Question 219 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 3

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. Answer to Question 1: ‘Those who disbelieved will say, “Our Lord, show us the two among the jinn and humankind who led us astray, so that we may place them beneath our feet and they may be among the lowest”’ (^[17]). They are the two imams of misguidance. The first of them is from humankind and is among those whom Iblis led astray; he is ignorance, and he is the second. As for the second of them, he is from the jinn and is the one who led many among humankind and the jinn astray; he is Iblis-may Allah curse him. Answer to Question 2: I ask Allah to grant you success and forgive you. If you want to make expiation and rid your body of the unlawful, then you must fast and eat little until you dissolve what was built from the unlawful, and then build your body with the lawful. Unlawful food affects the heart because it runs in the blood and most of it reaches the physical heart in the chest, and the chest is the place where the soul connects to the body. Wholesome food also has a positive effect on the human being’s heart, his connection to the Kingdom of Heaven, and his seeing the Kingdom of Heaven. For this reason, Allah, Glorious and Exalted, warned those who asked for the table from heaven that, if they disbelieved, He would punish them with a punishment with which He had not punished anyone among the worlds: ‘Allah said, “Indeed, I will send it down to you, but whoever among you disbelieves afterward, I will punish him with a punishment with which I have not punished anyone among the worlds.”’ This is because the table from heaven is lawful, wholesome food and affects the heart, so they see the Kingdom of Heaven and their hearts are reassured through it. For this reason, they themselves explained that they requested the table from heaven so that their hearts would be reassured: ‘They said, “We wish to eat from it and for our hearts to be reassured.”’ They certainly did not mean the miracle, for many were the miracles they had seen from Jesus (a), and the table from heaven has no particular distinction as a miracle that would make it reassure the heart rather than the others. What reassures the heart is the lawful, wholesome, blessed food of heaven that causes them to look into the Kingdom of Heaven: ‘When the disciples said, “O Jesus son of Mary, is your Lord able to send down to us a table from heaven?” He said, “Fear Allah if you are believers.” They said, “We wish to eat from it, for our hearts to be reassured, to know that you have spoken truthfully to us, and to be among its witnesses.” Jesus son of Mary said, “O Allah, our Lord, send down to us a table from heaven to be a festival for the first of us and the last of us, and a sign from You. Provide for us, for You are the best of providers.” Allah said, “Indeed, I will send it down to you, but whoever among you disbelieves afterward, I will punish him with a punishment with which I have not punished anyone among the worlds”’ (^[18]). Answer to Question 3: Umm Kulthum’s husband was Muhammad ibn Jafar ibn Abi Talib. But may Allah have mercy upon you: you allow them to drag you into this. What does this have to do with truth and falsehood? Was Pharaoh’s wife not among the descendants of the prophets, and was she not the one whom the Messenger described as one of the best women of the worlds (^[19])? Were Noah’s wife and Lot’s wife not disbelievers (^[20])? If you were to say that her husband was so-and-so, would they accept your statement and abandon their conjectures? If you wish to prevail over those who oppose and complete the proof against them, argue against them with the law for recognizing the Proof. Ahmed Alhasan