Interesting True Stories of Ulamaa

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The Sacrifice of Muhaqqiq Ardebili
Ulama: Models of Sacrifice and Charity By: Ahmed Ali al-Kuwaity
He did not have money for himself!
He bought stale vegetables!
Whoever loves his beard …!
What will Allah ask us on the Day of Judgment?
Why didn’t you give out all your wealth?
Marja’s Secret!
Start the work and Allah will help !
Help the debtors!
Use of Turban!
Envelopes!
I will not consume the Kababs!
Charity even in the state of grief!
The Expensive Cloak!
He sold his own house to publish a book!
Closeness to Prophet (S)
Under the Mattress!
Ayatullah Syed Abdulhussein Dastghaib (qs) Story
Repelling Calamities
How Ayt Marashi established the library
Ayt Shk Taqi Bahlol release from Prison
Ayt Syed Mohammed Qazwini body fresh after 17 yr of burial
Shaikh Tabrisi buried Alive & comes back to write tafsir
 Allama Majlisi & the conern for a fly a creature of Allah swt
Ayatullah Behbahani & Russian lady jewels
Shaikh Abbas Qummi fingers a cure
Ayatullah Marashi Najafi & Policeman ghusl money
Ayatullah Sayyid Gulpaygani grave place
 

The Sacrifice of Muhaqqiq Ardebili

Rawzātul Jannat contains an incident regarding Muhaqqiq Ardebili that during the times of famine he used to give away to the poor whatever he had. He used to live in poverty himself.

One day when he had donated all his possessions his wife became angry with him that he had deprived his children in such times when food was scarce.

He left his home and went to the mosque and sat there in Ehtekāf. An unknown person arrived at the door of his house and handed sacks of wheat and flour saying that master Ardebili sent it and that he was in Ehtekāf at the mosque of Kufa.

When Muhaqqiq Ardebili returned home from Ehtekāf his wife told him that he had sent very fine wheat and flour. When he learnt of the details he realized that it was a Divine favor upon him and fell down in prostration to thank the Almighty.

Many times it was seen that the Muhaqqiq left home with an expensive turban but if he encountered a beggar he tore a piece from it and gave it in alms. On numerous occasions he returned home bare-head.

Ulama: Models of Sacrifice and Charity By: Ahmed Ali al-Kuwaity

The scholars of our nation are stars. They are models for each aspect of life. Some people think that scholars are only involved in studying and learning the religion of Islam and concerned with Fiqh, the sciences and philosophy. People don’t think that our scholars are concerned with good morals and ethics, and to uplift the society.

Sacrifice and charity are the basis of Islam that our scholars must take the lead in being good examples, even if they become exhausted in helping the oppressed and helping the needy and orphans. Let us relate to you the way our scholars have taken the lead in charity and sacrifice.

He did not have money for himself!

Sheikh Kaasim Muhyideen, who died in the year of 1376 A.H., was one of the noble scholars of the city of Najaf. This scholar used to go to the rich merchants and businessmen in Najaf to pledge money for the poor and needy. Although they used to refuse him in the morning, he used to go to them in the afternoon and once again ask them again. In this way he used to collect a lot of money to distribute to the needy.

It is known that he didn’t use this wealth personally and used to have a simple diet of bread and milk due to his own poverty. It is also known that when he became ill, and doctors advised him to go abroad for medical treatment, he had to sell his library in order to get money for the treatment. (Mausooatul Atabaat Al Muqadassa Page 314-317)

He bought stale vegetables!

Sayyid Ali Al Qadhi (died in the year 1355 A.H.) is one of the great scholars of Islam who used to teach lessons of ethics in the city of Najaf. One of his students relates that he once saw the Sayyid go into a green grocer’s shop. The Sayyid then started choosing some vegetables and contrary to the common behavior of most customers who always look for fresh vegetables, the Sayyid chose some stale vegetables, paid the owner and went out of the shop.

The student decided to follow him and ask the reason for this. The Sayyid when asked replied, that he knew that the owner was a poor man and the Sayyid was in the habit of helping the poor owner, but because it was not good to help someone without a reason, since it would be a cause of embarrassment, encourage laziness and the habit of begging, the Sayyid just made an excuse of buying some vegetables so that he would get a chance of helping the poor man.

“As for us it doesn’t make a difference what type of vegetables we eat, particularly so when I know that nobody will buy the stale vegetables from the owner and he will incur a greater loss,” the Sayyid replied. (Seema Al Saliheen Page 294)

Whoever loves his beard …!

Sheikh Jaafer Kashiful Gitaa, a great scholar and mujtahid used to collect money in order to help the poor. One day as he had distributed money amongst the poor, a poor man from the progeny of the Prophet (S) asked him for something to fulfil his needs.

The Sheikh was apologetic that he didn’t have anything to help the poor man when the latter pulled at the beard of the Sheikh and demanded to be helped. The Sheikh announced that who ever loved his beard i.e. respected him, should help the poor man; and so it happened that the people filled the beard of the Sheikh with gold and silver in respect of him.

In this way the Sheikh diverted the love the people had for him in the service of the poor masses around him. (Maadhi An Najaf Wa Haadhiruha 122-123, Qasas Al Ulama 201, 207)

What will Allah ask us on the Day of Judgment?

Sheikh Abdul Karim Al Hairi was a great scholar and founder of the great Islamic College or Hauza in the city of Qum. One of his assistants called Sheikh Ali relates that one night as he was sleeping, he heard a knock on the door.

As he went to open the door, he saw a poor woman who asked for help. She said that her husband was sick, and in addition they didn’t have any food, and her family was cold as they didn’t have any fuel to get warmth.

The assistant informed her that his master could not help her as his own condition was not good in those days. The woman left with great disappointment.

