Life of Imam Ali | 9 | Imam Ali's worldview: Letter to Malik al-Ashtar

38 المشاهدات· 24/06/21

Hussain Makke
مشتركين

في محاضرات

In this session we discuss the aftermath of the battle of Siffin, as the commander Malik al-Ashtar is sent in to Egypt to assist Muhammad ibn Abu Bakir in halting the growing rebellion.

Imam Ali (as) sends Malik a letter instructing him on how to lead his people - revealing much of the political, sociological and spiritual worldview of Imam Ali (as). This letter may be regarded as a manifesto of how one is to become a true follower of Ali ibn Abi Talib.

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Transcript

[0:03][Music] ah [Music] salaam narrates that muhammad ibn abi bakker was once

[1:04]sitting next to emil and he said to amir mu'min extend your

[1:10]hand and the imam said why and muhammad told him extend your

[1:16]hand so i may give you the baya and the imam told

[1:21]him but you've already given me the bear and muhammad then says

[1:25]to him i wish to do it again so he takes his

[1:28]hand and he says i bear witness before allah that you are

[1:35]the chosen imam and it is my duty as a follower to

[1:40]follow you muhammad the son of abu bakr was one of the

[1:48]close closest rather companions of imam ali he was a loyal follower

[1:56]he was the governor of egypt in the time of imam ali's

[2:00]khilafah but after the battle of safin and after muawiyah's antics where

[2:04]he was sending different battalions and different groups of soldiers into the

[2:11]towns that were under the rule of imam ali al-islam to cause

[2:14]disaster amongst the people some people were even were telling imam ali

[2:19]al-islam to do the same of course the imam would never because

[2:22]the imam is upright and just but in egypt there was an

[2:28]uprising occurring it was now very unsettled and muawiyah was deploying his

[2:33]soldiers to go to egypt inside egypt there was an uprising from

[2:39]the supporters of uthman ibn afan many of the people inside egypt

[2:45]had given their bay'a to him islam but these supporters after seven

[2:48]began to become very loud and they were incited by muawiyah when

[2:52]we say supporters what we mean is those who are demanding vengeance

[2:56]for the blood of uthman of course maui took advantage of this

[3:00]because he wanted egypt egypt was one of the strongholds egypt had

[3:04]the strongest army the strongest soldiers muhammad the son of a bakker

[3:09]was there as the governor but he was having a difficult time

[3:13]trying to settle these people especially with and the amras coming in

[3:21]very very soon imam ali knew that this was happening and so

[3:25]he sent his most trusted captain his general he sent malik even

[3:32]ashtar to go and assist muhammad ibn abi in egypt and to

[3:37]take the role as the new governor he sends a letter with

[3:44]malik that's a 38 from in this letter he tells those who

[3:50]will be following malik who malik is and why he has sent

[3:52]him so let me read that to you as we begin to

[3:55]talk about the letter given to malik first of all this tattoo

[4:00]was meant for those in egypt letter 38 is imam ali al-islam

[4:06]saying i am sending a servant of the servants of god to

[4:10]you he who does not slumber in the days of fear and

[4:12]is not afraid of enemies and he is like fire to the

[4:17]villains he is malik ibn haris listen to him and obey his

[4:24]commands because he is a sword of the swords of god that

[4:26]is strong and sharp if he asks you to travel then travel

[4:31]and if he orders you to stay then stay because he does

[4:37]something or avoid something by my order i am putting him in

[4:44]this position because he is a sincere man and i know that

[4:48]he is unfailing man against our enemies so he islam is showing

[4:55]how much he trusts malik he's sending him in now this is

[4:59]the final line muawiyah and if they take egypt they've began to

[5:06]surround amir al-mu'mineen after seven malik is supposed to go now and

[5:14]defend it when malik goes islam also sends him a letter he

[5:18]sends him a famous letter instructing him about how to handle his

[5:28]new position this position of power maybe the strongest position right now

[5:31]in the islamic empire after the khilafah after the position of the

[5:38]khalifa sends these instructions to malakal ashtar which are you would think

[5:45]political instructions but actually it's a way of life that each and

[5:50]every one of us can live from and live by this letter

[5:55]is given to medical ashtar to tell him about the meaning of

[6:02]justice from this letter we can analyze imam ali's world view and

[6:06]that's what this session will be focused on the world view of

[6:12]the imam and his idea of justice and how justice is not

[6:16]simply an outer action but cannot be had without the spiritual precepts

[6:21]being abided by by the individual this letter is regarded as the

[6:29]perfect constitution for any way of islamic governance it's even been brought

[6:33]up by kofi annan at the un conference and if each and

[6:37]every one of us was to look at this letter we would

[6:41]realize that it is applicable to all of us it's not just

[6:43]for a ruler it's applicable to the ruler and the world and

[6:47]us as individuals before allah subhanahu wa it's how universal this advice

[6:51]is it's very precise because the imam is speaking to one of

[6:56]his closest companions it's not something that's universal or general in the

[7:01]way that it's for everyone and the imam was writing a letter

[7:05]for everyone to benefit from this was for malik however from the

[7:09]precision of this advice it becomes universal for everyone to take in

[7:15]what did imam ali advise one of his best friends and closest

[7:19]allies and a person he truly respected as a muslim what did

[7:24]he advise him this advice we should take it into our lives

[7:26]and apply into our lives it's applicable to each of us and

[7:32]so the imam begins by defining justice he begins and i will

[7:37]be going through the letter in this session bit by bit and

[7:40]trying to analyze what the imam means by his words so he

[7:45]sets the foundation for what he is about to say he comes

[7:50]and says malik justice is to put each thing in its rightful

[7:54]place this is an idea of equilibrium of balance some people think

[8:02]justice may mean equality that doesn't always mean justice equality in the

[8:08]terms of giving everyone the same exact thing whereas some people might

[8:12]need different things than others everyone having the same exact duty some

[8:16]people have different capabilities justice is to put each thing in its

[8:22]rightful place and so the imam begins the letter by defining justice

[8:28]and then saying to malik right after that he says malik be

[8:36]just with allah and be just with the people giving them their

[8:43]due from yourself he sets the precedent we must have justice with

[8:50]allah and justice with ourselves to have justice with the people we

[8:54]must give each person their due we must give allah his due

[8:58]we must give ourselves our jew all our relationships in life are

[9:04]derived from our relationship with allah so he begins right from there

[9:07]be just with allah of course one cannot oppress allah but if

[9:12]you take away the rights of allah from your life you don't

[9:17]give allah subhanahu what he's do as your lord his right is

[9:21]the right to be worshipped and if you don't worship and you

[9:26]don't obey then you've already destroyed the foundation of all the other

[9:29]relationships in your life so he begins and he tells him be

[9:33]just with allah now as the imam says allah is just all

[9:37]allah's actions are actions of justice this means allah always puts everything

[9:43]in its rightful place so as human beings as individuals what we

[9:49]must do is imitate this and try in our lives to put

[9:52]each thing in its rightful place because we're living in a place

[9:56]where everything is misplaced we live in a space where all that

[10:01]is around us is not where it's supposed to be through our

[10:06]diligent effort we're supposed to try to put each thing in its

[10:09]correct place this is what you call just action so the first

[10:13]thing that you put in the right place is your position with

[10:18]allah you are his servant you are his slave this is the

[10:21]foundation then you come to yourself before you come to the people

[10:24]you come to yourself and when you come to yourself it's justice

[10:26]upon the self to be righteous to be pious to believe in

[10:31]allah this is justice upon the self that means you're bound by

[10:37]allah subhanahu ta'ala's regulations you cannot go over or transgress the bounds

[10:42]of allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala this means that ethics cannot be divorced from

[10:50]justice in islam the imam is emphasizing this idea in secular philosophy

[10:54]they will tell you that no justice is one thing personal moral

[11:00]ethics is something else the imam is saying that you must live

[11:05]a moral life if you want to implement justice because it's just

[11:09]as much about you as it is about the implementation practically on

[11:14]the outside so subhanallah he's beginning beginning from a very spiritual precedent

