Stories from Imam al-Askari's Life Everyone Should Know | Sayed Ahmed Qazwini

Almassari is the 11th Imam of B. He was born in the city of Al Medina in the year 232 after the Hijra. He lived in the city of Al Medina for four years. At the age of four, he was a child. his father ali was forced to move to migrate from Medina all the way to Sam. Samur is a city that is maybe 150 200 kilometers north of Baghdad. And the reason why the Khalifa of his time did that was because the capital the political and military capital of the Abbasid Empire had shifted to Sam. Almadi just like all his fathers they the saw that they posed a threat to their rule because they knew they were not entitled to to lead. They knew the B were the rightful successors of Allah. So thus they always felt insecure and that's why they would always impose these very difficult conditions on them restrictions. So Mutawak wants to surveil imi 24/7. The best conclusion that he reaches is let me bring him to me to the city of Samur so that I can surveil him all the time and isolate him from his Shia. And you know the city of Samur was not a normal city back then. It was a military city. It was a military base that was turned into the capital of the Abbasad Empire. That's why everyone in the city or the majority of the people they were soldiers people in the army in the military. Can you imagine living in a military base? Ali is forced to migrate and imari as a fouryear-old child moves with his father to and that was a very difficult chapter for because they were isolated from their they were disrespected by the authorities. when they arrived to the city of Samar, they were placed in a house that is similar to a a place where homeless individuals would hang out. So Hassan, they suffered in those areas until finally a house was secured for them. And I imi would live in Samur for the rest of his life. For the rest of his very short life because he only lived 24 years after that. He died the year 260. And thus he was only 28 years old when he died. 28 years old is very young. My dear brothers and sisters, out of all the imams, we said the youngest imam to die, the shortest life of any Imam was which Imam Im Jawad almost 25 years old. He was killed. Alari was the second youngest Imam to die at the age of 28. So the next 24 years of his life he would live in Samar and Sam was called Alaskar. Askar means the military base. And because I imi lived in Sam and Alaskari both of these two imams they were called ali the two imams that lived in the military base of banil abbas. And that's where the title ali comes from. Ascar military army al Hassan alcari. Now his mother the mother of Al Hassan the wife of Imam al Hadi was a very noble lady. She has multiple names in the traditions. For example she has been called Sal and Sen. All these names refer to the same individual the mother of Alassi. She like the mother of Almahi and like some of the earlier mothers of the imams we spoke about for example al I im aladdic's wife and some other imams his mother S was a slave that was purchased from North Africa but however she turned out to be one of the greatest women of a woman that unfortunately most of the sheep of don't know much about if you ask an average what do you know about the female members of even if you ask sisters who are the greatest female personalities in the school of thought of you will hear obviously right that's pretty much it but rarely you will find anyone one mentioning the name of the mother of Alaskari Sud or Sal but the traditions of B show us that she had such a prominent position that she was similar to Zam and the reason why I say this is because Almi when his father died immedi was young and we'll get to this inshallah we'll speak more about this in a couple of minutes he was only 5 years old. His father dies. Almi is young and he goes into an occultation because the authorities wanted to kill him just like they killed his father and just like some believe they killed his older brother as I will get to this. So he needs someone to represent him who will represent Almi when he's young. the system of the wala the four wala the four ambassadors it took a while to get established so in the first immediate aftermath of the of IMI when he became an imam his grandmother the mother of IM became the representative of Imi such that the Shia when they would want to meet Al Mai and they were told Im Mi is an They were referred to the grandmother of Al Mahi and they would go to her and she would guide individuals answer their questions. So Al Mahedi's reliance on his grandmother the mother of Alaskari proves that she had a very high position like Zanab. Al imari becomes an imam. He was only an imam for six years. In these short six years he had a very important role. In addition to being the imam of his time, he had to prepare the Shia for this big shift for the because Shia weren't accustomed to to not being able to see their im. So he had to lay the foundations and clarify to the Shia that thea is coming. So he