SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- A grateful servant of God is the one who does not abuse God’s blessings to commit sins and does not stand against His commandments that are meant for the happiness of man.

It is a great sin that people use God’s blessings, like the human body, the earth, the air, the food, the clothing, and every material thing in the world, to commit sins and to act against the commandments of God, who has blessed us with all these bounties.

A sinner has no tools to commit sins, but God’s blessings. Someone who looks at women with lust is actually using the gift of eye for committing a sin.

Someone who is listening to unlawful music is using the gifts of ears to commit a sin.

Lying, falsely accusing someone, mocking a person, starting a fight, cursing, acting unjustly, being cruel, giving a false testimony, etc. is using the gift of tongue to commit a sin.

Anyone who is doing a wrong deed is in fact using one or more of God’s gifts for dong that.

What Does It Mean to Be Grateful?

Prophet David asked God, “Lord! What should I do to be a grateful servant for you?”‌

“Use my blessings in the way I have commanded you,”‌ said God, “That is how you could thank me.”‌

Therefore, according to this, committing sins is actually being ungrateful towards God.

As the starters, we need to know more about the gifts of God. After that, we should believe that everything we have is a blessing of God and in order to thank Him for the given blessings, we need to use those blessings in the right way. This will bring us happiness both in this world and in the world after.

We should not use God’s blessings in order to satisfy the desires of our whims. We should only use these gifts to make us a happy life in this world and in the world after. Otherwise, we will be severely punished.

We should be careful that these blessings won’t create problems for us. God has given us all these bounties to live happily. So, we should learn from the prophets and from Qur’an in what way to use them.

We should feel even more responsible towards the spiritual gifs. They will help us gain perfection and happiness in this world and in the world after.

Being indifferent towards Quran, prophets, Imams, Islamic sages, and mystics is as big a sin as disbelief and ungratefulness.

All the people will be questioned on the Day of Judgment, in regards to the gifts they had in the world.

Prophet Muhammad said, “There are four things people are asked about in the world after: How did you use your life and your body? Where did you get your wealth from? How did you spend it? And the last question is about their love towards me and my household.”‌ A man asked Prophet Muhammad, “What proves that someone loves you?”‌ “His love towards this man,”‌ said he and put his hand on the head of Ali bin Abi-Talib.

In order to be grateful for the gift of life, one should spend it in the way of God, and in order to be grateful for the gift of body, one should worship God, help the people, earn his livelihood by lawful means, believe in Imams, and obey them.

Imam Ali told his son Mojtaba, “Son! Stay away from committing sins, say your prayers on time, pay Zakat, forgive other’s sins and do not get angry at people, visit your family often and be patient with the ignorant, be persistent in your way, be loyal towards Quran, be nice to your neighbor, propose to people what is acceptable and deny from them what is prohibited, and stay away from every sin.”‌

If one lives based on this saying, he really is a grateful servant of God.

Different People in regards to God’s Gifts

A point to be mentioned is that, there are four types of people in regards to the gifts of God, especially the spiritual ones:

1.These people accept neither the material bounties of God, nor about the spiritual ones. They are whether lazy and corrupted people who refuse to work, or ignorant and cruel people who do not accept the religion of God.

2.These people accept the material or spiritual bounties of God, but they are too stingy to use them. They just save them up without using them or helping others out.

3. These people accept the material or spiritual bounties of God, but they use them in a wrong way. Like the wealthy courtiers and so.

4. These people accept the material or spiritual bounties of God, and they believe that God has trusted these gifts with them, so they need to use them in the right way. These are the people whom Quran calls ‘the grateful people’.

According to Imam Sadiq, “In order to be grateful towards God, you should be careful not to commit sins with his blessings and not to resist His teachings by the power of His own gifts.”‌

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SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Pope Benedict XVI has shared his first words from his very own Twitter account, as promised. The single tweet, sent using an iPad, has already been retweeted thousands of times and marks the start of a number of accounts in various languages — all of which the pope's main account is following. While the pope used an iPad today, he's not adverse to Android either after using a Sony Tablet S to ignite a holiday lighting displaylast year.

Benedict XVI  @Pontifex

Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart.

12 Dec 12

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The pope's account is part of a larger push to appeal to (young) people who spend time online, and it's also an attempt to keep the Catholic Church as accessible as possible. The Vatican already has its own Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts, and Benedict has tweeted twice before. However, today marks the first time the pope has shared from his very own Twitter account.

