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Draft:Devotional Obligation

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Devotional Obligation (Arabic: واجب تَعبّدی, wājib taʿabbudī), in contrast to non-devotional obligation (wājib tawaṣṣulī), refers to a mandatory act in which the intention of proximity (qasd al-qurba) is a condition for its performance, such as salat, sawm, and Hajj. Some jurists consider the necessity of the intention of proximity in a devotional obligation to be rational. Others regard it as scriptural (shar'i), believing that the Lawgiver has included the intention of proximity within the command to worship itself; however, some believe the Lawgiver includes this necessity through a separate command.

It is said that early scholars held the principle that the default state of obligations is being non-devotional; meaning that if a command is issued by the Lawgiver and we do not know whether the intention of proximity is a condition or not, it should be said that no such intention is required. However, scholars such as al-Akhund al-Khorasani and Muhaqqiq al-Na'ini believe that the default is the devotional nature of obligations, and being non-devotional requires proof. Those who advocate for the primacy of devotional obligation have cited verses from the Qur'an and certain narrations of the Infallibles (a). The reason for the primacy of non-devotional obligation is considered to be the recourse to absoluteness (itlaq); meaning that when the Lawgiver is able to say "perform the obligation with the intention of proximity" but does not, and instead commands absolutely, the implication is the lack of necessity for such intention.

Conceptology

According to the famous definition,[1] a devotional obligation—in contrast to non-devotional obligation—is defined as an obligation in which the intention of proximity is a condition, and performing it without the intention of closeness does not discharge the duty from the individual; such as salat, sawm, and Hajj.[2] In another definition, a devotional obligation is considered one that possesses three conditions: direct personal performance (mubashara), permissibility (ibaha), and free will (ikhtiyar).[3] This means the duty-bound person must perform the act themselves, through permissible means and with lawful tools, and the performance must occur without compulsion and with intent and attention.[4]

Some obligations are non-devotional according to the famous definition but devotional in the second definition; such as answering a greeting, in which the intention of proximity is not a condition, but direct personal performance is required. Conversely, some obligations are devotional according to the famous definition but non-devotional in the second; such as the obligation of the eldest son to perform the qada prayers of his father after his death, where the intention of proximity is a condition, but direct performance is not necessary (and the son can hire someone else to perform the prayers). Many obligations are considered devotional according to both definitions; such as the Daily Prayers and the fast of the month of Ramadan.[5]

Scholars of the science of principles have provided a third definition for devotional obligation; it is said that early scholarsTemplate:Note considered a devotional obligation to be one where the purpose of the obligation is unknown and its performance is purely out of submission (ta'abbud); such as salat.[6] Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar, a 14th-century AH scholar, considers this definition correct only when "ta'abbud" refers to submission to divine commands, even if the act itself is non-devotional according to the famous definition, such as a person saying "I perform this act out of devotion."[7]

The Nature of the Obligation of the Intention of Proximity

Main article: Intention of Closeness

Shi'a jurists disagree on whether the necessity of the intention of proximity in a devotional obligation is based on rational proof or scriptural proof;[8] three general foundations have been outlined in this matter:

  1. The view of Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei (d. 1371 SH): The necessity of the intention of proximity is scriptural, and the Lawgiver has included the intention of proximity within the command to worship itself.[9]
  2. The view of Mirza al-Na'ini (d. 1315 SH): The necessity of the intention of proximity is scriptural, and the Lawgiver has included the necessity of the intention of proximity in a separate command, apart from the command to worship.[10]
  3. The view of al-Akhund al-Khorasani (d. 1289 SH): The necessity of the intention of proximity is rational and depends on the quality of performing the act and obedience;[11] if the Lawgiver's purpose for performing the act is only its external realization, such as the obligation to bury the deceased, reason does not deem the intention of proximity necessary. However, if the Lawgiver's purpose is that through the act, closeness to Him is also achieved, then reason deems the intention of proximity necessary.[12]

Is the Default for Obligations Devotional or Non-devotional?