did three things. Number one, he kept on telling the Shia that my son will go into aa the next im you have to be patient. It's going to be a difficult time for the Shia until he appears. For example, he sent a letter to the father of a sadhuk the famous from a thousand years ago. His father almari sent him a letter and he told him you have to be patient and wait for the reappearance of my son the he says he says and my will continually will always be in a state of grief. they will be overpowered until the mai rises and he will bring justice to this world. So then he tells him so tell my they need patience after me because it's going to be a difficult era for my Shia and subhan Allah. How true were the words of Alm Ascari? As soon as Alm Ascari died 1,187 years ago in the year 260 after the Hijra until this year 1447 the Shia have suffered so much because of their im because their imam is not with us present with us. So the imam he told them to be patient that this will be a difficult time until will reappear. This was one thing he instilled patience and this is something we have to remind ourselves. There are difficulties to we see today brothers and sisters the Shia school of thought maybe we saw some setbacks in the Middle East. We saw some of our greatest scholars, some of the greatest mujahedin that were killed. But almari a thousand 187 years ago, he's telling us that be patient. You will be in a state of weakness. You will be in a state of of being overwhelmed and oppression will rule until Imam Mahi reappears inshallah. That was the first thing he did. Prepare them psychologically. Number two, prepare the SH to learn to do. No, we do of where did this come from? Some people tell you this is an innovation. Well, one place it comes from immar. It's a book you can find today. It's the collection of im hadiths about the Quran. It's like two volumes filled with hadiths. In that book he's narrated saying he told his very clearly that if you find someone who is a a jurist a and he fears Allah he has piety he doesn't want the dy he wants the then you are allowed to do and he used the word are the lay people the ones that don't have that much knowledge then you can do of this individual so he started to place the foundations and the roots of and telling people go back to the there's many that lived during the time of imam until it became a norm that the Shia would go back to their maraj and the scholars This was number two. And number three, Almahi would have four ambassadors, right? Almcari was the one that established and proved the position of the first two because the first two ambassadors, they were alive during the life of imari. And the first one, he was awak a reliable representative of Imcari. And thus some of the companions, they said, "We would go to imari. We would tell him who represents you outside of Sam. He used to say this word is the first ambassador who his son they are the two trustworthy people. Whatever they tell you it's as if I am speaking. So you have to obey them. You have to listen to them. So made it clear that they're reliable. Now immediia when he's in the they will be my ambassadors. No one will doubt them because I imi already relied on them. So in these three ways he prepared the Shia for Al Mai until finally the year 255 came. 254 Alm we said the year 254 ali died. The year 255. The next year ali is born from we talked about this when we discussed the life of imi that same lady that was we spoke about the daughter of im jawad. She was in she says it was the year 255. It was the night of mitan exactly like tonight. She says imi he called for me. He told me my dear aunt please I want you to sleep in my house tonight. Why? He tells her because my khalifa the next imam will be born tonight. Hakeim says I was surprised. I didn't even know his wife is pregnant. I told him who's the mother? He told me or in some other hadiths she's called or she says I went I see the stomach of the mother of imi flat she's not pregnant so I was like what is he talking about there's no signs of pregnancy I was like this is an im he knows what he's talking about so she says I went and I slept I wait the whole night Nothing happens. I wake up in the middle of the night. I go see her. She's in a deep sleep. The mother of Imi. Absolutely not like someone who's about to deliver a baby. So she says, "I waited. I waited. I waited until nothing happened until it became close to imi told me the next im so I started to doubt. Maybe I imi has made a mistake. He she says I just thought of this idea and I'm in another room. I imi is in another room. She says that idea just crossed my mind. I heard Imari from the other room yell my dear aunt do not doubt me. Tonight the imam will be born. She says subhan allah. Moments later I heard n just calling for help. I went to the room. She says just went into a state of labor and she delivered. She says there was a miracle Muhammad. She says when he was born he did sujud to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as a child as