Our Duties During The Occultation - Sayed Ali Al-Qazwini || Muharram 2022

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Al-Rasoul Islamic Society || Halifax - Canada

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[0:00]foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] dear brothers and sisters illuminate

[0:51]your hearts and minds and this with a loud s scholars who

[1:10]specialize in the eschatology of the school of ah albeit discuss two

[1:14]salient features number one there will be a savior a mahdi who

[1:23]appears at the end of times after the world and globe has

[1:28]been filled with injustice who will be spreading justice and order through

[1:34]his governance number two according to the eschatology of the school of

[1:43]bait this mahdi has already been born whereas other sects believe he

[1:50]will be born at the end of times and he is from

[1:55]the lineage of prophet muhammad and he is also an imam a

[2:11]divinely appointed leader a divinely appointed representative of allah on this earth

[2:19]in the school of bait imam is intimately linked with tawhid with

[2:27]the oneness of allah with the belief and creed that there exists

[2:30]only one god and none other than him how so we find

[2:36]in a hadith from imam peace be upon him he is narrating

[2:43]from his father imam musa al-qaeda peace be upon him what does

[2:47]he state and the utterance of there is no god except one

[3:05]is my protection if you enter this fortress this fortress of you

[3:16]are saved from the punishment of allah subhanahu ta'ala however the imam

[3:22]adds an exception he adds a clause a qualifier to the statement

[3:27]he says through which if you enter you are saved from the

[3:41]punishment of allah but you have to go through which gate through

[3:45]the gate of imam you have to go through the imam of

[3:49]your time thus we find imam and tawheed are intimately linked within

[3:54]the school of albeit individuals come and ask if that's the case

[4:04]if the imam is such an important position such that it is

[4:07]linked with taheed what's the point of having an imam that's hidden

[4:12]if we don't see him we can't ask him questions he can't

[4:17]provide us leadership and guidance especially during this time during our contemporary

[4:23]era where corruption is rife assad is rife all over the lands

[4:27]new and unique innovations are coming up all the time so what's

[4:33]the point of having an imam that's hidden that we don't have

[4:38]easy access to a couple of points here my dear brothers and

[4:42]sisters you find the typical response often given is that when you

[4:50]go out on a cloudy day you're not you're not able to

[4:54]see the sun however does that mean you are prevented from the

[4:57]blessings of the sun just because the sun is hidden behind clouds

[5:03]doesn't mean that we don't seek sustenance we don't seek blessings from

[5:09]the sun right the same way imam almighty peace be upon him

[5:13]simply through fig being the closest figure to allah subhanahu ta'ala and

[5:19]being on earth and praying for us yes he prays for us

[5:23]he prays for his followers that itself would be enough of a

[5:26]reason to have an imam despite him being hidden the fact that

[5:31]we have an imam who prays for us the closest link between

[5:33]allah subhanahu ta'ala and us human beings and he makes an effort

[5:39]to pray for us that itself normally would be enough to have

[5:42]any map however there are other reasons we can discuss tonight why

[5:46]we have a hidden imam before that muhammad [Music] firstly you find

[6:03]throughout history the shia are one of the most persecuted groups various

[6:09]caliphates various governments various nations have persecuted them killed them to an

[6:18]extent some rulers would build their palaces with the lineage of prophet

[6:23]muhammad in between the walls despite being one of the most persecuted

[6:27]groups on earth allah subhanahu ta'ala has protected the followers of the

[6:32]albeit and where there are many instances in which imam al-mahdi he

[6:37]himself would intervene and protect the followers of albeit often times he

[6:45]would guide scholars when they are in doubt and they don't know

[6:48]what to do a prominent example is that in the year 1890

[6:53]over a hundred years ago a scholar in iraq in iraq known

[6:59]as al-mujedda de shirazi his name was assayed hasan shirazi he lived

[7:05]over 150 years ago this scholar was the grand scholar of the

[7:10]shia world he was the grand mercer unparalleled in the shia world

[7:17]during this time the shah of iran the ruler or the king

[7:24]of iran was granting many concessions business concessions to british companies now

