Questions and Answers

With Salam, at the beginning we mention a hadith of the holy Prophet, Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) which he says, “the wisest of people are whom all sciences are collected in their inside.” (Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih, vol. 4, p. 395.)

This hadith does not mean all kind of sciences, but a science which illuminates the inside of people and close them to God.

Albert Einstein says, “Begging of unlawful object is humiliating, but t the panhandle of science causes dignity.”

But the Gnostics say that a science which causes the divinity of the inside will leads to the relaxation of the life. It does not mean a science which is added to (increase in) someone causes the pride, and arrogance, because this kind of science blacks the heart and causes the opacity of it.

Joseph Ernest Renan, scientist and lawyer, wrote a book which its name was The Future of Science. He claimed that the science will be replaced by religion .but before his death, he acknowledged that his theory is wrong and science without divinity would not cause relaxation. Among the sciences, the sciences which familiarize human to the fact and the reality of religion, Oneness of God (Tawhid), Prophethood (Nabuwat), guardianship of Imam Ali and our Imams (Wilayat) and infallible wisdom of Fatima Zahra (Ismat) are philosophy, theosophy, and gnostic. If a person states in the path of those sciences, will reach to the real relaxation. In fact, this kind of person grow as a rich man and will not annoy and suffer anyone and look everything kindly and like everyone. The science and divinity are holy when they are together, but a mere science makes atomic bombs and ruins houses on the head of innocent people.

Thus, human should go ahead (move -fly) with two wings: 1.The wing of science 2.The wing of faith and ethic.

A science without faith and ethics is a bit useful, not worthy, or it is completely useless.

With Salam,

At the beginning, for answering this question, we should know that a person who lives in a rich family and does not try to reach perfection, will live without any suffering and incident. Such a person appears to have a good life, but in practice this person is useless and no effect and benefit will remain from him in the universe. However, a person who strives to attain perfection and reality will face the circle of accidents in every step that he takes.

Therefore, do not always escape from difficulties because they are sometimes holy and cause people to reach perfection. However, it should be noted that however much holy the goal is, people should be steadfast and remove obstacles from their path. The better the path is known and the more the manifestation of the truth is observed, the inciting nafs (an-nafs al-ʾammārah) is calmer and more enthusiastic for connection to God.

But in reply to the question that you asked how humans can control the inciting nafs (an-nafs al-ʾammārah), we should say that the most effective factor for strengthening human desires is a person’s companion. The first issue is that however strong a person is, if he has a bad companion, he will go astray.

The second subject which is important is place, and the third one is food. If the place is usurped or owned by someone else or the food is forbidden, the inciting nafs (an-nafs al-ʾammārah) will become so strong that it will be miles away from the reality.

In fighting desires, the first stage of a Salik (a traveler) in Seir and Soluk (spiritual journey) is Muraqaba (being spiritually watchful), which means taking care of or watching over the place of sitting, companion, speaking, and lifestyle.

Hi,

Your answer is “Yes”. This kinds of sentences is common among followers of Reincarnation, however it’s better to know that it is not necessary that humans die and rebirth for several times to reach perfection, but through phenomenon, ups and downs during their life they will achieve perfection of their soul and the rest of it will happen in Metaphysics.

Reincarnation is the subject which is rejected by Holy Quran and narrations of our infallible Imams.

For more information you can refer to Ostad Mousavi’s booklet about Reincarnation. 

We thank you for your question.

We first have to learn what faith itself means. Faith means to trust and accept religion. All that comes from the Messenger (PBUH) is called faith. Confirming the existence of the Quran, the angels and messengers is called faith. A Muslim has faith in the Oneness of God, prophethood, Wilayat, Ismat and Quran. Faith means “confessing by tongue and acting by body.” However, this is the common meaning of faith, which is accepting God, the Messenger, the Infallible Imams, the Quran, resurrection, questioning in the grave and the Nakirain (the two angels that question the dead in the grave). These are the standard states.