an infant. He did sujud to Allah. Then he pointed towards the sky and then he declared the shahada that there is no god but Allah Muhammad is the messenger. My grandfather Ali is the ofasool and then it's Hassan and then it's Hussein and then and then and then my father and I will be the imam of the end of the time that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has entrusted me TO ESTABLISH JUSTICE. SAY THE Hakima is watching a child that is just born speaking all of this. She says it was an unbelievable miracle. And if you think brothers and sisters this is too much Allah subhana wa tala and the Quran has given us an example of whom he was a baby and so if it's okay for Isa who will pray by the way behind imi as we believe right when the imam reappears and they both come to salah usually the better one prays the one that has a higher so the hadith says out of respect he tells Isa you're older Allah, you pray. He tells him, "No, I haven't been sent to lead. I've been sent to assist you. I have an order to pray behind you." And Isa stands before behind Almi and he prays behind him. So anyway, Al Mai was born. Alari had to keep that as a secret. Why? Because the authorities were were hearing that this child if he's born, you know, the son of Alaskari, he will bring an end to dictatorships and he's going to want to, you know, rule the whole world. So that's the worst thing that dictators want to hear about. It's as if, you know, he he's going to want to, you know, overthrow the government. So they had explicit orders. If Alaskari has a child, kill him right away. And that's why the hadith says Allah he hid the signs of pregnancy of the mother of Alim Mahi just like Mus we have in hadiths that Allah subhana t hid the signs of pregnancy of the mother of MS because wanted to kill Mus. So the same thing that's the resemblance between MS and Im Mahi and he only imi would inform the closest of his companions about immedi and he would tell them keep this a secret or else they could come in after my son and kill him. He would not show him except for the most loyal of his companions. For example, you can find this in the book of remember he's that same he's one of the greatest companions. He says I hear about the mai IM sends me a secret message that I have a son he will be the next I im but no one has seen him. So apparently he had doubt is this really is there really a a child? He says, "I traveled all the way to Sam. I entered the house of Imari." He says, "When I saw the imam, I intended on asking him about where is this Mahi? How come nobody has seen him?" He says, "Before I could say anything, he began." He told me, "Oh, Ahmed, remember that the world can never be left without an imam. Never doubt that there's going to be an imam after me. either it's the MAD or someone else. The world can never continue unless Allah has a a representative. So never doubt this. So then he says I asked him say so who is the imam after you if you die im he told him wait. He says he went inside his house. He came carrying a beautiful child. He says, "I can guess that he was probably three years old." Al Mahi was three years old. He says wall his face was like a shining moon. He was carrying him. He told me, "If it wasn't that we love you and you are a loyal companion of ours and we know how noble you are, I would never give you this honor of seeing my son Ali because it's very dangerous. Now you believe," he says, "Alhamdulillah, and the love of my imam, the next imam, entered my heart, that three-year-old child." And there's a few other examples that we have of selectab that were able to see Almahi until I died. And by the way, the life of imi a very difficult life those six years you know he spent years of those six years in prison. The every khalifa that would come would imprison imari. When we think about an Imam in prison, who do we think Kam also imari? He was moved from prison to prison. He was tortured in some of the prisons. And subhan Allah, in every prison that he would be placed in the guards and those that were entrusted to torture him. After a few days, they would they would come and see them praying behind imari. They would start becoming of imari. They would ask them, "What's going on?" They're like, "This man fasts the whole day. He prays the whole night. He speaks the most beautiful words. He changed us. So this would happen again and again until that's why the Khalifa, his name was he decided to kill him because whoever I sent to him to torture him, they're just going to turn into his followers. That's when he was killed at such a young age, the age of 28. Anyway, I im he is going to die in a few days. What does he do? He tells Abdul Adyan, Abdul Adyan was his servant. He tells him, "Take these letters. They are from the people of Madan." Madan is is close to Baghdad. Go and deliver it to the Shia of Madan. answered their questions. But when you come back in 15 days from now, I will not be alive anymore. When you enter Samar, you'll hear a woman crying for me. So Abu