[7:30]the problem with that is as we discussed several nights ago when

[7:34]a certain group has economic power what usually comes next especially when

[7:40]they're motivated by greed economic exploitation and then after that political exploitation

[7:47]so many concessions already were given to british companies then a british

[7:54]company came as was trying to get concessions to basically be in

[8:00]control of the tobacco industry in iran in all of iran and

[8:04]by the way my dear brothers and sisters according to history 110

[8:09]years ago tobacco usage and smoking was so common that they say

[8:14]people between the prayers when you're supposed to be doing the taqibat

[8:18]people would smoke it said some people on the pulpit as they're

[8:24]speaking and teaching people they would smoke smoking was that common so

[8:29]if that many people smoke you would imagine it's a big business

[8:32]and if these british companies come and they displace all the local

[8:36]farmers all the local businessmen and they get all the power and

[8:39]then after that they want to exploit that power that's problematic so

[8:43]people around iran began to revolt they didn't want the shah to

[8:48]give this concession to the british companies but he had made up

[8:54]his mind he would have gone a handsome fee these reports reached

[8:59]al-mujeddah shirazi he issued a fatwa an islamic ruling that's unless the

[9:10]concessions are canceled it is incumbent upon every muslim to stop smoking

[9:15]it is haram to smoke they say overnight this population that was

[9:20]addicted to smoking and tobacco no smoke in the air because of

[9:27]one signature by someone in another country he was in iraq they

[9:31]say this law was so powerful that the shah himself who would

[9:36]smoke he ordered his wife to get the shisha to get the

[9:42]hookah ready to smoke his own wife said no i follow that

[9:44]scholar in iraq he said it's haram i can't prepare it for

[9:49]you the own wife of the shah refused to prepare for him

[9:51]the hookah so then he asked a servant his servant said i

[9:54]also follow him and i am not allowed to prepare the hookah

[9:57]for you he was so annoyed my own wife my servants they're

[10:01]not even listening to me so thus after much pressure he finally

[10:04]relented and he cancelled the concessions to who these british companies the

[10:12]reports state that sahib taurati back said hassan when he was in

[10:17]the room and they had told him of the severity of the

[10:21]situation and he was about to issue the fatwa he says as

[10:22]i was signing the pen it's as if i felt a hand

[10:28]guiding me it's as if out of nowhere i felt a hand

[10:31]guiding me because such a huge fatwa i didn't feel comfortable issuing

[10:36]it myself but yet i felt a presence and he says that

[10:40]was the presence of imam al-mahdi peace be upon him muhammad so

[10:53]you find throughout history there are many other such numerous instances in

[10:56]which the imam would intervene for the sake of the followers of

[11:04]albeit the most persecuted group on earth another reason another benefit of

[11:09]having a hidden imam is that simply knowing your imam is waiting

[11:13]for you right the onus is on us my our dear brothers

[11:18]and sisters the imam is waiting for us to act to step

[11:20]up our game and insha allah he will reappear so the fact

[11:23]that we know our imam is out there all that he is

[11:27]waiting is for us the imam is ready to come out anytime

[11:32]allah gives him the signal it's not him that's delaying the reappearance

[11:35]he wants us his followers to be ready and so that itself

[11:41]provides us motivation to strengthen our character to increase our relationship with

[11:46]allah and to prepare for the reappearance of our beloved imam number

[11:54]four the act of waiting itself the simple act of waiting has

[12:00]immense rewards thus you find the hadith from the bates stating one

[12:09]of the greatest acts of my ummah of my nation is awaiting

[12:15]the reappearance waiting for the imam and inshaallah soon we will discuss

[12:19]what exactly does waiting mean do you just sit around waiting watching

[12:22]tv or is there an active element of waiting waiting for the

[12:28]imam has huge benefits a hadith from imam's states he tells his

[12:35]companion the people at the time of the occultation us those who

[12:47]are living during the time in which the imam is hidden those

[12:53]who acknowledge he is their imam those who are waiting actively waiting

[13:00]for his reappearance they are better than the any ummah that has

[13:08]ever existed they are better than any group that has ever existed

[13:11]what was imam zayn talking about us he's talking about us who

[13:18]are able to wait actively wait for the imam and act in

[13:24]goodness and then he states waiting for the reappearance of the imam

[13:30]is one of the greatest acts one can do there is a

[13:36]beautiful hadith he is sitting in the masjid with his companions surrounding

