سورة البقرة

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): This verse was revealed concerning the transgressing and hypocritical scholars and leaders of the Jews, who seized the wealth of the poor in favour of the wealthy; those who commanded good while they themselves abandoned it, and forbade evil while they themselves committed it.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): Allah [in this verse addressed] a group of the rebellious Jews who, through usurpation, seized the property of the poor in favour of the wealthy and consumed it; those very ones who commanded good but did not do it themselves, and forbade evil but committed it themselves ... And these were a group of the chiefs of the Jews and their scholars who had appropriated to themselves the property of the public treasury and the charities and seized them for their own benefit. They came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) while they had incited their ignorant common folk against the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), saying to them: "Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) has overstepped his limit and is claiming what does not belong to him; kill him, even if he be among a group of his companions and helpers." And it did not matter to them at all what fate would befall them. So when these chiefs of the Jews came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and sat before him, they began speaking with the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), having agreed that when they had silenced Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), they would draw their swords upon him. They said: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Do you claim that you are a messenger like Musa (peace be upon him) and the other prior prophets?" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) answered: "The claim of prophethood is correct, but that I should say I am the equivalent of Musa and the prophets (peace be upon them) — this I do not say, and [with this statement] I do not diminish the rank and position which Allah has granted me." Allah the Mighty says to me: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Your excellence over all the other prophets, the messengers, the angels and the close ones, is like My excellence — I, who am the Lord of the worlds — over all the worlds." This same statement Allah made to Musa (peace be upon him) when he supposed that he had been given excellence over all the worlds, [saying that Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) is greater than you]. Suddenly the Jews became enraged at these words and decided to kill the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and wanted to draw their swords from their scabbards, but at that moment all of them realized that their hands, as though tied behind their backs and become withered, had no power to move. They were bewildered. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Do not be distressed; Allah has a good decision concerning you. Allah has not allowed you to attack His friend and has compelled you to listen to his argument concerning the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and the wilayah of his successor Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him)." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) turned toward the Jews and said: "O people of the Jews! These chiefs of yours are disbelievers; they swallow your wealth; they do not give you your rights and have wronged you; in distributing your wealth they have acted oppressively [in paying the tribute] and increase or decrease its amount." The chiefs of the Jews said: "Now bring proof for your claim regarding your prophethood and the successorship of Ali (peace be upon him) your brother; these claims are futile, and you are only inciting our co-religionists against us!" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "But Allah the Mighty has permitted me to bring forth those properties in which you have betrayed these weak people, and likewise to bring forth the ledgers which you have prepared and in which you have appropriated the rights of these people for yourselves, and to make your own limbs and their limbs testify to this deed." At this the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O angels of my Lord! Bring here all the properties which these have seized for themselves and by which they have oppressed the common people." Bags of gold and silver, garments, animals and various kinds of property came down from above and lined up before them. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Bring the ledgers of these oppressors, in which they have made false calculations and appropriated the rights of these wretched people for themselves." At that moment scrolls came and settled on the ground. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Take up these scrolls." When they took up the scrolls, they saw written in them: "The share and right of such-and-such person is such-and-such amount." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O angels of Allah! Beneath the name of each person write down the amount which was stolen from him and by which he was wronged." They observed that in clear script it was written: "The share and right of such-and-such person is such-and-such amount." The people realized that they had been betrayed tenfold and had not been given their rights. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O angels of Allah! Separate out the property which is the right of these people so that each person may be given his own right." The properties separated out until the very amount that had been written in the ledgers was set aside, and it became clear that those chiefs of the Jews had stolen this amount and appropriated it to themselves. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) paid the right of each of the people who was present, and sent the rights of those who were absent to them, and also returned the rights of those who had died to their heirs. Allah exposed the chiefs of the Jews before the people, but wretchedness overcame some of those chiefs and some of the common folk, and Allah granted a group of them the success of guidance. Those who decided to believe in the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "We bear witness that you are the most excellent of the prophets and that your successor Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) is the most excellent of the successors; now Allah has disgraced us because of our sins, but if we repent and desist from wronging the people, what will our future be like?" The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "You will be with us in Paradise as companions and our brothers in the religion and creed of Allah; and Allah will increase your provision, and in place of these properties which have now gone from your hands, you will receive many times over. These people too will forget your disgrace, so much so that not one of them will even remember it." They said: "We bear witness to the oneness of Allah who has no partner; and we bear witness that you, O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), are the servant, messenger, chosen one and friend of Allah, and we also bear witness that Ali (peace be upon him) is your brother, your vizier, the guardian of the religion, your deputy and successor, and your defender and supporter, and he in relation to you is like Harun (peace be upon him) in relation to Musa (peace be upon him), the sole difference between the two cases being that after you no prophet will come." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Now you have succeeded."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): O Ibn Mas'ud! Do not be among those who guide people to good and command them to it while they themselves are heedless of it! For Allah the Exalted says: أَ تَأْمُرُونَ النّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَ تَنْسَوْنَ أَنْفُسَکُمْ [Do you enjoin righteousness upon people and forget yourselves?]

