Seyyed Nasrallah interview on Sh. Bahjat (qs)

[beardedbaker]

 

English summary to follow

[repenter-gone4awhile]

This honestly needs an english translation. I read the farsi transcript, its pretty good. 

[BaqiyatullahY]

Salam

Here is the english summary from http://english.almanar.com.lb/adetails.php?eid=263954&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=14&s1=1 :

Quote

S. Nasrallah: Imam Mahdi (P) Meetings with Certain Personae Vital to Shia

Mohamed Salami

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah confirmed that the meetings between Imam Mahdi (PBUH) and certain personae during the different epoch's of his major occultation aims at preserving the faith of the Twelver Shias in order for some of them not to be influenced by the propaganda that doubts the truth of his apparition. In an exclusive interview with Al-Manar Channel on the late Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Bahjat, Sayyed Nasrallah asserted that he has learned from authentic sources that the Iranian cleric met with Imam Mahdi (PBUH) several times for his deep faith and piety. Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Bahjat Foumani, an Iranian Twelver Shia cleric, was born in late 1334 Hijra Calendar (1915 A.D.). He was a student of Ayatollah Ali Tabatabaei, Ayatollah Taleghani, Abu al-Hasan Isfahani and Mirza Naini. He taught in the Seminary of Qom, Iran and died at the Vali-e-Asr Hospital in Qum at the age of 94. He was a student of the greatest teacher of 'Irfan (knowledge and insight into the unseen) in recent history, Sayyed Ali Qadhi Tabatabai. His eminence was a close servant of God. His humbleness is such that they would not like to display anything, or do anything, that will bring about even a trace of pride in themselves. And in return for their utter humility, God grants them even greater insight and status. In this context, Sayyed Nasrallah explained that Imam Mahdi (PBUH) chooses the figures that he wants to meet with so that they employ their credibility to reassure the believers about his great mission. Sayyed Nasrallah narrated that he got introduced to Grand Ayatollah Bahjat during the eighties as he used to member Hezbollah delegations to Iran, pointing out that he was extremely affected by the religious influence of Sheikh Bahjat. "Ayatollah Bahjat used to recommend that we stick to the religious teachings and simply help us to become closer to Holy God."    "Our love to Imam Khomeini and his religious path sustained our attachment to Sheikh Bahjat," his eminence added, "After Imam Khomeini's death, all Hezbollah commanders used to visit Sheikh Bahjat to obtain the necessary guidelines to reach success in the different domains of resistance." "Few months before the Zionist war on Lebanon in 2006, Sheikh Bahjat sent to me a prayer that protects me from murder," Sayyed Nasrallah said, "When the war occurred, I Understood why Sheikh Bahjat sent me the prayer to read it on a daily basis." "Despite all the anticipations that the Zionist war would crush Hezbollah, Sheikh Bahjat messaged me during the first week of the war and asserted that the Resistance would certainly defeat the enemy." "Supreme Leader also sent me a letter during 2006 war in which he asserted that Hezbollah will defeat the Israeli enemy and become a regional power." Sayyed Nasrallah noted that those reassurances encouraged the Resistance to continue confronting the Zionist enemy till reaching the divine victory. Sayyed Nasrallah added that Sheikh Bahjat used to provide everyone people with his religious, moral and spiritual recommendations and lessons to aid them face all the life troubles. Hezbollah leader underscored that the Resistance's victories were mainly based on that religious and moral factor that it obtained from the various sources, including Sheikh Bahjat. "Without faith, the military power leads the human to corruption." The Resistance faced a lot of severe circumstance, yet with the help of Holy God, it has managed to achieve all victories, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed.

 

 

[repenter-gone4awhile]

That summary is terrible though. Needs translation!

[beardedbaker]

Looks like Al Manar English team takes translation guidelines from the iroonis...  even his surname sounds irooni...

i'd happily move to Lebanon and sort them out...! 

[repenter-gone4awhile]

Any update? cmooooon!

[beardedbaker]

14 hours ago, repenter said:

Any update? cmooooon!

i've got like 10 translation projects going at once, and i've stopped doing them all, because ... life....sorry, will try get back on it today.

