Safinah al-nejat

An International Quarterly Journal of Islamic Studies

Vol.1, No.2, 2016

Published by: Naba Cultural Organization

Chief Executive Officer: Muhammad H. Shahri

Chief Executive Editor: Hasan Taroumi

Associate Chief Executive Editor: Hamid Farnaq

Chief Adviser: Abdulhusayn Taleie

Managing Director: Mina Oskouei

Editorial Board (alphabetical order):

Riza Berenjkar, Tehran university (Iran)

Muhammad-Riza Fakhr-Rohani, Qum University (Iran)

Muhammad Hadi Qandehari, Azad University (Iran)

Ahmad-Riza Rahimi-Riseh, FU University (Germany)

Narges Shahri, Azad University (Iran)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EDITORIAL ............................................................................................................. 5

THE WILL OF ALLAH AND OUR DESTINY/ VAHID MAJD .............................................. 7

THE ROLE OF INFALLIBLES’ TRADITIONS IN QURAN INTERPRETATION/ ALI NAQI

KHODAYARI ............................................................................................................. 22

QURANIC CULTURE AND FINANCIAL SUBJECTS/NAHLA GHARAVI NAEENI ................... 42

THE ESSENCE OF LOGIC;LOGIC AND VAHI DISCREPANCY/RIZA BERENJKAR ............... 56

THE VERSES OF SURAH TAHRIM USED IN SAHIFAH SAJJADIYAH/MANSOUREH

SHAHSAVAN ............................................................................................................ 64

THE RELIGIOUS CHILD-REARING PRACTICES/ NARGES SHAHRI ................................. 81

DIVINE PROMISE, DIVINE MAN AND DIVINE DAY/ ALI RIZA GHAVIDEL ...................... 87

Transliteration:

Long Vowels

a, ā –ا آ ‘ - ع ’ -ء

u - ك gh - غ b - ب

i - ي f - ؼ t - ت

q - ؽ th - ث

k Short Vowels - ؾ j - ج

a - ػػ l - ؿ h - ح

u - ػػ m - ـ kh - خ

i - ػػ n - ف d - د h - ق dh - ذ

w Diphthongs - ك r - ر

aw - ػػ ك y - ي z - ز

ay – ػػ ي s - س

sh – ش

s – ص

d - ض

t - ط

z - ظ

ah; at - ة

5

Editorial

Quran is the book of life; it invites us to

the way which can guarantee our

prosperity. It says openly,

ظي ئذج دػحو س ج جظطج١رج لل آ ٠ح أ٠ح جر٠ ح ٠ذ١١ى

“Believers, respond to Allah and the

messenger when he calls you to that

which revives you.”

(The holy Quran,8:24)

In Qurānic teachings, there is such a tight

connection between having good life in

this world and prosperous life in the other

world that it is believed anyone who does

not enjoy a pure humanitarian way of life

in this world cannot have a prosperous life

in the other world.

Here a very critical question is in front, if

it is like that, why haven‘t we seen such a

humanitarian way of life among some

Muslims?

The answer of this question is in the

Quran, where it says a group of idol

worshippers overcame Muslims and their

victory made Muslims ask the same

question. God, the Almighty, after

numerous alarms to Muslims says,

١ إ ئ وط جألػ أط ال ضذصج ج ال ض

“Do not be weak; neither sorrow while

you are the upper ones, if you are

believers.”

(The holy Quran3:139)

As it is clear, God introduces the true faith

as the necessary condition to find

superiority; it means a sheer claim of

being faithful is not sufficient. The true

faith is the faith, which deep-skin-Islam-

believers have been invited to. The Quran

is forthright:

ج ذحلل ج آ آ ٠ح أ٠ح جر٠

“You who believe! Believe in Allah”

(The holy Quran,4:136)

God invites those who are recognized as

faithful to the true faith again. What is the

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

6

point? The point is the superficial faith is

the first step in the path of salvation, but it

should penetrates to the heart of people to

be the root of this world and the other

world blessings. This goal will not be

reached unless faith finds its way to the

heart, tongue and hands of a person. Imam

Rida said,

جإل٠ح ؼسفس ذحمد ئلسجز ذحعح ػ ذحألزکح

―Faith includes knowing by heart,

confessing by tongue, acting by our

members of body.‖1

In fact, the claim of being faithful is just

like a source of money, which should be

resulted in great advantages by the effort

of men in order to guarantee their life.

To be able to do benefit from such a

source ―being faithful‖, first step is to

know the religion well. In this issue, we

made an effort to pave its way. We hope

this journal can be a step in that long way

we are ahead.

We hope our readers join us with their

comments and suggestions to speed up

this journey.

1 Ḥarāni, Tuḥaf al-ʻUghul , p.422

7

The Will of Allah and Our Destiny

Part II: Allah‘s knowledge and His decision sequence

Vahid Majd

Associate Professor of Tarbiat Modares University

Article acceptance date: June. 2016

Abstract: In this article, the chain of sequence that Allah creates for an action to take

place in the world is explained. The different types of will and intention of Allah is

addressed. The freedom of the will of human being in this connection is also discussed.

The rational necessity of regarding Allah pure from any creation including the

knowledge and the will that He created is another subject that is offered in this part.

Some traditions of Shia Imams (PBUT) supported by the verse of the Quran are provided

to verify the detailed discussions.

Keywords:Will, intention, planning, decree, knowledge, commandment.

The meanings of Allah‟s Will and His

decision sequence

According to the sayings of Ahl al-Bayt

(PBUT), for every action that takes place, be it

our choice or not, Allah creates the

following six steps:

1-Knowledge (al-‘Ilm)

2- Will (al-Mashiyya)

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

8

3- Intention (al-Irada)

4- Planning or measure (al-Qadar)

5- Decree (al-Qadha)

6- Signature or conclusion (al-Imda)

In some traditions, the first and the second

steps are joint as one step calling the ―will

of knowledge‖.

Allah is the creator of the worlds and their

rules and formulations. His creation is

based on a created knowledge and then the

created will, intention, planning, and

decree. These steps of information has no

similarity whatsoever with the Eternal

Knowledge of Allah. Above all these

created knowledges and wills, He knows

eternally which is not discussable nor

perceivable for creation as His Eternal

Knowledge is Him, not a feature, attribute,

or property of Him. Eternal (Azali) is that

which free from start and end, and in other

words, free from time and happening

(Huduth). The Essence of Allah is free

from any attribute, as He has created all

attributes. The first thing He created is

foreknowledge or will of knowledge.

A required step for the existence of

anything or occurrence of any event is the

creation of its will by Allah. The traditions

(as noted below) state that Allah has

created two types of will (Mashiyya) and

two types of intention (Irada) for every

action that takes place. More specifically,

Allah has the following two kinds of will:

1- The will of knowledge (Mashiyyat al-

‘Ilm)

2- The will of commandment (Mashiyyat

al-Amr)

The first type of ―will‖ means Allah wills

that no action happens by or to His

creations except that He should have

already made it known and already

permitted that action to take place. In

other words, Allah foreknows what we

would choose if we were given a choice

on a certain thing in a certain situation. He

may then permit the happening of our

would-be action, or He may reject it. In

the latter case, we would lose our choice

in that specific action, and Allah will not

hold us accountable for not performing

that action. We will be questioned only

about our voluntary actions, not about the

actions we ―perform‖ without our choice.

To be more precise, if an action is

performed without our choice, then we

cannot really call it ―our‖ action. In this

sense, ―our‖ action is defined only as our

voluntary action. Our actions include both

the internal actions (i.e., the actions that

we practice in our heart such as our choice

of thoughts, belief and disbelief) as well as

the external ones (i.e., our deeds). Once

Allah permits the happening of our would-

be choice, we have truly been granted

will-power regarding that specific action

although we will choose what Allah

already knew and permitted its

occurrence. Volition is granted or

withheld moment by moment according to

Allah‘s will.

The Will of Allah and Our Destiny

9

The very existence of this type of will of

Allah (which enables us to choose while

Allah foreknows our choice in His will of

knowledge and permits us do what we will

choose) immediately disproves the idea of

independent freedom of will and the

relinquishment of the authority by Allah to

us (Tafwidh) in our voluntary actions.

Moreover, depending on our would-be

action, this type of Allah‘s will may or

may not be in line with His pleasure.

The second type of will regards Allah‘s

commandments, orders, and prohibitions

on our voluntary actions. The existence of

this type of will refutes the idea of

compulsion (Jabr) in our actions. This is

because if it were really compulsion, His

orders, prohibitions, glad tidings,

warnings, rewards, and punishments

would have been meaningless.

If an action is our choice, then the two

wills may or may not match. More

specifically, if we choose to follow the

orders of Allah, it shows that the two types

of ―will‖ matched, and if we choose to

disobey Him, it shows the two types of

―will‖ did not match. However, it should

be noted that the foreknowledge, will, or

permission of Allah are not the cause for

our action. In fact, there is no cause for

any action with volition; otherwise, the

word ―volition‖ would become

meaningless since the cause—with the

meaning implied by the philosophers—

would necessarily result in the effect (i.e.,

the action). Volition exists if one can

choose either of the opposite sides of an

action (to do or to refrain) assuming that

Allah has given us permission to exercise

our choice while He is aware of our

would-be choice in a decreed situation.

Omitting the notion of necessity and

urgency that was originally induced by the

philosophers in the cause and effect

relationship, we will end up with the

general meanings of cause, which are

―reason‖ and ―origin‖. The origin of an

action is the one who performs it.

Moreover, there may be reasons behind

one‘s choice of action, but none of these

reasons would compel human to make the

action, otherwise there would be no

volition. This, in turn, goes to prove that

the foreknowledge of Allah and his will

for the occurrence of human‘s choice of

action does not compel him in his action.

As for those actions that are the acts of

Allah, the two kinds of ―will‖ always

agree. For instance, when Allah

commands an angel to perform a task, He

already made it known and permitted that

such action takes place exactly in the way

that He has commanded, and the actual

outcome of that action is always be in

accordance with what He has commanded.

When Allah states in the glorious Quran:

ح ٠شحء ٠فؼ وره للا

“This way Allah does what He wills,"

(The holy Quran,8:40)

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

10

حي ح ٠س٠د فؼ

“The doer of what He intends”

(The holy Quran:11:107; 85:16)

TheMost Glorious refers only to the will

and intention of His own actions, and

these verses do not apply to people‘s

actions. Allah‘s action includes

extraordinary events that happens without

people‘s choice, such as the event

described in the earlier part of the first

verse (3:40), in which a barren woman,

i.e., the wife of Prophet Zakariyya (PBUH)

was enabled to give birth to a child,

namely, Prophet John (the Baptist) (PBUH).

To understand better what was discussed

so far, let us consider a simple scenario.

Assume a man whose name is George.

One day, George goes to the store and sees

a ripe, delicious apple. He has two

choices: he can either buy the apple, or

steal it. Allah has prohibited stealing the

property of others. That day, George

chooses to obey Allah‘s command and

pays for the apple. Here, it is discovered

that Allah‘s will of knowledge and His

will command with regard to George‘s

personal decision in that specific case

were in line. On the next day, George sees

another apple, but this time he chooses to

steal it. In this case, the Allah‘s will of

knowledge still preceded George‘s action,

though it was against His will of

command. Allah knew beforehand that

George would steal the apple on the next

day if he is granted choice, and Allah

allowed George to manifest his own

decision. Had Allah withdrawn His

permission for the occurrence of that

event, George could have never stolen the

apple. However, granting volition to

George while being fully aware that he

will steal does not hold Allah accountable

for George‘s misconduct. The action of

George incurred Allah‘s displeasure

because he violated His commands.

In another classification, Allah‘s will is

divided into the following two

subcategories:

1- The definite will (Mashiyyat al-Hatm)

2- The decided will (Mashiyyat al-‘Azm)

The first subcategory of will is related to

the actions that Allah intended not to

change His permission on them. It can be

either our action or Allah‘s action. All

customs of Allah and His promises are in

His definite will.

However, the second subcategory includes

the wills about which Allah may change

his decisions and may cancel or reform

them.

According to the traditions, the next step

after will for the occurrence of an action is

Allah‘s intention (Irada), which is the

determination and confirmation of will.

Allah‘s will is more general than His

intention. Similar to will, Allah has two

kinds of intention:

The Will of Allah and Our Destiny

11

1- The intention of knowledge (Iradat al-

‘Ilm)

2- The intention of commandment (Iradat

al-Amr)

Allah‘s intention is further divided into

two subcategories:

1- The definite intention (Iradat al-Hatm)

2- The draft or decided intention (Iradat

al-Ikhtiyar/al-‘Azm)

The next step after intention in Allah‘s

decision sequence, namely al-Qadar, is

the measuring, apportioning, and detailed

planning of the action with respect to time

and place, as well as determining its

relationship with other events. It also

includes the synchronization of what

happens to an individual without his

choice as a byproduct of the voluntary act

of another person.

For instance, consider the case where a

wrongdoer oppresses a person. Allah

knew this beforehand and permitted him

to exercise his choice to oppress. Allah

has also written the harm that the victim

receives from the oppressor, and this could

have various reasons. It might be that

Allah wants to elevate the spiritual status

of the oppressed by such hardship that he

receives from the oppressor so that he

becomes entitled to more reward in the

Hereafter for exercising patience. It could

also be that Allah intends to punish him by

that oppressor because of his previous

wrong deeds. Either way, Allah

synchronizes the event in terms of time

and place so that such a person becomes

the target for the oppressor who has

intended to wrong others voluntarily. This

synchronization does not make Allah

responsible for the wrongdoing of the

oppressor. It rather shows Allah has not

relinquished His authority on what will

happen in His Kingdom. Neither did Allah

leave the synchronization of the events to

people, nor did He leave it to chance since

both would have required Tafwidh.

Moreover, the reality of our voluntary

action is just our final firm intention just

before the physical manifestation of our

action. However, the quality and quantity

of the effects of our action and the

duration of the effects in the physical

world are all in the hands of Allah and is

according to His detailed planning. For

instance, an oppressor may intend harm to

some people, but the amount of harm that

each victim receives is according to

Allah‘s measure. Thus, not only existence

of the action, but also the quality and

quantity of the effects are in accordance

with Allah‘s planning and permission.

As a side point, it is noteworthy that a

believer who has firm intention to commit

a good deed but his action does not

manifest in the physical world due to

Allah‘s will, is entitled to the reward. The

action of such a person was his final firm

intention even if he was unsuccessful in

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

12

his outward attempt (i.e., the will of Allah

did not permit it). On the other hand, a

person who has a firm intention to perform

a bad deed deserves Allah‘s punishment

even though his action has become

ineffective and has been neutralized in the

physical world by Allah. However, out of

His grace and generosity, Allah does not

punish a believer who could not physically

accomplish his evil intention. Sometimes,

Allah, the most Merciful, may block the

way for a believer who has intended to

commit a sin, so as to save him from its

consequences.

The next step is al-Qada, which is the

decree and confirmation for a future event

or a command (depending on the type of

issue). As we will see in the traditions,

Allah‘s decree has four different meanings

in the holy Quran: the decrees of creation,

judgment, command, and knowledge. If a

specific action is our choice, then Allah‘s

decree of creation on it means that He

makes things physically ready for us to

act, and the decree of Judgment means

passing what would be the reward and the

punishment for that specific act in this

world and the Hereafter. The decree of

command and knowledge are similar to

what we explained about the will and the

intention.

The last step is al-Imda. This is Allah‘s

―signature‖ for the execution of an action,

which means Allah‘s final permission for

the occurrence of that action (be it our

choice or not). Once the occurrence of a

certain action is ―signed‖, it becomes a

definite matter ready for the execution in

its appointed time. An action is

categorized as ―definite‖ (Mahtum) if the

permission for its occurrence is not

changed or is unlikely to be changed by

Allah. In the domain of our volition, a

signed or definite matter is not an imposed

matter. Rather, it is Allah‘s firm

permission for the occurrence of the action

of our choice, which means it is unlikely

that Allah will block us from exercising it.

According to the traditions, the actions

that are to take place in the span of one

year are usually signed in ―the Night of

Apportionment‖ (Laylat al-Qadr) of the

same year. This is the most crucial night

of the year and the most propitious time to

have one‘s supplications answered. This

night is in the holy month of Ramadan

when, according to the holy Quran and the

traditions, Allah descends to His vice-

regent the complete details of what He has

decreed and permitted for the next year1.

Nonetheless, Allah may postpone the

signing of certain actions up to the

moment of their execution. In that case,

al-Imda could be exactly at the time that

the action is carried out in this world. This

is in agreement with the other lexical

meaning of Imda, which is ―execution.‖

The Will of Allah and Our Destiny

13

The purity of the Divine Eternal

Knowledge from the created knowledge

It is worth noting that the mentioned steps

of information are Allah‘s creations and

do not provide any trace to His Essence

(Dhat). They are the created (Makhluq)

and the generated (Muhdath) information

by Allah, and are at the level of creation.

They do not have any similarity

whatsoever with His Eternal Knowledge

(that is, His Essence). Any imagination or

perception of Allah‘s Eternal Knowledge

by us is a creation of our mind and cannot

be rationally attributed to Allah. Allah

says in the glorious Quran:

ئ ط أ زذه ج

“And that towards your Lord is the end

limit (of talk).”

(the holy Quran,53:42)

As Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT) interpreted the

verse, when a conversation reaches to the

matter of the Essence of Allah one should

desist from speaking about Him. In fact,

this is just a rationally required matter and

the verses of the holy Quran and the

traditions remind this rational obligation.

Our rational task will be just to regard

Allah pure from resemblance (Tashbih)

and non-existence (Ta‘til).On the

commentary of this blessed verse, several

traditionists narrated from the Commander

Faithful Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (PBUH),

Imam al-Baqir (PBUH), and Imam al-Sadiq

(PBUH) who said:

ئ أ ٠مي ج ػص للا ط ئ زذه ج ىال ط ج فاذج ج

عىج. فأ ئ للا

―Very The Lord of might and majesty

states:„And that towards thy Lord is the

end limit.Thus, when conversation

reaches to (the Essence of) Allah,

desist.”2

(the holy Quran,53:42)

Moreover, it is narrated the Leader of the

Faithful, ‘Ali (PBUH) said:

أ . دقص ذجش للا ضس فىف

―Whosoever ponders on the Essence of

Allah becomes an infidel (Zindiq).‖3

In this connection, Sulayman Ibn Khalid

narrated that Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) said:

٠د ئال ض١ح ئ للا ص جطفىس ف للا ال ٠ا جطفىس ف للا ف وحئ٠

. جألذظحز ال ٠طف ذمدجززوال ضد

―Avoid pondering over (the Essence of)

Allah, because pondering over (the

Essence of) Allah would only increase

bewilderment and misguidance. Verily

Allah cannot be reached by the sight (of

minds) and cannot be described by a

degree and quantity.‖4

Abu Hashim al-Ja‘fari narrated:

ذع جسػح أذ ػ ط ػ للا ٠طف فمحي أ ج ع لحي ظأ

مس ضؼآح ضمسأ ج ص ذ لحي أ ح ضمسأ ل ال ضدزو ح ل

ص ذ لحي فطؼسف جألذظ جألذظحز ٠دزن جألذظحز حزل

ؼ١ فمحي ئ ل مخ أ ص ذ لحي ح لص أذظحزج ح ج

ؼ١ ف ح ٠دزن جأل ال ضدزو أورس أذظحز ج

.جألح

I asked Imam Rida (PBUH) if Allah could be

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

14

described. He replied, ―Haven‘t you

recited His saying, ‗Visions can not reach

Him while He reaches to all visions‘

(6:103)?‖ I said, ―Yes.‖ He asked, ―Do

you know what visions are?‖ I said, ―It is

the visions of they eyes.‖ Imam al-Ridha

(PBUH) said: ―Verily the imagination of

the mind is greater than the vision of the

eyes. Thus (the verse means) minds can

not reach Him, and He reaches to all

minds.‖5

The Imams (PBUT) draw the border of

monotheism by confirming the following

statement:

ذد٠ رئ للا ض ء خحزؼ ج حزن ضؼح جدد ١ط وػ ش

١.دد جإلذطحي دد جطشر

―Certainly, Allah—Whose name is holy,

Whose remembrance is high—is Unique.

‗Nothing is like Him.‘ (42:11) He is out of

two extreme (rational) limits: The limit of

non-existence, and the limit of likeness.‖6

Therefore, although we never understand

what He is, we cannot say He is non-

existent. The meaning of the name ―Allah‖

also refers to this fact. It comes from the

root of ―W-L-H‖, which means an entity

about which everyone is bewildered and

stunned.7 His creations never understand

His Essence. His signs prove that He is not

non-existent, meaning that He cannot be

denied. However, His existence has no

similarity with the existence other things.

He is not like other creations or have any

of their attributes, otherwise His common

concepts with others makes Him divided

and partially meaningful and graspable by

mind and created. By His existence, we

only mean the rational proof of Him as

being rationally undeniable and unique.

With regard to the Essence of Allah, we

are not rationally allowed to talk because

we have no way to understand Him. By

―His Eternal Knowledge‖, we only mean

―He is not ignorant.‖ We regard His

Essence (Dhat) pure (Munazzah) from any

type of knowledge that we know (i.e., any

generated knowledge even if it is extended

towards infinity in terms of quality and

quantity) just as we purify Him from

ignorance. Any knowledge that can be

possessed by human is not a part of

Allah‘s Eternal Knowledge, otherwise it

would imply His Essence has parts.

Nothing is like Him. Maintaining a

difference in the quality (Kayfiyyah) or the

quantity (Kammiyyah) between His

knowledge and ours is not enough to avoid

resemblance, and we need to deny any

concept, quality, and quantity for Him,

which are all created. Allah is the creator

of perfection which is a quality, and Allah

is not described by the extensions of

qualities and the concepts that we imagine.

Allah knows, but not like how His

creation know. Our understanding of His

Eternal Knowledge is only limited

regarding Him pure from any type of

ignorance. This is called ―purity-based

recognition‖ (Ma‘rifat al-Tanzihiyya)

The Will of Allah and Our Destiny

15

which the opposite of ―similarity-based

recognition‖ (Ma‘rifat al-Tashbihiyya).

The former is the only way to reach the

correct recognition of Allah Who is not

understandable, while the latter is

common way to understand the created

things whose essences can be understood

and described by known properties.

The Eternal knowledge of Allah cannot be

perceived by the creation because it is not

created and has no concept. In Ahadith, it

is referred to as ―subject-free knowledge‖

(‘Elm-e-bila-Ma‘lum). We cannot imagine

or comprehend knowledge without

subject. Thus, what remains for us is to

say Allah is not ignorant.

Unlike His Eternal knowledge, the created

knowledge by Allah has always subject,

and is called ―subject-based knowledge‖

(‘Elm-e-bil-Ma‘lum). They are also called

the knowledge of Allah or the divine

knowledge. Allah is not them but He is

their creator and processor. Based on the

traditions, Allah has created two sets of

subject-based knowledge, which have no

similarity whatsoever with Him, i.e.,

Eternal knowledge. One of them is the

knowledge-based on which His will

manifests. This knowledge is released to

His angels and messengers. The other one

is the knowledge of unseen, which

includes all combinations of the events

that Allah has not currently willed to

happen so that if He wanted to happen

how it would happen.

Moreover, as we will quote later, the

Imams (PBUT) stressed that anyone who

thinks the will of Allah and His intention

are eternal (i.e., claims that His will and

intention are His Essence (Dhat)) is a

disbeliever and a polytheist. This is

because Allah‘s will and intention are the

attributes of actions and refer to the

intended things (i.e., His creations), which

are neither unique nor eternal. Claiming

that something or numerous things have

been with Allah eternally would negate

the oneness of Allah and His Eternity.

From the time a will for a specific action

has been created until the moment of its

execution (Imda), Allah may withdraw

His permission for the occurrence of that

action and may cancel the created will and

change the sequence altogether. This

concept is called al-Bada (the initiation or

origination of a new will). This change

only occurs in the created information

(i.e., the above-mentioned steps), but there

is no change in His Eternal Knowledge.

According to the traditions, all of this

dynamic information is placed in a record

called ―The Protected Board or Panel‖ (al-

Lawh al-Mahfuz), or equivalently, ―The

Mother-Book‖ (Umm al-Kitab). These

terms were mentioned in the holy Quran

and were used in our traditions

interchangeably.8 This record is made of

light and is witnessed by those who are

close (al-Muqarrabun) to Allah.9 They are

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

16

the angels, the prophets, the messengers,

and the Imams, peace be upon them all.

