His Alms to the Poor of Medina
The Ima`m, peace be on him, did a lot of charity and favor for the poor of Medina (Yathrib). His alms for them were counted. They amounted eight thousands dinars.
4He gave them a dinar as alms every Friday. He said: "The alms on Friday is better than it is on the other days.
5
His Generosity and his Liberality
As for generosity, it was among the basic elements of the Ima`ms of the members of the House (ahl al-Bayt), peace be on them. Indeed, they lent a helping hand to the poor and the beggars. Concerning them, the poet said:
If there was a custom of glory before them
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1. Sharh Shafiyat Abi Firas, vol. 2, p. 176.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. A'yan al-Shi'a, Q1/4/471.
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You would find it from them for miles.
If you came to them, you would see among their houses
generosity that protects you from the attitudes of beggary.
The light of prophethood and noble deeds is burning in the old
and the children from them.
1
Concerning them, al-Kumayt said:
They are rains and lions. When the people become hungry,
they (the Ima`ms) are the shelter of the nurses of the orphans.
Concerning them, al-Kumayt also said:
If a cloud arises from them in a land,
then the plant is not prohibited,
nor is lightning without rain.
How wonderful what was said is! For it is appropriate for them:
They are generous and those who were before them were generous, too. Their children after them are generous.
The people are a land in generosity and liberality. When the generous are numbered,
they (the Ima`ms) are a sky.
The Ima`m had a natural disposition for doing good, spending on the people, and making them happy. Ibn al-Sabba`gh al-Ma`liki said: "Though Mohammed b. 'Ali b. al-Husayn (al-Ba`qir) had knowledge, outstanding merits, leadership, and Ima`mate, his generosity was apparent in Shi'a and non-Shi'a, he was famous for generosity for all people, and he was known for favor and kindness in spite of his big family and his
middle condition.
2
The historians said: "Ima`m al-Ba`qir was the least of the members of his House in money. Still, he was the greatest of them in
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1. Zahr al-Adab, vol. 1, p. 94.
2. Al-Fusu al-Muhimma, p. 227.
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provision.
1In spite of that, he gave generously what he had to help the poor and the deprived. The narrators have mentioned many attitudes of his generosity. Among them are:
1. 'Abd Allah b. 'Ubayd and 'Amru` b. Dina`r reported. They said: "When we met Abu` Ja'far Mohammed b. 'Ali (al-Ba`qir), he gave us money and clothes. Then he said: 'These had been prepared for you before you met me.
2
2. Sulayma`n b. Qaram reported: "Abu` Ja'far (al-Ba`qir) gave us five hundred, six hundred, or one thousand dirhams. He was not tired of spending on the companions, those who came to him, and those who hoped from him.
3
3. Al-Hasan b. Kuthayr said: "I complained to Abi Ja'far Mohammed b. 'Ali (al-Ba`qir) of the need and the abandonment of the friends. He , peace be on him, was moved (by that). Then he said: `Bad is the friend who takes care of you when you are rich and abandons you when you are poor. ' Then he ordered his servant-boy to take out a pouch in which were seven hundred dirhams. Then he said: 'Spend these (dirhams). When you have used them, then inform me (of that).
4
4. He, peace be on him, gave from a hundred to a thousand (dirhams) to the people who came frequently to his assembly. He liked sitting with them. Among them were 'Amru` b. Dina`r and 'Abd Allah b. Ubayd. He gave them gifts and clothes. Then he said to them: We have prepared them for you since the beginning of the year.
5
5. His retainer, Salma, reported: "His companions came to him. They did not leave him till he offered them delicious food and gave them good clothes and granted them dirhams. "Salma blamed him for that. Thus, he said to her: "Nothing is hoped in this world except the
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1. A'yan al-Shi'a, Q1/4/ 171.
2. Al-Irshad, p. 299.
3. Ibid.
4. Safwat al-Safwa, vol. 2, p. 63.
5. 'Uyun al-Akhbar wa Funun al-Athar, p. 217.
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relatives and the companions.
