ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A General Look At Rites Rites Are Practical Expression Just as man was born carrying in him all potentials of the experience on life's stage, plus all seeds its success, such as awareness, activity and conditioning, so was he born tied by nature to the Absolute . . . . !

This is so because his relationship with the Absolute is one of the requirements of his own success whereby he overcomes the problems facing his civilized march, as we have already seen, and there is no experience more sustaining and inclusive, more meaningful, than this of Faith in man's life. It has been a phenomenon attached to man since time immemorial.

During all stages of history, such a social and continuous attach- ment proves - through experience - that escap- ing towards the Absolute, aspiring towards Him from beyond borders lived by man, is a genuine inclination of man no matter how diversified the shapes of such inclination are, how different its methods and degrees of awareness . . .

But Faith, as an instinct, is not enough to guarantee bringing to reality an attachment to the Absolute in its correct form, for that is linked to the Truth through the method of satisfying such an instinct and the manner of utilizing it, just like the case of any other instinct. The correct behaviour in satisfying it in a manner parallel to all other instincts and inclinations, being in harmony with it, is the only guarantee of the ultimate benefit of man!

Also, the behaviour according to or against an instinct is the one that fosters the instinct, deepens, eliminates or suffocates it . . . ! So do the seeds of mercy and compassion die within man's self through the continuous and practical sympathizing with the miserable, the wronged, and the poor. . . !

From this point, Faith in God, the deep feeling of aspiring towards the unknown and the attachment to the Absolute, have all to have some direction which determines the manner of satisfying such feeling and the way to deepen it, fixing it in a way compatible with all other genuine feelings of man. Without a direction, such feeling may have a setback and may be afflicted with various sorts of deviation, just like what happened to the strayed religious feeling during most epochs of history.

Without a deepened conduct, such feeling may become minimized, and the attachment to the Absolute ceases to be an active reality in man's life capable of exploding good energies.