About the story of the Golden Calf of Samiri, the Holy Quran says:
قَالَ فَمَا خَطْبُكَ يَا سَامِرِيُّ. قَالَ بَصُرْتُ ِبمَا لم يَبْصُرُوا بِهِ فَقَبَضْتُ قَبْضَةً مِنْ أَثَرِ الرَّسُولِ فَنَبَذْتُهَا.
“He said: What was then your object, O Samiri? He said: I saw what they did not see, so I took a handful of the dust from the footsteps of the messenger, and then I threw it in the casting. (20:95-6)”
We should reflect on the Quranic truth that the life of an angel is so effective and influential that when he walks on the earth as a human being, the dust under his foot becomes a source of life in a dead being. The dust of the tombs of God’s disciples, especially the tomb of the master of the martyrs; Imam Hussein (a.s), has a healing, life-giving peculiarity. When God gives such an effect to the dust under Gabriel’s foot, He can give the same to the dust of the grave of the Messenger and his household who are more honorable that archangels:
يَخْتَصُّ بِرَحْمَتِهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَاللهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ.
“He specially chooses for His mercy whom He pleases; and Allah is the Lord of mighty grace.(The Holy Quran; 3:74)”
Evidently, the soul of an imperfect man has a very limited activity while that of perfect men, like prophets and Imams, has infinite activity so as healing the patients, meeting the request of the needy, guiding those who go astray, and solving unsolvable problems are very easy to them.
Now we are facing the Holy Shrine of the Messenger of Allah. It is an opportune time for expressing our love and need for him in view of his sublime spiritual position. He has been described as mercy for the worlds:
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ
“And most surely you conform to sublime morality. (The Holy Quran; 68:4)”
بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَؤُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ.
“To the believers, he is compassionate, merciful. (The Holy Quran; 9:128)”
وَأَمَّا السَّائِلَ فَلا تَنْهَرْ.
“As for him who asks, do not chide. (The Holy Quran; 93:10)”
وَإِذَا جَاءَكَ الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ فَقُلْ سَلامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ كَتَبَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ الرَّحْمَةَ أَنَّهُ مَنْ عَمِلَ مِنْكُمْ سُوءً يِجَهَالَةٍ ثُمَّ تَابَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَنَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ.
“And when those who believe in Our communications come to you, say: Peace be on you, your Lord has ordained mercy on Himself, (so) that if any one of you does evil in ignorance, then turns after that and acts aright, then He is Forgiving, Merciful. (The Holy Quran; 6:54)”
In the holy shrine of the Messenger of God (saw), we have an excellent opportunity to raise our hands of need before the house of his daughter (a.s) for no one leaves this holy shrine without having his request fulfilled. In the Holy Quran, God praises the Ahl ul-Bayt for giving their food to the poor, the orphan, and the captive in an excellent way:
وَيُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَى حُبِّهِ مِسْكِيناً وَيَتِيماً وَأَسِيراً. إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمُكُمْ لِوَجْهِ اللهِ لا نُرِيدُ مِنْكُمْ جَزَاءً وَلا شُكُوراً
“And they give food out of love for Him to the poor and the orphan and the captive: we only feed you for Allah's sake; we desire from you neither reward nor thanks. (The Holy Quran; 78:8-9)”
After describing blessings in Paradise, God says:
إِنَّ هَذَا كَانَ لَكُمْ جَزَاءً وَكَانَ سَعْيُكُمْ مَشْكُوراً
“Surely this is a reward for you, and your striving shall be recompensed.(The Holy Quran; 78:22)”
Therefore, we should stand before this door—door of Allah, and supplicate from the bottom of our hearts, saying:
بِكُمْ أَخْرَجَنَا اللهُ مِنَ الذُّلِّ وَفَرَّجَ عَنّا غَمَراتُ الكُروبِ وأنْقَذَنا مِن شَفا جُرُفِ الهَلَكاتِ ومِن النّارِ
“It is on account of you that Allah pulls us out of the depth of degradation, sets us free from the clutches of hardships, takes us to safety from precipice of annihilation and from falling down into the Hell.”[222]
SHIITES ARE IN SEARCH OF FATIMA’S GRAVE IN MEDINA
Where is the grave of Fatima? Where was she buried? Is it in Baqie cemetery, between the mimbar (pulpit) and grave of the Holy Prophet (saw) or in her own house? Where is the grave of the honorable lady before whose arrival the Holy Prophet (saw) would rise up, welcome her, kiss her hand, and give his own place to her?[223]
With his polite behavior, the Messenger of God intended to show part of the heavenly nature of his daughter so that the ummah would realize her worthy position and reach eternal happiness through infinite blessings of her holiness.
