Your Questions Answered (volume 6)

Q. 20: Selection of an a 'lam

How is an 'Alim declared to be an A 'lam? Who are the present Maraji -e-Taqleed and who is the most learned of them?

A: There are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of eye specialists in your city, Bombay.

Yet if one asks a knowledgeable friend where one should go for a complicated case, the friend will name only 3 or 4 doctors. Who elected them to become top-most eye- specialists? You will say: They were not elected; but their intelligence, knowledge, experience and continuous study have brought them to the fore-front. The same is the case with mujtahids.

At present, Ayatullah al-'Uzma Muhammad Fazil Lankarani (Qum) and Ayatullah al-'Uzma Sayyid 'Ali Sistani (Najaf) are considered to be A'lam. This word in Shi'a terminology means, one who has got top-most expertise in deriving the rules of shari'ah from its approved sources.

Q. 21: Mothers of 'AwN AND Muhammad:

Who was the mother of 'Awn and Muhammad (sons of 'Abdullah ibn Jafar) who were martyred at Karbala? Their ages?

A: 'Awn's mother was Hazrat Zainab (daughter of Amirul Mu'mineen 'Ali A.S); and Muhammad's mother was Khawsa' (from the tribe of Wa'il). First, Muhammad went to the battle-field, fought and killed ten warriors; finally he was slain by 'Amir ibn Nahshal. Then 'Awn went forth and killed 3 riders and eighteen foot. He was slain by 'Abdullah Ibn Battah at-Ta'i.

It is difficult to say how old they were in Karbala However, the age given for them in the marthiyas (i.e. 9 and 10 years) is definitely incorrect. They could not be so young. See Bihar-ul-anwar, vol. 45 for more details.

Q. 22: Children of Amru'l-Mu'mineen:

How many children Amir 'l-mu 'mineen 'Ali (A.S) had got? Were there more than one Zaynab and Umm Kulthum?

A: There are various reports about the number of his children, varying from 25 to 35. 3 sons were named Muhammad (the eldest of them was Hazrat Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyah); 2 sons were named 'Abbas (the eldest of them was the standard-bearer in Karbala). There were two Zaynabs, two Umm Kulthums and two Ruqayyahs.

The eldest Zaynab and Umm Kulthum were the daughters of Bibi Fatimah (A.S); Zaynab (the younger) was the daughter of Umm Sa'id, and the younger Umm Kulthum's mother was a slave-girl.

For more details see Biharul anwar vol. Manaqib of Ibn Shahr Ashob and other relevant books.

Q. 23: False claimants of Prophet hood:

How many false claimants of Prophethood and Imamate (Mahdaviyat) have appeared yet?

A: It is difficult to get at their exact number. However, there have appeared scores of false prophets and Mahdis.

Q. 24: Where is Imam Husayn's head buried?

A: Got your cable on 18th July, and sent the following reply the same day.

Hassanali, SG IMGI Georgetown, Guyana, In Karbala in same grave, Letter follows Saeed Akhtar. When Yazid released the family of Imam Husain (A.S) from prison, Imam Zaynul Abidin (A.S) took from him the head of Imam Husayn (A.S) and brought it to Karbala where he buried it with the body in the same grave Although there are some reports mentioning Damascus, Medina, and even Egypt as the place where the holy head is buried, but they are not authentic, and our scholars do not accept them.

Q. 25: WHEN DID ISLAM REACH ZANZIBAR?

When was Islam first introduced to Tanzania -particularly to the Islands of Zanzibar and Pemba? A: According to oral traditions, which have been recorded by the westerners, it may safely be said that Islam reached here by end of the first or beginning of the 2nd century of hijrah.

Q. 26: About Bilal Muslim Mission:

When was Bilal Muslim Mission established and who were its founding fathers? A: Bilal Muslim Mission was established in December, 1964. Many dedicated Muslims shared the honour of establishing it.

