It was said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): Is one who testifies that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God (PBUH) a believer? He said: Then what of the obligatory duties of God? ... Then he said: How is it, then, that one who denies the obligatory duties is an unbeliever? (Wasa'il vol. 1, p. 34)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was asked: Is a person who declares that God is One and believes in the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH) a believer? He said: Then what becomes of the obligatory duties? Whoever denies the obligations laid down by God is an unbeliever.
From Abd al-Azim ibn Abd Allah al-Hasani, from Abu Ja'far, from his forefathers, from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), in a hadith he said: God, by His generosity and His grace, admits the servant into Paradise for sincerity of intention and soundness of his inner self. (Wasa'il vol. 1, p. 56)
Abd al-Azim al-Hasani narrates from Imam al-Baqir (AS), from the Commander of the Faithful (AS): One who possesses sincerity of intention and purity of heart, God, through His grace and generosity, makes him a dweller of Paradise.
Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Murtada, in the Treatise of the Clear and the Ambiguous (al-Muhkam wa al-Mutashabih), quoting from the Tafsir of al-Nu'mani with the isnad that follows, from Ali (AS), who said: God has forbidden the believer to take an unbeliever as an ally; then He bestowed a favour upon him by granting him a dispensation in the case of taqiyya (prudent dissimulation). God the Exalted said: "Let not the believers take the unbelievers as allies rather than the believers; whoever does that has nothing to do with God, unless you guard yourselves against them out of caution." [Qur'an 3:28] This is a mercy with which God favoured the believers, a mercy for them, that they may make use of it outwardly in the state of taqiyya. And the Messenger of God (PBUH) said: God loves that His dispensations be acted upon just as He loves that His binding obligations be acted upon. (Wasa'il vol. 1, p. 107)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God has forbidden the believers to show friendship to unbelievers, except in a situation of taqiyya, for the protection of oneself. And this is a dispensation, a kind of favour and mercy towards the believers. And as the Messenger of God (PBUH) has said, God loves that the believers should act upon His dispensations just as they act upon His obligations.
Tamim ibn Salama, from Abu Ubayda, from Abd Allah, from Ali (AS), who said: Moderation in accordance with the Sunna is better than exertion in innovation. (Wasa'il vol. 1, p. 111)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: To remain within the compass of the Sunna and to be moderate in it is better than to be tainted with innovation and to gallop headlong in it.
In the Book of the Merit of Kufa, with its isnad to Uqba ibn Alqama, who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) bought a tract of land between al-Najaf and al-Hira and al-Kufa from the local landholders for forty thousand dirhams, and had his purchase witnessed. I said to him: O Commander of the Faithful, do you buy this with such wealth, when it grows nothing of any worth? He said: I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: Kufan, Kufan! Its first shall be brought back upon its last; from its surface seventy thousand shall be raised up who will enter Paradise without reckoning. So I desired that they should be raised up from land that is mine. (Wasa'il vol. 3, p. 161)
The narrator says: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) bought a wide tract of land, part of which is now Wadi al-Salam, from the local landowners for forty thousand dirhams, and took a deed for it. Objection was raised: What use is this land to you, when nothing grows in it? He said: I heard from the Messenger of God (PBUH) that from the surface of Kufa thousands upon thousands of the friends of God will be raised up to Paradise without reckoning; I would love that they should lie in land that is mine, and set out from there for Paradise.
From al-Asbagh ibn Nubata, who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever marks out a grave or fashions an image has departed from Islam. Al-Saduq narrated it in mursal form, and al-Barqi narrated it in al-Mahasin from his father, from Muhammad ibn Sinan. (Wasa'il vol. 3, p. 208)
Asbagh ibn Nubata says that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: Whoever marks out a grave or fashions a statue has left Islam. Al-Saduq and al-Barqi have also transmitted this tradition.
We say: Ali's (AS) struggle against the building of tomb-structures, which was a custom of the non-Arabs in Yemen and Iraq, is among the firmly established matters in the history of the Commander of the Faithful (AS), and it has come down in many traditions. In Nahj al-Balagha too it is reported that the Messenger of God (PBUH) sent me to Yemen and ordered me to level all the graves with the ground in such a way that no trace of them remained! The next tradition is likewise an account of that same event, related on the authority of Imam al-Sadiq (AS).
From al-Sakuni, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) sent me to Medina and said: Leave no image without effacing it, no grave without levelling it, and no dog without killing it. (Wasa'il vol. 3, p. 209)
We have given the translation and explanation of this tradition in the tradition above. By "image" is meant a statue or an idol. In these two traditions, the matter of graves and images has been accepted by the jurists of the Sunni majority and acted upon. But the matter of killing dogs has not been accepted by any of the jurists, either of the majority or of the Shia; none has found any justification for it, and none has acted upon it. In fact, in this respect the tradition is abandoned, contrary to principle, and contrary to natural disposition. On what grounds should an animal that God has created be killed in a given region? Some have said that it is possible that rabies had spread in that region, and that stray dogs, which were the agents of that disease and were attacking people, were what was meant; otherwise there can be no justification for this part of the tradition. The presence of this portion in the tradition also weakens the tradition itself. Moreover, the presence of al-Sakuni in the chain of transmission weakens the tradition.
From Amr ibn Shimr, tracing it back to Ali (AS), who said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said in a hadith: Whoever bears a calamity with patience until he meets it with fair fortitude, God records for him three hundred degrees. (Wasa'il vol. 3, p. 259)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) narrates from the Messenger of God (PBUH) that whoever passes through a calamity with patience, in the best manner, draws three hundred degrees nearer to God.
From Abd Allah ibn Bakr al-Rajjani, who said: Ali (AS) killed the people of Nahrawan, and the next morning the companions of Ali (AS) were weeping over them. Ali (AS) said: Do you grieve for them? They said: No; we remembered the fellowship in which we once lived with them and the affliction that befell them, and for that reason our hearts softened towards them. He said: There is no harm in that. (Wasa'il vol. 3, p. 284)
The narrator says: After the end of the battle of Nahrawan, Ali (AS) saw that some of his companions were walking among the slain of the Khawarij and weeping. He said: Are you distressed for them? They said: Some of them were our friends; we recall our memories together and we grieve for their state, wondering why it came to this. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Such is this world!
In al-Khisal, with its isnad from Ali (AS), in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: Keep yourselves away from the proximity of dogs; whoever is touched by a dog while it is wet should wash the place, and if it is dry he should sprinkle his garment with water. (Wasa'il vol. 3, p. 417)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Keep away from dogs as far as you can! If their wetness touches any place, wash that place; and even where they touch when dry, rinse it with water afterwards.
In al-Khisal, with the isnad that follows, from Ali (AS), in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: Teach your children the prayer, and hold them to it when they reach eight years of age. (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 20)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Teach your children the prayer, and when they turn eight years old, require them to perform it.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), that he said in a discourse counselling his companions: Attend to the matter of the prayer, guard it carefully, perform much of it, and draw near to God by means of it. Truly it scrapes away sins as leaves are scraped from a tree, and it looses them as fetters are loosed. (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 30)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to counsel his companions much concerning the prayer, saying: Watch over your prayer, pray much, and draw near to God through prayer. Prayer makes your sins fall away, just as the leaves of a tree fall down. And he used to say: Prayer sets you free, like a slave freed from bondage to another.
From Ubayd ibn Zurara, from his father, from Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: The witr, in the book of Ali (AS), is obligatory; it is the odd prayer of the night, and the maghrib is the odd prayer of the day. (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 91)
Imam al-Baqir (AS) used to say: Ali (AS) held the one-rak'a night prayer (witr) to be obligatory, like the maghrib prayer.
From Ali ibn Abi Hamza, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: If you are able to pray a thousand rak'as every day, then pray them; for Ali (AS), at the end of his life, used to pray a thousand rak'as every day and night. (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 97)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: In the last years of his life, Ali (AS) used to pray a thousand rak'as in every day and night.
From Hamza ibn Humran, from his father, from Abu Ja'far (AS), concerning the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: Nothing of a servant's prayer is accepted from him except that portion of it upon which he turned with his heart. A man said: Then we are ruined! He said: By no means; God completes that by means of the supererogatory prayers. (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 99)
One day the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nothing of the prayer is accepted except that measure of it which is performed with attentiveness!
At this, one of the companions said: Then the prayer of none of us is accepted, and we are all ruined!
