Short Maxims of Imam Hasan al-Askari(A.S.)

Short Maxims of Imam Hasan al-Askari(A.S.)

Imam Hasan Askari ( a.s. ) Father of the Awaited One  Hazrat Imam Mahdi ( a.t.f.s. )

 

 

: The Reviver Of Islam

 

1- Do not dispute (with others) lest you will lose splendor and do not joke (with everyone) lest you will be disrespected.

2- As for those who accept to sit in a place other than the first row of a session, Allah and His angels will bless them until they leave that session.

3- Imam Hasan al-Askari(A.S.) answer the man who asked him a miracle or a proof of Imamat: The punishment will be doubled for those who refuted the miracle or proof of Imamat after it had been presented to them according to their demand. He who shows patience will be supplied with the support of Allah. People are accustomed to publicize false missives that they themselves forge. We supplicate to Allah for guiding us (to the right). Matters are either submission or destruction. The end results of everything belong to Allah.

4- Imam al-Askari(A.S.) answered the man who reported to him the disagreement of Shias: Allah has addressed to the intelligent exclusively. People are of different classes: some are the discerning on a way of salvation; they are holding fast to the right and clinging to the branch of the origin; they are neither doubtful not suspicious; they do not consider a shelter other than me. Some are those who have not received the right from its very people; they are like those who embarked on a ship; they ripple when the sea is wavy and calm down when the sea is calm. Some are those who are dominated by the Shaitan; their one and only job is to refute the people of the right and substitute the wrong for the right out of envy. Hence, leave those who went astray to the right and left. When a shepherd wants to gather the hoard, he will not need to exert efforts for so. Beware of divulging our secrets and seeking power, for these two things drive into perdition.

5- Within the unforgivable sins are the sins whose committers wish if they would not commit anything else." Imam al-Askari(A.S.) then said: "Polytheism of people is more hidden that the creeping of ants on a black piece of cloth in a gloomy night.

6- "Bismillah ar Rahman ir Rahim -- in the Name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful-" is as near to the Great Name (of Allah) as the iris to the white of the eye.

7- In the time of Imam al-Hasan Askari(A.S.), some of the Shias disagreed about his Imamat; therefore the following message was publicized carrying his signature: No one of my fathers suffered the (affliction of the) disagreement of such a group like I did. If this matter of Imamat that you have believed in and embraced is temporary, then I doubt it. If it is as permanent as the affairs of Allah, then what is the meaning of this doubt?

8- The mutual love of the pious. The hate of the sinful to the pious is an advantage for the pious. The hate of the pious to the sinful is debasement for the sinful.

9- To greet everyone you pass by and to sit in a place other than the first class of a session are signs of modesty.

10- Reasonless laughter is a sign of ignorance.

11- Within the misfortunes that deal a death blow is the neighbor who overshadows any good feature that he notices and propagandizes any defect that he notices.

12- Imam al-Askari(A.S.) said to his adherents (Shias) I command you to fear Allah, show piety to your religion, work hard for Allah's sake, tell truths only, return the deposits to their owners whether they are pious or sinful, prostrate yourselve before Allah for a long time, and treat your neighbors courteously. These are the matters that Mohammaed(S.A.W.) brought. Offer prayers in the middle of your folks, attend their funeral ceremonies, visit their ill ones, and fulfill their rights. I am pleased if people point to you and say "this is Shi'ite", when you behave piously, tell truths only, return the deposits to their owners, and condutct courteously with people. Fear Allah, be good (examples) and do not be evil. Attract people's fondness of us and save us from every awful character, for we are surely the people of every good thing that is said about us, but we are definitely not the owners of any evil thing that is imputed to us. We enjoy a (distinctive) right in the Book of Allah, a relation (of kinship) to the Messenger of Allah, and a purification whose source is Allah. Only can the liars claim of enjoying our distinctive features. Refer to Allah very much, refer to death, recite the Quran, and bless the Prophet(S.A.W.). A single blessing of the Prophet(S.A.W.) is ten advantages. Retain the matter of which I have commanded you. Allah keep you under His supervision. Peace be upon you.

13- Very much offering of prayers and fasting is not the worship; the very worship is the very much pondering over the affairs of Allah.

14- The worst servants - of Allah - are those who are two-faced and two-tongued; they praise their present friends and backbite the absent; they envy them for obtaining graces and disappoint them when they suffer a misfortune.

15- Anger is the key to every evil.

16- In 260 A.H. Imam al-Askari(A.S.) said to his adherents: We have previously ordered you to put the rings in your right hands when we were among you. Now, because you will no longer meet us (normally), we order you to put your rings in your left hands until Allah make your, as well as our, Question prevalent. This is surely the best proof through which you can prove your being loyal to our leadership; i,e. the leadership of the Prophet's family. All the attendants took their rings out of their right hands to put them in the left. The Imam(A.S.) then ordered: Convey this commandment to all of our adherents -Shias.
17- The least comfortable of people is the spiteful. 