1He used to say: "The world is not good except for the gift of the companions and the relatives.
2These are some of the attitudes which have been reported concerning his generosity and liberality. They indicate that kindness and charity were among his elements and qualities.
His Worship
Ima`m Abu` Ja'far (al-Ba`qir), peace be on him, was among the Ima`ms of the pious. He knew Allah to the extent that this knowledge included all his heart. He devoted himself to his Lord through a repentant heart. He was very excellent at obeying Him. As for the aspects of his worship, they are:
A. His Reverence in his Prayers
The historians reported that when he prepared himself for prayers, his color became yellow out of fear of Allah.
3 He knew the mighty of Allah, the Exalted, the Creator of the universe and Giver of life. Thus, the Ima`m worshipped him as the pious and the repentant did.
B.His many Prayers
He said many prayers. The reporters said: "He said one hundred and fifty
ruk'a`s by day and night.
4 His scientific affairs and his general authority for the community did not divert him from saying many prayers. That is because the prayers were the most lovable thing with him, for they were the relationship between him and Allah.
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1. A'yan al-Shi'a, Q1/4/506. Safwat al-Safwa, vol.2, p. 63.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibn 'Asakir Tarikh, vol. 51, p. 44.
4. Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, vol. 125.
Ibn 'Asakir, Tarikh, vol. 51, p. 44.
Hulyat al-Awliya', vol. 3, p. 182.
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C. His Supplications during his Prostration
It has been mentioned in the tradition: "The servant is closer to his Lord when he is prostrate (in prayer). Thus, during his prostration, the Ima`m, peace be on him, headed for Allah through his heart and his feelings. He whispered a supplication to Him sincerely. Some supplications have been reported on his authority. The following are some of them:
1. Isha`q b. 'Amma`r reported on the authority of Abi 'Abd Allah (al-Sa`diq), who said: "I prepared bed for my father and waited for him till he came. When he went to his bed and slept, I went to my bed. One night he was late. After the people had slept, I went to the mosque to look for him. There was no one in the mosque except him. Suddenly, I saw him prostrating in the mosque. I heard him say:
"O Allah, glory belongs to You. You are my true Lord. O My Lord, I am prostrating my self in worship and slavery. O Allah, my deed is weak, so double it for me. O Allah, protect me from Your torment on the day when You raise Your servants from the dead. Forgive me. Indeed You are the Most Forgiving, the Most
Merciful.
1
2. Abu` 'Ubayda al-Hadha' reported: While Abu` Ja'far (al-Ba`qir) was prostrating himself in worship, I heard him say:
"(O Allah), I ask You by Your beloved one, Mohammed, may Allah bless him and his family, to change my sins into good deeds and reckon me easily.
Then he said in the second prostration:
I ask You by Your beloved one, Mohammed, may Allah bless him and his family, to suffice me the provision of the world and weaken the terror before Paradise.
Then he said in the third (prostration):
I ask You by Your beloved one, Mohammed, may Allah bless him and his family, to forgive me my few and many sins and accept the little work from me.
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1. Furu' al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 323.
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Then he said in the forth (prostration)
I ask You by Your beloved one, Mohammed, may Allah bless him and his family, to make me enter Paradise, to make me among its dwellers, and to save me from the burning fire through Your mercy. May Allah bless Mohammed and his family.
1
These supplications denote his intense attachment to Allah, his great turn to Him in repentance, and his cleaving to His obedience.
D. His Supplication during his Personal Prayers
Some supplications which he said during his personal prayers have been reported on his authority. The following are some of them:
O Allah, indeed, my enemy has followed his vigor, persisted on his enmity, and felt safe from the consequence through the clemency that has included him. Thus, he has dared against You and disobeyed You when he has separated himself from You. O Allah, You have moments of wrath at night when they are asleep, by day when they are heedless, openly when they play, and suddenly when they are forgetful. Indeed the strangling rope has become more intense, the shackle has become stronger, the hearts have been eliminated, the minds are disguised, patience has perished and its strings are about to break. Surely, You observe the oppressive and see the grieved. The passing of overtaking does not hurry You and the prohibition of the forbidder does not make You powerless. Rather You act carefully. Your argument is intense and irrefutable in all circumstances. The weakness of humanity and the feebleness of mankind are in Your servants. The supreme power of divinity, the kingdom of creation, the violence of deliberateness, and the punishment of perpetuation are for You.
