The Bananas

2. Abu Ali al-Ash‘ariy has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbar from Safwan from abu ‘Usamah who has said the following: “I once visited abu ‘Abd Allah عليه السلام. He brought banana nearer to me and I ate.’”

3. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad Ali ibn Asbat from Yahya al-San’aniy who has said the following: “I once visited Abu al-Hassan, al-Rida’ عليه السلام, in Makkah. He (the Imam) peeled banana and fed it to Abu Ja‘far, al-Thaniy عليه السلام. I then said, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, is this the blessed newborn?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, O Yahya, this is the newborn, the like of whom in greatness of blessing is not born in Islam for our Shi ’a.’”