chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
Security in Life
Whatever good, (O man!) happens to thee, is from God; But
whatever evil
happens to thee, is from thy (own) soul. [Holy Quran: Nisaa 4:79]
The
Good and the Bad
Man
is a creature consisting of the intellect, the heart, the soul and the body.
Good and bad aspects exist for each part of man's being; all the good ones
originate in God and all the bad ones originate in man himself. Nothing but
benefits, goodness, mercy and blessings come from the Sacred Existence, God, Who
is mentioned in the Glorious Quran as having the following attributes: the
All-Benevolent; the All-Merciful; the Lord; the All-Loving; the All-Forgiving;
the Generous; the All-Subtle; the Compassionate; the Creator; the Shaper; the
Holy and the All-Mighty.
Nothing
but evil and damage are the products of ignorance, rancor, envy, spite,
short-temperedness, greed and laziness. An individual must strive to attain
enough wisdom, knowledge and insight so as to make a living; to thoroughly
illuminate one's worldy life and spiritual life; to manage the affairs of his
wife and children; and to acquire the correct outlook on Existence and the
world, as much as his personal and social duties requires.
Learning
about the basic matters such as belief in God and the Day of Judgment, knowledge
about the Prophethood and the leadership of the Imams, is a necessary affair and
one's personal duty. One is duty-bound to learn the matters related to
jurisprudence and the worldly sciences as much as he needs to. God has bestowed
upon man the beneficial elements of science and knowledge, wisdom and insight as
powerful goods and benefits along with the necessary success in growth,
perfection of the intellect and the power to understand. Whenever the intellect,
itself being one of God's blessings, accompanies other blessings like success
and insight, then a sea of light appears in the individual's spiritual domain.
This illumination and good will guarantee a part of the security of man's
spiritual domain. Naturally, this security will be passed on from a man to his
wife and children, and they too will benefit from peace with him. As a result,
life will to some extent be illuminated by the light of peace and quiet.
( 132 )
In
the first stage, it is essential for the head of the household, who is
responsible for managing life's affairs to have enough knowledge of religion as
required by his personal duty and, as much as is necessary of religious
jurisprudence knowledge: this means to be informed of the religiously lawful and
forbidden actions and things. He must have as much as necessary of worldly
knowledge in order to run life. In the next stage and under the support of the
man of the house who provides the necessities of the family, the wife and the
children can live as a small nation in the small country of the home. They can
live together with knowledge, wisdom, insight and awareness, and be secure from
the evils of ignorance, illiteracy, jealousy and foolishness. Verily knowledge
provides security and ignorance and illiteracy will result in loss.
Ignorance and Illiteracy
In
a very important statement made by members of the Prophet's family, ignorance is
considered to be a kind of spiritual death and to be more detrimental to one's
life than a harmful meal. Ignorance is an illness, some sort of suffering, a
source of deviation bringing on ever-lasting misfortune. It ruins one's future
life, is a mine of evil and a dangerous enemy. Ignorance is the cause of
unbelief and deviation, and prevents sermons and advice from being accepted. It
also is the cause of excesses in life. The Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (Pbuh)
said: Ignorance is death; ignorance is destruction; ignorance is an incurable
disease; ignorance is a cause of man's slippage; ignorance ruins the Hereafter;
ignorance is the source of all evils; and ignorance is the main stock of evil. [Mizan
al-Hikmat, v.2, p.154]
The
Prophet (Pbuh) was asked about the signs of the ignorant. He answered as
follows: An ignorant will trouble you if you socialize with him. He will blame
you if you stay away from him; he will mention it if he grants you something; he
will be ungrateful if you grants him something; and if you trust him with your
secrets, he will misuse your trust. [Tuhaf ul-Uqool, p.28]
Consider
the following matter for yourself. If the head of the household is ignorant,
does not consider spiritual and doctrinal matters to be important and has no
worldly plans in mind, then he will be a great source of stress, insecurity,
trouble, suffering and torment in and outside of the home. Wealth and property,
the home and life, the wife and children, are faced with danger and damage, and
loss and insecurity in the presence of an ignorant individual. Islam stresses
that one must acquire wisdom and insight in worldly and spiritual affairs as
much as necessary, so that security is created in the individual's spiritual and
worldly life. Islam wants an individual's innocent wife and children to live in
peace with him, and not suffer any physical blows, loss and damages at his
hands. It does not want his family's worldly and future lives to suffer any loss
and the distressful monsters of war to be at their throats.
