Al-Amali, The Dictations of Shaykh al-Mufid

Twenty Fifth Assembly

Met on Monday, 27th of the month of Ramadhan in the year 408 Hijrah. The grand Sheikh al-Mufid, Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Nu’man - may Allah bless him with abilities, reported this.

  1. Abu Dharr's admonition

He said: Abul Hasan Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Walid, may Allah bless him with mercy, reported to me from his father, who reported from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Saffar, who reported from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid, who reported from his father, who reported from Ahmad ibn al-Nadhr al-Khazzaz, from Amru ibn Shimr, from Jabir ibn Yazid, that:

Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn, peace be upon him, said: Abu Dharr al-Ghifari stood near al-Kabah and announced: "I am Jundab ibn al-Sakan," so people gathered around him. Then he said: "O people, if someone from you decides to travel, he will prepare to make it comfortable. Do you not intend to make your journey to the Day of Judgement comfortable for yourselves?"
One man stood up and said: "Counsel us further, may Allah bless you with mercy."

Abu Dharr said: "To fast on a day of fierce heat is beneficent on the day of Resurrection; to go on pilgrimage to the Sacred House helps resolve important matters in life and two Rakats of prayers in the darkness of the night averts the fright in the graves.

Let your speech be two versions: a good word which you must speak up, and a bad word you ought to spare. And be charitable to the poor; perhaps that should save you, O poor soul, on the Day of anguish.

And let your earnings from this world be two Dirhams: one to maintain your dependents and one to send forward for your next world. The third one is harmful and not beneficent, so do not covet it. And let your interest in this world be in two ways: one for earning that which is lawful and another for your hereafter. The third way is harmful and of no benefit, therefore do not seek it."

Then he said: "(How strange that) the worries of a day I have not (yet) seen (i.e. tomorrow) kills me!"

  1. Muhammad (SAW) . . . the chosen one

He said: Abul Hasan ‘Ali ibn Khalid al-Maraghi reported to me from Abdul Karim ibn Muhammad al-Bijili, who reported from Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah, who reported from Muhammad ibn Mas'ab al-Qurqusni, who reported from al-Awzai, who reported from Shaddad ibn Abu Ammar, from Wathila ibn al-Asqa, who said:

The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, said: "Allah chose Ismail from the children of Ibrahim, and chose Kananah from the children of Ismail, and chose Quraish from the children of Kananah, and chose Banu Hashim from Quraish and then chose me from Banu Hashim."

  1. Sanctity of a believing soul

He said: Abul Hasan ‘Ali ibn Khalid al-Maraghi reported to me from ‘Ali ibn Sulaiman, who reported from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Nahavandi, who reported from Abu al-Khazraj al-Asadi, who reported from Muhammad ibn al-Fudhail, who reported from Aban ibn Abu Ayyash, who reported from Ja'far ibn Iyas, who reported from Abu Saeed al-Khudri who said:

Once a slain person was found during the days of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, so he climbed the mimber deeply enraged; and after praising Allah and thanking Him, he said: "How come a Muslim is killed and his killer in not known? By Him Who controls my soul, if all the people of the heavens and the earth were to join hands to kill a believer, or were pleased with it, Allah will send them to hell.

By Him in Whose hands is my breath, whoever flogs someone wrongfully and unjustly, he will be flogged the same way tomorrow in hellfire. By Him in Whose hands is my soul: No one takes us, Ahlul Bayt, as his enemy, except that Allah will throw him on his face into hellfire."

  1. The pillars of faith

He said: Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn reported to me from his father, who reported from Sa'd ibn Abdillah, from Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Abu al-Khattab, from Muhammad ibn Sinan, from al-Mufaddhal ibn Umar al-Jo'fi, from Jabir ibn Yazid, from Abu Ja'far, Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Husayn, from his father, from his forefather, peace be upon them all, who said:

The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, told ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him: "O ‘Ali, I and you, and your two sons Hasan and Husayn and nine descendants of Husayn are the pillars of faith and buttress of Islam. Those who will follow us will be saved and those who turn away from us, their way is to hellfire."