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Not at all; God has appointed the supererogatory prayers so that the deficiencies of our obligatory prayers may be made good.
With his isnad from Ali (AS), in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: There is no deed more beloved to God, Mighty and Majestic, than the prayer; so let nothing of the affairs of this world distract you from its appointed times, for God, Mighty and Majestic, censured a people, saying: "Those who are heedless of their prayer" [Qur'an 107:5] — meaning that they are negligent and make light of its times. (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 13)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: We have no deed more beloved to God than the prayer; so take care that, when the first time of prayer arrives, nothing of the affairs of this world should needlessly occupy you, lest you fall under the censure of God, who has said: "Those who are heedless of their prayer" — that is, they pay no heed to their prayer and to its times!
With his isnad from Ali (AS), in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: One who waits for the time of the next prayer after a prayer is among the visitors of God, Mighty and Majestic; and it is incumbent upon God to honour His visitor and to grant him what he asks. (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 116)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who, before the time of prayer arrives, is waiting for the prayer is counted among the visitors of God; and it is God's due to honour His visitor and to give him what he asks.
From Suwayd ibn Ghafala, from Ali, Umar, Abu Bakr and Ibn Abbas — all of them said: Pray the afternoon prayer while the mountain passes are still bright with light, for such was the prayer of the Messenger of God (PBUH). (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 154)
The narrator says: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to pray the afternoon prayer about an hour before sunset, and he used to say that the Messenger of God (PBUH) performed the afternoon prayer at this time.
Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Tusi, in al-Majalis, with an isnad already given concerning the manner of ablution, said: When the Commander of the Faithful Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) appointed Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr over Egypt and its districts, he wrote a letter for him and ordered him to read it to the people of Egypt and to act upon what he had enjoined in it. He mentioned the letter at length, until he said: He prayed the maghrib when the sun had set; then he prayed the final evening prayer (isha) when the twilight had disappeared; then he prayed the dawn prayer in the darkness before daybreak, while the stars were still thickly clustered. So pray at these times, adhere to the well-known Sunna and the clear path. Then look to your bowing and your prostration, for the Messenger of God (PBUH) was the most complete of people in prayer and the lightest of them in the performance of it. And know that everything of your conduct follows upon your prayer; whoever squanders the prayer will be still more wasteful of everything else. (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 161)
It is in the counsel of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) to Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr: Perform the maghrib prayer with the people at the moment the disc of the sun sets; and the evening prayer (isha) at the time when the redness of the sky departs; and the time of the dawn prayer while the stars are still visible. Act according to the Sunna that is well known, and follow the path that is clear. Let the bowing and prostration of your prayer be complete, like the bowing and prostration of the prayer of the Messenger of God (PBUH), whose prayer, for all the perfection of its bowing and prostration, was simple and easy. And know that the rest of your affairs follow upon your prayer; if your prayer is ruined, the rest of your works will be ruined as well.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS): Pray the afternoon prayer with them while the sun is still white and alive, in a portion of the day in which two farsakhs may be travelled; and pray with them the prayer of the weakest among them, and do not be a cause of hardship and trial. (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 162)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Pray the afternoon prayer at the time when the sun has so leaned towards the edge of the sky that there remains a ride of two farsakhs until nightfall; and lead the congregational prayer in such a way that the worshipper whose endurance is least of all does not fall into hardship.
From Ali (AS), in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: Whoever comes to the prayer knowing its right is forgiven. God the Exalted said: "Those who are constant in their prayer" [Qur'an 70:23] — meaning those who make up by day what they have missed of the night, and by night what they have missed of the day. (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 228)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who performs the prayer and knows the right that is due to the prayer is forgiven. As for God's words, "Those who are constant in their prayer," they are those who pray by day the prayer that was missed at night, and by night the prayer that was missed by day.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), in a long hadith: When God the Exalted veils from His servants the disc of the sun, which He has made a guide to the times of the prayers, then they are given latitude to delay the prayers until the time becomes clear to them by its appearance and they are certain that it has passed the meridian. (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 279)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: On days when it is cloudy and the sun is not visible, there is no objection to delaying the noon prayer, until certainty of the legal noon is attained.
From al-Sindi ibn Muhammad, from Abu al-Bakhtari, from Ja'far ibn Muhammad, from his father, who said: Ali (AS) clothed the people in Kufa, and among the garments was a hooded cloak (burnus) of fine silk-fur. Al-Hasan asked him for it, but he refused to give it to him, and cast lots for it among the Muslims, and it fell to a young man of Hamdan. The Hamdani went off with it, and it was said to him: Al-Hasan had asked his father for it, and he withheld it from him. So the Hamdani sent it to al-Hasan, and he accepted it. (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 366)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was distributing garments among the people in Kufa. Al-Hasan (AS) asked for a hooded cloak of fine silk-fur. Ali (AS) did not give it to him, but cast it out among the crowd. It fell into the hands of a young man of Hamdan. He was told that al-Hasan (AS) had wanted it. The young man gave it to al-Hasan (AS) as a gift, and al-Hasan accepted it.
From Isma'il al-Sindi, from Abd Khayr, who said: Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) had four rings which he used to wear: a ruby for his nobility, a turquoise for his victory, Chinese iron for his strength, and a carnelian for his protection. (Wasa'il vol. 4, p. 420)
Ali (AS) had four rings: a ruby for honour; a turquoise for victory; Chinese iron for strength; and a carnelian for protection.
Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A bedouin came to the Prophet (PBUH) and asked him about the worst of the spots of the earth and the best of the spots of the earth. The Messenger of God (PBUH) said to him: The worst spots of the earth are the markets — until he said: and the best of spots are the mosques; and the most beloved of them to God is the first of them to enter and the last of them to leave. (Wasa'il vol. 5, p. 293)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One day a bedouin asked the Messenger of God (PBUH): What is the worst place on earth? The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: The market! He asked: What is the best place? He said: The mosque. Then he said: Enter the mosques early and leave them late, and remain in them longer.
From Muhammad ibn Abi Umayr, from al-Muthanna, from Abu Abd Allah (AS): that Ali (AS) disliked images in houses. (Wasa'il vol. 5, p. 304)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) did not like there to be pictures in the house.
From Ghiyath ibn Ibrahim, from Ja'far, from his father, from Ali (AS), who said: Let a man not prostrate upon something upon which the rest of his body does not rest. (Wasa'il vol. 5, p. 375)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not prostrate upon a thing on which only your forehead rests.
We say: that is, the prostration must take place upon a single surface, such that the forehead and the other points of contact are on one level and upon a single object — such as a mat, or paving stone, or the ground, or a prayer-mat (if we hold prostration upon a woven fabric of wool or cotton, being something grown from the earth, to be permissible and correct).
In al-Khisal, with its isnad from Ali (AS), in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: Let none of you stand in prayer while sluggish or drowsy, and let him not turn over his own affairs in his mind, for he is before his Lord, Mighty and Majestic; and the servant has of his prayer only that upon which he turned with his heart. (Wasa'il vol. 5, p. 447)
The Comm
From Ali (AS), who said: Do not let your gaze pass beyond the place of your prostration during the prayer. (Wasa'il vol. 5, p. 510)
It is narrated from Ali, peace be upon him, that he said: In the prayer, do not let your gaze go beyond the place of your prostration.
And from (Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from Muhammad ibn Muslim), who said: I asked Abu Ja'far (AS): May we seek protection by means of any of these incantations? He said: No, except from the Qur'an. Ali (AS) used to say: Many of the incantations and amulets are a form of associating partners with God. (Wasa'il vol. 6, p. 237)
We asked Imam al-Baqir (AS): May we make use of those written texts that are said to be talismans? He said: Make use of things that contain nothing but the Qur'an. Ali (AS) used to say: Most talismans and incantations are polytheism.
Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn said: A man asked the Commander of the Faithful (AS), saying: O cousin of the best of God's creation, what is the meaning of stretching out your neck in the bowing? He said: Its inner meaning is: I have believed in God, even if my neck be struck off. (Wasa'il vol. 6, p. 325)
We asked the Commander of the Faithful (AS): What is the meaning of stretching out the head in the bowing? He said: It means: even if you strike off my neck, I will not abandon my religion!
