Virtue of Relying on God
Virtue of Relying on God: Relying on God is the state of the righteous ones that is those who have ridded themselves of bonds. In that case the clouds of sorrows will give their place to those of security. They feast themselves with contentment and drink from the springs of tranquility. In verse 3 of the Quranic Chapter the Talaq, God says:
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“…and whoever trust in Allah, He is sufficient for him.”
Also in verse 173-174 of the Quranic chapter, Ale Imran, God says:
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“Those to whom the people said: Surely men have gathered against you, therefore fear them, but this increased their faith, and they said: Allah is sufficient for us and most excellent is the protector.
So they returned with favor from Allah and (His) grace; no evil touched them…”
In the Old Testament, we read:
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“O son of Adam! Is it difficult for Me who created you first from dust and then from sperm to give you a loaf of bread?”
God sent the following revelation to Jesus (AS):
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“My attention to you is as much as your endeavor. Remember Me for the Returning Day. Come near to Me with recommended prayers and praiseworthy acts. Put your trust in Me so that I will suffice you. Do not ever put your trust in anyone other than Me, for you will be taken to task. O Jesus! Be patient in afflictions and content with God’s will. Try to make Me happy, for My happiness is in obedience and abandonment of sins. O Jesus! Revive My remembrance with your tongue and keep My love in your heart.”
Imam Sadeq (AS) has said:
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“Whoever is worried about sustenance, a sin will be written for him.”
A Hadith says:
Prophet Daniel (AS) was living at the time of an oppressing king who arrested and threw him into a well. The king threw some fierce animals into the well too but the animals did not approach Daniel nor did they hurt him. At this time, God revealed to another prophet to take food for Daniel. That prophet asked: O God! Where is Daniel then? God said: Leave this place. A hyena will come to you. Follow it and it will take you to him. That prophet did so and reached the well. He sent down the food. When Daniel saw the food before him, he said:
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Praise is due to Allah who does not forget one who remembers Him. Praise is due to Allah who does not disappoint the supplicant. Praise is due to Allah who is sufficient for one who trusts in Him. Praise is due to Allah and whoever relies on Him, needs no other reliance. Praise is due to Allah who rewards good with good, forgives sins and rewards patience with deliverance.
Imam Sadeq (AS) has said:
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“God gives the pious men sustenance from a place they do not think of and He does not accept the presence of His favorite servants in tyrant’s ruling apparatus.”
One of the revelations sent to prophet David (AS) was the following:
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“Whoever stops having hope in anyone but Me, I will be sufficient for him.”
It has been reported on the authority of Imam Sadeq (AS):
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“Gabriel came to the Holy Prophet (SAW) and said: O Messenger of Allah! God has sent you a gift which He has not given to anyone before. The Holy Prophet said: What is that gift? Gabriel said: It is patience.
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“But there is a virtue better than patience. The Holy Prophet said: What is it? Gabriel said: It is contentment.
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“There is still a virtue better than contentment. The Holy Prophet said: what is it? Gabriel said: It is pleasure of God.
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“But there is a virtue better than that. The Holy Prophet said: What is it? Gabriel said: It is piety.”
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“Yet there is a virtue better than that. The Holy Prophet said: What is it? Gabriel said: It is devotion.”
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“But there is a virtue better than that. The Holy Prophet said: What is it? Gabriel said: Sure knowledge.”
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“Yet there is a virtue better than that. The Holy Prophet said: What is it? Gabriel said: The way to attain all of them is to put trust in God.
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“I said O Gabriel! What is the meaning of putting trust in God? Gabriel said: Knowing that His creatures neither harm nor benefit anyone. They neither give nor withhold anything. One must stop having hope in creatures. When a man reaches this position, he will not do anything save for Him, his heart does not go astray, he fears no one save Him and he does not set his hope on anyone but Him. This is the meaning of putting trust in God.
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“The Holy Prophet said: O Gabriel! What is the meaning of patience? Gabriel said: Man must have forbearance and patience in afflictions as in joys. He should never complain of His Creator to the people.
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I said: What is the meaning of contentment? Gabriel said: To be content with whatever in this world and to thank God for the small things he has.”
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“The Holy Prophet said: what is the meaning of God’s pleasure? Gabriel said: To be pleased with God but not to be pleased with one’s own deeds.
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“The Holy Prophet said: O Gabriel! What is the meaning of piety? Gabriel said: A pious man loves whatever His creator loves and hates whatever He hates. He is careful about what is lawful and leaves of what is unlawful, for what is lawful is counted and what is unlawful will entail punishment. He has mercy on every Muslim as he has on himself. He shuns useless words as he shuns what is unlawful. He abstains from overeating as he keeps away from a corpse with bad smell. He keeps away from the embellishments of world as he keeps away from Fire. His desires are not far-fetched and death is present before his eyes.”
