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Page 1: Allama murtaza mutahhari   anecdotes of pious men
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ANECDOTESOF

PIOUS MEN

by:

Mortaza Motahhari

TEHRAN -IRAN

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Some selected Islamic stories from the PersianBook Dastan-e Rdstdn vol. l & 2.

First edition 1394/1974,Fifth edition 1403/1983,Sixth edition 1422/2000.

© All rights reserved.

E-mail: [email protected] m

http: //www.wofis.com/

Translated and published byWorld Organization for Islamic Services,

P. 0. Box 11365-1545,Tehran - 15837,

ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN.

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In the Name of Allah,The All-compassionate, The All-merciful

Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all being;the All-compassionate, the All-merciful;the Master of the Day of Judgement;

Thee only we serve, and to Thee alone we prayfor succour;

Guide us in the straight path;the path of those whom Thou hast blessed,

not of those against whom Thou art wrathful,nor of those who are astray.

O' Allah! send your blessings to the head ofyour messengers and the last of

your prophets,Muhammad and his pure and cleansed progeny.

Also send your blessings to all yourprophets and envoys.

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Dear Reader,

The book you now have in hand is one ofthe many Islamic publications distributed by thisOrganization throughout the world in differentlanguages with the aim of conveying the messageof Islam to the people of the world.

You may read this book carefully andshould you be interested to have further studyon such publications you can contact us througha letter. Naturally, if we find you to be a keenand energetic reader we shall give you a de-serving response in sending you some otherpublications of this Organization.

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You may express your views on this publi-cation and the subject matter discussed in it, andhow far you have benefited from it or whichpart of the subject matter has proved useful toyou and your environment. You will be able,in this manner, to introduce yourself as one ofOur good and active reader.

Meanwhile, you can keep our address at thedisposal of your friends and those individualsinterested in Islamic Studies.

Publications Secretary,WORLD ORGANIZATION FOR ISLAMIC SERVICES,

( WOFIS).

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CONTENTS

1. The Stranger............................................ 5

2. Jowaiber and Zalfa.................................. 8

3. The New Convert..................................... 17

4. Nasiba......................................................

22

5. Complaint Against Husband.....................

26

6. The Son of Hatim.................................... 30

7. Ibne Sayyaba........................................... 38

8. Aqueel as a Guest of Ali........................... 42

9. The First Slogan....................................... 47

10. The Prohibition of Water......................... 54

11. The Silly Shop-Keeper............................. 61

12. What Did Happen to Thy Sone?............... 64

1 3. The Retirement............................................ 69

1 4. In the Land of Mina................................. 71

15. The Protection that was Revoked............ 74

16. The Prayer that was Granted.................... 83

17. The Right of Companionship................... 89

18. The Black Market..................................... 92

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THE STRANGER

Tired and exhausted with the water-skin onher back, she was gasping and going towards herhouse where innocent children, their eyes fixed atthe door, were eagerly waiting for the arrival oftheir mother. On her way, an unknown man ap-proached her. He took the water-skin from herand placed it on his back. The door opened andthe children saw their mother entering the housewith a stranger. He placed the water-skin on theground and said:

"Well, it seems you don't have anyone to fetchwater for you; how come you are so forlorn?"

"My husband was a soldier; Ali sent him tothe frontier where he was killed. Now I am alonewith these little children."

The stranger said no more. Bowing down hishead he went away. But the thought of the help-less window and orphans remained in his mind. He

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could hardly sleep in the night. Early in the morn-ing he picked up a basket; put some meat, flourand dates in it; went straight to her house andknocked at the door.

"Who are you?""I am the man who brought your water yes-

terday. Now I have brought some food for thechildren"

"May God bless you and judge between usand Ali"

said:She opened the door. Entering the house he

"I wish to do some good acts. Either let meknead the flour and bake the bread or allow me tolook after the children."

"Very well, but I can do the job of kneadingand cooking better than you. You take care of thechildren till I finish cooking"

She went to knead the flour Immediately he

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grilled some meat which he had brought and fedthe children saying to each child while puttingmorsel in his mouth:

"My son, forgive Ali if he has failed in his dutytowards you"

The flour got ready; she called: "Gentlemen!put fire in the oven:" He went and put fire in theoven. When flames rose up, he brought his facenear the fire and said, "Taste the heat of fire. It isthe punishment for those who fail in their dutytowards orphans and widows."

By chance, a woman from the neighbouringhouse came in. Recognizing the stranger, shecried: "Woe, don't you recognize the man who ishelping you? He is Amirul-Muumineen (comman-der of the faithfuls) Ali bin Abi-Talib."

The widow came forward and shamefacedlycried: "Curse and shame to me. I beg your pardon:"

"No, I beg your pardon for I failed in my dutytowards you."

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JOWAIBER AND ZALFA

"How beautiful it were if you could marry andestablish a family, ending this forlorn and isolatedlife? You could fulfil your natural urges and alsoshe could help you in your temporal and spiritualneeds and goals."

"O Messenger of Allah, I have neither wealthnor beauty; nor I have a noble descent or lineage.Who will marry me? And which woman likes tobe wife of a poor, short, black and ugly man likeme?"

"O Jowaiber! God has changed the individual'sworth through Islam. Many people were high-placed in the pre-Islamic society and Islam broughtthem down. Many were despised non-entities andIslam bestowed them with honour and high rankand brought them up. Islam abolished the un-Islamic discrimination and pride of lineage. Nowall people irrespective of their colour and originare equal. Nobody has superiority over others but

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through piety and obedience to Allah. Among theMuslims, only that person would be higher than L

you whose virtues and deeds are better than you.Now do as I tell you."

These words were exchanged one day betweenthe Prophet and Jowaiber when the Prophet cameto see the people of "Suffa"

Jowaiber was a native of "Yamamah" wherehe came to know about the Prophet and the adventof Islam. He was poor, black and short, but at thesame time intelligent truth seeking and a man ofdetermination. He came to Medina to look at Islamfrom near; in a short time he embraced Islam. Sincehe had neither money, house nor any friends, hetemporarily was accommodated along with otherpoor Muslims in the Mosque by permission of theProphet. When it was revealed unto the Prophetthat the Mosque was not a place of habitation, itbecame necessary to shift them elsewhere. TheProphet selected a site outside the Mosque and

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erected a shed for them. The place was named as"Suffa" and the residents were known as "Ashab-e-Suffa" - all of them poors from places far awayfrom Medina.

The Prophet came to visit them one day.Noticing Jowaibir among them he decided to bringhim out of this forlorn life. It was beyond thefancy of Jowaiber to own a house and have a wifein his condition. And that was why he replied tothe Prophet as to how it was possible for anyoneto accept him in matrimony when the Prophetadvised him to marry. But the Prophet removinghis doubts, explained to him the changes broughtabout in the social outlook of the people by Islam.

After bringing Jowaiber out of his inferioritycomplex, he directed him to the house of Ziad ibneLubaid to request him for his daughter's hand inmarriage.

Ziad was one of the wealthiest persons of

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Medina and commanded high respect among histribes. When Jowaiber entered his house, he wassurrounded by his relatives and some of his tribes-men. Jowaiber took a seat, paused for a momentand then raising his head said, "I have brought amessage from the Prophet. Do you like to hear itconfidentially or openly?"

Ziad: ; "A message from the Prophet is anhonour to me, better you tell it openly."

"The Prophet has sent me to request you foryour daughter for myself"

"Did he himself make this suggestion to you?""I don't speak on my own accord. Every-

body knows me, I am not a liar""Strange!

We don't give our daughters to per-sons of unequal status nor outside our tribe. Yougo back I shall go to the Prophet and have a talkwith him myself."

Jowaiber left the house murmuring, "By God,whatever the Qur'an teaches and whatever is the

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purpose of the prophet-hood of Muhammad istotally against what Ziad says"

bir.Those nearby heard the murmurings of Jowai-

Zalfa, the lovely daughter of Ziad, and thebeauty-queen of Medina, heard these words ofJowaiber.