[Sumayyeh]

@repenter Where's the farsi transcript? 

 

[repenter-gone4awhile]

4 minutes ago, Sumayyeh said:

@repenter Where's the farsi transcript? 

 

Salam, i think it was in either farsnews.ir or in 598.ir

[repenter-gone4awhile]

Whats taking sooooo long?

[beardedbaker]

ok I'll have to break this into chunks, question by question (not literal):

Q1) When and how did you come to know Sh Bahjat?

A1) After 1985, we used to go to Iran in delegations. I was around 25/26 yrs old in those days. We requested info on which scholars to visit in Qom, and our friends stressed to meet Sh. Bahjat. 

The first time I went with a delegation of Hizbullah officials (S Abbas al-Mousawi was there too), and I was the youngest of the group, when we went to his house and all sat down, the feeling of prestige and loftiness overcame us all, to such an extent that we couldn't look him in the eyes. One of us requested advice to take home, so he told us to do based on what we know, refrain from committing sins, pray on time, repeat salawaat all the time, always do istighfar, and other things that are all captured in his famous book 'Al Nasih' (the advisor). 

[beardedbaker]

Q2) What attracted you to him and his personality? He was known not to like the limelight. He was also known to be a very knowledgeable scholar.

A2) A comment before I answer: Spiritual wayfairing was not well known or practised by lebanese seminary students in those days, since most went to the arabic hawzas in Najaf, and did not read or learn from Iranian scholars (where most of the gnosticism and philosophy studies occurred). Their focus was mainly on fiqh and usool subjects. 

Then the revolution in Iran happened, and the 'Sun of Khomeini rose unto the world', and we were all affected by his personality. I can sincerely claim that the relationship of those religious youth in those days was immediate and direct with Imam Khomeini, without intermediaries (hence comparing Imam Khomeini to the Sun, since there is no intermediary between the Sun and oneself). 

We came to know and learn about the Imam, discovering that he was also a gnostic and great thinker, having many publications in various fields as irfan, akhlaq, philosophy etc. So, due to the love and attraction we we felt towards him, we started to learn those subjects. 

When we went to Iran to look for a pious, reliable and honest scholar to guide us spiritually, we wanted to be certain of his truthfulness so as to not fall into the trap of some people who claimed to have reached high stations of spirituality. This matter was important to us, since it dealt with our afterlife, so we had to be sure that this person would take take our hands and lead us to God. This was the reason we went to him, but from the first encounter we felt our hearts and souls fill with ease and attractions towards him, and from then on we didn't need to ask any more questions (about his piety or truthfulness).    

[beardedbaker]

Q3) What is the reason Sh Bahjat felt comfortable with yourself, and the reason for the special attention you were given?

A3) I do not have a specific explanation for that, however we in Hizbullah are proud of this (to have gotten that special attention). He didn't know us personally, or even our names (in the beginnings). We were presented to him as a lebanese resistance movement fighting the zionist occupation and defending the palestinian cause. We believe he accepted us because we are an islamic jihadi movement, fighting in the way of God, and that we were under the leadership of Imam Khomeini (qs) in those days. 

We physically felt his comfort when we were in his presence. He never asked us to leave our meetings, no matter how long they lasted. In fact it would be one of our brothers who would suggest to end the meeting and leave, to avoid prolonging our presence for too long. 

I recall that in all our meetings we would be by ourselves, and nobody would be allowed to enter the room we were in. 

Afterwards, I started to go by myself, and no longer part of an official delegation with the Hizb. I also used to take some of our Lebanese (seminary) students, in order for them to benefit from his presence. 

[beardedbaker]

Q4) How can you describe the effect his personality has had on you and your personal life?

A4) Myself and some of the brothers here in Lebanon were very thirsty to learn and research. Of course we read books, but having someone knowledgeable someone you trusted sitting with you to guide you, someone with both knowledge and the life experience (theory and practice). So sitting with Sh Bahjat had a big effect on us in that regard, and those sessions used to fill the gaps that we had, irrespective of how big those gaps were. In addition to the knowledge we gained, we were filled with emotional energy for a long time, and feelings of comfort, contentedness and certainty, which in turn had an affect on our work within the Hizb. In the face of so many difficulties and trials we as Hizb have been through, we are known for our trust in God, trust in Divine promise, and certainty in Divine victory, which we all learnt from his eminence Sh Bahjat. In the most simple terms was he able to give us this spiritual boost, and I can say that he was the main source of spiritual support during all this time. 

