Jump to content

Draft:Ta'awun

From wikishia

Cooperation (Arabic: التعاون, Ta'āwun), defined as mutual assistance, constitutes a fundamental pillar of the social system and a universal Islamic principle. Grounded in Qur'an 5:2, Muslims are obligated to cooperate in virtuous deeds while refraining from collaboration in wrongdoing. Within the traditions of the Infallibles (a), the imperative of ta'āwun and mutual aid is heavily emphasized; indeed, assisting believers is esteemed as superior to a month of fasting and i'tikaf, a lifetime of worship, or the manumission of a thousand slaves. According to hadith literature, a significant social consequence of ta'āwun in righteous acts is the bestowal of goodness and baraka upon the Islamic Umma.

Citing Qur'an 5:2, jurists classify ta'āwun in virtuous deeds as either obligatory or recommended. For example, caring for a foundling is regarded as a form of ta'āwun in goodness; it is classified by some as an obligatory precaution (wājib kifā'ī), while others deem it recommended. Conversely, jurists regard the sale of grapes to an individual who utilizes them to produce wine (khamr) as complicity in a sin, thereby rendering the transaction haram.

Forms of cooperation encompass both material and spiritual ta'āwun. The payment of religious dues serves as a prime example of material ta'āwun. Meanwhile, acts such as visiting the sick, maintaining family ties, striving for peace and reconciliation, and Enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong are categorized as instances of spiritual ta'āwun.

Ta'awun as a Pillar of the Social System

Ta'āwun, signifying collaboration and mutual assistance,[1] is recognized as a foundational pillar of the social system[2] and a comprehensive Islamic principle spanning social, legal, ethical, and political domains.[3] While some scholars characterize ta'āwun strictly as an ethical principle,[4] others classify it among the rights of the walī (ruler) over the populace,[5] noting that its practice fosters social solidarity.[6]

Researchers observe that ta'āwun has consistently been emphasized as the bedrock of numerous religions and ideologies, particularly divine faiths; the religion of Islam itself is predicated upon mutual ta'āwun and collaboration.[7] Scholars attribute Islam's emphasis on ta'āwun and participation in virtuous deeds to the inherently social nature of humanity and the necessity for interpersonal collaboration.[8] They maintain that the realization of such participation and solidarity precipitates the growth and perfection of society.[9]

Ta'awun in Good Deeds and Non-collaboration in Indecent Acts

The Qur'an addresses the subject of ta'āwun in Qur'an 5:2;[10] "Help one another in goodness and piety, and do not help one another in sin and aggression."[11] Commentators assert that the imperative mood used regarding ta'āwun in this verse underscores its value and significance.[12] Accordingly, Muslims are obliged to engage in ta'āwun and collaborate in virtuous deeds, whereas collaboration in illicit objectives, erroneous actions, and oppression is strictly prohibited.[13] Furthermore, the terms birr (goodness) and ithm (sin) are interpreted broadly here, encompassing every virtuous deed (whether obligatory or recommended)[14] and every sin.[15] Indeed, birr and piety constitute two comprehensive terms utilized by the Qur'an to delineate the primary axes of ta'āwun and participation.[16]

The traditions of the Infallibles (a) also emphasize the necessity of ta'āwun and mutual assistance in establishing the truth.[17] al-Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili, a prominent hadith scholar of the 11th/17th century, devoted a specific section to ta'āwun in his Wasa'il al-Shi'a, regarding assistance in virtuous deeds as recommended.[18] In this section, he cites a hadith from the Prophet (s) indicating that, among individuals, assisting parents, children, neighbors, and friends holds greater importance.[19]

Types and Examples of Ta'awun

Scholars have proposed various dimensions for ta'āwun, including social and political aspects such as hajj and jihad, economic obligations like khums and zakat, and ethical duties such as observing the rights of parents and neighbors.[20]

Cooperation is categorized into material and spiritual ta'āwun.[21] Researchers identify obligatory payments (such as khums and zakat) and recommended contributions (such as loans and charity) as examples of material ta'āwun,[22] which are explicitly encouraged in the Qur'an.[23] A preeminent historical example of material ta'āwun in Islam is the assistance and collaboration between the Ansar and the Muhajirun at the onset of the Prophet's (s) migration to Medina.[24] Historians note that in the 1st year of the Hegira, the Muhajirun secured employment and livelihood amenities through the economic support of the Ansar, facilitated by the Pact of Brotherhood.[25]