She came to her father and asked:"Father, what was that man who just went

out saying? And what did he mean?""He had come to ask for your hand in marriage

and was claiming that the Prophet had sent him forthis purpose."

"Isn't it possible that he had really sent him,and thus your rejection may amount to disobe-dience of the Prophet's order ?"

"What do you feel about it?""I feel you should bring him back before he

reaches to the Prophet, and then go yourself tofind out the truth."

He brought Jowaiber back to his house with

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due respect, and then himself hurried up to theProphet. When he saw him he said:

"O Messenger of God, Jowaiber came to myhouse and brought such and such a message fromyou. I would like to inform you that our customis to give our daughters to persons of equal statusand belonging to our tribe, who are all your healpersand companions."

"O Ziad, Jowaiber is a Faithful man. Thatdignity and honour which you are talking abouthas now been abrogated. Every Believer man isequal (for marriage purpose) to every Believer wo-man."

Ziad returned to his house and explain d thematter to his daughter. She said, "Please do notreject the proposal put by the Prophet. This matterconcerns me. I accept Jowaiber whatever his condi-tion may be. If the Prophet is pleased with it, I amalso pleased."

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The wedding was duly soleminized. Ziad paid"Mahr" (Marriage) from his own wealth and offer-ed good articles to the pair. They asked the bride-groom, "Have you got a house where to take thebride?"

He said, "No, I had never thought that Iwould get a wife and sattle in domestic life. It wasthe Prophet who came suddenly and had a talk withme and sent me to Ziad's house."

Ziad arranged for him a house equipped withcomplete house-hold effects, and transferred thebride superbly adorned with ornaments and per-fumes.

Night came. Jowaiber did not know wherewas the house meant for him. He was guided to thehouse and led to the bridal-chamber. When he sawthe house and its equipments and looked at the daz-zling bride, his past came to his mind and he saidto himself, "How poor I was when I entered thiscity. had nothing - neither money nor beauty,neither any lineage nor family - now God made

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these affluences available to me through Islam. In-deed it is Islam that has brought such changes inthe social outlook of the people beyond any imagi-nation. How grateful I am to God for bestowingupon me all these Blessings!"

In spiritual ecstasy he went to a corner of theroom; spent the night in recitation of the Qur'anand prayer. It was dawn when he came to himselfand then decided to fast in gratitude to God. Whenwomen came to see Zalfa in the morning they foundher untouched. They kept the matter secret fromZiad. Two nights and days passed in the samemanner. He was fasting during days and prayingduring nights. The women of the family of thebride were worried. They thought perhaps Jowai-ber was impotent and had no need for a woman.At last, they put the matter before Ziad. He inform-ed the Prophet; the Prophet; called Jowaiber andasked, "Don't you have any desire for woman?"

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"Incidentally, I have very intense desire ofthat kind:"

"Then why didn't you go near your bride?""O Prophet of God, when I entered the house

I found myself amidst that affluence. ,A state ofgratitude and devotion took me over. I thought itnecessary to offer thanks and prayers to Allah be-fore doing anything.

Tonight I shall go near my

wife."

Jowaiber and Zalfa lived a most happy life.When the call for a Jihad (Holy war) came, he par-ticipated in it with the enthusiasm typical of a braveMuslim, and achieved martyrdom under the bannerof Islam.

After his martyrdom, Zalfa was the mostsaught after woman for a wife and people wereeager to pay the greatest Mahr for her.

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THE NEW CONVERT

Two neighbours, a Muslim and a Christian,were on friendly terms. Having concern for oneanother they used to enquire after each othershealth, and exchanged views from time to time.The Muslim being a devout and religious man spokehigh of his religion and the result was that the Chris-tian. friend embraced Islam.

The night passed and it was nearing dawn. TheChristian, a new convert, heard somebody ramminghis door. Surprised and restless he shouted:

"Who is it?"

From the back came a loud voice, "I am soand so;" introducing himself. He was the Muslimneighbour who had the honour of converting himto Islam.

"What do you want at this late hour?"

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"Be quick, put on your clothes and performablution, so that we should go to the Mosque to-gether"

The new Muslim performed ablution (Wudu)for the first time in his life and set out to Mosquebehind his Muslim friend. They had arrived beforetime. It was the time for the Recommended (notobligatory) prayer after mid-night. They prayedtill dawn - the time came for the morning prayer.They prayed the morning prayer and were engagedin benedictions and invocations till it became per-factly clear. When the new Muslim made a movetowards the door, his friend interrupted:

"Where are you going?""I am going home, Since I have finished my

morning prayer, there is nothing else to do now.""Wait a while and recite the benedictions till

the sun rises.""very well."

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He sat and recited the same till the sun rose.When he rose up to go, his friend placed the Qur'anin his hand saying, "Read it till the sun rises alittle high.

And I advise you to fast today. Don'tyou know how much virtues and rewards there arein fasting?"

The new Muslim did as he was told,and sat reciting the Our'an till it was nearing noon.The Muslim neighbour said:

"Now it is almostnoon; better we perform the noon-prayer in theMosque:" So, the Dohr (noon) prayer was prayed.Then he said again:

"After just a short time, theAsr (after-noon) prayer will be prayed. We shouldperform that also at the proper time:" That prayerwas also performed.

Then he said, "It is almostevening now" and detained the new convert till itwas time for Maghrib (evening) prayer.

When herose up to break his fast, the neighbour said, "thereis one more prayer remaining. It is named "Esha"or the sleeping-time prayer'." So they waited nearlyone hour for the proper time of this prayer. Afterthat the new Muslim got up and went away.

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Next day at the same hour of night he againheard knockings at the door.

"Who is there?"

"I am so and so............ your neighbour. Bequick, put on your clothes and perform ablutionto go to the Mosque together"

"As soon as I returned from the Mosque lastnight, I resigned from your religion. Please go awayand find some other idle man who has nothing todo in this world, so that he may be able to spendhis whole time in the mosque. I am a poor manhaving wife and children to feed. I should bettergo after my work to earn my livelihood'."

Imam Jaafer al-Sadiq relating the story to hisfriends and companions, said: "In this manner adevout man after converting a new Muslim, hadhimself kicked him out of Islam. You must bearthis fact in mind and should not trouble the peopleunnecessarily. You should judge their strength and

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capacity and act accordingly, so that they developaffinity for the religion and do not run away fromit. Don't you know that the policy of Ummayyadsis based on violence, oppression and intimidationwhereas our ways and methods are based on lenien-cy, brotherhood and persuation"

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NASIBA

The deep scar on the shoulder of Nasiba,daughter of Kaab, spoke of a major wound in thepast. Whenever the women, specially of the youngergeneration who had not seen the time of the Pro-phet or were too small at that time, noticed thecavity in her shoulder, they enquired with extremecuriousity about the frightening incident whichhad resulted in the injury to her shoulder. Theyloved to hear her adventures in the battle of Uhudfrom her own mouth.

She had never imagined that she would fightshoulder to shoulder with her husband and twosons defending the Prophet in the battle of Uhud.She had only taken the water-skin on her back sothat she could provide water to the injured and alsohad taken some home-made bandages to dress theirwounds. She had not thought of herself as worthyof any other work on that day.

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Although the Muslims were small in numberand had only a limited supply of equipments, theygave a grand defeat to the enemy who took to theirheels vacating the battle field. But soon after, dueto the negligance of some men guarding the "AinainHills;" the enemy made a surprise attack from therear,turning the victory of the Muslims into defeat.The Muslims surrounding the Prophet fled away,leaving him almost alone in the battlefield.

When Nasiba saw this precarious situation, sheput the water-skin on the ground, and took a swordin her hand. She fought with the sword and alsomade good use of bows and arrows; and took ashield left over by a fleeing soldier. Once she notic-ed a man shouting: "Where is Mohammad himself?"She approached him immediately and inflicted afew blows on him; but he was double-armouredand her attacks had not much effect on him. Hethen inflicted such a heavy blow on the shoulderof the armourless woman that it required treatment

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for one year. Noticing a stream of blood gushingfrom her shoulder, the Prophet called to one of hersons to immediately dress her wound. He put abandage over her shoulder and she again got busyin the battle.

