CONTENT, NOT FORM, IS IMPORTANT

It is strange to see that people in everyday life look for truth and reality but when the religion and the Hereafter is concerned, they become content with form and external feature rather than true meanings. We never expect a sugarless piece of cake to taste sweet, but consider a prayer without the presence of heart as perfect, complaining to God that we have offered our prayer but we have not seen a positive effect!
A nourishing food or a trip of leisure leave certain effects, how is it then that a month-long fasting and being guest of God do not leave any effect on souls? How is it acceptable that we do not benefit by the supplications while we have the household of the Prophet -the Ahl ul-Bayt- (a.s) as the best spiritual food and the means for purification? How is it that a weak-long trip to the seaside changes our complexion, but seven-fold circumambulations of the Kaaba, visiting the graveside of the Holy Prophet (saw) and the Imams (a.s) do not change our souls?
As a matter of fact, if we take the title of Hajji off most of those who have been to Mecca, what emblem of Mecca, circumambulation, or touching the Black Stone do we see in them?
  Do Muslims not have, according to the Holy Quran, a special feature making them distinct from others, and that is the marks of prostration, humbleness, and submission to God? ��Their marks are in their faces because of the prostration. (The Holy Quran; 48:29)�
The effect of prostration alone in the face of a Muslim is not a sign of servitude; rather it should be seen in his business, culture, and all aspects of life. Regrettably, what is not seen in the life of the ummah is the true feature of Islam and the marks of prostration. In certain cases, the feature of unbelievers is seen in Muslims' lives.
 

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Day of Judgment, their foreheads having the marks of prostration, being thin due to fasting, and dry-mouthed because of supplications. The prayer makes their faces wrinkled, keeping vigilance, and fasting on hot days make their bodies exhausted. When (other) people are at rest, they (the true Shiites) glorify Allah, when people are asleep, they are in prayers, and when people are merry making, they are sad.'1
  The same God-fearing, enlightened people, in their love for the Hereafter, have fought the enemies of God throughout the history of Islam. They considered martyrdom in the way of God as the highest degree of happiness and the best means for affinity with God. We therefore realize that a true Shiite is pious and heedless of the worldly ornaments but does not live the life of a recluse. He stands against the oppressing powers with his strong faith and steadfastness. Describing such people, the Holy Quran says: �Those who fight in His way in ranks as if they were a firm and compact wall. (61:4)� Therefore, no one can say that the school based on piety, detachment from this world, prostration, and prayer fails to nurture heroes.
Nevertheless, we stand in prayer with our heart full of love for this world without God's remembrance. We fast with a soul polluted with sins. We go on Hajj pilgrimage with illegally gotten money, abandon what is obligatory but do what is praiseworthy and expect the positive effects on our lives and wish to be among the angels at the same time!
Addressing to Jesus (a.s), God says: يا عِيسَى، قُل لِظَلَمَةِ بني إسْرائِيلَ: لا تَدعُوني والسُّحْتُ تحتَ أَحضَانِكُم والأصْنامُ في بُيوتِكُم، فإِني آلَيتُ أنْ أُجيبَ مَن دَعانِي وأَنْ أجعَلَ إِجابَتي إيّاهُم لَعناً حتّى يَتفرَّقوا.
�O Jesus, tell the Israeli wrongdoers not to call upon Me while they have illegal riches under their arms and keep idols at home, for I have sworn I will answer one who calls upon Me. My answer to the call for these wrongdoers is to curse them until they part from one another.�2
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1 See Safinat ul-Bihar; vol. 1
2 See Tuhaf ul-Uqoul; 369
 