[13:50]him he looks at his companions he tells them i long to

[13:56]meet my brothers so the companions look at him they tell him

[14:00]are we not your brothers us who came from mecca to medina

[14:05]who supported you went through so many battles with you we gave

[14:08]everything we had are we not your brothers rasulullah looks at them

[14:14]he says you are my companions then he says my brothers are

[14:21]the ones who wait for the reappearance calling us those who are

[14:28]able to wait for the reappearance his brothers isn't it an honor

[14:33]for you to be the brother of rasulullah this is a status

[14:39]even higher perhaps than being a companion of rasulullah to be a

[14:43]brother of rasulullah thus begs the question why has the imam not

[14:55]reappeared what is the imam waiting for what needs to occur in

[14:58]order for the imam to reappear the first discussion here is his

[15:06]laws and the system he has placed on earth there are divine

[15:11]elements divine causes and then there are natural causes you find for

[15:15]example when rasulullah peace be upon him was fleeing medina he took

[15:18]refuge where in a cave what protected him what fooled those who

[15:26]were tracking him into thinking he had left the spider web and

[15:29]the entrance of the cave this is a divine miracle of allah

[15:36]subhanahu ta'ala and yet you find in other instances like what happened

[15:40]in kerbala allah subhanahu ta'ala sometimes wants the natural course of events

[15:45]to take place imam hussain peace be upon him even though they

[15:52]were so few he had 72 followers he needed a certain set

[15:57]of followers in order to engage the tyrants of his time imam

[15:59]almighty peace be upon him he is waiting for his followers the

[16:06]hadi states if just 313 of those righteous good god-fearing followers arrive

[16:14]then the imam will immediately reappear so it's not us it's not

[16:19]the imam who's delaying us as i said earlier the onus is

[16:24]on us we have to step up our game we have to

[16:28]act in righteousness we have to deepen our relationship with allah subhanahu

[16:30]ta'alah and thus the imam will reappear number two people around the

[16:40]globe they have to despair of all forms of political and economic

[16:44]governance except the governance of imam al-mahdi as we discussed a few

[16:53]nights earlier the only truly just economic system is who the economic

[16:56]system of amir al-mu'min which the imam al-mahdi during his reappearance will

[17:01]apply now of course that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to improve

[17:06]our societies improve the welfare of our people no but the only

[17:12]political and economic systems which can attain absolute justice is in the

[17:18]governance of imam al-mahdi thus while we should look forward to improving

[17:22]the systems we have now we should have our full hope in

[17:27]the absolute justice of allah to be implemented in the governance of

[17:30]imam al-mahdi peace be upon him and number three the absence of

[17:39]an imam the absence of a leader is itself a test one

[17:43]hadith states that those who keep their iman at the end of

[17:49]times during the occultation it's like holding hot burning charcoal can you

[17:55]imagine the one where you barbecue with it right can you imagine

[17:58]holding that for a couple seconds couple minutes possible and yet the

[18:04]difficulty of being a faithful sister a faithful brother at the end

[18:09]of times during the occultation is like holding hot charcoal so allah

[18:15]through the occultation itself he wants to test us rasulullah peace be

[18:22]upon him despite the trials and the difficulties that his people went

[18:25]through at least they were able to see rasulullah they could see

[18:30]the rasulullah they would see the noor in his face and they

[18:33]would follow him yet those who follow rasulullah who follow the imam

[18:37]at the end of times they are even greater than those at

[18:42]the time of rasulullah they are the brothers and sisters of the

[18:45]prophet thus brothers and sisters how do we best prepare for the

[19:00]reappearance of our beloved imam as i mentioned earlier many of us

[19:06]think waiting for the imam means looking at the clock tick and

[19:09]letting the days pass there's a passive element to waiting and there

[19:13]is also an active element of waiting that is demonstrated in the

[19:17]hadith of imam peace be upon him the hadith states abdullah if

[19:29]it's a joy to you to be from the companions of imam

[19:33]al-mahdi what should you do wait see you wait but that's not

[19:46]it you have to act righteously and you have to have the

[19:49]best of akhlaq the best of etiquette a pious believer at the

[19:54]end of times he doesn't just wait looking at the clock she

[19:57]doesn't just wait letting the days pass by watching tv no you

[20:01]have to engage in righteous behavior you have to uphold the principles

[20:06]of islam you have to have the best of character best of

[20:09]akhlaq training your patience training your generosity as we mentioned last night