Meanwhile one of her sons got injured. Shetook out a bandage and dressed his wound. TheProphet watching the scene smiled at the heroismof this woman. After dressing her son's wound sheinstructed him to get going for the battle. Thesewords were still in her mouth when the Prophetpointed out a man to her and told her that he wasthe same man who had injured her son. She attack-ed the man like a lioness and inflicted her sword onhis leg. He fell on the ground. The Prophet said,"Well, thou hast taken thy revenge. Thanks forGod who gave the victory on him and made thyeyes cool."

Many Muslims were martyred and wounded.She herself was severely wounded and there was

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no hope of her life. After the battle of Uhud, theProphet ordered the wounded Muslims to persuethe enemy upto Hamra-ul-Asad, to be sure of theirintention and condition. Nasiba also wanted to ac-company them but the deep injuries did not allowher to do so. On returning from Hamra-ul-Asad,the Prophet before reaching his house, sent some-one to enquire about her health and was pleasedto learn that she was alive.

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COMPLAINT AGAINST HUSBAND

Ali during the days of his Khilafat used topersonally listen to the grievances and complaintsof the people. Once, the days were hot and peopledid not venture out of their houses after mid-day.Ali sat everyday outside his house under the shadeof a wall so that if someone had any complaints,could lodge the same to him directly. Sometimeshe walked in lanes and streets observing the generalcondition of the people.

One day he returned to his residence tiredand sweating, and found a woman waiting. Seeinghim, she came near and said:

"I am in trouble. My husband oppresses me.He has turned me out from the house and hasthreatened to beat me. If I go to him he will beatme. I request you to do justice between us"

"O Servant of Allah, it is too hot now. Waittill it cools down in the afternoon. Then I shallcome with you and redress your grievances"

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"If I stay out too long, I am afraid it may in-crease his anger:"

For a moment he bowed his head and thenraised it up saying to himself, "No, By God, justic ;to the oppressed should not be delayed. The rightof the oppressed should certainly be taken fromthe oppressor; and every fear should be taken outfrom her heart so that she may stand boldly beforethe oppressor and demand her right'."

"Tell me where is your house?""It is in such and such place.""Let us go."

He accompanied her to her house, stood at thedoor and called loudly, "O Master of the house!Peace be upon thee."

A young man came out. He was her husband.He did not recognize Ali.

He found that an oldman of about sixty years had accompanied her andassumed that she had brought him for support and

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mediation; but he kept silent.

"This lady has a complaint against you. Shesays that you have oppressed her and have oustedher from the house. Besides you have threatenedto beat her. I have come here to tell you to fearAllah and be kind to your wife."

"In what way does it concern you if I havenot treated my wife well. Yes, I had threatenedto beat her, but now, since she has brought you toplead for her, I shall throw her into fire and burnher alive."

Ali was disturbed by the impudence of theman. Drawing out his sword he said, "I am onlyadvising you to do good and admonishing you frombad deeds; but you are replying me in such mannerclearly saying to burn this woman in fire. Do youthink there is no authority in this world?"

His loud voice drew the attention of the pas-sers by, and a huge crowd gathered. Whoever came

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bowed down with reverence before the old man andsaluted him by saying "Peace be on you O Comman-der of the Fiathfuls"

When the rude young man realised as to whomhe was talking with, he trembled and supplicated,"O Ameerul Moumineen! forgive me. I confessmy faults and promise that henceforth I shall obeymy wife."

Ali turned to the woman and told her to goin the house and cautioned her not to behave insuch a manner that her husband had to be angryagain.

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THE SON OF HATIM

Before the advent of Islam, there were inArabia autonomous tribal chiefs. The people wereused to the rule of their chiefs and obeyed them;and often paid them tributes and taxes. The well-known generous Hatim, of the tribe of Tai, wasone of the tribal chiefs of Arabia. His son, Adi,succeeded him after his death and the Tribe submit-ted to his rule. He was taxing them to the extentof one-fourth of their income every year. Hislordship coincided with the advent of the Prophet.The Tai tribes were idol-worshippers, but him-self was a Christian, but kept his beliefs secret fromhis people. The people, after being acquaintedwith the liberal teachings of Islam, felt themselvesrelieved from the burden of their lords who hadhitherto imposed their rule upon the people. Owingto this fact, Adi, like other lords used to look uponIslam as the greatest danger for himself; and washarbouring enmity against the Prophet. But the die

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was cast. People were embracing Islam in increasing-ly large numbers; and the religion of Allah was ad-vancing day by day. He knew that the day wasnear when the Muslims would come looking forhim also, and that would be the end of his lordship.He therefore, instructed his special steward, a slave,to always keep strong and light-footed camels readynear his camp and to remain watchful.

One day the slave came to him and said,"Make whatever arrangements you want to makeas the Muslims are very close." Adi mounted hisfamily on the camels and took whatever valuablesand luggage he could take, and escaped to Damascuswhere the people were of his religion. But in theconfusion, he forgot to take his sister, Safanawith him; and she was left behind.

The Muslims defeated the tribe in the battle;and some were made captives. Muslims broughtSafana to Medina alongwith other captives andrelated the story of Adi's escapade to the Prophet.

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The prisoners were sheltered in a low-walled com-pound near the Mosque. One day, the Prophet,while going to the Mosque passed beside the en-closure. Safana, intelligent and talkative as shewas, moved from her place and said:

"My father is dead; my guardian is hiding; begenerous to me, God will be generous to you."

Prophet: "Who is your guardian?""Adi, son of Hatim""The one who has run away from God and

His Prophet?"

Saying these words the Prophet went away.Next day again she repeated the same words, heardthe same reply. Her plea produced no result. Thethird day, having lost her hopes, she decided tokeep silent. But a young man walking behind theProphet made signs to her to repeat her demand.She repeated the same words. The Prophet said,"Very well, I am waiting for some reliable manfrom your tribe. As soon as such a man is found I

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shall send you with him to your tribe. Inform meif you find such a person who has come to Medina"

She asked the people who was the youngman walking behind the Prophet who had encourag-ed her to repeat her demand. They said he wasAli.

After some time, Saffana informed the Pro-phet that some men of her tribe had came toMedina.

The Prophet gave her a new dress, somecash for meeting the expense of the journey and acamel to ride on. She went along with them to herbrother in Syria.

When she saw her brother, she reproached himand said, "You brought out your wife and childrenforgot me the memory of your father!" Adi appologised to her. Then, as she was an intelligent wo-man, Adi consulted her about his plan. He asked

"What do you advise me to do, since you haveseen Mohammed from near? Should I join him or

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keep aloof from him?""I believe you should join him. If he is a Pro-

phet of God it will be a credit to your honour andnobleness.

And if he is not a prophet, and onlywants to be a worldly ruler, then in a place (Medina)which is not far from Yemen (your place), nobodywill dare to dishonour you, because of the honourand respect you have among the people of Yemen.Either way, your honour is guaranteed."

The idea appealed to Adi. He decided to goto Medina and to observe the Prophet's mannersminutely.

If he was a prophet he would followhim like other Muslims. But in case he was only aman with worldly ambitions of power and pelf,then he would cooperate with him to the extent ofthe common benefits of both.

He entered the Mosque of Medina and salutedto the Prophet. The Prophet accorded him duerespect and took him to his house.

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On their way a haggard woman caught hold ofthe garmet of the Prophet and entered into a dis-cussion with him. A long time passed; and theProphet answered all her questions with kindnessand patience.

Adi said to himself, "This is the one sign fromthe character of this man that he is a prophet. Peo-ple having worldly ambitions do not have sucha disposition and temperament of replying to a poorold woman with so much patience and kindness"

When they entered the house Adi found hislife most simple and unpretentious. There wasonly a quilt which the Prophet used to sit upon,but now he spread it for Adi to sit. Adi insistedthat the Prophet should sit upon the quilt; but heflatly refused. Ultimately, Adi sat upon the quiltand the Prophet sat on the ground. Adi said tohimself, "This is the second sign of the characterof this man, This is the character of the Prophets,not of the kings"

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The Prophet turned to him and said, "But wasnot your religion Christianity?" Adi said "Yes,why?" The Prophet said, "then why, and on whatgrounds, were you taking one-fourth of the incomeof your people? Is it not inadmissible in your reli-gion?"

