 Alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh. Welcome to the live Facebook special show tonight Insha'Allah. Previously we were discussing theological arguments and discussion from the book Haqqal Yaqeen. During Muharram and Arbaian season we looked at Kamil al-Ziaarat and we got different hadiths attaining to coming for Ziaarat. Last week the celebration started with Farhat al-Zahra and the celebrations continue Alhamdulillah with the birth of two of the greatest personalities in Islam. On one we have Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi, the Seal of the Prophet, Allah s.w.t, greatest and first creation. And on the other we have Imam Jafar Sadiq alayhi sallam, the sixth Imam who excelled in science and academia and who our theological school is named after. Insha'Allah we'll discuss these two great personalities and more with their biographies with my guest and host and my teacher Sheikh Muhammad Abbas Banu. As-salamu alaykum Shaykhna. And gain his Shafa'a in the Akhirah and insha'Allah we live to see the day where we have a massive golden Qubba over the grave of Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq sallallahu alayhi wa sallam alayhi the master of this madhhab. Insha'Allah insha'Allah. Shaykhna before we begin Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi known as probably the greatest mercy of Allah s.w.t. A man of many traits and many characteristics. Can we discuss one characteristic that you feel really stands up from Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi? Of course. This is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks. How do you even summarize the traits of an individual whose traits in itself in its entirety cannot be understood? You need to be able to understand a great concept in order to be able to summarize it. We cannot even understand the greatness of the character of Rasulullah and hence summarizing it in essence is very difficult. Every character in traits of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi is a trait that needs to be studied. And every character of his is volumes and volumes of writings. And this is without any exaggeration. You find the manner in which Allah s.w.t. introduces Rasulullah within the Quran and describes Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi within the Quran and does not send you except that you are a mercy, not only towards mankind. Everything within the realm of creation, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi you are a mercy for them. Hence the message is a message of mercy. The character and the personality of Rasulullah is one of mercy. And he calls towards mercy on behalf or representing the creator of the universe who is the creator of mercy. From the character of Rasulullah one and every character stands out. But one that I want to talk about today is the character of determination. And in reality, when you read the biography of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi you'll find that this is perhaps an important point for our viewers, for myself, for yourself. Believers, brothers and sisters, researchers of Islam, what primary sources do we return back to when we want to study and understand the life of Rasulullah? This is something very important. As a scholar, as a researcher, leave that as a believer enter which primary sources do you go back to in order to understand your prophet, life of the prophet which primary resources do you go back to through which you are able to understand the characters and the personality of your prophet? From all the books of history that we have out there books of history from the amma and the khasa hadith of Ahlu al-Bait, for example you find that one important source, masdar, authentic primary source of the prophet's biography a book through which you are able to understand the character of the prophet and the struggles of the prophet Habibi Sayyid al-Muhsin the Quran the Quran in itself through the Quran you are able to understand the characters you are able to understand the struggles of the holy prophet in a manner in which no other historian is able to capture outside of Ahlu al-Bait you find that there is no other pure source in regards to understanding the character of the holy prophet this is an important point that I wanted to have by Nalqausayn the determination of Rasulullah you find that much as that he was a man of mercy and he came to preach the message of Tawheed and he had he was at the peak of morals and the peak of morality I was sent in order not only to be of good morals but to perfect this concept of morality you find within all this the prophet was generous the prophet was forgiving the prophet had foresight the prophet was courageous from all these straight determination and when you look at the struggles and the challenges that Rasulullah went through one thing that stands out is his determination to not be intimidated to not be discouraged to not be disheartened from the opinions of the people around him to not be intimidated by oppression to not be intimidated by violence while standing up for the message of Haq and you find over here that Rasulullah was a subject to a number of attacks and when the prophet came to declare his message there was just about every attack and every type of arrow that can be perceived within an armor to attack Rasulullah every arrow perceivable was used not only did they come out in physical war against him as we see towards the second half of Rasulullah when the holy prophet migrated to Medina like the battles of Ahad and Badar and Khandak and so on so forth all of which were