[20:13]training the other virtues and what diminishing devices within you this is

[20:20]what it means to wait for imam now in this following section

[20:28]i'd like to give some advice on some specific duties we can

[20:32]do during the occultation number one my dear brothers and sisters do

[20:41]not underestimate the power of dua tonight i want each and every

[20:44]one of you to go home and from the bottom of your

[20:50]hearts raise your hand and make the following [Music] brothers and sisters

[20:56]let us recite together if this comes from the bottom of your

[21:07]heart we believe as believers in allah that allah answers our dua

[21:14]so make du'a the imam as i said he's not he's the

[21:19]one waiting for us it's not the other way around so make

[21:21]that call upon the imam to reappear this will have a meaningful

[21:27]impact number two my dear brothers and sisters we are privileged to

[21:33]be here in the west we have access to freedom of speech

[21:36]and then there are many in this country in the west who

[21:41]do not know about islam about the school of atlanta so do

[21:46]your part in educating those who are not aware and i commend

[21:51]every single one of you who were able to make it today

[21:53]in the morning for the ashura assembly what was the goal of

[21:58]this assembly to inform our fellow canadian brothers and sisters of the

[22:02]message of imam and hussain this is a form of education this

[22:05]is the kind of activity that imam al-mahdi wants from us we

[22:11]have a tool called social media back then if you wanted to

[22:16]educate others what did you have to do you would have to

[22:19]go learn yourself right from all the books out there you would

[22:21]have to go crush some rocks make some ink you need to

[22:25]go i don't know how many deer you have to collect to

[22:28]make how much so dear skin you'd have to go get a

[22:33]feather chisel it a little bit dip it in the ink and

[22:34]write you need to hire some scribes who would painstakingly replicate a

[22:38]single hadith let's say right this would take hours and hours of

[22:42]labor and then you would need some kind of method of transportation

[22:46]a camel a horse to go spread this information dear brothers nowadays

[22:50]you go on instagram you go on twitter you just click a

[22:54]few buttons click post and you have a global audience so why

[22:58]are we not taking advantage of this if every day you can

[23:04]teach non-muslims or even fellow muslims who are not aware even one

[23:07]fact one information one hadith from the atlu albeit one hadith regarding

[23:12]the occultation regarding our duties towards imam al-mahdi this would make a

[23:18]hastening in the appearance of imam al-mahdi peace be upon him number

[23:33]three try to fight injustice wherever you see it today during the

[23:39]ashura assembly i quoted martin luther king jr who has a famous

[23:43]quote injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere if you're not

[23:50]able to fight those tyrants those rulers those oppressive governors like imam

[23:54]and hussain at least the minor injustices that you see every single

[23:57]day you see someone at work being harassed while you're crossing the

[24:04]street you see someone being verbally abused whatever kind of injustice you

[24:09]see even if it's in the family yes unfortunately many of our

[24:14]families within the household injustice occurs anywhere you see injustice try to

[24:20]speak up try to stand up to this injustice this is the

[24:23]preferred method and format of waiting for imam al-mahdi peace be upon

[24:26]him when you fight for injustice when you fight against oppressive rulers

[24:32]or even when you fight against these small minor injustices number five

[24:40]and this is a very important element of waiting my dear brothers

[24:45]and sisters if you're within a certain occupation or field let's say

[24:49]you're a doctor you're an engineer you're a laborer you're a businessman

[24:54]try to be the best at what you do if you're a

[24:59]scholar and academic be the best scholar in your field if you're

[25:02]a surgeon be the best surgeon not in your town not in

[25:07]your city in the country why because when imam reappears are we

[25:11]all just going to spend all our time in the message of

[25:14]worshiping no the imam wants a functional government a functional economy and