Adi, who had kept his religion secret evenfrom his closest relatives, was surprised to hear itfrom the Prophet. He said to himself, "this is thethird sign that this man is a prophet."

Then the Prophet said: "You are looking atthe present poverty and helplessness of the Muslims.You find that the Muslims today are living in dis-tress. They are surrounded by crowds of enemiesand have no security of their lives and properties.They have no power in their hands. By God, thetime is not far when such a vast wealth will cometo them that there will be no poor among them.By God. their enemies will be vanguished and therewill exist such a perfect peace and order that a

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woman shall be able to travel from Iraq to Hijazalone and nobody will trouble her. By God, thetime is near when the white palaces of Babyloniawill come under the hands of the Muslims"

Adi embraced Islam with perfect Faith andSincerity, and remained faithful to the end of hislife. He lived upon the years after the Holy Prophet.He always remembered the talks of the Holy Pro-phet in his first meeting with him, and the fore-casts at that time, about the future of Muslims.He used to say, "By God, in my life-time I sawMuslim conquering the white palaces of Babylonia,and there is such a peace and order that a womancan travel from Iraq to Hijaz without anybodytroubling her. By God, I am sure a day will comewhen there will be no poor among the Muslims"

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IBNE SAYYABA

Ibne Sayyaba, a resident of Kufa, was a youngman whose father had died. The tragedy of thedeath of his father, coupled with poverty and un-employment, was destroying the soul of the sensi-tive man.

One day while sitting in his house, heheard a knock at the door. He was a friend of hisfather. After offering his condolences, he said:

"Did your father leave anything for you?""No""Then take this thousand Dirham; try to

turn it into a capital, and meet your expensesfrom its profit."

Saying these words he went away. IbneSayyaba, happy as he was, went to his mother andshowing the money told her the story. The sameday, he used the money in purchasing some mer-chandise and opening a shop; and set his heart to it.He made a rapid progress. Soonafter he realised

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that not only he had met his household expensesfrom the profit, but even the capital had increasedto a great extent. Now he thought of performingpilgrimage, and approached his mother for heradvice. She said, "First you should repay thethousand Dirham which has brought such prosperi-ty to us, and then you may go to Mecca."

He went to see the friend of his father, andplacing a purse of one thousand Dirham beforehim, said, "Please accept your money back" Theman thought that Ibne Sayyaba was returning thesame money because it was not sufficient for anytrade. So he said:

"If the amount is insufficient I can increaseit"

"Good God, it was not insufficient. It hasbrought great prosperity to us and since I am nowquite well off financially, I have come to repayyour money, and to express my thanks to you,particularly when I have decided to go on pilgri-

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mage.

He came to his home and packed his luggagefor Mecca.

After performance of the holy Hajj, he cameto Medina and went to see Imam Sadique (a.s.)alongwith other pilgrims. There was a huge crowdin the house of the Imam (a.s.). Being young hechose to sit at the far end of the gathering, and fromthere watched the people coming and going; andheard their questions and the answers given by theImam. When the house became nearly empty, theImam (a.s.) pointed to him and said:

"What can I do for you?""I am Abdur Rahman, son of Sayyaba, of

Kufa (from the tribe of Bijilly)""How is your father?""He died""Ah! Ah! May God have His mercy upon

him. Did he leave anything for you?"

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"No, he didn't""Then how could you perform pilgrimage?""After the death of my father we were in dis-

tress.

On one side his death and on the other sidepoverty and unemployment, were crushing us ex-tremely. Then one day a friend of my father gaveme one thousand Dirham and advised me to investthe amount in business. I followed his advice andfrom its profit I came to perform pilgrimage."

Before he could finish his story, the Imam(a.s.) said, "Tell me what did you do about themoney of your father's friend?"

I refunded the amount on the advice of mymother before coming out for Hajj'.'

"Very good. Do you like me to give you anadvice?"

"May I be your ransom; of course""Be truthful and righteous.

A truthful andrighteous man is a partner in the wealth of others."

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AQUEEL AS A GUEST OF ALI

Aqueel arrived as a guest at the GovernmentHouse in the days of the Caliphate of his brother,Ali. Ali made a sign to his elder son Hassan tooffer a garment to his uncle. Hassan presented tohim a robe and a cloak. The night came; the wea-ther was warm. They were sitting on roof-top hav-ing amiable talks. It was time for dinner. Aqueelconsidered himself to be the guest of the Absoluteruler of the Muslim world and expected an extra-ordinarily colourful and rich dinner. But to hissurprise it was the most ordinary and simple one.He said: "Is this all the food?"

Ali:

"Isn't it a God's gift? I heartily thankAlmighty God that he has bestowed me with thisgift."

Aqueel:

"Then I should better tell you myneeds at once, and be on my way soon. I am indebt.

Please order to pay off my debt as soon aspossible; and also help your poor brother as much

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as you can, so that I return to my place relieved ofmy burdens:"

"How much is your debt?""One hundred thousand Dirham""Oh! One hundred thousand Dirham! So

large? I am sorry, brother. I don't have so muchmoney to give you; but wait till the time comesfor the disbursement of stipends. I shall withdrawmy personal share and give from it to you, thusfulfilling my duty of cooperation and brotherhoodtowards you. If my family and children were notin need of their own expenses, I would have givenyou my entire share"

"What?! !

Should I wait till the payment ofstipends? You have the state-treasury in yourhand and still you are asking me to wait till thetime of disbursement and then only you will giveme from your personal share! You can withdrawany amount you want from the State Treasury.So, why are you making me wait till then? Besides,what is your total share from it? Even if you giveme the your entire share, how far will it relieve me

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of my trouble?"

"I am surprised to hear your proposal. Whatconcern it does it, is of me or you whether there ismoney in the Treasury or not?

We are just likeany other Muslims. True, you are my brother andI must help you as much as possible, but from mypersonal money, not from the public treasury"

The argument continued and Aqueel pleadedwith Ali in various ways. He continued to insist thatAli should give him from state treasury. The placewhere they were sitting overlooked the market ofKufa, and they could see the cash-boxes of theshop-keepers.

Ali said, "If you still insist and arenot ready to listen to me, then I have got anotherproposal for you. If you follow it you can repayall your loan and still have plenty of money left'."

"What is that?""Down over there are cash-boxes. As soon as

the market is closed and nobody is there, go downand break open the boxes. And take whatever you

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want'.'"Whose boxes are they?""They belong to the people of this market.

They keep their cash in them:""Strange! You are telling me to steal the

money of poor people who have earned it withtheir hard labour and have gone home leaving itthere trusting in God?"

"Then why are you urging me to open theboxes of the state-treasury for you? Whom does itbelong to? This also belongs to the same peoplewho are asleep in their houses carefree and in com-forts. All right, I have another suggestion. Followit if you like."

"What's that?""If you are ready then pick up your sword

and so will do I. The old city of Hirah is not farfrom here. There are leading merchants and weal-thy people there. We make a surprise attack on oneof them during night and bring out enormous wealthwith us."

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"Brother, I haven't come here for theft androbbery that you are suggesting these things to me.I am only asking you to instruct the officials of thetreasury to give me the money which is in yourpower, so that I may repay my debt:"

"Suppose that we steal the property of anindividual, isn't it better that stealing from theproperty of millions of Muslims? How is it thattaking the property of an individual with sword isrobbery, and usurping the property of the generalpublic is not? You are under the impression thatrobbery only means attacking some individual andtaking his property by force.

The worst type ofrobbery is the same thing which you are proposingto me to do now."

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THE FIRST SLOGAN

News leaking now and then from Mecca to thetribe of Bani Ghefar had attracted the mind of AbiZar, a man of an inquisitive nature.

