Archive for category: Philosophy of Islamic Laws

One of the obligations of Islam is Ghusl or major ablution. There are some obligatory Ghusl and some recommended ones; the obligatory Ghusl is like the Ghusl of Jinabah, the Ghusl of touching the corpse, etc.

And the recommended Ghusls are such as the Ghusl of the day of Friday, the Gusl of repentance, etc.

Now let’s talk about the philosophy behind Ghusl:

First we talk about the Ghusl of Jinabah:

It is obligatory after intercourse or ejaculation. There is a Narration from Imam Reza peace be upon him that we mention some parts of that.

The Imam said as the answer to a question regarding the philosophy of the Ghusl of Jinabah:

The reason of that is for the purification of the soul and cleanliness from its impurity and cleaning the body from the filth. Because Jinabah comes out from the whole body for this very reason it is obligatory to purify the whole body, and the reason of reduction in urine and stool is that these two cases happen so much more than Jinabah, so Islam for the multiplicity of these two cases and hardship (of Ghusl in every time) has decreed just Wudu for them.

But about the reason of Ghusls such as the Ghusl of Friday and the Ghusl of the feast of Ghorban or the feast of Fitr,  the first reason is  to glorify Allah and ask Him the repentance from the sins, and the second reason is that these days are known as  feast for the servants (of Allah) and they remember Allah in these days, so it is for the glorification of these days, and the third reason(which is related to the Ghusl of Friday) is that when a servant performs the Ghusl of Friday, he/she is pure spiritually from this day to the next Friday…

 

The meaning of this sentence that Jinabah comes out from the whole body is that when this state happens to a person, the effect of that appears in the whole body and makes all of the cells of the body in a numbness and this is a witness of the effect of that on the whole body, but the urine or stool is not like that and they are local.

It has been proved by the scientific researchers that the body of human has two kinds of nervous system, sympathetic and parasympathetic, the duty of the first system is to activate the activities of different systems of the body and the duty of the parasympathetic which is a system with smooth activity, is that mostly wants to save the energy. Sometimes the balance between these two systems is broken, one of these cases is at the time of orgasm, at that time the parasympathetic system surpasses the sympathetic system and this balance goes on a negative state, and it has been proved that one of the things that make the sympathetic system active, is touching with the water, and because this is affected on the whole body, we are ordered to wash the whole body, and through Ghusl, the complete balance between this two systems will be formed.

But another philosophy can be that this Ghusl is a kind of obedience of Allah and because in the orgasm, both body and soul are affected, so with Ghusl, that must be done only for the sake of Allah as the obedience to His order, both physical and spiritual sides of human get pure.

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Source:

Islamquest.net

In Islam it is recommended so much to be awake between the time of morning Azan(call to prayer) and the sunrise.

It has been described in the Narrations as an hour from the hours of paradise, and many benefits and consequences have been mentioned in them for it, and as summary we can say that if someone wants the blessings of this world and the hereafter, he/she should be awake in that specific time.

It might seem for some people that there is no any difference between different times of the day, but according to the Quran, it is not so, so we see that for example midnight is a time in which the night prayer and repentance is recommended.

Another recommended time is the time which is our subject.

Allah said in the holy Quran chapter Taha verse 130:

وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ قَبْلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ وَقَبْلَ غُرُوبِهَا وَمِنْ آنَاء اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْ وَأَطْرَافَ النَّهَارِ لَعَلَّكَ تَرْضَى

“And exalt with the praise of your lord before sunrise and before sunset. And in the watches of the night and at the edges of the day, exalt him, so that you will be pleasing.”

Or in chapter Qaf verse 39, Allah said:

فَاصْبِرْ عَلَى مَا يَقُولُونَ وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ قَبْلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ وَقَبْلَ الْغُرُوبِ

“Bear then with patience what they say. Exalt with the praise of your lord before sunrise and before sunset.”

Another point which can be another base for our discussion is this point that the angels of Allah have different duties, for example some of them are assigned for the fertilization of the clouds, plants and humans, the other are assigned for division of the sustenance and livelihood, some other angels have the duty of divisions of the affairs of the people, etc.

As some Narrations describe, the divisions of the sustenance and the affairs of people by angels are done in this specific time i.e. between the morning Azan till the sunrise.

Allah said in chapter Zariyat verse 4:

فَالْمُقَسِّمَاتِ أَمْرًا

“Then by the distributors (angels), ordered.”