From al-Asbagh ibn Nubata, who said: When the Commander of the Faithful (AS) raised his head from prostration, he would sit until he was at rest, and then rise. He was asked about this and said: This is part of showing reverence for the prayer. (Wasa'il vol. 6, p. 347)
When the Commander of the Faithful (AS) raised his head from prostration, he would sit calmly for a moment and then stand up, and he used to say: This act is a way of honouring the prayer.
From Abd Allah ibn Hilal, who said: I complained to Abu Abd Allah (AS) of the scattering of our wealth and of what had befallen us. He said: Keep to supplication while you are prostrating, for the servant is nearest to God when he is prostrating. He said: I said: May I then supplicate during the obligatory prayer and name my need? He said: Yes; the Messenger of God (PBUH) did that, and prayed against a people by their names and the names of their fathers; and Ali (AS) did the same after him. (Wasa'il vol. 6, p. 371)
The narrator says: I complained to Imam al-Sadiq (AS) of financial difficulties. He said: Supplicate while in the state of prostration! for prostration is the nearest state of the servant to God.
The narrator says: I said: Is there no objection to doing so in the prostration of the prayer? He said: No! The Messenger of God (PBUH) also used to supplicate during the prayer and name the things he wanted; and Ali (AS) did this too.
With his isnad from Ali (AS), in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: Do not think little sins insignificant, for the little is counted up and mounts to much. And prolong your prostration, for there is no deed harder upon Iblis than to see the son of Adam prostrating, because he was commanded to prostrate and disobeyed, while this one was commanded to prostrate and obeyed, and so was saved. (Wasa'il vol. 6, p. 381)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not make light of small sins, for they accumulate and become many; and prolong your prostrations, for there is no deed heavier upon Iblis than the prostration before Adam, since his refusal to prostrate before Adam made him accursed.
A man said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): What is the meaning of the imam's words, "Peace be upon you"? He said: The imam speaks as an interpreter on behalf of God, Mighty and Majestic, and says in his interpretation to the congregation: It is a safeguard for you from the punishment of God on the Day of Resurrection. (Wasa'il vol. 6, p. 417)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was asked: What does it mean that the leader of the congregational prayer says at the end of the prayer, "Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessings"? He said: On behalf of God he gives greetings of peace to the people and grants them safety from punishment.
From Abu Basir, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), from his forefathers, from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: When one of you has finished the prayer, let him raise his hands towards heaven and apply himself earnestly to supplication. (Wasa'il vol. 6, p. 487)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: After the prayer, raise your hands towards heaven and occupy yourselves with supplication.
From Ali (AS), in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: When one of you goes to sleep, let him place his right hand beneath his right cheek, for he does not know whether he will awake from his slumber or not. (Wasa'il vol. 6, p. 505)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you go to sleep, place your right hand under your head, and have the feeling of one who does not know whether he will rise again from sleep or not!
From Ali (AS), in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: Whoever has a need of his Lord, let him seek it at certain hours: an hour on Friday; the hour when the sun passes the meridian; when the winds blow and the gates of heaven are opened and mercy descends and the birds give voice; and an hour in the last part of the night. (Wasa'il vol. 7, p. 67)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said that certain times are good for asking one's needs from God: first, an hour on Friday; second, the time of noon; third, the time when the wind blows, for at that time the gates of heaven are opened and mercy descends; fourth, the time when the birds sing; and fifth, an hour at the end of the night.
From Ali ibn Abd Allah, from his father, from his grandfather, from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), in a hadith he said: The sperm-drop undergoes transformation in the womb for forty days; so whoever wishes to call upon God, Mighty and Majestic, let it be within those forty days, before it is formed. Then God sends the angel of the wombs, who takes it and says: O my God, is it wretched or blessed? (Wasa'il vol. 7, p. 141)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: From the forming of the seed in the womb until the determining of its general destiny there is an interval of forty days. So supplicate during these forty days. After these forty days an angel comes and asks: O God, is the destiny of this child to be hard or easy?
We say: that is, it is determined which spirit, with which destiny, shall be attached to this body; and after that, to change the destiny is not impossible, but it is very difficult. For example, if a child is destined for this body with a hard lot, it is quite different from a child destined with an easy, brilliant and fortunate lot. So this forty-day opportunity must not be lost.
From Ali (AS), who said: Reciting the Qur'an in the prayer is better than reciting the Qur'an outside the prayer, and the remembrance of God is better still. (Wasa'il vol. 7, p. 162)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Reciting the Qur'an in the prayer is more excellent than reciting the Qur'an outside the prayer, and the remembrance of God is more excellent than reciting the Qur'an.
From al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Askari, from his forefathers, from Ali (AS), in a hadith he said: Whoever is grieved by some matter he is undertaking, and says, "In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate," being sincere to God and turning towards Him with his heart, will not fail to receive one of two things: either the attainment of his need in this world, or that it be prepared and stored up for him with his Lord; and what is with God is better and more lasting for the believers. (Wasa'il vol. 7, p. 169)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever has some matter that has come upon him and occupied his thoughts, and says sincerely and with his whole being, "In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate" — either that matter will be resolved, or something better than it will be stored up for him with God; and what is stored up with God for the believers is always better.
Asim ibn Hamza, from Ali (AS), who said: Invoking blessings upon the Prophet (PBUH) wipes out sins more thoroughly than water extinguishes fire. (Wasa'il vol. 7, p. 196)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Invoking blessings upon the Prophet (PBUH) erases the effect of a person's misdeeds like water that puts out fire, and even more so.
From Abd Allah ibn Sinan, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: One day the Messenger of God (PBUH) said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): Shall I not give you good news? He said: Yes indeed — until he said: Gabriel informed me that when a man of my community invokes blessings upon me and follows the blessing upon me with blessings upon my Household, the gates of heaven are opened for him, and the angels invoke seventy blessings upon him, and then his sins fall away from him as the leaves fall from the tree; and God, Blessed and Exalted, says: At your service, My servant, and happiness be yours! O My angels, you invoke seventy blessings upon him, and I invoke seven hundred blessings upon him. (Wasa'il vol. 7, p. 204)
The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: O Ali, Gabriel informed me that whenever a Muslim invokes blessings upon me and upon my family, the gates of heaven are opened for him, and the angels send seventy blessings upon him, and his sins fall away just as the leaves of a tree fall; and God says: At your service, O My servant! O angels, you have sent seventy blessings upon him, and I send seven hundred blessings upon him.
From Abu al-Bakhtari, from Ja'far, from his father, from Ali (AS), who said: Turning aside during the prayer is a theft by Satan; so beware of turning aside during the prayer, for God turns towards the servant when he stands in prayer, and when he turns aside, God, Blessed and Exalted, says: O son of Adam, towards whom are you turning? — three times. And when he turns aside a fourth time, God turns away from him. (Wasa'il vol. 7, p. 288)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The wandering of attention in the prayer is Satan's embezzlement — his hidden theft — from a person's prayer. Take care that your attention wanders as little as possible! During the prayer God turns towards His servant, and when the servant's attention wanders, God says: O son of Adam! Where have you gone? God says this up to three times and overlooks it. And the fourth time that the servant's attention wanders, God leaves him be and turns away from him in that prayer.
From Talha ibn Zayd, from Ja'far, from his father, from Ali (AS), who said: There is no Friday prayer except in a city in which the prescribed punishments (hudud) are carried out. (Wasa'il vol. 7, p. 307)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Friday prayer should be held only in a city in which the divine prescribed punishments are carried out.
From Isa ibn Abd Allah, from his father, from his grandfather, from Ali (AS), who said: God, Mighty and Majestic, said: My servant asks Me to choose what is best for him, and I choose the best for him, and then he becomes angry. (Wasa'il vol. 8, p. 80)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God says: Sometimes My servant asks Me for what is good, and I choose for him what is good for him, but he becomes displeased.
It is narrated from al-Sadiq Ja'far ibn Muhammad (AS) that he said: Whoever among you prays four rak'as — the prayer of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) — comes forth from his sins as on the day his mother bore him, and his needs are fulfilled. In each rak'a he recites al-Hamd once and "Say: He is God, One" fifty times; and when he has finished it, he supplicates. (Wasa'il vol. 8, p. 116)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: Perform the prayer of the Commander of the Faithful (AS), so that your needs may be fulfilled and your sins cleansed, as though you had been born anew from your mother: four rak'as, and in each rak'a, after al-Hamd, the Sura of Divine Unity fifty times. And after the prayer, supplicate as well.