He want toreach to the depth of those developments in Mecca ,but the distorted news occasionally obtained fromthe individuals, were not making any sense to him.The only definite thing known to him was that anew voice has arise in Mecca, and the Meccans werestriving hard to silence it. But what was that newvoice and why the Meccans were opposing it?These were the questions which remained unan-swered. His brother was going to Mecca. He toldhim, "People tell me that a man has appeared inMecca and has brought some new talks, and claimthey have been revealed unto him from God. Sinceyou are going to Mecca, investigate into the same;and bring me the correct information."

Days passed; he eagerly waited for his brother;when he came back, Abu Zar asked him:

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"What is the news, and how the things standthere?"

"So far as I could gather he is a man whoinvites people towards good morals. He has alsohrought some talk which is not poetry."

"I had wanted you to make a more thoroughinvestigation. This much information is not enoughfor my purpose. Better I should go there personal-ly to find out the truth:"

He put up some provision on his back andstraight away came to Mecca. He was determinedto meet the man who had brought the new talksand to hear the words from his own mouth. Buthe neither knew him nor thought it prudent toenquire about him from someone else. The atmos-here in Mecca was tense with oppression and

intimidation. Without making his intention knownto anyone, he was looking in all directions, listen-ing to the gossip of the people around him hopingthat it might provide him a `clue.' The MasjidulHaram was the centre of news and events. Hence

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he came there with his baggage on the back. Theday turned into night, but he could find no clue.Night passed a little; he stretched himself there.Soonafter a youngman passed nearby. He lookedat Abu Zar with searching eyes, and went away.His glance seemed to him very meaningful. Itoccured to him that perhaps that youngman wasthe right person to divulge his secret to. He fol-lowed him but came back not daring to speak tohim.

Next day also he sat whole day in MasjidulHaram alert looking to every possible clue; but invain. The night befell and he again stretchedon the same spot. The same youth appeared againand respectfully said, "Has the time not come foryou to come to your house and spend the nightthere?" Saying this he took him to his house.Abu Zar did not divulge his secret that night, nordid the youth ask him. Early morning Abu Zarsaid good-bye to him and came to the mosque afterhis pursuit. That day also turned into night and he

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could not make out anything from the talks ofthe people. The youngman again appeared andtook him to his house; but this time he broke thesilence:

"Can you tell me why you have come to thiscity?""I shall tell you if you promise to help me""I promise I shall do my best to help you""The fact is that we have been hearing among

our tribes that a man has appeared in Mecca andhas brought some talks claiming the same to berevealed unto him from God. I have come so thatI may see him and may investigate about him.Firstly, tell me what do you believe about him?secondly, can you guide me to him?"

"Rest assured he is on right and what he saysis from God. I shall take you to him in the morn-ing. But as you are aware if these people cameto know about it your life as well as mine will bein danger. Tomorrow morning I shall walk aheadand you follow me at a distance. If I will see any

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danger I shall stand and bow towards the earth likea man emptying a pot; then you must be off. Ifthere is no danger you will follow me where-ever Igo".

Next morning the youth who was none elsethan Ali appeared from his house, Abu Zar follow-ing him. Fortunately the way was clear and theyreached the house of the prophet safely.

He made a thorough study of the manners ofthe Prophet and also listened to the verses of theQur'an. Not much time has passed that he embrac-ed Islam very enthusiastically. He made a conventwith the Prophet that he would not listen to anyreproach in the way of Allah during his whole lifeand would speak truth even though it might be bit-ter for some tastes.

The Prophet said: "Now go back to your tribesand invite them towards Islam till you receive mynext order" He said, "Very well; but before leaving

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this city I shall go before these people and willannounce before them the slogan of Islam, comewhat may."

He went straight to the heart of the City, i.e.the Mosque and cried before the congregation ofQuraish:

"(1 bear witness that there is no god but Allah andMohammad is His Servant and Messenger)."

Hearing this slogan from the stranger, Meccansrushed at him immediately and had Abbas son ofAbdul Muttalib not come to his rescue they wouldhave torn him to pieces. Abbas said, "This man isfrom the tribe of Ghefar, and the trade caravan ofQuraish plying between Mecca and Syria passesthrough their lands. Don't you think if you kill oneof their men, you will never again be allowed topass through their land safely?"

Abu Zar was rescued from their hands. How-ever, he was not satisfied.

He said, "Once again I

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shall repeat this slogan. Let these people hear whatthey don't like to hear at all. If they hear it againand again they will become used to it."

So, next day he repeated the same slogan.Again the people attacked him and Abbas who waspresent there saved him from their atrocities.

After that, according to the order of theProphet, he returned home and started preachingIslam among his tribe. When the Prophet migratedto Medina, Abu Zar too went to him and remainedin Medina almost to the end of his life. He wasextremely frank and owing to this virtuous attributeshe was exiled during the Caliphate of Othman,first to Syria and later at a place named Rabzanear Medina.

There he died a lonely death. TheProphet had said about him

"May God bless Abu Zar!

he will live alone,will die alone and shall be brought up alone on theDay of Resurrection."

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THE PROHIBITION OF WATER

Moawiya was ruling over Syria as its governorfor nearly sixteen years; and was secretly planningto grab the Caliphate taking advantage of everypossible opportunity. The best excuse for him torevolt against the Central authority and declarehis own caliphate was the Othman's murder. Hehad not done any thing concerning the appeals ofOthman for help, during his life time. In fact, hewas waiting for him to be murdered, so that hecould make it an excuse for his scheme. Othmangot murdered and Moawiya immediately sought toexploit the situation for his own purpose.

On the other hand, people after the murder ofOthman rallied behind Ali (who because of variousreasons, was reluctant to take the responsibility ofCaliphate) and declared their allegience to him.Observing that the responsibility was now formallyturned to him, he accepted it and his Caliphate was

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proclaimed in Medina, the capital and centre ofMuslim world in those days. All provinces of Is-lamic government submitted to his obedience - withthe exception of Syria which was under Moawiya.He refused allegience to Ali, accusing him of shel-tering the murders of Othman. He recruited alarge number of Syrian soldiers and made prepara-tion for the declaration of independence of hisprovinces.

After settling the issue of the battle of Camel(JAMAL), Ali turned his attention to Moawiya.He wrote several letters to him, but in vain. Bothsides moved their armies towards each another.Abul Aawar Salmi was leading Moawiya's advancedbattalion and Malik Ashtar was in command of theadvanced battalion of Ali. They met at the bank ofthe Euphrates. Ali's directive to Malik was not tobe the first to attack. But Abul Aawar made asevere attack to intimidate the soldiers of Ali.Malik then pushed the Syrians far behind. Salminow thought of another tactics. He reached the

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Ghat, i.e. the slope on bank of the Euphrates whichwas the only spot convenient to fetch water. Hedeployed his spearmen and archers to guard thespot and prevent Malik and his company fromcoming near it. Soonafter, Moawiya himself arrivedwith a large army. Happy at the strategy of hiscommander he further increased the number of thesoldiers guarding the approach to river. Soldiersof Ali were put in distress owing to the shortage ofwater.

Moawiya with pleasure said: "This is ourfirst Victory'." Only one man, Amr bin Al-Aas, theshrewd minister of Moawiya did not think it agood policy. On the other side, Ali himself hadarrived and was informed of the situation. He senta letter with Saasa'a to Moawiya notifying:

"We have come here, but, as far as possiblewe do not like to wage a war of fratricide betweenthe Muslims.

We earnestly hope to settle our dif-ferences through negotiations and discussions. Butwe observe that you and your followers have started

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using weapons of destruction before trying anythingelse.

