Muhasaba
Muḥāsaba or muḥāsabat al-nafs (Arabic: محاسبة النفس) is one's observation of his actions and inspection of their good and bad ones. Muhasaba is after musharata and muraqaba. Scholars of ethics bring arguments from hadiths and greatly emphasize on muhasaba.
Method
Teachers and scholars of ethics have so much emphasized on ethics and mentioned many benefits for it.[1] Muhasaba is made by dedicating a time toward the end of the day for inspecting the soul and the actions during the day. The person should first inspect about the obligations and if he has performed them correctly, he should thank God and if he has missed any obligation, or he has performed any of them deficiently, he should try to make up for them.
If he has committed a sin, he should repent and criticize his self and command it to make up for it; like a businessman who inspects his dealings together with his business partner at the end of the day, the person should inspect his own self regarding all his behaviors.[2]
Qur'anic and Hadith References for Muhasaba
- O you who have faith! Be wary of Allah, and let every soul consider what it sends ahead for Tomorrow, Qur'an 59:18
Many hadiths have been transmitted regarding the necessity of performing muhasaba and most hadith and ethical books have dedicated a chapter to muhasaba:
- Imam al-Kazim (a) said, "He is not one of us who does not inspect his self during the day so that if he has performed a good deed, asks God for more and if he has committed anything bad, asks God forgiveness and returns to Him."[3]
- Imam al-Sadiq (a) said, "The wise assigns an hour of the day for reflection upon and inspection of the self."[4]
- Imam al-Kazim (a) said, "He is not one of us who does not make inspection of his self every day."[5]
- The Prophet (s) said, "Inspect yourself before being inspected."[6]
See Also
Notes
- ↑ Imām Khomeinī, Sharḥ-i Arbaʿīn ḥadīth, p. 10, 15; Māmaqānī, Mirʾāt al-rashād, p. 36; Ghazālī, Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn, vol. 15, p. 23; Sharḥ manāzil al-sāʾirīn Khawja ʿAbd al-Allāh Anṣārī bar asās-i sharḥ-i ʿAbd al-Razzāq Kāshānī, vol. 1, p. 45; Anṣārīyān, ʿIrfān-i Islāmī, vol. 12, p. 233; Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Risāla-yi lub al-lubāb, p. 114; Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Risāla-yi siyr-o-sulūk, p. 151.
- ↑ Imām Khomeinī, Sharḥ-i Arbaʿīn ḥadīth, p. 10, 15; Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Maḥajjat al-bayḍāʾ, vol. 8, p. 205; Qanbariyān, Murāqiba nafsāni, vol. 1, p. 8.
- ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 453.
- ↑ Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 2, p. 485.
- ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 453.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, vol. 1, p. 34, 109.
References
- Anṣārīyān, Ḥusayn and others. ʿIrfān-i Islāmī. Qom: Dar al-ʿIrfān, 1386 Sh.
- ʿAbd al-Razzāq b. Jalāl al-Dīn, ʿAbd al-Razzāq Kāshī, ʿAbd al-Allāh b. Muḥammad Anṣārī, ʿAlī Shīrwānī. Sharḥ manāzil al-sāʾirīn Khawja ʿAbd al-Allāh Anṣārī bar asās-i sharḥ-i ʿAbd al-Razzāq Kāshānī. Tehran: Al-Zahrā, 1379 Sh.
- Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Muḥammad Mahdī b. Murtaḍā. Risāla-yi siyr-o-sulūk. Edited by Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Mashhad: Nūr Malakūt Qurʾān, 1425 AH.
- Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa. [n.p]. [n.d].
- Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Muḥammad b. Shāh Murtaḍā. Rah-i rawshan the translation of the book Maḥajjat al-bayḍāʾ fī tahdhīb al-Iḥyaʾ. Translated by Muḥammad Ṣādiq ʿArif. Mashhad: Āstān-i Quds Raḍawī, 1379 Sh.
- Ghazālī, Muḥammad. Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn. [n.p]. Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, [n.d].
- Ḥusaynī Tihrānī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Risāla-yi lub al-lubāb dar siyr-o-sulūk ulul al-bāb. Mashhad: ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī, 1426 AH.
- Imām Khomeinī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Sharḥ-i Arbaʿīn ḥadīth. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Tanẓīm wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Imām Khomeini, 1380 Sh.
- Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. [n.p]. [n.d].
- Māmaqānī, ʿAbd Allāh. Mirʾāt al-rashād. Beirut: Dār al-Zahrā, [n.d].
- Nūrī, Mīrzā Ḥusayn al-. Mustadrak al-wasāʾil wa musṭanbit al-wasāʾil. [n.p]. 1408 AH.
- Qanbariyān, ʿAlī and others. Murāqiba nafsāni. Tehran: Ṣabā, 1394 Sh.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Amālī. [n.p]. [n.d].