Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

The Other Reference Used

Having mentioned in the foregoing pages, the blessings, which the Holy Prophet Muhammad had brought for mankind, it is needless to repeat the same. Only relevant events directly connected with the great sacrifice are, as a necessity, referred to here for the guidance of the readers.

HUSSAIN'S MOTHER: WHY THE LAST APOSTLE OF GOD WAS GIVEN ONLY A DAUGHTER AND NOT ANY SON TO SURVIVE?

The Holy Prophet Muhammad had two sons and a daughter, but sons he did not need, for his apostleship had to conclude with his ministry, and if any son of the Holy Prophet had survived, it would have given the chance to the people to hail the son of the Prophet also to be another prophet of God, whereas there was no prophet to come after him. It may be said that this was the reason of the male issues of the Holy Apostle leaving this world, in their very infancy. But the Holy Prophet needed a daughter of his own purity of spirit and body, to reflect the divine light of guidance in her ideal character and present an authentic model of the correct Islamic womanhood to the world. Hence FATEMA, the Lady of Light, was born to the Holy Prophet, who for her godly qualities, is known in the Islamic World by the following epithets:

1- AZ-ZAHRA: THE SHINING.

2- AL-BATUL: THE LIBERATOR OF SINNERS.

3- AL-AZRA: THE CLEAN, THE PURE.

4- SAYYEDDATUN-NISA: THE CHIEF OF WOMEN.

5- AFZALUN-NISA: THE SUPERIOR MOST OF WOMEN.

6- KHAIRUN-NISA: THE BEST OF WOMEN.

7- MARIAM ALKUBRA: THE SENIOR MARY.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the mother of only one heavenly guide to the children of the House of Israel, whereas Lady FATEMA besides her being the daughter of the Holy Apostle of God, was the mother of the Eleven Divinely Commissioned Guides, (i.e., the Holy Imams). It is a unique instance in the history of the world that the issues of a single pair to have Eleven Heavenly Guides, consecutively one after another.

8- AL-MUBARAKA: THE BLESSED ONE OF GOD.

9- AS-SADIQA: THE TRUTHFUL.

10- AL-MUHADDISA: The one who talked to her mother from the womb of her mother even prior of her birth. (When God could make Jesus talk from the cradle when he was just born, there cannot be any wonder if the Almighty causes another one blessed by Him, to act in a similar manner). There are several other epithets of this great heavenly being who was the Lady of Light. Naturally HUSSAIN, the King of Martyrs could not have been born of any ordinary woman other then the one like the Lady FATEMA with the divine attributes she was exclusively blessed with. It has already been said that one of the unique distinctions of the family of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, is that right from the Holy Prophet down to the Eleventh Imam, including Lady FATEMA, all the Holy Thirteen were Martyrs.

FATEMA MARRIED TO ALI

A Divine Lady like FATEMA could not have been the wife of any ordinary man, and more particularly when she was destined to provide the Divine Plan with godly characters suitable to be the Universal Guides to mankind as a whole. Providence had already arranged for the alliance of this holy one with another one of the same lineage.

"If Ali was not born, FATEMA had none of her set (to marry with)" said the Holy Prophet. The Holy Prophet Muhammad was ordained by God to effect the alliance between his daughter FATEMA and his Vicegerent Ali, so that through this Holy alliance, may continue to flow the Divine Light in their issues who had been destined to be the Eleven of the Twelve Princes promised in the seed of ISMAEL (Gen. 17:20). While the Holy prophet Muhammad was 'the Prophet' prophesied by Moses, the 'Comforter', the 'Holy Ghost' and the 'Spirit of Truth', prophesied by Jesus, Ali along with his Eleven issues was to fulfill the advent of the Twelve Princes promised in the seed of ISMAEL. Thus FATEMA was married to Ali and through the Holy Alliance of these two divines, came into the world, HASSAN the Second Holy Imam and HUSSIAN the Third Holy Imam to be the King of Martyrs to offer the 'ZIBHI-AZEEM' or the Great Sacrifice willed by God, instead of the sacrifice of ISMAEL by Abraham (37:105-108)

"And We called out to him saying 'O' Abraham! Thou hast indeed proved true the dream; Verily, thud do We reward the righteous. Verily, this is an open trail; And We have substituted it with 'ZIBHE-AZEEM' a Great Sacrifice'" [37:104-108].

HUSSAIN'S FATHER

Ali was the Vicegerent of the Holy Prophet and the Divinely Commissioned First Imam who repeatedly rescued the Holy Prophet Muhammad from being killed, and saved Islam from being totally annihilated once for all. He rescued Islam and the Muslims, not once but many a time, which fact is boldly and loudly declared by Islamic History. For his matchless faith, unparalleled valor, wonderful prowess, the divinely gifted knowledge and other unique godly qualities, Ali had earned the following epithets which were exclusively owned by him and by none else before or after him:

1- AL-MURTAZA: THE CHOSEN ONE OF GOD.

2- AMIRUL-MOMINEEN: THE COMMANDER OF THE PIOUS.

3- IMAMUL-MUTTAQEEN: THE GUIDE OF THE PIOUS.

4- MAZHARUL AJAIB: THE MANIFESTOR OF WONDERS.

5- MADEENATUL ILM: THE CITY OF KNWOLEDGE.

6- SAIYYDUL AUSIYA: THE CHIEF OF THE DEPUTIES (OF Muhammad the Apostle of God).

7- IMAM AULIYA: THE GUIDE OF THE SAINTS.

8- ASADULLAHUL GHALEB: THE EVER TRIUMPHANT LION OF GOD.

9- LISAANULLAH: THE TONGUE OF GOD.

10- YADULLAH: THE HAND OF GOD.

11- WAJHULLAH: THE FACE OF GOD.

12- NAFSE-RASULULLAH: THE SOUL OF THE APOSTLE OF GOD.

13- WALIULLAH: THE FRIEND OF GOD.

14- SIDDEEQUL-AKBAR: THE GREATEST TRUTHFUL.

15- FAROOQUL-AAZAM: THE GREATEST DISTINGUISHER (between the truth and the falsehood).

16- ABU-TURAB: THE FATHER OF THE EARTH.

17- FAATEH-E-KHAIBER: THE CONQUEROR OF KHAIBER.

18- ABUL AIMMA: THE FATHER OF THE HOLY IMAMS.

19- AKHU RASULULLAH: THE BROTHER OF THE APOSTLE OF GOD.

20- ABUL EATAM: THE FATHER OF ORPHANS AND THE EHELPLESS.

(Vide TABARI, IBNE-ATHIR, ABUL-FIDA, AMIR ALI, etc.)

HUSSAIN'S ADVENT DREAMT BY LADY OMMUL FADHL

A few days before the birth of HUSSAIN, Lady OMMUL FADHL, wife of ABBAS IBNE ABDUL MUTTALIB dreamt that a bit of flesh flew from the body of the Holy Prophet and fell in her lap. When referred to, the Holy Prophet interpreted the dream telling the Lady OMMUL FADHL that: "A son will be born to my daughter FATEMA and the Baby will be given to thee for nursing". According to IBNE SHAR AASHOOB, immediately after the birth of HUSSAIN, FATEMA got indisposed and the Baby was given in the charge of Lady OMMUL FADHL for nursing.

