Al-Huda
Foundation, NJ U. S. A
the Message Continues ... 9/179
Newsletter for October 2016
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Taqwa (Piety) Advice of Ahl
al-Bayt
The Effects
Of Piety
We can realize the worth and significance of everything from its
achievement and assess its value
with the quality and quantity of
its fruits. Beyond doubt,
everything which is of more
fruits will be naturally of more
value and everything with least
fruits will be of least value.
There may be things which are of abundant results quantitatively
but qualitatively they may not
be important.
Fortunately, one of the subjects important in terms of quality
and quantity is ‘Piety’ or
Taqwa. Hence numerous fruits
have been mentioned for it in
the holy Quran and narrations
each of which is significant and
worthy by itself.
1) Observing the Rituals
(Sha’a’ir)
As God Himself says: “…
and whoever respects the signs
of Allah, this is (the outcome)
of the piety of hearts.”
The Arabic word “Sha’a’ir” is the plural of “Sha’eerah” used in
the Quran on different occasions
and several meanings. One of
them is used for the Hajj
rituals including the stops (in
certain places),
circumambulation, and sa’iy (the
running between Safa and Marwa).
The second meaning is the camel
which is fattened for sacrifice.
The third meaning is the
religion of God; and the fourth
meaning would be anything
signifying obedience to God for
the performance of which man
rises and any negligence of it
is not permissible. In this
relation, God says: “…
do not violate the sings
appointed be Allah.”
Therefore, when it is said one of the fruits and effects of piety
is to observe religious rituals,
it means that a pious man has to
perform duties in relation to
the religion that God has
determined and the holy prophet
(SAW) and the imams of guidance
have elaborated, that too, with
devotion and love. Even if one
fails to perform such duties, he
has to ask God to help and give
him the blessing of its
performance.
The above-said verse is used to show that the Hajj rituals being
an example of the divine decrees
is the result of piety of
hearts, for when a heart is
purified, it has the capacity to
direct a man to act according to
the rules of religion and
decrees of God. Only a diseased
heart disobeys and rebels
against the path of guidance.
2) God Loves The Pious
This is one of the other achievements of piety and
self-restraint. In this
relation, God says:“Whoever fulfills his promise and
guards (against evil), then
surely Allah loves those who
guards (against evil).”
The fact that God loves the pious can be seen elsewhere in the
holy Quran including the verses
4 and 7 of the chapter
“Repentance (9)”.
What are the results and fruits of being loved by God? When a
person loves another person, he
will do his best to please him
and never does anything to hurt
him. Now, when God loves
someone, you can guess what He
will do. We may love someone but
we may not have all the
possibilities and our hands may
be tied. However, what God, Who
has everything under His
control, Who is Omnipotent, and
Who has created the universe
without labor, will do with one
whom He loves? Imagine what God
will do with one who extends his
hands towards Him!
3) Wilayah (Guardianship)
About the guardians of the Inviolable Mosque (the Ka’aba), we
read: “And
what (excuse) have they that
Allah should not chastise them
while they hinder (men) from the
Inviolable Mosque and they are
not (fit to be) guardians of it;
its guardians are only those who
guard (against evil), but most
of them do not know”.
From this rule, it is inferred that leadership in all parts of
the world is the right of the
pious and the leadership of
transgressors is wrong and an
act of usurpation. Hence,
Muslims’ affairs should be
administered by the pious.
Imagine what will be the result
if the reins of affairs are put
in the hands of such people!
It is for the same reason that we believe human leaders have to
be the pious, for they are the
true example of the prophets and
saints.
4) The
Hereafter
The Lord of the universe has said: “Say: The provision of this world is
short, and the hereafter is
better for him who guards
(against) evil; and you shall
not be wronged the husk of a
date stone.”
In another verse, He has said: “…the
abode of the hereafter is better
for those who guard (against
evil) ;do you not then
understand?”
The same meaning is repeated in the verse 109 of the Quranic
Chapter of “Yusuf (12)”. In this
chapter, we read: “And certainly the reward of the
hereafter is much better for
those who believe and guard
(against evil).”
