The Value of Trusting the Worthy

🌼The Misgivings of the Righteous Are a Means of Rescue🌼

🌸🔆🌿   “The Worthy Put to the Test”  “The Badge of Trustworthiness”

🔅🌹 A Summary with Supplementary Notes: “Commentary on Supplication 20 of al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya” — “Session 211”  “The Worthy at the Testing Table”  “The Prize of Trustworthiness” “The End-Times Test” and more …       1402.08.11    Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)  🌹🔅

🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹

🔅🌼The Test of Trust🌼🔅

🔆🌸وَ مِنْ ظِنَّةِ أَهْلِ الصَّلَاحِ الثِّقَة🌸🔆
🌷The suspicion of the righteous is very slight, yet it is a very subtle warning—like a faint yellow warning light signaling the first hint of danger. Strong suspicion is like a red warning light, signaling that danger is imminent.

🌷The worthy among the community of believers reveal its dangers and serve as its physicians.

🌷Through their divinely granted insight and discernment, the worthy sense hidden and manifest dangers within the life of the community and its members, and warn them through words, gestures, and conduct.

🌷Their suspicion is like a warning that one’s course has veered by half a degree: that deviation may extend to 180 degrees, taking a person out of the faith, or to 360 degrees, stripping away their humanity.

🌷The suspicion of the righteous is a blessing; it saves people from peril, like a physician who recognizes the signs of illness and raises the alarm.

🌷The righteous watch over individuals and the community, and their warnings must be taken seriously. They do not grow suspicious without reason.

🌷The strong suspicion of the righteous is like a red light: a sign of unbelief.

🔅🌸وَ قَالَ ع‏ لَيْسَ مِنَ الْعَدْلِ الْقَضَاءُ عَلَى الثِّقَةِ بِالظَّن‏[1]

🔅🌸Imam Ali, peace be upon him, said: “To suspect people who are trustworthy is not just.”

🌷So the suspicion of the righteous is grounded in justice; to depart from justice would deprive them of their standing as just people.

🌷Doubt begins as misgiving (rayb), develops into supposition, and from there becomes doubt. Each of these stages—misgiving, supposition, and doubt—has its own degrees.

🌷Supposition rooted in injustice is ignorant supposition; supposition rooted in justice is rational supposition.

🌷The supposition of the corrupt is doubtful supposition, arising from ignorance.

🌷The supposition of the righteous is certain, arising from reason.

🌷Ignorant certainty is absolute, ill-omened doubt; rational certainty is the path to knowledge, direct vision, and the truth of certainty.

🌷The righteous do not hang the badge of trust around anyone’s neck without putting them to the test. Only after testing do they judge someone trustworthy.

🔅🌸وَ إِيَّاكَ وَ الْإِعْجَابَ‏ بِنَفْسِكَ‏ وَ الثِّقَةَ بِمَا يُعْجِبُكَ مِنْهَا وَ حُبَ‏ الْإِطْرَاءِ فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ مِنْ أَوْثَقِ فُرَصِ الشَّيْطَانِ فِي نَفْسِهِ لِيَمْحَقَ مَا يَكُونُ مِنْ إِحْسَانِ الْمُحْسِنِين‏[2]

🔅🌸Imam Amir al-Mu’minin, peace be upon him: “Beware of being conceited with yourself, and beware of trusting someone who has impressed you. Also beware of loving others’ praise of you, for this is one of Satan’s strongest opportunities to destroy the good deeds of the righteous.”

🌷To judge someone trustworthy on the basis of emotion is a sign of foolishness. The righteous are not ruled by emotion and do not fall into error. They are not deceived by the tricks of deceivers or the hypocrisy of hypocrites.

🌷Testing is the prelude to trust, and trust the prelude to intimacy—in personal relationships, social relations, and international relations alike.

🔅🌸وَ قَالَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ: مَنْ لَمْ يُقَدِّمِ الِامْتِحَانَ قَبْلَ الثِّقَةِ، وَ الثِّقَةَ قَبْلَ‏ الْأُنْسِ‏ أَثْمَرَتْ مُرُوَّتُهُ نَدَماً.[3]

🔅🌸Ṣādiq of the Family of Muḥammad, peace be upon him: Whoever does not put testing before trust, and familiarity before friendship, will find that friendship brings regret.

