The venerable Sayyid, who had attained lofty ranks and obvious miracles, Raziuddin Ali bin Taaoos says in his treatise entitled: Mawasa wa Muzaiqa[1] that: I went with my religious brother, Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Muhammad Qadi Aawi – may Allah increase his happiness and ennoble his end – from Hilla towards the holy tomb of his master, Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) on Tuesday, 17th Jamadiul Aakhir in 641. Thus, the Almighty Allah chose for us to spend the night in the village known as Daurah Ibne Sanjar and our companions and mounts were also present there that night.
We set out from there in the morning of Wednesday of that same month and reached the holy tomb of our master, Ali (a.s.) at noon of this Wednesday. We performed the Ziyarat, and after that night fell it was the eve of Thursday, the 19th of Jamadiul Aakhir. Later I saw acceptance of the Almighty Allah and excessive of well being.
Thus, we witnessed the signs of the acceptance, bestowals and exaltations and my virtuous brother, Muhammad bin Muhammad Aawi – may Allah increase his success – saw in dream that night: As if I was holding a morsel and saying to him that this is from the mouth of my master, Mahdi (a.s.); and I gave some of it to him.
In the morning, according to the honor that the Almighty Allah had bestowed on us, we recited the Nafila of Shab Prayer. In the morning of Thursday we entered the holy tomb of our master, Ali (a.s.) as usual.
Thus, the blessing of Almighty and the divine acceptance descended on me to such an extent that I was on the verge of swooning and my whole body was trembling and I was gripped by a severe awe due to the return of divine grace on me and what is clear for me from His favors on me and I was able to win over killing, separation from the family, grief and hardships.
Till in that condition Muhammad bin Kanilah arrived and greeted me, but I had no strength to even look at him as others; I did not recognize him at that time; on the contrary I asked him who he was and he mentioned it to me and in this Ziyarat, divine realizations and glad tidings descended on me anew.
My virtuous brother, Muhammad bin Muhammad Aawi – may Allah increase his success – informed me of some glad tidings, which he had seen; among which was that in his dream someone was narrating a dream, I was present – a rider and you – that is brother Saaleh Aawi – and two other mounted men rose up to the sky.
He said: I asked him if he knew who was one of the two mounted men?
The person who was dreaming relied on his dream: I don’t know.
Then you – that is I – said: That is my master, Mahdi (a.s.).
From Najaf Ashraf we turned to the Ziyarat of first Rajab at Hilla. We reached there on the eve of Friday, the 17th Jamadiul Aakhir according to the Istikhara and a virtuous gentleman, Abdul Mohsin, a native of Sawad, a village of Iraq, came to Hilla and mentioned that he met our master, Mahdi (a.s.) openly and in wakefulness and that he had sent him to me with a message.
So I sent a messenger, Mahfuz bin Qara to him; thus, the evening of Saturday. 21st Jamadiul Aakhir arrived. I met Shaykh Abdul Mohsin in private.
I was acquainted with him that he was a virtuous person and no one doubted his veracity in narrating traditions and he was needless of us. I asked him about his well being. He mentioned that he was originally from Hafas Bashar and from there he had moved to the water hole, which is opposite the well known locality of Mujahidiyya and it called as the Daulab of Ibne Abul Hasan and at present he was residing there. He did not have anything to do with the water hole or farming; on the contrary he was a trader who dealt in food grains and other commodities.
He mentioned that he purchased food grains from the concerned department and had come there to take delivery of the same and spent the night with the Maidiya tribe at a place called Mujar.
At dawn, he fell ill because of using the water of Maidiya. So he went out to the stream and it was on the west. He did not become aware of himself till he found himself at the Tille Salaam, which is on the route to the tomb of Imam Husain (a.s.), that is Kerbala on the western side. This happened on the evening of Thursday, 19th Jamadiul Aakhir, 641. The same night and day, on which I was granted some divine realizations as I mentioned before; at the holy tomb of Ameerul Momineen (a.s.).
Abdul Mohsin said: I sat down to answer nature’s call, when suddenly I noticed a rider near me, although I neither heard him arrive nor I heard the sound of his horse. The moon was already up, but the air was misty.
I inquired from him the description of that rider and his mount. He replied: His mount was deep red, very close to black. He was wearing a white garment and had a turban on his head with its end falling loose. He was also carrying a sword.
So the rider asked: O Shaykh, Abdul Mohsin, what is the time for people?
Abdul Mohsin said: I thought that he was inquiring about this time. So I said: Cloud and dust has surrounded the world.
He said: I did not ask you that. I asked you about the condition of people.
I said: People are living in prosperity and peace in their hometown.
Then he said: Go to Ibne Taaoos and say this and that to him. And he mentioned to me what the Imam had said.
