A Garden of
Paradise in Madina
Almighty Allah says in the Holy Qur'an, chapter 30, verse 15:
Then
as to those who believed and did good, they shall be made happy in a
beautiful garden.
According to exegetes of Qur'an the word "Rawdha" mentioned in this
verse does not mean any kind of garden whatsoever. It literally stands
for a specific kind of garden. 'Allama Tabataba'i in his al-Mizan
and Shaykh Tabrasi in al-Majma' say:
"Rawdha
is that garden whose beautiful visage and aroma have reached their
climax".
[Al-Mizan, v. 16, p. 160]
Therefore it is a garden that distinguishes itself from the rest in
its beautiful features and scent.
One of
the highly significant places in Madina, which draws every pure heart
to itself is the "Rawdha", a place which resembles a radiant candle of
light surrounded by moths who would like to sear in the fire of love
and rest in the hospice of their beloved.
All
the Muslims have unanimously narrated from the Holy Prophet (s) that
he said:
Between by house and my minbar (pulpit) there is a garden from the
gardens of Paradise…
[Al-Kafi, v.4, p. 553]
There
is a difference of opinion, however, as to what exactly is this
beautiful garden that lies between the pulpit of the Holy Prophet (s)
and his radiant house. Muslim analysts have contemplated over this
painstakingly and sought help from other traditions to understand the
Rawdha properly.
The
Holy Prophet (s) is reported to have said:
‘Be
mindful that a grave is either a garden from the gardens of Paradise
or a pit from among the pit-holes of Hell Fire…'
And
Imam Zaynul 'Abideen ('a) is also reported to have said:
‘Surely a grave is either a garden of the gardens of Paradise or a
pit among the pit-holes of Hell Fire.’
[Tafsir al-Qummi, v.2, p.94]
Other
traditions are clearly indicative that the graves of those who lived
the lives of Prophets (upon whom be peace) and were utterly submissive
to Almighty Allah, are gardens from the gardens of Paradise. Observe
the following traditions:
The Holy Prophet (s)
in a tradition informs 'Amaar, one of his companions, about the
sanctity of the Noble Lady Fatima bint al-Asad, Imam 'Ali ('a)'s noble
mother, after her demise, as follows:
O Ammaar surely the
angels have filled the horizon and have opened for her a gateway
towards Paradise and have prepared for her resting place from among
the resting places of paradise….and her grave is a garden from the
gardens of Paradise
[Bihaar al-Anwaar,
v. 35, p.71]
Imam Abu 'Abdillah
as-Sadiq ('a) is reported to have said:
‘The area of
al-Husayn’s grave from the day he was buried has been a garden from
the gardens of Paradise.’
[Man Laa Yahdhuruhul
Faqih, v.7, p. 579]
And Imam al-Ridha
(‘a) after foretelling that the place where he would be buried would
be in Toos, adds:
Surely in Khurasan
there is a spot, a time will come when it would be the place where the
Angels would descend and ascend; while a group of them would descend
from the heaven, another group would ascend, and this shall continue
until the trumpet will be blown.
Thereupon Imam
al-Ridha ('a) was asked: And which spot is this? And he said: It is in
the land of Toos, and I swear by Allah it is a garden among the
gardens of Paradise; and whosoever visits me in that tomb, it is
as if he has visited the Messenger of Allah (s)…
[Rawdhat
al-Wa'izeen, v.1, p.733]
In yet another
tradition Imam al-Sadiq ('a) is reported to have said:
‘Kufa is a garden
from the gardens of Paradise: in it is the grave of Nuh (‘a) and
Ibrahim (‘a) and the graves of 370 Prophets…
[Farhat al-Gharraa',
p. 69]
In light of the
aforesaid traditions, we can speculate what the "Rawdha" actually is.
In some other traditions, however, there is a clear mention that the
Rawdha referred to in the Prophetic tradition that we quoted in the
beginning is the noble grave of Hadhrat Fatima Zahra ('a), who
according to her will, was buried in the absence of those whom she
felt did not deserve attending her burial ceremony. Observe the
following traditions:
Imam al-Sadiq (‘a)
was once asked: Did the Messenger of Allah (s) say: ‘Between my house
and my minbar is a garden of the gardens of Paradise’ and he
responded: ‘Yes’, and added: ‘The house of ‘Ali and Fatima is between
the House where the Holy Prophet resided up until the door which is
parallel to the alley towards Baqi’…
[Al-Kafi, v.4, p.