Sheikh Abdul Karim Al-Hairi had heard somebody at the door and so he asked his assistant what was going on. The assistant informed him about the whole incident. Sheikh Abdul Karim said, “What will Allah ask us on the day of judgment?”

Then he asked his assistant whether he knew the house of the lady. Although it was difficult to reach the lady’s house as the roads were covered with snow, yet the Sheikh Hairi was determined to reach the lady and help her. Thus they found themselves on the way to the lady.

On reaching the lady’s house, they found the family in a dire state. The Sheikh asked his assistant to call a doctor who diagnosed the husband and prescribed the medicines. Again the Sheikh asked his assistant to go and buy the medicine from the chemist on credit and that he would pay for it, as well as getting some firewood and food to give warmth to the family.

When the sick husband took the medicine he felt better and they had food and warmth restored in the house. Then only did the Sheikh find it suitable to leave and return. In addition, the Sheikh asked his assistant to divide the portion of firewood which was supplied to their house daily and give it to the poor family. Such were these great scholars who served Islam by example.

Why didn’t you give out all your wealth?

In Nahjul Balagha, the believers have been described as people in whose heart Allah has become so magnified that the world has become microscopic for them and of little significance. One of the people who fit this description is Mullah Sabzwari who died in 1289 A.H.

He owned land and wealth on which he took out the Zakaat (charity) and distributed it amongst the poor personally. Every Thursday he had an appointment with the needy and distressed, so that he would fulfill their wishes.

On the last three days of the month of Saffar he commemorated Majlis for Imam Husayn (a.s.) in which he called the poor. A man would be chosen amongst them who would recite the majlis, a poor man not known in the society, but the Mullah would give such people a chance to recite, after which food and money was distributed to each and every poor man.

It is said that in his youth he inherited a lot of properties, yet he sold shops and houses and distributed the wealth to the poor. He repeated the same procedure in his old age and were it not that the Qur’an asks people to adopt a medium way between miserliness and to be over charitable such that if a man dies his orphans do not have to beg and curse their father, he would have given all his wealth to Allah.

People asked him why he didn’t give all his wealth away and sit as a monk. It is interesting to hear his answer in which he said that he would love to do so but his children did not favour the same type of life, and what wealth remained with him was for only his children. (Qasas wal Ibar lil Imam Al Shirazi Page 89)

Marja’s Secret!

One of the scholars in the U.S.A. was conversing with the representative of Imam Mohammed Shirazi, may Allah have mercy on him. The scholar stated that he thought that the Imam was one of the richest Marja of the world.

The representative of the Imam queried the scholar as to why he made this statement. The scholar replied that it was because of so many organizations and centers in so many countries of the world from America to Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia. The representative of Imam Shirazi replied that on the contrary the Marja had a great debt and faced many problems.

The scholar was puzzled and said that how then was it possible for so many mosques and organizations to exist if the Marja was not so rich. It is here that the representative gave the scholar the Marja’s secret.

The great Marja always inspired his friends and believers a love of starting a project such as a mosque, a printing press, a library, publishing a book, etc. just so as to renew the spirit of a Muslim to contribute and sacrifice for his/her religion. The great Marja’s philosophy was to awaken the nation and exploit the potentials of each and every individual however small the potentials may be as expressed in his book (The Awakening of the Nation).

The scholar was amazed and remarked that it seems that the Marja had a spirit of sacrifice and of that of encouraging and inspiring others. It must be noted that due to his encouragement, management, planning and foresight more than hundred mosques, organizations, publication of magazines and books in addition to charitable trusts and humanitarian institutes have been established all over the world.

Start the work and Allah will help !

One great scholar related to the representative of Imam Muhammad Shirazi, that he once decided to build a Madrassah although he didn’t have any money. The Islamic tradition states that man should make the first move, and Allah will shower the blessings on him. One should always start the work first and Allah will help to find the necessary funds for it, and not wait for the funds to start the work.

Thus he decided to ask some laborers to start the work making a clear agreement that they would be paid when the money was available. The agency that supplied them with the building materials did so under the same agreement.

Sometimes the laborers would work till evening while the funds were not available, yet in the evening by Allah’s blessings they would be paid. Shortly after, the walls of the Madrassah reached up to a meter in height.

One day it so happened, that a man knocked the door of the scholar and said that he had been passing by and was impressed with the determination of the scholar to build the Madrassah. He handed over an envelope to the scholar saying that it was a meager donation. Expecting that it was a small amount, the scholar was excited to see a huge sum of money when he opened it.

Soon the project reached its peak with the handsome donation, and the donor contributed a second amount of money to complete the project.

Help the debtors!

Sayyid Nematullahi Al Jazairi says that I looked for a teacher who would teach me and I heard about Allamah Muhammad Baqer Al Majlisi who is the author of the book Bihaarul Anwaar in Isfahaan. I went to him and he taught me and took great care of me as if I was one of his children.

We in the course of our stay with each other had promised that whoever out of us died first would come in the dream of the other and relate about the world Hereafter.

Sayyid Jazairi says that he stayed with Allamah Majlisi for a long time until the Allamah fell sick and died. The funeral procession was an event which showed how respected he was.

Shortly after his death, Sayyid Jazairi went to the graveyard and sat and recited verses of the Holy Qur’an for him and cried in his remembrance of him and as a result fell asleep. In his dream, he saw Allamah Majlisi richly dressed and apparently in good condition.

Sayyid Jazairi remembered that Allamah had died and so asked him what happened to him when he was put in the grave. The Allamah replied that as soon as he was buried he was addressed by a voice which asked him what he had brought of good deeds in the world hereafter. The Allamah mentioned various deeds that he had performed but the voice was not satisfied and asked repeatedly.

The Allamah was terrified, and as he pondered he remembered an act of charity. He related that once as he was walking in the streets of Isfahan, he saw a poor old man being harassed by many pedestrians. The Allamah felt pity on the poor man and decided to gather courage to confront the crowd.