[11:18]this is for anyone who is in authority this is for any

[11:23]mother or father any older brother or sister any boss at work

[11:29]any ceo anyone with any authority begins to learn from here listen

[11:32]just because you have this authority it doesn't mean that you can

[11:38]transgress the bounds of justice no matter where you are you are

[11:43]still a servant of allah the imam begins telling malik this then

[11:47]he continues he says malik this is the first piece of advice

[11:52]abide by what allah subhanahu wa has commanded you in his books

[11:59]no one prospers except through abiding by them and no one becomes

[12:03]wretched except through neglecting them in the of course the commands of

[12:12]allah in the quran the imam is saying that if you want

[12:16]to free yourself of the shackles of the nephs the lower self

[12:21]then you must abide by allah subhana wa ta'ala's rules and regulations

[12:25]you must be obedient to god he must be your lord if

[12:29]i want to summarize everything that i'm saying here it is justice

[12:33]upon the self for allah to be your lord and for you

[12:39]to believe in him with piety and religiosity this means that you

[12:45]don't take anyone else as your lord especially not the lower self

[12:48]because the lower self it can lead to transgression it's a very

[12:55]interesting story of a lady that i knew that sat down with

[13:00]my teacher and was speaking to him about how she's starting to

[13:07]disbelieve in god and my teacher told her my sister we are

[13:11]all the abid of allah the servants of allah and she stood

[13:15]up and she said no i am not a habit i am

[13:17]not a slave i am not a servant of anyone i am

[13:21]free and he stood there she's very sensitive from this word and

[13:26]he says to her this voice these words coming from you right

[13:31]now where do you get them from she said me anna they're

[13:37]my words they're my opinions my voice he said then you are

[13:43]a habit of you you are a abd of anna of whoever

[13:48]you are the self see this is the difference with all due

[13:51]respect yourself will one day die it doesn't know everything it can

[13:59]be ignorant get scared sometimes anxious worries fears get sick whereas the

[14:07]one i obey and worship he lives forever he never gets sick

[14:13]he has no worries and no fears he has all power over

[14:17]all things he knows everything you are and i am abd we

[14:25]are all abid but who do we serve who are we slaves

[14:29]of the self especially when we don't know if it's the lower

[14:33]self because it leans towards transgressions it leans towards the lower world

[14:36]or towards allah justice in the imam's eyes as he tells malik

[14:44]is to begin with obedience of allah continues he says for truly

[14:51]the nafs incites to evil unless god has mercy the imam is

[14:58]setting up his instructions for what is to come and he's saying

[15:02]that basically this position that malik has it's going to be a

[15:07]position with many temptations so he begins by reminding him of allah

[15:10]reminding him of his position reminding him of the reality of who

[15:16]he is and that to be just you must begin with the

[15:20]spiritual precept of obedience to allah and that if allah has mercy

[15:24]this is how the self will not transgress allah's mercy is shown

[15:29]to us by the sheer will that we want to obey him

[15:33]just by putting in that effort by putting in that struggle this

[15:37]is mercy from allah subhanallah to allah so we are start we

[15:39]start here there's a narration from imam ali where he asks rasulullah

[15:47]in says rasulullah what is the greatest of actions in this month

[15:50]and you would think what would it be quran recitation memorization of

[15:56]the quran all the different we do on the kabir and everything

[16:02]else that we do no rasulullah says it is to keep away

[16:10]from that which is forbidden from you those things which allah has

[16:15]said do not go near them this is the greatest act you

[16:20]could do or not do this is important because we have laws

[16:26]that tell us what happens if someone is corrupt but what about

[16:31]maintaining incorruptibility in someone to maintain that it's not about following the

[16:37]law per se it's not just the law it's about becoming one

[16:41]with the law it's about living it and experiencing it when allah

[16:47]puts the sharia down it's not for us to simply do what

[16:50]we're told to do and leave what we're told to leave it

[16:54]is something that becomes a moral duty towards oneself you become this

[17:01]through the act of keeping away from the transgressions with the idea

[17:08]of taqwa of god consciousness then you are moving towards becoming instead

[17:13]of doing you are being and this is where we get the

[17:18]idea from you are what you do in islam this is the

[17:20]concept and if you want to be just this is where justice

[17:24]begins to put each thing in its rightful place is to first

[17:28]of all put yourself in the right place with your relationship with

[17:31]allah from here everything else is derived this is the foundation so

[17:36]immanuel islam now sets up malik for the rest of the letter

[17:40]he says to him break the soul in the face of passionate

[17:49]desires dominate your inclination and withhold yourself from that which is not

[17:53]lawful for you so this will allow us to live and experience

[17:58]the laws of allah when we take it this seriously and apply

[18:00]the imam's words it's not only about keeping away from what is

[18:05]haram and doing what is worship now we are living it we

[18:09]are experiencing it it's not just an abstract idea from here we

[18:13]have this where we move towards the hak the real we are

[18:19]abiding by the correct way to live in truth the imam then

[18:24]sends malik a very stern warning he says do not set yourself

[18:34]up for war with allah subhana wa don't go to war with

[18:37]god this does not merely mean not adhering to your obligations there

[18:42]is a more subtle way to oppose divine reality and it is

[18:49]when we do not place the correct things in their rightful places

[18:55]which means injustice when we take a quality that belongs to allah

[19:00]subhana wa ta'ala and we place it on ourselves that is injustice

[19:04]because it shouldn't be there it should not be in this place

[19:08]it's not the rightful place for it this quality is pride to

[19:14]kabur the human being is not the one who should have pride

[19:17]what do you have pride in what are you to have pride

[19:20]al-mutakab the proud is only given to allah rightfully without any insult

[19:27]he is but you as an individual you're not this is why

[19:32]one must be very careful about always stating the words i and

[19:36]me and i did this and i did that and looking at

[19:40]those below you you see it's very important that malik reads this

[19:43]letter and applies this because he's going to be in the highest

[19:47]position so the imam is telling him if you look at those

[19:50]below you with a sense of superiority that you are now muta

[19:55]kabber takabu proud in front of them arrogant in front of them

[19:58]when you look at them in that way superiority to who is

[20:04]below you means rebellion to who is above you so you here

[20:08]are in a way being going towards injustice you are taking equality

[20:16]that belongs to allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and you have now began

[20:20]to compete with him and if you compete with allah you're going

[20:24]to war with him and there are many a hadith that speak

[20:27]about this that when you cause oppression onto someone when you oppress

[20:32]someone you oppress a mutman a believer in allah allah says let

[20:37]him be ready for a war with me allah will come to

[20:41]the oppressed defense allah will break the oppressor i will break every

[20:45]false mother the false idols the imams telling malik listen you're about

[20:51]to get into a position of authority so my brothers and my

[20:55]sisters think about this in your lives every position that you take

[20:59]in your life which has authority remember this advice you cannot be

[21:03]superior you cannot look at yourself as proud or arrogant in front

[21:07]of them no matter how much you think of yourself as the

[21:09]boss in this household in this workplace whatever else it is otherwise

[21:14]we are following the path of satan for he was the first

[21:22]one who was seen to place the quality of takabur upon himself

[21:26]when allah told him to perform sujud to adam and satan refused

[21:33]and said i am made from fire he is made from clay

[21:36]i am greater why should i perform this but you see this

[21:40]is coming from a place of him feeling superiority so he was

[21:45]disgraced notice the word he was disgraced the grace of allah left

[21:52]him that's why the imam says it was humiliation enough for shaitaan

[21:58]by his own pride that he was disgraced by his own pride

[22:05]and that's why the imam continues with malik and says here beware

[22:11]that satan infect you with his disease self abasement over your heads

[22:21]and self glorification beneath your feet remove pride from your necks and

[22:28]let humility be the watchtower between you and your enemy allahu akbar

[22:31]imagine look at the imagery here the watchtower and you are the

[22:36]one on the watchtower through humility because humility here is your weapon

[22:43]you watch the enemy coming humility is the watchtower you stand this

[22:46]is how you defend yourself you defend the heart the watchtower of

[22:51]humility this is the key to be humble not to be arrogant

[22:55]not to have pride here you will see the enemy coming to

[22:58]you that's why the imam says that even a sin which makes

[23:06]you grieve is greater than a virtue which makes you proud and

[23:11]it's very very intricate because slowly we compete with allah in different

