Moment By Moment : Expecting the Advent of Al-qa'im (pbuh)

11 Purifying Our Love For the Imam (pbuh)

We need to cleanse our heart of dirt so that the light of Allah could move in with the fullest magnitude. We should purify our love and affection for Ahl al- Bait (PBUT), and keep aloof from their enemies:

Imam al-Baqir (PBUH) and Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) narrated that the Apostle of Allah (PBUH&HF) said, "Everything has a principle, and the principle of Islam is the love of us Ahl al-Bait."[^2] Also:

Imam al-Ridha (PBUH) said, "The perfection of religion is: accepting our Wilaya and keeping aloof from our enemy."[^3] In another Hadith we read:

Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) said, "He who claims to love us but he does not keep aloof from our enemy, is a liar."[^4] It is also narrated:

About the verse, "Allah has not assigned unto any man two hearts within his body," (33:4) Imam al-Baqir (PBUH) said, Ali Ibn Abi Talib (PBUH) said, "Allah does not gather our love and the love of our enemy within a human's heart. Certainly, Allah did not give two hearts to man ... [^1]Tafsir, Imam Hasan al-Askari (PBUH), p. 338-339, Hadith 213-214; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 2, p. 2, Hadith 1. [^2]al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 46, Hadith 2; al-Amali, al-Tusi, p. 84; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 65, p. 343, Hadith 15. [^3]Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 27, p. 58, Hadith 19. [^4]Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 27, p. 58, Hadith 18.

Thus he who (really) loves us will purify his love for us like the purification of gold by fire, which does not leave any dirt in it. Therefore, if you want to know how much you love us, you should test your heart; if you have shared the love our enemies in your heart, you are not of us and we are not of you.

Allah is their enemy, and so are 'Gabriel and Michael, and Allah is the enemy of the disbelievers.' (2:98)"[^1] Moreover, al-Alaa Ibn al-Fudhail narrated:

Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) said, "He who loves a disbeliever has indeed hated Allah, and he who hates a disbeliever (for the sake of Allah) has indeed loved Allah." Then he (PBUH) said, "The friend of the enemy of Allah is an enemy of Allah."[^2]

When a person really loves someone and sees that another person shows hostility to his friend, it is naturally expected that he opposes and dislike his friend's enemy; otherwise, it shows that such love was not a true one, and rather, it was only a show due to hypocrisy. This is purely a rational reality, which is also testified in the Quran:

You will not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day, but love those who opposed Allah and His Apostle, even though they were their fathers, their sons, their brothers, or their kindred... (58:22) Thus, true love is always accompanied with true hate, and one does not really love Ahl al-Bait (PBUT) unless he also becomes a hater of their enemies. Several authorities narrated:

[^1] Tafsir, Ali Ibn Ibrahim al-Qummi, vol. 2, pp. 171-172; Ta'wil al-Ayat al-Dhahira, p. 439; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 31, p. 5.

[^2]al-Amali, al-Saduq, p. 605, Hadith 8; Wasa'il al-Shia, vol. 16, p. 180, Hadith 21292; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 66, p. 237, Hadith 3.

Imam Baqir (PBUH) said: "... Is religion other than love and hate?" He (PBUH) then recited, "But Allah has made you love the Faith and has made it beautiful in your hearts, and He has made you hate disbelief, wickedness, and rebellion.

Such indeed are those who grow in righteousness," (49:7) and "They love those who migrate towards them," (59:9) and "Say, 'If you truly love Allah, follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. For Allah is forgiving, most merciful.'" (3:31)[^1]

The last quoted verse in the above Hadith shows that even following Allah's commandments is the result of loving Allah. Fudhail Ibn Yasar has also narrated a similar Hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) with the difference that the Imam (PBUH) said: "Is faith other than love and hate?"[^2] Another interesting tradition states that the religion is naught but love.

