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Abandoning the Better (Tark al-Awla): Difference between revisions
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'''Abandoning the better''' or '''tark al- | '''Abandoning the better''' or '''tark al-ʾawlā''' (Arabic: {{ia|تَرْک الأوْلی}}) is to do something good and abandon what is better to do. [[Shiite]] scholars do not take "abandoning the better" as a [[sin]], and thus, they hold that [[prophets]] and [[Imams (a)]] might sometimes abandon the better. They maintain that in cases in which prophets and Imams (a) practiced [[istighfar]] (asking God for forgiveness), they did so because they had abandoned the better. In some [[verse]]s of the [[Qur'an]], some mistakes are attributed to some prophets. [[Exegetes]] of the Qur'an hold that since prophets are [[infallible]], such mistakes are not sins from the standpoint of [[fiqh|jurisprudence]], rather they are "abandoning the better" (tark al-awla), that is, they just abandoned what is the better action to do. | ||
==Meaning== | ==Meaning== | ||
"Abandoning the better" (tark al-awla) takes place when one has two options | "Abandoning the better" (tark al-awla) takes place when one has two options; one is good and the other is better, but they do what is good and abandon what is better. The term was not used in the Qur'an and [[hadith]]s; rather it was used by [[Muslim]] scholars. <ref>Iḥtishāmīnīyā & Khushraftār, "Imām Riḍā wa tark-i awlā-yi anbīyāʾ", p. 26.</ref> | ||
==Difference with Sins== | ==Difference with Sins== | ||
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==Abandoning the Better by Prophets and Imams (a)== | ==Abandoning the Better by Prophets and Imams (a)== | ||
The Shiites believe that [[prophets]] and [[Imams (a)]] are [[infallible]], so they never commit [[Major Sins|major]] or [[Minor Sins|minor]] sins;<ref>Sayyid Murtaḍā, ''Tanzīh al-anbīyāʾ'', p. 34.</ref> but they might sometimes | The Shiites believe that [[prophets]] and [[Imams (a)]] are [[infallible]], so they never commit [[Major Sins|major]] or [[Minor Sins|minor]] sins;<ref>Sayyid Murtaḍā, ''Tanzīh al-anbīyāʾ'', p. 34.</ref> but they might sometimes 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 [[Quran 2]], the [[Satan]] misguided the prophet [[Adam (a)]]{{enote|Then Satan caused them (Adam and Eve) to stumble from it (paradise), and he dislodged them from what they were in; and We said, ‘Get down, being enemies of one another! On the earth shall be your abode and sustenance for a time.’ (Quran, 2:36)</ref> 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.<ref>Ṣadūq, ''Maʿānī l-akhbār'', p. 383-384.</ref> | ||
According to Shiite scholars, since there are rational arguments for the [[infallibility]] of prophets and the Imams (a), we cannot impute [[sin]]s to them. Thus, the above cases should be construed as abandoning the better.<ref>Subḥānī, ''Manshūr-i jāwīd'', vol. 7, p. 288-289.</ref> They explain istighfars by prophets and the Imams (a) in terms of different categories and degrees of sins. For example, one category of sins is the judicial sin which is referred to in [[fiqh]] as [[forbidden]]. Another category is failure to continuously think of God, which is not a judicial sin. Prophets and the Imams (a) never committed judicial sins because of their infallibility, but they could fail to continuously think of God because of their relationships with other people and the demands of their daily lives, and this led them to practice istighfar.<ref>Sharīfī & Yūsufīyān, ''Pajhūhishī dar ʿiṣmat-i ma'ṣūmān'', p. 184-187, 330</ref> | According to Shiite scholars, since there are rational arguments for the [[infallibility]] of prophets and the Imams (a), we cannot impute [[sin]]s to them. Thus, the above cases should be construed as abandoning the better.<ref>Subḥānī, ''Manshūr-i jāwīd'', vol. 7, p. 288-289.</ref> They explain istighfars by prophets and the Imams (a) in terms of different categories and degrees of sins. For example, one category of sins is the judicial sin which is referred to in [[fiqh]] as [[forbidden]]. Another category is failure to continuously think of God, which is not a judicial sin. Prophets and the Imams (a) never committed judicial sins because of their infallibility, but they could fail to continuously think of God because of their relationships with other people and the demands of their daily lives, and this led them to practice istighfar.<ref>Sharīfī & Yūsufīyān, ''Pajhūhishī dar ʿiṣmat-i ma'ṣūmān'', p. 184-187, 330</ref> | ||
==Examples in the Qur'an== | ==Examples in the Qur'an== | ||
The Qur'an has attributed actions to prophets in terms such as "'usyan" (disobedience) and "zulm" (injustice or oppression) and their requests for God's forgiveness. [[Exegetes]] of the Qur'an have interpreted these cases as abandoning the better. Below are some Quranic verses in this regard plus the interpretations of Quranic exegetes about them: | The Qur'an has attributed actions to prophets (a) in terms such as "'usyan" (disobedience) and "zulm" (injustice or oppression) and their requests for God's forgiveness. [[Exegetes]] of the Qur'an have interpreted these cases as abandoning the better. Below are some Quranic verses in this regard plus the interpretations of Quranic exegetes about them: | ||
* '''Killing the Egyptian man by Moses (a)''': "He said, 'My Lord! I have wronged myself. Forgive me!' So He forgave him. Indeed, He is the All-forgiving, the All-merciful".<ref>Qur'an, 28:16.</ref> | * '''Killing the Egyptian man by Moses (a)''': "He said, 'My Lord! I have wronged myself. Forgive me!' So He forgave him. Indeed, He is the All-forgiving, the All-merciful".<ref>Qur'an, 28:16.</ref> | ||