After the Holy Prophet (S), ‘Ali (a.

After the Holy Prophet (S), ‘Ali (a.s.) deserved to be obeyed and it was obligatory on the people to follow him.” The old man sighed deeply and said, “I also have faith in this.” The next moment he was dead. After this we went to meet Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.). ‘Ali bin Sarā related this incident to Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.). He said, that the old man was among the people of Paradise. “How is it possible, Maula?” asked ‘Ali bin Sarā.

“He accepted the true faith only in his last moments?” Imam (a.s.) said, “What more do you want from him? By Allah! He has entered Paradise.” This shows that there is time for returning to the truth and repenting for sins even till the last breath. (However, one should repent before one is sure of death, as mentioned by us before). 3.

A Perfect feeling of Allah (S.w.T.)’s fear is Tawba Imam Zainul Ābidīn (a.s.) is quoted in volume 15, page 117 of Bihār al-Anwār to have said, “There was a shroud thief among Bani Israel. One day his companion fell sick and was soon anticipating death. He called his friend, the shroud thief and asked how much he valued him as a friend. The thief accepted that he was a very good friend. The friend said that he had a desire and the thief agreed to fulfill it.

The friend showed him two shrouds and told him to choose one for himself so that the other one could be used to bury him “But do not reopen my grave after I am buried and make me naked.” This was not acceptable to the thief but due to his friend’s persuasion he chose the better shroud for himself and went away.

When the friend died and was buried, the thief said to himself, “The dead cannot know that I have broken a promise to him.” He began to dig the grave and was about to unclothe it when he heard a scream and the corpse was saying, “Don’t do this!” The thief was frightened and filled up the grave. When his own death neared, the thief summoned his sons and asked them how he had been as a father to them? The sons agreed that he was the best of fathers.

The thief said that he had a last wish and the sons agreed to fulfill it. He said that after he died they should cremate him and throw half his ashes into the sea and half into the desert. The sons agreed to do this and fulfilled their promise after the thief father died. However, the Almighty Allah gathered his scattered ashes and made him alive again.