you find gold? Way down in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock.

You’ve got to work hard to get to them.”

He looked at me with serious eyes. “Your body is sacred. You’re far more precious than diamonds

and pearls, and you should be covered too.”

Source: More Than A Hero: Muhammad Ali’s Life Lessons Through His Daughter’s Eyes.

THE ONE-EYED DOE

A Doe had the misfortune to lose one of her eyes, and could not see any one

approaching her on that side. So to avoid any danger she always used to feed on

a high cliff near the sea, with her sound eye looking towards the land. By this

means she could see whenever the hunters approached her on land, and often

escaped by this means. But the hunters found out that she was blind of one eye,

and hiring a boat rowed under the cliff where she used to feed and shot her from

the sea. “Ah,” cried she with her dying voice. “You cannot escape your fate.”

THE CAGE BIRD'S ESCAPE

Once upon a time, there was a bird in a cage who sang for her merchant owner. He

took delight in her song day and night, and was so fond of her that he served her

water in a golden dish. Before he left for a business trip, he asked the bird if she had

a wish: “I will go through the forest where you were born, past the birds of your old

neighborhood. What message should I take for them?”

The bird said, “Tell them I sit full of sorrow in a cage singing my captive song. Day

and night, my heart is full of grief. I hope it will not be long before I see my friends

again and fly freely through the trees. Bring me a message from the lovely forest,

which will set my heart at ease. Oh, I yearn for my Beloved, to fly with him, and

spread my wings. Until then there is no joy for me, and I am cut off from all of life’s

sweet things.”

The merchant traveled on his donkey through the dense forest. He listened to the melodies of

many birds. When the merchant reached the forest where his bird came from, he stopped, pushed

his hood back, and said, “O you birds! Greetings to you all from my pretty bird locked in her cage.

She sends tidings of her love to you and wants to tell of her plight. She asks for a reply that will

ease her heart. My love for her keeps her captive with bars all around her. She wants to join her

Beloved and sing her songs through the air with a free heart, but I would miss her beautiful songs

and cannot let her go.”

All the birds listened to the merchant’s words. Suddenly one bird shrieked and fell from a tree

brunch to the ground. The merchant froze to the spot where he stood. Nothing could astound him

more than this did. One bird had fallen down dead!

The merchant continued on to the city and traded his goods. At last he returned to his home.

He did not know what to tell his bird when she asked what message he had brought. He stood

before her cage and said, “Oh, nothing to speak of no, no.” The bird cried, “I must know at once.”

I do not know what happened, said the merchant. “I told them your message. Then, one of them

fell down dead.” Suddenly the merchant’s bird let out a terrible shriek and fell on her head to the

bottom of the cage. The merchant was horrified. He wept in despair, “Oh, what have I done?”

He cried, “What Have I done? Now my life means nothing. My moon has gone and so has my sun.

Now my own bird is dead.”

He opened the cage door, reached in, and took her into his hands gently and carefully. “I will have

to bury her now,” he said; “poor thing is dead.”

Suddenly, the moment he had lifted the bird out of the cage, she swooped up, flew out of the

window and landed on the nearest roof slope. She turned to him and said, gratefully, “Thank you,

merchant master, for delivering my message. That bird’s reply instructed me how to win my

freedom. All I had to do was to be dead. I gained my freedom when I chose to die.”

“So now I fly to my Beloved who waits for me. Good-bye, good-bye, my master no longer.” “My bird

was wise; she taught me secret,” the merchant reflected.

If you want to be with the ones you love, you must be ready to give up everything,

even life itself. And then, by Allah, you will win your heart’s desire.

THE THREE WISE MEN

One day some wise men, who were going about the country trying to find answers to some of the

great questions of their time, came to Nasreddin’s district and asked to see the wisest man in the

place. Nasreddin was brought forward, and a big crowd gathered to listen.

The first wise man began by asking,

“Where is the exact center of the world?”

“It is under my right heel,” answered Nasreddin.

