Muḥaddith Urmawī (d. 1979) in his introduction to al-Fayḍ Kashānī’s al-‘Irfān wa al-Sulūk ‘ind Ahl al-Bayt (a) writes:
There is a strong emphasis placed on maintaining the rights of the brothers and fulfilling their needs, and in fact, it has priority over many of the other obligations.
Whoever requires further information with regards to the strong emphasis that has been placed on the topic of the importance of the rights of the believers and fulfilling their needs, they can refer to the specific chapters under the relevant titles in al-Wāfi, al-Wasāil and in al-Biḥār. This is because a discussion on this topic requires an independent treatise, rather a book, in it of itself. However, the importance and greatness of this topic, it can be alluded to by the following story:
I (Muḥaddith Urmawī – d. 1979) heard this story from Thiqa al-Islām al-Mīrzā Muḥammad al-Ṭehrāni (ra) – the author of Mustadrak al-Biḥār – and the story is that Ḥāj Mīrzā Ḥusayn Nūri (ra) would strive and be excessive in fulfilling the needs of his believing brothers – meaning the Twelver Shī’a -more so than what the norm was. Some of his students asked him about the secret behind exerting so much effort, so he replied to them:
“From all the acts that are obligatory and recommended, I have not found an action that has the merit and reward like that of the Ziyārah of Imām al-Ḥusayn (a). Despite that, I have seen narrations that state that the reward for fulfilling the needs of a believing brother is greater than the reward for the Ziyārah of Imām al-Ḥusayn (a) and thus I strive hard in this act, more so than with any other action.”
And whosoever attentively refers to the narrations that have come to us regarding this topic, will find the correctness of that which this Muḥaddith (Hāj Mīrzā Ḥusayn Nūrī) has claimed.
Source: al-‘Irfān wa al-Sulūk ‘ind Ahl al-Bayt (a) by al-Fayḍ Kashānī, introduction and commentary by Mīr Jalāl al-Dīn al-Muḥaddith al-Urmawī – pg. 30-31
Sayyid Ali studied in the seminary of Qom from 2012 to 2021, while also concurrently obtaining a M.A in Islamic Studies from the Islamic College of London in 2018. In the seminary he engaged in the study of legal theory, jurisprudence and philosophy, eventually attending the advanced kharij of Usul and Fiqh in 2018. He is currently completing his Masters of Education at the University of Toronto and is the head of a private faith-based school in Toronto, as well as an instructor at the Mizan Institute and Mufid Seminary.