[23:17]ways like when we want the hearts of people around us we

[23:20]want to gain their hearts and gain their love and be popular

[23:24]and be famous but the heart belongs only to allah say there

[23:29]are many hadith that tell us that the heart is the shrine

[23:34]of allah the throne of allah the heart of the believer don't

[23:38]let anyone enter into the shrine of ar-rahman except it's only the

[23:43]merciful one that can enter in only those who get permission from

[23:49]him can enter into the heart so we love through al-rahman and

[23:53]we are loved through al-rahman and that way your love lost forever

[23:56]because it doesn't die when you die it continues in the next

[24:02]world and forever but what happens is we want to grab the

[24:03]hearts of the people i want them to love me i want

[24:08]them when you do that when you're looking for people's hearts you're

[24:11]competing with allah for the hearts the hearts it's not your job

[24:15]it's not your objective it's not your field it's not yours that's

[24:20]why imam saw that qalaysalam says every every form of this showing

[24:29]off that we do it's polytheism because now you're saying i am

[24:35]god love me god is the only one deserving of true true

[24:37]ultimate love because he is the only true divine reality but through

[24:41]him we experience real love you see it's not saying that we

[24:45]don't love we love truly we don't love the signs each other

[24:49]we love allah we love each other through allah not just the

[24:53]sign and the shadow we stay in the shadow no yusuf was

[24:56]beautiful but he was a shadow of the true beauty if yusuf

[25:00]was that beautiful what is true beauty so we get lost in

[25:05]the shadows we don't want the shadows we want allah subhana wa

[25:07]here one must realize you cannot compete with allah for the hearts

[25:13]of the people so when our heart comes into your life and

[25:16]then leaves it was never yours in the first place it was

[25:20]always for allah whoever it may be that's why when you want

[25:24]to experience love you go to god first that's what the imam

[25:29]is saying justice put each thing in its rightful place let allah

[25:33]be the foundation of each of your relationships the imam continues with

[25:40]malik and then says to him do not say i have been

[25:45]given authority i order and i am obeyed for this leads to

[25:50]corruption in the heart and erosion of religion here the imam speaking

[25:57]about how when the power of an individual goes to their head

[26:02]it begins to destroy their heart and destroy their religion when power

[26:07]goes to your head faith leaves your heart if you want to

[26:12]have strong faith then you must begin with humility your watchtower as

[26:16]you watch your enemy approach you don't let him come humility is

[26:20]your watchtower then the imam continues he says if the authority of

[26:28]your position brings vanity and arrogance then look at the grandeur of

[26:35]god's dominion above you he's reminding him if you start to think

[26:38]that you're something it starts going to your head hold him in

[26:41]hold on hold on a minute remember look above remember the kingdom

[26:47]of allah this small kingdom that you have here is nothing remember

[26:50]god he says if you're starting to get vain and arrogant then

[26:55]look at the grandeur of god's dominion above you this will calm

[27:00]your ambition it will restrain you from your own vehemence and restore

[27:07]to you what had strayed from your intellect you see subhanallah he's

[27:11]saying because the intellect is that which looks to identify reality when

[27:18]your intellect strays when you start to look at yourself in an

[27:22]arrogant and vain manner you're starting to live a little bit of

[27:24]falsehood now you're starting to live a little bit of an illusion

[27:30]now you're starting to think things that aren't there are there you're

[27:33]starting to think of yourself as being godly and we see this

[27:38]with a lot of powerful people go and ask famous people famous

[27:40]athletes what happens to them psychologically speaking sometimes they get to a

[27:45]level where they think they're god some of them have been quoted

[27:48]as quoted as saying that this is something that one must always

[27:52]be careful of in their normal lives because some achievements some positions

[27:58]of power may allow us to start thinking that we are something

[28:03]that i've made something of myself in an arrogant way of course

[28:08]when you give it to allah that's fine but an arrogant way

[28:11]you say as if it depended on you when this happens the

[28:14]imam says remember allah's kingdom this will calm down this will calm

[28:20]your ambition it will bring your intellect back so you can start

[28:23]to see things as they are again your intellect tells you what's

[28:26]right from what's wrong it should tell you what's just from what

[28:30]is not just and it's not just for you to take the

[28:32]position of allah and begin to compete with him so here imam

[28:39]ali alayhi salaam he starts to speak about the tyrant the tyrant

[28:44]is one who decides to go down this path he decides to

[28:52]compete with allah he takes on the idea of arrogance but allah

[28:58]says in the quran and the ayat are there for those who

[29:02]their intellects have left them and they're living in this false illusion

[29:12][Music] he tells us that everyone who is on the earth is

[29:21]leaving perishing the only non-perishing thing is the face of allah may

[29:28]he be glorified however the tyrant does not pay heed to allah's

[29:33]words in the quran he does not pay heed to when allah

[29:39]talks about everything perishing everything is perishing except his face the tyrant

[29:44]does not pay heeda as he overestimates his self and he underestimates

[29:49]the absolute and the reason why it's so important to speak about

[29:54]the tyrant is because every form of oppression in this world begins

[29:58]with a human heart every evil that you see began in a

[30:03]human heart do you see why it's so important that this political

[30:06]statement if you will cannot be divorced from ethics from the very

[30:13]beginning is still speaking to malik about his relationship with allah and

[30:17]justice being first justice upon the self because he says the tyrant

[30:23]then does not desist he says here the tyrant remains at war

[30:28]with allah until he is forced to desist and repent so you

[30:35]see eventually he will have to repent even if it's not of

[30:39]his own choice when he gets to the last moment of his

[30:42]life or even in the next world he'll try to repent he

[30:44]will realize his mistake because the veil has been lifted and he

[30:48]realizes that he's nothing and he's not god that's why the first

[30:53]person that the tyrant oppresses and the first injustice he commits is

[30:57]upon himself this is the first injustice that's why imam ali and

[31:03]komed what i have oppressed myself for someone who has sinned he

[31:09]comes and says i have pressed myself one can oppress themselves and

[31:14]the imam begins by telling all of us if you want to

[31:20]help others you want to rectify the souls of others begin with

[31:24]yourself he says it hit in the narration he says your pursuit

[31:29]to reform others when your own soul is corrupt is the greatest

[31:33]of faults so begin with yourself in a letter to muhammad ibn

[31:40]he also says you're the leader of my strongest forces in egypt

[31:44]my strongest forces are at your disposal so you are obliged to

[31:49]oppose your soul and protect your religion do you see the connection

[31:52]because the strongest soldiers are at the service of muhammad ibn the

[31:58]imam then says because of this you are obliged to oppose your

[32:04]soul strengthen your religion this means that the greater the blessing or

[32:08]the greater the power the greater the duty and the obligation to

[32:12]oppose that self and then you come to allah an absolute poverty

[32:16]and you can refer to the lecture on imam ali the mystic

[32:22]to understand what we mean by this that if you are to

[32:25]be a leader you must come to allah with absolute poverty only

[32:27]then can you come out and speak with confidence the way imam

[32:32]khomeini comes out and speaks in confidence when he comes to speak

[32:35]against the tyrants of his time and he says i am going

[32:40]to be the one to stop them and i am going to

[32:42]smash this tyrant in the face and i am going to he

[32:46]says all that what does he mean by this i i i

[32:49]doesn't mean i me he's talking about someone else here allah subhanahu

[32:54]wa is going to be the one to do all of this

[32:55]because he has come to him in absolute poverty when you come

[32:59]to allah and absolute poverty then you are absolutely confident in front

[33:02]of the people then you will go and fight against the tyrants

[33:04]you will have absolute confidence in yourself this doesn't mean that you

[33:09]walk around and you're always broken it means you are strong powerful

[33:12]passionate confident moving towards justice to put each thing in its rightful

[33:16]place when you correct your relationship with allah first the theme of

[33:20]humility then becomes recurring throughout the letter and the imam's advice begins

