A brief picture-book on the social

etiquettes of the Prophet Muhammad

and his Pure Household.

Compiled by: Qaim Mohamad

Table of Contents
1. Chapter on the Believers ...4
2. Chapter on Hypocrisy . 12
3. Chapter on Oppression .. .15
4. Chapter on Knowledge.24
5. Chapter on Love and Affection27
6. Chapter on the Family.. ...32
7. Chapter on Racism...38
8. Anecdotes39

)And verily, you are of tremendous nature. (68:4

To the light behind the cloud

The guide behind the shroud
Behind his cloak he awaits
While darkness lingers and sedates
When will we touch your rays?
For my skin yearns for your light
Will our eyes meet with your gaze?
For my heart longs for your sight
My Master,
Let your baptize set us ablaze
Let your rise chastise the unwise
Let your radiance envelop our days
And let your blade vanquish the lies

Chapter on the Believers

The Prophet said to Imam `Ali ,
"O `Ali, I advise you to imbue yourself with [these] characteristics preserve them on
my behalf. O Allah, help him:
1. First, speak the truth, and do not allow a lie to leave from you, ever.
2. Second, piety, and do not be disloyal, ever.
3. Third, fear of Allah in His mentioning, as if you see Him.
4. Fourth, weep a lot from the fear of Allah, and for every tear a thousand houses will be
built for you in Paradise.
5. Fifth, give your fortune and your blood for your religion.
6. Sixth, take hold of my Sunna in my prayer, my fasting, and my charity. As for prayer,
it is fifty units of prayer [per day]. As for fasting, it is three days per month: the first
Thursday [of the month], the middle Wednesday [of the month] and the last Thursday [of
the month]. As for charity, it is your effort, until you say, 'I [have given] excessively', but
it is not [ever] excessive.
7. And upon you is the night prayer (saltul-layl). And upon you is noon prayer, and

upon you is the noon prayer, and upon you is the noon prayer.
8. And upon you is the recitation (tilwa) of the Quran in every situation.
9. And upon you is the raising of your hands in your prayer, and turning them.
10. And upon you is using a tooth stick (siwk) with every ablution.
11. And upon you are beautiful manners (mahasin al-akhlq) possess them, and
avoid having bad manners." (al-Kafi)

:

.

Imam Muhammad al-Baqir said,

"Verily, the Shi`a of `Ali are pale due to abstinence [from worldly pleasure]; slim and with
dry lips. Their lips are fasting, their stomachs are thin, their colour is changing because
of their fear of God, and their faces are yellow. When the night comes, they sit on the
ground and put their foreheads on the ground. They prostrate often, they shed tears
often, they supplicate often, they cry often, and they are sad while the people are
happy." (al-Khisal)

[ ]


Imam `Ali ar-Rida said,
Whoever hates our Shi`a has certainly hated us, and whoever follows them has
certainly followed us. They are from us, and they are created from our clay. Whoever
loves them has loved us, and whoever hates them is not from us. Our Shi`a see through
the light (nr) of Allah, they move by the mercy of Allah, and they triumph by the honour
of Allah. No one from our Shi`a becomes ill except that we become ill due to his illness.
They do not become sad, except that we are sad for his sadness. And they are not
happy except that we are happy for his happiness.
Our Shi`a are those who establish prayer, give alms, go on pilgrimage to the Sacred
House, fast in the month of Ramadan, and follow the Ahl al-Bayt and disassociate from
their enemies. They are the people of faith and the fear of Allah; the people of piety and
the fear of Allah. And whoever rejects them has certainly rejected Allah. Whoever

disputes with them, has certainly disputed with Allah, because they are the true slaves
of Allah, and the genuine patrons of Allah.
By Allah, verily, each one of them will be able to intercede for as many people as the
Rabi`a tribe and the Mudar tribe. Allah accepts their intercession due to their honour to
Allah. (Sifat ash-Shi`a)
. :
Imam Ja`far as-Sadiq said, "A true believer has more sanctity than the Ka`ba".
(al-Khisal)

