Once again, the devotees of the Ahl al-Bayt gathered on Thursday night, the 28th of Tir 1403, in the hall of cultural center. They commemorated the martyrdom of one of the witnesses of the painful event of Karbala and they listened and recited to the spiritually uplifting Dua-e-Kumayl and the heavenly supplication of Mawla Ali (peace be upon him). The program started at eight o'clock in the evening with the presence of the ambassador and members of the embassy of the Islamic Republic, Mr. Hosseinpour, the Honorable Vice President of Management and Resources Development, and Mr. Shakri, the Honorable Director General of Human Resources of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization, a group of resident Iranians and lovers of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) from the host country. The event started with the recitation of Ziyarat Ashura in memory of the martyrs of Karbala, followed by Dua-e- Dua-e-Kumayl as usual.

 

 

Then, Mr. Abdolmajid Abolghasemi, the Cultural Counselor, expressed his devotion to the Infallible and Chosen Household and offered condolences for the martyrdom of Imam Sajjad (a.s.), He honored the guests, especially the members of the embassy, the Deputy for Management Development and Resources, and the accompanying delegation. He also invited Hujjat-ul-Islam wa’l-Muslimeen Michael Mastura, a prominent Filipino scholar from the Qom Seminary who had returned to his homeland for a vacation and to meet with the Shia brothers and sisters in the Philippines, to give his address.

First of all, I would like to thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for giving this opportunity to be with you really the brothers and sisters in Islam And also I would like to thank the presence of our beloved Ambassador Yousef Esmaeil Zadeh and also our Cultural Center Abdolmajid Abolghasemi, And also Mr. Akhundi for giving this opportunity to be with you We are here to commemorate the shahada of Imam Zayn al-Abidin alayhi afdalo salati wassalam As for this I would like to Give some three points regarding Imam Zayn al-Abidin alayhi salam I hope it will not make you, what you call this, khasteh Yes, I think it will be little bit What you call this, longer inshallah, but I will try my best to make it shorter inshallah.

Okay, so be with me We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also to give us tawfiq to do it As soon as possible, to finish it as soon as possible. Thank you so much As for the first point, Imam Zayn al-Abidin alayhi afdalo salati wassalam He was not actually just famous among the Shia scholars or among the Believers of Ahl al-Bayt alayhim wassalam, but even the Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama'ah They accepted that Imam Sajjad alayhi afdalo salati wassalam is one of the great pious man ever lived in his time You know, Imam Sajjad alayhi salam, they categorized According to their time and Imam Sajjad, they said it's among the Tabi'een It means The one who made the Sahaba But did not make the Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam. So they are the Tabi'een.

 

 

They said, you know I will just mention some Scholars from Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama'ah so that our brothers or sisters who are New in Shia, they will see that Imam Sajjad alayhi salam is just not Unbeloved or among the Shia, but even the Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama'ah first Scholars is from Muhammad ibn Talha al-Shafi'i He said Shafi'i, he said that Hadha Zayn al-Abideen, Qudwat al-Zahideen, wa Sayyid al-Muttaqeen He said that. He said that is Zayn al-Abideen. You know, Zayn al-Abideen is the What you call this decoration of the believers Not just a believers, but Abideen Those who worship Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala constantly, you know There's a difference.

They said that there's a difference between Mu'mineen and also Abideen Sometimes, you know in our istilahat among Shias, we call Shias a Mu'min They call Shias a Mu'min, but Abideen, they are in another level, a stage of Spirituality. So they said Imam Sajjad alayhi salam is Zayn al-Abideen, Qudwat al-Zahideen He is the master or is the Leader of those who Zahid Zahid is the one who abstain from any kind of worldly affairs This is Zahideen But remind We should remind ourselves, Zahideen does not mean that we should live in the mountain and live alone there No, Zahideen, we should also live among the people, you know Sometimes it's misunderstood what is Zahideen, Zahid means.

