Another Warning
Your future is dark: numerous enemies are surrounding you on every side and from all strata; dangerous
fiendish plans are ready to be enacted, which will destroy you and the seminaries. The colonialists dream about what they will do with you, they have deep dreams about what they will do with Islam and the Muslims. With the pretence of Islam, they have drawn up dangerous plans for you. Only in the shade of refinement, preparation, and the proper arrangement and order will you be able to push away these corruptions and difficulties, and frustrate the plans of the colonialists.
I am now living the last days of my life. Sooner or later I will leave you. But I see before me dark black days ahead for you. If you do not reform and prepare your-selves, and if you do not manage your studies and your lives with order and discipline, then, God forbid, you will be doomed to annihilation.
Before you lose the chance, before you fall into the hands of the enemy with regard to every religious and scholarly affair, think! Wake up! Arise! The first stage is to decide to refine and purify your souls and to reform yourselves. Prepare and organize yourselves. Establish some order and discipline in the seminaries. Do not let others come to arrange [the affairs of] the seminaries. Do not let others take hold of the seminaries with the excuse that 'these people are not capable of it; it is not their sort of work; they are just a group of loafers who have gathered in the seminaries,' and then in the name of organization and reform, to spoil the seminaries and take you under their own control. Do not give them an excuse. If you are organized, purified, and well ordered and arranged in every respect, others will not be able to aspire to control you. There will then be no way to penetrate into the seminaries and the clerical society. Prepare and purify yourselves. Get ready to prevent the mischief with which you will be faced. Prepare your seminaries for resistance against the events, which are to come
God forbid black days lie ahead of you. The conditions are ripe for bad days to come. The colonialists want to destroy all aspects of Islam, and you must stand up against them.
With love of self and position, with arrogance and pride, you cannot mount any resistance. An evil scholar, a scholar who inclines toward the world, a scholar who thinks of preserving his position and administrative post, will not be able to combat the enemies of Islam. He will be more harmful than others. Take a step for the sake of God. Dispel the love of the world from your hearts. Then you will be able to engage in combat. From this moment on, develop and raise this point in your hearts, that I must be an armed soldier of Islam, and sacrifice myself for Islam. I must work for Islam until I am destroyed. Do not make excuses for yourself that today is inappropriate. Try to be useful for the future of Islam. In short, become a human being!
The colonialists are afraid of human beings. They are afraid of man. The colonialists, who want to plunder all we have, will not allow the training of human beings in religious and scholarly universities. They are afraid of man. If a man is found in a country, it bothers them, and endangers their interests.
It is your duty to make something of yourselves, to become perfect men, and to stand up against the vicious plans of the enemies of Islam. If you are not organized and prepared, if you do not resist and combat the lashes which whip the body of Islam every day, not only will you yourselves be destroyed, but also the precepts and laws of Islam will be annihilated and you will be responsible! You 'ulama'! You scholars! You Muslims! You will be responsible First you 'ulama' and seminary students and then the rest of the Muslims will be responsible: "All of you are shepherds, and all of you are responsible for tending the flock." You young people must strengthen your wills so that you can stand up against every oppression and injustice. Other than this there is no alternative: your dignity, the dignity of Islam, and the dignity of the Islamic countries depend upon your resistance and opposition.
God Almighty! Protect Islam, the Muslims and the Islamic countries from foreign evils. Cut the hands of the colonialists and traitors to Islam in the Islamic countries and in the seminaries. Grant success and help to the Islamic 'ulama' and to the great maraji in their defense of the sacred laws of the Noble Qur'an and their advancement of the holy ideals of Islam. Make the clergy of Islam aware of their weighty duties and important responsibilities in the present epoch. Protect and keep safe the seminaries and clerical centers from the thievery and influence of the enemies of Islam and the hands of the colonialists. Grant the success of making something of themselves and purifying and refining the soul to the young generation of clerics and university students and to the entire Muslim community. Free the people of Islam from the sleep of negligence, from frailty, from apathy and inflexibility of thought, so that with the lustrous revolutionary teachings of the Qur'an they may come to themselves, rise up, and in the shade of unity and oneness they may cut the hands of the colonialists and the inveterate enemies of Islam from the Islamic countries, and so that they may regain the freedom, independence, nobility and greatness which they have lost.