🌷The harm caused by trusting deceivers is beyond repair.

🔅🌸أَعْظَمُ‏ الْجَهْلِ‏ مُعَادَاةُ الْقَادِرِ وَ مُصَادَقَةُ الْفَاجِرِ وَ الثِّقَةُ بِالْغَادِرِ.[4]

🔅🌸ʿAlī, Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him: The greatest ignorance is to make an enemy of the capable, to befriend the wicked, and to trust a deceiver.

🔅🌼 The rise and fall of trust 🌼🔅

🌷First establish someone’s trustworthiness; only then trust them.

🌷A lie strips anyone of credibility and trustworthiness. It casts doubt on a person’s honesty. A person’s every lie undermines their truthfulness as well.

🔅🌸مَنْ عُرِفَ‏ بِالْكَذِبِ‏ لَمْ يُقْبَلْ صِدْقُهُ.[5]

🔅🌸Whoever is known to lie will not be believed even when speaking the truth.

🌷Everyone is put to the test.

🌻🔅العنكبوت : 2   أَ حَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَ هُمْ لا يُفْتَنُونَ

🌻🔅Do people think that once they say, “We believe,” they will be left alone and not be tested?

🌷Be aware: people of integrity will put you to the test.

🌷Gold plating on copper, bronze or rusted iron is exposed in the furnace of trial. Real gold is separated from imitation.

🌷Imamate is the highest sign of Allah’s trust in His righteous servant.

🌷Trust comes only after the test.

🌻🔅البقرة : 124   وَ إِذِ ابْتَلى‏ إِبْراهيمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِماتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ قالَ إِنِّي جاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِماماً قالَ وَ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتي‏ قالَ لا يَنالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمينَ

🌻🔅(Remember) when his Lord tested Abraham with various commands, and he fulfilled them all. He said, “I have appointed you a leader for humanity.” Abraham said, “And from my offspring?” He replied, “My covenant does not extend to the wrongdoers.”

🌷The suspicions of the corrupt are the baleful doubts of ignorance; the judgments of the righteous are the blessed certainties of reason.

🌻🔅يونس : 36   وَ ما يَتَّبِعُ أَكْثَرُهُمْ إِلاَّ ظَنًّا إِنَّ الظَّنَّ لا يُغْني‏ مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئاً إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَليمٌ بِما يَفْعَلُونَ

🌻🔅Most of them follow nothing but conjecture; yet conjecture can never take the place of truth or lead one to it. Surely Allah knows all that they do.

🌻🔅الحجرات : 12   or أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثيراً مِنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ وَ لا تَجَسَّسُوا وَ لا يَغْتَبْ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضاً أَ يُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخيهِ مَيْتاً فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ وَ اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَحيمٌ

🌻🔅O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, for some suspicion is sinful. Do not spy on one another, nor let any of you speak ill of another behind their back. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of their dead brother? You would surely abhor it. So be mindful of Allah. Surely Allah is ever Accepting of repentance, Most Merciful.

🌻🔅Āl ʿImrān: 154   ثُمَّ أَنْزَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ الْغَمِّ أَمَنَةً نُعاساً يَغْشى‏ طائِفَةً مِنْكُمْ وَ طائِفَةٌ قَدْ أَهَمَّتْهُمْ أَنْفُسُهُمْ يَظُنُّونَ بِاللَّهِ غَيْرَ الْحَقِّ ظَنَّ الْجاهِلِيَّةِ يَقُولُونَ هَلْ لَنا مِنَ الْأَمْرِ مِنْ شَيْ‏ءٍ قُلْ إِنَّ الْأَمْرَ كُلَّهُ لِلَّهِ يُخْفُونَ في‏ أَنْفُسِهِمْ What يُبْدُونَ لَكَ يَقُولُونَ لَوْ كانَ لَنا مِنَ الْأَمْرِ شَيْ‏ءٌ ما قُتِلْنا هاهُنا قُلْ لَوْ كُنْتُمْ في‏ بُيُوتِكُمْ لَبَرَزَ الَّذينَ كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَتْلُ إِلى‏ مَضاجِعِهِمْ وَ لِيَبْتَلِيَ اللَّهُ What is صُدُورِكُمْ وَ لِيُمَحِّصَ What is قُلُوبِكُمْ وَ اللَّهُ عَليمٌ بِذاتِ الصُّدُورِ