.
Imam Muhammad al-Baqir said,
"The closest of people to Allah, the most knowledgeable about Him and the most kind to
the people are Muhammad and the Imams , so enter where
they enter and disassociate from whom they disassociate with. It denotes Husayn and
his descendants, as the truth is with them and they are the successors; the Imams
are amongst them. So wherever you see them follow them, and when the day
comes when you no longer see one from them, beseech Allah and remain on the Sunna
you are upon. Love those whom you love and hate those whom you hate, for what
comes to you of the relief will not be expedited." (Kamal ad-Deen)

: :

The Prophet Muhammad said,

"My Nation should always do the following four things:
1. They should love those who repent.
2. They should be sympathetic towards the weak.
3. They should help those who do good.
4. They should ask for forgiveness for sinners." (al-Khisal)

[ ] : ( )
.
Imam Ja`far as-Sadiq said,
"Our Shi`a are those who are merciful with each other; those who, when alone,
remember Allah. If we are mentioned, then Allah is mentioned; and if our enemies are
mentioned, then the Shaytan is mentioned." (al-Kafi)

10

: :
.

The Prophet of Allah said,

There are four groups on whose behalf I will intercede on the Day of Judgment: Those
who honour my family after me; those who fulfill their needs; those who try to assist
them in times of need; and those who love them both with their hearts and their words.
(`Uyoon Akhbar ar-Rida)

11

The Messenger of Allah said,

"The best of the people are those who desire worship. They hold to it, love it in their
hearts, accompany it with their body and are devoted in it. Such people are concerned
no more about the world, whether it gives them comfort or difficulties". (al-Kafi)

12

Chapter on Hypocrisy
:) (
The Holy Prophet said,
"Whoever has two faces in this life will have two tongues made of fire on the Day of
Resurrection." (al-Khisal)

13

.






`Ali b. Abi Talib said,
I heard Allah's Prophet say: I am afraid that you will underestimate
the religion, accept bribery when you are about to judge on a case, cut off ties with
relatives, take the Quran as a musical instrument, and establish people [as your
leaders] who are not nobler than you in religion. (`Uyoon Akhbar ar-Rida)

: ( )

:
.
Imam Ja`far as-Sadiq said,
"A circle in the mosque promotes us and promotes itself. They are not from us and we
are not from them. I set off to conceal and hide myself, but then they expose my cover.
May Allah expose their covers! They say: "Imam!". Surely, by Allah, I am not an Imam
except to those who obey me. As for those who disobey me, I am not an Imam to them.
Why do they attach themselves to my name?! Why don't they separate my name from
their mouths? Surely - by Allah - Allah will never gather any of them with me in [the
same] house." (al-Kafi)

14

:)(

Imam Zayn al-Abidin said,
"A hypocrite prohibits [wrongdoing] but does not refrain from it himself, and he enjoins in
that which he does not do himself.
When he prays, he complains. When he bows, he slumps. When he prostrates, he
pecks (prostrates very quickly so fast). When he sits, he spreads himself out. When he
is going to bed, his only concern is food, even though he is full. When he wakes up in
the morning, his only concern is sleep, even though he did not stay up during the night.
When he speaks to you, he lies. When he makes a promise, he does not fulfill it. If you
entrust him with anything, he betrays it. And if you disagree with him, he backbites you."
(Saduq's Amali)

:) (



:

.
The Prophet said,
"The worst I fear for my Nation are three:
(1) the downfall of a scholar,
(2) the argumentation of a hypocrite using the Quran,
(3) and a world that causes you to follow your desires - so blame yourselves for that."
(al-Khisal)

15

Chapter on Oppression
. :
The Prophet Muhammad said,
"The most wicked people in my Nation are those who are respected for fear of their
wickedness. Whoever the people respect due to fear of his wickedness is not from my
Nation." (al-Khisal)

:) (

Imam al-Sadiq said,
"The most despised servant in Allahs creation is he whose tongue is feared by the
people." (al-Kafi)

16

( )
Ja`far as-Sadiq said,
"Whoever fears Allah, Allah will make everything fear him. And whoever does not fear
Allah, Allah will make him fear everything." (al-Kafi)

17

.