Our Lord, pour down upon us patience and make our steps firm and assist us against the unbelieving people. (2:250)
[1] The Commander of the Faithful, Imam 'Ali, Peace be upon him', said: "When the Messenger of ALLAH (SWT), may Peace and Blessings of ALLAH (SWT) be upon him and his Household, sent me to Yemen, he said: 'O 'Ali! Do not war against anyone until you invite him to Islam. I swear by ALLAH, if by your hand the Great and Almighty ALLAH should guide a man, then it is better for you than all that the sun rises upon or sets upon, and you are his wali (guardian).' " Al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 36, "kitab al-jihad," "bab al-du'a ila al-Islam qabl al-qital," hadith 2.
[2] Usul al Kafi, kitab fadhl al-'ilm," Chapters: "bab sifat al-'ulama'," "bab badhl al-'ilm," "bab al-nahy 'an al-qawl bi ghayr 'ilm," "bab isti'mal al-'ilm," "bab al-musta'kil bi 'ilmihi wa al- mubahi bihi," "bab luzum al-hujjah 'ala al-'alim," "bab al-nawadir," and Wasa'il al-Shi'ah, vol. 18, pp 9-17, 98-129, "kitab al-qada'," "abwab sifat al-qadi," bab 4,11,12.
[3] Jamil ibn Darraj says that he heard from Imam Sadiq, Peace be upon him', that he said, "When the soul reaches here (and with his hand he pointed to his neck) for the learned, there remains no further chance of repentance." Then he recited this ayah "The repentance of ALLAH is only for those who do evil in ignorance" (4:17). Usul al Kafi, vol. 1, p. 59,"kitab faqi al-'ilm," "bab luzum al-hujjah tala al-'alim," hadith 3.
[4] Hafs ibn Ghiyath said that Imam Sadiq, Peace be upon him', said: "O Hafs! Seventy sins will be forgiven of an ignorant person before one sin is forgiven of an 'alim." Usul al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 59, "kitab fadl alu ilm" bab luzum al-hujjah 'ala al-'alim."
[5] The Prophet of ALLAH (SWT), may Peace and Blessings of ALLAH (SWT) be upon him and with his Household, said, "There are two groups from my community such that if they are righteous then the community will be righteous, and if they are corrupt, then the community will become corrupt." It was asked, "Who are they?" He replied, "The 'ulama' and the rulers." Al-Shaykh al-Saduq, al-Khisal, Chapter 2, p. 37; al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'uqul, p. 50.
[6] Sulaym ibn Qays al-Hilali said that he heard from the Commander of the Faithful, Peace be with him, that he reported from the Prophet, that he said, "There are two kinds of 'ulama', one who acts in accordance with his knowledge, so he has been saved, and the 'alim who does not act in accordance with his knowledge, so he will perish. And truly the people of hell will suffer from the stench of the 'alim who does not act in accordance with his knowledge." Usul al Kafi, vol. 1, p. 55, "kitab fadl al-'ilm", "bab isti'mal al-'ilm," hadith 1.
[7] Imam Sadiq, Peace be upon him', said, "Invite the people to excellence, but not by your tongue, rather let people see in you right struggle (ijtihad), truthfulness, and piety." Usul al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 78
[8] Ghurar al-Hikam, Vol.7.p.269
[9] This group includes Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (founder of the Wahhabi sect), Shaykh Ahmad Ahsa'i and Sayyid Kazim Rashti (founders of the Shaykhi sect), Ahmad Kasravi and Ghulam Ahmad (founder of the Qadiyani sect).
[10] Grand Ayatullah Hajj Shaykh 'Abd al-Karim Ha'iri Yazdi (d. 1355/1937) was one of the greatest of Islamic jurists and a juristic authority of the Shi'ah in the fourteenth Islamic century. He attended the classes of such masters as Mirza-ye Bozorg Shirazi, Mirza Muhammad Taqi Shirazi, Akhiund Khorasani, Sayyid Kazim Yazdi, Sayyid Muhammad Isfahani Fesharaki, in Najaf and Samarra'. In the year 1340/1921, at the insistence of the ulama of Qum and after finding a good omen in a passage from the Qur'an he took up residence in Qum and organized the center of religious studies (hawzah 'ilmiyyah) at Qum. Among his works are: Durar al-Fawa'id in usul, al-Salat, al-Nikah, al-Rida', al-Mawarith, all the four in the field of Islamic law.