wars of self-defense you find that this is another misconception that many people are of the opinion that the prophet was a prophet of bloodshed was a prophet of war and that he expanded his territory through war however if you were to look at even the geographic locations of the wars you would find that the Khufar had actually traveled great distances a lot of the wars happened in close proximity of Medina whereas the Khufar have traveled from Makkah that shows us the force of the aggressor is the one who made the distance is the one who embarked upon the journey and took the initiative to mobilize forces and attack Rasulullah majority of the wars were in and around the major wars were in and around the city of Medina which in itself the geographical locations of the war in itself is the greatest indicator that Rasulullah was engaged in nothing more than a defensive war and even within that defensive war there were preventive measures not only to avoid the bloodshed but to minimize the bloodshed and within this you have from the speeches and the words of Rasulullah the sermons delivered by Rasulullah you find that an entire protocol the entire constitution of the etiquette of war is outlined the highest level of non-violence within a violent setting I remember reading up that there was one in regards to even the nature around you're not allowed to cut down trees and simple things like that which I mean obviously are not neglected by today's war standards but I have yet to see a military code of conduct which obliges commanders or officers on the ground to not damage or to not destroy the plants of the trees this is something that is unseen Aslan when it comes to calculating collateral damage the environment is never taken into consideration the only government to have done that was the government of Rasulullah and the government of Abyr Al-Boumineen and so you find that Rasulullah as we were saying was subject to a number of attacks not only was he subject to war but you find that even before he moved to Madinah in the city of Makkah he was subject to a financial embargo I mean you look at the opposition and the manners in which the kufar and the mushrikeen fought against Rasulullah number one warfare, open warfare this is when he had established the state in Madinah before that in Makkah he was subjected to a financial embargo where they were forced into the valley of Abu Talib in this day and age the equivalent of a financial embargo restrictions placed on them, trade restrictions so on so forth, sanctions the word that I was looking for is sanctions sanctions in terms of trade not only trade, sanctions in terms of, I'm sorry dialogue, you weren't even allowed to conversate no, you were not allowed to have a conversation they would not even marry you they were refused and they stopped they would not give their sons or take your daughters or anything of the sort, sanctions to its maximum which eventually led to the martyrdom of Umm Al-Mu'mineen say the Khadija A.S and in addition to this physical oppression there was the psychological oppression on the Rasulullah and the insults that he had to bear and sidic sometimes the trauma and the psychological abuse that a person has to endure is much more painful than physical wounds and you find that the Quran is filled with all these verses where if we contemplate in the right way it gives us an idea a glimpse of the oppression and the hardships that Rasulullah was subject to if you look into the Quran by way of example you have in Surah Al-Tur verse number 29, I believe Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim When Rasulullah came forward with the message of Islam and the Shahada La Ilaha Illa Zaa you find that one of the reactions of the people is when the Prophet would go out to preach within the streets of Makkah they would insult him by calling him insane and you know try and put this in today's day and age when you are trying to guide people you are going about doing your work and to be black sheep within the community to be ostracized for the community and for your character to be black sheep to be ostracized for the community and for your character to be ostracized for the community and for your character to be put at disrepute in the most vulgar of manners such that they would call him mentally deranged if one person called you mentally deranged and this is because you are trying to guide him you are trying to gain salvation for him you are going to help him and the person who is the recipient of your help instead of gratitude turns around and insults you in the worst way possible take a moment to think about this somebody was to say this to you you would probably not want to see him again probably not want to speak with him again and you can imagine an entire community against you not once not twice day in day out but yet you find Rasulullah was steadfast to the extent that and this is the point that I want to touch on determination the mushrikin of Makkah sent a message to Sayyiduna Abu Talib Salamullahi Alai pious believer in Allah and the message of Rasulullah they said to him Ya Abu Talib tell your nephew whatever he wants because after all the abuse and ostracizing him and character assassination they saw the determination of Rasulullah's firm he is not willing to budge so they said to try to bribe him so they went to Abu Talib and they said to him tell your nephew this message that he has come up with he is causing chaos within the community the slaves are rebelling against the masters the wives against their husbands and children against their parents families were split communities