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Draft:Confession of Sin

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Confession of Sin (Persian: اعتراف به گناه, romanized: iʿtirāf bi gunāh) or self-disclosure is the act of recounting one's sins to others. In the religion of Islam, confessing sins to others is not permissible due to the dissemination of indecency and the loss of one's honor.

In Shia narrations and hadith books, confessing sins before God is emphasized, and positive spiritual effects such as breaking the heart and achieving tenderness of heart for the repenting individual are mentioned. In contrast, self-disclosure of sins to others (other than God) is forbidden due to the dissemination of indecency and public disgrace, and it is considered a sin in Islamic jurisprudence. According to the view of Shia Marjas such as al-Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei and al-Sayyid Muhammad Rida al-Gulpaygani, recounting sins to others is even more severe than an overt sin. Furthermore, Imam Ali (a) and Imam al-Rida (a) consider revealing sins to others a cause of abasement and humiliation. In this regard, Catholic Christianity differs, as confession of sin to a priest is a worship ritual for forgiveness.

Confessing to a crime in Islamic jurisprudence is also obligatory where it leads to the restoration of the rights of others. Additionally, in psychotherapy, free association allows patients to express their sins to a psychoanalyst, and some researchers consider this act permissible if there is a therapeutic need. According to the Rule of Necessity, if an individual needs to confess due to psychological problems, the primary ruling of the prohibition of recounting sins is removed. Mirza Jawad Maliki Tabrizi also considers recounting sins for the purpose of treatment or seeking a fatwa from a scholar permissible, provided it is done with regret and sorrow.

Conceptology and Position

Confession of sin means recounting one's sin to others.[1] Verses from the Quran and several hadiths from the Imams have reached us regarding the confession of sin, and Shia scholars in the science of ethics and the science of jurisprudence have discussed it.

Confession of sin is sometimes performed in the presence of God with the aim of repentance, and sometimes an individual might disclose their sins to other humans.[2]

Confession of sin in Verse 11 of Sura al-Mulk and Verse 11 of Sura Ghafir is attributed to a group of disbelievers who, in the Hereafter, confess to their sins to escape punishment, and this confession does not benefit them.[3] It is also mentioned in Verse 102 of Sura al-Tawba, referring to a group in this world who did not despair of God's mercy and confessed their sins in His presence, and God forgave their sins.[4]

Confession with the Aim of Repentance

In Shia hadith collections, there are ahadith from religious leaders whose content is an invitation to confess sins and repent in the presence of God. al-Kulaynī in Usul al-Kafi has dedicated a chapter titled "Chapter of Confession of Sins and Regret Over Them" (Bāb al-iʿtirāf bi-l-dhunūb wa al-nadam ʿalayhā) to this subject. In this section, he has collected ahadith that consider confessing and revealing sins permissible only in the presence of God and have mentioned spiritual effects for it, such as the forgiveness of all sins.[5] Also, from Imam al-Sajjad (a), the twelfth and thirty-second supplications are narrated, which are about the confession of sin and repentance. The title of the supplication in al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya of Imam al-Sajjad (a) is: "And it was among his supplication (a) regarding confession and seeking repentance from God the Almighty."

Ibn Fahd al-Hilli in the book ʿUddat al-dāʿī mentions five benefits and effects for confessing sins in the presence of God, which are:

  1. Severing from the creation and joining to God;
  2. Breaking the heart;
  3. Achieving tenderness of heart (which is a sign of purity of intention, and after sincerity, supplication is fulfilled);
  4. Crying, wailing, and contrition (ināba), which is the best state of the manners of supplication;
  5. Following the Infallibles (a).[6]

Self-disclosure to Others

In the religion of Islam, revealing one's sin to others (other than God) is not permissible because it leads to the dissemination of indecency and the loss of honor,[7] and it is considered a sin.[8] In contrast, in Catholic Christianity, confession of sin to a priest is a worship ritual for forgiveness.[9]

According to the view of al-Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei, one of the Shia Marja' al-Taqlid, confession of sin and self-disclosure is forbidden.[10] Also, in the belief of al-Sayyid Muhammad Rida al-Gulpaygani, recounting sins to others is more severe than an overt sin.[11] Mulla Ahmad Naraqi in the book Miʿrāj al-saʿāda emphasizes that revealing a sin to others is another sin.[12] al-Sayyid 'Abd Allah Shubbar also considers confessing sins to others as one of the cases that turns a minor sin into a major one.[13]

In the narrations of Imam Ali (a)[14] and Imam al-Rida (a),[15] revealing sins to others is considered a cause of abasement and humiliation. In the explanation of these narrations, it is said that the one who reveals the sin becomes abased and humiliated due to their carelessness regarding the Shari'a and lack of shame in recounting their sin to others, and success is taken away from them.[16]

