When he asked why the person was giving him the money...

When he asked why the person was giving him the money, he said, “O Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s)! I have been told by the shopkeepers that you had visited my shop and bought a cloak from my son. He did not recognize you and sold the cloak worth two dirhams for three. This is the same dirham that you paid in excess of the cost.

The Imam (a.s) refused to accept the money that the young man had sold and he had bought at the price quoted and the transaction was complete!” The purpose of Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) could have been the purchase of the cloak but the requirement of Enjoining the good and forbidding the evil was not forgotten. Wherever he found anything good, he deemed it his duty to encourage people to emulate it, and stop them from bad things, however insignificant that might be.

Therefore, when he saw a person moving on the street with the lapel of his shawl trailing on the ground, he asked him to pick it up because those days that style of the lapel trailing behind on the ground was indicative of pride and conceit of a person. When he saw tears in the eyes of the slave girl, he persuaded the merchant to take back the dates that were not approved by her master.

The Imam (a.s) also encouraged the merchants to give some of their materials to the poor saying that the act would be felicitous for them. He also exhorted them not to bring taboo things to the market. He asked the merchants not to take false oaths to promote their sales saying that a person loses his reputation with people if he continues to take false oaths! The Imam (a.s) did not buy a cloak from a shopkeeper who had recognized him. He bought it from another shop.

When the shopkeeper learnt that it was Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) he tried to return to him some money saying that his son has taken that in excess of the actual price. The Imam (a.s) refused to take the money saying that the youth had sold the cloak to him and he had bought it, thus the transaction was complete between them. The attitude of Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) was also an example for the functionaries of the state to emulate his style of functioning. Previous…