Elsewhere, He has said: “And
if they had believed and guarded
themselves (against evil), reward
from Allah would certainly have
been better; had they but known
(this).”
In another verse, God says: “…if
you believe and guard (against
evil) He will give you your
rewards, and will not ask of you
your possession.”
On piety, God says: “Those
among them who do good (to
others) and guard (against evil)
shall have a great reward.”
Again in another verse, He has said: “A parable of the garden which those
guarding (against evil) are
promised: therein are rivers of
water that does not alter, and
rivers of milk the whereof does
not change, and rivers of drink
delicious to those who drink,
and rivers of honey purified;
and for them therein are all
fruits and forgiveness from
their Lord.”
After describing the gardens of Paradise, God says: “The gardens of perpetuity, they shall
enter them, rivers flowing
beneath them; they shall have in
them what they please. Thus does
Allah reward those who guard
(against evil).”
Elsewhere, He has said: “But
(as for) those who are careful
of (their duty to) their Lord,
they shall have lofty halls,
above them lofty halls, built
(for them), beneath which rivers
flow; (this is) the promise of
Allah: and Allah will not fail
in (His) promise”.
In describing the Paradise for those who repent and the worthy
believers, God says: “…these
shall enter the garden, and they
shall not be dealt with unjustly
in any way: the gardens of
perpetuity which the Beneficent
God has promised to His servants
in the unseen; surely His
promise shall come to pass. They
shall not hear therein any vain
discourse, but only peace, and
they shall have their sustenance
therein morning and evening.”
Then He says: “This
is the garden which We cause
those of Our servants to inherit
who guard (against evil).”
After describing the provision of the life of this world, in
another verse, God says: “Shall
I tell you of what is better
than these? For those who guard
(against evil) are gardens with
their Lord, beneath which rivers
flow, to abide in them, and pure
mates and Allah’s pleasure; and
Allah is seer of His servants.”
All these rewards are important and noteworthy but what the pious
must take into consideration is
Allah’s pleasure which cannot be
valued. All prophets, Imams and
the saints of Allah have tried
to reach it, for prophet hood,
divine mission, Wilayah and
Imamate are summed up in it.
Human beings were created to
obey God and to win His
pleasure. When Allah’s pleasure
is won, everything is won too.
It would not be out of place to talk here about the paradise of
the pious. The late Koleini has
reported that Imam Baqir (AS)
has said: “The Holy Prophet
(SW)was asked about the meaning
of the Quranic verse: “The day on which We will gather those
who guard (against evil) to the
Beneficent God to receive
honors.”
The Holy Prophet (SAW)
said: ‘O Ali, this group of
people is but riders and they
are a few men who refrain from
committing sins. Therefore, God
loved them and gave them a
special position, praised their
deeds and called them the
pious.’”
Then, the Holy Prophet (SAW) said: O Ali! By Allah Who has split
the grain, brought out the plant
and created the creatures, they
will come out of graves while
angels will receive them with
she-camels of honor, adorned
with gold, pearl, rubies and
green silk as well as purple
cloth, and those she-camels
shall fly with them towards the
gathering place in the heaven.
Every man shall be accompanied
by a thousand angels from every
side to the gate of paradise.
Near the gate of paradise, there is a tree which is purified.
Each will drink a syrup of it.
Then, God Almighty will clean
their hearts from jealousy and
will make extra hair on their
bodies fall down. This is the
meaning of “and
their Lord shall make them drink
a pure drink.”
Then, from the left side of that tree, they will move to another
spring called the Spring of Life
when they perform ‘Ghusl’ as
a result of which they will
never die. Then, they will stop
before the Throne where they are
made safe from pests, diseases,
pains, cold and hot. Then, the
Omnipotent God will address the
angels as the following: ‘Take
them to Paradise. Do not make
them wait with other people, for
My pleasure has become incumbent
on them. How can I halt them
with the companions of good
deeds and bad deed?’