From Abu al-Jawza', from al-Husayn ibn Ulwan, from Amr ibn Khalid, from Zayd ibn Ali, from his forefathers, from Ali (AS), who said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) led us in the noon prayer with five rak'as, and then turned away. One of the people said to him: O Messenger of God, has something been added to the prayer? He said: And what is that? He said: You prayed five rak'as with us. He said: So he faced the qibla and pronounced the takbir while seated, then performed two prostrations in which there was neither recitation nor bowing, then gave the salutation. And he used to say: These two are the two that rub the nose of Satan in the dust. (Wasa'il vol. 8, p. 233)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) narrates: The Messenger of God led us in a noon prayer that was five rak'as. Then he concluded the prayer. In astonishment we said: Has the noon prayer been changed? He said: How so? We said: You prayed five rak'as! He turned towards the qibla, pronounced the takbir, and while seated performed two prostrations and gave the salutation, and said: These two prostrations are for making amends.
From Zurara, from Abu Ja'far (AS), in a hadith he said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever hears the call to prayer and does not answer it without an excuse has no prayer. (Wasa'il vol. 8, p. 291)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who hears the call of the muezzin and does not rise for the prayer is counted as one who does not pray.
With his isnad from Ali ibn al-Hakam, from Abd al-Rahman al-Arzami (from his father), from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: Ali (AS) led the people in prayer without being in a state of ritual purity — and it was the noon prayer. Then he went in, and his crier came out announcing: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) prayed without ritual purity, so repeat your prayer; and let those present convey it to those absent. (Wasa'il vol. 8, p. 373)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) led the people in a noon prayer in congregation, and then ordered a crier to announce: O people! The Commander of the Faithful was without ablution; repeat the prayer, and let those present convey this to those who are absent.
Abd Allah ibn Ja'far, in Qurb al-Isnad, from al-Sindi ibn Muhammad, from Abu al-Bakhtari, from Ja'far, from his father: that Ali (AS) used to say: Count towards your zakat whatever the tithe-collector takes from you, and conceal it from him as much as you are able. (Wasa'il vol. 9, p. 254)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: Whatever the tax collector takes from you, count it as your zakat, and conceal from him whatever you can.
From Ali ibn Ibrahim, by his chain, from al-Harith al-Hamdani, in a hadith, that he heard the Commander of the Faithful (AS) say: I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: Needs are a trust from God in the breasts of the servants; whoever conceals them, worship is recorded for him. (Wasa'il, vol. 9, p. 445)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I heard from the Messenger of God (PBUH) that people's needs are God's trust in their breasts. Whoever conceals his need, worship is recorded for him.
From Ghiyath ibn Ibrahim, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), from his father: that Ali (AS) used to prefer to break his fast with milk. (Wasa'il, vol. 10, p. 160)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: Ali (AS) loved to break his fast with milk.
From al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Sulayman, from Muhammad ibn Imran, from Abu Abd Allah (AS): concerning the hadith of the people who were brought before Ali (AS) while they were not fasting in the month of Ramadan, that he said to them: Are you travellers? They said: No. He said: Is there some illness in you that has made breaking the fast incumbent upon you, of which we are unaware? For you see yourselves better, since God Almighty says: 'Nay, man is a clear proof against himself' [Qur'an 75:14]. (Wasa'il, vol. 10, p. 221)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: In the month of Ramadan a number of people were seized and brought before Ali (AS), on the charge that they were not fasting. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) asked them: Are you travellers? They said: No. He said: Then your not fasting must be for a reason that we do not know and that you yourselves know better. God has said that a person knows himself best: 'Nay, man is a clear proof against himself.'
From Ali (AS) in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: When you intend the Hajj, set about beforehand buying some of the necessities that will strengthen you for the journey, for God says: 'Had they intended to go forth, they would have prepared some equipment for it' [Qur'an 9:46]. (Wasa'il, vol. 11, p. 35)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever wishes the Hajj to fall to his lot, let him begin buying some of the provisions for the journey; God has said: Had they truly wished to set out, they would have made its equipment ready.
Ali ibn Musa ibn Tawus, in Aman al-Akhtar, from al-Qasim ibn al-Ala', from a servant of Ali ibn Muhammad (AS), who said: I asked his permission to make the visitation to Tus. He said: Let there be with you a ring whose stone is yellow agate, upon it 'Ma sha' Allah, la quwwata illa bi-llah, astaghfiru-llah' (What God wills; there is no power save with God; I seek God's forgiveness), and on its other side 'Muhammad and Ali'; for it is a protection against being waylaid, more complete for safety and more preserving of your religion. Then he said: Let there be with you another ring of turquoise, for a lion will meet you on your way between Tus and Nishapur and will prevent the caravan from proceeding; so go forward to it, show it the ring and say to it: My master says to you: Move aside from the road. Then he said: Let its engraving be 'God is the King', and on its other side 'Sovereignty belongs to God, the One, the All-Subduing', for it is the ring of the Commander of the Faithful (AS). Then he said: And its stone was turquoise, and it is a protection specifically against beasts of prey and a victory in wars. The hadith continues, and in it are two miracles of his (AS). (Wasa'il, vol. 11, p. 428)
Imam al-Hadi (AS) said: ... and keep a turquoise ring, and engrave on one side of it: God is the King, and on its other side: Sovereignty belongs to God, the One, the All-Subduing. Such was the ring of the Commander of the Faithful (AS). Such a ring is a protection from beasts of prey and a victory in wars ....
From Amr ibn Uthman, from one of our companions, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: Qanbar came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: This man is the first of the pilgrims to arrive. He said: May God not bring his home near! This one is the loser among the pilgrims: he exhausts his beast and pecks at his prayer. Go out to him and drive him away. (Wasa'il, vol. 11, p. 451)
When someone would return to his city ahead of the rest of the pilgrims, the Commander of the Faithful (AS) would be displeased and would say: Such a man has both wearied his mount and ruined his prayers. And he would drive him away.
From Ali ibn Asbat, raising it [to the Imam], who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: Do not strike the faces of riding beasts, nor of anything in which there is a spirit, for it glorifies God with His praise. (Wasa'il, vol. 11, p. 484)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) narrates: The Messenger of God (PBUH) used to say: Never strike the face of any living creature; they glorify God.
From Yahya al-Azraq, who said: Abu Abd Allah (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) dug a well, and they threw things into it. He was informed of that, so he came and stood over it and said: You will surely desist, or I will settle pigeons in it. Then he (AS) said: The beating of their wings drives away the satans. (Wasa'il, vol. 11, pp. 515 and 518)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) dug a well; people came and said that it had become a haunt of the jinn. He came to the mouth of the well and said: Cease harming people, or else I will settle pigeons in this well. Then he said: The sound of a pigeon's wings puts the satans of the jinn to flight.
From Muhammad ibn Qays, from Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no good in dogs except a hunting dog or a herding dog. (Wasa'il, vol. 11, p. 530)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A dog is of no use except for guarding or for hunting.
By his chain from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), in his testament to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, he said: Gather the opinions of men together, one with another, then choose the closest of them to what is right and the farthest of them from doubt. Then he said: He has risked himself who deems his own opinion sufficient; and he who confronts the various opinions comes to know the places of error. (Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 46)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya: Set the various opinions side by side so that you may arrive at the correct view. Whoever considers himself independent of the views of others goes astray, and whoever welcomes differing views becomes aware of the weak points of opinions.
Ibn al-Qaddah, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), in a hadith, said: Ali (AS) used to say: Do not be angry, and do not anger others. Spread the greeting of peace, speak kindly, and pray by night while people are asleep, and you will enter Paradise in peace. Then he (AS) recited the words of God, Mighty and Majestic: 'The Peace, the Granter of Security, the Guardian' [Qur'an 59:23]. (Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 59)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not become angry, and do nothing that makes people angry. Give the greeting of peace and be pleasant in speech. At night, when people are asleep, perform the prayer. In this way you will enter Paradise and come through safely: 'The Peace, the Granter of Security, the Guardian.'
