Tafsir 13. Al Raadd

H 496, Ch. 10, h1 A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al- Husayn ibn Sa‘id from al-Nadr ibn Suwayd and Fudala ibn Ayyub from Musa ibn Bakr from al-Fudayl who has said the following: “Once I asked Imam abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, about the meaning of the words of Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious,   ‘For every nation there is a guide.’ (13:7) He (the Imam), recipient of divine supreme covenant, said, ‘Every Imam is the guide in his own century (time).’”

H 497, Ch. 10, h2 Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Muhammad ibn abu ‘Umayr from ibn ’Udhayna from Burayd al-‘Ijli who has said the following:  “About the words of Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious,  ‘(Muhammad), you are only a Warner. For every nation there is a guide’ (13:7) Imam abu Ja’far, recipient of divine supreme covenant, has said, ‘The messenger of Allah is the Warner. At all times there is a guide from us who guides people to the teachings of the Holy Prophet, recipient of divine supreme covenant. Of the guides who possess Divine Authority after the Holy Prophet, recipient of divine supreme covenant, is Amir al- Mu’minin, Ali, recipient of divine supreme covenant, and his successors one after the other.’” 

H 498, Ch. 10, h3 Al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Ash‘ari has narrated from Mu‘alla ibn Muhammad from Muhammad ibn Jumhur from Muhammad ibn ’Isma‘il from Sa‘dan from abu Basir who has said the following: “Once I asked Imam abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, about the meaning of the words of Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, ‘(Muhammad), you are only a Warner. For every nation there is a guide.’ (13:7) The Imam, recipient of divine supreme covenant, said, ‘The messenger of Allah is the Warner and (Amir al-Mu’minin) Ali, recipient of divine supreme covenant, is the guide. O abu Muhammad, is there a guide today?’ I said, ‘Yes, may Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, there has always been a guide from you one after the other until this (noble task) is being carried on by your own self.’ “The Imam, recipient of divine supreme covenant, said, ‘O abu Muhammad, may Allah grant you blessings. If a verse (guidance) comes to a man who then dies with his death the verse (guidance) also dies. Even the whole Book dies. (In our case) it (guidance) lives and it continues with new generations as it has done so with the people in the past.’”

H 499, Ch. 10, h4 Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al- Husayn ibn Sa‘id from Safwan from Mansur from ‘Abd al-Rahim al-Qasir who

has said the following: “I asked Imam abu Ja’far, recipient of divine supreme covenant, about the meaning of the words of Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, ‘. . . For every nation there is a guide.’ (13:7) The Imam, recipient of divine supreme covenant, said, ‘The messenger of Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, is the Warner and (Amir al-Mu’minin) Ali, recipient of divine supreme covenant, is the guide. I swear by Allah, that guidance (and Leadership with Divinne Authority) never departed us, it is with us and will always be with us until the Day of Judgment.’”

The Word Qadar does not mean “predestined”, but rather “measured” or allocated. So our genetics, our attributes are not chosen by us, but out of our control, and hence effectively “predestined”. 

H 10285, Ch. 6, h 2 It is narrated from the narrator of the previous Hadith from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id from Hammad ibn ‘Isa from Hariz from those whom he has mentioned who has said the following: “I once asked one of the two Imam, (abu Ja‘far or abu ‘Abd Allah), ‘Alayhim al-Salam, about the words of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, ‘He knows what every female bears and what the wombs decrease (spoil) and what they increase (dispose).’ (13:8) He (the Imam) said, ‘Decrease’ is every pregnancy before nine months and ‘increase’ is what is more than nine months. Whenever a woman experiences pure blood discharge during her pregnancy a similar number of days are increased in the length of her pregnancy.’”

H 3262, CH 48, h 1 Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Ali ibn Asbat from Ghalib ibn ‘Abd Allah from abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, who has said the following: “About the words of Allah, the Most Blessed, the Most High, ‘All in the heavens and the earth prostrate themselves before Allah, either of their own free will or by force, just as do their shadows in the mornings and evenings,’ (13:15) the Imam said, ‘This is prayer before sunrise and before sunset and it is the hour in which prayers are heard.’”

H 2817, CH 159, h 7 A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from ‘Amr ibn ‘Uthman from Muhammad ibn ‘Adhafir from certain individuals of his people from Muhammad ibn Muslim or abu Hamza from abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, from his father, recipient of divine supreme covenant, who has said the following: “Once Ali ibn al-Husayn, recipient of divine supreme covenant, said to me, ‘My son, beware of five kinds of people and do not associate with, speak to and accompany them on the road.’  I then asked, ‘Who are they O father?’ He then said, ‘You must not accompany a lying person; he is like a phantom. He tells you of what, in fact, is faraway to be very near and what, in fact, is near to be very far. You must not associate with a sinful person; he may sell you for a single loaf or even less to this or that person. You must not associate with a stingy person; he leaves you out in the cold in financial matters in your desperate conditions. You must not associate with a silly person; he may want to benefit you instead he causes you harm. “You must not associate one who has failed to maintain good relations with relatives; I have found him as condemned in three places of the book of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, ‘If you ignore the commands of Allah, would you then also spread evil in the land and sever the ties of kinship? (47:22) Allah has condemned these people and made them deaf, dumb, and blind.’ (47:23) ‘Those who disregard their covenant with Allah after He has taken such a pledge from them, who sever the proper relations that Allah has commanded them to establish, and those who spread evil in the land will have Allah’s condemnation instead of reward and will face the most terrible end.’ (13:25) ‘. . . The evil doers (2:26) who break their established covenant with Him and the relations He has commanded to be kept and who spread evil in the land; these are the ones who lose a great deal.’” (2:27)

H 361, Ch. 24, h2 Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from ibn abu ‘Umayr from Hisham ibn Salim and Hafs ibn al-Bakhtari and others from abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, who has said the following: “About the words of Allah, ‘Allah establishes or effaces whatever He wants, . . .’  (13:39) the Imam, recipient of divine supreme covenant, said,  ‘Can anything be effaced without being established? Can anything be established unless it is after its non-existence?’”

H 76, Ch. 7, h6 A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Muhammad ibn Ali from the person who he mentioned from Jabir from abu Ja’far, recipient of divine supreme covenant, who has said the following:   “Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn, recipient of divine supreme covenant, would say, ‘My soul shows generosity in accepting the quickening of our death or being murdered. It is due to the words of Allah that say, ‘Have they not considered that We have taken over the land and reduced its borders?’ (13:41) The reference here is to the death of the scholars.” 

H 607, Ch. 35, h6 Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father and Muhammad ibn Yahya from Muhammad ibn al-Hassan from those he mentioned, both of them from ibn abu ‘Umayr from ibn ’Udhayna from Burayd ibn Mu‘awiya who has said the following: “Once I asked abu Ja‘far, recipient of divine supreme covenant, about the meaning of the following verse: ‘. . . Say, Allah and those who have the knowledge of the Book are sufficient witness (to my prophecy).’ (13:43) “The Imam said, ‘It is a reference to us. Ali (ibn abu Talib), recipient of divine supreme covenant, is the first among us and the most excellent and the best among us after the Holy Prophet, recipient of divine supreme covenant.’”