Imam Ali’s words in the Basra Market
Imam Ali’s words in the Basra Market: Amirul Momineen once, saw in the market of Basra how much engrossed people were in business and trade, and in swearing for the same. He wept over this condition of Muslims and told them: During the day you remain engaged in buying, selling and swearing for earning worldly benefits and during nights you sleep (not sitting in front of the television but fast asleep like a corpse).
Then when do you work for your Hereafter? When do you strive and busy yourselves to prepare yourselves for your eternal life after death? This world is for not more than fifty or sixty years. Be careful and concerned for the life in which a day equals fifty thousand years.
A man heard Ali’s words and said, “O Ali! We are fully engrossed in our lives. It is essential for us to earn our livelihood.” The gist of Ali’s talk is that he said: There is no conflict between the earning of provision in this world and in making a provision for the Hereafter and if you say, ‘I am greedy’ then I say you are not helpless.[31]
I do not say that you should not earn a livelihood, but do it within limits. Do not be greedy. Think of the Hereafter also. Do not drown yourself in worldly affairs to such an extent that your behavior with God suffers. If you have a chance for doing a good deed, do it. Join someone’s funeral, visit an ailing person, help a believer by fulfilling his need, repay loan of an indebted person. Do all the good deeds. But if you say that ‘I want to earn more and more greedily’ then I must say you are not helpless.
Do not forget Allah; be thankful to Him
One picks up a piece of bread from his dining mat and before eating says: Praise be to Allah (I am grateful to God). O Allah! What a bounty You have granted me. You gave protection and safety to me. You saved me. Woe unto the unfortunate fellow who puts wine bottles on his dining table. It is unlawful to place wine on a dining table. Even if one does not drink it, it is prohibited to sit over there. Eating from that table is unlawful as it is like putting a bottle of dirty urine along with nice food articles. You must thank God. Woe unto the ungrateful fellow! Who has created this wheat bread? Who has made arrangements whereby it reached you?
The cloud, the wind, the sun, the moon and the sky are functioning continuously so that you may get bread and may not eat it negligently. Everything is obeying God’s commands for your sake. It is not justice on your part to disobey Him. (Persian couplets)
Not only you disobey; curse on you because you also indulged in sinning. You are sinning on your dining table. Before putting any morsel in mouth say: In the name of Allah. Then say: Praise be to Allah. What I mean is to be thankful to God. Muslims must be advised to remain awake from one Friday to another by remaining constantly grateful to God. It should not be so that, seeing any difficulty or undesired thing, you may forget all the bounties of the Lord. The Shariah has prohibited uttering a single word when the Friday preacher is delivering the sermon. All must be in a state of full attentiveness. The Imam says that prayers are answered in this hour.[32] The hour when the preacher calls the attention of people towards God and the audience is listening attentively.
Enjoinment of Piety in the Friday sermon
All religious jurisprudents agree as regards Friday sermon and its manner that one of its conditions is to recommend piety; that is observance of God’s commands and the accountability of people on the Day of Judgment. The speaker should explain to people that they never make anyone an equal of God. You may say: Muslims are not polytheists, but what about hidden polytheism? Every Muslim who obeys the orders and inclinations of his selfish desires against divine rules is falling in polytheism. It is not piety. Do not serve your own lust, desire and passion. Observe God’s commands.
Piety both in friendship and enmity
One of the boundaries of piety, which most Muslims have disregarded and due to which they go backward despite a forward march in every age, is maintaining piety both while having affinity and while entertaining dislike of each other. Our God, our Lord, our Master, our Sustainer, our Nourisher has told us that the relation between you is your religion.
﴿إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ﴾
“The believers are but brethren, therefore make peace between your brethren… (49:10)”
Everyone who says: “There is no god except Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah’, of course with confirmation of Guardianship of Ahle Bait and Hereafter, be he in the east or west, both of you are brothers of one another. Be sympathetic to one another. Be friendly and loving for one another both in the affairs of this world and the Hereafter. A believer with regard to a believer is like a building. Have you observed a building? How every part of the mansion supports another whereby the whole structure is protected soundly.
It is essential that Muslims must be united and their hearts harmonious from religious aspect and angel of faith. As regards enmity or ill feeling, do not consider anyone your enemy except the one who is an enemy of God and His Prophet.
﴿لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ﴾
“Do not take My enemy and your enemy for friends.”
Consider such fellow your enemy. This is the order of God, His Qur’an and common sense, but Muslims today are behaving in total contradiction to it. My friend is he who is liked by me, who acts, as I like. He is my friend who deals with me, who gives me profit or benefit. Everyone is acting according to his heart’s inclination even if the other person is a transgressor or even a disbeliever. One has enmity towards one who does not behave as per his inclination even if he is a perfectly faithful person in his behavior.
That one did not accord respect, he did not make a deal with him, he did not give a loan and he did not behave according to one’s liking so he regards him as his enemy. This is totally against the religious commands. Even if he behaved against your liking, but since he is a believer, is a friend (Shia) of Ali, he offers prayers; you should regard him as your friend even though he made you suffer such and such loss or did not extend you such and such benefit. In short, do not make personal interest your criterion. Make God’s pleasure your measure or balance. Enmity with a Muslim is unlawful. You should not be displeased with a Muslims who does not follow prevalent rites and rituals. You should be displeased on seeing a sin.
You should feel bad if males and females mix freely in a marriage ceremony. These decorated women along with these youths! What a great sin!! If possible, weep over it instead of applauding such foolishness. First, why did they not invite me? The animus must be against sins, not due to your own personal inclination. In the chapter regarding hatred, it is written in the book Qalbe Saleem, that it is a must for Muslims to ascertain the difficulties of other Muslims and to do their duty. Your hatred based on what is against your inclination, rites and rituals etc is unlawful. It is against piety. Anyone who became angry in this way has breached the Islamic law. It is unlawful and prohibited.
It is mentioned in Usul al-Kafi that if two Muslims become angry at one another and if this anger extends for three days both go out of the edifice of Islam. We see and hear that some do not talk with one another for a week, a mouth, are angry at each other and do not visit one another; even do not look at one another. This is against piety. It is unlawful.
