Degrees of Belief

1. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id from Fadalah ibn Ayyub from Aban from Ishaq ibn ‘Ammar who has said the following: “I once asked abu ’Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of one suffering from illness if it is permissible for him to wipe for Wudu’. He (the Imam) said, ’No, it is not permissible.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

1. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Hammad ibn ‘Isa from Hariz from Isma‘il ibn ‘Abdul Khaliq al-Ju’fiy who has said the following: “Abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that one of the elements that preserve the Muslims and Islam is when wealth goes to those who understand that there are payable dues on wealth and who make Benevolent Assistance part of their normal practice. One of the destructive elements to Islam and the Muslims is when wealth goes to those who do not acknowledge the existence of any rights due on wealth and who do not make Benevolent Assistance part of their normal practice.”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

1. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from Ja’far ibn Muhammad from ibn al-Qaddah from his father, Maymun who has said the following: “Abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that whenever Amir al-Mu’minin wanted to take part in a war he would recite the following supplications: “O Lord, You have made a way of Your ways public and have placed Your pleasure in it and have called Your friends toward it. You have made it the most noble of Your ways to You in matters of reward, the most honorable before You in matters of endings and of the most beloved ones before You in terms of its direction. In this way You then purchased the souls of the believing people and their properties in exchange for paradise. They are the believers who fight in the way of Allah, they eliminate the enemy and themselves are killed because of the promise of Allah which is the true promise. O Lord, make me one of those from whom You have purchased in this way their souls and then they made their promise and agreement with You to come true. Make me of those who do not flee from the battle and those who do not disregard their promise, and do not replace me with others. Make me of those who do so in response to Your love and to become closer thereby to You. O Lord, make it to be the end of my deed, and turning of my life to its end. O Lord, grant me therein for Your sake with it a battle, which will make me deserve Your pleasure and remove thereby my sins. O Lord, place me among the living (martyrs) who receive sustenance from You because of the acts of the enemy who is disobedient. Make it happen under the banner of truth and the flag of guidance when advancing to support them (the believers) without turning my back to the enemy, or move around with doubts. O Lord, I seek Your protection in the battle against cowardice in frightening conditions and against weakness during the exchanges with champions. I seek Your protection against the sins that turn good deeds invalid, the sins that feed doubts or make me advance without certainty after which my efforts end in destruction and my deeds become unacceptable.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

1. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn abu ‘Abd Allah from his father from ‘ Abd Allah ibn al-Mughirah from ibn Muskan from those whom he has mentioned who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘The mother of the newborn should not eat from the meat of ‘Aqiqah but it is not harmful if she gives to the needy neighbor.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

1. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from ibn abu Najran from ‘Asem ibn Humayd from Muhammad ibn Qays who has narrated the following: “This is about the case of a contracted slave who is married to a free woman who in her will assigns something for him and the heirs disagree with her will, saying that he is not free but is only contracted and he cannot inherit. Abu Ja’far (a.s.), issued a judgment that he inherits proportionate to the degree of his freedom according to the contract. He (the Imam) (a.s.), judged in the case of a contracted slave for whom a will was made and the slave had paid one-half according to the contract. The judgment granted him one-half of the will. He (the Imam) (a.s.), judged one-fourth of the amount of will in favor of the slave who had paid one-fourth of the amount required according to the contract. About the case of a free man who had made a will for a contracted slave-girl who had paid one-sixth of what was required according to the contract, He (the Imam) (a.s.), judged in her favor proportionate to what was made free from her.

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

20. And from him, from Muhammad Bin Ali, from Ibn Muskan, from Muyassar has narrated: It was said to Abu Ja’far (asws) about the Statement of Allah (azwj) Mighty and Majestic: “[7:56] Do no mischief on the earth, after it hath been set in order”, so he (asws) said: ‘O Muyassar, verily the earth used to be in a state of disorder, so Allah (azwj) Mighty and Majestic Corrected it by His (azwj) Prophet (saww), therefore He (azwj) Said:“[7:56] Do no mischief on the earth, after it hath been set in order”.

