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WHAT IS BADA'?
Bada’ means “To Appear”. It is a
process in which Allah makes
known His Plan to the Prophets,
Imams, or Angels only to the
extent which is beneficial to
the man kind or which is
necessary to make a test
meaningful. When the time comes
for the Prophet or the Imam
concerned to think that the plan
of work is nearing its end, a
new development extends the plan
or brings it to an unexpected
end.
The concept of Bada’ will be
cleared by the following
illustrations:
The story of Prophet Ibrahim
responding to a dream in which
he saw that he was sacrificing
his beloved son Prophet Isma’il.
He narrated his dream to Prophet
Isma’il, who agreed, being a
Prophet he knew that their
dreams are the Commands of
Allah. Prophet Ibrahim did what
he saw in the dream as doing; he
bound the hands and feet of the
child, placed him in the
position of prostration; and
blindfolding himself, put the
knife and cut the throat. After
removing the blindfold from his
eyes, he saw Isma’il smiling and
a goat was slaughtered in his
place. Allah did not inform him
of the events up to the last
stage. If Ibrahim would have
known that Isma’il would be
saved, or if Isma’il would have
known that he would be saved,
there would have been no meaning
in the test. So Allah showed
Ibrahim the events up to a stage
but kept him unaware of the
final stage; not informing him
how the whole episode was to
end. Since they did not know the
result, Ibrahim and Isma’il were
able to show how willingly they
were to obey the Command of
Allah even to the extent of
sacrificing their lives and the
lives of their dear ones in His
name.
On the appointed day, to enhance
desperation, children were
removed from their mothers;
everybody fasted and came out of
the village, there they prayed
and cried, prostrated and asked
His forgiveness and prayed for
the aversion of that affliction.
The sky was covered with black
clouds, day became like night,
and lightning and thunder was
shattering the atmosphere. It
was fortunate that they had
repented before seeing the
affliction, and
therefore, Allah, in His Mercy
forgave them and they were saved. Allah
knew before hand that the
people of Prophet Younus would
accept the true faith, but He
did not reveal the whole event
to Younus. Naturally,
he thought that the affliction
would wipe out the whole
community. He was not told that
the community would repent and
the affliction would be avoided.
If the learned companion would
have known that the affliction
would clear away, then he would
not have exhorted them so
sincerely. It was because Allah
in His infinite Wisdom wanted
them to listen to the voice of
wisdom. Allah did not tell
Younus a lie but intend to
keep the promise.
Similarly, Prophet Musa was
ordered to go to Mount Sinai,
fast there for thirty days. On
the thirtieth day, he cleansed
his teeth and went to Mount
Sinai. Allah asked him as to why
did
he cleanse his teeth. He replied
that he thought that he was
going to a holy place and hence
wanted to be neat and clean.
Allah told him that the smell of
a fasting person was sweeter
before Him than musk. Hence, Musa
was ordered to return to his
place and fast for
ten more days and return to
Mount Sinai without cleansing
his teeth.Thus it was on
the fortieth day he was given
the Tablets of Tawrat. The Bani
Isra’il left the path of true
religion in the presence of his
vice- gerent Prophet Harun,
started idol-worshiping just
because Musa was delayed by few
days! This test of
faith could not be completed if
Allah would have told Musa that
he was supposed to stay for
forty days; or if he would have
been told him not to clean his
teeth on the thirtieth day.
Source used: The Justice of God
by Allama Sayyid Saeed Akhtar
Rizvi |
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