[11] Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Tusi (385-460/995-1067). He is known as 'al- Shaykh al-Ta'ifah,' and he was one of the most distinguished scholars of the Imami Shi'ah. He was the leading jurist and theologian of his time, and was also strong in literature, rijal, exegesis, and hadith. His teachers were al-Shaykh al-Mufid, al-Sayyid al-Murtada, Ibn al-Ghadai'iri, and Ibn 'Abdun. The Shaykh is the author of two famous books of Shi'ite hadith, Istibsar and Tahdhib, counted among the four books" of the Imami Shi'i hadith corpus. Al-Shaykh al-Tusi established Najaf as the center of Shi'ite learning.
[12] Al-Shaykh al-Tusi began to write the Tahdhib, which is a commentary on the Muqni'ah of al-Shaykh al-Mufid, during the lifetime of his teacher (d. 413/1022). Al-Shaykh al-Tusi was about twenty-six years old at this time.,
[13] 'Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Musa, known as al-Sayyid al-Murtada, and 'Alam al-Huda, (355-436/965-1044), is one of the greatest scholars of Islam and Shi'ism. Most of the great scholars of the Imami Shi'ah, including al-Shaykh al-Tusi, have benefited from his teaching. Among the works he wrote are: al-Amali, al-Dhari'ah ila usul al-Shari'ah, al-Nasiriyyat, al- Intisar, al-Shafi'i.
[14] Fayd Kashani, al-Kalamat al-maknunah, p. 123.
[15] Shaykh Murtada Ansari (1214-1281/1799-1864), known as "Khatam al-Fuqaha' wa al-Mujtahidin," was a descendant of Jabir ibn 'Abd ALLAH (SWT) al-Ansari, a Companion of the Prophet, may the Peace and Blessings of ALLAH (SWT) be with him and with his Household. He was a genius in Jurisprudence ('ilm al-usul), and he brought great developments in this field. Some of his professors were: Shaykh Musa Kashif al-Ghita', Shaykh 'Ali Kashif ai-Ghita', Mulla Ahmad Naraqi and Sayyid Muhammad Mujahid. Shaykh Ansari trained some great jurists, including: Akhund Khorasani, Mirza Shirazi and Mirza Muhammad Hasan Ashtiyani. His works include: Fara'id al-usul (known as Rasa'il) and Makasib one of the most famous textbooks.
[16] Sayyid 'Ali ibn Sayyid Muhammad (d. 1283/1866), was one of the great ascetics and mystics of his day. He received authorization (as a mujtahid) from Shaykh Ansari and Sayyid Husayn, the Friday Prayer leader of Shushtar. Sayyid 'Ali spent some time in Shushtar as a judge and legal authority (mufti), and then moved to Najaf al-Ashraf. There he attended the classes of Shaykh Ansari in fiqh, and Shaykh Ansari also attended his classes in ethics. When Shaykh Ansari passed away, Sayyid 'Ali was the executor of his will and he succeeded him in his professorial position. The late Shaykh Sayyid 'Ali was the teacher and counselor of Akhund Mulla Husaynquli Hamadani, who had many students who were led by him, some of the greatest of whom were: Mirza Jawad Maliki Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad Karbala'i, Shaykh Muhammad Bihari, Sayyid 'Ali Qadi Tabrizi and 'Allamah Tabataba'i.
[17] Majma' al-bayan, under the exegesis of the fourth ayah of the Surah, The Pen (al- Qalam).
[18] Imam Ali, Peace be with him, said: "If the bearers of 'ilm (knowledge, science) bear it as it deserves to be borne, they will be loved by ALLAH (SWT), the angels, and those who are obedient to Him, and those who bear it for the sake of this world will be despised by ALLAH (SWT) and held in contempt by the people. "Tuhaf al-uqul, p. 201, Chapter on the words of the Commander of The Faithful, Peace be upon him'.
[19] Sifat al-Shi'ah, by al-Shaykh al-Saduq, and also Bihar al-al-anwar, vol. 65, pp. 83-95 and 149-196.