Hussain Arrives on Earth

With the lack of the correct knowledge about the absolute independence of the All-Supreme authority and the dominance of the All-Pervading will of the Omnipotent Creator Lord of the Universe, and His being the Author, the Sole Controller and the Independent Regulator of the laws of nature, man had begun to believe as God also being subject to the laws instead of the laws being subservient to their Omnipotent Author.

Many events of guidance to man, about the independent working of the Omnipotent Will of God, were demonstrated in the birth of many holy ones, particularly in the advent of some of the prophets of God and the holy members of the House of the Holy Prophet the (AHLUL-BAIT).

1- YAHYA: John son of ZAKARIAH was given a birth in six months in the inconceivable advanced age of his parents.

2- Jesus: was sent into the world in six months without the agency of a male partner to his mother and talked while still a baby in the cradle.

3- Muhammad: (the Last Apostle of God) was born with signs supernatural, announcing his advent, duly circumcise, with a body not casting its shadow on earth.

4- Ali: (the Vicegerent of Muhammad the Last Apostle of God) born duly circumcised: A miraculous entrance was divinely caused into the Holy KA'BA for the confinement of his holy mother. He could be present at more than place at one and the same time. His godly strength Amazed the world as his exclusive miracles and many other super-natural powers with mystic signs and miraculous events, which facts are unbelievable today by the materialists, but they are authentic.

5- FATEMA: (the Lady of Light) was heard glorifying God in her pregenetal state.

6- HASSAN: (Son of Ali and FATEMA) was born duly circumcised with extraordinary cleanliness of birth without the natural signs which ordinarily accompany the conception and the delivery of a human child.

7- HUSSAIN: was given a clean birth duly circumcised as that of his brother HASSAN, and was born like YAHYA (John) and Jesus, in six months. The miraculous birth of Jesus without a male partner to his mother the Virgin Mary, was nothing but to prove to the people of the age and to inform mankind as a whole that the laws natural as understood by man with his conceptual limitations, do not bind the Omnipotent Lord who is Himself the Originator of nature and the Independent Regulator of its laws (36:82, 2:113, 16:40, 19:35, 40:68). His command, when He intends anything to say it to Be and there it Is.

Much has been made of Jesus' birth without a father, by the Christian church, in-spite of its very Holy Book the Bible saying that Jesus said: "I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise children unto Abraham" (Luke, 3:8) When God can raise human children from stones, where is the reason to call any child as the son of God; if it was brought forth from a human being (Mary) a woman who by nature was a child bearer. Our Christian brethren hail Jesus as the Son of God, while Jesus himself calls himself a son of man (Luke, 7:34)

And if Jesus had ever called himself as son of God, he had called Adam also the son of God (Luke, 3:38). The term son will mean the chosen servant of God, and not an issue of God. About the independent execution of the Omnipotent Creative Will of God, the Holy QUR'AN says: "He (God) Createth whatsoever He willeth" [42:49]

QUR'AN further asserts that God Creates whatever He Will which mankind does not know. "He (God) Createth what ye know not" [16:8]

There are many such assertions in the HOLY QUR'AN referring to the various aspects of the independent execution of the divine will. On Thursday the 3rd of SHABAN in the fourth year of HIJRAT i.e., the Migration of the Holy Prophet from Mecca to Medina, HUSSAIN arrived on earth, with super-natural signs which have usually accompanied the birth of some chosen ones of God. Jesus, as a Jew, through his mother Mary, in the lineage of Isaac son of Abraham, according to the covenant of God (Gen. 17:23, 21:40) was circumcised on the 8th day of his birth (Luke, 2:21) whereas every male member of the Holy AHLUL-BAIT (The Holy Prophet and the Twelve Imams) in the lineage of ISMAEL the first son of Abraham, was born duly circumcise, i.e., with the ABRAHAMIC covenant already fulfilled even in the very native formation of their holy bodies.

When HASSAN the first son of Ali and FATEMA, was born, the Holy Prophet was out of Median, on a defensive expedition, and had left word that if a child is born to his daughter in his absence, the baby be not fed with anything until his return, but since his return the Holy Prophet said: "It is only the Will of the Lord that is done". Just before the birth of HUSSAIN also, the Holy Prophet was to leave Medina, but this time he desired that whatever time it takes for his return, until then the baby should be fed. When HUSSAIN was born, the Holy Prophet came to FATEMA and taking the baby (HUSSAIN) in his lap, mysteriously placed his tongue in the mouth of the Baby, and the Baby began sucking it and thus the Holy Child was first fed by the Saliva of the Apostle of God, ad the first sustenance of his body in this world.

After giving the Holy Baby the first feeding by his Saliva, the Holy Prophet said:

"HUSSAINUN MINNI WA ANA MINAL HUSSAIN".

"HUSSAIN of me and I am of HUSSAIN".

HUSSAIN'S MARTYRDOM PROPHESIED

When HUSSAIN was born, Gabriel the Messenger Angel appeared before the Holy Prophet and after paying respects to the Apostle of God, said: "O' the Most beloved one of God; The Almighty Lord presents His blessings and felicitations to thee, and wills that thou should felicitate Ali and FATEMA on the birth of the baby, and the baby be named HUSSAIN, for he is known in heavens with this name". Saying this the angel stopped with some symptoms of concern. The Prophet said: "Brother Gabriel, if this be a felicitation to us what is the other matter of any serious concern?".

The Angel continued saying:

"O' Prophet of God, it is for the newly born son of Lady FATEMA, for he will suffer innumerable difficulties, miseries, tortures, wounds and pains of bitterest nature. He will at last be martyred with all his faithful supporters in a desert called KARBALA on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq, it will be a time when Islam will be in a crisis and the existence of this revealed religion for Mankind will rest upon the sacrifices of HUSSAIN, your grandson".

Hearing this the Holy Prophet naturally felt sorrowful, can easily be imagined by the reader how Lady FATEMA, the mother of HUSSAIN, would have felt when she heard of the calamities to befall the dear one just arrived in her lap. Immediately after the birth of HUSSAIN, FATEMA was indisposed and the Holy Baby was given to Lady OMMUL FADHL for nursing and for forty days consecutively the Apostle of God used to place his holy finger in the mouth of the innocent and thus the Holy Baby was sustained for forty days without any thing else, even the mother's milk. It is inferred by great divines that it was the predetermined Divine Process to condition the Holy Child with the divinity endowed in the apostolic physic of its Holy Grandfather the Chief and the Last of the Apostles of God for HUSSAIN had to play an apostolic role on behalf of his Grandfather to save Truth Islam.

HUSSAIN A DUPLICATE MUHAMMAD

Historians report that besides the native endowments identical with those of the Holy Prophet, the outward appearance (i.e., the physical features) of HUSSAIN was a moving picture of his Grandfather the Holy Prophet. IBNE KATHEER says: "I never saw a more beautiful man than HUSSAIN", and according to ANAS: "There was none other resembling the Holy Prophet more than HUSSAIN". The function of heredity had its full play in HUSSAIN. He had inherited all the divine native endowments from his Grandfather the Holy Prophet, and his godly parents ALI and FATEMA. "WAMA FIL AABA' to 'RITHUL ANBIYA". "i.e. Whatever is in their parentage inherit the apostles".