According to Ja'far Subhani (b. 1308 SH), one of the religious authorities, early scholars believed that the default for obligations is being non-devotional; therefore, if a command [such as endowment] is issued by the Lawgiver and we do not know if the intention of proximity is a condition or not, it should be said that intention is not necessary.[13] In his view, after al-Shaykh Murtada al-Ansari (d. 1243 SH), scholars including al-Akhund al-Khorasani[14] and al-Muhaqqiq al-Na'ini[15]—contrary to the Shaykh's view[16]—maintained that the default is the devotional nature of obligations and being non-devotional requires proof.[17]

Those who advocate for the primacy of devotional obligation have cited verses from the Qur'an and certain narrations of the Infallibles (a).[18] Among these is the verse: "And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, being sincere to Him in religion..."[19] which is said to mean that the performance of all God's commands must only be for His worship.[20] Furthermore, the hadith "Actions are only by intentions..."[21] has been interpreted to mean that no act results in the compliance with a command without intention.[22] Some have responded that the number of non-devotional obligations in the Shari'a exceeds the devotional ones, and arguing with these proofs results in "excluding the majority" (takhsis al-akthar), which is invalid.[23] They also consider the aforementioned verse as a command for monotheism and do not accept its inclusion of all divine commands.[24]

The reason for the primacy of non-devotional obligation is also recourse to absoluteness (itlaq); meaning that when the Lawgiver can say "perform the obligation with the intention of proximity" but does not and commands absolutely, the implication is the non-necessity of intention and the obligation's non-devotional nature.[25] In response, it is said that the Lawgiver cannot, in a single address, for example, make both the prayer and its intention mandatory; thus, recourse to absoluteness is not correct.[26] Consequently, al-Shaykh al-Ansari proposed another plan and believes the Lawgiver can issue a second command for the intention of the obligation and therein state the quality of the obligation;[27] thus, if a second command was not issued by the Master, it is a sign of that obligation being non-devotional.[28]

Notes

  1. ↑ Markaz-i Iṭṭilāʿāt wa Madārik-i Islāmī, Farhang-nāma-yi uṣūl-i fiqh, 1389 SH, p. 343.
  2. ↑ Kāshif al-Ghiṭāʾ, al-Fawāʾid al-Jaʿfariyya, Kāshif al-Ghiṭāʾ Institute, p. 11; Imām Khomeinī, Kitāb al-ṭahāra, 1422 AH, p. 343.
  3. ↑ al-Khūʾī, Dirāsāt fī ʿilm al-uṣūl, 1419 AH, vol. 1, p. 181.
  4. ↑ Masjidsarāʾī, "Kayfiyyat-i iʿtibār-i qaṣd-i qurba dar wājibāt-i taʿabbudī", p. 26.
  5. ↑ Markaz-i Iṭṭilāʿāt wa Madārik-i Islāmī, Farhang-nāma-yi uṣūl-i fiqh, 1389 SH, p. 343.
  6. ↑ Āqā Ḍiyāʾ ʿIrāqī, Maqālāt al-uṣūl, 1420 AH, vol. 1, p. 229; Mūsawī Bujnūrdī, Muntahā l-uṣūl, Baṣīratī Bookstore, vol. 1, pp. 126-127; al-Muẓaffar, Uṣūl al-fiqh, 1375 SH, vol. 1, p. 69.
  7. ↑ al-Muẓaffar, Uṣūl al-fiqh, 1375 SH, vol. 1, p. 69.
  8. ↑ Markaz-i Iṭṭilāʿāt wa Madārik-i Islāmī, Farhang-nāma-yi uṣūl-i fiqh, 1389 SH, p. 637.
  9. ↑ al-Khūʾī, Abū l-Qāsim, Muḥāḍarāt fī uṣūl al-fiqh, 1417 AH, vol. 2, p. 221.
  10. ↑ al-Khūʾī, Ajwad al-taqrīrāt, 1368 SH, vol. 1, p. 117.
  11. ↑ al-Muẓaffar, Uṣūl al-fiqh, 1370 SH, p. 66.
  12. ↑ al-Ākhūnd al-Khurāsānī, Kifāyat al-uṣūl, 1409 AH, vol. 1, p. 81.
  13. ↑ ["Dars-i khārij-i uṣūl of Ayatollah Subhani"], Madrasa Fiqhat website.
  14. ↑ al-Ākhūnd al-Khurāsānī, Kifāyat al-uṣūl, 1409 AH, vol. 1, pp. 72-74.
  15. ↑ al-Khūʾī, Ajwad al-taqrīrāt, 1368 SH, vol. 1, p. 113.
  16. ↑ al-Khūʾī, Ajwad al-taqrīrāt, 1368 SH, vol. 1, p. 112.
  17. ↑ Subḥānī, Jaʿfar, al-Mabsūṭ fī uṣūl al-fiqh, 1431 AH, vol. 1, p. 356.
  18. ↑ Imām Khomeinī, Kitāb al-ṭahāra, 1422 AH, p. 346.
  19. ↑ Sura al-Bayyina, verse 5.
  20. ↑ Subḥānī, Jaʿfar, al-Mabsūṭ fī uṣūl al-fiqh, 1431 AH, vol. 1, p. 367.
  21. ↑ al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, 1414 AH, p. 618; al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Tahdhīb al-aḥkām, 1407, vol. 4, p. 186; al-Shaykh al-Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, Qom, 1409 AH, vol. 10, p. 13.
  22. ↑ Subḥānī, Jaʿfar, al-Mabsūṭ fī uṣūl al-fiqh, 1431 AH, vol. 1, p. 368.
  23. ↑ Hamadānī, Miṣbāḥ al-faqīh, 1416 AH, vol. 2, p. 136.
  24. ↑ Hamadānī, Miṣbāḥ al-faqīh, 1416 AH, vol. 2, p. 138.
  25. ↑ al-Khūʾī, Ajwad al-taqrīrāt, 1368 SH, vol. 1, p. 117.
  26. ↑ al-Ākhūnd al-Khurāsānī, Kifāyat al-uṣūl, 1409 AH, vol. 1, p. 72.
  27. ↑ Kalāntarī Nūrī, Kitāb Maṭāraḥ al-anẓār, Muʾassasat Āl al-Bayt (a), p. 60.
  28. ↑ ["Dars-i khārij-i uṣūl of Ayatollah Subhani"], Madrasa Fiqhat website.