Thereafter, the angels accompany them to Paradise. When they
reach the gate of Paradise,
angels knock at the door, making
a great sound. The assembly of
Houris, whom the Benevolent God
has prepared in palaces, hear
the sound, rejoice and give one
another the good tidings,
saying: ‘The friends of God are
coming towards us!’ Then, the
gate of Paradise is opened to
them and they will enter it. A
group of Houris and humans will
receive and welcome them,
saying: ‘How eager we were to
meet you!’ God’s friends will
say the same thing.
Then, Imam Ali (AS) asked the Messenger of Allah (SAW) about the
meaning of God’s words: “They
shall have high halls, above
them high halls”,
saying: ‘Why have these places
been built?’ The Holy Prophet
(SAW) said: ‘O Ali! God has made
these places with pearls, rubies
and topaz, with their ceilings
of gold and silver for His
friends. Each place has a
thousand gates of gold with an
angel guarding at each gate.
Therein are upraised couches and
some raised upon the others, of
fine silk in different colors,
filled with musk, ambergris and
camphor. This is the meaning of
words of God Almighty: “And
exalted throne”.
When a believer enters his abode in Paradise, they will put a
royal crown of honor on his head
with rubies and pearls, dress
him with garments of gold and
silver of seventy colors
interwoven with gold, silver,
pearls and rubies as God
Almighty has said: “they
shall bemade to wear therein
bracelets of gold and pearls,
and their dress therein shall be
silk.”
When the believer takes his seat on the throne, his throne will
start moving out of joy and when
that friend of Allah settles in
his abode, a guardian angel will
ask him permission to greet him
with the divine regards. Then,
the believer’s servants of girls
and boys will say to him: “Be in
your place. The friend of Allah
is in his seat and his pure
beautiful mate is prepared to
receive him. Wait until the
friend of God becomes free.”
His mate will came flauntingly out of her tent towards him. The
servant girls will surround her.
He wears a garment or rubies,
pearls and topaz perfumed with
musk and ambergris and sandals
of gold decorated with rubies
and pearls with rubies as sandal
laces.
When the houri approaches the friend of God, she will arise and
will say out of eagerness: “O
God’s friend! Today is not the
day of hardship. Arise! I belong
to you and you belong to me!”
They will then hug each other for a long time without getting
tired “…and
the angels will enter unto them
from every gate.” And
will say: “Peace
be upon you because you were
constant. How excellent, is
then, the issue of the abode.”
The excellent abode is a reference to God’s words: “And when you see there, you shall see
blessings and a great kingdom.”
The Holly prophet (SAW) said: “This is a reference to what angels
and God’s messengers ask
permission from Him and they do
not enter it without permission
with regard to the great kingdom
and bounties. Rivers flow
beneath the palaces with fruits
at close hand. God Almighty has
said: “Its shades will be close over them
and its fruits will be hanging
low.”
This is in a way that if the believer rises up, the trees will
rise up too at the height of his
stature and if he sits down, the
branches will bow down to be
easy to reach. If he wishes, the
branches will come down lower.
Imam Baqir (AS) has said: “Gardens mentioned in the Holy Quran
are garden of Eden, garden of
Paradise, garden of Bliss, and
garden of Refuge. There are
other gardens in the Holy Quran,
which are intermingled with
these gardens, that the believer
will enjoy them in whatever
manner he wishes. Whenever the
believer wishes for anything, he
will say: ‘Glory to Thee, my
Lord’ and upon saying it, he
will have it. This is a
reference to God’s words: “Their cry in it (Paradise) shall be:
Glory to Thee, O Allah! And
their greeting in it shall be:
Peace; and the last of their cry
shall be: Praise be to Allah,
the Lord of the worlds.””
5) Having No Fear or Sorrow (The Pious Have No Grief)
As God has said “O
children of Adam! If there come
to you apostles from among
yourelating to you My
communications, then whoever
shall guard (against evil) and
act aright- They shall have no
fear nor shall they grieve.”
Obviously, only a person who has no strong shelter for himself
has fear and is sorrowful. But
how will a person, who has
chosen piety and is
wholeheartedly devoted to God
and has no guardian, protector,
giver of honor, savior and king
other than God, be sorrowful? In
this respect, whether the fear
is related to this world or the
hereafter, only piety can remove
it.
