Imam Al-Kadhim (as) visited Harun
Ar-Rashid1
who had intended to arrest him for accusations that were forged
against the Imam.2
Ar-Rashid gave the Imam (peace be upon him) a long roll that
contained many sayings that were falsely ascribed to Shiism.
After he had read the content, the Imam (peace be
upon him) spoke:
O
Amirul Muminin, we are the household who had to face fabricated lies.
Our Lord is forgiving and coverer. He does not accept to reveal the
secrets of His servants before the day when He will settle the
account with them. “The day on which property
will not avail, nor sons. Except him who comes to Allah with a heart
free from evil.”3
My
father told me that his father told him that Ali told that the
Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: “When two
individuals of the same family touch each other, their kinship will
be stirred up and them relax.” Now, Amirul Muminin can cause our
kinship to stir up by shaking hands with me.
As soon as he heard these words, Ar-Rashid jumped
from his seat and extended his hand to the Imam (peace be upon him).
Then he took him from the right hand, embraced him, and asked him to
sit to his right. He then spoke, “I declare that you are honest,
your father was honest, your grandfather was honest, and the
Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) was honest. When
you first visited me, I was the most malicious and enraged with you
because of what has been said to me about you. But when you uttered
your words and shook hand with me, I was relieved and my rage was
changed into satisfaction.
After a while, Ar-Rashid said to the Imam (peace
be upon him), “I would like to ask you why was Ali preceded to
Al-Abbas4
in the matter of the heritage of the Prophet (peace be upon him and
his family), while Al-Abbas was the Prophet’s uncle and his
father’s brother. The Imam asked the caliph to release him from
answering this question. “No,” insisted the caliph, “By God, I
will not allow you avoid answering this question. You should answer
it, now.” Therefore, the Imam said, “If you will not free me from
answering this question, will you then guarantee my safety?” “Yes,”
said Ar-Rashid, “I guarantee your safety.”
The Imam (peace be upon him) spoke:
The
Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) did not bequeath those who
did not migrate (to Medina) while they were able to migrate.
Al-Abbas, your father, believed but did not migrate, while Ali
believed and migrated. God says:
The
believers who did not leave their homes are not your guardians until
they too leave their homes.5
The color of Harun’s face changed. Hence, he
asked, “Why are you not ascribed to Ali your father, but ascribed
to the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) who is
your grandfather?”
The Imam (peace be upon him) answered:
God
ascribes Jesus to Abraham the intimate (peace be upon them) from the
side of his mother the Virgin Mary –whom was never touched by any
human being-. This is clear in God’s saying:
We
gave (Abraham) Isaac and Jacob. Both had received Our guidance. Noah
received Our guidance before Abraham and so did his descendants:
David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron. Thus is the reward for
the righteous people. We also gave guidance to Zechariah, John,
Jesus, and Elias, who were all pious people.6
God
ascribes Jesus to Abraham from the side of his mother only. In the
same way, God ascribes David, Solomon, Job, Moses, and Aaron to
Abraham from the side of both their fathers and mothers so that God
will give Jesus an exclusive characteristic and an elevated standing
for his mother alone. This is in God’s saying about Mary (peace be
upon her):
"Behold,"
the angels told Mary, "God had chosen you, purified you, and
given you distinction over all women.7
God
gave Mary distinction over all women by the Christ who was born
without the means of a father.
Likewise,
our Lord chose Fatima (peace be upon her), purified her, and gave her
distinction over all women by Al-Hasan and Al-Hussein (peace be upon
them), the masters of the youth of Paradise.
Harun was confused by what he had heard.
Therefore, he asked the Imam, “How do you claim that an
illegitimacy may occur on the part of women or fathers to the man who
does not settle the Khums?” The Imam (peace be upon him and his
family) said:
Except
you, no ruler, including Taim (Abu Bakr), Edi (Omar), and the
Umayyads at all asked such a question. No one of my fathers was asked
about such a question; therefore, do not cause me to divulge it.
Harun threatened, “I will cancel my pledge of
safety to you if I know that you have divulged it.” “I agree,”
said the Imam (peace be upon him).
Harun asked, “Numbers of the miscreants are
increasing in Islam. The miscreants whom are brought to us are
ascribed to you. For you, the Prophet’s family, what is the
miscreant?” The Imam (peace be upon him) answered:
The
miscreants are everyone who rejects God and His Messenger. They are
those who oppose God and His Messenger. God says:
You
will not find any people of faith in God and the Day of Judgment who
would establish friendship with those who oppose God and His
Messenger, even if it would be in the interest of their fathers,
sons, brothers, and kinsmen. God has established faith in their
hearts and supported them by a Spirit from Himself.8
They
are also the apostates who deviated from monotheism into atheism.