“How can you prove that?” asked the first wise man.

“If you don’t believe me,” answered Nasreddin,

“measure and see.”

The first wise man had nothing to answer to that,

so the second wise man asked his question.

“How many stars are there in the sky?” he said.

“As many as there are hairs on my donkey,”

answered Nasreddin.

“What proof have you got of that?”

asked the second wise man.

“If you don’t believe me,” answered Nasreddin, “count the hairs on my donkey and you will see.”

“That’s foolish talk,” said the other. “How can one count the hairs on a donkey?”

“Well,” answered Nasreddin, “How can one count the stars in the sky? If one is foolish talk,

so is the other.” The second wise man was silent.

The third wise man was becoming annoyed with Nasreddin and his answers, so he said, “You seem

to know a lot about your donkey, so can you tell me how many hairs there are in its tail?”

“Yes,” answered Nasreddin. “There are exactly as many hairs in its tail as there are in your beard.”

“How can you prove that?” said the other.

“I can prove it very easily,” answered Nasreddin. “You can pull one hair out of my donkey’s tail for

every one I pull out of your beard. If the hairs on my donkey’s tail do not come to an end at exactly

the same time as the hairs in your beard, I will admit that I was wrong.”

Of course, the third wise man was not willing to do this, so the crowd declared Nasreddin

the winner of the day’s arguments.

OLD GRAVE

One day, the Nasreddin said to his friends: “If I die, bury me in an old grave.” “Why”, asked his

friends. “Because”, he explained, “if the angels come, I’ll tell them that I died years before and have

already been questioned and then they will return the way they came.”

THE CLEVER BOY

A man with his donkey carrying two sacks of wheat was on his way to

the market. After a little while he was tired and they rested under a tree.

When he woke up from his nap he could not see the donkey and started

searching for the donkey everywhere. On the way he met a boy, he

asked the boy, “Have you seen my donkey?” The boy asked, “Is the

donkey’s left eye blind, his right foot lame and is he carrying a load of

wheat?” The man was happy and said, “Yes, exactly! Where have you

seen it?” the boy answered “I haven’t seen it.” This made the man very

angry and he took the boy to the village chief for punishment.

The judge asked, “Dear boy, if you had not seen at the donkey, how

could you describe it?” The boy answered, “I saw the tracks of a donkey

and the right and left tracks were different from this I understood that

the donkey that passed there was limping. And the grass on the right

side of the road was eaten but the grass on the left was not. From that I

understood that his left eye was blind. There were wheat seeds scattered

on the ground and I understood that he must have been carrying a load of wheat. The judge

understood the boy’s cleverness and told the man to forgive the boy.

This story teaches us that we should not be quick to judge the people.

AMERCHANT AND HIS DONKEY

One beautiful spring morning, a merchant loaded his donkey with

bags of salt to go to the market in order to sell them. The merchant

and his donkey were walking along together. They had not walked

far when they reached a river on the road.

Unfortunately, the donkey slipped and fell into the river and noticed

that the bags of salt loaded on his back became lighter.

There was nothing the merchant could do, except return home

where he loaded his donkey with more bags of salt. As they reached

the slippery riverbank, now deliberately, the donkey fell into the

river and wasted all the bags of salt on its back again.

The merchant quickly discovered the donkey’s trick. He then

returned home again but re-loaded his donkey with bags of sponges.

The foolish, tricky donkey again set on its way. On reaching the river he again fell into the water.

But instead of the load becoming lighter, it became heavier.

The merchant laughed at him and said: “You foolish donkey,

your trick had been discovered, you should know that,

those who are too clever sometimes over reach themselves.”

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER

One cold, frosty day in the middle of winter a colony

of ants was busy drying out some, grains of corn, which

had grown damp during the wet autumn weather.

A grasshopper half dead with cold and hunger, came

up to one of the ants. “Please give me a grail or two

from your store of corn to save my life,” he said faintly.

“We worked day and night to get this corn in.