Confession of Crime before a Judge

Confession of a crime, which is also called iqrār (admission),[17] is used more in jurisprudential terminology[18] and means admitting to a right to one's own detriment and to the benefit of another.[19] This occurs where a right of the people is involved.[20] Confessing a crime before a judge is obligatory where it leads to the restoration of the rights of others.[21] Confessing to a lie or denial that prevents others from reaching their rights is forbidden.[22]

Confession of Sin to a Psychotherapist

The method of free association in psychotherapy,[23] which is used in psychoanalysis to reveal suppressed thoughts and memories,[24] is sometimes related to recounting sins to others.[25] This method advises patients to express every thought or feeling that comes to their mind.[26] However, some researchers believe that recounting sins to a committed psychoanalyst or psychotherapist for the purpose of treatment not only does not cause humiliation but is also religiously permissible if the individual needs treatment due to psychological problems.[27] According to the Rule of Necessity, in such conditions, the primary ruling of the "prohibition of recounting sins" is removed.[28] Mirza Jawad Maliki Tabrizi also believes that recounting sins with the intention of treatment or for a fatwa from a scholar is not problematic if done with regret and sorrow.[29]

Notes

  1. ↑ Dihkhudā, 1338 Sh/1959-60, vol. 7, p. 2935.
  2. ↑ “Is confessing sins to others problematic?”, Adyan News.
  3. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1378 Sh/1999-2000, vol. 17, p. 474.
  4. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1378 Sh/1999-2000, vol. 9, p. 511.
  5. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1378 Sh/1999-2000, vol. 4, p. 218.
  6. ↑ Ibn Fahd al-Ḥillī, ʿUddat al-dāʿī, 1407/1986-7, vol. 1, p. 167.
  7. ↑ The Institute of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia, al-Mawsūʿa al-fiqhiyya, 1423/2002-3, vol. 14, p. 386; Marvārīd et al., "Free Association in Psychoanalysis and the Deontological Ruling of Recounting Sin", p. 45.
  8. ↑ Gulpāyagānī, al-Durr al-manḍūd, 1412/1991-2, vol. 1, p. 238.
  9. ↑ Brentl, Catholic Ritual, 1381 Sh/2002-3, p. 137.
  10. ↑ Gharawī Tabrīzī, al-Tanqīḥ, 1407/1986-7, vol. 4, p. 211.
  11. ↑ Gulpāyagānī, al-Durr al-manḍūd, 1412/1991-2, vol. 1, p. 238.
  12. ↑ Narāqī, Miʿrāj al-saʿāda, 1378 Sh/1999-2000, vol. 1, p. 575.
  13. ↑ Shubbar, al-Akhlāq, 1429/2008-9, vol. 2, p. 217.
  14. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1378 Sh/1999-2000, vol. 4, p. 49.
  15. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1378 Sh/1999-2000, vol. 4, p. 221.
  16. ↑ Majlisī, Mirʾāt al-ʿuqūl, 1404/1983-4, vol. 11, p. 286.
  17. ↑ Jawharī, al-Ṣiḥāḥ: Tāj al-lugha, 1407/1986-7, vol. 2, p. 790.
  18. ↑ The Institute for Islamic Jurisprudence Encyclopedia, Farhang-i Fiqh-i Fārsī, 1387 Sh/2008-9, vol. 1, p. 648.
  19. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1362 Sh/1983-4, vol. 35, p. 2.
  20. ↑ The Institute of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia, al-Mawsūʿa al-fiqhiyya, 1423/2002-3, vol. 16, p. 15.
  21. ↑ The Institute of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia, al-Mawsūʿa al-fiqhiyya, 1423/2002-3, vol. 16, p. 15.
  22. ↑ The Institute of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia, al-Mawsūʿa al-fiqhiyya, 1423/2002-3, vol. 16, p. 15.
  23. ↑ Marvārīd et al., "Free Association in Psychoanalysis and the Deontological Ruling of Recounting Sin", p. 36.
  24. ↑ Robert William, Theories and Systems of Psychology, 1386 Sh/2007-8, p. 272.
  25. ↑ Marvārīd et al., "Free Association in Psychoanalysis and the Deontological Ruling of Recounting Sin", p. 37.
  26. ↑ Feist, Theories of Personality, 1390 Sh/2011-12, p. 66.
  27. ↑ Marvārīd et al., "Free Association in Psychoanalysis and the Deontological Ruling of Recounting Sin", p. 49.
  28. ↑ Marvārīd et al., "Free Association in Psychoanalysis and the Deontological Ruling of Recounting Sin", p. 50.
  29. ↑ Malikī Tabrīzī, Asrār al-ṣalāt, 1372 Sh/1993-4, p. 75.

References

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