🌻🔅Then, following that distress, He sent down upon you a sense of calm. It came in the form of a light sleep that overcame some of you (on the night after the Battle of Uhud). Others, however, were preoccupied with their own safety and could not sleep. They entertained false thoughts about God, like those held in the days of ignorance, saying, “Will any share of victory fall to us?” Say, “All affairs (and all victories) rest in God’s hands.” They conceal within themselves what they do not reveal to you. They say, “If we had had any share in the victory, we would not have been killed here.” Say, “Even if you had remained in your homes, those destined to be killed would surely have come out to the places where they were to die (and been killed there).” This was so that God might test what you conceal in your hearts and purify what is within them (of faith). God knows what lies within people’s hearts.

🌻🔅Al-Baqarah: 46   الَّذينَ يَظُنُّونَ أَنَّهُمْ مُلاقُوا رَبِّهِمْ وَ أَنَّهُمْ إِلَيْهِ راجِعُونَ

They are those who know that they will meet their Lord and that they will return to Him.

وَ قَالَ ص‏ ثَلَاثٌ لَا يَنْجُو مِنْهُنَّ أَحَدٌ الظَّنُ‏ وَ الطِّيَرَةُ وَ الْحَسَدُ وَ سَأُحَدِّثُكُمْ بِالْمَخْرَجِ مِنْ ذَلِكَ إِذَا ظَنَنْتَ فَلَا تُحَقِّقْ وَ إِذَا تَطَيَّرْتَ فَامْضِ وَ إِذَا حَسَدْتَ فَلَا تَبْغِ وَ فِي رِوَايَةٍ أُخْرَى وَ قَلَّ مَنْ يَنْجُو مِنْهُن‏[6]

The Prophet of Islam, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him and his family, said: “There are three things no one can escape: ill suspicion, bad omens, and envy. I will tell you how to be delivered from them. When you suspect someone, do not act on your suspicion. When you see a bad omen, pay it no heed and carry on with what you are doing. And when you feel envy, do no wrong (and do not let it guide your actions).”

🔅🌼 Avoiding Situations That Give Rise to Suspicion 🌼🔅

🌷The way out of the suffering caused by ill suspicion is not to act on it or give it any weight. But the suspicions of people of integrity serve to protect and keep watch, and to warn of danger; they should be taken seriously.

🌷Anyone who keeps company with people of falsehood should not consider themselves safe from suspicion.

🔅🌸 وَ أَوْلَى النَّاسِ‏ بِالتُّهَمَةِ مَنْ جَالَسَ أَهْلَ التُّهَمَة[7]

🔅🌸The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, said: “The person most deserving of suspicion is one who keeps company with the accused and those under suspicion.”

🔅🌸 قَالَ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ع‏ مُجَالَسَةُ الْأَشْرَارِ تُورِثُ سُوءَ الظَّنِّ بِالْأَخْيَارِ وَ مُجَالَسَةُ الْأَخْيَارِ تُلْحِقُ الْأَشْرَارَ بِالْأَخْيَارِ وَ مُجَالَسَةُ الْفُجَّارِ لِلْأَبْرَارِ تُلْحِقُ الْفُجَّارَ بِالْأَبْرَارِ فَمَنِ اشْتَبَهَ عَلَيْكُمْ أَمْرُهُ وَ لَمْ تَعْرِفُوا دِينَهُ فَانْظُرُوا إِلَى خُلَطَائِهِ فَإِنْ كَانُوا أَهْلَ دِينِ اللَّهِ فَهُوَ عَلَى دِينِ اللَّهِ وَ إِنْ كَانُوا عَلَى غَيْرِ دِينِ اللَّهِ فَلَا حَظَّ لَهُ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ- إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ص كَانَ يَقُولُ‏ مَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَ الْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ فَلَا يُؤَاخِيَنَّ كَافِراً وَ لَا يُخَالِطَنَّ فَاجِراً وَ مَنْ آخَى كَافِراً أَوْ خَالَطَ فَاجِراً كَانَ كَافِراً فَاجِراً.[8]

Muḥammad ibn Qays relates from Imam al-Bāqir, from his father, from his grandfather, from the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, that he said:

Keeping company with the wicked leads one to suspect the virtuous, while keeping company with the virtuous brings the wicked into their company. When wrongdoers associate with the virtuous, they too are brought among them. So when someone’s character is unclear to you and you know nothing of his faith, look at those he keeps company with. If they are people of faith, then he too follows God’s religion; if they are not, he has no share in religion either.