The traditions further state that the heart of

the supreme soul that is with the living

Proof of Allah (i.e., the current messenger

or his vice-regent (Khalifa)) is the vessel

of the will of Allah for both His will of

knowledge and command. All the above-

mentioned information will be visible for

them in the form of a pillar of light any

time Allah let them to access that

sanctified soul (Ruh al-Qudus). The will

of Allah is Allah‘s creation in the heart of

the Imams (PBUT). Consequently, their

knowledge is the (created) divine

knowledge, and their command and

satisfaction is the command and

satisfaction of Allah.

Some traditions on divine decision

sequences

Let us now study some of the traditions

from the heritage of Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT)

regarding these subjects. Here, I only

present some of the strongest traditions so

that the interested readers may have the

necessary base to pursue this topic. The

best place to study this and the

surrounding issues in detail is volumes

four and five of Bihar al-Anwār, which is

the greatest Hadith encyclopedia of Shia,

compiled by al-Majlisi(RA).

In the following Hadith, all the mentioned

steps from will to conclusion are

considered as a subcategory of the created

knowledge. Mu‘alla Ibn Muhammad

narrates that it was asked from the seventh

Imam, Musa Ibn Ja‘far al-Kadim (PBUH) that

how is the divine (created) knowledge.

The Imam (PBUH) answered:

حء أزجد لدز لؼ أؼ فأؼ ح لؼ ش ػ

لؼ ح لدز لدز ح أزجد فرؼ وحص ش١ثس ذش١ثط ج

حء ؼوح جم ٠سد٠س ذطمدمزجدز ذازجدض وح جطجإل وحص

ش١ثس ش١ثس ج ذمؼحت وح جإلؼحء جؼ طمد ػ ج

ؼحء ف حإل ٠س جلغ ػ جمؼحء ذزجدز غحػس جطمدجإل غح١س

حء ف١ح أزجد طمد٠س ش ضرحزن ضؼح جردجء ف١ح ػ ط

...جألش١حء فاذج لغ جمؼحء ذحإلؼحء فال ذدجء

Allah knew (i.e., created subject-based

knowledge), willed, intended, planned,

decreed, and then signed and concluded.

Thus, He concludes what He decrees, and

decrees what He plans, and plans what He

intends. Thus, the will was based on His

knowledge, the intention was based on His

will, the planning was based on His

intention, and the decree was based on

His planning, and the conclusion was

based on His decree. Thus, the knowledge

precedes the will, and the second one is

will, the third is intention, and planning

happens for the (initiation of the) decree

with conclusion. For Allah—Whose name

is holy, Whose remembrance is high—is a

new initiation (al-Bada) in what He knows

until He wills, and in what He intended for

the planning of the things. But when

conclusion follows the decree, there will

be no Bada.10

As it can be seen, the Imam (PBUH) places

the knowledge besides the will,

The Will of Allah and Our Destiny

17

enumerates it among the rest of sequence

of decision making by Allah; therefore,

this compared knowledge is created and it

cannot be the Eternal knowledge, i.e., His

Essence, Who is Unique and cannot be

compared with the created things.

Moreover, the above tradition gives a

subtle indication that distinguishes the

school of Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT) from the

heretical schools including the

philosophical and mystical circles. As

stressed in the above tradition, in the view

of school of Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT), Allah‘s

planning precedes the decree, while in

other schools it is vice versa. This is one

of the codes by which one can examine

the originality of different religious views.

Referring to the verses of the glorious

Quran where Allah states:

جىفس، ٠سػ ال غحع غالغس،ؼرحد للا لحج ئ مد وفس جر٠

“(Allah) is not satisfied with disbelief for

His servants (39:7), and Surely they

disbelieved who said, “Allah is the third

of the three (in a Trinity)” (5:73)

Fudayl Ibn Yasar and Abu Basir both

narrated that Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) said:

ء ئال شى د ٠سع شحء أ ال ٠ذشحء أزجد ٠

٠ أزجد ػ ذه ؼذ غسد أ ٠محي غحع غالذ

. حىفس٠سع ؼرحد

―(It may be that) Allah willed and

intended while He does not like and is not

satisfied. Allah willed that nothing (no

action or anything) exists except

according to His knowledge (of what he

has permitted), and He intended the same

thing, but He does not like to be told ‗He

is the third of the three‘ and He is not

satisfied with disbelief for His servants.‖11

When the Imam (PBUH) states: ―Allah willed

that nothing come to existence except

according to His knowledge‖ He refers to

the will of knowledge which might be

different that His will of commandments.

The Leader of the Faithful (i.e., Imam ‘Ali

(PBUH)) was asked about the will (Mashiyya)

of Allah and His intention (Irada). He (PBUH)

said:

ش١س ػص سش١ ش١١ لل ئ وره ئ لل ئزجدض١ دط

طة ئزجدز ػص ض ئزجدز ػص ئزجدز دط ال ئزجدز دط

ش١طح ش١س ٠شحء طة ضظ١دض ش١س ال ٠شحء ٠

جد جؼرحد شحء أز س ال ٠شحء ؼح٠أ ٠شحء

٠ ء ذمؼحت لدز جألز شحء و ش ١س ؼظسد ج

مؼح ذ١ ضجس ج ف وطحخ للا ػ أزذؼس أ حءح ... ج

حدق ص ح لؼحء ج ػص جحؽك ػ عح ظف١س جظ

ك ؼح فمؼح ظرغ ظحجش ف ١٠ حل ضؼ ج

ذى خم جػح لؼحء ذك ل ج لؼ ذ١ ذح

زذه أال لؼ س لجػحع لؼحء جأل ؼح دى

ل جسجذغ لؼحء جؼ ؼح أس زذه ئ٠حال ج ئضؼرد

ف جألزع لؼ١ح ئ ذ ئظسجت١ ف جىطحخ طفعد

ػرحد ؼح ػ سض١ ح ذ ئظسجت١ لد شحء للا

ش١س ش١س جؼظ١س ح أزجد شحء جطحػس أزجد أل ج

ػح ئزجدز جألس أ جألس سش١س جؼ ئزجدض ئزجدز جس

ؼ شحء حذحطحػس زػ ذ ػرحد ظ١س ٠ؼ ػج

ؼ ج ٠ ح فرج ػدي للا ضرحزن ضؼح ف ذسأ ظ١س

جال ػظ شأ ػرحد .ج

―Certainly, there are two (types of) wills

and two (types of) intentions for Allah.

They are the definite will and the decided

will, and similarly, the definite intention

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

18

and decided intention. The definite

intention never misses (what finally intend

to happen); however, the decided intention

sometimes misses (what He will finally

intend due to change in His desicion) and

sometime hits. And (in another

classification), He has two wills: the will

of what He wills to happen and the will of

what He does not will to happen: He

(may) forbid (an action) while He wills (its

ocurrence due people‘s choice) and He

(may) order (an action) while He does not

will (its ocurrence due people‘s choice). It

means that He wanted obedience and He

willed (people‘s choice to take place), and

He did not want disobedience yet He

willed (and allowed people‘s choice). And

everything is according to His decree

(Qada) and His planning (Qadar) and the

events (or commands) runs between the

two ...‖

―The decree is used with four meanings in

the Book of Allah. The first one is the

decree of creation when He, Whose name

is high, said:„And He decreed them (in

the form of) seven heavens in two days,‟

(41:12)which means He created them. The

second one is the decree of Judgment and

it is in His saying:„And (on the Day of

Judgment) it is decreed/passed among

them (based) on the truth,‟ (39:69)which

means it is judged. The third one is the

decree of commandment and it is in His

saying:„And your Lord decreed that you

should not worship but Him,‟ (17:23)

which means your Lord commanded. And

the forth one is the decree of knowledge,

and it is in His saying:„And We

decreed/passed for the children of Israel

(and revealed) in the scripture that most

certainly you will make mischief on the

earth twice.‟ (17:4) It means We knew

(beforehand) about the (mischief of the)

children of Israel (and let it to happen).‖

―Verily Allah willed (i.e., permitted the

occurrence of some of the) disobedience of

His servants while He did not want it. And

He willed (i.e., knew their choice and

permitted) obedience and wanted it from

them. It is because His will consists of the

will of commandment and the will of

knowledge, and His intention consists of

the intention of satisfaction and the

intention of commandment. He

commanded obedience and is pleased with

it, and He willed disobedience, which

means He knew disobedience of some of

His servants but He did not command

them to do it. This is due to the justice of

Allah—Whose name is holy Whose

remembrance is high—among His

servants.‖12

Fath Ibn Yazid al-Jurjani narrated that

Imam al-Rida(PBUH) said:

صئ لل ئزجدض١ ش١ط١ ئزجدز دط ئزجدز ػ ٠

ط شج آد أ ٠شحء ٠أس ال ٠شحء أ ح زأ٠ص

٠شأ ٠أوال أ ٠أوال جشجسز شحء ذه ػ

غرص ش١طح ش١س للا أس ئذسج١ ذرذخ جذ أوال

٠شأ أ ال ٠رذذ غرص ئظحػ١ شحء أ ال ٠رذذ

ػص ج١ ش١س ئذسج١ ش .س للا

The Will of Allah and Our Destiny

19

―Certainly, two intentions and wills

belongs to Allah: the definite intention and

decided intention. He (may) forbid (an

action) while He wills (its ocurrence due

people‘s choice) and He (may) order (an

action) while He does not will (its

ocurrence due people‘s choice). Don‘t you

see that Allah forbade Adam and his wife

to eat from the tree while He willed it (i.e.,

knew their choice and permitted it to

happen)? Had He not willed so, they

would not have eaten, and had they eaten

it in that case, their will would have

overcome the will of Allah (i.e., the

knowledge of what He permitted to

happen). He also ordered Abraham (PBUH)

to slaughter his son, Ishmael (PBUH), while

He willed that he would not slaughter him

(i.e., He did not give permission for that

action to manifest and to become

effective), and had He not willed that he

would not slaughter him, then verily

Abraham‘s will would have overcome the

will of the Lord of might and majesty.‖13

‘Abdullah Ibn Sanan narrated that Imam

al-Sadiq (PBUH) said:

٠ ١ط أ ٠عجد ٢د ئذ شحء ٠أس أس شأأس للا

شحء أ ال ٠عجد شحء عجد آد ػ أو جشجسز

. شحء أ ٠أو ح ٠شأ ٠أو

―Allah commanded and did not will

(accordingly) (i.e., knew that He will be

disobeyed and He permitted the sinner to

manifest his choice), and He willed and

did not command (accordingly). Allah

commanded Satan to prostrate Adam (PBUH)

and willed that he shall not prostrate. Had

He willed otherwise, he would have

certainly prostrated. Moreover, Allah

forbade Adam (PBUH) to eat from that tree,

and willed he shall eat from it. Had He not

willed so, he would not have eaten.‖14

The saying of the Imam (PBUH), ―had He

willed otherwise, Satan would have

certainly prostrated‖, means if the

knowledge of voluntary prostration by

Satan had been in the will of Allah, Satan

would have prostrated. It is, again,

important to remember that the

foreknowledge of Allah is not the cause

for the Satan‘s action, and the will that is

mentioned here is not an imposed will,

rather it is the will of knowledge of what

will happen. The Imam (PBUH) was

emphasizing the full accordance of what

will happen with what Allah knew and

permitted to happen without any

compulsion in human‘s choice.

When the Commander of Believers, Imam

Ali (PBUH) was asked, ―How is it that we are

not compelled in our actions if all our

actions are according to the Allah‘s

planning and decree?‖ the Imam (PBUH)

replied:

وح وره رط ح ئش أ وح لؼحء دطح لدزج الظض

س للا ظمؾ جج جص جؼمحخ جألس جػجخ

س رد الت الىػد جػ١د ف ض جؼ ذ دز

رذع ىح ج ع ىح ذج د أ ذحإلدعح

ذع أ رد ضه محس ئخج ػردز ج ذحؼمذس ج

جألغح خظ د ر لدز٠س دصخ جش١طح حء جس

جظح ئ للا ضرحزن ضؼح و ١١سج ض فجألس

وػ١سج ٠ؼض غذح ٠طغ ١ جم ػر٠سج أػطضذ

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

20

ػح ٠ ك جعحجض جألزع ح ىسح ٠ه ف

ذه ظ ٠رؼع جر١١ رشس٠ رز٠ ػرػح ذ١ح ذحؽال

.٠ ر٠ وفسج جحزجر٠ وفسج ف

―Do you think that this is an indispensable

decree and an imposed planning (as the

cause of our actions)? If it were so, then

reward, punishment, commandment, and

prohibition would have become invalid,

and glad tiding and admonition would

have been meaningless! In that case, there

could not be any blame for the sinner and

any admiration for the righteous; rather,

the sinner would be more deserving of

kindness than the righteous (as he had to

play the role of a wicked), and the

righteous would be more deserving of

punishment than the sinner would. This is

the belief and the saying of the brothers

for idol worshippers, the enemies of Allah,

and the Party of Satan (who are) the

Qadariyya15

and the Majus16

of this

nation.‖

―Allah—Whose name is holy, Whose

remembrance is high—has charged the

servants while they were granted choice,

and forbade them through warnings. He

has given for a small amount of good

deeds a great reward. He is never

disobeyed through being defeated (with

respect to His will), and He is not obeyed

through coercion and compulsion (due to

His will). He does not invest possession by

relinquishing it. He did not create the

heavens and the earth and whatever is in

between wrong and trivial. He has not

sent prophets with warnings and glad-

tidings futile. „This is the suspicion of the

disbelievers. Thus, woe unto the

disbelievers from Hellfire.‟ (38:27)‖17

It is narrated that Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) said:

أزد ذؼرحد ػ ٠جرس أ ئ للا غ ٠ؼحلر ؼحطج

فغ أجدز أػ أ أز أ٠ؼح أج أػص ح ػ١

ى س٠س٠د أسج ف١ى ف جظططحػس جؼرحد غ١س ػ ؼ ج

ف خم فر ضمد٠س ف ذس٠ط لؼح ف غرس ذ ظرك ػ ج

لر أ ٠ م و١ف ٠ م ػ ح ػح ئ ػرحد

ػظح ف م ػ ذه ح طحتس ػ أؽحػ

ؼظ١س ١ط ٠ؼحلدحلطحػس ٠ؼ ج١ػ١ر ػ ػص ر ػ ج

ال لؼحت ال لدز ذ ٠ؼحلد ػ ج ػ ػ

ؼحط ٠ػ١د ػ . جطحػس ج

―Certainly, Allah is more merciful to His

servant than compelling them to

disobedience and then punishing them for

that. He is also more magnificent, mighty,

exalted, meritorious, and aware than He

intends a command that is not in the

capability of the servants yet coerces them

due to His domination. Rather, His

knowledge preceded in His creation, and

His planning and His decree were put into

effect for His servants on how He would

create them before He creates them. He

knew what they would do and towards

which end they would turn. He knew those

who would obey Him from those would

disobey Him. Thus, He created them

accordingly in order to reward them for

obedience and punish them for

disobedience. But, the Lord of might and

majesty shall never punish them because

of His knowledge, decree, or planning,

The Will of Allah and Our Destiny

21

rather, He shall punish for disobedience

and shall reward for obedience.‖18

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed in detail, the

decision steps that are formed before a real

event comes to existence in the world. We

also discussed the notion of subject-based

knowledge and subject-free knowledge,

and explained that the former is created

while the latter is Eternal and cannot be

imagined. We also provided some

traditions of Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT) regarding the

divine decision sequence. In the next parts

of this article, we will further probe into

the details of this subject, by will of Allah!

1 See Chapter 97 of the holy Quran and the

corresponding commentaries of the Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT).

2 Kulayni, Kafi, vol. 1, p. 92, Hadith #2; al-

Tafsir, ‘Ali Ibn Ibrahim al-Qumi, vol. 1, pp 25-26; Kitab al-Tawhid, p. 456, Hadith #9; p. 457, Hadith #18; Bihar al-Anwār, vol. 3, p. 259, Hadith #6; vol. 3, p. 264, Hadith #22; vol. 90, p. 90 (from the Commander of Believers, Imam ‘Ali (PBUH)).

3 Kulayni, Kafi, vol. 8, p. 22; Ḥarāni, Tuḥaf al-

ʻUqul, p. 196; Bihar al-Anwār, vol. 74, p. 287.

4Kitab al-Tawhid, p. 457, Hadith #14; Wasa’il

al-Shia, vol. 16, p. 197, Hadith #21334; Bihar al-Anwār, vol. 3, p. 259, Hadith #4.

5 Kulayni, Kafi, vol. 1, p. 98, Hadith #10; Kitab

al-Tawhid, p. 112, Hadith #11; Bihar al-Anwār, vol. 4, p. 39, Hadith #16.

6al-Tawhid, p. 81, Hadith 27; Bihar al-Anwār,

vol. 3, p. 268, Hadith 3; Similar narrations exist

in Kafi, vol. 1, p. 82, Hadith 2; p. 85, Hadith 7.

7 See the narration from The Commander of

Believers, Imam ‘Ali (PBUH) quoted in Bihar al-Anwār, vol. 3, p. 222.

8 See verses 85:22 and 13:39 of the Quran.

9 See Quran 83:21, and Bihar al-Anwār, vol. 2,

p. 318.

10Kafi, vol. 1, p. 148, Hadith 16.

11Kafi, vol. 1, p. 151, Hadith 5.

12Bihar al-Anwār, vol. 5, p. 124, Hadith 73,

from Fiqh al-Rida(PBUH).

13Bihar al-Anwār, vol. 4, p. 292, Hadith 21,

from al-Tawhid.

14Kafi, vol. 1, p. 150, Hadith 3.

15 Here Qadariyya refers those who believe in

compulsion.

16 The followers of a certain cult with heretical

beliefs concerning the origin of good and evil.

17Kafi, vol. 1, p. 155.

18Majmu’a al-Warram, vol. 2, p. 268.

22

The Role of Infallibles‘ Traditions in Quran

Interpretation

Alinaqi Khudayari

Associate Professor of Jameat al-Mustafa aL-‗Alamiyah University

Article acceptance date: May. 2016

Abstract:The narrations of the infallible leaders have an important role in

explanation of the verses of Quran. This application and importance are stated in

some verses and narrations. The author of the present article has highlighted 3

application of the narrations in interpreting Quran.

A.Inferencing methodological bases and rules of interpreting Quran (The important

characteristics of Quran such as guidance, comprehensiveness, internal harmony, multi-

dimensionality, its freshness during the centuries, its general and particular meanings , its

Muhkam and Mutashabih verses, rejecting interpretation of the verses based on your

understanding and judgment, etc;)

B. Setting the bases of Quranic interpretation; It means that a commentator should receive

the fundamentals of his (her) religious knowledge from the holy Quran and traditions of the

infallible leaders, and then begins to interpret the holy Quran.

C. The role of narrations as a source of interpretation (The reason of revelation of the

verse(s), application of a verse in its exact case, removal of superficial contradiction among

verse(s), …).

Keywords: Quran, Knowledge and concept/Quran, comment by the infallible

persons /traditions as explanations to Quran /sources of comment of Quran,

narrations /Quran, characteristics /Quran, different kinds of verses /Quran, sciences

and history

The Role of Infallibles’ Traditions in Quran Interpretation

23

Introduction

The credibility of traditions in Quran

interpretation

The Quran interpreters and Quran

researchers have different opinions

regarding the quality and quantity of

using traditions to interpret Quran.

Regardless of some extremists, majority

of Shia and Sunnite interpreters put

special emphasize on the importance of

traditions in Quran interpretations.

Concerning the credibility of the words

of Prophet in interpretation of Quran,

God, the Almighty, stated,

ي ئ١ ح ص حض وس طر١ ح ئ١ه جر أص

“And we sent down to you the

remembrance so that you can make

clear to people what has been sent

down to them” (16:44)

ػ ح حو ظي ف ر جس ح آضحو فحطج

“Whatever the messenger gives you,

accept it; and whatever he forbids you,

abstain.”(59:7)

Likewise, there are some verses which

introduce one of the responsibilities of

prophets as ―teaching the Book and

Hikmah‖.1

The meaning of teaching the Book was

not only reiterating the words of Quran,

but teaching the meanings, and truth of

Quran were meant. The Prophet and

infallible imams did their best to do

their duty and to elaborate on the

teachings of the holy Book, and their

elaborations and explanations reached

us under the name of ―traditions‖.

To prove the authenticity of these

traditions and their reliability in

interpreting Quran, we can refer to the

verse Tathir

٠طسو جر١ص جط أ جس د ػى ١ر ح ٠س٠د للا ئ

١سج ضط

“Allah only wishes to distance fault

from you, and to cleanse you, and to

purify you abundantly.” (33:33)

and

أ ظي أؽ١ؼج جس أؽ١ؼج للا ى س جأل

“Obey Allah and obey the messenger

and those in authority among

you.” (4:59)

ال ضؼ وس ئ وط جر فحظأج أ

“Ask the people of the remembrance, if

you do not know” (16:43), (21:7)

and the frequently narrated tradition of

―Thaqalayn‖.

جی ضحزک ف١ک جػم١ کطحخ للا ػطسضی ح ج ضعکط

جدی جز در ذح ضؼج ذؼدی: کطحخ للا ف١

دد جعحء جی جالزع ػطسضی ج ذ١طی ج

جح ٠فطسلح دطی ٠سدج ػی جط١ف ج ر١س لد جخرسی

ف١ح جذع جظسج ک١ف ض فی

Truly, I leave two precious things, the

Book of God, and my Ahlul Bayt…

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24

According to the mentioned verses,

commentators and elites of Quranic

science have been emphasizing on the

necessity of traditions in order to

interpret Quranic verses.2

How to use Quranic verses to

interpreting Quran

Generally, the role of traditions in

interpreting Quran can be studied from

three aspects:

1.Understanding the principles and rules

of interpretation in terms of

methodology

2.Determining and completing the bases

of interpretation

3.Traditions as the foundation of

interpretation

1.understanding the principles and

rules of interpretation methodology-

wise

Rules of interpretation are a set of

principles for understanding Quran and

also familiarizing with those features of

Quran which influence interpretation

(directly or indirectly).3By

contemplating on the texts of traditions,

we can deduce valuable rules which are

necessary for understanding Quran.

Some of these principles are as follows:

1.1.Quranic understandability

The first important principle in

interpretation is accepting this principle

that ―Quran is an understandable book‖.

This point has been asserted by various

traditions. In the traditions, it has been

declared that Quran is a book which

people should think about. These

traditions can be divided into several

parts:

In some traditions asserted the

understandability of Quran has been

such as this tradition from Prophet on

Ghadir day, ―oh, the group of peoples!

Contemplate on Quran! Pay attention to

its verses, look at its fixed rules and

leave the unfixed ones. I swear by God,

its forbiddance and its interpretation are

hidden from people unless this one [this

person] that I am holding his hand and

pulling him towards myself.‖4

In some traditions, it has been ordered

to contemplate on Quran and the

importance of putting its orders into

practice and revoking to it. For example

Zurarah who said to Imam Sadiq,

ج٠ ػص ج جعخ ذرؼغ جسجض؟ فمحي: کح

5جرحب

How did you know Mash(touching a

part of body by wet hand before prayer)

should be done on head? He answered,

for the letter ―خ‖ [b] in the tradition.6

In another tradition a person asked what

should a person do when his nail is

bleeding and he is putting a plaster on it

The role of infallibles’ traditions in Quran interpretation

25

when he wants to take minor ablution

[Wudu]?

Imam ‗Ali replied7,

٠ؼسف رج جشرح کطحخ للا ػصج: " ح جؼ

ػ١ک فی جد٠ دسؼ". جعخ ػ١".

In this issue, the verse 78 of Sura Haj

should be referred to.

The next group of traditions specified

those frequently said traditions which

are about evaluating authenticity of

traditions based on Quranic verses.8All

mentioned traditions are emphasizing on

the comprehensibility of Quran on one

hand and the authenticity of its general

understanding on the other hand.

1.2. The book of guidance and self-

construction

What a kind of book is Quran? What

kind of knowledge and sciences does it

include? Is it a reflection from nature?

Is it a healing prescription?

Contemplating on Quran shows us it is a

Book of Guidance.

