['Aalim Network QR] Nahjul Balagha & Imams Hasan & Husayn (a.s)

["Akil M. Karim" <amk@ican.net>]

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|       In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the All-Merciful       |\
|  Greeting of Allah be upon Muhammad and the pure members of his House |\
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Salaamun 'Alaykum

The following questions were kindly answered by Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi.


Fee Amaanillah,

Akil Karim
Moderator - 'Aalim Network

---------- Forwarded Message ----------

QUESTION 1:

The imams, succeeding the prophet were the fountains of knowledge and access 
path to the "city of knowledge".  Some proof of this has been recorded in 
books like Nahjul Balagha & Psalms of Islam.

I was wondering while Imam Ali, was doing sermons and speeches, what were 
his two holy sons doing?  Did they too propagate Islam by sermons?  And if 
so why is there no record/compilation of their sermons and speeches?


ANSWER 1:

By studying the lives of our Imams, one thing becomes very clear that during 
the imamate of one Imam, the successor would never say or do anything 
without the permission or command of the living Imam. So the question of 
Hasan and Husayn giving sermons while Imam 'Ali was alive did not arise that 
much, except in cases where they were told by their respected father to 
answer a question or give a sermon; or, for example, when Hasan was 
commissioned by Imam 'Ali to go Kufa and raise an army for either the battle 
of Jamal or Siffin (the uncertainty is from myself), Hasan gave a very 
moving sermon and gathered a large number of people to join his father.


QUESTION 2:

Nahjul Balagha is a compilation of Imam Ali's saying *only*, but does not 
contain any sayings of Imam Hassan or Hussein, yet they lived at Ali's time. 
 Why did the compiler of Nahjul Balagha not include any sayings of the 
grandsons of the Prophet(p)?


ANSWER 2:

You have to see who compiled the book and why? Nahjul Balagha was compiled 
by Sayyid Razi, a famous Shi'a scholar of fourth century. He was a man of 
letters himself and a very talented poet. His purpose, in compiling Nahjul 
Balagha, was to select and compile those sayings of Imam 'Ali which 
attracted his attention from the points of view of eloquence and clarity of 
the language. Sayyid Razi did not intend to compile a book of hadith which 
means compiling the sayings in complete forms and also providing the sources 
of his collection. But the Sayyid does not do either: many sermons are 
incomplete; only those parts which seemed very appealing from the literary 
point of view found place in Nahjul Balagha. When a person compiles a book 
with this purpose and limitation, the question of why sermons of Imams Hasan 
and Husayn have not been included is irrelevant.

Sayings of Imam Hasan and his sermons are found in the historical accounts 
of his life; and those of Imam Husayn have been compiled in different books, 
e.g., Balaghatul Husayn.

Sayyid M. Rizvi