Abdul Adyan says, I asked, okay, who's the next Imam? Who do I bring back the letters to? He tells him, I won't tell you explicitly, but I'll give you three signs. He says, "Number one, my Khalifa will be the one who asks you for the letters. Number two, you will carry a belt from the the Shia of Mad and they'll send a belt filled with money. He'll ask you about the belt without even you telling him." And number three, whoever you see leads on my janaza, he's the next Imam. Aban says, "Went I went to Madan, I delivered the letters. I come back. Subhan Allah. I seem imar has died and his house. Everyone is mourning. Everyone is crying. He says, "I entered. Who do I see is standing?" People are paying their condolences to who? His brother. Everyone is paying their condolences to him and they are calling him the next im. And he's telling them, "Thank you. Thank you. Yes, I'm the next IM." So I was like, "I know this guy Jaffar. He's not a good person. How can he be an imam? He's like, "Let's see the three signs." He says, "I went. I paid my condolences to him. He said nothing about the letters, nothing about the belt." He's like, "I waited. I waited. All of a sudden, it was time to pray." He says, "There were dignitaries. There was hundreds of Shia. Everyone s had come." He says, "Who comes to the forefront to lead the salah?" Jaffar. Ya Allah. I'm the brother. I'm going to pray. He says, "Jaffar," he stood. He was about to say Allah Akbar. If he said Allah Akbar, that's one sign. He said before he said Allah Akbar, he says a young 5-year-old boy, he made his way through the people until he reached Jaffar. He put his hand on Jaffar, he moved him. He told him, "Move over, uncle." Uncle is the son of Imari. Move over uncle, for you know I am more entitled to pray on the janaza of my father than you. said nothing. He was terrified because he knew this is the Imam of his time. He moved to the side a 5-year-old boy. He's like, "That's sign number one." He's like, "As soon as the salah finished, that young boy, I went to pay my condolences." He told me, "Where are the letters of Mad?" I was like, "Subhan Allah." Sign number two. I took out the letters. I gave it to him. He says, "I forgot about the belt." He told me where is the belt with this much money in it. He says all three signs were met. This is when I knew that this is the next im and the of after that was never seen. This is when the of began the short that extended for 70 years and then over a thousand years that we today are part of we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us the wa of Muhammad and al Muhammad at all times to make us amongst the firm believers in the imam of our time. My congratulations to all of you tonight and tomorrow. We renew our pledge of allegiance to the imam of our time and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So the grandmother of immedi is one of the most noble and wise woman of B. Al imam was raised with the knowledge of his father Alhadi with the wisdom of his mother and his knowledge and his wisdom it was very evident and very clear from a young age. There's a report that a Sunni scholar mentions in one of his books. There's a Sunni scholar by the name of Ali Shafi scholar. He reports a story about Alaskari and he reports it from one of the scholars that lived during the time of imari and imam. That scholar's name he says was Now there's a famous Bhl that lived during the time of Imam Kum the seventh Imam. This is not the same person. This is another Bhl. He was a scholar. He says, "I was walking in the streets of Medina one day. I see a bunch of children playing in the streets. They're playing. They have some toys and some snacks. And then I see another child. He's all by himself just looking at them and he's crying. So he says, "I assume that probably this child has been kicked out." You know, sometimes kids act as bullies and they don't allow another child to play with them. So I felt sorry for this child and I thought he doesn't have anybody to play with or maybe he doesn't have toys. So I went to him. I don't know who he is. And I told him, "Oh young boy, do you want me to buy you a toy? Do you want me to buy you something? Why are you crying? He says this young boy. And we can assume that the age of this young boy who obviously was imi was three or four years old. Why? Because at the age of four, he moved to Sam. And this story happened in Al Medina. So this was either the imam at the age of four or three. He says, the young boy looked at me. He told me, "Oh, fool. You think Allah created us to play games?" He says, "I was shocked. Which type of four-year-old child speaks in this way? You tell your son, your daughter, do you want me to buy you video games? Dad, come on. Who wastes their time on video games? There's much more productive things to do." So he says, I understood this is not an average child. So I asked her, I asked him when he said, "You think Allah created us to play games?" I asked him, "Okay, what did Allah created us for?" He said, "Allah