HEAVEN'S REGARD FOR HASSAN AND HUSSAIN.

Once when HASSAN and HUSSAIN were young children, on the eve of a festival, came both the innocents to their holy mother Lady FATEMA and said: "Mother dear! Tomorrow is the festival, where are our new dresses for the festival day?" What was there in the holy house of the godly family, the inmates of which often starved, for FATEMA to provide her dear ones with any new garments, when her own covering mantle was full of patches with the date leaves? With FADAK confiscated by the KALIFATE, the daily life of the AHLUL-BAIT was rendered further more miserable. The Holy Lady who always depended upon the All-merciful Lord, said: "My darling, if the tailor brings them, ye will have them tomorrow".

At night when the two innocents had gone to bed, FATEMA was on her prayer-mat, supplicating to the Lord saying: "Lord! FATEMA Thy subservient and depending upon Thy usual grace and mercy on her, has promised new clothes to her innocents who are Thine own. My Lord! If they get the new clothes they will be happy and Thou wilt Thyself be pleased on their rejoicing. Lord! Let not the word of Thy FATEMA fail and let not Thy HASSAN and HUSSAIN be sorrowful on the festival tomorrow". IMAD ZADEH in his famous work says:

"Early at dawn, the Holy Innocents awoke and the first thing they asked their mother was about the dresses promised to them FATEMA could have given only some excuse but a voice at the door was heard saying: "O' AHLUL-BAIT of the Holy Prophet: Here are the dresses of HASSAN and HUSSAIN". FATEMA received the dresses and offered her thanksgiving prayer to the Lord for the ready response to her supplication. ALLAMA MAJLISI relates from OMME SALEMA the righteous wife of the Holy Prophet that she said:

"I saw HASSAN and HUSSAIN with the Holy Prophet in such new clothes which I had never seen before and asked wherefrom the wonderfully beautiful clothes of his grandson had come; in reply the Holy Prophet said: 'They are the heavenly garments received for them". (ZH) (IAMD ZADEH). Once FATEMA was asleep and the Holy Baby (HUSSAIN) in the cradle awoke and cried, the cradle automatically began swinging, when FATEMA awoke, she saw the cradle moving and someone talking to the Baby and none seen nearby. She referred the matter to the Holy Prophet who said that it was the Arch Angel Gabriel who was serving the Holy Child. (MUNTAHA AAMAAL, SHAIKH ABBAS-E-KUMMI)

The above references are only two of the many instances of the shower of heavenly favors on this Holy Family.

THE HOLY PROPHET'S PERSONAL REGARD FOR HUSSAIN

Historians say that once on the morning of a festival day, while going to the ID Prayer (Festival congregational Prayer) in Medina, the whole public of the town saw the Holy Prophet carrying HASSAN and HUSSAIN on his shoulders, bare-headed with the tassels of his head, divided into two parts, each held by each of the innocents, as the reins a camel in their tiny hands, and the Holy Prophet running towards the 'IDGAH' imitating a camel. The public was amazed at this mysterious behavior on the part of the Apostle of God and a man seeing this, addressed the Holy Children saying: "How excellent a ride ye have". The Holy Prophet turning to the man said: "Why doth thou not say, how excellent the Riders are?" many other instances, HASSAN and HUSSAIN were found on the shoulders of the Holy Prophet. (R.M., ST., YM),

It is reported that once when the Holy Prophet was on the pulpit in the Mosque in Medina, giving a sermon when HUSSAIN who was yet a baby, entered the Mosque and proceeded towards his grandfather, and his garment got twisted in his feet, the Holy Prophet stopped the sermon and rushed from the pulpit to the holy baby lest it might fall.

It is also one of the universally acknowledged events of the life history of the Holy Prophet that once when he was prostrating in prayer in the Mosque, Baby HUSSAIN came and getting over the back of his Grandfather the Holy Prophet, sat on it. the Holy Prophet repeated the prayer-phrase 'SUBHAANA-RABIYYAL'LA WA BEHMDEH' seventy times in the state of prostration until HUSSAIN himself, of his own accord, got down from his back and then he raised his head from the prostration.

SHAIBANI reports from ABDALLAH IBNE SHADDAD that his father related that he was in prayer in the ranks behind the Holy Prophet and when he found that the duration of the prostration was unusually long, he raised his head several times and seeing the Holy Prophet still in prostration, resumed the prostration, and after the conclusion of the prayer, he asked the cause of the unusual interval between the two prostrations. The Holy Prophet replied that he had to do it until HUSSAIN got down from his back of his own accord, the Apostle of God acteth not but at the Revealed Will of the Lord.

(TAFSEERUL OSSOL-ILA-JAJE-E-OSOOL-E-SHAIBANI) Historians have reported numerous other similar instances of mysterious behavior on the part of the Holy Prophet, with regard to HUSSAIN in particular:

Once, the Holy Prophet was with his baby grandson, HUSSAIN and his baby son IBRAHIM. The Messenger Angel appeared and said: "O" Apostle of God! It is Will of the Lord thou shalt have any one of them, either HUSSAIN or IBRAHIM and not both, whichever thou desirest, will be taken away from thee". The Holy Prophet said: "Let IBRAHIM be taken away and HUSSAIN be spared. I need him for the preservation of Islam". Thus IBRAHIM was taken away (died). ALMUSTAQSI: from (HABIBUS SIYAR)

THE DECLARATION OF THE HOLY PROPHET ABOUT HUSSAIN

SALMAN-E-FARSI says: "I saw, one day, HUSSAIN seated beside his Grandfather the Holy Prophet, who was addressing HUSSAIN saying: "Thou art a SYED (Chief), son of SYED, and the father of the SYEDS. Thou art an Imam, (Heavenly guide), son of an Imam, the father of Imams. Thou art a HUJJAT and the father of nine HUJJATS in thy seed and the ninth will be the 'QAYEM' of them (the standing i.e., the ever current authority) Said the Eight Holy Imam ALI IBNE MUSA AR-RIZA that the Holy Prophet said: "Let him who wants to see the most loved one of the people of the earth, and in heaven, see HUSSIAN". SHAIKH-E-SADOOQ reports from HUSAIF-YAMANI who said: "I saw the Holy Prophet holding the hand of HUSSAIN and saying: 'O' people! Know ye, this HUSAAIN son of ALI and FATEMA, know him, ye all, that by the One (God) in Whose hands is my soul, that he (HUSSAIN) is of heaven, his friends will be the inmates of heaven".

The following is the famous sayings of the Holy Prophet: "HASSAN and HUSSAIN are the Two youths of Paradise; HASSAN and HUSSAIN are Imams, (divinely) commissioned guides) standing or sitting (i.e., in any circumstances, being accepted by the people or not) These are only one or two of the innumerable other saying of the Holy Prophet, particularly about the unique heavenly position and the status of HUSSAIN.