6) Ease of Affairs (The Pious At
Ease)
In the Holy Quran, God says: “Then
as for him who gives (in
charity) and fears Allah, and
accepts the best, We will
facilitate for him the easy
end.”
This is evidently clear, for one who exercises piety, establishes
a kind of relation with the Lord
of the universe Who is the
Causer of causes. Hence, He will
resolve all problems, for He is
the Remover of all sorrows and
Destroyer of grief's.
7) Reaching A Higher Rank (Piety, A Superior Stage)
In relation to disbelievers, God says: “The life of this world is made to
seem fair to those who
disbelieve, and they mock those
who believe, and those who guard
(against evil) shall be above
them on the Day of Resurrection;
and Allah gives means of
subsistence to whom he pleases
without measure. ”
8) Removing Evil Acts And Forgiving Sins (Piety Removes Evil)
God says: “And
if the followers of the Book had
believed and guarded (against
evil), We would certainly have
covered their evil deeds and We
would certainly have made them
enter gardens of bliss.”
On the same topic, God says: “O
you who believe! If you are
careful of (your duty to) Allah,
He will grant you a distinction
and do away with your evils and
forgive you; and Allah is the
Lord of infinite grace.”
About those who, with the temptations of Satan, drank wine but
returned and exercised piety,
God says: “On
those who believe and do good
there is no blame for what they
ate, when they are careful (of
their duty) and believe and
believe, then they are careful
(of their duty) and believe,
then they are careful (of their
duty) and do good (to others),
and Allah loves who do good (to
others).”
God has used the word Taqwa three times in this verse which shows
its significance. Furthermore,
God does not desire a temporary
piety but a permanent and
continued one, a piety
accompanied with faith, good
deeds and benevolence. Such a
piety removes evil acts and
sins.
9) Piety, A Heavenly Blessing
About piety and heavenly blessings, God has said: “And if the people of the towns had
believed and guarded (against
evil), We would certainly have
opened up for them blessings
from the heaven and the earth,
but they rejected, so We
overtook them for what they had
earned.”33
10) Piety, A Solution
Resolving of problems, ease of affairs, getting rid of
afflictions caused by oneself or
others, whether in this world or
at the time of death, whether on
the Day of judgment, the Day of
Reckoning, or passing over (the
bridge of) Sirat, are some of
the results of piety. In this
connection, the Lord of the
universe says: “…and
whoever is careful of (his duty
to) Allah, He will make for him
an outlet, and give him
sustenance from whence he thinks
not.”
As for those who will enter Hell, God says: “And there is not one of you but shall
come to it; this is an
unavoidable decree of your Lord.
And We will deliver those who
guarded (against evil) , and We
will leave the unjust therein on
their knees.”
In another verse, God says: “And
Allah shall deliver those who
guard (against evil) with their
achievement; evil shall not
touch them, not shall they
grieve.”
Again in another verse, God has said: “…if you are patient and guard
yourselves, their scheme will
not injure you in any away.”
It is obviously so, that all problems and entanglements related
to this world and the hereafter
arise from a kind of impiety and
deviations whereas one, who
guards against evil and
exercises piety, is not only
uninvolved in entanglements but
lives in ease and with peace of
mind.
11) Piety Overcomes Satan
As the Lord of the universe has said: “Surely, those who guard (against
evil), when a visitation from
Satan afflicts them, they become
mindful, then lo! They see.”
Therefore, Satan’s visitation, scheme and temptations will not
affect the pious, for the latter
have found their right way and
are safe from moral, social,
political, ideological and
family deviations.
12) God
Is With The Pious
God has said: “Surely,
Allah is with those who guard
(against evil) and those who do
good (to
others).”
The same verse is seen in Imam Ali’s last will and testament
after the Imam (AS) salutes the
angels.
13) Piety And Invisible
Assistance
The Lord of the universe has said: “Yea, if you remain patient and are on
your guard, and they (enemy)
come upon you in a headlong
manner, your Lord will assist
you with five thousand of
distinctly marked angels.”
