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Question: According to Quran’s point of view one of the effects of Prayers is that it keeps one away from sins and unlawful things. Because Quran says:

And keep up prayer; surely prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and evil…[16]

Then also we see that many people who pray commit sins and evil deeds and there is no effect of prayers on their words and deeds. Then what is the meaning of the above-mentioned ayat?

Answer: First of all one should remember that for a person to remain away from sins, the primary thing is remembrance of Allah and Faith. One, who forgets Allah, doesn’t think about his actions and character and to fulfill his desire never thinks of any limit. The opposite of this is that the remembrance of Allah keeps us away from sensual desires. The remembrance of that God who is All-aware of our small and big deeds and whatever we think, He is all knowing.

To control unlawful desires, the natural and straight way is to remember God, to know the status of godly people, to remember the punishment meant for sinners and to remember the rewards for those who follow the divine commandments.

The holy Quran describes the godly people in this way:

Men whom neither merchandise nor selling diverts from the remembrance of Allah and the keeping up of prayer and the giving of poor-rate…[17]

Amirul Mo-mineen Ali (‘a) gave special importance to the remembrance of Allah and says as follows:

“Allah the most High has created lights in the hearts of his servants, due to that shining their ears start listening and eyes start seeing and they leave enmity and mischievousness and obey His commands.”[18]

Imam Ali (‘a) in these sentences said that ‘forgetfulness’ is the disease of the heart and deafness and blindness, which make the human beings rebellious, fightful, quarrelsome and inimical from the true and right path. In comparison to this your property is the remembrance of Allah, through which your heart listens and enlightens, which bring the sensual desires under the control.

On the basis of whatever is said above, one who is unmindful about the rewards and punishment of Allah, is like a blind and deaf, who rides an untrained horse. certainly the horse will hit the stones and fall into a pit, but those people who are awakened and their hearts remember the Lord; they closely observe the results of their deeds. They listen to the truth with great attention and keep their sensual desires under control by remembering the Almighty.

Imam Baqir (‘a) addresses one of his friends in this way:

“Always remember Allah, because His remembrance is a hindrance between a person and unlawful deed.”[19]

Asbagh ibn Nubata says the Amirul Mo-mineen (‘a) said:

“Remember Allah on two places, one at the time of distress and when you are about to commit a small sin, and to remember Allah at the time of sin is more important because His remembrance is a hindrance between the person and the sin.”

It is apparent that there are different stages of remembering Allah, and they are never similar. Sometimes he reaches the stage that insures a person against all sins and due to this his involvement in sin naturally becomes impossible. These are people who remember Allah with a peaceful heart, awakened heart, enlightened eyes, hearing ears and obedient soul.

Most of the people remember God in a middle stage. For example there are some people who commit some sins, but in any way they do not shed the blood of others, or usurp the property of orphans, or defame others because they know the punishment for these sins is very severe and their inner soul stops them from these sins.

Sometimes the remembrance of Allah is so less and hazy that it becomes apparent only in leaving of sins. Many times the stronger factors, makes its basis effectless. But if the remembrance of Allah is practiced even if weak and defective, it can protect a person from many sins.

Prayers is the source for the remembrance of Allah

One of the secrets of Prayers is that it inculcates the remembrance of Allah in man and Quran itself says that it is one of the purposes of Prayers:

Therefore serve Me and keep up prayer for My remembrance…[20]

It is apparent that Prayers is worship and it should be performed with the purpose of nearness to Allah, which is why it is naturally the cause for the remembrance of Allah.

The person who is praying expresses those sentences by his tongue which make him attentive towards Allah and it is the source of His remembrance. For example in the Surah Hamd, which we recite in the Prayers, we praise Allah and His qualities and after this in his holy realm mention the different servants and it also same for other recitations in the Prayers.

The effect of Prayers on our soul is that it makes our spirit stronger and makes us remember Allah, and this remembrance as we have told earlier has different stages. Those people who do not refrain from many sins and are careless and due to sins they do not remember Allah.

In other words, the saying of Quran that “Prayers protects the person from sin” doesn’t mean that the person who prays Prayers becomes immune from sins, but it means that it is the cause of remembrance of Allah and it also diverts a person attention towards the Lord and the natural effect of this type of remembrance creates a spirit in the worship and refrains him from sins. But it is also possible that if a person is less attentive towards Allah, the other factors may remove the spiritual effect.

The conclusion of this discussion is that if the Prayer is prayed in its proper way, it will have an effect on the person to make him resist sins. Sometimes this effect is strong and sometimes it is weak and there is variation due to the difference in sins and difference in Prayers. When the Prayers is prayed with humility and perfection, his training and restraint from sins is stronger.

Prayers of those who pray practically stops them from sins and along with this help in refraining from other sins because the worshipper has no option, that for making his Prayers right and acceptable, he should refrain from many sins. For example one of the conditions of Prayers is those things, which are necessary in Prayers should be lawful. This makes the worshipper leave many things, because it is very difficult that a person who prays makes sure that all the things required for Prayers be lawful and in other things is not worried about lawfulness.

From whatever is said above it is proved that those who do not pray, as a result of non performance of Prayers they also fail to perform other worship acts like fasting, Hajj, Khums and Zakat. They do not differentiate between Halaal and Haraam, clean and unclean. While those who at least pray, refrain from some sins and those who perform this worship in a more better and perfect way refrain from most of the sins or all the sins.

In brief Prayers have a training effect on the person who prays, whether this effect be comprehensive or weak, it depends on the performance of Prayers and upon its manner and spirit.

