سورة البقرة

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It rained in Madinah. Afterwards, when the clouds dispersed and the sun came out, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) came out among a group of the Muhajirin and the Ansar. He sat down and they sat around him. When Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) was approaching, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to those around him: "This is Ali (peace be upon him) coming towards you; he has a Allah-fearing heart and pure hands. This is Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), who speaks nothing but the truth. If the mountains were to be destroyed [by the intensity of trials], he would not turn away from his religion." When Ali (peace be upon him) drew near to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) seated him in front of himself. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Ali (peace be upon him)! I am the city of wisdom and you are its gate; so whoever wishes to enter the city must pass through its gate to reach the city. O Ali (peace be upon him)! You are my gate through which one must enter to reach me, and I am the gate of Allah. So whoever comes to me through any way other than you will not reach me, and whoever goes to Allah apart from me will not reach Him." Then a group of people asked one another: "What is the meaning of this?" So Allah revealed this verse of the Qur'an: لَیْسَ الْبِرَّ أَنْ تُوَلُّوا ... [It is not righteousness that you turn your faces...].

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): It has been narrated that this verse was revealed concerning Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him).

Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him): Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him) said: My father used to perform the ziyarat of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) on the day of Ghadir in this manner: "Peace be upon you, O Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) and O master of the successors! ... You were the patient one in [times of] hardship, affliction and at the time of battle."

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) honoured Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), declared his rank before Allah, and explained the rank of his Shia and his helpers, and rebuked the Jews and Christians for their disbelief and for concealing the merits and standing of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and Ali (peace be upon him) which had been mentioned in their books, the Christians and Jews objected out of pride. The Jews said: "For years we have been praying towards this qibla; some of us have spent nights in worship facing this qibla. This is the very qibla that Musa (peace be upon him) commanded us [to face]." The Christians likewise claimed: "For years we have prayed towards this qibla, and some of us have spent nights in worship facing this qibla. This qibla was appointed for us by Isa (peace be upon him)." Then both groups said: "Do you suppose that, because we have not followed Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and have not accepted his wish concerning his brother (Ali (peace be upon him)), Allah will not accept all these deeds and nightly vigils of ours?!"

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): The righteousness which causes [a person's entry into] Paradise and brings about the forgiveness and pleasure of Allah is not that you turn your faces in prayer towards the East — O Christians! — or towards the West — O Jews! — while you are opposing the command of Allah and harbouring rancour against the wali of Allah in your hearts.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): The righteous person is one who believes in Allah — that He is One, Unique, without equal and without need; the Allah who honours and dignifies whom He wills and abases and humiliates whom He wills. No one has the power to overturn His command or to delay His decree. Likewise [the righteous person] is one who believes in the Day of Resurrection; that Resurrection whose best entrant is Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), the master of the prophets, and after him his brother, the master of the successors; that Resurrection at which no one of the Shia of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) shall be present without the light shining from his face, and he sets forth with his brothers, wives, children, those who did good to him in the world, and those who defended him in the world, towards the highest Paradise.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): Belief in the Last Day is belief in the Day of Resurrection, into which the most excellent to enter is Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), the master of the prophets, and after him his brother and chosen one Ali (peace be upon him), the master of the successors. On that Day, none of the Shia of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) enters it but that his light illuminates the place, and [then] he, together with his brethren, his wives, his children, those who did good to him, and those who defended him in the world, moves towards the Paradise full of bounties. And none of the enemies of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) enters the Resurrection but that the darkness of that Day overwhelms his being, and he, together with those who, without taqiyya, allied with him, followed his creed, agreed with him and drew close to him, moves towards the painful punishment (some who in the world outwardly, out of expediency and taqiyya, accompanied these enemies of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) are not part of this group). On that Day Paradise calls out: "Let the lovers of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and Ali (peace be upon him) and their followers come to me, and let the enemies and opponents of theirs stay far from me!" And the Fire calls out: "Let the lovers of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and Ali (peace be upon him) and their followers stay far from me, and let the enemies of those two and their followers come to me!" Then Paradise says: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and O Ali (peace be upon him)! Allah has commanded us to obey you and to grant entry to whomever you admit; so fill us with your Shia. Welcome, greetings and honour to them!" And the Fire likewise says: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and O Ali (peace be upon him)! Indeed Allah the Exalted has commanded us to obey you and to burn with our fire whomever you order us to burn; so fill us with your enemies!"

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): The condition of faith is believing in the angels, the Book of Allah, and the prophets (peace be upon them).

