By Zishaan Karim,
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
ASSALAMU ALAYKA YA ABAA ABDILLAH
Salaam means peace, and at first glimpse, The above phrase means Peace be upon you, O Abaa Abdillah
Subhanallah, so much can be derived from this single phrase. A perfect intro to the ziyarah, which, I believe summarizes the entire ziyarah in one phrase
As Salaam- The Peace…, All Peace… Total Peace…be upon you
As Salaam- Allah is Salaam and may He envelop you with His Divine attribute of Peace
As Salaam- I make a declaration that Absolute peace envelops you
Salaam in reality is a vow to offer peace and nothing but peace to the Imam. In that case, I am actually promising Abaa Abdillah that he shall suffer neither any harm nor any hurt from my end.
One would ask, “How can I harm or hurt an Imam?”
In reference to the verse 9:105,
“And say, go on working; Allah will see your conduct, and His apostle and the beleivers”
Imam Sadiq (as) is reported to have said, the beleivers are the Imamaculate Imams (as)
Hence the Imams can see our good and bad deeds and react to them too
Abdullah ibn Aban, al Zayyat, once came to Imam Ridha (as) and asked him to pray for him and his family. Imam (as) confirmed to doing this on regular basis when he sees his deeds. Al Zayyat was amazed and Imam Ridha (as) gave the explanation of verse 9:105 in the same manner as had Imam Sadiq (as) during his time.
Therefore the Imam is aware of our deeds and actions, and is pleased and hurt based on them. The affairs of believers are open in front of the Imam.
That makes me think…
When we visit someone, the host either prepares to receive us with honor or actually dreads our visit. Like when we know that someone who really bothers us is coming to our home for a couple of days, how do we look at that visit?
If it was not for their nature of gracing even those who do not deserve their special grace, how would Abaa Abdillah see my visitation? I wonder…