[33:27]to focus on how to strengthen this quality in order to dispense

[33:34]justice correctly so he advises malik to identify with the poor people

[33:39]that he is ruling and he says the disapproval of the common

[33:46]folk undermines the approval of the elite so he tells malik that

[33:51]you need to get the approval of the common man to do

[33:54]that you must identify with him you are poor just like him

[33:58]he begins to speak to him about people in poverty normal people

[34:01]in poverty common people identify with them just because you are the

[34:06]leader or the governor does not mean you're greater or better come

[34:08]to their level and identify with them because at the end of

[34:13]the day it does not matter how much money you have whoever

[34:16]you are whatever title you have before your name we are all

[34:20]for allah we are all in poverty to allah so he's telling

[34:24]him you want to humble yourself then identify with the poor identify

[34:31]with the poor and the common man here malakal ashtar has to

[34:36]look at himself as different to the normal man in terms of

[34:41]him being a ruler so he has more of a duty to

[34:43]identify with the lowest people in society that's why islam there was

[34:48]once when he told a follower of his who was trying to

[34:52]get too deep into asceticism he told him don't go so hard

[34:58]on yourself stop cutting out all the nice things from your life

[35:00]and the man said but yeah you're the one who does this

[35:06]the most and the imam told him i'm not like you allah

[35:09]has made it an obligation for me and leaders like me that

[35:14]we live like the weakest of our society you see the imam

[35:20]here is showing a balance there's an equilibrium it is for the

[35:23]most powerful like like miracle ashtar to live in society as the

[35:32]most powerless it creates an equilibrium with everyone else in the middle

[35:35]so we're not saying that all the classes are going to be

[35:38]the same this isn't the case anyway it's not going to happen

[35:39]that way but psychologically speaking this will allow those at the lowest

[35:44]point of society not only for the smooth running of this of

[35:48]that society but also for one to keep the humility within their

[35:53]heart which is very important and you see the imam saying justice

[35:55]on the outside without justice on the inside becomes pointless to the

[35:59]imam in his idea of justice because it's not putting everything in

[36:02]this rightful place so here the leader the imam says the leader

[36:07]must be one to live like the weakest amongst the people it's

[36:11]not for everyone right so this is also very important for us

[36:14]to realize when it comes to justice that sometimes a common person

[36:18]one of us with a common family might want to when reading

[36:23]about imam ali become very inspired and wants to live like him

[36:27]but that might not be justice because it's not for you it's

[36:31]not the rightful place for you do you see justice is not

[36:35]about imitating everything justice is each thing in its rightful place so

[36:41]a leader cannot live extravagantly greater than those he's leading but a

[36:47]follower has a different duty so each thing in its place the

[36:53]imam then tells malik to punish anyone who misuses the public funds

[36:59]but then he goes into the ideas of mercy subhanallah and compassion

[37:05]we know about ali roth salaam shows how stern and strict he

[37:11]is and we've spoken about that in terms of his policies when

[37:14]even when it came to his brother aquil wanting some extra funds

[37:19]he brought the hot iron to his skin just to make him

[37:22]feel the heat to remind him of the fire or telling his

[37:26]own cousin abdullah ibn abbas that if he does not return what

[37:30]does not belong to him that he will strike him with his

[37:33]sword and that even if it was saying they would not have

[37:36]any leniency from him but his idea on compassion is different because

[37:42]it's an imitation of allah's qualities we see allah as the one

[37:51]who his rahma precedes his wrath we must imitate this as human

[37:57]beings and individuals we must always try to go towards compassion wherever

[38:02]possible without overlooking wherever penalty must be applied so when penalty is

[38:07]unavoidable then there must be a penalty there must be a punishment

[38:09]but the imam wants malik to identify with the poor and the

[38:16]weak to have compassion for those around him that compassion enters his

[38:18]heart mercy enters his heart and when you look at the narrations

[38:23]of the imam how much he speaks about this that how can

[38:25]you hope for mercy from above when you know when you do

[38:29]not give mercy to those around you or those below how can

[38:33]you ask for mercy from above and you're not this you do

[38:34]not dispense mercy yourself the imam again and again speaks about mercy

[38:40]in this way because when we go towards mercy and compassion this

[38:45]is not a personal sentiment like oh we want to be soft

[38:48]this is a movement towards what is true what is real because

[38:53]allah is in the quran every surah begins with bismillah rahim except

[39:01]one this compassion in the qualities of allah precedes his wrath so

[39:08]justice does not mean to give everyone a penalty as soon as

[39:15]they deserve it there are times when a penalty may be avoidable

[39:18]for certain circumstances like repentance or what have you where here compassion

[39:25]precedes wrath through imitating these qualities of god what we're saying is

[39:30]that is justice and one is more real the more one is

[39:36]turned towards compassion rather than wrath and punishment because that's the way

[39:43]allah is do you see once again allah's qualities are not all

[39:46]about being the same like he is as wrathful as he is

[39:49]merciful no it's everything in its rightful place when it needs wrath

[39:54]allah will give wrath and he is the most stern of punishers

[39:58]but when compassion is needed we have compassion but the thing about

[40:05]compassion is that we always lean towards compassion in all circumstances except

[40:10]for those when a penalty is unavoidable that the default position is

[40:16]that of compassion because as you mentioned from the lines of dua

[40:23]command and mercy and loving compassion of allah malat it is the

[40:29]foundation of all things so we want to be more real we

[40:34]are as real as we are more compassionate than we are wrathful

[40:36]if we want to imitate those qualities and the imam tells malik

[40:41]this in an amazing part of the letter quite remarkable because he

[40:48]is showing that it's not about only your people it's about everyone

[40:55]so the imam continues and says to malik is malik infuse your

[40:57]heart with the mercy for the subjects you see he wants him

[41:02]to have empathy my brothers my sisters if you want to be

[41:05]on the path of allah begin with empathy if you don't have

[41:11]empathy it's not the path of allah begin with empathy here he's

[41:14]saying to malik after he tells him about punishing those who misuse

[41:17]public funds he tells him that infuse your heart with mercy for

[41:22]the subjects like feel for them be there for them really know

[41:26]them as individuals personalities fear for them their pain feel it love

[41:34]for them kindness towards them for they are of two types either

[41:43]your brother in faith or your like in creation or equal in

[41:47]humanity as it is often translated mistakes slip from them defects emerge

[41:56]from them they may do this deliberately or accidentally so bestow upon

[42:03]them your forgiveness you see he wasn't out there holding some lash

[42:06]to to hurt someone as soon as they make a mistake the

[42:09]imam is telling him be lenient whenever you can only punish when

[42:14]you have to bestow upon them your forgiveness and your pardon for

[42:18]you are above them and the one who appointed you as governor

[42:23]is above you talking about himself and god is above the one

[42:29]who appointed you and through them through the subjects he tests you

[42:34]subhan allah so this shows us that anyone whoever you are is

[42:41]nothing but a servant of allah whoever you are whoever has appointed

[42:48]you is also a servant of allah and it's most shown to

[42:58]us how imam ali alayhi salaam does not differentiate between those of

[43:01]his people and others when he feels for them that empathy towards

[43:07]them he saw an old man an old beggar and he asked

[43:08]about him who is this man and they told him oh this

[43:11]is a christian man and he's been begging he has nothing to

[43:14]his name and the imam says you employed him and he was

[43:19]until he was old and frail and then now you refuse to

[43:23]help him give him payment from beitul mal from the treasury of

[43:31]the muslims to this old christian beggar subhanallah you see the imam

[43:37]he had empathy not from a personal sentiment once again it's not

[43:40]a personal sentiment so someone can come and say you're being emotional

[43:43]as if that was a bad thing no it is based on

[43:48]the qualities of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to lean towards compassion amir

[43:52]mu'mineen then comes to a very subtle point in the letter where

[43:58]he tells malik who he should have as his advisers and you

[44:02]would think that he is placing a governor to be at the

[44:08]head of the most important part of his land you would think

[44:12]that it would be maybe someone who is very politically savvy but

[44:15]subhanallah his advice is as follows he says truly miserliness and cowardice

[44:22]are so many diverse inclinations comprised within a bad opinion of god

[44:34]so right this a negative opinion of allah the imam is saying

[44:40]someone who is a coward or a miser or stingy he has

[44:44]a negative opinion of allah don't have these people as your advisors

[44:48]it's really beautiful that he has a very spiritual outlook to his

[44:53]political advisors people who trust allah imagine that he wants a politician

[44:59]to be someone who looks at allah in a positive way a

[45:03]good way has not done because it means he has strength and

[45:08]he has trust in his faith in allah's assistance and help this

[45:11]is a very important aspect of who the leader is to have

[45:16]so let me just explain these points because they're very important in

[45:19]our daily lives this negative opinion of allah is when we have

[45:23]misunderstood a divine quality of allah we have thought of allah something

[45:28]that is not there and we begin to think for example that

[45:31]is he going to leave me is he going to never forgive

[45:35]me is he not going to send me risk so i become

[45:37]stingy i want to hold on to my money because i don't

[45:39]want to give it away because i might not get it again

[45:41]this is this is having a negative opinion of allah because you

[45:45]have to have a positive opinion that he's definitely going to send

[45:48]me risk and help me he is the one who sustained me

[45:51]my whole life or to be a coward because you have a

[45:53]negative opinion of allah you've misunderstood his divine quality he is he

[46:00]is the only great proud one the almighty the strong when you

[46:05]give that to someone else you fear someone you fear a creation

[46:10]a creation that cannot even depend on its own self to exist

[46:14]a creation like mahawya or any other tarot or tyrant these creations

[46:19]they're nothing to be feared no human being deserves fear only allah

[46:24]deserves fear so misunderstanding of the divine qualities you didn't understand it

