Weekly Friday Night Discussion Notes (by: Br. Sajjad)
2/17/2012
Venue/Attendance: IEC / 20+ brothers were in attendance tonight (Alhamdulillah).
Quran: Surah Dukhan was recited. Inshallah from next week, we will incorporate shorter surahs from the 30th juzz into our recitation list.
Br. Ali Reza's Akhlaq Discussion
Reflecting: Sitting down and chatting with our selves is really beneficial. Most of our bad deeds stem from our desires. Therefore, we need to sit down and reflect about our desires/needs/wants/actions. Our ego tells us to spoil us with desires and fun. Desire is like a wild horse that is very hard to control. You try to guide the horse to the road to go to your destination. Your horse is continuously trying to divert itself from the main road. We need to tell ourselves to not constantly do thing only for our desires. Sometimes we should do things because it is the right thing to do or it is the thing that needs to be done. We constantly have to keep watch of that diverting Horse.
In no condition is it allowed to dig up a grave:
1. When the person is buried somewhere that doesn’t belong to them. Or when something the guy have been buried wasn’t his, the owner can dig up his grave to regain his position.
2. If Ghusl-Mayyit isn’t done on the body then they can dig up the grave to give it the Ghusl.
a. Why should we wash the body after death?
i. To purify the body, and to make the body Taahir.
ii. To give the person friends and family time to contemplate and think. Also, to give comfort to others.
iii. A level of disease control, stench, ground, surrounding.
iv. Respect, property of God, so we much respect it no matter how insignificant.
v. Both the spiritual and the physical body of a person must be pure, so the physical part MUST be purified as well.
3. When to use the body as proof in the court of law.
4. If a woman has been buried, and she was pregnant and to save the child it is allowed to dig up the body and save the child or to remove the child and bury it separately.
5. When they are buried incorrectly, we can unbury them to fix their burial.
Imam Sadigh: Satan said: “No matter how much I try to trick and approach and deceive them I fail. If it were not for these actions of these people, I have them in my fist” This is about the ones who have:
1) The honest and the ones who trust in God whole-heartedly. And they recognize that their source of existence, rizq, and hereafter is only from God. Tawwakul
2) The ones who constantly do remembrance of God and do Dhikr.
3) The person who wants everything for others that he wants for himself
4) The person who doesn’t lose control of themselves when a tragic event happens. For Example, when Imam Khomeini found out about his son, he did not break down or cry, only said “inna lillah wa inna ilayhi rajiun.”
5) The person who is content with what God has given him.
History Lesson 2
Br. Sajjad
Question: A follow up of last session’s question, which was about using the Quran for legitimate historical proof. Can we also use the examples Allah uses in the Quran, Tamseel va Tamssol, for Historical proof and reasoning as well?
Answer: The places when Allah uses examples, these are true even if they are very old stories. Sometimes Allah uses Tajassum, which is like “idol-making” or “statue-making”. One example is when Allah tested Prophet Dawood with the “two brothers” and their issue with their sheep. These two brothers were actually Angels, trying to make a point by Allah’s command. Some people also say the scenes that the Prophet (PBUH) saw during his Mi’raaj were Tamassol, meaning Allah showed them to him like that, not that they were not necessarily exactly like that, nor that they were false.
Question: Another follow up Q. Some Stories that are told in the Quran are also proven in other books and/or have historical proofs. But how should we approach the stories which have NO historical proof or in any other books. For example there is a story in the Quran about Dhul-Qarnayn building the Iron Wall, such a wall isn’t really proven to show that this existence.
Answer: In this example, we accept the truth of the matter that this event with Dhul-Qarnayn happened. But if no geographic proof isn’t shown or found then we can just say that we do not know where this event has taken place. Another example is the Battle of Hunayn. There was apparently a crevice in the ground near the Battle, but even with all the historical proof about the crevice, the location of this crevice has yet to be found. Yet again, even though we do not have geographic proof, we cannot say that the Battle of Hunayn didn’t happen! Back to the issue of Dhul-Qarnayn, the latest studies have said that Kurosh was Dhul-Qarnayn. Kurosh has been proven to be Aadil. Allama Tabataba’i accepts this view too. This Iron Wall is rumored to be located in Ahvaz, and Dhul-Qarnayn had built this wall essentially to block out the Mogul Army, which were over time thought of as Gog and Magog (Jooj wa Ma’jooj).
Question: Which books are said to be legitimate books? And why do Shia’s not have great historical books.
Answer: Answering this question is difficult. We cannot introduce any one book and say this is good historical book and there are no problems with it. The legitimacy of books is relevant and many a times bias to the views of the author. But, form a relevant point of view we can say that so and so book is good to help the reader, BUT it has a few problems with it. The second question’s answer is that we DO have historical proof, though few numbers. One of the Shia historical books is Tareekh Yaqoobi, this is a general historical proof that is a very good book. We also have to see this, as a side point that when did Tabari die, author of Tareekh Tabari? In the year 310 A.H. When did Yaqoobi die, author of the Shia historical book Tareekh Yaqoobi? 292. So to a point, Yaqoobi was to a little, ahead of Tabari in closeness to the Prophet. Even so, Yaqoobi wasn’t a Ithna Ashari Shia as we know them, but he is the closest to us that we can tell, because he doesn’t address the first 3 Khulafaa’ as Amir-ul-Mu’mineen, but when it comes to Imam Ali (AS) he DOES address him as Amir-ul-Mu’mineen.
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