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

2. Abu Ali al-Ash’ari has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbar from Muhammad ibn Yahya from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa all from ibn Faddal from al-Hassan ibn al-Jahm from abu al-Yaqzan from Ya’qub ibn al-Dahhak from a man of our people, Sarraj who was a servant of Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) has said the following: “ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) once sent me with a group of his followers for an errand and at that time he was in Hirah (a place near Kufa, Iraq). We left for it and returned depressed. My bed was in al-Ha’ir (a comfortable private quarter). I went there in an upset condition and threw myself thereat. At this time Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) came in saying, ‘We have come to see you,’ or he said, ‘We have come to you.’ I then sat up straight and he sat in the middle of my bed and asked me about the errand for which he had sent me. I reported to him and he thanked Allah. Thereafter, a mention of certain people came up and I said, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, we disassociate from these people; they do not say what we say.’ The Imam then said, ‘If they love and support us, but do not say what you say, do you (still) disassociate from them?’ I then said, ‘Yes, we do so.’ “The Imam said, ‘It is just like this (’ A’immah’s case). We have what you do not have. Should we disassociate from you?’ I then said, ‘No, may Allah keep my soul in service for your cause.’ The Imam said, ‘It is just like this (the case of Allah). With Him there is what we do not have. Do you think we should give it up?’ “I then said, ‘No, may Allah keep my soul in service for your cause. We should not do so.’ The Imam said, ‘Be friends with them and do not disassociate from them. Among the Muslims there are those who have only one share, those who have two shares, three shares, four shares, five shares, six shares and those who have seven shares. It is not proper for those who have one share to blame those who have two shares, or those who have two shares to blame those who have three shares, those who have three shares to blame those who have four shares, those who have four shares to blame those who have five shares, those who have five shares to blame those who have six shares and those who have six shares to blame those who have seven shares. I will give an example: “A man had a Christian neighbor to whom he preached Islam attractively and the neighbor accepted. It was early next morning when he knocked at his (convert’s) door. He said, ‘Who is it?’ He (the preacher) said, ‘I am so and so.’ ‘What do you want?’ the (convert) said. ‘Make Wuzu, dress up in your two cloths and join us for prayer,’ said the preacher. The new convert then made Wuzu, dressed up in his two pieces of cloth and joined him. They performed prayers a great deal. Then they prayed the morning-prayer, then waited until it was light. The convert got up to go home and the man asked him, ‘Where are you going? The day is short. The time left to noontime is very little.’ The new convert sat down with him until noontime and they prayed the noontime prayer. Then he said that there is very little time to afternoon prayer. He prevented the new convert from going home until they said the afternoon prayer. He then wanted to go home but he (the preacher) said, ‘It is the last part of the day and is less than the beginning of it.’ So he (the preacher) stopped him until they performed the prayer at sunset. Then the new convert wanted to go home, he (the preacher) said, ‘Only one more prayer is left.’ He then waited until they performed the late evening prayer and then they departed each other. Next early morning he (the preacher) went and knocked at the door of the new convert. He (the new convert) asked, ‘Who is it?’ He (the preacher) said, ‘I am so and so.’ He (the new convert) asked, ‘What do you want?’ He (the preacher) said, ‘Make Wuzu, dress up in your two pieces of cloth and join us for prayer.’ He (the Christian man) said, ‘Find other persons for this religion who have more free time. I am a poor person with a family to feed.’ “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) then said, ‘He (the preacher) took him (Christian) into a thing in such a way that it took him (the new convert) out of it. Or that the Imam said, ‘Took him in like this and forced him out like that.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

2. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Hammad from Hariz from Zurarah who has said the following: “I once asked him (the Imam) (a.s.), about wiping for Wudu’ over one’s shoes because of Taqiyyah (fear). He (the Imam) said, ‘I do not practice Taqiyyah before anyone in three things: Drinking intoxicating liquor, wiping for Wudu’ over the shoes and in Mut’ah during Hajj.’ Zurarah has said that he (the Imam) did not say, ‘It is obligatory on you to disregard Taqiyyah before anyone.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

2. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from al-Hassan ibn Mahbub from Dawud al-Riqqiy from abu Hamzah al-Thumaliy who has said the following: “Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, has created a people to actuate Benevolent Assistance. He has made the doing of Benevolent Assistance beloved to them and has directed the recipients of Benevolent Assistance toward them to seek help. He has made the doing of Benevolent Assistance easy for them just as abundant rain eases the barren land to come alive and give life to its inhabitants. Also as enemies of Benevolent Assistance Allah has created a creature. He has made it to seem abhorrent to them as well as the doing of Benevolent Assistance. He has prohibited those who seek Benevolent Assistance to appeal for help before such creatures, and He has prohibited these creatures to provide such assistance, just as He prohibits abundant rain to fall on barren land to destroy it and its inhabitants; however, Allah’s forgiveness is greater.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

2. Al-Husayn from Muhammad has narrated from Mu‘alla’ ibn Muhammad and Muhammad ibn Yahya from Ahmad ibn Muhammad all from al-Washsha’ from Ahmad ibn ‘A’idh from abu Khadijah who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘He or any of his dependents should not eat from the meat of ‘Aqiqah. One-third of the meat is for al-Qabilah (the special nurse). If the special nurse is the mother of the father of the newborn or a family member, then there is nothing for such nurse. It should be made in parts, cooked and distributed. It should be given only to those who are of the people of Walayah (people who believe in the divine authority of ‘A’immah).’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Everyone can eat from the meat of ‘Aqiqah except the mother.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

3. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn abu ‘Abd Allah from al-Hassan ibn Ali ibn Yaqtin from Muhammad ibn Sinan from Dawud al-Riqqiy from abu Hamzah al-Thumaliy who has said the following: “I heard abu Ja‘far (a.s.), say, ‘The most beloved servant of Allah in His sight is a servant to whom providing Benevolent Assistance is most beloved and who loves to perform such act.’” Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Muhammad ibn Sinan from Dawud al-Riqqiy from abu Hamzah from abu Ja’far (a.s.), a similar Hadith.

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

3. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn Khalid from his father from Zakariya ibn Adam from al-Kahiliy who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Mother of the newborn must not be fed anything from the meat of ‘Aqiqah.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.