سورة الطور

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Abd al-Rahman ibn Salim said: My father asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): "Are there times when intercourse, although lawful, is disliked (makruh)?" The Imam said: "Yes! In the interval between the break of dawn (at the time of the dawn call to prayer) and the rising of the sun; from the setting of the sun until the redness of the horizon disappears; on a day when the sun undergoes an eclipse (kusuf); on a night when the moon undergoes an eclipse (khusuf); on a night and day when black, red or yellow winds blow; and likewise on a night and day when an earthquake occurs. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was at the house of one of his wives on a night when a lunar eclipse occurred, but contrary to other nights he did not lie with her until morning came. That woman said to him: 'O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Was this act of yours out of enmity towards me?' The Prophet said: 'No, it is not so. Since last night this phenomenon (the lunar eclipse) occurred, I did not like to take pleasure and be heedless of the remembrance of Allah on such a night; for Allah has reproached certain peoples in His Book and said: و إِن یَرَوا کِسْفًا مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ سَاقِطًا یَقُولوا سَحَابٌ مَّرْکُومٌ [And if they should see a portion of the heaven coming down, they would say: Piled up clouds].'"

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Amr ibn Uthman said: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): "Are there times when intercourse is disliked?" The Imam said: "Yes! On the night the moon is eclipsed (khusuf), on the day the sun is eclipsed (kusuf), between sunset and the disappearance of the red glow on the horizon, between the dawn (at the time of the dawn adhan) and sunrise, when black, red or yellow winds blow, and likewise at the time of an earthquake. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), on a night when a lunar eclipse occurred, was in the house of one of his wives but did not sleep with her. His wife said: 'O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), may my father and mother be your ransom! Was this behaviour of yours out of enmity toward me?' The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'No, it is not so. Since last night this event (the lunar eclipse) occurred, I did not like to take pleasure and busy myself with anything [other than the remembrance of Allah] on such a night; for Allah in His Book has rebuked a people and said: وَ إِنْ یَرَوْا کِسْفاً مِنَ السَّماءِ ساقِطاً یَقُولُوا سَحابٌ مَرْکُومٌ [And if they should see a portion of the heaven coming down, they would say: Piled up clouds]. And by Allah, whoever has heard this narration and yet has intercourse [with his wife] at these times and a child is granted to him, he will not see in that child what pleases him.'"

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Concerning the verse: "Until you cause a spring to gush forth for us from this (dry and burning) land" (Isra 17:90), he writes: that is, a spring; "Or you should have a garden of date-palms and grapevines" (Isra 17:91), that is, a garden — or a garden of dates and grapes with streams flowing among the trees; "Or you cause pieces [of stones from] the sky to fall upon us, as you have claimed" (Isra 17:92). And the matter is as the noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "In the future the sky will fall upon you," by reason of this verse: وَ إِنْ یَرَوْا کِسْفاً مِنَ السَّماءِ ساقِطاً یَقُولُوا سَحابٌ مَرْکُومٌ [And if they should see a portion of the heaven coming down, they would say: Piled up clouds].

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): Imam Askari (peace be upon him) says: I asked my father (Imam Hadi (peace be upon him)): "Did the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) debate and argue with the Jews and polytheists when they blamed and reproached him?" My father said: "Yes! This happened often... [Once] someone said to him: 'If you were a prophet like Musa (peace be upon him), a thunderbolt should fall upon our heads because of the requests we make of you; for the requests we make of you are more severe than what the people of Musa (peace be upon him) demanded of him.' The Imam (peace be upon him) [then] said: The story is this: one day the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was sitting beside the Kaaba when a group of the chiefs of Quraysh gathered together. Abu Jahl said: 'Who will rise up to dispute with Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)?' Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah al-Makhzumi said: 'I will do this task.' Abdullah [addressing the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)] said: لَنْ نُؤْمِنَ لَکَ حَتَّی تَفْجُرَ لَنا مِنَ الْأَرْضِ یَنْبُوعاً [We will never believe in you until you cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth] (Al-Isra/90) [meaning from] the land of Makkah, for the city of Makkah is a rocky, dry and mountainous city, [we ask you] to clear its land and hollow it out and cause springs to flow in it, for we are in dire need of these things, أَوْ تَکُونَ لَکَ جَنَّةٌ مِنْ نَخِیلٍ وَ عِنَبٍ [or you have a garden of date-palms and grapes] (Al-Isra/91) from which you eat and give us to eat, [meaning] in between those date-palm and grape trees, أَوْ تُسْقِطَ السَّماءَ کَما زَعَمْتَ عَلَیْنا کِسَفاً [or you cause pieces of the sky to fall upon us, as you have claimed] (Al-Isra/92), for you have said to us [on behalf of your Allah]: وَ إِنْ یَرَوْا کِسْفاً مِنَ السَّماءِ ساقِطاً یَقُولُوا سَحابٌ مَرْکُومٌ [And if they should see a portion of the heaven coming down, they would say: Piled up clouds], because perhaps we might utter these words on our tongues." And then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Abdullah! As for what you said: أَوْ تُسْقِطَ السَّماءَ کَما زَعَمْتَ عَلَیْنا کِسَفاً [or you cause pieces of the sky to fall upon us, as you have claimed] (Al-Isra/92), because you (meaning the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)) have said: وَ إِنْ یَرَوْا کِسْفاً مِنَ السَّماءِ ساقِطاً یَقُولُوا سَحابٌ مَرْکُومٌ, [know that] the falling of pieces of the sky upon your heads [which you asked of me] would cause your destruction and death, and by this request you are asking of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) that he destroy you; whereas the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds is more merciful to you than these words, and he will not destroy you, but rather he [with his words] completes Allah's proofs upon you."