Bad things happens to all of us, some less, some more; we are not able to control the things that happen to us, however if we have the courage we should be able to control the way we react to them. It’s all about perception, this way instead of allowing the change to master us; we will be able to master the change and hopefully that change brings out the best in us.
The tyrant is nothing but a slave turned inside out. When a valiant soul seems to stand against the world; when the noblest motives are reviled and mocked; when truth seems to suffer an eclipse, the martyr’s whisper comes: “Truth after all can never die.”
“To me , death is nothing but happiness, and living under tyrants nothing but living in a hell.” Imam Hossein
Hossein brave stand was taken against oppression and dictatorship. When evil and injustice threatened to ruin society, he and his family and his true friends, fought for human rights, freedom and justice for all!
Imam Hossein said:” Death with dignity is better than life with humiliation.” He was the grandson and successor of prophet Mohammad(s). He was mercilessly martyred along with 72 others comprising of his family members including his 6 month old son as well as his companions after being denied access to water for 3 days. He said: “I swear by God, I shall not surrender as a humiliated person and shall not escape like slaves.”
Shia Muslims commemorate this tragic event every year. Although Hossein and his companions lost the physical battle, they ensured victory for truth, morality and selflessness. Mahatma Gandhi said: “I learned from Hussein how to achieve victory while being oppressed.”
We remember him not just for his sacrifice but for the cause:
So every year on Ashoura we mourn the tragedy of Karbala, and the stand for all that was right against all that was evil.
We should stand together and do not allow extremists to use religion to justify their unkind crimes!
We should stand together so that one day we may have a world where justice and peace reign for all people.
Hossein represented authentic Islam, a way of life based on community, love of one’s neighbors, peaceful co-existence with people of different believes, social justice and equality for all regardless of race or religion.
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“Humbleness has grades of which is that the human being recognize his position , not expect from anybody more than what he deserves , associateand behave with others the way he likes to be treated ; and if anybody did bad to him , instead he does good , restrains his anger, forgives and is benevolent.” ~ Imam Reza
At the beginning of the 9th century (3rd century AH) Mashhad was a small village called Sanabad situated 24 km away from Tus. There was a summer palace of “Hamid ibn Qahtabi”, the governor of Khorasan. In 808 when Harun al-Rashid, Abbasid caliph, was passing through there to settle down the insurrection of “Rafi ibn Leith” in Transoxania, he became ill and died. He was buried under the palace of Hamid ibn Qahtabi. Several years later in 818 Imam Ali al-Reza was martyred by Al-Ma’mun and was buried beside the grave of Harun, now Mashhad (Persian: مشهد , ‹Mašhad›, literally the place of martyrdom) is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world.
Imam Reza was the seventh descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the eighth of the Twelve Imams. Like his father and grand fathers he became the practical example for others during his life. He taught the lesson of life to the people. He did not segregate and separate himself from them and did not lead his life on the style and pattern of tyrants and oppressors. He did not overlook or show heedlessness and disrespect to anyone.
"Stinginess destroys human's dignity."~Imam Reza
After the death of Hārūn Rashīd, Hārūn’s two sons began fighting for control of the Abbāsid Empire. One son, Al-Amin, had an Arab mother and thus had the support of Arabs, while his half-brother Al-Ma’mun had a Persian mother and the support of Persia. Al-Ma’mun believed that Persia was sympathetic to the Hashemites and asked for Ali al-Rida to meet him in Persia. Ali al-Ridha left his only son, Muħammad at-Taqī, and his wife and set out for Merv.
"Best wealth is what is spent for guarding dignity." ~ Imam Reza
After defeating his brother, al-Ma’mun named Ali al-Ridha his successor. He hoped to win Shī’a support through this move, but the passage of caliphate would occur only if Ali al-Rida outlived al-Ma’mun (as with all promises of succession). Al-Ma’mun even changed the black Abbāsid flags to green, the traditional color of the house of Alī ibn Abī-Tālib(Imam Ali), the first Shī’a imam.
Ali al-Ridha did not outlive al-Ma’mun, martyred on May 26, 818, in Persia while accompanying al-Ma’mun at Tus. Most scholars agree he was poisoned by al-Ma’mun who poisoned Imam using grapes. Ali al-Ridha is buried within Imam Ridha Mosque, in Mashhad, Iran.
"Humbleness is to give the people what you like to be given."~Imam Reza
A cute Arab boy visiting Iran with his family.
My brother took all these photos with his mobile phone.
WaterColor Painting- Iran - Esfahan
Art is much less important than life, but what a poor life without it; drawing is putting a line around an idea. Most of the artists want to draw something meaningful and some may want to draw something that means something to someone. When an artist wants to draw something they might have self doubts or fear, but artists should believe in themselves and what comes from within them. Some might want to draw emotions of a mother, like the feeling of a mother holding her child for the first time, or the great feeling after helping someone in need or a moment of clarity, something that nobody’s saying it but everybody’s thinking it, something to believe in again. It’s not easy to draw that feeling. But, artists shouldn’t think because they might not great at it then they might ruin it. Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere.Like Frederick Franck said: I have learned that what I have not drawn I have never really seen, and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing, I realize how extraordinary it is, sheer miracle.
Old Times - Iran - WaterColor Painting
“Do not fail, as you go on, to draw something every day, for no matter how little it is, it will be well worthwhile, and it will do you a world of good.” Cennini
WaterColor painting
Aseman Hotel - Isfahan In A Rainy Day - Iran - WaterColor Painting
Most of the paintings are watercolor paintings. All of them are views on Iran, some on old times and some are on present time.
Ali Said: “I am amazed at the heart of man: It possesses the substance of wisdom as well as the opposites contrary to it … for if hope arises in it, it is brought low by covetousness: and if covetousness is aroused in it, greed destroys it. If despair possesses it, self piety kills it: and if it is seized by anger, this is intensified by rage. If it is blessed with contentment, then it forgets to be careful; and if it is filled with fear, then it becomes preoccupied with being cautious. If it feels secure , then it is overcome by vain hopes; and if it is given wealth, then its independence makes it extravagant. If want strikes it, then it is smitten by anxiety. If it is weakened by hunger, then it gives way to exhaustion; and if it goes too far in satisfying its appetites, then its inner becomes clogged up. So all its shortcomings are harmful to it, and all its excesses corrupt it.”
Ali was the first male to accept the message of his cousin Mohammad,the Islamic prophet and embrace Islam.
Ali is respected for his courage, knowledge, belief, honesty, unbending devotion to Islam, deep loyalty to Mohammad, equal treatment of all people and generosity in forgiving his defeated enemies.
Scottish Orientalist William Muir declared that Ali was “Endowed with a clear intellect, warm in affection, and confiding in friendship, he was from the boyhood devoted heart and soul to the Prophet. Simple, quiet, and unambitious, when in after days he obtained the rule of half of the Muslim world, it was rather thrust upon him than sought.”
Imam Ali
The English historian Edward Gibbon stated: “The zeal and virtue of Ali were never outstripped by any recent proselyte. He united the qualifications of a poet, a soldier, and a saint; his wisdom still breathes in a collection of moral and religious sayings; and every antagonist, in the combats of the tongue or of the sword, was subdued by his eloquence and valour. From the first hour of his mission to the last rites of his funeral, the apostle was never forsaken by a generous friend, whom he delighted to name his brother, his vicegerent, and the faithful Aaron of a second Moses.”
The poet Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer Khalil Gibran said of him: “In my view, ʿAlī was the first Arab to have contact with and converse with the universal soul. He died a martyr of his greatness, he died while prayer was between his two lips. The Arabs did not realise his value until appeared among their Persian neighbors some who knew the difference between gems and gravels.
What shows Ali’s policies and ideas of governing is his instruction to Malik al-Ashtar, when appointed by him as governor of Egypt. This instruction which is considered by many Muslims and even non-Muslims as the ideal constitution for Islamic governance involved detailed description of duties and rights of the ruler and various functionaries of the state and the main classes of society at that time.
Ali wrote in his instruction to Malik al-Ashtar:
Infuse your heart with mercy, love and kindness for your subjects. Be not in face of them a voracious animal, counting them as easy prey, for they are of two kinds:either they are your brothers in religion or your equals in creation. Error catches them unaware, deficiencies overcome them, (evil deeds) are committed by them intentionally and by mistake. So grant them your pardon and your forgiveness to the same extent that you hope God will grant you His pardon and His forgiveness. For you are above them, and he who appointed you is above you, and God is above him who appointed you. God has sought from you the fulfillment of their requirements and He is trying you with them.
Do not feel ashamed to forgive and forget. Do not hurry over punishments and do not be pleased and do not be proud of your power to punish. Do not get angry and lose your temper quickly over the mistakes and failures of those over whom you rule. On the contrary, be patient and sympathetic with them. Anger and desire of vengeance are not going to be of much help to you in your administration.
Never say to yourself, “I am their Lord, their ruler and all in all over them and that I must be obeyed submissively and humbly” because such a thought will unbalance your mind, will make you vain and arrogant, will weaken your faith in religion and will make you seek support of any power other than that of Allah . If you ever feel any pride or vanity on account of your sway and rule over your subjects then think of the supreme sway and rule of the Lord over the Universe, the extent of His creations, the supremacy of His Might and Glory, His Power to do things which you cannot even dream of doing and His control over you which is more dominating than that which you can ever achieve over anything around you. Such thoughts will cure your mental weakness, will keep you away from vanity and rebellion, will reduce your arrogance and haughtiness and will take you back to the sanity which you had foolishly deserted.
Since the majority of Ali’s subjects were nomads and peasants, he was concerned with agriculture. He instructed to Malik to give more attention to development of the land than to the collection of the tax, because tax can only be obtained by the development of the land and whoever demands tax without developing the land ruins the country and destroys the people.
George Jurdaq is a Christian scholar and researcher who became fascinated with the inspirational and educational guidelines of Imam Ali (A.S.) for building the individual as well as societies. Because of his extreme liking and admiration he was motivated for undertaking a thorough research; the fruits of these painstaking efforts was the outcome of a precious and novel book titled: “Imam Ali – the Voice of Justice for Humanity”
Imam Ali
Ali is respected not only as a warrior and leader, but as a writer and religious authority. Numerous range of disciplines from theology and exegesis to calligraphy and numerology, from law and mysticism to Arabic grammar and Rhetoric regarded as having been first adumbrated by Ali.
Prophet Mohammad(s) told about him “I’m the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate…”
My personal experience on research, study and life has shown me that: “The Journey To The Sky, Should Be With Heart.” Flo14wer
I am an Iranian woman, I believe if I learn from my enemies, then I have no enemies but teachers. I’ve learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind - I still have a lot to learn!
flo14wer
