 أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم والحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيدنا ونبينا محمد وإهل بيتها الطيبين الطاهرين اللهم صل على محمد وآل محمد من كلام لإمامنا وسيدنا عليبنا أبي طالب عليه السلام قال والله والله ما زلت مدفوعا عن حكي مستأثرا علي منذ أن قبض رسول الله my dear brothers and sisters السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته in continuation with the subject of أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام where these nights coincide with the anniversary of his martyrdom we will be talking tonight about the plight and the ordeals of عليبنا بيطالب عليه السلام إمام علي عليه السلام was a spectacular and outstanding ruler in the Islamic history that his words and positions are very worthy of reflection and ponder because we can see that the scenes that Islamic nations and Islamic communities are undergoing right now are remarkably similar to the scenes in 1400 years ago the same scenes that the Imam عليه السلام undergone those are also repeating themselves at current time therefore if we go to the past and make them as our lessons so we can avoid the trouble and the mishab for our future this is one reason we will be discussing the plight of عليبنا بيطالب عليه السلام and the other one is to look at this unique personality this unique leader probably عليبنا بيطالب is the only governor the only ruler who was complaining bewailing his servants his subordinates and his citizens throughout history it is always the people the citizens and the subordinates of the ruler who complain and have grievances against the ruthlessness and the oppression of their rulers but in the case of عليبنا بيطالب it is just the opposite it is him who were complaining and showing his grievances against his own subordinates for variety of reasons that we will be talking about tonight we will shed some lights on the histories injustice the lives injustice toward عليبنا بيطالب عليه السلام the problems and ordeals of عليبنا بيطالب started from the moment that the prophet peace be upon him passed away first عليبنا بيطالب lost his cousin his mentor and his teacher later on the خلافة was confiscated from him he was sidelined due to a coup against him third the property of his wife has been plundered and ransacked and taken away fourth the events that led up to the miscarriage and murder of the فيتس المحسن unfortunately one third of the prophet's progeny were destroyed the prophet peace be upon him had two grandsons and all children of the prophet had to be connected to those two sons حسن and حسين if المحسن were alive then the children of the prophet the progeny of the prophet have been increased by one third so the Imam and the prophet after all were deprived from this فيتس and finally the martyrdom of his young and beloved wife from the very beginning عليبنا بيطالب faced injustice and oppression 30 years later the Imam says الله مازلت مدفوعا عن حق مستأثرا عنية منذ أنقب رسول الله when he was a governor he would say that people has deprived him from his legitimate right now when he became a ruler by consensus by election the Islamic ummah overwhelmingly supported his leadership and pledged allegiance to him right after three groups in the Islamic community they renegade it and they turned against عليبنا بيطالب the harshest among them was the war with معاوية معاوية orchestrated a very bloody war against عليبنا بيطالب in the battle of subfine more than 45,000 from soldiers of معاوية were killed while عليبنا بيطالب lost 25,000 soldiers the results and consequences were very disastrous to the Islamic nation despite so many in addition to so many heavy losses there was a formation called خوارج due to the arbitration خوارج came against عليبنا بيطالب and معاوية but معاوية exerted the heaviest damage to the Islamic nation and to the rule of عليبنا بيطالب he orchestrated two kinds of battle the psychological war as well as the physical war the psychological war was the propaganda machine that معاوية used to play and masterfully do against عليبنا بيطالب to discredit him harboring and bankrolling a bunch of the so-called companions of the prophet who were weak in spirit and in determination they have been used to say words negative words against أهل البيت and عليبنا بيطالب in particular the physical war also had multiple forms one was attacking an annexing territory from the Islamic empire the one that was under the rule of عليبنا بيطالب معاوية would attack different sides and different locations of the Islamic empire and annex them and chop