How Did Yusuf (a.s.) Allow That His Brother Should Be Falsely Implicated For Theft?

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Question: When Yusuf (a.s.) wanted to keep his brother in Misr he had a valuable measure bowl kept in the baggage of his brother. Then a person went into the Caravan and shouted: O People of the Caravan! You are thieves! Why did Yusuf (a.s.) act in this way that his brothers who had come in the Caravan of Palestine should be implicated for theft? While false allegation and accusation is a sin and it is Haraam?

Answer: In the ayat that mentions this part of the incident is as follows:

“So when he furnished them with their provisions, (someone) placed the drinking cup in his brother’s bag. Then a crier cried out: O Caravan! You are most surely thieves.”1

The apparent words of the ayat say that Yusuf (a.s.) had the cup placed in his brother’s bag and then he had them accused of some other theft. This is the point worth nothing.

Now the question remains why Yusuf (a.s.) did this? As obvious from the 76th ayat he had no other solution for retaining his brother. Neither in those days of famine the laws of Misr allowed that anyone could be retained there for no reason at all.

Nor his other brothers were prepared to leave his younger brother in Misr. And as many commentators have written Yusuf (a.s.) had already told his brother. The 69th ayat shows that he already introduced himself to his brother in a confidential meeting and it is possible that he had informed him of this plan also. Therefore, from the point of view of Yusuf (a.s.) there was no difficulty in this matter became his brother had also agreed on this idea.

Another thing is that Yusuf (a.s.) did not blame his brother. He neither lied nor made false accusation. Rather it was the officials who thought that there had been a theft, checked the baggage and accused Yusuf’s brother and detained him. Since Yusuf’s brother had already known the plan he remained quiet. The ayat does not speak of anything contrary or that this incident was witnessed by Yusuf (a.s.).

  • 1. Surah Yusuf 12:70

Philosophy of Islamic Laws:Ayatullah Naser Makarem Shirazi, Ayatullah Jafar Subhani

What Is The Meaning of The Words: Everything Will Be Destroyed Except His Face?

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Question: Is the human soul annihilated? If you say that it is incorporeal the ayat says that except for Allah everything can be annihilated. How can you explain this?

Answer: We should remember that the word ‘destroy’ in the ayat is not in the meaning of getting completely annihilated because not only the human soul, the human body is also not destroyed completely. And after breaking up it remains in the earth in other substances. On the day of judgment he would be raised from there.

Thus whether we consider soul incorporeal or not it is not absolutely destroyable and annihilated. And neither is the human body is totally destroyed. Rather the word ‘Halaak’ in the ayat denotes the disintegration of the organs and the destruction of the face. Thus this destruction is that the connection between the body and soul is severed. And the previous physical parts are disintegrated. Though soul and body remain separate and exist in some other forms.

Many ayats that are revered in connection with the destruction of the past communities prove the above statement. For example the Almighty Allah destroyed the People of Aad and Thamud and did not spare anyone and in the same way He destroyed the People of Nuh.

Obviously in those ayats, Aad, Thamud and People of Nuh were destroyed in the sense that they died and the connection between their bodies and their souls was severed. Therefore they ayat: “Everything will be destroyed except His face” means that all the living and non-living things disintegrate and their style undergoes a change and it is only the Purified Being of Allah which is beyond every type of change and transformation.

Philosophy of Islamic Laws:Ayatullah Naser Makarem Shirazi, Ayatullah Jafar Subhani

Is The Following Ayat In Contravention of The Infallibility of The Holy Prophet (S)?

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Question: If the Prophet of Islam (S) and other Prophets (a.s.) are free from sins what does the following ayat implies when it mentions the forgiveness of their sins?

Verily We have granted you a manifest Victory: That Allah may forgive you your faults of the past and those to follow; fulfill His favor on you; and guide you on the straight Way.”1

Answer: First of all we must bear in mind that the founders of movement and revolutionaries who take steps against the prevailing trends and try reform the society and destroy the evils present in it they start facing oppositions, allegations, baseless accusations and false implications. Allegation is one of the attacks that are employed in the backward societies and its aim is to defame these personalities.

The Holy Prophet (S) was not exempted from this system. He also had to face the opposition and allegations of Quraysh. The person who was regarded truthful and trustworthy yesterday began to be called a magician, a soothsayer and heretic as soon he raised his call for religion.

The Almighty Allah has quoted the allegations of the infidels of Quraysh. It is a confirmed fact that if such allegations are not effective on most people it creates some extent doubts in the minds of some simple and ignorant persons regarding the truthfulness and claim of the Holy Prophet (S). And it can be said that a group of people continue to remain in doubts and denial for a period of time.