555]
Imam al-Ridha (‘a)
was asked about the grave of Hadhrat Fatima (‘a), and he said: She was
buried in her house, and when the Banu Umayya increased the area of
the mosque, it became a part of the mosque.
Shaykh Sadooq (may
Allah sanctify his spirit), one of the great Muslim scholars has also
opted to agree with the opinion that Hadhrat Fatima (‘a) was buried in
her house.
Anyways in the
ambiguity of the whereabouts of Fatima ('a)'s grave there is an
eternal resonance of her complain and opposition to those whom she did
not allow to attend at her funeral ceremonies. It resonates their
oppression and usurpation of a fundamental right that was in no way
personal, but belonged to the Muslim Umma who needed an appropriate
guardian to safeguard the religion after the Prophet (s)'s demise, and
thus protect their spiritual as well as material lives. However the
events that followed the demise of the Most Noble Messenger of Allah
(s) subjected a blow which made her perpetually sorrowful and she
expressing this she said:
Such calamities
befell on me, which,
were they to befall
on days,
indeed they would
turn into nights
Having understood a
brief account about "the Rawdha" which so many pilgrims eagerly yearn
to occupy during their presence in the Prophet's holy mosque, so that
they may at least perform two units of prayer in a garden from among
the gardens of paradise, let us ask ourselves: what message has this
beautiful garden for us today? How can we benefit from the Rawdha
apart from the recommended supplications and prayers that we ardently
perform? What kind of realization should dawn in our hearts as we look
at this fragrant garden whose aroma can only be deciphered by those
who can appreciate paradisal scent while they reside in this earthly
abode?
Surely the human
being should consider all these important places as signs for him to
reflect and change, so that he may soar to the higher levels of human
perfection and join the ranks of the muqarrabeen who are the nearmost
ones to Almighty Allah:
And the foremost are
the foremost,
َThese are
they who are brought near (to Allah) ; And they are in gardens of
bliss.
[Surat al-Waaqi'a
(56), vrs 10-12]
Reflecting over the
Rawdha, we should ask ourselves:
How
can we be like the Rawdha? What made great exemplars like Fatima ('a)
to be a garden among the gardens of Paradise? What kind of life did
she live so that the place where she is buried turns into a beautiful
garden among the gardens of Paradise? Is possible for me to follow her
noble footsteps in the path towards God, so that my grave too
resembles hers?
Our
Holy Prophet (s) has informed us of ways that can enable us to make
our graves as gardens from among the gardens of Paradise. Observe the
following traditions:
1. The
Holy Prophet (s) is reported to have said:
Almighty Allah revealed to Prophet Musa (‘a): Stand in the darkness of
the night before Me and I shall Turn your grave into a garden of the
gardens of Paradise.
[Al-Da'awaat,
p. 744]
Standing in the darkness of the night in prayer and supplication
uplifts the spirit of the human being and makes him closer to Allah.
However we must understand that prayer without attention to the
All-Loving Creator is a superficial prayer without any spirit. Prayer
should be a real expression of praise and laudation of Almighty Allah,
and not the habitual movement of the tongue and limbs while the
supplicant is oblivious of his Addressee. It is noteworthy that the
holy Qur'an introduces the night as being very effective in prayer and
concentration. Observe the following verse:
Surely
the event of the night is deeper in impression and more concordant to
speech.
[Chapter al-Muzammil (73), verse 6]
This
means that the supplicant has more attention at night and his heart
concords with his speech.