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“The Holy Prophet said: O Gabriel! What is the meaning of Devotion? Gabriel said: A devoted person is one who does not ask for anything from people until he obtains it and whenever he obtained it, he is pleased with it. Also if he has something extra, he will give it away for the sake of God. The fact that he does not ask for something from others is admittance of his being a servant of God. He is pleased with God and God is pleased with him. He gives away when he needs it more than others.”
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“The Holy Prophet (SAW) said: What is sure knowledge? Gabriel said: A man of sure knowledge acts in a way as if he sees God. Even if he does not reach the degree of seeing God, he knows that God sees him and is sure that what he has and what he has not is what God wills. These were some of signs of putting trust in God and having piety.”
A Hadith says when Imam Sadeq (AS) who had come to Kufah for some time was leaving that city, a group of people who had left the city to see off the Imam in a certain point, saw a lion on their way. Ibrahim Adham who was among them said: Wait for the Imam to come. They did so. When the Imam reached them, they told him about the lion. The Imam approached the lion so much so that he tool the lion by ear and drove it off the road and said:
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“Should people worship God as He deserves, they can carry loads on lion.”
Jovayrieh Ibn Moshar has reported: Imam Ali (AS) and I were going towards Kufah with no one else with us. On our way, we reached a salt marsh where we came across a male lion sitting on the ground. The female lion and the cubs were behind him. I pulled the reins of my horse to withdraw. At this moment the Imam said:
“O Jovayrieh! Go ahead; this animal is a dog to God, as other animals whose control is in the hands of God. No one but He can ward off the evil of this animal.”
I saw that lion, wagging his tail, came to Imam Ali (AS). The Imam rubbed his foot against the lion’s face. At this point, God with His Omnipotence made the lion speak, saying: Peace be upon you O Amir al-Muminin and the successor of the Holy Prophet!
The Imam said: Peace be upon you lion too! How do you praise God?
The lion said: Glory be to My Lord! He is free from all defects. Glory be to the One who has placed my awe in the hearts of His servants! Glory be to Him! Glory be to Him!
Imam Ali (AS) passed by that place while I was accompanying him. The salt marsh was vast hence the afternoon prayer was being missed. I was worried about the afternoon prayer, saying to myself:
Woe to you O Jovayrieh! Are you interested in prayer more than Ameer al-Muminin when you saw the adventure of lion with your own eyes?
We rode on together until the salt marsh was behind us. The Imam descended from the horse. Then he recited Adhan and Eqamah, whispered something and made an indication with his hand. At this time, with God’s absolute power, the sun returned to its former position in afternoon. We performed the afternoon prayer together. After prayer, I raised my head and saw that the sun had returned to its former position all at once, and the stars had appeared. Imam Ali once again recited Adhan and Eqamah, performed the evening prayer, mounted the horse, turned to me and said:
-O Jovayrieh! Do you think I am an enchanter? Do you say I have never seen this sunrise and sunset? Is it magic or visual error? Soon I will drive Satan’s temptations from your heart. Don’t you know that in verse 180 of the Quranic Chapter, the Araf, God says:
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-And Allah’s are the best names, therefore call on Him thereby.”
-O Jovayrieh! One day when the Holy Prophet was receiving revelation and his head rested on my lap, the sun set while I had not performed the afternoon prayer. The Holy Prophet asked me: Have you performed the afternoon prayer. The Holy Prophet said: No. The Holy Prophet said: O God, Ali was in a stage of worship, meeting the need of Your Messenger. Then the Holy Prophet called God by His Chief Name. All of a sudden the sun returned from its position and I performed my prayer with tranquility. The sun set after sometime. Then the Holy Prophet – may my parents be sacrificed for him – taught me that name. I too recited the Du with the same name.
O Jovayrieh! Truth in the hearts of believers is clearer than Satan’s suggestions. I called on God to remove those suggestions from your heart. What do you see now? I said: My master! Those suggestions are removed from my heart.
On the Censure of Asking Something from Others
Imam Sadeq (AS) has said:
“If a man does not ask anything from others, his devotion to God will be proved.”
This suggests the weak belief of a man who asks something from others and the strong belief of a man who has set his hope on God, for when he gives up reliance on anyone but God he no longer sets his hope on them. As the result, his belief in God and his servitude will become pure and perfect. In this relation, verse 106, of the Quranic Chapter, Yusuf, says:
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-”And most of them do not believe in Allah without associating others (with Him).”