There is a Narration as the exegesis of this verse, that says:

“The angels divide the sustenance of human in the time between the morning Azan and sunrise, so the one who sleeps in this time; in reality he/she has slept from his/her sustenance.”

When we refer to the exegesis of the verse in chapter Ghafir verse 55 in which Allah said:

وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنبِكَ وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ بِالْعَشِيِّ وَالْإِبْكَارِ

“And ask forgiveness of your sins, and exalt with the praise of your lord in the evening and at dawn.”

We see that the exegesis says that the meaning of the word  “ابکار” is this time.

This time is recommended for performing prayer and reciting the holy Quran.

Allah said in chapter Isra verse 78:

أَقِمِ الصَّلاَةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا

“Establish the prayer at the decline of the sun till the darkening of the night and the Quran recital at dawn. Surely, the Quran recital at dawn is witnessed.”

Imam Baqir peace be upon him in a debate with the Christian bishop said about this time:

This time is from the times of paradise, so in this time the patients get cautious and the pains get calmed and the one, who did not sleep in night, falls asleep and Allah has made this time beloved in this world for those who are eager to the hereafter.”

The same Imam said:

“Satan spreads his army in two times, the time of sunrise and the time of sunset, because these two times are the times of negligence.”

Let me briefly mention some of the benefits of being awake in this time according to the Narrations:

-The division of the sustenance.

-Escaping from calamity.

-Being safe from the financial damages and losing the capital (if we recite the Doa which is mentioned for this time)

And now let me mention briefly some of the disadvantages for sleeping in this time:

-Poverty and distress.

-Calamity.

-Blindness of heart.

-Being in need for sustenance to others.

-Negligence.

-Being a cause for yellow face.

Some people think that it is just moral prescription, but the physical benefits of being and remaining awake are something that have been proved by scientific researchers.

For example there is a hormone by the name of “Somatotropin” which in known as the hormone of growth, the time in which this hormone is produced and discharged, is during two hours after sunset, and it is recommended in the Narrations to sleep in this time.

But on the other hands there are a series of hormones that they increase stress by the name of “Corticosteroid”, the time in which these hormones are produced and discharged, is two hours before sunrise or let’s say the time about which our subject is.

If someone is asleep when the discharge of these hormones gets most, he/she is more exposed to heart attack, and also it is said by the researchers: the time in which most of deaths in dream happen, is this time.

And as the last point it must be said that the sustenance is not just financial aspects, but rather it includes spiritual aspects as well, that are so much more important than material benefits, like finding the chance to visit the holy shrines of infallibles or finding the good friends, or being the neighbor of a good family, or having the chance to have more precious lifetime with the opportunity of doing more good deeds etc.

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Sources:

Samamos.com narrating from the newspaper of Kayhan

 

 

 

Respecting parents is so much recommended in Islam and we are ordered to have very good treatment with them even though they are not Muslims and even though they have done so much cruelty to us, so let’s see what the reason of this rule is.

In the Quran in verses 23 -24 in chapter Isra Allah said:

وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلاَّ تَعْبُدُواْ إِلاَّ إِيَّاهُ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا إِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِندَكَ الْكِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَا أَوْ كِلاَهُمَا فَلاَ تَقُل لَّهُمَآ أُفٍّ وَلاَ تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُل لَّهُمَا قَوْلًا كَرِيمًا

وَاخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ الذُّلِّ مِنَ الرَّحْمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ارْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِي صَغِيرًا

“Your lord has ordered you to worship none except Him, and to be good to your parents. If either or both of them attain old age with you, do not say: “fie on you”, nor rebuke them, but speak to them with words of respect.

And lower to them the wing of humbleness out of mercy and say: ‘my lord, be merciful to them, as they raised me since I was little.”

It is interesting that in the first verse, besides ordering to worshiping only Allah, Allah said immediately: and be good to your parents.

The duties that are mentioned in the Quran about treating the parents are different, and we mention some of them:

1) Talking to them in good manners and by good words.

2) Humility before them.

3) Obeying them (except in the cases in which the orders of Allah will be disobeyed if we obey the parents).

4) Performing Doa and asking Allah for them.

Imam Kazem peace be upon him has narrated that the holy Prophet was asked about the right of father upon the child and he replied:

The child must not call the parents by their names and must not walk and sit before them and ahead them and must not cause them to be insulted.

