Ayatollah Khamenei comments on supplication recommended by the late Ayatollah Bahjat

Rasa - On the occasion of the death anniversary of the great gnostic and scholar of God, Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Foumani-Bahjat, we have translated a piece of advice from His Eminence to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei.

News ID: 885

Date: 23 May 2014 - 15:06

Rasa News Agency reports - On the occasion of the death anniversary of the great gnostic and scholar of God, Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Foumani-Bahjat, we have translated a piece of advice from His Eminence to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei.

Ayatollah Bahjat was a revered source of emulation and was famous among Shi’ite Muslims for his knowledge of Islamic gnosticism and his mysticism. His religious decrees were followed by many Shi’ite Muslims. Ayatollah Bahjat died at the age of 96 from heart disease on May 17, 2009 in the holy city of Qom.

When the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, visited the holy city of Qom on October 24, 2010, he mentioned to thousands of seminarians and teachers of the Islamic Seminaries in a speech that Ayatollah Bahjat recommended the recitation of Du’a al-Ghariq (Supplication of the Drowning Man) regularly and encouraged the seminarians to do this as well, as it holds countless spiritual benefits.

These are Ayatollah Khamenei’s comments on this supplication which were part of the previously mentioned speech delivered in Qom:

یَا اللَّهُ یَا رَحْمَانُ یَا رَحِیمُ، یَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِی عَلَى دِینِکَ

“Oh God! Oh All-Beneficent! Oh All-Merciful! Oh Turner of hearts! (Please) make my heart firm on Your religion.” (Du’a al-Ghariq as narrated by Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq)

Ayatollah Bahjat said that if even if someone had a small problem and read this supplication, their prayers would be answered by God. He said that someone whose faith is strong might think that by reciting the phase “(Please) make my heart firm on Your religion,” that they are telling God that their faith is not rational or strong, and that they might think that this phrase is below them. Ayatollah Bahjat said that the reason someone should continuously pray for strong faith despite having it is that a person can still turn back from this firm faith and go astray.

By reciting the phase “(Please) make my heart firm on Your religion,” the supplicant asks God to keep their faith firm on a high level and seeks to keep their faith from waning. If someone’s faith is always strong, both their life and their death will be pleasant.

In the fortieth supplication of Sahifat as-Sajjadiyah (“Supplication when Death was Mentioned”), Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn as-Sajjad (A) prayed:

أَمِتْنَا مُهْتَدِینَ غَیْرَ ضَالِّینَ طائِعِینَ غَیْرَ مُسْتَکْرِهِینَ تَائِبینَ غَیْرَ عاصِینَ وَلا مُصِرِّینَ
“Oh God... Make us die guided, not astray, obedient, not averse, repentant, not disobedient or persisting...”

This means that in the life of mankind, he seeks divine guidance. It is obvious that without divine guidance, life is dangerous. The result of one’s actions will only be known in the hereafter and no one knows what their reward or punishment will be until they leave this world.

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