Sayyid Mustafa al-Modarressi narrates:
‘My brothers, Sayyid Muhammad Kadhim and Sayyid Mahdi, were in Australia and walking together. My brother, Sayyid Muhammad Kadhim, had recently suffered from ill health and as they were walking, his health condition resurfaced and all of a sudden he collapsed, literally, in the middle of the street.
‘They rushed to the hospital and Sayyid Mahdi called our father, Ayatullah Sayyid Hadi al-Modarressi to inform him of the situation. Sayyid Mahdi told his father that Sayyid Muhammad Kadhim was experiencing a violent seizure and his health had deteriorated so badly there was a grave risk that he may not survive. Calmly, my father told him, “Place some khak al-shifa7 on his tongue and he will be aided through the intercession of Imam Husayn (A), God-willing.”’
Sayyid Mahdi continues the story:
‘It was not my practice to carry the khak of Karbala with me, but it so happened that on that day I had some khak with me! And it also happened that one of the staff attending to my brother in the hospital room was a Shi’a. So I asked if we could place some khak in his mouth. The nurse opened his mouth and was about to place it inside when the rest of the medical team objected and asked what she was doing. The nurse replied, “This is religious medicine. If he is going to die, it will ease his passing and if he is to survive, it will help him.”
‘Although I had not heard this explanation, I did not say anything. None of the staff continued with their objections and allowed the khak to be placed in my brother’s mouth. My brother had been violently shaking throughout this time and we had lost hope of him surviving. The nurse opened his mouth and placed the khak in his mouth and as soon as she did so, my brother’s body began to calm down and after a short time he had completely stabilised! Later, the doctors came to me and asked what exactly had been placed in his mouth because they had never seen a recovery like this before.
‘My father says, “God gave us Muhammad Kadhim twice. The first time when he was born and the second was when He literally brought him back from death. And it happened because of two things: supplication and the holy dust of Imam Husayn’s (A) tomb.”’