[20]. This refers to a hadith according to which: "When some people asked our Imam about the inclusiveness of this ayah: "And there is not one of you but shall come to it [hell]" [19:71] he replied, "We passed through hell and it was extinguished." 'Ilm yaqin, vol. 2, p. 917.
[21] Al-'Ayyashi narrates from Humran who asked Imam Baqir, Peace be with him', about the ayah mentioned, and he answered: "This is about those who will depart from the fire." Majma' al-bayan, vol. 10, p. 424.
[22] Iqbal al-a'mal, "Works for the Month of Sha'ban," p. 685; and Misbah al-mutahajjid wa salah al-muta'abbid, p. 374; and Bihar al-anwar, vol. 91, p. 97-99, "kitab al-dhikr wa al- du'a' ", Chapler 32, hadith 12.
[23] Bihar al-anwar, vol. 19, part 2, old edition, "bab al-ad'iyyah wa al-munajat," pp. 89-90.
[24] From Wasa'il al-Shi'ah, vol. 7, p. 227, "The Book of Fasting," "Chapter on the Month of Ramadan," Ch. 18, hadith 20.
[25] It is reported from Jabir that Abu Ja'far, Imam Baqir, Peace be with him, said: "The Prophet of ALLAH (SWT) turned his face toward the people and said: 'O company of people! When the crescent of the month of Ramadan appears, the rebellious Satans are locked up, and the doors of heaven, the doors of paradise and the doors of mercy are opened, and the doors to the Fire are shut, and prayers are answered.' " From Wasa'il al-Shi'ah, vol. 7, p. 224, "The Book of Fasting," "The Section on the precepts of the Fast of the Month of Ramadan," section 18, hadith 14.
[26] The 'commanding self' is an expression used in the Qur'an, associated with one's base desires, cf. 12:53. (Tr.)4
[27] "Sibghat ALLAH (SWT)," The color of ALLAH (SWT), cf. 2:138, is the opposite of the "color of Satan." (Tr.)
[28] Abu Jafar [Imam Baqir], Peace be with him', said that the Apostle of ALLAH (SWT), may the Peace and Blessings of ALLAH (SWT) be with him and with his progeny, said: "Shall I tell you of the believer? The believer is one whom the believers trust with their lives and their property. Shall I tell you of the Muslim? The Muslim is one from whose tongue and hands the Muslims are safe." From Usul al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 331, "kitab al-iman wa al-kufr" ("The Book of Faith and Infidelity"), "Chapter of the Believer, His signs and attributes," hadith 19.
[29] For example, "And say: 'Work, so ALLAH will see your work and (so will) His Apostle and the believers; and you shall be brought back to the Knower of the unseen and the seen, then He will inform you of what you did.' " (9:105) Also, Abu Basir reports that Imam Sadiq (A.S.) said: "Each morning, the deeds of the servants, the good ones and the bad ones, will be reviewed by the Apostle of ALLAH (SWT), Peace be upon him' and his household, so be careful. This is what ALLAH (SWT), the Supreme, said: 'Work, so ALLAH will see your work and (so will) His Apostle.' " Usul al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 318, "The Book of Hujjah," "Chapter on the Presentation of the deeds to the Apostle and the Imams, Peace be with them," hadith 1, 2-6. Al-Tafsir al-burhan, vol. 2, p. 157.
[30] "The Night of Power" is a night near the end of Ramadan in which the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet (S.A.W.) and which, according to the Qur'an, is "a night better than one thousand months." Cf. Qur'an, Surat al-Qadr (97). (Tr.)
[31] Furu' al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 63, "The Book of Fasting, "The Chapter of the Grace of the Fast and the one who Keeps the Fast," hadith 6.
[32] Sahar is the period from the first light of the morning until sunrise. (Tr.)
[33]. Imam uses the expression " 'alam-e zulmani-ye tabi at," literally 'the dark world of nature,' but here, by 'nature' is not meant all things natural, as opposed to artificial, but unrefined and base. (Tr.)
[34] "By ALLAH (SWT), if the seven climes and what is under their skies were offered to me to be sinful to ALLAH (SWT) by taking the skin of a grain of barley from an ant, I would not do it." Nahj al-balaghah, Sermon 215.
[35] Shimr was the assassin of Imam Hussain, Peace be with him, [therefore] symbolizing evil. (Tr.)