From Mas'ada ibn Sadaqa, from Abu Abd Allah, from his forefathers (AS), that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) accompanied a dhimmi man. The dhimmi said to him: Where are you bound, servant of God? He said: I am bound for Kufa. When the road turned aside with the dhimmi, the Commander of the Faithful (AS) turned aside with him. Then the dhimmi said to him: Why did you turn aside with me? The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to him: This is part of the perfection of good companionship, that a man escort his companion a little way when he parts from him; and thus our Prophet commanded us. The hadith continues, and in it is that the dhimmi embraced Islam because of this. (Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 134)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) travelled in the company of a man of the People of the Book. The man asked: Servant of God, where are you going? The Commander of the Faithful (AS) answered: To Kufa. When they passed the parting of the ways, the Commander of the Faithful (AS) escorted him some distance along his road. The man said: Did you not mean to go to Kufa? The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Indeed I did! But part of good companionship is to escort one's companion a little way; our Prophet has so advised. And when that man heard this, he became a Muslim.
By his chain from the Commander of the Faithful (AS): I have found that all by which people live together and associate with one another fills one measure: two thirds of it is regarding others well, and one third of it is deliberately overlooking. (Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 202)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The sum of life is this: two thirds of it doing good to people, and the remainder deliberately overlooking what they owe you.
From Ali (AS) in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: When you meet your brethren, shake hands and show them cheerfulness and a bright face, so that you part while whatever burdens of sin were upon you have gone. And shake hands with your enemy even if he dislikes it, for it is among what God, Mighty and Majestic, has commanded His servants; He says: 'Repel evil with that which is better' [Qur'an 23:96; 41:34] - the two verses. (Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 225)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you meet your brethren, shake hands with one another and show a cheerful face, so that you may part having had your burdens and stains washed away. And when you come face to face with your enemies, shake hands with them too, even though you bear them no goodwill, so that you may have repelled evil with good, as God has commanded.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: You have been commanded to the Hajj and the Umra, so do not mind which of the two you begin with. (Wasa'il, vol. 14, p. 296)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: You have been commanded to both the Hajj and the Umra. So if you cannot go on Hajj, set out for the Umra for now.
By his chain from Ali (AS) in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: Visit the Messenger of God (PBUH) when you go out to the Sacred House of God, for to abandon it is a discourtesy, and with that you have been commanded. And visit the graves whose right and visitation God has made binding upon you, and seek sustenance at them. (Wasa'il, vol. 14, p. 324)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In visiting the House of God, visit also the Messenger of God (PBUH) and take refuge with him, for to abandon the visitation of Medina is a discourtesy to the Messenger of God and an abandonment of God's command. Likewise be constant in visiting the graves whose rights God has obliged you to observe, and there seek sustenance for yourselves.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), he said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: Whoever greets me with peace anywhere on earth, it is conveyed to me; and whoever greets me with peace at the grave, I hear him. (Wasa'il, vol. 14, p. 338)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) used to say: Always, whoever greets me with peace in any place on earth, his greeting reaches me; and whoever, after my passing, greets me with peace at my grave, I myself hear his greeting.
Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, by his chain from Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Dawud, from Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Fadl, from al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn al-Farazdaq, from Ali ibn Musa ibn al-Ahwal, from Muhammad ibn Abi al-Sari, from Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Balawi, from Umara ibn Zayd, from Abu Amir, the preacher of the people of the Hijaz, who said: I came to Abu Abd Allah (AS) and said to him: What is there for one who visits his grave - meaning the Commander of the Faithful (AS) - and tends his burial ground? He said: O Abu Amir, my father narrated to me from his father, from his grandfather al-Husayn ibn Ali, from Ali (AS), that the Prophet (PBUH) said to him: By God, you will surely be slain in the land of Iraq and buried there. I said: O Messenger of God, what is there for one who visits our graves, tends them and keeps up their visitation? He said to me: O Abu al-Hasan, God has made your grave and the graves of your children plots from the plots of Paradise and a courtyard from its courtyards. And God has made the hearts of the noblest of His creation and the choicest of His servants yearn toward you and bear humiliation and harm for your sake; so they tend your graves and visit them often, seeking nearness to God thereby and out of love for His Messenger. Those, O Ali, are the ones singled out for my intercession, those who will come to my Pool, and they are my visitors tomorrow in Paradise. O Ali, whoever tends your graves and keeps them up, it is as though he had helped Solomon son of David build the Bayt al-Maqdis; and whoever visits your graves, its equivalent for him is the reward of seventy pilgrimages after the obligatory Hajj of Islam, and he comes forth from his sins so that he returns from visiting you as on the day his mother bore him. So rejoice, and give glad tidings to your friends and those who love you, of bliss and delight of the eye such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and which has not occurred to the heart of any human being. But there is a worthless rabble of people who will reproach the visitors of your graves for visiting you as an adulteress is reproached for her adultery. Those are the worst of my community; may God not grant them my intercession, and they shall not come to my Pool. (Wasa'il, vol. 14, p. 382)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said to me: You will be slain in Iraq, and God will make your grave a plot from the plots of Paradise. The hearts of the noble among creation and of the choicest of the servants will be drawn continually to its threshold; through visiting it they will seek nearness to God, and they will tend that grave. The reward of visiting that grave equals seventy pilgrimages, and the least of its fruits is release from sins. Glad tidings to you and to your friends and to those who love you.
From al-Asbagh ibn Nubata, who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God has prescribed jihad upon men and women. The jihad of the man is to give his wealth and his life until he is slain in the way of God; and the jihad of the woman is to bear patiently the harm and the jealousy she experiences from her husband. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 23)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The jihad of the man is to give his wealth and his life in the way of God, and the jihad of the woman is patience with her husband's harshness and his jealousy.
From Mas'ada ibn Ziyad, from Ja'far, from his father, who said: Ali (AS) said: Feeding the captive and treating him well is a binding duty, even if you are to kill him on the morrow. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 92)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Feeding the prisoner and treating him kindly is a right and a binding duty, even if tomorrow is the time of his execution.
From Ibn al-Mubarak, from Bakr ibn Isa, who said: Ali (AS) used to say: O people of Kufa, if I leave you with anything other than my saddle, my mount and my servant, then I am a traitor. His expenses used to come to him from his yield in Medina, from Yanbu'. He would feed the people vinegar and meat, while he himself ate tharid with olive oil, topping it with 'ajwa dates; that was his food. And they related that he used to distribute what was in the treasury, so that Friday would not come while there was anything in the treasury; and he would give orders concerning the treasury every Thursday evening, and it would be sprinkled with water, and then he would pray two rak'as in it. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 109)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: O people of Kufa! If I depart from Kufa and take away more than what I brought with me, then I have betrayed you. The narrator says: Ali's (AS) expenses came from his orchards in Medina. He would spread a table for the people and feed them meat, while he himself ate simple food. On Thursdays he would distribute the treasury, and he would have the place washed and would pray two rak'as there.
From al-Sakuni, from Ja'far, from his father, from Ali (AS): that a man came to him and said: O Commander of the Faithful, a thief entered upon my wife and stole her jewellery. He said: Truly, had he entered upon the son of Safiyya, he would not have been content with that until he had fallen upon him with the sword. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 119)
A man came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: A thief entered my wife's house and stole her jewellery. The Imam said: Had this thief entered the house of the son of Safiyya (an allusion to the Imam himself), he would by no means have been content with this, but would have risen against him with the sword.
From an elder among the descendants of Adi ibn Hatim, from his father, from his grandfather Adi ibn Hatim, who was with Ali (AS) in his campaign: that Ali (AS) said, on the day he met Mu'awiya at Siffin, raising his voice with it so that his companions might hear: By God, I shall surely kill Mu'awiya and his companions! Then he said at the end of his words: If God wills - and he lowered his voice with it. I was near him, so I said: O Commander of the Faithful, you swore to what you said and then made an exception; what did you intend by that? He said: War is deception, and I am no liar in the eyes of the believers. I wanted to urge my companions on against them so that they would not falter and so that they would be eager against them. So make them understand it, for you will benefit from it after today, if God wills. And know that God, Mighty and Majestic, said to Moses (AS) when He sent him to Pharaoh: 'Speak to him a gentle word, that perhaps he may take heed or fear' [Qur'an 20:44] - while He knew that he would neither take heed nor fear, but so that this might make Moses the keener to go. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 133)
One day the Commander of the Faithful (AS) came face to face with Mu'awiya at Siffin. He raised his voice and cried out, in such a way that his companions would hear: By God, I shall kill Mu'awiya and all his companions! Then, at the end of his words, he said quietly, so that only those close by heard: If God wills. The narrator says: I said: Why did you say 'If God wills' quietly? He said: War is deception; but I am not a lying man. I wanted to spur my companions on so that they would not slacken and would be hopeful of overcoming the enemy. God too, when He sent Moses to Pharaoh, said: Speak to him gently, perhaps he will take heed or fear - while He knew that he would neither take heed nor fear; but this command was so that Moses would find greater motivation.