[16] Surah Ankabut 29:45

The proof regarding to pray two Prayers together is the traditions from Imam Ja’far Sadiq (‘a) that Shaykh Hurre Aameli has collected in his book.

We should also keep in mind that only Shia narrators have not only narrated traditions, but Ahle Sunnat narrators have also narrated that it is allowed to pray two Prayers together (and that also if there is no legal excuse.) They have narrated from the Holy Prophet (‘s) in their authentic books by Ibne Abbas, Maaz Ibne Jabal, Abdullah Ibne Masood and Abdullah Ibne Umar approximately ten traditions, all of which cannot be quoted in full but we just mention some of them:

 (1) The famous narrator of Sunni world, Ahmad bin Hanbal writes in his famous book Musnad from Ibne Abbas:

“The Holy Prophet (‘s) used to pray Noon and Afternoon Prayers, and in the same way Evening and Night Prayers without the fear of enemy or without the excuse of travel.”

 (2) Then again narrates this tradition from Jabir bin Zaid who narrated from Ibne Abbas that, “I used to pray the Eight rakats of Noon and Afternoon Prayers or Seven rakats of Evening and Night Prayers together with the Holy Prophet (‘s). And this tradition has been narrated by Ibne Abbas with different words.

 (3) Again he narrates from Abdullah Shaqiq: “One day Ibne Abbas was delivering a sermon to the people and his speech was so long that the stars in the sky appeared. A man Bani Tamim tribe got up and objected to him that it was time for Evening Prayers and if the speech continues the time of Evening Prayers and if the speech continued the time of Evening Prayers will pass away. Ibne Abbas told that person: “I know much more about traditions and practice of the Holy Prophet (‘s) than you. I have seen that Holy Prophet (‘s) pray Noon and Afternoon Prayers together and Evening and Night Prayers together.” The narrator says that I doubted about this and spoke to Abu Huraira who certified the saying of Ibne Abbas.

 (4) The famous narrator Muslim ibn Hajjaj al-Qashiri (died in 261 Hijri) has written in his book Jama Prayers dar Huzar (to pray the two Prayers together in one’s own town) in which he has narrated four traditions from which three are from Ibne Abbas and one from Maaz ibn Jabal and the gist of the four traditions is the same as above.[12] And in these traditions a new point is mentioned that when the narrator asks the reason for joining two Prayers, he answered: He (the Prophet ) did not want to put his followers into hardship.

This reason has also been narrated in Shia traditions. Traditions narrated from Imam Ja’far Sadiq (‘a) also mention this point.[13]

The narrators of praying two Prayers together is not limited to Ibne Abbas and Maaz ibn Jabal only. Tibrani says Abdullah ibn Masood said that the Holy Prophet (‘s) allowed praying Noon and Afternoon Prayers and Evening and Night Prayers together, so that the Ummat may not have to bear undue hardships.[14]

The same has been narrated by Abdullah ibn Zubair. He narrates that the Holy Prophet (‘s) although he was not in traveling, prayed together so that his Ummat should not face hardship.[15]

This narration is from one of the many traditions of Ahle Sunnat and also in the exegesis of Quran that says to pray the Prayers separately is recommended and if we at any time realize that by performing this recommended itself is going to affect the performance of the worship itself then according to the guidance of the Holy Prophet we can leave it and pray two Prayers together.

Life in the present age in many parts of the world has become such that to perform this Recommended act has become difficult and many times its result is that some people are unable to perform the Prayers. In such circumstances one can take the benefit from the guidance of Holy Prophet and for performing more important work one can pray two prayers together. The view of many Sunni jurisprudents is the same, but because of some reasons, they remain away from this view.

[12] Sahih Muslim, Vol. 2. p. 151

 

Question: What is the reason that we pray Zuhr-Asr and Maghrib-Isha prayers together, whereas for every Prayer there is a special time and the great leaders of Islam used to pray on the particular times. That is they used to pray five prayers are five different times a day?

Answer: There is no scope of argument in this matter that to establish Prayers five times a day and pray on the special times had been the practice of the Holy Prophet (‘s), the holy Imam (‘a) and the common Muslims at the early period of Islam and they used to generally pray five prayers at five different times.

Nothing can be said regarding this, but the argument is whether it is obligatory to keep a distance between two prayers (In the way many Mujtahids do) or it is a Recommended (mustahab) deed and is like other Recommended actions where a person has the choice to do it or not. They are not forced to pray together or separately, whether their praying of separately may be better?

The Shia scholars follow those traditions from which we come to know the actions of the Holy Prophet (‘s) and keeping those narrations in mind which have reached us through the Holy Imams (‘a) and following the literal meaning of the Holy Quran, in all the Islamic times the time gap between the two prayers is Recommended. And told the people that to keep the time distance and to recite and pray every Prayer in its special time is better and recommended, but then also one can leave the recommended acts, and the meaning of recommended is also this.

Undoubtedly by praying two Prayers together does not mean that we pray one Prayer in the time of other; for example if we pray Evening and Night prayers in the beginning of the night, it doesn’t mean that we have prayed Night at the wrong time; we have prayed both the Prayers in their proper times, because from sunset the time of both the Prayers begins till the midnight. (Except that after sunset the time required to pray three rakat (units) is the time of Evening Prayers and in the end approximately the time required to pray four rakat is the special time of Night and the remaining time is similar for both). And whenever we pray Night with Evening Prayers, meaning at the start of the night or pray Evening Prayer with Night Prayer at the last time of midnight, we pray both the Prayers in their specific time, but it is Recommended to pray Evening Prayer at the start of the night and Night Prayer after the time of Zawal-e-Shafaq and if a person doesn’t do like this, it means that he has just not performed a recommended act.

