When the Ba'ath regime in Iraq put pressure on Imam, he headed towards the Kuwaiti border. On the way, it was approaching the time of the Zohr prayers when we arrived at a mosque. Imam asked, "Does this mosque have an Imam for congregational prayers?". Imam was told it did. Imam said to his companions, "We either pray congregational prayers behind the Imam or we should go elsewhere to pray because if we want to wait to pray by ourselves in the mosque it will be an insult to the Imam."
We set out till we reached one of the borders between Iraq and Kuwait. Friends went to see to the border control requirements and Imam wanted to pray in a room. Suddenly his eyes fell on a huge picture of Saddam Hussein that was on the wall of the room. Imam said, "Lets go somewhere else to pray."
Truly how so very careful Imam was. In places where it was necessary to protect the respect of a religious scholar, he was very careful not to be disrespectful. And in places where it was essential not to show respect to tyrants, he said, "Let us leave this place."
(A memoir by Hujjatal al-Islam Naasari – Imam's student)