FEELING HIS PRESENCE – A SIGN OF COGNITION

On a general basis, the duties of people living at the time of his occultation can be classified into two types:

Those which are specific to the age of occultation.

Those which are not specific to the age of occultation, rather it is obligatory to perform them at the time of occultation, after his appearance and in the presence of his holiness (a.s.).

One of the duties and obligations which are related to the second type and have a deep impact on the life of a human being, and if observed, can bring a drastic change in his life by bringing a valuable life for him, is to have faith of his presence and to act in accordance with it.

It means if a man believes that each one of us is present in the threshold of Allah (s.w.t.) and His apostles, and he is present before them, both at the time of their presence and occultation and his appearance is in the threshold of these great personalities, believing that time and space bring limitations for us but no for the people with such luminous ranks, in that case, he can never limit them or bound them to a specific time or space.

            This is because time and space are the limitations of a physical being and the luminous rank of the Holy Progeny (a.s.), towards which Imam Ali (a.s.) has indicated in the Hadith of Luminosity, is metaphysical and rather prevalent over it, therefore, this time and space does not bring any kind of limitation and boundary for their luminous status.

             For the further understanding of this point, you may study the Hadith of Luminosity (Nooraniyyat), stated by Imam Ali (a.s.) before Salman (a.s.) and Abu Zar (a.s.). We have refrained from narrating that Hadith due to its length but will mention another significant Hadith narrated from Imam Baqir (a.s.) which is suitable for this discussion because of its concision.

            Abu Baseer, one of the companions of Imam Baqir (a.s.), says:

دخلت المسجد مع أبي جعفر عليه السّلام و الناس يدخلون و يخرجون.

فقال لي: سل الناس هل يرونني؟

فكلّ من لقيته قلت له: أ رأيت أبا جعفر عليه السّلام فيقول: لا و هو واقف حتّى دخل أبو هارون المكفوف، قال: سل هذا؟ فقلت: هل رأيت أبا جعفر؟ فقال: أليس هو بقائم؟ قال: و ما علمك؟ قال: و كيف لا أعلم و هو نور ساطع. قال: و سمعته يقول لرجل من أهل الإفريقيّة: ما حال راشد؟ قال: خلّفته حيّا صالحا يقرؤك السلام.

قال: رحمه اللّه، قال: مات؟ قال: نعم، قال: متى؟ قال: بعد خروجك بيومين. قال: و اللّه ما مرض و لا كان به علّة، قال: و إنّما يموت من يموت من مرض أو علّة. قلت: من الرجل؟ قال: رجل لنا موال و لنا محبّ.

ثمّ قال: أترون أنّه ليس لنا معكم أعين ناظرة، أو اسماع سامعة، لبئس ما رأيتم، و اللّه لا يخفى علينا شي‏ء من أعمالكم فاحضرونا جميعا و عوّدوا أنفسكم الخير، و كونوا من أهله تعرفوا فإنّي بهذا آمر ولدي و شيعتي

‏“I entered the Mosque with Imam Baqir (a.s.) while people were coming and going. Imam (a.s.) said to me: Ask the people if they can see me? All those whom I met with and asked if they had seen Imam Baqir (a.s.), replied: no, while Imam (a.s.) was standing beside me. Meanwhile, a blind man named Abu Haroon entered.

Imam (a.s.) said: Ask this man.

I asked him: Have you seen Imam Baqir (a.s.)?

Abu Haroon replied: Is he not standing here?

Abu Baseer said: I asked him about how he came to know that Imam (a.s.) was standing there?

Abu Haroon said: How shall I not gain awareness and knowledge regarding him while his holiness (a.s.) is an evident and apparent light.

             Abu Basir says: And I heard that Imam Baqir (a.s.) asked a man from Africa: How is Rashid?

            He replied: At the time when I left Africa, he was alive and in good health, and conveyed his greetings to you.

            Imam Baqir (a.s.) said: May Allah bestow mercy upon him.

            The African man asked: Did he pass away?

            Imam (a.s.) said: Yes.

            He asked: When did it happen?

            Imam (a.s.) replied: He passed away two days after you left Africa.

            The African man said: By God, Rashid was neither sick nor was he suffering from any pain!

            Imam (a.s.) said to him: Does everyone who dies, dies out of sickness or pain?

