A Few Quotations on Union of Kindred:
1- Jabir quoting Imam Baqir (a.s.)said that the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said: "Kindness towards one's parents and union of kindred facilitates one's settlement of his accounts. " Then, he (p.b.u.h.) recited this very verse. (Tafsir Majma'- ul- Bayan, vol. 13, p. 54)
2- The Messenger of Allah (p.b.u.h.) remarked: " He who cuts off his relationship with his kindred, will not enter Paradise. " (Bihar, vol. 71, p. 91)
3- Amir- ul- Mu'mineen Ali (a.s.) said: "Cutting off of one's relationship with the relatives leads to poverty. " (Bihar, vol. 71, p. 91)
4- Imam Sadiq (a.s.) remarked: "He who is disobedient with respect to his parents and he who cuts off his relationship with his relatives can never sense the smell and the flavor of Paradise" (Safinah, vol. 1, p. 516)
5- Amir- ul- Mu'mineen Ali (a.s.) said: "Cutting off one's relationship with his relatives, spoils all of (one's) blessings. " (Qurar- ul- Hikam, vol. 4, P. 509)
6- A man, addressing the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) , asked: "Which deed is considered as conducive to the utmost outrage before Allah " He answered: "Attributing partners to Allah. " Then he asked: "Which action comes next " He answered: "Cutting off one's relationship with his relatives " Then he asked: "Which action comes next " He answered: "Bidding to indecency and forbidding right conduct. " (Safinat- ul- Bihar, vol. 1, p. 516)
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(22) وَ الَّذينَ صَبَرُوا ابْتِغاءَ وَجْهِ رَبِّهِمْ وَ أَقامُوا الصَّلاةَ وَ أَنْفَقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقْناهُمْ سِرًّا وَ عَلانِيَةً وَ يَدْرَؤُنَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ السَّيِّئَةَ أُولئِكَ لَهُمْ عُقْبَى الدَّارِ
22. " And those who patiently persevere, seeking the countenance of their Lord, and establish prayer, and spend of what We have provided them, secretly and openly, and they avert evil with good; theirs shall be the Ultimate abode"
Commentary:
And those who usually keep their patience in performing the commandments of Allah and do not lose their integrity in face of the diseases and evil consequences and abstain themselves from committing Allah's sins, and by keeping their patience, they mean to obtain rewards from Allah, the Almighty, because 'seeking the countenance of Allah' signifies 'asking for Allah' which in turn means asking for Allah's reward. Once, in the Arabic language, Arabs want to glorify something, they say 'its countenance' and 'its self', and by 'the countenance of Allah' they mean the Glorious Essence of the Almighty. Nothing is greater than Allah and nothing is His counterpart. Some say that: the purpose of 'countenance' in here is reference made as to sincerity and repelling of bigotry and hypocrisy. The verse says:
" And those who patiently persevere, seeking the countenance of their Lord, ..."
Then the verse continues explaining the qualities of the possessors of intellect by adding that they perform the prayer with keeping all its limits. In other words, they are always serious in performing their prayer rituals, and they share with
others whatever Allah has bestowed on them whether be it in secret or openly. And through their obedience, they repel all sins. The verse says:
"... and establish prayer, and spend of what We have provided them, secretly and openly, and they avert evil with good; ..."
Ibn- i- Abbas, regarding the last quality, has said that through the mean of decent and allowed action, they repel the indecent behavior.
It is quoted from the highly esteemed Prophet of Islam (p.b.u.h.) who has told Ma'az- ibn- Jabal that: Whenever he did an evil act, then he would perform an admirable deed so as to wipe it out.
Some commentators say one must be kind to those who have bad treatment to them and he would not try to retaliate it. Some other commentators have claimed that the purpose is that once they are deprived, they go on giving away and once they are oppressed, they forgive; and when they are isolated, they try to establish relationships once more. Ibn- i- Kisan says: it means that they try to remove the penalty for their sins by repentance.
The ending sentence of the verse says:
"... Theirs shall be the Ultimate abode. ..."
It means that those whom We depicted their profiles of, will receive their reward of Paradise. In this holy sentence the objective meaning of / ad- dar / is 'Paradise' and that of / 'uqba / is 'reward' which refers to the happy ending.
Explanations:
1- 'Patience' does not merely signify tolerating difficulties; rather, it mostly includes perseverance in worshipping,
restraining from sins, toleration in case of calamities, submission in case of obedience, and lack of arrogance in case of affluence.
2- The Qur'anic phrase 'the countenance of their Lord' signifies attracting the attention, favour, and satisfaction of Allah.
3- Performing prayer is one of the examples of the Divine covenants, which was discussed in the previous verses. Some Islamic traditions also refer to it, saying: "Prayer is the covenant of Allah. "
4- Patience and prayers are two channels of communication with Allah, and charity and good acts are two channels of communication with people.
5- Giving in charity of one's wealth has got a hierarchy: Step one: Sharing of the things Allah has bestowed upon us. " spend (in alms) of that which We have provided for you, " (Sura Al- Baqarah, No. 2, verse 154)
Step two: Giving in charity out of one's earnings through allowed business. "O you who have faith! Spend (in charity) of the good things that you have earned, " (Sura Al- Baqarah, No. 2, verse 267)
Step three: Giving away of what one likes most. "You will never attain righteousness unless you spend out of what you love, " (Sura An- Nisa, No. 4, verse 92) .
Step four: Self- sacrifice: " and prefer (them) before themselves though poverty may afflict them, " (Sura H ashr, No. 53, verse 9)
6- According to Al- Mizan, the Arabic term/ 'uqbaddar/ signifies happy ending in the world, though it may be
considered as including both, this world and the Hereafter.