[46:31]sometimes it happens to us from when we are children because when

[46:33]we have children we are raised by our parents in this time

[46:37]we don't really know who allah is but we see the names

[46:40]of allah in our parents they sustain us our mother we see

[46:45]the merciful the compassion and the kind right in our father we

[46:51]see al-qaeda the strong the one who provides for us he he

[46:55]goes to work comes back feeds us so we look at them

[46:58]as the ones who hold these qualities as we grow up and

[47:02]as we go into our adult lives we begin to detach from

[47:06]this idea and we start recognizing allah we want to obey allah

[47:11]and we see the qualities in allah now what happens when when

[47:13]you're a child you're let down by your mother or your father

[47:17]you feel like these qualities they weren't there did not take care

[47:23]of you ar did not provide for you you're hurt by this

[47:27]so you stop trusting so when it comes to allah now you're

[47:31]30 years old do you think allah hates you unfortunately this comes

[47:34]from surah billah it's a misunderstanding of his qualities you must realize

[47:38]would you you asked yourself if an orphan came knocking at your

[47:44]door wanting bread would you tell them to leave never if you

[47:47]are a lover of amir menin how could you ever turn away

[47:51]an orphan well when we knock on the door of allah subhanahu

[47:54]ta'ala we're orphans our prophet is not here our imam is in

[47:57]we're not gonna do ya allah help us we're surrounded by so

[48:02]many temptations we're surrounded by enemies we have very small numbers help

[48:08]us it's hard sometimes we fall as a great scholar says when

[48:12]you commit a sin you are not outside of the army of

[48:16]the imam it doesn't mean that you're not in the army of

[48:19]imam al-mahdi it means you are a wounded soldier in the army

[48:22]of imam al-mahdi you're still there you're just wounded the brothers and

[48:25]sisters have to come patch you up hold you carry on the

[48:29]mission have husband to strengthen iman imam ali is saying this is

[48:34]a important this is an important quality to have in any place

[48:39]of authority you must have complete faith in allah that he will

[48:44]always open the door for you as an orphan he forgives all

[48:49]sins if you come to him in lowliness and humility and this

[48:54]is the defining aspect you must come with lowliness and humility to

[49:01]allah and then you must emulate him emulate him emulate his names

[49:04]because when you do that it doesn't mean you're comparing yourself to

[49:09]allah it means you're trying your best to align yourself with his

[49:12]names because his names they transcend anything any individual can ever be

[49:17]but we want to emulate these names because allah has given it

[49:23]to us as a mission as in san this is our potential

[49:26]as the imam tells us act how allah subhanahu ta'ala acts so

[49:32]allah is kareem you become kareem allah you become allah is to

[49:39]the best of your ability with loneliness and humility when you do

[49:44]this it's rooted in your servanthood to allah so you must come

[49:49]and you must identify yourself before allah subhanahu ta'ala as both abdullah

[49:54]and khalifa so you must be conscious of yourself as a slave

[49:59]to him you are abdullah you are nothing without him and this

[50:04]increases your reliance upon him and your trust in him and keeps

[50:08]you where you're supposed to be but then you also see yourself

[50:13]as khalifa to allah you are representing allah subhana ta'ala so hey

[50:16]then you need to see that i am also khalifa allah but

[50:20]this is rooted in abdullah khalifa so you must acquire these names

[50:25]and you must dispense justice and this is the first way you

[50:30]do that by looking at yourself and dispensing justice is this equilibrium

[50:34]through this equilibrium true spiritual justice is attained and we do not

[50:38]neglect our duties to the ice to the outside world the imam

[50:43]then begins to tell malik about the different people in society when

[50:49]it comes to the workers the judiciary the taxpayers the common folk

[50:56]the poor whoever it was he tells them about all of them

[50:58]and what he must do for all of them their rights and

[51:02]their duties but ultimately all of them and their relationships with all

[51:07]of them is dependent on his relationship to allah and the rights

[51:11]and regulations and duties of them all of all the different fields

[51:17]of society depends on his relationship with allah and their relationship with

[51:22]allah and the way that he runs this society then he tells

[51:25]malik to sit with the ulama and to have many discourses with

[51:31]the hukama and look how he differentiates between them he tells him

[51:37]malik from ulama you learn the quran the sunnah you learn the

[51:44]tradition of the bait but the give you the wisdoms they give

[51:46]you the bowatin the inner meanings he wants his companion to have

[51:51]both so for us this is great advice from the imam we

[51:55]must go towards learning our tradition the hadith the ayat of the

[52:00]quran but we must also look to contemplation from action to contemplation

[52:05]we want to understand the bawatan we want to understand the inner

[52:11]meanings esoteric meanings and the wisdoms by which we can live our

[52:13]lives from this there's an important differentiation here why he mentioned both

[52:20]of them the imam then comes to a very sensitive part of

[52:26]the letter it's very sensitive and the imam emphasizes this with how

[52:31]sensitive it is to him because he begins with allah allah that's

[52:38]how he begins the letter this part of the letter he says

[52:42]to medical ashtar to pay special attention because he wants to stress

[52:45]urgency here he says allah allah he has now instructions for the

[52:52]destitute those who have no resources at all the crippled the elderly

[52:57]those who have nothing at all they're absolutely poor they have nothing

[53:00]imam comes and tells him to pay special attention allah these are

[53:07]most in need of justice they are most in need of justice

[53:12]from you treat them in a manner that god may excuse you

[53:16]on the day you meet him the imam has a special place

[53:24]in his heart for those who are very poor they were always

[53:26]on his mind this is something that we need to take in

[53:31]you see this letter this part hits very very hard it's the

[53:36]only part the imam begins with allah he's stressing urgency and attention

[53:40]here take this advice from amir mohminin focus on the poor those

[53:49]who need assistance those with no money those with no capabilities and

[53:56]then there are those who are poor but they don't beg and

[53:59]they don't allow people to know about them being poor they have

[54:04]a sort of pride not a not an arrogant pride but an

[54:09]honor they don't want to look weak in front of others the

[54:11]imam wants to focus on these people so he tells malik appoint

[54:16]someone who will find them he wants to employ someone in the

[54:20]government who his job his sole purpose is to find poor people

[54:24]that don't seem poor because of honor then he says to him

[54:31]yes this is very difficult for the governor but god makes it

[54:35]light for those who aspire to the hereafter who restrain their souls

[54:43]in patience and trust in the truth of that which is promised

[54:46]by allah here the imam is speaking about how the burden is

[54:52]lifted through spiritual reassurance that divine assistance is on the way when

[55:00]you have this hope in allah subhanahu ta'alah and distrust in him

[55:04]he's saying this is hard i know malik what i'm telling you

[55:06]is not easy you have to go and start looking for poor

[55:09]people who don't even seem poor that's how important it is but

[55:13]when you do this allah is definitely going to help you and

[55:15]allah's promise is victory for those who give his religion victory so

[55:20]only when we look to the next world can we have this

[55:24]power and this conviction to keep moving forward and give our all

[55:28]to those who are poor around us when we don't look to

[55:32]the next world then the costs far outweigh the benefits if you

[55:36]want to locate from the point of view as a governor or

[55:40]in terms of politics why should i give so many resources to

[55:44]these poor people if i don't believe in the hereafter but by

[55:48]looking towards the hereafter now you have this patience that can be

[55:52]extended the imam is now rooting this world view look towards the

[55:59]hereafter look towards what's coming he's telling malik because now if you

[56:05]have this trust in allah's promise then for sure without any shadow

[56:09]of a doubt divine assistance is on its way this is what

[56:14]we mean we mean by tawakkul when you tell someone they're having

[56:18]a hard time have to call on allah they say yeah i've

[56:20]heard it all i've heard it all no you have not heard

[56:23]it all you haven't understood because when you truly believe in the

[56:27]next world and you believing in it that's happening now even and

[56:32]i'll get to that in a moment you're looking towards what is

[56:36]beyond this world what's beyond these few 10 20 30 years you're

[56:39]thinking of forever forever is different to 50 years the imam is

[56:44]saying look towards the next world so helping the poor then becomes

[56:52]one's own duty to oneself morally for their own spiritual conviction because

