إنه يرغب من الناس as one of the greatest leaders in Islamic history. وفي every school in the religion of Islam is revered as the exemplar when it comes to piety, worship, spirituality, and humility. For Imam Ali ibn al-Hussain is seen as a colossus when it comes to spirituality. Today every school in the religion of Islam takes their spiritual knowledge from Imam Ali ibn al-Hussain. And what you find is that unfortunately his life has not been studied in the way it should be. Many schools within the religion of Islam have limited Ali ibn al-Hussain to studying or to talking about the emotional aspects of his character. In the idea that when we normally mention Ali ibn al-Hussain we normally mention him in the context of Karbala and the tragedy of the 10th of Muharram. It is very rare for people to dissect Imam Ali ibn al-Hussain outside of what happened at Karbala. Normally when you hear about his life you hear of this man who was crying after Karbala who was sad after Karbala. But there isn't really much of an analysis of Ali ibn al-Hussain the great spiritual reformer. And Ali ibn al-Hussain the man who changed the direction of the religion of Islam when the religion was at its lowest ebb. And if for tonight we'll seek to examine a personality who himself is seen as being a colossus that even his great grandfather the prophet had mentioned his name even before he was born. As we stated the Imam was born on the 5th of Sha'ban and the 38th year after Hijra. His father was of course Hussein ibn Ali. His mother is Shah Zanan the daughter of the last of the kings of Persia. Shah Zanan the name in English or the name in Arabic was referred to as Sayyidat al-Nisa. When Imam Hussein had married her his father Amir al-Mu'mineen had of course known she had come originally from Persia جابر ibn Harith had conquered Khurasan. And when he had conquered Khurasan of the woman who converted to the religion of Islam from Khurasan was Shah Zanan. Shah Zanan therefore in that marriage the narrations tell us that Imam Amir al-Mu'mineen chose her to marry Imam al-Hussein. And you find that this was the beginning of the mixing of the Arabs and the Persians before that no such thing had really happened the Arabs used to detest the Persians and the Persians did not have time for any of the Arabs and you find that this marriage of Imam al-Hussein to Shah Zanan was a marriage which began across cultural link. It's as if Imam al-Hussein was highlighting that there is no problem in the religion of Islam marrying a woman from a different culture. Today you find many Muslims find it a sticking point explaining to their parents when they want to marry someone of a different culture. Whereas their Imam the leaders of this religion over four or five of them married women from a different culture. When Imam al-Hussein married Shah Zanan Imam al-Hussein could have easily married someone from Medina someone from his background but it's as if he was enacting the verse of the Quran which says بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم يا أيها الناس إنا خلقناكم من ذكر وأنثة وجعلناكم شعوبة وقبائلة لتعرفوا إنا أكرمكم عند الله تقاكم all mankind we've created you from male and female and from different races from different tribes in order that you get to know one another the best amongst you in the eyes of God is the one who is conscious of God's presence in their life notice the Quran didn't say we created you so that you become enemies of one another no the Quran says we created you so that you get to know one another Imam al-Hussein could have easily married someone from his city someone from his village today in our communities you have people who point out if the girl is not from our village don't marry her or if the girl is not from our city do not marry her or if you are lucky if the girl is not from our country do not marry her whereas Imam al-Hussein married this Persian woman and she became the mother of an Imam even I remember this began the marriages of Arabs to Persians this Imam al-Hussein's marriage was the beginning of the marriage or the beginning of the movement of the Arabs marrying the Persians I remember Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan the Umayyad Khalifa himself married a Persian woman and even Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan had his sons one day he went to propose to Aqeel al-Muri Aqeel al-Muri had daughters Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan went to Aqeel al-Muri's house and he said to him I'd like for one of my sons to marry one of your daughters Aqeel al-Muri replied with the most racist Arabic statement you can reply Aqeel was an Arab he looked at Abdul Malik and he said spare me the Hujana Abdul Malik looked at him and said what do you mean Hujana he said your sons are half Persians my daughters only marry full Arabs look at that you find that racist tendency he was still there Imam al-Hussain what did he notice Imam al-Hussain noticed if I marry a Persian first I am showing there is no difference but Taqwa in the eyes of God secondly it will allow for a cross culture where not only family cross culture but also literature can cross culture as well you found that many of the later Umayyad or Abbasids they started marrying Persians as well or they started employing Persians because of this marriage for example if you look at Bani Umayya the last Bani Umayya Khalifa Marwan his mother was a half Kurdish half Persian Bani Abbas the treasurer and the secretaries of Bani Abbas you find Abu Salam