:
Imam `Ali said, regarding those who rose up against him at Jamal,
"They thundered like clouds and shone like lightning but despite both these things they
exhibited cowardice, while we do not thunder until we pounce upon the foe nor do we
show flow (of words) until we have rained." (Nahj al-Balagha)

18

: ( )
Ja`far as-Sadiq said,
"There is no injustice that is worse than one where a victim does not find any support
except Allah, the Exalted and Glorified." (al-Kafi)

: :) (
:
A governor of al-Hajjaj, the oppressive Umayyad ruler of Iraq, came to Imam
Muhammad al-Baqir and said, "I have been a governor from the times of alHajjaj up to this day. Is repentance possible for me?"
The Imam replied, "No. Not until you return the rights of everyone who has a right." (alKafi)

19

Imam Muhammad al-Baqir said,
"A person who did not shed any blood will be raised on the Day of Resurrection, and a
container of a dosage of blood will be given to him. It will be said to him, 'This is your
share of the blood of so-and-so.'
He will say, 'My Lord, you know that You had caused me to die without having shed any
blood.'
So He (Allah) will say, 'Of course you shed blood. You heard some news about so-andso, and you narrated it against his interests; until the news reached a tyrant who
murdered him on the basis of that narration. This is your share of that blood.'" (al-Kafi)

20

In the expedition of Dhaat al-Riqaa`, the Messenger of Allah
disembarked under a tree at the edge of a valley. A flood began that cut him
off between him and his companions.
So a man from the polytheists saw him, and he saw the Muslims standing at the edge of
the valley waiting for the flood would cease. So the man from the polytheists said to his
people: "I will kill Muhammad".
So he went and attacked the Messenger of Allah with a sword, then
he said: Who will save you from me, O Muhammad?
So he said: My Lord, and your Lord. So Jibrail uprooted him
from his horse, and he fell upon his back, and the Messenger of Allah
stood up, took the sword and sat upon his chest and said: "Who will save you from me,
O Ghawrath (the mans name)?"

21

So the man said: Your generosity and your honour, O Muhammad.

So he let him go, and the man stood up and said: By Allah, you are
better than me and more honourable. (al-Kafi)

: . :
. : .
The Prophet Muhammad said to his companions,
"A community will come after you, from which one man will have a reward equal to fifty
of you".
The companions said, "O Messenger of Allah, we were with you at Badr, Uhud, and
Hunayn, and the Quran was revealed in our presence!"
The Prophet replied, "If you were to bear what they endured you would not have taken
up their patience. (Tusis Ghayba)

22

Imam Ja`far as-Sadiq said:

"Patience to faith is like a head to its body. If the head leaves, the body will also depart,
just as when patience leaves, faith departs too". (Wasa'il ash-Shi`a)

: : : : :
: : : : : :
Imam Musa al-Kadhim was with his companion and his servant, harvesting in a
garden of his. The companion saw the servant taking handfuls of dates and throwing
them behind the wall [of the garden]. So the companion came to the servant, took hold
of him, and brought him to Imam al-Kadhim .
So al-Kadhim called, "O person", and the servant said, "I am at your service."
al-Kadhim said, "Are you hungry?"

23

The servant said, "No, my master."

al-Kadhim said, "Are you unclothed?"
The servant said, "No, my master."
al-Kadhim said, "Then what led you to take this?"
The servant said, "I desired it."
al-Kadhim said, "Go on - it is yours." The Imam then said to his companions, "Let him
be." (al-Kafi)

24

Chapter on Knowledge
. ) ( :

The Messenger said,

"The superiority of a learned person over an [ordinary] worshiper is like the superiority of
the moon over all of the stars on the night of a full moon". (Basa'ir ad-Darajat)

25

: : :
. : : : : : : : :

A man asked the Prophet : O Prophet of God! What is (the

requirement of) knowledge?
The Prophet replied: Silence.
The man asked: What is next?
The Prophet replied: Listening to knowledge (i.e. those who are
knowledgeable).
The man asked: And what is next?
The Prophet replied: Remembering it.
The man asked: And what is next?
The Prophet replied: Acting upon it.
The man asked: And what is next?
The Prophet said: Spreading and sharing it with others. (al-Khisal)

26

( :
[ ]