This is consistent with the above-quoted traditions since hating the enemies of Allah should only be for the sake of loving Allah. Thus, we come to our previous conclusion that hating is not an independent issue. Rather it is a natural resultant of true love. In other words, having true love alone for Allah rationally implies having hatred against His enemies. In fact, hating the enemies of Allah is a duty and is of the best deeds. The Sunni and the Shia traditionists have unanimously reported:

The Apostle of Allah (PBUH&HF) said: "The best deeds are love for the sake of Allah and hate for the sake of Allah." He (PBUH&HF) also said in another Hadith: "Love for the sake of Allah is a duty (Faridha) and hate for the sake of Allah is a duty."[^3]

Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) said:

"Whoever doubts in the disbelief of our enemies and those who have wronged us, is a disbeliever."[^4] Sulaiman al-A'mash has narrated:

[^1] Tafsir, Furat al-Kufi, p. 428, Hadith 567; Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 226, Hadith 13950; Bihar al- Anwar, vol. 65, p. 63, Hadith 114. [^2]al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 125, Hadith 5; al-Mahasin, p. 262, Hadith 326; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 66, p. 241, Hadith 16. [^3]Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 221, Hadith 13934, p. 226, Hadith 13948; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 66, p. 252, Hadith 32. [^4]Wasa'il al-Shia, vol. 28, p. 345, Hadith 34923; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 27, p. 62.

Ja'far Ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq (PBUH) narrated from his father that the Apostle of Allah (PBUH&HF) said, "O Ali! If a servant worships Allah for a thousand years, Allah shall not accept from him except by means of your Wilaya and the Wilaya of the Imams in your offspring.

And verily your Wilaya shall not be accepted except by means of keeping aloof from your enemies and the enemies of the Imams in your offspring. This is what Gabriel has informed me. 'Thus let him who will, believe (it), and let him who will, reject (it).' (18:29)"[^1]

Allah commands us that we should disassociate from the disbelievers (those who have heard the message of Ahl al-Bait (PBUT) but rejected it) and avoid friendship with them [^2], and should take them as enemy [^3].

Thus we can never unite with the disbelievers. Our cooperation with them at times in a worldly matter is only due to Taqiyya, and it is a diplomatic, superficial, and circumstantial relation. If such apparent relation would lessen or overshadow our disgust from them in our heart, then it should be certainly avoided.

12 Keeping alive the remembrance of the Imam (PBUH)

One of our important duties during the time of occultation is to remember our Imam (PBUH) more often in gatherings and in private, and to make gatherings for his remembrance:

I heard Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) saying, "Our Shia are compassionate among each other. When they hold a private meeting, they remember Allah. Verily, the remembrance of us is of the remembrance of Allah. When we are remembered, Allah has been remembered, and when our enemy is remembered, Satan has been remembered."[^4]

It is also narrated:

[^1] Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 1, p. 171, Hadith 280; Kanz al-Fawa'id, vol. 2, p. 12; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 27, p. 199, Hadith 66. [^2]See the holy Quran, 3:28, 5:51, 9:1, 9:3, 9:16, 9:23, 60:1. [^3]See chapter 2, verse 98 and chapter 4, verse 101 of the Quran. [^4]al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 186, Hadith 1.

Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) said to Dawud Ibn Sarhan, "O Dawud, offer my greetings to my friends and deliver this message to them that Allah blessed a servant who gathers with another to make remembrance of our matter, and in that case,

the third among them is an angel who asks forgiveness for them. When two servants gather for our remembrance, Allah recounts His glory to His angels (for having such servants).

Thus, when you gather spend your time in remembrance (of us). Verily, your gathering and your remembrance makes us live. And the best people after us are those who remind one another to our matter and invite to our remembrance."[^1]

Ibn Sa'd al-Azdi has narrated:

Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) asked Fudhail Ibn Yasar, "Do you assemble with your friends and narrate traditions?" He said, "Yes, may I be sacrificed for you."

He (PBUH) said, "I hold dear such gatherings as it will revive our matter. May Allah have mercy on him who revives our matter? O Fudhail! He who remembers us or is reminded about us, and this brings tears to his eyes even to the extent of a wing of a fly, Allah will forgive his sins even if they are greater than the foam of the sea."[^2]