Then he said that the Imam also said: Thus, the time is near! Thus, the time is near!
Abdul Mohsin said: At that moment, it dawned on me that he was the Master of our time. So I fell down in swoon on my face and remained thus till the morning rose.
I asked: How do you know that by Ibne Taaoos, Imam intended me?
He said: I don’t know of anyone from Bani Taaoos, except you and in my heart I did not know, except what he intended from this message to you.
I said: What did you understand from the statement of the Imam that ‘Thus, the time is near!’? Did he imply that my end was near or the reappearance of the Imam?
He replied: He implied his reappearance.
Then he said: After that I set out for Kerbala, to the tomb of Imam Husain (a.s.) and I intended to serve the holy sanctuary; to worship the Almighty Allah and he regretted that he had not asked Imam (a.s.) many things, which he wanted to ask him.
I asked: Have you told anyone about this incident?
He replied: Yes, some of those who reported my leaving towards the Maidiya station and who thought that I had lost my way and was dead due to the delay in return and the period when I was lying unconscious during which I saw the effect of that swoon, which befell me in the fear of meeting His Eminence.
So I made a bequest to him not to tell about this incident to anyone and presented some things to him.
He said: I am needless of others and I have sufficient wealth.
Thus, he and I arose and I sent to him a sleeping suit and he spent the night with us in the house, which is our residence to this day in Hilla, where I had nine private session with him. As I was retiring to bed I prayed to the Almighty Allah to explain to me the meaning of that statement in my dream.
I saw in dream that my master, Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) has sent a great present to me. That present was with me, but I was unaware of its value.
On waking up, I recited thanks to the Almighty Allah and through that opening went up for the Shab Prayer and it was the eve of Saturday 18th Jamadiul Aakhir. Then Fath brought a vessel of water upstairs. I stretched out my hand and took the handle of the vessel to pour water on my hands; but the mouth of the jug was closed by a grip and it prevented me from using water from it to perform the ablution for prayers. I said: Perhaps it is ritually impure water that is why the Almighty Allah wanted to protect me from it, because I was bestowed numerous blessings from Him and one of them was as such and I had seen it.
So I called out to Fath saying: Where did you fill the vessel from?
He replied: From the side of flowing water.
I said: Perhaps it is ritually impure; take it back, wash it again and fill it up at the main river.
So he went and threw away that water and I heard the sound of the water being poured out from the jug. Then he washed it again and filled it up from the main water source and brought it to me. I held its handle and wanted to pour water on my hands. Again the mouth of the jug was closed by a grip and returned it and prevented me from it. So I returned and observed patience and became engrossed in reciting some supplications.
Then I again returned to the vessel and the same thing happened. I realized that this was to prevent me from praying the Shab Prayer that night and I thought that perhaps the Almighty Allah intends to issue some order to me or some calamity is to befall me the following day and He does not want me to pray for safety from it. So I sat down and nothing other than this occurred to me.
I continued sitting there and fell asleep. Suddenly I saw a man saying to me: Abdul Mohsin had come to you with a message; so it is befitting for you to go out and receive him. After that I woke up and it occurred to me that I had been deficient in according respect to him. So I sought divine forgiveness and did what the seekers of forgiveness are supposed to do for having committed such disobedience. And I began to perform the ablution. Nothing prevented the vessel from me leaving me to my own devices.
I performed the ablution and had prayed only two units of prayer when it was dawn. So I performed two units Qaza of Nafila Fajr and realized that I had not fulfilled the right of this message. So I came down to Shaykh Abdul Mohsin, met him and accorded respect to him and from my personal funds picked up six gold coins for him and I brought out fifteen gold coins from other than my special funds, which was at my discretion like my private funds.
I met him in private, presented the gold coins to him and besought his pardon. He refused to accept any money and said: I own around a hundred gold coins. He did not take anything and said: Give it to some needy person, and he was very insistent in his refusal.
I said: Gift are presented to messengers of the like of Imam (a.s.) to acknowledge their greatness and not because they are needy and poor. But he again refused to accept.
I said: All right I don’t force you to accept the fifteen gold coins, which are not from my personal property; but you will have to accept these six gold coins from my personal money.
He was on the verge of refusing it when I insisted him to accept it. So he took it. Then he came back and returned it. I adjured him to take it, so he took it and I had breakfast with him and went to welcome him as I had been ordered to in my dream. I made a bequest to him to keep it confidential. And praise be to Allah and may Allah bless the chief of the messengers, Muhammad and his purified progeny.
The strange aspect of this incident is that I set out towards the holy tomb of Imam Husain (a.s.) with my virtuous brother, Muhammad bin Muhammad – may Allah increase his ranks on Monday, 30th Jamadiul Aakhir, 641 A.H.