The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, used to say: “Whoever believes in God and the Last Day will never befriend a disbeliever or keep company with a wrongdoer.”

Whoever befriends a disbeliever or keeps company with a wicked and immoral person is himself a disbeliever and a wicked person.[9]

🔅🌸وَ قَالَ ع‏ إِذَا اسْتَوْلَى‏ الصَّلَاحُ‏ عَلَى الزَّمَانِ وَ أَهْلِهِ ثُمَّ أَسَاءَ رَجُلٌ الظَّنَّ بِرَجُلٍ لَمْ تَظْهَرْ مِنْهُ حَوْبَةٌ فَقَدْ ظَلَمَ وَ إِذَا اسْتَوْلَى الْفَسَادُ عَلَى الزَّمَانِ وَ أَهْلِهِ فَأَحْسَنَ رَجُلٌ الظَّنَّ بِرَجُلٍ فَقَدْ غَرَّر[10]

🔅🌸When virtue prevails in an age and among its people, anyone who thinks ill of another when no disgraceful deed has become evident from him has wronged him. But when wrongdoing prevails in an age and among its people, anyone who thinks well of another is only deceiving himself.

🔅🌸 عَنِ ابْنِ فَضَّالٍ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ الرِّضَا ع يَقُولُ‏ مَنْ‏ وَاصَلَ‏ لَنَا قَاطِعاً أَوْ قَطَعَ لَنَا وَاصِلًا أَوْ مَدَحَ لَنَا عَائِباً أَوْ أَكْرَمَ لَنَا مُخَالِفاً فَلَيْسَ مِنَّا وَ لَسْنَا مِنْهُ.[11]

🔅🌸It is related from Imam al-Rida, peace be upon him, that he said: “He who maintains ties with someone who has severed ties with us, or severs ties with someone who maintains ties with us; he who praises someone who finds fault with us, or honours someone who opposes us, is not of us, and we are not of him.”

🔅🌸عَنْ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ ع قَالَ: مَنْ جَالَسَ أَهْلَ الرَّيْبِ فَهُوَ مُرِيبٌ‏.[12]

🔅🌸Whoever keeps company with people of doubt will himself become uncertain.

🌷The people of righteousness are the general representatives of the Master of the righteous throughout existence.

🌷The end times are an age of severe trials: an age in which believers must prove the steadfastness of their faith and conviction, and in which those whose faith is borrowed will be exposed.

🌷The Dajjal’s tribulation is a distinctive and arduous trial of the end times.

🌷The righteous of the end times are among those who test and try others in that age.

🌷The trustworthy people of the end times will, God willing, be the trusted companions of His Eminence, the Master of the Age, peace be upon him.

🌷The test of divine oneness in the end times is one of the most serious trials of that age.

🌷Small-minded people who have lost faith in themselves will surrender their faith in the face of minor trials, such as those resembling the test of the Samaritan’s calf.

🌷Those who make grand claims will be tested by Dajjal-like calves, under the Dajjal’s spell. Calves made of sorcery will enchant people whose faith is weak.

🌷The Samaritan’s calf was made from women’s ornaments, but the calves of the end times will take many forms, including corrupt and immoral women.

🌷Disbelievers, too, will be influenced by the Dajjal’s sorcery and summons.

🌷The Dajjal of the end times will be the last in the line of Dajjals, and the most evil of them.

🌷The Dajjal’s tools, devices and software, in everyone’s hands, will carry out his sinister schemes.

🌷Through the Dajjal’s deceptions, people in the end times have turned to self-destruction. Only hearts shielded by the graces of the Holy Spirit will be safe.

🌷The Sahifa Sajjadiyya is the best means of winning hearts.

🌷Lack of trust and suspicion are markedly different. Lack of trust is part of a process of inquiry to establish whether trust is warranted; suspicion, by contrast, has already undermined the credibility of the person suspected.

🌷The righteous have access to the hearts of believers and influence their dreams.