The Messenger of God (saw) is quoted -by both Shiite and Sunni Muslims- as saying:
فاطِمَةُ بِضعَةٌ مِنّي، مَن آذاها فَقَد آذاني وَمَن آذاني فَقَد آذى اللهَ.
“Fatima is part of me and I am part of her. He who hurts her is hurting me and whoever hurts me is hurting Allah.”
يا فاطِمَةُ، إنَّ اللهَ يَرضى لِرِضاكِ ويَغضَبُ لِغَضَبِكِ.
“O Fatima, surely Allah becomes wrathful when you are wrathful and pleased when you are pleased.”
To hurt Lady Fatima is to hurt the Messenger of God, and to hurt the Messenger of God entails God’s curse:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَعَنَهُمُ اللهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ عَذَاباً مُهِيناً.
“Surely as for those who hurt Allah and His Apostle, Allah has cursed them in this world and the Hereafter, and He has prepared for them a chastisement bringing disgrace. (The Holy Quran; 33:57)”
Since we do not exactly know where the great lady of Islam was buried, we shed tears on the earth of Baqie cemetery for the likelihood that her grave is there, and say:
السَّلامُ عَليكِ يا بنتَ رسولِ اللهِ.
Peace be upon you, O’ daughter of the Messenger of Allah.
We sometimes stand between the grave and mimbar of the Holy Prophet (saw) for the visitation of her grave, based on the saying of the Messenger of God (saw):
ما بَينَ قَبري ومِنبَري رَوضَةٌ من رِياضِ الجَنَّةِ.
The area between my grave and mimbar is a garden of Paradise.
We sometimes go behind the Holy Prophet’s grave, where the house of Fatima (a.s), for salutation. We shed tears by the graves of Fatima (a.s) and her sons until the reappearance of her eleventh progeny, Imam Mahdi under whose just rule we will calm down.
AL-BAQIE CEMETERY, THE SACRED HALL OF AUDIENCE
This is Baqie cemetery where thousands of great religious personalities, companions, wives, and children of the Holy Prophet (saw) are buried. What gives dignity to this cemetery is the pure bodies of four Imams (a.s). For this reason, the Ahl ul-Bayt’s followers turn to Baqie lovingly during the Hajj season and weep bitterly though there is no mausoleum and the graves are at ground level:
اللّهُمّ إني أعتَقِدُ حُرمَةَ صاحِبِ هذا المَشهَدِ الشّريفِ في غَيبَتِهِ كَما أعتَقِدُها في حَضرَتهِ وأَعلَمُ أنَّ رسولَكَ وخُلَفاءَكَ عليهِمُ السّلامُ أحياءٌ عِندَكَ يُرزَقونَ يَرَونَ مَقامي وَيسمَعون كَلامي ويَردُّونَ سَلامي.
O Allah, I believe in the sanctity of the one buried in this holy shrine in his/her absence as in his/her presence. I know that Your Messenger and vicegerents are alive and given sustenance by You. They see my standing place, hear my words, and answer my salutation.[224]
The four Imams who have given dignity to Baqie cemetery are Imam Hasan, Imam Sajjad, Imam Baqir, and Imam Sadiq (a.s):
اَللَّهُمّ ارزُقنا زِيارَتهُم في الدّنيا وشَفاعَتَهم في الآخرة.
O Allah, grant us their visitation in this world and their intercession in the Hereafter.
