Question 664

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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon the best of His creation, Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis. Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon the promised Yamani, the victorious Riser, and the First Mahdi, Joseph of the family of Muhammad. My master, excuse my intrusion and transgression. I am the lowly servant whose face sins have worn out and whom acts of disobedience have exhausted. I ask Allah to grant me the sight of you, your companionship and support, martyrdom before you, and your intercession in the Hereafter; to establish recognition between me and you; and to make me a humble servant of yours. My master, I have some questions, if your time permits. I hope you will kindly read them and answer those that are acceptable. I apologize beforehand for my profound ignorance and abundant heedlessness. Q1: The Exalted said, speaking of Jesus son of Mary (a): ‘And I give life to the dead by Allah’s permission’ [Al Imran 3:49]. Does ‘the dead’ mean bringing people to life after their death, such as bringing them out of the graves, or does it mean bringing dead souls to life by instilling faith in them? Q2: The Exalted said: ‘When Allah said, “O Jesus, indeed, I will take you and raise you to Me”’ [Al Imran 3:55]. What does ‘take you’ mean here? Does it mean death? If so, where is the grave of Jesus son of Mary (a)? If it means otherwise, where is he now? Will his descent be in person or in character? What is meant by raising him-is it raising his rank or something else? And what is the meaning of the commonly repeated statement that he was raised to heaven, given that the verse did not mention it? Q3: The Exalted said: ‘Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it’ [al-Baqarah 2:106]. What is the meaning of abrogation? Does it mean that the Islamic law abrogated the laws preceding it, or that verses of the Quran abrogate one another? If the second meaning is intended, does this mean that acting upon the abrogated verses becomes invalid? What, then, is the benefit of their presence, and why was there abrogation in the first place? Q4: The Exalted said: ‘Were it not for Allah repelling some people by means of others, monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which Allah’s name is mentioned abundantly would have been demolished’ [al-Hajj 22:40]. What is intended by the noble verse, and are Muslims required to defend the places of worship of other religions? Q5: Is the presence of mental images in a human being involuntary or voluntary? If it is involuntary, does this not conflict with the command to be humbly attentive? If it is voluntary, what must a human being do in choosing the appropriate mental image? Q6: Reasons for the revelation of verses are mentioned in some books. Does this mean that the verse’s revelation depended upon that reason, such that if the reason had not existed, the verse would not have been revealed? If not, how would the verses have been revealed-with their present wording, or in other words containing the same ruling? In other words, is the verse one thing before its revelation and, when it is to be sent down, does it descend in accordance with the situation for which it is intended? Sender: Salman al-Ansari - Iraq/Holy Karbala

Source: The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 7; Author: Imam Ahmed Al-Hasan; Question 664; Page Not available; AL-JAWAB-AL-MUNIR-V7-Q664. View Arabic source · Open the original Arabic source ↗

Accepted Answer

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 peace. A1: He gives life to souls and bodies by Allah’s will and intention, when wisdom and a consequent benefit are present. Certainly, he gives life to souls through faith in the truth, and this is true giving of life. As for giving life to some of the dead in the sense of their souls returning to their bodies after departing from them, this too was realized for Jesus (a), by Allah’s will and through His power and strength, Glorious is He, and in accordance with a wisdom and benefit in that giving of life. A2: Jesus (a) has been raised. I explained the meaning and details of the raising to one of the believers. It has been published in a book, and you can read it. A3: Abrogation encompasses the preceding laws and also encompasses the law brought by the Messenger (s) and the Quran. As for the benefit of that which was abrogated, the abrogated verse, or acting upon it, the wisdom is to act upon it before the abrogating verse is sent down-for example, it may be for dissimulation, testing the people, or proceeding with them gradually in knowing and bearing the truth. A4: I explained this verse in The Allegories, so you can read it, Allah willing. A5: A human being has choice. The images formed in his mind come from one of three sources: either his own self and what he himself was thinking before that mental image, Satan and his soldiers, or Allah, Glorious is He, and His soldiers among the allies and angels. The matter can thus be summarized as three: Allah, the self, and Satan. What is required of the human being is to be sincere to Allah and always direct his thought toward Allah and what Allah wants, so that what is within him is the remembrance of Allah and His allies and what Allah and His allies want. To the extent of a human being’s sincerity, what comes to him will be pure of the desire of the self, this world, and Satan. A6: The Quran in the higher worlds is certainly something else, because the higher worlds are not worlds of words. Words are part of this corporeal world. Consequently, you cannot restrict the Quran to words. Rather, the utmost of the matter is that, in this corporeal world, meaning needs words in order to be made manifest. For this reason, words are what manifested the meanings and realities of the Quran in this world, and manifested them to the extent of this corporeal world. Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.

Question 664 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 7

Question and answer [link]

Question 664

Ahmed al-Hasan Response:

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