While judging the words and the action of the Holy Prophet, one must remember the following verse of the Holy QUR'AN: "And he (the Holy Prophet) speaketh nothing of his desire save, it is the revelation revealed (to him)" [53:3-4] It is quite obvious that all this was the Divine Plan to demonstrate to mankind, the actual unique position of the issues of Ali and FATEMA, particularly the holy status of HUSSAIN, lest thereafter, none who misbehaves with these holy ones, gets the excuse to say that he did not know as to who actually they were.

The instances of the open acts of the heavenly regard for the 'AHLUL-BEIT', demonstrating their unique divine position, are so many that volumes will be needed to enumerate them all. These few brief references will do, to bring home to any sincere one the idea about the unique excellence and the greatness of the holy souls and the degree of the divinity endowed in them.

THE ANCIENT PROPHETS: INFORMED OF THE GREAT SACRIFICES

On the authority of IBNE SHAHR AASHOOB and SHAIKH-E-TABARSI it is reported that the ancient prophets: Viz. Adam, ZACARIAH, ABRAHAM and ISMAEL, Solomon, Moses, AND Jesus were informed by God, about the Great Sacrifices HUSSAIN was to offer to reestablish the religion of God in earth. (TAFSEER-E-ALI IBNE IBRAHIM, KASHAFUL GHUMMA TAZKERA-E-IBNE JAWZI MATAALEBUS SO'OL) It is said that one of the interpretations of the symbols, KAF HA YA-AIN SAAD, in the Holy QUR'AN is that: KAF stand for KARBALA.

HA-DO-HALAKAT: destruction death.

YA-DO YAZEED.

AIN-DO ATASH (thirst)

SAAD-DO SABR-E-HUSSAIN (Patience and the fortitude of HUSSAIN) It is reported by the SHAHR AASHOOB and SHAIKH-E-TABARSI that SYEED IBN ABDULLAH-E-ASH'ARI reported that the Eleventh Holy Imam, HASSAN IBN-ALI-ASKARI said that the Holy Prophet was informed of the tragedy of KARBALA and it is confined in these symbol letters in the HOLY QUR'AN.

Every Prophet had Appointed His Successor

Along with the coronation of a king goes the declaration of the heir-apparent to the throne. It is only a following of the example of what is done with regard to the ministries of the apostles of God.

The divine guidance to humanity, be that through an apostle or through a deputy of his, is a continuous process decreed by the grace of the All-Merciful Lord. Every apostle of God at the very start of his apostolic mission, did announce his immediate successor so that his followers, after him, might not get beguiled by any imposter. Abraham was succeeded by his sons ISMAEL and Isaac. Jacob by his son Joseph, David by his son Solomon, Moses by his brother Aaron, and Jesus by Simon and his other disciples.

"The divine guidance to humanity is a continuous process. Every apostle of God before he started his apostolic mission had to announce his immediate successor so that his follower might not be beguiled by any imposter. Abraham was succeeded by his sons ISMAEL and Isaac, MOSES'S successor was Aaron, and Jesus' was Simon. It was the first of the apostolic duties of every apostle of God, to announce his immediate successor to the people, as a guidance to his followers, as to who they should follow after him, as well as safeguard against the venture of the imposters thereafter".

THE HOLY PROPHET Muhammad APPOINTS HIS SUCCESSOR

According to the divinely decreed course (the SUNNAT-E-ILAHIAH) which never changes (17:77) at the very inauguration of his apostolic mission under the command from the Lord: "Warn by nearest kith and kin" [26:214], the Holy Prophet invited his kith and kin to a feast and with the declaration of his nearest apostleship, also declared Ali as his Deputy, Vicegerent and Successor (TB., IA., AF., GH., WS., & other) The above incident has been of such a prominence and significance and was so ever-fresh in the memory of the people that it could not be missed by the historian be he a Muslim or a non-Muslim. History gives a vivid description as to know the Holy Prophet repeatedly asked the assembly as to who among them would by his Deputy, his Vicegerent, and his Successor and Heir, and how at every time, none but Ali, stood up offering himself to the office, which then was only a hopeless proposition, and how intimately the Holy Prophet called Ali to him, before the assembly of the veterans of the Town (Mecca) and embracing him declared openly in clear-cut words:

"This is my Deputy, my Vicegerent and my Successor; Hear him and obey him". This is what Carlyle in his 'Sartor Resartus' says:

"After some three years of small success, he invited forty of his chief kindred to an entertainment; and there stood up and told them what his pretension was; that he had this thing to promulgate abroad to all men; that it was the highest thing, the one thing which of them would second him in that? Amidst the doubt and silence of all, young Ali, as yet a lad of sixteen, impatient of the silence, started-up, and exclaimed in passionate fierce language. That he would! The assembly, among whom was ABU TALEB, Ali's father, could not be unfriendly to Mahomet; 'yet the sight there, of one unlettered elderly man, with a lad of sixteen, deciding on such an enterprise' against all mankind, appeared ridiculous to them; the assembly broke-up in laughter.

Nevertheless, it proved not a laughable thing; it was a very serious thing! 'As for this young Ali, one cannot but like him. A noble-minded creature, as he shows himself, now and always afterwards; full of affection, of fiery daring. Something chivalrous in him; brave as a lion; yet with a grace, a truth and affection worthy of Christian knighthood', He died by assassination in the Mosque at Baghdad; death occasioned by his own generous fairness, confidence in the fairness of other; he said, If the wound proved not unto death, they most pardon the Assassin; but if it did, then they must slay him straightway, that so they too in the same hour might appear before God, and see which side of that quarrel was the just one!".

(TB., IA., GIBNS., SMITH., AMIR ALI and other)

Thus the Holy Prophet had proclaimed the authority of Ali, as next only to his own and to obey him even in the enjoined his followers to listen to what Ali said and to obey him even in the very lifetime of his (the Holy Prophet's) own. Besides the above historic ceremonial event, there are the innumerable other instances when the Holy Prophet gave the practical demonstration of Ali's position as next only to him, and had made innumerable verbal announcements about the unique position of Ali, in relation to him. A few of those instances and the declarations are:

1- Ali's being left in the bed of the Holy Prophet on the eve of his migration of Medina.

2- Ali's being entrusted with the deposits of the people of Mecca, which were with the Holy Prophet, to be restored to the respective owners, the next day to the Emigration,

3- Ali's being declared as the Brother of the Holy Prophet, when at Median, each believer according to his personal merits, was made the brother of another like him.

4- Ali's being given the hand of the holy Lady FATEMA the only surviving issue and the most loved one of the holy Prophet.

5- Ali's being sent to take away the verses of the SURA'-E-TAUBA (i.e. Immunity) from ABU BAKR who was already sent with it, to be read out to the infidels in Mecca, as one of the holy Prophet himself.

6- Ali's being left in charge of the affairs at Medina, in the place of the holy Prophet, during his absence in the expedition to "TABUK".

7- The holy Prophet's declaring:

"I and Ali are of one and the same divine Light".

"O Ali! Thou art to me as Aaron was to Moses, save that there is no apostleship after me".

"I am the City of knowledge and Ali is its Gate".

"O Ali! Thou art my brother in this world and in the next".

"O Ali! Thou art to me, as is a head to a body".

"O Ali! Thou art to me, as is a soul to a body".

