Sermon 1: Relationship with Prophet (s) is not to make Selfies, but to take guidance
I invite, preach, admonish you all, myself and emphasize you to acquire divine Taqwa and live your lives in accordance with Taqwa which is a divine protection plan for human life. Humanity is preserved through Taqwa only and outside this also life is possible but not humanly which we can see in various forms today.
Allah has made arrangements for Taqwa by descending heavenly books, have sent messengers and amongst them is the blessed existence of Holy Prophet (s). Allah has granted us manifesto of Taqwa as well as teacher of that manifesto. Today 17th R.A is the day of birth anniversary of Holy Prophet (s) and Imam Sadiq (a.s) whereby I express my greetings and felicitations to entire Muslim Ummah.
The Holy Prophet (s) who is the chief of all Prophets and was aroused to complete the purpose of Prophethood the sequence of guidance. The Prophet was granted prophethood and position of Imamat. The purpose of arousing all Prophets was one single point agenda which is guidance of humanity and same is the purpose of divine books. The guidance in its comprehensive and real form. Guidance is related to the creation of human being because man has been created incomplete and he has to reach gradually to perfection. To accomplish the means, teachings that are required for these affairs we need these means. The way Quran has presented various examples of Prophets for guidance. As per narrations 1,24,000 Prophets have been aroused but there is no clarity whether these were for a specific region or globally. We understand that they were mostly from Middle East, but in other areas did the Prophets not come or they were also part of this 1,24,000. It is possible that these were only for the Middle East region or it is also possible they were for entire world. In Quran there is mention of 24 or 25 Prophets because there are doubts about two names which might belong to one Prophet. In these 25 Prophets Allah has mentioned the entire life of Prophets. Since the Prophets have one character, one purpose and have carried with them one manifesto which is the religion of Allah. Even if one Prophet would have been mentioned in Quran that would have been considered as equivalent to mentioning 124,000 prophets because they all carry one character and purpose.
The Quran says that all Prophets are not of the same level, they have different degrees even though the purpose is same for all. The point which the Quran has repeatedly mentioned related to Prophets is that the nations, people amongst whom these Prophets the behavior of these people were not of taking guidance. There were two categories of people around Prophets; one were the enemies who wanted to stop the Prophets, they created obstacles and even killed them. The other group was the one who got impressed by the character and invitation of Prophets, and became their followers. Both of the groups are mentioned in Quran, and they both kept every possible behavior with Prophets except guidance and they took very less guidance. For enemies it is clear that they expressed extreme animosity to the level for brutal martyrdom of Prophets. But those who accepted Prophets , got faith and became their Ummah they also did not take guidance from Prophets.
We won’t go into history and instead let’s talk about the Ummah of Prophet of current era and not of his time which has passed over centuries. In that era as well there was a group which was enemy of Prophet starting from Mecca and then spread over various areas. Today also there are enemies of Prophet who express their enmity in every possible way and then the group who accepted the Prophet, got faith on him, his book and they are present globally. If we see the behavior of both the enemies and believers of Prophet, even the believers who have established a relationship of love, belief and empathy but have taken guidance very less and have completely ignored the dimension of guidance which was the purpose of arousing of Prophet.
Today if we assess ourselves then we are also privileged of being the Ummah of Prophet (s). It is established that love, have belief and faith on Prophet but do we take guidance or have we taken guidance from Prophet (s) as well? To assess this we should first see the manifesto of guidance, second that part which the Prophet has mentioned present as Hadith and third is the character of Prophet. If we analyze these three sources, we can assess how much guidance we have taken and how much is remaining. The way in Quran Allah has said that the Prophets we have sent, you should accept them.
The current generation of Muslims and specifically the Muslims of Pakistan, and inside Pakistan as well those who are Shia claiming that we are connected with Prophet and his progeny as well should assess this and today is the best day for this. What the Prophet gave us we should see and what we have taken from that? We should see this individually as well as a community and Ummah. It is grievous to say that people like me are at zero. The Prophet has granted me 100 degrees of guidance and I am at point zero in guidance. Those who are enemies they deliver their rights of enmity. But those who are believers are more in formalities. We have kept relationship with Prophet since birth and will remain till death. This relationship is extremely passionate and sentimental without doubt. But what tragedy has taken place that we could not take guidance? We expressed our love and we can make witness Allah that we loved them by here. And even Allah will witness that we loved Prophet by heart , but what calamity came on us that we could not take guidance. We have done everything else but the actual purpose of his coming we could not do that.
