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IMAM
AL-HUSSEIN (A.S) & THE HOLY QURAN
Abu Abdil
Rahman Salmi was a tutor of the Holy Quran in Madina. Many children
would come to him to learn how to recite the Holy book.
One day
he taught a son of Imam al-Hussein (a.s) to recite Suratul-Fatihah (al-Hamd).
When the child recited the surah before his father, the Imam (a.s) was
so pleased that he rewarded the tutor with valuable gifts.
Some
people criticised this action saying it was not necessary to give so
much in return for teaching one surah. In reply, the Imam (a.s) said,
“What comparison can there be between the gift
I have given to the tutor of my child, and his teaching the Holy Quran,
the gift which he has given to my child?”
(Quran-o-‘Itrat)
Imam
al-Hussein (a.s) gave a lot of importance to the Holy Quran during his
life. During the night of Qadr, in the holy month of Ramadhan, there is
a specific ziyarah of Imam al-Hussein (a.s) which we recite. At one
point, in that ziyarah, we say:
“I bear witness that you established prayers, and gave zakat
(poor-rate), enjoined good and forbade evil, and you recited the Book
(Quran) the way it should be recited..”
Similarly, on the nights of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Ad-haa, in another
ziyarah of Imam al-Hussein (a.s), we say:
“I bear witness that indeed you recite the book of Allah”
“Peace be upon you O companion of Quran”.
Imam
al-Hujjah (A.J) in his ziyarah addresses Imam al-Hussein (a.s) saying:
“You were for the prophet, a son and for
the Quran, a support”.
All these
wordings of different ziyaraat show the relation of Imam (a.s) with the
Holy Quran during his life.
Like
other Imams (a.s), Imam al-Hussein (a.s) also used to guide people
through the book of Allah (SWT). The following beautiful incident has
been recorded in Safeenatul-Bihar:
‘Assaam bin Mustaliq was a man from Damascus who used to be a staunch
enemy of the Ahlul-Bayt (a.s), particularly of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib
(a.s). it is related that one day he came to Madina. As he entered the
city gate, his eyes fell on Imam al-Hussein (a.s). ‘Assaam was very
disappointed and the hatred of Ali (a.s) became evident in him. He
approached Imam al-Hussein (a.s) and asked,
“Are you the son of Abu Turab?” Imam
(a.s) replied in affirmative. When ‘Assaam heard this, he began to abuse
the Imam (a.s) and spoke bad words to him. Imam (a.s) calmly looked at
him. When he was over, Imam (a.s) recited the following verses:
“Adopt tolerance, enjoin good and turn away from the ignorant. And if a
prompting from Satan instigates you (to evil), then seek refuge with
Allah. Verily He is all-Hearing, all-Knowing. Verily those who safeguard
themselves (against evil) with full awareness of divine laws, when an
evil thought from Satan assails them, they remember Allah, and lo! They
see light. And their brethren plunge them deeper into error, so they do
not slacken their efforts”.
(7:199-202)
Then the Imam (a.s) said to ‘Assaam,
“You have been misled. We pray for our and
your forgiveness from Allah. If you need our help, then we are willing
to help. If you need our protection, then we are willing to defend you.
And if you need our guidance, then we are willing to guide you”.
When ‘Assaam heard this, he was very ashamed of his rude remarks. Imam
(a.s) continued,
“From today onwards, there shall be no
blame on you. May Allah forgive you and He is the most Merciful”.
The he (a.s) asked,
“Are you from
Damascus?”
‘Assaam said,
“Yes”. Imam (a.s) said,
“Whatever remarks you passed is of no
importance to me, may Allah protect us both. Without hesitation, present
your needs to me. Whatever I offer you, I hope, will remove all
misconceptions you have of me”.
‘Assaam says,
“When I heard this, I felt so ashamed but could not find any place to
hide myself. Moreover, I wished the earth would tear apart and I would
fall into it. After this encounter, there is no one on the face of this
earth who is more beloved to me than al-Hussein (a.s) and his father”.
(Quran-o-‘Itrat)
Mulla
Mujaheedali Sheriff
mulla@almahdi.org.uk |