Vol.

2 Issue 6
The Truth A Weekly Bulletin Thu. Feb. 8th 2007

S ay He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He

begets not, nor was begotten; And there is none like unto Him.

Holy Qur’an Al-Ikhlas (Sincerity) (112:1-4)

Word of Wisdom “Say each of your prayers as if they were your

last prayers.”
Prophet Muhammed (Peace Be Upon Him and His Purified Progeny)

“Having the Greatness of the Creator in your mind would make you
realize the insignificance of the creatures in your view.”
Imam Ali (AS)

Article Is there a God ?

God Most High says, “He Who gave everything
its nature, and then guided it.” (20:50)
Belief in Almighty Allah (SWT) is extremely important in Islam. Some-
times when we are asked to prove the existence of Allah (SWT), we tend
to get lost and are not quite sure how to answer. So, let us learn how
to, from the Holy Imams.
One day, a man came to Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq {the great-great-great
grandson of Muhammed (P)} and asked: O son of the Prophet (P)! Is
there a God?
Imam: Of course there is a God.
Man: But how can I be absolutely sure?
Imam: Make yourself
comfortable and relax.
There was a small boy
walking by with an egg
in his hands. The Imam
took the egg from him
and hid it in his palms.
Imam (to the man):
Tell me something. Is
it possible to keep two
different colors of liquid
in one container without
any barrier and yet they
don’t get mixed?
Man: Impossible.
Cont’d on P. 2
 The Truth, Thursday, February 8th, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 6
Cont’d From P.1
Imam: The Imam showed him an egg and asked, “What’s this then?
Who’s got this power to do this?” “When the egg is hatched, you see a
beautiful and a colorful bird coming out of the egg.
Have you seen anyone coming out of the egg or
entering the egg to suggest that someone’s been
inside the egg to paint the bird?”
Man: No.
Imam: That is God. You recognize your Creator
through His creations and His Might.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One day a man asked Imam Ali (AS) son of Abu Talib: Is there a
God?
Imam Ali (AS): Of course there is.
Man: How do I know?
Imam Ali (AS) pointed towards the footprints of a camel on the sand
and asked the man, “What do these footprints tell you?”
Man: That a camel has gone past from here.
Imam: But did you see the camel passing by?
Man: No, but the footprints are good enough to indicate the passing
of the camel from here.
Imam: So when you see the sun, moon, stars, trees, animals, etc.
doesn’t your mind tell you that since all these things are there, there
must be someone who has created them all? And that is your Creator,
God.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Imam Ali’s reply to a question about seeing God:
Dhi’lib al-Yamani asked Imam Ali (AS) whether he had seen God.
Imam Ali (AS) replied, “Do I worship one whom I have not seen?”
Then he inquired, “How have you seen Him?”
Imam Ali (AS) replied, Eyes do not see Him face to face,
but hearts perceive Him through the realities of belief.
He is near to things but not (physically) contiguous.
He is far from them but not (physically) separate.
He is a speaker, but not with reflection.
He intends, but not with preparation.
He moulds, but not with (the assistance of) limbs.
He is subtle but cannot be attributed with being concealed.
He is great but cannot be attributed with haughtiness.
He sees but cannot be attributed with the sense (of sight).
He is Merciful but cannot be attributed with weakness of heart.
Faces feel low before His greatness and hearts tremble out of fear of
Him.
 The Truth, Thursday, February 8th, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 6
Conversation Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.
Student: And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.
Student: No sir. There isn’t. (The lecture theatre becomes very quiet
with this turn of events.)
Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat,
mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have any-
thing called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat,
but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold.
Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot
measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just
the absence of it. (There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as
darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?
Student: You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of some-
thing. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light...
But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called dark-
ness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were you would be able to
make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue
there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You
are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can
measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and
magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood, either one.
To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that
death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of
life: just the absence of it.
Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved
from a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of
course, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where
the argument is going.)
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at
work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor,
are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a
preacher? (The class is in uproar.)
Cont’d on Next Page
 The Truth, Thursday, February 8th, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 6
Cont’d from Previous Page
Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s
brain? (The class breaks out into laughter!)
Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain,
felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, accord-
ing to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol,
science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do
we then trust your lectures, sir? (The room is silent. The professor stares
at the student, his face unfathomable.)
Prof: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.
Student: That is it sir... The link between man and God is FAITH. That is
all that keeps things moving and alive.
Ashura Prayers of the Master of Love
On the day of Ashura, Hussein ibn Ali (AS) found
the enemies all set for combat, to the extent that they banned water
from his camp and children, and were awaiting any signal to commence
the battle. Despite this situation Hussein (AS) was not willing to
begin the battle, as he had mentioned when entering Karbala.
Moreover he wanted to give the enemies advice as much as pos-
sible. Imam Hussein (AS) wanted them to recognize truthfulness from
falsehood. Furthermore, he did not want anyone who would participate
in killing him unknowingly and ignorantly, and fall in eternal calamity and
damnation while being unaware of the truth. In the morning of the 10th
of Muharram (Ashura), after organizing his army, Imam Hussein (AS)
got on his horse, stepped away from his tents, and addressed Umar Ibn
Sa’ad’s Army with a loud voice:

“O people! Listen to my words and do not rush into combat so that

I would fulfill my duty of advising you and explaining the reason for
my trip to this region. If you accept my explanation and treat me with
fairness, indeed you will find salvation and you will have no reason to
fight me. But, if you do not accept my explana-
tion and do not treat me fairly, you can get
together and perform whatever errone-
ous action you decide to do with me
without any delay. However, it shall
not be concealed from you that my
supporter is Allah (SWT) Who has
revealed the Holy Quran, and He
is the friend and supporter of the
good”.

Cont’d on Next Page

 The Truth, Thursday, February 8th, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 6
Cont’d from Previous Page
One of the historians has narrated that,” When Hussein ibn Ali (AS)
realized that the people of Kufa are determined to kill him, he took a
Quran, opened it, put it on his head, and addressed the army of en-
emies,” May the judge between me and you be this book of Allah (SWT)
and my grandfather, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HP). O people! For
what sin have you made shedding my blood lawful? Am I not the son
of the daughter of your Prophet? Have you not heard the saying of my
grandfather about me and my brother that, ‘These two are the masters
of the youth of paradise?”

“O servants of Allah! Fear Allah (SWT) and refrain this world, because
if it were to be given to an individual or only one person were to stay
in it for ever, the prophets would have been more appropriate for this
possession and pleasing them would have been more suitable. Never!
Because Allah (SWT) has created this world to be transient; its news
become old; its blessings pass away; its joys turn into griefs; it is an
inferior residence and a temporary home. So prepare provisions for your
journey to the Hereafter, and the best provisions for the Hereafter are
piety and fear of Allah (SWT)...”

This is the kindness and sympathy of an Imam and a Divine leader

towards his cruel enemy; this is the virtue of Hussein (AS) that in all
instants, even the last moments of his life, he says nothing but remem-
brance of Allah (SWT). In the last moments of his life when all his com-
panions were martyred and he was facing the brutal and wicked army
alone, Imam Hussein (AS) faced the heaven and prayed to his Lord, the
Lord of the universe, for the last time as:

“I am patient with your fate and destiny O Allah! There is no

God but you. O helper of the help-seekers! I have no God but
you. I am patient with your rulings and destiny. O rescuer of
those who have no rescuers! O the eternal Who has no ending!
O reviver of the dead! O Allah, that judges everyone based on
their deeds! Judge between me and these people, O the best of
judges!”

And when putting his face on earth while his body was mixed with
blood, he said:

“In the name of Allah; and with the help of Allah; and in the way of
Allah; and in the religion of the Messenger of Allah”
(Selected from “The Words of Hussein ibn Ali (AS) from Medina to Karabala”, by Muhammed Sadiq Najmi)
 The Truth, Thursday, February 8th, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 6
Article IMAM SAJJAD (AS) AND WORSHIPS
TO THE ALMIGHTY ALLAH (SWT).
4TH IMAM
Name: Ali
Title: Zain-Ul-Abideen (adornment of worshippers), Sayidus Sajideen
(chief of those who prostrate)
Father: Imam Hussein (AS)
Mother: Shahr Banu Bint-Yazdjard
Born: 15th Jumada 38AH (659AD)
Martyred: Poisoned by Waleed on 25th Muharram 95AH (713AD)
Buried: Cemetery of Jannatul Baqi (Medina, Saudia Arabia)
Lived: 57 years
The Ethical and Moral Characteristics of Imam Zain-Ul-Abi-
deen Ali Ibn-ul-Hussein Al Sajjad (AS)