In a Narration from Imam Sajjad peace be upon him, he said about the right of mother:

The right of mother upon you is that you know that she carried you in a place in which no one carries other, and gave you from the fruit of her heart; the thing that no one gives it to other, and she protected you by all her lambs and she did not give importance to herself of being hungry while you are full, and did not give importance to herself of being thirsty while she makes you drink(milk or water) And to be without covering while you are covered and did not take care about herself to be under sunshine, while you are in shadow, and to remain awake and protect you from heat and coldness in order to have you and not miss you, so you cannot thank her except by the help and chance of Allah.”

The reasons that we are ordered to be kind to them can be as followings:

Firstly, this rule in because of so much attempts that they did for us.

Secondly, it is for their position as the teacher and educator for us.

So now is the time to look at some of the benefits and consequences of respecting parents and being good to them which are derived from Narrations:

1) The benefits which appear in this world like:

-It causes the death to be easy.

-It prolongs the lifetime.

-The person who respects them, he/she does not get stuck in poverty.

-if we respect them as it is mentioned in Narrations, our children will learn it from us and will treat us well.

2) The benefits which appear after death and in the hereafter, like:

-Achieving to the satisfaction and pleasance of Allah.

-Preventing from entering the fire of Hell.

-Being among the inhabitants of paradise beside the prophets.

-Being under the shadow of the throne of Allah which can be meant: being included in the mercy of Allah.

Now let me mention some of the harms of disrespecting the parents, according to the Narrations, like:

-Not being included in the forgiveness of Allah.

-Preventing from entering the paradise and even feeling the smell of it.

-Preventing the prayers from being accepted.

And as the last point, there is a Narration from the Prophet of Islam in which he said:

There are three groups that their punishment happens soon and is not delayed to the hereafter… one of them is the punishment of disrespecting the parents and being disowned by them.

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Sources:

Mr532011mr.persianblog.ir

Askdin.com

Islamquest.net

Sibtayn.com

 

In Islam we have been ordered to observe “Taqwa” or piety.

If we want to describe this word in brief we say:

Taqwa means to fear Allah and to feel the presence of Allah in all situations and under all circumstances.

If someone is familiar with the teachings of Islam, he/she definitely realizes that the base of all perfections in Islam is Taqwa.

There are hundreds of verses of the holy Quran in which the concept of Taqwa is used.

According to the second verse of chapter Bagharah, the Quran describes itself as guidance for the pious people, which means the real and complete guidance of the Quran is obtained through Taqwa.

If someone wants to be more respected to Allah than others, he/she must be pious, because Allah said in chapter Hojorat verse 13:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

“People, we have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that you might know one another. The noblest of you before Allah is the most righteous of you. Allah is the knower, the aware”.

From this verse we understand that there is no any priority of any one over others, except through Taqwa, and no one can say that because for example I am from that great tribe, so I’m better than the other.

Through Taqwa we can reach to a powerful sight that makes us able to distinguish right from wrong. Allah said in chapter Anfal, verse 29:

يِا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ إَن تَتَّقُواْ اللّهَ يَجْعَل لَّكُمْ فُرْقَانًا وَيُكَفِّرْ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ وَاللّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ

“Believers, if you fear Allah, He will give you a criteria and cleanse you of your sins and forgive you, Allah is the owner of great bounty”.

Taqwa has different levels; the Islamic scholars in the field of morality have divided it into three levels:

-The level which is obtained through obeying obligations and prohibitions.

-The level that apart from performing the duties of the first level, can be reached through performing recommended acts and avoiding from Makruh(the acts which are not Haram and prohibited, but it is better to be left).

-The level that beside the deeds of the first and second levels can be achieved through making the heart only for the inhabitance of Allah and not letting others to enter in it.

Of course we must not force ourselves to reach to the third level in one night, because by this intention, in many cases we will make ourselves reluctant to worship of Allah and religion.

Another benefit of Taqwa is that through it, we can get rid of difficulties like satanic temptations. Allah said in chapter Talaq verses 2-3:

مَن يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّهُ مَخْرَجًا

وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ

“Whosoever fears Allah, He will appoint for him a way out.

And provide for him from where he does not expect”.

Another benefits that we can obtain through Taqwa which is understood from the above verse, is that the sustenance in both physical and spiritual meanings is achieved through Taqwa, the meaning of physical sustenance is clear, and the spiritual “Rezq” and sustenance can be manifested in different ways, like getting familiar with a prominent teacher in the field of morality, or finding a righteous friends or finding the chance for visiting the shrines of the infallibles etc. and for such a person who observes Taqwa, the next step of perfection gets clear.