Al-Khalal was Persian Yaqoob ibn Dawood was Persian Ilmouriani was Persian the Barmaqi family were Persians Al-Sahel were Persians you find in the world of literature Arabs started to read Persian literature Persians used to start to read Arabic literature for example Siba ways teacher Khalil ibn Ahmed for example Ahmed ibn Yahya the country translated Kishra's words of wisdom and so on and so forth in other words Imam Ali ibn Al-Hussain his mother was Persian and his father was an Arab and it would be the first marriage of Ahl al-Bayt where an Imam of Al-Muhammad when marries someone from outside of the Arabs the sad news was for Imam Zain Al-Abideen was that his mother died a few days after giving birth to him his mother died while she was in the state of Nifas you know the state which a woman is in after she has given birth you find that his mother died a few days only after she gave birth to him and therefore the only man who brought him up in his life was his father Aba Abdullah otherwise Imam Zain Al-Abideen after a few days of his mother giving birth his mother passed away and therefore he was an orphan that didn't mean there wasn't a mother in his life no of course the other wife of his father was a mother figure to him and his wetness was a mother figure to him and the manners he had with the ladies who replaced his mom would think that they were his mothers as well in which way for example one of the most famous stories about Imam Ali Ibn Al-Hussain was that when he would sit on the dinner table with his stepmother he would be sitting down and his stepmother would be sitting down and he'd stay looking at the food and he'd then look at his stepmother she'd look at him and she'd say to him what's wrong why are you looking at me he would say I'm scared to put out my hand towards some food which you had your eyes on at home sometimes when we eat with our mothers we don't even wait for them to come from the kitchen eat, finish before you know it that if thought is done you've gone to watch television your mother has already started eating Imam Ali Ibn Al-Hussain even though his mother someone asks why was her name changed because Imam Al-Hussain said Imam Amir Al-Mu'mineen when he said Shah Zanaan means Sayret Al-Nisaa Sayret Al-Nisaa is only Bibi Fatima so when Amir Al-Shaar Bano she passed away Imam Ali Ibn Al-Hussain even when his stepmother he wanted to look is she looking at an area of food I will not put my hand there until she takes the moment she takes then I will take after that and that's why his father loved him so much Imam Al-Hussain loved Imam Zain Al-Abideen so much he was not only his second eldest son but on top of that to Imam Al-Hussain he saw the light of revelation in the face of Imam Ali Ibn Al-Hussain in which way he Imam Al-Hussain narrates I once saw Ali Ibn Al-Hussain when he was younger he was ill I said to him my son do you want me to get you a doctor someone to come and treat you he said Dad Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will look after me I am sure then Imam Al-Hussain said I said to him you remind me of Prophet Ibrahim that when Prophet Ibrahim was in the fire and the angel جبرايل said do you want any help Prophet Ibrahim said only my lord will help me likewise you have the same mannerisms of Prophet Ibrahim imagine when you have an attachment to your father like this how then do you feel on the day your father needs you the most you cannot be there for him because how old was he at Karbala he was 22 years of age 22 and we all know very well that you want to be by your father's side at every moment in his life isn't it your father is the attachment in your life he is your life he is what you look after he is your source of pride and warmth and comfort those of you who have been to your father's Janaza when he passes away don't you just wish that he would come back in your life but sometimes the only sense of solace is that you looked after your father that you treated him well until the day he died that when your father needed you you were there for him only Allah knows how Ali ibn al-Hussain recovered after the 10th of Muharram why some people say when did he become ill he didn't become ill on the 10th of Muharram he became ill on the journey towards Karbala on the journey towards Karbala he picked up an illness which he could not recover from when he got to the 10th of Muharram he noticed that his father was now on his final legs his elder brother Ali al-Aqbar had died and you find that the 6 month old baby his brother Abdullah had died and you find that his cousin Qaisim had passed away and all of the companions had passed away the narrations tell us on the 10th of Muharram just before Imam al-Hussain was about to leave Imam Zain al-Abideen woke up from his state of a lack of consciousness he woke up and he said oh people get me a sword and get me a stick they looked at him they said why he said because I want to stick so I can stand up and a sword so I can defend my father in his final moments his father turned around to him now you can imagine Imam al-Hussain Imam Zain al-Abideen is everything because Imam Zain al-Abideen's mother died shortly after he was born his father was everything to him the narration say to us what the narration say to us that his father said to him oh Zain al-Abideen you are God's proof on his creatures after I die you must remain patient in this period and what happened was the next moment he came to see his father's body he didn't he only saw a horse return he saw his