"O Ali! Thy flesh is my flesh and thy blood is my blood, thou seest what see and thou hearest what I hear, save there is no apostleship after me". 8- Ali was demonstrated to the world, before the multitude on the occasion of the historic 'MUBAHILA'S the 'NAFS', or the 'Self, or the 'Soul' of the holy Prophet. Besides the above few instances there are many other events and declarations demonstrating clearly the unique position of Ali in relation to the holy Prophet, with special significance to Islam and the Muslims. Besides all the above facts, there is the historic ceremonial Coronation enacted by the holy Prophet at 'GHADEER-E-KHUM', at the conclusion of his apostolic mission, in the mid-way, on his return journey after his 'HUJJATUL-WIDA' (the Last or the Parting Pilgrimage) under the most imperative command from the Lord:

"O' (Our) Apostle Muhammad! Convey, thou, that which hath already been sent unto thee and if thou didst not do it, it would be (as if) thou hast not conveyed (fulfilled) the apostleship (at all); Verily, God will protect thee from the mischief of the people". [5:67]. Immediately as the command from the Lord was received, the holy Prophet stopped the caravan, called back the caravans gone ahead, and waited for those coming behind, and when all the HAJIES numbering several thousands were collected, a pulpit at his command was improvised, and mounting the pulpit delivered the historic sermon to the multitude of the audience before him and then called Ali to him on the pulpit and raising him high with the miraculous apostolic strength of his godly hands, declared to the huge assembly:

"O People! Of whomsoever I am the Lord, Ali is his Lord!"

Immediately following the declaration, the holy Prophet prayed: "Lord! Be Thou a friend to the one who is the friend of Ali, And be Thou as enemy to the one who is the enemy of Ali, Help Thou the one who helpeth Ali, And discard Thou the one who decardeth Ali".

Immediately as he came down the pulpit, the holy Prophet ordered every one present there, to pay the allegiance 'BAIYAT' to Ali, addressing his as the 'AMEERUL-MOMINEEN' the (Commander or the Ruler or the Governor of the Faithful)

It is reported that the first one to comply with the command of the holy Prophet was OMAR, who paid his 'BAIT' saying: 'BAKHIN BAKHIN LAKA IBNE ABI TALEB ASBAHTA MAULAYEE WA MAULA KULLA MUMININ WA MOMINTIN'.

'Cheer and cheer be to the O' son of ABU TALEB! Thou hast dawned as my Lord and the Lord of all the faithful men and faithful women". For details see:

(MISH., KHASAI, NISAYEE, RAUDATUL AHBAB, RAUDATUS SAF, MUSNAD IMAM AHMED IBN HANBAL, SAYOOTI and the other historians). It is also reported that the OMAR'S addressing Ali as 'son of ABU TALEB', the holy Prophet, commanded him to address Ali as 'AMEERUL-MUMINEEN', (i.e. the Commander or the Ruler of the Faithful).

It is now for the impartial authorities of the seasoned politicians and the learned ones of the scholars of political science, to say if, after the historic declarations of the holy Prophet at the very outset of his apostolic mission, at the 'DAAWAT-E-ASHEER', and at the end or the conclusion of his apostleship, at the 'GHADEER-E-KHUM', it could ever be justly said that the holy Prophet did not nominate any as his successor and left the matter to the people's choice. And whether such an unjust accusation, unwarranted by the evidences of the historic events and the universally acknowledged declaration, would mean to throw the blame on the holy Prophet, of all the bloodshed and chaos created in the name of the succession to him? And the KALIFATE passing to tyrants like YAZEED and the other allied characters who have brought nothing but disgrace to the fair name of the faith and the faithful.

It is a matter of disgrace that most of the western writers, either willfully bully Islam or ignorant of the facts of the Islamic History, betray their prejudice or their ignorance of the truth by criticizing the holy Prophet as the one responsible for leaving his people in chaos and confusion about his succession which resulted in political havoc and disgraceful bloodshed. Reports based on mere folklore, can never be history. It does not become of qualified scholarship to pass any judgments without studying the facts in their fullness and before the necessary scrutiny of their collected data. The truth is that our western writer-friends in the guise of impartial historians and as talented writers on the Islamic faith,

serve their respective missionary forces by spreading falsehood against Islam and the Muslims, and thus poison the public mind through calumnies against the holy Prophet, his personality and his teachings. Unfortunately those of our brethren who know neither Arabic nor Persian nor even Urdu properly the languages in which is treasured, most of the true knowledge about Islam and its heroes, and know only the English language, very easily get drifted in the eloquence of the powerful penman and quietly swallow the sugarcoated poisonous pills, and own the wrong information they gather from such prejudiced writings, as the correct knowledge for their own and some of them imagine to own a great store of knowledge about Islam and even debate about the Islamic teachings basing their arguments upon the wrong information which they have gathered from some anti-Islamic sources, without proper study of the QUR'AN or the authentic QUR'ANIC literature.

However, the above facts of history clearly assert that the holy Prophet did not spare any pain in making known to the people about his succession, in every necessary and desirable way possible, from the very beginning of his mission to its conclusion. In spite of all the possible steps taken by the Apostle of God, if any one still holds his own view, none can stop him to do it, nor shall nay one force his views on the other, for Islam is the religion of individual responsibility.

It has been repeatedly declared in the HOLY QUR'AN:

"Shall bear not any bearer, the burden of the other" [2:48, 6:164, 35:18, 39:7, 53:38]. A Muslim has to call his brethren to the right path, only by love and sweet words: [16:125]. "Verily, We have shown him (man) the (right) way, be he grateful (and follow it) or be he ungrateful (and reject it)" [76:3]. "There is no compulsion in Religion". [2:256].

THE START OF THE TROUBLE

The approach of the long awaited hour for the realization of their cherished hopes though the execution of their plans, acted a stimulus to the mischievous minds to actuate them. The inordinate behavior of the Visitors to the holy Prophet, while he was about to breathe his last, made him turn out all of them from his presence. When the people were sure of the impending departure of the holy Prophet, the MOHAJIRS (the immigrant MECCANS) and the ANSAR (the supporter MADINITES) assembled at the SAQIFAT BANI SAA'IDA and started parading their respective rights for the paramount power and authority to rule over the vast Muslim empire, in the place of the holy Prophet. (IQ., IA., TB., RS., EHI.) The contending arguments were that:

"The MUHAJIRS claimed preference in view of their priority in Islam, their kinship with the holy Prophet, and their immigration with him, at the manifest end of their life and property.

The ANSARS urged they had as much right as any others whatsoever, on account of their receiving the Prophet in his escape from his Mecca enemies, of protecting him in the time of adversity, and of helping him making head against his powerful foes, resulting ultimately in the establishment of the paramount power and authority. They even alleged that they apprehended revenge if authority went to the people whose fathers and brothers they had killed in defending the Prophet. When HOBAB expressed this view OMAR indignantly retorted 'Thou shouldst die if KALIFATE settled with such people as whom thou fearest" (E.H.I)

The fears of HOBAB were not unfounded for the spirit of retaliation was ingrained in the blood of the Arabs: "Revenge was almost a religious principle among the Arabs. To revenge a relative slain was the duty of his family, and often in evolved the honor of his tribe; and these debts of blood sometimes remained unsettled for generations, producing deadly feuds". History proves that the fears of HOBAB were not false:

"The fears of HOBAB proved correct with the revengeful massacre of the Prophet's or Ali's posterity at KARBALA condemning even a six month's Babe and with the hideous crimes perpetrated in the outrages and the massacre of the ANSARA at HARRA". (EHI). Refusing the claim of the ANSARS, OMAR said:

"The QOREISH did not deny the services rendered by the ANSARS to promote the cause of Islam, but with all their meritorious services they should not deem themselves entitled to aspire to the sole authority over the QUREISH". (TB., IA., SHI., EHI.) "The ANSARS then said that they would be content to have one KALIF from each of the two parties to exercise joint authority and even nominated SAA'D BIN QBADA, their leader to be elected from them". (IQ., RAI., RS.)