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“This associating others with God is the words of people who say: If it was not for the sake of such and such person, I would be miserable. Or if it was not the help of such and such person, I would not have this position or my family would be afflicted. Don’t you see that such people have associated others with God in His rule and that those associates give sustenance to these people and expel the loss from them. The narrator relates: I said: How about saying: If God had not made me indebted through such and such a person, I would have been afflicted? The Imam said: Yes, there is no harm in these kinds of words.”
Imam Sadeq (AS) has also said:
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“Our followers are those who do not ask anything from others though they are starving.”
It is for this reason that the testimony of a beggar is not accepted.
The Holy Prophet (SAW) has said:
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“The testimony of one who begs is not accepted.”
It is related that Imam Zainul Abidin (AS) saw people on the day of Arafah expressing need before people. The Imam said:
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“These are the worst people, for all people appeal to God but these people appeal to people.”
Imam Sadeq (AS) has said:
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“If a beggar knows what heavy burden his request has, no one will ever ask anything from others. And if the person from whom something is asked knows what heavy burden the act of withholding has, he will never reject any beggar’s request.”
Imam Sadeq (AS) has also said:
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“one who begs something but is not needy, is eating fire.”
Imam Baqer (AS) has said:
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“By God, it is true that anyone who opens the door of begging to himself, God will open the door of poverty to him.”
Imam Zainul Abidin (AS) has said:
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“I stand guarantor on behalf of God for one who begs others only in the days of bad need.”
One day the Holy Prophet (SAW) said to his companions:
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“Do you pledge allegiance with me?”
They said: O Messenger of Allah! We pledge allegiance with you. The Holy Prophet said:
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“Pledge allegiance with me that you will not ask anything from people.”
After that day, whenever a person dropped something he himself would bend and take it up and did not ask anyone to give it to him.
The Holy Prophet (SAW) also said:
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“If any one of you takes a rope carrying fire wood with it to earn his livelihood, it would be better than asking for something from others.”
Imam Sadeq (AS) has said:
One of the companions of the Holy Prophet became destitute. His wife said: Go to the Prophet and ask him to help. The man came to the Holy Prophet (SAW) who said:
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“Whoever asks for something from us, we will meet his needs but who does not express his need, God will meet his need.”
That man said to himself: I am sure the Holy Prophet (SAW) meant me. Then he went back to his wife and told her everything. The man’s wife said: The Messenger of Allah is a human being like others. Go and tell him about your plight. The man came to the Holy Prophet once again. When the Holy Prophet (SAW) saw him, he said the same to the man.
This was repeated for three times and the man who heard these words from the Holy Prophet went away and borrowed an axe and set out for the mountain. He went up the mountain gathering some firewood. He brought the firewood to the city and bartered it for some flour.
The next day, the man went to mountain. But this time he brought more firewood and sold them. He did so for several days till he bought an axe. After sometime, he bought two camels and a slave and he was well off. Then he came to the Holy Prophet and told the prophet about everything.
The Holy Prophet said: I told you that whoever asks something from us, we will meet his need but one who does not express his need, God will meet his need.
Imam Baqer (AS) said:
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“Expressing one’s needs to people will destroy one’s honor and losing hope in what is in the hands of people will create dignity for believers. Avarice is the same as destitution.”
It has been reported on the authority of the Holy Prophet (SAW):
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“One who does not express his needs, will be made rich by God and whoever seeks chastity, God will make him chaste. Whoever invokes God for something, God will give it to him. Whoever opens the door of begging, God will open seventy doors of poverty which nothing can close.”
It is related that a beggar asked for something from the Holy Prophet through God. The Holy Prophet ordered to give him five lashes, saying:
“Make people swear by your mean face not by the face of God.”
One the Censure of Rejecting the Beggar
The Holy Prophet (SAW) has said:
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“Do not reject the request of the beggar, for were it not for the beggar’s lying, the rejecters would become miserable.”
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“Either give small thing to the beggar or make him go away with mercy and soft words, for, on many occasions, one who is neither human nor jinn will come to you to see what you do with God’s blessings.”
A person reports: I was sitting at the door of Imam Sadeq’s house when a beggar came by and asked for something. But relatives rejected him. Imam Sadeq (AS) reproached them much, saying:
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“Did you reject the first beggar who came to us? Give foods to as many as three beggars and then you have the option of giving food or more than three, for you have performed your duty.”
Imam Sadeq (AS) has also said:
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“Give something to the first, second and third beggar. You have the option if it is more.”
It has been reported on the authority of the Holy Prophet (SAW):
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“Whenever a beggar knocks at the door at night and asks for something, do not ever reject him.”
“We will give away even to those who are not entitled to help lest we will reject those entitled to it.”
Source:
Oddatatol Daee
(The Asset of Supplicant)