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يا عِيسَى، قُل لهُم قَلِّموا أَظفارَكُم مِن كَسْبِ الحَرامِ وأَصِمُّوا أَسماعَكُم مِن ذِكْرِ الخَنى وأَقبِلوا عَلَيَّ بِقلوبِكم فإِنّي لستُ أُريدُ صُورَكُم.
�O Jesus, tell them: Take your nails off illegal business, cover your ears from obscenity, and come to Me with full heart, for I certainly do not want your external faces.�1 A religious report says: مَن حَجَّ مِن غَيرِ حِلِّهِ ثمّ لبّى قالَ اللهُ عزّ وجلّ له: لا لَبّيكَ ولا سَعدَيكَ حتّى تَرُدّ ما في يَديكَ.
�Whoever goes on Hajj with illegal money when saying Labbayk, Allah will say: I will not accept your 'Labbayk' until you return the money to its owner.�2
Imam Sadiq (a.s) says:
�How much wailing and how few devoted hajjis are!�3 (In other words, the noise of the performers of Hajj is extremely loud but, unfortunately, real performers of Hajj are very few.)
  Skepticism about religious laws made by certain individuals has different motivations. Part of it is by prejudiced and malevolent individuals aimed at diluting Muslims' ideology so as to carry out their destructive plots in the Islamic society and to attain their satanic goal. Another part arises from ignorance of the truth and philosophy of the heavenly teachings. These skeptics see the external face but they are unaware of the philosophy behind them. These people are ignorant, arrogant, egotist, and unwilling to understand the philosophy of the religion.
  Ibn-Abi'l-Aujaa was unbeliever. He was an abusive orator whom scholars avoided for his sharp tongue. It was Hajj season when he was sitting with a group of unbelievers in the Sacred Mosque looking at pilgrims mockingly. In another corner of the Mosque, Imam Sadiq (a.s) was sitting surrounded by the Shiites who benefited by his
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1 See Tuhaf ul-Uqoul; 371
2 See al-Mahajjat ul-Beizaa; vol. 2 p.210
3 See Safinat ul-Bihar, Vol. 2 p.71
 

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heavenly knowledge. The unbelievers turned to Ibn-Abi'l-Aujaa saying: �How good it is to debate with the man sitting there surrounded by his devotees making him ashamed!�
Ibn-Abi'l-Aujaa who was too proud of himself said: �I will go right now and make him helpless.� Entering into the Imam's assembly, Ibn-Abi'l-Aujaa said: يا أبا عبدِ الله، إنّ المجالسَ أماناتٌ ولا بُدّ لكُلِّ مَن كان به سُعالٌ أن يسعلَ، فتأذنُ لي بالسؤالِ؟
�O Abu-Abdullah, assemblies are safe. (He was afraid of being killed by the believers.) Everyone having phlegm in his chest has to cough it out. (i.e. one who has a question has to ask it.) Can I ask you a question?�
The Imam (a.s) gave him permission. Ibn-Abi'l-Aujaa bared his heart shamelessly of his atheistic ideas in an enchanting rhymed prose, mocked the Hajj rites, and insulted the pilgrims, adding: إلى كمْ تدُوسونَ هذا البَيدرَ وتلوذُونَ بهذا الحَجرِ وتعبُدونَ هذا البيتَ المرفوعَ بالطّوبِ والمدَرِ وتُهروِلونَ حولَهُ هروَلَةَ البعيرِ إذا نفرَ؟ مَن فكّر في هذا وقدّرَ علِمَ أنهُ فِعْلُ غيرِ حكيمٍ ولا ذي نظرٍ. فقُل فأنتَ رأسُ هذا الأمرِ وسَنامُهُ وأبوكَ أُسُّهُ ونِظامُهُ.
�Till when will you work in this threshing-floor, seek refuge to this stone, worship this house made of mud and stone, and go round it like frightened camels? Anyone reflecting on the matter will find out that it is unwise act. Give me the answer, you who are at the top, a prominent personality, and a person whose fathers set up and maintained this religion.�
Even nowadays such a question are asked by some of the so-called intellectuals!
However, Imam Sadiq (a.s) who was the propagator of the monotheistic school of Islam and had trained students in his mystical sessions, uttered sentences that exposed the evil intention of Ibn-Abi'l-Aujaa and his co-thinkers and bewared them of the sinister fate awaiting them. He (a.s) said: إِنّ مَن أضلّهُ اللهُ وأعمى قلبَهُ استَوخمَ الحقَّ ولم يستعذِبْهُ وصارَ الشَيطانُ وليَّهُ وربَّهُ ويورِدُهُ مناهِلَ الهَلَكَةِ ولا يُصدِرُهُ.
 