However, if we look beyond, we will see that the relations between two people are from faith. In other words, if people do not have faith in each other, they will not be connected. The relation between teacher and student, employee and employer, commander and follower, a husband and wife who move forward together in life, a sister and brother who are connected to each other with affection, the class, school, teacher and student, university, books and the manner of teaching all originate from faith. In other words, if faith is taken away from mankind, relations between people will be meaningless. Even when you go to the mosque for praying in congregation, the Imam (the one who leads prayers) and Ma’mun (the person who follows the Imam in prayers) are connected through faith. In other words, if faith does not exist, you will not act in such a manner.

Sometimes this faith is 1 to 2 degrees or 10 degrees. For example, there are five degrees of faith between two friends. There are seven degrees of faith between the demanding and the demanded. There are eight degrees of faith between enthusiasm and the encourager and finally ten degrees of faith between the lover and the beloved which is the highest degree. In other words, when the lover hears the name of the beloved, his body, soul, eyes, heart, blood, structure, existence, quiddity, being, essence, survival and system trembles entirely whether he desires or not. The relation between a Mu’min (believer) with God is similar to that of a lover and the beloved. When a true lover hears the name of his beloved, he instantly surrenders his entire existence to his beloved. When this happens, the heart, blood, soul, quiddity and essence start trembling.

Therefore, in response to your question that, “From what age does faith play a significant role in life?” we found out that the role of faith is beyond age and should accompany a person at all times.

In order to clarify the level of importance and greatness of faith, we shall give an example of a contemporary sociologist named Karl.
Letters were written from twenty-seven countries to Karl asking him, “What is the root of mental problems of people according to your opinion?”
He thought for a long time and printed his researches which were as follows:
“What I researched about is that I did not find any reason for mental problems or illnesses except not having faith in God.”
For instance, a person previously had a special position and many people respected him, but he no more has a position and no one respects him. If such a person believes in God, he will say, “My dear God! Tu'utī Al-Mulka Man Tashā'u Wa Tanzi`u Al-Mulka Mimman Tashā'u Wa Tu`izzu Man Tashā'u Wa Tudhillu Man Tashā'u ۖBiyadika Al-Khayru ۖ 'Innaka `Alá Kulli Shay'in Qadīrun”  This kind of person is happy whether or not he has money and says, “I have only one God and He is enough for me. Did I have anything with me when I born?” All of these are the result of this material word. Therefore, faith in God always keeps humans steadfast.
Thus, Karl wrote in reply: “However much I thought, I could not find any reason for mental illnesses except not having faith in God.”
Now that you have understood the importance and value of the subject of believing in God, you should know that although humans inherently have faith, the role of parents from the beginning of childhood is very important.
When humans reach puberty, they benefit from the belief which was injected into them in their childhood. For example, if a girl who has finished nine years of age according to the lunar calendar and entered the tenth year performs a sinful act, she is guilty. Before the age of nine, her parents should nurture her, because if a father has masculinity, he will take care of his innocent girl from the age of three until she reaches her full mental power. If a mother is disciplined, she will take care of her daughter under her wings and protect her until her daughter can defend herself.
Once I studied about the basis of social science and understood when a girl who is not saturated with motherly love reaches nine years of age, any man who smiles at her will cause her to lose her Infallibility. All corrupt people of the society have appeared in this way. In fact, the dignity of women and maidens should be more delicate than the ticking of clocks. Therefore, the role of the environment and parents, especially the mother is very important in strengthening children’s future faith in God.    

