30 May Epistles (Tawqeeaat) of Imam Mahdi (atfs) – Part 2
EPISTLES (TAWQEEAAT) OF IMAM MAHDI (ATFS) – PART 2
Continue from part 1 …
19 -Narrated to me my father: Narrated to us Saad bin Abdullah: Narrated to me Ali bin Muhammad bin Ishaq Ashari that he said:
“I had a wife from the Mawali (emancipated slaves) whom I had deserted a long time ago. She came to me and said, “If you have divorced me, let me know.” I said, “I have not divorced you,” and I copulated with her on that day. She wrote to me after a year claiming that she had been impregnated.
I wrote about her and about a house my son-in-law had left behind for The Gharim (a.s.). I was asking that the house should be sold to me and I should be allowed to pay its price in payments. The answer came about the house, “You have been granted what you asked. However, the woman and her pregnancy had not been mentioned. I wrote to the woman after that; she told me that she had written falsely and that she had never been pregnant. And praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.”
20 – Narrated to me my father: Narrated to us Saad bin Abdullah: Narrated to me Abu Ali Matteeli that he said:
“Abu Ja’far came to me and took me to al-Abbasiya and led me to a ruin and took out a book and read it to me. It bore the narrative of all that happened in the house. It spoke of the female, who was Umm Abdullah, who would clip her hair and leave the house and would throw it in Baghdad and would sit in front of the ruler. It had other similar stories. Then he said to me, “Remember.” Then he threw the book. This happened long before the incidents that ensued.”
21 – He said: and narrated to me Abu Ja’far Marwazi from Ja’far bin Amr that he said:
“I went to al-Askar; this was while the mother of Abu Muhammad was alive. I was with a group of men. When we reached al-Askar, my friends wrote a letter, seeking permission for a visit to the inside, recounting the name of each man. I said to them, “Do not write my name and my lineage. I am not seeking permission.” They left out my name. The permission came, “All of you enter and the one who did not seek permission.”
22 – He said: and narrated to me Abul Hasan Ja’far bin Ahmad that he said:
“Ibrahim bin Muhammad bin Faraj al-Rukhaji wrote a number of things and about a newly born baby and requested a name for him. The answer came to him about the things he had asked, but there was no mention about the baby. The fact was that the baby died. All praise belongs of Allah, the Lord of the worlds.”
He said: There had been a discussion amongst some men of our congregation. A letter came to one of them, explaining what had taken place in the gathering.
23 – He said: and narrated to me Asimi that:
“A man was thinking about someone who would deliver the religious dues he owed to the Gharim (a.s.) and became much ill at ease for this. He heard a caller call, “Deliver what you have to Hajiz.”
He said: Abu Muhammad al-Sarawi went to Surra Man Raa carrying money. A message came to him without his own initiation saying, “There is no doubt in us, nor in the one sitting in our place. Return what you have to Hajiz.”
24 – He said: and narrated to me Abu Ja’far that:
“We sent some religious dues with a very reliable brother of ours to the Askar. This brother left for his destination and inserted a letter without telling us amongst the things he was carrying from us. His letter was returned to him without any answer.”
25 – Abu Abdillah Husain bin Ismail Kindi that: Said to me Abu Tahir Bilali that:
“The letter that came to me from Abu Muhammad (a.s.) and later on after his demise they sent it as a trust, is at your house.” I said to him, “I like that you write for me the words of the letter.” Abu Abdullah told Tahir what I had said and he said to him, “Bring him to me, so he may narrate this from me without any narrator between us. ‘A letter came to me from Abu Muhammad (a.s.) two years before his demise, foretelling me about the successor after him.
Then another letter came to me from him three days before his demise, informing me of the same. So may Allah curse whoever denies the proximate friends of Allah their rights and leads the people to their challengers and may excessive praises be for Allah.”
26 – He said: And Ja’far bin Hamdan wrote a letter to the Imam as follows:
“I made a slave girl lawful for myself but before that I laid a condition on her that I don’t want a child and neither would I give her the status of mother of my children. After sometime she came to me and said that she was pregnant. I told her how this could be possible when I had told her that I don’t want a child? Then she disappeared for sometime and when she returned to me she had a child with her.