[36] "He utters not a word but there is by him a watcher at hand (raqibun 'atid)."(50 18)
[37] In the advice given by the Commander of the Faithful (Imam 'Ali ['a]) to Nawf al- Bakali, it is stated: "Keep away from backbiting, for it will be food for the dogs of hell." Wasa'il al-Shi'ah, vol. 8, p. 600, "the Book of Hajj" "the Chapters on the Precepts of the Ten," Ch. 152, hadith 16.
[38] It is reported that Aba 'Abd-Allah (Imam Jafar), Peace he with him, said: "The head of all sins is love of the world." Usul al-al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 2, "The Book of Faith and Infidelity," "The Chapter on Love of the World and Avarice Toward It," hadith 1. Usul al-al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 197, "The Book of Faith and Infidelity," "The Chapter on Derogation of the World and Asceticism in respect of it," hadith 11. Bihar al-anwar, vol. 70, p. 1; and vol. 74, p. 178.
[39] One of the symptoms of dropsy is inordinate thirst. In Arabic the disease is called istisqa and one who has the disease is mustasqa (Tr.)
[40] "He (Iblis) said: "As You have caused me to remain disappointed, I will certainly lie in wait for them in Your straight path." (7:16) In the exegesis of 'Ali ibn Ibrahim pertaining to this ayah, it is written: "If people tread the path of guidance, Satan tries to make them leave the path of religion." Tafsir of 'Ali ibn Ibrahim, vol. 1, p. 224; al-Tafsir al-burhan, vol.2,p.5.
[41] In a narration from the family of the Prophet (A.S.) under ayah 98, Surat al-An'am, pertaining to the phrase, "a resting place and a depository", it is said that the faiths of individuals may be divided into two kinds, fixed and borrowed, as in the narration from Muhammad ibn al-Fudayl from Musa ibn al-Ja'far (A.S.) who said: "Faith which is in a resting place will be fixed until the day of the resurrection. Faith which is in a depository will be taken by God prior to death." Tafsir al-'Ayyashi, vol. 1, p. 401. In Nahj al-balaghah it is also to be found that: "A kind of faith is fixed in the heart, and another kind is loaned in the hearts and breasts until the time of death." Nahj al-balaghah, Sermon 231.
[42] The phrase used is more literally, "sitting at the table of Imam Zaman (AJ)," indicating that the religious students are provided for through religious donations. (Tr.)
[43] The full text of the hadith is: "For God, the Glorious and Exalted, the world is without value; and among the creatures known to us which God has created, there is no existent more despicable to Him than the world, and since the time when He created the world, God has never looked kindly upon it." Bihar al-anwar, vol. 70, p. 110, "The Book of Faith and Infidelity," Ch. 122, hadith 109.
[44] It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (A.S.): "Worship is of three kinds: one group worships God from fear, this is the worship of the servants; another group worships God in order to obtain a reward, this is the worship of hirelings; and the third group worships God, the Great and Lofty, because of love, and this is the worship of the free. And this is the most excellent worship" Wasa'il al-Shi'ah, vol. 1, p. 45, "The Chapters of Introduction to Worship," Ch. 9, hadith 1. Usul al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 131, " The Book of Faith and Infidelity," "Ch. on worship," hadith 5
[45] It is narrated that Imam 'Ali (A.S.) said: "Verily, asking forgiveness is a degree of the 'Illiyyin, and it is a word that means six things. The first of them is regret for what has occurred. The second is resolve not to return to that evil ever again...." Nahj al-balaghah
[46] It is reported from Imam Baqir (A.S.): "There is no servant without a white spot on his heart. When a sin is performed a black spot appears on it. Then if he repents, this blackness is erased. But if he continues to sin, the blackness increases, until it covers the white. When the white is covered, one with such a heart never returns to excellence and goodness." Usul al- Kafi vol 3, p. 274, "The Book of Faith and Infidelity," "the Chapter of Sins," hadith 20.
[47] Awali al li'ali vol. 1, p. 129, Ch. 8, hadith 3; al-Jami' al-saghir, vol. 2, p. 45, 95.
[48] The maraji' taqlid are the sources of imitation for Islamic law. (Tr.)
2 Translated from Farsi by: Dr. Muhammad Legenhausen & 'Azim Sarvdalir
3 Intimate Devotions
4 (Tr.) Notes from the translators
