The Questions You Should Ask

0 Views· 24/08/10

Sayed Mahdi Modarresi
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In Lectures

From Ramadan 2024, Sydney, Australia

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[0:00]the story in a nutshell is that a group of companions went

[0:05]to IM and they were speaking amongst each other in essence the

[0:10]Hadith says that they were debating a certain topic as you would

[0:15]you're in the presence of your teacher hoping for feedback from the

[0:19]Imam the Hadith says that remained quiet the central requirement as followers

[0:28]of the religion of Islam is that we try to learn about

[0:35]our faith that would not be possible if we didn't ask questions

[0:38]and even though this might seem rather obvious to uh many of

[0:45]us when it comes to Natural Sciences when it comes to our

[0:49]everyday problems and challenges we have no qualms we have no issues

[0:52]in asking those people who are experts in their various fields and

[0:57]disciplines as we recognize and acknowledge the fact that we ourselves are

[1:03]not experts and the logical thing to do is to ask those

[1:09]who are endowed with the knowledge that we happen to be in

[1:12]need of there is an entire chapter in The Blessed book of

[1:22]called the chapter on asking scholars in engaging in uh intellect ual

[1:34]and scientific discourse the Imam States in one Hadith is a term

[1:47]that in Arabic denotes exclusivity meaning people perish exclusively because they fail

[1:56]to ask questions the other Hadith in that same chapter the Imam

[1:59]says that there is a lot that prevents access to this knowledge

[2:03]if there is a lock to a building you look for the

[2:08]key the Imam says that this knowledge has a [Music] lock and

[2:15]the key is to ask questions there are many many other narrations

[2:24]that basically communicate the same Central message which is that we should

[2:31]ask questions our most senior Scholars from among the companions of the

[2:39]they had a habit of verifying their beliefs with the imams one

[2:46]classic example of that is the story ofb was a brother of

[2:54]a number of companions to the imams including z Z was an

[3:03]incredibly important figure uh not just among the companions of the but

[3:07]in terms of the volume of Hadith that he narrated and uh

[3:14]also his Rank and significance in the eyes of the Imam im

[3:20]as well as IM and his children interestingly enough the children of

[3:26]Al the family of went on to become companions of subsequent imams

[3:31]which is rather remarkable the story in a nutshell is that a

[3:39]group of companions went to IM and they were uh speaking amongst

[3:42]each other in essence the Hadith says that they were debating a

[3:46]certain topic as you would you're in the presence of your teacher

[3:52]hoping for feedback from the Imam the Hadith says that remained quiet

[3:56]he didn't say a word while the other companions were debating amongst

[4:00]each other uh the various subjects that were in question at some

[4:05]point the Imam directed his attention toan he said to him why

[4:11]don't you say a word why don't you speak look at the

[4:17]level of respect that made the likes ofran the way they were

[4:21]hran responded to the Imam he said I have vowed I have

[4:32]sworn that I would not speak a word in your presence in

[4:34]other words I have no opinions of myself I have no views

[4:41]to offer I have nothing to give in this conversation while I

[4:45]am in your presence the only view that matters is the view

[4:48]of my Imam and I'd like to hear from you I don't

[4:52]want to be the one speaking I don't want to be the

[4:55]one offering my opinions I want to hear from you so the

[4:58]Imam said to him I give you permission you have my blessing

[5:03]you can speak if you wish now even then when the Imam

[5:09]gave him permission to speak instead of elucidating his views instead of

[5:13]presenting his ideas said to the IM I would like to present

[5:22]my beliefs to you and have you verify those beliefs tell me

[5:26]if I'm right or wrong so even though he's speaking he's essentially

[5:30]asking a question so the Imam says to him tell me what

[5:36]your beliefs are so he began all the way from the beginning

[5:39]from the foundation and he said that I believe that there is

[5:45]no deity worthy of worship other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then

[5:49]he delved into the descriptions of Allah if you like and he

[5:58]said that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala our duty towards him it is

[6:03]to remove Allah from these two Extremes in other words the foundation

[6:14]or the most basic level of and belief in the Unicity of

[6:23]Allah subhah wa ta'ala is to believe that number one that the

[6:26]only thing we can know of Allah subhana wa ta'ala is to

[6:29]remove him from the limitation of non-existence and the second limitation the

[6:37]second boundary that Allah subhana tala is removed from is which is

[6:43]where he is likened to his cre creations where Allah subhah wa

[6:48]ta'ala acquires the descriptions of other objects that have been created by