Studies indicate that religious leaders have called upon Muslims to engage in ta'āwun by fulfilling one another's needs, thereby fostering emotional and spiritual bonds.[26] Practices such as giving gifts, visiting the sick, maintaining family ties, striving for peace and reconciliation, Enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong, participating in Friday Prayer, and voting in elections are regarded as instances of spiritual ta'āwun.[27]

Value and Effects of Ta'awun

Numerous traditions from the Infallible Imams (a) extol the value and virtue of ta'āwun and assisting believers.[28] These narrations assert that aiding a believer is superior to a month of [recommended] fasting and i'tikaf,[29] a lifetime of worship,[30] and the freeing of a thousand slaves.[31] Furthermore, hadith sources identify lordship and worldly status[32] as well as increased sustenance[33] as individual and worldly consequences of assisting others.[34] Regarding its otherworldly effects, ta'āwun and empathy are said to cause distress to Satan,[35] foster nearness to God[36] and Divine love,[37] avert Divine punishment,[38] and facilitate entry into Paradise.[39][40]

Hadiths indicate that a critical social impact of ta'āwun in virtuous deeds is the infusion of goodness and baraka into the Islamic Umma, whereas a lack of ta'āwun results in the pursuit of dominance over one another and the vanishing of blessings.[41] Moreover, strengthening attachment, commitment, and belief in societal values, alongside the reduction of deviation and crime, are considered significant social effects of ta'āwun and empathy.[42]

Jurisprudential Ruling on Ta'awun

Studies show that jurists, citing Qur'an 5:2, classify ta'āwun in virtuous deeds—depending on the act's importance—as either obligatory or recommended.[43] For example, caring for a foundling is considered a form of ta'āwun in goodness.[44] Most jurists,[45] including Shaykh al-Tusi (d. 460/1067),[46] Allama al-Hilli (d. 726/1325),[47] and Fadil al-Miqdad (d. 826/1423),[48] invoke the verse of ta'āwun to deem this act [until relatives are located] an obligatory precaution (wājib kifā'ī). Other jurists, such as al-Muhaqqiq al-Hilli (d. 676/1277)[49] and Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Ruhani (d. 2022),[50] consider it recommended.[51]

Regarding the ta'āwun in sin (ta'āwun 'alā l-ithm), jurists deem the sale of grapes to a person who uses them to make wine as complicity in sin, thus ruling it haram.[52] However, a group of scholars maintains that for complicity in sin to be established, the seller must explicitly intend for the grapes to be used in wine production.[53] Some also argue that ta'āwun, unlike i'āna (assistance), implies a mutual or multi-party collaboration; thus, unilateral aid to a single individual does not constitute ta'āwun.[54]