father on top of the horse and that's why do you know when Imam Zain al-Abideen saw his father's body when he came back to wash the body of his father many people ask who performed the ghusl of Imam al-Hussain it was Imam Zain al-Abideen when three nights after the 10th of Buhadra Imam Zain al-Abideen returned to Karbala when he returned to Karbala the narration say to us Benny said their wives were embarrassed by their husbands because their husbands did not help Imam al-Hussain at Karbala so Benny has said wives told their husbands that if you're not going to be alongside the grandson's prophet the prophet's grandson then what then at least go and bury the body of the grandson of the prophet Benny has said their men went to Karbala after the 10th of Buhadra they wanted to bury the bodies of Imam al-Hussain and his companions but there was a problem how do you know which body belongs to which head the heads have gone and all you see are bodies you don't know who to bury where then they said from the distance we saw Ali ibn al-Hussain at the time they didn't recognize him they said we saw a man wearing black he came towards us we looked at him he said to us what are you doing here we said oh we've just come to look at the place he said no tell me honestly what are you doing here they said we have come to bury the body of Abba Abdullah so he said to them please listen to these words these are vital for those who do ziyara at Karbala because many people go to Karbala and are confused what they are doing and where they are going when Imam Zain al-Abideen said to them they said what shall we do he said go and bury go and dig three different graves they went to dig the first grave the second grave the third grave they came back to him and they said to what shall we do he said the first grave is for the companions of my father bury them all in one grave the second grave is for the family members the third grave is for Habib ibn Madaher my father said they should have a grave for himself then after that he said to them I am now going to bury a body which only I and those who are with me can bury they said to him whose body he said I am going to bury my father he had not seen the state of his father's body because they had taken them away from Karbala he started to walk towards the body of Abba Abdullah when he got near the body of Imam al-Hussain he noticed there were fingers on the ground when he saw the fingers what were they Imam al-Hussain had a ring on his finger someone chopped his finger to take his ring then when he got near his father's body he noticed normally when you come near your father's body you want to kiss your father on his neck isn't it he came and he saw a body without a neck and a body which was covered by arrows and he took out a prayer mat and they asked him what are you doing why are you taking out the prayer mat he said so I can collect all the different pieces of my father's body then after that what did he do after that the narration say to us he said to them I am going to the forage there is a body that lies there when he went towards that body he narrates I lifted the right side the left all fell on the ground and when I lifted the left side the right all fell on the ground and he called out يا قمر بني هاشم أبو فضل العبارس he ended up burying all the bodies he went back towards كوفا and then towards شام and when they would ask him later أو علي ابن الحسين what was the most difficult part for you was it كاربلا was it كوفا was it شام he would reply الشام الشام الشام and he would say if you saw the way they treated us in شام he says on the first day we entered شام سهل بن سعد الساعدي a companion of رسول الله came to علي ابن الحسين when he came to him he saw him he says سهل says I saw everybody merry making everybody was joyous everybody was happy I thought is this a day of ايد so I asked someone is this a day of ايد they said no do not be surprised if the heavens turn on us and the earth sucks us said what is it the reply was these are the family of the prophet of God and they have been killed and these are their prisoners سهل بن ساعد الساعدي narrates I saw علي ابن الحسين with chains around his body I came to him and I said to him أو علي ابن الحسين I am سهل بن ساعد الساعدي the companion of your great grandfather رسول الله he looked at me and he said أو سهل I beg of you one thing please go and buy a piece of cloth for me سهل thought if I go and buy a piece of cloth it means علي ابن الحسين wants the cloth to cover his body he says I bought the piece of cloth to علي ابن الحسين and I saw him put the piece of cloth between the chain and his neck and he said to me أو سهل the chain has been cutting through my neck since Karbala then after that علي ابن الحسين narrates we were walking and a man came to me and said curse on you and curse on your people he looked at me he said old man do you know who we are the man said I don't but I have been told you are a group of rebels so curse on you he said oh man have you read the verse of the Quran قل لا أسألكم عليه أجرا إلا المودة في القرباء he said yes I have he said have you read the verse of the Quran وعلموا أنما غنمتم من شيء فأن لله خمسة ولا الرسول ولد القرباء he said yes I have he said have you read the verse of the Quran إنما يريد الله ليذب عنكم الرد سهل البيت ويطاهركم تطهيرا he said yes I have he said do you know who those verses refer to he said and who are we he looked at me he said he said I am from That was my father's head you see on the spear he said who he said He said he said yes imagine those