Monday, July 28, 2008

Wisdom of Imam Ja'far as-Saadiq (ra)

Imam Ja'far as-Saadiq was a direct descendant of Muhammed PBUH through his daughter Faatima (ra) and one of the greatest scholars of our Ummah. He had many famous students one of which was Imam Abu Hanifah (ra) who said about his teacher Imam Ja'far that he was the "most learned scholar I have ever seen". Another one of Imam Ja'far's famous students, Sufyaan ath-Thawree, (ra) (one of the people my nephew is named after) once narrated a story about his teacher.

Once, just as Sufyaan (ra) was about to leave his teacher's company he asked Imam Ja'far (ra) to teach him something useful. Imam Ja'far said to him "Sufyan, if you have a blessing and you wish to enjoy it for long, then continue to praise Allah and thank Him for it. Allah says in His revelation 'should you be grateful, I will definitely give you an increase' (14:7) And if you feel that your sustenance is slow coming, seek Allah's forgiveness repeatedly. For Allah says 'Ask your Lord to forgive you your sins, for indeed He is Much-Forgiving. He will let loose the sky over you with abundance, and will aid you with worldly goods and children, and will bestow upon you gardens and running waters' (71:10-12) Sufyaan, when you have a problem weighing heavily on you say, 'no power works except by Allah's leave'. That is key to its disappearance and one of the treasures of heaven". Sufyaan said "These three are awesome indeed!" Ja'far (ra) said "Sufyaan has understood them and Allah will benefit him by them, if He so pleases".