سورة الفتح

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): One day, one of the Jewish scholars from Sham, who had read the heavenly books — the Torah, the Injil, the Zabur and the scriptures of the Prophets (peace be upon them) — and was aware and informed of all their proofs and arguments, entered a gathering in which a group of the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) were present: Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him), Ibn Mas'ud, and Abu Ma'bad al-Juhani. The Jew said, 'O nation of Muhammad, you have not left any rank or virtue of the prophets and messengers without ascribing all of them to your own Prophet. Now, are you ready to answer my questions in this regard?' At this question, everyone fell silent and said nothing. When Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) saw this, he said, 'Yes, I am ready.' The Jew said, 'Yusuf (peace be upon him) endured the bitterness of separation with all its distress, and suffered imprisonment so that he might be preserved from sin. They cast him alone into the well.' Ali (peace be upon him) said, 'It is just so. Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) endured the hardship of exile and parted from his family, children and property, and migrated from the sanctuary of Allah and the place of the Lord's security. When Allah saw his distress and grief, He showed him a dream resembling the vision of Yusuf (peace be upon him) in its interpretation, and He made the truth of that vision manifest to the worlds. He said: لَقَدْ صَدَقَ اللهُ رَسُولَهُ الرُّؤْیا بِالحَقِّ لَتَدْخُلُنَّ المَسْجِدَ الحَرامَ إِنْ شاءَ اللهُ آمِنِینَ مُحَلِّقِینَ رُؤُسَکُمْ وَ مُقَصِّرِینَ لا تَخافُون [Certainly Allah had shown to His Messenger the vision with truth: you shall most certainly enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah pleases, in security, some having their heads shaved and others having their hair cut, you shall not fear].'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), 'May I be your ransom! Do true dreams and false dreams come from a single place?' He said, 'You have spoken well. As for the false, confused dream, it is one that a man sees at the beginning of the night, at the time when the rebellious, wicked devils hold sway, and it is only something that has fallen into the man's imagination — it is false and of no benefit. As for the true dream, he sees it after two-thirds of the night have passed, when the angels descend, before the time of dawn; it is true and not confused, if Allah wills — unless he is in a state of janabah, or has slept without ablution and in an impure state, or has not remembered Allah as He ought to be remembered, in which case it too will be confused and slow to take effect.'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Hasan ibn Ziyad al-Attar said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Our opponents ask us: 'Are you believers?' We answer: 'Yes, insha'Allah.' They ask again: 'Is it not so that the believers are in Paradise?' We answer: 'Yes.' They ask: 'So will you also be in Paradise?' At this point, when we look at ourselves, we are unable to answer their question." The Imam said: "If they ask you: 'Are you believers?' answer: 'Yes, insha'Allah.'" I said: "They say: You say 'insha'Allah' because you have doubt and uncertainty about your faith." The Imam said: "Tell them: By Allah! We have no doubt whatsoever about this. Rather, we say (insha'Allah) because Allah has used this expression in the following verse: لَتَدْخُلُنَّ الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ آمِنِینَ [You shall most certainly enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah pleases, in security]. Despite this, Allah knew from the very beginning that they would enter the Sacred Mosque. Allah has named the believers as believers on account of their performance of righteous deeds, and He has not applied the name of believer to those who commit the major sins and other sins for which Allah the Exalted has mentioned the Fire as the punishment in the Quran. Therefore, after committing that deed, He does not consider them believers."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Shaving (the head) is not obligatory upon women; rather, they perform taqsir (shortening) by trimming their hair.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Abu Basir who said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Is 'farq' (parting the hair down the middle of the head) part of the Sunnah?" He said: "No." I said: "Did the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) ever part his hair?" He said: "Yes." I said: "How could the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) do this while it is not part of the Sunnah?" He said: "Whoever finds himself in the situation in which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was placed must part his hair as he (peace be upon him and his family) did." I said: "What was that?" He said: "In the sixth year of Hijrah, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) set out from Madinah for the Sacred House of Allah, entered the ihram of Hajj, and took the sacrificial animal with him. After the disbelievers of Quraysh prevented him from entering Makkah, in accordance with the verse: لَقَدْ صَدَقَ اللهُ رَسُولَهُ الرُّؤْیا بِالْحَقِّ لَتَدْخُلُنَّ الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ آمِنِینَ مُحَلِّقِینَ رُؤُسَکُمْ وَ مُقَصِّرِینَ لَا تَخَافُونَ [Certainly Allah had shown to His Apostle the vision with truth: you shall most certainly enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah pleases, in security, (some) having their heads shaved and (others) having their hair cut, you shall not fear], the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) knew that in the near future he would enter the honored Makkah in safety. Therefore he did not perform taqsir on his hair, and from the time he had entered ihram until the following year his hair remained so (long) that he had no choice but to part it. But after performing the Hajj and shaving his head, he (peace be upon him and his family) never again let his hair grow long, nor before the aforementioned situation had he let his hair grow to the point where it required 'farq' (parting)."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Sulayman ibn Mihran that he said to Ja'far ibn Muhammad (peace be upon him): "How is it that for the sarurah (one who is performing Hajj for the first time) it is recommended to enter the Ka'bah, but for one who has already performed Hajj it is not recommended?" He said: "Because the sarurah is one who is fulfilling an obligatory duty and has been invited to the Hajj of the House of Allah; therefore, it is obligatory upon him to enter that House to whose visitation he has been invited, so that he may be honored therein." I said: "And how is it that shaving the head has been made obligatory upon him, but has not been made obligatory upon others?" He said: "This act is so that the sarurah may be adorned with the mark of 'aminin (those who are secure). Have you not heard the word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, who says: لَتَدْخُلُنَّ الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرامَ إِنْ شاءَ اللهُ آمِنِینَ مُحَلِّقِینَ رُؤُسَکُمْ وَ مُقَصِّرِینَ لا تَخافُونَ [You shall most certainly enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah pleases, in security, (some) having their heads shaved and (others) having their hair cut, you shall not fear]."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Imam Ali (peace be upon him) narrated: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Allah, have mercy on those who shave (their heads)." It was said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), will you not pray for those who trim (their hair)?" He said: "O Allah, have mercy on those who shave." It was said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), pray for those who trim." They repeated this three times, and on the fourth time he said: "O Allah, have mercy on those who shave and those who trim." Therefore, shaving is more meritorious, and trimming is sufficient and satisfactory. Allah the Exalted says: لَقَدْ صَدَقَ اللهُ رَسُولَهُ الرُّؤْیا بِالحَقِّ لَتَدْخُلُنَّ المَسْجِدَ الحَرامَ إِنْ شاءَ اللهُ آمِنِینَ مُحَلِّقِینَ رُؤُسَکُمْ وَ مُقَصِّرِینَ [Certainly Allah had shown to His Apostle the vision with truth: you shall most certainly enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah pleases, in security, (some) having their heads shaved and (others) having their hair cut], and since shaving is mentioned first, it is a sign of its superiority.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): فَجَعَلَ مِنْ دُونِ ذلِکَ فَتْحاً قَرِیباً [So He brought about a near victory before that] — what is meant by the near victory is the conquest of Khaybar. For as soon as the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) returned from Hudaybiyyah to Medina, he conquered Khaybar.