Topic of Discussion:

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In the name of All°h, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

Discussion: Good of this World and the Next Life

Øad¢th #3
#32 [ Discussion #4
#44 ]
Lectures on Akhl°q given by His Eminence
Ayatull°h al-`U®m° al-Ø°jj ash-Shaykh N°•ir Mak°rim ash-Sh¢r°z¢ (may All°h protect him)
Translated by Saleem Bhimji – www.al-mubin.org – al-mubin@al-mubin.org

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Topic: Good of this World and the Next Life
Text of the Øad¢th:

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TRANSLATION: Im°m Ja`far ibn Mu¶ammad as-Æ°diq (peace be upon him) has said, “My father had narrated to
TRANSLATION
me from his father (peace be upon him) that a man from amongst the people of Kufah wrote a letter to Øusain
ibne `Al¢ (peace be upon him) which stated: “O’ My master! Inform me of a program which would contain the
goodness of the world and the next life.” So the Im°m (peace be upon him) wrote back to the man, ‘In the name
of All°h, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. So then whoever seeks to please All°h by displeasing the people,
surely All°h will be sufficient for him in his affairs with the people, and the person who seeks to please the people
through displeasing All°h, All°h will leave him to the whims of the people, was Sal°m’”1

Commentary of Øad¢th:
In many instances, we see that the pleasure of the Creator and the Creations are at opposite ends of the spectrum
of one another – if we seek to earn the pleasure of the creations, then we end up distancing ourselves from the
pleasure of All°h (Glory and Greatness be to Him) - and if we seek the pleasure of The Creator (Glory and
Greatness be to Him), then we must distance ourselves from the pleasure of the creations. In this instance, what
must we do?

The Im°m (peace be upon him) has stated that, “Hasten towards the pleasure of All°h (Glory and Greatness be to
Him) and do not sell the anger of All°h (Glory and Greatness be to Him) for the mere price of earning the
pleasure of the people since if you truly seek the pleasure of All°h (Glory and Greatness be to Him), then All°h
(Glory and Greatness be to Him) will pull the attraction in the hearts of the people towards you and He will
repair the problems that the people may encounter with you. However, if you seek the pleasure of the creations,
then All°h (Glory and Greatness be to Him) will leave you to be at the whims of the people such that whatever
you need, you will have to ask from them. You will need to ask from people who:

1 Bi¶°rul Anw°r, Volume 75, Page 126

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“The neither possess the ability to bring any profit nor harm to their own selves…”2

And thus, they neither have any power to do anything in this world of the next life.”

This issue which has just been stated above can sometimes be seen within the life of person and sometimes within
the scope of the countries of this world. For example, sometimes there are two people who are friends of one
another and one of these friends requests his other friend to bear false testimony in his behalf or claim that
something which is the right of another person is not actually his right and in this instance, we see that a person is
placed in this circle of either pleasing the Creator or pleasing the creation. In this instance, we are told that we
must place the pleasure of the Creator above all else.

U A 6G = ES (HY 8 X 63 U-*5G A U- &W 7V !2

“Surely those people who possess true faith and who also perform righteous deeds, shortly shall The All Merciful
(Al-Ra¶m°n) place amongst them, true love.”3

In the words of that great personality, when a person’s old and long-time friend requests him to do something
which goes against the laws, the person should reply that, “I am your friend right up until the brink of the pit of
Hell fire however I am not going to follow you into that path!”

When `Aq¢l, the brother of Am¢r al-Mo’min¢n `Al¢ ibn Ab¢ O°lib (prayers be upon him) requested him for
something more than his share from the public treasury, we see that at that point in time, Am¢r al-Mo’min¢n `Al¢
ibn Ab¢ O°lib (prayers be upon him), was busy seeking the pleasure of All°h (Glory and Greatness be to Him) and
this well-known event is a long-taught story which acts as a lesson for us all.

Sometimes this act (of trying to please the people) is committed at the level of the society. Sometimes, the leader
of the people is the faith – by this we mean that fulfilling the needs of the people is done under the guidance of
the pleasure of All°h (Glory and Greatness be to Him). However the world today does not accept this – rather,
they say that the only thing which is important is the desires and needs of the people such that even things such
as homosexual relations are now being made legal!

Leadership of the people in this meaning has brought us many wars in this world – why? As an example, we see
that the leadership of the people in America revolves around the desires of the nation of America while in
England, it is based on the needs and desires of the people who live there and sometimes we see that the desires
of these two nations may differ from one another since naturally, the material benefits and goals of people do
differ from one another and these people (American and England) would never stop to examine and investigate
the needs of the people over the entire world.

Sometimes in a country, the leadership of the people also contrasts with one another since sometimes within an
election, the interests of 25% of the population would take precedence over 75% of the population – and even in
some instances we see that 51% of the population would be on one side while 49% of the population would be on
the other side however the desires and wishes of that 49% are neglected! However, if humanity permitted
religion to lead them, then we can state that not only would the needs and requirements of the people of the
country be met, but rather, even the needs of all of the neighbouring countries of the world would also be looked
after.

We are all for leadership of the people, and even in Nahjul Bal°gha, we read in various instances that the masses
of people have been encouraged to lead the society such as the letter issued to M¡¥lik al-Ashtar in which the Im°m

2 S£rah Ar-Ra`d (13), Verse 16

3 S£rah Mariam (19), Verse 96
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(peace be upon him) wrote to M¡lik that the majority of the people are supporters of Isl°m and are his defenders.
Thus, if the world today wishes not to become engulfed in wars, then leadership of the people of faith must take
control and only the pleasure of All°h (Glory and Greatness be to Him) must be kept in one’s sight.

The Im°m (peace be upon him) is clear and eloquent in this Øad¢th and has observed the necessities of the time.

In this Øad¢th, the Im°m (peace be upon him) has witnessed that the person asking the question is one of the
people of Kufah and these are people who had definitely placed the pleasure of the creations above the pleasure
of the Creator (Glory and Greatness be to Him) and thus, the Im°m (peace be upon him) has said to him that, “If
you had not left the side of `Al¢ (peace be upon him) and the side of Im°m al-Øasan (peace be upon him), then you
would have achieved greatness in this world and the next world. However since you did not observe their rights
upon you, thus you are now trapped in the clutches of the Ban¢ Umayyah.”

Thus, anytime we are given any advice, we must look it over and keep it in mind and look and see what All°h
(Glory and Greatness be to Him) would want and expect.

…and all praise belongs to All°h (Glory and Greatness be to Him), only the mistakes are mine