When he asked the crowd of people about the reason for their harassment, they replied that the poor man owed them all some amounts of money. The Allamah asked them to stop the harassment and to follow him to his house so that he would pay them the amount which the poor man owed them.

When the Allamah had related this event, a door to heaven was opened for him and so many blessings were showered for him. (Jamiul Qasas Lil Redha Kadhimi Page 99)

Use of Turban!

It is related that Muqaddas Ardabili who was a very great scholar in the tenth A.H., was a man of great piety and good morals. Ardabili used to donate so much food to the needy during famines that he often was left with very little food for himself.

People often used to gift him with expensive shawls with which turbans were worn. When he wore these expensive turbans and came across poor people, he would remove his turban and cut a meter or two of the expensive shawl like cloth and give it to the poor. In this way he repeated this act several times and when he would come home he would often be left with a mere piece of cloth. It has been said that it was for this reason that he wore very big turbans. (Mustadrak Al Wasail Page 392-393, Aqaid Al Shia Page 298)

Envelopes!

It has been related that a great scholar called Allama Shaheed Sayyid Abdu Sahib Al-Hakim, once received a big sum of money as charity, the amount totalling up to twenty thousand dinars. The Allamah at once set to put various sums of money into envelopes and wrote the names of numerous people on the envelope. He would put hundred dinars in some and two hundred in others, until he completed dividing the money.

The man who relates this incident says that the Allamah then told him to accompany him and as they came up to the house of a person the narrator was told to knock the door, while the Allamah stood a distance away. As soon as the door was opened the narrator threw the envelope and they hurried away with the Allamah.

In this way all the money was distributed in one night while the Allamah didn’t keep anything for himself. (Kitaab Al Najafiat Page 175)

I will not consume the Kababs!

Sheikh Fadhil Al Muwahhidi, relates that he had the opportunity of accompanying the great Marja of Islam, called Sayyid Al Burujardi who died in the year 1370 A.H., to the hot springs situated in the city of Mahallat, which are known to be the cure of bones and muscles, as the great Marja was complaining of pain in the legs.

Sheikh Fadhil says that they remained in that city for a short time, and when the people came to know that their Marja was residing in their city as a guest, they warmly welcomed him and it became obvious that most of the people were very poor.

The Marja on appraising the situation asked Sheikh Fadhil to buy cattle and have them slaughtered so as to distribute the meat to the poor. Sheikh Fadhil carried out the order and as the meat was distributed, a bit of the meat was set aside and delicious Kabaabs or broiled meat were cooked and put in front of the Marja.

The Marja only drank some milk with bread and cucumbers, and ignored the kabaabs completely. When he was asked the reason for his action he said that how could he consume the kabaabs when the poor people were not offered the same. As a result all the kabaabs were distributed amongst the poor. (Mardare Ilm Dar Miaane Ali, Page 212)

Charity even in the state of grief!

It has been related by Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Al Husayni Al Milaani, that Sayyid Abdullah Al Shiraazi once told him that a young scholar in the city of Najaf once came to the great Marja Sayyid Abil Hassan Al Isfahani, and asked him to give him some money as a help to get married.

The great Marja promised to help him the next day. Now it so happened that within that day the great Marja’s son was assassinated while praying behind his father in the congregational prayer. This incident is famous and well known in Najaf.

The following day during the burial ceremony, the great Marja was seen to be looking around as if searching for someone. His followers thought that he was mentally disturbed since it was an odd behaviour potrayed by the Marja as it was a time of poignant sadness for the Sayyid at the sad demise of his son.

As he kept looking around they saw him calling somebody, and found a young man approaching the Marja and they then saw the Marja give a bag of gold coins to the young man as he had promised to do so, and did not forget this even though he was surrounded with grief. (Qasas Wal Khawatir Page 157)

The Expensive Cloak!

One of the followers of Sheikh Murtaza Ansaari gifted him an expensive winter cloak whose color quality and material was indeed extra ordinary. The Sheikh wore the cloak on the first day to the mosque, but it was observed by the man who had given him the cloak that the next day the Sheikh wore his old ordinary cloak.

When the disciple asked him the reason for not wearing the cloak which he had gifted to the Sheikh, the Sheikh replied that he didn’t feel comfortable wearing the cloak, while so many people around him were poor, so he had sold the cloak and bought about twelve ordinary winter cloaks and given them to the poor people. (Al Mubaligh Al Risaali Page 32)

He sold his own house to publish a book!

Sheikh Jawaad Al Balaghi An-Najafi was an author of great prowess, who discussed and debated with people of various faiths: the Jews, Christians, Marxists and even atheists who believed that the world has come about through coincidence.

A man of such great talents used to live in great poverty, in a poor house, his bed made of palm leaves. It is related that the extent of his poverty was so great that when he wanted to publish his writings, he had no money, and thus had to sell his own house.

This shows how our scholars sacrificed their basic necessities just so as to spread the religion of Allah. (Aalame Barzakh Page 210)

Closeness to Prophet (S)

Mullah Muhammad Taqi Al Barghani who is commonly known as the ‘Third Martyr’ related that his father saw in his dream the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S) surrounded by so many Scholars of Islam.

However, he saw the son of the scholar called Fahad Al Hilli sitting very close to the Prophet (S). Mullah Barghani says that he was surprised to see this when there were other scholars who were greater in calibre, knowledge and their service to Islam who were not sitting so close to the Holy Prophet (S).

Mullah Barghani’s father asked the Prophet (S) the reason for this, and the Prophet replied that it was because all the scholars surrounding him used to give charity when they possessed something, but if they didn’t have any property they didn’t give anything to the person who was begging or in need. However the son of Fahad Al Hilli used to give in charity despite not possessing anything extra, and used to sacrifice his personal belongings in order to fulfil other people’s needs. This gave him a higher degree of proximity to the Prophet. (Mardaane Ilm Dar Amal Page 228)

Under the Mattress!

