A Gift for Usman

Once Usman was on his way to pilgrimage to Mecca and attired in the restricted costume (Ehram) of Haj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Meanwhile, a man happened to bring a roasted bird to him as a gift and for his friends.
Usman did not seem to feel any restriction connected therewith, but his companions did not touch the meat. Thereupon, Usman exclaimed:
“Brothers! This meat of the bird is not prohibited for us, because we did of the pilgrimage. Therefore, I don’t see any harm in eating this meat”.
But the people present in his tent said, “You may not, but Hazrat Ali (a.s.) does not like it despite all the explanation you have given in this connection.”
Then Usman called Hazrat Ali (a.s.) through some one.
Hazrat Ali (a.s.) who was marking the camels there seemed a bit annoyed but still he accompanied the man to the tent of Usman. Usman said to him: 
“O Ali (a.s.)! You always seem to go against me in all the religious matters.”
On this Hazrat Ali (a.s.) said to the people present there,
“I ask you to tell on oath whether the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) had not once refused the meat of a roasted wild donkey with the excuse that he and his companions were dressed in the restricted clothes of Haj and if the meat was not given to those who were not?”
About twelve persons present there said on oath that it had actually happened what had been described by Hazrat Ali (a.s.).
Then Hazrat Ali (a.s.) asked the people present there again to say on oath as to whether five eggs of the Ostrich were not once brought to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) as a gift when he was on his way to Mecca for Haj and also whether had he not refused to eat them on the same place.
About a dozen of people again said on oath that it had happened the same way as was described by Hazrat Ali (a.s.). 
Thereupon, Usman went inside his tent, leaving the gift with those who had brought it.[1]

[1] Musnad Ahmad bin Hambal, vol. 1, pp. 100-104; Manaaqib vol. 2,
p. 194; Naasekhut Tawaarikh, vol. 3, p. 738; Kitabul Um lil Shafai, vol. 7,
p. 257; Sunan-e-Baihaqi, vol. 5, p. 194; Kanzul Ummaal, vol. 3, p. 53, Abu
Turab, vol. 2, pp. 280-281

Imam Hadi's (A.S.) Wisdom

During the Caliphate of Mutawakkil, a lady claimed that she was Zainub the daughter of Fatima.
He said, "Many long years have passed since that period when Zainub lived and you are quite young."
She replied, "Yes, but the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) drew his hand upon my head and prayed for me to remain young for ever. As such, after every forty years I turn back to become young."
Mutawakkil called upon all the wise men to visit him and enquired from them, "What you say about the claim of this women “All of them said,”she tells a lie."
Mutawakkil said, "I know that she is lying, but what proof and logic do you have to condemn her."
They said, "We do not know, Imam Hadi (A.S.) should solve this problem."
Mutawakkil at once summoned Imam (A.S.) and told him about that matter.
Imam (A.S.) said, "send her to the cage of the lions, if she is telling the truth, because the beasts do not molest the children of Fatima (S.A.) and do not eat their flesh.
Mutawakkil said to the woman, "what do you say?"
She said, "This man wishes that I may be killed. If he is right then let him do it himself."
Mutawakkil said, "she is right, you must do it first yourself."
Imam (A.S.) replied, "There is no hurdle to it" He went to the lions in the cage and sat among them. All observed with amazement, that the lions sat very respectfully before the Imam (A.S.) and sometimes caressed themselves against his body and he caressed their bodies with his hand, affectionately. When Imam (A.S.) ordered that they might move to a corner, all of them crept to a nook.
Then Imam (A.S.) came out of the cage and went to Mutawakkil and said, "Oh woman now it is your turn." The woman started crying and begging saying, "I told a lie, I am the daughter of such and such man, and wanted to play a trick and a hoax but it did not work."