1. Piety and Abstinence:

One of the special features of Imam’s character was his piety towards
Allah (SWT) and abstinence from evil deeds. Imam Jafar Sadiq (AS)
said, “Imam Ali Ibn-ul-Hussain (AS) resembled Ali (AS) the most, from
all the sons of Banu Hashim “.
His son Imam Muhammed Baqir (AS) said, “One day I happened to
see my father, I saw him (completely) immersed and (thoroughly pre
occupied) in the prayers and with all the attention towards Allah (SWT).
His color was faded and his eyes were sore and red due to weeping, his
feet were swollen by (prostration) and legs, and knees had developed
corns. I said humbly “Oh father, why do you lose your self control dur-
ing prayers and put yourself in such an inconvenient and discomfort-
able way. My father wept and said, “Oh son, however and whatsoever
amount of prayers I perform, even then it is meager and very little when
compared to the prayers of your grandfather, Ali (AS) Ibn Abu Talib.”
Taous Yamni says, I saw Imam lying in prostration saying, “Oh Allah
(SWT), your servant, needy towards you, is in your house waiting for
your blessing, forgiveness and favor”.

2. Attention to the life and education of people:

Imam Zain-ul-Abideen (AS), like his grandfather, was busy in cultivat-
ing land and palm date orchards. He offered two Rakat of prayer near
each palm date tree. During the prayers, he would get himself so ab-
sorbed, that he would not have any attention towards anything except
Allah (SWT). He traveled to Mecca, on foot, twenty times. And continu-
ously guided and directed people through the attractive melody of the
Qur’anic verses.
Cont’d on Next Page
 The Truth, Thursday, February 8th, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 6
Conversation Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.
Student: And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.
Student: No sir. There isn’t. (The lecture theatre becomes very quiet
with this turn of events.)
Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat,
mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have any-
thing called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat,
but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold.
Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot
measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just
the absence of it. (There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as
darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?
Student: You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of some-
thing. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light...
But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called dark-
ness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were you would be able to
make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue
there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You
are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can
measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and
magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood, either one.
To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that
death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of
life: just the absence of it.
Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved
from a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of
course, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where
the argument is going.)
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at
work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor,
are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a
preacher? (The class is in uproar.)
Cont’d on Next Page

8 The Truth, Thursday, February 8th, 2007. Vol. 2 Issue 6
Sayings
SAYINGS OF IMAM ALI AL SAJJAD

-Do not make anyone your enemy even though you consider him
harmless and do not turn down a person’s friendship even if you think
he will not benefit you.

-A person said to Imam Al Sajjad (AS) “Oh Son of the Prophet (P)
how did you start your morning?” He replied, “I commenced the morn-
ing with eight things being demanded of me. Allah (SWT) demands
the obligatory, the Prophet (P) demands (his) Sunnah, the family asks
for sustenance, the soul demands lust (desires), Satan demands (me
to commit) sin, the protectors (two angels who write down both good
and bad deeds of man while they also protect and defend him against
mishaps) demand the sincerity of practice, the angel of death demands
the soul and the grave demands (my) body. I am stationed among such
affairs being demanded of me.”

- Your mother’s right and entitlement is that you know that she has
carried you (in her womb) in a manner that nobody has ever carried an-
other. And, she fed you from the fruit of her heart in a way that nobody
has fed another. She protected you happily with her ears, eyes, hands,
feet, hair, skin and all of her body parts while bearing all the pains,
agonies, discomforts and burdens till the time Allah’s hand detached
you from her to the earth. Then she was happy and pleased that she
remained hungry and fed you and dressed you up, while she remained
naked, and quenched your thirst while she was thirsty. She placed you
in the shade, while she stayed under the sun and brought you up with
extreme comforts while she endured hardships. She made you enjoy
the sweet sleep while she stayed awake. Her womb was a soothing and
comforting place for you. Her breasts were means of quenching your
thirst. And her existence was a shield protecting you. She endured the
hot and cold of the world for your sake.
There fore, you must also thank her in the same manner. Yet, you
do not have the capability and power of doing so, except with the as-
sistance of Allah (SWT) and His grace.
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