Not to Invite People to Belief

1. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from Kulayb ibn Mu’awiyah al-Saydawi who has said the following: “Once Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) said to me, ‘Beware of people. If Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, wills good for a servant, He places a dot in his heart. He then leaves him alone and for that reason he moves around and searches it (belief).’ Then he (the Imam) said, ‘Were you to talk to people, say we have gone where Allah goes, and we choose whoever Allah chooses. Allah chose Muhammad and we chose the family of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and them.’”

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

94. From him, from Ismail Bin Abaan, from Umar Bin Abdullah Al-Saqafy who said: ‘Hisham Bin Abdul Malik made Abu Ja’far (asws) to go out from Al-Medina to Al-Shaam. He made him (asws) to stay in his accommodation, and he (asws) used to sit with the people in their gatherings. It so happened that he (asws) was sitting and in his (asws) presence was a group of people asking him, when he (asws) saw Christians entering inside a mountain over there. So he (asws) said: ‘What is with those, is it one of their festivities today?’ They said, ‘No, O son (asws) of the Rasool (saww) Allah (azwj), but they are going to one of their scholars who (stays) inside this mountain all year long, and on this day he has come out. So they are asking him questions what they want and what is to happen in their year’. So Abu Ja’far (asws) said: ‘And he has knowledge?’ They said, ‘He is one of the most knowledgeable of the people. He has met the companions of the disciples of Isa (as)’. He (asws) said: ‘Shall we go to him?’ They said, ‘That is up to you (asws), O son (asws) of the Rasool (saww) Allah (azwj)’. He (the narrator) said: ‘Abu Ja’far (asws) covered his (asws) head by his (asws) cloth, and went with his (asws) companions. He (asws) mingled with the Christians until he (asws) came to the mountain. Abu Ja’far (asws) sat down in the middle of the Christians along with his (asws) companions, and the Christians brought out a carpet and placed the pillows. Then they entered and brought him out with his eyes covered. His eyes stirred as if they were the eyes of a snake. Then he inadvertently turned towards Abu Ja’far (asws) and asked, ‘O Sheykh, where are you (asws) from, or are you (asws) from the Mercied community?’ So Abu Ja’far (asws) said: ‘But, I (asws) am from the Mercied community’. He said, ‘Are you (asws) from their knowledgeable ones or from their ignorant ones?’ He (asws) said: ‘I (asws) am not from the ignorant ones’. The Christian said, ‘Shall I ask you or you will ask me?’ Abu Ja’far said: ‘Ask me (asws)’. So the Christian said, ‘O group of Christians, a man from the community of Muhammad (saww) is saying, ‘Ask me!’. This one is full of answers’. Then he said, ‘O servant of Allah (azwj), inform me about the hour which is neither from the night, nor from the day. Which hour is it?’ Abu Ja’far (asws) said: ‘That which is in between the dawn and sunrise’. So the Christian said, ‘So if it is neither an hour from the hours of the night, nor from the hours of the day, from which is it?’ Abu Ja’far (asws) said: ‘From the hours of the Paradise, and in which our patients are relieved (from pain). So the Christian said, ‘Shall I ask you (asws) or will you ask me?’ Abu Ja’far (asws) said: ‘Ask me (asws)’. The Christian said, ‘O group of Christians, this one here is full of knowledge. Inform me about the inhabitants of the Paradise. How would they be eating but will not be excreting? Give me their example in the world’. So Abu Ja’far (asws) said: ‘The unborn (baby) which is in the womb of its mother eats from what its mother eats but does not excrete’. So the Christian said, ‘Did you not say, ‘I (asws) am not from the knowledgeable ones?’ Abu Ja’far (asws) said: ‘But rather, I (asws) said to you that I (asws) am not from the ignorant ones’. So the Christian said, ‘Shall I ask you (asws) or will you (asws) ask me?’ Abu Ja’far (asws) said: ‘Ask me (asws)’. He said, ‘O group of Christians! By Allah (azwj), I will ask him about a matter which would bog him (asws) down just as the donkey gets bogged down in the mud’. He (asws) said to him: ‘Ask’. He said, ‘Inform me about a man who approached his woman, so she became pregnant with twins in the same one hour, and gave birth to both of them in the same one hour, and they both died in the same one hour, and were buried in the same one grave. One of them lived for one hundred and fifty years whilst the other one lived for fifty years. Who were those two?’ So Abu Ja’far (asws) said: ‘Uzayr and Uzrat. Their mother became pregnant with them both as you have described, and gave birth to both of them as you have described, and both Uzayr and Uzrat lived for such and such a time. Then Allah (azwj) Blessed and High Made Uzayr to die for a hundred years, then Resurrected him, and he lived with Uzrat for fifty years, and both of them died in the same one hour’. So the Christian said, ‘O group of Christians. I have not see with my eyes ever a more knowledgeable one than this man (asws). Do not ask me about a single letter (anything at all) so long as this one is in Al-Shaam. Return me’. He (the narrator) said, ‘So they returned him to his cave, and the Christians returned with Abu Ja’far (asws)’.