people did not know who was killed and that's why in the Bazaar of you've been to the Bazaar of and that do you know what the narration say the narration say that when مجمع جامع الاموي اليوم . هذا الأمر كان جامع الاموي سوج الحميدية . when Imam Zain Al-A'abdin was taking you know what maybe Zainab says she says there were people pouring boiling water on the head of my nephew and they were poking him with spears as he was walking through the bazaar and then we arrived at Yazid palace and Imam Zain Al-A'abdin had to see Yazid he had to flick the lips of Imam Al-Hussein with a stick but I tell you Imam Zain Al-A'abdin that khutbah he gave in Sham that khutbah was only 22 and it's a message to our 22 year olds have you ever given a lecture like your master Zain Al-A'abdin at the age of 22 he stood in front of Yazid and he gave a khutbah which shook Yazid's empire when he said Allah has granted us 6 and given us excellence in 7 Allah has given us knowledge and Allah has given us patience eloquence, generosity, forbearance and the believers love for us and he's given us excellence in 7 from us is Rasool Allah from us is Ali, from us is Hamza, from us is Ja'far from us is Hassan, from us is Hussein and from us is the Mehdi those of you who know me know me those of you who don't let me tell you who I am I am the son of Mecca and Mina I am the son of Zamzam and Safa I am the son of the best of man to have held the black stone in his robe and the best of them to have circumambulated the Ka'bah I am the son of the man who was taken by Buraq through the air I am the son of the man who led the angels in prayer I am the son of the man who was taken to Sidrat Al-Muntaha I am the son of Muhammad Al-Mustafa صلى الله عليه وسلم I am the son of Ali Al-Murtaza the one who fought the disbelievers until they said لا إله إلا الله I am the son of the man who fought with two swords and with two spears who went on two migrations I am the son of the believers pious one the descendant of the prophets, the annihilator of the polytheists the commander of the faithful, the glory of the worshippers then he continued to say what I am the son of the man who fought the disbelievers and exterminated their progenies the man who was the best of them in prayer the garden of Allah's wisdom and his arrow targeting all the hypocrites I am the son of the master of Iraq the master of Iraq and the lion of Hijaz I am the son of a Makki, a Madani, a Badri, a Kheef, a Aqabi, a Muhajri, a Ansari that's my grandfather Ali ibn Abi Talib then he says I am the son of the masters of the youth of paradise Hassan and Hussain then he says I am the son of Fatimat al-Zahra until he says I am the son of the man who was slain on the earth of Karbala when he said this يزيد said recite the Adhan quickly recite the Adhan do not let him continue when they recited the Adhan and the person called out Allah who Akbar Imam Zayn al-Abideen called out in front of the people truly there is none as great as Allah then when he said he said all my body testified that there is no Lord but Allah then when he said أشهد وانا محمد رسول الله Imam said oh Yazid is Muhammad your grandfather or is he mine if you say he is your grandfather then you are a liar but if you know he is mine then why did you kill my father on the plains of Karbala because of this خطبة of Imam Zayn al-Abideen and the خطبة of Zayn al-Zaynab Yazid had to do what he had to allow Imam Zayn al-Abideen Zayn al-Zayn to leave that's why from the day they left Karbala until the 40th on the 40th after Karbala not one year in prison it was exactly 40 days they returned back to Karbala someone will turn around and say what do you mean not one year I've heard it's one year for 40 years now you come and say it's not one year logically historically mathematically all of them can be proved that it was 40 days in terms historically speaking you find that it's very clear within the narrations the journey of the Ahl al-Baid from Karbala took over to Sham until after Sham they returned back to Karbala geographically it is very clear that it took 40 days someone will even come forward and say why if Imam Zayn al-Abideen and Bibi Zaynab gave a خطبة and Yazid after that خطبة kept them in prison for one year so what was the point of the خطبة what effect did the خطبة have if Yazid listens to your خطبة and says okay good job go in prison for one year their خطبة was so powerful Yazid had to get rid of them because their خطبة شك Yazid's palace on top of that someone may turn around and say yes but how can you do that journey in 40 days if Imam al-Hussain left Mecca on the 9th of the Al-Hajja and arrived in Karbala on the 2nd of Muharram and it took Imam al-Hussain from Saudi Arabia to Iraq 22 days so what's wrong with the 40 day round journey 9th of the Al-Hajja until 2nd of Muharram so why can't you do Iraq Sham back to Iraq on the 40th when they return back on the 40th and there are numerous other proofs which I can give in another lecture when they return back to Iraq on the 40th جابر بن عبد الله الأنصار was the first visitor to the shrine of Imam al-Hussain to the grave of Imam al-Hussain جابر came with عطية العوفي to the grave of Imam al-Hussain جابر was blind at the time and he asked عطية عطية what do you see عطية said I see from far away some people are coming جابر said if it is Ibn Ziyad then tell me if it's Imam Ali ibn al-Hussain also tell me at this moment عطية said it's Ali ibn al-Hussain when جابر was taken to Imam Ali ibn al-Hussain جابر wanted to tell Imam Ali ibn al-Hussain