Question 662 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 7

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 abundant prayers and peace upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis. These verses were sent down to the Messenger (s) at a time when the Messenger Muhammad (s) was being severe upon himself in his worship out of gratitude to Allah, Glorious and Exalted, and because he knew that true knowledge lies in crushing the ego before Him, Glorious is He. This is a battle that does not end so long as we exist. Thus, he (s) was severe upon everything connected to the ego, including his body (s), to the extent that for a period of time he spent the night standing in prayer and supplication until he was unable to stand on his legs from extreme fatigue and his eyes became red from remaining awake at night. Most of the time he would doze for moments at the place of his prostration. Despite this, he would reproach himself, regard himself as ungrateful to his Lord, and consider himself to be accommodating his ego before his Lord. In these circumstances, these verses were sent down. From this you can know what Allah, Glorious and Exalted, intended. The word Ta Ha means ‘pure,’ and you can read it as such in the Quran. I believe that describing him (s) as ‘pure’ is entirely appropriate to his state (s). Who does what has preceded? Who other than him deserves this name from Allah, Glorious is He, in accordance with the reality he bears? Who deserves that Allah address him as ‘Pure’ other than Muhammad (s), who crushed and effaced his ego and exhausted his body to the utmost in worshipping his Lord, until Allah reproached him and asked him to be gentle with his body in His words, the Exalted: ‘Pure one. We have not sent down the Quran to you that you should suffer’? Ahmed Alhasan