Neither I refused to accept the child nor stopped paying the expenses of that woman. Before her arrival with the child I had made a bequest regarding my property in favor of my children. Now when she came to me with a child I did not change my will. I just made an addition that when that child reaches maturity he should be given 200 dinars as one time payment. After that he or his children will not have any share in my property. Now my master, tell me whether I made the right decision regarding that child? And pray for my well being in the world as well as the hereafter.
The reply was as follows: Your making the slave girl lawful for yourself and then laying a condition that you don’t want a child is strange matter! It is not something that befits a man of faith. Whenever he is in doubt and does not know when he went to that woman, he cannot disown his child. But is right to give him 200 dinars and nothing from endowed property because it belongs to one he has intended. Abul Hasan says: I calculated the time before the birth of the child and concluded that he was born at the expected time.
And he says: It is mentioned in the copy of Abul Hamadani: May Allah give you health. I received your letter and the letter sent to you. And this epistle is narrated by Hasan bin Ali bin Ibrahim from Sayyari.
27 – And Ali bin Muhammad Saymoori (r.a.) wrote asking for a shroud cloth and received the following reply:
“You will need it in the year two hundred and eighty or two hundred and eighty-one.” He died in the year prophesied by the Holy Imam and he sent him the burial shroud two months before his death.
28 – [Narrated to us Ali bin Ahmad bin Mahziyar] that: Narrated to me Abul Husain Muhammad bin Ja’far Asadi that: Narrated to us Ahmad bin Ibrahim:
“I went to Lady Hakima, the daughter of Muhammad Ibne Ali as-Reza (a.s.) and the sister of Abul Hasan of Al-Askar (a.s.) in the year two hundred and sixty two in Medina. I conversed with her from behind the curtain and asked her about her religion. She named to me the Imams she followed and then she said, “And al-Hujja Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Ali,” and mentioned his name. I said to her, “May I be sacrificed on you, do you say this on the basis of observation or on the basis of the word of the Infallible?”
She said, “Words of Abu Muhammad, which he wrote to his mother.” I asked, “Where is then the son?” She said, “He is in hiding,” “To who are the Shias to turn for guidance?” “To the grandmother, the mother of Abu Muhammad (a.s.).” “Who has he emulated in assigning a woman as his deputy?” “He has emulated al-Husain Ibn Ali (a.s.). Al-Husain Ibn Ali (a.s.) assigned his sister, Zainab binte Ali in the superficies.
The learning and knowledge coming from Ali Ibn al-Husain (a.s.) were attributed to Zainab Ibn Ali in order to maintain secrecy over Ali Ibn al-Husain (a.s.).” Then she said, “You are scholars of narrations. Have you not narrated that the inheritance of the ninth from the sons of Husain Ibn Ali will be divided in his lifetime?”
29 – And narrated to us Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Ali Aswad (r.a.) that he said:
“I handed over to Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Uthman Amri cash/kind that was supposed to be paid to the Imam so that he may convey the same to the Holy Imam (a.s.). He accepted the things from me. Then two or three years before his demise once again I took some payments of the Imam to him (Amri). This time he told me to take the same to Abul Qasim Husain bin Rauh. I complained to Abu Ja’far but was told not demand that and he said: Whatever has reached Abul Qasim has reached me. Finally I took the monies to Abul Qasim and did not demand that which was in his possession.”
The author says: This report proves that the representatives of the Imam had knowledge through Imam regarding the duties of each of them. This is only possible when all this is done under divine commands.
30 – And narrated to us Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Ali Aswad (r.a.):
“Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Uthman Amri dug a grave for himself, then he got it filled and asked the Imam about it. The reply came: There are causes for man. He sent the inquiry for the second time. The reply was: I command you to gather my affairs. After that he (Amri) passed away in two months.”
31 – And narrated to us Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Ali Aswad (r.a.) that:
“A woman gave me a garment in one of the years and asked me to take it to Al-Amri (r.a.). I took that with many other garments and when I reached Baghdad, he ordered me to submit all of them to Muhammad bin al-Abbas Qummi. I gave all of them to him except for the garment of the woman. Al-Amri (r.a.) sent for me and said, ‘The woman’s garment, give it to him.’ I remembered that a woman had given me a garment; I looked for it but did not find it. He said, ‘Do not grieve, for you will find it.’ Then I found it. This was while al-Amri (r.a.) did not have a list of the things I was carrying.”