Harun asked the Imam about the first one who
apostatized and became an atheist. The Imam (peace be upon him)
answered:
The
first one who apostatized and became an atheist in the heavens was
Eblis the cursed. He showed arrogance and took pride in himself
against Adam (peace be upon him) the choice and confidant of God. The
cursed said –as it is mentioned in the Quran-:
I
am better than Adam, for You have created me out of fire and Adam out
of clay.9
Thus,
he rejected the Lord’s orders and became atheist. His offspring
inherited atheism from him.
Harun wondered whether Eblis has offspring. The
Imam (peace be upon him) answered:
Eblis
has offspring. Listen to God’s saying:
When
We told the angels to prostrate before Adam they all obeyed except
Eblis. He was a jinn and he sinned against the command of his Lord.
Why do you (people) obey him and his offspring instead of Me, even
though they are your enemies? How terrible will be the recompense
that the wrong doers will receive! I did not call (the unjust) to
witness the creation of the heavens and earth nor to witness their
own creation nor did I want to be helped by those who lead people
astray.10
They
mislead the offspring of Adam through their false vanities and lies.
Meanwhile, they declare that there is no god but Allah. God describes
them in His following saying:
If
you ask them, "Who has created the heavens and the earth,"
they will certainly say, "God has created them." Say, "It
is only God who deserves all praise, but most of them do not know."11
This
means that they declare so only with their tongues because they used
to say so as one of their customs. He who does not believe, even if
he declares with the tongue, will be suspicious, envious, and
resistant. The Arabs therefore used to say: “He who had no
knowledge of something will antagonize it, and he who cannot attain
something will dishonor and disbelieve in it.” This is because he
is ignorant, not knowledgeable.12
Then Harun Ar-Rashid requested, “By the right of
your forefathers I beseech you, brief for us comprehensive statements
regarding what we have discussed.” The Imam agreed. An inkwell and
papers were fetched. The Imam (peace be upon him) recorded:
In
the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
All
the matters of the religions are gathered in four forms:
First,
there is the unanimous matter. It is the consensus of the umma on the
necessary matters that they have to face.
Second,
there are the generally accepted narrations. All the suspicious
matters are advanced to such narrations, and every result is
extracted from them, for they are the consensus of the umma.
Third,
there is the matter that may be doubted or denied. Such a matter
should be treated through providing evidence, from the Book of God,
provided that its interpretation is unanimous, or evidence from the
Prophet’s tradition provided that it is unanimously accepted.
Fourth,
there is the law that the intelligent accede to its justice and
neither the scholars nor the ordinary people can suspect or deny it.
These two matters relate to the question of monotheism and whatever
comes below and the question of the retaliation of a scratching and
whatever comes above. The previous has been the matters to which the
religious affairs are advanced. You should opt for only what is
proved evidently and should shun what is suspected or obscure. Any of
these three matters (the Book of God, the Prophet’s tradition, and
the logical law) is the final authority to which God refers in His
saying:
Say,
"Final authority belongs only to God. Had He wanted, He would
have given you all guidance.13
The
final authority is attained by both the ignorant through his
ignorance and the knowledgeable through his knowledge. This is
because God is Just and He will never treat anybody wrongly. He
provides to His creatures attainable arguments and call them to what
they know, not ignore or deny.
Harun Ar-Rashid offered gifts to the Imam (peace
be upon him)…
_____________________________________________________________
11
Harun ar-Rashid (763-809)
is the fifth Abbasid caliph of Baghdad 786-809.
2
We choose definite statements of this long narration.
3
The Holy Quran, Sura of Ashu’araa (26) Verses 89-90.
4
Al-Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib is the Prophet’s uncle and the
forefather of Harun Ar-Rashid.
5
The Holy Quran, Sura of Al-Anfal (8) Verse (72)
6
The Holy Quran, Sura of Al-An’aam (6) Verses 84-5
7
The Holy Quran, Sura of Aal Imran (3) Verse 42
8
The Holy Quran, Sura of Al-Mujadila (58) Verse (22)
9
The Holy Quran, Sura of Al-A’raf (7) Verse (12)
10
The Holy Quran, Sura of Al-Kahf (18) Verses (50-1)
11
The Holy Quran, Sura of Luqman (31) Verse (26)
12The
Imam (peace be upon him) then had a long discussion with Abu Yousuf
the Judge. We do not refer to that discussion because it is not our
subject.
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