Hadith 11-37

حَدَّثَنا مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أحْمَد السَنانِي رَضِىَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قالَ: حَدَّثَنا مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبي عَبْدِ اللَّه الكُوفِي قالَ: حَدَّثَنا سَهْلِ بْنِ زِياد الأَدَمِي، عَنْ عَبْدِ العَظِيم بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّه الحَسَنِيِّ، عَنْ الإِمام عَلِىِّ بْنِ مُحَمَّد، عن مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَلِى، عَنْ أَبيهِ عَلِىِّ بْنِ مُوسَى الرِّضا عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ قالَ: خَرَجَ أَبُو حَنِيفَةَ ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ مِنْ عِنْدِ الصَّادِقِ‏فَاسْتَقْبَلَهُ مُوسَى بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ فَقَالَ لَهُ: يَا غُلامُ مِمَّنِ الْمَعْصِيَةُ فَقَالَ‏ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ: لا تَخْلُو مِنْ ثَلاثَةٍ إِمَّا أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنَ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَلَيْسَتْ مِنْهُ فَلا يَنْبَغِي لِلْكَرِيمِ أَنْ يُعَذِّبَ عَبْدَهُ بِمَا لَمْ يَكْتَسِبْهُ، وَإِمَّا أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنَ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَمِنَ الْعَبْدِ فَلا يَنْبَغِي لِلشَّرِيكِ الْقَوِيِّ أَنْ يَظْلِمَ الشَّرِيكَ الضَّعِيفَ، وَإِمَّا أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنَ الْعَبْدِ وَهِيَ مِنْهُ فَإِنْ عَاقَبَهُ اللَّهُ فَبِذَنْبِهِ، وَإِنْ عَفَا عَنْهُ فَبِكَرَمِهِ وَجُودِهِ.

Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Sinani - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Muhammad ibn Abi Abdillah al-Kufi quoted on the authority Sahl ibn Ziyad al-Adami, on the authority of Abdul Azeem ibn Abdullah Al-Hassani, on the authority of Imam Ali ibn Muhammad (a.s.), on the authority of his father Muhammad ibn Ali (a.s.), on the authority of his father Ali ibn Musa Al-Ridha’ (a.s.), “One day Abu Hanifeh left As-Sadiq (a.s.) and encountered Musa ibn Ja’far (a.s.) along the way and asked him, “O young man! Who commits sins?” Musa ibn Ja’far (a.s.) replied, “There are only three cases to consider. It is either done by the Sublime God which is not the case since it is not at all proper for The Gracious to punish His servants for things they have not done. The second case to consider is that the sin is committed by both the Honorable the Exalted God and the servant. But it is not proper for a Powerful partner to oppress a weak partner. The last possibility is that the servants commit sins. That is the case. Then if the Sublime God punishes him it is due to the sins he has committed, and if God forgives him it is due to His Munificence.”