I reached there near dawn of the eve of Tuesday, the 1st of Rajab, 641. One Muhammad bin Suwaid, a resident of Baghdad himself he says that he saw him in dream on the evening of Saturday and 1st Jamadiul Aakhir, which was mentioned above that as if he was at home and a messenger came to him saying that he has come from the Master (a.s.).
Muhammad bin Suwaid said: Thus, some people are of the view that he was a messenger from the owner of the house who has brought a message for him.
Muhammad bin Suwaid said: I know that he was from the Master of the Age (a.s.).
He said: After that Muhammad bin Suwaid washed his hands and purified them ritually; then he arose and went to the messenger of our master, Imam Mahdi (a.s.).
Then he took a letter which was from our master, Imam Mahdi (a.s.) for me and there were three seals on that letter.
Muhammad bin Suwaid Muqri said: I accepted that letter from the messenger of my master, Imam Mahdi (a.s.) with two hands and I have handed it to you and he implied me and my virtuous brother Muhammad Aawi was present there. He asked: What is the incident?
I said: I will narrate it to you.
Sayyid Ali bin Taaoos (r.a.) says: I was astonished at the fact that Muhammad bin Suwaid dreamt that same night that the messenger of the Imam was with me and he had no information about this matter. Praise be to Allah.[2]
The author says: This Sayyid Raziuddin Muhammad bin Muhammad Aawi, whom Sayyid Ali bin Taaoos had chosen as a brother, is also from those who have met Imam Zamana (a.s.) and he has narrated a special Istikhara from the Holy Imam (a.s.) as Allamah and others have reported and it will be mentioned that Aawi is an attribution to the area of Aawa, also called Aaba and there is a distance of five miles between it and Sawa.
In the incident, the prevention of the vessel from Sayyid to stop him from Shab Prayer is a hint to that which has come in reliable traditional reports that the punishment of some sins is that a person is deprived of some worship acts.
Especially the Shab Prayer, Kulaini and Saduq have narrated from Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) that he said: When a person lies, as a result of it he is deprived of Shab Prayer. Thus, when he is deprived of Shab Prayer, as a result of it, he is deprived of livelihood.[3]
Livelihood implies lawful livelihood; if livelihood had implied means of physical life, it would have denoted food and drinks etc. but no, it implies sciences, cognitions and special guidance as the life of the soul depends on them.
Also, both gentlemen reported that a man came to Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) and said: Indeed, I am deprived from praying the Shab Prayer.
Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) said: You are one, whom his sins have restricted.
In Oddatud Dai,[4] it is narrated from the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) that he said: Indeed, when a person commits a sin, as a result of it he forgets a knowledge, which he had learnt.
It is narrated in the book of Ja’fariyat that Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) said: I don’t think that one of you forgets something from a matter of his religion, except due to a sin that you commit.[5]
Also in Oddatud Dai, it is mentioned that the Almighty Allah revealed to Prophet Dawood (a.s.): The least that I will punish a servant of Mine for not performing what he knows from seventy inner punishments is that I will take away from his heart the sweetness My remembrance.[6]
It is narrated in Maaniul Akhbaar[7] from Imam Sajjad (a.s.) in a lengthy report regarding the classification of sins that he said: Sins, which turn back the distributed sustenance are expression of poverty, to sleep at the times of Isha and Morning Prayer, thus omitting them, to regarding divine favors as worthless and to complain to ones deity…and so on.
What the Sayyid understood from his act, which deprived him from performing the Midnight Prayer, which is among the most exalted livelihoods, is included among such kinds of sins. As it is mentioned in reliable reports that: A petitioner at the door is a messenger of the Lord of the worlds; he should be accorded utmost respect and honor.[8] Manners are specified how to deal with him, from which I have recorded forty points in my book of Kalemah Tayyaba along with all the condemnation, prohibitions and warnings for the petitioner and his petition.
Thus, we must have respect for the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) who is the true Prophet of God, and one, who is deficient in that will be deprived from the bounty of prayer, which is in fact ascension for the believer; especially the Shab Prayer, as it is impossible to calculate its reward.
In the book of Iddatul Safar wa Umdatul Khizar, Shaykh Toosi has mentioned a two rakat prayer of thanksgiving, to be performed after every obligatory act.[9]
We should know that being deprived from these bounties or every bounty is due to every shortcoming and sin, sometimes it is from the aspect of punishment and it is known from this that that deprivation should not be a cause of reminder and regret of its doer, like most people are deprived of these bounties due to their evil character and do not at all become aware of what they have done and what they are deprived of till that day when they will realize and regret it, but will be unable to make up for it.
And sometimes from the aspect of divine grace, it is a warning to the sinner so that he becomes aware of his deficiency and that he should not cross the divine limits and in every act and word, he should see that he is not opposing the Almighty Allah in any way.
