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Written by Shaheed Murtadha Mutahhari
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Monday, 01 March 2010 23:34 |
 Taqwa is one of the most frequent motifs of the Nahj al-Balaghah. In fact it
would be hard to find another book which emphasizes this spiritual term to the
extent of this book. Even in the Nahj al-Balaghah, no other term or concept
receives so much attention and stress as taqwa. What is taqwa?
Often it is thought that taqwa means piety and abstinence and so implies a
negative attitude. In other words, it is maintained that the greater the amount
of abstinence, withdrawal, and self-denial, the more perfect is one's taqwa.
According to this interpretation, taqwa is a concept divorced from active life;
secondly it is a negative attitude; thirdly, it means that the more severely
this negative attitude is exercised, the greater one's taqwa would be.
Accordingly, the sanctimonious professors of taqwa, in order to avoid its being
tainted and to protect it from any blemish, withdraw from the bustle of life,
keeping themselves away from involvement in any matter or affair of the world.
Undeniably, abstinence and caution exercised with discretion is an essential
principle of wholesome living. For, in order to lead a healthy life, man is
forced to negate and affirm, deny and posit, renounce and accept, avoid and
welcome different things. It is through denial and negation that the positive in
life can be realized. It is through renunciation and avoidance that
concentration is given to action.
The principle of Tawhid contained in the dictum la ilaha illa Allah is at the
same time a negation as well as an affirmation. Without negation of everything
other than God it is not possible to arrive at Tawhid. That is why rebellion and
surrender, kufr (unbelief) and iman (belief), go together; that is, every
surrender requires a rebellion and every faith (iman) calls for a denial and
rejection (kufr), and every affirmation implies a negation. The Quran says:
So whoever disbelieves in taghut and believes in God, has laid hold of the most
firm bond .... (2:256)
However, firstly, every denial, negation, rejection, and rebellion operates
between the limits of two opposites; the negation of one thing implies movement
towards its opposite; the rejection of the one marks the beginning of the
acceptance of the other. Accordingly, every healthy denial and rejection has
both a direction and a goal, and is confined within certain definite limits.
Therefore, a blind practice and purposeless attitude, which has neither
direction nor a goal, nor is confined within any limits, is neither defensible
nor of any spiritual worth.
Secondly, the meaning of taqwa in the Nahj al-Balaghah is not synonymous with
that of 'abstinence', even in its logically accepted sense discussed above.
Taqwa, on the other hand, according to the Nahj al-Balaghah, is a spiritual
faculty which appears as a result of continued exercise and practice. The
healthy and rational forms of abstinence are, firstly, the preparatory causes
for the emergence of that spiritual faculty; secondly, they are also its effects
and outcome.
This faculty strengthens and vitalizes the soul, giving it a kind of immunity. A
person who is devoid of this faculty, if he wants to keep himself free from
sins, it is unavoidable for him to keep away from the causes of sin. Since
society is never without these causes, inevitably he has to go into seclusion
and isolate himself. It follows from this argument that one should either remain
pious by isolating himself from one's environment, or he should enter society
and bid farewell to taqwa. Moreover, according to this logic, the more isolated
and secluded a person's life is and the more he abstains from mixing with other
people, the greater is his piety and taqwa in the eyes of the common people.
However, if the faculty of taqwa is cultivated inside a person's soul, it is no
longer necessary for him to seclude himself from his environment. He can keep
himself clean and uncorrupted without severing his relations with society.
The former kind of persons are like those who take refuge in mountains for fear
of some plague or epidemic. The second kind resemble those who acquire immunity
and resistance through vaccination and so do not deem it necessary to leave the
city and avoid contact with their townsfolk. On the other hand, they hasten to
the aid of the suffering sick in order to save them. Sa'di is alluding to the
first kind of pious in his Gulistan, when he says:
Saw I a sage in the mountains,
Happy in a cave, far from the world's tide.
Said I, "Why not to the city return,
And lighten your heart of this burden?"
He said, "The city abounds in tempting beauties,
And even elephants slip where mud is thick."
The Nahj al-Balaghah speaks of taqwa as a spiritual faculty acquired through
exercise and assiduity, which on its emergence produces certain characteristic
effects, one of which is the ability to abstain from sins with ease.
I guarantee the truth of my words and I am responsible for what I say. If
similar events and experiences of the past serve as a lesson for a person, then
taqwa prevents him from plunging recklessly into doubts ... [1]
Beware that sins are like unruly horses whose reins have been taken way and
which plunge with their riders into hell-fire. But taqwa is like a trained steed
whose reins are in the hands of its rider and enters with its rider into
Paradise. [2]
In this sermon taqwa is described as a spiritual condition which results in
control and command over one's self. It explains that the result of subjugation
to desires and lusts and being devoid of taqwa degrades one's personality making
it vulnerable to the cravings of the carnal self. In such a state, man is like a
helpless rider without any power and control, whom his mount takes wherever it
desires. The essence of taqwa lies in possessing a spiritual personality endowed
with will-power, and possessing mastery over the domain of one's self. A man
with taqwa is like an expert horseman riding a well-trained horse and who with
complete mastery and control drives his tractable steed in the direction of his
choice.