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�Whomever Allah causes to go astray and to be blind in heart will find the truth bitter and will have Satan as guardian and lord, and will be damned to perdition from which there is no return.�1
The Imam (a.s) then made statements the summary of which is as follows: This Kaaba is the House that God has appointed as a means to test His servants making them duty-bound to respect and visit and to be a balance from man's devotion and obedience to God. Through the Kaaba, the devoted believers are made distinct from hypocrites. This House is the resting-place for the prophets, Kiblah of worshippers, and a means to please God. Therefore, the aim of Hajj is to worship God�the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the human soul and body�, not the stone. Kissing or caressing the Black Stone, too, is aimed at carrying out God's order.
  Imam Ali's sermon known as 'al-Khitba al-Qassiya �Sermon of Disparagement-' answers the above and similar questions. A part of the sermon, which is related to the Holy Kaaba, will be quoted hereinafter:

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�Do you not see the Allah, the Glorified, has tried all the people among those who came before, beginning with Adam up to the last ones in this world with stones which yield neither benefit nor harm nor see nor hear. He made those stones into His sacred house, which He made a standby for the people. He placed it in the most rugged stony part of the earth and on a highland with least soil thereon, among the narrowest valleys between rough mountains, soft sandy plains, springs of scanty water, and scattered habitants, where neither camels not horses nor cows and sheep can prosper. Then, he commanded Adam and his sons to turn their attention towards it. In this way, it became the center of their journey in seeking pastures and the rendezvous for meeting of their carrier-beasts, so that human spirits hasten towards it from distant waterless deserts, deep and low-lying valleys and scattered islands in the seas. They shake their shoulders in humbleness, recite the slogan of having reached His audience, march with swift feet, and have disheveled hair and dusted faces. They throw their pieces of cloth on their backs; they have marred the beauty of their faces by leaving the hair uncut as a matter of great test, severe tribulation, open trials, and
 

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extreme refining. Allah has made it a means to His mercy and an approach to His Paradise.
If Allah, the Glorified, had places His Sacred House and His great signs among plantations, streams, soft and level points, plenty of trees, and abundance of fruits, a thick population, close habitats, golden wheat, lush gardens, green land, watered plains, thriving orchards, and crowded streets, the amount of recompense would have been decreased because of the lightness of the trial. If the foundation on which the House is borne and the stones with which it has been raised had been of green emerald and red rubies, and there had been brightness and effulgence, then this would have lessened the action of doubts in the breasts, would have dismissed the effect of Satan's activity from the hearts, and would have stopped the surging of misgivings by means of different troubles, wants them to render worship through hardships and involves them in distress, all in order to extract out vanity from their hearts, to settle down humbleness in their spirits, and to make all this an open door for His favors and an easy means for His forgiveness (for their sins).1
  It is noteworthy that the religious duties have various categories. Some, while being performed for God, have physical pleasure with them too, and man is naturally inclined toward them, such as marriage, eating, and sleeping. They can be both godly and means for satisfying one's nature. Other religious duties are not accompanied by physical pleasure but logically desirable, such as acquisition of knowledge, benefaction, helping the poor, and guiding those who have gone astray. Although such acts are not sought by desire, they are logically desirable, and if they are done for the sake of God, their godly aspects will be mixed with their logical aspects. Hence, it is difficult to acquire devotion in them. Therefore, man cannot claim that his motivation for doing such acts has been God or another factor. If man carefully looks at most of these acts performed as religious duties, he will realize that the share of logic and desire in these acts is more than that of God, and the religious aspect has been naturally overshadowed by the aspect of logic and desire. Hence an effective weapon has not been used for suppressing the concupiscence. In these acts, Satan
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1 See Nahjul Balagha; sermon 192
 