The QUREISH would by no means to any such proposal and they persisted saying that:

"The Government must remain in the hands of QUREISH while the ANSARS should content themselves with the WAZIRATE or MINISTRY". (IQ., RA., RS., EHI) The discussion developed into a regular quarrel and the tension got precipitated and the parties were about to come to blows: "The ANSARS not yielding, the contention grew so hot that they were just upon falling to blows when ABU BAKR intervened and asked them if they had not heard the holy Prophet saying 'that none was apt to exercise authority over the QUREISH but one form among themselves. BASHIR SA'D one of the ANSARS who shared the views of the MOHAJIRS at once answered in favor of the MOHAJIRS'. Thus encouraged, ABU BAKR resolutely exclaimed that the QUREISH would not accept any one but a QUREISH to rule over them and stepping forth pointed out OMAR and ABU OBEIDA to the ANSARS to choose either of them as the KALIF".

Now the ANSARS began to say that they should prefer paying homage to Ali, the best of the QUREISH" (IA., TB., HS.) The question arises when the quarrel could be avoided by any saying of the holy Prophet:

1- Why the unchallengeable verdict of the Prophet at the historic assembly at 'GHADEER-E-KHUM' about Ali, was not quoted?

2- Why the covenant taken from them by the holy Prophet, by a definite 'BAIYAT' about Ali, was not reminded of?

3- If what was said about the rule over the QUREISH was true, the wording itself clearly indicates that the rule refers to the rule over the QUREISH, and not the rule over all the people, and the KALIFATE contested for, was not a Tribal matter but of the Muslims as a whole. Besides the saying 'that QUREISH only to rule the QUREISH' assigned to the holy Prophet, does not tally with the HOLY QUR'AN which declares superiority to be recognized only on the basis of piety:

"INNA AKRAMAKUM INDALLAHI ATQQAKUM" [49:13].

Verily, the most honored of you with God is the most pious of you and any saying attributed to the holy Prophet not tallying with the HOLY QUR'AN is to be thrown on the wall.

4- If the QUREISH wanted only a QUREISH to rule, why Ali was not accepted? Who had a joint right, both as one appointed by the Apostolic declaration at 'GHADEER-E-KHUM' and also as a QOREISHITE.

5- (a) Besides, if they wanted one with the highest knowledge to rule over them there was none but Ali about whom the holy Prophet had said: "I am the City of knowledge and Ali is its Gate".

(b) If they wanted the most just one to be their ruler, the people knew that the holy Prophet had said: "AZQAKUM ALI IBNE ABI TALEB (the most just among you is Ali).

(c) If they needed the bravest to rule over them, the position of Ali in this respect is unique, for it is he about whom the holy Prophet had declared at 'KHAIBAR' KARRARAN GHAIRA FRRARIN' the repeated attacker who knew no running away. History is there to vouch that it was Ali who stayed with the holy Prophet in the worst of the situations in the battles for the faith, when most of the companions had deserted him and had fled away, disappearing for days together. The HOLY QUR'AN had a reference to this fact. Besides, in the Muslim Worlds as a whole, none but Ali is called 'ASADULLAH', the Lion of God; and it is Ali in whose praise the Muslims sing even to this day 'LA FATA ILLA ALI LA SAIF ILLA ZULFIQAR', i.e. there is not youth braver than Ali and there is not sword save the unfailing ZULFIQAR".

(d) If the nearest to the holy Prophet was the one wanted, who else was there save Ali about whom the holy Prophet had openly said: "I and Ali are of the same Divine Light". "O Ali thy flesh is my flesh and thy blood is my blood". It is obviously peculiar and also amazing that not even one of the repeated declarations of the holy Prophet about Ali's unique position was remembered at the SAQEEFA, neither by ABU BAKR nor even by OMAR.

History says that OMAR cried out to ABU BAKR:

"Stretch forth thy hand O' ABU BAKR, verily I will swear allegiance to thee!" (IA., TB., ETC.) Thus OMAR declared ABU BAKR as the Chief and took the oath of fealty to him. HOBAB had an altercation with BASHIR for his treacherous conduct in preferring ABU BAKR over SA'D BIN OBADA (IB). SA'D BIN OBADS, the head of the ANSARS, was deeply chagrined at being thus superseded. He did not pay homage to ABU BAKR. He left Medina and retired in disgust, to Syria, where it is said he was found murdered in 15 A.H. (SM., AQF., EHI.).

It is now left to the scholars of political science and the seasoned politicians to say if:

1- What took place at the SAQEEFA was an election in any sense or the meaning of the term?

2- Or it was the nomination or the choice of any one individual which was forced upon the others?

3- Do the proceedings satisfy the demands of a democratic procedure?

4- If the procedure had any sanction from QUR'AN, HADITH or of any of the canons of democracy?

5- Was it not that the right of Ali was totally forgotten or his position with the exclusive excellence of the unique godly qualities, deliberately or un-deliberately was altogether ignored at the 'SAQEEFA'?.

6- Could the decision of the interested disputant few, assembled at the 'SAQEEFA', be counted as the voice or the choice of the millions of the people of the whole of the Muslim World?

THE LOGICAL INFERENCE

Since both the Immigrants as well as the ANSARS claimed the worldly privileges and the secular advantages in return for what they had done, any intelligent reader could reasonably say that neither the giving of the asylum to the holy Prophet by those ANSARS nor the immigration of those Immigrants with him, was exclusively for God and the Faith. The object of their respective services enumerated by them, as their respective claims, could be nothing but what they claimed in return for those services.

If what they enumerated had been done exclusively for God and for no worldly gains or material advantages, the people, both the disputant MOHAJIRS and the contestant ANSARS would never for anything in the world, had stirred from the side of the holy Prophet in the last moments of his stay with them, and after his breathing his last, they would have only minded their first concern with the last services to the Apostle of God, observing the solemnity of the serious occasion and their sad plight of having lost the Best and the Holiest one of God's creation, from among their midst, as did the HOLY AHLUL-BAIT and the other HASHIMITES who never even cared to know about what went on in the 'SAQEEFA'.

The following are a few of the impartial opinions of the celebrated Non-Muslim historian scholars, about Ali:

"Ali was the cousin-germen of Muhammad and husband of FATEMA, his daughter. The right of succession in order of consanguinity, lay with Ali; and his virtues and services eminently entitled him to it. on the first burst of his generous zeal, when Islamism was a derided and a persecuted faith, he had been pronounced by Muhammad his Brother, his Vicegerent; he had ever since been devoted to him in word and deed, and had honored the cause by his magnanimity as signally as he has vindicated it by his valor". (W. IRVING).