Quran is to develop human beings and

to make a utopia based on heavenly

teachings and rules. The source of a lot

of Quranic descriptions like ―light‖,

―guidance‖, ―reasoning‖, etc. is this

characteristics of Quran which is

guidance. According to traditions,

Quran is a guide in all times and

places.9Quran in its guidance is

independent and rich [needless of

anything].10

Looking for a guidance

wherever out of the territory of Quran is

deviation; as the Prophet said,

―Gabriel came to me and said, oh

Muhammad! There is going to be

sedition among your nation soon. I said,

what is the solution? He said, the book

of God… anyone who looks for

guidance out of it, God will mislead

him.‖11

According to what has been said, Quran

is a book of guidance. Due to this, it

gives the necessary guidelines for

human self-construction and salvation,

so when Quran speaks about cosmology

or something like this, it aims is not

cosmological issues but a higher goal,

which is salvation of human beings.

This point should be in mind as a

principle in interpreting Quran.

1.3. Comprehensibility

Another characteristic of Quran is its

completeness and comprehensibility,

which means it, includes all elements

essential for guidance and does not have

any shortcoming.

Imam Ali said,

God has sent a Quran to you, which

expresses everything. He kept His

messenger alive among you to complete

His religion for you and for him [ the

messenger] as He likes and He sent in

His book. He announces good deeds and

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26

bad deeds, permitted and not permitted

deeds by his tongue.‖12

Imam Sadiq said13

,

ج للا جصي فی جمسج ضر١ح ک شی دطی للا ح ضسک للا

٠ذطحؼ جؼرحد ج١ جال ذ١ حض دطی ٠عطط١غ ػرد ٠مي:

کح رج صي فی جمسج جال لد جصي للا ف١He did not neglect needs of people and

He explained them to people. In this

way, no one can claim I wish it was a

talk in Quran about this or that; [truly]

God has sent a verse about it in Quran.

1.4. Internal consistency and

accordance

One of the teachings of traditions about

the text of Quran which is directly

confirmed by Quran is the internal

compatibility and accordance which

exists among its verses.

For example, Imam Ali, referring to

disputes among verdicts of judges,

emphasized on the completeness of

religion of God and its

comprehensibility of Quran and then

said,

―God, the Almighty, says that He did

not leave out anything in this book and

it includes everything. He says, a part of

Quran is asserting the other part and

there is no discordance in it.‖14

1.5. Abrogator of previous Books and

guardian of them

According to the traditions, Quran is a

guardian, and an abrogator which has a

higher position regarding the previous

holy books. Holy Prophet said,

ج للا جؼ کطحذی ج١ ػی کطر جحظخ ح

―God chose my Book as a guardian and

an abrogator of the prophets‘ books

before me.‖ 15

Imam Sajjad said in his supplication,

ج جک جػطی ػی خط کطحذک جری جصط زج

جؼط ١ح ػی ک کطحخ جصط

―Oh God! You helped me to write down

Quran completely, the Book which is

sent as a light, and for the other books,

it is a guardian.‖ 16

1.6. Multi-dimensionality of Quran

Some traditions assert that the text of

Quran has the potentiality of being

understood by all and can be interpreted

differently. Imam ‗Ali told ibn ‗Abbas

when he wanted to send him to debate

Khawarij, 17

ذحمسجآ، فح جمسج دحي ذ ج، ضمي ال ض حط

حع، فح ٠م، ک دحجج )خحط( ذ

٠جدج ػح ذ١ظح

Abu ‗Abdul Rahman Salmi said, Imam

Ali passed by a judge and said, do you

know what Nasikh is and what

Mansukh is? He said, no. Imam said18

,

The role of infallibles’ traditions in Quran interpretation

27

.کص جکص

You got yourself to be destroyed and

caused others be destroyed.

1.7.Quran in the passage of time

In some traditions, it has been

emphasized that the Quranic teachings

and regulations do not belong to any

specific time or specific tribe but it is

true for every time and place. It seems

that this principle is an obvious

principle in tradition studies which is

needless to be proved.

Imam Sadiq has been asked, no matter

how many times I recited Quran, why is

it always new and fresh [to me]?

He answered,

As God, the Almighty, did not allocate it

to a specific time; [ in this case it would

] seems unusual in the other times. And

it is not specifically for a group of

people. Therefore, in any time and for

every group, it is new until the end of

the world.19

Imam Muhammad Baqir said about the

surface and depth of Quran:

Its surface is what has been sent

(Tanzil) and its depth is its

interpretation (Ta‘wil), a part of its

Ta‘wil is known and past and a part left.

It is ongoing like the sun and the

moon[it is ongoing]. Whenever [the

time of] interpretation of a part of it

arrives, it would be the same to deads

as it is to alives [a metaphor which

shows the ongoing nature of Ta‘wil].20

Quran is alive and will not die. Verses

are alive and will not die. If verses were

only sent for a specific group , when

they die, Quran should die as well. But

it is not like this. Verses are true for

coming generations as it was for passing

ones.

Imam Sadiq said, Quran is alive and

will not die, it is ongoing as nights and

days, like the sun and the moon. In

every era it is ongoing as it was for the

first one of us and it is the same for the

last one of us. 21

From these traditions, it is deduced that

regulations and characteristics

mentioned in verses of Quran are not

specific to that special case which they

referred to but they can be generalized

for new cases.

1.8. The levels of knowing Quran

Contemplating on traditions shows that

Quran has different levels. This point

has been explained in different

traditions. In some traditions, the depth

and in some, the surface levels of Quran

were the subject of talk.

Imam ‗Ali,

ج جمسج ظحس ج١ك ذحؽ ػ١ك ال ضفی ػجحتر ال

ضمؼی غسجتر ال ضکشف جظحش جال ذ

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28

The surface of Quran is beautiful and its

depth is profound. Its wonders have no

end and its strange parts are endless.

Darkness can not be overcome without

it. 22

Jabir said, I asked Imam Baqir about

interpretation of Quran. He told me

something. I asked him again. He said

something else in its reply. I said, you

told me something else before; he said,

جحذس، ج جمسج ذطح رط ذطح. ظس ظس

ظس...

Oh Jabir! Quran has a depth and its

depth has depths. It has a surface and

its surface has another surface. 23

Sometimes we talk about its surface and

sometimes its depths. Fudayl ibn Yasar

said, I asked from Imam Muhammad

Baqir about this tradition

سج ج٠ جال ح ظس ذطح جم

There is no verse in Quran unless it has

a surface and a depth.

He said,

ظس ضص٠ ذط ضح٠

Its surface is its Tanzil and its depth is

Ta‘wil. 24

i.e. The surface of Quran is the reason

of it revelation and its interpretation is

its depth.

Imam Ali classified Quranic knowledge

into three groups:

God, the Almighty, knows that people

of ignorance will change the Book, so

He classified His words into three parts:

a part of it is only revealed to one who

has a pure mind and high understanding

so God has opened his heart to Islam. A

part of it is only reveled to God and His

trustees -those who have perseverance

in knowledge. …25

1.9. Generalities and specifications

From traditions, we can learn that Quran

has generalities and specifications. It

means some verses are general,

applicable in all situations and for all

people and some others are not.26

In the

process of interpretation, it is important

to notice the generality or specification

of the verses.

10.1. Fixed and unfixed

According to the verses and traditions,

Quran has fixed (Muhkam) and unfixed

(Mutashabah) verses. As fixed and

unfixed traditions, each one, should be

explained in an special way regarding

its own principles, in traditions our duty

concerning each group has been

declared. By reviewing the traditions,

regarding fixed and unfixed verses we

can conclude these points: the

importance of Faith, putting fixed verses

commands into practice, the necessity of

The role of infallibles’ traditions in Quran interpretation

29

accepting unfixed verses while noticing

their limitations.

Imam Sadiq said, 27

ج جمسج ذک طشحذ، فحح جذک ف ذ ؼ

ذ د٠ ذ. جح جطشحذ ف ذ ال ؼ ذک.

ح ضشحذ لي للا: " ش٠غ ف١طرؼ ف لذ ح جر٠ فأ

...

Quran has fixed and unfixed verses. We

believe in fixed ones and put them into

practice. However, about unfixed ones,

we believe in them but we do not put

them into practice. This is the word of

God (ale ‗Imran,7) Who says,28

أ حش ذى آ٠حش ىطحخ صي ػ١ه ج جر أ

ج ش٠غ ف١طرؼ ف لذ ح جر٠ طشحذحش فأ أخس ىطحخ

٠ ئال ضأ ح ٠ؼ ٠

جذطغحء ضأ فطس جذطغحء ج ح ضشحذ

و ح ذ آ ٠م ؼ ف ج جظ جس ح للا د زذ ػ

رحخ س ئال أ جأل و ح ٠ر

“It is He who has sent down to you the

Book. Some of its verses are precise in

meaning they are the foundation of the

Book and others obscure. Those whose

hearts are swerving with disbelief,

follow the obscure desiring sedition

and desiring its interpretation, but no

one knows its interpretation except

Allah. Those who are well grounded in

knowledge say: 'We believe in it, it is

all from our Lord. And none remember

except those who are possessed of

minds.” (3:7)

The second point is the interpretation of

unfixed verses which is on the shoulder

of زجظ ج فی جؼ ―rasekhan fil ilm‖. It

means Prophet and Ahlul Bayt. In

various traditions, the necessity of

neglecting unfixed traditions and

interpret them based on fixed verses

have been emphasized.29

1.11. Quran abrogation

In holy Quran, there are some verses

about the possibility of abrogation of

some holy verses, but it is not said it

happened. From some traditions, we can

conclude that in holy Quran, some

verses are Nasikh (abrogator) and some

are Mansukh (abrogated).

Imam ‗Ali said, 30

خ زذک ف١ک: ر١ح دال دسج فسجتؼ خف... کطح

فؼحت حظ عخ

The majesty Muhammad left the book of

God among you; a book in which Hilal

and Hiram laws, obligatory and

nonobligatory, Nasikh and Mansukh

have been declared.

According to traditions, recognizing

Nasikh and Mansukhis among the

prerequisites of scientific books and

steps of interpretation. Imam Ali said to

a judge, do you know Nasikh and

Mansukh? He said, no, imam said, you

are lost and make others lost.

Interpretation of each letter of Quran

needs different criteria.31

In some other traditions, it is

emphasized that Quran is immune from

abrogation. In the first sermon of Nahj

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30

al-Balāghah while mentioning types of

Quranic regulations, Imam ‗Ali said,

There are some regulations in the book

of God that are obligatory but in

traditions they are abrogated. There are

some regulations in sunnah which are

obligatory but in the Book it is said they

can be left.32

Another point regarding abrogation is

the complete knowledge of Ahlul bayt

regarding Nasikh and Mansukh.33

1.12. Forbiddance of interpreting

Quran based on one‟s opinion

In various traditions, we read

interpreting holy verses based on one‘s

opinions which is not supported by

traditions or other verses is forbidden.

The holy Prophet said, God the

Almighty said, anyone who interprets

my words according to his opinion and

wish does not believe in me. Anyone

who resembles me to my creatures does

not know me in fact. And anyone who

compares [my Deeds with human

beings] my affairs is not on this belief.34

In addition to that, it has been narrated

from him that

فعس جمسج ذسج٠ فمد جفطسی ػی للا جکرخ جفطی

ط التک جعحجش جالزعجحض ذغ١س ػ فؼ

Anyone who interprets Quran based on

his judgment, truly puts God in the

place of being a liar. And anyone who

judges among people while he has no

knowledge (about it), the angels of

heavens and earth will curse him. 35

Imam ‗Ali told a zindiq (atheist) who

insisted on incompatibility among

Quranic verses that ―Do not interpret

Quran based on your opinion! You

should learn it from scholars of it.

Because its surface ( surface of Quran )

is similar to the words of human beings,

while it is the words of God and its

interpretation is not similar to human

beings‘ words, as no creatures is similar

to God.‖36

1.13. The necessity of referring to

Sunnah while interpreting Quran

One of the laws in understanding Quran

which is mentioned in traditions is the

necessity of referring to traditions in

order to interpret Quran. In fact, Quran

as it has been declared by verses and

traditions, includes fixed verses, unfixed

verses, general verses, and specific

verses, brief and extended, surface and

deep interpretation. Sufficing to the

[literal meanings of] the words is not

enough and we should go to the depth of

Quran. To benefit from Quran more,

God, the Almighty, puts the

responsibility of explaining verses on

the shoulders of holy Prophet.37

After

the Prophet his successors are in the

position of ―rasekhun fil ‗Ilm‖who are

responsible for explaining Quran. In

holy Quran, someone is named who is

The role of infallibles’ traditions in Quran interpretation

31

the witness of messangership of the

Prophet and has ‗ilmul kitab (ability to

interpret Quran)

وف جىطحخ ل ػد ػ ذ١ى ١دج ذ١ ذحلل ش

“Say: 'Allah is a sufficient witness

between me and you, and whosoever

possesses knowledge of the

book.”(13:43)

According to the traditions of Shia and

Sunnite, the meaning of نده علم الكتاب ومن ع is

‗Ali.38

It is worth saying that only that

person can realize the true meaning of

God‘s message who is familiar with all

aspects of Quran.39

In various traditions, it has been

asserted that Ahl al-Bayt have

comprehensive knowledge regarding

Quran and it is necessary to refer to

them whenever its interpretation is

desired. Here, we are mentioning an

example:

Imam Sadiq told Abu Hanifah, are you

the religious scholar of Iraq? He said,

yes. Imam said, based on what do you

judge among them? He replied, based

on Quran and the lifestyle of His

Prophet Muhammad. Imam said, do you

have comprehensive knowledge

regarding Quran? Do you know what

Nasikh and Mansukh are? He said, yes.

Imam said, you claim you know a lot!

Wow to you! God puts that knowledge

only in the hearts of Ahlul Kitab (the

ones this book has been sent to them).

Wow to you! That knowledge is only in

the hearts of special people from

offspring of Prophet. You do not inherit

not even a letter from the Book.40

We should bear in mind that necessity

of referring to sunnah in interpreting

Quran does not reject methods of

interpretations but it means in addition

to Quran and logic, Sunnah and

infallibles traditions should be regarded.

2.setting interpretations‟ bases

One of the important benefits of

traditions in interpretation of Quran is

its role in preparing the bases of

interpretations. The bases of

interpretation mean those foundations,

presumptions, beliefs and concerns of

interpreters, which influence the

interpretation of the words of God

directly or indirectly.

Any interpreter cultivates the bases of

its interpretation in a special ground and

put up his interpretation‘s tent on those

foundations. To show the role of these

foundations in interpretation, we can

imagine an interpreter who concludes

that visiting God by eyes is possible.

This person will interpret this verse

ثر حػسز ج ٠ ح حظسز ئ زذ

“On that day there shall be radiant

faces, gazing towards their lord.”

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32

(75:22,23)

based on his ideas. And a person who

believes in ‗Ismah of prophets will

interpret the verses against ‗Ismah

according to his beliefs.

In a suitable interpretation method, an

interpreter will base his interpretation

based on Ahkam, logical regulations,

fixed verses of Quran and proved

traditions of Sunnah.

For example,

ئال أ ٠شحء للا ح ضشحؤ

“And you do not please except that

Allah please”(76:30)

In this verse, God talks about His Will

and the will of human beings. There are

several questions in front of the

interpreter: what is God‘s Will? What is

its relationship with the will of

humankind and His Will? Is His Will

His Essence-bound attribute or Action-

bound attribute? Is His will

incompatible with the will of human

beings?

There are suitable answers for these

questions in religious texts. Therefor an

interpreter should refer to the religious

resources first and then based on what

he learns, he starts interpreting the

above mentioned verse. Or in order to

interpret the verses regarding Ma‘ad,

first an interpreter should refer to fixed

verses of Quran and fixed traditions to

get a picture from it and then based on

this understanding starts interpreting the

verses about Ma‘ad. The reliability of

the principles deduced from Quran and

traditions is so strong that when an

interpreter establishes his belief on them

can not desist even when he faces a

verse which is in contrast with his own

belief. His principle is so authentic in

his mind that he tries to interpret in a

way which is confirming his principles.

Even to get to his desired interpretation,

he puts the surface of the verse aside.

Getting principles from Quran and

traditions in order to interpret Quran is

very important. In the view point of

Imamiyah, to interpret fixed verses,

basically, we cannot refer to any other

sources but Quran and Sunnah; It is

always possible that an interpreter

willingly or unwillingly builds the bases

of his opinions over sources other than

book of God and traditions, mixes

religious elements with unreligious

elements.

3.traditions as the source of

interpretation resources

The sources or Masadir of interpretation

are those documents or resources which

interpreters refer to directly to interpret

Quran. They embark their

interpretations on them. The traditions

of infallibles along side other sources of

interpretation is a highly useful

resource. Some of the most significant

The role of infallibles’ traditions in Quran interpretation

33

usages of traditions for Quran

interpretation are outlined in the

following. This list is not complete.

3.1. Reports on the reasons of

revelation of verses

Knowing the reasons of revelation of

verses is a suitable way to understand a

verse. If we know the reason of

revelation of a verse, we can understand

it better. Part of the traditions are about

the reasons of revelation of the verses.

For example, we read in the traditions

and history of Shia and Sunnite that the

meaning of ج آ جر٠ in the verse ١ى ح ئ

٠إض الز جظ ٠م١ ج جر٠ آ جر٠ زظ للا

وحز جص زجوؼ41

is Ali who gave his ring

away in his Salah.42

3.2. Making Examples

One of the important usages of

traditions in interpretation of Quran is

citing examples. For example in

interpreting ―Hasanah‖ in the verse

ف ج٢خسز دعس ١ح دعس ح آضح ف جد ٠مي زذ

لح ػرجخ جحز

“But there are others who say: 'lord,

give us a merit in the world and good

in the everlasting life, and save us from

the punishment of the fire.”(2:201)

We read that imam Sadiq said,

(Hasanah is) the heaven of God in

Hereafter and wellbeing and being

good-tempered in this word.43

In fact,

the heaven of God, well-being, and

being good-tempered are all examples

of Hasanah.

Sometimes we see that in interpreting a

verse, there are various verses which

seem to have incompatible meanings. It

means accepting one necessitates

rejecting the other one. If we look

deeper, we will realize all traditions are

to explain different general Quranic

contents. For example in interpreting the

verse 44١ ضرط١ال ئ ضرط we have various

traditions that each one interpret the

verse differently. In a tradition from

Imam Musa, he said, رجزو is جطرط ج ضمد when you pray, you―کف١ک فی جدػح جذج دػش

turn the palm of your hand‖.45

In another tradition, imam Sadiq said in

its interpretation, ―Pray while you are

pointing by a finger.‖46

Some contemporary interpreters wrote

in this regard, there is no

incompatibility among interpretations

regarding this verse. Because

incompatibility exists between a

negative and a positive thing. According

to Qamus, which means ضرطas

discontinuity and release, these

traditions are not incompatible. These

traditions mean this.

3.3 citing the special meanings of

verses

In addition to explaining the general

meaning of some words or expressions

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34

based on some traditions, some verses

of Quran have been explained. For

example, imam Jawad was asked about

the meaning of Samad. He said,

47جع١د جظد ج١ فی جم١ جکػ١س

That Master Who is meant and aimed in

everything, big or small.

Another example is a tradition that

Sheikh Saduq mentioned in

interpretation of Sura Al-Tawhid.48

Likewise, in various traditions, the

meaning of جظحدل١ in the verse جضمج للا حدل١ غ جظ وج

49 has been declared.

50

3.4. Solving the surface controversy

among verses

Sometimes we confront some

controversies among verses. By the help

of some traditions, we can solve this

problem. For example, it can be

assumed there is incompatibility

between these verses:

زذحع فا غالظ ػ جعحء ح ؽحخ ى فحىذج

جددز أال ضؼدج ف خفط

“Then marry such women as seem

good to you; two, three, four of them.

But if you fear that you cannot do

justice, then one only,” (4:3)

دسطط جعحء ضعطط١ؼج أ ضؼدج ذ١

“You will not be able to be just between

your women, even though you are

eager” (4:129)

While according to traditions the

meaning of justice in the first verse is to

be just in life expenses and nafaqa while

in the second, justice in loving them is

the aim.51

3.5. outlining conditions for Quranic

rules

The conditions of some absolute rules

and regulations mentioned in Quran

have been outlined in traditions. For

example, the rule about will in the

verse,

ط١س ذؼد ح ضسو ذغ جس د فى فا وح

د٠ ذح أ ٠ط١

“If they have a child, a quarter of what

they leave shall be yours after any

bequest she had bequeathed, or any

debt.” (4:12)is absolute and according to

this verse, a person can decide about his

wealth…. While according to traditions,

a person can decide for a third of his

possession after him.52

3.6. General allocation

Some generalities of Quran have been

explained in details in traditions: for

example, in the verse, ب رزك صف ىن اجن أس

53 the word اجن refers to a أس

general type of marriage, temporary or

life- long. This verse has been explained

by traditions and it says only life-long

marriage is meant. According to the

tradition of Tahdhib al-Ahkam,

‗Abdullah ibn ‗Amr said, I asked imam

Sadiq about temporary marriage, he

The role of infallibles’ traditions in Quran interpretation

35

said, it is halal for you from God and his

messenger. I said, what is its limitation?

He answered, of its limitation is you can

inherit from her and she can not inherit

from you.54

3.7. Brief explanation

A lot of Ahkam, moral or theological

issues, and stories have been mentioned

in Quran briefly, but their details have

been mentioned in Sunnah. In Quran we

read, 55

امع ع اىز ارمعا مبح آرا اىش الح ا اىص أق

But the condition and details of (Salat)

pray and Zakat have been mentioned in

Sunnah. The explanations of Quranic

stories like the biography of prophets,

i.e. Kahf story or the birds of Abraham

have been included in traditions. In

Quran, we read, ل غزت ثعضن ثعضب

“nor backbite one another” (49:12)

but the definition of Ghaybah

(backbiting), its limitations, the

permitted cases… all are explained in

sunnah. In Quran, it is said after the

Prophet, there is a leader who should be

followed and his characteristics have

been said. But this leader has been

introduced by the Prophet. In a tradition,

Jabir Ansari said, when God sent the

verse

ج آ س ٠ح أ٠ح جر٠ جأل أ ظي أؽ١ؼج جس أؽ١ؼج للا

ى

“Believers, obey Allah and obey the

messenger and those in authority

among you”(4:59)

I said, oh the Prophet! We know God

and His Messenger! However, who are

the جی جالس that God puts their

obedience besides His obedience? He

answered, oh Jabir! They are my

successors and leaders of Muslims after

me. The first one of them is ‗Ali ibn Abi

Talib,…56

Likewise the details of names

and attributes of God, eschatology,…

3.8. Explaining the internal meaning

of verses (Ta‟wil)

l is understanding iw‘The meaning of ta

the internal meaning of Quran which is

not understandable by looking at its

surface. A part of traditions of Shia

regarding Quran interpretation is about

this. In the verse ح ١ػحق جر١١ ئذ أخر للا

ؼى ح ق ظد زظي جحءو س غ دى وطحخ آض١طى

طظس ذ ...طإ

“and when Allah took the covenant of

the prophets: 'that I have given you of

the book and wisdom. Then there shall

come to you a messenger (Muhammad)

confirming what is with

you, …”(3:81,82)

There are some verses explain this

verse. For example, Fayd ibn Abi

Shaybah said imam Sadiq said after

reciting that verse,

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

36

You believe in the Prophet and help

‗Ali. I said, do youhelp Ali? He said,

yes, after Adam till the end of the world.

And God will not choose any Nabi or

Prophet unless he comes to this world to

fight for Ali.57

The author of Tafsir Manahij al-Bayan

wrote about these traditions, these

traditions are about internal meaning

and not for the purpose of interpretation.

Tafsirand ta‘wil are both true in their

own place and it is clear that ... so

proving a thing which is in surface of

Quran with a thing in ta‘wil which

belongs to internal meaning of Quran is

not in contrast. …‖58

In the following tradition, you can see

the meaning of this verse (Ta‘wil) by

Imam Ali:

Salam ibn Mustanir narrated from imam

Sadiq who said, the opponents chose

some epithet for themselves that God

only gave it to ‗Ali ibn Abitalib. The

meaning of it (its ta‘wil) has not sent

down yet. I said, when will it be sent?