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pollutes man's pure intention with pretense, love of fame, and other desires rendering the good deeds worthless.
Other religious duties have neither sign of physical pleasure nor logical benefits. A series of acts are neither desirable by temperament nor logic, such as taking off one's normal clothes and putting on clothes of Ihram (two pieces of unstitched clothes) making one's head and feet bare, quitting many of everyday habits, going round a house of stone, kissing a black stone installed in the corner of the Kaaba, sevenfold shuttle between two mountains�Safa and Marwa, compulsory stay in specified times on the plain of Mina, Arafat and al-Mash'ar and throwing pebbles, which are desirable neither for temperament nor intellect. It is God's order that persuades a Muslim to do these acts without expecting to get a physical pleasure or intellectual benefit. This is because Islam is the only factor ensuring the prosperity and perfection of a Muslim who has been trained in the school of monotheism and inspired by the Holy Quran. إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِنْدَ اللهِ الإِسْلامُ
�The true religion with Allah is Islam. (The Holy Quran; 3:19)�
Islam means to be submissive to God. Even if there are no socio-political as well as hygienic and economic benefits in enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, the virtue of being submissive to God alone is enough to encourage a wise man to do religious duties and to abstain from committing sins��and best of all is Allah's pleasure. (The Holy Quran; 9:72)�
A believing Muslim does not care whether a religious duty has a benefit or not. What is important to him is the pleasure of God. Since most of us do not pay attention to the great impact of devotion and do not know what a great blessing devotion is, we look at it dubiously not knowing that the best acts are those done for the satisfaction. We should note that those acts not having physical or logical motivation, which are merely done for God, are extremely positive in generating devotion and submission, making man devoted servant of God. We all get married but it is not known who does it for the sake of God and who does it for satisfying his instincts. We all study but it is not known who studies with the intention of promoting the Name of God and who does it for pursuing worldly goals. We all help the poor but hypocrites are not distinct from the God-seekers. In this relation, the Holy Quran says:
 

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وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ دِيناً مِمَّنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ للهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ
�And who has a better religion than he who submits himself entirely to Allah? (4:125)�
The Holy Quran further says: لِيَهْلِكَ مَنْ هَلَكَ عَنْ بَيِّنَةٍ وَيَحْيَى مَنْ حَيَّ عَنْ بَيِّنَةٍ
��That he who would perish might perish by clear proof, and he who would live might live by clear proof. (8:42)�
  God's commandments are aimed at revealing man's submission to the Creator. But, unfortunately, man being unaware of the secret behind those commandments keeps on asking about the benefits of the Islamic laws and their socio-economic effects, which have their roots in materialism. This way of thinking is not limited to a specific period. All prophets have been asked such questions with sinister results.
  According to the Holy Quran, a Jewish tribe was living in a town near the sea and their job was fishing. On God's order, the Jewish tribe was duty-bound to keep the Sabbath, that is, to be engaged in prayer and not to catch fish on that day. Since God's trial is always accompanied by difficulty, it so happened that fish would come to the surface of water abundantly on Saturdays, which was the Sabbath, but were scarce on other days. The abundance of fish on the Sabbath was so alluring that refusal to catch all those fishes was painful for the Jewish tribe. ��Thus did we try them because they transgressed. (The Holy Quran; 7:163)�
Finally, avarice overcame faith and pushed the mammonists to sin. So they tried to catch fishes on Saturday with the tricks that Satan had taught them. Hence, God sent tribulation upon them. In this relation, the Holy Quran says: فَلَمَّا عَتَوْا عَمَّا نُهُوا عَنْهُ قُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُوا قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَ.
�Therefore, when they revoltingly persisted in what they had been forbidden, We said to them: Be (as) apes, despised and hated. (7:166)