Notes

  1. Dehkhodā, Lughatnāma, under "ta'awun".
  2. Rashīd Riḍā, Tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-ḥakīm, 1393 AH, vol. 6, p. 131.
  3. Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1374 SH, vol. 4, p. 253.
  4. Behrūz-muqaddam, "Taḥlīl-i akhlāqī-yi aṣl-i ta'āwun bar nīkī wa khayr dar Qur'ān wa rawāyāt wa inṭibāq-i ān bā chigūna-yi ham-afzāyī dar faḍā-yi majāzī", p. 30.
  5. Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Wilāyat al-faqīh fī ḥukūmat al-Islām, 1421 AH, vol. 4, p. 199.
  6. Ṭālib, Uṣūl wa andīsha-hā-yi ta'āwun, 1376 SH, p. 4.
  7. Zāhidī Aṣl, Muqaddama-ī bar khadamāt-i ijtimā'ī dar Islām, 1378 SH, p. 15.
  8. Tāj-khurāsānī et al., "Naqsh-i akhlāqī-yi ta'āwun wa ḥimāyat dar āmuzisha-yi Islām wa irṭibāṭ-i ān bā naẓariya-yi kuntrul-i ijtimā'ī-yi jurm", p. 1299.
  9. Tāj-khurāsānī et al., "Naqsh-i akhlāqī-yi ta'āwun wa ḥimāyat dar āmuzisha-yi Islām wa irṭibāṭ-i ān bā naẓariya-yi kuntrul-i ijtimā'ī-yi jurm", p. 1301.
  10. Mu'assasa-yi Dā'irat al-Ma'ārif-i Fiqh-i Islāmī, Farhang-i fiqh, 1387 SH, vol. 1, p. 171.
  11. Qur'an 5:2.
  12. Jurjānī, Tafsīr-i shāhī, 1404 AH, vol. 2, p. 187.
  13. Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1374 SH, vol. 4, p. 253.
  14. Mu'assasa-yi Dā'irat al-Ma'ārif-i Fiqh-i Islāmī, Farhang-i fiqh, 1387 SH, vol. 1, p. 171.
  15. Ṭabrisī, Tafsīr Jawāmi' al-jāmi', 1412 SH, vol. 1, p. 310; Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf, 1407 AH, vol. 1, p. 603; Ṭabāṭabā'ī, al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 5, p. 163; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1374 SH, vol. 4, p. 253.
  16. Amīd Zanjānī, Fiqh-i siyāsī, 1421 AH, vol. 3, p. 457.
  17. Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1402, vol. 8, p. 354; Nahj al-balāgha, edited by Subḥī Ṣāliḥ, sermon 216, p. 334.
  18. al-Shaykh al-Ḥurr al-'Āmilī, Wasā'il al-Shī'a, 1409 AH, vol. 16, p. 377.
  19. al-Shaykh al-Ḥurr al-'Āmilī, Wasā'il al-Shī'a, 1409 AH, vol. 16, p. 378, hadith 3.
  20. Zāhidī Aṣl, Muqaddama-ī bar khadamāt-i ijtimā'ī dar Islām, 1378 SH, p. 15.
  21. Tāj-khurāsānī et al., "Naqsh-i akhlāqī-yi ta'āwun wa ḥimāyat dar āmuzisha-yi Islām wa irṭibāṭ-i ān bā naẓariya-yi kuntrul-i ijtimā'ī-yi jurm", pp. 1301, 1307.
  22. Tāj-khurāsānī et al., "Naqsh-i akhlāqī-yi ta'āwun wa ḥimāyat dar āmuzisha-yi Islām wa irṭibāṭ-i ān bā naẓariya-yi kuntrul-i ijtimā'ī-yi jurm", pp. 1302-1306.
  23. Qur'an 23:4; Qur'an 8:41; Qur'an 2:245; Qur'an 9:104.
  24. Tāj-khurāsānī et al., "Naqsh-i akhlāqī-yi ta'āwun wa ḥimāyat dar āmuzisha-yi Islām wa irṭibāṭ-i ān bā naẓariya-yi kuntrul-i ijtimā'ī-yi jurm", p. 1301.
  25. 'Āmilī, al-Ṣaḥīḥ min sīrat al-Nabī al-a'ẓam, 1426 AH, vol. 3, p. 345.
  26. Hāshimī, "Ta'āwun", p. 3613.
  27. Tāj-khurāsānī et al., "Naqsh-i akhlāqī-yi ta'āwun wa ḥimāyat dar āmuzisha-yi Islām wa irṭibāṭ-i ān bā naẓariya-yi kuntrul-i ijtimā'ī-yi jurm", p. 1307.
  28. Narāqī, Jāmi' al-sa'ādāt, A'lamī, vol. 2, pp. 233-234; Qara'ātī, Tafsīr-i nūr, 1383 SH, vol. 3, p. 20; Jawādī Zāwiya, "Ta'āwun", Baqir al-Olum Research Center.