He answered, when it is the very time,

God will gather prophets and infallibles

in front of him to help him. And this is

what God says, on that day, the flag of

holy Prophet will be given to ‗Ali ibn

Abitalib and he will be the leader of all

people. All people will be under his flag

while he is their leader. This is the

meaning of this verse.‖59

3.9. The interpretation of Mutashabih

verses

Regarding these verses, the surface of

them should be unfolded and their

Ta‘wil should be studied. Traditions

which are about interpretation of

Mutashabih verses can help us to

understand meaning. For example, in

interpreting the verse

ثر حػسز ج ٠ ح حظسز ئ زذ

“On that day there shall be radiant

faces, gazing towards their

lord.”(75:22,23)imam Rida said, ―it

means faces are shinny and … looking

at the blessings of their Lord‖60

and also

imam Ali said in a tradition, ―This is

what God says: جی زذح حظس.‖ the

meaning of looking at God is looking at

the blessings of God, the Almighty‖.61

3.10. subject-based interpretation

In some interpretational traditions, by

putting related verses aside and a topic

related to them besides that topic has

been explained. For example, imam

Sadiq said about different aspects of

Kufr: Kufr in the book of God has five

aspects: one aspect is denying Kufr.

And it is of two types; kufr in ignoring

what God commands which is Bira‘at

kufr and not valuing God‘s blessing62

then he continued explaining the other

types of Kufr by the help of Quranic

verses.

The role of infallibles’ traditions in Quran interpretation

37

3.11. inferencing the religious

concepts from verses of Quran

In a group of traditions, some religious

concepts have been defined according to

holy verses of Quran. For example,

imam Ali said, all piety is gathered in

two sentences of Quran. God the

Almighty says,

ح آضحو ال ضفسدج ذ ح فحضى ج ػ ظ ى١ال ضأ

“So that you will not be saddened for

whatever does not come to you, nor be

overjoyed in what has come to

you”(57:23).‖63

In another tradition imam Sajjad said,

―piety has 10 parts: the highest level of

piety, is the lowest level of Wara‘ … be

aware that piety is in a verse from the

book of God: اى١ال ضأظ ‖64

3.12. Interpretation based on words

In some interpretations, words are the

pivot of interpretation. An example

from these kinds of tradition is the one

in which imam Baqir explained the

meaning of sabh سجح in the verse ىل إ

بر سجحب طال 65 ف اىIt means for sleep and

…you have a long time.66

In fact, in this tradition, the literal

meaning of sabh which is rest has been

explained67

.

3.13. Different realization

The role of traditions in this regard is

very important. Sometimes the meaning

of a tradition highlights one meaning of

a verse over the others. For example,

about the meaning of عظب in this verse

٠س ػ ػسشح لحي أ خح س ػ لس٠س وحر أ

ذؼػ لحي و غ ثس ػح حض للا ضح فأ للا ذؼد ذ ٠ذ١

لح ذؼغ ٠ ح أ رػص لحي رػص ٠ ثس ػح ي ذ رػص

حزن جظس ئ د ٠طع شسجذه ه فحظس ئ ؽؼح

و١ف شصح غ جظس ئ جؼظح حض جؼه آ٠س

للا أ لحي أػ ح ضر١ ح ف ء ىعح ذ ش ػ و

لد٠س

“or of him, who, when passing by the

ruined village that was fallen on its

roofs, remarked: 'how can Allah give

life to this after its death? ' thereupon

Allah caused him to die, and after a

hundred years he revived him. He

asked: 'how long have you remained?

„„A day, ' he replied, 'or part of a day.

„Allah said: 'rather, you have remained

a hundred years. Look at your food

and drink; they have not rotted. And

look at your donkey (that had died). We

will make you a sign to the people. And

look at the bones (of your donkey) how

we shall revive them and clothe them

with flesh. „and when it had all become

clear to him, he said: 'I know that

Allah has power over all things.”

(2:259)

We have two opinions about it: some

say the meaning of it is the bones of

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

38

beasts and the other the bones of a

resurrected person68

.

From some traditions we can conclude

that the meaning of the resurrected

person‘s bones are meant. According to

‗Ayashi, imam Sadiq said, the first body

member that God created were eyes

which were like the thin skin of eggs.

Then he was told, how long did you

wait? He answered, a day. Then when

he saw the sun did not set, he said, part

of a day. God said you waited 100

years, so look at your food and drink

which are not spoilt…‖ then he looked

at the bones, which were joining to each

other and saw how blood started

running in his veins. When he stood up,

he said, I knew God is Able to do

anything.69

3.14. Interpreting Quran according to

Quran

Some traditions try to give us another

meaning of Quranic verses by the help

of other Quranic verses. As the

interpretational relations of verses are

not clear for us, for example, we can not

say the word ظي in verse

جأل ثه أ ح ذظ رعج ئ٠ ٠ ج آ جر٠

طد

“Those who believe and have not

confounded their belief with harm

security belongs to them; and they are

guided” (6:82)means the same as in this

verse luqman,13

ػظ١ سن ظ جش ئ ال ضشسن ذحلل ٠ح ذ

“My son, associate none with Allah, to

associate others with Allah is a

tremendous wrong.”(31:13)

The reason of this ambiguity for us is

the various examples of this word. In

order to be able to choose, one should

know the reasons, which are not in the

verse. And also the word شزک has

various realization.

As the holy Prophet and his successor

have comprehensive knowledge about

Quran, they can give a suitable

interpretation. About the above

mentioned verses Prophet provided us

with their true interpretation.70

3.15 determining Nasikh and

Mansukh

In the first part, we said that Quran

includes Nasikh and Mansukh.

Knowing them needs having knowledge

about the time of their revelation.

Naturally, first an abrogator verse

should be sent down, and then a verse

can be nullified. This point is

understandable from traditions and not

Quran.

For example, according to the traditions,

the verse

ء ش للا ػ و ئ س للا ذأ جطفذج دط ٠أض فحػفج

لد٠س

The role of infallibles’ traditions in Quran interpretation

39

“So pardon and forgive until Allah

brings his command. Allah is powerful

over everything.”(2:109)

which is known as ‗Afw verse, is

rejected by the verse

لح ال ٠ذس ج٢خس ١ ال ذح ذحلل ال ٠إ ضج جر٠

أضج جر٠ ذك ج د٠ ال ٠د٠ زظ للا ح دس

طحغس ىطحخ دط ٠ؼطج ججص٠س ػ ٠د ج

“fight those who neither believe in

Allah nor the last day, who do not

forbid what Allah and his messenger

have forbidden, and do not embrace

the religion of the truth, being among

those who have been given the book

(Bible and the Torah), until they pay

tribute out of hand and have been

humiliated.”(9:29) which is known as

Sayf verse.71

End notes:

1 Refer to: Qurān, 2:129,151; 3:164;62:2

2Refer to: Majmaʻ al-Bayān; vol.1,pp.39,40;

Mutishabih al-Quran va mukhtalafa, vol.2,p.148; al-bayan fi Tafsir al-Qurān, p.397; Tabarsi,Majmaʻ al-Bayān, vol.1, pp.15, 18; al-Burhan, vol.2, p.156; al-Itqan, vol.2, p.351; Manahil al-‘Irfan, vol.1,pp.480,481.

3 No doubt to understand anything and to

be able to interpret it is essential to have a kind of knowledge even very general to it. It is subject of misunderstanding if we deal with interpretation without knowing the bases. The more this knowledge, the better understanding.

Regarding text of Quran, the importance of this knowledge is more; as Quran in addition to the general aspects common among all texts, enjoys some specialties which are specific to it. The secret of the Quranic characteristics is being from God, which shows Him. A book which is endowed to the heart of the Prophet as the last messenger which takes the responsibility of guidance in all eras and places. (imam Ali encyclopedia, vol.1,Quranic Studies, Ali Naqi Khudayari)

4Al-Ihtijaj,vol.1,p.146; Wasa’il al-Shia,

vol.27,p.193,tradition,43) 5Kafi, vol.3,p.30.tradition 4; al-faqih, vol.1,

p.102, tradition 212)

6 In this case the verse ma’idah, 6 has been

referred to. 7Kafi, vol.3,p.33,tradition 4; Tahdhib al-

Ahkam, vol.1, p.363, tradition 27) 8Al-Bayan, p.365

9Kafi, vol.2, p.216, tradition, 2)

10Nahj al-Balāghah, sermon 175

11Tafsir ʻAyashi, vol.1,p.3

12Nahj al-Balāghah, sermon 86

13Tafsiral-Qumi, vol.2, p.451; al-Mahasin,

vol.1,p.266, tradition 352; Bihar al-Anwār, vol.92, p.81, tradition 9)

14Nahj al-Balāghah, sermon 133

15 Al-Ihtijaj, vol.1,p.57; Bihar al-Anwār,

tradition 9, p.292 16

Sahifah Sajjadiyah, pray, 42 17

Nahj al-Balāghah, letter 77; Avael al-Maqalat, p.401 18

Tafsir ʻAyashi, vol.1,p.12,tradition 9; Wasa’il al-Shia, volo.27,p.202,tradition 65

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

40

19

‘Uyun Akhbar al-Rida, vol.1,p.93; Tusi, Amali, p.580 20

Basair al-Darajat, p.216; Wasa’il al-Shia, vol.27, p.96, tradition 49 21

Tafsir ʻAyashi, vol.2,pp.2,3, tradition 6; refer to, Bihar al-Anwār, vol.92, p.83, tradition 14 22

Nahj al-Balāghah, sermon 18; Al-Ihtijaj, vol.1, p.390; refer to, Kafi, vol.2,p.598,tradition 2 23

Al-Mahasin, vol.2, p.300, tradition 5; Wasa’il al-Shia, vol.27,p.192,tradition 41 24

Basair al-Darajat, p.216; Bihar al-Anwār, vol.92, p.97, tra.64 25

Al-Ihtijaj, vol.1,p.376; Wasa’il al-Shia, vol.27, p.193,trad.44 26

Refer to: Kafi, vol.1, p.213, tradition 2; Tafsir ʻAyashi,vol.1,p.164,trad.6; Basair al-Darajat, p.223,trad.4 27

Tafsir ʻAyashi, vol.1, p.162 28

Refer to: Sahifah Sajjadiyah, prayer. 42; Bihar al-Anwār, vol.23,p.191 29

Refer to: taghir al-Burhan, verse 7 ale ‘Imran, ‘Uyun Akhbar al-Rida, vol.2,p.290; for the meaning of referring unfixed based on fixed verses refer to: Manahij al-Bayan, vol.1,pp.27,28; compared with al-Mizan, vol.3,p.43

30Nahj al-Balāghah, sermon.1; Kafi,

vol.1,p.64,trad.1; Tafsir ʻAyashi, vol.1,p.14,trad.1 31

Tafsir ʻAyashi, vol.1, p.12; Bihar al-Anwār, vol.92, p.110, trad.9

32Nahj al-Balāghah, sermon 1

33 Refer to: ‘Ilal al-Sharayi‘, vol.1, p.90,

Khisal, p.576, Ḥarāni, Tuḥaf al-ʻUghul, p.349 34

‘Uyun Akhbar al-Rida, vol.1,p.116

35

Kamal al-Din, vol.1,p.256; refer to Tafsir ʻAyashi, vol.1,p.17,18. 36

Al-Tawhid,p.262

37Holy Quran, Nahl,44; refer to Jumua, 2

38Refer to Kafi, vol.1, p.229,tradition,6;

Tafsir ʻAyashi, vol.2,p.220,tradition 76; Bisharat al-Mustafa, p.194; Tafsir Qurtubi, vol.9,p.336

39Manahij al-Bayan, part.1,p.60

40 ‘Ilal al-Sharayi‘,p.89

41your guide is only Allah, his messenger,

and the believers; those who establish the prayer, pay their obligatory charity, and bow down (in worship).(5:55) 42

Al-Kashaf, vol.1,p.347; Tarikh Damishq, vol.42, p.357, no.8950; Al-Badayah va al-Nahayah, vol.7,p.358; Marifah ‘Ulum al-Hadith,p.102,no.25; Shawahid al-Tanzil, vol.1,p.226,no.233; Dur al-Manthur, vol.3, p.105, p.580, no.1;al-Yaqin,p.348,no.127;al-Shafi fi al-Imamah,vol.2,p.217; al-Iqtisad,p.198. 43

Tafsir ʻAyashi,vol.1,p.98

44dedicate yourself devoutly to him(73:8)

45Nur al-Thaqalayn,vol.5,p.449

46Kafi,vol.2,p.48,no.3,p.481,no.5

47Kafi,vol.1,p.123

48 Refer to Al-Tawhid,p.88,chapter

interpretation of Sura Tawhid. 49

fear Allah and stand with the truthful.(9:119) 50

Refer to Kafi,vol.1,p.207- 51

Tafsir ʻAyāshi,, vol.1,p.207,refer to. Manahij al-Bayan,vol.4,p.185 52

Refer to. Kafi,vol.7,pp.10,11

53 4:12

The role of infallibles’ traditions in Quran interpretation

41

54

Tahzib al-Ahkam,vol.7,p.265,no.68

55Establish your prayers, pay the obligatory

charity, and bow with those who bow. (2:43) 56

Kamal al-Din,p.253;Kifayat al-Athar,p.53;Manaqib Ale Abi Talib,vol.1,p.242

57Tafsir ʻAyashi,vol.1,p.181;Kanzul

Fawaid,vol.1,p.54,55; Mukhtasar Basair al-Darajat,p.32

58Manahij al-Bayan, vol.3,p.290

59Tafsir ʻAyashi,vol.1,p.181

60Al-Tawhid,p.116,no.19

61Al-Tawhid,p.262

62

Kafi,vol.2,p.389 63

Nahj al-Balāghah,Hikmat 439. 64

Kafi, vol.2,p.128,no.4

65you have by day prolonged

occupations.(73:7) 66

Tafsiral-Qumi,vol.2,p.392

67 Refer to al-Sihah,vol.1,p.372;Lisan al-

Arab,vol.2,p.470

68Majmaʻ al-Bayān,vol.2.p.174

69Tafsir ʻAyashi,vol.1,p.140

70Majmaʻ al-Bayān,vol.4,p.327

71 Refer to: Manahij al-Bayan,vol.1,p.308-

312

42

Quranic Culture and Financial Subjects

Nahla Gharavi Naeeni

Professor of Tarbiat Modares University

Article acceptance date: June. 2016

Abstract:Sent down from God in the Arabic language to the Prophet of Islam, the

Holy Quran directs its message to the faithfuls to teach them Quranic culture.

Among the issues that are suggested, emphasized, and commanded in the Quran is

the issue of finances, i.e. one‘s personal finances and social economics, both of

which play important roles in one‘s life. People‘s livelihoods are dependent upon

these matters, and one‘s social relations are also affected by them. The subjects that

Quran teaches include the giving of charity and loans and the abstention from

taking usury, and the quality of which is discussed and taught to those who have

faith. By repeating these subjects in various chapters, the Quran reminds Muslims

and gives them practice in these acts so that they become habitual, and society

adopts the way of God to achieve a peaceful existence and financial parity.

Using an analytical-descriptive method, this article gives the instructions of the

Quran regarding the usage of property and presents. Human societies can set these

solutions as an example for themselves to reach worldly happiness and be needless

of others.

Keywords: Quran, Personal Finances, Social Economics, Charity, Zakat, Usury,

Loans

Quranic Culture And Financial Subjects

43

Introduction

Holy Quran is a book of guidance and

life. In it there are many directions for

man‘s life. One of them is solving

economic problems of society and also

giving directions for better life like:

Zakat (charity), loans and not taking

usury. The Prophet of Islam taught

people these directions and He himself

and his house hold tried them during

their life for the sake of God(Allah) in

order to be role models for people to get

them to accept it as a culture. In this

way, believers and their society can

change from needy situation to

prosperous one and they become a

strong nation.

The Quran states and teaches to those

who have accepted faith the quality of

these issues. In this way, correct

behavior becomes habitual and society

adopts the way of God to achieve a

peaceful existence and financial parity.

1. Definitions of Culture

Culture is that with which people live; it

is related to the people. Culture is a

complicated combination of knowledge,

beliefs, arts, rules, ethics, and traditions

of people. Therefore, the term ―Quranic

culture‖ refers to the training and

teaching given in the Quran in terms of

beliefs, traditions, and behaviors of

man, because the Quran is a book of

guidance.

2. Charity

One of the Quranic teachings is the

subject of spending charitably for others

and giving alms. The Quran says:

٠ ٠أض أ لر ح زشلحو فمج ج أ آ ٠ح أ٠ح جر٠

جظح جىحفس ال شفحػس ال خس ال ذ١غ ف١

“You who believe! Spend out[to the

needy], of the bounty we have provided

as sustenance for you before the day

comes wherein there shall be no

bargaining nor friendship, nor

intercession. And those who disbelieve

they are the self-oppressors indeed”

(the holy Quran, 2, 254)

Charity in this world is a kind of trading

with God. It lays the groundwork for a

friendship with Him, for intercession

and daily sustenance, and it is profitable

on the day when all bartering or friendly

relationship is negated. By giving

charity in this world, man accumulates

good deeds that will be his friends and

companions in the Hereafter. Charity

giving is so important that if one

distances himself from this virtue, he is

committing practical sacrilege, and from

the perspective of this verse, refusing to

give obligatory charity is considered a

practical sacrilege and oppression.

Also the Holy Quran says,

ر ظي س ع خ لل ء فأ ش ط ح غ ج أ جػ

ذحلل ط آ ط و ئ ر١ جع جذ عحو١ ج ١طح ج مسذ ج

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

44

طم ج ج ٠ فسلح ج ح ػ ػردح ٠ ص ح أ للا ؼح ج

ء لد٠س ش ػ و

―And know that whatever of the war

spoils that you [o, Muslims]may gain

one fifth of it is assigned to Allah‟s way

and to the Messenger and to the near

relatives of the Messenger, to the

orphans, the poor who beg and the

wayfarers, if you believe in Allah …”

(the holy Quran; 8, 41)

The Quran commands Muslims to give

charity and shows that refusing to give

charity is sacrilegious and oppressive.

2-1 Quality of Charitable

Spending

The Holy Quran teaches how to give

charity, saying:

2-1-1Give charity from that which we

have provided you (2, 254). In this

verse, God accredits Himself with the

daily sustenance that we receive. Man

must remember that whatever he

achieves, is by the favor and sustenance

of God; without God‘s help or His will,

man is nothing and has no power. If

God withdraws His favor from mankind

for even just one moment, mankind will

lose all his power. Man‘s existence is

contingent upon the existence of God.

Therefore, it is easier to think that the

charity we give comes from God‘s daily

sustenance than to think that all wealth

belongs to us and that we earn our daily

sustenance by ourselves. This Quranic

teaching is itself a training for human

development and having correct culture.

2-1-2 It should be pure as Holy Quran

says: ―O, you who believe! Spend out

[in the way of Allah]of the good and

pure things which you have earned

[lawfully] and from which we have

brought out for you from the earth”.(2,

267) Even though one may feel that he

himself attained his wealth, he should

spend for charity from the unsullied part

of it. The Quran does not deny man‘s

ownership; it encourages mankind to

spend charitably from that which he has

attained, that for which he has worked

hard. Of course, God accredits Himself

with the growing of crops, and this in

itself is another lesson for us; crops

sprout for man out of the earth through

the favor and blessing of God. He says:

“Have you observed your farm and the

seed that you sow in the ground? Do

you cause it to yield production or are

we the producer? (56, 63-4)

Also Quran says: “And do not aim to

spend from that which is bad and

worthless, whereas you would not

accept it( 2, 267)

Charitable spending is what God likes

and it should be done for His approval,

thus, we should spend worthy things for

God. Anything other than virtue and

Quranic Culture And Financial Subjects

45

purity is not worthy to be offered to

God.

The method of training in this verse is

clear. By addressing those who have

accepted faith, God orders charitable

giving and describes the conditions of

the Judgment Day.

2-1-3 Pay charity without reminding

our generosity

God (Allah) warns those who pay no

attention to this command of the

consequences of their actions.

Furthermore, the manner of spending

charitably is stated in verse 264 of this

same chapter, which says that one‘s

charitable spending should not be

accompanied by reminders of one‘s

generosity or harassment: ―o, You who

believe! Do not render in vain your

charities by reminders your generosity

or by annoying; like a man who spends

his wealth to show off to people

whereas he does not believe (2, 264).

Also it describes the reward of one who

spends charitably without harassment or

reminders of his generosity and teaches

the appropriate behavior. With this

lesson in culture, the Islamic community

is taught to spend charitably without

harassment or reminders of one‘s

generosity, while alms giving and

charitable spending with harassment and

reminders nullifies the charitability of

one‘s act, as if one had not given charity

at all.

If one does not see the results and

benefits of his deed, he has no incentive

to repeat it. It is possible that the result

of charitable spending will not be seen

quickly; however, God‘s promises and

statements, which are truth for one who

has faith in Him, can be educational and

can be believed, because a faithful

person has confidence in God‘s word.

He accepts it and obeys the commands

of God. The Holy Quran promotes faith

and the doing of good deeds in those

who accept faith, i.e., charitable

spending, giving alms, and continuing

these acts, and says that those who

spend their wealth in order to please

God and to prove their own pure

intentions are like a garden on a hill

where hard rain pours and thereafter its

fruit is doubled. Men are encouraged by

the increased reward.

In this lesson, the Holy Quran also

teaches how to spend charitably saying:

2-1-4 the way of paying charity

If you give alms openly, it is well, and if

you hide it and give it to the poor, it is

better for you. To reassure the faithful

about giving charity secretly, the Quran

says that God is aware and informed of

man‟s actions. So whether one pays

openly or in secret, from his good

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

46

wealth or the bad, God knows

everything (2, 271).

From the viewpoint of Islam, receiving

charity is a right of mankind, and it has

great importance; Islam makes an

appeal for various methods of giving,

including zakat1, khums

2, fines and

other ransoms, and both obligatory and

recommended charitable payments as

well as endowments, legacies, and

bequests. This means that the level of

life in the lower social classes, e.g., men

who cannot meet the basic needs of

their lives without the help of others, is

raised until it approaches that of those

who have been blessed with wealth.

From another viewpoint, Islam has

forbidden the upper class from

excessive display of the affectations,

luxuries, and ornamentations of life that

are not within reach of society‘s middle

class. The intent behind all this is to

establish a moderate life style, the

components and dimensions of which

are similar and bring closer together the

social classes, bring to life the integrity

of unity and cooperation, and uproot

opposing desires, hostility, and

spitefulness of the heart. The Quran

propounds that the religion of truth must

maintain all affairs of life in neat order

as a guarantor of prosperity in this

world and in the Hereafter. Through

this, with a truthful education and

knowledge of ethics, mankind can live a

prosperous and happy life, benefit from

the blessings God given in this world,

and avert ill-health, calamities, and

material shortcomings. This is not

possible unless there is a happy life of

peace and tranquility for everyone alike.

Nor is it possible unless lifestyles are

improved and essential needs for life are

satisfied. Only with financial and

economic actions will this become

complete. The way to achieve this for

members of society is to share willingly

with others what they earn by pain and

difficulty, because believers are

brothers, and the earth and all property

belong to God.

2-2 Methods for Spending Charitably

The Quran also presents methods for

charitable spending, saying: Spend

charitably in secret, openly, at night or

in the day. Hiding the charitable

spending distances it from pretension,

harassment, and reminders of one‘s

generosity and further protects the

integrity of the poor. The shame of

humiliation and degradation will not

befall on them, and their dignity will not

be injured. Therefore, open charity has a

greater result and secretive charity is

more pure. The foundation of religion is

built on sincerity, and the purer a deed

is, the closer to virtue it becomes. Thus,

charity given in secret is given

preference:

Quranic Culture And Financial Subjects

47

فمسجء ضإضح ج ض فح ئ ح دلحش فؼ ضردج جظ ئ

خر١س ح ضؼ ذ للا ظ١ثحضى ى ٠ىفس ػ خ١س ى ف

“If you give alms openly, it is well, and

if you hide it and give it to the poor, it

is better for you; and this will do away

with some of your evil deeds; and Allah

is aware of what you do”

(the holy Quran; 2, 271).

For further encouragement, the Quran

says: Those who spend charitably of

their wealth in the night or day,

secretly or openly, their reward is with

their Lord; there is no fear upon them,

nor will they grieve.

