A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing
for everyone |
A Short Story
Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (‘a) heard of a person who everyone thought was very pious, honest, noble and God-fearing. In fact, he had earned a lot of fame because of his good deeds. The Imam (‘a) was keen to meet him, so he went to his place, and found a huge crowd of disciples sitting there. In a glance he realized they were all ignorant, simple hearted folk.
Suddenly, the pious man left the crowd and went outside. The Imam (‘a) followed him to observe his greatness himself.
The man stopped at a bread baking oven and picked up two loaves of bread and hid them under his cloak when the baker was not looking. The Imam (‘a) giving him the benefit of doubt, thought he must have prepaid for them or would pay him later, but then the reason for hiding them from the baker left him wondering.
Still wondering, he saw the man stop at a fruit seller’s shop and pick up two pomegranates, hide them under his cloak and walk on. The fruit seller remained unaware, unpaid.
The Imam (‘a) was spellbound when he saw the man hand over the loaves of bread and the pomegranates to an ailing person. He went to the man and accosted him, ‘Excuse me, I have been watching you for the past few minutes and found your behavior extremely strange.’ He explained why.
The man looked at him boldly, and said, ‘You are Jafar ibn e Muhammad, aren’t you?’
‘Indeed, I am.’
‘I admit that you are the progeny of the Holy Prophet (s) and as such, worthy of respect, but I’m afraid you are not only ignorant but foolish as well.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Your question itself is evidence of your ignorance and folly. You aren’t even capable of understanding the simple mathematics of religion. Have you not read in the Holy Quran,
“Every good deed will be multiplied by ten, whereas, an evil deed will be counted as one.” Now listen. I stole two loaves of bread and two pomegranates. I committed four sins. On the other hand, I gave all four to an ailing person. Multiply four by ten and you get forty good deeds. I scored four sins and forty good deeds. If I subtract the sins from the good deeds, I still score thirty six good deeds. It is as simple as that! Now tell me, was your question foolish or not?’
‘May Allah punish you with death! You are the one who is ignorant. You seem to have missed the Verse in the Holy Quran that says,
“Allah accepts the deeds of only those who fear God.”
This simple mathematics is enough to reveal your miscalculations. You have admitted four sins yourself. You then distributed the property of others, stolen by you, as charity and alms. Four more sins have been added to your account making them eight, and not one, single good deed.’ Saying this, the Imam (‘a) walked away, leaving the man, with a little knowledge, dumbfounded.
Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (‘a) related this incident to his friends himself. He further clarified it, saying, ‘Personal interpretations and explanations, without sufficient knowledge and understanding, lead, not only you, in the wrong direction, but also continue misleading others.’
Source: Anecdotes of the Ahlul Bayt, written by Shahid Ayatullah Murtadha Mutahhari
Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (‘a) heard of a person who everyone thought was very pious, honest, noble and God-fearing. In fact, he had earned a lot of fame because of his good deeds. The Imam (‘a) was keen to meet him, so he went to his place, and found a huge crowd of disciples sitting there. In a glance he realized they were all ignorant, simple hearted folk.
Suddenly, the pious man left the crowd and went outside. The Imam (‘a) followed him to observe his greatness himself.
The man stopped at a bread baking oven and picked up two loaves of bread and hid them under his cloak when the baker was not looking. The Imam (‘a) giving him the benefit of doubt, thought he must have prepaid for them or would pay him later, but then the reason for hiding them from the baker left him wondering.
Still wondering, he saw the man stop at a fruit seller’s shop and pick up two pomegranates, hide them under his cloak and walk on. The fruit seller remained unaware, unpaid.
The Imam (‘a) was spellbound when he saw the man hand over the loaves of bread and the pomegranates to an ailing person. He went to the man and accosted him, ‘Excuse me, I have been watching you for the past few minutes and found your behavior extremely strange.’ He explained why.
The man looked at him boldly, and said, ‘You are Jafar ibn e Muhammad, aren’t you?’
‘Indeed, I am.’
‘I admit that you are the progeny of the Holy Prophet (s) and as such, worthy of respect, but I’m afraid you are not only ignorant but foolish as well.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Your question itself is evidence of your ignorance and folly. You aren’t even capable of understanding the simple mathematics of religion. Have you not read in the Holy Quran,
“Every good deed will be multiplied by ten, whereas, an evil deed will be counted as one.” Now listen. I stole two loaves of bread and two pomegranates. I committed four sins. On the other hand, I gave all four to an ailing person. Multiply four by ten and you get forty good deeds. I scored four sins and forty good deeds. If I subtract the sins from the good deeds, I still score thirty six good deeds. It is as simple as that! Now tell me, was your question foolish or not?’
‘May Allah punish you with death! You are the one who is ignorant. You seem to have missed the Verse in the Holy Quran that says,
“Allah accepts the deeds of only those who fear God.”
This simple mathematics is enough to reveal your miscalculations. You have admitted four sins yourself. You then distributed the property of others, stolen by you, as charity and alms. Four more sins have been added to your account making them eight, and not one, single good deed.’ Saying this, the Imam (‘a) walked away, leaving the man, with a little knowledge, dumbfounded.
Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (‘a) related this incident to his friends himself. He further clarified it, saying, ‘Personal interpretations and explanations, without sufficient knowledge and understanding, lead, not only you, in the wrong direction, but also continue misleading others.’
Source: Anecdotes of the Ahlul Bayt, written by Shahid Ayatullah Murtadha Mutahhari
posted by ABBAS ALAM @ 07:50
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