In the Name of All{h, the Source of General Mercy to all of Humanity, the Source of Specific Grace to the Believers

Topic of Discussion: The Best of People

«ad|th 63 · Discussion 78
Lectures on Akhl{q [Isl{mic Ethics and Spirituality] Delivered by
his Eminence ¤yatull{h al-˜U£m{ al-H{jj Shaykh N{#ir Mak{rim Sh|r{z|

Translated by Saleem Bhimji

for Al-Fat¡ Al-Mub|n Publications [ www.al-mubin.org ] and Isl{mic Publishing House [ www.iph.ca ]

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Translation of the «ad|th:
The Prophet Mu¡ammad
said, “O’ ˜Al|! There are three things which if a person meets All{h with them, he will be
considered as being from the greatest of people: the person who comes to All{h with that which He has made obligatory upon
him will be of the most worshipping of people; and the person who kept away from the prohibited of All{h will be of the most
safeguarded of people; and the person who was content which that which All{h provided to him for sustenance will be the
richest of people.”
Explanation of the «ad|th:
The phrase (
)1 as has been mentioned in this ¡ad|th, is a reference to the level of ‘witnessing’ which people will be
conferred with on the Resurrection. This means that on that Day, the effects of the actions of All{h i will be shown to
everyone to such an extent that not a single person shall have any doubt in regards to All{h i:

(5 6 )
1 Summary in regards to “Meeting with All{h” (5 6 ): This phrase which his been mentioned in the Noble Qur`{n is usually in
regards to the Resurrection and since there is no meaning associated with witnessing All{h with the (five) senses due to the
fact that He has no body or physical presence, thus what does this mean?
Some of the commentators of the Qur`{n have been forced to state that this phrase actually has something appended to it
however it is taken as being understood and not expressly mentioned. Thus, they claim that this phrase actually means ‘ 67
 : 89’ or ‘Meeting (or attaining) the reward of All{h’ or ‘Meeting the Angels of All{h’.
However, we can take the word “6 ” in this «ad|th to refer to the true meaning of ‘meeting’, however with the eyes of the
heart since on the Resurrection, all of the veils (which exist between a person and His creator) shall be removed and the
greatness of All{h i and His signs shall be made manifest and clearer than at all other times for the people to see. Mankind
shall reach to the status of an ‘inner witnessing’ and ‘sight with the heart’ and each person’s cognizance and righteous actions
shall permit him to reach to higher stations of this ‘inner witnessing’ on the plain of Resurrection.
Ethical Discourse # 78 – Page 1 of 8
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“The physical eyes do not see All{h, rather He is seen through heart with the true faith (which it possesses).”2
On that Day, everyone shall accept All{h i with true faith.
If we wish to present this belief in an, albeit imperfect and partial analogy, it can be compared to Prophet Y}suf  whom, as
we know, had a special distinction over his brothers. However, they refused to humble themselves to the distinction which he
possessed and thus we see that a party of them actually out-right denied his excellence and were surprised why their father,
Prophet Ya˜q}b  would actually grant Y}suf  a higher merit than them! Nonetheless, when Prophet Y}suf , who
possessed the strategy and wisdom which he had, reached to the status of the ‘˜Az|z’ of Egypt and was blessed by all of the
graces of All{h i, at this point when his brothers saw what their actions had produced, they all spoke out and said:

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“I swear by All{h! All{h has made him superior over all of us!”
And thus, this shall also be the exact state of the disbelievers – both in the life of this world and the next life as well since
while in the transient world, they had veils over their sight which blocked their vision and thus, they did not submit to the
Truth. However in the next life, the affair shall be so clear and easy to see that just as the brothers of Y}suf  were forced to
concede, the disbelievers too shall have to concede to the reality of All{h i.
In summary, on the Day of Resurrection, All{h i will be manifest everywhere and thus, one of the reasons why the Day of
Resurrection is referred to as “5 6 +” or “The Day of Meeting All{h” is that on that Day, the effects of His greatness will be
manifest in such a way that there shall be no room for error in comprehending Him i.
In addition, this phrase “5 6 ” means that each person shall see himself in the presence of All{h i and this point is very
important to keep in mind since the worst form of punishment for the servants on that Day shall be the state of
embarrassment which they will feel due to their despicable actions. It is this embarrassment that will actually burn them
more than the fire of the hell since that Day is also known as “$=$>  7)" +” or “The Day when all of the actions of all
individuals will be plain and manifest to see (for everyone).”
The Prophet
has thus told us that, “On that Day, if a person was to be one who does not possesses these three
characteristics, then he has truly given up a great capital.”
1. The first part of the «ad|th reads:

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“…the person who comes to All{h with that which All{h had made obligatory upon him will be of the most worshipping of
people…”
It is amazing that there are people who run after the recommended actions (Musta¡ab{t) in Isl{m, however they leave aside
the obligatory actions (W{jib{t) and truly, these sorts of people are numerous in number!
For example, they will stay up until the middle of the night beating their chests in mourning (˜Azadari) or shall spend the
night in (recommended) worship and studying, however when the time for ªal{tul Fajr comes, they are fast asleep and thus,
end up making their ªal{t Qa~{!

Fakhrud D|n R{z|, in his Tafs|r of the Qur`{n under verse 44 of S}ratul A¡z{b has a very interesting explanation which can be
combined with our explanation given above in which he says, “Due to being drowned in the material and physical affairs of
this transient world and the struggles to provide for his life, the human being is usually negligent of All{h i. However, on the
Resurrection when all of these mental diversions are removed from the person, the humanbeing will go towards the Lord of
the Universe with all of his presence and composure - and this is the meaning of “5 67 ”.” (Tafs|r-e-Namuna, Volume 17, Page
358 to 359)
2 U#}lul K{f|, Volume 1 Page 97
Ethical Discourse # 78 – Page 2 of 8
This point is important to mention that we must know that not a single person – whether in the life of this world or the next
life – shall ever be successful, except if he wakes in the morning (for his ªal{t) and every person whom I have seen who has
been a triumphant person in this life has been so due to his waking in the morning for his prayers.
We must know that the narrators of a¡{d|th have given us numerous traditions from the Pure A’immah  in regards to the
greatness of this time of the day (the morning time) and have referred to that time as “?@3 ?A” or the time of negligence
(for those who do not wake at that time and engage in worship).
Thus, it is highly meritorious that at that time of the day, the servant of All{h i makes the choice to get up and leave his
slumber and protect himself from sleeping which would only lead to remorse and grief!
Thus, congratulations to that felicitous person who, during the time of negligence (of others), is awake and observant and
cognizant of that sleep which is punished so that he shall be considered as one of those who is, as the Qur`{n puts it “ BC DE *
F-@G” - ‘Surely it is they who are the successful ones…’ and is one of those fortunate people.
How beautifully the poet has stated it when he said:

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The Leader of the Mu¡addith|n, Ab} Ja˜far Mu¡ammad ibne ˜Al| ibne B{bawayiah (Shaykh ªad}q), in his work, “…For the one
who does not have a Faqih (at hand)…” ['@  H$I J ] has related from the inner and outer Im{m, Mu¡ammad ibne ˜Al| al-
B{qir  a «ad|th in which the Im{m has offered the following lofty words:

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“Sleeping at the time of Fajr is prevents the sustenance (from reaching the person) and makes the color of his face yellow and
also changes the appearance of the person and makes his face unattractive and this is the sleep of every of every unfortunate
and ill person. Surely All{h, Blessed and the Most High divides up the sustenance between the time of Fajr and the rising of
the sun. Thus, I advise you to keep aware of that time and not to sleep during that time (since it has negative effects and bring
about things which will not be liked (by the person)).”3
In addition, the Leader of the Mu¡addith|n, Shaykh as-ªad}q has also narrated from the 8th Im{m Ab}l «asan ˜Al| ibne M}s{
al-Ri~{  in the commentary of the verse which reads:

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“I swear by those (Angels who) distribute blessings by Our command”4
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“Surely the Angels distribute the sustenance of the children of ¤dam between the time of the Fajr and the sunrise. Thus, the
person who is asleep during this time period has actually slept on his own sustenance (meaning that he has prevented himself
from attaining the sustenance which was guaranteed for him.)”5
Therefore in summary, the successful person is the one who wakes up in the morning at Fajr, as the sleep at Fajr time is one of
the greatest disasters for a person and leads to him being left behind in life.

3 Bi¡{rul Anw{r, Volume 13, Page 182

4 S}ratul Dh{riy{t (51), Verse 4
5 Shaykh Bah{`|, Mit{¡ul Fal{¡, Translated by ˜Al| ibne ¬{if}r Bas¢{m|, pages 11 to 13

Ethical Discourse # 78 – Page 3 of 8

Just imagine what would happen if instead of a person waking up one hour later from his sleep (and missing his prayers or
praying them late), if he were to go to sleep one hour earlier – meaning that those worthless hours of the late in which a
person’s mind does not work and in which that one hour of work (at night) in which he might not even benefit ten minutes -
is transformed into one hour of benefit and profit (through sleeping early, thus enabling him to wake up on time for his ªal{t!)
Thus, with this said, we see that he should not go forth to perform some recommended action which would cause any danger
to the obligatory acts.
Even something such as the performance of the «ajj to the house of All{h i with all the greatness that it has should not lead a
person to neglect an obligatory act which would be much more important than the performance of the (recommended) «ajj.
There are people who are sure to perform all of the recommended actions, however sometimes it is seen that when it comes
to the obligatory actions, they are lazy and lethargic. Such people are actually those whom we can refer to as ‘ostensibly holy’
people and nothing more!
2. The second point mentioned in the ¡ad|th is that:

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“…and the person who keeps away from the prohibited of All{h will be of the most safeguarded (one with the most Taqw{) of
people…”
The level of Wara˜ is even higher than that of Taqw{ since the first level which a person can reach to is that of possessing
Taqw{. Once that level has been perfected, the next one is that of Wara˜. In summary, the reality of Wara˜ is that a person
reaches to such a station that he refrains from all sorts of sinning.
There are some people who are very punctual when it comes to refraining from the discouraged acts (Makr}h{t) of Isl{m and
the performance of the recommended (Musta¡ab{t). However, when it comes to refraining from the prohibited
(Mu¡arram{t) such as back-biting, jealousy, showing off, etc… they do not pay any attention!
Sometimes a mere inappropriate and mistaken look at a person of the opposite sex may lead to disbelief (Kufr) and the
destruction of a person and this can be seen in what happened to Bar#|#{, the famous ˜¤bid who, after a lifetime spent in the
worship of All{h i made one inappropriate gaze at one whom he was not permitted to look at. Through this, he ended up
following Sha|¢{n and we see that in the end, this small act of his led to a life of sin and disbelief and he ended up leaving the
world in this state!
The story of Bar#|#
Bar#|#{, the ˜¤bid (Worshipper
(Worshipper)
Worshipper)
Amongst the Children of Isr{˜|l, there was an ˜¤bid named Bar#|#{ who had been in a state of worship for a very long period of
time and through this, had reached to such a close spiritual proximity to All{h i that anytime a person who had a
psychological illness was brought to him, through his prayers and supplications, they were immediately cured.
One day, a young woman who came from a very noble and well-known family was brought to him by the girl’s brothers and it
was agreed that he would seek to cure her of her illness. At this point in time (when he was left alone with the young woman),
Sha|¢{n began his act of evil-whispers into this man’s heart and was thus able to transform the situation this worshipper was
in to such an extent that the ˜¤bid ended up having illicit relations with this young woman!
A short time passed and it was seen that the young woman had become pregnant and since it has always been the case that
one sin (such as having illicit relations as in this case) always leads to a much greater sin, she was immediately killed and
buried on the side of the road.
Later on, her brothers realized that it was the ˜¤bid who was responsible for this great crime against their young sister and the
news of this spread throughout the entire city to the point where it finally reached to the ears of the Emir of the town.
Along with a group of his associates, the Emir made his way to the city centre to find out exactly what had transpired. When
the crimes of the ˜¤bid were confirmed and it was proven that he was indeed guilty of what had transpired (the act of
fornication), he was immediately removed from the house of worship in which he was residing. After this, once he himself
attested to committing the sin, he was tied to gallows to be hung to death.

Ethical Discourse # 78 – Page 4 of 8

When he was taken up on the gallows, Sha|¢{n manifested himself in front of this ˜¤bid and said to him, “It is I who was the
one responsible for leading you to what is now happening to you today. However if you obey me, I will save you and make a
way out for you from this situation!”
The ˜¤bid said, “What do you want me to do?”
Sha|¢{n said, “Just one Sajdah is enough for me!”
The ˜¤bid retorted, “I do not have the ability to perform sajdah with the state that I am in (hanging on the gallows).”
To this, Sha|¢{n replied, “Even if you make a sign of indication of Sajdah, that too is enough for me.”
The ˜¤bid made a sign out of the corner of his eyes or with his hands that he was performing a Sajdah and in this way,
submitted and performed Sajdah to Sha|¢{n however ended up becoming a disbeliever (through this act) and left the world
(on the gallows) as such!6
Thus, we must be careful since it is very well possible that with one look of the eyes, a person’s entire outcome in life may
change.
During the course of history, we see that we have many such examples of this happening that with the mere looking with the
eyes, a person’s entire outcome of his life is changed and we seek refuge in All{h i from such a bad outcome!
If a person’s eyes happen to fall upon a non-Ma¡ram and he sees something which brings him pleasure, however he lowers his
eyes from such a thing, we are told that at that exact moment in time, his heart becomes filled with true faith.
If a person turns away from the scene of a sin, then he shall definitely be able to sense that his heart has become filled with
Divine Light and he shall be able to actually perceive and feel this Divine Light within him.
Thus, this issue which we have just mentioned is something of great importance, since on one side we have paradise while on
the other side, there is the hell-fire…
3. The third part of the ¡ad|th tells us:

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“…and the person who is content with that what All{h has provided to him for sustenance will be the richest of people.”
Being content is the exact opposite end of the spectrum of gluttony and greed and the trait of greed is one of the greatest
disasters for a person to have!
The important point here which must be known and is the thing in which the adversity which many people encounter lies in
is the fact that it is not due to the material needs of life which cause these difficulties (that of greed and gluttony) to come
about.
Although there are difficulties in meeting the material needs and there are untold inconveniences which people must face,
however providing the necessities of life is not that important that it would cause these difficulties to come about – rather,
what is important to watch over is the trait of greed and gluttony.
It is the characteristic of greed and covetousness that lead a person to adversity and misfortune and the more that he runs
towards fulfilling his state of greed, the more that this trait of greed grows within him.
There are many dishonorable traits and acts which actually stem from the act of greed in relation to wealth including the acts
of bribery, indulging in acts of corruption (to gain more money), embezzlement and other things and all of these do not stem
from the need to fulfill one’s needs and requirements in life – rather they all stem from the traits of greed and gluttony and
wanting more!
All of this can be summarized in the fact that a person who has this greed is actually not happy with the sustenance of All{h
i.

6 Tafs|r-e-Namuna, Volume 23, Page 544 to 545 as related in Majma˜ul Bay{n, Volume 9, Page 265

Ethical Discourse # 78 – Page 5 of 8

The acts of embezzlement and theft which take place and the other acts of greed which we see written about in the
newspapers show us that some people, due to their greed, take possession of such large amounts of wealth and money that
even if they themselves, their children and their grandchildren were to use that amount of money that it still would not run
out – thus, is there any other reason for all of this other than greed?
In regards to money and wealth, there are various views which exist which range from showing extravagance to being
extremely miserly.
There are some people who give so much importance to wealth and money that they consider wealth to be the key for the
dissolution of all of their difficulties and it is not a surprise to see that this group of people are those who incessantly run after
the gathering of wealth and are not able to sit peacefully in one spot. It is these same people who also do not believe in any
limits or restrictions (when it comes to gaining wealth) and for such people, ¡al{l and ¡ar{m are the same.
Opposite to these people, there are others who do not give even the slightest importance to wealth and money. They actually
look for poverty and consider that the (true) worth and even consider wealth and money to be obstacles in attaining Taqw{
and closeness to All{h i!
In the face of these two beliefs of extravagance and miserliness, that which the Noble Qur`{n and the Isl{mic a¡{d|th show us
is that wealth is good to have, however with the following conditions:
1. It should be a means and not the goal;
2. It should not make a person a captive and slave, rather, the person should be the Emir of his wealth and not the slave
of it;
3. It must be gained through the permitted means and must be spent in the ways which would earn the pleasure of
All{h i.
Having an attraction and value for such wealth is not only NOT considered as worship of the transient world, rather, it is
actually proof of an attraction and pull towards the next life!
It is for this reason that we read in a ¡ad|th form Im{m Ja˜far ibne Mu¡ammad as-ª{diq  that he when the Im{m  sent
his curse upon gold and silver, one of his companions became surprised and in reply to this companion, the Im{m  said:

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“The meaning of gold is that thing which removes the religion (which a person has) while the meaning of silver is that thing
which is source of disbelief and lack of faith.”7
In addition, in a ¡ad|th narrated in Bi¡{rul Anw{r from Am|rul Mo’min|n ‘Al| ibn Ab| ¬{lib  we read that:

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“Intoxication is of four types: intoxication of alcohol, intoxication of wealth, intoxication of sleep and intoxication of power.”8
There are many people who, up until the end of their life, are busy in the gathering of wealth and then end up leaving it for
other people (through the rule of inheritance). These people who have died must give the accounts and be answerable for this
wealth which they had, while those who inherit it are the ones who will benefit and make use of it!
Thus it is for this reason that we read in the a¡{d|th that Am|rul Mo`min|n ˜Al| ibn Ab| ¬{lib  once asked:

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7 Bi¡{rul Anw{r, Volume 73, Page 141, ¡ad|th 17. [It should be noted that the meaning of ‘KCL’ is gold while the verb ‘KCL’ in
˜Arabic means to go or leave and similarly, the word ‘M’ is silver while the verb “#” refers to an overflow or an abundance
and thus, the Im{m has actually done a play on words and used these two words in a very interesting and yet truthful manner.
– Tr.]
8 Bi¡{rul Anw{r, Volume 73, Page 182
Ethical Discourse # 78 – Page 6 of 8
“Who is the person that will show the greatest remorse?”
He then answered his own question and stated:

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“The person (who shall show the greatest remorse) is the one who will see his wealth (and the good which it brought) in the
scales of someone other than himself, while All{h will make him enter into the hellfire and will cause his inheritors to enter
into Paradise!”9
In another ¡ad|th, this from Im{m Ja˜far ibne Mu¡ammad as-ª{diq  in regards to the commentary of the verse which reads:

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“Thus will Allah show them their deeds to be intense regret to them…”10
that he stated:

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“This is in regards to that person who saved his wealth and due to his stinginess, did not spend it in the path of the obedience
to All{h and then dies and leaves that wealth behind (for his heirs) who may spend it either in the obedience of All{h or in His
disobedience and transgression.”11
The Im{m  continued on and then said:

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“If that person (who inherits the wealth) spends it in the way of obedience of All{h (Glory and Greatness be to Him) then the
person whose wealth it was (who has died and left it for inheritance of others) shall see the reward of that in the scales of
another person and he shall show remorse since that wealth was his wealth (which he has now given up to his inheritors who
have done good with it). However if he (the person who inherits the money) spends that wealth in disobedience to All{h and
that wealth gave the person (who inherited it) the ability and strength to sin, then that person (who died and left the money
in inheritance to others) will also show remorse and it will also be a punishment for him (since in this example the person
who left the money behind in inheritance will be punished since it was his to start out with and through leaving it for others,
he helped them perform sins.).”12
Contentment in the Isl{mic Narrations
1. It has been narrated that Im{m ˜Al|  has said:

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“Contentment is the wealth which shall not diminish”13

9 Bi¡{rul Anw{r, Volume 73, Page 20

10 Al-Qur`{n, S}ratul Baqarah (2), Verse 176
11 Bi¡{rul Anw{r, Volume 73, Page 142
12 Tafs|r-e-Namuna, Volume 27, Pages 319 to 322
13 Bi¡{rul Anw{r, Volume 71, Page 344
Ethical Discourse # 78 – Page 7 of 8
2. It has been narrated that Im{m ˜Al| ibnil «usain al-Sajj{d  said:

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“Whoever shows contentment will be satiated and whoever does not show contentment (with what he has) will never become
satiated (no matter how much he gets).”14
3. It has been narrated that Im{m Ja˜far as-ª{diq  has said that the Messenger of All{h
said:

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“Congratulations be upon the person who submits himself and who leads his life according to his needs (and is not
extravagant).”15
4. The Prophet of All{h
has said:

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“The person who always desires more is (truly) the most needy of people while the person who is content (with what he has)
is (truly) the richest of people.”16

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…and all praise belongs to All{h i – only the mistakes are mine. (Translator)

14 Bi¡{rul Anw{r, Volume 8, Page 135

15 U#}lul K{f|, Volume 2, Page 140
16 J{mi˜ul Akhb{r, Page 126
Ethical Discourse # 78 – Page 8 of 8