In a letter to Mohammad ibn Abi Bakr...

In a letter to Mohammad ibn Abi Bakr, Imam Ali (AS) wrote: “Wish for those under you what you wish for yourself and for your household, and do not wish for them what you do not wish for yourself and your household, for this is worthier for a leader than for those under you.”[^7] In a letter to Imam Hassan (AS), Imam Ali (AS) writes: “O my son, make yourself the measure (for dealings) between yourself and others. Thus, you should desire for others what you desire for yourself.

Do not oppress, as you do not like to be oppressed. Do good to others as you like good to be done to you. Regard bad for yourself whatever you regard as bad for others. Accept that (treatment) from others which you like others to accept from you. Do not talk about what you do not know, even though what you know be very little. Do not say to others what you do not like to be said to you.”[^8] Like piety, justice has been described in traditions as the best of deeds.

Jarood ibn Abi Monthir reports: “I heard from Imam Sadiq (AS) his saying: “The best deeds are three; (you should) treat people justly in a way you do not desire for them what you do not desire for yourself, treat your brother equitably concerning property, and always remember God. By remembering God, I do not mean to say only: ‘glory be to Allah, praise be to Allah, and there is no god but Allah’.

Rather, I mean to obey what God has ordered and to leave what he has forbidden.”[^9] From this tradition, it is inferred that the remembering of Allah is in two kinds: 1-verbal, which includes the reciting of ‘there is no god but Allah’, recitation of the Holy Quran, supplications, Allah’s Attributes, believing in one God, prophethood, Imamate, justice, the day of judgment, and mentioning the virtues and merits of the Imams.

It has been narrated that “when we (the Imams) are remembered, Allah is remembered and when our enemies are remembered, Satan is remembered.” 2- The heart-felt remembrance of Allah is to ponder on God’s blessings, the transience of this world, punishment and rewards in the hereafter as well as the enjoining of good and forbidding of evil, which mean the observance of piety.

The latter is better than the former, for in the former, there is the possibility of committing sin whereas in the latter, deviation and committing sins are impossible.