While today's tweet is said to come directly from the head of the Catholic Church, future tweets are expected to be written by aides, and they will chiefly consist of snippets from the pope's speeches. The account will also be used to answer questions fielded from #askpontifex. While there's a chance you could have your question answered by Benedict himself, don't expect to be followed or retweeted. The Vatican's communications advisor said at a press conference earlier this month that "He won’t follow anyone for now... He will be followed."

Update: the pope is now actively tweeting from his main account. One tweet asksfollowers "how can we celebrate the Year of Faith better in our daily lives?" and anotheroffers advice to over 600,000 followers.

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SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) --

Question:What narrations have been quoted from Sunnite scholars about seeking blessing from the Prophet (s.a.w.)?

Answer:

There are many narrations by Sunnite scholars which signify that the Companions and the Successors sought blessing from the Prophet (s.a.w.) during his life and after his death.
Some examples are as follows:

1- Bukhari has quoted that:
“When the Prophet (s.a.w.) and we left Medina in a hot summer, Muslims brought water for the Prophet (s.a.w.) and his holiness performed his ablution, then they took the rest of the water and rubbed it to themselves”.(1)
In some narrations it has been quoted that:

"اذا توضا النبی (صلی الله علیه و آله) کادویقتتلون علی وضوئه".(2)

“When the Prophet (s.a.w.) performed his ablution, Muslims tried to get the water of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) ablution as if they were fighting with each other”.
2- Anas ibn Malik quotes that:
“I saw the Prophet (s.a.w.) when he was being given a haircut and the Companions had surrounded his holiness and each of them was trying to get a strand of hair of the prophet (s.a.w.) in such a way that no strand of his hair fell on the ground”.(3)
Prophet’s wife Ummah Salmah had a few strands of his holiness’s hair and when a person was casted an evil eye by the others, people took a bowl of water to Ummah Salmah to put Prophet’s hair in the water and patient was cured by drinking the water.(4)
Another narration has been quoted about Khalid ibn Walid that:
Khalid ibn Walid who tried hard in the war between Iran and Rome and had also conquered Damascus, put a few strands of the Prophet’s hair in his helmet in the war and sought blessing from the Prophet’s (s.a.w) hair to win and he always won.(5)
There are many narrations that have been quoted in this case which show that seeking blessing from the Prophet (s.a.w.) has been a good, common and praiseworthy act, not innovation or polytheism.
3- Abu Bardeh says:
“Once Abdullah ibn Salam told me that: Do you want to drink water from a bowl which the Prophet (s.a.w.) has drunk from that?”(6)
This narration proves that Abdullah ibn Salam had kept the bowl which the Prophet (s.a.w.) had drunk from that and his holy lips had touched it, as a valuable and sacred thing.
4- A narration has been quoted in Sahih Bukhari about kissing the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) hands which is as follows:
“the Prophet (s.a.w.) left his house to city of Batha’ in a hot summer and performed his ablution and said his noon and evening prayer in the shortened form, then people rose and approached the Prophet (s.a.w.) to seek blessing from him and took the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) hands and rubbed them to their faces for seeking blessing from the Prophet (s.a.w.), narrator says: I also took the Prophet's (s.a.w.) hands and rubbed them to my face, his hands were cooler than the snow and more fragrant than musk”.(7)
5- A narration has been narrated in Musnad Ahmad about life of Hanzalah:
“Hanzalah says: My father took me to the Prophet (s.a.w.) and told him: I have some sons who have grown up and this is my youngest son, please pray for him! The Prophet (s.a.w.) touched my head and said: May Allah blesse this boy”. Narrator says: “I saw Hanzalah later, people who their faces were swollen, came to him or brought their animals which their udders were swollen to him and he said: In the name of God and put his hand on his head where the Prophet (s.a.w.) had placed his hand there and touched it, then he put his hand over the swollen part of their body and the swelling disappeared”.(8)
According to our opinion, touching shrine or dust of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) grave and Imams (a.s.) is like seeking blessing from a bowl of water or from the place of his holiness’s hand, not only it cannot be polytheism and innovation, but also people may be healed by these things. If this act is polytheism, whatever has been narrated by historians and narrators will be a sign of their polytheism, but no one thinks in this way.(9)

1- Sahih Bukhari, vol. 1, p. 59.
2- Sahih Bukhari, vol. 1, p. 59.
3- Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, vol. 3, p. 137.
4- Sahih Bukhari, vol. 4, p. 27.
5- Asad al-Ghabah, vol. 2, p. 95.
6- Sahih Bukhri, vol. 7, p. 147.
7- Sahih Bukhari, vol. 4, p. 229.
8- Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, vol. 5, p. 68.
9- Tahiri Khurram Abadi, Tawhid wa Ziyarat, pp. 275-280.

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