Besides, you have denied water on my com-panions. Instruct them to desist from this act, sothat we can start negotiations. Of course, if youdo not like anything but war, we are not afraid of

Moawiya consulted his advisor. The generalopinion was to take advantage of the golden op-portunity and ignore the letter. Only Amr bin AlAas against this view. He said, "You are mistaken.The fact is that Ali and his men do not want to startthe war themselves, and it is because of this thatthey are silent at present and have tried to dissuadeyou from your scheme through this letter. Donot think they will retreat if you ignore their letterand continue denying them the water. Becausethen they will take out arms and will not stop tillthey have driven you away from Euphrates withdisgrace." But the majority of advisors was of theopinion that the denial of water would weaken the

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enemy compelling them to retreat. Moawiya per-sonally was in favour of this idea. Discussion cameto end; Saasa'a asked for the reply; Moawiya, usingthe delaying tactics, said that he would send thereply afterwards. meanwhile, he ordered his sol-diers guarding water to be extra alert and to preventcoming and going of the soldiers of Ali.

Ali was distressed at this development, becauseit brought to an end every hope of any amicablesettlement through talks and negotiations, andshowed that the opposite side was devoid of everygoodwill. Now, the only way out was to use forceHe stood before his soldiers and delivered a shortbut forceful address, the contents of which were asfollows:

"These people have started oppression, andopened the door of conflict and welcomed youwith hostility.

They are hungry for war and aredemanding war and blood-shed from you. Theyhave denied you water. Now you have to choosebetween the two paths. There is no third course.

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Either accept the humiliation and oppression andremain thirsty as you are, or satisfy your thirstyswords with their dirty bloods so that. you mayquench your thirst with the sweet water. Death isto live a defeated and disgraceful life; and Life is tobe victorious even at the cost of death.

Verily,Moawiya has gathered around him some ignorantand misguided mob; and is taking advantage oftheir ignorance, so that they are making their neckstargets of the arrows of death."

This address moved the soldiers of Ali andstirred their blood. They made a severe attack andpushed the enemy far back and took the possessionof (Shari'ah) Ghat.

Amr bin Al-Aas (whose forecast was now afact) said to Moawiya: "Now, if Ali and his armypay you with your own coin what will you do?Can you take possession of the "Shariah" (Ghat)from them for the second time?" Moawiya said,"In your opinion, how will Ali deal with us now?"

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"I believe, Ali will not behave as you haddone. He will not deny us water. He has not comehere for such deeds."

The soldiers of Ali after removing the soldiersof Moawiya from Ghat, asked his permission toprevent the enemy from taking water. Ali said,"Don't deny them water. These are the me-thods of ignorant. I do not set my hands to suchacts. I am going to start negotiation with them onthe basis of the Holy Book of God. If they acceptmy proposals, well and good; and if they refuse,I

shall fight with them, but gentlemenly not bydenying them water. I will never do such thing andwill not oppress them by shortage of water'."

Not long afterwards soldiers of Moawiya usedto come co the Ghat side by side with the soldiersof Ali, and nobody prevented them.

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THE SILLY SHOP-KEEPER

A heavy built tall man was passing throughthe market of Kufa, his step firm and assured. Hehad fine figure and sun-burnt face; encounters ofthe battle-field had left their marks on him and thecorner of one of his eyes was slit. A shop-keeper,to amuse his friends, threw a handful of sweepingsonto the man. The man continued his walk in thesame assured and firm manner, without raising aneye brow or looking towards the shop-keeper.When he went away, a friend of the shop keepersaid:

"Do you know who the man is whom youhave insulted just now?"

"No, I do not recognise him. He was a passer-by like thousands of people passing this way every-day. But tell me who was this man."

"Strange! Didn't you recognise him?! He wasMalik Ashtar, the renowned Commander-in-Chief

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of Ali.""Strange! He was Malik Ashtar?!

The sameMalik whose bravery turns the heart of lion intowater and mention of whose name makes his ene-mies tremble with fear?"

"Yes, that was Malik himself""Woe to me! What did I do? Now he will give

order to punish me severely. I must run to himimmediately to apologise and pray him to forgivemy misbehaviour:"

He ran after Malik. He saw him turning to-wards a mosque. He followed him to the Mosqueand saw that he had started praying. He waited tillhe finished his prayer

Humbly introducing him-self he told him:

"I am the man who had committed the sillyprank and behaved disrespectfully to you"

Malik: "But, by Allah, I did not come in themosque but for your sake; because I knew that youwere a very ignorant and misguided man and that

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you give trouble to the people without any cause.I felt pity on you and came here to pray for you andask Allah to lead you onto the right path. No, I didnot have any such intentions as you were afraid of "

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WHAT DID HAPPEN TO THY SONS?

After the martyrdom of Ali and absolute do-mination of Moawiya over the Caliphate, willy-nillycontacts were taking place between him and thesincere followers of Ali. He tried hard to make themconfess that they did not gain anything by theirfriendship with Ali. Obviously they had lost every-thing on the altar of that friendship. He longed tohear from their mouth atleast some expression ofregret and remorse, but this wish never materialised.The followers of Ali, after his martyrdom, had be-come more and more aware of his virtues and great-ness. Whatever their sacrifices during his lifetime,now they were doing more for his love, for hisprinciples and for keeping his mission alive. Theywere having all kinds of hardship very courageous-ly. And, as a result, the endeavours of Moawiyasometimes produced opposite results.

Adi son of Hatim, the paramount chief of the

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Tai Tribe, was one of the devoted, sincere andknowledgeable followers of Ali. He had many sons.He, his sons and his tribe were always ready tosacrifice their all for Ali. His three sons namedTarfa, Turaif and Tarif were martyred in the war ofSeffin under the banner of Ali. The time went on;Ali was martyred; Moawiya usurped the Caliphate;and once Adi came face to face with Moawiya.

To revive his sad memories and to make himconfess how much harm had come to him in thefriendship of Ali, Moawiya said:

"What happened to your three sons, Tarfa,Turaif and Tarif?"

"They were martyred in the battle of Seffinunder the banner of Ali"

"Ali did not do justice to you""Why?""Because he threw your sons in the mouth of

death and preserved his own sons in safety""I did not do justice to Ali"

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"Why?""Because he was killed and I am still alive. I

ought to have sacrificed myself for him in his life-time"

Moawiya saw that he was not getting what hehad aimed at. On the other side, he also wanted tohear about the character and life of Ali from thosewho had been nearer to Ali and had lived with himday in and day out. Therefore, he asked Adi tonarrate to him the character of Ali as he had seenit. Adi asked to be excused; but Moawiya insistedand then Adi said.

"By God, Ali was the most far-sighted andstrong man. He talked with righteousness anddecided the cases with clarity. He was an ocean ofknowledge and wisdom. He hated the worldlypomp and show, and liked the solitude of night.He wept more (in love of Allah) and thought more(about Allah). In solitude, he scrutinized his ownself and pitied about the past. He preferred short

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clothes and simple life. Amongst us he was lice oneof us. If we requested him for anything he grantedour request. When we visited him he made us sitnear him without keeping any distance. Inspite ofall this humbleness, his presence was so awe-inspiring that we did not dare utter any words beforehim. He was so majestic that we could not look athim. When he smiled his teeth appeared like a stringof pearls. He respected honest and pious people andwas kind to indigent. Neither a strong man had anyfear of injustice from him, nor a weak person everlost hope of his justice. By God, one night I sawhim standing in his place of worship when the darknight had engulfed everything; tears were rollingdown on his face and beard; he was restless like asnake-bitten person and was weeping like a bereavedman."

"It seems as if even now I am hearing his voiceas he was addressing the world: `O World, thou istcoming towards me and wantest to lure me? Go

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deceive someone else. Thy time is not come. Ihave divorced thee thrice after when there is no re-turn. Thy pleasure is valueless and thy importanceinsignificant.

Alas! the provision is too little, thejourney too long and there is no companion'.'

Hearing these worlds of Adi, Moawiya startedcrying, then wiping off the tears, he said:

"May God bless Abul Hassan (Ali). He was asyou have said. Now tell me how do you feel with-out him?"

"I feel like a mother whose dear one is behead-ed in her lap"

"Wouldn't you ever forget him?""Would the world allow me to forget him?"

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THE RETIREMENT

The old man, a Christian by religion, hadworked all his life; but had not been able to saveanything for his old age. Lately he had become alsoblind.