Thus, if sometimes, due to some exigencies, which cannot be explained here, they commit some crime, they are punished for it very soon, they are warned and they give it up; after which their condition improves and the humility, shame and regret created in him increases his ranks as is clear from the debate between Jibraeel and Mikaeel, but here there is no scope to discuss this further.
Bani Taaoos among the scholars
We should know that among the scholars, Bani Taaoos were a group of scholars from Aale Taaoos.
The first and the most famous of them being: The prominent Sayyid Raziuddin Ali bin Moosa bin Ja’far bin Muhammad, who had scaled well known ranks and is the author books, which are famous among Shia and that which is mentioned in the excellence of Ibne Taaoos in books of supplications, Ziyarats and excellence denotes him only.
Second: His brother, the venerable scholar, Ahmad who was the most outstanding scholar of jurisprudence and science of narrators of his times and the Ibne Taaoos mentioned in books of jurisprudence imply him only.
Third: His son, Ghayasuddin Abdul Karim bin Ahmad Taaoos, author of Farhatul Ghurra, was an outstanding scholar of his time, in memorization and depth of understanding.
Fourth: Son of Sayyid Abdul Karim Raziuddin Abul Qasim, Ali bin Abdul Karim.
Fifth: Sayyid Raziuddin Abul Qasim, Ali bin Sayyid Raziuddin Ali bin Taaoos, author of Zawaaedul Fawaaed, who shares the name and agnomen of his respected father.
Sometimes Ibne Taaoos refers to his brother, Sayyid Jalaluddin Muhammad also and his respected father, who compiled the book of Kashaful Mohajja for him.
In the account of the entry of Hulagu Khan in Baghdad, it is mentioned that Sayyid Majdiddin Ibne Taaoos went along with Sadidudeen, father of the Allamah and some other scholars to seek amnesty for Hilla from him.
In Riyazul Ulama, it is narrated from the history of Maula Fakhruddin Tabakati that Sayyid Majduddin, Muhammad bin Hasan bin Taaoos Hilli and Sadeeduddin Yusuf Ibne Motahhar sent a letter to Hulagu Khan expressing obedience and said: We have found in the sayings of Ali (a.s.) that you will conquer this land. And they mentioned that report from Ali (a.s.) regarding the advent of Hulagu and his conquest of Baghdad.[10]
After that they accorded respect to him and obtained security for Hilla and the respected contemporary historian writes in Nasekhut Tawaareekh, in the account of Bani Taaoos that: One of the Bani Taaoos in Iraq, is Sayyid Majduddeen, author of Al-Bashara, in which he has compiled most of the reports and biographies; he also describes the downfall of the Abbaside rule in that book
However, Shaykh Hasan bin Sulaiman Hilli, student of Shaheed Awwal in the book of Mukhtasar[11] Basaaer[12] has attributed Kitab Basharat to Sayyid Ali bin Taaoos and Allah knows best.
[1] In the manuscript version instead of the treatise entitled: Mawasa wa Muzaiqa the book of Ghayath Sultanul Waraa is mentioned. It is also a work of the Late Ibne Taaoos. Some have opined that both imply one and the same book as the Late Agha Buzurg has stated in Dharia. Az-Zariyyah, vol. 16, p. 73
[2] Al-Fawaidul Madaniyya, pp. 86-90
[3] Muntahiul Matlab, vol. 1, p. 195; Elalush Sharaae, vol. 2, p. 262; Sawabul Aamaal, p. 42; Tahzeebul Ahkaam, vol. 2, p. 122; Wasaaelush Shia, vol. 8, p. 160.
[4] Uddatud Daaee wa Najaahus Saaeel, p. 197
[5] Al-Ja’fariyaat, p. 172
[6] Uddatud Daaee wa Najaahus Saaee, p. 69
[7] Maaniul Akhbaar, p. 270
[8] Daaemul Islam, vol. 2, p. 332; Al-Umdah, p. 121; Behaarul Anwaar, vol. 93, p. 25
[9] In the first unit recite Surah Hamd and Surah Tauheed once and in the second unit recite Surah Hamd and Surah Kaaferoon once. In the ruku and two prostrations of the first unit recite: Al Hamdo lillaahe Shukran Shukran Allah wa hamdan and in the ruku and two prostrations of the second rakat recite: Al hamdo lillaahil lazee qazaa lee haajatee wa istajaaba lee doaaee wa ataanee mas-alati.
[10] Qawaidul Ahkaam, vol. 1, p. 15; Izaahul Ishtibaah, p. 43, Az-Zariyyahh, vol. 1, p. 316 3, p. 114.
[11] Originally: Muntakhab, Selected.
[12] Mukhtasar Basaaerud Darajaat, p. 212