            Abu Basir said: I asked Imam (a.s.): Who is this African man?

            Imam (a.s.) said: Our friend and a follower of our Progeny (a.s.).

            Then Imam (a.s.) said: Do you reckon that we do not possess eyes to witness and ears to hear all that goes along with you? What you think is so incorrect! By Allah, none of the deeds you perform is hidden from us. Thus consider all of us present before you and habituate yourselves with desirable deeds, and become good-doers so that you are recognized as them. I command my sons and all my Shias to act upon this.[1]

            This narration possesses such significant details which require absolute focus for the understanding of their meanings.

            The most important point that we derive from this narration is the faith regarding the presence of the Holy Progeny (a.s.), and it is possible for us to experience this reality but with a condition, which is to observe all the conditions stated by Imam Baqir (a.s.) for this experience.

            Another extremely significant point is that his holiness (a.s.) has stated at the end of his word that he has commanded all his sons and Shias to observe these conditions. And this is a proof that all of us should make effort and strive to gain cognition and seek the reality stated by Imam (a.s.).

            As per this narration, each one of these great personalities is the Eye of Allah which witnesses our deeds and the Ears of Allah which hears our words. Thereupon Imam (a.s.) addresses those who have not accepted this reality and condemns them by saying that they have the worst of faiths, “By Allah, none of the deeds you perform is hidden from us”.

            After stating the above mentioned points, Imam Baqir (a.s.) gives a conclusion from his sayings and explains a few points:

 

1. Know that all of us are present before yourselves.

This word indicates towards the luminous rank of the Holy Progeny (a.s.); these great personalities have an absolute domination over time, due to this luminous rank. And there is no difference between any one of them; irrespective of the times they live in, all the Shias should consider themselves present before all of them. Just like a man must consider himself present in the threshold of Allah (s.w.t.), he should also consider himself present before the Holy Progeny (a.s.).

It is evident that whoever understands this fact and acts according to it, will find a great transformation in his actions and behavior.

 

2. Habituate yourselves with the performance of good deeds and become one of the good-doers.

            As per this saying, man should not just prevent himself from habituating with undesirable deeds but should rather habituate himself with appropriate deeds and good behavior. It means he should strive for self-development and self-discipline in such a way that he not only feels disgusted and repulsed from performing undesirable deeds but should habituate and accustom himself with this feeling.

A point worth focusing in this narration is that habituating with desirable and valuable deeds will only hold importance if the inner-being of a man is habituated with it, which means if it has affected his inner-self. Therefore, such habituation with good and desirable deeds will not be of any value which has not affected the inner-self of a person, because it is possible that a person may have habituated with a good deed just because of the social atmosphere he lives in while this habit may not have any deeper impact on his inner-being, and as a result, he will not have a compatibility with what he performs and will be considered one of the doers of good. This point has a deep meaning upon which one should ponder.

In order to explain the point further, we say: ‘habituation with the desirable deeds’ can be possible in two different methods:

• First Method: By opposing one’s (human) self and making it obedient towards the performance of good deeds. If such be the source of human habituation towards good deeds, his essence and inner-self will become habituated and accustomed with good behavior and discipline. Such habituation holds an essential impact and life-long effect on the progress and development of a human being.
• Second Method: It is that one should accustom himself with good deeds and habituate himself with desirable acts, not by opposing his human-self or self-development or by preparing himself for the performance of such actions, but he may habituate himself with some good deeds with the help of the society and the social atmosphere in which he lives.

For example, a person was a part of such a family whose members offered prayers on time or in a congregational manner, therefore, he also adopted that habit. In such a case, if his social surrounding changes, because he was not habituated with that act from his inner-self, his behavior will alter as the time passes by and he will give away his earlier set of habits.

Such habituation which does not leave an impression on the inner-self of a person, but is a result of his social surrounding, does not hold any significance and will be given up with the change of social atmosphere.

This is why Imam Baqir (a.s.) has said: Along with habituating yourselves with the performance of good deeds, be one of the doers of good; one should not just appear like the good men because such an appearance will neither leave an impact on the character and behavior of a person, nor will it bring a transformation in him or affect his understanding of truth,  unless it affects one’s essence and inner-self. And when it penetrates inside one’s nature and gets established, he will be able to understand the great invaluable realities.

 

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