Imam Ar-Rida (a.s.) is one of the summits of Islam. He (a.s.) has drawn so close to Allah that we can draw nearer to Allah through his intercession and that of his fathers and sons.

The Imam (a.s.) used to send messages to his followers who follow the Islamic line of Ahl al-Beit to guide them to their own good.

In one of his letters to Sayyed Abdelazim al-Hassani, one of the great Shiite scholars who used to follow the school of Ahl el-Beit, the Imam says: Give my best wishes to my followers, and tell them not to enable Satan to find his way to them- They should consider him as their enemy- Don not let him seduce you to obey him in what makes you disobey Allah. They should be aware of the Devil's temptations, frauds and games and work on preventing them through their practical behavior. Thus, they should shut all windows and doors through which he might be able to find his way to them and seduce them.

This advice is for us also because the Imam advises his followers, and we are his (a.s.) followers in all times and places. And tell them to be truthful in what they say- they should not lie in what they say or do because lying distort the image of truth in reality and if we live far away from truth, we would be lost and confused in judging on things – and to be truthful and trustworthy – because Allah orders us to return what we are entrusted with to its owners whether they are Muslims or disbelievers, and whether the trust was money, a secret, or a responsibility. Hence, when every person respects what he is entrusted with whether it was money, or any political or social matters, this will preserve the balance of society and strengthen the social confidence among people, and thus Allah will reward the truthful and the trustworthy – order them to be silent - They have to be silent and think because if one does not give himself a chance to be silent, he might not find a chance to think in a pure and open manner. Therefore, we need some silence in order to be able to think calmly without any noise. We have to think of what we have said or done, and study the positive as well as the negative consequences of our actions so that we will be able to know the right and the wrong.

Imam Ar-Rida (a.s.) continues his advices by saying: and not to argue in what is not of their business. This is a great and important advice which reveals that you should not involve in debates in what does not concern you. Think about the issue that you are arguing in. Does it have a relation with the principle lines of our belief, since your belief is the responsibility of your way of thinking and Allah will hold you accountable for what you did? Does this debate have any relation with any vivid line of the Sharia, considering that the Sharia represents the movement of your life in your positive and negative responsibilities before Allah. Is it related to the life's political, social and economic issues that are related to the future of the society?

If you see that this debate is not related to belief, Sharia, life or the future of the society, but rather it is just a nonobjective issue whether you have believed it or not, it will change nothing at all. That is similar to what the people of Constantine did when they used to argue in things that do not result in benefit, at a time the attackers were invading their countries, their philosophers were arguing whether the egg is the origin of the chicken or the chicken is the origin of the egg? Some of them said that the origin is the egg and others said that it is the chicken. They also used to argue whether the angels are males or females, and disagreed with one another without giving attention to the momentous issues… that is very silly and it is similar to what some people argue about when they say that this person or that person is the best. Such things are not related to our responsibility before Allah or before the life's movement because they represent the windmills that grind and grind while the wind remains wind, since it is impossible to be changed into any other thing. But, when the mills grind the wheat, they change it into flour that is possible to be kneaded and baked. Unfortunately, the problem is that we are backward people who seek to be more and more backward without taking into consideration the negative consequences of this backwardness, but we dispute with one another, accuses each other of disbelief and perversity, while the issues that we are arguing in are neither related to life nor to Hereafter.

Imam Ar-Rida (a.s.) says: Tell them to be close to one another and exchange visits – they should be close to one another, since the believer must maintain good relations with the other believer, be open on him, love him and give him advices. They ought to visit one another­ – since in this way they will be unifying their rank and strengthening their position. They should not go and pay a visit to the Imam's shrine while fighting one another as if they do not know that: "Muslims Should treat one another as a human body which if any organ is in pain, the other organs will look after it."

He (a.s.) also says: Tell them not to be concerned in breaking up one another – those who do so, the Imam asked Allah to punish them in this world and the Hereafter… Thus, it is impermissible to break up the Islamic reality under any pretense and it is impermissible to wrong others, accuse them with false accusations, backbite them or distort their image in order to drop their position.

We need to consider this issue seriously, because it is not that severe when an ordinary person invokes Allah against you, but the Imam (a.s) here says that he has promised himself if they did so and destroyed the Muslim society through sowing seeds of discord, hatred and grudge, he will ask Allah to punish them. Therefore, before visiting the Imam's (a.s.) shrine, the one who has a psychological complex, a personal, familial or any other problem, should study his behavior to know whether he is among those whom the Imam (a.s.) curses or among those whom he (a.s.) desires to be one of his (a.s.) followers?

Imam Ar-Rida (a.s.) ends up by saying: Let them know that Allah has rewarded those who had done good deeds among them – Allah will forgive those who are adhered to the Islamic basic principles and to the Islamic line of following Ahl el-Beit – and forgive those who sinned, except those who assumed partners to Allah or hurt one of Allah's followers … if they do so, Allah will not forgive them until they cease to do so – meaning when hearts return to be open on loving one another, Allah will forgive them. Therefore if one hurt the believer or sought secretly to wrong him and then he abstained from doing so and asked for Allah forgiveness, Allah will forgive him – otherwise Allah will remove the spirit of Islam from his heart and he will no longer be one of our followers.

This issue represents a clear image of the reality we live in, since some people in order to justify their evil deeds, they say that they are doing so for the interests of the religion, the sect, Islam, or the nation, while if we look into their hearts we will find that what they are doing is due to hatred, animosity and envy that are embodied in their hearts. I seek refuge in God from that!

Therefore, we have to live the spirituality of this Imam (a.s.), and to follow his guide in his sayings and actions. We have to read the vast heritage he left us, and constantly revive the memory of Ahl el-Beit, by studying and publishing their knowledge and ethics for it is the line of Islam that leads us to the straight path.