were split I think the main issue was actually the money the business was really affected with this new religion coming in business was affected the unity of the mushrikin was shattered in Makkah they said your message is divisive it's dividing people they said to Abu Talib tell him what does he want does he want wealth and make him from the richest the richest of the richest kings that Arabia has ever seen does he want women we will marry him to multiple women of the most beautiful women Arabia has ever seen what does he want tell him between the bribes and between this persecution and being ostracized and the psychological trauma and abuse and character assassination Rasulullah himself one man and he says these eternal words to Abu Talib that history has recorded and if the sun in the right and the moon in my left I shall not retract from this message until Allah makes this message the dominant message or I perish while trying to make it the dominant message determination firm in the in the face of difficulties in the face of hardships and walking on this is a lesson for myself and for all Muslims all Muslims all believers non-Muslims characters on personal development and character building of how a person needs to remain firm in his belief during times of difficulty even at times of difficulty let's be honest I don't talk for myself it can get very difficult to endure patience to keep your head in the right place most importantly to have the right conduct in Akhlaq but Rasulullah always showed the best of Akhlaq can give you some examples of his Akhlaq and then how his Akhlaq actually won the hearts of many of course Akhlaq in terms of morality and behavior is a very wide subject and there are a number of avenues to touch but one aspect is the aspect of clemency mercy of Rasulullah clemency his ability and his willingness to forgive and not punish and this aspect of clemency from the character of Rasulullah is not only to be understood in terms of personal relationships but it actually sets a precedent even in the field of governance and politics and I give you an example we have within the seerah of Rasulullah that from the people who had converted to Islam not everyone was genuine in their conversions and you had a lot of those who were hypocrites and hence the revelation of Surah Ahsantum Surah of the hypocrites we have within history that there was a companion by the name of Obaidullah ibn Obaid and he was probably the head of all hypocrites master of hypocrites in terms of damaging the reputation of Rasulullah jeopardizing the message of Rasulullah in one of the defensive wars that Rasulullah traveling outside of Madinah to protect the city and to protect the citizens of the state while they are mobilizing themselves for this defensive war Obaidullah ibn Obaid utters certain sentences and creates a scene while the Islamic country is going to defend its borders from an external threat as a result of the actions and the words of this individual Abdullah ibn Obaid a number of the Muslims formed a rebellion and broke away from the army they returned back to Madinah to not defend the frontiers and defend the state in this day and age say the Muslim think about it treason imagine that you have a division of the army which is traveling to its borders to protect its borders from potential terrorist attacks you are defending the borders of your country from terrorist attacks and as you are doing that you have a military officer or a commander who stands up and forms a rebellion as a result of which a part of the contingency of the army of the country which is defending the borders against terrorist acts a part of that army refuses to go to the forefront like a mutiny rebellion from within how would the country how would the laws of the country how would the head of states or the judiciary deal with such a person this person was called who caused the rebellion and the division within an army and retracted from their duty of defending the country's borders against terrorists such an officer or a commander would straight away be taken for a court marshal and would most probably be imprisoned for life for treason against the country if not executed that state or death penalty not in the government of Rasulullah because clemency mercy is not only a part of your personal akhlaq mercy is the ethos within the constitution of the government mercy is an ethos encompassed within the military code of conduct the seerah says Rasulullah came back from the defensive war he didn't even take Abdullah ibn Ubaid to task no questioning no court marshal no house arrest no imprisonment we'll continue this discussion after the break we're going to go on a short break but please join us after the break as we continue this great story of the great personality of Rasulullah and Imam Sadiq join us after the break welcome back to the live facebook where we're discussing on this auspicious occasion personalities and characteristics of Rasulullah and we'll move our conversation on to Imam Sadiq before the break we're discussing Abdullah ibn Ubaid and his mutiny against the military of Rasulullah a very important and critical time of defending the state of Medina please continue so the idea being the enemy from within and such an offense of such a magnitude treason against a country particularly at a sensitive time where the country is defending itself against terrorist attacks during that time you have a commander or a cadet within the army who causes a mutiny according to today's law and judicial practices such a person would be court-martialed he would deserve either life