The Ahl-ul-Bayt's (A.S) Assiduity in Worship (Part1)
Imam Ali (A.S): O Allah! I worshipped you neither out of greed for the Paradise nor as a result of fearing your Hell Fire, but I found you praise worthy and worshipped you. Imam Sadiq (A.S): Servants consist of three groups: One group worship Allah out of fear which is the worship of the slaves; the next are seeking reward, which is the worship of the hirelings, and finally the group who worship Allah out of love and affection towards Him which is the worship of the nobles, and this is the best of worships.
Imam Baqir (A.S): The Holy Prophet (PBUH) was with A'isha the night when he was supposed to be with her. Aisha said: O Messenger of Allah! Why do you make yourself tired, whereas Allah has forgiven all your sins, of past and future? His Holiness (PBUH) replied: O Aisha, should I not be a grateful servant?! Imam Baqir (A.S) says: While praying, the Hoy Prophet (PBUH) would stand on his tiptoes when Allah sent down the verse addressing him: Ta Ha. We have not sent down the Qur’an to thee to be (an occasion) for thy distress (20:1, 2).
A'isha: The Holy Prophet (PBUH) was so much engaged in nocturnal devotion that his legs were swollen. I asked him: O Rasul Allah! Why do you do this? He replied: Should I not like to become a grateful servant?
A'isha: The Holy Prophet (PBUH) would in any situation remember Allah.
Urwah ibn al-Zubayr: We were sitting in the mosque of Rasul Allah (PBUH) talking about the enterprises of the people of Badr and pledge of Ridwan. Abul Darda' said: O people Shall I introduce to you someone whose wealth is less than all and whose chastity is above all and whose worship is the most assiduous? They asked who that was. He replied: Ali ibn Abi Talib(A.S).
Abu Salih: Dirar ibn Damra al-Kinani called on Mu awiya. The latter told him: Describe Ali (A.S) to me.
He said: O Amir a-Mu'minin, would you excuse me? Muawiya said: No, I would not excuse you. Dirar said: If it is inevitable...I call Allah to witness that in some conditions while the night had spread and stars were dispersed, he would walk to and fro in his mihrab (niche), would grasp his beard, would twist his body in agony like one stung by a snake, and would weep like the bereaved. It is as if hear him saying now: O Allah! O Allah!- while lamenting to His Omnipresence and then he would say to the world: Are you deceiving me? Or are you waiting for me? Far be it! Far! Go and deceive someone else! I have abandoned you forever. Your life is too short, association with you is short-lived, and your hazard arrives easily. Alas! Little is the provision, long is the trip, and scaring is the way. At this moment, Mu awiya's drops of tears were flowing down on his cheeks through his beard, while he was wiping them with his sleeve and causing the people present there to weep too. Mu awiya said: Ay, Abul-Hassan was like this. O Dirar! How was your sorrow toward him? He replied: The sorrow of a woman whose only child is decapitated in her own bosom, whose drops of tears are shed unceasingly, and his sorrow would not end. Then he stood up and left.
Imam Hassan (A.S): I saw my mother Fatima (A.S) in her niche on Thursday night engaged in praying. She kept on bowing down [in ruku] until dawn. I heard her praying for the men and women believers, calling their names and abundantly prayed for them without praying for the men and woman believers of the house, calling their names and abundantly prayed for them without praying for her. I asked: Mother: Why do you not pray for yourself as you pray for others? She replied: My Son! First the neighbor, then the [people of the] house.
Hassan al-Basri: Among the Ummah, there has been no one more devoted than Fatima (A.S); she would stand so long [for prayer and worship] that both her feet would swell.
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr-when he heard the news of Imam Hussein's (A.S) martyrdom said: Lo! I Swear to Allah, he was killed?! The one who stood longtime at night praying and was frequently fasting in day time.
Taken from: Ahl-ul-Bayt (A.S) in the Holy Qur’an and Hadith and Hadith By Ayatullah Muhammadi Rayshahri