  1. Mughairah and Ammar

He said: Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Dawood al-Hatmi reported to me by way of authorization (to report from him) from Abu Bakr Abdullah ibn Sulaiman ibn al-Asha'th, who reported from Ahmad ibn Muhammad Abdan, who reported from Ibrahim al-Harbi, who reported from Saeed ibn Dawood ibn (Abu) Zanbar who said:

Malik ibn Anas reported to me from his uncle Abu Suhail ibn Malik, from his father who said: When ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, rose to leave Madinah for Basrah, I was standing with al-Mughairah ibn Sha'bah, when Ammar ibn Yasir, may Allah be pleased with him, approached him and said: "O Mughaira, do you have an intention to do something for Allah, Most High?" He said: "And where is that for me, O Ammar?"

He (i.e. Ammar) said: "Join this call (to the war) so that you may be with those who have gone before you, and lead those who are behind you."

Al-Mughaira said: "O Abu Yaqdhan (i.e. Ammar), how about something better than that?" Ammar replied: "And what is that?"

He (i.e. Mughaira) said: "We enter the (privacy of) our homes and shut our doors, till the dust settles and the situation is clear. Then we come out and see. Let us not be like the one who broke the chain so that he may laugh (happily) and instead, he fell into anguish."

Ammar said: "Far from what you expect! Do you want to act ignorant after knowing the truth, and resort to blindness in spite of having discerned? But listen! by Allah, you will not see me, but at the forefront."

He said: Then Amirul Mu’mineen, peace be upon him, appeared and he asked: "O Abu Yaqdhan! What does this one-eyed man tell you? Surely, he is always busily engaged in mixing the truth with untruth and misinforms. He has no relation with the religion except in matters, which conform with the worldly gians. Woe unto you, O Mughairah, this calls leads everyone who joins to Paradise."
Al-Mughairah said: "You are right, O Amirul Mu’mineen. But if I do not join you, I will never be against you."

  1. Intercession by Muhammad (SAW) and his progeny

He said: Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn reported from his father, who reported from Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Attar, who reported from Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Yahya, from al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali al-Kufi, from al-Abbas ibn Amir al-Qasbani, from Ahmad ibn Rizq al-Ghamshani, from Yahya ibn Abul Ala', from Jabir, from Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn, from his father, from his grandfather, peace be upon them all, who said:

The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, said: "On the Day of Judgement, when the People of Paradise will have settled in their blissful gardens and the people of hell will be in the fire, there will be one who spent seventy autumns in the fire, each autumn is equal to seventy years; then he will beseech Allah, Most High, imploring: "O my Sustainer, I ask you in the name of Muhammad and the inmates of his house to have mercy on me."

Then Allah, Most Mighty, will command Jibraeel, peace be upon him: "Descend to my servant and release him." Jibraeel would say: "How can I descend into hellfire?" Allah, Most Benevolent, would say: "We have commanded the fire to be cold and safe for you."

He (Jibraeel) would say: "O my Sustainer! How do I know where he is located?" Allah would say: "He is in the pit of Sijjin." Then Jibraeel would descend into the fire, find him shackled onto his face, so he will get him out.

There he (the servant) stands in the presence of Allah, Most High; then Allah addresses him: "O My servant, for how long have you been in fire, entreating Me thus?" He would say: "I have no count." Allah, Most High, would say: "By My Honour, had you not beseeched in the name of those, who have a status in My estimation, you would have stayed there in a prolonged humiliation. But, I have ordained for Myself that no one asks me in the name of Muhammad and the inmates of his household, except that I forgive him all that is between Me and him. So, I have pardoned you today." Then Allah will command for him to be taken to the Paradise.

  1. Do not waste your time idly

He said: Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn reported to me from Muhammad ibn ‘Ali Majeelawayah, who reported from ‘Ali ibn Ibrahim, from his father, from Muhammad ibn Abu Umair, from Muawiyah ibn Ammar, that:

Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, said: There was an idle man in Madinah whose jokes caused laughter among the people. Once, pointing at ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn, peace be upon him, he said: "This man has indeed fatigued me, for nothing from my talks makes him laugh. I must do some contrivance to make him laugh."

Then one day, as ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn, peace be upon him, was passing by, accompanied by his two attendants, that jester came and pulled his (‘Ali ibn al-Husayn's) cloak from behind his back. The attendants followed and retrieved the cloak from him and laid it back on ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn's shoulders, while he was quite composed, his glance cast on the ground.

Then he asked his attendants: "Who is he?" They said: "He is an idle jester, causes people of Madinah to laugh by his pranks and jokes, and thus earn his livelihood."

He said: "Tell him: 'Woe unto you! For Allah, there is a fixed Day on which the idle, vain doers will be in loss."

And may Allah bless our master Muhammad and his progeny, and send unto him salutations.