Saad bin Abdallah Qummi reports that once he had a discussion with a hardcore imposter. The man said, “Pity on you Rawafiz (dissenters) that you speak ill of the Prophet (S)’s companions and blame them that they had no affection for him. To the contrary, Abu Bakr, because of his eminence being one of the earliest converts to Islam, was better than all other companions of the Prophet (S).
The Prophet (S) used to hold him so close to his heart that on the eve of the Migration (Hegira) took Abu Bakr along in the cave for hiding to save him from the sword of the enemy and later on become his successor and Caliph. ‘Ali (as) was left to sleep in the Prophet (S)’s bed that even if he was assassinated, it wouldn’t have made any big difference in the matter of succession. Abu Bakr was the first to adopt Islam. Tell me, was his conversion voluntary or under any duress?”
Saad thought for a while, “If I accepted that the conversion was voluntary, then the person would say that there wouldn’t be any question of nifaq (hypocrisy) in the conduct of Abu Bakr. And if I said that the conversion of Abu Bakr was under duress, then it would be a wrong statement that Islam had not become such a big force at that time that one could even imagine any use of coercion.
I was totally confused and sought some time from him to be able to answer his question. Along with some more queries I went to Sammara to meet Imam Hasan Al-’Askari (as). Along with me came Ahmed bin Ishaq, the Representative (Vakil) of the Imam (as) who carried with him 160 sachets of Dinarts and Dirhams as a presentation to the Imam from the Shi’as of our place.
We both went to the presence of the Imam (as) and respectfully greeted him. The Imam (as) reciprocated our greetings and asked us to be seated. The place was aglow with the radiance of the face of the Imam (as). On the lap of the Imam (as) sat a pretty child whose look would put to shame a hundred moons! In the hands of the child there was a pomegranate made of gold, with which he was playing.
Ahmed brought out all the sachets from his bag and put in front of the Imam (as). The Imam (as) put all that money in front of the child and said, ‘Your Shi’as have sent you all this as a gift. Count it.’ The child said, ‘Does the Imam (as) permit me to touch the tainted and dirty money with my pure hands!’ The Imam (as) told to Ahmed, ‘Open one of the sachets and keep the money in front of your Imam (as) in waiting.’ The child looked at the money once and said, ‘This is so much money and is from such and such a person from Qom.
Out of the money so much is legitimate (Halal) and the rest is illegitimate (Haram) Out of the 62 gold sovereigns there are two with faded markings, they are illegitimate.’ Ahmed counted the coins and found them to be exactly 62 in number. He was able to identify the two coins with faded markings. The Imam (as) looked at his son and said,
‘O son! You are absolutely right!’ Then Ahmed opened the other sachets, one after the other and the child correctly told about the number of coins in each and also about the legitimate and illegitimate money in each of them. Then the Imam (as) said, ‘Collect the illegitimate coins and give them back to their owners.’
Then the Imam said, “O Ahmed! Where is the piece of cloth that was sent by a certain person for me?”
Ahmed said, “I have kept that cloth with my luggage. I shall immediately fetch it for you.” When Ahmed went out to fetch the cloth, the Imam (as) turned his attention towards me and said, “What do you want to say?” I said, “I have certain questions for which I seek your guidance.” The Imam (as) said, “You may refer yout questions to this son of mine.”
I said respectfully, “O Master! The son of My Master! We have heard the Prophet (S) had given the right of divorcing his wives to Amir’ul-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (as). Therefore, at the Battle of Jamal, Amir’ul-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (as) sent a message to Um-al-Mu’mineen Ayesha, that she had become the cause of shedding the blood of Muslims. If she didn’t refrain from proceeding further with the conflict, he would be constrained to divorce her from being the wife of the Prophet (S). What sort of divorce was this, that was to become effective even after the demise of the Prophet (S)?”
The Imam (as)’s son replied, “Allah has given the respected title of Umm al Mu’mineen (the mother of the Believers) to the Prophet (S)’s wives. The Prophet (S) had said to Amir’ul-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (as) that if, after his demise, his wives behaved disobediently towards the Commandments of Allah, and confront you for battle, then you have the right to divorce them. This would mean that such wives would be deprived of the title of Umm al Mu’mineen.”
