503 - ثَوابُ مَن قَدَرَ عَلى‏ حَرامٍ فَتَرَكَهُ‏

503. The Reward of One Who Has Access to the Prohibited But Abandons It

1515.رسولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللَّه عليه وآله : مَن قَدرَ على‏ امرأةٍ أو جاريَةٍ حَراماً فَتَركَها مَخافَةَ اللَّهِ حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ عزّوجلّ علَيهِ النّارَ ، وآمَنَهُ اللَّهُ تَعالى‏ مِن الفَزَعِ الأكْبَرِ ، وأدْخَلَهُ اللَّهُ‏الجَنّةَ .¹

1515.The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'He who has unlawful access to enjoy a woman or a maid but leaves her for fear of Allah, He - Mighty and Exalted - will keep him safe from the Fire, preserve him from the Great Terror, and make him enter Paradise.' ²

1516.رسولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللَّه عليه وآله : لا يَقْدِرُ رَجُلٌ على‏ حَرامٍ ثُمَّ يَدَعُهُ ، لَيس بهِ إلّا مَخافَةُ اللَّهِ ، إلّا أبْدَلَهُ اللَّهُ في عاجِلِ الدُّنيا قَبْلَ الآخِرَةِ ما هُو خَيرٌ لَهُ مِن ذلكَ .³

1516.The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'No sooner does a man who is able to commit a prohibited act abandon it, only for fear of Allah, than Allah gives him in lieu of it something that is better for him in this present world before the Hereafter.' ⁴

1517.الإمامُ الكاظمُ عليه السلام : إنَّ رسولَ اللَّهِ صلى اللَّه عليه وآله كانَ يأتي أهلَ الصُّفَّةِ وكانوا ضِيفانَ رسولِ اللَّهِ صلى اللَّه عليه وآله ، كانوا هاجَروا مِن أهاليهِم وأموالِهِم إلى‏ المَدينَةِ فأسْكَنَهُم رسولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللَّه عليه وآله صُفَّةَ المَسجِدِ، وهُم أربَعُمِائةِ رجُلٍ [ كان‏]، يُسَلِّمُ علَيهِم بالغدوةِ والعَشِيِّ، فأتاهُم ذاتَ يومٍ فمِنهُم مَن يَخصِفُ نَعلَهُ ، ومِنهُم مَن يَرقَعُ ثَوبَهُ ، ومِنهُم مَن يَتَفلّى‏ ، وكانَ رسولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللَّه عليه وآله يَرزُقُهُم مُدّاً مُدّاً مِن تمرٍ في كُلِّ يَومٍ .
فقامَ رجُلٌ مِنهُم فقالَ : يا رسولَ اللَّهِ ، التَّمرُ الّذي تَرْزُقُنا قَد أحْرَقَ بطُونَنا !
فقالَ رسولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللَّه عليه وآله : أمَا إنّي لَوِ اسْتَطَعْتُ أنْ اُطْعِمَكُمُ الدُّنيا لَأطعَمْتُكُم ، ولكنْ مَن عاشَ مِنكُم من بَعدي فسَيُغدى‏ علَيهِ بالجِفانِ ويُراحُ علَيهِ بالجِفانِ ، ويَغدو أحَدُكُم في قَميصةٍ ويَروحُ في اُخرى‏ ، وتُنَجِّدونَ بُيوتَكُم كما تُنَجَّدُ الكَعبَةُ .
فقامَ رجُلٌ فقالَ : يا رسولَ اللَّهِ ، إنّا على ذلكَ الزَّمانِ بالأشْواقِ ! فمَتى‏ هُو ؟!
قالَ صلى اللَّه عليه وآله : زَمانُكُم هذا خَيرٌ مِن ذلكَ الزّمانِ ، إنَّكُم إنْ مَلَأتُم بطُونَكُم مِن الحَلالِ تُوشِكونَ أنْ تَملؤوها مِن الحَرامِ .⁵

1517.Imam al-Kazim (AS) said, 'The Prophet (SAWA) used to visit the people of the ledge [of the mosque], who were his guests and had migrated to Medina without their families and belongings. The Prophet (SAWA) had lodged them on the ledges of the Mosque. They were four hundred men, and he greeted them every morning and every night. One day he came to them while some of them were mending their sandals, some were patching their garments, and some were cleaning their heads from lice. The Prophet (SAWA) used to provide them with half a bushel of dates every day.
One of the men stood up and said, 'O Messenger of Allah! The dates you provide us with have burned our stomachs!' The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'If I could feed you the whole world surely I would have done it, but [know that] those among you who will live after me will be brought bowls [of food] in the morning and bowls in the evening, and each of you will have a shirt in the morning and another in the evening, and each of you will adorn your houses with curtains and carpets as the Kaba is adorned.'
A man then rose and exclaimed, 'O Messenger of Allah! We are waiting eagerly for that time. When will it be?!' He (SAWA) said, 'Your time now is better than that time. When you fill your stomachs with the lawful, you might also fill it with the unlawful.' ⁶