Why should I give it to you?” asked the ant crossly.

“Whatever were you doing all last summer when you

should have been gathering your food?”

Oh I didn’t have time for things like that, said the

grasshopper. “I was far too busy singing to carry corn about.”

The ant laughed I unkindly. “In that case you can sing all winter as far as I am concerned,” he said.

And without another word he turned back to his work.

Islam teaches us that we should help the less fortunate. But it also teaches us that we

must work hard and not rely on the kindness of others for our daily needs.

THE FOX WHO GOT CAUGHT IN THE TREE TRUNK

Once upon a time, there was a hungry fox that was looking for something to ear. He was very

hungry. No matter how hard he tried, the fox could not find food. Finally he went to the edge of the

forest and searched there for food. Suddenly he caught sight of a big tree with a hole in it.

Inside the hole was a package. The hungry fox immediately thought that there might be food in it,

and he became very happy. He jumped into the hole and when he

opened the package, he saw there were a lot of food, bread, meat

and fruit in it!

An old woodcutter had placed the food in the tree trunk while he

cut down trees in the forest. He was going to eat it for his lunch.

The fox happily began to eat. After the fox had finished eating, he

felt thirsty and decided to leave the trunk and drink some water

from a nearby spring. However, no matter how hard he tried, he

could not get out of the hole. Do you know why? Yes, the fox had

eaten so much food that he became too big to fit through the hole.

The fox was very sad and upset. He told himself, “I wish that I had

thought a little before jumping into the hole.”

Yes children, this is the result of doing something

without thinking about it first.

CATS AND ROOSTERS

Once upon a time in Africa, roosters ruled cats. The cats worked

hard all day and at night they had to bring all they had gathered for

the roosters. The king of the roosters would take all the food for

himself and for the other roosters.

The roosters loved to eat ants. Thus, every cat had a purse hung

round its neck, which it filled with ants for the king of the roosters.

The cats did not like the situation. They wanted to rid themselves of

the king so that the food they gathered through hard work and great

difficulty would be their own. But they were afraid of the roosters.

The roosters had told the cats that rooster’s combs were made out of fire and that the fire of their

combs would burn anyone who disobeyed them! The cats believed them and therefore worked from

early morning until night for the roosters.

One night, the fire on the house of Mrs. Cat went out. She told her kitten, Fluffy, to bring some fire

from Mr. Rooster’s house. When Fluffy went into the house of the rooster, she saw that Mr. Rooster

was fast asleep, his stomach swollen with the ants he had eaten. The kitten was afraid to wake the

rooster, so she returned home empty handed and told her mother what had happened.

Mrs. Cat said, “Now that the rooster is asleep, gather some dry twigs and place them near his comb.

As soon as the twigs catch fire, bring them home.”

Fluffy gathered some dry twigs and took them to the rooster’s house. He was still asleep. Fluffy

fearfully put the dry twigs near the rooster’s comb but it was no use, the twigs did not catch fire.

Fluffy rubbed the twigs against the rooster’s comb again but it was no use they would not catch fire.

Fluffy returned home without any fire and told her mother, “The roost’s comb does not set twigs on

fire.” Mrs. Cat answered “Why can’t you do anything right! Come with me I’ll show you how to

make fire with the rooster’s comb.” So together they went to the house of Mr. Rooster.

He was still asleep. Mrs. Cat put the twigs as near to the rooster’s comb as she could. But the twigs

did not catch fire. Then, shaking with fear, she put her paw near the rooster’s comb and gently

touched it. To her surprise, the comb was not hot, it was very cold, and it was just red colored.

As soon as Mrs. Cat realized that the roosters had lied to the cats about their combs, she joyfully

went out and told the other cats about the rooster’s tricks. From that day on, the cats no longer

worked for the roosters.

At first, the king of the roosters became very angry and said to the cats; “I will burn all of your

houses if you do not work for me!”

But the cats said, “Your comb is not made of fire. It is just the color of fire.