When they say Zahid Some people they say that those people who live in the mountain and live alone only But if you look at carefully Zahid, it means although He tried to purify himself, then after that he tried to purify other people This is Zahid According to those who studied Hawza Ilmiya, they said this is Asfar al-Arba, the last Stage of Safar, the last stage of traveling is from God towards people So those who people claim that they reach the very highest level of spirituality they should also go back to their people and guide them and I think one of the best example is the late Imam The late Imam Khomeini, you know He tried to purify himself when he was young and most of the Irfani books of the late Imam written during his youth life Well, if I'm not mistaken, Imam Khomeini wrote for example the There's a book Irfani book, he wrote it, I think when he was 25 years old if not mistaken So he was very young. So he tried to purify himself Then after that he tried to guide the other people. So this is the Zahid then after that This scholar said that Wa imamul mu'minin He is the Imam, the leader of believers This word is not from this scholar, Shia scholar from a Sunni scholar Which is Shafi'i Although we must be Shafi'i also beloved or they also love ahlulbayt alayhim afdalus salat wa salam Number two scholar Ibn Hajar Haytami.

He said huwa zayn al-abidin hatha huwa allathi khalafa abahu ilman wa zuhdan So this zayn al-abidin is the representative or the Khalifa of his father Imam Hussain alayhi salam when it comes to knowledge and his spirituality So these guys even he said that khalafa abahu. Even if he admitted that his father also is an eligible person, and so a person with great spirituality. Number three, the next person is Ibn Taymiyyah. Most of us heard Ibn Taymiyyah. One of the, I don't know they call Ibn Taymiyyah as an RCB. When we say RCB, the one who heeds Ahlul Bayt a.s. So even him, he admitted that Zainul Abidin Amma Ali Ibn Al-Husayn, He was one of the greatest or greatest personality among the Tabi'in. و سادتهم علما و دینا Even Ibn Taymiyyah admitted that Zainul Abidin is an eligible person, and also he is a, what you call this, people of religion. They say it Madhabi, yeah, they call it Madhabi in your language. So these three persons admitted that Imam Zainul Abidin is really a good person and a highest spirituality.

 

 

 So this is regarding Zainul Abidin according to our brothers, Ahlul Sunnah wal Jama'ah. Second point is regarding giving importance of dua. You know, Imam Zainul Abidin, most of the time, he read duas. And that's why we have this book called Sahihbatul Sajjadiyya. And even they said that most of the house of Shias, they have Quran, they have Mafatihul Jinnah, and also they have this book, Sahihbatul Sajjadiyya. I advise my sisters and also my brothers to read this Sahihbatul Sajjadiyya. You know, in time of Corona, our beloved leader, Imam Khamenei, they advised us to read the dua number six, if I'm not mistaken. So it means that this duas from Imam Sajjad alaihi salam is really full of spirituality. And also Imam Sajjad alaihi salam taught us how to speak with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

You know, most of us, sometimes when we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we directly ask what we need. Right? We say, ya Allah, give this to me, give that to me, give it to me. But Imam Sajjad alaihi salam give us the way, the greatest way how to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So that's why we need to read this book. And Alhamdulillah, there's a lot of written books as a tafsir of Sahihbatul Sajjadiyya. So it's mostly written in Farsi language. So may Allah give us opportunity to have a student who can translate these books from Persian to English. Really, it's useful. It's really, really useful. You know, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, قلْ ما یعْبغ فیکمْ ربّی لوْلا دعاءکمْ Really, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will not talk with us unless we du'a. So when we want to speak with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the best way is to do du'a, nothing else. Yes, I think there's a sentence from our late shaheed, Murtadha Murtahari. He said that, you know, Qur'an as if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks with you. But when you read du'a or Sahihbatul Sajjadiyya, as if you are talking with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So du'a, this Sahihbatul Sajjadiyya, dear brothers and sisters in Islam, really, we need to read this. And if you look at carefully with this book, in every situation, Imam Sajjad alaihi salam taught us what we should read. For example, from Saturday and up to Friday, Imam Sajjad taught us what we should read. And also during the Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr, during the thunder so strong, you know, there's a du'a, when there's a big thunder, ra'ad, yeah, they say. Even that, and also even when we have this something in ourselves, for example, when we feel that we are lost in our travel, there's a du'a especially, they call it du'a tawbah, yeah. So, dear brothers and sisters in Islam, really, I ask you, first myself, to try to read this du'a, Sahihbatul Sajjadiyya, inshaAllah. This is the second point. The last point is regarding holding majalis and crying for Imam Hussain alaihi afdalul salati wa salam. You know, what I really like from your culture, from our brothers, Iranian brothers, really, commemorating the death anniversary of Imam Hussain alaihi salam. Really, we as Shia in Philippines, we really like that, you know. Our ancestors used to commemorate Imam Hussain alaihi salam. You know it. But, just one day, just the day of Ashura, just in that day, but really, you, dear brothers and sisters in Islam, really, you manage it, how to, what you call this, export it to the other community.

