Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Alhassanain (p) Network for Islamic Heritage and Thought

The Touch Of Grace

Lecture Set of Grand Ayatollah Nasir Makarem Shirazi with ultimate Q & A section

Compiled & Edited by: Syed Ajaz Mehdi Naqvi

WWW.ALHASSANAIN.ORG/ENGLISH

Table of Contents

Biography of Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi 6

SECTION ONE: 9

.001: Tawhid in the actions (of Allah) and the benefits of belief in this 9

Notes 15

.002: Offering peace and salutation to Muhammad (s.) and to his blessed progeny(a.s.) (Salawaat) iIn Prophet’s Sunnah 17

.003: On the occasion of `Eid-ul-Ghadeer 19

Note 21

.004: The Quran: A divine light in the (spiritually) dark and gloomy nights 22

Notes 24

.005: Commentary of Keep us on the straight path 25

Notes 26

.006: Why does Allah need to test people? 27

Notes 28

.007: The opinion of Sunnis about Mahdi (a.s.) 29

Notes 30

.008: Conflict between actions and beliefs 31

Notes 35

.009: Saying two successive prayers together 36

.010: The (various) levels of perfection in Iman (True Faith) 37

.011: Shall look causes & sources 40

Introduction: 40

.012: Six things that lead to success 43

Notes 48

.013: Advice given to Abu Dharr – Sustenance 50

.004: Misguidedness 55

Note 56

.015: Two despised characteristics: Eating too much and looking at others 57

SECTION TWO 60

SECTION TWO 60

CHARACTERISTICS OF A TRUE BELIEVER 60

.016: Silence 60

Notes 64

.017: The True Shia of Ameer-al-Mumineen (a.s.) 65

Note 66

.018: The characteristics of a righteous servant of Allah 67

Notes 68

.019: The signs of a Muslim 70

Notes 73

.020: Modesty 74

Notes 76

.021: Showing thanks for divine blessings 77

Note 78

.022: Fulfilling the needs of your adversary 79

Notes 81

.023: Forgiveness and Pardon 82

Notes 84

NOURISHMENT OF SOUL 85

.024: Al-Jihad Al-Akbar 85

Note 88

.025: Training of Soul 89

Notes 92

.026: Taqwa [ Conciousness Of Allah ] 94

Notes 100

.027: Five Good Qualities 102

Notes 104

THE MATERIALISTIC & THE NEXT WORLD 105

.028: The relation between the religion and the material world 105

Notes 107

.029: The status of man in this life and the next world 108

Notes 110

.030: The world is a storehouse of treasures 112

Notes 118

.031: Upheavals around the world 119

Notes 120

.032 The psychological effects of loving the transient world 122

Notes 125

.033: How to gain the love of Allah and the love of people 126

Notes 129

.034: Two opinions in regards to the material world and the next life 130

Notes 132

.035: The Description of the Material Worldand a comparison between it’s Past and the time remained 133

Notes 138

.036: The description of the material world and our responsibility while living in 139

Notes 144

.037: Being spiritually awake and ready 145

Note 149

.038: Good of this world and the next life 150

Notes 152

CERTAINITY & DOUBTS 153

.039: The levels of certainty 153

Notes 158

.040: The way to keep away from doubtful things and the lower desires of the Soul 159

Notes 161

.041: Five life giving lessons and refraining from doubtful things 162

Notes 165

DEATH: AN UNACCEPTABLE TRUTH 166

.042: Fleeing from death 166

Notes 170

.043: Paying attention to those who came before us 171

Note 172

.044: The final journey and the remembrance of death 173

Notes 175

.045: A Noble End 176

Note 177

The ultimate Question & Answer section 178

QUESTION 01 179

Reply: 179

Note 179

QUESTION 02 180

Reply: 180

QUESTION 03 181

Reply 181

Question 04 183

Reply: 183

Notes 184

QUESTION 05 185

Reply: 185

Note 185

QUESTION 06 186

Reply: 186

QUESTION 07 187

Reply: 187

QUESTION 08 190

Reply: 190

Notes 190

QUESTION 09 191

Reply: 191

Note 191

QUESTION 10 192

Reply: 192

Note 192

QUESTION 11 193

Reply: 193

QUESTION 12 194

Reply: 194

QUESTION 13 195

Reply: 195

Note 196

QUESTION 14 197

Reply: 197

QUESTION 15 198

Reply: 198

Notes: 199

Question 16 200

Reply: 200

Note 202

Question 17 203

Reply 203

Question 18 205

Reply: 205

Notes 205

Question 19 206

Reply: 206

Question 20 207

Reply: 207

Notes 207

Question 21 208

Reply: 208

Notes 209

Question 22 211

Relpy: 211

Notes 211

Question 23 212

Reply: 212

Notes 213

Question 24 215

Reply: 215

Question 25 217

Reply: 217

Question 26 218

Reply: 218

Notes 221

Question 27 223

Reply: 223

Notes 225

Question 28 226

Reply: 226

Question 29 228

Reply: 228

Note 229

Question 30 230

Reply: 230

Note 230

Question 31 231

Reply: 231

Notes 235

Question 32 236

Reply: 236

Note 237

Biography of Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi

Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi is one of the most influential ayatollahs currently in Iran. He is a spiritual guide for many Twelver Shi'a Muslims.