In conclusion, the Quran says that God

is aware of the deeds of his servants. In

verse 274 to emphasize the culture of

charitable spending, the Quran says

those who give alms openly and in

secret from their wealth for the pleasure

of God, God with kindness has

promised them, “Their reward is with

their Lord.”

Of course it is recommended that it is

better to pay the obligatory

charity(Zakat) openly because others

may be encouraged to pay it too.

2-3 Factors Deterring Charitable

Spending

In its method of teaching, as the Holy

Quran advises and encourages good

deeds, it also brings to the attention of

mankind that which deters from good

deeds by listing them. It alerts mankind

to be careful not to fall victim to Satan‘s

trickery, for the Quran says that Satan is

an obvious enemy of man (Al-Qasas,

28, 15).

In every act and issue, Satan is lying in

ambush. In regards to charitable

spending, too, the Quran says that Satan

inspires fear of poverty, and other than

perversion and lewdness, he has no

other objective; thus, it is not lawful for

you to follow him (Al-Baqarah, 2, 268).

2-4 Factors Encouraging Charitable

Spending

In verse 261, the Quran describes the

effects of spending charitably from

one‘s wealth as being worth seven times

the amount spent. With this promise, the

Quran teaches the faithful that

charitable spending has copious

benefits, and the faithful are encouraged

to adopt this act.

The rewards which are increased by

God can be likened to the parable of a

grain of wheat which grows seven

stalks, and each stalk has 100 kernels. In

other words, the bounty will increase

700-fold. If God wants, He will give

even more than 700 times, because He

is free from want and nothing can

prevent His generosity or limit His favor

and magnanimity.

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

48

The verses in chapter Al-Baqarah say

that there are two types of charitable

spending: one is for the pleasure and

satisfaction of God, and the other is

without the intention of pleasing God.

Therefore, one‘s intention in spending

charitably and giving alms influences

the result. An action that is meant to

please God will be accompanied by

goodness and honesty. Allameh

Tabataba‘i says: ―Any time charitable

spending is for God, its favorable

effects will never be nullified, because

its connection to God is protected and

God‘s favor is incumbent upon it, even

though the degree of favor will differ

according to the degree of purity of

intention. The weight of an action also

cause variation in its effect, such that a

garden located on fertile land will give

fruit upon the coming of a good rain,

but the degree of its goodness depends

on the amount of rain. Regarding this

difference, the Quran says:

“The similitude of those who spend

their wealth seeking Allah‟s pleasure

and strengthening their own souls is as

the similitude of a garden on a height:

Heavy rain falls on it and it doubles its

yield of harvest; and if heavy rain does

not fall upon it, then a gentle rain is

[also] sufficient. And Allah is the seer

of all that you people do” (2:265). In

other words, God is aware of that which

you do; there will be no injustice in the

reward for it, and the reward of an

action will not be attributed to another

action‖.

In contrast to the deterrent factors, God

presents encouraging factors as well so

that mankind is encouraged to spend

charitably and give alms. He dismisses a

portion of his wages and gives it to the

needy for the satisfaction of God. The

factors which are mentioned include:

Then the Quran says that the goodness

one does in giving charity, is for

himself. The tone of the verse is simple.

It states that charitable spending has no

benefit for God, rather only for

mankind. This expression is also meant

to be encouraging, because man is

continuously pursuing his own interests

and wants that which is profitable to

him. This indicates that worldly reward,

and the reward of the Hereafter is not an

illusory affair, rather a truthful and real

one that God will pay without omission.

Ibn Abbass says that the verse “Those

who spend [in charity] of their wealth

by night and day, secretly and openly,

for them shall be their reward with

their Lord, on them shall be no fear,

nor shall they grieve” (2: 274) was sent

down regarding ‗Ali (pbuh) who had

four dirhams; one he gave at night, one

during day, the 3rd

secretively, and the

4th

openly.

Quranic Culture And Financial Subjects

49

2-4-1 Allah‟ Promise is truth (justice)

Thus, the Quran says that God is just

and His promise is just:” Satan

threatens you with poverty [to prevent

you from spending in charity]; and

orders you to commit sin; whereas

Allah promises you His bounty and

forgiveness…” (2:268). It also says:

“And whatever you spend in charity, of

whatever vow you make, surely Allah

knows it; but for the wrongdoers there

shall be no helpers for them” (2 : 270).

It means that those who do not pay their

obligatory charity they are wrong doers

(oppressors).

To Whom One Should Give Charity

In its teachings, the Holy Quran tells to

whom a determined amount of charity

should be given: “for those poor who

are besieged in the path of Allah and

thereby prevented from travelling and

cannot move about in the land [for

trade or work]” (2:273). Charity is for

the underprivileged who, in the way of

God, have been stricken with poverty

and cannot travel the earth. They veil

their own needlessness so much that a

foolish person (with their conditions)

would suppose that they have no needs.

They do not want to compel people to

help them. Therefore, the truly needy

must be identified and sought out. It is

not clear if one who begs openly is

really needy. Also, to the orphans, the

poor who beg and the wayfarers (Al –

Anfal, 41).

3-Loan Giving

Loaning and borrowing is another

financial relationship between people.

People‘s social needs may cause them to

borrow from each other. Constraints,

illness, bankruptcy, and business

advances are all cases in which cause

one person to borrow money from

another. The Quran urges Muslims to

lend money to each other and

encourages the culture of lending by

recommending that loans be given in the

best possible manner and that extra time

be given to he who lacks the financial

means to repay his loan, by saying:

“And if the debtor is in straitness, then

grant him time till it is easy for him to

repay; but if he has no money your

emit it by way of charity; that is better

for you if you only knew” (2:280).

About ten verses of the Quran are about

loans, all of which stipulate excellence

[Hasanah]. These verses encourage men

to give excellent loans and are

accompanied by the promise of

increased wealth and forgiveness of

God (Al-Baqarah, 245; Hadid, 11). So,

by repeating the phrase ―excellent loan,‖

it teaches Muslims to adopt the culture

of giving excellent loans so that it

becomes habitual for them.

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

50

Regarding this noble verse, Allameh

Tabataba‘i writes: Spending wealth in

the way of God is considered as a loan

given to Him, because it will be used in

His way, and several times that which

one spends will be given to him as

encouragement.3

Giving a loan to God can mean giving a

loan to a servant of God for God‘s

satisfaction, to help resolve the

problems of a faithful person who has

been stricken with trouble, especially if

that person is needy and cannot repay

his loans. If the loan given is for the

satisfaction of God and it is not

demanded, ultimately the loan takes on

the status of charity and will result in

the pleasure of God and, according to

God‘s promise, the wealth of the giver

will increase.

3-1 Method of Loan Giving

The Holy Quran teaches Muslims how

to loan money, saying: “o, you who

believe! When you contract a debt for a

fixed term, then write it down and let a

scribe write it down between you justly.

And the scribe should not refuse to

write, as to what Allah has taught him.

So let him write and let the debtor

dictate; and he must fear Allah, his

Creator Nurturer; and diminish not

anything of what he owes, if he who

owes, suffers from mental problem or

he is weak or unable to dictate himself,

then let his guardian dictate justly. And

call to witness, two witnesses from

among your men and if there is not two

men, then call a man and two women

of those you approve of as witnesses, so

that it one of the two women forgets.

The second one of the two may remind

the other; and the witnesses should not

refuse to witness when they are called

on you should not become weary of

writing it sown, whether small

transaction or big, with its fixed term,

this procedure is the most equitable

with Allah, more solid as evidence, and

more convenient to prevent doubt

among yourselves. (2: 282-3).

The verse commands the writing and

registering/recording of this financial

affairs so that the rights of the wealth

owner remain protected and

forgetfulness, deception, or lying do not

destroy them. In this same verse, it is

emphasized that even small loans be

recorded, so that no one in the affair

incurs a loss. The verse with the

sentences ―Believers, when you

contract a debt for a fixed period, put it

in writing. Let a scribe write it down

between you with fairness; no scribe

shall refuse to write as Allah has

taught him. Therefore, let him write;

and let the debtor dictate, fearing Allah

his Lord, and do not decrease anything

of it. If the debtor is a fool, or weak, or

unable to dictate himself, let his

Quranic Culture And Financial Subjects

51

guardian dictate for him in fairness.

Call to witness two witnesses of your

men, if the two are not men, then a

man and two women from the

witnesses whom you approve; so that if

one of the two errs, one of them will

remind the other. Whenever witnesses

are called upon they must not refuse,

and do not be weary to write it down,

be it small or large, together with its

term. This is more just with Allah; it

ensures accuracy in testifying and is

the least of doubt. Unless it is present

merchandise that you circulate

between you; then no guilt shall be on

you if you do not write it down and

take witnesses when you are selling,

and let no harm be done to either

scribe or witness. If you do, that is a

transgression in you. Fear Allah. Allah

teaches you, and Allah has knowledge

of everything.” (2:282) reaches the

conclusion. It emphasizes on fear of

God and says that God is All-Knowing.

In other words, God knows your

goodness and evil, profits and losses,

good and bad, and that which God

commands and recommends is for your

own good. It also says that if one is in a

situation where writing is not possible

there must be a trustee, and if it is

necessary he should be a witness and

not hide the truth. If he does hide the

truth, his heart has sinned.

Helping others develops affection in

hearts and creates a strong bond among

people. It is the best tool for connecting

the people of a society. The existence of

such a culture among the people of a

nation will result in empathy, unity, and

a peaceful life. Every type of financial

contract must be respected so that no

one‘s rights are abused; if a promise is

given to someone, or especially when

money is borrowed. If that promise is

not kept, the person making the loan

will incur a loss. The culture of keeping

promises that the Quran emphasizes is

crucial in society. When promises are

kept, trust and confidence in one

another will increase among people. A

peaceful life, trust, and confidence are

crucial to society.

4. USURY

In contrast to charitable spending, the

subject of usury is raised, which means

the receipt of extra property/wealth in

return for that which was loaned. In

continuance of the verse regarding

charitable spending in the chapter Al-

Baqarah, God poses the discussion of

usury. Usury was prevalent in human

societies before Islam. The Holy Quran

directly addresses those who have

accepted faith and forbids them from

getting usury, saying: Oh, you who

believe! Do not devour usury with

increasing profits; and fear from the

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

52

disobedience of Allah so that you may

receive salvation (Al‘Imran, 130).

The method in which the Quran says

about usury also has a process, and God

states the effects and harms of it. He

also states the results of obeying and

disobeying Him regarding usury. This is

repeated in the verses of the Quran to

make people do it more so that a culture

that avoids usury becomes the habit and

behavior of people.

Verse 39 of Chapter Ar-Rum (a Meccan

chapter) was revealed, before the verse

in Al‘Imran which says: “whatever you

give with the name of usury, to

increase the property of the usurer, it

has no increase in the presence of

Allah; but whatever you spend in alms

to gain the pleasure of Allah it does

attain the state of becoming manifold

by Allah‟s favour”. From this it is

obvious that usury was discouraged and

prevented from the beginning of the era

of the Holy Prophet before his

migration, and in chapter Al‘Imran it

was forbidden completely. In seven

verses, the forbiddance of usury was

emphasized and intensified after the

verse in Al‘Imran was revealed.4

The verses regarding usury and

charitable spending and alms giving are

related to each other. Usury is getting

property and alms-giving is the giving

property. The bad effects that are

associated with usury are, without

exception, precisely opposed to the

good effects associated with alms-

giving. Alms-giving causes the

outpouring of mercy and love,

straightens the backs of the

impoverished and needy, and gives

order and safety to society; the effects

of usury are starkly juxtaposed to these

benefits. In these verses, God in his

eminence has shown strictness

regarding usury, the likes of which are

seen in none of the branches of religion

except friendship with enemies of

religion, because the ill effects of these

two sins destroy the foundation of

religion, obliterates its effects, and

corrupts the system of life. Moreover, it

casts a curtain upon the eyes of men and

impede their true judgment (Ibid, p.

409).Usury causes the collapse of the

working class and draws all the wealth

toward the upper class. It becomes a

way for them to dominate the lives,

property, and honor of others. The

working and weak classes, who see

themselves in this situation as degraded

and inferior, take any means to defend

their rights and take revenge from the

wealthy, and in this manner, society is

disrupted.

The cultural lessons of the Quran are

such that first the Quran encourages

good deeds and then forbids repulsive

and lewd acts. Taking usury, draining

Quranic Culture And Financial Subjects

53

the resources of the needy, collecting

property in another group, storing

wealth, and accumulating the

possessions of the people divide people

into two groups: the wealthy and the

needy, and this threatens humanity.

Allameh writes: Usury disrupts the

balance and equilibrium of society and

destroys the order of society that

governs the straight path of decency and

method of innate government. This is

the same mistake that afflicts usury

takers, because usury confuses the order

of bartering and exchange and will mix

normal buying and selling and usury. If

one is invited to stop taking usury, he

will say: trading is only like usury. (Al-

Baqarah, 275) (Ibid, p. 411). He also

writes:

The point of this is that in this verse

down payment is compared to usury,

not the other way around. One who has

this discrepancy and mistake in him is

stuck in a situation which seems logical

and acceptable to as which is indecent

and unacceptable. Whenever this person

is commanded to stop his inappropriate

actions and turn to doing good deeds, if

he answers at all, he will say: That

which you tell me to do is like that

which you stop me from doing, and

there is no benefit in it. Yes, if incorrect

practices become the habit and culture

of a person, he will lose the ability to

recognize what is wholesome, and that

which is indecent and unacceptable they

will consider to be good. They will not

be able to recognize the right path. A

person who is afflicted with this type of

culture are headed for destruction.

Allameh also writes:

If a personal matter becomes a social

one, the method of continuity and

downfall and its effects will differ. For

example, a promiscuous person who

commits lewd acts in a society opposed

to such behaviors will fall into disfavor

with the people. No one will associate

with or marry that person, and he will

lose the trust and confidence of society.

It would not be disapproved by society

when such an act becomes socially

acceptable. When an act becomes

widespread and fashionable, its

obscenity is forgotten and natural and

social corruptions will spread (ibid, p.

420).

In this group of verses, God also names

those who do not obey or who turn

away from God‘s commands as

dwellers of the fire. Then, in the way of

Quranic teachings, He says that God

will destroy usury while he multiplies

charity. ―Allah will deprive usury of

any blessing and will increase blessing

for deeds of charity; and Allah dies not

like any ungrateful sinner” (Al-

Baqarah, 276). He brings up this subject

to warn usury takers, so that maybe they

will awaken from their sleep of

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

54

negligence, become aware of their error,

and stop taking usury.

From ‗Ali bin Abitalib (pbuh) it has

been narrated that the Prophet of God

(pbuh) condemned five people in

regards to usury: those who take usury,

those who pay usury, the two witnesses,

and the scribe of the contract for usury.

These subjects indicate that in the

Islamic society of those days, despite

the presence of the Prophet of God

(pbuh) among the people and the

revelation of the divinely inspired

verses that were the best tools for

strengthening faith, usury still existed.

This subject in verse 278 of chapter Al-

Baqarah is shown, “oh you who

believe! Fear from the disobedience of

Allah‟s command and give up what

remains from usury, if you are

believers”.

Disobeying and refusing to stop

collecting usury means to fight with

God and his Prophet. Of course, warring

with God and his prophet is the epitome

of heresy. In continuance, the Quran

says that if one repents (meaning a real

repentance in which one never again

approaches usury), one‟s assets are his

own. Don‟t do injustice and you will

not be treated unjustly (Al-Baqarah,

279).

The important points that rule over all

issues related to God are the matters of

accepting faith, worshipping the One

God, obeying and serving Him, and

obeying His Prophet (Muhammad

(p.b.u.h)). In the beginning of chapter

Ma‘idah, the last chapter to be revealed

to the Prophet, it says: ”O you who

believe! Fulfill the promises and

covenants once made…”.

Twenty years after the prophecy of the

Prophet of God (pbuh), Muslims are

commanded and advised to keep their

covenants and agreements. The subject

of this covenant is obedience of God,

which includes the verses that command

charitable spending, giving goodly

loans, and neither receiving nor giving

usury. If the culture of usury is not

prevalent among members of a society,

they will enjoy goodness and bounty,

and the unjust collection of wealth in

one place will not occur. These are all

types of righteous deeds for which in

many verses the Holy Quran gives many

good things to those who have accepted

faith and do good deeds (Al-Baqarah,

82; Al-Ma‘edeh, 9; Yunus, 4; Ar-Ra‘ad,

29; Al-Kahf, 30; Al-Hajj, 14, 23;

Luqman, 8; etc.).

5-Expropriation of other people‟s

possessions

Another of the financial issues the

Quran has forbidden is the expropriation

and use of the wealth of others without

their approval. In other words, it is

Quranic Culture And Financial Subjects

55

invalid. As the Quran says: “O, you

who believe! Do not devour each

other‟s wealth in vanity and illegal

way: The profit obtained should be

from trading based on mutual consent”

(An-Nisa, 29). Expropriating an

orphan‘s property for one‘s own benefit

similar to not giving a divorced woman

her dowry (An-Nisa, 2) is against

general logic and good intention.

CONCLUSION

Charitable spending and giving alms in

order to please God will unify the hearts

of members of society and thus fortify

the society. Giving loans to the needy

and giving them time to pay back the

loan are issues recommended by the

Quran that will resolve the problems of

the people, create empathy, and reduce

the number of problems. Quitting usury

and foregoing money and assets attained

through usury will bring goodness and

bounty, and wealth will not be collected

all in one place. Moreover, the

possessions of the poor will not be

completely depleted and peace of mind

will increase in society.

RESOURCES

-Holy Quran

- Esposio,John l., The Oxford

Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic

World, Oxford University press;

Newyork Oxford, 1995.

- Jawadi-Amuli, Abdullah,Tafsir

Tasnim, Qum, Isra Institute, 1386

- Saffarzadeh, Tahereh, The Holy

Qur‘an translation eighth commentary,

Al-Huda, Tehran/ Iran, 2007.

- Tabataba‘i, Seyyid Muhammad

Husayn, Al-Mizan, an Exegesis of the

Qur‘an; Qum, Esmaeiliyan Publishing

Institute, 1393 AH/1973 CE.

- Tabarsi, Fazl bin Hassan; Tafsir

Majma al-Bayanof the Quran; Qum,

Manshural Maktabeh of Ayatullah

Mar‗ashi, 1403 AH.

- Wikipedia

ndnotes

1Muslims with the financial means (nisab)

are obliged to give a certain percentage of their wealth as zakat. Zakat was institutionalized as an obligatory edict of faith in both the Quran and sunnah (Esposio, v.4, p.366)

2Khums(fifth) as a tax developed in very

early Islam and was based on the principle that one fifth of war booty taken by Muslims belonged to the Prophet Muhammad. It was used for the benefit of the holy family as well as some categories of the indigent. Later on, it was interpreted as an Islamic tax on profits of various sorts beyond expenditures (Esposio,v. 2, p.431).

3 Tabataba’i, v. 2, p. 84.

4 Ibid. p. 408

56

:

The Essence of Logic;

Logic and Vahi Discrepancy

Reza Berenjkar

Professor of Tehran University

Article acceptance date: February. 2016

Abstract: logic in the word of Arab means prevention. Logic is the foundation of a

kind of gnosis which leads human beings to the right path. Though it should be

noticed that logic is not an innate soul-bound trait, it is a blessing from God which

lightens up human beings‘ soul. On the other hand, the perceptions of logic is clear

and unerring and are trustable in their essence. While the logic which is dealt with

in Philosophy is erring and a stage of mind‘s understanding. The discrepancy

between logic and words have various forms and it is impossible to give them the

same judgment.

Key Word: Vahi(revelation of God to His Prophets)

Introduction:

Clarifying the meaning of logic and its

borders are of the most significant and

basic discussions. This clarification can

introduce logical solutions to many

religious based disputes such as conflict

between logic and Vahi (Revelation from

God.)

All are able to talk about logic, make

examples, and give some definitions

though their definitions and examples can

be vague or general.

Logic And Vahi Discrepancy

57

Generally, when logic is the subject of

discussions, we can hear these words:

Godly logic, humanly logic, partly logic,

general logic, reasoning logic, witnessing

logic, shallow logic, realistic logic,

theoretical logic, practical logic, non-

experimental logic, non-revelational

logic,… .

Therefore, before opening any discussion,

which includes the discussion on the

relationship between logic and Vahi, the

exact meaning and its borders should be

clarified. The present article aimed at

clarifying the meaning of logic. It tries to

investigate some points like the

relationship between soul and logic, the

time of benefiting from logic and its

perfection, the grades of logic, logic

trustability, the relationship between will

and logic, the realm of logical judgment to

clear up the meaning of logic. Then it

encompasses the conflict between logic

and Vahi.

Logic in Arabic language

The meaning of logic in Arabic is

prohibition, forbiddance and stoppage.1

The usages of logic are derived from these

meanings. Khalil Nahwi said, logic is the

opposite of ignorance.2 Raqib argued that

logic is the ready potentiality to accept

knowledge.3 Ibn Faras said logic is named

logic as it prohibits us from evil deeds and

talks.4 Jurjani said, logic stops men from

distractions from right path.5

The conclusion of this part is the meaning

of logic which is prevention and in this

meaning two sides have been regarded: a

recognition-base side and a value-based

side. It means logic is the root of

recognition. A kind of recognition which

leads human beings to right path and good

deeds.

To end up in right path it is essential to

realize true beliefs which are in

accordance with reality. To recognize

good deeds it is obligatory to know what

is good and what is bad. Therefore, it can

be said logic is something which shows

true beliefs and good deeds to human

beings.

The mentioned literal meaning of this

word has been used in Quran and

traditions. In this case similar to other

cases nothing is added to this meaning to

change it, of course there are some

interpretations regarding it which added

some descriptions and conditions to it

which is called ―Ta‘addud Dal and

Madlul‖.

Here, first we present several examples

from Islamic resources about the literal

meaning of logic. Then we will embark on

the specific features added to it.

a. Examples on the literal

meaning of logic

1. In the realm of religion

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

58

There are various verses in Quran which

command people to think logically about

the verses concerning creations6; and the

reasons of disbelief and distortions have

been called lack of logical thinking.7

In traditions, growth and guidance have

been named as the results of logic.8 In a

tradition from the holy Prophet we read, 9

ج جؼم ػمحي جج

From Ali (a.s.), it has been narrated that, 10

جؼم جط جؼ

―Logic is the base of knowledge.‖

Imam Sadiq said in this regard, wisdom,

understanding, and knowledge are resulted

from logic.11

It has been narrated from imam Sadiq that

human beings can realize being creatures

and having a Creator Who plans for them

through their logic.12

In traditions

sometimes logic has been lined up against

ignorance and sometimes knowledge has

been mentioned to be against ignorance.13

The commonality between these two

traditions is logic which is the root of

knowledge. Therefore in this sense

ignorance can be regarded as the opposite

of logic. Also in this confrontation

ignorance does not mean lack of any

science but lack of true knowledge which

leads human beings to the path of God. In

this regard, anyone who has not such a

knowledge, although is equipped with

other knowledge is ignorant. Therefore

ignorance has two meanings: one is the

lack of any knowledge, second lack of

useful knowledge.

Apparently, the expressions like

knowledge (‗ilm), hikmah, ma‘rifah

(gnosis), and God‘s acceptance which are

the results of logic show the gnosis which

is in accordance with reality. From this we

can conclude that logic can show honesty

and dishonesty so it is a reason from

God.14

In the well-known tradition of

Mi‘raj it has been asserted that the one

who does not use his logic will err.15

2. In the realm of practice and

ethics

In holy Quran we read,

ال ٠ؼم جط ػ جر٠ جس ٠جؼ

“and he casts uncleanness on those who

will not understand”(10:100)

In various traditions good deeds and

morality, e.g. good deeds16

, not

committing sins17

, worshipping God18

,

patience and humbleness19

, politeness and

good manner20

, piety,21

justice and

avoiding bad temper,22

good

speaking,23

putting everything in its

suitable place24

have been counted as the

results of logic.

In a famous tradition, it has been said that

when imam Sadiq was defining the word

logic as something which causes God‘s

Logic And Vahi Discrepancy

59

worship and heaven be gained. Someone

asked, so what‘s it called which is in

Mu‘awiyah? Imam answered, that is

mischief which looks like logic but it is

not logic. It means logic guides to

goodness, benevolence and truth not

aberration25

.

