When he would frown...

When he would frown, we would jokingly say to him: ‘When Khanom is here, Imam laughs, and when she is not here, Imam is upset and frowns.’ In short, however much we teased Imam, he would not stop frowning. Finally I said: ‘Blessed is Khanom that you like her so much.’ He said: ‘Blessed am I that I have such a wife. No one else has sacrificed as much in life as she has.

If you too would be like Khanom, your husband would also like you this much.’ [^4] Siddiqa Mustafavi (Imam’s daughter) He would never pass on his work to anyone else As far as possible, Imam was particular that he should not impose his work on others, but rather carry it out himself. In Najaf, it sometimes happened that from the roof [^5], Imam would notice that the kitchen or bathroom light was left on.

In these cases, he would not tell his wife or anybody else who was also on the roof to go and switch off the light. Rather, he would himself make his way down three flights of stairs in the darkness, switch off the light and return. Occasionally, he would also want a pen or paper that was upstairs. In this circumstance too, he would not tell anyone, not even his loved ones the children of Martyr Marhum Hajj Sayyid Mustafa (Imam’s son), to bring them for him.

He would himself get up and go up the stairs to get what he needed and return.[^6] Hujjatul Islam Sayyid Hamid Ruhani Imam is not crying at all It was around Dhuhr on the day that Marhum Hajj Agha Mustafa had passed away. Imam’s house was full of people who had come to offer their condolences. When everyone had left, the Adhaan of Dhuhr was heard.

Imam got up and went to do wudu and said: “I am going to the mosque.” I said: “Oh, Agha is not leaving his habit of praying congregational prayers even today.” I then said to one of the servants: “Quickly go and let the caretaker of the mosque know.” When the people realised that Imam was going to the mosque, crowds of people from all over also flocked there. When we reached the mosque with Agha, the people who were crying and wailing opened the way and the Imam entered the mosque.

The people remarked to each other with surprise: “What is this? Imam is not crying at all.”[^7] Hujjatul Islam Furqani I was scared that I would cry for other than Allah On the night of the martyrdom of Marhum Hajj Agha Mustafa, a Fatiha majlis (a service of prayer and condolence) took place in the Hindi Mosque in Najaf, and Agha Sayyid Jawad Shabbar recited from the pulpit.