them off to his own rule such as Yemen for example another form of the battle that معاوية used to do and implement was the war of attrition it is the hit and run style this was meant to exhaust the army of عليبنا بيطالب they would attack the province of أنبار in عراق they would kill the governor they would ransack and plunder people's wealth here the Imam عليه السلام put it elegantly he says he would say that the army of معاوية would attack the city the civilians he would kill the soldiers then he would attack the city the civilians he would kill the soldiers then he would attack the city the civilians the soldiers then he would attack the weakest of all the ladies the women he has attacked the Muslims and non-Muslims the Christians or Jews in أنبار then they would have plundered they have plundered all their belongings the jewelry the necklaces the bracelets they had no means of defense except for begging those soldiers and asking them to leave them and abandon them and leave them alive then the Imam says if someone dies from anguish an anger it wouldn't be surprising to me in fact this is very befitting look at the spirit of عليبنا بيطالب when an army or an enemy attacks only the women who happened to be non-Muslims but they were living under his territory and his authority the Imam would feel so sorry that he could not defend them that was the plight of عليبنا بيطالب now how could معاوية do all of this what kind of magic work he used to do عليبنا بيطالب has put all of those in one beautiful sentence he says the Imam elegantly put it in one word that the followers of معاوية the army of معاوية were united despite the fact they were on the wrong track on the wrong track they were on the false a track while the followers of عليبنا بيطالب were on the right track but they were disunited they they have lost their morale they became they lost the spirit to fight the Imam says that this has becoming a consequence that was a reality on the ground that the followers an army of معاوية were very united following a single leadership while the followers of عليبنا بيطالب were not so so the human the overflow of the human quantity does not play any role if they do not have unity if there is no unity among them then they become feckless look at history 1313 people in the battle of they have changed the course of history why because they were all united under the leadership of their prophet their leader while today there are 1.5 billion Muslims but they have lost their political will and their luster and influence why because they are all disunited they don't have unity among themselves عليبنا بيطالب alludes to this fact عليبنا بيطالب repeatedly admonish his followers to fight against معاوية to stay steadfast and continue resistance in many narrations in many sermons he would encourage them to do more of a struggle in one beautiful sermon he discusses the beauty of a struggle or jihad he says one gate of heaven is called jihad and and oppressors but to no avail people were not listening to him multiple times he would ask them to reciprocate the attack that معاوية would carry out against the communities in Iraq and different parts of the Islamic empire but to no avail they were not ready to fight many times he would say I would have wished that معاوية have exchanged you with his followers he would give me one of his soldiers and would take 10 of you that much you were so and lost in morale the Imam continued to admonish them but at no avail until he reached the point of despair many times he would say the Imam would say where is this man waiting to come and soak my beard with the blood of my head the Imam have spent most difficult period of his life in the last years of his life on the moment when he collapsed in the Mahmoud and in many occasions he would say when he collapsed in the house of worship he said this a beautiful word I got relieved from my agony from my plight and my ordeal Ali ibn Abi Talib lived but not among his people he lived in a wrong time in a wrong place with wrong people he lived يامل لحقاب كل شيئين علموا يامل بلاتي لا كل شيئين قدرتوا يامل لا تحصل عبادون عماء يامل لا تبلو الخلائق شكرا يامل لا تدرك يَا مَنْ لا تَنَالُ الأُوْهَامُوا كُنْهَا يَا مَنْ العَظَمَةُ وَالكِبْرِيَاءُ رِدَاءُ يَا مَنْ لا تَرُدُ العِبَادُ قَضَاءَهُ يَا مَنْ لا مُلكَا إِلَّا مُلكُا يَا مَنْ لا عَطَاءَهُ سُبْحَانَكَ يَا لا إِلَا أَلْغَوْثَ أَلغَوْثَ خَلِّصْنَا مِنَ النَّا يَا مَلَّؤُ الْمَثَلُ الْأَعْلَى يَا مَلَّؤُ الْصِفَاتُ العُلْيَاءُ يَا مَلَّؤُ الْاخِرَةُ وَالْأُولَى يَا مَلَّؤُ الْجَنَّةُ المَأْوَامُ يَا مَلَّأُ الْأَيَاتُ الْكُبْرَى يَا مَلَّؤُ الْأَسْمَاءُ وَالْحُسْنَاءُ يَا مَلَّؤُ الْحُكْمُ وَالْقَضَاءُ يَا مَلَّؤُ الْهَوَاءُ وَالْفَضَاءُ يَا مَلَّؤُ الْعَرْشُ وَالْثَرَاءُ يَا مَلَّؤُ الْسَمَاوَاتُ الْعُلَى سُبْحَانَكَ يَا لا ألاوث خلصنا من النار اللهم إني يسألك باسمك يا عفو يا صبور يا شكو يا عطو يا مسؤول يا سبوح سبحانك يا خلصنا من النار مع النار والدعاء جوشن الكبير نحن في سقمت No. 55, 56, 57 في سقمت No. 5 سقمتها بحيث تقرير تزيزة وياما نفذ في كل شيء أمروه ياما لحق بكل شيء علمه ياما بلغت إلى كل شيء قدرته ياما لا تحس العباد نعمة ياما لا تبلغ الخلائق شكره ياما لا تدرك الأفهام جلاله ياما لا تنال الأوهام كنها ياما العظمة والكبرياء رداؤه ياما لا ترد العباد قضاءه ياما لا ملك إلا ملكه ياما لا عطاء إلا عطاءه ياما لا عطاءه ياما لا عطاءه ياما لا عطاءه ياما لا عطاءه ياما لا عطاءه ياما لا عطاءه ياما لا عطاءه ياما لا عطاءه ياما لا عطاءه ياما لا عطاءه ياما لا عطاءه ياما لا عطاءه ، ي Whose Grandeur فرا nowhere can be comprehended by the intellect. He whose reality cannot be acquired by the imagination. He who is a grab in majesty, he whose judgment cannot be reversed by his slave. هو who is alone is the kingdom and no one else who is alone is the gift and no one else the words of choice for this segment is those that his creatures cannot reach the level that deserve to be praised and thanked the almighty الله سبحانه وتعالى has given us so much of blessings and mercies and benevolences that in no way we can reach thanking them or reciprocate him with thanking him and appraising him from the simple breathing this inhale and exhale of oxygen that we do to the time of sleeping to the muscles that we use in our jaws when we eat or when we smile or we even talk to the movement that we do all of those involve so many blessings of God that we cannot reciprocate the favor by any means although we are ordered to be thankful thank the almighty and praise him for all those good things yet there are only very few people who do that as the almighty says وقليل من عبادي الشكور only very few number of people who praise the almighty for the mercies for the bounties that he grant us a grant us the purpose of appraising and a placing a placing thank for الله سبحانه وتعالى that he would continue with his blessings with his mercy toward us as the ayah says لأن شكرتهم لأزيدنكم the more you place thanks and appraise the more replenished you will get the more of those bounties will be replenished to you and will be given to you we will receive ample of these bounties the word شك means praise or placing thanks and it can have multiple forms one i can do it through my tongue verbally when i say الحمد لله i place thanks and words of praise using the verbal mode or the ayah says و أما بنعمة ربك فحدث speak about the blessings the mercies and the bounties that god has given you with the intention to say that it is the grace and wisdom and benevolence of god that he has given me so much bounties this is one way obviously many people do that but sometimes they do it unconsciously or subconsciously they're not even thinking of what they are saying so the higher level of thanking is when we thank the almighty through our actions it is remember it is the actions and the deeds that speak louder than words through my attitude through my behavior and my action i place thanks to the almighty as he says يعملوا على داود شكرا he says that oh على داود the progeny of داود do with your actions replace thanks and appraise to me and that is very important to brothers and sisters is that my actions speak for themselves and reciprocate the favor of الله سبحانه وتعالى if i am educated and knowledgeable then my thanking الله سبحانه وتعالى for granting me so much knowledge is that i disperse it to others first i act upon my knowledge i implement the knowledge that i have received and second i spread it to others as ali ابنى بيطالب عليه السلام says شكر العالم على علمه عمله به when he act upon his knowledge whatever he learns he should implement that on himself that should be reflected on his actions on his deeds and demeanor and second he should teach it to others or if i am wealthy god has granted me so much wealth my duty is that i give some back to the public give some back to the servants of الله سبحانه وتعالى because god has entrusted me with that amount of wealth this wealth does not belong all to myself it is with god's grace and wisdom has been granted to me therefore i have to take tiny portion of it and give it back to the way of الله سبحانه وتعالى these actions are considered to be شكر and hand