Ja`far b. Muhammad b. Masrur رحمه الله narrated to us. He said: Al-Husayn b. Muhammad b. `Amer narrated to us from his uncle `Abdullah b. `Amer from Abi Ahmad Muhammad b. Ziyad al-Azdi from al-Fadl b. Yunus. He said: Ibn Abi’l `Awja’ was from the students of al-Hasan al-Basri. He deviated from monotheism. It was said to him: You abandoned the school of your companion to enter that which has no basis and no reality? So, he said: Surely, my companion was confused – he would venture into free will, then he would venture into fatalism. I do not think he has a school that he [consistently] remains upon. He said: He came to Mecca to disturb and denounce the pilgrims. The scholars hated sitting with him and receiving his questions due to his filthy tongue and corrupted thinking. So, he met al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad عليه السلام and sat with a group of his peers. Then, he said to him: O Aba `Abdillah! Gatherings are trusts, and everyone that has a cough must cough. So, do you permit me to speak? So, al-Sadiq عليه السلام said: Say what you wish. So, Ibn Abi’l `Awja’ said: Until when do you want to continue stepping on here, taking refuge to this stone, worshiping this House made of mud and clay; running around it like donkeys? If anyone were to think or reflect on this, he would know that this action is not founded on wisdom or insight. So, speak, for you are the head and the pillar of this matter, and your father founded it and organized it. So, al-Sadiq عليه السلام said: He who is led astray by Allah, who blinds his heart, hates the truth and is uncomfortable with it. Satan becomes his friend, and he leads him to the avenues of destruction. This is the House that Allah chose to examine the worship of His creatures and their obedience in coming toward it. He encourages them to venerate it and visit it. He made it the place of His prophets and the qibla of those who pray to Him. It is a way to His satisfaction and a path that leads to His forgiveness. It is derived from the uprightness of perfection and the gathering of greatness. Allah created it two thousand years before He stretched out the Earth. He is more rightful to be obeyed in what He commands and what He prohibits and rebukes, for Allah is the Originator of spirits and forms. So, Ibn Abi’l `Awja’ said: You have spoken, Aba `Abdillah, by resorting to that which absent. So, he said: Beware – how could He be absent when He is the witness over His creation? He is nearer to them than the jugular vein. He hears their words, He sees their persons, and He knows their secrets. It is only the creation that moves away from a place, and becomes busy with a place, and becomes absent from a place, and becomes heedless of what happens in the place he moved away from. As for Allah, the Great, the King, the Judge, no place is absent from Him and no place busies Him, so no place is closer to Him than another. By Him who commissioned him with firm signs and clear proofs, and aided him with His support, and chose him to preach His message, we have validated his claim that his Lord sent him and spoke to him. So, Ibn Abi’l `Awja’ walked away from him, and said to his companions: Who threw me into this ocean? I asked you to seek wine for me, yet you threw me onto a hot coal. They said: You were a fool in his gathering. He said: Surely, he is the son of the one who shaved the heads of those you see.