"The birth, the alliance, the character of Ali which exalted him above the rest of his countrymen might justify his claim to the vacant throne of Arabia. The son of ABU TALEB was, in his own right, the Chief of the family of HASHIM, and the hereditary prince of guardian of the city and the temple of Mecca. The light of prophecy was extinct, but the husband of FATEMA might expect the inheritance and the blessings of her father; the Arabs had sometimes been patient of a female reign; and the two grandsons of the Prophet had often been fondled in his lap,

and shown in his pulpit, as the hope of his age, and the Chief of the Youth of Paradise. From the first hour of the mission to the last rites of his funeral, the Apostle was never forsaken by a generous Friend, whom he delighted to name his Brother, his Vicegerent and the faithful Aaron of a second Moses" (Gibbon: abridged by W. SMITH p. 466).

Besides the above two quotations, the following is the one which the great learned scholar and the judicial head AMIR ALI has chosen to quote in his famous work The Spirit of Islam:

"Had, says SEDILLOT 'the principle of hereditary succession in favor of Ali been recognized at the outset, it would have prevented the rise of those disastrous pretensions which engulfed Islam in the blood of Muslims. The husband of FATEMA united in his person the right of succession as the lawful heir of the Prophet as well as the right by the election. It might have been thought that all would submit themselves before his glory so pure and so grand". (Spirit of Islam: AMIR ALI).

However, the right of Ali was ignored and later at a stage the fate of the people passed into the hands of those who enacted the gruesome scene of KARBALA and the massacre of the godly members of the House of the holy Prophet.

THE FUNERAL OF THE HOLY PROPHET

Those of the companions who were turned out by the holy Prophet from his presence, got busy in the SAQEEFA and did not return until he was buried. When the holy Prophet passed away, Ali assisted by his pupil IBNE ABBAS and the other HASHIMITES, attended to the last rites to the Holiest one of God's creation and the grief of FATEMA moved the heart of those present there. History says that HAZRAT ABU BAKR and HAZRAT OMAR and the other companions being busy at the SAQEEFA, could not attend the funeral of the holy Prophet. (KO., AM., EXI.)

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

The dealings of the wicked ones with the men of God particularly the apostles form Him, had been identical in all ages. The holy Prophet had already prophesied that all that happened among the people of the ancient apostles particularly the people of Moses in the Israelites, will happen among his followers.

Moses was absent for only about forty days and his people revolted against his Deputy Aaron and followed the SAMIRI and started worshipping the Calf. Jesus was betrayed by his own disciples and was handed over to be crucified. The Last Apostle of God similarly suffered an identical desertion by his people even before his breathing his last.

THE LOVE OF THE WORLD- MADDENS MAN

Very recently even when a worldly ruler of a big State was to be buried, (Mr. Kennedy of America) almost all the Paramount Powers in the world sent their representatives to attend the funeral as a token of their regard and human sympathy with the bereaved family and the sorrowful nation. But when the Prince of the Prophets, the Last Apostle of God, who was divinely sent to rule over the human hearts and the human affairs on earth and who was also the godly ruler of the state, had not even breathed his last, the propel who called themselves his followers and claimed to be his close companions left him away to assert and establish their respective contentions about their claims to rule the state in the place of the holy Prophet and returned only when he had left this world and was buried by his AHLUL-BAIT and the people of his family the HASHIMITES.

Thus in the love of the world the people left away even the Apostle of God enshrouded. This is the worst record of the madness of man for the material world. The paradox is that yet man claims himself to be the lover of God, the lover of the Apostles of God and the lover of godliness.

KARBALA'S FOUNDATION LAID

The events of history give out a clear verdict that the series of the sufferings, the miseries and the calamities inflicted on the AHLUL-BAIT, which culminated at one stage in the wholesale massacre of the HOLY IMAM HUSSAIN, and his faithful devotees at KARBALA, and the misfortunes and the assassinations of the other Imams and their families and their devotees, which thereafter followed up to the eleventh IMAM HASSAN AL-ASKARI, was inaugurated at the SAQEEFA. Had the people remembered the repeated declarations about Ali, and his AHLUL-BAIT, the world would never have witnessed the hideous scenes of the sufferings and the massacre of the holy ones; on the other hand, today the world would have been ruled by the men of God, and humanity had enjoyed the godly kingdom on earth, and the human race by this time would have been united under one single brotherhood which was inaugurated by the holy Prophet at Medina.

THE FATE OF THE KALIFATE

The course which the KALIFATE adopted at the SAQEEFA, and the personnel that occupied its throne and called themselves KALIFS, is a matter of history to be referred to. Such of us who are not much acquainted with Arabic and Persian may refer to the famous work 'The History of the Arabs' by HITTI which is sometimes prescribed as a text book for the university courses in Islamic History. However, a list of the OMAYYID and the ABBASIDE KALIFS is given as an annexure to this work for the general information of the readers. The particulars given in the chart, are those given in the famous work by HITTI.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DIRECTIVE FROM GOD

Will not any one, be he a Muslim or even a non-Muslim, who has gone through the following verses of the HOLY QUR'AN with the average understanding of a common man, ask 'What about the divine directive of God to the Muslims in matters of dispute among themselves:

"O ye who believe! Obey ye God and obey ye the Apostle, (Muhammad) and those in authority, then if ye quarrel about anything, refer it to God and His Apostle (Muhammad) if ye believe in God and the last day. This is the righteous and the best (course) to (achieve) the end" [4:59]

What happened to the holy Prophet's appointing Ali as his heir, his KALIF, and his Successor with the announcement of it, at the 'DAWATE ASHEERA' at the very outset of his apostolic mission? If this was too old an event for the companions to remember it what about the most recent appointment of Ali, only about ten or eleven weeks before the dispute, the holy Prophet declaring it officially in the historic assembly convened by him at the command of the Lord (5:67) at 'GHADEER-E-KHUM' announcing Ali as the 'MAULA' i.e., Master, Commander or the Governor in his place, at which the Lord declared the religion, Islam, to be complete and acceptable to Him, and at the end of which ceremony, every one of them had paid 'BAI'AT' or allegiance to Ali.

The condition laid down by the above directive of God, is open and very severely emphatic, commanding the Muslims to act according to it, if they believe in God and the last day, and the failure to do it, will naturally mean disbelief in God and the last day of Judgment. The course laid down in the above verse is said to be the Righteous and the Best One and anything otherwise will naturally be unrighteous and the worst. Besides the above, there is another verse of the HOLY QU'RAN which gives out a clear verdict about those who do not unconditionally submit to, or implicitly obey the decision of the holy Prophet:

"But no! by thy Lord! They believe not until they make thee a judge in what is in dispute between them then find not any strait-ness in their hearts, as to that which thou decidest and submit with full submission". [4:65]. However, it is a fact that the matter in the dispute was neither referred to God nor to the holy Prophet's definite decrees; on the other hand what was already decreed by the holy Prophet at the command of the Lord was totally neglected and ignored. Under these circumstances it is for the readers to say, if or not, the opening words of the above verse get applicable to those who neglect, ignore and disobey the verdict of the holy Prophet about Ali's position in relation to him.

