Imam
Reza's Morals and Counsels
extracts from:
Imam Reza Network
By: Muhammad Jawad Fadlallah
The value
of wisdom and moral is when it sets out of its leading springs to make
its way in life to plant goodness, beauty, and love, and to uproot evil,
corruption, and hatred. The individual who wishes to spiritually build
his inner self wholly has to search for the wisdom whereby he discovers
his shortcomings which distance him from virtuous humanity, and he has
to look for the moral which brings him closer to his Lord and which
deepens the roots of iman within him. This is the value of wisdom and of
moral, and this is their plentiful product. It is the dividing line
between the man of righteousness, and the man of evil. Good wisdom is
the one which sows within the depths of the individual the seed of light
in order to grow therefrom a plant blossoming with goodness, love, and
beauty.
So let us read the pure wisdom and the magnificent moral in the words of
Imam Reza(A.S.), then let us open up our souls in order to plant therein
the seed of light. After that, let us look after that plant that will
come out of that seed so that we may harvest from it the fruit of iman,
the belief in God, the belief in the principles and morals which God has
legislated for us in order to be able to build ourselves from within,
and to be able to rise thereby above the level of wishes and desires to
the level whereby the individual becomes a true human being in his pure
link with his Lord, in his honest dealing with his brother man, and in
his own emancipation from worshipping his own ego.
The first moral we meet as we read the words of the Imam (A.S.) is his
statement: "It is not adoration to perform the fast or the prayers a
great deal; adoration is to contemplate upon God a great deal." What the
Imam (A.S.) meant from such a definition of what adoration in its deep
context is all about is his correction of the general attitude towards a
rite such as the fast or the daily prayers, saying that prayers are not
merely the prescribed movements accompanying quotations relevant
particularly to prayers, nor is the fast merely the abstention from
eating and drinking and such things. These particular movements and this
performance are nothing more than the outer frame of the picture, while
the adoration is the context which lies beyond the picture. What the
Imam (A.S.) aims at by making this statement is making us aware of the
reality from which we have to set out in performing the rite we are
supposed to perform, and to distance us from the stagnation of the empty
routine which causes us to lose the greatly spiritual meanings the rites
we perform are intended to help us live. So, what is adoration, after
all?
The Imam (A.S.) says that it is a great deal of contemplation upon the
Almighty. It is not a great deal of fasting or prayers which do not go
beyond the particular movements and timings as a routine action an
individual has become accustomed to be doing during certain times away
from the deep context of belief. Such is not adoration, for how many are
those who perform their prayers and uphold their fast and at the same
time commit the greatest of sins and perform various kinds of
immoralities, yielding to wishes and desires, without being able towards
them to take control of themselves, without trying to give authority
over them to the deterring power of iman in order to avoid slipping into
the paths of misguidance? The prayers of such individuals and their fast
are nothing more than movements and performances which have lost their
sense of wisdom and spiritual integrity.
Abundant contemplation upon the Will of God is by itself a form of
worship and, at the same time, a starting point of every adoration and
ritual. When someone feels harmony while contemplating upon the cosmos
and its Creator, and the particles of life and their secrets filling the
general existence of the cosmos, he cannot avoid feeling how small he is
before this great Power which created this system in such perfection,
determined its rules with such precision and exactness; and when he,
through his power of reason, feels that the Power of the Great Creator
surrounds this cosmos, that everything in existence is overwhelmed by
its Authority and Might, without any avenue through which one may escape
from the center of the Power controlling it..., then he cannot help
feeling a deep belief in the perfecting Creator, and a genuine awe
before the manifestations of such Greatness.
When man considers the bounties God has bestowed upon him which can
never be exhausted while satisfying his continuous needs, and His
absolute ability to deprive him of them any moment He wishes, without
the existence of any power that would forbid Him from doing so, he would
surely then thank Him sincerely and be grateful to Him, distancing
himself from the hated elements of disbelief.