In those conditions how is it possible that those allegations should be explained and justified so that the truth is unveiled for the people?

The only effective method is that the Ulul Azm and progressive people who are the standard bearers of socialism and the ideal goal. If he succeeds and achieves his aim and people see the benefits of his mission with their own eyes, all the allegations and accusations are falsified before everyone and in place of allegations many good titles take its place and they are the embodiments of greatness, spirituality and power. And if the circumstances are opposed to this the allegations remain in the minds of some people for a long time. And they prove effective on many people.

The same thing is applicable to the Prophet of Islam (S). He began a progressive program and with many brilliant laws he stepped into the field of contest which were beneficial for the common people but were going against the ruling class.

He used to inform of his future successes in his programs and in the light of divine help and the steadfastness of his companions he surmounted his difficulties. At last the capital of polytheism and the center of false accusations fell into the hands of the Muslims. And Mecca was conquered in the form of a manifest victory.

This success which became the cause that Quraysh with all their power should come under the rule and control of Islam. It also had another great consequence in its fold and it was that when this valiant warrior earned victory in this battle and the people saw the best result of his efforts clearly and he took his spiritual mission to completion, in the light of this success the falsehood mongers and allegation makers were rendered speechless.

They could not call him mad and insane or magician and soothsayer in face of his obvious achievements. Because anyone having such spiritual or mental defects could not create such a revolution.

Therefore in the ayat mentioned above “Zanb” are those same false allegations which were present in the minds of the simplistic people of Mecca. And this success had false accusations and these allegations were removed from the personality of this savior. Obviously if the same conditions had continued that were before the conquest of Mecca and the Holy Prophet (S) had not been able to achieve success in the contest, the allegations would have remained as they were.

This explanation is testified by two things:

1. The ayat clearly says that We have created the conquest of Mecca so that your sins may be forgiven due to it.

2. If the forgiveness of sins is the invalidation of false allegations and accusations as we have explained in detail above, that the relation between the conquest of Mecca and the forgiveness of sins is proved valid. Because this conquest had sealed the tongues of people regarding the repetitions of allegations and then no question remained for anyone to accuse the Holy Prophet (S), and if they had implied legal mistakes and disobedience then how can they be forgiven by military conquest and apparent victory, but it is seeking of forgiveness and repenting.

3. The clear meaning of the ayat is that this victory has brought into existence causes for the forgiveness of the past and future sins and this sentence could bear these meanings only. That due to this victory all the allegations and accusations that had been heaped were now rendered ineffective. But if you take it in the sense of actual sins you cannot explain how the future sins could be forgiven in advance.

  • 1. Surah Fath 48:1-2

The position of the woman in Islam-2

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One of the highest teachings of Islam is removing different kinds of void and imaginary superiority like the racial discriminations, tribal prejudice etc. In Islam all the humans are equal in the eyes of Allah and no one can say that because for example I am a rich man, so I’m better than others, or because I come from a civilized country so I have to be respected by others, or because I am a man, so I’m higher than the women. The only superiority of one person over others is mentioned in the verse 13 in chapter Hujurat:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

“People, we have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that you might know one another. The noblest of you before Allah is the most righteous of you. Allah is the knower, the aware.”

When we refer to the Islamic rulings we see that what greatness and honor Islam has given to the women. In Islam the man can never force woman to work for him even the tiniest works. In Islam woman is not bound to cook or clean the house etc. the man cannot spent even a dollar of the property of a woman without her permission and pleasance. The very interesting point here is that a husband cannot and is not allowed to force his wife to nurse and suckle their baby. Of course here is an important discussion; in such cases that the man cannot force his wife to do the above mentioned items, it is good morally for a woman to help her husband in the affairs of the house like cooking or nursing the baby, but from the viewpoint of Islamic rulings these mentioned affairs are not the duties and responsibilities of women. So we must not mix between moral discussions and those of law.

An important point here which is a cause for a lot of accusations is that we must not consider the deeds of some Muslims as the teachings of Islam. For example there are some extreme so-called Muslims that they attack other peoples and murder them under the name of Islam, the extreme group that ruins the face of the real Islam. So for knowing the Islam we must refer to the reliable sources and pure teachings of Islam and to the real explanations of them.

