Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) says that basically, a recommended action, the performance of which causes harm to an obligatory action, is not a means of bringing one closer to God.
According to Ashura News, quoted by Mehr reporter, the greatness and greatness of Nahj al-Balagha has not only been noted by Muslim scholars and thinkers, but also by non-Muslims beyond religion, and great personalities in different eras have expressed their opinions specifically about Nahj al-Balagha. A book that does not only belong to Shiites and Muslims, but also contains human commands and laws that are expressed regardless of religion for a better life for humanity.
The book Nahj al-Balagha, which is a collection of some of the speeches and correspondence of the Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS), is a source of wisdom for the political principles of Islam due to its political concepts and topics that have attracted everyone's attention.
Mirza Shirazi and Muhammad Abduh are among the pioneers of paying attention to Nahj al-Balagha. In the Constitutional Revolution, Nahj al-Balagha played a serious role, and this prominent role of Nahj al-Balagha can be clearly seen in the important book Tanbiyyah al-Ummah and Tanziyyah al-Mullah by Ayatollah Nayini. In his book Islamic Movements in the Last Hundred Years, Ayatollah Morteza Motahari says about the influence of Nahj al-Balagha on Mirza Na’ini’s book: It is fair to say that no one has presented a precise interpretation of the practical, social, and political monotheism of Islam as well as the great scholar and great mujtahid, Mirza Mohammad Hossein Na’ini, along with solid arguments and references from the Quran and Nahj al-Balagha, in his valuable book, “Tanbiyyah al-Ummah wa Tanziyyah al-Mullah.”
The renewed attention to Nahj al-Balagha coincided with the beginning of the Islamic Movement in the early 1940s, and with the emphasis of Imam Khomeini and the efforts of thinkers, researchers, and activists of the Islamic Movement such as Ayatollah Taleghani, Ayatollah Khamenei, Shahid Motahari, Mohammad Reza Hakimi, Mohammad Taqi Shariati, and Ali Shariati, etc., who had a serious presence in the Islamic Movement of contemporary Iran, Nahj al-Balagha was utilized in obtaining the principles of political wisdom of Islam.
In Wisdom 39 of Nahjul-Balagha, the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) says: “There is no nearness to God in optional acts if they harm obligatory acts.” In performing recommended acts that harm obligatory acts, there is no nearness to God.
In the series of Breakfast with Knowledge, Hojjat-ul-Islam Hamid-Reza Mahdavi, the foremost researcher of Nahjul-Balagha, has explained this wisdom: We know that in acts of worship, whether recommended or obligatory, the one performing the act of worship must have the intention of nearness to God, that is, he must have the intention of nearness to God and to draw close to God.
The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) says that basically, a recommended act that harms an obligatory act is not a source of nearness to God.
So what should we do if such a thing happens? That is, we were doing a recommended action but it harmed the obligatory?
In Wisdom 279, the Imam answers this question as follows: “If optional acts harm obligatory acts, then reject them.”
Then in Wisdom 312 of Nahjul-Balaghah, the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) states a general rule in the spiritual and psychological sphere regarding recommended acts. He says: “Indeed, hearts have an inclination and a mind.” Hearts sometimes show willingness towards mustahabat and sometimes show reluctance, “So when it is ready and shows willingness and shows desire, impose mustahabat on it,” but “And when it is reluctant and rejects,” “So confine it to the obligatory”; with regard to your hearts, be content with the obligatory ones.
From these three wisdoms, namely wisdoms 39, 279 and 312, several conclusions can be drawn: 1. Human hearts are the criteria for who should go towards mustahabat and who should not go towards mustahabat. 2. Regarding obligatory acts, there is no condition that the heart likes or dislikes them. Obligatory acts must be performed on time, even if the heart has no desire to do so. 3. Recommended acts are very good to do as long as they do not harm obligatory acts and the hearts also desire them. 4. If a recommended act harms an obligatory act, it is fundamentally not possible to make the intention of drawing closer to Allah with that recommended act, because it is harming an obligatory act and causing one to abandon an obligatory act, and leaving that obligatory act is forbidden, and one cannot make the intention of drawing closer to Allah with a forbidden act. In such cases, the recommended act should be abandoned.
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