[56:56]then you have to think how much do i believe in the

[56:58]hereafter and then you say to yourself how much do i trust

[57:04]allah so it becomes about your faith when you want to have

[57:07]empathy for those who are in need it becomes about your faith

[57:11]it becomes something very moral inside you do you see this is

[57:16]so divorced from the rulers that we have today who do not

[57:18]fear allah subhanahu wa and who live their lives not paying any

[57:23]attention to allah's promise to his rewards to his threats or his

[57:27]punishments and it's not all about threats and punishments when it comes

[57:31]to the hereafter because when we say hereafter we're talking about what's

[57:37]happening now our understanding of the hereafter right now is when you

[57:40]have a virtue or when you commit a sin the effect of

[57:47]that is here someone who believes in the hereafter with this conviction

[57:51]he can see the beauty of the hereafter and the down below

[57:56]so to speak he sees the beauty of it happening right now

[58:00]so he's already attained what he was going to attain in the

[58:07]hereafter that grace that smell of bliss that scent of the hereafter

[58:10]he feels it he experiences it because he's living it right now

[58:14]the one who has this world view of time being this way

[58:19]that it's beyond just the dunya sees it in this way and

[58:23]it's not only time but it's also a space where these qualities

[58:28]manifest themselves in the high realities what you do on earth manifests

[58:32]itself in the higher realities right now when you go towards a

[58:36]virtue you are right now planting your tree you're building your castle

[58:41]in the hereafter or the beauty of whatever you want to call

[58:43]it is all symbolism obviously i'm not speaking just about any castle

[58:46]here or any tree i'm talking about this symbolic idea of what

[58:53]the hereafter may be but it's happening right now the person who

[58:56]believes in this this space where these qualities manifest they are living

[59:00]the hereafter so they've already attained the reward they're not waiting for

[59:04]it it's not something that you know be good now you're going

[59:06]to get a reward later the reward is met this is why

[59:11]islam speaks about these people when he says that their bodies work

[59:14]amongst the people but their souls are in a higher plane they're

[59:16]smelling the scent of this bliss and that's why imam ali salaam

[59:21]through all the turmoil he went through just like with us in

[59:25]our lives all the turmoil we will go through if we live

[59:27]life in this way we have that patience to push through you

[59:32]want to ask how did amir muhammadin how was he so patient

[59:34]this is how because he saw hereafter right now the curtains the

[59:39]veils of the unseen are lifted when you live in this way

[59:44]when you are having complete faith in allah and you feel it

[59:47]and you live it and it's a moral conviction now within you

[59:50]it's a test upon yourself so then you are able to push

[59:56]through any difficulty any chaos around you any distraction through your heart

[60:00]therefore the individual must ask themselves sincerely about their why their intention

[60:06]their deep intention and what it is for because if it is

[60:12]for reward or if it's out of fear of punishment that's one

[60:17]thing but if it is for worship because allah subhanahu ta'ala is

[60:20]worthy of worship because it is justice because that is his right

[60:24]because of who he is then this is as imam islam says

[60:29]the worship of the free this is justice he the one who

[60:32]wants to apply justice then looks at his duty as a very

[60:37]spiritual mission he goes towards it with his true belief because if

[60:44]he believes in the hereafter if he believes in allah's promise and

[60:49]he believes that it is true that it's definitely there that allah

[60:53]is going to definitely now help him the hereafter is coming allah's

[60:55]promise is coming then this transforms the soul of the human being

[60:59]he becomes free in his worship because all he sees is god

[61:02]so the hereafter is already there for him he's tasting the bliss

[61:05]of the hereafter already justice and the nature of allah are one

[61:10]they are one in nature allah and justice are one in nature

[61:14]so if you want to go towards justice as imam ali islam

[61:20]says he says i bear witness that he is justice and he

[61:24]acts justly in reference to allah subhanahu ta'ala so we want to

[61:30]conform to this nature by conforming to this nature because we want

[61:33]to also be just and move towards justice so it's not out

[61:39]of punishment or reward but out of justice and out of being

[61:43]free in our worship that we come to allah this becomes a

[61:46]true spiritual justice within our souls and this is the greatest way

[61:51]to differentiate between the secular idea of justice and the islamic concept

[61:56]of justice in the secular idea of justice we look at the

[62:00]consequences of the justice of what justice was supposed to bring to

[62:04]us what were the consequences did it work did it not work

[62:06]that's how we know if it was successful whereas in the islamic

[62:10]conception of justice it is realized by the very intention to be

[62:16]just do you see the matter of the intention here is the

[62:19]intention of the individual to truly try to move forward towards justice

[62:24]it's not about the result the result is on allah this does

[62:27]not mean that we are passive that we don't care about the

[62:30]results no no we want to attain the results actually this if

[62:33]i say so myself is even more effective because this is now

[62:41]forcing the person who believes to be diligent and strive if he

[62:45]is sincere to strive his ultimate best no matter the odds you

[62:48]see if someone was moving towards a secular idea of justice i'm

[62:52]not i want to be generalizing here and say that it will

[62:54]never work any secular idea of justice what i'm saying is someone

[62:58]who's seeing that things are not working they'll give up they'll stop

[63:01]but if someone believes in a divine mission and moves with his

[63:04]intention for justice for allah it doesn't matter if the whole world

[63:08]says this will never happen it doesn't matter if all the world

[63:14]all the odds are stacked against him it doesn't matter if everyone

[63:18]says this tyrant is here to stay the believer in allah believes

[63:23]in the assistance of allah and the promise of allah and knows

[63:26]justice will come no matter what so they keep striving so if

[63:32]anything the believer in the islamic concept of justice is the one

[63:35]who keeps going it's not the one who stops because the result

[63:37]is on allah no by doing this actually by understanding that the

[63:42]journey is the destination and it's an ongoing journey as long as

[63:46]things are not in the rightful place and i've never seen them

[63:47]in the rightful place throughout history i read about it being that

[63:52]way maybe when the imam comes he will assist us in putting

[63:53]every or we'll assist him in putting everything in the rightful place

[63:57]insha'allah for true justice and that's why it's reported in the gospel

[64:03]that jesus says with men this is impossible but with god all

[64:07]things are possible and this is the case here as well and

[64:10]that's why when it comes to imam ali al-islam you really start

[64:15]to understand that all these difficulties he was facing the way muawiyah

[64:19]was implementing dirty tactics the way his soldiers were leaving him what

[64:23]happened to him the oppression that he faced someone might look and

[64:28]say why did he imagine islam why is he losing all these

[64:30]battles we don't look at it that way through all the different

[64:34]conflicts that he went through all the bloody wars all of this

[64:38]antagonistic behavior towards him he never ceased not once he never gave

[64:43]up he kept moving forward with hope and trust in allah imam

[64:48]showed no sign of cynicism of despair of anything he stayed on

[64:53]the path even when they wouldn't listen to him in kufa he

[64:56]took the sword and walked himself walked himself he didn't give up

[65:01]he writes this letter after everything the imam's spirit triumphed over all

[65:09]the conflicts because his intention was the contentment of allah only not

[65:14]the blame and not the praise of the people none of that

[65:18]mattered to him only allah now coming towards the end of the

[65:23]letter after telling malik how to implement all the different administrative tasks

[65:26]he then comes and tells him now to set his time apart

[65:32]the most excellent of your available time for what is between you

[65:38]and god which he's referring to here to the acts of devotion

[65:46]and worship the most excellent of your available time because here he

[65:50]now wants to show that if everything in society in your position

[65:57]is based on your relationship with allah then your relationship with allah

[66:02]subhana ta'ala has a substance and that substance is your devotion and

[66:05]worship you must give yourself to that devotion and worship he says

[66:11]he continues and tells malik malik give unto god your body and

[66:17]energy in your nights and your days perform fully and perfectly that

[66:24]which draws you near to allah without becoming dull or deficient take

[66:32]your body to its limit you see this is why when we

[66:36]say that every act depends on your prayer this is what we

[66:40]mean it's not that allah does not accept anything you do if

[66:43]you don't pray we're saying that if everything every relationship ali is

[66:48]telling malik in the very beginning justice is to be just to

[66:53]allah first right if you're going to be just to allah first

[66:55]the substance of justice with allah is this devotion and worship your

[67:01]most excellent of time and to give yourself to him to put

[67:03]your effort into this is what it means into this relationship into

[67:07]this prayer that's why when the imam was uh told about one

[67:13]of the khawarij who was praying very diligently the imam says a

[67:18]sleep with certainty is better than a prayer with doubt because it's

[67:22]not just about the mechanical movement it's about the prayer what's happening

[67:25]inside inside the heart of the one who prays the imam look

[67:30]at what he tells malik which draws you near to god don't

[67:36]become dull don't become deficient when you're praying take your body to

[67:41]its limit so here when we're saying take your body to his

[67:43]limit you're putting effort in you're waking up in the middle of

[67:49]the night standing alone in front of allah offering the deepest part

[67:52]of your heart to god this is someone who cannot feel fear

[67:58]for a creation this is someone who feels absolute love for allah

[68:01]the imam wants his general and the governor of egypt and his

[68:06]captain he wants him to be someone who has this fear of

[68:11]allah and love for allah and no one else this is how

[68:15]you become a spiritual warrior it's through this understanding of prayer the