what happened at Karbala Imam preceded them by saying you do not know what they did to us in Karbala Noor at Kufa Noor at Sham Noor back at Karbala until Imam Zain al-Abideen return to Medina the question now Imam Zain al-Abideen lift for 35 years after Karbala what did Imam Zain al-Abideen do in those 35 years after Karbala to reform the society he was living in why because Imam Zain al-Abideen recognized that the people who were at the helm of the Islamic empire were the same people who killed his father in their Salah they would say اشهدوا ان محمد رسول الله yet after their Salah they go and kill the grandson of رسول الله Imam Zain al-Abideen therefore began a reform system of the whole Islamic empire where in 35 years he gave Islam life after it was in a state of death Islam was dead when Yazid was in power Islam was dead Imam Zain al-Abideen through his actions in his life through his steps in his life gave Islam life back again in which way after Karbala Imam Zain al-Abideen was wondering why bring these people alive again especially after they had killed Imam al-Hussain he wondered what's the best way to reform the society the first thing he did he kept on purchasing more servants in his house and teaching them the origin of the teachings of Atlil Bayt in which way he would bring these servants because he knew that the Arabs their mind is so enclosed if you bring a hammer it will not open the mind so the best option what is it let me bring servants into the house I'll culture them with the teachings of my grandfather and slowly you will see a change and I tell you by the end of his life his servants were more religious than most of the Muslims who were born Muslim have you noticed how a convert is sometimes more religious than those who are born in the religion Imam Zain al-Abideen brings these servants and he teaches them the manners and the principles of Atlil Bayt in his house I remember reading once Imam Zain al-Abideen called for one of his servants to come once he called there was no reply a second time there was no reply a third time there was no reply on the fourth time the servant came Imam said I called you three times did you not hear me the servant said no I heard you very well he said so why didn't you reply said I want to taste the flavor of the mercy of Ali ibn al-Hussain said what do you mean said all the other masters we had if we don't come to their first call they hit us yet Ali ibn al-Hussain calls you three times and you don't come but on the fourth time when you come he looks at you with humility not a master slave relationship but the relationship of a friend with a friend on another occasion one of his servants is boring soup the whole of the soup falls under some of us some of us if our servant makes a mistake in our house we are the rudest people to our servant aren't we whereas Imam tell us what that is a fellow human he is not your trust it's the trust of Allah when that servant put the hot water the whole of the hot water imagine a servant pour hot water on your robe some of us may swear some of us may tell some of us may say never bring this person into our house again Imam knew these people aren't as privileged as we are so treat them with humility the servant looked in the face of Imam and look what the servant said بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الذين ينفقون في السرائي والضرائي والكاظمين الغيض والعافين عن الناس والله يحب المحسنين what did the servant say the servant looked at Imam and said والكاظمين الغيض والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين والكاظمين هل أنت سأسأل أنت؟ أو لا؟ أو هل أنت فقط تعمل؟ إمام زين العبدين. هذا المخلوق يجب أن يأخذه أكثر إلى أهل البيت وذلك لماذا سعيد من مصيب يتحدث عن فتاة فنومنية سعيد من مصيب يقول أننا نحن مع زين العبدين one day المنطقة التي كنا فيها فيها في سفر ذلك لم يكن هناك راين تأتي في كل شيء إمام زين العبدين قلت لنا all of us everyone get together in dua raise your hands all of you together and Allah will send rain down سعيد يقول أن كل من زين العبدين are servants and his friends servants came and he said I looked at all of them reciting dua with tears coming down but there was still no rain coming then some of them left except one servant of زين العبدين a black servant he said I looked at him from far away everyone had stopped reciting dua except this black servant as soon as the black servant began reciting dua after a few minutes the rain started pouring down on us he says I went to زين العبدين later I said imam do you mind if I purchase one of the servants from you imam said why purchase I'll give him to Saeed says I told the imam there's a specific one the imam said which one have a look at the ones who are in my house they are not my servants they are like my students choose he looked at them he said he's not here imam said there's only one more of them and he's outside Saeed said I went outside I saw him in front of me I said imam that's the one imam said why he said imam that's the one who when he recited dua the rain all came down imam said take him when that servant was leaving he turned to imam زين العبدين he said to him why is it that he wants me to go with him he said because he saw your dua and he wants you to be alongside him because he knew your amount of piety this servant left imam زين العبدين Saeed said I saw him walking and I saw him stop at a place and I saw him say ya Allah now that my secret between me and you has been divulged why don't you take my life away now because I don't want to act insincere with the gift you've