18- The most pious of people is he who stops at suspicious matters. The best worshipper is he who performs the obligatory religious affairs duly. The most abstinent of people is he who abandons the unlawful. The most hard-working of people is he who deserts sins.

19- You are plunging into decreased deadlines and limited days. He who sows good will harvest delight and he who sows evil will harvest regret. Each cultivator will gain only what he has cultivated. The slow will not gain but his own share. The acquisitive will not catch that which is not his. The source of every advantage is Allah, and the actual protector from every evil is Allah, too.

20- The faithful believer is a blessing for the believers and a claim against he disbelievers.

21- The heart of the foolish is in his mouth and the mouth of the wise is in his heart.

22- The guaranteed sustenance should not engage you from the ordained deed.

23- The excessiveness of the (ritual) ablution is as same as defect.

24- The powerful will be definitely humiliated if he ignores the right and the humble will be definitely valued if he takes in it.

25- Fatigue is the friend of the ignorant.

26- Nothing is above two characters: believing in Allah and benefiting the friends.

27- The babies who dare their fathers will surely treat them impiously when they attain maturity.

28- To show happiness before the grieved is not a sign of good mannerism. 

29- Everything that you dislike your life if you lose it is surely preferred to your life, and everything that you desire for death if it befalls you is surely eviler than death.

30- To educate an ignorant and to prevent a habit are two impossible actions.

31- Modesty is an unenviable favor.

32- Do not bestow upon anyone with matters that are difficult for him.

33- Those who advice their friend secretly are respecting them, and those who advice them openly are humiliating them.

34- Allah's favors encompass every misfortune.

35- It is so ugly for a believer to follow a passion that causes him humiliation.

Islamic Practical Laws: Wuzu and Ghusl

Islamic Practical Laws: Wuzu and Ghusl

Wuzu is the cause for purification and is a desirable action in all conditions. One of the occasions on which wuzu becomes obligatory is Namaz.

In ablutions, it is essential that, after niyyat, one adheres to its proper sequence. That is, he must first wash the face, then the right hand followed by the left hand. After that, he should do masah (i.e. wiping of front portion of head and the upper portion of the feet).

1. Lengthwise, it is obligatory to wash the face from the hairline at the top of the forehead, down to the chin. Breadth-wise, one must wash the area of the face covered by stretching the thumb and middle finger.
2. Then, one must wash the right hand from the elbow up to the fingertips. One must wash from the elbow with the downward motion and should ensure each and every part of the hand is moistened from the elbow to the fingertips, both on the upper as well as the lower side.

After washing the right hand, the left hand must be washed likewise.

3. Then one must perform the masah, by wiping the front portion of the head with the moisture from the water of the wuzu.
4. It is not necessary that the masah should be on the scalp i.e. skin of head, it can also be done on the hair of the front portion. If the hair is long, then in this condition, he should do masah on the roots of hair or he should part the hair and do masah on the scalp.
5. After the masah of the head, with the moisture remaining in the hand, one must do masah of the outward portion of the feet from the tip of the toes to the ankles with the palms. It is preferable that it should be wiped right up to the joint.
6. Performing wuzu with usurped water or with water about which it is not known whether or not its owner is agreeable for it to be used, is unlawful and void.
7. Performing wuzu with the water of the pools of madrasas, inns, hotels, etc. by persons who are not staying there is valid in case other persons who are not staying there also usually perform wuzu with that water.
8. If a place on the body other than the limbs on which wuzu is performed is impure, the wuzu is in order. But to perform namaz, it is necessary to make that place paak.
9. If there is so much gap between the acts of wuzu that when the person wishes to wash or wipe a place, the wetness of the place already washed or wiped by him has dried up, his wuzu will be void.
10. It is unlawful to touch the words of Holy Quran with any part of one’s body without performing wuzu – however, there is no harm in touching, its translation in any language without performing wuzu.
11. One should not touch without wuzu, the names of Allah, regardless of the language in which they may have been written.
12. If a person performs wuzu or ghusl before the time for prayers in order to be in a state of purity, his wuzu/ghusl is in order.
13. Wuzu becomes void and invalid on account of the following things:
• passing urine or stool or gas
• sleep on account of which one’s eyes do not see and ears do not hear
• actions on account of which, a person loses his senses, e.g. insanity, intoxication, unconsciousness. And all those actions for which ghusl becomes obligatory; like janaabat, menses (Istehaza), etc.
14. If there is an open wound, or a fractured bone, on which wuzu has to be performed, and the use of water is not harmful, one should perform wuzu in the usual manner. If the wound or fractured bone has been dressed, and is on the part of the body where water for wuzu is to come in contact, then one can perform Wuzu-e-Jabira, if reopening the dressing and pouring water on the wound is harmful. Wuzu-e-Jabira means to place a pure piece of cloth on the wound and draw a wet hand on the cloth. However, the person must first wash the portion adjacent to the wound in the usual manner.

OBLIGATORY BATHS (GHUSL)

1. There are seven occasions when ghusl becomes obligatory. Of these, four are for both, men as well as women viz.
• Ghusl-e-Janaabat,
• ghusl to fulfill a vow (nazr)
• ghusl for the corpse (mayyat)
• ghusl for the person who touches the corpse (mas-e-mayyat).

The remaining 3 kinds of ghusl are only for women.

• Ghusl-e-Hayz
• Ghusl-e-Nifaas
• Ghusl-e-Istehaazaa
1. A person becomes unclean (mujnib) due to 2 reasons:
• Sexual intercourse
• Discharge of semen in a state of sleep or otherwise.
2. The following five things are unlawful for an unclean person (mujnib):
• To touch with any part of one’s body the writing of the Holy Quran, names of Almighty Allah, Prophets and Imams (a.s.)
• Entering Masjidul Haraam (Khaana-e-Ka’ba) and Masjidun Nabi (in Medina) although it may simply be entering from one gate and exiting from the other.
• To stay in all other mosques and the shrines of the Holy Imams (a.s.). However, there is no harm if a person simply enters through one gate and goes out of another.
• To go and place something in the masjid.
• To recite verses of the Holy Quran which make prostration obligatory – viz. (i) 32:15, (ii) 41:38, (iii) 53:63, (iv) 96:19.
3. Ghusl-e-Janaabat by itself is recommended (mustahhab), but becomes obligatory (wajib) for praying namaz or other acts of worship where cleanliness (tahaarat) is a condition.
4. If one performs Ghusl-e-Janaabat, then there is no need to perform wuzu for offering prayers (namaz).
5. The period of menses is from 3 days up to 10 days.
6. During menstruation, a woman should abandon namaz as well as fasting. After she has become pure, it is not wajib for her to offer the namaz lapsed during the period of menses. However she should observe the obligatory fasts missed by her during this period. All those acts, which are unlawful for a mujnib, are unlawful for a haaizah. Having intercourse during menses is unlawful
7. Divorce during menses is not valid.
8. After post-menses purity, it is obligatory for her to perform ghusl for namaz and other acts of worship that should be performed with wuzu, ghusl or tayammum.
9. The initial discharge of blood from the body of a woman, on the delivery of the child, is termed as Nifaas. It is possible that the blood of Nifaas is not discharged for more than a moment, but it doesn’t exceed 10 days. During the period of Nifaas, the order (ahkaam) for women is the same as during Haiz.
10. If a person (man or woman) brings any part of his/her body in contact with, or touches, the corpse, which has become cold, and has not yet been bathed, then Ghusl-e-Mas-e-Mayyat becomes obligatory on him/her for all acts of worship where cleanliness is a condition
11. Ghusl-e-Mase Mayyat becomes obligatory even on account of touching the corpse of a dead child or even a stillborn child, who has completed four months.

METHOD OF PERFORMING GHUSL

1. There are two methods of performing Ghusl,
• Sequence bath (Ghusl-e-Tartibi),
• Immersion bath (Ghusl-e-Irtemaasi).

GHUSL-E-TARTIBI
After making intention a person should first wash his head and neck, then wash his right side of the body and then the left side. He should be sure that his body has been washed entirely. While washing one side he should also include some portion of the other side with it.

GHUSL-E-IRTEMASI
It is necessary that the entire body should be suspended in water even if it is for a moment. In case a person dives in water with the intention of Ghusl-e-Irtemaasi and his feet touches the ground, then it is obligatory upon him to lift his feet momentarily.

2. While performing Ghusl it is necessary that the entire body is clean and pure of najasat.
   If while performing ghusl a part of body, however small it may be, remains unwashed then the ghusl is batil (invalid). But it is not obligatory to wash the inside of the nose or ears and other places, which are reckoned to be the interior of the body.
3. Performing Ghusl with usurped water or at an usurped placed makes the ghusl (baatil) void. If a person uses the public bath with the intention of deferring payment to its owner or to avoid paying the charges completely or to pay the charges from money acquired illegally, then his ghusl will be void.
4. If a person has to perform more than one obligatory (wajib) ghusl, then he can perform one ghusl with multiple intentions (Niyyat). 

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