From Ali (AS), concerning the words of God Almighty 'And among people is he who sells his soul seeking the pleasure of God' [Qur'an 2:207]: that what is meant by the verse is the man who is slain for enjoining good and forbidding evil. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 143)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS), concerning the verse 'And among people is he who sells his soul seeking the pleasure of God', said: Among the instances of this verse are the martyrs of enjoining good and forbidding evil.
From Abu Basir, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The people of religion have signs by which they are known: truthfulness in speech, rendering back trusts, fulfilling covenants, joining the ties of kinship, mercy toward the weak, and little indulgence with women - or he said: and little compliance with women - bestowing kindness, good neighbourliness, breadth of character, and following knowledge and whatever brings one near to God. Then he said: Truly the believer is occupied with himself while people are at ease from him. When night falls upon him, he lays his face to the ground and prostrates to God with the noblest parts of his body, whispering to the One who created him for the freeing of his neck. Behold, be like that. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 190)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: True people of religion have these signs: truthfulness in speech, rendering back trusts, fulfilling covenants, caring for relatives, kindness toward the weak, and that they are not given to womanizing; they give generously and do good to others, they treat their neighbours well, they are of good character, and they follow knowledge. Then he said: The believer is himself in toil and effort while people are at ease from him; and when night falls, he is in prostration, whispering to his Lord for his own release from the bonds of sin. Be like this.
Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn, by his chain to the testament of Ali (AS) to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, he said: And let not ill thought of God, Mighty and Majestic, overcome you, for it will never leave any peace between you and your friend. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 230)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware lest ill thought of God overcome you. Ill thought, wherever it shows its face, will leave no peace between you and anyone.
Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn, by his chain from the Commander of the Faithful (AS) in his testament to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, he said: Cast off from yourself the onsets of cares by resolute patience. Take patience as a protective amulet for your soul, for patience is an excellent trait; and make your soul bear whatever befalls you of the terrors and cares of this world. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 263)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When cares, sorrows and troubling thoughts assault you, cast upon them the incantation of patience! And take patience as your amulet and enter its protective refuge. Truly the best character trait is patience. Pass through the hardships of this world and the thoughts they bring by means of patience.
We say: In some manuscripts it appears as 'awwid' (accustom), which is an error; the correct reading is 'a'widh' (take as a protective refuge).
And he (AS) said: Patience contends against the calamities of time, while anguish is among the helpers of time. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 264)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: With patience one can go to war against the age, and impatience works in favour of the ruinous age.
Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Radi, in Nahj al-Balagha, from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), that he said, concerning the prohibition of finding fault with people: It befits only the people preserved from sin, and those to whom soundness has been granted, that they show mercy to the people of sins and disobedience, and that gratitude be what prevails over them and what restrains them from reproaching them. So how much more so the fault-finder who finds fault with his brother and reproaches him for his affliction! Has he not remembered where God veiled him regarding sins of his own greater than the sin for which he found fault with him? How can he blame him for a sin the like of which he himself has committed? And if he has not committed that very sin, yet he has disobeyed God in other matters greater than it. And by God, if he did not disobey Him in a great matter, he certainly disobeyed Him in a small one - and his boldness in finding fault with people is greater still. O servant of God, do not hasten to find fault with a servant for his sin, for perhaps it has been forgiven him; and do not feel secure regarding yourself from a small act of disobedience, for perhaps you will be punished for it. So let him among you who knows another's fault refrain, because of what he knows of his own fault; and let gratitude occupy him for having been spared what another has been afflicted with. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 291)
On the prohibition of finding fault with people, from the Commander of the Faithful (AS): It befits those preserved from sin and those for whom soundness in religion has been provided to be compassionate and merciful toward sinners and the people of disobedience, and that gratitude prevail over them, and that this very gratitude become a barrier between them and the reproaching of others. Does the fault-finder not call to mind that God has veiled for him sins greater than what his brother has done? So how can he censure someone for a sin which he himself, or worse, has committed? And if he has not committed that particular sin, then without doubt he has disobeyed God in another, greater sin; and by God, if he has not disobeyed in a great sin, he has certainly committed disobedience in a small one, and his audacity in finding fault with people is itself a greater sin. O servant of God, do not hasten to find fault with a servant on account of his sin; perhaps God has forgiven him. Nor consider yourself safe from a small sin; perhaps you will be punished for that very sin. So whoever among you comes to know another's fault must, because he knows his own fault, refrain from finding fault with others, and let gratitude to God for his own safety from what others have been afflicted with occupy him.
And he (AS) said: Part of being preserved from sin is the inability to commit sins. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 308)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Inability to commit a sin is itself a kind of preservation from sin. Or: holding others excused in a sin, since it keeps a person from blaming, grants him a kind of preservation from sin.
From Abd Allah ibn Muskan, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no servant but that upon him are forty shields, until he commits forty grave sins; and when he has committed forty grave sins, the shields are removed from him. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 316)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Everyone has forty veils over his honour, and so long as he has not committed forty grave sins, God preserves his honour.
From Juwayriya ibn Mus-hir, who said: I hurried along behind the Commander of the Faithful (AS), and he said: O Juwayriya, these fools were destroyed by nothing but the clatter of sandals behind them. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 351)
The narrator says: I set out walking behind the Commander of the Faithful (AS). He turned, faced me and said: What destroyed the fools was just this, that a number of people fell in behind them and confirmed them.
From Mas'ada ibn Sadaqa, from Ja'far ibn Muhammad, from his father (AS), that Ali (AS) said: There is no one among the children of Adam but that his forelock is in the hand of an angel. If he becomes arrogant, the angel pulls him down by his forelock toward the earth and says to him: Be humble, may God abase you! And if he is humble, the angel raises him by his forelock and says to him: Lift your head, may God raise you and not abase you, for your humility before God. (Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 376)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every human being's forelock is in the hand of an angel. The moment he becomes arrogant, the angel pulls his forelock down toward the earth and says: Be humble, wretched one! And the moment he shows humility, the angel raises his forelock and says: May you be honoured and may God raise you high! - for you are one of the humble.
From Abu al-Tufayl, who said: I heard the Commander of the Faithful (AS) say: Asceticism in this world is the shortening of hope, gratitude for every blessing, and abstinence from what God has forbidden you. (Wasa'il, vol. 16, p. 15)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Asceticism means gratitude for what you have, letting go of what you do not have, and drawing a line around the forbidden.
From Isa ibn Ja'far al-Alawi, from his forefathers, from Umar ibn Ali, from his father Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), that the Prophet (PBUH) said: The sign of the patient one lies in three things: the first, that he not grow slack; the second, that he not become vexed; the third, that he not complain of his Lord, Mighty and Majestic. (Wasa'il, vol. 16, p. 23)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The patient one, first, does not grow weary; second, does not lose his temper; third, does not complain of God.
From al-Mas'udi, who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever repents, God turns to him in forgiveness, and his limbs are commanded to conceal him, and the tracts of the earth to keep his secret, and the recording angels forget what they had written against him. (Wasa'il, vol. 16, p. 74)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever repents and returns to God, God too turns toward him and looks upon him with favour; and He commands his limbs to keep silent, and commands the places on earth where he committed that sin to conceal his sin; and the recording angels, by God's leave, forget what they had written down and preserved.
From Abu Hamza, from Ali ibn al-Husayn (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: Act with the deed of a man who hopes for no days but the day in which he has risen and its night. So act, or leave off - rather, act; and God is the Helper in that. (Wasa'il, vol. 16, p. 92)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Live as though today were the last day of your life; either do a thing with your whole being, or leave it with your whole being! Only in these two cases does God help you in your affairs.
Muhammad ibn al-Hasan said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever abandons the denunciation of evil with his heart and his tongue is a dead man among the living. (Wasa'il, vol. 16, p. 132)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who does not denounce evil even with his heart and his tongue is nothing but a dead man.
From Ali (AS), in a sermon of his, he said: No innovation was ever introduced but that a sunna was abandoned thereby. (Wasa'il, vol. 16, p. 175)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wherever an innovation raises its head, know that a sunna has been abandoned.