Taking a Spiritual Vow

Once the Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn, who were at that time 5 and 4 years old, fell ill. When the Prophet of Islam, missed them in the masjid, he came to Fatima Zahra's house to inquire about them. When he was told that they were sick, he suggested that both parents should take a spiritual vow (Nazr) for the children's recovery. So both Imam Ali and Fatima Zahra prayed to Allah for the recovery of Hasan and Husayn (peace be unto them all) and took a vow to fast for three consecutive days when the children became well again. The children did recover from the illness soon after. Both parents set about fulfilling their spiritual vow and fasted. When the children saw that, they also decided to fast with their parents and so did the house-maid, Fiddha. But that day there was no food in Fatima's house even for breaking the fast.
So Imam Ali went out looking for work. He could not find any. But he was able to get three kg's of wool to be spun in exchange of three kg's of barley. Fatima Zahra spun the wool all day. She was only able to dispense with one kilo of it. So she took only one kilo of barley ground it into flour and prepared five loaves of bread. While they were all ready to break their fast, someone knocked at the door saying: "O people of the house of the Prophet, I am a poor man and I have nothing to eat, is there anything you could do to feed me." At this Imam Ali stood up, went to the door and gave his loaf to the man. Fatima Zahra did the same. Watching this, both children also gave their loaves and so did the maid. They broke their fast by water and retired.
The next day Fatima Zahra spun another kilo of wool. So she separated one kilo of barley, ground it into flour and prepared five loaves once again. As they were ready to break their fast, once again, a voice called out from the door: "O people of the house of The Prophet, I am an orphan, I am hungry, could you feed me?" Hearing this, Imam Ali stood up and gave his loaf to the man, so did Fatima Zahra, the children and the maid. They all, once again, broke their fast by water and retired. Came the third day, Fatima Zahra spun the rest of the wool, took the remaining barley, ground it into flour and prepared five loaves. As they were ready to break the fast, a voice called from the door saying: "O people of the house of the Prophet, I am a prisoner, I am hungry, could you feed me?" Hearing this, once again, Imam Ali stood up and went to the door and gave his loaf away to the prisoner. Fatima Zahra, the children and the maid did likewise.
Every time the person at the door would want to express his gratitude for the kindness, Imam Ali would say: "No, no, we are not looking for any reward from you for this act, we are doing it out of Allah's love."
Now the children had just been quite ill. And they had not eaten anything in three days. The Prophet of Islam, once again entered the house asking about the children. When he looked at them they were shaking like autumn leaves (those are the exact words in the report). Fatima Zahra told him what had been going on in the family. At that time the archangel Gabriel came down with a gift of Allah to the Prophet. That gift was the verses of Sura Insan or Dahr (chapter 76), which we quote below.
They fulfill vows and fear a day the evil of which shall be spreading far and wide. And they give food out of love for Him to the poor and the orphan and the captive. We only feed you for Allah's sake; we desire from you neither reward nor thanks: Surely we fear from our Lord a stern, distressful day. Therefore Allah will guard them from the evil of that day and cause them to meet with ease and happiness. And reward them, because they were patient, with garden and silk. (Glorious Qur'an, 76:7-12)
This story tells us that the Prophet of Islam, recommended to any family that if and when you are facing a difficult situation or you are distressed, you should do Nazr. In other words, take a spiritual vow that when the problem is over you would offer special prayers or invite friends and relatives for food that has been dedicated to the Ahlul Bayt in Allah's name.
The story is the guiding light for us in our lives. The family of Fatima Zahra (peace be unto her) fulfilled their Nazr, but when a more needy person came they gave away their food to him without any regard to their own needs. Glorious Qur'an has made it incumbent upon us to love the Prophet of Islam and his holy family and fashion our lives according to how they lived.

THE PROPHET OF ISLAM WAS THE FIRST TO TESTIFY TO THE LORDSHIP OF ALLAH

Muhammad b. Yahya reports from Ahmad b. Muhammad from al-Hasan b. Mahbub from Salih b. Sahl from Abi 'Abd Allah (the 6th Imam) (as)-
That a group of Quraysh said to the Messenger of Allah (sa)
"Through what merit do you precede the prophets while you were sent as the last of them and as their seal?"
So he said-
"I was the foremost in bringing faith in my Lord and the first to respond as Allah extracted the testimony of the prophets and [as he] made them witnesses upon their souls, saying 'am I not your Lord?' I was the first prophet to say yes [o Lord]. Thus I  preceded them all in giving testimony to Allah"

Benefits of reciting Ayatul Kursi

1. Holy prophet (PBUH) said: whoever recites the first 4 ayats of Surah-e-Baqarah (chapter: The cow), then Ayatul Kursi and then the last 3 ayats of Surah-e-Baqarah, will not be inflicted with any kind of difficulty in his wealth or himself, Satan will not come near him and he will not forget the Qur’an.

2. Holy Prophet (PBUH) said: Qur’an is a great word, and Surah-e-Baqarah is the leader of the Qur’an and Ayatul Kursi is the leader of Surah-e-Baqarah. In Ayatul Kursi there are 50 words and for each word there are 50 blessings and good in it.

3. One who recites Ayatul Kursi every morning will be in the protection, safety of Allah until the night.

4. If one ties this to ones wealth or children, they will be safe from Satan.

5. Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) has said: These things increase ones memory: sweets, meat of an animal which is slaughtered in Islamic manner near the neck, Lentils, cold bread and recitation of Ayatul Kursi.

6. For those of our dear ones who have passed away, recitation of Ayatul Kursi and giving it as Hadiyeh to them, gives them light (noor) in the grave.

7. Frequent recitation makes ones own death easy.

8. When leaving home, if one recites it once, the Almighty has one group of Angels to come and protect you. If recited twice, 2 groups of Angels are assigned to do this. If recited 3 times Allah tells the Angels not to worry as the Almighty himself takes care of him.

9. The Holy Prophet has said: If one recites Ayatul Kursi before going to sleep, Allah will send an Angel to come and look after you and protect.

10. When one is alone in the house, recitation of Ayatul Kursi and asking Allah for help will make you remain calm and you will not fear.

11. The Holy Prophet has said: When leaving home, if one recites Ayatul Kursi, then Allah will send 70,000 Angels to do Istighfaar for him until he returns home, and upon his return Poverty will be removed from him.

12. If one recites this after performing Wudhoo, the 5th Imam Hazrat Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s) has said: Allah will give him a reward of 40 years of Ibadaat, and his position will be raised in the Heavens 40 times (levels).

13. One who recites it after every prayer, their salat will be accepted, and they will remain in the safety of the Almighty and He will protect them.

14. Allah told Prophet Musa (a.s): If one recites it after every salat, the Almighty will make his heart a thankful one (Shakireen) will give him a reward of the prophets, and his deeds will be like those of the truthful (Siddiqeen).