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): The believer gives wealth to the believers and the deserving, despite having attachment to it or being severely in need of that wealth himself, because he hopes for a [better] life and also fears [the possibility of] poverty and destitution, for he is healthy and grasping.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) [said about one who is an instance of this verse:] If he does not have wealth and property to practise muwasat (giving equal share) and equality, let him continually reaffirm the oneness of Allah and the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), and openly proclaim our superiority over others, and acknowledge the obligatory rights of our family [the Ahl al-Bayt], and our superiority over the other prophets, and the superiority of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) over the other prophets, and friendship with our friends and enmity with our enemies.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him), in the tafsir of this verse — Imam Askari (peace be upon him) has narrated from Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): [Righteousness is that a person] gives the obligatory zakat to his believing brothers. If he does not have wealth from which to pay zakat, he should give the zakat of his body, intellect and knowledge; in this way, that whenever he has the ability, he should make manifest the virtue of Ali (peace be upon him) and his pure descendants, and also at the time when calamities have spread and he is afflicted with hardship and distress, and also when our enemies prevail, he should practise taqiyyah (dissimulation), or associate with the servants of Allah in such a way that no harm comes to his religion and honour and his religion and worldly life remain safe.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): [The one who fits this description] gives to the poor relatives of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) as a gift and act of kindness, not as sadaqah (charity), for Allah the Mighty and Majestic has made their station too lofty to accept sadaqah, and to his own relatives he gives in any form — whether as sadaqah, or as kindness and gift.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): We are the near of kin and we are the needy; [in the sense that] our need and neediness in relation to [the outpourings and favours of] the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) will never depart, and we are the wayfarers, for no path [of guidance] can be recognised except through us, and the whole affair belongs to us.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The meaning of dhawi al-qurba (the near of kin) is kinship with the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him), in the commentary on this verse — Imam Askari (peace be upon him) narrated from Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): [Righteousness and goodness is that] one gives to the poor orphans of Bani Hashim as a matter of kindness and not as charity, and gives to other (non-Hashimi) orphans as a gift of kinship and as charity.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): The meaning is our orphans.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): The meaning of masakin is the poor and needy people.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): The meaning is our needy.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The faqir is one who [despite being in need] does not beg from people, but the miskin strives [and begs and struggles] more than him, and the ba'is (destitute) strives [and begs and struggles] even more than the miskin.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): وَ ابْنَ السَّبِیل [and the wayfarer]; one whose wealth has been taken by highway robbers and who has no money left to sustain his life.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): What is meant by ibn al-sabil (the wayfarer) is one who has been stranded on the road.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): وَ السَّائِلِینَ [and the beggars] are those who, out of need, ask for help and request charity.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): The right of the one who asks is that [the one fulfilling the request] should give to him according to the measure of his need, and the right of the one who is asked is that if he gives to him (the asker), he should thank him and appreciate his kindness, and if he withholds from him, he should accept his excuse.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): وَ فِی الرِّقابِ [and for (the emancipation of) the captives] — the mukatabin (slaves who have contracted with their masters for their freedom); they are given enough to pay off their contract and thereby be set free.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) was asked about the ruling of a mukatab (a captive from the polytheists who knows how to write and can be freed by teaching Muslims reading and writing) who has paid part of the price of his freedom but is unable to pay the rest. He said: "That amount must be paid from the wealth of zakat, for Allah the Mighty and Majestic says in His Book: وَفِی الرِّقَابِ [and for (the emancipation of) the captives]."

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): الصَّابِرِینَ فِی الْبَأْساءِ [the patient in distress] means those who show patience and endurance in fighting the enemy, and there is no enemy more aggressive and more rebellious to fight than Iblis and his rebellious friends who inspire them. He (the believer) repels that (danger of Iblis) by sending salutations upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his pure family. وَ الضَّرَّاءِ [and affliction] is poverty and hardship, and there is no poverty more severe than the poverty of a believer who takes refuge with the enemies of the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). He endures that (humiliation) with patience and knows that whatever he takes from their wealth as spoils is a means of cursing them and distancing them from Allah's blessing, and he uses it as an aid to revive the remembrance of the wilayah of the pure and purified Ahl al-Bayt (the Imams (peace be upon them)). وَ حینَ الْبَأْسِ [and in time of conflicts] is when the battle intensifies — he remembers Allah and sends salutations upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), the Messenger of Allah, and upon Ali (peace be upon him), the walī of Allah, and with his heart and tongue befriends the friends of Allah and shows enmity toward the enemies of Allah.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): A believer does not become a believer until he has three qualities [and practices — a practice from Allah and a practice from the Prophet] ... and the practice he must learn from his Imam is patience in distress and affliction, for Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: وَ الصَّابِرِینَ فِی الْبَأْساءِ وَ الضَّرَّاءِ [and the patient in distress and affliction].

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): What is meant by وَحِینَ الْبَأْسِ [and in time of conflicts] is the time of war and killing.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): Whoever acts upon these conditions is a true and truthful believer.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): [what is meant by] al-Muttaqun (the Allah-conscious) is Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him).