Question: Why it is necessary to stand towards Qibla while praying, while Allah is everywhere and doesn’t have a specific direction?

Answer: To pray in a specific direction doesn’t mean that Allah is in a specific direction. The glorious Quran says about Qibla and explains its reality:

And Allah’s is the East and the West, therefore, whither you turn, thither is Allah’s purpose…[10]

And in another ayat Allah says:

The East and the West belong only to Allah.[11]

It means east and west belongs to Allah (and all places are similar for Him).

In fact to pray facing the Qibla is due to that since a person has physical body, while praying he has to face some direction and Islam desires that for the perfection of this worship, he should take as much benefit as possible. The reason to face the holy Ka’ba is, as we all know, the holy Ka’ba is the oldest center of monotheism. It is the house built by the hands of the Pillar of Monotheism, Hazrat Ibrahim (‘a) and was the center of attention of all the Prophets and guides of Monotheism, that is why turning towards this center of Monotheism means turning towards Allah. It is correct that Allah is not confined by space, but when a person stands towards such a center, because of many reasons he is nearer to Allah and feels himself in Allah’s proximity. The turning of the Muslims of the world towards this holy center five times a day creates the inspiration of oneness and unity and this creates the similarity between the Muslims of the world and connection between them who are spread from East to West and shows their magnanimity and greatness and after all represents to the world the purpose and faith of Islamic teachings.

[10] Surah Baqarah 2:115

Question: Why pray in Arabic, whereas we should call Allah in our own language? Whether this situation is against that Islam is a heavenly religion?

Answer: Incidentally to recite Prayers in Arabic is one of the signs that the religion of Islam is heavenly, because people who stand in one row and are busy in the same worship, it is necessary for them that there should be one language so that they can understand each other, it means that besides the mother tongue and local language they should have a common and universal language and without that a united community cannot be formed.

In the present age many intellectuals think that unless the whole world becomes one country, it will not be able to achieve happiness. To do this practically, they have made plans to make a language universal.

In short the praying of all Muslims in one language is the sign of unity and it points to the oneness of the people, and keeping this in mind the intellectuals say that Arabic language is the most extensive and comprehensive language of the world. This reality becomes clearer that all the sects of Muslims accept it as an international language and can benefit from it for mutual understanding and similarity.

Apart from this to perform Prayers in a similar way, protects it from any subtraction or addition, any alterations, or any mixture of superstitions things and also protects it from baseless meanings (due to the translation of it in other languages by those incapable people who interfere in it) and due to this the spirit of this worship remains intact. Therefore it is necessary for every Muslim that as much as possible to be aware of the religious language and He should know what he is saying to his Lord. Incidentally to learn the translation of Prayers, (which can be written on a single page) which is so easy that it is possible to learn it in an hour (for the whole life).

In short as we know that Tauheed is the basic root and branches of religion and turning towards one Qibla in appointed time, in a specific language is the sign of Unity.

If we are in Mecca at the time of Hajj and observe the congregation prayer in which hundreds of thousands of people from the whole world, of different races and tribes participate in it. Allah of them say: Allaho Akbar together, that time we can understand its wisdom and depth and if in Prayers every person recites in their own language, there will be disparity.

Question: It is written in Tauzihul Masael that it is compulsory to do the Taqlid of an Aalam. What is the source of this command?

Answer: The Taqlid of Aalam, which is famous among the Mujtahids, is concluded from different proofs, from which we present one clear proof:

The following of a learned by an ignorant person is based on logic and in that sense, and in all the tribes and communities of the world it is the tradition that those who are not expert in any field, when they require the help of experts, contact those who are experts. For example those who are not acquainted with medicine when they fall ill they go to the doctor, and those who do not know how to build, to an architect or a mason. It is also clear that when the views of experts differs; for example a doctor treats his patient in one special way and thinks it to be correct, and the other doctor treats in another way and believes that he is right. So in that case the patient will follow that doctor whose medicinal knowledge is more and expansive, one who has more experience and expertise. In short that one should be more knowledgeable (Aalam) than the other. There will always be a difference of opinion among the experts of a particular field; it is logical. But people follow only that expert who in their view is the best. Different tribes and communities follow this.

Whatever is said above is one of the proofs for the Taqlid of an Aalam. Mujtahids have given some proofs on this topic, whose explanation is not possible over here.

Question: When Allah doesn’t require the worship of anybody, why should we worship Him? He is needless and all are dependent on Him. If Allah needs our worship, then it is not agreeable to His divinity and Godhood.

Answer: Now its answer can be given in two ways: one in brief and the other in detail.

The brief answer is that when the purpose of this worship is to fulfill the needs of Allah and by obeying Him we give some benefit to Him, then the question arises that Allah is unlimited and away from all defects and needs; then what is the need for our worship, but the purpose of worshipping Him would be to elevate ourselves, then the worship would be a means to elevate ourselves and for goodness and it will a favor and guidance from Allah to make us reach perfection through worship.

The detailed answer is as follows: Worship, supplication and whatever deed is performed for pleasing Allah, more or less it has the effect on the person and society also. In fact these are the highest training and ethics in the school of Islam because:

a)The worship of Allah creates a sense of thankfulness, respect and honor. To realize the value of the source from where man gets the valuable divine blessings is a sign that the person was deserving of them.

b)The worship of Allah elevates the soul of man. What else can be more elevating that he gets connected to the total perfection and that is Allah, and for the duties of worship and the affairs of this life we ask help from the unending and unlimited power and acquire that much capability that we can communicate with Him.