When man realizes the wisdom behind his own creation and the end
awaiting him that will take him to another life so that the doers of
good will be rewarded for their good deeds and the doers of evil will be
punished for their evil, he cannot help considering what secures his
salvation while doing what he does, and feeling angry at whatever
displeases God. The feeling one develops of all of this and the
comprehension of all of this is by itself a form of adoration because
this feeling is the conscientious path which takes man to knowledge, and
knowledge is the foundation of belief. At the same time, such
comprehension gives adoration the vast spiritual meaning for which it
was decreed.
A man asked him once about the meaning of the verse, "Whoever relies on
God, He suffices him." He said: "Reliance on God is in various degrees
one of which is that you rely on Him in everything related to you, and
when He does something to you which you know will not bring you anything
good, you rely on His wisdom in doing it, so you nevertheless put your
trust in Him willingly. Another is to believe in the Unseen regarding
God of which you have no knowledge, so you relied on Him and on His
custodians, trusting in Him in their regard, and in others."
He was asked once about the extent of such reliance. He said, "It is
that you fear none save God." What the Imam here means is that you
submit to the Will of God and accept His decree. Ahmed ibn Najm asked
him about the pride which spoils one's deeds. He said: "Pride is
degrees; among them is that one sees his bad deed as good, so he likes
it and feels proud of it; another is that one believes in God and feels
he is doing Him a favour by believing in Him, whereas He is the One who
enabled that person to believe in Him." He, peace be upon him, said
once, "If one lacks five attributes, do not expect to gain anything good
out of him for your life in this world or in the life to come: if his
lineage is known to be untrustworthy, if his nature lacks generosity, if
his temper lacks balance, if he lacks a noble conduct, and if he lacks
fear of his Lord."He was asked once who a lowly person is. He said,
"Anyone who has something to distract him from God."
Among his wise sayings are the following:
"God abhors hearsay, the loss of one's funds (through foolishness), and
excessive questioning."
"To be courteous to people is to cross half the way to achieving
wisdom."
"The mind of a Muslim is not complete except after he acquires ten
merits: God accepts his good deeds, he is trustworthy, he sees as
plentiful what little good others do for him, while seeing his own
abundant good as little; he does not fret from being asked for favours,
nor does he feel tired of constantly seeking knowledge; poverty reached
in order to please God is better for him than wealth accumulated
otherwise; to be subjected to power while trying to serve God is better
in his regard than achieving power over his foe, and obscurity he
prefers over fame." Then he said, "And the third one ..., do you know
what the third one is?" It was said to him, "What is it?" He said,
"Whenever he meets someone, he says, `He is better than me and more
pious.' People are two types: a person better than him and more pious,
and one who is more evil than him and more lowly. If he meets the one
who is more evil than him and more lowly, he would say to himself `Maybe
the goodness of this (statement) is implied, and it is better that he
hears such a compliment, while my own goodness is apparent and it is
detrimental to me.' And when he sees someone better than him and more
pious, he would humble himself before him trying to raise himself to his
level. So if he does that, his glory will be higher, his reputation will
be better, and he will become distinguished above his contemporaries."
"Silence is one of the gates of wisdom. Silence wins the love of others.
It is an indication of everything good."
"Everyone's friend is his reason; his enemy is his ignorance."
"Among the habits of Prophets is cleanliness."
"One who is blessed with plenty must spend generously on his family."
"If you mention someone who is present, use a kunya (surname) for him,
and if he is absent, mention his full name."
"Time will come when one's safety lies in ten things nine of which are
in staying aloof from people, and the tenth in staying silent."
"Whoever scrutinizes his behaviour wins; whoever does not loses. Whoever
fears consequences will live safely. Whoever learns a moral from others
achieves insight, and whoever achieves insight achieves wisdom, and
whoever achieves wisdom achieves knowledge. One who befriends the
ignorant will be worn out. The best of wealth is that which safeguards
one's honour. The best of reason is one's knowledge of his own self. If
a true believer becomes angry, his anger does not cause him to abandon
righteousness; when he is pleased, his pleasure will not tempt him into
wrong-doing, and when he achieves power, he does not take more than what
rightfully is his."