32 – And narrated to us Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Ali Aswad (r.a.):
“Ali bin al-Husain Ibn Musa Ibn Babawahy asked me after the death of Muhammad Ibne Uthman al-Amri to ask Abul Qasim al-Rauh to ask the Master of Age to pray that Allah gives him a son. I asked him that and he delivered the request. Then he informed me after three days that the Imam has prayed for Ali Ibn al-Husain and that he will father a blessed son that Allah will benefit him through this son and then there will be other sons after him.”
Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Ali al-Aswad says: I requested him for myself to pray that may Allah give me a son. He did not give me a reply and said, “This cannot happen.” Ali Ibn al-Husain had his son Muhammad that year and after him other sons and no son was born for me.
The author says: Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibn Ali al-Aswad would often say to me when he saw me coming to the sessions of our Shaykh Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Walid and my love for books of knowledge and learning: It is not surprising that you are fond of knowledge, since you are born through the Dua of the Imam (a.s.).
33 – Narrated to us Abul Husain Salih bin Shuaib Taliqani (r.a.) in the month Zilqad in the year 339 A.H. that he said: Narrated to us Abi Abdullah Ahmad bin Ibrahim bin Makhlad that: I was in Baghdad in the company of Mashayakh (r.a.) when Shaykh Abul Hasan Ali bin Muhammad Samuri (q.s.) said to me in the beginning:
“May Allah have mercy on Ali bin Husain bin Musa bin Babawahy Qummi. The Mashayakh noted down that date. Then news arrived that he had died that same day. And Abul Hasan Samuri (r.a.) passed away after that on the 15th of Shaban in the year 328 A.H.”
34 – Informed us Muhammad bin Ali bin Mitteel from his uncle Ja’far bin Muhammad bin Mitteel that he said:
“When Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Uthman Amari as-Samman (r.a.) was in his last moments I was sitting near his head and asking him questions and talking to him. And Abul Qasim Husain bin Rauh was sitting at his feet. Amari turned to me and said: I have been commanded to make a bequest in favor of Abul Qasim Husain bin Rauh.” The narrator says: I got up from the head side, took the hand of Abul Qasim and seated him where I was sitting, and I myself sat down near the feet.”
35 – And informed us Muhammad bin Ali bin Mitteel that he said:
“There was a woman called Zainab from the people of Aba. She was married to Muhammad Ibne Abdul al-Abi. She had three hundred dinars. She came to my uncle Ja’far Ibne Muhammad Ibne Matil and said, “I want you to give this money from me to Abul Qasim Ibn Rauh.” My uncle sent me with her to translate for her. When I entered upon Abul Qasim, he addressed her with an eloquent tongue and said, “Zainab, how are you and and what is the news of your children?” She did not need my translation. She gave him the money and came back.
36 -And informed us Muhammad bin Ali bin Mitteel that he said: My uncle Ja’far bin Muhammad bin Mitteel said:
“Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Uthman al-Samman known as al-Amri, called me and gave me small embroidered garments and a sac of dirhams and said, “You need to go by yourself to Wasit at this time and give what I gave you to the first man who meets you after you climb over your courser to the waterway in Wasit.” A tremendous shock overwhelmed me and I said to myself, “A man of my stature is sent for something like this and is assigned to carry insignificant items.
I went to Wasit, dismounted from the courser, and the first man who encountered me, I asked him about al-Hasan bin Muhammad bin Qatat, the pharmacist and the representative of the endowment in Wasit. He said, “I am him. And who are you?” I said, “I am Ja’far bin Muhammad bin Mateel.” He recognized me through my name and gave me greetings. I gave him greetings and we hugged each other.
I said to him, “Abu Ja’far al-Amri sends you his greetings and gave me these little garments and this sac to give them to you.” He said “Praise belongs to Allah, Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Amri has just died and I had come out to procure a burial shroud for him.” He opened the garments and there was all he needed, a Yemeni cloak, shrouds and camphor. There was money in the sac for the porters and the diggers. We attended the procession of his burial and then I returned.”
Continue in part 3 …..
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