Al-Hajj Muhammad Hassan Shaukat who lived in Isfahan relates that he heard from one of the relatives of Sheikh Baid Abaadi that the former used to be a servant of Sheikh Baid Abaadi.

He used to be sent on a daily basis to a friend of the Sheikh who used to sell perfumes and was called Al Haj Sayyid Musa to get some money, some few Riyals. Sheikh Abaadi used to distribute this money amongst the needy. The Sheikh used to keep the money under a mattress under his feet, and when ever he was approached by the poor and destitute, he would extend his hand under the mattress and come out with a few coins.

The nephew of the Sheikh relates that he used to often visit his uncle when in need and he found out that what the Sheikh gave him was less than what he gave to others. When he enquired his uncle, he was told by his uncle that the latter didn’t decide what to give to various people, rather he only extended his hand under the mattress and gave out what came in his fist.

Many people kept the coins given to them, since it was believed that the coins were blessed. (Qasas Al Ajeeba Li Dastghib Page 405)

Ayatullah Syed Abdulhussein Dastghaib (qs) Story

Syed Muhammad Hashim Dastghaib narrates that: "On the day after the 40th day of martyrdom of Imam Husain (a.s.) of the year 1402 H. in the morning when I went, according of the routine, to my father’s house (Ayatullah Abdulhussein Dastghaib), the office secretary came to me. After Salaam and inquiries about health etc., began to talk about the dream of one Syed lady as follows:

Pieces of Flesh
“A respectable Syed lady who I know very well and who lives in our neighbourhood, says, “Last night I saw the late Martyr Ayatullah Syed Abdulhussein Dastghaib (qs) in my dream. He told me, ‘Some pieces of my flesh are stuck between bricks in the wall in this street (where the late Ayatullah was shot). Please recollect those pieces and join them with my body.’”

At first I did not give importance to this news. I heard the discussions of people in the office and this continued for about two hours. Thereafter I stepped out along with some of them with the intention of participating in a programme of ‘Fatihakhaani’ (recitation of Quran for gifting the divine rewards to the departed soul). Per chance, we had to pass through the aforesaid street where my father was martyred. So when we reached that fateful spot, I suddenly remembered the aforesaid dream and I told about it to my companions as it was related to me that morning and said that there was nothing wrong if we walked looking around. Then suddenly our eyes fell for the first time on that wall and all of us saw that some pieces of flesh were stuck in the gaps between bricks at a spot on that wall.

Two of our companions went forward to collect those pieces of the body of Ayatullah Dastghaib, the Martyr of the Prayer Niche and placed them in a plastic bag safely. The news of this event spread in the city like wild fire especially due to fact that the 40th day of Imam Husain’s martyrdom had just passed and there was a total holiday in Shiraz.

Double Burial
During Friday eve, in the Jame Masjid of Shiraz, as usual, and as per the tradition of the Martyr of the Prayer niche for the last several years, a Dua Kumail prayer meeting was held and a huge gathering of mourners heard the event. Then and there it was announced that: This night at ten o’clock the remaining parts of the martyred Ayatullah will be buried. So it was done and several groups of mourners continued their mourning rituals till late night in the courtyard of the shrine of Ahmed bin Musa Kazim. Finally, on the day of Arbaeen, with the fresh remembrance of the burial of the remaining part of the Holy body of Imam Husain (a.s.) the aforesaid two plastic bags containing the remaining parts of the Ayatullah’s body were brought and the contents were placed in the foot side hole dug in the grave of the great martyr.

Two Other Persons also had that Dream
In fact, this event was very wonderful and strange. On that very day when the scattered pieces of the Holy body were retrieved from the bricks of the said wall, a gentleman, who is one of the sincere persons belonging to the clergy and commands respect and reliability, told me that last night two other persons including a relative of the martyr had also seen the same dream.

After hearing this narration, this event assumed much importance in my opinion. So finally I sent a messenger to the aforesaid Syed lady and requested her to write back to us her full description of the said dream and also to mention her full name and address along with the names of her husband and other family members. So the lady conceded to my request and sent me the accurate and detailed account, which is presently before me. I seek the consent of the honourable readers to quote a few parts of the said report so that it may be preserved as a part of history and be a means of admonition and guidance for future generations.

The vision (dream) was, “I was in a big garden. Suddenly I saw Ayatullah Dastghaib walking ahead of me. I was walking behind him. This was the middle part of the garden and the Ayatullah had put on a coffee coloured cloak. He asked me, “Please go and tell the people that some particles of my flesh have been left in that wall. He repeated these words several times. So I was extremely astonished when I woke up.”

A Story More Revealing Than a Book
You yourself may decide what truth this true dream tells. This dream is in fact a 'talking testimony' of a truth about the LIFE AFTER DEATH, which is more convincing than a whole book of admonition. The Martyr of the Prayer Niche Ayatullah Dastghaib used to mention several times that, “Death is not destruction; rather it is the door for attainment of Divine Mercy.” Surely the martyrs in the path of God are alive and they are getting provision from their Lord.

This great learned Scholar has, in his book MA'AD (The Hereafter), given detailed description of events in the world of Barzakh (Purgatory between Death and Resurrection) . In the same book he also discussed about the return of the soul to body on the Day of judgement. Definitely all these things are HAQ (truth) but this great martyr has personally announced this and proved thus by coming to the dream of believers talking about his pieces of flesh, Subhaanallah. Should we still doubt about the life after death and do not prepare fully for it?