[68:21]diligent prayer frequent prayer the one that you put your effort into

[68:25]someone who prays at 50 years old the same way they prayed

[68:30]at 20 years old they've wasted 30 years of their life we

[68:34]pray every day again and again in order to master the art

[68:39]of communication with allah mastery whenever you see anyone who's mastered anything

[68:43]in life whether it be an instrument whether it be a sport

[68:46]there's something about that person that mesmerizes people here it's the art

[68:52]of a communication we're supposed to master and devote ourselves to it

[68:55]so the imam tells malik set apart the most excellent of time

[69:00]he tells him all times so all actions all times are for

[69:08]god if the intention underlying them is good and if your subjects

[69:15]derive security from them so the imam is showing that no matter

[69:22]what you do after this everything is now encompassed by god consciousness

[69:28]because you're so enshrined in your prayer it overspills into everything even

[69:33]into your subjects in the society now this overflow from prayer will

[69:38]bring hikmah and wisdom into one's heart you'll begin to see through

[69:42]god and then you understand the prophet's dua allahumma arena lord show

[69:49]me things as they really are and then you combine that with

[69:52]the idea of justice about putting each thing in this rightful place

[69:55]so when you see things as they really are then you know

[69:59]exactly where they should go and if you do that properly this

[70:03]is perfect justice if you want to be a governor for imam

[70:06]ali this is what he wants from you if you want to

[70:09]be a follower of your ali a general for imam mahdi this

[70:11]is what he wants from you through your heart to see things

[70:15]as they are and then put them in their rightful place and

[70:17]when you pray you don't do it just with your body you

[70:20]don't do it just with your tongue you do it with your

[70:23]heart and that's why the imam tells us that the one who

[70:25]prays without putting effort in is the like the one who shoots

[70:29]arrows without the bow how can you shoot arrow without its bow

[70:33]the imam tells us about zikr the importance of remembrance the importance

[70:37]of this remembrance on someone's world view on someone's way of life

[70:42]this zikr he says in this excerpt truly god has made remembrance

[70:48]a polish for the hearts by which they hear after suffering from

[70:52]deafness and see after dim sight there have always been slaves of

[70:58]allah with whom he held intimate discourse allah talks to these people

[71:03]in their hearts he held intimate discourse through their thoughts and spoke

[71:08]with them through the essence of their intellects they were illuminated through

[71:16]the awakened light in their hearts in their hearing and in their

[71:20]seeing calling onto the remembrance of the days of god subhanallah he

[71:24]is saying that normal people slaves of allah on earth not prophets

[71:29]not imams allah has discourse with them and you see this in

[71:33]munaj when imam al-islam speaks to allah and says to speak to

[71:36]him in secret in his heart and that he calls call him

[71:41]publicly here allah sometimes speaks to these slaves of allah to their

[71:45]thoughts their hearts this divine inspiration that comes to someone this feeling

[71:49]when you feel a light you might not be able to explain

[71:53]it but you might feel it if it's been there you might

[71:54]know what i'm talking about here hopefully someone watching this can be

[71:59]one of those servants of allah and i hope you can pray

[72:02]for me so i imagine islam speaking about these people and this

[72:06]is done through zikr through remembrance of god you want to be

[72:13]a general a captain you want to be a true follower of

[72:16]imam mahdi governor of ali this is what he expects from you

[72:20]it's clear that zikr and remembrance is of the utmost importance to

[72:28]imam ali and when he advised malik of takarab he was talking

[72:32]about this diker and there is enough evidence to suggest that by

[72:38]vicar by remembrance he means god consciousness he also means a methodical

[72:43]invocation of one of god's names plus contemplation and prayer and meditation

[72:50]and we can look even just from dua kumail how much the

[72:55]imam speaks about this dikkar and you begin to look at these

[72:58]words in a different way when you realize what he says and

[73:02]some somewhere else another narration islam wants to read them to you

[73:06]he says he who loves the thing he dedicates himself to its

[73:14]invocation to dedicate oneself through the tongue to the invocation of a

[73:22]thing it insinuates this idea of repetition like when you say allah

[73:32]this way of repeated invocation of one of god's names and we

[73:37]look into our command here's what i want to read to you

[73:40]he says when he speaks about allah and speaking to allah he

[73:47]says my tongue has devoted itself to your remembrance when he says

[73:58]make my tongue invoke thee with utter dedication or towards the end

[74:04]of the dua when he says he says that his name is

[74:13]a remedy his invocation is a cure this is not just a

[74:17]general statement name throwing it out there he's saying this is something

[74:22]that is used often when he's telling malik to have this to

[74:26]come towards allah subhana tahalla to be close to him to draw

[74:30]near to him this is something he wants malik to focus on

[74:33]now you might ask why is this relevant in the letter of

[74:37]medical astra or in the concept of justice because here the imam

[74:42]says imam continues he says there are people who belong to the

[74:47]zikr they have adopted it in place of the world that neither

[74:55]commerce nor trade distracts them from zikr they spend their days of

[75:04]their life in vicar they instruct people in justice and themselves are

[75:12]steadfast therein subhanallah all of this dikkar is rooted in the concept

[75:21]of justice the imam is saying someone who lives in this dhikr

[75:24]constantly giving their life to it their night and day to like

[75:27]remembering allah of course when you remember allah and you put everything

[75:32]in this rightful place this is justice you can't remember allah all

[75:36]the time and not put everything in his rightful place it's impossible

[75:38]if allah is on your mind all the time and you're constantly

[75:43]invoking his names and you are so immersed and completely devoted as

[75:48]he says my tongue is devoted to you i am completely dedicated

[75:52]to you i am always invoking your names and your name is

[75:56]a remedy and a cure for me and this is constantly now

[75:58]the paradigm in which i am living that all i see is

[76:01]god and i see through god then in this way justice is

[76:07]dispensed and one remains steadfast which means they remain just therein so

[76:10]this is the relevance to justice through zikr one becomes just this

[76:17]is the spiritual concept of justice that imagines them speaking about now

[76:20]someone might say this is very ideal this is a utopian idea

[76:23]that the imam is coming up with that he's offering to us

[76:27]when it comes to his understanding of justice and they'll say that

[76:30]the world of politics is harsh it's far away from the world

[76:35]of spirituality but the response has to be that every other islamic

[76:40]concept whether it be politics or whether it be sociology or anything

[76:47]else is empty is just a shell without islamic piety and spirituality

[76:53]islamic concepts are not only for the mind they can't be fully

[76:58]understood by the mind they have to be digested in the heart

[76:59]that's why there's always going to be a difference between someone who

[77:03]believes in islam and teaches it and someone who doesn't and teaches

[77:07]it islam is something to be believed in the heart it's not

[77:09]poetry that i'm saying this actually has a deep effect this is

[77:14]what we understand from the words of imam ali that if you

[77:16]want to dispense true justice this has to happen through spirituality it's

[77:22]only through the connection to the divine it's only through the relationship

[77:29]with the divine that this spirituality can manifest itself into true justice

[77:34]on the outside to implement itself outside and it cannot happen there

[77:39]is no escape without a true foundation and relationship with allah subhanahu

[77:44]wa'ta'ala it doesn't work therefore justice can only be brought to a

[77:51]society or an individual through spirituality this is what we understand from