"If one's attributes become plentiful, they will relieve him from having
to win praise by mentioning them."
"Do not pay attention to the view of someone who does not follow your
advice for his own good. Whoever seeks guidance from the appropriate
source will never slip, and if he slips, he will find a way to correct
himself."
"People's hearts are sometimes coming towards you, sometimes keeping
away from you; sometimes they are active, sometimes they are relaxed. If
they come along, they will achieve wisdom and understanding, and if they
stay away, they will be exhausted and worn out; so, take them when they
come to you and when they are active, and shun them when they stay away
or are relaxed."
"Accompany with caution the person who has authority over you; be humble
when in the company of a friend; stay alert when facing an enemy, and
mingle with the public with a smile on your face."
"Postponement is detrimental to the fulfillment of desires. Fulfillment
is the gain of the strict. Wastefulness is the calamity of one who can
afford it. Miserliness tears up honour. Passion invites trouble. The
best and most honourable of virtues is to do others favours, to aid the
one who calls for help, to bring the hope of the hopeful to reality, not
to disappoint the optimist, to have an ever increase of the number of
friends when you are alive, and the number of those who will cry when
you die."
"The miser one is never restful. The envious is never pleased. The
grumbling is never loyal. The liar has no conscience."
"One who struggles to satisfy the needs of his family shall have more
rewards than those who make jihad in the Way of God."
He (A.S.) was asked once who the best of believers are; he said, "They
are the ones who are excited with expectation when they do a good deed,
who pray for God's forgiveness when they commit a bad one, who show
gratitude when they are granted something, who are patient when they are
tried, who forgive those who anger them."
He (A.S.) was asked once, "How did you start your day?" He answered,
"With a shorter life-span, with our deeds being recorded, with death
round our necks, with Fire behind our backs, and we do not know what
will be done to us."
He (A.S.) said, "Wealth is not accumulated except by five means: extreme
miserliness, a long-standing optimism, an overwhelming care, a boycott
of the relatives, and a preference of this life over the life to come."
Ali ibn Shu'ayb said that he once visited Abul-Hassan Ali Reza(A.S.) who
asked him, "O Ali! Do you know whose subsistence is the best?" He
answered, "You, master, know better than me." He said, "It is that of
the one whose others' subsistence is improved through his own. Do you
know who has the worst subsistence?" Ali answered, "You know better than
me!" The Imam (A.S.) answered saying, "It is that of the one who does
not include others in it." Then he added, "O Ali! Be thoughtful to the
boons for they are wild: if they leave people, they never come back to
them. O Ali! The worst of people is someone who stops his contributions
to charity, eats by himself, and whips his slave."
He (A.S.) also said the following:
"Your assistance of the weak is better than your act of charity."
"No servant of God achieves true belief except when he acquires three
attributes: He derives juristic deductions of the creed; he is wise
regarding his livelihood, and he is patient when faced with calamities."
"Beware of one who wants to offer you advice by speaking behind others'
backs; he does not realize how bad his own end shall be."
He (A.S.), upon the death of al-Hassan ibn Sahl, said, "To congratulate
one for a reward in store for him is better than to console him on a
quick calamity."
This is a magnificent bouquet of shining statements of Imam a-Rida (A.S.)
which emanate with wisdom, overflow with iman, and overbrim with good
fruits. In them, the Imam (A.S.) defines glorious ethical and
educational manners, the upright conduct of true belief, offering some
glimpses of humanity for social cooperation and coexistence a Muslim is
supposed to implement if he wants to be in harmony with the principles
of Islam which are the turning point of social change from an oppressive
ignorant society to an advanced civilized society built upon virtue and
love, justice and equity.
We have to translate these statements and their peers into actions in
our daily life and be in harmony with their ethical and humane practical
implications if we wish to direct our individual and social conduct to
the right direction which safeguards its principles and precepts in
order to create a nation based on virtues and humanity, and build it
from within in a firm spiritual structure. Such a structure is reflects
its practical reality and affects its intellectual and social objectives
so that it would be "the best nation that ever was.