“One whose brother seeks counsel from him and he does not...

“One whose brother seeks counsel from him and he does not counsel him with sincerity, God will deprive him of his soundness in judgment.” [^2] Two important points have been mentioned in these two traditions. First off all, one whose advice is sought is trustworthy. Therefore, he will never cheat one. Therefore, one who seeks advice should never accuse the one whose advice he seeks. He should not be suspicious of him, as Imam Sajjad has said.

Secondly, the one whose advice is sought should sincerely express whatever he thinks. Should he hesitate to do so, God will take away his effective point of view, since he has not been grateful for the blessing of being asked for advice. Seeking the Advice of Those Lower in Rank An interesting point about seeking advice is that we can even seek the advice of those who are lower in rank than we are. We do not necessarily have to seek the advice of those in a higher position than we are.

There is a chapter in Wasa`il al-Shī`ah in this regard. In the second tradition in this chapter, we read: Fuzayl ibn Yasar said that Imam Sadiq sought his advice on some issue. Fuzayl asked the Imam how could such a lowly person like himself give advice to such a person like the Imam ?

The Imam replied: “Whenever I seek your advice.” ^3 In the third tradition of this chapter we read: “Hasan ibn Jahm narrated that he was with Imam Ridha when the Imam remembered his noble father and said: “His intellect was extremely superior to the intellect of the people of his time, and sometimes he used to seek the advice of one of his black slaves.” Then he was asked: “Can you seek the advice of such people?” Then Imam Ridha replied: “In fact, God the Blessed and the High expresses facts when they talk, and on many occasions my father used to act upon their advice regarding the garden.”[^4] Imam Ali’s Viewpoints on Advisor The compiler of Nahjul Balaghah , who is Sayyid Razi, narrated that once Abdullah ibn Abbas sought Imam Ali’s advice, and was in disagreement with the advice given to him by the Commander of the Faithful .

Imam Ali said: “It is up to you to give me your advice.