MAN CAUTIONED AGAINST THE DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD AND THE HOLY PROPHET

Man has already been cautioned by the all-Merciful Lord against the fate of those who go against His will and the decree of the holy Prophet in the matter of the choice of a leader or guardian or a ruler of man's destiny in this world: "On the day (of Judgment) when the wrong-doer will bite his hands saying 'Would that I had taken a way with Apostle Muhammad'". "O' woe is me! Would that I had not taken such a one,(so and so), for a friend".

"Certainly he has led me astray from the Reminder (the QUR'AN) after it had come to me and the devil always deserts man". "And the Apostle (Muhammad) will say 'My Lord! Verily my people had taken this QUR'AN as forsaken". [25:27-30]. The above verses of the HOLY QUR'AN are sufficiently clear and plain enough to necessitate any elucidation or a further explanation of the matter. They are about the disbelievers but about those who believed in the holy QUR'AN and neglected it. the verses relate about those who got astray after once getting guided aright. The Verse No. 28 is too aloud about the subject of the address and the cause of the repentance on the Day of Judgment.

THE SENSE OF DISCRETION AND DISCRIMINATION

The sense of discretion and the faculty of discrimination, i.e., the power of unrestricted prudence, liberty to act with the endowment of conscience, to note and distinguish the difference between good and evil, or the faculty of equation is the greatest gift of the all-Wise and the All-Merciful Providence, given exclusively to man and to no other animal. The dawn of this faculty in a human individual is the first sign of the maturity of the mind.

Animals also are given this power but only to the extent of distinguishing the profitable and the harmful to their life, with no regard for others, even for their own kind. Every animal takes only that food which is profitable to its life and nothing otherwise.

Some people succumbing to the currents of over enthusiasm of their righteousness or to imitate unwarranted godliness, forfeit this great gift of God and pretend to pronounce neutrality and overlook the evils in favor of some goodness. Particularly about certain persons of their own choice, assigning some worldly deeds of credit of them, they forget that such a course is unnatural and also ungodly. Unnatural in the sense, however, good and nutritious the food one might have taken but when the same individual takes a killing poison, the fatal drug will not fail to act duly according to its nature and the intensity of its property, undoing all the goodness and the nutrition of the diet taken by the individual. Ungodly or it has been proved that the one who is titled as Satan, was not originally a Satan. He was Jinn (18:50) who for the extent and the degree of his supplication to the Lord, had been raised to the rank of the angels and even as the Chief of them. His one refusal to submit to the command of the Lord, to pay obeisance prostrating to Adam, made him fall with the title of Lucifer.

A POINT OF NOTE FOR FALSE UNITARIANISM

In the fall of Satan from the rank of the angels and his being expelled from goodness for ever, lies a point of note against false Unitarianism. It is to be noted that Satan never refused to pay obeisance or prostration to God, but he insisted that he would prostrate only before God and not before man. The will of the Almighty Lord was that one should not prostrate only to Him but to any one, He desires. No doubt the prostration to the Lord will be the obeisance, surrender or the submission to the Absolute Authority of the Lord and the prostration to other than Him, will be the token sign of honor, respect and regard, as did all the angels to Adam and as did also holy Prophet Jacob with his other sons, to his son Joseph on the throne. Thus prostration to any holy person or to any sacred object, with the intention to pay the individual or the object, any regard or reverence can never by ungodly or objectionable. The point lies in the intention.

GOODNESS AND EVIL, CAN UNDO EACH OTHER

To illustrate the natural phenomena of goodness and evil, undoing each other, the following is the law of the legislation of the Lord by which man has been warned and encouraged with: "Verily those who disbelieve and hinder (men) from God's way and appose the Apostle after guidance is quite clear to them, never will they be harming God in any way, and He will make their deeds vain" [47:32] It is to be noted that the warning in the above verse refers particularly to those to whom the signs of the Lord have been made clear, i.e., to those who have accepted the clarity of the commands of the Lord through His Apostle, i.e., the followers of the prophets like the Christians, the Jews and the Muslims.

"That is because they follow that which displeases God and are averse to His pleasure so He maketh their deeds vain" [47:28] "That is because they hate that which God hath sent down, So He hath made their deeds vain" [47:9].

Let us read the above verse with 5:67 revealed at 'GHADEER-E-KHUM' with reference to what the holy Prophet commanded in compliance with command and the people's liking or disliking it, accepting or rejecting it, or following or going against it.

"O' ye who believe! Raise ye not your voices above the Prophet's voice, nor speak loudly to him as ye speak loudly one to another, lest your deeds become vain, while ye perceive not" [49:2]

See also: [3:22-7, 147:9, 69:18, 105:39, 169:5, 6:S 8 II, 16:2, 117]. The above verse give a clear verdict about the deeds of those who raised their voices in the presence of the holy Prophet when he was about to leave this world at which he was so much displeased with them he turned them out of his presence. There are similar verses about the wiping out of the sins other than disobedience to God and the holy Prophet, in return for special acts of goodness as well as for abstaining from greater sins:

"..And God said: "Verily I am with you. If ye keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and believe My Apostle and offer to God a goodly gift, I will certainly cover (wipe out) your evil deeds and make you enter Gardens wherein rivers flow.." [5:12]. "If ye shun the great things (sins) which ye are forbidden, We shall do away with your evils and cause you to enter the honorable place of entering" [4:31].

See also [42:35 and 53:32].

What greater virtue can there be than sincere devotion of God's Apostle and his AHLUL-BAIT and why not the lesser sins of the sincere devotees of the Lord and the holy Ones be wiped out. And what greater and graver sin can there be than deserting the Apostle of God, leaving him in the jaws of death, escaping away from the battlefields, disobeying him, torturing and killing his off-springs and what virtue could be of any avail to the deserters of the Apostle of God, even though they might have been admired by him thereafter out of his personal grace and goodness and even if they had been pardoned by him in this world, for the Lord says:

"Ask thou (O' Our Apostle Muhammad) forgiveness for them or ask thou not forgiveness for them. Even if thou ask forgiveness for them seventy times, never will God forgive them because they disbelieve in God and His Apostle. And God guideth not the transgressing people" [9:80]

It must be known that the Apostle of God will never pray for the enemies of God, i.e., for the disbelievers or the infidels or the idolatrous; his prayer could naturally be only for those who profess to believe, but actually at heart they believed not, and were treacherous calling themselves Muslims but in the words of God they are MUNAFIQS, i.e., Hypocrites or the opportunists, about whom the Lord says:

"When the hypocrites come unto thee (O' Our Apostle Muhammad) they say: 'We bear witness that verily thou art the Apostle of God. Verily God knoweth that thou art His Apostle and God beareth witness that the hypocrites are certainly liars" [63:1]

The people referred to in the above verses are those the actual position of whose faith has been clearly declared by God Himself:

"The dwellers of the desert say: 'We believe' Say thou; Ye believe not but say ye we submit and faith has not yet entered into your hearts" [49:14] The application of the above verses of the holy QUR'AN is not restricted to any particular people of any particular age; those referred to in the verses are the people of all times, if they own the qualities referred to in the verses.