In
Islamic literary traditions, it is written that Jesus (Pbuh) was wholeheartedly
on the run. A friend of his asked him why this was so. Jesusf (Pbuh) replied he
was fleeing from the ignorant. O' yes, one must be wholeheartedly on the run
( 133 )
from ignorance and the ignorant, and follow the Prophets' way so as to secure
one's prosperity in this world and the Hereafter. Even if the ignorant has the
elixir of life, he is poor, but the informed and the wise is rich beside
poverty.
Knowledge and Wisdom
According
to the decree of the Glorious Quran, the wise and the foolish are in no way
equal: Say:
Are
those equal, those who know and those who do not know?[Holy Quran: Zumar 39:9]
And as the Prophet of Islam (Pbuh) has said: A day in which I acquire no
knowledge or science which would help me approach God is not a blessed day for
me. [Mizan al-Hikmat, v.6, p.449]
He
also said: A heart without any wisdom is like a ruin. So learn, teach and
understand and do not pass away as an ignorant. Verily God will not accept the
excuse of the ignorant in the Hereafter. [Ibid]
The
Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (Pbuh) described knowledge and wisdom, and
their attributes in the magnificent book entitled “Ghurar al-Hikam” as
follows: Knowledge brings forth success and is a dam against catastrophes and
calamities. Wisdom is the highest degree of self-sufficiency. Knowledge is the
light of the intellect; a good reason; the best guidance; obvious beauty; the
best companion; the most worthy measure; the believer's lost one; the guide to
patience; the most beneficial treasure and the most excellent truth. In one
sentence, the Prophet (Pbuh), expressed all the realities in this world and the
Hereafter resulting from knowledge and wisdom: Knowledge, insight and wisdom are
the source of all goodness. [Bihar al-Anwar, v.77, p.175]
Hazrat
Ali (Pbuh) recognizes that there are seven basic differences between material
wealth and knowledge. - Knowledge and insight are the legacy of the Prophets.
Wealth and property are the legacy of the Pharaohs. Knowledge will not decrease
once taught, but wealth once spent will. Wealth requires a guard, while
knowledge guards an individual. Knowledge accompanies an individual all the way
to his future life, while wealth remains in this world. Acquiring wealth is
feasible for everyone, but knowledge, wisdom and insight belong to the
believers. Concerning the affairs of religion, all people are in need of a wise
man but do not need a wealthy one. Knowledge will help one pass over the bridge
to the Hereafter, but wealth will prevent one from rendering one’s accounts.
[Bihar al-Anwar, v.77, p.185]
An
empty ship will face many dangers such as terribly bad weather, strong winds,
wreckage or getting lost while sailing at sea, while a full ship will move on
safe and secure to approach its destination. This is similar to an ignorant man
versus a wise, knowledgeable one. How does the person behave whose spiritual
life is enlightened by the light of monotheism; whose heart is sure of the truth
and whose soul is pledged to the Resurrection Day; and who knows that the day is
the Day when:
( 134 )
Then
shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has
done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it. [Holy Quran: Zilzal 99: 7-8]
How
does the person behave who knows himself to be only a traveler in this world and
who knows the future life to be the everlasting home for life in the Hereafter?