[25:19]as we mentioned we spent three nights discussing the economy the economy

[25:23]of emir requires many sectors from businessmen to doctors to engineers to

[25:30]lawyers any field that you're in try to be the best of

[25:33]it the value of a person of a human being is in

[25:40]what they excel in so if you're a doctor be an excellent

[25:46]doctor if you're a lawyer be an excellent lawyer if you're a

[25:49]laborer be an excellent laborer whatever it is your occupation try to

[25:52]be the best in it number five my dear brothers and sisters

[25:56]if you have the opportunity try to visit the shrines of ahlulbait

[26:01]whether in iraq whether in iran whether in hajjaz try to deepen

[26:06]your relationship with the albeit connect with the bait imam almighty loves

[26:12]for us to see a strong relationship with his forefathers with the

[26:19]albeit so try to visit these shrines if you're able to if

[26:21]you have the opportunity to travel to iraq to these countries definitely

[26:26]make so not only will you feel a tangible difference in your

[26:30]spirituality you will feel a connection a deep and intimate connection with

[26:36]the island bait this is if you visit the shrines of the

[26:38]bait number six try always and anywhere and anytime to engage in

[26:47]amal saleh righteous action this could be as small as if you

[26:53]see some trash in the street pick it up if you see

[26:55]littering in the street even if it's a single cup pick it

[26:59]up and throw it away it can be as small as that

[27:04]or it can be as high as we discussed last night giving

[27:06]half or even all of your wealth fisabilillah in the way of

[27:11]allah like imam al-hasan and peace be upon him wherever you can

[27:15]try to engage in righteous behavior and finally dear brothers and sisters

[27:20]one way of being a good servant of imam al-mahdi peace be

[27:27]upon him a good follower of imam al-mahdi is every night before

[27:30]you sleep contemplate your actions say today for my 5 10 15

[27:36]20 year goals what have i done in order to strengthen my

[27:41]relationship with allah what have i done today how did i deepen

[27:45]my relationship with the adult did i give charity today was i

[27:50]patient today did i have forbearance or did i engage in sin

[27:54]did i lie today my dear brothers and sisters we have a

[27:58]hadith it's a fascinating hadith imam al-mahdi peace be upon him every

[28:02]single friday allah gives him the record of our ahmad the records

[28:09]of all of the actions of the followers of albeit and he

[28:14]begins to page through it every time imam al-mahdi sees that one

[28:19]of his followers did something good you gave some charity you were

[28:21]patient you did good to your parents he becomes happy he says

[28:27]yes this is how my followers should be but whenever he encounters

[28:32]that one of his followers committed a sin engaged in bad behavior

[28:38]he is deeply disappointed dear brothers and sisters let's try not to

[28:43]disappoint our imam the imam he sees our actions and we shouldn't

[28:49]be surprised some people may say how does the imam know about

[28:51]our actions should not only allah know that well we turn towards

[28:56]the quran what does allah say [Music] states act act righteously for

[29:14]allah will see your action and rasool allah muhammad and the believers

[29:20]many tafasir say the believers in this instance is what is the

[29:26]imams of albeit knows the actions in which you are engaging in

[29:29]so try to make your imam proud this week such that next

[29:34]friday when the imam is going through the actions of his followers

[29:37]you will bring a smile to the imam you will make the

[29:44]imam happy and insha'allah we shall all have the honor of being

[29:47]among the servants of imam al-mahdi and to be alive to witness

[29:54]their appearance of imam dear brothers and sisters i would like to

[30:10]take you to karbala now to the land of karbala on the

[30:20]day of ashura tonight we commemorate a figure and that figure is

[30:30]the son of imam al-hussein peace be upon him who is this

[30:37]great figure the eldest son of imam al-hussein peace be upon him

[30:44]al-aqbar was dearly beloved to his father why because the hadith state

[30:51]he was a replica of rasulullah his grandfather both in his appearance

[30:58]and in his manners and yet this beloved son of imam al-hussein