imprisonment or the death penalty and execution but you find the Rasulullah government was different and this is the point that we are trying to put forward for our viewers when it comes to understanding Rasulullah clemency and this mercy number one was just not a slogan it was the essential character of Rasulullah and number two this clemency and this mercy was incorporated as a primary ethos within the constitution of the government including the military constitution and to be honest and to be very frank with you we live in a world today in the 21st century that lacks mercy and clemency be it from the developed nations to the western states be it islamic states and we live at a time where we are known as an islamic state by name there is no service we don't need countries to claim that they are islamic we need countries that are islamic in action whose constitutions and whose laws for themselves speak out islam we like this rather what happens is when a country claims to be islamic claims to be a country that promotes the teachings of rasulullah and then does the contrary what happens is that islam gets a negative image rasulullah gets a negative image it is the greatest service that can be done to rasulullah better to not have an islamic government or to be known as an islamic government in that sense and hence this is what the world needs number one to understand rasulullah through the light of mercy and clemency and the constitution of governments that claim to be islamic today we live at a time where people are executed or given life imprisonment islamic countries enter open the map of the world one by one one by one countries that claim to be islamic without any exception go and see how many prisoners are there political prisoners life imprisonment executions sanctions house arrest for those who have a different political opinion I mean even if you look at the UN you know in terms of human rights violations I think if you know if the viewers would go and have a look at how many islamic countries have human rights violations they would be shocked at the numbers especially these who claim to follow rasulullah look at this is the litmus test political prisoners for verbally expressing your opinion look at the standard rasulullah has set for somebody who performs mutiny in such a sensitive situation he does not deserve imprisonment what about a person who verbally expressed himself where is islam where is rasulullah the real celebration of miladun nabi is actualized by us implementing the teachings of rasulullah and the character within rasulullah you find before we move on this is an important thing to take home from the character of rasulullah from the words of rasulullah everything of rasulullah is but there is one saying of rasulullah where he says and this is taken from the book calimatur rasulul a'adam we mentioned this book during the atullah shahid hasana shirazi the late assassinated brother of the current marja he states this one narration of rasulullah if anyone of you embarks upon a certain task upon a certain job then he should perfect that job when you do something do something with full perfection if you are going to embark upon a task do not take that task if you are not going to completely if you are not going to complete it perfectly in every job that you do aim for perfection and these are deep words from rasulullah that could change the entire islamic umma everyone if you are going to recite majlis recite the best of majlis practice and research and ensure your presentation is at the peak of its presentation perfection if you are going to be a presenter on tv if you are going to be running a channel islamic channel do things and aim for perfection don't aim for half baked jobs i don't mean to you but i am saying in general in terms of religion in terms of non-religion if i am going to recite salat aim to recite the best of salat if i am going to do hajj the best of hajj if i am going to do zihara do not settle for anything that is half if i am going to run a husainiyah if i am going to run a community center don't just run the community center the husainiyah for the sake of running it aim for perfection within this if i am going to be an engineer study in the best way and give a contribution in its perfection do not be half professional do not be quarter professional do not look to cut corners aim for perfection and i think this is an important message from the many messages that we can take from the teachings and the life of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam if you use as if i know the Japanese i know the Japanese are very well known for perfection everything they do even when it comes to just writing when they write on a piece of paper they take a lot of honor and pride in their work they must have heard the message we got left behind unfortunately we use these days to motivate each other inshallah to be familiar with the teachings of Rasulullah and implement them in our lives let's move our discussion on to the second personality who was also born on the same day as Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam Imam Jafar sallallahu alaihi wa sallam son of the great Imam Hamid Bakr alaihi sallam now Imam Jafar sallallahu alaihi wa sallam as we know from studying his biography and also we always hear about his contribution towards education his contribution towards the sciences our school of thought and the school of kik is known as the Jafari school of kik and so forth but Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam at his time it was very difficult with the government the umayyads were