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Do not be among those who seek the Hereafter through worldly deeds, or without any deeds at all, and who delay repentance because of long hopes. In this world they speak the words of ascetics and pious men, but in action they behave like those eager for the world. If they are given from it, they are not satisfied; if they possess much wealth, they are not content. They enjoin good but do not do it themselves. They forbid wrong while not refraining from committing it themselves. They love the righteous and pure but do not follow their deeds. They are hostile to sinners, yet they are one of them. They dread death because of the abundance of their sins, yet they persist in what Allah dislikes from them. They are pleased with themselves when in good health, but despair when afflicted and sick. If calamity strikes them, they pray out of desperation; but if they attain ease and abundance, they turn away in arrogance. Their rebellious selves overpower them in matters they merely suppose, but do not overpower them in matters they are certain of. (This refers to the truth of the Hereafter.) If they become wealthy, they grow arrogant; if they become poor, they despair. They advance sin but delay repentance. They describe lessons but do not learn from them; they exaggerate in admonition but are not admonished themselves. They speak much but act little. They are strict in matters that perish but lax in matters of religion; they regard true loss as gain and true gain as loss. They fear death but do not hasten to seize the fleeting opportunity. They magnify the sins of others while they belittle the very same sin in themselves; they exaggerate their own obedience while they regard the same obedience from others as insignificant and worthless. They are always finding fault with people while praising themselves; they prefer idle gatherings and revelry with the wealthy over sessions of remembrance of Allah with the poor. They guide others while they themselves are misguided. أَتَأْمُرُونَ النّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَ تَنْسَوْنَ أَنْفُسَکُمْ وَ أَنْتُمْ تَتْلُونَ الْکِتابَ أَ فَلا تَعْقِلُونَ [Do you enjoin righteousness upon people and forget yourselves, while you recite the Book? Do you not then understand?]

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): "On every pulpit [of the pulpits of the hypocrites] there is an eloquent speaker who lies against Allah, against His Messenger, and against His Book". Kumayt ibn Zayd al-Asadi, explaining this statement of Imam Ali (peace be upon him), says: "That is, when the speaker is atop the pulpit, he speaks the truth, but when he comes down, he goes astray".

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): What is meant are speakers among the people of this world who commanded people to do good but forgot themselves.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): After the preceding verses, [and mentioning] the honors He has prepared for the believers, as well as the punishments He has prepared for the polytheists and those who opposed His command and His wali (guardian), He offers descriptions, distinguishing between the qualities of the rightly-guided and the qualities of the transgressors; and this is a method observed in most verses of the Quran. For this reason Allah has said: 'Do they not then reflect on the Quran, or are there locks upon their hearts?' (Muhammad/24) So reflect carefully [and see] who is the Imam who deserves this quality from Allah, whose obedience has been made obligatory upon the community? Is it the Imam who has never associated a partner with Allah and has never disobeyed Him for a moment, and whose obedience has been made obligatory by Allah, who deserves to be obeyed; or the Imam who spent his life in idol worship and then outwardly professed faith while inwardly harboring hypocrisy? Can the Wise treat filth with filth, and can someone who himself carries many prescribed punishments [for sins] upon his own neck carry out Allah's prescribed punishments upon others? Allah, the Exalted, says regarding this: أَ تَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَ تَنْسَوْنَ أَنْفُسَکُمْ وَ أَنْتُمْ تَتْلُونَ الْکِتابَ أَ فَلا تَعْقِلُونَ [Do you enjoin righteousness upon people and forget yourselves, while you recite the Book? Do you not then understand?].

Imam Ridha (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Sinan said: "I was with my master, Imam Ridha (peace be upon him), in Khurasan. Al-Ma'mun used to seat him on his right when he held public audience on Mondays and Thursdays. It was reported to al-Ma'mun that a man from among the Sufis had committed theft, so he ordered him brought in. When he looked at him, he found him ascetic-looking, with the mark of prostration between his eyes, and said: 'How shameful it is for these beautiful marks to accompany such an ugly deed! Is theft attributed to you despite the beautiful marks and outward appearance I see in you?' The man said: 'I did that out of necessity, not by choice, when you deprived me of my right from the khums and the fay.' Al-Ma'mun said: 'What right do you have to the khums and the fay?' He said: 'Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, divided the khums into six shares and said: Know that whatever spoils you obtain [the verse] (Anfal/41), and He divided the fay into six shares and said, the Mighty and Majestic: Whatever Allah has turned over to His Messenger from the people of the towns [the verse] (Hashr/7). So you deprived me of my right, while I am a wayfarer cut off [from home], a destitute man with nowhere to turn, and one of the bearers of the Quran.' Al-Ma'mun said to him: 'Do you think that because of this story and these fables of yours, I will not carry out upon you the rulings and prescribed punishment that Allah has set for thieves?' The Sufi said: 'Begin with yourself, purify it, then purify others; carry out Allah's prescribed punishment upon yourself first, then upon others.' Al-Ma'mun turned to Abu al-Hasan (peace be upon him) and said: 'What do you say?' The Imam said: 'He is saying: You stole, so he stole.' Al-Ma'mun became extremely angry and said to the Sufi: 'By Allah, I will cut off your hand.' The Sufi said: 'Would you cut off my hand while you are my slave?' Al-Ma'mun said: 'Woe to you! Since when have I become your slave?' He said: 'Because your mother was purchased with the wealth of the Muslims, so you are a slave of everyone in the East and the West until they free you, and I have not freed you. Moreover, you devoured the khums, giving no right to the family of the Messenger, nor to me and my peers our due. And another thing: the impure does not purify another impure like itself; only the pure can purify. And one who himself carries a prescribed punishment cannot carry out prescribed punishments on others until he begins with himself. Have you not heard Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, say: Do you enjoin righteousness upon people and forget yourselves, while you recite the Book? Do you not then understand?' Al-Ma'mun turned to Imam Ridha (peace be upon him) and said: 'What is your opinion in this matter?' He (peace be upon him) said: 'Allah, Glorified is His Majesty, said to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family): So for Allah is the conclusive proof (Anam/149), and it is the proof that reaches the ignorant, so he comes to know it through his ignorance just as the learned man knows it through his knowledge, and this world and the next both stand upon the proof, and the man has indeed presented his proof.'"

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): Do you enjoin people to give charity and fulfill trusts?! [While you forget yourselves].

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): 'You forget yourselves' means that you yourselves do not reflect upon what you have been commanded. [Even though you have commanded others to it].

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): 'You forget yourselves' means that you yourselves abandon it.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): 'You forget yourselves' means that you yourselves are heedless of it.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The Imam (peace be upon him) placed his hand around his throat and said: [One who forgets himself] is like one who kills himself.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): 'While you recite the Book' means that very Book, the Torah, which commands good deeds and forbids evil, declares the punishment of the rebellious, and also recounts the great honor and distinction Allah bestows upon the diligent obedient.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Abu al-Bakhtari said: "I saw Ali (peace be upon him) climb the pulpit at Kufa, wearing the woolen cloak that belonged to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), girded with the Messenger of Allah's sword, wrapped in the Messenger of Allah's turban, wearing the Messenger of Allah's ring on his finger. He sat on the pulpit and drew back his garment from his body [pointing to his chest]. Then he said: Ask me before you lose me; for indeed there is abundant knowledge within my ribs, which has flowed to me from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). This is the trace of the Prophet's saliva. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) himself placed this knowledge in my mouth without any revelation being sent to me. By Allah! If a cushion were prepared for me and I sat upon it, I would issue rulings for the people of the Torah from their Torah and for the people of the Gospel from their Gospel, such that Allah would make the Torah and the Gospel speak, saying: Ali (peace be upon him) has spoken the truth and has given rulings according to what was revealed concerning me."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Muhammad ibn Abd al-Jabbar, from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): I said to the Imam (peace be upon him): "What is intellect ('aql)?" He (peace be upon him) said: "It is that [faculty or power] by which the Merciful is worshipped and Paradise is attained". I said: "Then what was present in Mu'awiyah?" (Is the power of cunning and shrewdness also called intellect?) He (peace be upon him) said: "That is cunning, that is deviousness, and it is truly Satanic; it [that power] resembles intellect, but it is not intellect".

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) was asked: "From what did Allah create the intellect?" He said: "Allah created the intellect like an angel, [created] in a number equal to all creatures, from the first creature to the last of them until the Day of Judgment. It has a head upon its body, and every head has a face belonging to a particular human being, upon which that human being's name is written, and over each of those faces a covering has been placed; and until that human being is born and reaches the age of maturity for men or women, that covering is not lifted from him. And when this human being reaches the age of maturity, that covering is drawn aside; a light appears in his heart, by which, afterward, the obligatory and the recommended, and the good and the bad, are distinguished. The likeness of the intellect in the heart [of a human being] is like a lamp in the middle of a house (it gives light)".

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The seat of the intellect is the brain of the head. Do you not see that to a man of little intellect it is said: "How light-brained you are!"

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): Do you not reflect on what punishment from Allah the Exalted awaits those who command something they do not do themselves, and forbid [others from] something they themselves indulge in?!

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): One who does not cut off bad and lustful thoughts from himself, does not free himself from the harms and desires of his own soul, has not defeated Satan, and has not entered under the shelter and protection of the Lord's infallibility, his enjoining good and forbidding evil will not be a reforming force. For if these qualities are not in him, then whenever he commands something, that very [good deed] becomes a proof against him (since he was not himself its doer), and people gain no benefit from it either. As Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says: أَ تَأْمُرُونَ النّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَ تَنْسَوْنَ أَنْفُسَکُمْ [Do you enjoin righteousness upon people and forget yourselves] and it is said to him: "O traitor! Do you demand from My servants that which you yourself betrayed your own soul with and fell short of doing? (Do you expect others to do a good deed that you yourself have not done?)"

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): On the night I was taken on the Mi'raj, I was made to pass by people whose lips were being cut with scissors of fire. I asked Jibrail (peace be upon him): "Who are these people?" He said: "These are speakers among the people of this world who commanded people to do good but forgot themselves [and did not practice those good deeds]".

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): On the Day of Judgment, the one who will feel the greatest regret is the one who described justice [but in practice] opposed and contradicted his own description of justice. (He acted contrary to justice in practice.)

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The most severe punishment on the Day of Judgment belongs to the one who, in this world, describes justice but himself acts otherwise.