Who is the most just and the wisest person
قال رسول الله صلی الله علیه و آله و سلم: وأعدل الناس من رضى للناس ما یرضی لنفسه وکره لهم ما یکره لنفسه رسول الله وأکیس الناس من کان أشد ذکر للموت وأغبط الناس من کان تحت التراب قد أمن العقاب ویرجوالثواب
The Prophet Muhammad (S): The most just person is the one who likes for people what he likes for himself, and does not like for people what he does not like for himself. And the wisest person is the one who recalls death the most, and the most enjoying person is the one who is secure from punishment in the grave, and is hopeful of being rewarded. (Man lā Yaḥdurhu-l Faqih, vol.4, p.395)
Exposition:
The Imam says the most just person among people is the one who wants for people the same thing that he wants for himself, he who does not like for people what he does not like for himself. The wisest person is the one who recalls death more. The one who neglects death is insensible and unwise. Who is the most enjoying person? He is not the one who enjoys material and worldly privileges. Rather, he is the one who is, in the grave – where all of us will necessarily go someday – secure from divine punishment, and hopes for divine reward and grace.
what are the factors that make one's distance far from divine mercy
رسول الله صلی الله علیه وآله وسلّم :من اکل ما یشتهی ولبس ما یشتهی ورکب مایشتهی لم ینظر اللّه الیه حتی ینزع او یترک
The Prophet Muhammad (S): Whosoever eats whatever he desires, wears any clothes he wishes, and mounts any roadster he wnats, God will not look at him until he takes off , and gives up . (Tuhaf al-Uqul, p.38)
Exposition:
In the phrase “…mounts any roadster he wishes", the real meaning of the words may be meant; that is choosing any roadster he is willing to mount. It is also possible that the phrase refers to “whatever he likes to do".
Anyway, the person will be deprived of Allah’s nercy _as the source of all goodness and any perfection_ by doing such things. The only solution is to give up, through a voluntary asceticism, whatever he wishes and can attain.
Those who have no power to fulfill all their desires must be happy, for it is a great blessing not to be able to fulfill all one’s passions and desires. However, if one is able and refrains, he will get a greater reward.
Book: Hadith Of Life, Published by: Tahseen.
what is the best sermon?
الامام السجاد علیه السلام: ابْنَ آدَمَ إِنَّكَ لاَ تَزَالُ بِخَيْرٍ مَا دَامَ لَكَ وَاعِظٌ مِنْ نَفْسِكَ وَ مَا كَانَتِ اَلْمُحَاسَبَةُ مِنْ هَمِّكَ وَ مَا كَانَ اَلْخَوْفُ لَكَ شِعَارا وَ الْحَذَرُ دِثَارا
Imam al-Sajjad(as): O son of Adam! You will be in the right path as you have an advisor inside yourself, as long as you pay attention to self-examination, and as long as fear is your underwear and abstinece is your clothing. (Tuhaf al’Uqul, p.280)
Exposition:
Although no one is free from the need to be advised by others, the advice originating from one’s innermost is the best advise. This is because everyone is aware of his own characteristics and faults more than anyone else.
One’s attempts must be focused on self-examination. If other do not assess us, we must not give up assessing ourselves. Self-examination prevents us from future fautls.
“Fear” in this hadith means fearing God and His punishment as well as one’s own wrongdoing, not fearing people and flimsy powers.
Abstinence refers to discretion; it does not mean that one must be inactive; rather one must enter various fields of activity, but he must observe discretion and abstinence. This is the real meaning of piety.
Book: Hadith of Life, Published by: Tahseen.
what are the two factors that nullify the effects of worship?
الامام السجاد علیه السلام: مَا مِنْ شَيْءٍ أَحَبَّ إِلَى اللَّهِ بَعْدَ مَعْرِفَتِهِ مِنْ عِفَّةِ بَطْنٍ وَ فَرْجٍ وَ مَا مِنْ شَيْءٍ أَحَبَّ إِلَى اللَّهِ مِنْ أَنْ يُسْأَل.
Imam al-Sajjad (as): Nothing, after knowing God, is more favorite foe Him than chastity and eating religiously legitimate things; and nothing is more favorite for Him than requesting Him. (Tahf al-Uqul, p.282)
Exposition:
The reason why Imam proclaims the most favorite things for God, after knowing Him, to be chastity and eating religiously legitimate things, and does not metion other obligatory practices such as daily prayers, is that chastity is a preventive factor that hinders the disturbing factors, and the effect of facilitating factors. It is just like when someone uses nourishing and useful foods and at the same time takes in posionous materials; certainly, those foods would have no positive effect.
Similarly in spiritual matters, if someone worships a lot but takes in the viruses of sins regularly, his worships would have no effect. But if he does not darken the mirror of his heart by committing sins, his divine nature would guide him to growth and perfection.
Accordingly, giving up sins is more important than worshiping. This is why Satan temps human beings to commit sins more than tempting them to give up sorship. Indeed, when sins dominate human being, his worships will not lead him towards God.
Thus, the most favorite thing is giving up two sins: the sin of stomach (eating illegitimate things) which is related to mamonism, accumulating wealth ang greed, and the sin related to sexual desire.
The excuse of creation
It’s difficult to talk about the identity of Fatemeh (P.B.A.H). Fatemeh (P.B.A.H) was a woman based on what Islam expects a woman. The prophet himself had depicted the picture of her features and had raised and purified her in hardness, poverty, and battle directions and his own profound and wondrous human educations. She had become a role model in all different aspects of being a woman, symbol of a daughter in front of her father, symbol of a wife in front of her husband, symbol of mother in front of her children, symbol of a fighter and responsible woman in the encounter with period and her society fate.
She is herself an imam, means one sample of example, an ideal type for woman, a pattern, a witness for every woman who wants to choose her own becoming Fatemeh. She responded how to be a woman with her wonderful childhood, with her continuous fight on both internal and external fronts in her father’s house, her husband’s house, in her society, in thought, behavior, and her life.
By: Elham Sadeqi