Subtleties and Allusions

1. The Meaning of Sensing Disbelief

From Abū ʿAbdallāh (a.s.) regarding God’s words: “When Jesus sensed disbelief from them”, meaning when he heard and saw that they were disbelieving….(501)

Note: Doctrinal disbelief (kufr) is not perceptible, but practical disbelief is perceptible, just as verbal denial and rejection of necessities and negation of fundamental principles of religion can be sensed.

2. The Reason for Naming Jesus’s Companions as Disciples (Ḥawāriyyūn)

ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Faḍḍāl narrated from his father who said: I asked Abū l-Ḥasan al-Riḍā (a.s.): “Why were the disciples called Ḥawāriyyūn?” He said: “According to people, they were called Ḥawāriyyūn because they were cleaners who purified clothes from dirt by washing, and this name is derived from white bread (al-khubz al-ḥuwār). But according to us, the disciples were called Ḥawāriyyūn because they were pure in themselves and purified others from the filth of sins through preaching and reminding.”(502)

Note: According to Imam al-Riḍā (a.s.), Jesus’s companions (a.s.) were called Ḥawāriyyūn because they were pure and sincere individuals who purified others from the contamination of sin through preaching and reminding. However, the common people, who are deprived of the special teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.), consider them to have been clothes washers.

This word is derived from “al-khubz al-ḥuwār”, meaning bread made from white flour and the heart of wheat.

3. The Meaning of Witnesses

From al-Kāẓim (a.s.) regarding God’s words: “write us down among the witnesses”, he said: “We are they; we bear witness for the messengers against their communities.”(503)

Note: Based on this narration, “the witnesses” (al-shāhidīn) has been applied to the Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.), and what is meant is bearing witness in the divine court of justice. Since bearing witness comes after observing it, these holy personalities (a.s.) are aware of how communities behaved regarding the divine prophets’ rulings.

The Qur’an says about the virtue of the witnesses of deeds: “No indeed! The record of the pious is indeed in Illiyun. And what will show you what is Illiyun? It is a written record, witnessed by those brought near.”(504) The deeds of the righteous are recorded in a book, and that book is witnessed by those brought near.

Based on this, not only does God know the deeds, but by God’s permission, the prophets and Imams (a.s.) and many great individuals also know them, because what is meant by witnessing is not merely reporting the deed to them; rather, they see the scene of its performance at the time it occurs. God does not reveal all the sins of His servant, so that the servant’s dignity is not completely destroyed: “And You are witness to what was hidden from them, and by Your mercy You concealed it”;(505) meaning that even the angels who are tasked with recording deeds do not see some actions due to God’s concealment. However, if someone persists in sin, God may remove the veil, which is why those who supplicate always ask God to protect their secrets: “O One who knows my secrets! Do not expose my secrets to those who do not know them.”

Indeed, the angels seek forgiveness for some people, whereas if they were aware of their hidden sins, they would not pray for them.

4. The Prophet’s Request in Prayer’s Aftermath

From Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī: The Messenger of God (s.a.w.) would say after completing his prayer: “O God, I ask You by the right of those who ask of You, for indeed those who ask have a right upon You. Whichever servant, male or female, from the people of land and sea whose supplication You have accepted and whose prayer You have answered - include us in the good things they ask of You, grant well-being to us and them, accept from us and them, and pardon us and them, for we say:”Our Lord, we believe in what You have sent down, and we follow the messenger, so write us among the witnesses.’” And he would say: “No one among His creation speaks these words except that God includes them in the supplication of the people of their land and sea, encompassing them all while they remain where they are.”(506)

Note: All perfections in terms of existence are divine blessings and God’s gifts. The created has no right over the Creator, since the very essence of their being and its associated perfections all come from God: “Whatever blessing you have is from God.”(507) God, based on His absolute mercy, made certain rights obligatory upon Himself for His special servants: “Your Lord has prescribed mercy upon Himself.”(508) What emerges from this hadith and similar ones can be of this nature.