We touched it when you were sleep. You lied to us.”

When the king of the roosters found out that the cats knew that he had

lied to them, he ran away. Now, whenever roosters see a cat, they scurry

away, because to this very day they are afraid of cats.

THE PROUD RED ROSE

One beautiful spring day a red rose blossomed in a forest. Many

kinds of trees and plants grew there. As the rose looked around,

a pine tree nearby said, “What a beautiful flower. I wish I was that

lovely.” Another tree said, “Dear pine, do not be sad, we can not

have everything.”

The rose turned its head and remarked, “It seems that I am the

most beautiful plant in this forest.” A sunflower raised its yellow

head and asked, “Why do you say that? In this forest there are

many beautiful plants. You are just one of them.” The red rose

replied, “I see everyone looking at me and admiring me.” Then

the rose looked at a cactus and said, “Look at that ugly plant full

of thorns!” The pine tree said, “Red rose, what kind of talk is this?

Who can say what beauty is? You have thorns too.”

The proud red rose looked angrily at the pine and said, “I thought

you had good taste! You do not know what beauty is at all. You can

not compare my thorns to that of the cactus.”

“What a proud flower”, thought the trees.

The rose tried to move its roots away from the cactus, but it could not move. As the days passed,

the red rose would look at the cactus and say insulting things, like: This plant is useless?

How sorry I am to be his neighbor.

The cactus never got upset and he even tried to advise the rose, saying,

“God did not create any form of life without a purpose.”

Spring passed, and the weather became very warm. Life became difficult in the forest, as the plants

and animals needed water and no rain fell. The red rose began to wilt. One day the rose saw

sparrows stick their beaks into the cactus and then fly away, refreshed. This was puzzling, and the

red rose asked the pine tree what the birds were doing. The pine tree explained that the birds got

water from the cactus. “Does it not hurt when they make holes?” asked the rose.

“Yes, but the cactus does not like to see any birds suffer,” replied the pine.

The rose opened its eyes in wonder and said, “The cactus has water?”

“Yes you can also drink from it. The sparrow can bring

water to you if you ask the cactus for help.”

The red rose felt too ashamed of its past words and

behavior to ask for water from the cactus, but then it

finally did ask the cactus for help. The cactus kindly

agreed and the birds filled their beaks with water and

watered the rose’s roots. Thus the rose learned a lesson

and never judged anyone by their appearance again.

THE SELFISH MAN

Once upon a time, there was a selfish man. He liked everything to be

his own. He could not share his belongings with anyone, not even his

friends or the poor.

One day, the man lost thirty gold coins. He went to his friend’s house

and told him how he lost his gold coins. His friend was a kind man.

As his friend’s daughter was coming from an errand she found thirty gold coins, when she arrived

home, she told her father what she had found. The girl’s father told her that the gold coins belong

to his friend and he sent for him. When the selfish man arrived, he told him how his daughter had

found his thirty gold coins and handed then to him. After counting the gold coins the man said that

ten of them was missing and had been taken by the girl as he had forty gold coins. He further

commented that he will recover the remaining amount from him. But the girl’s father refused.

The man left the gold coins and went to the court and informed the judge there about what had

taken place between him and the girl’s father.

The judge sent for the girl and her father, and when they arrived asked the girl how many gold

coins did she find. She replied thirty gold coins. The Judge that asked the selfish man how many

gold coins did he lose and he answered forty gold coins.

The judge then told the man that the gold coins did not belong to him because the girl found thirty

and not forty as he claimed to have lost and then told the girl to take the gold coins and that if any-

body is looking for them he will send for the girl.

The judge told the man that if anybody reports that they have found forty gold coins he will send

for him. It was then that the man confessed that he lied and that he lost thirty gold coins but the

judge did not listen to him.

This story teaches us to be always honest as dishonest never pays.

YOU ARE PRICELESS TO THOSE WHO LOVE YOU

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of

200, he asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?” Hands started going up. He said,

“I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.” He proceeded to

crumple up the $20 bill. He asked, “Who still wants it?” Still hands were up in the air.