The mentioned evidences assert that good

deeds are the result of logic. In some

traditions we read that human beings can

recognize good and bad through logic.26

The one who uses logic will not revolt

against truth and logic will not embellish

badness as goodness.27

In a part about the

relationship between logic and soul some

other evidence from Quran and Sunnah

will be mentioned.

As we have seen in some cases

―recognizing‖ good and bad are counted

as results of logic and in other cases

―good deeds‖ are mentioned as its result.

It can be said that logic not only is the

criterion to distinguish bad from good but

also shows the necessity of such an action.

Therefore, to think logically, i.e. to listen

to the message of logic, human beings

should be able to do good deeds.

In brief, logic in its literal meaning and

also in Quran and Sunnah is a light in the

realm of theory and practice which helps

people get a recognition based on truth. In

practical realm it shows good deeds.

Therefore the possibility of making

mistake will be zero. Though it is possible

that logic can not understand something,

i.e. that issue be above its understanding

level, in its realm it will make no mistake.

In a research we have done we did not find

any example of logic which made a

mistake. In the following, other proof on

our claim which is unerring essence of

logic have been presented.

b. Other features of logic

Various features have been cited regarding

logic that here we only suffice to the basic

features:

1. The relationship between logic

and soul ( an analysis on the recognition

essence of logic)

Islamic resources did not talk directly

about this issue much. But regarding the

verses and traditions, it seems that logic in

contrast to what is common in philosophy

is not a non seperatable phenomenon from

soul, it is not mentioned in the definition

of the soul, but logic is a gift of God, a

light bestowed to human beings by God to

lighten their souls which helps human

beings to distinguish right and wrong.

Here we are going to mention those

traditions which assert this. In some of

these traditions some other characteristics

have been mentioned for logic.

1.1. Logic is similar to light which

lighten up soul. Imam Musa Kazim said,

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

60

28ج ػب جسح، جؼم

i.e. truly, logic is the light of soul.

In a tradition from the Prophet mentioned

in Shia and Sunnite books,

29جؼم ز فی جمد ٠فسق ذ ذ١ جذك جرحؽ

i.e. logic is a ray of light in heart by which

right and wrong can be distinguished.

(some times instead of the word soul the

word heart has been used.)

In another tradition we read, when a

human being grows up to be a man or

woman, in his heart a ray of light will

appear. Since then, Vajib and Mustahab

(religiously obligatory actions and

religiously advised actions) , good and bad

are all understandable to him. Logic in

heart is like a light hung in a home.30

1.2. Some traditions are speaking about

the creation of logic.31

1.3. Imam Baqir said, the resident of logic

is soul and heart.32

1.4. Imam ‗Ali said, Gabriel came to

Adam and said, oh Adam! I was ordered

to suggest three things to you to choose

one of them and leave the other two.

Adam asked, what are they? He said,

logic, Haya (modesty), and religion. Adam

said, I choose logic. Gabriel said to Haya

and religion, go back! They said, we are

ordered to accompany logic wherever it

is!33

1.5. In another tradition it has been said

about the creation of those human beings

who do not have logic and mind are not

responsible.34

1.6. The holy Quran said,

جح ح ظ فط جح لد أفخ ضم ح فجزح فأ

دظحح شوحح لد خحخ

―By the soul and who shaped it, and

inspired it with its sin and its piety,

prosperous is he who purified it, and

failed is he who buried it!”(91:7-10)

According to these verses God after the

creation of human being inspired piety to

him.

Imam Sadiq interpreted the word فجز and

Fujur and Taqwa) like this: God( ضمج

inspired human being whatever he should

do and whatever he shouldn‘t, He taught

him rightness and falsehood.35

As the same thing has been said about

logic it is assumed that this inspiration is

that inspiration of the light of logic to the

soul.36

2. The time of benefiting from

logic and its perfection

As we have seen in the holy verse, human

beings after completion, is equipped with

logic. In fiqh, this level is called the age of

understanding, which means in this age

distinguishing right and wrong is possible.

But it is different among human beings.

Usually it is about 12 years old. In a

tradition about the verse

Logic And Vahi Discrepancy

61

وره جص ح ػ ح آض١ح دى جظط ح ذغ أشد

ذع١ ج

and when he was full grown, and

reached the perfection of his strength, we

gave him judgment and knowledge. as

such we recompense the

gooddoers. (28:14)

We read,

جشد

means 18 years old and جظطی means the

time of growing bear and mustache.37

Also in other traditions we read about

perfection of logic by the age of 28,35,56.

3. The levels of logic

The degree of having logic in human

beings is various. In traditions of Sunnite

and Shia the highness of human beings is

according to the level of their logic.38

In

addition to that, the duty of each person

and its accountability in Hereafter would

be based on the level of his logic. 39

In a

tradition we read, the holy Prophet enjoys

99 parts of logic and a part of them has

been scattered among all other human

beings.40

4. logic as a clear proof (Hujjat)

Hujjat means a clear proof; in a way that

there remains no place for excuse. God

has two kinds of proof: the first is

apparent,i.e. infallibles and imams; the

second, the inside proof, i.e. logic.41

The significant point is logic which is an

inside proof and can lead people to God

and religion. The base of each holy

religion is to prove the unity of God and

prophethood, these two are proved by

logic. On the other hand, when we realize

religion as a proof, logic will prove the

necessity of following God and His

messenger.42

As we have seen, a condition

of being responsible is to enjoy logic.

―Logic‖ being as a proof and its

fundamental role in knowing the other

proof assert logic as a phenomenon which

makes no mistakes.

5. the relationship between will

and logic

From what we have read so far we can

infer that logic is given by God and people

are benefiting from it in different levels. In

various traditions we read that logic is a

gift from God43

and it is the highest gift.44

Here we have this question in front of us

can human being‘s will power determine

the level of logic he enjoys? The answer is

yes. First, logic is something which is

donated to us by God but using it or not is

in our control, based on our will.

Second, human being‘s will power is

effective in strengthening the logic or

weakening it.

Regarding the first one, we can say,

human being has logic and lust both. He

can will which one to follow.45

If he

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

62

follows his logic it will benefit him but if

he follows his lust it will destroy him. Due

to this, the verses of holy Quran blame

unbelievers why they don‘t think.

About the second issue it should be said in

some traditions logic has been divided into

two parts: one which is our logic which is

given by God and the second empirical

logic which is governed by the will

power.46

In addition in some other traditions it is

talked about teaching logic and acquiring

logic.47

In Islamic texts, it is said some

actions like learning, politeness and

following rightness48

can increase logic. In

contrast some actions can deteriorate

logic: lust49

, arrogance50

, greediness51

,

interacting ignorant ones52

, drinking

wine53

In brief, logic in the book of God and the

words of infallibles is not a sense which

errs; it is a light from God which lighten

up soul and heart. By its help differing

right from wrong is possible. Therefore,

logic is an inside proof, the base of outside

proof. This logic is called Fitrah logic

,‗Aql Salim or heavenly logic.

1 Refer to Juhari, al-Sihah, vol.5,p.1769;

Fiyyuti, al-Misbah al-Munir, p.422-423; ibn Faras, Mu’jam Maqaiis al-Lughah, vol.4,p.69

2Mu’jam Maqaiis al-Lughah, vol.4, p.69

3 Raqib Isfahani, Mufradat al-Faz al-Quran,

p.577

4Mu’jam Maqaiis al-Lughah, vol.4, p.69

5 Jurjani, al-Ta’rifat,p.65

6 Refer to: Ale ‘Imran, 118; Muminun, 80; Nur,

61; Hadid, 17; Baqarah, 164; Ra’d,4; Naml, 12; Rum, 24,28,…

7 Refer to: Anbiya, 67; Baqarah, 170, 171;

Ma’idah 58; Anfal, 22; Ḥarāni, Tuḥaf al-ʻUghul, p.44; Kanzul Fawaid, vol.2, p.31; al-Firdus, vol.2; p.150, vol.3, p.217

8Nahj al-Balāghah, Hikmat 421; Guralul Hikam,

no. 7078; kanzul Fawaid, vol.2,p.31.

9 Ḥarāni, Tuḥaf al-ʻUghul, p.15

10Ghurarul Hikam,no.1959,816

11Kafi, vol.1, p.25; ‘ilal al-Sharaye,p.103

12Kafi, vol.1,p.29

13 Refer to: Kafi, vol.1, p.14,21; Tanbih al-

Khavatir, vol.2,p.14;Ghurarul Hikam, tradition. 1736

14Kafi,vol.1,p.25

15Irshad al-Qulub,p.205

16Khisal,vol.2, p.633, hadith arb’a ma’e

17Kafi,vol.1,p.18; Ghurarul Hikam, tradition,

6393,1737, 7340

18Kafi, vol.1, p.11

19 Ḥarāni, Tuḥaf al-ʻUghul,p.28

20Irshad al-Qulub, vol.1,p.199;Ghurarul

Hikam,no.1280

21Kafi, vol.8,p.241

22 I’lam al-Din,p.127

23 Ḥarāni, Tuḥaf al-ʻUghul,p.323;Ghurarul

Hikam, no.9416,7091,4776,10961

Logic And Vahi Discrepancy

63

24

Nahj al-Balāghah, hikmah 235; Kanzul Fawaid,vol.1,p.200

25Kafi,vol.1,pp.3,11.

26Kafi, vol.1,p.29

27 Refer to: Irshad al-Qulub, vol.1, p.205

28 Ḥarāni, Tuḥaf al-ʻUghul,p.396

29Irshad al-Qulub,vol.1,p.198; Rabi al-Abrar,

vol.3,p.137.also refer to Avali al-Laali,vol.1,pp.248,244

30 I’lal al-Sharaye,p.98

31 Refer to: Kafi,vol.1,p.10,21,26,28; Khisal,

vol.2,p.427; Ma’ani al-Akhbar, p.313; Rudha al-Waezin,p.7; al-Ikhtisas,p.244; Avameli al-laali,vol.1,p.248;al-faqih,vol.4,p.267; al-Mahasin,p.192; Hilyat al-Uliya,vol.7,p.318; Tarikh Baghdad,vol.13,p.40

32Ilal al-Sharaye,p.107

33Kafi, vol.1,p.10; Irshad al-Qulub,p.198

34Bihar al-Anwār,vol.93,p.41

35Kafi, vol.1,p.163; Tafsiral-Qumi, vol.2,p.424;

Bihar al-Anwār vol.24,p.72

36 Refer to Tuḥid al-Imamiyah for more

explanation.

37Tuḥid al-Imamiyah,p.23

38Kafi.7055; Rabi al Abrar,vol.3,p.137;Hilyat al-

Uliyavol.1,p.362;Tarikh Baghdad,vol.8,p.360

39Al-Mahasin,vol.1,pp.308,608;

Kafi,vol.1,pp.11,12,26; Ma’anial-Akhbar,vol.1,p.2; Irshad al-Qulubvol.1,p.199; al-Ja’fariyat, p.148

40Bihar al-Anwār, vol.1,p.97

41Kafi, vol.1,pp.16,13,25; Ḥarāni, Tuḥaf al-

ʻUghul,pp.285,283,331

42Kafi, vol.1,p.29

43

Kafi,vol.1,p.23; Ḥarāni, Tuḥaf al-ʻUghul p.330; kanzul Fawaid,vol.1,p.56; irshad, vol.1,p.198;jame al ahadith,p.101; Ghural, no.227,3545; she’b al iman,vol.5,pp.388,7040; al-Firdus, vol.3,pp.155,4419.

44Kafi,vol.1,p.12;irshad,vol.1,pp.99; arāni,

Tuḥaf al-ʻUghul, p.293; kanzul Fawaid,no.7053

45Bihar al-Anwār, vol.60,p.299

46Matalib al-Seul,p.49; Mufradat,p.577

47Tarikh Yaqubi,vol.2,p.98; al-

Firdus,vol.5,p.325

48Ḥarāni, Tuḥaf al-ʻUghul, p.364;

Kafi,vol.1,p.20; I’lam al Din,p.298

49Nahj al-Balāghah,letter 3

50Nahj al-Balāghah, Hikmat, 212

51Nahj al-Balāghah Hikmat

64

The Verses of Surah Tahrim Used in Sahifah

Sajjadiyah

Mansoureh Shahsavan

Islamic Researcher

Article acceptance date: May. 2016

Abstract: In this article about ‗the verses of Surah Tahrim used in Sahifah

Sajjadiyah‘, the researcher tried to highlight the deep relationship between the

words of Imam Sajjad (AS) and words of God in Quran. Based on the research, the

most repeated verses in Sahifah are from surah Baqarah, but that verse which is

used by Imam and is specifically about Tawbah (repentance) is the verse 8 of

Tahrim Surah (sanction);it has been used ten times. Verse six of this Surah is also

used in Sahifah once.

Keywords: Sahifah Sajjadiyah‘, prayer, Tawbah Nasuh

The Verses Of Surah Tahrim Used In Sahifah Sajjadiyah

65

Introduction:

Familiarity with the life-giving prayers of

Sahifah Sajjadiyah, if accompanied by

thought and contemplation and not a mere

recitation, can open a window to the

endless world of knowledge; as this noble

book has been issued by the real

addressees of the Revelation i.e. the

Household of prophecy (PBUT). This

book is the vast ocean which gives shining

pearls of revelation covered in the shell of

prayers to all interested passengers. In

fact, Sahifah Sajjadiyah is another

wordings of the content of Quran; Quran

is the words of God to His Prophet and

prayers, the words of Prophet and Imams

to God, a kind of mutual interaction.

By reading the words of Sahifah

Sajjadiyah, we realize that the verses of

Quran have been included in this book.

One of the verses which is used in Sahifah

is the verse 8 of Surah Tahrim

(i.e.Sanction). In the following, first we

will take a look at the gist of this surah

and then the meaning of those parts of

Sahifah which embrace the verses.

A look at the Surah Tahrim

This surah begins with the story about the

Prophet and some of his wives. The story

was like this: the Prophet prohibited some

Hilal (religiously permitted) things to

himself and God blamed him why for the

sake of his wives‘ satisfaction he did this;

of course, it could be understood from the

verse that this blame should fall on his

wives. After this story, God warned

faithfuls of saving themselves from Fire of

hell which its woods are human beings

and being aware that the reward in return

for their actions is their actions! No one

can escape from his/her actions; salvation

would be for the Prophet and those who

come to believe in him. Then God orders

Prophet to fight disbelievers and

hypocrites. At the end of the Surah, He

made an example about Muslim women

and disbeliever woman.

ثخ صحب عس ر ا رثا إى للا آ ب اىذ " ب أ رثن

ب رحز جبد رجز دخين سئبرن ن نفز ع أ

ع ر ا آ اىذ اىج ل خش للا بر ال

سع ىب رب ب أر رث قى ب ثأ د أ ث

اغفز ىب إل عي ء قدز " مو ش

O‘ you who believe![ if you desire to be

immune from the bad end, then avoid

wrongdoing while you are in this world

submit your repentance to Allah with a

sincere repentance; your creator may

remove from you, your sins and will

admit you to the gardens in the midst of

which streams flow. On the day of

Judgment, the messenger and his

believing followers are not disgraced by

Allah: Their light will go ahead of them

And on their right side; and they pray:"

O, our Creator and Nurturer! Perfect for

us our light and grant us Forgiveness;

Verily, You are Powerful over all Things.

(the holy Quran:66 / 6)

Regarding the word ―Nasuh‖ in the verse,

Allameh Tabatabayei, in his interpretation

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

66

in ‗Al-Mizan‘,wrote, ‗The word ‗Nasuh‘

(Sincere) is from ―N-S-H‖, which means

seeking the best practice and the best

words which benefit its owner more. And

this word has another meaning; a sense of

absolute sincerity.1 Raghib Isfahani has

offered this meaning for this word.

According to him, Tawbah Nasuh‘

(sincere repentance) is a kind of

repentance that restrains its owner from

returning to sin so he will not repeat that

sin.2 God after ordering people to save

themselves and their families from hell, in

this verse for the second time – of course

to public- orders all faithfuls, ―do

repentance!‖ He used the word ػعیی which

means this hope remains that He will hide

their sins and will enter them to heaven

which rivers are running from underneath.

An explanation on the verses of Surah

Tahrim used in Sahifah

Third Prayer, part 19:

اىذ ز ب ؤ فعي ، ز ب أ للا ل عص

"They act upon what they have been

Commanded;"

(the holy Quran:66 / 6)

The title for this prayer is ―sending regards

to angels‖, from the first of this prayer

Imam Sajjad started with sending his

salutations to the angels who are obedient

and innocent. They do not stop in their

worship…‖. He continued counting their

characteristics until the above mentioned

verse. Here, some angels are named like

―Kiram Al-Katibin‖, Malik al-Mut‖,

―Nakir‖ , ―Monkir‖, ―Khazin‖, and

―Rizwan‖

There is a secret in giving each angel a

specific name. This verse talks about a

common feature among all angels;

whether they are agents of hell or heaven.3

And it is being obedient.

Prayer 12, part 16:

...ط ػی ذد جي ذد جلغ دحجطی ججخ ؽرطی

ل عي، جغفس ذری ج خف فعی إ ء قدز مو ش

ذک ػ١ک ٠ع١س ج١ زخ جؼح١.

In this prayer, the holy Imam started with

introducing those three hindrance in front

of us; first, an obstacle which is

disobedience. Second, committing sins

and the last one is people‘s ignorance…he

continued until the part he desired to

repent. Then he said, ―I do not fear from

anything but you; since you are deserved

to be afraid of and deserved to forgive;

send our regards to Muhammad and his

family, …these desires are easily granted

by you, so Grant, Lord of Worlds Verily,

you are Powerful over all Things. And

this is easy upon you, Amen O‘ Lord of all

the worlds.«

A look at the previous words of Imam

(AS) indicates that Imam Sajjad (AS) is

talking to God as if he is an ordinary

human being who has failed to perform his

duties and should be blamed. Hence, he

spoke to God as such: ―Oh! The Almighty,

The verses of surah Tahrim used in Sahifah Sajjadiyah

67

send greetings upon Muhammad and his

family and whatever duties granted upon

me [that I have failed] forgive, and

whatever I am worthy to be blamed for,

exempt…. and you are Known for Bounty

and Forgiveness and I need none other

than you‖4 Since Imam‘s (AS) words are

another interpretation of Divine words, the

next phrase of Imam is about seeking

Forgiveness. And this is quite obvious

that: ―If one finds the knowledge of

righteousness and knows that the only

change bringer in the world is none other

than the Almighty, he will not fear anyone

other than Him and will not need anyone

other than Him; therefore where there is a

gap between God‘s order and his own

wish, fearlessly, he will chose

righteousness. Due to this, Imam Sajjad

(AS) at the beginning of this part of his

speech said, ―If I am safe from Divinity

Punishment, nothing else is terrifying for

me,‖ then he continued: ―I am not afraid

of anything but you, so place me in your

Sanctuary.‖ This issue is in fact joining

God while separating from others and

indulging in infinity.5

Prayer 14, part 16:

ه » ، ئ ١ ؼح زخ ج ١ " آ ؼظ١ ج فؼ ذ "ذ ج "عي أ

«.ء قدز" مو ش

"You" are Powerful over all Things, so

answer me the Greatest of Worlds, since

you have Virtue and Great Bounty and you

are the All Mighty, All Powerful.‖

The sentence ―He is Powerful over all

Things "indicates that: ―The Power of

God is unlimited and infinite.‖6 God is the

Source of All lives; All Mighty; And

Absolute Powerful, and since He is the

most Powerful and Knowledgeable, it is

obligatory for all wise men and all

faithfuls not to oppose His Commands;

since His Rule is to give rewards to His

obedient servants and to punish arrogant

ones. As He said Himself,

ذذ مذذذىل أخذذذ رثذذل إا أخذذذ اىقذذز أخذذذ أىذذ ذذخ إ ظبى

شدد

“Such is the overtaking of your Creator

and Nurturer: When He overtakes the

wrongdoers of the towns, His

Punishment is painful and severe".

(11:102)

The Almighty is Forgiver of all servants‘

sins and is Merciful to them. And if they

repent and convert to Islam, the All-

Mighty will forgive their past; so it is

upon believers and the faithful to have

hopes on Him.

In this prayer, Imam complained about

cruelties of oppressors and as God is the

Omnipotent, he asked Him to punish

oppressors.

Prayer 16, Paragraph 34:

دن ف لدزضه، » ال ٠طىأ ظؼه، ١ه ف ذه ال ٠ؼ١ك ػ ئ

ص ط د رحضه ج ال ٠ثدن ف جص٠ دن ف أحضه، ال ٠طظؼ

ح ضس٠د ضذى ح ضشحء، ه ضفؼ ١ح آ٠حضه، ئ ػ مو ل عي، إ

. «ء قدز ش

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

68

Verily, this does not harm "."Verily, you

are Powerful over all Things."

(the holy Quran;66/8)

―Since these are not hard to you

considering your widespread abilities…

Verily, you are the All-Mighty.‖

A significant issue in Imam Sajjad‘s (AS)

words is his request from Almighty to

receive good news of amnesty and

forgiving sins; good news which is given

in this world not the other world; and this

is what which is mentioned in Quran:

... ذه ١حء للا أ ؼظ١ أال ئ ش ج ف ج

“It should be known, verily on the

devoted friends of Allah…. this glad-

tiding is indeed a great achievement.‖

(The holy Quran;10: 62 – 64)

Be aware that God‘s Saints do not fear or

not sorrowed by a thing…. And this

Annunciation is itself a great salvation.‖

Based on what has been stated in this

verse, God‘s Saints are those whom there

is no barrier between them and God.

Hijab (the veils) has gone aside from their

hearts and in the light of knowledge and

faith and pure acts, they could see God

with their hearts; in a way that no doubt

enters their hearts and for this familiarity

with the Divine, they will find all other

things unimportant7. The great

commentator of Sahifah has described this

section of the prayer as such: ―Verily,

whatever you Desire you shall Do and

whatever you shall intend you will

Command. Or, whatever the deeds you

will Act and whatever ordinances you will

Command…. And إذذذل عيذذذ ء قذذذدز مذذذو شذذذ Verily, you are Powerful over all

Things." (The holy Quran;66/8) is a

conclusion of the previous sentence; since

Almighty God is the one that if He

Desires, He will Act and if He does not,

He Will not; as you can order when you

have Might.8 In fact in this prayer as it is

about asking forgiveness, only the one

who is Powerful has the ability to forgive.

Prayer 19, part 7:

This prayer is about asking for rain.

جزشلح د، ذ آي د ذ ػ ط مو ل عي...إ ج

ء قدز ش

« O‘ Allah Great upon Muhammad and

his household … and Provide us…Verily,

you are Powerful over all Things."9―Oh,

Almighty! Send Greetings to Muhammad

and his family, Bestow us Blessings from

Heaven and Earth (rain and plants), since

Verily you are the Almighty.‖

Imam Sajjad (AS) requests God to bestow

us blessings from Heaven and Earth.10

As

God of All Glories Commands:

إى سب ظز ال ن طع في عب ل زبعب ىن ... ب

"Man should observe the food that he

eats and the process that Allah has

determined for its provision" ….[By

The verses of surah Tahrim used in Sahifah Sajjadiyah

69

Allah's Favour] All these bounties are a

provision for you and your cattle[So that

you may be thankful to your Creator "

(the holy Quran;80: 24 – 32)

Here, ‗heaven and earth blessings‘ are

those that descend from heavens and come

out of the earth like minerals, plants,

animals, etc. that God Almighty has

created for the livelihood of his

creatures.11

Just as He Commanded in His

words:

عب ب ف الرض ج خيق ىن

“He is the One who created for you all

things that are on the earth [as means of

provision and comfort”.

(the holy Quran; 2 / 29)

Also, it is narrated from the Prophet

(PBUH) that:

ئ شه للا بء إى الرض ثزمبد أرثع أ اىس شه اىحدد أ

يح اى اىبر بء اى

―Verily Allah send four tokens of sky

towards earth sent Iron and Water and

Fire and Salt. »12

He mentioned these four materials as they

are the most significant materials giving

us benefits; as His blessings are not

countable as we read,

ل رحصب ذ للا ا ع رعد إ

"And if you decide to count Allah's

Blessings you will not be able to compute

them."

(the holy Quran;14 /34.