From Abu Jamila, who said: Abu Abd Allah (AS) said: In the testament of the Commander of the Faithful to his companions was: When an affliction comes, put your wealth before your lives; and when a calamity descends, put your lives before your religion. And know that the ruined one is he whose religion is ruined. (Wasa'il, vol. 16, p. 192)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When affliction comes, make your wealth a shield and bring your life through safely; then, in the next instance, make your life a shield and bring your religion through safely. True ruin is the losing of religion.
Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib al-Tabrisi, in al-Ihtijaj, from the Commander of the Faithful (AS): Beware, and again beware, of abandoning the taqiyya which I have commanded you, for in doing so you spill your own blood and the blood of your brethren, expose your blessing and theirs to ruin, and humiliate them at the hands of the enemies of God's religion, while God has commanded you to honour them. For if you go against my counsel, your harm to your brethren and to yourself will be more severe than the harm of the Nasibi who is hostile to us and who disbelieves in us. (Wasa'il, vol. 16, p. 228)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware, beware of abandoning taqiyya and thereby exposing yourself and your brothers in faith to danger and humiliating them at the hands of the enemies! In that case you are, in our eyes, worse than a Nasibi!
From Isa ibn Abd Allah al-Alawi, from his father, from his grandfather, from Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), who said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: Whoever does a favour to anyone of my Household, I will repay him on the Day of Resurrection. (Wasa'il, vol. 16, p. 336)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) used to say: Whoever does good to anyone of my Household, I will repay him on the Day of Resurrection.
And by his chain from Ali (AS) in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: Engage in trade, for in it lies your independence from what is in people's hands. And God, Mighty and Majestic, loves the trustworthy craftsman. The one who is cheated is neither praised nor rewarded. (Wasa'il, vol. 17, p. 11)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Work, so that you may be independent of people. God loves the one who works honourably. In your trade too, take care not to be cheated; for one who does not keep his wits about him and is cheated is neither rewarded with God nor praised among people.
From al-Fadl ibn Abi Qurra, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), in a hadith: that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to the mawali: Trade, may God bless you, for I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: Sustenance is ten parts, nine parts of it in trade and one in other than it. (Wasa'il, vol. 17, p. 12)
When the Persians complained that the injustice of the caliph's tax officials was ruining the profit of their farming or their crafts, the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to them: Go and take up trade; I heard from the Messenger of God that ninety per cent of wealth lies in trade.
We say: And in another narration he said to them: In farming and industry your wealth is rooted in the ground and is captive to the state; but in trade your wealth is upon the backs of your camels and does not fall into the government's clutches. And so it still is today.
From al-Sindi ibn Muhammad, from Abu al-Bakhtari, from Ja'far ibn Muhammad, from his father, that Ali (AS) said: Whoever learns anything of sorcery, little or much, has disbelieved, and that is the end of his covenant with his Lord; and his prescribed penalty is that he be put to death, unless he repents. (Wasa'il, vol. 17, p. 148)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever learns sorcery, however little of it, has abandoned God and become an unbeliever, and his prescribed penalty is death, unless he repents.
From Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Hasan al-Tamimi, with a continuous chain, from Abu Abd Allah, from his forefathers, from Ali (AS), in a hadith, he said: We are a Household whom God has preserved from being sowers of sedition, or liars, or sorcerers. Whoever has anything of these traits in him is not of us, nor are we of him. (Wasa'il, vol. 17, p. 148)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: We, the Household, neither pursue sedition, nor make false claims, nor pursue sorcery. Whoever pursues these things in the least has no kinship with us, and we disown him.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: That I should give my Muslim brother a gift which benefits him is more beloved to me than that I should give the like of it in charity. (Wasa'il, vol. 17, p. 286)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Giving a gift to a friend is by far superior to giving charity.
It is narrated that he (AS) said: Every day is our Nawruz. (Wasa'il, vol. 17, p. 288)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every day is Nawruz for us.
He (AS) said: Visit in sickness the one who does not visit you, and give a gift to the one who gives you no gift. (Wasa'il, vol. 17, p. 288)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Visit in sickness, of all people, the one who does not visit you, and give a gift, of all people, to the one who gives you no gift.
From Thuwayr ibn Abi Fakhita, from his father, from Ali (AS), who said: Chosroes sent a gift to the Prophet (PBUH) and he accepted it from him; and Caesar sent a gift to the Prophet (PBUH) and he accepted it from him; and kings sent him gifts and he accepted from them. (Wasa'il, vol. 17, p. 291)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Chosroes sent a gift for the Prophet (PBUH) and the Prophet (PBUH) accepted it; Caesar sent a gift for the Prophet (PBUH) and the Prophet (PBUH) accepted it. The Prophet (PBUH) used to accept gifts.
Ali (AS) said: Beware of debt, for it is worry by night and humiliation by day. And he said: Beware of debt, for it is a settlement in this world and a settlement in the Hereafter. (Wasa'il, vol. 18, p. 316)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of borrowing and of having a debt upon your neck, for by night sleep will not come to you and by day you are humiliated. And he used to say: This too is among the evils of debt, that it must be discharged once in this world and once in the Hereafter.
From Ali (AS) in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: Marry, for marriage is the sunna of the Messenger of God (PBUH); for he used to say: Whoever loves to follow my sunna, then marriage is part of my sunna. And seek children, for I shall vie with the nations through your numbers tomorrow. And guard your children against the milk of the unchaste woman and of the insane woman, for milk transmits its traits. (Wasa'il, vol. 20, p. 15)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Marry, for marriage is the sunna of the Messenger of God (PBUH). And bring forth children, for the Messenger of God (PBUH) used to say: On the morrow of the Resurrection I shall take pride in your children.
And he said: Keep your children from the milk of unchaste and insane women, for milk has its effect upon character.
From al-Asbagh ibn Nubata, from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: I heard him say: There will appear at the end of time, as the Hour draws near - and it is the worst of times - women unveiled, hostile, flaunting their adornment, departing from religion, entering into seditions, inclining toward lusts, hastening to pleasures, deeming lawful what is forbidden, abiding forever in Hell. (Wasa'il, vol. 20, p. 35)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: At the end of time, near the Resurrection, which is the worst of times, there will come women unveiled, harsh-tempered, given to display, irreligious, sowers of sedition and disturbers of the city, pleasure-loving and lustful, given to the forbidden - women truly destined for Hell.
From Ghiyath ibn Ibrahim, from Ja'far, from his father, from Ali (AS): concerning a man who looks at the beauties of a woman whom he intends to marry, he said: There is no harm in it; he is only a prospective buyer, and if the matter is decreed it will come to pass. (Wasa'il, vol. 20, p. 89)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) was asked, on the authority of Ali (AS), about a man who looks at a woman with the intention of marrying her. He said: There is no objection to it, for he is a suitor, and this is a matter that may well come about.
From Ali ibn Ri'ab, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), in a hadith: that a group said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): We wish to marry so-and-so to so-and-so, and we wish you to deliver the sermon. So he spoke - and he mentioned a sermon comprising the praise of God and laudation of Him and the counsel to fear God - and he said at the end of it: Now then, so-and-so son of so-and-so has asked for so-and-so daughter of so-and-so. In standing he is one whom you have known, and in lineage one of whom you are not ignorant; and he has offered her of the dower what you have known. So return a good answer, for which you will be praised and to which you will be ascribed. And may God bless Muhammad and his Family and grant them peace. (Wasa'il, vol. 20, p. 97)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: They said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): We wish to contract the marriage of a woman to a man, and we wish you to deliver the sermon. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) delivered a sermon containing the praise and laudation of God and the counsel to God-consciousness, and at the end of it he said: Truly so-and-so son of so-and-so has asked for so-and-so daughter of so-and-so in marriage. In standing he is the very one whom you know, and in lineage he is one who is not hidden from you. And the dower he has appointed for her, of that you are aware. So answer with a goodly reply, that you may be praised and be known for good. At the end he invoked blessings upon the Prophet and his Family.
From Ali (AS) in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: When one of you wishes to come to his wife, let him not hasten her, for women have their needs. (Wasa'il, vol. 20, p. 118)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you have intercourse with your wife, do not hurry; engage in foreplay and be mindful of the woman's satisfaction.
From Ali (AS) in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: When one of you comes to his wife, let him speak little. (Wasa'il, vol. 20, p. 124)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you have intercourse with your wife, talk less!
