Al-Amali, The Dictations of Shaykh al-Mufid

Twenty first Assembly

Met on Saturday, 15th of the month of Ramadhan in the year 407 Hijra; heard by Abul Fawaris. The grand Sheikh al-Mufid Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Nu’man, may Allah continue His beneficence upon him, narrated:

  1. Complete Islam

He said: Abul Hasan Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Walid reported to me from his father, from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Saffar, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Isa, from al-Hasan ibn Mahboob; from Abu Ayyub al-Khazzar, from Abu Hamza al-Thumali - may Allah bless him with mercy, who heard:

Abu Ja'far al-Baqir Muhammad ibn ‘Ali, peace be upon him, say: "Whoever has four traits in him, his Islam is complete, his faith is entrenched and he is purified from his sins; and he will meet his Lord, having earned His pleasure, even if he were immersed in sins from head to toe. They are: Fulfilling what one adopts as divine obligation upon oneself; being truthful with the people; to be ashamed of acts which are ugly and evil in the eyes of Allah and the people; to adopt the best morality and behaviour with the family and the people.

And among the believers, whoever has four traits, Allah will grant him abode with the highest of the high ones, in a chamber above the chambers and at a place of highest honour. They are: One who gives shelter to an orphan, treating him or her like a kind father; one who is kind to the weak (or old), helping and sufficiently providing; one who maintains his parents, being friendly and kind to them, never causing them any grief; and one who is not awkward with his servants and dependents, being helpful to them in what he assigns to them, never imposing a burden upon them greater than they can bear."

  1. Avoid being vulgar

He said: Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Imran al-Marzbani reported to me from Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hakimi, who reported from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, who reported from Yahya ibn Moeen, who reported from Abdul Razzaq, who reported from Mo'mar, from Thabit, from Anas ibn Malik that:

The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, said: "Whenever there is any vulgarity in any affair, it does not leave it without being tarnished; and whenever there is bashfulness in any matter, it does not leave it without being adorned."

  1. Jabir asked the Prophet about his successor

He said: Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Muqri reported to me from Abu Abdillah al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali al-Razi, who reported from Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Hanafi, who reported from Yahya ibn Hashim al-Simsar, who reported from Amru ibn Shimr, who reported from Hammad, from Abu al-Zubair, from Jabir ibn Abdillah ibn Harram al-Ansari, who said:

Once I came to the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, and asked: "O messenger of Allah, who is your successor?" He said that the Prophet kept silent for a while, not answering me. Then he said: "O Jabir, may I not answer your question?" So I said: "My father and my mother be your ransom; By Allah, you maintained a silence, till I thought you were not pleased."

He said: "O Jabir, I was not displeased with you. I was waiting for what the heavens would reveal, and then Jibraeel came to me saying: O Muhammad, your Lord sends you salutations and says unto you: Surely, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib is your executor and your successor over your kinsfolk and the Ummah; and a protector of your Pool (al-Hawdh). He is the bearer of your standard, preceding you into Praradise."

I said: "O Prophet of Allah! Would you say that if someone did not believe in this, I should fight him?" He said: "Yes O Jabir. This status has not been established except for being followed. So whoever follows it, he will be with me tomorrow, (i.e. on the day of Judgement) and whoever opposes it, he will never arrive near me at the Pool (al-Hawdh)."

  1. Those who love the Prophet and his progeny

He said: Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Umar al-Ji’abi reported to me from Abul Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Saeed al-Hamdani, who reported from Umar ibn Aslam, who reported from Saeed ibn Yusuf al-Basri, from Khalid ibn Abdul Rahman al-Madayeni, from Abdul Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from Abu Dharr al-Ghifari - may Allah be pleased with him, who said:

I saw the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, stroke the shoulders of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him and say: "O ‘Ali, whoever loves us is from pure Arab breed and those who hate us are the non-Arab infidels. Our Shi’ahs are people of noble descent and honour, and are of legitimate birth. And there is none on the path of Ibrahim except those who are our Shi’ahs; the rest of the people are away from it. And Allah has appointed angels who demolish the sins of our Shi’ahs, the way a pick destroys a structure."

