Abandoning the Better (Tark al-Awla): Difference between revisions

According to ''[[Tafsir-i Nimuni|Tafsir Nimuna]]'', a sin is an action that counts as wrong for everyone, but "abandoning the better" is not wrong and is even favorable, but it is not good for some people to do because of their positions. For example, if a worker donates one day of his or her salary for the construction of a hospital, he has done a good thing, but if a wealthy person donates the same amount of money for the construction of a hospital, he will be berated, because he is expected to pay more, even though he has done something good in itself. Such an action is called "abandoning the better".

The Shiites believe that [[prophets]] and [[Imams (a)]] are [[infallible]], so they never commit [[Major Sins|major]] or [[Minor Sins|minor]] sins; but they might sometimes commit "abandoning the better", that is, they may abandon the better. The evidence for this is that the [[Qur'an]] refers to mistakes or slippages by prophets or their [[istighfar]] (asking God for forgiveness). For instance, according to [[Sura al-Baqara]], the [[Satan]] misguided the prophet [[Adam (a)]] and then Adam practiced istighfar. Moreover, the [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]] and the Imams (a) have asked [[God]] for forgiveness in [[supplications]] transmitted from them. For example, there is a hadith according to which the Prophet (s) practiced istighfar one hundred times during a day and a night.