The one who considers all blessings to be entrusted to him by God; the one who
considers himself responsible for every blessing; the one who knows that God
gave him a wife, children, a house, a factory, wealth and property, etc. In
short, how does a person behave whose relationship with everything is determined
by wisdom? This sort of person's behavior is actually wisdom itself; his actions
are just like enlightenment; his movements are pure truth; and his interactions
with everyone and everything- especially his wife and children- are based upon
peace, straight forwardness, compassion, mercy, genuineness and generosity. A
Lot of security and tranquillity are expected from such a person at home, with
the family and outside the home. Everyone who comes into contact with him lives
in security, at ease and in peace and quiet along with having trust in him.
Islam wants the man of the house, the spouse of a lady and the father of
children to be exactly like the man described above.
The Heart is the Source of Truth
In
Islamic works there are various, surprising explanations about the heart:
The
territory of God[Bihar al-Anwar, v.70, p.25]
A
spring [Mizan al-Hikmat, v.8, p.212]
An
Imam (leader) [Bihar al-Anwar, v.70, p.53]
A
monarch [Mizan al-Hikmat, v.8, pp.216-218]
A
container.[Ibid]
Other
attributes have been ascribed to the heart (soul) such as: health, illness,
innocence, mischief-making, soft-heartedness, harshness, enlightenment,
blindness, destruction, prosperity, misfortune, life, death, courage,
termination, calmness, deviation and hard-heartedness. These interpretations of
the heart are mentioned in the Glorious Quran and other books like Usul al-Kafi,
Shafi, Bihar al-Anwar, Vasa'il al-Shiia, Mustadrak al-Vasa'il, Tuhaf ul-Uqool,
Ruzat al-Vaizin and Muhjat ul-Biyza, with various words given a meaning. Really,
the heart is a container and what an amazing one it is!
If
room in it is made for faith in God and the Resurrection Day, innocence,
enlightenment, life, fear of punishment, fear of God, sincerity, and in
short-sympathy, compassion, loving-kindness and love- then the owners of this
heart will enjoy peace, security, health and tranquillity. Everyone who comes
into contact with such a person will be secure, healthy and at ease. If this
container, however, is a place for greediness, stinginess, avarice, envy, spite,
hypocrisy, unbelief, polytheism, hard-heartedness, suspicion and the like, the
( 135 )
owner of a such heart is a dangerous, harmful, corrupt, base and oppressive
creature: no one will be safe at his hands.
The
following must be mentioned to the youth who have still not gotten married. If
you recognize that your heart has been polluted by these hideous qualities, then
try and reform it and then get married. This is so because the woman who marries
you, who comes to your house with thousands of desires and has abandoned her
home, neighborhood or city, and loving bosoms of her parents, and after a time
gets pregnant by you, will then feel secure and have some peace and quiet. She
can then properly perform her marital and domestic duties and raise your
children. An insecure home and a person who destroys security is Hell and the
punishment of Hell. Woe unto the man whose wife and children are not safe with
him, and continually live in bitterness and trouble.
And
woe unto the woman whose husband and children are bothered by her and live in
suffering. Woe unto her who without fear of God, changes the peaceful home
environment into one of terror and stress. And woe unto those children whose
mother and father are not at ease due to their offspring’s trouble-making.
Amir al-Mumeneen (The Commander of the Faithful) (Pbuh) believes that if a
person's heart is not linked up to God and his heart is not full of faith, the
love and kindness of God, then amazing catastrophes will befall him. If he
becomes attached to the baseness of greediness and is polluted by the excitement
of it, then avarice will attack and destroy him. And if he becomes cold-hearted,
sorrow will kill him. In the case he is subject to someone's anger, he gets
angry and the fire of anger will blaze. If he gets too involved in happiness, he
will lose control of himself. If he becomes fearful, his life will be wasted in
abstention. If he finds security, his existence will be devastated by pride. If
he is struck with a misfortune, he will go crazy and disgraced. If he attains
some wealth, wealth and riches will make him rebel. If poverty attacks him,
calamities and troubles will entertain him. If hunger presses down upon him,
weakness will make him bedridden. If extravagance in anything attacks him,
gluttony will prevent him from breathing.
Whatever
is given to such a man in small amounts is harmful to him, and whatever is given
in excess causes corruption in him. These astonishing words of the Prophet,
Muhammad (Pbuh) concern the health and the illness of the heart: There is a
piece of meat in our body which when healthy guarantees that the rest of our
body is healthy and when sick, the rest of our body gets sick. This is nothing
else but the heart! [Mizan al-Hikmat, v.8, pp.216-218]
The
Prophet (Pbuh) also said: There are containers on the Earth for God the
Almighty. Know that those containers are hearts. The most beloved of those
hearts is the kindest, most pure and the strongest: The kindest towards the
believing brethren, the most pure from sins, and the strongest in attachment to
the Lord. The Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (Pbuh), stated a very
important tradition concerning the health of the heart: Your heart will not be
healthy for you unless you prefer for the believers whatever you prefer for
yourself. What an amazing way has been suggested for the heart to be healthy!
( 136 )
What
an enlightened and wise saying has been quoted from one of the Saints and Lovers
of God!
O
'yes, if a person wants for others what he wants for himself, the heart will
gradually be freed of all vices and corruption, and changed into a healthy
heart. At this moment, the expanse of the heart will be overfilled with faith,
love, compassion, mercy, nobility and sincerity. All those coming into contact
with such a person, especially the wife and the children, will benefit from
goodness in this life and the Hereafter. If a youth has still not married and if
he finds some imperfections in his heart, he should try to reform it. If he does
not do so, his future wife and children will be oppressed. If married men find
some dark defects in their hearts, they must strive to correct these problems.
If they do not do so, their wives and offspring will not be safe at their hands.
Everyone
must know the following fact: A great punishment awaits those men whose wife and
children are endangered with being corrupted by their husband’s
ill-temperedness and bad actions. If the intellect is fed with knowledge and
one's behavior is endowed with divinity, then the soul is enlightened and all of
one's actions become heavenly. An individual is changed into a source of
goodness and a spring of virtues who insures the security of others. Concerning
this matter, pay close attention to the following Quranic verse from the Book of
God:
It
is those who believe and confuse not their beliefs with wrong- that are (truly)
in security, for they are on (right) guidance. [Holy Quran: An'am 6:82]
O
'yes, just as has been mentioned at the beginning of this discussion, all
goodness comes from God and all evil from man himself. One can acquire all the
virtues and wipe out all the evil from his being by turning to God, following
the Prophets, the Quran, the Imams and by utilizing one’s worldly and
spiritual power. Once an individual has acquired virtues, it is his duty to
relay them, as much as is within his power to others, especially his wife and
children. If one is indifferent in this area it is considered a great sin
causing God's punishment. Our Imams (leaders) have stated that we must be a
model for others in our words and actions, so that whenever anyone sees goodness
and the soul's beauty in someone else, he desires to acquire such virtues. The
man of the house must be a proof of God for his family and the symbol of
goodness at home. He must be a model of spiritual, moral and practical goodness
at home. The man of the house will not be such unless his intellect, heart, soul
and body -as much as is within his power- are fed with knowledge, morality,
pleasantness, innocence, piety, honesty, and good acts. This is so because his
house and his household must be a branch of the Household of the Prophet (Pbuh)
and a manifestation of the Saints of God. At this point, it is felt necessary to
participate in useful, religious meetings and to go to the mosques and to have
discussions with clergymen and jurisprudents about religion and the spiritual
world. If one avoids these actions, it is the source of increasing one's
ignorance, the appearance of mental illness and deviation in the soul and
practical affairs. There shall be no excuse for anyone in front of God, in this
world, the Purgatory or the Hereafter given the
( 137 )
manifestation of revelations in the Quran, the effects of the Prophethood of the
Prophets and the leadership of the Imams in valuable authentic books; all these
mosques and religious ceremonies; the availability of clergymen to help one walk
on God's path, reach perfection and acquire the good of this world and the
Hereafter.