From Yunus ibn Abd al-Rahman, from Ishaq ibn Ammar, from Abu Basir, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: I said to him: What do you say about coitus interruptus? He said: Ali (AS) did not practise it, but as for me, I do practise it. I said: This is a contradiction. He said: What harm did it do David that Solomon differed from him, while God says: 'And We gave understanding of it to Solomon' [Qur'an 21:79]. (Wasa'il, vol. 20, p. 150)
The narrator says: I asked Imam al-Sadiq (AS): What is the ruling on coitus interruptus, that is, withdrawing and not spilling the semen into the woman's womb? He said: Ali (AS) did not do it; but I do. The narrator says: I said: That cannot be! He said: Indeed it can. Just as Solomon's view differed from David's, and God had granted Solomon the understanding of the sounder view: 'And We gave understanding of it to Solomon.'
From Abu al-Bakhtari, from Ja'far ibn Muhammad, from his father, from Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), who said: There is no harm in looking at the heads of the women of the people of dhimma. (Wasa'il, vol. 20, p. 205)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no objection to looking at the hair of non-Muslim women.
From Abd al-Rahman ibn Kathir, from Abu Abd Allah (AS): that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said in his letter to al-Hasan (AS): Beware of showing jealousy where jealousy is out of place, for that calls the sound among them to sickness. But manage their affair with firmness, and if you see a fault, be swift in rebuke. (Wasa'il, vol. 20, p. 237)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) counselled his son: Misplaced sensitivity, suspicion and jealousy drive even a sound woman to obstinacy and corruption. So be jealous where it is fitting, and be firm where it is fitting; and when you truly see a fault, deal with it severely.
From the book Nawadir al-Hikma, from Ali (AS), who said: Do not go to excess in the dowers of women, lest it become enmity. (Wasa'il, vol. 21, p. 252)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not set women's dowers high, for that itself becomes a cause of separation and estrangement.
From Ja'far ibn Muhammad, from his forefathers, from Ali (AS), who said: I dislike that the dower should be less than ten dirhams, lest it resemble the wage of a prostitute. (Wasa'il, vol. 21, p. 253)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: Ali (AS) disliked that the dower should be less than ten dirhams, and he used to say: Such a small dower resembles the sum given for fornication.
From Ibn Muslim, from Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) gave judgment concerning a woman whom a man married, having stipulated to her and to her family that if he married another woman besides her, or forsook her, or took a concubine alongside her, she would be divorced. He said: God's stipulation comes before your stipulation. If he wishes, he may fulfil his condition; and if he wishes, he may keep his wife and marry another besides her, and take a concubine alongside her, and forsake her if she gives cause for that. God Almighty said in His Book: 'Marry such women as seem good to you, two, three or four' [Qur'an 4:3]; and He said: 'And lawful for you is what your right hands possess.' (Wasa'il, vol. 21, p. 277)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) gave judgment concerning a woman whom a man had married, having stipulated with her and with her family that if he took another wife besides her, or abandoned her, or had relations with a slave-woman, she would be divorced. He ruled thus: God's stipulation takes precedence over your stipulation. If the man wishes, he fulfils his condition; and if he wishes, he keeps his wife and takes another wife besides her, or has relations with a slave-woman, or abandons her. God has said: So marry such women as are pleasing to you: two, three or four. And He has also said: And what your right hands possess (slave-women) is lawful for you.
From Ali (AS) in the Hadith of the Four Hundred, he said: Perform the aqiqa for your children on the seventh day, and give in charity to a Muslim the weight of their hair in silver. (Wasa'il, vol. 21, p. 424)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: On the seventh day, shave the newborn's head, and give in charity to a Muslim silver equal to the weight of its hair.
From Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: al-Hasan ibn Ali (AS) divorced fifty women, so Ali (AS) rose in Kufa and said: O people of Kufa, do not give al-Hasan your women in marriage, for he is a man much given to divorce. A man rose up to him and said: Nay, by God, we shall certainly give him our women in marriage, for he is the son of the Messenger of God (PBUH) and the son of Fatima; if she pleases him he keeps her, and if he dislikes her he divorces her. (Wasa'il, vol. 22, p. 9)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: al-Hasan ibn Ali (AS) married many women and then divorced them, to the point that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) told the people of Kufa not to give him their women in marriage any more. But the people did not accept this and said: We would love to give our daughter to al-Hasan, because he is the son of the Messenger of God (PBUH) and of Fatima (AS). If he wishes, let him keep our daughter; if he wishes, let him divorce her.
From Ibn al-Qaddah, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: Ali (AS) said: When the food is set out and a beggar comes, do not turn him away. (Wasa'il, vol. 24, p. 373)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: When the table is spread, if a beggar comes, do not turn him away.
From Ali ibn al-Hakam, from Hisham ibn Salim, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to take the first of a man's words and not the last of them. (Wasa'il, vol. 27, p. 216)
The narrator says: Imam al-Sadiq (AS) used to say: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) would accept people's first statement in court, and if they changed their statement, he would not accept the second.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), concerning the words of God Almighty 'And let not the witnesses refuse when they are called' [Qur'an 2:282], he said: Whoever has a testimony upon his neck, let him not refuse when he is called to establish it; let him establish it and be sincere in it, and let no blamer's blame deter him therein; and let him enjoin good and forbid evil. (Wasa'il, vol. 27, p. 314)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said concerning the verse 'Let the witnesses not refuse when they are summoned' [Qur'an 2:282]: Whoever has witnessed something must, if he is asked, give testimony and recount exactly what he saw; and in this he must not fear the blame of anyone, and his intention must be the enjoining of good and the forbidding of evil.
From al-Hakam, the brother of Abu 'Aqila, who said: I said to Abu 'Abd Allah (AS): 'I have an adversary who brings a great many false witnesses against me, and I dislike repaying him in kind, though I do not know whether that is permissible for me or not.' He said: 'Has it not reached you from the Commander of the Faithful (AS) that he used to say: Do not make your own selves and your properties captive through false testimonies.' (Wasa'il, vol. 27, p. 338)
The narrator says: I said to Imam al-Sadiq (AS): I have an enemy who constantly produces false witnesses against me in court; should I too retaliate in kind by procuring false witnesses? The Imam (AS) said: Never! Do you not know that it is narrated from the Commander of the Faithful (AS): Do not make yourselves and your own property captives of wretchedness through false testimony.
Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, as has been said, was written in the last century by Muhaddith Nuri as a supplement to (a making good of the deficiencies of) Wasa'il al-Shi'a. That is, it proceeds according to the order of the chapters of Wasa'il and cites the traditions that Wasa'il did not include. In explaining his motive for writing Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, Muhaddith Nuri, while stating explicitly that he undertook the composition of the book on the basis of an istikhara, regarded the collecting of traditions and their appending to Wasa'il as among the best acts of worship, and considered the gathering of hadiths to possess many benefits, by which the foundation of religion is perfected and the sacred law of the Prophet (PBUH) is set in order. Agha Buzurg Tehrani counted the Mustadrak of his teacher Haji Nuri as the fourth of the great hadith collections, after al-Wafi, al-Bihar and al-Wasa'il. At the end of the Mustadrak, Muhaddith Nuri included a section called the Khatima (Conclusion), which, in Agha Buzurg's expression, is among the most precious of books and makes a person independent of all works of diraya and rijal.
Muhaddith Nuri, known as Khatam al-Muhaddithin (the Seal of the Traditionists), was a student of Mirza Shirazi and Mulla Fathali Sultanabadi, and in his own day was renowned for learning and piety. Shaykh Abbas Qummi (the author of Mafatih al-Jinan) was one of his students. The graves of both are in a chamber facing the golden iwan in Najaf. Among the fine works of Muhaddith Nuri was the revival of the custom of the Arba'in walk, which had long been forgotten. Toward the end of his life, with poor judgement, Muhaddith Nuri undertook the composition of a book entitled Fasl al-Khitab fi Tahrif Kitab Rabb al-Arbab. In this book he sought, on the basis of certain traditions, to prove that although the Noble Qur'an is literally the divine word, with nothing added to it and nothing altered in it, yet some of its verses were, for various reasons, removed before its compilation (distortion by omission), and that what was removed is preserved with those to whom it belongs. The publication of this book brought Muhaddith Nuri much trouble, provoked the protest of Shi'i and Sunni scholars alike, and many works were written in refutation of this theory.