I said, “O son of the Prophet (S)! Tell me about the tradition that Prophet Musa (as) was ordered by Allah to remove his footwear. Some scholars say that the footwear was made out of the skin of a cadaver and therefore it was unclean (najis) and unfit for wearing to the Holy Place.”
He replied, “This is wrong. Prophet Musa (as) was a Prophet and there is no question of his not knowing whether a thing was najis or not. Prophet Musa (as) used the same footwear while offering his prayers.”
I said, “Then what is the meaning of Allah asking Prophet Musa (as) to remove his naalain (the footwear)?”
He replied, “When Prophet Musa (as) reached the place where one should not have the thought of anyone else in his mind than Allah, Musa (as) was thinking of his wife. Therefore Allah told him, ‘O Musa (as)! This is the Place of Nearness! One should not have the thoughts of love of anyone other than Allah at this Place! Therefor abdicate the love of the Kafsh al-Pa (the footwear) from your mind. (It is a general practice in the East to allegorically refer to wives as Kafsh al-Pa-Therefore if someone dreams of the theft of his footwear, the interpretation of the dream would be that he might be separated from his spouse.
Saad asked, “O son of the Prophet (S)! What is meant by the expression Kaaf-Haa-Yaa-Ain-Suad in the Holy Qur’an?”
He replied, “These are Hidden Message (Akhbare Ghaibat) from Allah. Their interpretation was first given to Prophet Zakaria (as) and then to our Prophet (S).
Prophet Zakaria (as) had prayed to Allah to be taught the names of the Aal al-Aba that he would recite them to ward off evil. Gibrael came and taught to Prophet Zakaria (as) the names of the Five Infallible Persons of the Prophet (S)’s Family.
Whenever Prophet Zakaria (as) uttered the names of Muhammad, ‘Ali, Fatima and Hasan, he used to feel delighted. But whenever he uttered Husayn (as)’s name, he would cry. Prophet Zakaria (as) asked Allah why he felt like crying whenever he took the name of Husayn (as)? Allah narrated about the Tragedy of Karbala and explained to him about the occurrence of the acronym
Kaa-Haa-Yaa-Ain-Suad in the Holy Qur’an:.
Kaa stands for Karbala, where the small entourage of Imam Husayn (as) consisting of 72 persons was martyred,
Haa stands forHusayn (as), who was the Chief of the Martyrs of Karbala,
Yaa for Yazid, the perpetrator of the Tragedy of Karbala,
Ain for Atash or Thirst, the thirst of the children, men and women in Husayn (as)’s camp who were denied access to water for three full days when the river Euphrates flowed nearby, and
Suad for Sabr, or, patience and forbearance facing the cruelty of Yazid’s men in Karbala, during the battle and, by the surviving members of the family, on the way to Syria and in the court of Yazid.”
When Prophet Zakaria (as) came to know about the Tragedy, he didn’t leave the Mosque for three days. He cried, wailed and repeatedly said, “O Allah! You will put your Beloved Person to such an extreme test. How will Your Habib, the Prophet Muhammad (S) feel about this episode? How will ‘Ali (as), Your Prophet’s Vicegerent bear the great loss? What will be the condition of Husayn (as)’s mother, Fatima Zehra (as)? How will Hasan (as) bear the irreparable loss?
O Creator! For the sake of the Noble Panjatan (the five Immaculate Persons of the Prophet (S)’s family give me one son, equal in looks and qualities to Husayn (as), fill my heart with his love, and put him to as severe a test as you would put Husayn (as)! Make me a witness to this tragedy that I become as sorrowful as your Habib, Muhammad (S)!”
Allah answered prophet Zakaria (as)’s prayers and gave him prophet Yahya (as) as his son. Prophet Yahya (as) was a premature born, delivered in the sixth month of conception, as was Imam Husayn (as), and like Imam Husayn (as) he too was martyred in similar tragic circumstances.”
Then I asked, “O! Son of the Prophet (S)! How is it that the people cannot select their own Imam?”
He replied, “The people would select an Imam who would either turn out to be the reformer of the society or can also turn out to be the enemy of the society and the people.”
I rejoined, “Definitely, people would choose an Imam who would be a well-wisher and reformer of the people!”
The Imam said, “Is is not a possibility that the people unanimously select a person to be their Imam expecting him to be righteous, just and capable of reforming the society. But in practice he might prove himself unworthy of the trust placed in him, proves himself an enemy of the people!”