)
The Messenger of Allah said,
"One who travels a road seeking knowledge in it, Allah will make him travel a road to the
Garden. And the angels set their wings for the seeker of knowledge, pleased with him.
And whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the Earth seeks forgiveness for him,
even the fish in the sea. And the virtue of the learned upon the worshipers is as the
virtue of the full moon upon all of the stars." (Basa'ir ad-Darajat)

:

: .
.
Imam al-Baqir said,
"Beware of disputes, for they create doubt, invalidate deeds, and lead their participants
astray for one may say a thing that is not forgiven from him. There was once a
community who left the required knowledge and sought unrequired knowledge, until
they spoke of Allah [and His essence] and became perplexed by it; [so much so] that if
a man were to call in front of them they would reply to the back, and to the front if called
from the back... until they vanished in the Earth." (al-Kafi)

27

The Chapter on Love and Affection

. :
The Prophet Muhammad said, "The heart of the believer is sweet,
loving sweetness." (Tibb an-Nabi)

28

Imam Muhammad al-Jawad said, quoting the Holy Prophet ,
If someone comes to you and you are satisfied with his manners and religion, marry
him. Surely, if you do not do that, there will be sedition (fitna) in the Earth and much
corruption (fasd). (Tahdheeb al-Ahkam)

29

. : : ) (
The Prophet Muhammad said,
"The saying of the man to the woman I love you never leaves her heart." (Wasa'il ashShi`a)

30

. : ( ) :
The Prophet Muhammad said,
"Most of the people of the Fire are unmarried." (Wasa'il ash-Shi`a)
. :
Imam al-Baqir said,
"The Day of Resurrection is the wedding of the pious." (al-Khisal)

31

:
. :

A man asked the Prophet : "O Messenger of Allah! Please let me know
something which I can do to be loved by Allah in the Heavens and by the people on
Earth."
The Prophet told him: "Be inclined to what belongs to Allah to be
loved by Allah, and abstain from what belongs to people to be loved by people." (alKhisal)

:
.
The Angel Gabriel said to the Holy Prophet :
"O Muhammad! Live as much as you want - you will inevitably die. Love whatever you
want - you will inevitably be separated from it. Do whatever you want - you will inevitably
reap what it sows. Know that a mans honour is in his staying up at night [praying] and
his glory is in his independence from the people." (al-Khisal)

32

Chapter on the Family




When the Prophet Muhammad conquered Mecca, he stood at the top
of Mount Safa and said,
"O children of Hashim, O children of `Abd al-Muttalib! I am Allah's Messenger to you,
and I am compassionate towards you. Do not say, Muhammad came out of us. By
Allh, there are no followers from you or from the others, except those with piety. I will
not recognize you if you come to me on the Day of Judgment bearing this world upon
your shoulders. The people must come to me bearing the hereafter [as their concern].
Indeed, I have excused myself from what is between me and you, and what is between
Allah and you. I have my deeds and you have your deeds. (Sifat ash-Shi`a)

33

The Holy Prophet said,

Love your children and treat them with affection and kindness. When you make a
promise to them, you must keep it, because children consider you their sustainer. (alKafi)

34

: ( ) : :
.
, A man said to Imam Zayn al-`Abideen
"You are the best to your mother out of all the people, yet I have not seen you eat with
"her.
said, "I fear that my hand may precede to take that which her eye The Imam
)looks at first. Then I would be impious before her." (Wasa'il ash-Shi`a

: :
: : " :
" : : :
; :
:
:
:

35

: : :
: : :

:

Zakariyya b. Ibrahim said, "I was a Christian then I converted, so I went to perform the
Hajj, so I entered to meet Imam Ja`far as-Sadiq so I said to him, 'I was a
Christian but have now converted to Islam.'"
So he said, "And what thing did you see in Islam [that has attracted you to it]?"
Zakariyya said, "The words of Allah - 'And you [Muhammad] did not know the book, nor
the faith, but we have made it a light unto which we guide whomsoever we wish.'"
The Imam said, "Indeed Allah has guided you. O Allah, guide him further, guide
him further, guide him further. Ask me what you want, my son."
Zakariyya said, "My father and mother are still Christians, and so are the people of my
house, and my mother is blind, so do I remain with them? And do I eat in their utensils?"
The Imam said, "Do they eat pork?" Zakariyya, "They do not, nor do they touch
it." The Imam said, "(Then) there is no problem. And look after your mother,
and do good to her, so when she dies do not let another one proceed you in her (right),
and be the one who oversees the whole of her affair, and do not tell anyone that you
came to meet me until you come to me again in Mina if Allah wills."
So Zakariyya went to meet him in Mina, and the people were around him as
though he was a teacher of children: this one asks him, and that one asks him.
So when Zakariyya returned to Kufa, he turned towards his mother, and took care of
her, so he used to feed her with his hands, and wash her clothes and her head, and
serve her.
So she said to him, "O my son - you did not do this for me when you were upon my
religion, so what is this change that I see in you after you ran away and entered into the
Hanafiyyah?"
Zakariyya said to her, "A person from the progeny of our Prophet ordered me to do
this." So she said, "Is this person a prophet?" Zakariyya said, "No, but he is a son of the

36

prophet." So she said to him, "My son - surely this is a prophet, for (what he has told
you) is from the teachings of the prophets". Zakariyya, "O my mother, there is no any
other prophet after our Prophet, but he is his son."
So she said, "O my son, your religion is the best of religions, declare it to me." So
Zakariyya declared it to her, so she entered into Islam, and he taught it to her, so she
prayed the Dhuhr and the Asr and the Maghrib and the Final Isha, and he kept on
declaring it for her throughout the night, so she said suddenly, "O my son, repeat for me
what you had taught me." So he repeated it for her, so she declared it and died, so
when it was morning - it was the Muslims who washed her, and he was the one who
prayed upon her, and entered her into her grave. (al-Kafi)

.

:) (
.




Zayn al-`Abideen said,
"The right of your father is that you know that he is your root. Without him, you would
not exist. Whenever you see anything in yourself which pleases you, know that your
father is the root of its blessing upon you. So praise God and thank Him in that
measure. And there is no strength save in God." (Risalat al-Huquq)

37

:
.
Imam al-Baqir said,
"From the joys of a man is to have for himself a son. He knows that in him is similarity in
his form, his character, and his features. And I do not know anyone similar in my form,
character, and features except this son meaning Ja`far as-Sadiq ." (al-Kafi)

38

Chapter on Racism
: : ( )
.

The Prophet Muhammad said,

"If one practices racism, or if it is practiced for him, then the collar of belief is removed
from his neck." (al-Kafi)

.



:)
(

The Prophet Muhammad said,
"Whoever contains even a mustard seeds weight of tribalism in his heart, Allah will
raise him on the Day of Resurrection among the bedouins of jahiliyya." (al-Kafi)

39

Anecdotes

. : ( )
Ja`far as-Sadiq said,
"Allah loves beauty and beautification and hates wretchedness and feigned misery.
(Wasa'il ash-Shi`a)

40

:

Imam `Ali said,
"I am astonished by mankind. His beginning is sperm, his end is a corpse, and in
between the two he is not but a vessel of excrement. Despite that, he is prideful." (Nahj
al-Balagha)

41

:) (
:
Imam as-Sajjad said:
"I would be embarrassed in front of my Lord if I requested Paradise for a brother from
my brethren even though I was too stingy with them in a gold coin (dinar) or a silver coin
(dirham). If that were so, on the Day of Judgment it would be said to me: 'If Paradise
belonged to you, you would have been stingier and stingier and stingier.'" (Kitab alIkhwan)

42

: ) (
.
The Messenger of Allah said,
"Remind each other, meet each other, and discuss with one another, for discussion (alhadith) is the polishing of the heart. The heart rusts just as a sword rusts, and its
polishing is discussion." (Wasa'il ash-Shi`a)

43

Prophet Muhammad said, "One who spends the night with his
stomach full while his neighbour is hungry does not believe in me."
Imam Muhammad al-Baqir said, "The radius of the neighbour is forty houses
from each side: from in front of him, from behind him, from his right and from his left."
(al-Kafi)

( ) : ( )
. ) ( : ) (
The Messenger of Allah looked at a man of tousled up hair of his
head, his clothing dirty, and a repulsive state. So he said, "From the
religion is pleasure and the showing of blessing." (al-Kafi)

44