According to the Quran, if someone wants to be beloved by Allah and wants to have good ending in the life, he/she must observe Taqwa.

If the servant of Allah does not observe Taqwa, his/her good deeds might not have its perfect effect, and it is like a patient, that does not restrain from eating the harmful meals, so even such a person, uses the best medical treatments, but because of not leaving the harmful food, the medicine has not its complete effect.

The holy Prophet of Islam said:

“Verily if you perform prayer so much to the extent that you become like the bow and if you fast so much to the extent that you become like the bowstring, these acts are not beneficial for you, except if you observe Taqwa.”

Molavi the great poet has composed an interesting poem related to our subject.

He said:

We try to fill the store full of wheat, and as much as we fill the store, we lose the wheat, because we are not aware that this store has mice that they eat the wheat.

So if we try to perform Mostahab and recommended acts, but do not abstain from committing the prohibited acts i.e. sins, these good deeds are not so beneficial for us.

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Source:

Hawzah.net

 

 

Seeking knowledge is so much recommended in Islam.

It is something which is innate the nature of human that he/she wants to have knowledge and know about different things.

Knowing the self and knowing about the world around us is a kind of knowledge that human wants to have.

The holy Prophet of Islam said:

“When Allah wants (to give) good to someone, He make that person a deep knowledgeable in religion.”

It is narrated from the Prophet that he said:

“An Alim(knowledgeable) person is higher than a Abid(worshiper) seventy levels.”

The holy Quran explicitly describes one of the missions of the holy Prophet of Islam to give knowledge to the people.

Allah said in chapter Jom’a verse 2:

هُوَ الَّذِي بَعَثَ فِي الْأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُوا مِن قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ

“It is He who has risen among the illiterate (Arabs), a messenger from themselves, to recite to them his verses, to purify them, and to teach them the book and the wisdom, though before that they were in clear error”.

Imagine you want to walk in night in a dark desert, you definitely need light, knowledge looks like the light in the darkness of different mistakes and wrongs and sins that we might commit, when we have light, we can look at our ahead and prevent ourselves from making mistakes, mistakes that sometimes need several years to compensate them, and as much as our light is more, our guidance is more and our making mistake gets less.

And it is interesting that in some Narrations, knowledge is called “Noor” which means light.

Having knowledge is so much important to the extent that Allah said in chapter Mojadalah verse 11:

يَرْفَعِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ

“Allah will raise up in ranks those who believed among you and those who have been given knowledge.”

If someone has Ma’refah and knowledge of Allah, such a person, knows his/her Lord better and the worship that such a person performs, is more worthy than a simple worship.

If someone wants to have a right and correct movement in every field, definitely he/she needs knowledge.

Imam Ali peace be upon him said to one of his companions:

“There is no any movement except you need knowledge in it.”

Let me mention briefly some positions of knowledge which are mentioned in some Narrations, like:

-It is as a guide.

-It is as greatness and ignorance is as going astray.

-It is a great treasure which does not finish.

-It is as a resuscitator of the soul and enlightener of the intellect and remover of the ignorance.

-It obtains “life” for human.

It is very appropriate to define the meaning of knowledge here, because you know that the meaning of knowledge might be somehow different, but the common meaning in all schools of thought is to know something which you did not know it before.

In Islam “Ilm” (knowledge) means something that has the aspect of monotheism.

But it must be said that Islam is not against the technology and the developed sciences, and it has its own value especially when it is obtained for the sake of Allah for helping His creatures, but some of the usages of the knowledge and “Ilm” which are used in Islamic sources, mean its divine meaning, and for this reason, we see that Allah said in chapter Fatir verse 28:

إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاء

“It is only those amongst His worshippers that fear Allah who have knowledge.”

And as the last point let me mention that the knowledge without acting according to that, is not so precious and in some cases it brings more responsibilities and more punishment on the day of judgment, and it is completely logical, because imagine two persons, one is aware of the commands of the boss, and the second is not aware, if both of them disobey their boss, which one causes more sadness for the boss? The one who was not aware, can bring the excuse of not being aware of the order of the boss, but such an excuse is not accepted from the aware person.

But if a person has knowledge and applies it in his/her life, he/she is among the best persons in the world.

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Sources:

Akhlagh.porsemani.ir

Maarefquran.org