and praising the lord and the higher of those is the conscientious thought thank thanking of الله سبحانه وتعالى meaning that the bottom of my heart i know the grace of الله سبحانه وتعالى and i know and i am certain that i cannot reciprocate that it is beyond my ability and capacity to reciprocate the favor the favor of god when i have a conscientious feeling about this point this is the ultimate praise and the ultimate thanking of the almighty الامام الحسين عليه السلام has a beautiful and eloquent words in دعاء عرفة he says that if i spend my entire life in addition to the millennia to the centuries if you god grant me so much life and i end up only praising you for a single blessing that you have given me i would not be able to therefore it is incumbent that i would place thank but this thank is to whom the benefit is not to god rather it is to me as الله سبحانه وتعالى says فإنما يشكروا لنفسه the second segment is segment number 56 which is to cure pain where it says for whom are noblest example for whom are high attributes who is the master of the beginning and the end who is the master of the above of paradise for whom are the great signs for whom is order and judgment who rules over the atmosphere and expanses whose is the lordship of the highest heaven and the earth now the terminology is that we're going to focus on is the name that we have talked about it one word of the prophet peace be upon him he says that the beautiful attributes then segment number 57 which is to prevent misfortune the theme is to prevent misfortune where it says oh the pardoner the forgiver the patient the greatest the greatest appreciator kind sympathetic besot friend most glorified most holy the word يا غفوره يا عفوه يا غفوره يا صبور the most patience the most one with forbearance god teaches us to be patient god wants his a prophet his messengers to be patient the reason is that you will accomplish things with patience if you do not have patience or enough patience things cannot be accomplished you cannot see the end result you study for nine months diligently with so much emphasis on the subject in order to pass after the nine months this patience nine months are required in order to for you to be successful the almighty always emphasizes on being patient علي ابنه بطالب عليه السلام has a beautiful words about patience he says الصبر في الأمور بمنزلة الرأسي من الجسد فإذا فارق الرأس الجسد فسد الجسد وإذا فارق الصبر الأمور فسدت الأمور the patience and forbearance to the affairs to things that we conduct to our daily activities and daily affairs is similar to the head compared to the body the body are the affairs and their heads is patience meaning it's an integral part of any deal of any affair of any activity is patience in the same manner when the body loses the head it spoils and become rotten and dead the same thing the affairs will be rotten they get spoiled if they lose the the patience therefore the patience is an integral part of any process with patience you will receive the reward in this life and in the hereafter the almighty Allah سبحانه وتعالى has this beautiful eloquence words in the holy Quran it says they will get ample in return without any accounts multiples of rewards that has no limit due to the patience that much patience can bring us may Allah سبحانه وتعالى تعتقدنا أنه يجب أن يدعمه في this holy month في العام I had a brother in faith and he was prestigious in my view because the world was humble in his eyes the needs of the stomach did not have sway over him he did not long for what he did not get if he got a thing he would not ask for more most of his time he was silent if he spoke he silenced the other speakers he quenched the thirst of questioners he was weak and feeble but at the time of fighting he was like the loin of the forest or the serpent of the valley he would not put forth an argument unless it was decisive he would not abuse anyone in an excusable matter unless he had heard the excuse he would not speak of any trouble except after his its disappearance he would say what he would do and would not say what he would not do even if he could be exceeded in speaking he could not be excelled in silence he was more eager for keeping quiet than speaking and if two things confronted him he would see which one was more akin to the longing of heart and would oppose it these qualities are incumbent upon you so you should acquire them and excel each other in them even if you cannot acquire them you should know that acquiring a part is better than giving up the whole