still in power and there was a shift in power there was a battle between the abasids and the umayyads and on top of that there was constant threat to Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and on top of that Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is meant to be a source of guidance and a source of knowledge running this university which had I mean how was there, how did he manage to do such a thing and also most importantly to his Shia what did he instruct, what advice did he give in dealing with such a government and dealing with tyrants at such a critical and crucial time where the Shia academia you could say flourished and excelled it's a very good question and it's a very detailed question um the life and the aspects of Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam first and foremost without doubt that Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is the best of all creations and much as weight is given on celebrating the life of Rasulullah during these days we should not abandon to be little Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam from our celebrations from our speeches from our gatherings it is not by coincidence that both these great personalities were born on the same day 17th of Rabi'u'llah I mean there is a Hekma ilahiyah Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam the revival of the pure original teachings of Rasulullah master of this faith Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam had it not been for the Imam the true religion and the true message of Rasulullah would have been obliterated the times in which he was the times in which he was living and conducting the duties of his Imam as you mentioned Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was active in every field of knowledge that was available to man theology medicine literature arts architecture chemistry physics biology this is a research inshallah that with the Taufiq of Allah swt inshallah it will be made public there is not a single contemporary science there is not a single contemporary science today in the 21st century except that Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam master of the faith has spoken about it contemporary be it finance be it investments be it anything DNA whatever you want to think about what can come up with you find that Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam has spoken about it in terms of its establishment in terms of its roots in terms of its foundations even its existence as well its existence a number of sciences were discovered because of the initial words of Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and you find that within all this Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was not silent when it came to politics even within the field of politics and the social responsibility governance the civil duty of the people when it comes to dealing with a tyrant or a tyrannical government Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was not quiet one of the greatest forms of jihad is to speak the words of truth during times of oppression or in the face of a tyrant and you find over here that Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam rallied people to open rebellion against Bani Umayyah and Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam did this very eloquently and very fearlessly and the purity of his intentions in this went and penetrated the hearts of the believers which is why he was perceived as a threat to Bani Umayyah and the message of Imam al-Hussein in general you have this one incident again I've taken it again from the book of Shahid Hassan al-Shirazi and the title of the book is in this encyclopedia of the words and the sayings and the teachings of Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam for Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam if I'm not mistaken with the publication I have three volume book the narration is by Ali ibn Abi Hamza one of the companions of Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam he says I used to have a friend who used to work within the administrative department of Bani Umayyah he was from amongst the Qutab so you could say he was working in basic admins secretarial position as a postman where he would just transcribe the communications and so on and so forth and he says this friend of mine came and he asked permission to visit Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and it seems that he was from the Shi'a or from those who sympathize with the Shi'a he comes to Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and he says I did the salam and I sat in front of Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and I said to him Imam sallallahu alaihi wa sallam he says I work for Bani Umayyah but I'm not involved in any crimes I don't lift any weapons I'm not involved in any executions I'm not involved in any theft the suppression and the oppression of the farmers and the people of the villages I'm not involved in any of that my job is strictly admin and secretarial I write the letters what would be seen today he says is my risk halal is my livelihood and my income halal and this issue of halal income is absolutely important in this day and age the professions that we choose and I read if this was a part of every student's induction when you have careers there within our madrasas within our local centers community centers when you're having seminars on prepping students on what career path to take and what sciences to study but some of the careers that our youth are choosing some of the careers that our elders