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Salam

Just got to know from brother Hassan al-Qadri (Instagram) that Shaykh Saduq's lecture on the 9th of Muharram, which is mentioned in his Amali, is called the Maqtal of Shaykh Saduq. You can read it on Thaqalayn's website:

Al-Amālī: The Thirtieth Assembly, Saturday, the Ninth of Muharram, 368 AH, which is the [the Eve of] the Killing of al-Husayn b. `Ali b. Abi Talib (as). | Thaqalayn

His lectures in the first 10 days of Muharram:

1. Al-Amālī: The Twenty-Seventh Assembly, which is Friday, the First of Muharram, 367 AH. He delivered it after he returned from the Shrine of al-Rida (as) | Thaqalayn

2. Al-Amālī: The Twenty-Eighth Assembly, which is Tuesday, the 5th of Muharram, 368 AH, after he returned from the Shrine of al-Rida (as). | Thaqalayn

3. Al-Amālī: The Twenty-Ninth Assembly, the Gathering on Friday, the Eighth of Muharram, 368 AH. | Thaqalayn

4. Al-Amālī: The Thirtieth Assembly, Saturday, the Ninth of Muharram, 368 AH, which is the [the Eve of] the Killing of al-Husayn b. `Ali b. Abi Talib (as). | Thaqalayn

5. Al-Amālī: The Thirty-First Assembly in the Remainder of the Killing [of al-Husayn], Sunday, which is the Day of `Ashura’, Ten into al-Muharram, 368 AH. | Thaqalayn

5th Dhul Hijjah (two days ago) - Martyrdom of Abu Dharr

According to a (non-shia) historian Waqidi, Abul Aswal Duayli says: "I wished with all my heart to visit Abu Dharr and ask him why he was turned out. Therefore, I went to him at Rabzah and asked him if he had come out of Medina of his own free will or he had been forcibly expelled.

"He said, "Brother! How to tell you that when I was sent to Syria I thought that I had gone to a place which was an important place of the Muslims. I was happy there but I was not allowed to stay there and was called back to Medina. When I reached there I consoled myself with the idea that was the place to which I had migrated and where I had received the honour of companionship of the Holy Prophet. But, alas, I was turned out of that place also and now I am where you see".

After that he said, "O Abul Aswad! Listen to me. I was sleeping in the Prophet's masjid one day. By chance the Holy Prophet came in. He woke me up and said,
 
"O Abu Dharr! Why are you sleeping in the masjid?"
Abu Dharr: The sleep overwhelmed me and suddenly I went to sleep.
The Prophet: Tell me what you will do when you are turned out of this masjid?
Abu Dharr: I will go to Syria then, because signs of Islam are found there. It is also a place of Jihad.
The Prophet: What will you do when you are turned out of that place also?
Abu Dharr: I will draw my sword at that time and will behead the man who turns me out.
The Prophet: I give a far better advice to you.
Abu Dharr: What is that advice?
The Prophet: You should let yourself be dragged when you are dragged, and that you should accept what is told to you, and should not fight.

O Abul Aswad! According to the Prophet's advice I listened to them and accepted what they said. I still listen to them to accept what they say.

By Allah, He will take revenge on Uthman for what he has done to me and he will be proved the worst sinner in my case when he reaches in the court of Allah." The narrators of this authentic tradition are highly reliable and trustworthy as written by Allamah Amini in his book "al-Ghadir".

According to Allamah Subaiti, the reason that Abu Dharr was sent to such a place was only to stop his speeches, so that nobody could hear him, since he had a charm in his tongue. Whenever he spoke, he spoke the truth, which shook the foundations of the government (of Uthman).

Scholars say that Abu Dharr was spending his days with his family at Rabzah when suddenly his son Dharr fell sick. There was no physician in that deserted place to approach for treatment except trust in Allah. At last the disease aggravated till the time of his death approached. The distressed mother took up his head from the sand and put it on her knee. The son breathed his last. The mother and sister started bewailing, Abu Dharr was deeply shocked but his trust in Allah consoled him. He controlled himself and didn't weep. As it was a desert there were no arrangements for funeral. History does not tell us at this point how he buried his son.
 
Abu Dharr had not yet forgotten the death of his young son when his wife also left him for ever. According to Allamah Abdul Hamid Abu Dharr and his family members were passing their days in such a condition that they had no proper arrangement for food except that they got a little piece of meat now and then out of the camel slaughtered for the government officials. They generally used to eat grass or other such things in those days. One day Abu Dharr's wife ate some poisonous grass by which she contracted a fatal disease and died. Abu Dharr also fell sick.

He lay confined in a desolate desert. To say nothing of a house for shelter, he had to stay under the shade of a tree, without any arrangement for food and without a place to reside, rest or sleep in. But with his lofty courage and determination Abu Dharr bore with cheerfulness all the hardships for the pleasure of Allah. His wife and young son having died, the time had now approached when he was waiting for his own departure in that desolate place with his only young daughter with him.

We here reproduce the tragic story of Abu Dharr's death as related by his daughter, in the light of Majlisi's writing. She says: "We were passing our days with untold sufferings in the wilderness. It so happened one day that we could not get anything to eat. We kept on searching round the jungle but could not find anything. My ailing father said to me, "Daughter! Why are you so much worried today?" I said, "Dad! I am extremely hungry and weakness has overtaken you also on account of intense hunger. I have tried my utmost to get something to eat but could not find anything so that I might feel honoured before you".

Abu Dharr said, "Do not be worried. Allah is the great disposer of our affairs". I said, "Dad! This is correct but there is nothing in sight for the fulfilment of our needs. He said, "Daughter! Hold me by the shoulder and take me to such and such direction. Perhaps we may find something there". I held him by the hand and started in the direction he had asked me to go. On the way my father asked me to make him sit on the ground. I seated him on the hot sand. He gathered some sand and lay down with his head upon it.

As soon as he lay down on the ground, his eyes began to revolve and he got into the agony of death. Seeing this I started crying hoarsely. Then keeping control over himself he said, "Why do you cry, daughter?" I said, “What else shall I do, then father?” It is a desert and not a single man is seen here. I do not have a shroud for you and also there is no grave digger here. What will I do if you breathe your last in this desolate place?

He wept at my helplessness and said, "My daughter! Don't be worried. That friend of mine in whose love and in whose children's love I tolerated all these hardships had informed me of this event in advance. Listen! O my dear daughter! He had told before a group of his companions on the occasion of the Battle of Tabuk that one of them would die in a desert and a party of companions would go for his funeral and burial. Now, none of them is alive except me. All of them have died in populated places. Only I am left over and also in a desolate wilderness. I have never seen such a desert land where I am lying in the agony of death. My sweet daughter! When I die cover me with my cloak, and sit down on the way leading to Iraq. A party of believers will pass by that way. Tell them that Abu Dharr, the companion of the Prophet, has breathed his last. Hence please arrange his burial".

He was talking to me when the angel of death looked at his face. When my father looked at him his face flushed and he said, "O the angel of death! Where have you been uptil now? I have been waiting for you. O my friend! You have come in the hour of my great need. O the angel of death! May that man, who is not happy to see you never get deliverance. For Allah's sake take me soon to the most Merciful Allah so that I may be relieved of the hardships of the world”.
After that, he addressed Allah and said, "O my Nourisher! I swear by Your Being, and You know that I speak the truth that I never abominated death and always wished to meet You”.
 
After that the sweat of death appeared on the forehead of my father and looking at me he turned his face away from the world for ever. We are for Allah and to Him we shall return”.

Read full: Chapter 20 | The Great Companion of the Prophet (s) Abu Dharr (ra) | Al-Islam.org

From a long narration of Imam Sadiq (as):

When we stepped out into the open space out of his (i.e. Hisham ibn Abdul Malik) house (in Sham), we saw a large crowd seated at its end. My father (a.s.) asked someone who they were, and Hisham’s guard replied, “They are Christian priests and monks. A scholar, who is the most knowledgeable among them, resides in this mountain. Every year they come to him once with their questions. Today they have gathered for the same.” Hearing this, my father (a.s.) proceeded towards them and I too followed him. My father concealed his face with his cloth so that none could recognize him and followed the group of Christians to the mountain. When they sat down, he (a.s.) also sat along with them. They had spread mats for the scholar, brought him outside and made him sit upon it. He had turned very old and had even met some of the disciples (Hawariyyin) of Nabi Isa (a.s.). His eye-brows had fallen upon his eyes due to old age and he had tied them with a yellow silken cloth upon his forehead. He turned his eyes, similar to that of a snake and looked at those present.

When the scholar’s sight fell upon my father (a.s.), he said, “Are you from among us or from among the blessed nation?” He (a.s.) replied that he was from among the latter. Again he asked, “From among their scholars or their ignorant ones?” He (a.s.) replied, “I am not from among their ignorant ones.” Hearing this, he turned extremely uneasy and asked, “Should I question you or you shall question me?” My father (a.s.) told him to question. Hearing this, he said, “O group of Christians! It is strange that a man from among the nation of Muḥammad (s.a.w.a.) tells me to question him! It is appropriate that we ask him some questions.”

Then he said, “O slave of Allah (s.w.t.)! Tell me of a time that neither belongs to day, nor night.” My father (a.s.) replied, “The time in between the rising of Fajr (dawn) until sunrise.” Again he asked, “Then what is this time?” My father (a.s.) replied, “It is from among the times of paradise. It is a time in which our sick ones gain consciousness and pains cease down. The one who cannot sleep at night gains sleep at that time. Allah (s.w.t.) has appointed this time as a means of aspiration for those who aspire towards the hereafter and a clear evidence for the ones striving for the hereafter. And He (s.w.t.) has appointed it an evidence against those who disapprove and the arrogant ones who do not strive for the hereafter.”

Hearing this, the scholar said, “You have spoken the truth. Now tell me, when you claim that the inhabitants of paradise shall eat and drink, while they shall be in no need to urinate or excrete, then is there a similarity of it in this world?" He (a.s.) replied, “Indeed, a child in his mother’s womb eats what his mother eats, yet no refuse is generated from him.” Then the scholar said, “Didn’t you say that you were not among their scholars?” My father (a.s.) replied, “I said that I am not among their ignorant ones."

Again the scholar asked, “Then inform me, when you claim that the fruits of paradise shall not lessen when eaten, rather they shall remain as it is. Then does this have a similarity in this world?” He (a.s.) replied, “Indeed, its similarity in this world is a lamp (candle). No matter if ten thousand lamps are burnt from it, it does not diminish and remains intact.”

The Christian scholar now said, “I shall put forth a question to you now that you shall not be able to reply.” He (a.s.) told him to question and he said, “Then inform me regarding a man who copulated with his wife and she became pregnant with two sons. Both of them were born the same time and died at the same time. However, one of them died while his age was fifty years and the second one died while his age was one hundred and fifty years.” Imam (a.s.) replied, “The two sons were (Nabi) Uzayr and Uzar (aka Uzayrah), whose mother conceived them together in one night. They were born at the same time and spent thirty years of their lives together. Allah (s.w.t.) took away the life of Uzayr and arose him again after a hundred years. He remained along with his brother (Uzar) for twenty more years and both of them died at the same time.” Hearing this, the Christian scholar arose (in bewilderment) and said, “You have brought a greater scholar than me who has disgraced me. By Allah (s.w.t.)! Until this man remains in Sham, I shall not speak to you. You may address your questions to him, whatever you desire”.

According to another report, Imam al Sadiq (a.s.) said that when night fell, the scholar came to Imam al Baqir (a.s.) and upon witnessing his miracles, accepted Islam.

Full narration in: Muntahal Amal, Chapter 7, Pg 42

Same debate is mentioned with slightly different details in Biharul Anwar, Vol. 46, Pg 405

21-1 On the authority of Ali ibn Musa ibn Ja’far (al-Ridha’) (a.s.) on the authority of his father (Imam Kazim) (a.s.), on the authority of his grandfather (a.s.), on the authority of Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.), “When I decided to get married, I did not dare to tell God’s Prophet (S). This issue was on my mind for many days and nights until one day I went to see God’s Prophet (S) and he (a.s.) said, “O Ali!” I said, “Prophet of God! Yes.” He (a.s.) said, “Are you interested in getting married?” I said, “God’s Prophet (S) knows best.” I thought that God’s Prophet (S) would marry off one of the women from the Quraysh tribe to me. I was worried that I might lose the chance to marry (the Blessed Lady) Fatima. I did not understand what happened and God’s Prophet (S) called me in.