Q5) Did Sh Bahjat have an effect on Hizbullah ?

A5) Whenever there was an opportunity, all Hizb officials used to visit him. However it was not possible to send a large group of people and students to visit him, so a workaround was to transmit his guidance and suggestions us to our cadres and students back at home. In addition, lebanese students in Iran as well as our iranian friends who met with him used to transmit any relevant information back to us. He was a spiritual father to us, and we indeed considered him to be such. And this relationship intensified after the passing of Imam Khomeini (qs). When we witness our leader Seyyed Khamenai eager to visit and sit with Sh Bahjat, how can we, as soldiers in his army, not do the same?

Q6) Can you inform us of some tips and recommendations given to you (Hizb) from Sh Bahjat?

A6) Some were personal, but the ones related to the Hizb. came after we started to provide him with information on the state of affairs in Lebanon and the region, he used to insist on the developing the cultural and ideological aspects, as well as being financially secure (to keep some money aside for 'a rainy day' - which we used to do anyway, and still do).

On the personal recommendations, he used to insist on establishing a spiritual connection through ziyarah, and gaining the necessary religious knowledge, especially for me. With regards to gaining knowledge we have always tried, and continue to try, but due to circumstances beyond our control it hasn't been possible in the classical sense of learning and teaching. In my particular case, I have not been able to pursue such a classical path of study or go the teaching route, but I am very keen to read as much as I can of old and new publications, both cultural and religious hawza books. Also, thanks to the computer and internet I can listen to kharej fiqh lectures of Imam Khamenai and other Maraji', so I can keep up to date with any developments in that regard.

 

[Sumayyeh]

@beardedbaker Good job

This is golden: "On the personal recommendations, he used to insist on establishing a spiritual connection through ziyarah"

 

 

[beardedbaker]

 khanom @Sumayyeh

Not even close to halfway through this..

Q7) It is known that you received two personal messages from Sh Bahjat, can you please tell us what he said in those messages?

A7) I received the first message a few months before the 33 day war, it came through one of our lebanese hawza students studying in Qom, who told me (or via a third party I don't recall), to repeat the following du'a everyday from now on, 3 times in the morning and 3 times in the evening  (اللهم اجعلني في درعك الحصينة التي تجعل فيها من تريد). 

I asked whether there was a particular reason for this, he said I don't know, all I was told was to deliver this dhikr to you. Of course the nature of the du'a indicates a matter of security and protection, and it's well known that our lives as Hizb members and officials is constantly under threat, and we've suffered assassinations in the past, and it's normal that one carries this feeling of threat in such circumstances. But with such timing (of the message), I thought it most likely to be a security threat with an attempt on my life or the like. However after a few months the war began, and it was obvious from the onset that the israelis were looking for any opportunity to find me and to bomb the location that I was in. Some of the most intense bombings that happened during that war, was when the enemy believed that I was in that location, so they made double sure to bomb the building I was in an extremely vicious way. And I later realized that this dhikr was meant to protect me during the war and not for any security reason before the war.

During the war, you know that the situation was extremely difficult, where the majority of the western powers came together to eliminate us, even a lot of the regional countries were in favour of this war. Even within the Lebanese community there was disagreement over supporting us, to the extent that we were blamed for the war (I don't want to say that some collaborated with the enemy), and we felt quite lonely and really under siege. Even on the face of it, it's not easy to speak of a victory, since in those days the majority of us thought it was going to end up like Karbala, and not another Badr or Khaybar for example. But here I want to give special thanks to two individuals: the first Sh Bahjat (qs), who in the early days of the war sent me a message telling us to be confident that you will be victorious in this war insha'Allah. And of course there words gave us an immense emotional boost, because we believed in him, and didn't really see anything positive on the horizon, let alone the thought of victory. So I passed this message straight away to the Hizb leadership and those who were in the front lines. The second person I have to thank his eminence our leader Seyyed Khamenai, who also in the first week of the war sent me a message saying: 'this war is more similar to the war of Ahzaab, (When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when the eyes turned dull, and the hearts rose up to the throats, and you began to think diverse thoughts of Allah... 33:10), however put your trust in Allah (swt) and you shall be victorious in this war, and in fact you will become a regional power after this war!' I told the person who transmitted this message jokingly that we just want to come out of this war alive, and don't want to become a regional power. Both these promises, from our Leader and from our spiritual father and religious guide, gave us tremendous emotional, religious and spiritual boost, and so from then on we continued in the war with certainty of victory. 