Old age, poverty and blindness had joinedhands and he had no other way except begging. Heused to stand at the corner of a lane for begging.People had compassion for him and gave him somealms from which he ate every day, and so he con-tinued his sad life.

One day Ali, the Leader of the Faithfuls pass-ed through the lane and saw the beggar in that con-dition.

Ali, out of his concern for others, enquiredabout the old man. He wanted to know the factorswhich led him to that condition. "Had he no sonto support him? Or, is there no other way for himto live a respectable life in his old age?"

The people who knew the old man came for-ward and informed Ali that he was a Christian and,

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had worked hard so long as he had his eyes, andwas young and strong. Now that he had lost hisyouth as well as his eyes he was unable to do anywork; also he had no savings, so it was natural that hewas begging. Ali said, "Strange! Till he had strengthyou extracted work from him and now you haveleft him on his own?" His story shows that he hadworked when he had the strength. Therefore, it isthe duty of the Government and the society tosupport him till he is alive. Go, and give him alife-pension from the State-treasury."

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IN THE LAND OF MINA

The pilgrims had assembled in Mina. ImamSadiq and his companions sitting in a place wereeating some grapes placed before them.

A beggar appeared and asked for alms. TheImam took some grapes to give him, but he refusedto accept it and asked for money. Imam told himto excuse him as he did not have money. The beg-gar went away disappointed.

After going a few steps he had second thoughtscame back and asked for the same grapes. TheImam now refused to give him those grapes too.

Soon after, another beggar appeared. TheImam again took some grapes and gave to him. Heaccepted it and said, "Thanks to the Lord of universewho gave me my sustenance" On hearing thesewords, the Imam told him to wait and gave himtwo handfuls of grapes.

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The beggar thanked God for the second time.

The Imam again told him to wait and thenturning to one of his friends asked, "How muchmoney is with you?" The man searched his pocketsand produced nearly twenty Dirhams which he gaveto the beggar at the order of the Imam.

The beggar thanking God for the third timesaid, "Thanks are exclusively to God. O God!Thou art the Bestower of the good, and thou hastno companion'." On hearing these words, the Imamtook off his garment and gave it to the beggar.Now, the beggar changed his tone and spoke a fewwords of thanks to the Imam himself. Then theImam did not give him anything and he went away.

His friends and companions who were presentthere said, "We thought that had the beggar conti-nued thanking God in the same manner as before,the Imam would have continued giving him moreand more. But when he cnanged his talk and praised

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and thanked the Imam himself, the Imam did notcontinue his help.

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THE PROTECTION THAT WAS REVOKED

Muslims had migrated to Abyssinia becauseof the torture and persecution by Quraish, but al-ways anxiously waited for some news from theirhomeland. Those stand-bearers of Unity and justiceof God (though an insignificant minority in com-parison to the swarms of idolators who were bentupon maintaining statuesque in religion and socialsystem) were confident that everyday their suppor-ters were increasing and the rank of their adversa-ries was decreasing. They even hoped that soon thecurtain of ignorance would be removed from theeyes of the non believers and the whole tribe ofQuraish would embrace Islam, casting away theiridols.

By chance a rumour took wings in their local-ity in Abyssinia that the whole Quraish had beenconverted to Islam. Though the news was not confirmed, but the refugees deep faith in their religion,and their strong expectation and hope in the ulti-

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mate victory of Islam led a group of them to returnto Mecca without waiting for the confirmation ofthe news from reliable sources. One of them wasOthman bin Madh'un, the well-known companionof the Prophet who was extra-ordinarily attachedto the Holy Prophet, and was greatly respected byall Muslims. When he reached near Mecca, he realis-ed that the news was not correct; on the contrary,Quraish had intensified the torture and oppressionof the Muslims. He was in a bad fix: He could notreturn to Abyssinia as it was far off; and if he en-tered Mecca,he would immediately become a targetof the Quraish's torture. At last, an idea came intohis mind. He thought of taking advantage of anArabian custom by placing himself under the pro-tection of one of the influential men of Quraish.

According to the Arab custom if a personwould request an Arab for protection, he usuallywould grant his request and would protect him evenat the cost of his own life.

For an Arab, it was ashame if someone asked him for protection and he

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did not grant that request eventhough he might behis enemy. So Othman entered Mecca at mid-nightand went straight to the house of Waleed son ofMughira Makhzumi, a distinguished wealthy and in-fluential Quraishite. He asked for his protectionwhich was readily granted.

Next day, Waleed brought him to the Mosqueand made a formal announcement before the eldersof the tribe that from that moment Othman wasunder his protection, anyone doing anything againsthim would be considered going against Waleed per-sonally. As Waleed was highly respected by Ouraish,nobody dared to trouble Othman any more. Hewas now a protected person. He moved freely asone of the Quraish attending their sittings.

But at the same time, the persecution of otherMuslims continued unbated. It was hard on Oth-man, who was not happy at being Safe while hisfellow Muslims continued to suffer. One day hethought to himself that it was not just on his part

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to be safe under the protection of a pagan whereashis brethren were being persecuted. He came toWaleed and said:

"I am sincerely thankful to you. You gave meprotection and saved me; but from today I want togo out from your protection, and join my friends.Let, whatever happens to them, happen to me"

"Nephew, perhaps you are not happy withme, or perhaps, my protection could not keep yousafe"

"Why, I am not unhappy at all. But I don'twant to live any longer under protection of anyoneexcept God'."

"Since you have so decided, I would like youto come to the Mosque announce your going outfrom my protection, as I took you the first daythere and announced your protection"

"Very well, no objection to it."They came to the Mosque. When the elders

had gathered, Waleed said: "Everybody shouldknow that Othman has come here to announce his

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exit from my protection"

Othman said:

"He is right. I have come herewith that very intention, and also to inform youthat so long as I was under his protection, he protec-ted me very well and I had no reason to complain.The reason for my going out from his protection isonly that I don't like to live under the protection ofanyone except God."

This is how the protective period came to end,and he lost his immunity from persecution. But hewas still moving freely among Quraish as before.

One day, Labeed bin Rabia, the well-knownpoet of Arabia came to Mecca to recite his Qasida(poem) which he had recently composed, and whichis now considered as a masterpiece and classics ofthe pre-Islamic period of Arabic literature.

The Qasida begins with the following line:

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Know (that Everything is null and void ex-cept God; nothing except Allah is Truth). TheProphet had said about this line, "It is the truestpoem has ever composed'."

Anyhow, Labeed came, Quraish gathered tohear such a great poet.

There was a pin-dropsilence to hear a reputedly best work of Labeed.He started recitation with manifest pride:

Before he could recite the second line, Oth-man sitting in a corner said loudly: "Excellent,you have spoken the truth. It is the fact; everythingexcept God is false."

Labeed recited the second line:

(Know that everything is null and void exceptGod).

(And, without doubt all riches come to an

end).

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Othman cried, "But this is wrong. Not allriches are to come to an end. This is true only forthe material riches of this world. The riches of thelife hereafter are immortal and eternal:"

The people were surprised. No body had ex-pected that a man who only a short while ago wasunder the protection of another person and whonow had neither security of his life nor power ofany wealth would dare criticising a poet of Labeed'sstature in the gathering of chiefs and elders of theQuraish.

They requested Labeed to repeat the lines;the poet repeated the first line and again Othmansaid: "True, correct'."

But when Labeed repeatedthe second line, Othman again said:

"Wrong. It isnot true; the riches of that world are not perishable"

This time Labeed himself felt most annoyed.He cried:

"O people of Quraish! By God, yourgatherings were not like this before.

There were

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not such rude and discourteous persons amongyou.

How is it that now among you I find suchpersons?"

A man from the audience with the intentionof pacifying hire and making him to continue hisrecitation, said affably:

"Please, don't be angry tothe talk of this man. He is crazy. And he is notalone. There is a group of some more crazy per-sons in this city. And they have the same belief asthis fool. They have gone out from our religion andhave chosen a new religion of their own"

Othman replied to that man forcefully. Theman lost his temper; moved from his seat and slap-ped at the face of Othman, putting his full strengthbehind that slap. Othman got a black-eye.

