Words of Imam Sajjad(A.S.) before Asmai

By: Ayatullah Shaheed Syed Abdul Husayn Dastaghaib Shirazi
They have quoted from Asmai: Once, in the Masjidul Haram (Great Mosque of Mecca), I heard a heart-rending voice. I went near the Ka’ba and saw that, in Hajre Ismail, my master, Imam Sajjad was weeping deep-heartedly holding the curtain of Ka’ba. He was praying:
O the One Who answers the supplications of the helpless in the dark nights – O the One Who wards off all restlessness – Your guests are asleep around Your House. Only You are awake, You never sleep – O the Eternal Self-existent, Who never sleeps…
Then his voice felt silent. After a few moments he again began to recite these heart-rending stanzas: O Lord! Who is more guilty than me? Who is more denigrated than me? Which of the servants committed more crimes than me? O God! Will You, after all burn me in the fire? Then what will happen to my hopes? What about my fear? You Yourself have promised that You will not disappoint one who puts faith in You and who hopes from You. I hope that You will forgive me. Your pardon is the object of my hopes.
Asmai says: Then I did not hear my master’s voice. I went near him and found that he is Zainul Abideen Ali Ibnul Husain; and that he had fainted. I placed his holy head in my lap. My tears fell on his radiant face. He opened his eyes and asked, \"Who is it?\" I said, \"It is Asmai, your slave. O my master! Your honor! And so much weeping and wailing! You are so pious, so chaste and faultless. Your grandfathers are the intercessors. O my master! You belong to the family about whose purity God sent the Verse of purification.\" When I said this, the master said, \"Leave these things please. Don’t you know that God has created Paradise for everyone who worships Him, anyone who is righteous, be he or she even a black slave. Hell is also created by God for every sinner even if he belongs to the noblest of tribes on earth.
The noblest is Quraish. The Messenger of the last era Muhammad also belongs to this tribe of Quraish. These races and lineages are of no importance. Do not say: I am a Sayyid. Be whatever you are. Yes, a good tiding has come for a Sayyid Fatimid, provided his lineage is correct and, finally, he dies with repentance. On the Day of Judgment, intercession first reaches the Sayyids but not if their deeds are bad. It is not like that. In Islamic laws there are no exceptions. Every rule that is for the common people is also for the Sayyids. There is no difference. Just as a common man should pay Zakat and Khums so also should a Sayyid. It is so about every obligatory duty also, as well as about the prohibited misdeeds.
If a Sayyid, God forbid, indulged in adultery, he will not be differentiated from others. He will also be given a hundred lashes, not that, as he is a Sayyid, there should be some leniency. There is no difference in the commandments of Allah. In short, Imam Sajjad said, \"Leave me alone. Hell has been created for every sinner even if he is a Quraishite and belongs to the noblest lineage on earth.\"
Thereafter he recited this holy verse: Tomorrow, on the Day of Judgment, no one will be asked: Whose son are you? In the Highest Court of God, there is no place for such questioning. They will not ask who your parents were? Did you belong to a noble family or a common one? These things belong to this world. These are mere delusions. The questioning there will be: Who is your God? Who is your deity? Whom did you worship? Whose word did you accept? Which religion you followed? Who was your Imam? Ali, Hasan, Husain…the Husain! Since you remembered them all your life, it is hoped that the one whom you remembered will come to your help.
O you men! Surely, We have created you of a male and a 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. The dwellers of the desert say: We believe. Say: You do not believe but say, We submit; and faith has not yet entered into your hearts; and if you obey Allah and His Apostle, He will not diminish aught of your deeds; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. (49:13-14)\"
We created you from one man and one woman, that is, Adam and Eve. So you are not different from one another.
These differences, which are about branches and families are for recognition so that man, in social living and dealings with one another may not fall in doubts. When there is no proper recognition, it makes things difficult. So the distinction or variations, which God has made about tribes and sections etc. are for recognition, not for taking pride in them. The Arabs say: We are Arabs, where we and where the non-Arabs? Or the non-Arab retorts: We are non-Arabs, we are higher. Both are wrong.
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إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ

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\"Surely, the most honorable of you with Allah is the one among you most careful (of his duty); (49:13)\"
That which you are taking as measure or criterion, for example, being Arab or belonging to such and such tribe, all that is wrong. In fact, the true criterion is righteousness or piety.