“Well, what if I do this?” He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the

floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty and asked, “Who still

wants it?” Still hands went up into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what was done to

the money, it was still wanted because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth

$20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled and ground into the dirt by the decisions

we make and the circumstances that come our way. We may feel as though we are worthless.

But no matter what has happened or will happen, you will never lose your value: dirty or clean,

crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who love you.

BE CAREFULWHAT YOU PLANT

An emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor.

Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children, he decided something different.

He called young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, “It is time for me to step down

and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you.”

The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. “I am going to

give each one of you a seed today. One very special seed. I want you

to plant the seed, water it and come back here after one year from

today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge

the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next

emperor!”

One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and

excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the

seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After

about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that

were beginning to grow.

Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks went by. Still

nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt

like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed.

Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn’t say anything to his friends,

however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for

inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But honest about what

happened, Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot

to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths.

They were beautiful in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the

other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, “Hey nice try.”

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to

hide in the back. “What great plants, trees and flowers you have grown,” said the emperor. “Today,

one of you will be appointed the next emperor!” All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the

back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was

terrified. “The emperor knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!”

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. “My name is Ling,” he replied. All the

kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked

at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, “Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!” Ling

couldn’t believe it. Ling couldn’t even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor? Then the

emperor said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it,

water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow.

All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the

seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one

with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will

be the new emperor!”

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.

“Remember your graves because your

If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.

way passes over it. You will be dealt with

If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.

as you deal with others, you will reap what

If you plant perseverance, you will reap victory.

you sow, and what you send today will

If you plant consideration, you will reap harmony.

meet you tomorrow.” Imam Ali (AS)

If you plant hard work, you will reap success.

If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.

If you plant openness, you will reap intimacy.

If you plant patience, you will reap improvements.

If you plant faith, you will reap miracles.

But

If you plant dishonesty, you will reap distrust.

If you plant selfishness, you will reap loneliness.

If you plant pride, you will reap destruction.

If you plant envy, you will reap trouble.

If you plant laziness, you will reap stagnation.

If you plant bitterness, you will reap isolation.

If you plant greed, you will reap loss.

If you plant gossip, you will reap enemies.

If you plant worries, you will reap wrinkles.

If you plant sin, you will reap guilt.

So be careful what you plant now, It will determine what you will reap tomorrow, The seeds you

now scatter, Will make life worse or better, your life or the ones who will come after. Yes, someday,

you will enjoy the fruits, or you will pay for the choices you plant today.

GENEROSITY

Mahatma Gandhi went from city to city, village to village collecting funds for

the Charkha Sangh. During one of his tours he addressed a meeting in Orissa.

After his speech a poor old woman got up. She was bent with age, her hair

was grey and her clothes were in tatters. The volunteers tried to stop her,

but she fought her way to the place where Gandhi Ji was sitting.

“I must see him,” she insisted and going up to Gandhi Ji touched his feet.

Then from the folds of her sari she brought out a copper coin and placed it at his feet. Gandhi Ji

picked up the copper coin and put it away carefully. The Charkha Sangh funds were under the

charge of Jamnalal Bajaj. He asked Gandhi Ji for the coin but Gandhi Ji refused.

“I keep cheques worth thousands of rupees for the Charkha Sangh,” Jamnalal Bajaj said laughingly

“yet you won’t trust me with a copper coin.” “This copper coin is worth much more than those

thousands” Gandhi Ji said. “If a man has several lakhs and he gives away a thousand or two,

it doesn’t mean much.”

But this coin was perhaps all that the poor woman  "Overlook and forgive the weakness of

possessed. She gave me all she had. That was very  generous people, because if they fall

down, Allah gives his hand in their hands

generous of her. What a great sacrifice she made. That is

and helps them…." Imam Ali (AS)

why I value this copper coin more than a crore of rupees.