We do celebrations on the birth anniversary of Prophet and Ahlulbayt (a) and do mourning on their martyrdom. In both these events we abandon guidance. I can give an example on what everyone is doing. In the past when an ideal personality of theirs would come in their presence they would take autograph from them. For every celebrity even religious speakers, eulogy reciters would get crowded around them to take autographs. Last night also I have seen people taking selfies with Qari’s. Now after camera’s have come in mobiles, people make selfies of their personality. And everyone in the crowd wants to take pictures with a celebrity guest. As an example if Supreme Leader comes to you or you visit him, what will you do? Will you ask him to sit and give lecture to you, guide you in a limited time which he has? But everyone will first try to shake hands, the second would be to make pictures either individually or in group. He has come to guide you with sermon and we are sitting here ready for selfie as remembrance. Since we are lovers, we were waiting to see him and every group has some ideal personality inside or outside country and when they get opportunity they make pictures. This memorial picture is not having guidance in it , you will place it in your phone memory and sometime you will show your friend that this is my picture, or you will show that personality later if you get a chance to meet again that see I have taken picture with you, so I know you and you can help me now with some work. So one is memory in this picture and second is to use it later. The opportunity which we got we wasted in selfies and pictures. There is another group who always want to serve food to their favorite personality. Once I went somewhere for reciting lecture but the host was insisting more to eat food first and then recite. The people find tranquility with such acts in their heart and at times they use these pictures.
Today our behavior with Prophet and Imams is also the same. Our celebrations are like making selfies with them. People make food also and since they are not present we ourselves eat in their name. These two things are done for those personalities who have been aroused with a purpose specific for us, that is to guide human beings. Why the lovers are deprived of guidance because we have spent our time in such acts which had love, faith but no guidance. Today we only have these selfies that how many programs, ceremonies we have attended. If were present in that era with Ali (a) with mobiles, then we would have a hard drive with selfies with Prophet. But the people at that time were more interested to listen to Prophet and Ali (a) hence this Quran came and sermons were delivered. At times Prophet will ask the people to speak, but majority would say in your presence we cannot speak, though some were there who would always show their presence and they were scolded by Prophet also and Quran also condemned them.
Today if someone narrates Quran to us, we all feel bored with guidance. But the companions amongst whom the Prophet recited Quran, they allowed him to do this and gave preference to him to speak. How Ali delivered so many sermons? They would listen though there was this selfie group present there as well where in Ambar on the way he met a group who was dancing in his reception and Ali (a) said this not going to benefit you in this world or hereafter, in fact fatigue in this world and regret in hereafter.
To receive guidance is the actual duty of Ummah in front of Prophet and Imams. These enlightened sayings of Prophet and Ahlulbayt (a) would not have been present if those companions would have cut cake, danced in front of them then this religion would not have come through them. Expression of love in this way has become obstacle in the path of guidance. Those who have to take guidance from them should make arrangements to take guidance.
There are speakers, people who take us away from guidance because it is their business to arouse the beliefs and passion of people. Those who are listening to Majalis is out of their love and belief that they listen, but the one reciting is doing this as business and not belief. He has to recite for 40 mins , take fees and then go to the next place. He has made specific topics for us which are interesting and easy for us. Guidance has some hardships. Takalif , Mukallaf means bearing those duties, obligations, responsibilities whose deliverance makes man suffer hardship and has to put efforts. Allah has placed these responsibilities on us and Prophet have come to elaborate these on us. Some are related to our personal life, some with our culture, community, society and these are actual duties of Ummah. Quran says whatever the Prophet has got take it from him and then act upon it. And if we do this, then we can say that Allah has kept the birth of Prophet a bounty on us. But those things which the traders come to entertain us in their names so that you don’t get time for guidance. The current generation has no time to take guidance because they have kept themselves busy so much.
I wanted to recite the sermon of Amirul Momineen (a) related to the Prophet but the time has passed. Once again I renew my greetings to the Ummah. This birth day is the birth of salvation, birth of Ummah and the day of guidance and covenant. That lesson which we have forgotten needs to be remembered and then remain on that. Lahw is that occupancy which makes us forget purpose and La’ab is that occupancy which is purposeless. We have forgotten the purpose of creation and we are acquiring education which has no purpose. If the education is such that it makes you forget your purpose of life then this is Lahw. If you are doing something, business, trading which has made you forget everything. Everything is La’ab which makes us doing things where we forget our purpose of life even if that is done is inside Kaaba. Today we are celebrating in a purposeless way hence this would become a sanctified La’ab because there is no guidance.
The gratification of the bounty of Prophet and Imams is to seek guidance from them. May Allah grant us the Taufeeq to act on that guidance.
SECOND SERMON
Sermon 2: Meaning of Fiqh e Jafari
Allah has aroused Prophet and Imams to implement Taqwa in the society which is the divine protection plan thereby giving security to human life. Amongst the Imams who came for implementing Taqwa and one is Imam Sadiq (a) whose birth anniversary is today.
For guidance the means which Allah provided us we made full use of these for everything else other than guidance. The Prophet got aroused and the Ummah had different behavior against them. Prophet Noah spent maximum time in guidance but the Ummah did not take any benefit from them including his wife and son.
In Quran for Bani Israel it is been said to remember the bounties which we gave you that made you excel others. Amongst these bounties as Quran also says that one big bounty was the abundance of Prophets in them, and the misguidance inside them was also more. Those communities were not misguided much in which Prophets were less.
