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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Uswat Al-Aarifeen: A Look at the Life of Ayatullah Bahjat Tales Narrated by Grand Ayatullah Sheikh Bahjat Value of Prayer in its Early Time Sheikh Misbah says, “Ayatullah Bahjat used to quote the late Qadi saying, ‘If one of you performs the obligatory prayer in its early time and does not reach high stations, let him curse me!’ Or, according to another version of the narrative, he said, ‘Let him spit in my face.’” There is a great mystery in the early prayer time, and there is a difference between “Safeguard the prayers” and “Uphold the prayers”.

If one who prays pays special attention to his prayer and sticks to performing it when it is first due, this deed by itself has many effects even if he does not pray it will a full heart. Keeping Sunan Alive Hujjatul-Islam wal Muslimin Quddas, one of the students of Ayatullah Bahjat, says, “The sheikh always used to advise us not to let the sunan be forgotten, so much so that the innovations take their place.

One day he said this to us: ‘Ayatullah Hajj Sheikh Murtaďa Taleqani (one of the professors of manners and one of the most brilliant scholars in al-Najaf al-Ashraf) was invited to partake of the iftar with a number of scholars, including Grand Ayatullah the late al-Khu’i.

When food was presented and everyone sat at the table, Sheikh Hajj Murtaďa Taleqani said, ‘There is no salt on the table!’ And he did not stretch his hand to the food although the distance between the place where the food was served and the kitchen was quite long, and it seems that the food was coming from another house. Anyway, the sheikh did not stretch his hand to the food till they brought the salt.

The others, too, did not stretch their hands to the food out of their respect for the sheikh, including the late Ayatullah al-Khu’i.