In the prayers, it is stated:

اسذد فقزذب فضذيل ب أفط عي دك ع دب ا اىي

زل ب رح شزعي ا ثقدررل

O’ Allah guide us and have mercy on us

and remove our poverty by your power. 13

نا من بػركات سمائك ماء طهورا ك أنبت لنا من اللهم أ نزؿ عليػأنعاما كأناسي بػركات أرضك نػباتا مسقيا ك تسقيه مما خلقت

كثيرا

«O’ Allah sent down on us from the tokens

of sky pure water and fix for us from the

earth‘s tokens fruitful plants and water the

from the created animals and people a

lot14«

عي إل ء قدز مو ش

"Verily, you are Powerful over all

Things." (the holy Quran; 66 / 8) where all

are cited to descent.

Prayer 21, part 13:

It is about the sorrow of feeling guilty:

لس٠ح، ججؼ ، آ د ذ ػ ط ... إل عي ج

ء قدز مو ش

«O‟ Allah Greet upon Muhammad and

his household and assign me for him as a

companion .….Verily, you are Powerful

over all Things."

(the holy Quran; 66: 8)

These words from Imam Sajjad (AS) truly

indicate the high degree of his devotion;

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

70

this kind of devotion can be interpreted as

‗noble men‘s devotion‘; it is narrated that:

« فذذب ف عجذذدا للا طيذذت زيذذل خ عجذذدا للا قذذ عجذذب ح اىعجذذد،

حجذذب ىذذ فزيذذل عجذذدا للا قذذ اة فزيذذل عجذذب ح الجذذزاء، اىثذذ

أفضو اىعجب ح «عجب ح الحزار،

» If you serve Allah, based on fear it is

the worship of servants ,and the nation

who worship Allah to gain rewards this is

the worship of good-doers and the nation

worship Allah upon the love of him, this

is the worship of virtuous and the best

worship.” 15 Imam Ali (AS) has also

referred to this definition and further

states:

ب عجدرل فب ال برك خ جدرل أ عب ف جزل ىن ل ط

ىيعجب ح فعجدرل

I do not worship you based on the fear

of the hell, and not based on the greed of

heaven, but find you that you deserve to

be worshipped and I worship you. 16

This means ―I have not worshipped you

through fear nor Fire nor for Greed of

your Paradise but have found you Highly

Worthy of Worship and Obedience, so I

worship you.

In this part, Imam Sajjad (AS) requested

Almighty to place him among the allies of

Muhammad and his household (PBUH);

and this is for the mankind‘s need to a

friend or an assistant otherwise he will

suffer from loneliness. One‘s inclination

may be an indication of his ideas, red

lines, personality, approaches, and

thoughts. One‘s real character is a

phenomenon that its soil is man‘s deep

nature and perhaps not so simply

distinguishable; it is the most secret phase

of his existence. But what can assist in

revealing this secrecy and unmasking the

visage is his natural inclination, tendencies

and interests; for this reason, one‘s

character is manifested in his empathy and

emotions towards individuals and/ or

objects. That is why Imam Sajjad (AS)

requests Almighty to orient his heart

towards the Prophet (PBUH) and his

honourable Household (AS) headed by

Imam Ali (AS) making him a companion

and a faithful friend. It is stated in

narrations that God‘s Prophet has quoted:

ع زء اى أحت

“The man will be with the one who

loves.”17

This means that mankind will be similar to

whatever he desires. With such profound

insight Imam Ali (AS) requests God of

Glory to orient his heart to love of God

and His Household (AS) so that his deed

is taken in to His Affection and

Satisfaction since affection towards

Imams (AS) causes purity, virtue and

graceful deeds. And we are quite aware:

―A True friend and a companion of the

Prophet (PBUH) is the one who obeys the

God even if he is not one of Prophet‘s

relatives and the enemy of Muhammad

(PBUH) is the one whom disobey God

The verses of surah Tahrim used in Sahifah Sajjadiyah

71

even though he may be a very intimate

relatives of him.‖18

Prayer 31, part 30:

، ح د٠طح ذ ، و آ د ذ ػ ط مو ..." إل عي ج

ء قدز ش

« O‘ God Greet upon Muhammad and his

households as to that we were guided by

him.….Verily, you are Powerful over all

Things and this is easy for you . «

If we read several lines before this part,

we will see that repentance is of the

greatest obligatory steps and of the

greatest worship. When a person repent,

his heart feels peace. It is the cause of

rescuing from Hell.

In this part, as Imam‘s speech indicates for

repentance as well, God‘s Power is

needed; He should accept and forgive.

Prayer 45, part 10:

... » اذ اىذی فزحذ ىعجب ک ثبة اىی عفک رثا إى للا

ثخ صحب ر

0, you are the One that open a door to the

worshipper for repentance…. "If you

desire to be Immune from the bad end,

then avoid Wrongdoing while you are in

this world] Submit your repentance to

Allah with a Sincere Repentance"

(the holy Quran; 66 /8)

This section of Imam Sajjad‘s speech can

be claimed to be the most related part to

the verse 8 of Surah Tahrim because here

the main discussion is about repent and

requesting the Divine for forgiveness. In

this prayer, some important points such as

the ‗reality of repentance‘, ‗sincere

repentance‘, the ‗benefits of repentance‘

and ―repentance as a spiritual initiative‖

can be observed.

Repentance can be considered as an inner

revolution against the reign of profanity

and idolatrous devil inside, a revolution

which gradually changes the nature of

mankind in a way that no signs of

excrements or impurity ever remains.

(Evidence and recognition, Vol. 3, p.452)

Imam Sajjad said:

یییی جضییخ ج١یییک فییی میییحی ییرج ییی کرییحتس ذیییذی جیی ج

طغحتسح ... ضذ جر ذ ح ظف جعال ف١ح ذمی

«O‟ God I repent toward you in my

position from my minor and cardinal sins

, a repentance that covers up this sins in

the past and keep safe for the future . «

Imam Baqir (AS) also states: 19

للا ح ٠ج جرد جال جلس ذ

―Swear upon God that no soul is saved

from sin unless he confesses to it before

the Lord. After confession, the repentant

must remorse and regret from his evil

deeds.‖ About ‗true repentance‘ Imam

Rida (AS) said

2 جظطغفس للا ذعح ٠د ذمر فمد جظطصج ذفع

« The person who askes forgiven ness of

God with his tongue and do not regret by

his heart, so he is mocking himself. »

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72

In terms of ‗sincere repentance‘ numerous

definitions are stated that often are rooted

from one word even though the

expressions may vary. Ahmad Bin Khalil

Farahidi in his book of ‗Al-Ain‘

(assistance) says:

: أ ال ٠ؼد ئ ح ضحخ ػ جطذس جظح

« A sincere repentance means do not go

back to the sin. »21

This means that one will repent from sin

and will not return to the act of

committing sins. Shiekh Kulayni cites

about Abi Al-Salah Kanani and his book

‗Kafi‘:

ج ػص ي للا ل ع ػ ص أذح ػرد للا ج ٠ح أ٠ح -ظأ آ جر٠

ذس ظدح لحي ٠طخ ض ضذج ئ للا ؼرد د ج جر ال غ

' ٠ؼد ف١

Aba - Abduallah (p .b .u .h) was asked

about the word of Glorified Allah," O‘

people who believe repent to God a

sincere repentance; it means not go back

to the sins. 22

‗Tawbah Nasuh‘ or ‗sincere repentance‘

means a servant who repents from sins and

does not return to committing sins.

‗Nasuh‘ originates from ‗Nasahah Al-

Savab‘ which means ‗to embroider pieces

of torn dresses; this apparently means

‗repentance is to embroider pieces of

religion that emerge through sin. (Fhahri,

2010, Vol. 3, p. 312) Also, it is cited that

Ahmad Bin Hilal had said:

فىطد ح ذس جظح جط جألخ١س )ع( ػ ذع ص أذح ج ظأ

٠ى ع أ رحؽ ج أفؼ س وحظح ذه

« The latter Abal- Hassan ( peace be upon

him ) was asked about the repentance and

what it is. Imam ( p.b.u.h ) answered, the

inside of a person should be like his

outside.» 23

I asked Imam Abul Hasan about the

definition of ‗Tawbah Nasuh‘ (sincere

repentance‘) and he replied: ―The

conscience must be just like appearance or

even better.‖ For this, Imam Sadiq has

also said,

ئذج ضحخ ، فعطس ػ١ للا ذس ظدح، أدر ؼرد ض «. ج ص: فم

؟ لحي و١ف : » ٠عطس ػ١ ، ػ١ ح وحح ٠ىطرح ى١ ع ٠

٠د ئ ئ للا جزد ذمح ج ػ١ ع جألزع: أ جوط

م للا - ذذ، ف١ ج -ػص ١ط ش مح ٠ ء ٠شد د١

ذش خ. ػ١ جر ء 24

―If a servant repents in sincerity, the

Almighty will like him, so He will pull a

drape over his deeds.‖ Next I asked:

―how will he pull a drape?‖ He replied:

―those two angels who are missioned on

his behalf to register sins will forget they

have inscribed him as a sinner and then

all on earth will be inspired to hide his

known servants sins and as a result when

this divinity concealer meets the Almighty,

there would be no evidence to prove the

performed sins‖.

But the intentions of Imam Sajjad (AS)

from this expressions that says:

ج ػ د١ه ثال ٠ؼ رحخ د١ال جؼص ػ ذه ج

The verses of surah Tahrim used in Sahifah Sajjadiyah

73

is: ―God has opened a Door to his servants

for All-Pardoning and forgiving and has

entitled this ‗repentance‘ and set guide by

the door which is His Revelation (for

people) not to be lost; which means He

planned ‗repentance‘ in His Quran and

recounted the conditions by His

messengers and Imams and has led His

traveler into this Path. So, you would say:

―Great is your holy name, so return to

God, a pure return – which means ‗repent‘

that does not return to the sin again –

maybe your God will pass your sins and

flour you to Gardens where streams shall

continuously flow from underneath.

ح ػرز ف س ذه دخي أغف ئلح رحخ صي ذؼد فطخ ج ج

١ جد

« So there is no excuse for the one who

disregards to enter this house after its

opened and there is guide by it. »25

But if one enters the open door and enters

into Him and in a sense to say: ‗To enter

Baab-Al-Abwab (Gate of Gates)‘, as its

outcome, the Almighty will exit him from

evil darkness and blasphemy and enter

him to a clean and pure world with pure

and clean orchards away from any filth

and dirt; not comparable to what has seen

since then. ‗Hadith Qudsi‘, it is stated: 26

ؼرحد أػددش ح ال ػ١ ال ؼص ظ ال أذ خطس زأش

د ذشس ذم

« For my obedient servants, I have

prepared things no eyes have ever seen.

No ears have ever heard and no heart has

ever felt.»

God is Powerful in forgiving and hiding

sins. We need His Power to return and

find prosperity.

Prayer 45, part 11:

ع، ... إل عي ا آ اىذ اىج ل خش للا مو

ء قدز ش

―On the Day of Judgment, the Messenger

and his Believing followers are not

disgraced by Allah….Verily, You are

Powerful over all Things."(Al-Tahrim (66)

/8)

―The day that the Almighty does not

humiliate the Prophet and his believers;

their lights will move ahead and from their

right side and they would say: Oh,

Almighty! Complete this light and forgive

us, since you are the Almighty.‖ So what

excuse does anyone have to neglect

entering that House after you have opened

its door and have placed a guide in?!

This phrase is a promise to pure believers;

on the day that each person would tremble

and cry and wonder in darkness from their

committed crimes, there are servants that a

Light shines over their ahead and their

right and on that Day of Resurrection

when others are astonished and bewildered

while their eyes are gazing below of

terror, they shall be bestowed safety. And

this at the time when darkness is pervasive

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

74

is in fact reward for their deeds. In the

holy Quran, it is stated:

« ؼ أضج ج « ...لحي جر٠

Those who have found the wisdom will

say: ―Today, scandal and bad deeds is

upon disbelievers.‖ (16 / 27)

And further quoted:

« حز ج « ...فأ

" Verily, for him is the Fire of the Hell "

(the holy Quran; 9: 63)

If anyone opposes the Divine and His

Prophet, his punishment is immortal hell

and this is a big 'scandal but the righteous

servants of God are constantly praying

here and there; such that it is stated in

Quran:

ػدضح ػ » آضح ح ح زظه زذ ... »

" [ They also say: ] " O, our Creator and

Nurturer! Give us what You Promised us

through Your Messengers "

(the holy Quran;3:194)

―Oh, Almighty! Allot us what you have

vowed your apostles and do not deprive

since your promise will never fail.

The Divine seeks repenting guilty servants

and commands them not to feel despair

and Loudly Calls: « للا ر ذ أسذا ل ر »

" Verily, no One despairs from Allah's

Grace "(the holy Quran; 12:87)

―And do not despair God's deliverance and

confirm:

أظسفج ػ جر٠ ل ٠ح ػرحد فع ...أ

" Say [ O, Messenger! ]:" O, you human

Creatures of Mine who have wronged

Your own souls "

(the holy Quran; 39: 53)

―Say, Oh servants whom have oppressed

self and have lavished! Do not be hopeless

from God's Mercy since He is Forgiver of

all sins; He has commanded the Last

Word and there is no excuse for not

returning to Divine Mercy.‖

But unfortunately, people ignore this

blessing of God and do not join Him.

Therefore they can not enjoy the security

and dignity spread in His shelter. If they

joined, they could say,

ذ وف ػصج أ ه أو ضى وف ذ ف سج أ ػردج

زذح

« Sufficient to me this glory that I am your

servant, and sufficient to me this honour

that you are my God. »

The interpreter of ‗Al-Burhan‘ (The Proof)

in respect to this part

ج آ جر٠ جر ال ٠ ص للا ٠

"On the Day of Judgment the Messenger

and his Believing followers are not

disgraced by Allah" Says: " أىئذل اىذؤ "

They are Believers ."27

The verses of surah Tahrim used in Sahifah Sajjadiyah

75

And God Almighty about the faithful

commands

قد افيح اى

"Indeed the Believers are those who

attain Salvation "

(the holy Quran;23 /1)

Also, in the interpretation of ‗Al-Tabayan‘

it is mentioned that this is in the sense that

God will not humiliate nor debilitate or

punish them but better still enter them in

His Paradise where He Will Glorify them.

Yet, in this phrase of Imam Sajjad (AS)

speech that says:

اغفز ىذب، إذل عيذ ىب رب، ب أر : رث قى ء مذو شذ

قدز

They pray:" O, our Creator and

Nurturer! Perfect for us our light and

grant us Forgiveness; Verily, You are

Powerful over all Things."

….there is a fine point of adaptation from

the words of the Lord which is quite

worthy of consideration; the word ‗ػییک

(about)‘ after the word ‗٠کفیس (disbelieve)‘

which may be an indication of the Divine

Mercy which is vast in a way that a sinner

due to immersion in the Divine Sea of

Benedictions and Blessings will become

unaware of his guilt as if he may not have

ever committed any sin or guilt.

Prayer 45, part 52:

عذدا ا ذؤ فطزب اىذ جعيز ىي ل ف إب زة إى ىي

ثخ صحب - سزرا، ... ر

(The holy Quran; 66: 8)

ب ثجزب عي

« O‟ God I repent toward you, on the

day of Fitr that appointed for the

believers Eid and happiness… a sincere

repentance and make us steadfast on

it.»

The word ‗ذطشیید (crowd)‘ and ‗جییغ

(assembly)‘ are synonyms and in

definition ‗جدطشحد means a ‗gathering‘.

Imam Sajjad (AS) requests the Omniscient

to bestow him success of repentance so

that he would not return to sin and in pure

repentance be innocent and pure from any

uncertainties and indecision.

In continuation of this speech, Imam (AS)

requests the Almighty to save him from

any dangers and evil temptations that may

cross human minds and imagination and

become clean and pure, as the one who is

in the front of danger, will not be saved

from Satan.

Therefore, it is narrated that:

قع ف شل أ أ ه اىح ررع ح ف

«And any one who is close to the

borders of forbidden zone, is about to

enter it.»28

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76

Prayer 47, Paragraph 126:

رت عي ثخ صحب اجعو رجبرر راثحخ، ... ر

And appoint my trading Fruitful and

repent me a sincere repentance.

(the holy Quran; 66:8)

ؼی ال ضرز ال ور١سز، ؼح ذذح طغ١سز ال ضرك ح ػال١یس

.ال ظس٠سز

―And place my trade of after-life

profitable and my return to resurrection

harmless, put terror in my heart about

Your high position, make me interested in

visiting you, help me be successful in

repentance, if I succeed to repent, you will

not to leave any sins of me, big or small

remained or my open and hidden sins

behind.‖

In this section of Imam Sajjad‘s speech

which was delivered on the Day of

Arafeh, it is stated that this topic is not so

alien with the issue of repentance. In the

etymology of this day of ‗Arafeh‘, several

reasons have been cited; that one which is

related to our this discussion is ‗Arafeh‘

being derived from ‗confession‘; since on

that day Adam and Eve reached ‗Arafat‘.

Then they confessed to Lordship and

Greatness of God and disgrace of

themselves due to their sins and they said,

29آال ػسفطح أفعکح

Then Imam Sajjad (AS) pointed out to a

lucrative trade. But what is this lucrative

trade in the eyes of infallibles? A trade

that does not have sorrow in the way back

against the return of deniers of

resurrection and infidels,. (The same, p.

446) So, The Almighty Commands in the

Quran:

ز خحظسز ه ئذج وس لحج ض

" And they say:" If this turns to be true

Our return will be hardship and total

Loss."

(the holy Quran; 79 /12)

Imam Sajjad (AS) continued, ―Do not

accompany on the Day of Resurrection my

return with loss.‖ And this request is the

same as desiring a profitable trade. Also

in this respect, Imam Ali (AS) states:

سح سذذس ٠ع زذ ضجحزز

« A fruitful trade that God makes it

easy for them.»

ه مح أخف

« O‟ God appoint me the resident of

the Heaven"

In the next section of his speech, Imam

(AS) requests the Almighty: ―Oh, Allah!

Make me enthusiastic to see you‖.

In this respect, Imam Husayn said,

ر ج ل ل ه درح ه ج حح خش١س ئ٠ ضظد٠مح ذه

ه لح ئ١ه فسلح ش

O‟ God fill my heart with love for You

and fear of you, and testify You and

separation and an enthusiasm for You.30

The verses of surah Tahrim used in Sahifah Sajjadiyah

77

He, then, requests the Almighty to give

him the opportunity to repentance that has

no return to small or big sins nor the

revealed or hidden sins.

Prayer 48, Paragraph 3:

« ضظ ص، أ د، ال ئ ئال أ ذ ج ه ه ج ذأ أظأه ج

خ١سضه ضه طف در١ره زظه د ػردن ذ ػ

جألخ١حز طالز ال س٠ د جألذسجز جطح ذ ػ آي مه، خ

ضشسوح ف طحخ أ ص، ػ ئدظحتح ئال أ ٠م

، ١ ؼح ، ٠ح زخ ج ١ إ ػرحدن ج ١ دػحن ف رج ج أ

، إل عيضغفس ح «.ء قدز مو ش

Oh God! As kingdom, worship and thanks

are specific to you, and there is not other

being except you to be worshipped, I ask

you to send your regards and peace to

Muhammad, that servant of You and Your

friend and Your selected one among

others, and his family those pure

benevolent; regards and blessings that no

one but you can count, and let the prayers

of Your faithful servants who are asking

your blessings in this day be true for us,

Oh, the Lord of all creatures, forgive them

and us, Verily, You are Powerful over all

Things."

(the holy Quran; 66: 8)

In this part of the prayer Imam (AS)

teaches us lessons of Unity of God and

asks us to look at existence system and

know that there is no effective Power in

the world God; everything is a sign of God

and not more; since God is the merciful to

all His servants, he has bestowed his

blessings to us. Therefore Hiss creatures

should make efforts to their own ability

and they will not have any revenue from

being active unless God wants; as Imam

Sajjad said in terms of our assignments for

the other world,

طه » غك زد أ « ذؼ

« Your mercy makes a trust in me over

my deeds.»31

This means that one shall practice but at

the same time know that his deeds does

not bring him to Paradise and Grace and

Mercy of the Almighty must also be

attached.

Conclusion:

1-From 114 Surahs of the holy Quran, 52

Surahs are included (parts of them) in the

prayers of Sahifah in term of their content.

2-The verses which Imam Sajjad have

been included in Sahifah, considering the

number of their repetition, roughly they

are 114 which is equal to the number of

Surahs of Quran. It can indicate the

unbreakable link between Quran and

Sahifah.

3-The most verses used in Sahifah are

from Surah Baqarah which are 14 verses

which is reasonable as Baqarah is the

longest Surah of Quran.

4-The second Surah with the most

repeated verses in Sahifah is Surah

Tahrim. 10 times verse 8 of Surah Tahrim

has been repeated.

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

78

5-A review over those parts of Imam

Sajjad‘s words which include verse 8 of

Surah Tahrim, we realize that although

these phrases are not mentioned in one

place in a prayer, all parts including these

verses are related content wise and linked

like rings of a chain.

6-As in Quran, as some verses are

interpreters of some other verses, the same

is true for Sahifah. To understand some

parts of Sahifah we need to refer to other

parts of Sahifah.

Sources:

The holy Quran

1. ‘Ali ibn Husayn, Sahifah Sajjadiyah, Qum,

first edition, 1376.

2.Ibn Abi Jumhur, Muhammad Ibn Zeyn al-Din,

Avali Allaali Alaziziyah Fi Alahadith Aldiniyah,

Qom, first edition, 1405.

3. Ibn Babawayh, Muhammad Ibn Ali,

Ma’anial-Akhbar, Qum, first edition, 1403.

4. Ibn Fahd al-Hilli, Ahmad Ibn Muhammad,

Udat al-dai wa najah al-sai, first edition, 1407.

5. Ibn Manẓur, Muhammad Ibn Mukarram,

Lisan al-Arab, Beirut, third edition, 1414.

6. Ansarian,Hossein, Dīyār-e 'Āsheqān Tafsir

Sahīfa Sajjādīyya, edited by: Hassan Ostad

Vali, Tehran, Payam Azadi, second edition,

1378.

7. Bahrani, Hashem Ibn Soleiman, Al-Burhan Fi

Tafsir al-Quran, researched by: Aldirasat al-

Islamiyah Moasseseh al-Bithat, Qom, Tehran,

Bonyad Besat, first edition,1416.

8. Raghib Isfahani, Hossein Ibn Muhammad,

Mufradat alfaz al-Qur'an, Beirut, Dameshgh,

first edition, 1412.

9. Sabzevari (Vosogh al-Hokama), Mirza

MuhammadEbrahim, Sharh-e Sahīfa

Sajjādīyya, edited and researched by: Hamed

Naji Esfahani, Esfahan, Computer Research

Center of Isfahan Seminary, first edition, 1391.

10. Sharif al-Radi, Muhammad Ibn Husayn,

Nahj al-Balagha, translated by: Dashti, Iran,

Qom, first edition, 1391.

11. Sharif Lahiji, Qutb al-Din Muhammad Ibn

Ali, Tarjomeh waSharh-e Sahīfa Sajjādīyya,

edited and researched by: Akbar Saghafian,

Tehran, Library, Museum and Document

Center of Islamic Parliament, first edition.

12. Tabataba'i , Muhammad Ibn Husayn, al-

Mizan Fi Tafsir al-Quran, Qom, Islamic

publications office of the Qom Seminary

Teachers Society, fifth edition, 1417.

13. Tarihi, Fakhr al-Din Ibn Muhammad,

Majma al-Bahrain, Tehran, third edition, 1375.

14. Tusi, Muhammad Ibn Hassan, Misbah al-

mutahajjid wa silah al-muta'abbid, Beirut, first

edition, 1411.

15. Tusi, Muhammad Ibn Hassan, al-Tibyan Fi

Tafsir al-Quran, researched by: Ahmad Ghasir

Ameli, Beirut, Dar Ahya al-Torath al-Arabi,

first edition, Bita.

16. Allameh Modarresi, Tarjomeh waSharh-e

Sahīfa Kameleye Sajjādīyya, corrected by:

The verses of surah Tahrim used in Sahifah Sajjadiyah

79

Fazel Pakatchi, Manshorat al-Maktaba al-

Mortazaviyah Le-Ehya-e al-Athar al-Jafariyah,

Tehran, 1360.

17. Farahidi, Khalil Ibn Ahmad, Kitab al-Ayn,

Qom, second edition, 1409.