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 Muhammad ibn Isma’il from abu Isma’il Al- Sarraj from ibn Muskan from Thabit abu Sa’id who has said the following: “Once Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) said to me, ‘O Thabit, what do you have to do with people? Leave the people alone and do not invite anyone to your cause (your belief). By Allah, if the inhabitants of heaven and the inhabitants of earth would come together to mislead a servant whom Allah wants to guide, they would not be able to do it. Leave the people alone and no one of you should say: “What about my brother, the son of my Uncle and my neighbor”? When Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, wills good for a servant. He cleanses his spirit and thereafter he does not listen to any principle but that he recognizes, and acknowledges it and does not hear of a wickedness but that he hates it. Then Allah places a word in his heart that serves as a focal point in his affairs.’”

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

3. Abu Ali al-Ash’ari has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbar from Safwan ibn Yahya from Muhammad ibn Marwan from al-Fudayl who has said the following: “Once I said to Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) ‘Should we invite people to this cause (belief of Shi’a Muslims)?’ The Imam said, ‘O al-Fudayl, it is certain, when Allah wills good for a servant. He commands an angel who holds his neck until he brings him into this cause whether he likes or dislikes it.’”

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

4. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from ibn Faddal from Ali ibn ‘Uqbah from his father who has said the following: “Once Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) said, ‘Keep your cause (belief), for the sake of Allah and do not make it for people; what is for Allah is for Allah and what is for people cannot ascend to heaven. Do not argue with people about your religion; argumentation causes sickness to the heart. Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, has said to His Holy Prophet, ‘(Muhammad), you cannot guide whomever you love, but Allah guides whomever He wants. . . .’ (28:56) He has also said, ‘. . . (Muhammad), do you force people to have faith’? (10:99). Leave the people alone; they take it from people and you take it from the Messenger of Allah and from Amir al-Mu’minin (Ali ibn abu Talib), recipients of divine supreme covenant, and this is not equal. I heard my father saying, ‘When Allah writes for a servant to enter into this cause (belief of AM al-Bayt) he rushes to it quicker than a bird to its nest.’”

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

5. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from ‘Uthman from ibn ‘Udhaynah from Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) who has said the following: “Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, has created a people for the truth, when they pass by the door of the truth, their hearts accept it, even though they may not know it. When they pass by the door of falsehood, their hearts reject it, even though they may not know it. He has created a people for things other than this. When they pass by the door of the truth, their hearts reject it, even though they may not know it. When they pass by the door of falsehood, their hearts accept it, even though they may not know it.”

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

6. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from ‘Abd al- Hamid ibn abu al-‘Ala’ from Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) who has said the following: “When Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, wills good for a servant. He places a dot of light in his heart, which shines his ears and heart to the extent that he becomes more eager and protective of this cause than you are. When He wills evil for a servant. He places a black dot in his heart and it darkens his ears and his heart. Then he recited this verse, ‘Allah will open the hearts of whomever He wants to guide to Islam, but He will constrict the chest of one whom He has led astray, as though he were to climb high up into the sky. . . .’” (6:125)

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

7. It is narrated from him (narrator of the Hadith above) from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from Muhammad ibn Humran from Muhammad ibn Muslim from Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) who has said the following: “When Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, wills good for a servant. He places a white dot on his heart, opens up his ears and heart and assigns an angel to keep him on the right path. When He wills evil for a servant. He places a black dot in his heart and shuts down his ears and heart and assigns a Satan to mislead him.”

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