2. The
Holy Prophet (s) is also reported to have said:
‘The
best kind of detachment from the world is to remember death and the
best worship is to remember death, and the best contemplation is to
remember death; hence whosoever's scale is made heavy by remembering
death’ he would find his grave to be a garden from the gardens of
Paradise’
[Jaami'al
Akhbaar, p. 165]
Remembering death should be considered as a means of preparation
before the opportunity subsides. The human being should try to
remember his past sins and wash them with the water of repentance and
resolve not to repeat his past misdeeds, so that he has no problem at
the time of leaving this world. In fact there is a tradition that
clearly informs us that the product of true repentance from a Mu'min
is that he would find his grave to be a garden from among the gardens
of paradise. Observe the following:
In a lengthy tradition,
the Holy Prophet (s) is reported to have said:
When a true believer
repents and regrets [for his misdeeds] Allah opens on him a thousand
doors of Mercy in this world and the Hereafter…and he would find his
grave to be a garden among the gardens of Paradise…
[Jaami' al-Akhbaar,
p. 87]
In addition, death
should enable him to prepare himself to go to the higher world with
virtues that will always stay with him. Therefore he/she should
struggle in performing acts of virtue and embellishing himself with
the Attributes of Allah, so that his grave truly manifests a garden of
Paradise.
3. And in another
tradition the Holy Prophet (s) is reported to have said:
‘…whosoever loves
‘Ali (‘a) Allah would make easy for him the pangs of death and turn
his grave into a garden of the gardens of Paradise.
[Mi'at Manqaba,
p.64]
Love, here, we must
understand, should not be misconceived to mean a purely emotional
experience. Love for 'Ali ('a) must be translated as love for religion
in its deepest sense. It means one should be committed to what 'Ali
('a) was committed to; one should live his life and yearn for a death
of martyrdom. Love, we must understand is a product of ma'rifa and
knowledge. This knowledge is not conceptual (husuli) but presential (hudhuri).
So long as one would not embellish himself/herself with the Attributes
of 'Ali ('a) how would he/she be able to know who 'Ali is? And it is
only after realizing the attributes of 'Ali ('a) according to one's
own limitations, is when the fire of love of 'Ali would sparkle in
one's heart, and that would make his grave a garden among the gardens
of Paradise.
4. In yet another
tradition the Holy Prophet (s) is reported to have said:
‘Be mindful that the
grave is either a garden of the gardens of Paradise or a pit of the
pits of Hell; so prepare it will good action
Therefore good
action is a key to make one's grave a garden from the gardens of
Paradise. However it must be realized that the price and luminosity
and value of every action is according to one knowledge and sincerity.
The standard and yardstick of a good doer is not quantity of his
actions, but rather their quality. The Holy Qur'an is clear about this
reality:
Who created death
and life that He may try you-- which of you is best in deeds; and He
is the Mighty, the Forgiving.
And the beauty of
action depends on the understanding and knowledge that one possesses:
It is reported from
Muhammad bin Sulayman al-Daylami from his father who said: I informed
Imam al-Sadiq ('a) about the 'Ibada and religiousness and merits of a
certain person. Thereupon he asked me: how is his
intellect/understanding? I said: I do not know. So he said: 'Surely
reward is according to one's intellect/understanding.'
[al-Kafi, v.1, p.11]
Imam 'Ali ('a) is
reported to have said:
One's religiousness is
according to one's understanding
[Ghurarul Hikam, p.49]
Obedience would be
according to one's intellect/understanding
[Ghurarul Hikam, 61]
One should also strive
that every action must be performed neither for seeking reward so that
it turns into a transaction or out of fear of Hell Fire so that it
manifests the worship of slaves. One should struggle to worship and
performs acts of virtue because Allah is worthy of worship and because
He loves His servants to do the different actions of virtue.
Both Ziyara in Madina
and Hajj in Makka are opportunities to transform ourselves so that out
graves tomorrow can shine as Rawdhatun min Riyaadhil Janna.
And as our innate
disposition would like to the salvation and felicity of every mu'min who
is not among us, we should also observe the teaching that Imam al-Sadiq
('a) is reported to have said:
When you see a grave,
say: O Allah, make it a garden of the gardens of Paradise and do not
make it a pithole from the pitholes of Hell Fire.
[al-Da'awaat, p.264]
If
the Muslim society takes these teachings seriously, both their world as
well as their hereafter would be radiant, for the reason that "concern
for the deceased" would elevate them in this world, and when they die,
they would enjoy the prayer of others. This obviously requires the
participation of the Muslim society as a whole. |