7- The meaning of returning the good in exchange for evil is that: if from among the faithful someone commits an evil act in connection with us, We ought to overlook it. But we must not have the same pattern of action with the tyrants and the corrupt, for, concerning them, they must be paid in their own coins. Anyway, though Islam is a religion of ethics, compassion and forgiveness, it has also the following instruction in its place. The Holy Qur'an says: " (As for) the fornicatress and the fornicator, flog each of them, (giving) a hundred stripes, and let not pity for them detain you in the matter of obedience to Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day, " (Sura An- Nour, No. 42, verse 2)
8- Islam is a comprehensive religion, and 'the possessors of intellect' are some perfect persons. The existence of such Qur'anic words concerning them as:/ youfoun/,/ yax aun/,/ yaxafoun/,/ s abarou/,/ 'aqamou/,/ 'anfiqou/, and/ yadra'oun/ are signs to show that the perfect men not only are undertaking their promises, but also preserve all their proper communications, and they enjoy a superior state of virtuosity and they stay on the whole scenes of truth actively instead of creeping into isolation.
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(23) جَنَّاتُ عَدْنٍ يَدْخُلُونَها وَ مَنْ صَلَحَ مِنْ آبائِهِمْ وَ أَزْواجِهِمْ وَ ذُرِّيَّاتِهِمْ وَ الْمَلائِكَةُ يَدْخُلُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ كُلِّ بابٍ
23. " Gardens of Eternity, they shall enter therein and also the righteous from among their fathers, their spouses, and their children, and unto whom the angels will enter from every gate'. "
Commentary:
Out of 137 times that the Qur'anic words/ jannat/ and/ jannat/ have been repeated in the glorious Qur'an, only 12 times they have been mentioned under/ jannatu 'adnin/. According to a tradition from 'Durr- ul- Manthour', it signifies 'a special paradise'.(1)
The blissful Prophet (p.b.u.h.) remarks: "Whoever wants his life and death to be like those of mine, and enters the Gardens of Eden which is my Paradise, must designate Ali- Ibn- Abi- Talib (a.s.) and his Immaculate successors from among his descendents as his leaders and his Imam, who are most supreme in knowledge and wisdom over all human beings and they are guides for people towards right path. "(2)
In the meantime, we have it in the Qur'an repeatedly that the righteous people of a family will also be nigh to each other when in Paradise and will be able to enjoy each other's company therein as they associate with each other. Certainly, the mention of the titles of some individuals of the family like father, wife, and child in the above noble verse, does not
(1) - Tafsir- i- Forqhan
(2) - Tafsir Nour- uth- Thaqalayn
specify any particular point, and it covers all the righteous members of the family, including the above mentioned ones, and as well as mothers, sisters and brothers, too.
Incidentally, perhaps the reason for the absence of the name 'mother' here is that the mother is the wife of one's father and is covered by the word of/ 'azwaj/ (spouses) as is the case with brothers and sisters who are regarded as paternal descendents, and uncles and aunts are considered as the descendents of one's ancestors.
Anyway, whatever of the conclusion we obtain from the Divine verses is that the angels, under all circumstances, whether in this world or in the world hereafter (purgatory or resurrection day) , are in contact with man. They sometimes send him greetings " sends His greeting on you, and (so do) His angels, " (Sura Al- 'Ahzab, No. 33, verse 34) , while on other occasions, they ask forgiveness for him: " and ask forgiveness for those who believe, " (Sura Qafir, No. 40, verse 7) That is, the angels who carry the magnanimous heavens on top of their shoulders and those who are engaged in thanking and in worshipping are both faithful believers and ask for forgiveness for the faithful from Allah. At other times, they utter invocation for him, saying: "Our Lord! and make them enter the Gardens of Perpetuity " (Sura Qafir, No. 04, verse 8) . That is, O' Allah! Give them all along with their parents, wives, and children access and abode in the Paradise of Eden. At the time of death and at the onset of the purgatory, the angels let them voice with the slogan chanting " 'Fear not, nor be grieved " (Sura Fus s ilat, No. 41, verse 30) . And they take their lives with the sentence 'Greetings to you'. The Qur'an says: "Those whom the angels cause to die in a good state, saying: 'Peace be on you, " (Sura An- Nah l, No. 16, verse 32) That is, those who, like angels, 'the agents of Allah's
blessings', take their souls, address them saying that due to your good deeds performed in the world, you will thus enter the Eternal Paradise, and they would also go on greeting them from every corner. The verse says:
" Gardens of Eternity, they shall enter therein and also the righteous from among their fathers, their spouses, and their children, and unto whom the angels will enter from every gate'. "
Explanations:
1- There are eight gateways mentioned for Paradise which correspond to the number of traits already mentioned for 'the possessors of intellect' counted in recent verses. Probably, each of the eight traits and characteristics leads man through one of the gateways of Paradise and is a leading path towards the eternal happiness for man.
2- Not every father and child, and every husband and wife, every descendent whether paternal or maternal will join one another in Paradise or will be placed side- by- side there, for in the Day of Resurrection, the relatives by blood and those kin by marriage, as a means, will be of no use. On that Day, every body will be held responsible for his own self, in which case nothing, except one's own efforts and struggle, will have any effect:
Therefore, the entrance of some relatives, unto some others into Paradise, is only because of their competence and individual qualification.
3- A Paradise- deserving family is a family among whom there is sincerity and unity in pursuance of the path of the Truth, because the condition for entering Paradise is righteousness.
(24) َلامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ بِما صَبَرْتُمْ فَنِعْمَ عُقْبَى الدَّارِ
24. " Peace (be) upon you (saying) that you persevered in patience! (And now) how excellent is the Ultimate Abode. "