created us for two things. Number one, knowledge, to seek knowledge. Number two, to worship him." Allahbar. Some of the older individuals, adults, they don't know how to give such a beautiful answer. this young child. He says, "I was baffled at his knowledge, at his wisdom at such a young age." So then I told him, "Where did you learn this from? Who's teaching you this?" He said, "I learned this from the Quran." Allah says in the holy Quran and he recited a verse of the Quran where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says Allah says do you think that we created you in vain and you have no purpose in life just to have fun just to play games just to waste time? Did you think we created you without a purpose? Allah says, "I created you for a purpose and you will come back to Allah and you will be questioned by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala." So im Hassan at such a young age, not only does he have that much wisdom, not only does he read the Quran, he understands the Quran and he replies with verses of the Quran. You see when your parents focus on the child's iman, when they focus on educating the child from a young age, the child starts to breathe and live the Quran instead of just listening to the Quran as a boring recitation before every program. Teach your children to understand the Quran, to love the Quran. And we have some recent contemporary examples. children that not only memorize the Quran, but they were they would understand the Quran. There was a young child maybe 20 years ago. I remember I've seen some of his videos. His name was I think Muhammad. He was a young child in Iran. Not only did he memorize the Quran, but he understood the Quran. And there was a program where they would ask him questions and he would choose a verse in the Quran to reply to them. So, not only did he memorize it, but he understood the Quran. You can probably find it now on YouTube. So, imam gives this beautiful question, gives this beautiful answer. And then Bul says this young man, he doesn't know who he is. He started to give me advice about this dunya, how temporary this dunya is and how it will end so soon and it's so fragile and we don't know when death will come and we should not be carried away by this dunya thinking we will live forever in this dunya. So never settle for this dunya because Allah created you for an he says he gave me the most beautiful words of advice that I had ever heard. And he even says that the imam recited poetry in Arabic so beautiful in giving him those words of advice. I'll read just a few of those lines. He says the imam that young boy started to tell me beautiful poetry that this is fleeting. It's so temporary and it will not none of us will stay forever in this dunya. We will all leave and go to a next life. So do not rely too much on the dunya. Do not be deceived by this dunya. And then he says, I saw him. He started to cry. That child, he raised his hands to the sky. Imagine a four-year-old child. This is something some of us, it's hard for us to imagine ourselves speaking in this way. A fouryear-old child, he said, he raised his hands towards Allah and he began to supplicate. Also lines of poetry. How beautiful. Ya Allah, you are the one that we rely upon. You are the one that I can always rely upon. If I lose hope in everyone and everything in the dunya, I will never lose hope in you. And he continued his beautiful dua inat. So when he finished, I sat down next to him and I told him, "Young man, why are you being so harsh on yourself? A four-year-old boy should be playing. Shouldn't be thinking about the day of judgment. Shouldn't be thinking about death. I He's too harsh. He's taking it too seriously." So I told him, "You're so young. You don't even have any sins. So why are you speaking in this way? Take it easy." He says that young boy, subhan Allah, he would not stop surprising me with his knowledge. He says I am young. It is the young ones that should be afraid. He says why? He says because I saw my mother. I saw my mother. So he's referring to his mother. I saw my mother when she is igniting the large pieces of wood. They would not be ignited until she would use unless she would use the small pieces of wood to light the bigger ones. And thus I am afraid that Allahawel will use me as those small pieces of wood to ignite the fires of jannam. And there is a verse in the Quran brothers and sisters where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says Allah says that be careful stay away from the fires of hell. Meaning do not do anything haram or else you will drag yourself towards the fire of hell. And then Allah says the coal of the fires of hell the fuel of the fires of hell is two things and number two human beings. So he says, "I am afraid that I will be the small fuel for he says and then he fainted because of how overwhelmed he was with his religion and the day of judgment and everything." He says, "I was so fascinated at at this child." He says, "I woke him up. Young man, tell me more. Give