Question 58 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 2
From WikiSavior, a source-grounded reference
Question and answer [link]
Question 58
What is the interpretation of His words, the Exalted: ‘How many an oppressive town We have shattered and raised up another people after it. When they sensed Our might, they immediately fled from it. “Do not flee; return to the luxury you were given and to your dwellings, so that perhaps you may be questioned.” They said, “Woe to us! We were indeed oppressors.” That cry of theirs did not cease until We made them a harvested field, extinguished’ ([19])? Sender: Ibrahim Rughayl
Ahmed al-Hasan Response:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them abundant peace. This is the punishment that accompanies the sending of the messengers to the people and descends upon the inhabitants of towns after they deny the messengers. New inhabitants come, and the same stories repeat without their paying heed or taking admonition from those before them. The same thing is repeated with the Qa’im (a). Perhaps the most important of the towns mentioned in the narrations as one upon which punishment descends is Baghdad. Refer to the narrations ([20]) which state that no traces of it will be seen because of the severity of the destruction that befalls it through the banners that come to it from every place and through tribulations. Concerning the interpretation of these verses specifically in relation to the Qa’im, Imam al-Baqir (a) said regarding the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, ‘When they sensed Our might, they immediately fled from it. Do not flee; return to the luxury you were given and to your dwellings, so that perhaps you may be questioned’: ‘When the Qa’im rises and sends to the Umayyads in Syria, they will flee to the Romans. The Romans will say to them, “We will not admit you until you become Christians.” So they will hang crosses around their necks, and the Romans will admit them. When the companions of the Qa’im descend near them, they will seek safety and peace. The companions of the Qa’im will say, “We will not do so until you hand over to us those of ours who are with you.”’ He (a) said: ‘So they will hand them over to them. That is His words, the Exalted, “Do not flee; return to the luxury you were given and to your dwellings, so that perhaps you may be questioned.”’ He (a) said: ‘He will question them about the treasures, though he knows them better.’ He (a) said: ‘Then they will say, “Woe to us! We were indeed oppressors. That cry of theirs did not cease until We made them a harvested field, extinguished”-by the sword’ ([21]).
Source: The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 2; Author: Imam Ahmed Al-Hasan; Question 58; Page Not available; AL-JAWAB-AL-MUNIR-V2-Q058. View Arabic source · Open the original Arabic source ↗
Source footnotes
Footnotes are kept separate from the main question and answer and preserve their source-record association.
↑ [19] Al-Anbiya 21:11–15.
↑ [20] Ali ibn Abi Talib (a) said in a sermon: ‘Al-Zawra-and what will make you know what al-Zawra is? It is a land of tamarisk where buildings will be raised, its population will increase, and it will contain officials and treasurers. The children of al-Abbas will take it as a homeland and a dwelling for their adornment. It will be for them an abode of amusement and play. In it will be oppressive injustice, terrifying fear, immoral leaders, disobedient rulers, and treacherous ministers. The sons of Persia and Rome will serve them. They will not command what is right when they recognize it, nor refrain from what is wrong when they reject it. Its men will suffice with men and its women with women. Then there will be overwhelming grief, prolonged weeping, woe, and lamentation for the people of al-Zawra because of the assaults of the Turks. They are a people with small eyes, faces like hammered shields, iron armor, hairless bodies, and beardless faces …’ Qawaid al-Ahkam by Allama al-Hilli, vol. 1, p. 15. Al-Mufaddal ibn Umar also narrated from al-Sadiq (a) in a long report: ‘… Then the Sufyani will appear and his army will proceed to Iraq, devastate it, devastate al-Zawra, leave both desolate, and devastate Kufa and Medina. Their mules will defecate in the mosque of the Messenger of Allah (s), and the Sufyani’s army on that day will number three hundred thousand men …’ Mukhtasar Basair al-Darajat by al-Hasan ibn Sulayman al-Hilli, p. 185. It is likewise narrated from al-Mufaddal ibn Umar. Al-Mufaddal said: ‘My master, what will the abode of the disobedient be like at that time?’ He said: ‘It will be under Allah’s curse and wrath. Tribulations will devastate it and leave it desolate. Woe to it and to all who are in it from the yellow banners, the banners of the West, the one who brings al-Jazira, and the banners that proceed to it from every near or distant place. By Allah, kinds of punishment will descend upon it like those that descended upon all the rebellious nations from the beginning of time to its end. Punishment the like of which no eye has seen and no ear has heard will descend upon it, and the destruction of its people will be only by the sword. Woe to whoever takes it as a dwelling: one who remains in it remains in his misery, and one who leaves it does so by Allah’s mercy. By Allah, it will so engross its people in this world that it will be said that it is the world itself, that its houses and palaces are Paradise, that its daughters are the wide-eyed maidens, and that its youths are the immortal youths. They will suppose that Allah allotted the servants’ provision only in it. Fabrication against Allah and His Messenger (s), judgment by other than Allah’s Book, false testimonies, drinking wine, debauchery, consuming illicit gain, and shedding blood will appear in it to an extent beyond anything elsewhere in the world. Allah the Exalted will then devastate it through those tribulations and banners, until a passerby would pass us and say, “Here stood al-Zawra” …’ Mukhtasar Basair al-Darajat by al-Hasan ibn Sulayman al-Hilli, p. 188. Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn (a) also said: ‘When the Commander of the Faithful (a) returned from the battle against the Kharijites, he passed through al-Zawra and said to the people, “This is al-Zawra. Proceed onward and keep away from it, for the earth’s collapse will reach it faster than a peg passes through bran” …’ Mustadrak al-Wasail by Mirza al-Nuri, vol. 3, p. 429. (Commentator.)
↑ [21] Al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 51.
References
- ↑ Ahmed Al-Hasan. The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 2. Question 58; Page Not available. AL-JAWAB-AL-MUNIR-V2-Q058. View Arabic source
Cite this page
Ahmed Al-Hasan. The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 2. Question: 58. Page: Not available. AL-JAWAB-AL-MUNIR-V2-Q058. https://ahmedalhasan.org/ar/Library/BookContent/52