O Allah, if there is a reward in bearing patiently the cordiality of the supported one from the oppressive and the sadness of him who sees from those who alternate you, then grant me more support and a help of directing till the time when Your will is valid towards him whom You make happy and him whom You make unhappy. Do me a
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1. Ibid.
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favor to submit to Your inevitable decrees and to bear Your issued determinations. Grant me love for what You love from the past and the next (things), the immediate and the postponed (things). (Grant me) preference to what You choose from the close and the remote (things). In spite of that, do not deprive us of the sentiments of Your mercy and Your good protection.
I do not think that there is a political document that showed the same ability in mentioning the situations of the country at that time as this supplication showed. That is because the Ima`m talked about the political crises from which the Moslems suffered during the days of the Umayyad government with which the Ima`m was contemporary, and especially as it concerns the tyrant, 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwa`n, who did his best to abase the Moslems and to force them to follow what they hated. He appointed over them the tyrant, al-Hajja`j b. Yousif al-Thaqafi, who wasted their religion and world and made trouble in the earth. He poured all kinds of oppression on the Moslems to the extent that the insights missed the mark, the hearts rose up to the throats, and patience was over. Thus, the Ima`m asked Allah to save the Moslems from their critical situation and to punish severely the disobedient oppressive Umayyads.
2. He, peace be on him, prayed to Allah with this supplication in his personal prayers: "Through Your favor and generosity. O You Who knows the obsessions of inner selves, the hidden places of consciences, and the facts of thoughts. O You Who is present for every unseen, remember every forgotten (person), have power over all things, see all (the creatures), the slowness has become far, the moment of death has approached, the deed has become weak, and the hope is full of doubt.
O Allah, You are the last as You are the first. You destroy whom You originate and turn into wear. You entrust their deeds to them and make them carry their burdens till the time of their resurrection from their raise from the dead when the trumpet will be blown, the sky split open with the light, and coming out of the place
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1. Muhajj al-Da'awat, p. 51.
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of resurrection to the yard of the gathering. Their eyes will not revert to them and their hearts vacant. They will run into the worry of their past deeds. They will be asked for a long time when the had lived. There they will be reckoned for what they had committed. Their books will be wide open around their necks. They shall bear their burdens on their backs. There will be neither escape nor refuge from the punishment. The proof will confute them. So, they will live in the perplexity of the destination and the whisper of the noise. They will be deviated from the destination except him who Allah promised good. So, he will be safe from the fearful sight and the great coming. And he was not among those who disobeyed (Allah) in the world. He did not annoy Allah's friends nor did he enslave them nor did he possess alone their rights.
O Allah, indeed the hearts have risen up to the throats, the souls have come up to the throats, and the lives have come to an end because of waiting (for Your ease), not because of the paucity of insight nor because of the accusation of a decree, but because they have disobeyed You, opposed Your orders and prohibitions, played with Your friends, and supported Your enemies.
O Allah, therefore, approach that which has become close, bring that which has become imminent, achieve the thoughts of those who are certain (of You), and make the believers achieve their hopes in establishing Your justice, supporting Your religion, and showing Your proof.
1
This Holy Supplication denotes that Allah has vast knowledge. He encompasses all things whether they are seen or unseen. It also denotes the hereafter. Moreover, it indicates that people will be raised from the dead on the Day of Judgment to be reckoned by Allah. They will carry on their backs the sins of what they had done in the world. They will be asked about what they had committed. They will be reckoned for what they had done. No one will be safe from that fearful sight except those whom Allah promised good, those who had not mutinied against (Allah) in the world nor had they enslaved
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1. Ibid, p. 52.