All are from same father and mother
Some commentators of Qur’an have shown another probability that \"of a male and a female\" refers to every person, not to all. Both are right as they mean Adam and Eve. However, more probable seems that \"We created each and everyone of you from one father and one mother\". All of you are, from this angle, equal and like one another. There is no difference between you. To make it clearer: Be you an Arab or non-Arab, be a Lor or a Turk, a villager or a city-dweller.
Be whatever you like either a disbeliever or a believer, doubtlessly you have been ejected from passages of urine. Keep aside all pride and prejudice. One who has passed through this unclean path, how can he take pride in himself? Where is ‘my honor’, ‘my family’, ‘my relatives’, ‘my lineage’? Perhaps what the holy verse hints at is that one should never be proud. Just think from where you have arrived?
It is mentioned in Usul al-Kafi that Imam Zainul Abideen said, \"Strange is a man who is proud and thinks oneself high and claims to be honorable and respectable whereas yesterday he was semen and tomorrow, when he dies, he is to be a foul-smelling corpse!\"

Nocturnal emission reminds one of his origins
The late Haji Noori has, in the first part of Darus Salam, mentioned sixteen benefits of the dream. One of them is nocturnal emission. Another benefit is getting harmful substance out of the body, which keeps the physique safe, because, if it remains in the body it is likely to result in illness and trouble. When he awakes, he smells that foul odor which reminds him of his initial state. How strange! Was I like this in the beginning? Had it been so that a man may not have ejaculation and was the semen to reach the womb directly, without being shed out, he might have hardly looked at himself.
Almighty God, through His far-reaching wisdom and strategy, ordained it so that, sometimes, the semen should, unintentionally drop on man’s clothes so that you may remember your initial state of being. Leave aside all pride. The foul smell which you now smell is you yourself. Was it otherwise? At first he was a foul-smelling semen and at the end? Even if his grave is opened after a hundred years, nothing is seen except dust. Had it not become dust he would still be giving out terribly foul smell. What are you but a handful of dust? Finally only dust. The holy Imam says, \"Fist semen and finally a corpse. Of what one is to take pride in?\" Say: Wealth is ignorance. It is really so, wealth is indeed ignorance. If one reaches the truth he never takes pride in lineage, wealth and beauty.
O poor woman who is proud of your beauty! A single microbe of malaria can change your face. This beauty is borrowed or artificial. Do not be deceived. Look at its end. Pride in wealth and possessions is also same. However wealthy you may become, you will not be wealthier than Qarun. Many strong men could with much difficulty lift the keys of his treasure (not the treasure itself).
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إِنَّ قَارُونَ كَانَ مِنْ قَوْمِ مُوسَى فَبَغَى عَلَيْهِمْ، وَآتَيْنَاهُ مِنْ الْكُنُوزِ مَا إِنَّ مَفَاتِحَهُ لَتَنُوءُ بِالْعُصْبَةِ أُولِي الْقُوَّةِ

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\"Surely, Qarun was of the people of Musa, but he rebelled against them, and We had given him of the treasures, so much so that his hoards of wealth would certainly weigh down a company of men possessed of great strength.\"
How vast what his treasure? What happened to Qarun’s wealth?
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فَخَسَفْنَا بِهِ وَبِدَارِهِ الأَرْضَ

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\"Thus, We made the earth to swallow up him and his abode…\"
He went down in the earth himself along with the wealth as if it was nothing at all. Now what about the property about which you say that it is my property, it is my park, my machinery? Greatness of man is due to his God-worship and righteousness. If man reaches the station of God-worship and, in fact, becomes Abdullah (God’s servant) there is every grace in his wealth.
Such a grace, which will never end. O the one who wants to attain real grace; be a slave of God. This is grace, greatness and real honor. The pride of Ali bin Abi Talib was only that he was the slave of the Lord of the worlds. Slave and servant of God Almighty. No other state can ever be imagined to be higher than it. This is the capital of grace. The one who is more slave-like before God, greater is his grace and honor. God knows well where to give grace.
You do not know. In your imagination, wealth and property is the cause of grace or good luck whereas they are to vanish and end. Neither name nor fame or status. All this is playthings and vanities. Man’s grace and greatness is his piety and righteousness. That is why God informs you: O those who believe! Put aside all these things. Do the deeds which may make you righteous and which may take you nearer to your Lord.

Slave, yet God’s friend
It is written in the explanation of this holy verse that once they wanted to sell their slave. A customer arrived. The slave announced in a loud voice: Anyone who wants to buy me, may know that I have one condition. My condition is that I must be allowed to perform prayers five times day. I must be freed to perform my prayer behind the Prophet. At last a buyer accepted this condition and he bought the slave and allowed him to be free to perform all his five daily prayers behind the Prophet in the Prophet’s mosque. Days passed in this manner.
Then the Prophet did not see that slave in the mosque. So he inquired about him (It is desirable to inquire if a social man is not seen for some time) and was told, \"O Messenger of Allah! That man is ill.\" The Holy Prophet said, \"I want to visit him (though a slave in those days and in that society was quite valueless).\" But the Prophet looks at his interior. His exterior is that of a slave but internally he was a friend of God. So the Holy Prophet went to his place, sat at his side and talked nicely with him to make him happy.
Then after another two or three days, the Holy Prophet inquired about that slave’s health and was informed that he was on his deathbed. The Holy Prophet said, \"Let us go to him.\" So they went to that slave’s place and finally the slave died. The Holy Prophet did not entrust his dead body to anyone. The Prophet himself washed the body, covered him with shroud cloth, offered prayer on his body and then buried him. In short, he behaved in such a nice manner with that slave that some of the emigrants and helper companions of the Holy Prophet said: The Holy Prophet has done so much for a slave as he has not done even for us though we have served the religion so much and we are in the first rank in this matter. He has done so much for a black slave! The Prophet heard such talks. At that time Almighty Allah revealed this Holy verse and the Prophet recited it to them:
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يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا، إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ

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\"O you men! Surely, We have created you of a male and a 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); (49:13)\"
A slave or a slave girl are no different from freemen. White and black skins are equal in the sight of God.
The Holy Prophet told quite unequivocally in the sermon of the Farewell Hajj: Muslims have no distinctions. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor a white over a black. Never look with contempt at one as he is a slave or a black man.

You have bought a slave, not created him
He is called Maula (slave). I have bought him, not created him. Have you created him? God has created him just as He has created you. The only thing you did is that you spent money and bought him. All this is a fabricated lie. It does not alter the facts. In fact there is no distinction between you, O Master! And him (this slave). O Lady! What is the difference between you and the maidservant working in your house as a matter of fact? Outwardly, you are wearing costly, new clothes whereas she wears old and cheaper ones. But you should look at the interior. In the sight of God, the criterion is something else. How many slaves and maidservants are dearer to God than the owners of these servants. This is the Day of Judgment, which raises the lower high and makes the high low.

So no one must be proud
Therefore it is better if we do not forget this verse of Qur’an. During our entire life we should not be proud, even compared to a disbeliever who says: I have faith. Faith means God-worship. It is all lowliness and humility. To say with pride: ‘I am God’s servant’ is not correct? It is not God-worship.

Marriage of Safiya with Miqdad
With a view to make Muslims remember, till the Day of Judgment, the said meaning and to make them understand that all are equal and that class distinctions are meaningless, the Prophet once went up the pulpit and announced the marriage of Safiya who was the daughter of his uncle Zubair bin Abdul Muttalib (she belonged to the noblest family of Quraish among the high ranking Bani Hashim) with black slave, Miqdad bin Aswad.
He did so that, till the doomsday, all may know that ‘his tribe’ and ‘my family’ etc. are vain thoughts; that only righteousness is the criterion. Give you daughter to anyone you like but see that, first of all, he has righteousness or not? Does he perform prayers regularly or not? Do not look at his family, name or fame. Even today you see that this looking at the interior is the problem. The problem of white and colored is still there. This is ignorance. These unfortunate ones do not have the light of Oneness of God, knowledge of God, the real knowledge and intelligence. The shining show of their lives must not dazzle your eyes nor their arts, sciences and industries.

The engineering craft of the honeybee without tools
These are not the signs of man’s humanity. Animals also compete with humans in arts and crafts. But this industry is not ever advancing and not moving towards perfection. Look at this honeycomb. In which college of engineering did these bees get training? Is the house (block of the honeycomb) bigger than a pea? Its length and width is almost same as that of a date seed. It has six sides, so clearly made. Are they holding a compass in their hands? Just find out an engineer who has graduated from an engineering college and who can with his fingers make such a block as the honeybees do, having two acute and two obtuse angles. They won’t be able to do it.
I would like you to know: These crafts are nothing that they can be made a criterion of humanity and civility. About today’s industry and workmanship, we hear that they know what is underground; that here is a stream of water and here is an oil well. Hud Hud (woodpecker) also knows. It is written in relevant books: Almighty God has granted an extraordinary sight to this bird. It can know where ground water is. Man knows this after a lot of study and with a number or means but this bird is able to know more and better without instruments. The real knowledge is other than these sciences and industries. It is sufficient to say about the ignorance of this community, which says that blacks have no right to participate in government and community affairs. Can any ignorance be higher than this! Why? For what offence? Because his skin is black. You, the one whose skin is white are a ruthless, inhumane and unjust oppressor. How are you higher than him? Is your wisdom greater than his? Is your knowledge and perfection more? Do you know the truth more? Are you having more divine virtues?
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إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

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\"…Surely, Allah is Knowing, Aware. (49:13)\"
God knows everything. You are ignorant of the reality. You see only the exterior and then give such false judgments. God looks at the real thing and gives true news. He says: All of you are equal like one another – alike. The one who is more God-fearing, more pious and cleaner, more humble, more obedient to God is in truth, more graceful.