In Kashf al-Ghummah, we read: “On the day (battle) of Badr, most
of the unbelievers were killed
by Imam Ali (AS), some by the
companions and some others by
the angels.”
Abu Khadijah has been reported as saying: “One day, I went to
Abul-Hassan Musa ibn Ja'far (al-Kadhim)
(AS) who said to me: “Truly, God
Almighty supports the believer
with Gabriel. He will summon the
believer to His presence any
time he does good and exercises
piety and becomes absent from
him whenever he commits a sin or
he transgresses.”
14) Piety And Distinction
God says: “O
you who believe! If you are
careful of (your duty to) Allah,
He will grant you a distinction
and do away with your evils and
forgive you; and Allah is the
Lord of infinite grace.”
15) Piety And Salvation
About salvation, God has said: “And
he who obeys Allah and His
Apostle, and fears Allah, and is
careful of (his duty to ) Him,
these it is that are the
achievers .”
(24:52)
In another verse, God
says! “These are on a right
course from their Lord and these
it is that shall be successful.”
16) Piety And Divine Knowledge
God has said: “And
be careful of (your duty) to
Allah, Allah teaches you, and
Allah knows all things.”
17) Piety And Good Deeds
Abel and Cain offered sacrifices to God but He accepted Abel’s
sacrifice while He rejected the
other.
In this relation, God says: “Allah
only accepts from those who
guard (against evil).”
18) Piety And Nearness To God
About the honor people have with God, He says: “O you men! Surely We have created you
of a male and female , and made
you tribes and families that you
may know each other; surely the
most honorable of you with Allah
is the one among you most
careful (of his duty);surely
Allah is knowing, Aware.”
Someone asked Prophet Jesus (AS): “Which people are the better
ones?”
Prophet Jesus (AS) took two handfuls of earth, saying: “Neither
of these has preference over the
other. Rather they are equal.
People too are as such. The most
honorable of them are those who
are most careful (of their
duty).”
On the relation of the Qur'anic Sura of al-Hujurat, the verse 13,
commentators have written: “One
day, the Holy prophet of Islam
(SAW) was walking in the market
of Medina. He saw a salve on
sale. The salve kept on saying:
‘Whoever buys me should let me
perform my daily prayers.’” A
man bought him with the same
condition. Thereafter, whenever
the Holy Prophet (SAW) performed
daily prayers, the slave would
take part in them too. A few
days passed, but there was no
news of the salve.
The Holy prophet (SAW) asked after him. They said: He suffers
from fever. The Holy prophet
(SAW) went to visit him. After
three days, the Holy Prophet
inquired after his health. His
master said: He is dead. The
Holy Prophet (SAW) personally
took charge of performing his
burial service. Both the
Muhajireen and the Ansar were
surprised. God Almighty revealed
the above mentioned verse
indicating that lineage is no
honor, rather it is piety which
brings about honor.”
Imam Sajjad (AS) has been reported by Abu Hamzah ath-Thumali as
saying: “There is no privilege
for Quraish over the Arabs save
due to modesty, and no honor
save due to piety; no knowledge
save due to good intention and
no prayer save due to
mindfulness.”
19) Piety And the Day Of
Judgment
God says: “The
friends shall on that day be
enemies one to another, except
those who guard (against evil).”
In this world, friendships are based on worldly gains with no
real aim or they are not for the
sake of God. Obviously all
friendships will come to an end
save those which are for the
sake of God, a feature of the
pious. In this relation, Imam
Sadiq (AS) has been reported as
saying: “Brothers are of three
kinds; one who is fair to his
self, and the second is such
with his wealth. They are
truthful in friendship. And the
third kind is one who takes from
you what he needs and likes you
for fun. Do not trust him!”
20) Piety And The Good End
The Lord of the universe inspired Prophet Moses (AS) to say to
his tribe: “Ask
help from Allah and be patient;
surely, the land is Allah’s; He
causes such of His servants to
inherit it as He pleases, and
the end is for those who guard
(against evil).”