18. Fahri, Seyed Ahmad, Sharh wa Tarjomeh-e

Sahīfa Sajjādīyya, Tehran, endowment and

chariyy affairs organization, Osveh, second

edition, 1388.

19. al-Qumi, Abbas, Safinat al-Behar, Qom,

first edition, 1414.

20. Ghahpaei, Badi' al-Zaman, Riaz al-Abedin Fi

Sharh-e Sahīfa, corrected by: Hossein Dargahi,

Tehran, Ministry of Culture and Islamic

Guidance, Printing and Publishing

Organization, first edition, 1347.

21. Kabir Madani Shirazi, Seyed Ali Khan Ibn

Ahmad, Riaz al-Salekin Fi Sharh-e Sahīfa Seyed

al-Sajedin, Iran, Qom, first edition, 1409.

22. Kulayni, Muhammad Ibn Ya'qub, Kafi,

Tehran, fourth edition, 1407.

23. Majlesi, Muhammad Baqir Ibn Muhammad

Taqi ,Bihar al-Anwār, Beirut, second edition,

1403.

24. Majlisi, Muhammad Baqir Ibn Muhammad

Taqi, Mir'at-ul-Uqool Fi Sharh-e Akhbar aal al-

Rasul, Tehran, second edition, 1404.

25. Moghniyeh, Muhammad Javad, Dar

Sayehsar-e Sahifah Sharh-e SahīfaSajjādīyya,

Tehran, Jami, first edition, 1391.

26.Mamdouhi Kermanshahi, Hassan, Shohood

wa Shenakht-e Tarjomeh wa Sharh-e

SahīfaSajjādīyya, Qom, bustan ketab, Islamic

Propagation Office of Qom Seminary, sixth

edition, 1383.

27. Attributed to Jafar Ibn Muhammad, the

sixth Imam, Misbah al-Shariah, Beirut, first

edition, 1400.

28. Varam Ibn Abi Faras, Masoud Ibn Isa,

Majmueye Varram, Qom, first edition, 1410.

1 Tabatabayei, 1417 (Lunar year), Vol. 19,

p.335

2 Isfahani, 1412, p.808

3Ghahri, 2008, Vol. 1, p.243

4Sahifah Sajjadiyah, prayer 12

5 Mamdouhi Kermanshahi, 2005, Vol. 1, p. 556

6Tabatabaie, 1417, Vol. 9, p. 348

7 Ansarian, 2000, Vol. 5, p. 474

8 Madani Shirazi, 1409, Vol. 3; p. 167

9Al-Tahrim 66) /8

10 Ghahpaie, 1968, p. 308

11 Sabzevari, 2013, p. 145

12Tarihi, 1997, Vol. 5, p. 480

13 Toosi, 1411, Vol. 1, p. 216

14 Majlisi, 1403, Vol. 88, p. 334

15 ‘Amili, 1414, Vol. 1, p. 40

16 Majlisi, 1403, Vol. 67, p. 186

17 Attributed to Jaffar Ibn Muhammad (AS),

1400, p. 194 and Madani, Shirazi, 1409, Vol. 7, p.132

18 Maghniyeh, 2013, p. 236

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

80

19

Kulayni, Vol. 2, p. 426

20 Vram, 1410, Vol. 2, p. 110

21 Gharahidi, 1409, Vol. 3; p.119

22 Kulayni, 1407, Vol, 2; p. 432

23 Babouyeh, Al-Nass; p. 174

24 Kulayni, 1407, Vol, 4; p. 234

25 Al-Sahife Sajjadiyah, prayer 45

26 Ibn Fahd Halli, 1407, p. 109

27 Bahrani, 1416, Vol. 5, p. 427

28 Ibn Abi Jumhur, 1405, Vol. 2. P. 83

29 Lahiji, 2012, p. 432

30 Majlisi, 1404, Vol. 12, p.460

31 Sahifah Sajjadiyah, Prayer 48

81

The Religious Child-Rearing Practices

Narges Shahri

Ph.D in training psychology

Abstract: In the present article, the author evaluates the religious child-rearing and

declares the benefits in this kind of training. First, the necessity of this training has

been introduced and then the characteristics of such a training have been

introduced.at the end, the goals of religious training have been introduced.

Key words: child-rearing, ultimate goals, detailed goals, comprehensive goals, faith,

recognition, enforcement

Introduction

In order to understand the concept of

―religious child-rearing‖ one should study

the meaning of the words ―child-rearing‖

and ―religion‖. Therefore, as the first step,

the meaning of these two words will be

introduced.

“Child-rearing”

The word ―rearing‖ literally means

―raising‖. This word in comparison to the.

word ―Tazkiyah‖ and ―Ta‘dib‖ has been

used in less verses and traditions; thought,

―Tazkiyah‖ and ―Ta‘dib‖ both have the

same meaning. Tazkiyah is derived from

the word Zakat:

Zakat means raising and growing; it can

be applied to spiritual growth as well.

Sometimes it is assumed human beings are

responsible to cultivate it in themselves:

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

82

بب قد أفيح سم

“Prosperous is he who purified it”

(The holy Quran;91:9)

Sometimes it is cultivated by God, as He

is the True Cause of growth. Such as

شبء ثو للا شم

“Rather, Allah purifies whom he will”

(The holy Quran;4:49)

Or it is developed by Prophet, as he is the

channel of flow of perfection to people:

عي شم آبر …زي عي

“Recite to them his verses, to purify them,

and to teach them…”

(The holy Quran;4:49)

And sometimes it is the result of worship;

as worship is the means of developing

spiritual growth such as1

دحح دح شک

There are various definitions for training

and child-rearing which all recognize child

rearing as a process which benefits from

child‘s talents to make changes in him.

Now if an aim-oriented element enters this

process, we can claim that child-rearing

means ―preparing the grounds and

necessary factors to activate ones

potentiality in a favorable direction.‖

Therefore, training should be goal-

oriented and that goal differs based on

people‘s ideology, this ideology dictates

how much growth and in what direction is

expected. The reason of various schools of

thought regarding training lies in this

point.

Religion

The word religion literally means belief,

customs, Shariah. As an expression, it

means a group of laws, commands, and

principles which are given to human

beings by God. In another word, a religion

includes a group of descriptive and

prescriptive elements which has three

main parts:

a.Recognition: the first effective element

in being religious is to know basis and

rules of a religion. A religious person

should come to believe those principles

through reasoning and logic; for example,

believing in Oneness of God or God being

the Creator of the Universe.

b.Faith: The second element is, after

confirming the principles, those beliefs

and rules should be accepted by heart. One

who does not believe in God in his heart is

not called a religious person. The root of

all moral values is having faith in religious

laws and regulations; and faith should be

based on recognition; the deeper the

recognition, the stronger the belief.

Though knowledge and recognition are

not the only conditions but they are the

prerequisite. ―Will power‖ and ―internal

The Religious Child-Rearing Practices

83

tendency to religious belief‖ are other

sides of faith.

C. Practice: the third element is putting

the prescriptive and descriptive elements

into practice; it means a person declares

his religious beliefs when they are in his

action; that action is valuable in Islam

which is done out of belief.

3. Religious child-rearing

From what we have studied so far, it can

be understood that religious child-rearing

is in close connection with three axis of

recognition, faith and practice. Therefore,

it can be said, religious child-rearing is a

process of giving recognition and insight,

which cause sincere belief and practices

based on that belief, far from any force or

pressure, to reach this world and the other

world salvation.

According to this definition, the most

important responsibility of parents and

teachers is to train children in three

dimensions of recognition, faith, and

practice.

The Necessity and Importance of

Religious Training

No one will doubt the importance of

training; as the destiny of a person can be

programmed by this training. This training

can strengthen the connection between

God and His creature and encourages him

to accept his responsibilities. The reason

of Prophethood is this goal. In fact, in the

importance of religious training, it suffices

to say the reason of prophethood was this

and Quran which is a book of guidance

openly orders people to this,

لدح جحض ٠ح حزج ١ى أ ج لج أفعى آ أ٠ح جر٠

ذجحزز ج

―Believers, guard yourselves and your

families against the fire the fuel of which

is people and stones‖

(The holy Quran; 66:6)

Or in another verse,

س ل م١ح ج ٠ ١ أ خعسج أفع جر٠ ج حظس٠ ئ

―Say: 'the losers are surely those who lose

themselves and their families on the day of

resurrection‖

(The holy Quran; 39:15)

The infallible imams of Islam, also,

specifically emphasized on this issue; the

holy Prophet said,

―Cultivate three things in your kids‘ heart

(raise your child with these three

characteristics): friendship with your

Prophet, friendship with Ahlul Bayt, and

reciting Quran.‖2

He also said,

―Teach your kids to pray when they are

seven years old.‖3

Imam Sadiq narrated from his grandfather

who said, ―We (Ahlul Bayt) order our kids

to pray when they are five years old but

you order yours when they are at seven.‖4

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

84

In another tradition,

―A boy should play in the first seven years

of his life, then he should learn writing

(sciences) for next seven years and learn

what Haram and Halal is in the third seven

years of his life.‖

The characteristics of religious child-

rearing

Religious child rearing is different from

non-religious child-rearing: some of these

differences are as follows:

Training Self

In religious rearing, the first step is to train

yourself (parents) because you are going

to be the trainer. How could a person train

someone when he needs to be trained?

When there are serious moral or

ideological weak points in him. Logically,

such an individual is not able to train

another one. Religion does not accept faith

if it is not followed by practice. It blames

a person who advises but he himself does

not act based on his advice,

أفعى ضع رس جحض ذح س أضأ

“Would you order righteousness on

others and forget it yourselves?”

(the holy Quran; 2:44)

ح ال ضفؼ ضم ج آ أ .٠ح أ٠ح جر٠ مطح ػد للا ورس

ضم ح ال ضفؼ ج

“Believers, why do you say what you

never do? It is most hateful to Allah that

you should say that which you do not

do”.

(the holy Quran; 61:2-3)

ج للا ج فػ ح ض غسخ فأ٠ ج شسق ج لل

“Whichever way you turn, there is the

face of Allah. He is the embracer, the

knower.”

(the holy Quran; 2:115)

But in non-religious training this aspect is

not of high importance. People usually

advise others to be like something but they

do not take the same advice for

themselves.

Enforcement

The other important benefit of religious

child-training is enforcement .i.e. put the

belief into practice.

When faith opens its way through the

heart of a person as a unique spiritual and

immortal power, then all obstacles and

hardship will be eradicated, a huge

internal change will help him train

himself. Those who were trained by

religious schools of thought could

overcome mundane desires and obstacles

by the help of this power, they broke the

barrier between thought and action by this

faith and they dare confronting

difficulties.

Solutions and Practical Plans

The other benefit of religious training is

that it can provide solutions and practical

The Religious Child-Rearing Practices

85

programs for training; these solutions are

based on exact recognition of Fitrah so

they can answer all needs of human

beings.

Comprehensibility

The religious rearing program against

other programs is not limited to one or a

few aspects of human being. Those who

are trained by other schools of thought are

philosophers, scholars, mystics, etc. But

those who are trained by the religious

training program will enjoy all aspects, in

one word, they are symbols of all positive

characteristics of human beings and

immune from any negative personality

trait. Their role models can be ‗Ali,

Fatimah, Zeynab, Hasan, Husayn, Salman,

Miqdad….

The Goals of Religious Child-Rearing

The goals of religious rearing can be

divided into three main parts: Ultimate,

General, detailed.

1. 1.Ultimate Goal

The ultimate goal of religious training is to

reach to a Truth who is endless and

includes all values and perfections; the

One Who is called ―Allah‖. He is the One

who is Endless and Absolute Perfect and

can be the pivot of all human life‘s

activities.

This closeness does not mean decreasing

physical distance; as God the creator of

time and place is far from being limited in

a place or time, so talking about His

physical distance from His creatures is

meaningless.

ء ػ١ ش ذى رحؽ ج س جظح ج٢خس ي جأل

“He is the First and the Last, and the

Outward and the Inward; and He is

Knower of all things.”

(the holy Quran; 27:3)

ذظ١س ح ضؼ ذ للا ط ح و أ٠ ؼى

“… and He is with you wheresoever ye

may be. And Allah sees of what you do.”

(the holy Quran; 27:4)

جظغ للا ئ ج للا ج فػ ح ض غسخ فأ٠ ج شسق ج لل

ػ١

“o Allah belong the east and the west.

Whichever way you turn, there is the

Face of Allah. He is the Embracer, the

Knower.”

(the holy Quran; 2:115)

ذ١ؾ ء ش ذى ئ

“Indeed! It is He that doth encompass all

things!”

(the holy Quran; 25:54)

ال ضرظس ى ى ألسخ ئ١ ذ

“And We are nearer to it than you, but

you do not see”

(the holy Quran; 56:85)

But the meaning of closeness to God is a

perfection which only good, purified

servants of God can gain through worship

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

86

and answering God‘s commands. In this

level, they find themselves in close

connection to Him. At this point, they do

find themselves attached to Him in all

aspects; they will elevate to the point that

things find their meaning in the light of

God. Out of His light nothing exists.

2. General goals

These goals are in the midpoint of ultimate

goals and detailed goals spectrum. These

goals can clear up the path ahead of

human beings to some extent and can

make a plan which its parts are detailed

goals which are put besides each other.

Regarding the fact that religious training is

to direct human being‘s attention to God,

to other human beings, to himself, and to

nature in the best way, we can classify

general goals in four classes (bearing in

mind that relation with one or several

factors will not cut his connection with

other elements. For example, the duty of

human being for himself is not separated

from his duty and connection toward

others.)

a.Some training goals regarding human

beings and God are as follows: gnosis of

God, belief in religious teachings, piety,

worship of God.

b.Some training goals regarding the duty

of human being for himself: intellectual

and logical growth, self-knowledge,

developing spirit of truth seeking, virtue

seeking, and tendency to moral virtues.

c.Some training goals regarding human

beings and others: learning practical

experience from infallibles, respecting

parents, respecting other human beings

and respecting humanity, developing

social spirit, brotherhood, unity and

cooperation, faithfulness, keeping

promises, honesty, devotion,

d.Some training goals regarding human

beings and nature: respecting nature and

its true use

3. Detailed goals

To be able to lead those who want to enjoy

religious training we need to explain

general goals in details; whatever has been

introduced about Islamic role models in

terms of morality, virtues and humanity

are explained in the realm of detailed

goals.

1Mufradat Quran, Raghib Isfahani, the word

Zaki

2 Mizan al-Hikmah, vol.10, p.721

3 Ibid,p.722

4Wasa’il al-Shia, vol.3,p.12

87

Divine Promise, Divine Man and Divine Day

Ali Riza Ghavidel.

Ph.D.Psychlogy

Article acceptance date: January 2016

Abstract:This article which is a very brief review over the reappearance of Imam

Mahdi (A.S.) in religious books, at first tries to picture the common problems of our

today‘s life; depression, violence, injustices, and so one; then he introduces the

Promise of God who is going to put an end to all these hardships.

Keywords: religion, Mahdi (A.S.), holy books

Wars have disrupted both personal and

national life, leaving in their wake grief,

destruction and social unrest. Economic

fluctuations and inflation have taken their

toll in unemployment, dislocation and

poverty for millions of people. Racial

prejudice, with its unreasoned feeling of

superiority, hatred and resentment, hurts

both the individual and community. Urban

society with its high mobility disrupts

friendships, and loss of extended family

bonds places increasing stress on the

home. Unhappy marriages and homes

broken by divorce bring hurt and

Safinah al-nejat. Vol.1, No.2

88

disillusionment and leave emotional scars

on parents and children alike. Excessive

competition and interpersonal bureaucracy

tend to dehumanize the individual and

lead to loss of meaning in human

existence. The human population

explosion increases widespread hunger

and starvation, cancelling out the advances

of the ―green revolution‖ and creating

difficult social problems and tensions.

Grinding poverty and discrimination exist

side by side with abundance and

opportunity, leading to social pressures

that periodically erupt in violence. The

wasteful use of our natural resources,

coupled with the pollution of air, water

and soil, threatens the life-support system

of all who travel on the spaceship Earth.

And the ever-present threat of global

atomic war further aggravates our

anxieties.

Ours is an age of tremendous growth of

knowledge and of rapid social change.

More scientific and technological

advances have been made in the past fifty

years than in all previous recorded time.

For many people, the pace of change is

simply too fast, resulting in what has been

termed ―Future Shock‖. Modern science

and technology affect all phases of our

lives. Innovations in transportation and

communication have broadened our

horizons and shown the interdependence

of peoples, so that daily we face

international as well as national and local

problems.

The landing of man on the moon has

inevitably placed the earth and its

inhabitants in a new perspective, and as

we venture farther into the universe, we

are increasingly and inescapably

confronted with our own finiteness and

with questions concerning the meaning of

human existence. Unfortunately, advances

in our understanding of human nature are

behind our advances in the physical and

biological sciences. We know much about

the atom and the gene but not nearly

enough about love or the values needed

for achieving a meaningful and fulfilling

life, or for constructing a better world for

us all. As a consequence, many of us tend

to stumble round seeking answers among

diverse religions, philosophies and social

provide direction and meaning for living

in our contemporary world.

Small wonder that on every side we see

anxious, unhappy and bewildered people

who fail to fulfill their potential because

they cannot find satisfactory answers to

problems that seem just too great.

The stress of modern life is indicated by

the incredible amount of tranquilizers,

sleeping pills and alcoholic beverages

consumed in our society, by the

emergence of heart attacks as the leading

cause of death in our society, by the

marked increase in suicide among the

Divine Promise, Divine Man, and Divine Day

89

youth, and by the alarming increase in

delinquency and crime, particularly crimes

of violence. In an equally dramatic way, it

is reflected in the widespread

preoccupation with altered states of

consciousness and parapsychology as well

as the ample literature on dehumanization

and alienation.

The majority of the world‘s religions,

irrespective of their being divine or

earthly, believe in the advent of a savior.

The spiritual leaders of different religions

have discussed and debated this subject.

Divine Man is described as the deliverer

of mankind, who will appear at the

ultimate stage of the world, fill the earth

with justice and equity after it has been

filled with tyranny and oppression,

eradicate deviation, ignorance and atheism

and disseminate moral and spiritual

guidance and monotheism.

Such ideas can be found in various

religions and in their books. One can even

find the various attributes and

characteristics of the Divine Man. It also

becomes clear that the belief in a Divine

Man is based on instinct, as anybody

hopes that the world will culminate in

good rather than evil. The following are

some excerpts from the books of ancient

religions about the Divine Man;

Zoroastrianism, or Dualism, is regarded

as an ancient religion. It is known through

discussions and extracts from Zoroastrian

writing that one of the significant

principles of this religion is the belief in a

savior who will defeat Ahriman (the devil)

after his return and lead the world towards

light. In the Zoroastrian book of ―Zend‖,

the struggle between Ahriman and Yazdan

is narrated as follows:

―… Then Yazdan (Divine Man will

achieve a great triumph, and Ahriman will

be annihilated… The world will receive its

virtual salvation after the victory of

Yazdan. And with the elimination and

destruction of Ahriman, the sons of Adam

will ascend the throne of virtues.‖

According to the above excerpt, the

triumph for Yazdan, or the Divine Man, is

regarded as the success of humanity.

Belief of Jews in Divine Man

The history of the Jews dates back to

ancient times. They have distorted and

tempered with their divine books to the

greatest possible extent and cunningly

endeavored to delete all those portions

which prophesy about Islam and Holy

Prophet (S). Since Allah wishes to

illuminate the darkness of deviation with

the beacon of guidance, despite such

attempts by the Jews, these parts can be

seen in their books where predictions

regarding the advent of a Divine Man who

will establish justice and equity in the

world are recorded.

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The following are some excerpts from the

Jewish books which pertinently describe

their Divine Man

―Because the pious man will inherit the

earth, but the accused will perish.‖

Psalms of David, 37,sentences 22 & 29

This excerpts indicates that the Divine

Man will be pious, the ruler of a just

kingdom, protector of the divine precepts.

Besides this narration in the Old

Testament , says, “If he delays (his

coming), then await him because he will

certainly come and will not delay or

procrastinate his arrival Rather he will

gather all people around himself to face

all the nation.”

Christian and Divine man

There are plenty of verses in the holy

books of the Christians (presently known

as the New Testament) regarding the

Divine Man. Despite blatant distortions,

there are quite a few verses which talk

about the Divine Man, as example:

“As lightning shoots up from the east

and is visible up to the west, similar is

the advent of the son of man.”

“They will see the son of man on the

clouds coming with his glorious pomp

splendor…”

The Gospel of Matthew chapter 24:

From the above verses, the advent of the

Divine Man, the importance of waiting for

him and the signs of his reappearance

become clear.

Moslems And Divine Man, Divine Day

and Divine Promise

Belief in the Divine man is one of the

fundamentals of Islam. Denial of this

belief is like repudiating any other Islamic

fundamental, and the denial of any of

these fundamentals is tantamount to

apostasy.

There are numerous Quranic verses and

traditions from the Holy Prophet (S) that

"The only Divine Man is Imam Mahdi

(AS), who will establish justice and equity

in the world on that Divine Day and,

thus, fulfill the Divine Promise of “So

that it (Islam) may prevail over all other

religions."

(Holy Quran)

1-Quran: the Holy Quran has mentioned

the aims of prophets; it has cited justice as

the chief objective of their mission which

is going to prevail the world by his hands.

The Holy Quran says:

نات وأن زلنا معهم الكتاب والميزان لي قوم الناس ي لقد أرسلنا رسلنا بالب بالقسط

“We verily sent Our messengers with

clear proofs, and revealed with them the

Scripture and the Balance, so that men

may conduct themselves with equity.”

(the holy Quran; 57: 25)

Divine Promise, Divine Man, and Divine Day

91

قال موسى لقومو استعينوا باللو واصبوا إن الرض للو يورث ها من يشاء من عباده والعاقبة للمتقي

“Moses said to his nation: 'seek help

from Allah and be patient. The earth

belongs to Allah; he gives it as a heritage

to whom he chooses amongst his

worshipers. The outcome is for the

cautious.”

(The holy Quran;7: 128)

ين كل و ولو ىو الذي أرسل رسولو بالدى ودين الق ليظهره على الد كره المشركون

"He it is Who sent His Messenger with

guidance and the religion of truth, that

He might cause it (Islam) to prevail over

all religions, though the polytheists may

be averse.”

(the holy Quran: 9:33)

And people will realize the truth of the

following verses:

“Say (O‟Prophet) truth has come, and

falsehood has vanished; surely falsehood

was bound to vanish.”

2- Traditions: The Holy Prophet (S)

spoke a lot about Imam Mahdi (AS) and

stated emphatically that Qiyamah

(Resurrection Day) will occur only after

the arrival of Imam Mahdi (AS). The Holy

Prophet (S) was quoted as saying:

لومل يبق من الدنيا اال يوم واحد، لطول اهلل والذى بعثىن بالق بشريا …ذلك اليوم حىت خيرج فيو ولدى املهدى

“Even if the last day of the world comes,

Allah will prolong that day to such an

extent that He will delegate a man from

my progeny on that particular day…”1

And:

“Denying the reappearance of Imam

Mahdi (AS) is just like disbelieving in

all that was revealed upon Holy Prophet

Muhammad (S).”

It can be inferred from the above Quranic

verses and traditions that the purpose of

the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (AS) is

the dissemination of justice. When he

arrives, injustice and oppression will be

rampant in the world. There will be only

one person who can change the trend, are

the same as those of the Holy Prophet (S).

It will be the era of the fulfillment of the

divine promise that: ―The last era is for the

pious men.‖

3- An Emphatic Command for the

Believers: Not doubt that the revolution of

Imam Mahdi (AS) will not be an ordinary

one. It will bring a sea of change in the

cosmic order in its wake. It is evident that

for bringing about such an unparalleled

revolution, his holiness will need a legion

of companions who are determined and

can endure all sorts of untold calamities in

their way.

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In conclusion, we raise our hands and pray

to Allah that:

“O‟ Lord, Hasten the advent and

reappearance of the Promised Divine

man and make it known to the world

that he is none but Muhammad bin al-

Hasan al-„Askari (AS), the only Hope,

the only Divine Man.”

1Bihar al-Anwār vol. 53, &Sunan-e AbiDavood,

Kitab-ul-Mahdi, tradition No. 4282