given me some of us if we had that gift went abused that servant said ya Allah now that someone knows about the gift you've given me take my life I don't want to live a life of arrogance those servants imam do you know what he said to them I want you to go out to every house in Medina and tell them about Ahlulbayt the servants would go out they'd tell the people about Ahlulbayt they'd come back imam would say how's things going they'd say not too well imam would say why say we're speaking with the elders but they're not listening imam said leave the elders go to the youth the elders will not listen go to the youth and tell them about Rasool Allah tell them about imam their hearts are more willing to take him number one the servants number two the second way he reformed society he wrote his magnificent book of supplications صحيفة سجادية I tell you there is no book of supplications like a صحيفة سجادية because the imam would always say دع is the weapon of the believer and it is the light of the heavens of the earth imam in another hadith when they were asking him what's the distance between heaven and earth imam would say the distance between the skies and the earth is the cry of an oppressed person in دع الصحيفة سجادية is the greatest book of supplications written by a human being someone asked the question why did he write a book on دع because دع is what opens up our relation with God he felt that when the Arabs had killed his father they had lost all relationship with God in their life there was no more God in their life rather they were thinking of a world of I not a world of we so he wrote a صحيفة سجادية a dua for your mother a dua for your father a dua for someone who is ill a dua for the companions of رسول الله a dua for jihad a dua for absolutely every stage in your life 51 داعs and you know what the shame is there are lovers of Zain el-Abideen who have never read one dua in الصحيفة سجادية isn't it embarrassing do you know not this pope the one before him I had a friend of mine who had visited the Vatican he looked in the library of the pope and he saw a صحيفة سجادية in the library he asked him what is this صحيفة سجادية in your library said I do not see a book of Psalms of Dawood like this book of Psalms and that's why in the school صحيفة سجادية the Psalms of Al-Muhammad Zaboor Al-Muhammad because the book of the Psalms in the bible is a book of dua isn't it the book of dua like the Zaboor in أهل البيت صحيفة سجادية and in صحيفة سجادية amongst the most beautiful du'as is you'll find of the du'as he's collected دعاء مكارم الأخلاق phenomenal dua and in that dua دعاء مكارم الأخلاق there are lines three lines which he talks about relations with the family members he felt the people had lost their relations with family they were willing to kill their own family member in that book do you know what he had written there is a line الله مصلي على محمد وآل محمد وآبدلني من بغبة أهل الشنآن المحبة ومن أقوض دول أرحام المبارة ومن خذلان الأقربين النصرة do you know what he says يا الله change the hatred of my cousins into love for me and change their stubbornness into freedom with me and change their difficulties into ease امام زيل العبدي and those three lines دعاء مكارم الأخلاق were so around him in society صلاة الرحم was being broken brothers don't talk to each other sisters hate each other in laws disrespect each other so he wrote دعاء مكارم الأخلاق so that the أخلاق morals between people returns that's why even he himself had a cousin who fell in some debt that cousin kept on saying where's زيل العبدي why doesn't he lend me some money and Imam زيل العبدي wouldn't come to him that cousin began to abuse Imam زيل العبدي day and night in front of the people when Imam زيل العبدي died that cousin so Imam الباقر Imam زيل العبدي he said to him they used to be a man who used to wear a hood and in the middle of the night he would come and give me food but I've not seen that man for a few nights who is it Imam الباقر says that was my father the cousin you used to abuse you used to abuse him in the morning in the evening he brings you food you see how Imam زيل العبدي and he was the embodiment of his دعاء when he would say something in his دعاء he would act it after reading the دعاء that was number 2 number 3 he wrote رسالة الحقوق the right of God the right of yourself the right of your mother the right of your father the right of your brother the right of your sister the right of your stomach the right of your eyes the right of your hands the right of your private parts the right of fasting the right of prayer the right of the non-muslim the right of the مؤدن the right of every single right you can imagine today we have the united nations declaration of human rights don't we tell me the declaration of human rights tell me about my right of God or the right of my soul or the right of my eye or the right of my hand or the right of my father or the right of my mother Imam زيل العبدي 1400 years before the UN prepared the declaration of human rights wrote رسالة الحقوق the treaties of rights of the human being and do you know what my favorite part of رسالة الحقوق is the right of the father in رسالة الحقوق do you know what Imam زيل العبدي in rights he says know that the right of your father and this is just one of 50 rights know that the right of your father is that he is your root and you are his branch and were it not for him you would never be so whenever you see anything in yourself that impresses you know that it's because of your father's blessings that you achieved it today you