When we refer to the books of the history of west, we see that for many centuries women did not have the right of ownership, and since the year 1882 they got allowed to spend their own wages and it is considerable that according to some western historians even this decree was issued in order to drag the women into working into the factories in order to uses from their energy for very few wages, but look at the teachings of Islam that from fourteen centuries ago decreed that women can spend their property. Allah said in chapter Nisa verse 32:

لِّلرِّجَالِ نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا اكْتَسَبُواْ وَلِلنِّسَاء نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا اكْتَسَبْنَ

“For men is a share of what they earn, and for women is a share of what they earn.”

From the above verse we understand that none of the rights of men or women must be violated.

The position of the woman in Islam-1

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Throughout the history there have been different approaches to the concept of the position of women in the society. Sometimes the women were and are under the very hard pressure of their family specially their husbands. On the other hand there is another approach that is so extreme. But both viewpoints have not considered the position of women properly.

But according to the real teachings of Islam despite of the differences between men and women, they are equal in humanity. They both can reach to the highest levels of spiritual perfection and nearness to Allah. The differences between they are derived from two roots, the first is the physical aspects and the second is the emotional ones. Some of the scholars use this likening; they say that men and women are like two stars that each has an orbit in which it moves. The main condition for the perfection of a society which in fact is combined from these two genders is achieved when each of these two continues moving in its own orbit. So the main problems of the societies are created when the roles of each man and woman change and they are away from their own innate nature.

Islam by its teachings has vivified the rights of women, especially at the time of its emergence. When we refer to the books of history we see that what was happening to the women before Islam. The holy Quran describes that situation in some verses, like verses 58-59 in chapter Nahl:

وَإِذَا بُشِّرَ أَحَدُهُمْ بِالأُنثَى ظَلَّ وَجْهُهُ مُسْوَدًّا وَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ

يَتَوَارَى مِنَ الْقَوْمِ مِن سُوءِ مَا بُشِّرَ بِهِ أَيُمْسِكُهُ عَلَى هُونٍ أَمْ يَدُسُّهُ فِي التُّرَابِ أَلاَ سَاء مَا يَحْكُمُونَ

“When good news of the birth of a female is given to any of them, his face grows dark and inwardly he chokes.

Because of the evil of the good news he hides himself from people; (pondering) whether he will keep her and be humiliated, or trample her into the dust. Evil is their judgment!”

So a question might arise here; if Islam has considered man and women equally, so what is the reason of some differences in some rules?

There are many discussions from different aspects like psychology, sociology, the philosophies beyond Islamic rules etc. in this regard that God-willing we will elaborate on them, but briefly as the answer to this question we say:

Islam is not against the equality between man and woman. The point here is that Islam does not believe in the similarity in some rules between them. The concept of equality is different from the concept of similarity. Let’s bring an example which is helpful for our topic.

Imagine that a father wants to divide his heritage among his children. He has different kinds of property, like the farm, sheep, house, and store. But because he is aware of the circumstances or capacities or abilities of his children he gives his store to a son, his farm to another, his house to the third and his sheep to the fourth, because he has understood that the first son has the capacity of managing the store, the second has the ability to work in the farm as a farmer. The third son has no house and he is in the very urgent need of that. The fourth is good at being a shepherd. So they are not given the same capital that the other is given, but in this situation we do not call this father as an unjust father, but rather we call him as a wise father.

To be continued.

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Source: hawzah.net (narrating from the sayings of Martyr Motahari)

Lady Fatimah, the unique sample for human being-3

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The life of Lady Fatimah is a sample for us from every side and dimension. One of the dimensions of that is her relation with her husband Imam Ali. She was in the house of Imam Ali for nine years till the time in which she got martyr at the age of eighteen.

Imam Ali said: She never made me angry and never disobeyed me and verily when I was looking at her my sorrow and sadness were being removed.

This good relation was from both sides. Imam Ali said: I swear by Allah I never made Fatimah angry until the time that Allah took her (i.e. she got martyr) and I never caused her to be unpleasant in any matter.

This couple was so much appropriate and compatible with each other. The holy Prophet of Islam said:

If Ali was not, there would not be any match for Fatimah.

The deep love between these infallible spouses was not just because of their marriage, but rather it was because of the great position that each had before Allah. After the departure of the Prophet, Imam Ali was the Imam of the time of Lady Fatimah.

So we see that she was protecting the Imam of her time in different situations. When after the departure of the Prophet, Imam Ali was deprived from his right of governing; Lady Fatimah was supporting Imam Ali through different ways, like going to the houses of people and reminding them of the sayings of the Prophet about Imam Ali as his successor. So her supports were not because of the marital relation with Imam Ali but rather were for the very important base in Islam i.e. the divine leadership and governing by the infallible person who was the collection of all virtues and good characteristics.

