The final lecture was delivered on Friday the 15th Nov and the following points were discussed. 1. The community of Ahlul Bayt (a) is a community in which people feel safe. 2. Prophet Ibrahim asked Allah swt for the safety and security of the nation which he had envisaged to be built around Ka’bah. The Qur’an says: And when Abraham said, ‘My Lord, make this a secure town, and provide its people with fruits —such of them as have faith in God and the Last Day,’ He said, ‘As for him who is faithless, I will provide for him [too] for a short time, then I will shove him toward the punishment of the Fire, and it is an evil destination.’ (2:126) When Abraham said, ‘My Lord! Make this city a sanctuary, and save me and my children from worshiping idols. (14:35) 3. This security is not just with respect to one’s life or money. In an ideal community, people should feel safe with respect to their reputation and honour. In your absence or presence, no one is going to harm your reputation. 4. People also should be assured that if they become ill or unable to work the community will take care of them and their family. 5. The community of Ahlul Bayt (a) gives utmost importance to establishing prayer, charity and enjoining the good and prohibiting the bad. The Qur’an says: Those who, if We granted power them in the land, maintain the prayer, give the zakat, and bid what is right and forbid what is wrong. And with God rests the outcome of all matters. (22:41) Thus, the very first things that an ideal community does is to establish the prayer and give alms. 6. The community of Ahlul Bayt is strong in faith but at the same time it is soft and gentle. Some hadiths about soft and kind manners of the Prophet (s) were mentioned. 7. Finally a very beautiful hadith from Imam Sadiq (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 231) was explained, in which all the qualities that believers as individuals and community should have are listed. Some of the qualities discussed are as follows: 7.1. Strength in faith to the extent that nothing would shaken them. 7.2. Farsightedness 7.3. Softness 7.4. Certainty in faith 7.5. Greediness in understanding religion deeply 7.6. Being active and vibrant in guidance 7.7. Persistence if being good and kind 7.8. Having knowledge along with forbearance 7.9. Being clever and moderate 7.10. Being rich but at the same time economical or balanced in expenditure 7.11. Not weak , but not too harsh or rigid 7.12. Praying despite being busy 7.13. Being grateful 7.14. Forgiving despite being powerful 8. Finally a summary of the series was given. After explaining Allah’s plan for mankind and the historical roles Prophet Ibrahim, Prophet Muhammad and Imam Husayn played, the significance of community was explained and then some of the characteristics of the community of Ahlul Bayt were mentioned, such as: 8.1. Truthfulness 8.2. Being balanced 8.3. Being united 8.4. Calling people towards good 8.5. Being the best to serve mankind 8.6. Being knowledge based 8.7. Being safe 8.8. Establishing prayer and charity 8.9. Being soft and gentle. I take this opportunity to thank Allah swt for all His favours upon us and pray that he would accept all your mourning for Imam Husayn (a). Eltemase dua
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 00:24:31 +0000