These benefits are present in all the worship acts, which are performed correctly, and other worship acts like Prayers, Fasting and Hajj etc have their own benefits and effects. We shall discuss the secrets of the most important Islamic worship acts in brief, so that it becomes clear that worship and supplication benefit us and Allah is not in need of them.

1) Prayers and its gainful effects

Prayers is the cause for the remembrance of Allah and the remembrance of Allah disciplines the mind and self, controls inordinate desires and reins the rebellious soul.

The person who prays is always in the remembrance of Allah. In the remembrance of that same Lord Who is aware of our small and big deeds. And those things, which are present in our souls, and the thoughts, which pass through our mind. He is well informed and aware about them. The least effect of Allah’s remembrance is that a person is able to balance his desires. As a person who forgets Allah and is ignorant about reward and punishment, is in intellectual darkness.

The person, who is negligent about Allah, doesn’t thinks about the results of his deeds and character and to fulfill his inordinate desires and inclinations he doesn’t recognize any limits. The five times prayers remind us about Almighty Allah and removes the darkness of negligence from our souls.

Undoubtedly the person in whose existence, there is the rule of inordinate desires on his nature, which have a strong base in him – the best way to control these desires is to remember Allah and to remember the punishment of those sins and to remember those accurate accounts in which there is no possibility of mistakes. That is why the holy Quran says that one of the purposes of Prayers is to remember Allah:

Surely I am Allah, there is no god but I, therefore serve Me and keep up prayer for My remembrance:[8]

(2) Away from Sins

It is necessary for a Worshipper to pray correctly and see that it becomes acceptable. He should refrain from sins. For example the conditions for performing it is (for example the water of ablution and Ghusl, the dress in which a person prays and the place where he prays) legitimate. These things demand that a person should not go near haraam (Prohibition) and should refrain himself from all types of haraam while doing business, because it is very difficult that a person would remain away from haraam during Prayers and on other times he becomes careless.

We come to know that the following ayat points towards this:

Surely prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and evil,[9]

Specially when a worshipper ingrains in his mind that the condition for the acceptance of Prayers is that he should fulfill the rights of Zakat and help the needy, should not backbite, refrain from pride and jealousy, should refrain from wine and alcohol and with attention, presence of mind, and true intentions should present himself in front of Allah, then a true worshipper will surely follow these rules. Due to this the Holy Prophet (‘s) said:

The Prayers is like a stream of clean water, in which a person washes himself, if a person washes himself five times a day he will never become dirty, In the same way a person who prays five times a day and washes his heart with the clean spiritual spring, his heart and soul will never be filled with sin.

 (3) Cleanliness and Protection of Health

As the worshipper sometimes washes his whole body and as usual performs ablutions many times in the day and night, and before doing Ghusl and ablution cleans his body from all impurities and all kinds of dirt, that is why he should necessarily be a clean person. From this point, Prayers protects the health of a person and helps him in keeping himself clean, which is very important in ones life.

 (4) Disciple and self Restraint

For every Prayer there is a fixed and special time, and for a person who wants to pray it is necessary that he should pray within the prescribed time, therefore this helps a person to become disciplined and self-restrained and helps him to recognize the value of time.

Especially for one who prays the Morning Prayer. He must get up before the sunrise. Such a person will not only be naturally a clean person and takes the benefit from the morning breeze and also starts his day on a positive note.

These are not the only individual and training effects of Prayer, this is just an example of this great worship act of Islam.

 (5) Social Secrets

The performance of Prayers in the appointed time unites the great Islamic Nation and shows the oneness of direction because Muslims in the appointed time stand towards the Qibla in a specified manner and worship Allah and this itself is the display of Unity and oneness and this worship act unites all the people.

When prayed in congregation it promotes unity, similarity and the same spirit of the rows of the worshippers shows discipline and nearness to each other, and this spiritual unity and brotherhood is not in need of any description.

Although the benefits of Prayers are not limited to this, whatever is said above explains the secrets of this great divine duty.

 (6) A brief secret of Fasting

Fasting is one of the worship acts in Islam. One of the training effects of Fasting on a person is that it discontinues the rule of habit and desires and frees the person from the slavery of sensual desires.

The worst rule and most dangerous is the rule of bad habit and the slavery of desires because usually the simple habit of tobacco gives a big loss to the honor of a person and then what to say about other habits?

That person is free who is not a slave to any habit and who with his firm intentions has control over all of them. This type of freedom and spiritual perfection gives strength and necessitates the firm steps, which originate from fasting.

Fasting arouses emotions and sentiments. Wealthy and well to do people, who eat different varieties of food the whole year are unaware of people who are hungry. The person who fasts remembers the hunger of the poor and becomes aware of their distress and as a result emotions and sentiments are aroused in them spirit, and this reduces the gap between various classes of people and reminds them to fulfill the needs of the poor. What would be a better benefit of fasting that the upper class and happy people taste hunger and thirst due to this think about the needy, who if remain in this state only, will increase the anger of their fire, which will burn down each and everything and destroy all.

Fasting in the Holy month of Ramadhan shows equality and unity because in this month the happy and poor people remain away from desires and lead similar life.