have some use as soon as they achieve something they forget their father Imam says whenever you see anything that impresses you know that your father is the root of that blessing so he wrote رسالة الحقوق that was number 3 then after that he changed the society around him through his salah that's why his 3 most famous names that's 3 most famous names of Imam Ali ibn al-Hussain what are they number 1 a sajad the one who used to always be in sujood and do you know what the irony is when people used to come to him and say your ibadah is so great your worship is so great he said my worship is not half of my grandfathers Ali ibn al-Bitadi number 1 a sajad number 2 زين العابدين the adornment of the worshippers this name was given to him by رسول الله رسول الله had Imam al-Hussain in his lap he looked at Jabir ibn Abdullah and said oh Jabir this hussain will have a son called Ali on the day of judgement there will be a call which will say where is زين العابدين and his son Ali will come forward and say أنا زين العابدين imagine that Allah will say that this is زين العابدين number 3 the third name he had which highlighted how discipline he was in his worship was what was ذل ففنات ذل ففنات do you know what ففنات are in English they are called callusus you know the camel because it grazes its knee so much on the ground some of the skin gets peeled off isn't it some of the skin hangs out Imam Zain العابدين from the amount of prostration he used to do remember he is the one who has the famous line if mankind knew how much reward they were getting in prostration they would never lift their head from prostration the Imam used to perform prostration so much that do you know what used to happen to him the skin would peel off his forehead that skin which peels off his forehead the narration say to us that that skin when it sticks out used to look like the skin of a camel sticking out of its knee so they call them ذل ففنات امام المعقر used to say that my father twice a year would cut off the skin from his forehead because of the amount of prostration he did the skin would be hanging out of his forehead someone asks why did he focus on salah so much if a person is disciplined in their prayer they'll be disciplined everywhere else in their life and so امام focused on his صلاة and focused on those around him من صلاة through all of this امام زين العبدين 35 years after كالبلا through the servants through الصحيبة سجادية through صالت الحقوق through الصلاة and through his companions never forget the great companions of زين العبدين the first of them ابو حمزة الثمالي you've read حمزة شهر مضان and why should I not cry when you place me in the grave and I see the darkness of the grave and the narrowness of the grave and I see منكر النكير coming towards me in the grave asking me questions that ابو حمزة الثمالي one of the greatest companions of امام زين العبدين سعيد من الجباب killed by حجاج بالنوصة بالتقفي because of the greatness of his prayers and his companions of امام زين العبدين قمبر died in the time of امام زين العبدين قميل دعاء قميل was killed in the time of امام زين العبدين حجاج بالنوصة بالتقفي do you know how much they used to bully امام زين العبدين حجاج بالنوصة بالتقفي انه شام بن اسمائيل and there is one story which to me highlights the final way he changed the society around him his اخلاق was phenomenal you know how much when he was governor of Medina do you know what he used to do when he leaves his house he asks children to come and tell things about him and he barges when he is walking in the street his maternal uncle was Abdul Malik when Abdul Malik was replaced by Walid Walid put عمر بن عبد العزيز as governor of Medina عمر بن عبد العزيز sacked hisham when he sacked him he caught hisham and he chained him to a wall and when he chained him to the wall he called out to the people oh people whoever hisham بن اسمائيل has been bad too come and take your revenge from hisham hisham بن اسمائيل used to be rude to Imam Zain el-Aberdin isn't it imagine someone came to you and said we have now caught the person who was rude to you every day you left your house you leave your house someone throws stones at you now that person is chained they came to Imam Zain el-Aberdin they said do you know who got caught today his companion said to him who got caught Imam said who said hisham bin اسمائيل he is now chained what shall we do to him now that he is chained Imam said what are you thinking of doing they said shouldn't we take revenge Imam said I'll tell you what we should do go up to him and say to him oh hisham if you are hungry then Zain el-Aberdin will feed you and if you are thirsty then I will quench your thirst and if you have a loan I'll pay the loan for you would you do this to someone who has tortured you but the way he inspired was through his morals the morals came out others would attack the person but the Imam his morals would come out and that morals emerge from a man who because of the amount of reflection he gave God without a doubt his morals would come out like that I was near the Ka'ba and I saw a man holding onto the Ka'ba crying and crying and crying I thought who is this man surely he has committed a lot of sin for him to cry that much I got near him it was Zain el-Aberdin I looked at him and I was listening to his dua and I heard him say oh Allah if you removed your rope from me then whose rope do I hold onto oh Allah you always increase my life but what if I increase in sinning against you he said I saw Zain el-Aberdin I thought if Zain el-Aberdin talks like this and what