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Allah's servants. Worth mentioning, in this supplication, the Ima`m confronted the Umayyad rulers possessed alone the property of Allah and enslaved his servants. Thus, the hearts had risen up to the throats because of their oppression and tyranny, as the Ima`m, peace be on him, said.
His Pilgrimage
When Ima`m Abu` Ja'far (al-Ba`qir), peace be on him, made the pilgrimage to Mecca, he dedicated himself to Allah and turned to Him in repentance. The marks of humility and obedience appeared on his face. His retainer, Aflah, reported: [I performed the hajj with Abi Ja'far, Mohammed al-Ba`qir. When he entered the mosque, he wept loudly. So, I said to him:]
May my father and mother be ransom for you, the people are waiting for you. If you please, weep quietly.
However, the Ima`m paid no attention to him. Rather he said to him: "Aflah, woe unto you! I am weeping loudly in order that Allah may look at me through his mercy. So, I will win it tomorrow.
Then the Ima`m circumambulated the Kaaba, and he came to pray behind the standing place (of Prophet Abraham). When he ended (his prayers), the place of his prostration became wet out of the tears of his eyes.
1One time when he, peace be on him, performed the hajj, the pilgrims surrounded him and crowded around him. They asked him for legal opinions concerning the affairs of their religion. The Ima`m answered them. Thus, the people admired his vast knowledge. They asked each other about him. So, one of his companions introduced him to them, saying:
This is the one who has split open the knowledge of the apostles. This is the one who has explained the ways. This is the best one who became firmly established in the backs of the owners of the ship. This is the (grand)son of Fa`tima, the Chaste. This is the (grand)son of Mohammed, Khadija, 'Ali, and Fa`tima. This is the
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1. Safwat al-Safwa, vol. 2, p. 63.
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standing signpost of religion.
1
The references have not mentioned the number of his pilgrimages to the Sacred House of
Allah, for they have neglected that.
His Whispered Prayer with Allah
The Ima`m, peace be on him, said whispered prayers with Allah in the darkness of night. Among what he said in his whispered prayer is:
You have ordered me, but I have not followed Your order. You have prevented me, but I have not followed Your prevention. Here I am, Your servant before You.
2
His Praising Allah
The historians said: "He always remembered Allah. His tongue praised Allah constantly. He walked and praised Allah. He spoke to the people, but that did not divert him from praising Allah. He gathered his children and ordered them to praise Allah till the sun rose. He also ordered them to recite the Koran. He ordered those who could not read to praise Allah.
3
His Renouncing Worldly Pleasures
Imam Abu` Ja'far (al-Ba`qir), peace be on him, renounced all the worldly pleasures. He turned away from the ornament of life. He did not furnished his house. Rather he spread out a mat at his sitting-place.
4He looked deeply at life. He considered carefully all its affairs. Thus, he renounced its pleasures and devoted himself to Allah through a repenting heart. Ja`bir b. Zayd al-Ju'fi said: Mohammed b. 'Ali (al-Ba`qir) said to me:
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1. Ibn Shahr Ashub, al-Manaqib, vol. 4, p. 183.
2. Nur al-Absar, p. 130.
3. A'yan al-Shia, 4/Q1/471.
4. Da'a'im al-Islam, vol. 2, p. 158.
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Ja`bir, I am grieved and my heart is busy.
What is your grief? What has made your heart busy?"asked Ja`bir.
The Ima`m, peace be on him, spoke to him about what had made him grieved and made him renounce this world, saying:
Ja`bir, whoever enters the religion of Allah, the Great and Almighty, through a pure heart, it (Allah's religion) diverts him from other than Allah. Ja`bir, what is the world? What may it be? Isn't it a mere riding animal you ride or a garment you wear or a woman you marry?
1
Many words have been reported on his authority. They urge (people) to renounce worldly pleasures, and to cleave to Allah. Meanwhile they warn them of the vanities and sins of the world. We will mention that in this book. With this, we end our talk about some of the aspects of the Ima`m's
bright character.