His  Shrine in Shiraz Iran in the complex of Shah Chirag

Repelling Calamities

Ayatullah Al Hajj Sheikh ˜Abdul Karim Haeri (r.a.) founder of the hawzah ˜Ilmiyyah of Qum recounts

Ayatullah Al Hajj Sheikh ˜Abdul Karim Haeri (r.a.), the:

"During the time when I was engaged in religious studies in the city of Samarra, an epidemic, in the form of plague, spread amongst the inhabitants of the city and everyday several people would die of the disease.
One day, some of the inhabitants of Samarra had gathered in the house of my teacher, the late Sayyid Mu¡ammad Fisharki (r.a.), when Ayatullah Mirza Muhammad Taqi Shirazi ( r.a.) (d. 1338 AH), who, in terms of knowledge, was at par with the late Sayyid Fisharki, suddenly arrived. In the course of the conversation, the talk drifted towards the issue of the plague that had threatened the lives of all the people.

The late Mirza said:
"If I were to issue a hukm (ruling), would it not be mandatory for it to be executed?"
All those present said:
"Yes."
He said:
"I rule that from today onwards, for a period of ten days, the entire Shi'ite community of Samarra should recite "Ziyarat-e- Ashura" and gift the rewards of this recitation to Hadhrat Narjis Khatoon (s.a.) - the mother of Imam Mahdi (a.t.f.s.) - in order that this calamity is repelled from them."
Those present in the gathering informed the other Shi'ites of this ruling and all of them engaged themselves in reciting the "Ziyarat-e- Ashura." The following days onward, it was observed that none of the Shi'ites would die due to the disease whereas the non-Shi'ites continued to suffer deaths - and this became plainly manifest for all the inhabitants of the city, such that some of the non-Shi'ites used to question their Shi'ite friends:
"How is it that our people die due to the disease, whereas there are no deaths on your side?"
The Shi'ites would answer:
"All of us recite "Ziyarat-e- Ashura" of Imam Husain (a.s.) in order to remain protected from the epidemic and Allah wards away the calamity from us!"

How Ayatullah al-Uzma Najafi Marashi Established the Library?

One prominent scholar and authority on Islam called Ayatullah al-Uzma Sayyid Mar’ashi established a famous library in the city of Qum. He did this with his own personal effort by toiling hard for many years.
Libraries play a very important role in causing awareness to the people, giving the people a good hobby and pass time, to spread good virtues, to be a source of pleasure, for the preservation of our culture and for the continuation of our culture and knowledge. It is due to all these reasons that our scholars toiled hard to establish public and private libraries and preserved valuable and ancient manuscripts in it.
I will relate some examples which will touch our emotions and find in front of us a man of great caliber and cause us to question ourselves as to why we don’t exploit our potentials.
The doors of this library were opened since 1394 A.H. Sayyid Mar’ashi didn’t get much financial assistance in establishing this library. In many of the books in this library I have seen a caption in which the Sayyid has written that he bought the particular book in question by praying and fasting on behalf of people who had died and whose relatives paid for these acts of worship. This is called ‘Salaat of Istijara’. This prayer is incumbent on the eldest son of a dead man to pray or fast or go to pilgrimage on behalf of his dead father in case the dead man did not perform these acts. The son may pay somebody reliable to perform these acts.
How great are these scholars who used each and every opportunity to do something which would help them in the life Hereafter. Sayyid Mar’ashi bought some great and rare books by praying on behalf of the dead, and sometimes a sum total of two years prayers in conditions of hunger and extreme fatigue. (Qasas Wal Khawatir page 238
)

 

Ayatullah Shaykh Ja’far Shustari (R.A.) 

The eminent philosopher and jurist, Marhum Ayatullah Shaykh Ja’far Shustari is the author of the important book of Maqtal: “Khasais al-Husainiyyah”, meaning “The Attributes of Husain’s Movement”.  He relates the following incident about his meeting with our 3rd Imam, Imam Husain (A.S.):  

“When I completed my studies at the Hawza of Najaf and returned to my home in Shustar, I found that there was a need to make the people more aware of the teachings of the Qur’an and Islam in general.  As a first step, I decided to start giving public lectures every Friday.  When the month of Ramadhan came, I continued with my lecturing.  I would take Tafsir-e Safi (of Mulla Muhsin Fayz Kashani) with me and teach from it.  I would always end my talk with a few words of masaib of Imam Husain (A.S.) from the book “Rawdhatu’l Shuhada” (“The Garden of the Martyrs”) because, as the popular saying goes, every food requires salt, and the salt of any religious lecture is the remembrance of the tragedy of Kerbala.  

However, no matter how much I tried, I could not recite the masaib of Imam Husain (A.S.) i.e. the tragedy of Kerbala on the mimbar/pulpit without reading from the book.  As a result, it did not have that much effect on the people.  In any case, I persisted in this manner for a whole year.  The following year, when the month of Muharram arrived, I said to myself, “How long will I have to carry on reciting the masaib from a book?  When will I manage to recite from memory?”  I knew that I had to find a way out of this undesirable situation, but no matter how much I tried, I could not manage to find a solution.  I began to constantly worry about it and one day, exhausted after thinking about the same matter, I fell asleep. 

That day, I dreamt that I was on the plains of Kerbala, and that too, at the time when Imam Husain (A.S.)’s caravan was there.  I entered the camp and greeted that holy and radiant personality.  The Imam (A.S.) seated me next to himself and then said to Hazarat Habib bin Mazahir, “Habib! Shaykh Ja’far is our guest, and a guest must always be made welcome.  It is true that there is no water in the camp, but there is some flour and oil – so go and prepare some food for our guest.” 

At the words of Imam (A.S.), Habib bin Mazahir rose up at once and after sometime, returned and placed some food in front of me.  I will never forget that there was a spoon in the dish of food as well.  I had eaten only a few spoonfuls of that heavenly food when I woke up. I found that because of the blessing of that ziyarat of Imam Husain (A.S.) and his kindness to me, I had been inspired with a special knowledge about the family of the Prophet (SWW), including many facts and subtle details of their lives, which was not known to anybody else before this.” 

