The world judges a man by two parameters – his achievements and his legacy. Our subject of discussion will deal with the latter. We Shia Isna Asharis believe in the infallibility and hidden knowledge of our Imams (a.s.). Whenever we want to study the way of life of any Imam (a.s.) we focus our attention on his heritage of knowledge. We discuss all those issues that Imam (a.s.) related from his forefathers and how Imam (a.s.) himself guided us in the complex issues of life. By the grace of the Almighty we believe in such Imams whose comprehensive knowledge has an edge over all the spheres of knowledge. Only if we can implement those significant issues in our daily life then we can attain the goodness of this world and the hereafter.
These treasures of knowledge are of utmost importance in our practical lives especially since nowadays even some simpleminded believers claim that Islam does not fulfill all the vacuum of our lives. They forget that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) on the day of Ghadeer had said:
“O people I have told you whatever is needed for you to take you closer to heaven and I have warned you of everything that will take you away from hell.”
Despite such a clear proclamation from the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) if someone remains skeptical then it tantamount to denying the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and whoever belies him is a disbeliever. After this prelude lets discuss some of those practical issues which were sorted out by Hazrat Imam-e-Zamana (a.t.f.s.). These are the actual replies of Hazrat Imam-e-Zamana (a.t.f.s.) which he has written in response to the queries by some of the leading scholars and at times even common believers.
One of these letters which is reproduced by Allamah Tabarsi (r.a.) in his book Ehtejaaj vol 2 pg 298-300 has the following queries:
1. “You have inquired about prayers at the time of sunrise and sunset? It the same way as the people say,
“the sun rises from between the two horns of Shaitan and sets between the two horns of Shaitan.”
“The time for morning prayers begins before the sunrise and the evening prayers after sunset. The biggest attempt of Shaitan is to dissuade people from prayers. Whoever prays at these times actually crushes the horn of Shaitan. There is no weapon better than the daily prayers to humiliate the Shaitan. Keep praying regularly and disgrace the Shaitan.”
2. “Your question regarding someone doing a waqf (reservation) of a particular thing for Imam (a.s.) and when subsequently he needs it then can he retrieve it for his personal use?”
“The answer to this question is that if the man has not handed over the custody of the property to a trustee then he can retrieve it but if he has already assigned it to a trustee then he has no right to reclaim the property regardless of whether he needs it or does not need it.”
3. “And about your question pertaining to our funds, which is in someone’s control then can he spend it without the permission of Imam?”
“Absolutely not. Whoever does it is an accursed person and on the day of Judgement, we shall be his enemy. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) said:
“Whoever considers the properties of my offspring expendable while Allah has forbidden it, then he has been cursed by me and all the Prophets.”
Thus whoever is inequitable in our rights will be unjust and shall be cursed by Allah, as declared in the Holy Quran:
“Now surely the curse of Allah is on the unjust.”
(Surah Hud (11), Verse 18)
4. “And the question that you have asked about the boy who was circumcised but has developed the foreskin again after circumcision and whether he should be circumcised again?”
“Of course it’s mandatory to do circumcision again… Certainly, the earth complains to Allah against the urine of an uncircumcised man.”
5. “And you have asked that whether the prayer of such a man is correct who prays in front of a picture and a lamp, while there is dispute among the people about the correctness of his prayers?”
“If the man is not a son of a fire worshipper or idol worshipper then there is no harm for him to pray in front of an image, fire or a lamp. But if he is a son of idol worshipper or a fire worshipper then its makrooh.”
Allamah Tabarsi (r.a.) has mentioned some more issues on page 301-302 of the same book. Due to their importance, we reproduce them hereunder for the benefit of our readers:
6. “What should a person do if while performing the prayers of Janabe Jaafar-e-Tayyar (r.a.), he forgets the tasbih during his standing or sitting position or during ruku and sajdah but remembers it later in another position, should he recite the tasbih in the same position or ignore it altogether?”
“Whenever he remembers the tasbih, in whichever state, he should recite it.”
7. “If a woman’s husband dies, can she attend the funeral rites of her husband?”
“Yes, she can.”
“Can she visit the grave of her husband during the period of Iddat?”
“She can visit the grave but should not spend the night outside her house.”
“During Iddat can she step out of her house for fulfillment of an obligatory right?”
“She can leave her house for execution of obligatory duties. Also if there is none who can procure the essential daily necessities for her, then she can even go out and procure those things herself but she should not spend the night outside her house.”
8. In traditions it has been highly recommended to recite the Holy Quran in the mandatory as well as the recommended prayers. Hazrat Imam Kazim (a.s.) who has been referred to as “The scholar from the Progeny of Mohammad (s.a.w.a.), has said:
“How can a person’s prayer be accepted when he does not recite Surah Qadr in it!”
In another tradition it has been narrated that:
“That prayer is not recited sincerely which does not have Surah Tauheed”
In yet another tradition, it has been narrated that
“Whoever recites Surae Humza in his mandatory prayers then Allah will grant him reward equivalent to the world.”
“The question is whether these Surahs should be overlooked and Surah Humza should be recited in the prayers, while there are traditions which say that without these Surahs neither the prayers will be accepted nor will it have sincerity.”
“The reward for recitation of these Surahs are same as it has been mentioned in the traditions. If someone skips these Surahs and instead recites Surah Tauheed or Surah Qadr because of their importance than he will not only get reward of these surahs but also those which he has omitted. Nevertheless, it is allowed to omit the recitation of these two surahs for another. In that case his prayers will be complete but it is obvious that he has left a better action.”
9. When should we recite the farewell prayers of the month of Ramzan? There has been a difference of opinion among our scholars, while some say that it should be recited in the last night of the month of Ramzan, others maintain that it should be recited on the last day after sighting the moon of Shawwaal?”
“The acts should be performed in the nights of the month of Ramzan and the farewell prayer should be recited in its final night. However if one is skeptical that he may miss these actions due to Friday then he should perform these acts in the final two nights of the month of Ramzaan.”
10. “A person purchases an animal and gives it to another to sacrifice the animal in Mina on his behalf. However, at the time of slaughter the other person forgets to mention the name of the owner who had bought the animal, and remembers it after the slaughter. In such a case, will the sacrifice be acceptable and correct?”
“There is no harm and such a slaughter is acceptable.”
11. “A tailor is not believer, eats dead meat, does not perform the compulsory ceremonial bath and stitches our clothes? Can we pray with those clothes without washing them?”
“Prayers can be recited in such clothes without washing them.”
12. While reciting Tasbeehe Zahra (sa) if by mistake one recites Allaho Akbar more than 34 times and similarly exceed the other recitations over 66 times, then should one begin the recitation all over again?
He should keep a marker at 33 and recite one more takbeer to make the count of 34, similarly he should keep the marker at 66 and recite one more. But if the count exceeds 100 then there is no solution and nothing is compulsory on him any more.
For the sake of brevity of this article, we limit the number of queries to twelve otherwise; such queries and their replies are related in plenty from Hazrat Imam-e-Zamana (a.t.f.s.). May Allah hasten the reappearance of Hazrat Imam-e-Zamana (a.t.f.s.) and include us amongst his true followers. May we also derive maximum benefit from his knowledge.