Certainly the taqwa of God assists His awliya (friends) in abstaining from
unlawful deeds and instils His fear into their hearts. As a result, their nights
are passed in wakefulness and their days in thirst [on account of fasting].[3]
Here Ali (a) makes it clear that taqwa is something which automatically leads to
abstention from unlawful actions and to the fear of God, which are its necessary
effects. Therefore, according to this view, taqwa is neither itself abstinence
nor fear of God; rather, it is a sacred spiritual faculty of which these two are
only consequences:
For indeed, today taqwa is a shield and a safeguard, and tomorrow (i.e. in the
Hereafter) it shall be the path to Paradise. [4]
In sermon 157, taqwa is compared to an invincible fortress built on heights
which the enemy has no power to infiltrate. Throughout, the emphasis of the Imam
(a) lies on the spiritual and psychological aspect of taqwa and its effects upon
human spirit involving the emergence of a dislike for sin and corruption and an
inclination towards piety, purity, and virtue.
Further illustrations of this view can be cited from the Nahj al-Balaghah, but
it seems that the above quotations are sufficient.
Taqwa is Immunity not Restraint
We have already mentioned some of the various elements found in the spiritual
advices (mawa'iz) of the Nahj al-Balaghah. We began with taqwa and saw that
taqwa, from the viewpoint of the Nahj al-Balaghah, is a sublime spiritual
faculty which is the cause of certain attractions and repulsions; i.e.
attraction towards edifying spiritual values and repulsion towards degrading
materialistic vices. The Nahj al-Balaghah considers taqwa as a spiritual state
that gives strength to human personality and makes man the master of his own
self.
Taqwa as Immunity
The Nahj al-Balaghah stresses that taqwa is for man a shield and a shelter, not
a chain or a prison. There are many who do not distinguish between immunity and
restraint, between security and confinement, and promptly advocate the
destruction of the sanctuary of taqwa in the name of freedom and liberation from
bonds and restraint.
That which is common between a sanctuary and a prison is the existence of a
barrier. Whereas the walls of a sanctuary avert dangers, the walls of a prison
hinder the inmates from realizing their inner capacities and from benefiting
from the bounties of life. Ali (a) clarifies the difference between the two,
where he says:
Let it be known to you, O servants of God, that taqwa is a formidable fortress,
whereas impiety and corruption is a weak and indefensible enclosure that does
not safeguard its people, and does not offer any protection to those who take
refuge in it. Indeed, it is only with taqwa that the tentacles of sins and
misdeeds can be severed. [5]
Ali (a), in this sublime advice, compares sins and evil deeds which are
afflictions of the human soul to poisonous insects and reptiles, and suggests
that the faculty of taqwa is an effective defence against them. In some of his
discourses, he makes it clear that taqwa not only does not entail restraint and
restriction or is an impediment to freedom, but on the other hand it is the
source and fountainhead of all true freedoms. In sermon 230, he says:
Taqwa is the key to guidance, the provision for the next world, the freedom from
every kind of slavery, and the deliverance from every form of destruction.
The message is clear. Taqwa gives man spiritual freedom and liberates him from
the chains of slavery and servitude to lusts and passions. It releases him from
the bonds of envy, lust, and anger, and this expurgates society from all kinds
of social bondages and servitudes. Men who are not slaves of comfort, money,
power, and glory, never surrender to the various forms of bondage which plague
the human society.
The Nahj al-Balaghah deals with the theme of taqwa and its various effects in
many of its passages; but we don't consider it necessary to discuss all of them
here. Our main objective here is to discover the meaning of taqwa from the point
of view of the Nahj al-Balaghah, so as to unearth the reason for so much
emphasis that this book places on this concept.
Of the many effects of taqwa that have been pointed out, two are more important
than the rest: firstly, the development of insight and clarity of vision;
secondly, the capacity to solve problems and to weather difficulties and crises.
We have discussed this in detail elsewhere.[6] Moreover, a discussion of these
effects of taqwa here will take us beyond our present aim which is to clarify
the true meaning of taqwa. It will not be out of place to call attention to
certain profound remarks of the Nahj al-Balaghah about the reciprocal
relationship between the human being and taqwa.
A Reciprocal Commitment:
In spite of the great emphasis laid by the Nahj al-Balaghah on taqwa as a kind
of guarantee and immunity against sin and temptation, it should be noticed that
one must never neglect to safeguard and protect taqwa itself. Taqwa guards man,
and man must safeguard his taqwa. This, as we shall presently explain, is not a
vicious circle.
This reciprocal guarding of the one by the other is comparable to the one
between a person and his clothes. A man takes care of his clothes and protects
them from being spoiled or stolen, while the clothes in turn guard him against
heat or cold. In fact the Holy Quran speaks of taqwa as a garment:
And the garment of taqwa - that is better. (7:26)
Ali (a), speaking about this relationship of mutual protection between a person
and his taqwa, says:
Turn your sleep into wakefulness by the means of taqwa and spend your days in
its company. Keep its consciousness alive in your hearts. With it wash away your
sins and cure your ailments... Beware, guard your taqwa and place your self
under its guard. [7]
At another place in the same sermon, Ali (a) says:
O God's servants, I advise you to cultivate the taqwa of God. Indeed it is a
right that God has over you and it is through it that you can have any right
over God. You should beseech God's help for guarding it and seek its aid for
[fulfilling your duty to] God. [8]
References:
[1] Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermon 16
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid., Sermon 114
[4] Ibid., Sermon 191
[5] Ibid., Sermon 157
[6] See Guftar e mah, vol. I, the second speech
[7] Nahj al-Balaghah., Khutab 191
[8] Ibid.
Source: Selected excerpt from 'Glimpses
of Nahj al-Balagha' by Shaheed Murtadha Mutahhari
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A truly beautiful article from one of the the greatest scholars of the modern era.
Please recite Suratul Fatiha for the soul of Shaheed Mutahhari (r.a)