His studies In Iran

He started his formal Islamic studies at the age of 14 in the Agha Babakhan Shirazi seminary. After completing the introductory studies, he started studying jurisprudence (fiqh) and its principles (usul al-fiqh).

He made rapid progress and finished studying the complete levels of introductory and both the levels of the intermediate Islamic studies in approximately four years. During this time, he also taught at the Islamic seminary in Shiraz.

At the age of 18, he formally entered the theological seminary of Qom, and for the next five years was present in the religious gatherings and classes of some of the leading Islamic teachers of those days, such as Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Burujerdi, & Ayatollah Seyyed Kazem Shariatmadari.

In Najaf (Iraq)

In 1950 he made his way to the seminary of Najaf, Iraq. Here, he was able to take part in classes of teachers such as Ayatollah Muhsin al-Hakim, Ayatollah Abul-Qassim Khoei and Ayatollah Abdul Hadi ash-Shirazi.

At the age of 24, he was granted complete ijtihad by two senior scholars in Najaf. Ayatollah Muhsin al-Hakim also wrote a short, comprehensive letter of commendation for him.

In 1951 he returned to Qom, since he did not have the means to survive and continue his studies in Najaf.

After returning to Iran, Ayatollah Nasir Makarim Shirazi began teaching the intermediate and higher level of studies in usul al-fiqh and fiqh. Also, he was a member of the editorial board of the first Islamic magazine published in Iran named "Maktab'e Eslam", next to Ayatollah Shariatmadari.

He has won the Iranian Royal Academy of Philosophy' award for his essay "Filsuf-Namaha".

Political Activities

Ayatollah Makarim Shirazi was active in the pre-revolution days; hence he was thrown in jail many times. He was even exiled o¬n three separate occasions to three different locations-Chabahar, Mahabad and Anarak. After the Iranian revolution, he was appointed to the first council of Representatives and played a major role in writing the first constitution.

Fatwas and viewpoints

Beating a disobedient wife

According to Makarem Shirazi, a Muslim man may "under exceptional circumstances" inflict a "light physical punishment" on his wife for not willing to perform her [sexual] marital duties. The physical punishment, he explains, must be very light where no harm or injuries are caused and even "the skin should not turn red". The "exceptional circumstances" are to be considered after [nicely asking and] advising, grumping, and separating beds, "just like when a surgery is the last resort for a patient" [1].

Wrongly translated news articles have referenced Makarem Shirazi, saying Islam allows a man to beat his wife. This leading ayatollah describes on his website, that Islam has ordered men to have good behavior with their spouses and has even forbidden them from yelling and speaking to their wives with temper [1]. On the same topic, Makarem Shirazi says, if a man does not perform his marital duties towards his wife, even after advice and when there is no other solution, the Islamic government can physically punish him [on behalf of the wife] [1].

In the same article, he references psychiatrists (probably Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis) and mentions that "some women" have natural tendency towards sexual masochism and a slight punishment act will help in "easing their mind" [1].

Women's attendance in stadiums

In the aftermath of an attempt by President Ahmadinejad to allow women to attend soccer matches in stadiums (something they are not able to do now), Makarem issued a fatwa objecting to this.[2]

Alternatives to stoning

Makarem's fatwa concerning stoning to death for adultery reads: "In certain circumstances, death by stoning can be replaced by other methods of punishment".[3]

Smoking

Makarem issued a fatwa declaring smoking as religiously illicit (makruh).

His Works

His works number more than 130 volumes. Some of these are:

Commentary on the book Kifayatul Usul (at age 18)

The Manifestation of Truth

Commentary on the Quran

The Message of the Quran

Anwar al-Fuqahah

al-Qawaidul Fiqhiyyah

Compiler/Editor’s Note

The achievements of Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi in the field of Islamic Theology are innumerable. The basic aim behind the creation of this book was to compile the lectures of this Grand Ayatollah at one place.

For additional information, all of the text used in this book has been taken from the original site of the Ayatollah i.e. makaremshirazi.org, for any further confirmation please visit the site.

As we have already read that the book contains the lectures of the Grand Ayatollah so it is obvious that the original form of most of the text used might not be the written but the ‘minutes’ i.e. spoken by Ayatollah recorded by others.

At the last part, the book has AN ULTIMATE QUESTION & ANSWER SECTION which contains some very interesting questions which might be very helpful to clear some doubts, to increase knowledge and to present logical reasoning for the questions which you might never heard before.

If Allah wills (Insha Allah) then this book will seem to be very helpful to the readers in many aspects and to increase quite a good part of reader’s information from the ocean of knowledge, to nourish his/her both the worlds and to bring the reader from the scorching core of darkness to the shining coarse of light.

Wa Innahu Wali al Taufeeq

Wassalaam

Syed Ajaz Mehdi Naqvi

ask_knowers@yahoo.com