ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Human Cycle Lesson 16 6-9-10 The Open School Class: Explanation of Forty Ahadith Text: Jalali, Sayyid Muhammad Husayn. Sharh al-Arba’in al-Nabawwiyah. Arabic edition 1987, pages 454-459. Summary Looking at the concepts of bir and ihsan , one can conclude that both relate to obeying God (the All-Mighty). Piety or righteousness are usually used to define bir , but one can associate bir with dealing with people in a good manner.

Also, ihsan means virtue or to do beautiful things which includes not retaliating if someone does something wrong to you ( e.g. , if someone is mean to you, be kind to him). Dealing with people in a good manner and not retaliating helps to establish happiness in life. The wise Qur’an (5:2) states, inter alia , “ Cooperate in piety and Godwariness, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression.” Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (peace be upon him and his family) said that bir and ihsan cause prosperity .

(Jalali, pages 454-455). For example, when I was a child and became angry at my parents for not buying me a toy while shopping, I would run and go hide somewhere in the store. My parents would fervently look for me, and I would cause them great heartache. I would make their life miserable at that moment. Now just imagine if adults acted like that towards each other. Meaning, they do not deal with each other nicely and they treat each other with aggression.

They would be so stressed and not at ease. From a physical point of view, people may get high blood pressure and other health problems, which would lead to the shortening of one’s life. This is not prosperity. Accordingly, bir and ihsan can make one’s life longer (by the grace of Allah, the All-Merciful) because one may not get as irritated or nervous throughout life. Now, this does not apply only to the home or family life.

If you are just and good with your neighbors, they are more likely to be just and good with you. If a first community is just and good with a second community, the second community will probably be just and good with the first community. If nation A is just and good with nation B, then nation B will probably be just and good with nation A. This is only natural. Do good for yourself in this life (and the hereafter) by being good to others.