The Philosophy of Hajj

Hajj is a great Islamic worship. This is a social worship, which is performed on prescribed days of the year in Mecca. This is such a worship, which not only creates a relation between God and His creatures, but also has different effects on the Islamic society, because:

·It is a worship gathering that begins with complete celibacy and full freedom, by just wearing simple clothes, it is a sign of equality of Allah’s creatures before Him and man himself keeps aside the distinctions of genealogy, language, color and wealth and stand before God without any distinction. Hajj is that worship act, which fulfils this purpose and creates the feeling among the faithful that no one should think that his status is high in the society.

·Hajj is such a huge gathering, whose pillars are formed through the representatives of the different Muslim countries. Hajj is a yearly gathering of the Muslims of the world.

The religion of Islam is not only a combination of few ethical laws and training whose purpose is just to improve spirituality and remain away from weekly or yearly gatherings of political parties. It is the opposite, that it is a heavenly and comprehensive religion which keeps an eye on all the spheres of a person’s life, whether it may be ethical, social, political, economical or from defence point of view.

For this reason the Holy Prophet (‘s) made the political rules and invited people for the yearly gathering at Mecca, and guaranteed its existence; and due to the grace of Allah the effect of this gathering is more than the worldly political parties.

After all the worldly leaders of the present time started giving importance to such type of gathering, whereas Islam had laid this down fourteen hundred years ago and used it to derive the desired results. Muslim thinkers who naturally participate in this gathering can analyze the present condition and acquire detailed information and then exchange their views and improve the conditions of Muslims and initiate their progress.

It is a gathering, which brings together the Muslims of the world and informs them about the conditions of other Muslims. Which other gathering can give such benefits?

This gathering can help to improve the economic and social conditions of the Muslims because the scholars and expert people after performing the rituals of Hajj can peacefully, sincerely and in a spiritual atmosphere exchange their views about social and economic basics of the Muslim Ummah.

The yearly gatherings of Hajj has always opposed injustice and force and there has been always freedom movements and it creates a spirit and emotions and from Islamic history and turning towards the Revolution. This point becomes clear that the seeds of downfall of imperialism and communist governments were sowed in the period of Hajj and this land has been the source of such freedom movements.

This was one of the secrets of Hajj. According to some scholars the time has come that the world understand the philosophy of Hajj.

From whatever is said above we conclude that all the Islamic worship acts carry such secrets, which are revealed to the individuals performing the worship or on the society in which he is leading his life.

[8] Surah Taha 20:14

When a person comes to this world, he does not have knowledge about anything. That is why there is no other way except that he learns from the experience of others. This is the reason why a person whose life is full of up’s and downs requires knowledge at every step.

Basically, life is based on two main pillars and they are to know and then to implement them and for implementation knowledge is necessary. That is why the life’s first step starts with knowledge.

This is the stage when a person’s natural instincts help him and life opens the way of perfection and happiness for him. This instinct is called derivation and following. As we all know that a child, who because of the movements from his inner self learns from his parents how to talk, and the manners of sitting and standing and in this way passes one stage of life from the other. And as the child grows he learns and gains from knowledge and thinking of others and tries to pay attention to following them. Slowly he becomes aware about the existence of this world and then starts performing his duties.

But here it is important to mention a basic thing that blindly following the views and manners of anyone completely is not correct. Rather following (Taqlid) is of different types:

(1) An ignorant person following another ignorant person

It is as clear as the sun that this type of Taqlid not only makes a person’s life miserable. Unfortunately in our society many such people are present who follow other people’s ethics and their way of life blindly. They copy other people in dressing eating and drinking, naming their children and in other spheres of life. They also follow the prohibited things, false beliefs and bad ethics under the attractive titles, without understanding them although the evil of this type of following is clearly evident. Regarding this type of Taqlid it is said:

They say: We found our fathers on a course, and surely we are guided by their footsteps.[7]

The Quran has severely refuted this logic and denounced those people.

(2) An Aalim (learned) following an ignorant person

It is clear that this type of Taqlid is worse than the first and it is more dangerous, because it is expected from a learned person that he should act according to his knowledge in order to carry out his responsibilities. The worst kind of Taqlid is that a learned person doesn’t use his knowledge and follow the others blindly.

(3) An Aalim (Learned) following another Aalim

One Aalim who is well versed in one field and has authority over it should not do the Taqlid of another who also has the same caliber, but he should act according to his knowledge, that is why the Jurisprudents say that when a person reaches the stage of ijtehad, he should then practice according to it. That is the reason why it is generally mentioned on the certificate of Ijtehad: Taqlid is Haraam for him.

And it is necessary that he should practice according to his knowledge although there is no problem if he exchanges his views on religious problems with other scholars. The aim is that an Aalim should make a rule and then protect it and should not accept the principles of others without study.

 (4) An ignorant person following a learned person

This type of Taqlid is accepted by intellect and nature of man and this type of Taqlid is demanded by them. This is as logical to construct a building we require a mason and for stitching clothes we require a tailor and when we are ill, we go to a doctor. In short intellect and nature direct us towards the person who is expert in his field.

This is the same logic, which directs the people towards jurisprudents for religious instructions and spiritual laws, who are expert in understanding the commands of Allah. Those jurisprudents that with their special talent and knowledge have worked hard for years, and reached the high level of Ijtehad. If means there have the ability to derive the original matter of the spiritual commands and convey it to the ordinary people. Those Mujtahids who are the religious leaders and guides of people, who got this great positions from the Holy Imams (‘a), so that they can guide people towards goodness in all religious spheres.