Somebody said to Othman:

"Othman! you did not appreciate the valueof the protection of Waleed. Had you still been

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under his protection, your eye would not have be-come black."

"The protection of God is safer and more dig-nified than the protection of any other person. Sofar as my eye is concerned, the other eye also longsto attain the same honour in the way of Allah:"

Waleed came forward and said:

"Othman, I am ready to take you again undermy protection:"

"But I have decided not to accept anyone'sprotection except that of God."

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THE PRAYER THAT WAS GRANTED

"O God, Do not let me return to my family'."These were the words that Hind, the wife of Amrbin Jamuh, heard, from her husband whenhe left the house fully armed for participating inthe battle of Uhud. It was his first time to fightalongwith the Muslims. He had not fought beforeas he was very lame, and according to the clear ruleof the Qur'an Jihad (holy war against non-believers)is not incumbent upon those who are blind, lameor sick. Though he himself had not participatedin Jihad but his four lion-hearted sons were alwayswith the holy Prophet. Nobody had ever thoughtthat Amr, inspite of his genuine excuse, and aftersending four sons to Jihad, would want himself tobe included among the soldiers of Islam.

When his relatives heard of his decision theycame to persude him to change his mind. They said"First of all, you are exempted from Jihad, by rule

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of "Shariat" (divine law). Secondly, you have fourbrave sons who are going with the Prophet. So, thereis no need for you to go yourself."

He replied: "As my sons want to get eternalbliss and paradise, I too have the same desire. Willit not be strange if they go and achieve martyrdomwhile I sit in the house with you. No, it is notpossible"

His relatives did not accept his views; and oneafter another came to him to persuade him. At last,he appealed to the Prophet:

"O Prophet of God! My relatives want to con-fine me in the house. They are not allowing me toparticipate in Jihad. By God it is my wish to go toparadise with this lame leg"

"O Amir!

After all, you have a genuine ex-cuse. God has exempted you. Jihad is not incum-bent on you"

"O Prophet of God! I am aware of that. Iknow it is not incumbent upon me; even then........."

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The Prophet said: "Do not forbid him fromJihad. Let him go. Since he has a desire for attain-ing martyrdom, God may bless him with it."

One of the most spectacular scenes of thebattle-field of Uhud was the fighting of Amr binJamuh, who with his limping leg was attacking thecentre of the enemy's army and was shouting, "Ihave the desire of paradise'." One of his sons wasmoving behind him. They fought gallantly till bothwere killed.

After the war ended, many Muslim womencame out of Medina for getting correct news of thewhole affair. They were anxious specially in viewof the frightening news which had reached the city.Aysha, wife of the Prophet was one of them. Whenshe came out of the city she saw Hind pulling therein of a camel with three dead bodies on its back.Aysha asked:

"What is the news?""Thank God, the Prophet is safe. As he is

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safe, I have no worries. The other news is that Godhas made the non-believers suffer a reverse withsorrow."

"Whose corpses are these?""They are my brother, my son and my hus-

band.""Where are you taking them?""I am taking them to Medina for burial."

Saying this, Hind pulled the rein of the cameltowards Medina. But the animal seemed unwillingto proceed and finally sat down. Aysha said:

"The load seems heavy; he can't carry it""No. This camel of ours is very strong and

usually carries the load of two camels. There mustbe some other reason."

Saying this she pulled the rein towards Medina;again the camel sat down. When she turned thecamel towards Uhud, to her surprise the animalstarted walking quickly.

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The situation was strange. She thought, "per-haps there is some mystery in it'." She then turnedthe animal towards Uhud and went streight to theProphet:

"O Prophet of God! There is a strange storyhere. I placed these corpses to take them to Medinato bury them. When I pull the rein towards Medina,the animal refuses to obey me. But when I directhim to Uhud, he walks quickly."

"Did your husband say anything while comingto Uhud?"

"O Prophet of God! When he left the house,I heard him saying: `O God, Do not let me returnto my family."

"Then this is the reason. The sincere prayerof this martyre has been granted.

God does notwant this corpse to return. There are men amongyou, Helpers of the Prophet, who if they ask any-thing from God, the Almighty God grants theirwishes. Your husband was one of them."

On the advice of the Prophet, these men wereburied in Uhud. Then, the Prophet turned to Hindand said:

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"These men shall be together in that world""O Prophet of God! Pray to Almighty to keep

me also with them:"

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THE RIGHT OF COMPANIONSHIP

In those days, Kufa was the Capital and Centreof the Islamic Government.

All eyes of the vastand wide Muslim nation (with the exception ofSyria)

were fixed at this city waiting as to whatorders were being issued and what decisions taken.

Outside the City two gentlemen, a Muslim andthe other from People of the Book (Jew, Christianor Zoroastrian) met on the road one day. The Muslim was going to Kufa and the other gentlemen toanother place nearby. Since a part of their jour-ney was common, they decided to travel together.

On the way, they talked and talked on varioustopics of mutual interest and ultimately arrived atthe point where their paths separated.

The non-Muslim was surprised to see that his Muslim com-panion did not take the path leading to Kufa butaccompanied him on the other path, where he wasgoing. He asked:

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"Well, didn't you say you were going to Kufa?""Yes""Then why are you coming this way? The

other one is the path to Kufa'.""1 know. I want to walk a few steps with you

to see you off. Because our Prophet has said,` Whenever two persons travel together on the samepath, they establish reciprocal rights upon eachother. Now you have got a right upon me and forthe sake of that right of yours I wish to walk a fewsteps with you, and then, of course, I shall returnunto my own path."

"Oh! Such an authority and power which isweilded among people in such a perfect way byyour Prophet, and the amazing speed with whichhis religion has spread in the world, must be, I amsure, because of his such noble character."

The surprise and admiration of this gentlemenreached its peak when he learnt afterwards that hisMuslim friend was Ali bin Abi-Talib, the Caliph ofthat time. Soonafter he embraced Islam and was

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counted among the most devout and selfsacrificingcompanions of Ali.

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THE BLACK MARKET

The dependants of Imam Ja'afer Sadiq (a.s.)had increased in number; so had his expenses. TheI mam decided to invest some money in trade tomeet the increased expenses of the house. Hearranged for an amount of thousand Dinars whichhe gave to his slave named 'Musadif' directing himto proceed to Egypt and to invest the amount inbusiness on behalf of Imam.

Musadif purchased some goods usually ex-ported to Egypt, and joined a Caravan of traders,who were taking the same type of merchandise toEgypt.

When they reached near Egypt, they metanother Caravan coming out of the City. They en-quired about each other's affairs.

During thecourse of conversation, they learnt that the goodswhich Musadif and his friends were carrying werenot available in Egypt and were in great demand

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there. They became very happy at their good for-tune. Indeed that was an article of common useand people had to buy it at all costs.

The traders on hearing the good news decidedto exploit the situation. They agreed together notto sell the goods at less than hundred percent pro-fit.

They entered the city. The situation was sameas they had been told. As previously agreed, theycreated a black market, and did not sell the goodsat less than double the cost.

Musadif returned to Medina with a net profitof one thousand Dinars. Happy as he was he wentto Imam Sadiq, and placed before him two bags,each containing one thousand Dinars. The Imamasked

"What is this?""One of the two bags represents the capital

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you gave me, and the other one (which is equal tothe capital) is the profit I have made"

"Certainly the profit is unexpectedly high.Tell me how could you make so much profit?"

"The fact is when we learnt near Egypt thatthe merchandise we were carrying had becomescarce there, we agreed not to sell the goods at lessthan double the cost; and we did accordingly'."

"Glory be to God! You did such a work! Youtook oath to create a black market among the Mus-lims!

You swore not to sell the goods at less thandouble the actual cost! No. I don't want such busi-ness and such profit'."

Then picking up one of the bags, he said,"This is my capital." He did not even touch theother one, and said that he did not want to have anyconnection with that.

Then he said:

"O Musadif!

It is easier to fight with a swordthan to earn the livelihood lawfully."

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