me you're so knowledgeable. You're so wise." He says that young man continued to speak to me about death, about the grave, about the about the day of judgment and once again how this dunya is so short and worthless. And he reminded me of tba to repent to Allah before it's too late. No matter how many sins you have done, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will forgive you of your sins. Never lose hope in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He mentioned verses about Toba versus verses about having hope in Allah subhana wa ta'ala. He says that was the most eloquent beautiful sermon I had heard in my life that it shook me. It gave me goosebumps. He says I sat down in tears. I started to remember my sins. Allahbar a four-year-old child, a four-year-old child leave this type of impact on an old scholar because this man was not a a normal individual. This was imari. So he says while I was thinking about my sins and my and I should repent to Allah subhana wa ta'ala all of a sudden I look I can't see him anymore. He disappeared. I want to know who this child is. Why didn't I ask him? So I asked the children who was that kid that was crying that didn't play with you guys and he was talking to me. They told me that child is one of the descendants of Hussein Ali and Im Hussein Ali. This is how many years after Kbalah. This is probably you're talking about60 years or so or 70 years after Kbalah. The children knew him by being a descendant of Al Hussein of Ali. So he says this is when I knew that this was imari the son of imi. So from that young age people knew and realized that he is from a noble family. He's from a family that's been chosen by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that's been fed wisdom and knowledge through divine intervention of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Now imari alam was very known very well known for his imari in a beautiful hadith a story he shows us through his and his demeanor and behavior how strategic he is we have to be very strategic brothers and sisters and that's why Allah subhana wa ta'ala says in the holy Quran bring people to the path of Allah whether it is a non-Muslim I'm trying to bring them to Islam or it's a Muslim Muslim who I'm trying to bring back to Allah says how be wise be wise use strategies that are effective and use good words be kind with people be soft with them do not disrespect them and be aggressive and scare them away and always use the best words and the best examples with them. So instead of making them feel like they are an outcast, like Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't love them, like they've been a terrible person, no allow them to feel that love for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so that they willfully come back to Allahawel. So imam he shows us a beautiful example of this. There's a hadith that's narrated that during the time of imari there was a man who lived in the city of the city of from the time of imari it was a shi the majority were followers of so I imi had a representative a wil in the city of very wellknown ahmed is he represented the imam He had his an office that people would come to if they wanted to give their humus if they had any questions any matters relating faith. Ahmed Hak represented imari in the city of socari had a cousin in he was a distant cousin a descendant of im. Unfortunately he wasn't the best behaving person. The hadith says that he used to drink alcohol and he didn't really care about that. So one day he was in need. He needed some financial help. So who does he go to? And imar is in it's far. You can't get to him. So he goes to Ahmed is because he represents the Imam in the city of he goes to him and he tries to enter his office to get an appointment. They tell him this is his name was Hussein. This is Hussein the descendant of im but he is you know the the one who's not religious. He drinks alcohol. Ahmed Hak says tell him I will not see him. So they basically kick him out and they tell him, "You're not welcome because you're someone who commits sins and you drink." This man felt so humiliated. He felt terrible. He went back and he said, "I'm never coming back again." Ahmed is that same year he went to Hajj. He performed Hajj. After Hajj, he said, "Let me go and visit Alm, Alaskar, and Sam." He goes to visit Alaskari. He knocks the door. There's someone that greets him. Who is it? Ahmed is one of the greatest companions of Alaskar. Alaskari had the highest respect for him. He says, "Okay, let me tell a servant comes back. He says, I imi doesn't want to sue you. Yah, get out." He kicked him out in the same way he had kicked out that descendant of im. He was shocked. I'm Ahmed. I'm I'm one of the closest companions and lovers of B. He won't even greet me. So the hadith says he stood by the door of imari crying for hours, crying and crying because he knew he had done something wrong, but he couldn't figure out what it was. And the imams, I've seen numerous hadits that with their