Here we should not ignore that there are different faculties of Human Science and it is possible that a person might have a special knowledge and expertise in one section but may be totally unaware of another and as a result it is necessary for him that in the field in which he is totally ignorant he should contact those who are experts in that field, and follow them. For example a doctor or an engineer who are expert in their respective fields enter a town and want to go to a particular area and a particular street, about which they are unaware of, but they were only been given the address. In this matter to reach the destination they will be forced to seek the guidance of people who reside in that area.

Or for example an environmentalist, who becomes ill, is forced to go to a physician, although this person knows about environment he doesn’t know about diseases and their cure. There is no way except that he should go to a doctor and take the medicine or injection. He should not grumble and follow the instructions carefully and he doesn’t ask why the doctor has prescribed such and such medicine.

Keeping these two examples in mind, it becomes clear that even if the person is an expert in his own field he should he follow the rulings of a Mujtahid. The reason is that a Faqih (jurisprudent) is expert in his field. He is expert in many sciences, which are his basis in jurisprudence. (Sarf, Nahv, Arabic literature, logic, exegesis, the knowledge of the traditionalists, sources, traditions, the roots of jurisprudence, interlocution etc).

By seeing a small book called Tauzihul Masael you may not know that it is the result of life long toil of a Mujtahids. He has written it only after putting blood of his heart in it and only then he has presented it to the common people. Ijtehad is not easy. Ijtehad means to acquire the knowledge of all the Islamic laws, which affect a person or the whole society, and in all spheres of life.

Shaykh Murtaza Ansari, who was a great Mujtahid himself and the proud son of Islamic Jurisprudence who himself took lot of trouble and hard work to become a Mujtahid says in his book Rasael: Allah has given us the opportunity of Ijtehad, which is tougher than continuous Jihad and much more painful.

It is necessary to say that Taqlid of a Mujtahid is not in articles of Faith but it is related to the practical law. In other words it is necessary to follow a Mujtahid in the rules, regulations and branches of religion and not in the roots of religion. It is so because Allah, the most High and the recognition of the Holy Prophets are the basis of religion, and to know them through logic and arguments is necessary. So that after accepting the roots of religion with logic and arguments, in the branches of religion (whose religious source like the glorious Quran and traditions and to understand the other proofs, it is necessary to know different branches of knowledge and to be expert in it) we must refer to Mujtahids who are expert and authority in this field.

Islam’s established laws and orders like Prayers, Hajj, Zakat (tax), are compulsory. Enjoining towards good, refraining from evil, lying, breach of trust, backbiting, wine, etc. which are prohibited and there is no need to follow a Mujtahid for them as these are known by everyone, therefore Taqlid is limited upto those laws and orders which are not absolutely established.

[7] Surah Zukhruf 43:22

From the aspect of contemplating on their secrets all the Islamic are not the same, but they can be divided into four different types.

It is correct for every Muslim to discuss about the philosophy of Islamic laws as we come to know from the logic of Quran and through the style of the Islamic laws. It doesn’t mean that we say anything without any law and rule and every person gives and spreads the logic of Islamic laws according to his own mind because interpretations based on personal whims and fancies are very harmful, dangerous and illogical and in the same way as to force a person to pray without asking any questions.

That is why the question arises that how should we begin this discussion and how to continue it? What are the limits that we must observe?

First of all it is important to mention that as we know our worship and practicing of religious commands doesn’t increase an iota of the grandeur and greatness of Allah nor His disobedience reduce an iota of His Glory and Majesty, as Imam Ali (‘a) said:

The sins of the transgressors do not harm Him nor the obedience of the worshipper benefit him.

He is the bestower to the whole Universe. Everything that we and other creatures have is given by Him. Nor can we give Him anything as He is needless and Independent and it is not that we have a thing and He doesn’t have so that we may give it to Him. Whatever we get, we get from Him only and He gives whatever He deems fit for us and the original treasure is with him:

And there is not a thing but with Us are the treasures of it, and We do not send it down but in a known measure.[5]

Can a drop of water, which acquires its capital from the huge sea, give anything to the sea? Can a small mirror, which is kept in front of the Sun, give light to the Sun? The whole humanity, however powerful it may be is just like a drop or like this small mirror.

Therefore if any benefit or harm is hidden in these Islamic laws it is related to us only.

Seen from another angle we are not only physical bodies that whatever orders that come from Allah should be for the training and building of our health and nor only we are just spirit (Ruh) that all the orders should be established for the spiritual effects, we are a compound of body and soul (Ruh) and these Islamic laws are for the perfection of both; our body and soul.

Therefore those people are also misguided who only search for the medical and economical benefits and perform worship acts, pray and supplicate to Allah so that it has a good effect on their spirit and physical body and also to get rid of pains and worries and difficulties and make it a medium for getting tranquility and think that this is the sole purpose of it. And they are also wrong who wear clean clothes, cut their nails, remove cobwebs, and do not drink water from a cracked bowl and to protect oneself from that water, which is been used for bath (Ghusl), consider these teachings to be have spiritual effects, regarding whom knowledge and science has still unveiled their secrets. In reality some of the Islamic laws are for the spiritual perfection and for training of the self and some for discipline in physical life and many Islamic laws affect both.

Now we return to our original topic and see the limits of research about the logic behind Islamic laws?

Religious commands can be divided into four types:

(1)Those orders whose philosophies was clarified to the people at the start of Besat (proclamation of prophethood) and people understood according to their caliber and the information already had and to make the people to follow the orders regularly rules and regulation were made for example: lying, breach of trust, allegations, murder, stealing, injustice and cheating was prohibited. Justice, cleanliness, honesty, helping the oppressed, hard work, doing good to parents, relatives and neighbor, etc. Any sane person understands the philosophy and purpose of these commands. As and when the knowledge and information of practical life of a man increases he will be able to comprehend the values of the Islamic laws in a better way.