Torture in the Expanse of the Hereafter
The
fire of Hell is burning because of ignorance, corruption of the heart and
deviation. It is not God the Compassionate who has willed punishment to be
necessary for anyone he decides to punish. It is sin, evilness and moral vice
that appear in the form of punishment and fire, and imprison the beings of the
sinners. If there were no sinning, denial of God and unbelief, and disobeyance
of God, there would also be no punishment in Purgatory and on the Day of
Judgment. It is stated in the Supplication of Kumayl: I know for sure that if it
was not for Your decree to punish the rejecters and opponents everlasting in
Hell, You would have cooled down all the Fire, and made it healthy, and there
was no room for punishment for anyone. But You have sworn that You shall fill
Hell with the pagans, and those who are ungrateful.
Therefore,
there are some people who pollute themselves with sin and thereby create their
own punishment. It is God the Merciful and Forgiving who has created everything
needed to adorn His servants with goodness resulting in security in this world
and the next. Men and women try to bring about an acceptable amount of security
in their lives for themselves, their children, relatives and others, with the
help of faith, morality, good deeds, sincerity, fidelity, honesty and patience.
Thus, these people will enjoy peace and security on the Day of Judgment due to
the security they created in this world. According to the Prophet (Pbuh): This
world is the field of cultivation for the Hereafter. And according to Imam Baqir
(Pbuh): Truly this world is a good home for the pious ones. The pious ones make
supplies for the Hereafter out of all the activities of this world. Out of their
own world, they establish their own Hereafter. They are happier in their own
world and the Hereafter. Abdullah ibn Ya'fur who ranks among the eminent Islamic
personalities stated: "I said to Imam Sadiq (Pbuh) that I was in love with
this world. He asked what I did in the world. I said I used it to marry, go on
pilgrimage to Mecca, earn the living expenses for my wife and children, attend
to the needs of my needy brothers in their affairs and pay charity. Imam Sadiq (Pbuh)
said: These affairs are not of this world but of the Hereafter. You can see that
the faithful and pious run business, farms and have income. They marry, manage
the home and life in the best manner, help others, go on pilgrimages and pay
alms.
In
short, they spend their time in this world in a healthy way with security, faith
and a good temper, and then benefit in a better way from the Hereafter. I wish
that all the homes would be filled with security and healthiness. I wish that
faith, morality and good deeds would govern over all homes and that all men and
women were adorned with goodness and lacked any vices, so that no one would
( 138 )
have any problems. I wish that all would live together in a healthy way and in
peace, and enjoy God's blessings. The sixth Imam (Pbuh) introduces the real
believers in an important tradition, a part of which goes: All the people are in
comfort because of the believers, and the believer is put to some trouble due to
creating this security and comfort. [Bihar Al-Anwar, V.78, P.37]
Good Mothers and Fathers
A
wife and husband who are adorned with goodness and cleansed of vices are a
source of peace and security for each other. They are a source of development,
perfection and peace and quiet for their children. They are never indifferent to
their offsprings’ needs: the parents kindly and politely answer the request of
their children for kindness, material expenses, education, visiting, recreation
and marriage. If they cannot answer positively to some of their children
requests, the parents persuade the children with good manners and patience. And
the dignified children accept their parent's answers and explanations.
Enlightened and good children refuse to do evil if their parents sometimes
invite them to do so due to not paying attention to the children. They refuse
their parents request respectfully and politely and do not deviate from the
right way. At the time of the Prophet (Pbuh) there was a mother who did not like
her children becoming Muslim and even she refused to eat any food. But when she
heard that God approved of her child becoming a Muslim and did not value her
disapproval, she broke her fast and remained silent before her children.
O’
parents, the Prophet (Pbuh) pays strict attention to your aborted fetus; so much
so that he stated when the fetus is told to enter heaven; it will answer in the
negative saying: I will not enter until my parents enter heaven before me. [Vasa'il
Al-Shiia, V.20, P.14, Al-i-Bayt Press]
Why
don't you take especial care of your honorable offspring who are God's blessing
and goodness. Taking care of offspring and paying good attention to them and
their human needs is an affair that is very beneficial here and in the
Hereafter.'