|
The Holy Qur'an and Imam Husain (A.S.)
By: Mulla Mujahid Sherrif
Abu Abdil Rahman Salmi was a tutor of the Holy Quran in Madina. Many children would come to him to learn how to recite the Holy book.
One day he taught a son of Imam Al-Husayn (A.S.) to recite Suratul-Fatihah (Al-Hamd). When the child recited the surah before his father, the Imam (A.S.) was so pleased that he rewarded the tutor with valuable gifts.
Some people criticised this action saying it was not necessary to give so much in return for teaching one surah. In reply, the Imam (a.s) said, “What comparison can there be between the gift I have given to the tutor of my child, and his teaching the Holy Quran, the gift which he has given to my child?”
Imam Al-Husayn (A.S.) gave a lot of importance to the Holy Quran during his life. During the night of Qadr, in the holy month of Ramadhan, there is a specific Ziyaarah of Imam Al-Husayn (A.S.) which we recite. At one point, in that ziyaarah, we say:
“I bear witness that you established prayers, and gave zakat (poor-rate), enjoined good and forbade evil, and you recited the Book (Quran) the way it should be recited..”
Similarly, on the nights of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Ad-haa, in another Ziyaarah of Imam Al-Husayn (A.S.), we say:
“I bear witness that indeed you recite the book of Allaah”
“Peace be upon you O companion of Qur'aan”.
Imaam Al-Hujjah (A.F.) in his Ziyaarah addresses Imaam Al-Husayn (A.S.) saying: “You were for the Prophet, a son and for the Quran, a support”.
All these wordings of different ziyaraat show the relation of Imaam (A.S.) with the Holy Qur'aan during his life.
Like other Imams (a.s), Imam al-Hussein (a.s) also used to guide people through the book of Allah (SWT). The following beautiful incident has been recorded in Safeenatul-Bihar:
‘Assaam bin Mustaliq was a man from Damascus who used to be a staunch enemy of the Ahlul-Bayt (a.s), particularly of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s). it is related that one day he came to Madina. As he entered the city gate, his eyes fell on Imam al-Hussein (a.s).
‘Assaam was very disappointed and the hatred of Ali (a.s) became evident in him. He approached Imam al-Hussein (a.s) and asked, “Are you the son of Abu Turab?” Imam (a.s) replied in affirmative. When ‘Assaam heard this, he began to abuse the Imam (a.s) and spoke bad words to him. Imam (a.s) calmly looked at him. When he was over, Imam (a.s) recited the following verses:
“Adopt tolerance, enjoin good and turn away from the ignorant. And if a prompting from Satan instigates you (to evil), then seek refuge with Allah. Verily He is all-Hearing, all-Knowing. Verily those who safeguard themselves (against evil) with full awareness of divine laws, when an evil thought from Satan assails them, they remember Allah, and lo! They see light. And their brethren plunge them deeper into error, so they do not slacken their efforts”. (7:199-202)
Then the Imam (a.s) said to ‘Assaam, “You have been misled. We pray for our and your forgiveness from Allah. If you need our help, then we are willing to help. If you need our protection, then we are willing to defend you. And if you need our guidance, then we are willing to guide you”.
When ‘Assaam heard this, he was very ashamed of his rude remarks. Imam (a.s) continued, “From today onwards, there shall be no blame on you. May Allah forgive you and He is the most Merciful”. The he (a.s) asked, “Are you from Damascus?” ‘Assaam said, “Yes”. Imam (a.s) said, “Whatever remarks you passed is of no importance to me, may Allah protect us both. Without hesitation, present your needs to me. Whatever I offer you, I hope, will remove all misconceptions you have of me”.
‘Assaam says, “When I heard this, I felt so ashamed but could not find any place to hide myself. Moreover, I wished the earth would tear apart and I would fall into it. After this encounter, there is no one on the face of this earth who is more beloved to me than al-Hussein (a.s) and his father”.
|