[beardedbaker]

Q8) When your son became a martyr Sh Bahjat sent you a message of condolences. Can you tell us the contents of that message?

A8) No I cannot speak of the contents, since there was a lot of pressure on me in those days and I received a lot of messages and condolences, and afterwards I went to Qom and visited his eminence. 

Q9) When you heard of the passing of Sh Bahjat, what affect did that have on you?

A9) We were very affected by his passing and felt a great loss, since we considered him to be a reliable source and pure soul that you can seek refuge in. Just his presence was enough for us, he didn't have to do anything specific, to know that he was praying for us gave us the necessary spiritual and emotional boost that we needed. We felt that we have lost that spiritual support. Having said that, and what reduces from the pain of loss, is that we believe that he is still, in the other life, praying for us, and in fact this prayer could have a greater effect on the believers and the mujahideen and his followers.

Q10) Have you had any experience or knowledge of any 'karamaat' (out of the ordinary experiences) from Sh Bahjat, and could you give us some details?

A10) I will mention two stories related to 'istikharah' : the first one is important for me: In 1989, after the death of Imam Khomeini (qs), Hizbullah didn't have something called a Secretary General in those days, it was just a shura council with a secretary. During that phase the brothers, as well as our Leader, believed that the work of Hizb needs to evolve and accordingly set up a position of SG, who would hold some responsibility and speak to the people and other officials, etc. The SG is not the leader of Hizbullah, but he is someone with some powers, but whose main job is to manages the affairs of the Hizb leadership. The situation in Lebanon was very complicated and delicate, and we're not talking about a social or community project, we're talking about war and conflict and death and destruction and politics and money etc.. So the brothers agreed on the principle of this role, and the meeting to chose the SG happened while we were in Iran. I was the youngest of the group in that meeting, with the presence of those whom I consider my teachers. So this new responsibility should have been handed to one of the known brothers (Seyyed Abbas al-Musawi, Sh Subhi al-Tufayli, etc..), but the brothers decided that I should be given this role and accept this responsibility. They approached me and asked me, in a stern way, to accept this role, but I refused. My response was that I was the youngest of the group and that there were those who were older and more experienced, and that I would feel ashamed to lead a meeting in your presence let alone become SG. I didn't believe also that I had the necessary abilities to take such a role. But they continued to strongly insist, 

I then said, fine, however (this is the key point), I am afraid that if I accepted that you would leave me on my own in the future, one would sit in his office, and the other in his home and leave me to bare all these calamities by myself, therefore I cannot accept this. They in turn said that we give you our word that we will remain by your side. Even so, I still refused, I said noway. After a long heated debate, we agreed to do 'isthikhara'. They agreed, because we will not leave until you accept. So one of them said bring us a Quran let's do istikhara now. I said wait a minute, this is a sensitive issue, I don't accept your istkihara, I also refused to do it myself, so that same night (it was 12pm) I requested someone to get in touch with Sh Bahjat in order to do this istikhara for us, without giving any details, except that it was important. I told him to go pray in the mosque with him and give us an answer straight after. And he did. He said that the Sheikh sends his salams to you and says with regards to your istikhara: 'Do NOT accept what they are proposing, and some of those who have promised to stay by your side, will not stand by their word.'  So I told the brothers about the result of the istikhara, with all its details. And that was that, they stopped insisting. And I want to add, during all the years that passed and all the events that the Hizb has been through, is that this istikhara was in all aspects in my favour.

 

[Last Hope]

A great interview revealing so much useful information, good job brother for sharing.

[Sumayyeh]