do I say he said I said oh Imam you cry you and we are the and he turned around to me and he said oh power he said doesn't matter if you are an array Ethiopian slave or you are a son of Quraish all of you will be made answerable all of us will be made answerable on the day of judgment but look at those lines oh Allah whose rope would I hold onto if you cut your rope from me you increase my life but I increase my disobedience someone asked why do a little bait talk like that is it because they are sinners no it is because they are teaching us if we talk like this to Allah then how will you talk to Allah and that's why when Hisham bin Abdul Malik was sitting near the Kaaba Hisham was sitting he tried to get to Hajar and that's what he couldn't get there then what did he see we saw a man walking towards Hajar el-Eswad when he saw the man walking to Hajar el-Eswad he saw the hall of Mecca open the man went kissed Hajar el-Eswad and came back Hisham arrogantly turned to Farasdaq he said Farasdaq who's that man how did that thing open for him Farasdaq and his famous lines of poetry he was imprisoned for these lines they put him in prison he said he is someone his lines are impeccable brothers and sisters he says he is someone whose footsteps are known by every place and he is someone who is known by the house in Mecca and the place that is visited by most frequently the sanctuary he says that he is the son the best of all of the men of God a man who is upright and chaste unstained and righteousness he is Ali ibn al-Husayn whose grandfather is the prophet and whose mother is Fatima he who claims to recognize Allah recognizes his primacy and his superiority above all men because nations came to this religion because of his family when he goes towards the Ka'ba it's as if the Ka'ba is grasping to hold him when Yushan bin Abdul Malik heard this he said how dare you talk like this about anyone else he imprisoned him when Imam Zain Al-Abdil found out he was imprisoned Imam Zain Al-Abdil what did he say Imam Zain Al-Abdil went and paid for him to be released you know what Farasdaq said he said oh Imam you don't need to release me you don't need to pay for me all I did was speak the truth there is none like Ali ibn al-Husayn walking on the face of this earth and one of the famous Iranian scholar says in my dream I saw Farasdaq and I asked him how is your position now and he replied because of my lines of poetry for Zain Al-Abdil Allah has honored me where I am today therefore you found that Imam Zain Al-Abdil every angle of his life was an example for us and without a doubt he would never forget what happened on the tenth of Muharram imagine how hard for 35 years after Karbala you would always remember what happened to your father if he saw a sheep being slaughtered he would say to the butcher oh butcher when you slaughter a sheep do you give it water he said yes oh Zain Al-Abdil every creation of Allah deserves water before it dies and he would look at him and say they killed my father without giving him any water on another occasion he saw a man he saw a man on another occasion who used to dig the graves he said to him oh man when I die will you bury me the man said of course I will never leave you alone he said my father was alone with no one to bury him on the third occasion he saw a man calling out I am a stranger help me Imam came to him and said to him do you have food he said yes I do he said to him do you have clothes he said yes I do he said to him oh man if you were to die would your family bury you he said yes he said then don't call yourself a gharib a gharib is one who lay on the ground in Karbala with no one to bury him for three nights alone but do you know what was the saddest part Imam Al-Baqar when he says when I was burying my father when I was in my father's final moments my father was lying on the bed the poison of Walid had surrounded his body it was 35 years after Karbala he said I came to my father the poison was surrounding his body I came to him and as a son should do to a father I embraced my father along his chest my father began to cry in a way I had never seen him cry I said to him my father زين العبدين why do you cry in a moment you will see رسول الله in a moment you will see فاطمة الزهراء in a moment you will see علي ابنابي طالب in a moment you will see الحسن in a moment you will see الحسين my father why do you cry listen to the reply he said to him oh my son الباطر I cry because when I am dying you are on my chest whereas when my father was dying do you know who sat on the chest of my father when those lines remained with him until the day he passed away and that's why ابو حنزة ثمالي would say to him oh Imam Zahmadi why did you cry Karbala was so many years back he replied oh Abu Hamza نبي أقوب cried so much for نبي يوسف even though يوسف was alive I saw 17 18 members of my family killed in front of me do you expect me not to cry for them we pray to Allah to raise us with Imam زين العبدين عليه السلام to allow us to be amongst his companions and those who follow his message we pray to Allah for those who are ill in the world in the name of the one who was ill at Karbala with the following بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم أما يجيب المفبر إذا دعاه ويكشب السوء أما يجيب المفبر إذا دعاه ويكشب السوء أما يجيب المفبر إذا دعاه ويكشب السوء أما يجيب المفبر إذا دعاه ويكشب السوء أما يجيب المفبر إذا دعاه ويكشب السوء we pray to Allah سبحانه وتعاله وصورة الفاتح on this night of Friday but before it the loudest of your salawat سلوات