Important among them were Haji Ali Muhammad Jaffer Sheriff, Mulla Asghrali M. M. Jaffer, Haji Mohsin A.M Jaffer, Haji Muhammadali Meghji (from Kenya) and Haji Hassanali M. Ladak, Haji Hussain Nasser Walji, Haji Fidahussein Abdullah Hameer, Haji Ahmed Hussein Sheriff and the present writer (from Tanzania).

Q. 27: Islamic Activities in Tanzania:

What kind of Islamic activities are going on in the mainland of Tanzania?

A: I confine my reply to my Mission's activities only.

(a) (a)We publish two bi-monthly magazines in English and Swahili languages.

(b) We publish religious books in the English and Swahili languages. So far about 80 books and booklets have come out.

(d) We run scores of Qur'anic schools for smaller boys and girls.

(e) We conduct 3 types of Correspondence Courses in English and Swahili which are benefiting the Muslims throughout the world.

(f) We have established a charitable public dispensary.

(g) We regularly hold free Eye-Camps in villages and small towns.

Q. 28: Islamic Cure for Aids:

A friend says that Islam is the religion till the Day of Judgement and the solution of every thing till then. So what is the Islamic cure for AIDS?

A: Islam, as a religion, contains every thing which is required for spiritual upliftment of humanity. It is not a hand-book for medical profession or mathematics. It gives rules and regulations which govern everyone including the doctors and mathematicians. But it does not teach the doctors how to treat cough and malaria, or the accountants how to multiply or subtract.

However, as these rules and regulations oblige a person to live a clean and moral sexual life, it prevents one from getting infected with AIDS. Here the saying, "Prevention is better than cure" proves true.

And the Prophet (S.A.W) had given prior warning to those who would indulge in unlawful sexual intercourse, when he said, inter alia, in a hadith: "When fornication spreads, it will surely bring such new diseases to the people which their forefathers had not known."

Q. 29: Root cause of Children 's indicipline

The children are disobedient and even insulting to their teachers, elders and parents. Is this due to general human-right awareness, or level of intelligence having generally gone up amongst the younger folks?

Or are parents so naive and / or less informed than the children? For example, when we studied psychology 30 years ago the definition of Psychology was that it was a study of mind. Nowadays the definition of Psychology is the scientific study of the processes of the mind and the behaviour of the body, both positive and empirical.

A: I think the basic problem is not of human-rights awareness or enhancement of intelligence level etc. Certainly these are contributing factors; but I think the basic trouble lies somewhere else. The Muslim society in your City is built on materialism. Showiness, pride, extravaganza, rat-race for worldly gains, all these combined together are tearing the moral fabric to shreds.

Wealth is the alpha and omega of their ideal - whether it comes from lawful means or unlawful ones, makes no difference. And the haram money, entering through food into their blood system, first dims the spiritual light in the heart and finally darkens it completely. It affects the relationship of elders with the younger generation in many ways:-

(a) The children are deprived of moral guidance and training from their early age.

(b) They see their elders indulging in all types of un ethical dealings in their offices and businesses.

(c) In this way, the children are given practical training of keeping the religion and moral values confined to the compounds of mosques, husainiyas and, to a certain extent, homes.

(d) The children thus develop a dual personality; and the elders lose respect in their eyes, and even if at times they are told by these elders to behave in moral ways, the words sound to them hollow and hypocritical.

As the parents and elders have forfeited their moral authority, is it strange that the children are behaving in the way you have mentioned.

You know the U.S.A. better than I do, and also about the moral decay of its black community. But I am reading since last many years in the official reports of many government departments that the blacks who have embraced Islam, have turned their localities into law-abiding, well-disciplined areas, free of drugs and crimes. And this acknowledgement comes from those who have declared Islam as their enemy No. 1.

It clearly proves that Islam - if accepted sincerely - can transform a totally rotten society into a healthy, dynamic force, vibrating with moral rectitude and spiritual sublimity. Even those prisoners who have become Muslims, have been transformed into model ones. Why can't we, the born Shi'as and Muslims, achieve the same result with our Islam?