The following answer has been prepared from research-based and philosophical resources of divine philosopher, Ostad Seyyed Ali Mosavi: Firstly, be aware that answering Fiqh-based (Islamic jurisprudence) and Uṣūl (Principles of Islamic jurisprudence) questions is not in the realm of this site. However, we present a research to you as follows: At the beginning, we should know that the term Salah was used meaning “praying” in the pre-Islam period, but Prophet Muhammad used this term in order to reach the boundary of reality and Fuqahā'( Islamic jurists) call it the reality of Sharīʿah (Islamic law), in such way that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) performed Wuḍū at the time of Salah and he recited Takbīr, Sūrat al-Fātiḥah and Al-'Ikhlāş, performed Sujud (prostration), Rukū (bowing down), Tashahhud (kneels on the ground facing Qibla in Mecca) in the same way that later became customary among Muslims. This performing of Salah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) led Muslims to follow his way of performing of Salah. Based on this introduction, we should not try to find out reasons for the pillars and fundamentals of prayers, but rather we must be obedient servants and obey the command of God because we connect with God through two ways: 1. Sometimes it is through dhikr (remembrance) and thankfulness to Almighty God in which all manners of expressing and all sorts of position are perfect and faultless. 2. Another form of worshiping is that which causes command to result in action. If anything accompanies this command resulting in action, this action is no longer acceptable. Based on this introduction, we shall now discuss the secrets of the positions of Sajdah. The secrets of the positions of Sajdah The term Sajdah and its derivatives have been mentioned ninety-four times in the text of the holy Quran. Sajdah is not only for humans, but also objects. What does prostration of objects mean? We can answer this question through some examples. The prostration of the moon is its light, the prostration of the sun is its benefits and effect, the prostration of the tree is its fruits, the prostration of the mountain is the plants that grow on it. For further explanation of this subject we refer to the chapter of the Secret of the Salah from volume six of the book, The Meccan Illuminations (Al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya) of Ibn Arabi and also works of other scholars such as the chapter of the Secret of Salah of volume three of the book The Revival of Religious Sciences (Ihya’ Ulum al-Din) of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī in which the purpose of placing our forehead on the earth and performing Sajdah has been explained. It is important to know why we do not put our lips, cheeks, or other parts on the earth. All of these are parts of our body; therefore, what is the difference between them? Why do we only put seven parts of our body, i.e., the forehead, two palms, two knees and tips of the toes on the ground during prostration? Ostad Seyyed Ali Mousavi says, “I studied and paid attention to this subject to understand whether religious subjects are only obedience-based or not. Actually, I wanted to know whether such a command can be issued unduly or not. Meanwhile, I discovered the importance of number seven. I understood that seven planets or light centers exist in the world, each of which has a particular role in the universe: 1. Mercury, 2. Saturn, 3. Jupiter, 4. the sun, 5. Venus, 6. Neptune, 7. Falak Atlas (sphere of atlas or the starless heaven). We too place seven parts of our body on the earth when we prostrate. Seven principles exist in the universe as follows: 1. existence, 2. science, 3. hearing, 4. seeing, 5. heart, 6. brain, 7. immateriality or soul. Also, all the shining stars, planets, galaxies and whatever keep galaxies and cause existence of the universe, all of them relate to number seven. We should put seven parts of our body on the earth when we perform Sajdah. Ibn Arabi in the Conquering the Secret of the Salah says, “We are calm when we put seven positions on the earth. Therefore, human calmness is the purpose of performing Sajdah.” Gnostics believe that when the forehead is placed on the earth in the state of prostration, in fact, this is worshiping and praying to God. In one of the palms exists the illumination of Nabuwat (Prophecy) and the other palm contains the illumination of Wilayat. Thus, both of our palms confess to Prophecy and Wilayat. The forehead manifests Tawhid (Monotheism). One the two knees manifests the illumination of resurrection and the other knee shows the belief in resurrection. On the tips of the toes of one foot exists the power of Wilayat and on those of the other foot the power of Ismat. Therefore, according to Gnostics’ views, each of the seven parts which we place on the earth during performing Sajdah has particular and special secrets and if we become aware of these secrets, our actions will be elevated. Therefore, when we prostrate to God and put seven organs of our body on the earth, our deep belief is connected with God. As a result, we manifest our belief in God in practice through the mentioned seven positions. Whatever we said are the secrets of God. We wish you success. Reference: The Islamic procedure for washing parts of the body (hands, mouth, nostrils, arms, head, feet) using water