ZUHD AND PIETY

Another spiritual motif conspicuous in the teachings of the Nahj aI-baaghah is zuhd, which after taqwa is the most recurring theme of the book. Zuhd' means renunciation of the world', and very often we encounter denunciation of the world', and invitation and exhortation to renounce it. It appears to me that it forms one of the important themes of the Nahj aI-balàghah, which needs to be elucidated and explained in the light of various aspects of All's approach.


We shall begin our discussion with the word 'zuhd'. The words zuhd' and raghbah' (attraction, desire), if mentioned without reference to their objects, are opposite to each other. Zuhd' means indifference and avoidance, and raghbah' means attraction, inclination, and desire.
Indifference can be of two kinds: involuntary and cultivated. A person is involuntarily indifferent towards a certain thing when by nature he does not have any desire for it, as in the case of a sick person who shows no desire either for food, or fruits, or anything else. Obviously, this kind of indifference and abstinence has nothing to do with the particular sense implied in zuhd'.
Another kind of indifference or abstinence is spiritual or intellectual; that is; things that are natural objects of desire are not considered the goal and objective by a human being in the course of his struggle for perfection and felicity. The ultimate objective and goal may be something above mundane aims and sensual pleasures; either it may be to attain the sensuous pleasures of the Hereafter, or it may not belong to this kind of things. It may be some high ethical and moral ideal, like honour, dignity, nobility, liberty, or it may belong to the spiritual sphere, like the remembrance of God, the love of God, and the desire to acquire nearness to Him.

Accordingly the zahid (i.e. one who practises zuhd) is someone whose interest transcends the sphere of material existence, and whose object of aspiration lies beyond the kind of things we have mentioned above. The indifference of a zahid originates in the sphere of his ideas, ideals, and hopes, not in his physiological makeup.

There are two places where we come across the definition of zuhd' in the Nahj aI-balaghah. Both of them confirm the above interpretation of zuhd. Ali (a.s), in khutbah 81, says:

O people! zuhd means curtailing of hopes, thanking God for His blessings and bounties, and abstaining from that which He has forbidden.

In hikmah 439, he says:

All zuhd is summarized in two sentences of the Qur'an: God, the Most Exalted, says, ...So that you may not grieve for what escapes you, nor rejoice in what has come to you.' [57:23] Whoever does not grieve over what he has lost and does not rejoice over what comes to him has acquired zuhd in both of its aspects.

Obviously when something does not occupy a significant position amongst one's objectives and ideals, or rather is not at all significant in the scheme of things which matter to him, its gain and loss do not make the slightest difference to him.
However, there are some points that need clarification. Is zuhd, or detachment from the world, on which the Nahj aI-balaghah, following the Qur'anic teachings, puts so much emphasis, to be taken solely in an ethical and spiritual sense? In other words, is zuhd purely a spiritual state, or does it possess practical implications also?
That is, is zuhd spiritual abstinence only or is it accompanied by an abstinence in practical life also? Assuming that zuhd is to be applied in practice, is it limited to abstinence from unlawful things (muharramat), as pointed out in khutbah 81, or does it include something more, as exemplified by the life of Ali (a.s) and before him by the life of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w)?
Proceeding on the assumption that zuhd is not limited to muharramat only and that it covers permissible things (mubahat) as well, one may ask: what is its underlying rationale and philosophy? What is the use of an ascetic life that limits and confines life, rejecting its blessings and bounties? Is zuhd to be practised at all times or only under certain particular conditions? Is zuhd--in the sense of abstinence from even permissible things-basically in agreement with other Islamic teachings?
Apart from this, the basis of zuhd and renunciation of the world is the pursuit of supra-material objectives and ideals. What are they from the point of view of Islam? In particular, how does the Nahj al-balaghah describe them?

All these questions regarding zuhd, renunciation, and curtailing of hopes----themes which have so often been discussed in the Nahj al-balaghah----need to be clarified. We shall discuss these questions in the following pages and try to answer them.

Glimpses of the Nahj a1-Ba1aghah, by Shaheed Murtadha Mutahhari.

Pride (Guroor, Takabur)

That Which Prevents Pride

6ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): ما لابنِ آدمَ والفَخرِ؟! أوَّلُهُ نُطفَةٌ، وآخِرُهُ جِيفَةٌ، ولا يَرزُقُ نفسَهُ، ولا يَدفَعُ حَتفَهُ.

6– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘What is it with the son of Adam [human being] and pride?! His beginning is a sperm and his end is a carcass. He cannot sustain himself, nor can he repel death.’[Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 454.]

7ـ الإمامُ زينُ العابدينَ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): عَجَباً للمُتَكبِّرِ الفَخورِ الذي كانَ بالأمسِ نُطفَةً ثُمّ هُو غَداً جِيفَةٌ!

7– Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS) said, ‘It is surprising to see an arrogant and proud person who yesterday was but a sperm and tomorrow will be but a carcass.’[al-Kafi, v. 2, p. 328, no. 1]

الفَخرُ Pride 1ـ رسولُ اللهِ‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): إنّ اللّه‏َ أوحَى إلَيَّ أن تواضَعوا، حتّى لايَفخَرَ أحَدٌ على أحَدٍ، ولا يَبغي أحَدٌ على أحَدٍ. 1– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Allah revealed unto me that we should be humble, so that nobody shows pride over anybody else, and no one intimidates another.’[al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib, v. 3, p. 558, no. 1]   2ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): أهلَكَ الناسَ اثنانِ: خَوفُ الفَقرِ، وطَلَبُ الفَخرِ. 2– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘There are two things that have ruined people: fear of poverty and going after pride.’[al-Khisal, p. 69, no. 102]   3ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): ضَعْ فَخرَكَ، واحطُطْ كِبرَكَ، واذكُرْ قَبرَكَ. 3– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Let go of your pride, put down your arrogance, and remember your grave.’[Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 398]   4ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): مَن صَنَعَ شيئا للمُفاخَرَةِ حَشَرَهُ اللّه‏ُ يَومَ القِيامَةِ أسوَدَ 4– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Whoever does something out of vainglory, Allah will resurrect him black on the Day of Judgment.’[ 211 Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 292, no. 20]   5ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): إنَّ مِن أسخَفِ حالاتِ الوُلاةِ عندَ صالِحِ الناسِ، أن يُظَنَّ بِهِم حُبُّ الفَخرِ، ويُوضَعَ أمرُهُم علَى الكِبرِ. 5– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The worst state of the rulers among righteous people is for them to be assumed to love pride and be regarded as haughty.’[Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 216] ذَمُّ التَفاخُرِ Censure of Pride 8ـ رسولُ اللهِ‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): آفَةُ الحَسَبِ الافتِخارُ والعُجبُ. 8– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘The bane of [noble] lineage is pride of it.’[al-Kafi, v. 2, p. 329, no. 6]   9ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): لقد كانَ رسولُ اللّه‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ) إذا ذَكَرَ لنفسِهِ فضيلةً قالَ: ولا فَخرَ. 9– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘When the Prophet (SAWA) would mention a merit of himself, he would say, ‘And with no pride’.[ Bihar al-Anwar, v. 16, p. 341, no. 33]   10ـ الإمامُ الرضا (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): إنَّ أميرَ المؤمنينَ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) عادَ صَعصَعةَ بنَ صُوحانَ في مَرَضِهِ، فلمّا قامَ مِن عندِهِ قالَ: يا صَعصَعةُ، لا تَفتَخِرَنَّ على إخوانِكَ بعِيادَتي إيّاكَ واتَّقِ اللّه‏َ. 10– Imam al-Rida (AS) said, ‘The Commander of the Faithful [ Imam Ali (AS)] visited Sa`asa`aa b. Suhan when he was sick, so when he wanted to leave he stood up and said, ‘O Sa`asa`aa, do not display pride in front of your brothers that I visited you, and fear Allah.’[Mustadrak al-Wasa`il, v. 12, p. 90, no. 13599]   ما يَنبَغي الفَخرُ بِهِ That Which One Should be Proud Of 11ـ رسولُ اللهِ‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): الفَقرُ فَخرِي. 11– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Poverty is my pride.’[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 72, p. 30, no. 26]   12ـ الإمامُ الصّادقُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): ثلاثٌ هُنَّ فَخرُ المؤمنِ وزَينُهُ في الدنيا والآخِرَةِ: الصلاةُ في آخِرِ اللّيلِ، وَيأسُهُ مِمّا في أيدي الناسِ، ووَلايَتُهُ الإمامَ مِن آلِ محمّدٍ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ). 12– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘There are three things that are the pride of a believer and his ornament in this world and the Hereafter: prayer at the end of the night [night vigil], his despair of [possessing] that which others own, and his allegiance to the Imam from the progeny of Muhammad (SAWA).’[al-Kafi, v. 8, p. 234, no. 311]

Is the Quran enough?

It is abundantly clear that even Islamic scholars are not enough for clarification of Islamic beliefs. There were some people who believed that the Quran was sufficient for the Muslims after the Holy Prophet's (s.a.w.s.) demise. But can we (always) use the Quran to differentiate between the beliefs of different Islamic sects? The belief of various sects is vastly different and Quran enlightens about itself thus: 'If this was not from the side of God, then there would be contradictions in it.' The uniqueness of the Quran lies in the fact that its meaning do not have any contradictions. However, people have been unable to understand the interpretation of Quranic verses completely. When Hazrat Ali (a.s.) sent Ibne Abbas for talks with the 'Khwarij' (Khwarji are those people who separated from Ali (a.s.) after the battle of Siffin and fought against him in the Battle of Nahawan), he said, 'do not bring forth for them arguments from Quran. Quran carries various facts. You will say something and they will say something else (i.e. you will present some verses and they will present other verses) (Nahjul Balagha. letter no. 77)

This means that Quran alone is not sufficient to end discord between Muslims. If Quran was sufficient there would never had been disagreement between Muslims, because every Muslim believes in Quran and even recites its regularly.