Sura Kahf, chapter 18 of the Holy Qur'an
In this famous story, Musa meets Khidr, seeking to gain knowledge from him. When they first meet, and Musa expresses his desire to learn from Khidr's knowledge, Prophet Khidr warns Musa, telling him that "You will not be able to have patience with me." (18:67) Musa says he will be patient, and the two continue their journey. During their journey, Prophet Khidr puts a hole in a boat, kills a child, and repairs a wall. These acts perplex Musa, and he questions Khidr after each one.
When Prophet Khidr ends the journey because Musa did not have the patience to learn from him, he explains the wisdom behind each act. He damaged the boat so the local tyrant would not usurp it, he killed the child so that his actions would not make the parents lose their faith, and he repaired the wall so the orphans could have their father's treasure that belonged to them. On the surface, all of Prophet Khidr's acts seemed strange to Musa.
But those with wisdom know that in any action there is more than meets the eye, and we should do our best to be patient and learn all we can about the context of the situation before acting on it. (Also see: Degrees: Three Points on Knowledge) This story provides good background for an issue that has been discussed in the Shia world for years: the apparent contradictory actions of some of the Imams (peace be upon them) versus the others.
Many
people have asked why Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) decided to go
and fight against the tyrant of his time, and why Imam Hasan (peace be
upon him) entered into a peace treaty. Why did Imam Ridha (peace be upon
him) cooperate with the government, while Imam Sajjad (peace be upon
him) distanced himself from the government? There are books devoted to
answering these specific questions, so we won't go into it here. But the
short answer is that every Imam that we have has had a different
situation and lived in different and varied environments.
This is
actually a blessing for us, as we can study the lives of the Imams and
how they acted, given all of their different situations. Thus, we can
apply these to our lived the best we can. In Ayatollah Mutahhari's book A Survey into the Lives of the Infallible Imams,
he goes deep into this subject and relates a story involving Imam Sadiq
(peace be upon him). We shall end with this story as the Imam
beautifully explains the superficial differences in the lives of the
Infallibles and what we should really be focusing on in terms of
religion.
Sufyan
al-Thawri visited Imam Sadiq and objected to the Imam wearing fine
clothing, since the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) did not
wear such garments. The Imam said, "Are you inferring that since the
Prophet used to live in that way, everyone else should o the same until
the end? Do you not know that this is not a part of the Islamic
commandment? You must act and think upon wisdom. You must use your
intellect and take time and place into consideration. The Prophet used
to live a middle class lifestyle appropriate to his time. Islam commands
equality and compassion.
We must observe that this was the lifestyle of
the majority at that time. Of course, as the Prophet was the leader,
people used to give up their wealth and their life for him, and it was
possible for him to have all kinds of lifestyles. However, he never took
advantage of that, even though it was all available to him. Islamic
commandments denote sympathy compassion and equality. They stand for
justice and fairness. It is the soft and delicate methods which stop the
frustration in the soul of the poor and prevents a friend or a
neighbor, or whoever may be watching your acts, from becoming upset. If
the luxurious lifestyle that is available now were possible during the
time of the Prophet, then he would not have conducted his life in that
way. People are given personal choices on the aspect of dressing up, and
may choose whether to wear old or new clothes, in whichever material or
style they prefer.
Religion does not pay attention to such matters.
What is important in religion are issues such as sympathy, compassion,
equality, justice and fairness." The Imam then added, "And as you see me
now, I am aware of the responsibilities towards my possessions; thus,
there is no logical or spiritual difference between my method and the
Prophet's." (A Survey into the Lives of the Infallible Imams by Ayatollah Mutahhari, page 8)
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