Through these three posts we mentioned a drop from the ocean of the virtues of Lady Fatimah, a Lady about whom Imam Mahdi (May Allah hasten his reappearance) said:

The daughter of the Prophet of Allah is a good sample and role model for me.

Lady Fatimah, the unique sample for human being-2

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Lady Fatimah got married to the first Imam i.e. Imam Ali peace be upon them both. The day after the night of wedding ceremony the holy Prophet of Islam asked Imam Ali: How did you find your wife? The Imam replied: She is a good assistant in the way of the obedience of Allah.

This answer can help us to find this important point that the spouses must be as an assistant in the way of Allah.

Lady Fatimah was very generous. It is narrated in the history that in the night of her wedding a poor woman came to her and asked her for help. It is so interesting that Lady Fatimah gave her own wedding dress to that poor woman.

She herself said: Three things are beloved to me from your world; reciting the Quran, looking at the face of the Prophet and giving charity in the way of Allah.

Lady Fatimah was one of the unique worshipers throughout the history. She had a specific place in her house in which she was performing prayer. It is narrated that she was performing prayer so much to the extent that her legs were inflamed out of standing so much while prayer. It is clear that her prayers were not like our prayers that usually are performed without deep noticing to Allah, but rather her prayers were full of the presence of heart and humility before Allah.

The Prophet of Islam introduced the amount of love of Allah that Lady Fatimah had. He said to Salman (one of the companions of the Prophet and Imam Ali):

O Salman, faith is penetrated extremely in the heart of my daughter Fatimah to the extent that she evacuates her heart from everything for worshiping Allah (meaning her main goal in life is the satisfaction and pleasance of Allah). Allah has filled all being of my daughter full of faith and certainty.

Imam Hassan the son of Imam Ali and Lady Fatimah narrated: I saw my mother in a night of Friday that she was worshiping Allah till the dawn and I heard that she prayed so much for the believers, men and women by mentioning their names, but she did not pray for herself. I asked her: O my mom, why don’t you prayer for yourself just like you pray for others? And she replied: O my dear son, first, the neighbor and then the house.

One of the titles of Lady Fatimah is “Zahra”. In Arabic, Zahra means something that shines so much. Imam Sadiq peace be upon him was asked: Why was Lady Fatimah called Zahra? And the Imam replied: Because when she was standing in her Mihrab (the specific place for prayer) her light was shining for the inhabitants of the heaven just like the stars which shine for the inhabitants of the earth.

To be continued.

Lady Fatimah, the unique sample for human being

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Throughout the history there were some women that they had good characteristics and they can be as a role model and sample for other women and even sometimes for the men. In the holy Quran in chapter Tahrim verses 11-12 we see that Allah mentioned two examples from the women for the believers. These two samples are the wife of Pharaoh and Lady Marry the mother of Prophet Jesus. The Quran did not state that these two are the samples for the women but rather it said that Allah has given examples for those who believe.

The great and high personality of Lady Fatimah peace be upon her is so much clear for all branches of Islam. The very shocking features that are narrated from the holy Prophet of Islam about this great Lady are so much to the extent that no Muslim can deny them. The history bears witness that this Lady had many good features like knowledge, infallibility, having the very high position before Allah, modesty, worship, helping poor, being very appropriate wife and mother etc.

The holy Prophet of Islam was respecting her so much. The sayings, in which the high characteristics of Lady Fatimah are mentioned, show that the deep love which the Prophet of Islam had toward his beloved daughter was not just a love which is common between fathers and daughters.

When the holy Prophet of Islam wanted to go out of his city, Lady Fatimah was the last one for the Prophet to say goodbye and when he was returning the first one to visit was his beloved daughter. When Lady Fatimah was entering in the house of the Prophet, he was standing and going toward her and kissing her hand out of love and respect.

The infallibility of this Lady was to the extent that the holy Prophet of Islam said to her:

O Fatimah, verily Allah gets angry because of your anger and gets happy because of your happiness.

If we deeply ponder upon this meaningful saying we see that how a Lady reaches to a position that she becomes the orbit of anger and pleasance of the Lord of the world. It means that she was in a very unique position of sincerity and spiritual nearness to Allah.

To be continued.

Son of Nuh (a.s.) In The Holy Qur’an

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question7Question: Hazrat Nuh (a.s.) was commanded by the Almighty to build an ark and Allah informed him that water would spread all over the surface of the earth and the infidels will drown, but his women and sons will remain safe. One of his sons Canaan, did not care for his teachings our account of his idolatry and did not board the ark. At last he drowned in the flood. During this Hazrat Nuh (a.s.) supplicated his Lord and said:

My Lord! Surely my son is of my family, and Thy promise is surely true…1

The Almighty Allah addressed him in the following four sentences: What is the aim of those sentences?

