Miqdad, one of the noble readers of this blog, asked me a question on how to cultivate love for the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) in ourselves. In order to understand the answer to this fundamentally important query, we must realize that love is an offshoot of knowledge. So long as one has no knowledge of the beloved, how can any kind of love and yearning ever come into being? Therefore knowledge of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) is very essential. And knowledge about them is not all about historical dates and places. Rather it is the appreciation of their excellent traits and characteristics. When one understands the lofty traits of Imam ‘Ali (‘a) and Abu ‘Abdillah al-Husayn (‘a), he naturally gets inclined to them and intensely yearns to encounter them. Knowledge, however, is not always conceptual. If we clean the taints of sin that we have accumulated in our hearts, and rear the noble traits of the Imams in ourselves, our love for them would rage. It is such kind of knowledge and love that leads Maytham al-Tammar to water the tree where he is to be later hanged due to love and support of Imam ‘Ali (‘a). It is such knowledge and love that intoxicates Zuhayr bin Qayn to say, “I swear by Allah, I love to be killed, then resurrected, then killed, [then resurrected,] until I am killed like this a thousand times and that Allah thereby protects you and these youth of your family.” The secret of attaining such kind of raging love is in strengthening one’s faith and devotion. The Holy Qur’an alludes to this reality when it says, “…and those who have faith have more intense love for Allah.” [2:165]
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
RAGING LOVE AND STRONG FAITH
Miqdad, one of the noble readers of this blog, asked me a question on how to cultivate love for the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) in ourselves. In order to understand the answer to this fundamentally important query, we must realize that love is an offshoot of knowledge. So long as one has no knowledge of the beloved, how can any kind of love and yearning ever come into being? Therefore knowledge of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) is very essential. And knowledge about them is not all about historical dates and places. Rather it is the appreciation of their excellent traits and characteristics. When one understands the lofty traits of Imam ‘Ali (‘a) and Abu ‘Abdillah al-Husayn (‘a), he naturally gets inclined to them and intensely yearns to encounter them. Knowledge, however, is not always conceptual. If we clean the taints of sin that we have accumulated in our hearts, and rear the noble traits of the Imams in ourselves, our love for them would rage. It is such kind of knowledge and love that leads Maytham al-Tammar to water the tree where he is to be later hanged due to love and support of Imam ‘Ali (‘a). It is such knowledge and love that intoxicates Zuhayr bin Qayn to say, “I swear by Allah, I love to be killed, then resurrected, then killed, [then resurrected,] until I am killed like this a thousand times and that Allah thereby protects you and these youth of your family.” The secret of attaining such kind of raging love is in strengthening one’s faith and devotion. The Holy Qur’an alludes to this reality when it says, “…and those who have faith have more intense love for Allah.” [2:165]
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Mash'Allah.. short, precise and something ppl like me can learn from.
ReplyDeleteJazakAllah.