  1. Miqdad and Abdurahman ibn Awf

He said: Abul Hasan ‘Ali ibn Muhammad al-Katib reported to me from al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali al-Za'farani, from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Thaqafi, from Muhammad ibn ‘Ali, who reported from al-Husayn ibn Sufyan, from his father, who reported from Lut ibn Yahya, who reported from Abdul Rehman ibn Jandab, from his father who said:

When people swore loyalty to Uthman, I heard al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad al-Kindi - may Allah bless him with mercy, say to Abdul Rahman ibn Awf: "O Abdul Rahman, I never saw the like of this befell the Ahlul Bayt after their Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny)." So Abdul Rahman said: "O Miqdad, what does that concern you?"

He said: "By Allah, I love them because of the Prophet's love for them; and it pains me when I find myself unable to speak openly. The Quraish enjoyed superiority over others because of the nobility of Ahlul Bayt and yet they have united to snatch away from them the authority of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny)".

Abdul Rahman replied: "Woe unto you, by Allah! I tried my best for you!" Miqdad said to him: "By Allah, you have abandoned a man who is from among those who enjoy the truth and through that, they act with justice. By Allah, if I had some helpers against the Quraish, I would have fought them the way we fought at Badr and Uhod."

Abdul Rahman said: "May your mother mourn you, O Miqdad, let no one hear from you this talk; by Allah, I fear that you may become a perpetrator of factions and disturbance."

Jundab says: I called upon him after he had left the place and told him: "Miqdad, I am one of your helpers." He said: "May Allah bless you with mercy; what we need cannot be accomplished by two men or three." So I left him and came to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, and related to him what Miqdad and I had said. He prayed for us.

  1. The secret of Mu’awiyah

He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad ibn Imran al-Marzbani reported to me from Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Ahmed al-Hakimi, who reported from Ismail ibn Ishaq al-Qadhi, who reported from Saeed ibn Yahya, from Muhammad ibn Saeed, who reported from Abdul Malik ibn Umair al-Lakhmi, that:

Once Jariya ibn Qudamah al-Sa'di called upon Mu’awiyah; and upon the throne, there were al-Ahnaf ibn Qais and al-Habbab al-Majashee sitting next to him. Mu’awiyah said: "Who are you?" He replied: "I am Jariya ibn Qudamah. (And he was among the nobles). Mu’awiyah said: "May be so, but are you anything but a (stinging) bee?"

He said: "O Mu’awiyah, do not do that! You have compared me to a bee. By Allah, it has a strong sting, but a sweet spit. While, by Allah, Mu’awiyah is nothing but a female dog howling at other dogs! And Umayyah is nothing but a diminutive of Amah - a house maid."

Mu’awiyah said: "Do not do that!" He said: "You did it and so I did also."

Mu’awiyah said: "Come closer to me and sit with me on the throne." He said: "I will not do that." Moawiyah said: "Why?" He replied: "For I see that these two have occupied your seat and removed you from your place. I would not like to join them." Mu’awiyah said: "Come closer so that I may share with you a secret." So he drew closer, and Mu’awiyah told him, "O Jariya, I have bought from these two their faith." He said: "Then buy from me, O Mu’awiyah." Moawiyah said: "Do not speak loudly."

  1. Expiation for Ghibah

He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad ibn Imran al-Marzbani reported to me from Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hakimi, who reported from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, who reported from Dawood ibn al-Muhabbar, who reported from Ambasah ibn Abdul Rahman al-Qarshi, who reported from Khalid ibn Yazid al-Yamani, who reported from Anas ibn Malik that:

The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, said: "The penance and expiation for backbiting anyone is to seek forgiveness from Allah for him or her."

And may Allah bless His mercy upon our master Muhammad and his progeny.