 أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم رب شرح لي صدبي ويسر لي أمر وحل العقدة من لسان يفقه قولي بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله على سيدنا وحبيب قلوبنا وشفيع نوفو سناء بالقاسم محمد وعلى آل بيته الطيبين الطاهرين المعصومين لاسيما بقية الله روحي وأرواح العالمين لترابي مقدمه الفداء أما بعد رسبكتد سكولرز ألدز برزا سيستز السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته شاء الله التوبي for tonight will revolve around a moral perspective an ethical perspective a perspective that is entitled to write between a father and a son figure and inshallah I would like to decipher this particular topic in three particular stages in the short time that we have for tonight the first stage inshallah is we'd like to look at the effect of what Imam Zayn al-Abideen says in the treaties of rights رسالة الحقوق right number 23 about the right of the father and what is implied inshallah to everyday life then we go on after analyzing this to who in history did not know who their fathers were and the effects that this had on the community the effects that's had in the social circles the social norms and after we analyze who did not know who their fathers were and the effects we'd like to analyze the effect of people that knew who their fathers were and how they learned from them and achieved greatness within the community and inshallah that will end the topic for tonight but before it please help me in starting by reciting a lot صلوات على محمد وعالي محمد Imam Zayn al-Abideen in the 23rd right in his book رسالة الحقوق narrates that the right of the father is that you know that he is the root and you are but a branch and if it was not for him you would cease to exist أعلم أن حق الابن أنه الأصل وأن كل فرق therefore he says you know that your father is the root and you are but a branch and if it was not for him you would cease to exist then he goes on to say and this is the beauty of the narration why Imam Zayn al-Abideen he says no that anything that you find within yourself that pleases you that you think this is admirable quality he says no the very root of that blessing is from your father so anything that you find within yourself that you think I have this particular trait that I like about myself I am smart in this particular aspect I have this particular characteristic Imam Zayn al-Abideen what does he say he says know that the root of that blessing that characteristic that which pleases you within yourself the root of the blessing is your father now let's see look at the figures in history let's see what affect people that did not know who their fathers were had on history in reference to the people that knew who their fathers were now let's start by reciting the smallest surah in the Quran which refers to one of these people إن أعطين أكل كوثر وصلي لربك وان حر إن شانيك هول أبتر what does it say in the last آية in this particular surah it says your opposition is the one that shall not have الينيج now this if you look at the narrations if you look at the translation of the Quran we find that this person is attributed to Al-As Al-As as we know in history we find a person by the name of Amr ibn Al-As isn't it we always refer to him as Amr ibn Al-As where we look at the history books we find what did Ali ibn Abi Talib refer to this person as did Ali ibn Abi Talib call him Amr ibn Al-As Ali ibn Abi Talib if you find in the battle of Safine never called him Amr ibn Al-As he used to refer to him by his mother's name he used to call him Amr ibn Nabagh which he referred to his mother's name because what because we know throughout history that As wasn't his actual father where we find his mother was one of those that spent her time with more than one person therefore eight names were drawn out of a hat in which Al-As came out and they said this is well attribute to Amr ibn Al-As that's how he got his name however let's look at let's look at let's say Amr ibn Nabagh as Ali ibn Abi Talib says what effect did he have in history when we find in Safine when we came together and said you know what we'll choose the leader he comes from one side and he plots against Ali ibn Abi Talib plots against his representative in which everyone comes towards the other army Amr ibn Nabagh is known to be one of the most hypocritical and the most let's say strengthened people against the Ahl al-Bait the people that hated Ahl al-Bait the people that plotted against Ahl al-Bait hand in hand with Muawiyah when we find he got what he deserves when Muawiyah said you're the second in charge after me and therefore he stayed on his grave he put a sword on his neck and he said if you don't give ba'a to Yazid I will kill you and bury you with me that was in his wasi now taking that into account that's one person look at what he caused into the community and the society he lived in another group of people let's say when we know a person by the name of Al-Muqtar when he goes out and to take revenge on Imam Hussein's killers he captures 10 people in particular these 10 people were the horse riders that trampled on the body of Abba Abdullah he finds these 10 horse riders and look at this implication he asks each and every one of them who their fathers were the 10 horse riders each and every one who was your father he asks them none of them knew who their fathers were does that make us start to think what kind of effect these people may have what kind of effect these haram relations relate to and the offsprings and what they can do towards the community in which they live in let's look at the reverse angle now now that we know that the effect of that which is haram that's which they had bad fathers which they did not know who their fathers were let's look at the reverse angle let's look at the people that knew who their fathers were let's look at the Ahlul Bayt let's look at how highly they thought of their fathers and how much they learnt from them when Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib relates to his son Al-Hasan he says I wanted as your father to cultivate your heart what does it say he says I wanted to teach you because the youth look how Imam Ali says it says the youth their hearts is uncultivated nothing on there whatever you put on there it will grow whatever you put on there it will flourish whatever you put on there it will accept it says I wanted to teach you at a young age I wanted to cultivate your heart at a young age with all that which you needed now let's look at how Imam Hassan came up let's look at the Ahlul Bayt how they came up how proud were they to say that this was my father when Imam Zain Al-Abideen in the court of Yazid his famous speech how does he start it how does he start his sermon against everyone that thought that he was one of the خوارج he begins by saying he says أعطينا ستون وفضلنا بسب what does he say he says the six that we are gifted by Allah and we are also given seven he says أعطينا العلمة والحلمة والسماحة والفصاحة والشجاعة والمحبة في قلوب المؤمنين وفضلنا بأن من النبي المختار ومن الصديق ومن الطيار ومن أسد الله وأسد رسوله ومن سبطه هذه الأمة ومن مهديها صلى الله عليه وسلم نحن نرى ما هو that he starts his sermon that magnanimous sermon by saying that I am from this lineage from my family are these people this and what you see in front of you is an offspring of this greatness and then he begins his speech when he starts by saying أنابن مكتة ومنى until the end of it when he refers to the death of his father but what does it state that he mentions his lineage when Ali al Akbar goes on to the battle what does he say أنا علي ابن الحسين ابنه I am Ali son of Hussein son of Ali lineage and even in Arabia when someone wants to come to fight when the first battle in Islam happened 3 people came to 3 people isn't it and they had the clash the first fight of 3 people that came forth wasn't the 3 people that we know nowadays which was Hamza Ali and Nabi Talib and one other it was 3 other people however when they introduced themselves they said we are not of noble blood you are not of a known family he says go back we want someone to fight from a noble family from someone that's high such arrogant people even in that particular instance however you see after that that's when Ali Nabi Talib comes forth that's when Hamza comes forth because they knew who they were they knew what their lineages were what their essence was now take that all into account let's look at the characteristics in the father and how it portrayed in the son in نهج البلاغ when you open the book you begin to realize stories about Ali Nabi Talib one of the stories narrates that there was a man in a marketplace walking and he saw an old lady carrying a satchel or a bag on her back she was very old that's her back used to be bent from the heaviness of that which she was carrying so this person comes towards this lady he says to her let me help you a woman let me help you and she says no I don't need any help he says I've seen you in the marketplace I know that you are in need of help let me help you on the way he helps her and on the way look at what she's saying to this man he says why is it that she carried this by herself do you not have a man isn't there anyone that can help you in the house she says no he says why he says Ali Nabi Talib and she begins to curse him she says Ali Nabi Talib took my family my husband and my sons to war to Saffeen and they died in that war now I have no one to look after me and she keeps cursing Ali Nabi Talib during the duration of that particular trip towards her house inside the man begins begins to tell the lady let me help you you have children let me help you make the bread he says not a problem help me make the bread so she finds that this person is making the bread and he's playing with the children at that moment he leaves that house a lady walks in and she runs towards the owner of that house that lady and she says to him you are so blessed he says why so do you not know who just walked out of your house he says this man he's such a helpful person he saw me in the streets he also thinks of Ali Nabi Talib the same way I do he says he's such a helpful person he came he helped me he baked the bread he helped he played with my children he says that is Ali Nabi Talib that person that walked out of your house that was Ali Nabi Talib the woman runs towards the court of Ali Nabi Talib runs towards Ali Nabi Talib forgive me Ali if I have oppressed you forgive me Ali if I have said anything that may have hurt you look at the reply of our Imam this is what we have to learn from Ali Nabi Talib replies to this lady what does he say he says forgive me forgive me if I have oppressed you forgive me if I have caused you any heartache or pressure that's Ali Nabi Talib that's what we find then Imam Hussein عليه أفضل الصلاة والسلام and the tenth of Muharram we find him crying why people say we know you we know your stature we know you're the son of Ali Ibn Nabi Talib why is it that you cry and the reply comes Imam Hussein says he says I do not cry for myself I cry for these people that will go towards the hellfire because of me these people that's why my tears are being shed it's not for myself I know where I'm going I know who I am it says my tears are for these people on the wrong path I'm trying my best to bring them bring them towards the message however they do not come their punishment will be only one punishment and no other Imam Hussein says that in the tenth of Muharram that's why we see the balance this is the father this is the son this is the offspring then we have the idea that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree that's the tree Imam Zain Abed says he is the root and the offspring is but a branch whatever Imam Hussein saw within himself that pleased him the root of that blessing was who Ali ibn Abi Talib and so so much that we can relate to every single one of our imams the root of the blessing we can go back his father and his father and his father that's the people that are our guidance these are the people that we learn of when we look at Ali ibn Abi Talib when we learn from the stories that he does we learn from the analogies that he gives us when Ali ibn Abi Talib is found that's one day outside Ali ibn Abi Talib's house a beggar comes and he finds an old man in very simple clothes outside he goes to him he goes oh man do you have anything for me to eat he says I do not have anything but he points towards a house he goes go towards that house he will provide for you so the man goes to that house he knocks the door and he says do you have anything to offer me he says of course he provides that's the house that Imam Hussein عليه السلام was in Imam Hussein before he let the man go he says who told you to come towards this particular household and the man points at that man outside and Imam Hussein tells him he says that man is the owner of this house that's Ali ibn Abi Talib that's Ali ibn Abi Talib when he takes Qambar towards the shops he finds that he had three dirhams he buys clothes for Qambar with two he leaves one for himself Qambar says why? you are my master I am your servant he says you are of youth you need these particular garments I do not need he says and he looks at himself and he says you are more willing of this you are more needing of this Ali ibn Abi Talib when George Jardagh لoka writes a whole book in honor of Ali ibn Abi Talib why? a christian man what drives this christian man to write a whole book about Ali ibn Abi Talib he says one particular incident of Ali ibn Abi Talib made me write a whole book in honor of him what was the incident? he says he came back from the battle of a civil war that he comes back to his Medina in Koufa where he ruled from the people of the time built him what we look at nowadays as a white house a place to rule from like the Khalif is before him خليف is before him علي ابنة ابطالب comes he sees that what they've built for him what does he say? he says after I saw this particular incident after I read this particular incident I came and I was drawn towards علي ابنة ابطالب he's still a Christian man he says I was drawn towards علي ابنة ابطالب what happened? he says he comes in to Kouf where he sees it he says I will never enter this and I will never rule from this place علي ابنة ابطالب we've spent money we've spent our fortunes we've spent our time why is it that you will not enter this? علي ابنة ابطالب what does he say? he says look at the roof he says how do you expect me to rule or to live in a place in which its roof is more elevated than the roof of the poor people he says علي ابنة ابطالب will never live in such a place justice carried on through his son justice when Imam Hussein علي ابضل صلاة والسلام on the tenth of Muharram or prior to the tenth of Muharram knew very well what the army would do however what did Imam Hussein do? everything he had from water not only did he feed the army that stopped him he also fed the animals the horses the water that he had saved for himself he didn't leave anything for himself he gave towards these people where do we see this? علي ابنة ابطالب and Safin when it's cut off the water معاوية didn't give water to anyone علي ابنة ابطالب as soon as he regained that water he said make sure you give the supply towards Muawiyah I cannot be an oppressive person he says this is war he says doesn't matter the rules still apply this is justice they need water we need water open the gap for them let them use it he says Muawiyah stopped it from us he says that's the difference between Muawiyah and me when we look at the narrations that says look