I went to see him in the house of Umm Salama. When he (a.s.) saw me his face got bright and he smiled such that his white teeth were shining. He (a.s.) told me, “O Ali! Here are the glad tidings. The Blessed, the Sublime God took care of the issue of your marriage which was on my mind.” I asked, “O Prophet of God! What is the result?” He (a.s.) said, “Gabriel descended to me and gave me some heavenly hyacinth and clove gillyflower. I took them and smelled them and said, O Gabriel! What is the occasion for bringing me this hyacinth and gillyflower?

He (a.s.) said, “The Blessed, the Sublime God has ordered all the angels and others residing in Paradise to decorate all the trees, rivers, fruits and palaces in Heaven. He has ordered the winds to blow there with the scent of various perfumes. He has ordered the houri-eyed ones to recite the Chapters of Ta-Ha (No. 20) the three chapters beginning with Ta-Sin (al Shu’ara, al-Naml, and al-Qasas -No. 26,27,28-) and the chapter of Ya-Sin (No. 36) and the chapter of Ha Mim Ayn Sin Qaf (al-Shura, No.42). The Honorable, the Exalted God has ordered the callers to call out, ‘Verily, today is the banquet of Ali ibn Abi-Talib. Bear witness that I marry off (the Blessed Lady) Fatima, the daughter of Mu¦ammad, to Ali ibn Abi Talib. I am pleased with this. These two are one from the other.’”

Then, Almighty God sent a white cloud to pour down some of its pearls, aquamarine, and corundum. The angels then dispersed hyacinth and gillyflower of Paradise. Then, the Blessed, the Sublime God ordered one of the angels of Paradise called Rahil, who has no other equal in eloquence among the angels, to read the marriage contract. Then Rahil recited such a marriage contract which no one from the heavens and the Earth had recited before. Then God ordered one of the angels to call out, ‘O My angels and the residents of My Paradise! Express congratulations to the beloved friend of Muhammad, Ali ibn Abi Talib and the daughter of Muhammad, (the Blessed Lady) Fatima. I have established Blessings for them.’”

Rahil said, “O Lord! Are not Your Blessings for them more than what we saw for them in Paradise and considering their rank?” The Honorable, the Exalted God said, “O Rahil! Amongst My Blessings for them is My own Love with which I unite them, and establish them as My Proofs for My creatures. I swear by My Honor and Majesty that I will create from them descendants whom I will make My Treasures on My Earth, and as Mines of My Wisdom. By them I will provide My Proofs after My Prophets and Messengers.”

“O Ali! Then give me glad tidings! I will marry off my daughter, (the Blessed Lady) Fatima to you as the Merciful God did. For her I am pleased with what God is pleased with. Now take the hands of your spouse as you deserve her more than I do. Gabriel informed me that Paradise and its residents are eager to see you two. Had not the Blessed, the Sublime God planned to create Proofs for His creatures from your generation, He would have fulfilled the request of the residents of Paradise regarding you. How good a brother, a groom and a companion you are. God’s Pleasure suffices for you. It is better than anyone else’s pleasure.” Then Ali (a.s.) said, “O my Lord! Enable me to be grateful for Thy favours, which thou hast bestowed on me…” Then God’s Prophet (S) said, “Amin!”

21-2 On the authority of Abil Hassan Ali ibn Musa Al-Ridha’ (a.s.), on the authority of his father (a.s.), on the authority of his forefathers (a.s.), on the authority of Ali (a.s.) that God’s Prophet (S) told him, ‘O Ali! Some of the men of Quraysh tribe have blamed me regarding (the Blessed Lady) Fatima (a.s.). They say that they asked me to marry off (the Blessed Lady) Fatima (a.s.) to them, but I married her off to you. I told them, ‘By God, I was not the one who did that. It was the Sublime God who did not accept you and married her off to Ali. Gabriel descended upon me and said, O Muhammad! God - the Exalted, the Magnificent - says, ‘Had I not created Ali (a.s.), there would have been no equal for your daughter (the Blessed Lady) Fatima (a.s.) on the Earth from Adam to the end.’”

(Uyun Akhbar Ar-Ridha, Vol. 1, Pg 292)