References

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  • Āqā Ḍiyāʾ ʿIrāqī, ʿAlī b. Mullā Muḥammad. Maqālāt al-uṣūl. Edited by Sayyid Mundhir Ḥakīm and Mujtabā Maḥmūdī. Qom: Majmaʿ al-Fikr al-Islāmī, 1st ed., 1420 AH.
  • Imām Khomeinī, Sayyid Rūḥollāh. Anwār al-hidāya fī l-taʿlīqa ʿalā l-Kifāya. Tehran: Institute for the Compilation and Publication of the Works of Imam Khomeini, 2nd ed., 1415 AH.
  • Imām Khomeinī, Sayyid Rūḥollāh. Kitāb al-ṭahāra. Reported by: Fāḍil Lankarānī, Muḥammad. Tehran: Institute for the Compilation and Publication of the Works of Imam Khomeini, 1st ed., 1422 AH.
  • al-Khūʾī, Sayyid Abū l-Qāsim. Ajwad al-taqrīrāt (Lessons of Mirza al-Na'ini). Qom: Muṣṭafawī Bookstore, 2nd ed., 1368 SH.
  • al-Khūʾī, Sayyid Abū l-Qāsim. Dirāsāt fī ʿilm al-uṣūl. Reported by: Hāshimī Shāhrūdī, Sayyid ʿAlī. Qom: Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence according to the Ahl al-Bayt School, 1st ed., 1419 AH.
  • al-Khūʾī, Sayyid Abū l-Qāsim. Muḥāḍarāt fī uṣūl al-fiqh. Reported by: Muḥammad Isḥāq Fayyāḍ. Qom: Dār al-Hādī, 4th ed., 1417 AH.
  • ["Dars-i khārij-i uṣūl of Ayatollah Subhani"], Madrasa Fiqhat website. Accessed: Mehr 28, 1403 SH.
  • Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. al-Mabsūṭ fī uṣūl al-fiqh. Qom: Imam Sadiq (a) Institute, 1st ed., 1431 AH.
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  • al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan. Tahdhīb al-aḥkām. Edited by: Ḥasan Mūsawī Kharsān. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 4th ed., 1407 AH.
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