[31:04]was the personal sacrifice of imam al-hussein on the day of ashura

[31:12]the day of ashura arrives and all the companions are martyred laying

[31:18]in the sands the imam he goes he looks at the scene

[31:23]all his companions hours ago with him in joy now murdered martyred

[31:31]on the sands of kerbala and he yells out nasa in suruna

[31:35]is there no one to protect us to aid us ali akbar

[31:43]he comes he approaches his father he asks him for permission to

[31:51]fight this beloved son of imam al-hussein he comes and he asks

[32:04]permission to fight imam al-hussein he doesn't tell him no with all

[32:11]the companions with all the other relatives he would say no don't

[32:14]fight he would insist on them not fighting until eventually he relents

[32:20]but for his son but he didn't say no and dear brothers

[32:24]and sisters we ought to learn from this lesson that whenever you

[32:27]are trying to make a change you're trying to strive to better

[32:30]society you always begin with yourself and your family first so when

[32:37]his son came to him and he asked him for permission to

[32:42]fight he didn't tell him no but at the same time how

[32:44]could he tell him yes it's too difficult this is his flesh

[32:50]and blood his son the hadith states he looked at his son

[32:58]with despair how could he tell his son to go and die

[33:04]ali akbar once he saw the eyes of his father he understood

[33:10]the message he went into the tents of the woman he farewelled

[33:14]his mother leila his on zainab the rest of his aunts and

[33:20]relatives and then he goes he wears his armor he mounts his

[33:23]horse and he goes towards the enemies he begins to fight he

[33:28]fights like a warrior the enemy is at first they're a bit

[33:31]hesitant they say who is this young man he shines bright like

[33:36]the moon and he reminds us of rasulullah he fights the enemies

[33:44]he's fighting and yet these cowardly enemies they begin to surround him

[33:48]they can't fight him one-on-one they begin to surround him his mother

[33:55]laila she's by the door of the tent she's unable to look

[33:58]she's too far she wants to see what's happening to her beloved

[34:00]son so she looks at abba abdullah hussain and she tries to

[34:06]gauge from his reaction what's going on all of a sudden imam

[34:10]al-hussein's face goes pale she comes to him she says my master

[34:14]hussein what happened to my son ali he tells her oh leila

[34:20]i see the enemies they've surrounded him and i'm fearful that they

[34:23]may kill him now go inside the tent and ask allah subhanahu

[34:28]ta'ala to return our son she goes inside the tent and what

[34:33]does she say oh the one who returned yusuf to yakub returned

[34:42]my son ali in that moment ali akbar was able to break

[34:46]free from the enemies and he returned to the camp of abba

[34:53]abdullah he comes to his father abdullah hussain what does he tell

[35:00]him he says [Music] the heat has killed me and the weight

[35:27]of this armor has exhausted me is there not some water that

[35:30]i can drink how does he tell his son that we have

[35:34]no water when he's so desperate for a few drops of water

[35:39]how does he communicate to them that's i don't have water [Applause]

[36:08]he tells him my son go to the battlefield your grandfather [Music]

[36:39][Music] with a spear blood begins to gush out so much blood

[36:47]such that it began to cover the eyes of his horse the

[36:52]horse was blinded from how much blood there was instead of returning

[36:57]to the camp the horse took him to the camp of the

[37:00]enemies and these enemies they had no mercy as the horse was

[37:07]taking him there peace and blessings upon you my father he goes

[37:19]to the camp of the enemies my dear brothers and sisters do

[37:23]you have the heart to hear what they did to him [Music]

[37:32]they cut them into pieces [Music] he comes for every other companion

[37:50]for every other relative he would he i want nothing to do

[38:17]with this world [Laughter] [Music] and you've left your father [Music] [Laughter]

[39:03][Music] [Music] to my right i see my grandfather and in his

[39:20]hands he is offering me that covenant from which i shall never

[39:27]go firstly and he says i have a special cup reserved for

[39:30]my grandson he says ali that why did you created me [Laughter]

[39:40]he [Laughter] she wow [Music]

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