1. He is not of your family — why?

2. He is the doer of other than good deeds — why?

3. Ask not of Me that of which you have no knowledge — why?

4. I admonish you lest you may be of the ignorant.2

Question: What was Nuh (a.s.) ignorant of?

Answer: The first sentence “He is not of your family” does not denote that he is not your biological son because it was absolutely true that he was the biological son of Nuh (a.s.) and was born from his loins. Rather the implication is that he is not your spiritual son.

Because the son has to be like the father physically as well as spiritually. But the son of Nuh (a.s.) was not so. Because his spiritual relationship with his father had been severed. The second sentence implies that he did not have a good character because his character was so unrighteous that he was evil personified.

And in the third sentence when it is said: Do not ask Me of that which you do not know. It implies that one should derive conclusions from that which one does not know.

Now as for the fourth point: What Nuh (a.s.) was ignorant of?

And the Almighty Allah had informed him of this. It was that he was thinking that the Almighty had promised that He would save his son unconditionally but later he realized that this promise was for those people who had not severed their spiritual relationship with Nuh (a.s.).

  • 1. Surah Hud 11:45
  • 2. Surah Hud 11:46

Philosophy of Islamic Laws:Ayatullah Naser Makarem Shirazi, Ayatullah Jafar Subhani

Why is Charity Compared To An Ear Having 700 Grains?

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clouds-grain-natureQuestion: It is mentioned in Surah Baqarah:

“The parable of those who spend their property in the way of Allah is as the parable of a grain growing seven ears (with) hundred grains in every ear…”(2:261)

In spite of the fact that we have inquired of the agricultural scientists that if we have a piece of land which is prepared from every aspect. It is irrigated properly and birds also do not pick up its grain and the seed is also not destroyed in it and no trouble descends on it and the soil is also of a good quality and all the conditions of growing a crop on it is fulfilled then how much wheat can be produced from a stalk of wheat?

They replied: thirty or at the most forty and nothing more than this seen till now.

Thus how does the Almighty say that it is like the ear which gives 700 grains whereas if Allah had desired He could have given more.

Answer: Two points have to be kept in mind in the reply to this question.

Firstly the above quoted ayat does not mention wheat or any other grain, rather the word Habb – grain is used. And that the one posing the question has given the examples of wheat, which is such a derivation that is not even mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. Thus if we find a grain whose one grain gives seven hundred grains it would be sufficient to justify the above ayat.

If by chance there are some seeds, one of which is Maize if it is planted at fixed place it is possible that one grain would produce seven grains (7 ears of hundred grain’s each, i.e. or more could be obtained.)

It is said that Bajra also produces many grains.1

Secondly even if for the sake of argument we consider the above ayat there is another possibility and it is that when two things are compared to each other. There is a distinction of the compared thing which is not in the thing with which it is compared though from the aspect of the actual topic of discussion there is similarity in it.

For example it is said:(His face is like the moon which does not set) or he is a sun that never sets or he is tall as the date palm, though we know that moon always sets and there is sunset also and there is no tree on the earth that walks.

Therefore such comparisons imply that for example his face is fresh and luminous like the moon and only the difference is that there is decline for the moon but that person has no decline or his body has the qualities of tall stature of a date palm but his distinction is that he can walk and the date palm cannot walk. Many such kinds of examples are found in literature.

In addition to poetic examples the Qur’an itself has such comparisons and similes. For example when the Holy Qur’an gives the examples of pure and best things it says it is like a tree that bears fruits.2

Although there is not tree that bears fruits all the year round or even if there is such a tree would be very rare. Thus the implication is that this tree of goodness has a distinction over all the other trees and it is that there is no autumn for this tree and neither is there any restriction on it for bearing fruits.

The Holy Qur’an also gives the examples of the light of Allah and says:

His light is as a niche in which is a lamp…3

In the same ayat He says:

… the oil whereof almost gives light though fire touches it not.

Though any oil, however pure it may be, does not light up without fire. Actually it is a distinction which is given as a simile.

The ayat regarding which question is posed in that too the growth of the seed of Charity seventy fold is a distinction which the seed of Charity has over all the seeds of the word.

  • 1. In Tafseer Minhajus Sadiqeen this reply is indicated under the commentary of the above ayat
  • 2. Surah Ibrahim 15:25
  • 3. Surah Nur 24:35

Philosophy of Islamic Laws:Ayatullah Naser Makarem Shirazi, Ayatullah Jafar Subhani