[6:57]Him in other words we cannot say that he doesn't exist he

[7:01]most certainly does and we cannot say what he looks like because

[7:04]he looks like none of his Creations so then he spoke about

[7:13]and he spoke about and he said there is no coercion in

[7:20]religion there is no predestination if you like and there's also no

[7:25]absolute dissertion where Allah subhana wa ta'ala allows us to do whatever

[7:28]we want no it's something in between the IM listened carefully to

[7:33]this having listened toan instead of the IM saying to him that

[7:40]these beliefs are correct the Imam madean The Benchmark with which the

[7:45]beliefs of others are evaluated he made him the barometer of Faith

[7:53]how the Imam said so the companions said what does that mean

[8:02]this expression it was new to them the Imam said you call

[8:09]it the thread that Brick Layers use in order to lay the

[8:13]bricks exactly in a manner that is aligned with one another the

[8:20]Imam said is that thread have you ever seen how they lay

[8:22]bricks how they use a thread a rope to make sure that

[8:27]all the bricks are laid in the exact position that they're uh

[8:31]the they're they're aligned perfectly that they're the exact same height the

[8:35]Imam said is that thread and anyone who rejects the beliefs that

[8:44]were outlined by hran just now is a zind zind is not

[8:49]just an atheist but someone who openly declares his atheism someone who

[8:55]Advocates and preaches atheism the Imam says whoever rejects these beliefs he

[9:01]is one of those individuals so the importance of asking questions cannot

[9:08]be overstated presenting our beliefs to the imams cannot be overstated we're

[9:13]living in an age brothers and sisters where every day we hear

[9:17]of a new impostor a new deceiver a new charlatan a new

[9:23]figure who presents himself as a spokesperson for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala

[9:28]there is an entire group of people now I'm not sure if

[9:33]you're if you're familiar with them and I don't want to give

[9:36]them any publicity I don't want to uh introduce them to people

[9:41]who are not aware of them but there is a group of

[9:43]people now who are growing in influence they are very small they

[9:48]are uh if you like on the verge of Extinction inshallah but

[9:53]these people claim to follow one of the descendants of the 12th

[9:58]Imam and they're going around in different countries trying to encourage people

[10:03]to give to this impostor and they say that until you give

[10:07]ba to this man the Imam will not appear someone was telling

[10:15]me just last night a friend of mine that one of the

[10:18]youth in a particular city which I won't mention he came to

[10:23]me and he said say this group has been encouraging me to

[10:27]give B for the last few years and I feel so guilty

[10:31]for not giving because they're telling me that this person represents the

[10:36]IM imagine if you're if you actually believe that this person represents

[10:44]the Imam and you refuse to give to him if you're a

[10:46]religious person you will feel guilty about it especially when they tell

[10:50]you that until and unless you give the IM will not appear

[10:54]and so my friend I says I told him I said look

[10:59]this person is a this person is an impostor this person is

[11:05]a liar he said but say it I feel guilty for not

[11:09]giving B he said listen put it on my neck on the

[11:10]day of judgment I will respond if you were asked why you

[11:15]refuse to give B I'm happy to take that burden these are

[11:21]people who exist and if they have no influence on you and

[11:25]I alhamdulillah they don't who's to say they won't have influence on

[11:29]our children who's to say our grandchildren won't be influenced by these

[11:35]charlatans and so it's absolutely critical that we ask questions and we

[11:41]ask the right set of Scholars and that when we ask those

[11:47]questions we ask for our beliefs to be verified is it true

[11:52]that this person is claiming he represents the Imam and the answer

[11:56]is very clear Imam is Zan himself self said in his letter

[12:02]to the fourth Emissary the fourth Deputy when the IM told him

[12:08]that your death is near you should get your Affairs in order

[12:10]you should say your goodbyes because you're about to die and after

[12:13]you there's not going to be any Deputy then the Imam said

[12:19]whoever claims to be in contact with the IM the Imam uses

[12:25]the term which means to see him right but that doesn't necessarily

[12:28]mean that no one will be able to ever see the Imam

[12:34]many righteous Pious learned Scholars have had contacts with the Imam but

[12:37]if someone comes out and says that I met the Imam and

[12:41]the Imam had this message for you and the Imam said you

[12:42]have to do this and that and you have to give to

[12:45]me and so forth the Imam says means you should Bell them

[12:53]you should accuse them of being absolute Liars if we don't ask

[13:01]questions how will we know what's right from what's wrong

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