are in some of them openly haram examples we live for now but haram a person needs to be involved and needs to know what is the halal and the haram of the job or the career that he wants to pursue every field has halal and haram whether you want to be a doctor you want to be a surgeon and you have missiles that revolve around this and there's a doctor can you be as a doctor I don't want any answers or anything I'm just asking rhetorically all the viewers have to be aware of this doctor are you allowed Islamically a patient comes to you and says they want an abortion what are you supposed to do in this situation where as a doctor they come and they tell you we want to turn off the life support machine for example in the field of investments for example buying shares in companies or buying shares within a portfolio where certain companies are known to be investing for example in goods services that are not halal how does all this work in this sense taking interest from a government bank that is Muslim or a non-government bank which is also Muslim or a non-muslim bank so on so forth all these questions are out there whatever field in which you are Baba can you increase a direct debit for example amount without having informed your customer using the direct debit amount by an X amount of pounds of dollars subhan Allah the list is endless in any case this person comes and says to Imam al-Sadiq a.s. is my risk halal look at the answer of Imam al-Sadiq let me read for you what he says he said he said had they not had they not had people who would work as administrators for them had they not had employees who would out-collecting illegitimate and illegal taxes on their behalf had they not found people who are willing to be employed within their militaries and their armies had they not had people who would go and research Salat al-Jama'a behind them they would not have had the audacity to usurp us of our rights he said individuals a clan a group of people a number of people who empowered these people and laid the foundation for them to then become a dynasty that would rule over maybe one third of the known earth the general masses who acted as sheep and put their own personal agendas and their personal benefit in front of the benefit of the deen is it's people like you because many umayyah is able to find employees like you that they used you as tools to gain control and satan over the islamic umba look at the answer of Imam al-Sadiq al-Islam this person became shocked he said yabna Rasoolullah what should I do how do I come out from this the irony of the risk is not halal he says juil to fidak from this he was shia he said maybe sacrifice for you he says what is the way out how come go back and tell me what do I do look away Imam al-Sadiq al-Islam says and what we said in regard to Rasoolullah determination determination to be determined to make a change in your life he says if I tell you what the hal what the solution is are you really ready are you prepared to follow my instructions you should call him I was determined there and there Baba my Akhira is more important than my dunya Imam al-Sadiq said to him go back home and remove your accounts for each and every penny I'm paraphrasing the rest of the incident for the sake of time remove your accounts for each and every penny dime that you have taken from Bani Umayyah and go and return it back to whom you have taken and if you don't remember who you took money from go and give it out as sadhaka cleanse your wealth and everything you possess from this source of income Ali bin Hamza says I went with the person Ali bin Abi Hamza says he removed everything from his house the house in which he only gave back that house liquidated everything that he had Ali bin Abi Hamza says this person to the extent that his clothes that were on his body removed them naked Ali bin Abi Hamza says we went and we gave him food we gave him clothes so he has something to cover his privacy with he implemented the words of Imam al-Sadiq the narration goes on to say couple of months and the person was afflicted with the sickness and from this sickness he passed away Ali bin Abi Hamza went he said to Imam al-Sadiq this person who you had given such and such guidance who has passed the Imam smiled and said to him he has entered into Jannah pure look at the timing of the incidences look at there are a number of stories from this the importance of risk Halal the importance of making sure you are not an instrument within the forces and the structures of tyranny and oppression against Ahlul Bayt determination to earn the risk that is Halal and confidence and loyalty and submission when it comes to implementing the words of Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq salawatullahi was-salamu alayhi may Allah never tribulate any one of us with the risk that is Halal and may Allah SWT through the grace of Imam al-Sadiq and the grace of Rasulullah and the risk which is Halal the risk through which we are able to cater for our families the risk through which we are able to progress in the dunya as well as the Akhira and serve Islam the Idh Mubarak again to you and to all our respected viewers thank you very much Shekhar for today's discussion and thank you for all the viewers for joining us it was very beneficial for yourself to do the celebration and do not forget the Imam of our time and the Imam of your time in your door insha'Allah see you next week on another episode of the live Facebook insha'Allah we will discuss arguments from theological discussions insha'Allah until then salamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh