Advice of Scholars - IMÂM-I A’ZAM’S TAQWÂ (PART 1)

Imâm-i a’zam’s taqwâ was very great. He used to trade in order to earn halâl food. He had commercial partners. He used to distribute earnings of thousands of aqchas which he considered doubtful to the poor and to men of the Dîn. He used to support his hundreds of disciples and meet their needs with his own earnings. For thirty years he fasted every day. [He ate for five days in a year, on the days of ’Iyd. ] He used to perform namâz at nights. He used to spend most of the hours of his days giving lectures and answering the questions of the people in the mosque. At nights he used to worship his Owner in the mosque or in his home.

For forty years he performed the morning prayers with the ablution he had made for the night prayers. He often used to read the entire Qur’ân in one rak’at or in two rak’ats. And sometimes, whether in namâz or not, he would recite an âyat describing Allah’s torment or mercy, time after time, and then weep, moan and sob. Those who heard him would pity him. He would dress like the poor. But sometimes he would wear very valuable garments in order to exhibit the blessings of Allâhu ta’âlâ.

He performed hajj fifty-five times and stayed in the blessed city of Mekka for several years. At the place where his soul was taken away he recited the entire Qur’ân seven thousand times. He said, “I have laughed once in my life. And I repent for it. ” He would talk infrequently, but think much. He used to discuss some subjects of the Dîn with his disciples. One night, after performing the night prayer in jamâ’at, he was going out of the mosque, when he began to talk to his disciple Zufar on some matter. One of his feet was outside the door and the other inside the mosque yet. They talked until the morning adhân and then went back into the mosque to perform the morning prayer before he had time to take his other foot out.

Saying that Hadrat Imâm-i Alî had said, “It is permissible to spend up to four thousand dirhams for livelihood,” he used to distribute the excess of the four thousand dirhams of his earnings to the poor.