Elsewhere, the Lord of the universe consoles Prophet Hud (a.s.)
by saying: “Therefore
be patient; surely, the end is
for those who guard (against
evil).”
In another verse, God says to the Holy prophet (SAW): “And enjoin prayer on your people, and
steadily adhere to it; We do not
ask you for subsistence. We do
give you subsistence, and the
(good) end is for guarding
(against evil).”
Imam Sadiq (AS) has been reported as saying: “Among the children
of Israel, there was a man who
would repeatedly say “praise is
due to the Lord of the worlds
and good is for those who guard
against evil.” Iblis became
angry. So he assigned a Devil to
go to him saying: ‘The good end
is for the wealthy’, but the man
did not accept it. So they
decided to choose an arbiter to
judge between them. Anyone
against whom the judgment was
passed would have one of his
hands cut off. They set out till
they reached a man whom they
informed of their intention.
That person said: ‘The good end
is for the wealthy.’ One of the
hands of the pious man was cut
off. Yet, he would say: ‘The
good end is for those who guard
against evil.’ Satan said: ‘Do
you still say the same thing?’
The pious man said: “I believe
in what I say even if I lose the
other hand!“ They set out again
and reached another person. They
informed him of the story. That
person too said: “The good end
is for the wealthy.”
The other hand of the pious man was cut off while he was saying:
“The good end is for those who
guard against evil!” Satan said
to him: “Will you bet on your
head?” The pious man said:
“Yes.”
They set out again and on their way, they saw a man like shadow.
They stopped before him and told
him the story. That shadow
touched the pious man’s hands
which were restored to their
normal positions and beheaded
Satan saying: “… the good end is
for those who guard against
evil.”
Obviously, what lasts forever is truth and rightfulness and what
perishes is injustice and
falsehood.
There are usually many things which have no truth or spirit. The
worldly life, wealth, position,
power, force, hypocritical acts,
indecent words, evil acts and
their likes are such. The only
thing which lasts forever and
makes people prosperous is the
right path which is free from
deviation. Piety includes all
the virtues.
21) Piety And Divine
Guardianship
About divine guardianship, God says: “Surely the unjust are friends of each
other, and Allah is the guardian
of those who guard (against
evil).”
22) Piety And Divine Guidance
God says: “These
(the pious) are on a right
course from their Lord and these
it is that shall be successful.”
23) Piety Is Never Undermined
Imam Ali (AS) has said, “He who is strong rooted in piety does
not come to destruction, and the
plantation of a people based on
piety never remains without
water.”
Imam Ali (AS) means that the life of one that is based on piety,
will not be ruined with negative
propaganda in the same way that
plantation based on piety will
never get burnt down.
24) Piety Is Never Ignored
Imam Ali (AS) has also said: “Action accompanied with fear of
Allah does not fail, and how can
a thing fail that has been
accepted?!”
25)
Piety, A Wealth
Imam Sadiq (AS) has been reported by Ya’qoob ibn Shu’aib as
saying: “God does not promote a
servant from the humiliation of
sins to the honor of piety,
except that He makes him rich
without wealth, honorable
without tribe, and a friend of
Him without friends of people.”
26) Piety, Cure For All
Imam Ali (AS) says: “Certainly, fear of Allah is the medicine for
your hearts, sight for the
blindness of your spirits, the
cure for the ailments of your
bodies, the rectifier of the
evils of your breasts, the
purifier of the pollution of
your minds, the light of the
darkness of your eyes, the
consolation for the fear of your
heart and the brightness for the
gloom of your ignorance.”
27) Piety, A Divine Grace
The Holy Quran says: “…and
be careful of (your duty) to
Allah, Allah teaches you.”
The Holy prophet (SAW) has been reported as saying: “Fight
against your passions so that
your hearts will be filled with
wisdom.”
This concept proves the worth and the importance of piety which
makes the wild and troublesome
knowledge easy for human beings.
With piety, man can easily get
to know the mysteries in
sciences as if these people are
inspired with knowledge. |
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