  29. Kūfī Ahwāzī, al-Mu'min, 1404 AH, p. 47, hadith 111; al-Shaykh al-Ḥurr al-'Āmilī, Wasā'il al-Shī'a, 1409 AH, vol. 12, p. 292, hadith 4.
  30. Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, 1414 AH, p. 481, hadith 20; Wasā'il al-Shī'a, 1409 AH, vol. 16, p. 361, hadith 11.
  31. Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1402, vol. 2, p. 193, hadith 3; Wasā'il al-Shī'a, 1409 AH, vol. 16, p. 363, hadith 1.
  32. 'Alī b. Mūsā, Ṣaḥīfat al-Imām al-Riḍā (a), 1406 AH, p. 86, hadith 198; Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1403 AH, vol. 68, p. 350, hadith 1.
  33. Barqī, al-Maḥāsin, 1371 SH, vol. 2, p. 390, hadith 23; Wasā'il al-Shī'a, 1409 AH, vol. 16, p. 331, hadith 8.
  34. Jawādī Zāwiya, "Ta'āwun", Baqir al-Olum Research Center.
  35. Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1402, vol. 2, p. 207, hadith 9; Wasā'il al-Shī'a, 1409 AH, vol. 16, p. 377, hadith 2.
  36. Attributed to Imam al-Sadiq (a), Miṣbāḥ al-sharī'a, 1400 AH, p. 83; Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1403 AH, vol. 70, p. 308, hadith 37.
  37. Ibn Ḥayyūn, Da'ā'im al-Islām, 1385 SH, vol. 2, p. 320, hadith 1207; Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1403 AH, vol. 71, p. 316, hadith 73.
  38. Shaykh al-Mufīd, al-Ikhtiṣāṣ, 1413 AH, p. 253; Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1403 AH, vol. 68, p. 354, hadith 16.
  39. Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1402, vol. 2, p. 196, hadith 14; Wasā'il al-Shī'a, 1409 AH, vol. 16, p. 357, hadith 3.
  40. Jawādī Zāwiya, "Ta'āwun", Baqir al-Olum Research Center.
  41. Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Tahdhīb al-aḥkām, 1407 AH, vol. 6, p. 181, hadith 22; Wasā'il al-Shī'a, 1409 AH, vol. 16, p. 123, hadith 18.
  42. Tāj-khurāsānī et al., "Naqsh-i akhlāqī-yi ta'āwun wa ḥimāyat dar āmuzisha-yi Islām wa irṭibāṭ-i ān bā naẓariya-yi kuntrul-i ijtimā'ī-yi jurm", p. 1310.
  43. Hāshimī, "Ta'āwun", p. 3613.
  44. Mu'assasa-yi Dā'irat al-Ma'ārif-i Fiqh-i Islāmī, Mawsū'at al-fiqh al-Islāmī, 1389 SH, vol. 3, p. 424.
  45. Anṣārī Shīrāzī, Mawsū'at aḥkām al-atfāl wa adillatihā, 1429 AH, vol. 3, p. 201.
  46. Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, al-Mabsūṭ, 1387 AH, vol. 3, p. 336.
  47. ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Tabṣirat al-muta'allimīn, 1411 AH, p. 111.
  48. Kanz al-'irfān, 1425 AH, vol. 2, p. 83.
  49. al-Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī, Sharā'i' al-Islām, 1408 AH, vol. 3, p. 226.
  50. Ḥusaynī Rūḥānī, Fiqh al-Ṣādiq (a), 1412 AH, vol. 19, p. 367.
  51. Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, al-Mabsūṭ, 1387 AH, vol. 3, p. 336.
  52. For example, see: Shaykh Anṣārī, Kitāb al-makāsib, 1415 AH, vol. 1, p. 132; Muntaẓirī, Dirāsāt fī l-makāsib al-muḥarrama, 1415 AH, vol. 2, p. 379.
  53. Shaykh Anṣārī, Kitāb al-makāsib, 1415 AH, vol. 1, pp. 132-135; Narāqī, 'Awā'id al-ayyām, 1417 AH, p. 80; Muntaẓirī, Dirāsāt fī l-makāsib al-muḥarrama, 1415 AH, vol. 2, p. 379.
  54. al-Khū'ī, Miṣbāḥ al-faqāha, 1417 AH, vol. 1, p. 180.

