Birthday of the repository of celestial knowledge
Mar 08, 2019 06:10 UTC
Heartiest felicitations to you on a day of double joy. Today marks the start of the blessed month of Rajab, and with it the auspicious birth anniversary of a peerless personality.
As a matter of fact, the 1st of Rajab attained immortal glory in the year 57 AH with the birth on this day of the 5th Infallible Heir and Namesake of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger to mankind, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).
Before we present you an exclusive article on the life and times of Imam Mohammad al-Baqer (AS), the Repository of Celestial Knowledge, here is a famous statement from him volume 2 of the book “Safinat al-Bihar”, worth contemplating upon:
“If I found (worthy carriers) for my knowledge which Allah, the Great and Almighty, has given to me, I would proclaim monotheism, Islam, religion, and Islamic laws. How can I do that? My (great)grandfather, the Commander of the Faithful (Imam Ali), peace upon him, found no (worthy) carriers for his knowledge. Thus, he sighed deeply on the pulpit and said: "Question me before you lose me, for there is much knowledge among these ribs.”
The Immaculate person who expressed these beautiful words was prophesied by the Seal of Messengers as “Baqer al-Uloum” or the Splitter and Spreader of Sciences.
Born in the Prophet’s city Medina, 57 years after the Prophet’s hijra from Mecca to Medina, and 46 years after the passing away of the Prophet from the mortal world, he was knowledge personified.
Descended on both sides from the Prophet – his father Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) being the son of the Prophet’s younger grandson Imam Husain (AS), while his mother Fatema (SA) being the daughter of the Prophet’s elder grandson, Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (AS) – he was inheritor of the celestial knowledge bequeathed by the Prophet, on the commandment of God, to his great-grandfather, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS).
It was Divine Providence that he was born on the 1st of Rajab, which is one of the four sacred months of the Islamic calendar. It is the month in which the All-Merciful, in addition to the regular conduits of mercy, opens up special passageways to His creatures for attaining greater heights of virtue. Indeed, fortunate are those who grab this opportunity to strive towards the bounties of the Hereafter.
Last night on the eve of Rajab, most of the faithful may have performed the special prayers and recited the exclusive supplications in the Divine Court. Today many are fasting and are observing the special prayers of the 1st of Rajab.
The faithful are humbly requesting God to firm up their faith, enlighten their minds, illuminate their hearts, purify their souls, strengthen their spirits, make them worthy recipients of the bezels of knowledge as specified by the 5th Imam, and above all, alleviate the sufferings of all believers – who are the victims of the devils in human form such as the Americans, the Zionists, and the Wahhabis.
God’s promise is true. He will surely make the true believers triumphant, no matter what atrocities the hypocrites and the faithless commit, since He has preserved for the salvation of humanity, the Prophet of Islam’s 12th and Last Infallible Heir, who will reappear in the end times as Qa’em al-Mahdi – may God hasten his advent to rid Planet Earth of all oppression through establishment of the global government of peace, prosperity and justice. Amen
No wonder, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and 11 of his Infallible Heirs have given us tidings of the eventual emerging out of the long occultation of the 12th and Last Infallible Imam for fulfilling God’s promise.
For his part, Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS), who as a 4-year old boy was present in Karbala on the Day of Ashura (10 Muharram 61 AH), when history’s most heartrending occurred, and who in its equally tragic aftermath despite his tender age, suffered imprisonment in Damascus, along with his parents, aunts and Grand Aunts, Hazrat Zainab (SA) and Omm Kulthoum (SA), has said:
“The Master of the Affair was named as the Mahdi because he will dig out the Torah and other heavenly books from the cave in Antioch. He will judge among the people of the Torah according to the Torah; among the people of the Evangel according to the Evangel; among the people of the Psalms in accordance with the Psalms; and among the people of the Qur'an in accordance with the Qur'an.”
These words, from the Imam on whose authority scholars wrote accounts of the prophets of the past, the Sunnah and Seerah (beahviour and practice) of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), the meaning and purport of the ayahs of the holy Qur’an, and the jurisprudential principles of the Shari’a, provide solace to the hearts of not just Shi’a Muslims but also our Sunni brethren, whose books of hadith are replete with countless narrations from Imam Muhammad Baqer (AS).
As a matter of fact, all monotheists take comfort from the words of the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, who as the righteous heirs of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) preached peace, friendship and fraternity – unlike the usurper Omayyad and Abbasid caliphs, who like the satanic Salafis of our own days, divided Muslims into sects, massacred people, terrorized countries, destroyed the heritage of the nations of the past, and looted the masses to fill up their coffers.
Those in doubt, are invited to study the fruitful life of the 5th Infallible Imam, who during his 19-year mission, resisted against five tyrannical Omayyad caliphs (whose empire that stretched from Spain in the west to Pakistan in the east has long evaporated), in order to pass on to posterity the ethereal values of brotherhood.
As the Qur’an an-Nateq (Speaking Qur’an or Qur’an in Action), Imam Baqer (AS) stressed the recitation of the Heavenly Scripture, calling it “the abundant source that guides people to righteousness, enlivens their hearts, and supplies them with abilities of light and awareness.”
He has quoted the Prophet as saying: “Whoever recites ten verses on a night is not written among the heedless. Whoever recites fifty verses is written among those who praise (Allah). Whoever recites a hundred verses is written among the obedient. Whoever recites two hundred verses is written among the humble. Whoever recites three hundred verses is written among the successful. Whoever recites five hundred verses is written among the strivers. Whoever recites a thousand verses, a hundredweight of gold is written for him.”
At the same time, the 5th Imam gave an interesting definition of the word Shi’a or the True Followers of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, and who really should be called Sh’ia Muslims.
He said: “Indeed, our Shi’as, the friends of Allah and the friends of His Prophet, are those who tell the truth when they speak. They fulfill (the promise) when they promise… Our Shi’as are those who do not praise those who find fault with us, nor do they make friends with those who hate us, nor do they associate with those who betray us. When our Shi’as meet a believer, they honour him. Our Shi’as are those who do not growl as the dog does, nor are they greedy as the crow is, nor do they ask anyone (for alms) except their brothers even if they die of hunger. Our Shi’ as are those who believe in our doctrine, separate themselves from their beloved ones for us, approach the strangers who love us, and turn away from the strangers who hate us.”
He then added: “Our Shi’as fear Allah and obey Him. They are humble and pious. They pay the trust. They praise Allah very much. They perform the prayers and the fasting. They obey the parents. They take care of the poor neighbors, the needy, the debtors, and the orphans. They are truthful in talking. They recite the Qur’an. They hold back their tongues from (speaking against) people except good.”
Here are passages worth pondering upon from the famous Dua Sahar which the believers recite during the late midnight hours of Ramadhan and which was taught by Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS), on how to address our Loving Creator:
“O Allah, I beseech You to grant me from Your Splendour at its most Splendourous, and all Your Splendour is Splendourous. O Allah, I beseech You by all Your Splendours.
AS/ME
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