(2)Those orders whose wisdom was not understood by the people and sometimes even the scholars of those times the Quran or the sayings of Ahle Bayt (‘a) expounded their philosophies. For example maybe the people of that time where unaware of the three fold benefits of Fasting (ethical, social and medicinal) and were not knowing about its philosophy. That is why the Holy Quran has pointed towards its ethical effect by saying

So that you may guard (against evil).[6]

Imam Ja’far Sadiq (‘a) pointed out its social effect and said: So that the wealthy and the poor live a similar life and the wealthy become familiar with the hunger of the poor and try to help the needy.

Holy Prophet (‘s) has said that you should keep fast so that your body becomes healthy (and the unused and waste matter, which is harmful and creates bad odor is expelled.)

In this way there are many other commands whose secrets and logic is mentioned by the ayats (verses) of the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Holy Prophet (‘s) and the Holy Imams (‘a), As mentioned earlier Shaykh Sadooq has collected such traditions in Ilalush Sharae and the famous traditionalist Shaykh Hurre Aameli has explained about the philosophies of Islamic laws in Wasaelush Shia at the beginning of every chapter.

But it is necessary to remember that benefits and secrets were explained according to the level of intelligence the people and it does not mean that whatever philosophy is being given is limited to that alone. It also does not mean that it is not allowed to contemplate more on it.

(3)Those laws whose secrets were revealed due to the passage of time and subsequently we could understand the greatness of divine commands.

Like the physical, spiritual and social evils of alcoholic drinks. They even affect the unborn child and regarding whose harms we come to from statisticians. Or the psychological ills of games of chance and the deaths caused by it or the bad effects of uneven distribution of wealth on the society, or the obvious social and economic ills of usury which can be written on paper like mystical figures, or the dirty foods, water and the destruction of homes which are strictly forbidden in Islam and the ills that have assumed gigantic proportions after the spread of germs and viruses. All these problems are such that the passage of time and scientific developments increased the understanding of man and he was able to understand the wisdom regarding them, which was hitherto unknown to him.

But it is necessary to point out that in this method any sort of extremism, going beyond the limits of reason, wrong notions, short sightedness, mistaken insight and more than anything else to consider half baked research to be confirmed fact takes one further away from the truth. Instead of making us cognizant of the secrets and knowledgeable about the logic behind the Islamic laws it takes us to wander on a wrong path. Therefore till science does not have absolute proof about something and it does not become a confirmed fact we must not make it a basis of explaining the logic behind an Islamic law.

When we have nothing to say we must insist on discussing the logic behind a particular law and even if we have something to say we must never claim that the logic of that particular law is based on this very explanation and limited to it.

(4)The last types of laws whose logic was neither explained in the beginning, nor they were explained in the Islamic books and the passage of time has revealed their secrets to us. The number of Rakats (units) of Prayers, the minimum quantity of the items on which Zakat is obligatory, or some rituals of Hajj etc fall into this category.

Should the people of the future try to unveil the secrets of these laws with the help scientific discoveries and advancement of knowledge?

Is the last vicegerent of the Holy Prophet (‘s) appointed to explain and expound these affairs?

Or they are from those laws whose logic would not be understood by the people in the future also?

We do not know any of these things. We only know that the laws of the fourth category are as deserving of respect and their fulfillment is as important as those of the first three categories. Since the source of all these laws is same and the Last Prophet who has brought these laws to us, his appointment t prophethood is proved to us by irrefutable proofs.

[5] Surah Hijr 15:21

Now we discuss the most important topics about Islamic laws, its rules and regulations and their philosophy and most of the questions and answers are based on this.

“Why should we pray Prayers is the question every person asks himself? Why should a person go for the pilgrimage of House of Allah? Why it is forbidden to take interest in Islam? What is the philosophy for prohibiting pork? Why is polygamy allowed in Islam? Why it is prohibited to eat in gold and silver utensils? etc…etc…

Some learned people and scholars have discussed about these in a beautiful way. From them some have derived only one side of the question. Some think that we should not inquire about the Logic behind the Islamic Laws and others think the opposite of this; that it is necessary to understand the logic behind the Islamic laws.

Keeping in mind the views of these scholars, we present our views on the subject:

You may be astonished that both the groups are right. We have this right to ask and we also don’t have this right. We mean that while idea of each group is not accepted, but only the special part of it is accepted.

It can be explained in this way:

From the holy Quran, Holy Prophet (‘s) and the traditions of Holy Imams (‘a) and from the sayings of the companions and friends we come to know that there was always a tradition of discussing the philosophy of Islamic laws among themselves and it should also be like that because they were thinking that the holy Quran was an independent and logical way and they had given the right to themselves that they should discuss the Islamic laws in a logical way and ask questions about its philosophy.

According to the principles of Islam, which introduces Allah in this way:

He is such an existence, which has infinite knowledge and wisdom and He is independent from all things and persons. All His acts are based on wisdom, whether we understand it or not. His acts never include any foolishness or meaninglessness and He has sent the Prophets for teaching, training and inviting the people towards truth and justice.

The introduction of Allah in such a way encourages us to question about the Islamic laws, its effect and its Philosophy, which naturally have great influence on our life.

It is a mistake to think that the holy Quran is not about the practical law and other information; and that it only is about the roots of religion and beliefs because we see that the holy Quran after the command of fasting in the holy month of Ramadhan says:

“You keep fast so that you can become pious.”[1]

In this way He wants us to know that the logic behind Fasting is to remain away from sins, which can be attained through this spiritual exercise and through controlling the desires. The Quran says about the sick and travelers who are exempted from keeping the fast:

And whoever is sick or upon a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire for you difficulty…[2]

And Allah doesn’t want hardships and mistakes; this is the philosophy behind it.

The Quran prohibits gambling and wine and says about them:

The Shaitan only desires to cause enmity and hatred to spring in your midst by means of intoxicants and games of chance, and to keep you off from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. Will you then desist?

(Surah Maidah 5:91)

The Quran says about the strange women by not looking at them:

Say to the believing men that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts; that is purer for them; surely Allah is Aware of what they do.

(Surah Nur 24:30)

This deed is good for their chastity. And it says about the prohibition of the entering of the infidels in the mosque of Mecca that:

O you who believe! the idolaters are nothing but unclean, so they shall not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year…[3]

The infidels are impure and that is why they are not allowed to enter the holy mosque.

The Quran says about the public property and its one part should be spent on the poor people that:

Whatever Allah has restored to His Apostle from the people of the towns, it is for Allah and for the Apostle, and for the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, so that it may not be a thing taken by turns among the rich of you…[4]

Allah has reserved this wealth for the Prophet (‘s) and general expenses, so that the wealth many not be limited between the rich and wealthy people and that the common people may not remain poor.

And in this way many philosophies of the Islamic laws are explained, to mention all of which would lengthen the book unduly.

We also get such examples from the traditions of the Holy Prophet (‘s) and Imam’s (‘a). The Imam’s (‘a) themselves explained the philosophies of the Islamic laws or replied when asked by their companions. The great Scholar Shaykh Sadooq (a.r.) has written a famous book, Ilalush Sharaeh, as the name itself shows the book is the Collection of such traditions.

Therefore when we see that the glorious Quran itself and the Islamic leaders on many occasions have explained the logic behind Islamic Laws, it is a proof that they have given us the right the discuss about it. If the situation were opposite they would have refrained us from contemplation and research in the Islamic Laws.

From whatever is said above we conclude that it is allowed to do research and find the reasons behind Islamic laws.

And in this way the style and explanation of the Holy Prophet (‘s) and the Holy Imams (‘a) has given us the right to know the secrets of Islamic laws.

It is wrong to think that by explaining the philosophies of Islamic laws their importance and value is decreased, but in fact explanation of these things satisfies intellect and reason of a person and then he applies laws in his practical life, which makes their life more dynamic. And in this way a person doesn’t follow the Islamic law in a dry way but acts on the laws of Islam with a great fervor. This was one side of the question.

The other is that, as the time goes no matter how much our knowledge increases, also shall always be limited. We cannot come to know everything. If man had known all the things of the world, then the caravan of knowledge and research would have been stopped.

Rather the things, which we do not know is like a huge sea and the things, which we know is just like a drop, or the things, which we know is like one line from a big book. And to know the things, which we do not know, we will require a Professor from the other world, then also we will be not be able to understand them. In the same way if the people who lived a thousand years ago were taught the scientific knowledge of this age so they would not have been able to understand. They would not have been able to reach the depth through their own thinking and intelligence.

We all know that the source of heavenly wisdom is from the infinite knowledge of the Almighty Allah. He is such a source that He is aware of the whole Universe. For Him words like past, future, absent, present have no meaning; rather He is all knowing and aware of everything.

After considering these facts can we expect that we can understand all the philosophies of Islamic laws? If this was so, what was the need for Prophets? We would sit and correct those things, which we feel right according to our whims and fancies and would lead a life roaming the deserts. And on the other side the question arises: are we aware of the philosophy behind each existence of each creature in the world and about the laws, which govern them? The religious laws are not different from the creation and our knowledge regarding both of them is limited.

From this discussion we conclude as follows:

In all the ages only those philosophies of the Islamic laws can be understood, which are in the ambit of their knowledge and according to their standard. Basically, we should not expect more because of our limited knowledge and the depth of the laws. We conclude by saying that for following the Islamic laws we cannot put the condition of knowing their philosophies, otherwise it means we are claiming to have unlimited knowledge and we are considering our intelligence equal to Allah’s and this is itself against logic.

In short the discussions about the hidden logic behind the laws and the right to discuss about them is one thing and to obey these laws is another. The latter is not conditional to former.

We discuss about religious laws to increase our knowledge about their benefits, importance and different effects. We do not discuss these things to decide whether we should practice these laws or not.

It is like asking the doctor about our treatment, about the medicines prescribed; their effects and benefits etc. so that we can acquire more information about these things. However our taking of medicine is not conditional on his explanation, otherwise it would be necessary that the person should also be a doctor.

It is necessary to keep this point in the mind, that the purpose to discuss the secrets and hidden wisdom of the laws to the utmost level is to guess and imagine with fancy ideas the philosophies of the high religious laws. For example if it is said that Azan is the medium to make loud sounds, Prayers is a kind of Swedish exercise and the purpose of fast is to lose weight, Hajj is the means of income for Arabs and prostration (sajdah) and bowing (ruku) are the means to protect the bones.

No – Not at all, this is not the purpose about the Islamic laws, because fancy ideas and imagination not only distract a person from Islamic laws but also reduce their value and it implies that the Islamic laws are unreliable.

[1] Surah Baqarah 2:183