This is why, an Imam can be Decreed only by One who is Infallible in His actions and choice. And that Selector or Ordainer of the Imamate is none other that Allah. He knows the feelings of the hearts and knows the hidden things.”
Then the Imam (as) asked, “Could Prophet Musa (as), one of the Prophets of Allah, have made an error in selecting his Succesor and Imam?”
I nodded in disagreement.
Then the Imam (as) said, “O Saad! Your opponent has also said that since the Prophet (S) knew that Abu Bakr would succeed him as the Caliph, he took him along on his journey of Hegira, lest he got killed staying back inMecca and the matter of the succession getting jeopardized.
Why didn’t you reply to the person this way. The Prophet (S) had said,’ The Caliphate after me shall be for thirty years’. According to you people the thirty years’ period saw the terms of the first four caliphs. Then, if the Prophet didn’t want to put the Caliphate in jeopardy, he should have taken all the four along with him to the cave and not only one. Do you people think that the prophet (S) had no concern for the safety of the other three prospective caliphs?”
I asked the Imam (as), “Another question my opponent asked was whether the acceptance of the Faith of Islam by Abu Bakr and Omer was voluntary or was under some sort of duress?”
The Imam (as) said, “Why didn’t you reply to your opponent that the acceptance of Islam by the two persons was neither voluntary nor under duress, but it was motivated by sheer avarice. These persons were in close league with the Jews and infidels and had heard from them of the predictions in the Torah of the coming of Muhammad (S) as the Prophet and that his reign would be farther and wider than the kingdom of Bakht Nasr.These two persons, therefore, adopted Islam that perhaps the State would, at some future time, come in their hands. But in their hearts, they continued with their original beliefs.
Therefore, whenever they felt that their plans were failing, they gave overt and covert indication of their true color. When the Prophet (S) was surrounded by the enemies during the battle of Ohud they thought everything was lost, and flew like the munafiqeen (the hypocrites) to the top of the hillock to save their own lives. There is also the incidence when these people hung empty leather oil containers near the Prophet’s house with the purpose of scaring his camel to run wild and drop him down. But Allah forewarned the Prophet (S) of this foul scheme and saved him from harm.
Similarly, during the temporal Caliphate of Amir’ul-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (as), Talha and Zubair professed allegiance to him only with the craving to be nominated governors to important provinces of the realm. But when they failed in this attempt, they terminated the allegiance and prepared for battle with Amir’ul-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (as).
Saad says that when the son of Imam Hasan Al-’Askari (as) completed his talk, the Imam (as) left to offer prayers along with his son. Saad came out of the house and found Ahmed bin Ishaq very disturbed and crying. When asked the reason, he said, “The piece of cloth that I had brought for the Imam (as) is not there in my luggage!” Saad told him, “What is the need for crying? Go to the Imam (as) and express your regrets that the cloth was lost or misplaced.”
Ahmed went to the presence of the Imam (as) and immediately returned with a smiling face. Saad asked him about the sudden change of his mood. He said, “When I reached the presence of the Imam (as), I found the same piece of cloth under his feet, in the act of offering his prayer!” They stayed at Sammara for a few more days. Ahmed took two elderly persons from Qom for an audition with the Imam (as) and said, “A thousand salutations to you and your noble ancestors! Now I seek your permission to leave, although I do it with a heavy heart! I pray to Allah that I get another opportunity to meet you soon.
The Imam (as) said, “Ahmed! Don’t pray for the fulfillment of this wish! This is your last journey in this world. After this, you will depart for the Other World.”
When Ahmed heard this, he swooned with shock. When he regained senses, he told to the Imam (as), “O Imam (as)! Give me something of your raimeent that I use it in place of the shroud for my burial!”
The Imam (as) took out 13 Dirhams from under the carpet and gave to Ahmed and said, “Use this money for personal expenses. Your coffin will reach you in time!”
Saad says that on their return journey they halted at the stage of Halwan. At nightfall Ahmed asked them to leave him alone. They all went to every individual quarter to sleep. When they went to Ahmed’s room early next morning, Kafur, the servant of Imam Hasan Al-’Askari (as) was emerging out of the room. He said, “May Allah help you bear the loss with forbearance! With the orders of the Imam (as) I have given the last bath and the shroud to Ahmed. You may now arrange for his burial.”