loyal Shia, with their close companions, they were kind of strict. If you do something wrong, especially with other people, you disrespect someone else from the of the imam says, "I will teach you a lesson." I've seen a similar story with of how one of the tried to go to one of his companions. He didn't allow him to enter because he was too busy for him. And then when he tried to visit in Medina, the imam would not give him access. And then he would rebuke him. He would tell him that you have to accept and embrace all of my Shia even if he's poor or else I will not greet you. So anyway imam then he call he tells the servant yah now let him come. He comes, he's crying, he starts kissing the imam. What did I do? Why did you treat me in this? This is the first time you treat me in this way. Tell me what sin have I done. Almari tells him that man, Hussein, my distant cousin, the descendant of Alm, why did you humiliate him like that in front of everybody? You allowed everyone in the office. There were people, there were strangers, there was people in the street. You kicked him out in that way. and no, we will never accept you. We will never give you any help. You publicly shamed him and disrespected him and humiliated him. This is not how you treat someone that you want them to repent. So because of that, I did I was teaching you a lesson. Ahmed Aak says, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, oh son of Allah, but the only reason I did it was because I wanted to pressure him." So he stops drinking alcohol. That's it. It's not that I hated him or anything. The end of the day, he's the descendant of im but he's doing a haram act, a big haram. So I did not intend to disrespect him. I was just pressuring him. If you stop drinking, okay, then I will help you. The imam tells him, but that's not how you do it. The style is very important. Now you humiliated him. Now he'll never repent. So what did you achieve? The imam tells him when you go back show him some respect and you will see how he'll change. Ahmed is leaves he goes back to when he arrives to he has a majus. He sits down with his friends and companions. He tells someone to go and call this man Hussein the descendant. Go and call him. This time when he arrives he himself goes out. He greets him personally. He holds his hand. He escorts him inside. He he makes him sit. Then he brings him some something to drink and he shows him the highest level of respect. This man Husseinus is confused. What's going on? You kicked me out a couple of weeks ago. Now you treat me like a king. He told him what's going on? What changed? He tells him it's your cousin imam, you know, say even the descendants of imams, they have sometimes connections, right? He says it's your cousin imit honor you even though you're committing. is like honor him for that will help him repent. The hadith says this man Hussein the descendant of im when he heard how imari had spoken of him his heart broke he felt so bad so terrible I'm committing all these sins but imaris is telling this man to be kind with me to be patient with me Allah abar I should be ashamed of myself he felt so regretful so much remorse inside him that he's like, I can no longer continue this lifestyle. I don't deserve such respect from imaris. So he decided from that day on I will never drink alcohol for the rest of my life. I don't care what it means. And he completely repented to Allah and he turned into the most devout worshippers in the city of K. He was one of those, you know, the masjid doves, the individuals you see in the masjid all the time praying to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, supplicating to him. And he lived his entire life in that beautiful way. Thanks to what? Thanks to a few words of kindness. Brothers and sisters, do not underestimate the method that you use with other individuals. And that's why Allah subhana wa ta says in the Quran, Allah subhana t says always use good ways even with people that use evil means from you. Someone disrespects you, show them kindness, show them love, show them respect. Why? Because goodness repels that evil. It turns enemies into friends. So the B used to focus on this that if you want to turn enemies into friends, if you want someone to repent, you have this guy that doesn't pray, you have this guy that doesn't take his religion seriously, you have this sister that is struggling with hijab and you want to guide that individual, you be very strategic and use kind words with them. For most of the times being kind and gentle with people, it will be much more effective than trying to be strict and trying to be aggressive with them. And this is a beautiful example. Almcaram teaches us. The year 254 imi gets sick. He's poisoned and he dies. Almcari is 22 years old. He becomes the imam. He attends the funeral of his father. Many dignitaries, officials, the sons of the Khalifa attended and it became very clear to everyone that the successor of Al Hadi is imari and they saw an aura in him that they had never seen.