The existence of Holy Prophet (s) came as bounty for this Ummah and it continued in the form of Wilayat. Allah aroused in abundance the Imams in the Ummah. We can say that Shias who are more in belief on them. We have so many Imams for guidance but how much guidance have we taken from them. In these Imams a highly manifested beacon of guidance is Imam Sadiq (a).
The Pure Islam that is the Mohammadi Islam was revived by him when Banu Ummah re-engineered Islam for their agenda and wanted to destroy the religion of Mohammad (s). As per some companions that in the era of Banu Ummah nothing other than the slogan of La Ilaah Allah was left in Islam. When Banu Umayyah started this, they wanted to destroy the source of the real, pure religion, hence they wanted to distance the Ummah from Imams and to destroy the teachings of Imams by arresting them, abusing them, propaganda, fabricating history and traditions, killing them. When Banu Umayyah started this aggression on the pure religion Imam Sadiq (a) did such a historic achievement that he protected the actual religion which we term as Fiqh e Jafaria. The teachings of Prophet is known as Shariah and the teachings of Imam Sadiq (a) is Fiqh. It means to have a deep understanding of something. Imam Sadiq (as) went deep inside the Quran, teachings of Prophet and got the reality of religion which is Fiqh e Jafaria.
I remember around 1981 , there was a program organized by Iran cultural house in Rawalpindi. The atmosphere was not adulterated with sectarianism at that time to this extent now. All Shia Ulama were present there, Ahle Sunnah personalities of various sects were present. In that they allowed few personalities to speak. One debating orator was also given opportunity to speak as representation of Shias and similarly one Sunni personality was given personality. The Shia orator did half speech criticizing the Sunnis. He forgot that who has arranged this program and who are sitting in audience. He used unethical language and then in another half, he questioned the Sunni Ulama and asked when did Abu Hanifa delivered Fiqh. They said 150 years after Prophet. So what were you doing before that? The Sunni scholar when he came on stage, they were not expecting this. The Ahle Sunnat scholar questioned Shias that your Fiqh is Fiqh e Jafaria , so what were you acting upon before Imam Sadiq (a)?
Imam Sadiq (a) did a beautiful achievement, the same which Allah took from Prophets. Fiqh e Hanafi does not mean that he has invented his own Sharai, is the same Shariah from the source of the traditions of Ahle Sunnah companions. I have said this before that in Ahle Sunnah political Imamat and Fiqh Imamat are different, but in Shais the Imam of Fiqh and politics both is Imam Ali (a). In Ahle Sunnah the political Imams are the four Caliphs but their traditions are not present in books, hardly very few. For Fiqh the traditions are coming from the sources other than these Caliphs. The four Fuqaha Imams are just for certain reasons, but there are more than hundred. Fiqh e Hanafi means understanding of Imam Abu Hanifa from the Shariah of Prophet. And Imam Sadiq (a) Fiqh means on the basis of what Ahlulbayt (a) understood from Holy Prophet (s) and Quran Imam Sadiq deduced and compiled. Shariah is the same for both Shia and Sunni.
We have to see where the difference comes? The Shariah came to Prophet as completion and after this understanding of this Shariah differed. What Imam Sadiq (a) understood is Fiqh e Jafaria and what the four Imams of Fiqh of Ahle Sunnah understood it got titled by them. The Caliphs did not compile the Fiqh which later Banu Umayyah did as per their interests and even the traditions got compiled by Banu Umayyah. In Shias the Imamat in politics, society, Fiqh, religion and governance are all for the infallible Imams. There is no segregation done in the Imams for various subjects. The difficulty is not here within Shias. The problem is when we talk about our nation today which people do not like, they want us to talk , condemn and attack others, but we talk about ourselves. When the Pakistani Shias made Tehreek, they kept the name of Tehreek e Fiqh Jafaria, but later they regretted and gave the name of Tehreek e Jafaria. There should have been no reason to change. We should see how much association Shia have with Fiqh e Jafaria
One policeman was telling me, that we arrested few persons from Sipaha e Sahaba and they were challenging that we will kill the Shias because they insult companions. The policeman asked them if you are followers of Sahaba then take the name of 10 companions. Only one person took the name of 3 companions. The policeman said you show feel ashamed that you don’t even know the names of companions. For Shais in Pakistan, the men, woman, people, orators how much knowledge you have of Fiqh e Jafaria which was compiled by Imam Sadiq (a) for their guidance.
On the day of birth of Imam Sadiq (a) we need to assess how much are we following the Fiqh of Imam Sadiq (a). He (a) has said that if someone leaves three Friday prayers then he is a hypocrite. Do we follow him (a)? You are ready to make selfies with Imam Sadiq (a) which is of no use. What will be useful is guidance. The part of Fiqh which you can implement at least execute that in your lives. The day Shias will understand the system of Imamat , the vision of Imamat which Imam Sadiq (a) also presented then the Fiqh of governance will also get established but for now at least implement the other dimensions of Fiqh of Imam Sadiq (a) in our lives.
May Allah grant us the Taufeeq to understand Fiqh e Jafaria and the system of Imamat taught by Imam Sadiq (a).