at where علي ابنة ابطالب is to reference to the other Khalifas we find that the second Khalifa someone cursed the second Khalifa he took him and he had him wept علي ابنة ابطالب goes past a mosque and he is his name being cursed in the Adhan as we know 70 years after علي ابنة ابطالب's death Muawiyah was instilling this that علي ابنة ابطالب was cursed on the pulpits علي ابطالب he is his name being cursed did علي ابنة ابطالب as Khalifa do anything he says may Allah forgive them for they do not know اسوني اسوني سكولا a very high Sunni scholar and writes this and what does he say he says look at the difference between a person chosen by the people and a person chosen by Allah he himself says it he says this is the difference and look at the progeny that they had when we look at the house of Muawiyah what did it produce it produced Yazid Yazid which kills Imam Hussein علي أفضل صلاة والسلام it doesn't shed a T it plays with his lips however on the reverse angle he had what he had what we call a monkey it died it had a three night or three day martydom for this particular monkey people used to come towards the particular castle and give the commemorations to Yazid why because his monkey died he goes and kills Imam of his time that's the analogy that we have that's the history books that we have brothers and sisters that's the way we see that apple doesn't fall far from the tree when we hold on to the rope of Allah سبحانه وتعالى when we hold on to the rope of Muhammad وآل محمد الله مصلي على محمد وآل محمد there's a difference between the other schools of thought and what they hold on to brothers and sisters that's why we have to understand and I end on this the right of the father and I mentioned this in the start and I end with this is that you know that he is the root of your blessing whatever you see in yourself remember that a person went to the prophet of Islam and asked him he says I am not getting sustenance I'm not getting rizq and the prophet says do you do A B C D he says no I do all of the above and then he asks him do you walk in front of your father he says yes he says that's why make sure you walk behind your father in respect of your father when your father enters his room make sure you stand in honor of your father offer him your seat not even in that when we look at the prophet of Islam he used to get up for Fatima to Zahra don't we know that he used to get up for Fatima to Zahra why do we not do the same it's the opposite reaction we have to get up in honor of our fathers give him our seats walk behind our fathers in honor of them our Imam say make sure you do not act in a manner whether you think people see you or do not see you in a manner which may cause harm or inflict any damage to your father's reputation and there's so many guidelines and guidelines in which we have to learn of how to respect our fathers how to look up to our fathers the rights that our fathers have over us very very detailed Insha'Allah and we'll get to it in the following nights but for tonight Insha'Allah I end on this I've taken much of your time and Insha'Allah I want to just put one last point Insha'Allah it's a very interesting point that we take for granted is the idea of karma because in many many stories that we know whatever you do to your father do not be surprised if your son or your daughter do the same to you I'll end with one story in particular in which a person took his father a very old man couldn't take care of himself he used to clothe him he used to bathe him he used to take care of everything he had enough at one stage and he took him he put him he carried him on his back took him towards the desert under a tree he put him down under the tree so that's where he thought to himself that's where I'll leave my father to die there's nothing left and then as he's about to leave his father the father begins to smile the son looks back at him and he says father why do you smile and he says you won't believe me if I told you he says what is it he says would you believe it that I did the exact same thing you are doing to my father I'm not surprised that you're doing it to me the person as soon as he heard that he picks up his father and he carries him home the father says what are you doing he says I do not want my son to do that which I did to you so I want to be and I want to be the best person I can to you so my son can be the best person to me that's why the idea is there that do not act in a manner in which you do not want your son to act towards you the idea of the overwhelming aspect of calm a little bit in the back of your mind and however you act towards your parents because you will have to act in a manner in which you want your children to act towards you and I end insha'Allah on that note brothers and sisters and I pray to Allah that Allah may instill the relationships and strengthen it between a father and his son between a mother and a daughter and vice versa insha'Allah by the will of Allah Subhanahu و تعالى that Allah can let us be firm on the will of Ali Ibn Abi Talib and grant us the blessing of being summoned as the soldiers of Imam صاحب العصر و الزمان ببركة صورة المباركة الفاتحة تسبقها الصلاة على محمد و آلي محمد