His valuable book, “Khasais al-Husainiyyah”, contains many such details and inferences which is probably from the knowledge he received as a result of his meeting with the Imam Husain (A.S.), and which was not previously known to anyone else. 

[Taken from: “Khasais al-Husainiyyah” p. 8, as quoted in “Karamat wa Hikayate Ashiqane Khuda” -  “Miracles and Anecdotes of the Close Servants of Allah”.  Translated AJ/141105. -

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Tales narrated by Ayt Taqi Behjat


Other Lessons from the Lives of Ulema 

 Meetings of Ulema with Imam (atfs)

 

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These stories are from the book THE WAYS OF THE RIGHTEOUS by Shaikh Jaffer Ladak  Buy Book here  ebook

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1)Shaikh Tabrisi buried Alive & comes back to write tafsir

The family and friends of Shaykh al-Tabarsi thought he had died. He was given his ghusl (religious bath) and kafan (shroud); the prayer of the dead was recited over him and he was taken to the graveyard and buried as normal. The difference between Shaykh al-Tabarsi and others who are buried is that whilst he was in his grave, he opened his eyes - he had been buried alive by accident!

Whilst he was in the grave, he made an oath that if Allah rescued him and he came out of his grave alive, he would write a commentary of the Holy Qur’an.

No sooner had a few minutes passed when a grave robber approached the grave to take the shroud of the Shaykh so he could sell it in the market. He began to dig through the grave until he reached the body. As the thief started to remove the shroud, Shaykh al-Tabarsi suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand, terrifying him! Trying to quickly calm the thief down, he said, ‘Don’t be afraid!’ and explained what had happened, saying, ‘Allah has answered my prayer and my vow through you.

“Go to my house, bring my clothes and I will give you more than this so that you do not go back to committing this crime for it is a forbidden action.’

Shaykh al-Tabarsi returned to his house to the surprise of everyone!64 He then started writing a Qura’nic commentary in fulfilment of his vow. The commentary that resulted from Shaykh al-Tabarsi’s promise is considered to be one of the great Shi’a commentaries.65

When Shaykh al-Tabarsi died, by the blessings of Allah, he died as a martyr. When he was buried, he was placed next to the body of Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha (A).”

2. Allama Majlisi & the conern for a fly a creature of Allah swt

“Allamah Majlisi had a close scholarly companion and each made a commitment to the other that, Allah willing, if he died before the other, he would enter into the dream of his friend to describe and explain what death and the hereafter was like.

It so happened that Allamah Majlisi was the first to die. One night, after many weeks had passed, Allamah Majlisi entered the dream of his friend. His friend asked, ‘So much time has passed; why has it taken so long to enter into my dream?’ The Allamah replied, ‘During the entire time that has passed, I was being questioned by the Angels!’ His companion asked, ‘How is it there? What happened to you?’ The Allamah replied, ‘It was very difficult but it is wonderful and blissful now that my questioning has been completed. Whilst I was being questioned, the Angel asked me, “What do you have to offer Allah? What have you done in His way?” I replied to the”

“replied to the Angel that I had written and compiled the work, Bihar al-Anwar, which consists of more than 100 volumes of verses, narrations and comments on the Ahlul Bayt. The Angel replied, “Not this. What else do you have to present to Allah?” I was shocked as this was such an extensive and thorough work! I thought for a moment and this time said to the Angel that I had Mir’at al-Uqul to present but again the Angel rejected this offering before Allah. Again I was shocked as this compilation also included so many volumes. And so I continued to offer different books and accomplishments one after the other and each time the Angel rejected them.

‘So I began to think long and hard and then I remembered an incident in my life and presented this to the Angel. One night, as I was studying and writing, I noticed a fly was buzzing and circling around the room. He was circling all around and eventually landed near my pen and ink. I could have waved him away from my writing tools but I thought to myself, “Maybe the fly is thirsty or tired so I should[…]”
“I should not wave him away but rather I should let him take rest where he is sitting.” Anyhow, shortly afterwards, the creature flew around and away and I thought nothing more of this incident.

‘The Angel responded to my account, saying, “This pure moment of mercy in your life was the most accepted action before Allah.” And so, after presenting this incident to Allah, my questioning was completed.”

 

3) Ayatullah Behbahani & Russian lady jewels

“One of the senior students of the great scholar, Ayatullah al-Udhma Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Isfahani (commonly known as al-Wahid al-Behbahani), narrates that he was sitting beside the great scholar in the courtyard of the shrine of Imam Husayn (A), when a strange visitor arrived, embraced the hand of Ayatullah al-Behbahani and unwrapped a bag full of gold and women’s jewellery, stating, ‘Spend these in any way you view to be good and useful.’

The scholar asked, ‘Where did you obtain these from and what’s the story behind this?’

The visitor replied, ‘My story is truly strange and if you permit, I can narrate it to you now.’ The scholar replied, ‘Please go on.’ The visitor then narrated:”
“I am from the Iranian city of Saravan. I used to travel to Russian lands for business and trade and I managed to earn a great amount of wealth. Once, during my travels, my eyes fell upon a Russian lady and I wished to seek her hand in marriage. She replied, ‘I am a Christian and you are a Muslim and only if you join my religion, shall I permit this marriage.’ I was very bewildered and confused as to what step I should take. Whilst I was very heartbroken and hurt to be obliged to sacrifice my religion, eventually a Christian marriage ceremony took place between us. After a very short time, I truly regretted my decision. I was very disappointed in myself and I began to criticise my past decision, thinking, ‘It is now difficult to return back to my home country and I actually do not believe in the Christian faith.’

‘As I was in this sorrowful state, I remembered the tragedy of Imam Husayn (A) and I started to weep, shedding tears as I remembered the oppression against our master. Even though I did not know a great deal regarding Islam, I was aware that[…]”
“Imam Husayn (A) was oppressed whilst defending the true teachings of Islam and was brutally murdered. My Christian wife looked at me and she was shocked to see me in such a distraught state, enquiring as to the reason behind my many tears. I placed my trust in Allah and decided to tell her the truth. I admitted, ‘Deep down, I am a Muslim and wish to remain a Muslim and these tears are in remembrance of the tragic martyrdom of Imam Husayn (A).’ Upon hearing the name of Imam Husayn (A), and listening to the tragedy of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (A), her heart was filled with love of the Ahlul Bayt and Islam. She immediately embraced Islam and joined me in shedding tears for Imam Husayn (A).

‘One day, I told my wife, ‘Without informing others, let us head towards Karbala and visit the holy shrine of Imam Husayn (A) and you can announce your reversion to Islam within the holy shrine.’ She agreed with my suggestion and we started to arrange our necessary travel requirements. Then suddenly, my wife fell extremely ill and sadly passed away and her family buried her along with all her gold and jewellery in the Russian Christian cemeteries.

‘Her departure from this world was extremely painful for me and I decided to have her reburied in a Muslim graveyard. In the middle of the night, I went to her grave, and quietly started to dig it up, until I reached the coffin. When I opened the coffin, I was absolutely shocked to find that instead of my wife, there was a man with a moustache! What I witnessed was extremely strange and that same night, when I fell asleep, I saw a person in my dream who reassured me with these words, “Glad tidings to you, for the Angels have transferred the body of your wife to Karbala, in the holy place near the holy shrine of Imam Husayn (A) and they have replaced her body with that man’s as he was a man who used to always consume forbidden financial interest and so, the trouble and task of transferring her blessed body to the Muslim cemetery has been relieved from you.”


“I was very joyful and immediately headed towards Karbala and after visiting the holy shrine of Imam Husayn (A), I approached the senior staff members and enquired as to who was buried in this specific place on this particular day. Their reply was that a man famous for consuming forbidden financial interest was buried there. I informed them of the intriguing events that had occurred and they opened the specific grave. I found that it was indeed my wife who was buried there near the shrine of Imam Husayn (A), with all the gold and jewellery that her family buried with her. I took the gold and jewellery and have now brought them here to you so that you may spend it on what you find beneficial and that which would bless her soul.’

The grand scholar, Ayatullah Sayyid al-Behbahani, took the gold and jewellery and all of it was used in aiding the poor residents of Karbala.”

4) Shaikh Abbas Qummi fingers a cure

Abbas Qumi, the great narrator and scholar, who has written more than fifty volumes of useful books, is one of the most pious men of God whose chastity and faith nobody may doubt. He has had a lot of adventures, one of which I will mention here. It was narrated to me by his son Haj Mirza Ali Agha Mohaddes. He said;

Due to the great volume of edition and worship, my father fell ill in Nafaf. The physicians were unable to cure him. One day, while in great pain he told my mother: My dear and kind spouse, fetch me a teapot with an empty bowl. He asked us to raise him from his bed. He sat on his bed, telling us: using my fingers I have been writing “the God said,” “Imam Sadiq said,” and “Imam Baqir said,” for the last fifty years. These fingers should be spiritually effective now. If they are not so, they had better be cut off. Then he kept his fingers above the bowl, pouring water over them from the tea-pot. Then he drank the water. After some hours he was completely cured.

He, as well, narrated the following event from his father, telling us: My father, Mohaddes Qumi was suffering from a severe eye-ache. The Iraqi physicians were unable to cure him. One day, he asked my mother to take him the book called Osul Kafi. She gave it to my father. My father said: the writer of this book, Koleyni, was one of the most pious men of his day and his book is a source of miraculous, spiritual events. It could not be ineffective. He rubbed the book on his eyes once or twice. Two hours later, there was no sign of the pain.

 

5) Ayatullah Marashi Najafi & Poliecemans ghusl money

I knew a policeman who resigned in the era of the Shah. I asked him what convinced him to resign from the post, to which he replied, “It was a meeting with Ayatullah Sayyid Najafi Mar’ashi who came to me and told me to retire from my position!” I asked him to tell me the story. The former policeman related:

‘“On the night in which I met Ayatullah Najafi, I was working a shift from ten thirty at night to three in the morning on the streets close to the shrine of Lady Fatimah Ma’suma. I was in need of performing Ghusl al- Janabah (Ghusl that becomes mandatory upon having sexual relations) but I did not have any money so that I may visit a public bath.

‘“As the end of the night approached, a bus from the city of Isfahan arrived and parked and many visitors disembarked. I took this opportunity to trouble the bus driver, demanding, ‘Why did you park here? Show me your driver’s license!’

‘“By intimidating the bus driver, I managed to obtain 5 tomans from him. Having the money in hand, I told him to drive on quickly. I said to myself,
“Now that you have received this money, you can go the bath house.’

‘“I went to the bath house and performed my ablution for my prayers. Before the time for the morning prayer set in, I saw Ayatullah Sayyid Mar’ashi approaching the holy shrine. He called out to me, ‘Come here!’ I went to him and he extended his hand and gave me 5 tomans, saying, ‘With these 5 tomans, go to the bathhouse and perform your ablution. It would not be correct for you to perform your bath with that money.’ I was shocked and all I could repeat was, ‘OK Sayyid, OK Sayyid.’

‘“On that same day, I decided to leave my job as a policeman and find a job that gave me my independence. And since then, by the grace of God, I have had good jobs and have even managed to go for hajj.””

6)Ayatullah Sayyid Gulpaygani & burial place

One of the relatives of Ayatullah Sayyid Ridha Gulpaygani narrates:

‘Sayyid [Gulpaygani] contacted us some hours before his death from his hospital bed. He said, “It seems that the doctors will not be successful in curing me. Go and search the earth opposite my teacher, Ayatullah Abd al-Karim al-Ha’iri in the haram of Lady Fatimah Ma’sumah al-Qom. You will find a space there for me.

‘I replied, “You will live long, God-willing, and return to us in good health!”

‘Ayatollah Gulpaygani responded, “No. Go to the place I have mentioned and prepare it; it may be something will happen.”

‘We went to the place and we dug the place and we didn’t expect to find any space that was empty as we knew the spaces were all already occupied by great jurists and scholars. But to our surprise, we found a space never touched and it appeared exactly two meters long as if it had already been prepared! We touched the soil and found no evidence of anyone being buried there before.”

 


🌹 Extract from the book    Only for You (God)   By Mehdi Khudamiyan 🌹

 

Syed Hussain Kohkamrahi & Shaikh Ansari

 I am a famous teacher and I have many students who respect me.
I come to class every morning at 10 am to teach the students.
I left home this morning at 8 o'clock to meet a friend.
When I left my friend's house, it was 9:30 am. I thought it would be better to go straight to the mosque where I used to teach and wait for the students.
So I rushed to the mosque and sat in a corner.
Meanwhile, in a corner. I saw a man surrounded by five people and he was teaching them.
I realized at that moment that he was a great teacher. When I looked at him, I saw that he was wearing very simple clothes. And no more than 5 people were close to him.
My students started coming. I thought I should start teaching. And I should get up and go to the pulpit to start teaching.
But I was wondering about who were teaching in the corner of the mosque?
Next day I hurried to the mosque and sat nearer to him so that I could hear his voice better.
Yes! Guess right, he's a great scholar, he was teaching very well, he doesn't know me, but he really is a great teacher.
Now I am standing in between two pathways as I have come to know the position of knowledge of this Sheikh. Believe me, my heart wants me to become his disciple and learn from him.
On the other hand, I am a teacher of thousands of pupils. Is it right to destroy my position and fame?
The devil was telling me to try as much as possible not to recognized this Sheikh here. If your students know their place of knowledge, then everyone will go to them, and no one will respect you.
But I have not been deceived by the devil and I have intended.
Do you know what I intend to do? Do you know what I want to do?
I have made a promise to myself that teaching and teaching is for the sake of God, when a person can teach better than me, why should I be an obstacle? Why should I worry about my position?
I have to wait a little while for all the students to come. The whole mosque is full and I sit on the pulpit like every day.
The students have opened their pens and books. Everyone is ready for me to start teaching.
This is a very important moment. I am at a crossroads in this moment of my life.
O God, help me to overcome my ego and inside evil! Help me to overcome this lust for this position.
I turned to everyone and said: My disciples! Today I want to say something important to you. Pay attention! All the students were staring at me. I said to them:
Just look there, the old sheikh sit in corner of the mosque.
All eyes were on him. I continued my talk. He is your real teacher. I myself would like to be his disciple. We should all go to him so that to attain his discipleship.
I got up from the pulpit and went to them with all the disciples.
At my insistence, he appeared on the pulpit and started teaching. Everyone became convinced that the teacher they were looking for are the Sheikh.
Oh yes, do you know who this anonymous Sheikh is?
Would you like to know?
This is Sheikh Ansari who had recently visited Najaf. No one knew him.But through this process, teacher gradually became famous and after that he emerged as the leader of the Shia world.
Whenever I remember this incident, I am proud and thankful that Allah helped me on this occasion that I was able to overcome the evil.
I know you want me to introduce myself.
I am Syed Hussain Kohkamrahi
🌹 Extract from the book
Only for You (God)
By Mehdi Khudamiyan 🌹

 

 

What a large group prays behind me. 🌹
Shaikh Abbas Qummi

I live in Mashhad. I found out that Hajj Sheikh Abbas Qami, the author of Mufatih Al-Jannan, has come to Mashhad.
Considering that there are one or two days left until the beginning of the month of Ramadan, I went with a group of friends and requested him to be a prayer leader
during holy month at Gohar Shad Mosque which is located in the courtyard of Imam Reza.
At our insistence, he accepted the offer. A few days passed and the month of Ramadan began. Congregational prayers were held under his leadership.
The number of people in congregational prayers were increasing day by day, people were spreading the news of his Imamate to each other. Therefore, the congregation was increasing day by day.
I myself was very happy that people were gaining the virtue of congregational prayers.
Until the tenth of Ramadan arrived. Hajj Sheikh Abbas Qami came half an hour before the call to prayer. He sat in the mihrab and engaged in recitation of the Qur'an.
Adhan was given and Zuhr prayers were offered. After Zuhr prayers, he called me.
When I approached, he said: I cannot continue to be prayer leader from Asr prayers today.
Then he got up from his seat and left for home. I went to his house after prayers. He looked at me and said: I will not come to offer congregational prayers anymore.
I was very shocked and asked him the reason. He said: Actually today when I was in the fourth rak'ah (of Zuhr) I heard a request call to wait ( Ya Allah ) as the voice was coming from far away . I realized that a very large number of people were praying behind me. Suddenly I was feeling happy to see how many people were praying behind me.
A person who is happy to lead a large congregation is not qualified to lead the congregational prayers.
I had no answer to that. In fact, he was a great example of piety and sincerity.
Yes! The moment he realized that his congregational prayers were not for God, he did not continue the work. And he also knew that only sincerity is the reason for the acceptance of deeds, and without sincerity in any your work nothing will acceptable by God.
🌹 Extract from the book
Only for You (God)
By Mehdi Khudamiyan 🌹