🌷The righteous meet people and believers in dreams and mystical visions, serving in a way as a means of warning and counsel.

🔅🌼 Subtle Points and Nuances in the Margins 🌼🔅

🌷Taking an omen from a single or double sneeze is a form of superstition. A sneeze is a messenger of good health and one of the means by which speech is affirmed and its truthfulness assessed.

🌷Ignorant cleverness is dark and ill-omened, and is clearly distinct from rational intelligence. Ignorant cleverness destroys, while rational intelligence builds and cultivates.

🌷The nature of end-times polytheism is that it lies at the very lowest level.

🌷Suspicion in the face of various questions and ambiguities is a kind of effort to discover the truth. Investigative doubt is an effort to attain the truth and acquire certainty.

🌷Innate doubt is sheer disbelief.

🌷Testing is the best means of revealing truths and claims.

🌷Shi‘i politics is the pinnacle of politics.

🔅🌸عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ص قَالَ: مَنْ أَصْبَحَ لَا يَهْتَمُّ بِأُمُورِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فَلَيْسَ مِنْهُمْ وَ مَنْ سَمِعَ رَجُلًا يُنَادِي يَا لَلْمُسْلِمِينَ‏ فَلَمْ‏ يُجِبْهُ‏ فَلَيْسَ بِمُسْلِمٍ.[13]

🔅🌸The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, said: “Whoever begins the morning without giving thought to finding a way to address the problems faced by Muslims is not one of the followers of Islam. And whoever sees a Muslim seeking the help of Muslims to relieve his hardship, yet does not hasten to help him, is not one of the Muslims.”

🔅🌸 قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص‏ مَنْ أَصْبَحَ لَا يَهْتَمُ‏ بِأُمُورِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فَلَيْسَ بِمُسْلِمٍ.[14]

🔅🌸The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: “Whoever begins the morning without caring about the affairs of Muslims is not a Muslim.”

🌷The uprising of the Tawwabun resembles deliverance from the torment of a guilty conscience.

🌼 Ali Sa‘i (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)  🌼

[1] Nahj al-Balagha (ed. Subhi Salih), p. 507  Sharif al-Radi, Hijrat, Qom, first edition, 1414 AH.

[2] Nahj al-Balagha (ed. Subhi Salih), p. 443  Sharif al-Radi, Hijrat, Qom, first edition, 1414 AH.

[3] Nuzhat al-Nazir wa Tanbih al-Khatir, p. 109 Halawani, Madrasat al-Imam al-Mahdi (may God hasten his noble return), Qom, first edition, 1408 AH.

[4] Uyun al-Hikam wa al-Mawa‘iz (al-Laythi), p. 126  Laythi al-Wasiti, Dar al-Hadith, Qom, first edition, 1376 SH.

[5] Uyun al-Hikam wa al-Mawa‘iz (al-Laythi), p. 430  Laythi al-Wasiti, Dar al-Hadith, Qom, first edition, 1376 SH.

[6] Majmu‘at Waram, vol. 1, p. 127  Waram ibn Abi Firas, Mas‘ud ibn ‘Isa, Maktabat Faqih, Qom, first edition, 1410 AH.

[7] Man la Yahduruhu al-Faqih, vol. 4, p. 395 Ibn Babawayh, Islamic Publications Office affiliated with the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, Qom, second edition, 1413 AH.

[8] Sifat al-Shi‘a, p. 6 Ibn Babawayh, A‘lami, Tehran, first edition, 1362 SH.

[9]Sifat al-Shi‘a / translated by Tohidi, p. 30

[10] Nahj al-Balagha (ed. Subhi Salih), p. 489  Sharif al-Radi, Hijrat, Qom, first edition, 1414 AH.

[11] Ṣifāt al-Shīʿa; p. 7  Ibn Bābawayh, Aʿlamī—Tehran, first edition, 1362 SH.

[12] Ṣifāt al-Shīʿa; p. 9  Ibn Bābawayh, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, Ṣifāt al-Shīʿa, 1362 SH.

[13] Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa; vol. 16, p. 337  Shaykh Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, 30 vols., Āl al-Bayt Foundation (peace be upon them)—Qom, first edition, 1409 AH.

[14] Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition); vol. 2, p. 163  al-Kulaynī, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya—Tehran, fourth edition, 1407 AH.