You know, the famous saying of our late Imam Khomeini rahmatullah alaih. Muharram and Safar, these two months protect the religion. I think that's the famous line of Imam Khomeini. We don't have, maybe what he wants to say that we will not have any pure Islam without this Muharram and Safar. Maybe this is what he wants to say. What Imam Khomeini Rahmatullah wants to say to us. So really, we thank you, brothers and sisters, that you taught us how to commemorate Imam Hussain alaihi salam in very nice and proper way really. You know, Imam Sajjad alaihi salam, maybe he was the one, he was the first to establish the majalis for Imam Hussain alaihi salam and cooking for those who commemorate Imam Hussain alaihi salam.

 You know, those who cook for the people who attend the majlis of Imam Hussain alaihi salam, they gain rewards. And this is the sunnah of Imam Sajjad alaihi salam. You know, there's a riwayah from Imam Sajjad alaihi salam, he said, لما قتل الْحسیْن بْن علی علیْه السّلام لبس النّساء بنی حاشم الصّود والْمصْه وقلْ لا یشْتکن منْ حرٍّ ولا برْدٍ وکان علیّ بْن الْحسیْن یعْمل لهنّ الطّعام للْماتم Imam Sajjad alaihi salam, وکان You know, in Arabic, I think there's a, we have brothers from Arabic countries, they know what this is, وکان یعْمل It means, it continues, استمراری, they say, استمراری Not just once, but in every time of Ashura, he used to cook for those who attend the Majlis of Imam Hussain alaihi salam So cooking for those who, providing food for those who attend the Majlis of Imam Hussain alaihi salam Is a sunnah of Imam Zayn al-Abidin alaihi salam So those who want to follow the sunnah of Imam Sajjad, commemorating is not enough, but also this another action from Imam Sajjad alaihi salam.

 There's another rewire from Imam Sajjad alaihi salam, he said, البکاء الخمْسة آدمْ ویعْقبْ ویوسفْ وفاطم بنْت محمّدٍ صلوة اللّه وسلام علیْه وعلیّ بْن الْحسیْن علیْهم السّلام Those who cried, بکاء, he said, are five, one is Adam alaihi salam, when he repented to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala ویعْقبْ When he lost his son Yusuf and also Yusuf when he was in what you call this, سجن And also Fatima, Bibi Fatima al-Zahra salamu alaih when her father passed away and also Imam Zain al-Abidin And of course when we see Imam Zain al-Abidin cry because of what happened in Karbala You know, he was there, she witnessed what happened to his family, really And that's why Imam Sajjad alaihi afdalu salati wa salam according to Imam Sadi alaihi salam He used to cry, I think 20 years or 40 years, he used to cry for Imam Hussein alaihi salam .

According to the narration, when someone give him or provide him or prepare a food for him, he used to cry Imam Zain al-Abidin, when he sees some food in his front, he used to cry, why? They said, man, ask him, Ya Zain al-Abidin, is it not enough for crying for Imam Hussein alaihi salam? Why every moment that you or every moment we provide food for you, you cry? What's the reason? Is it not enough? You know, I actually, I think I lived in also in Iran, but sometimes some other people they said Crying is enough, you know, crying is enough, we used to hear that in Iran, crying is enough We cry, Muharram and Safar, we should be happy, yeah, they said like that But if we really look the sunnah of Imam Zain al-Abidin, he used to cry 20 up to 40 years, 20 up to 40 years, it's not a small, what you call this, it's not a small amount of days, really It's huge, 40 years, so that's why when we commemorate Imam Hussein alaihi salam When you cry to Imam Hussein alaihi salam, dear brothers and sisters in Islam, it's not a new, it's not a bid'ah But it's a sunnah of our beloved Imam and it's even a sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad salallahu alaihi wa sallam May Allah accept our amal, may Allah accept our azadari for Imam Hussein alaihi afdalu salati wa salam May Allah accept our amal, may Allah accept our azadari for Imam Hussein alaihi salam Amin.