References

  • ["September 4; Ta'awun Day"], IRIB News, September 4, 2023.
  • 'Āmilī, Ja'far Murtaḍā. al-Ṣaḥīḥ min sīrat al-Nabī al-a'ẓam. Qom: Dar al-Hadith, first edition, 1426 AH.
  • 'Amīd Zanjānī, 'Abbās-'Alī. Fiqh-i siyāsī. Tehran: Amirkabir Publications, fourth edition, 1421 AH.
  • Amīni, Muhammad-Hadi. Ashab Amir al-Mu'minin (a) wa-l-ruwatu 'anhu. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya, n.d.
  • Anṣārī Shīrāzī, Qudrat-Allāh. Mawsū'at aḥkām al-atfāl wa adillatihā. Edited by a group of researchers. Qom: Fiqhi Center of A'imma Athar (a), first edition, 1429 AH.
  • Barqī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. al-Maḥāsin. Edited by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥaddith. Qom: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, second edition, 1371 SH.
  • Behrūz-muqaddam, Ḥamīda. "Taḥlīl-i akhlāqī-yi aṣl-i ta'āwun bar nīkī wa khayr dar Qur'ān wa rawāyāt wa inṭibāq-i ān bā chigūna-yi ham-afzāyī dar faḍā-yi majāzī". Faslnama-yi Rahyaft-ha-yi Nawin-i Mudiriyat-i Jahadi wa Hukm-rani-yi Islami, no. 1, Spring 1400 SH.
  • Dehkhodā, 'Alī-Akbar. Lughatnāma-yi Dehkhodā. Tehran: University of Tehran Press, 1379 SH.
  • Ḥusaynī Rūḥānī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ṣādiq. Fiqh al-Ṣādiq (a). Qom: Dār al-Kitāb, first edition, 1412 AH.
  • Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Wilāyat al-faqīh fī ḥukūmat al-Islām. Mashhad: Allameh Tabataba'i, second edition, 1421 AH.
  • Ibn Ḥayyūn, Nu'mān b. Muḥammad Maghribī. Da'ā'im al-Islām wa dhikr al-ḥalāl wa-l-ḥarām wa-l-qaḍāyā wa-l-aḥkām. Edited by Āṣif Fayḍī. Qom: Muʾassasat Āl al-Bayt (a), second edition, 1385 SH.
  • Jawādī Zāwiya, Sayyida Ma'ṣūma. "Ta'āwun". Baqir al-Olum Research Center website. Published November 15, 2014.
  • Jurjānī, Abū l-Fatḥ. Tafsīr-i shāhī. Edited by Mīrzā Walī-Allāh Ishrāqī Sarābī. Tehran: Navid Publications, first edition, 1404 AH.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Ya'qūb. al-Kāfī. Edited by 'Alī-Akbar Ghaffārī and Muḥammad Ākhūndī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, fourth edition, 1402.
  • Kūfī Ahwāzī, Ḥusayn b. Sa'īd. al-Mu'min. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Imam al-Mahdi (a), 1404 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i namūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, thirty-second edition, 1374 SH.
  • Mu'assasa-yi Dā'irat al-Ma'ārif-i Fiqh-i Islāmī. Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i ahl-i bayt (a). Qom: Mu'assasa-yi Dā'irat al-Ma'ārif-i Fiqh-i Islāmī, 1387 SH.
  • Muntaẓirī, Ḥusayn-'Alī. Dirāsāt fī l-makāsib al-muḥarrama. Qom: Nashr-i Tafakkur, first edition, 1415 AH.
  • Narāqī, Mullā Muḥammad Mahdī. Jāmi' al-sa'ādāt. Edited by Muḥammad Kalāntar. Beirut: A'lamī, fourth edition, n.d.
  • Narāqī, Mawlā Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Mahdī. Awā'id al-ayyām fī bayān qawā'id al-aḥkām. Qom: Islamic Propagation Office Publications, first edition, 1417 AH.
  • Qara'ātī, Muḥsin. Tafsīr-i nūr. Tehran: Cultural Center of Lessons from the Qur'an, eleventh edition, 1383 SH.
  • Rashīd Riḍā, Muḥammad. Tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-ḥakīm. Beirut: Dār al-Ma'rifa, 1393 AH.
  • Shaykh Anṣārī, Murtaḍā. Kitāb al-makāsib. Qom: World Congress for Commemorating Shaykh al-A'zam al-Ansari, first edition, 1415 AH.
  • al-Shaykh al-Ḥurr al-'Āmilī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Wasā'il al-Shī'a. Qom: Muʾassasat Āl al-Bayt (a), first edition, 1409 AH.
  • Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. al-Mabsūṭ fī fiqh al-Imāmīyya. Edited by Sayyid Muḥammad Taqī Kashfī. Tehran: al-Maktabat al-Murtaḍawiyya li-Iḥyā' al-Āthār al-Ja'fariyya, third edition, 1387 AH.
  • Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Tahdhīb al-aḥkām. Edited by Ḥasan Mūsawī al-Kharsān. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, fourth edition, 1407 AH.
  • Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. al-Amālī. Qom: Dār al-Thaqāfa, first edition, 1414 AH.
  • Ṭālib, Mahdī. Uṣūl wa andīsha-hā-yi ta'āwun. Tehran: University of Tehran Press, 1376 SH.
  • Ṭabāṭabā'ī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qur'ān. Qom: Islamic Publications Office, fifth edition, 1417 AH.
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan. Tafsīr Jawāmi' al-jāmi'. Edited by Abū l-Qāsim Gurjī. Qom: Qom Seminary Management Center, first edition, 1412 SH.
  • ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Ḥasan b. Yūsuf. Tabṣirat al-muta'allimīn fī aḥkām al-dīn. Edited by Muḥammad-Hādī Yūsufī Gharawī. Tehran: Printing and Publishing Institution affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, first edition, 1411 AH.
  • al-Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī. Sharā'i' al-Islām fī masā'il al-ḥalāl wa-l-ḥarām. Edited by 'Abd al-Ḥusayn Muḥammad 'Alī Baqqāl. Qom: Ismā'īliyān Institution, second edition, 1408 AH.
  • Zāhidī Aṣl, Muḥammad. Muqaddama-ī bar khadamāt-i ijtimā'ī dar Islām. Tehran: Allameh Tabataba'i University Publications, second edition, 1378 SH.
  • Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd. al-Kashshāf 'an ḥaqā'iq ghawāmiḍ al-tanzīl. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-'Arabī, third edition, 1407 AH.