[77:57]the letter and the remembrance of god is the spiritual substance of

[78:03]all human virtue this letter this legendary letter was meant to be

[78:08]malik's guide as he was going to take control of egypt and

[78:14]deal a blow to muawiyah's aspirations but when muawiyah caught wind that

[78:24]malik was on his way to egypt he knew if malik was

[78:30]to reach egypt then he would not be able to take it

[78:32]so he planned a way in which he would stop malik he

[78:38]contacted his people on the towns leading to egypt he knew where

[78:46]malik was passing through he contacted people under his rule and he

[78:51]offered them if you are to deal with malik for me as

[78:54]he is on his way to egypt you will never have to

[79:00]pay taxes ever again malik was on his way hoping that he

[79:06]could implement the beauty that was given to him in the advice

[79:12]of which is for all of us which all of us inshallah

[79:15]have a chance to implement in our lives malik wanted to implement

[79:19]it as the governor but as he passed through this town these

[79:22]people they invited him they welcomed him and as he sat to

[79:29]rest they brought malik some food they told him bismillah you are

[79:32]the one who amir mumma has sent it is upon us to

[79:38]help you to welcome you to support you malik on this strenuous

[79:41]journey stops to rest they bring him food and honey he begins

[79:46]to eat from this food but this honey was mixed with poison

[79:52]when malik swallowed this honey he felt the pain start to move

[79:58]throughout his body he knew he had been poisoned and it happened

[80:03]immediately malik knew that his death was now approaching and you can

[80:06]imagine how he must have felt in those moments he knows that

[80:11]he is amir al-mu'min's backbone he knows that now as he's leaving

[80:16]the world you can imagine what's going through his mind muhammad ibn

[80:18]abi is in egypt waiting for me what's going to happen now

[80:23]who's going to tell him that i can't come in his final

[80:25]moments he must be thinking of his master ali imagine how you

[80:29]would feel in that moment when you're about to lose your life

[80:35]and you can't tell your master that you weren't able to assist

[80:38]him you couldn't complete your mission reminds you of muslim ibn akhil

[80:45]in kufa when he was martyred and could not get the message

[80:49]to abdullah malik could not get the message to muhammad that he's

[80:54]not coming he leaves this world in a very painful manner now

[80:58]the general the captain of the army of imam ali alayhi salam's

[81:04]soldiers his soul departs from his body malacal ashtar is martyred and

[81:13]stranded in egypt says allah subhana allah has soldiers who are made

[81:24]from honey for they are the ones who were able to kill

[81:29]malik and mauaya was dubious in celebration now there was nothing standing

[81:33]in his way from coming to egypt and he said ali ibn

[81:37]abi talib had two arms i cut one of them in safin

[81:43]and now we have cut the other alibna is now armless news

[81:50]reached imam ali companion of the companion they have been falling amir

[81:58]mohminin when he is told about malik's death grief strikes his heart

[82:05]and his face for several days and he says in one of

[82:10]the great tributes and sermons in natural belarus to medical ashtar he

[82:14]says about malik says malik and who was malik because this reminds

[82:26]us of great men that we have lost great generals that we

[82:32]have lost people who are fighting for the oppressed men of allah

[82:41]who are martyred when imamani speaks about malik it almost feels as

[82:52]if he's speaking about those men he says malik and who was

[83:04]malik if he was a rock he would be impenetrable and solid

[83:08]and if he were a mountain he would stand alone no horse

[83:16]could ascend such a mountain and no bird could fly up to

[83:22]it and then he really pierces your heart when he tells you

[83:25]who malik was to him he says malik was to me like

[83:30]i was to rasulullah we know ahalim nabitalib as the sword of

[83:35]allah the lion of allah the one who stood and protected rasulullah

[83:39]and fought for him when rasulallah was in trouble he could always

[83:44]rely on one man is in his 60s ali used to rely

[83:51]so much on this one man he saw egypt was in trouble

[83:56]i will send my most trusted and now he loses him and

[83:58]he says he was to me like i was to the prophet

[84:01]and now i have lost my guardian when rasulallah left this world

[84:06]his guardian remained but ali's guardian left this world before him and

[84:12]he remains on his own ali always on his own now muhammad

[84:19]ibn abi bakker was in egypt alone muawiyah and amnas sent him

[84:27]letters telling him give up leave the town we are coming they

[84:32]deployed six thousand soldiers to come and take over egypt now muhammad

[84:39]had to make a choice imam ali salam sends ali says to

[84:46]muhammad the man whom i have made governor of egypt was my

[84:50]well-wisher he was severe and vengeful towards our enemies may allah have

[84:57]mercy on malik he has finished his days and met his death

[85:02]but i am pleased with him may allah accord him his pleasure

[85:08]and multiply his reward now muhammad it's upon you to get ready

[85:14]for your enemy and act according to your intelligence prepare for fighting

[85:20]him who fights you and calling to the path of allah seek

[85:23]allah's help exceedingly if allah wills he will assist you in what

[85:29]worries you and help you with that which befalls you the imam

[85:33]now starts to tell muhammad to prepare himself he tells him to

[85:37]gather his forces because it's going to be difficult for him to

[85:39]help him and come to help him in time to send forces

[85:43]in time he tells him there is a man amongst your soldiers

[85:46]let this man be the general now organize your soldiers and the

[85:51]imam tried to bring soldiers from kufa the imam starts to go

[85:54]in kufur telling people we need to assist muhammad in egypt people

[85:57]once again do not want to assist imam ali his soldiers once

[86:02]again disobeying him after strenuous efforts he's able to gather 2 000

[86:07]warriors that's it meanwhile muhammad is now surrounded and outnumbered him and

[86:13]kanan and they are gathering their soldiers mawawi as forces come into

[86:20]egypt when they come into egypt and they join forces with the

[86:23]people who wanted to support muawiyah from within egypt they outnumber the

[86:28]forces of muhammad ibn abi bakr the first battalion is defeated by

[86:33]muhammad and kanan but eventually when kanana is killed the soldiers disperse

[86:38]muhammad then has no one left with him muhammad was told by

[86:44]muawiyah and asked to leave he wouldn't leave he was writing letters

[86:48]to imam ali to come and help in time the imam could

[86:51]not come and time his soldiers were not even responding muhammad now

[86:55]was alone he had to withdraw he went to a nearby town

[86:58]to hide out but they surrounded him in this town he tried

[87:01]to hold them off as long as he could until they were

[87:05]able to finally capture him when they took muhammad now he was

[87:11]the final soldier standing everyone else had ran away or was martyred

[87:16]they brought muhammad and they began to torture him they began all

[87:25]the ways of torture beating him and torturing him slowly for his

[87:30]love of ali because he was loyal to haley imagine imam ali

[87:37]just lost malik and now muhammad was in the hands of the

[87:45]enemy companions are falling one by one they began to beat and

[87:52]torture muhammad until muhammad was near his death and he was thirsty

[87:54]and he told them give me some water and they told him

[87:59]we will not give you even a drop of water this umayyad

[88:06]tradition of starving your enemy of making your enemy thirsty they tried

[88:10]to do it in hand with the prophet they try to do

[88:14]it in safin with ali and they will do it in karbala

[88:18]with hussain alaihis salah and now they did it with abu bakr

[88:21]they told him do you know what we're going to do to

[88:23]you you want water do you know what we will do to

[88:30]you muhammad said what and they said we are going to put

[88:33]you into the carcass of a donkey and burn you alive muhammad

[88:41]said this has been done to those before me and allah made

[88:45]the fire cool for them may allah make this fire cool for

[88:48]me like he made the fire call for ibrahim but you muawiyah

[88:54]and the hammer may burn in hell they grabbed muhammad they put

[88:59]him into the carcass of the donkey and they burnt him alive

[89:02]to disgrace him and disgrace his honor when imali found out about

[89:09]the death of muhammad now his heart broke it hurts the imam

[89:15]so much because he saw him as his son he said karnali

[89:22]rabbiban wakana akan he said i see him as my son he

[89:31]was a brother to my sons he was a brother to them

[89:34]i was a father to him he was a good son an

[89:38]obedient son he was a sharp sword may allah take care of

[89:42]muhammad it was very difficult for him he cried for days he

[89:49]lost a very close companion of his a very close person who

[89:53]he raised since he was a baby damascus was overjoyed and imam

[90:00]ali islam knew about the celebrations in the mosques and he would

[90:04]say as much as they are overjoyed is how much we are

[90:08]sorrowful they have one less enemy we have one less beloved and

[90:14]then you start to realize all these losses in the imam's life

[90:16]when he is an old man old and grey now his beard

[90:20]completely grey all of this grief his entire life now you understand

[90:25]when he's in masjid kufa looking into the stars that hadith looking

[90:30]into the stars as if he was missing someone yearning for someone

[90:34]who was he thinking of those to come but also those who

[90:40]have left ya rasulullah looking into the stars thinking of fatima thinking

[90:47]of hamza thinking of salman thinking of thinking of how zubair his

[90:56]friend his cousin from when they were children betrayed him and left

[91:00]this world of misguidance thinking of hamar thinking of malik thinking of

[91:08]now muhammad thinking of all of those companions where did you all

[91:17]go looking into the stars remembering them and then he says glad

[91:24]tidings be to those who have turned away from this world and

[91:30]look to the hereafter alhamdulillah muhammad

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Life of Imam Ali | 9 | Imam Ali's worldview: Letter to Malik al-Ashtar

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التالي

Life of Imam Ali | 9 | Imam Ali's worldview: Letter to Malik al-Ashtar

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استكشاف المزيد

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