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

This verse refers to the story of the prophet [[Yunus (a)]] (Jonah). He abandoned his people because of their disobedience and then regretted what he had done. He took his act to be an oppression of the people and then [[tawba|repented]] to God.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāyī, ''al-Mīzān'', vol. 14, p. 314-315.</ref> According to [['Allama Tabataba'i]], Yunus's (a) action was not oppression or a [[sin]], indeed, and God punished him only in order to teach him not to do things that are slightly similar to oppression and sins.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāyī, ''al-Mīzān'', vol. 14, p. 315.</ref> Yunus's (a) action was an instance of "abandoning the better".<ref>Makārim Shīrāzī, ''Tafsīr-i nimūna'', vol. 13, p. 485.</ref>

According to ''[[Majma' al-bayan]]'' in its exegesis of this verse, "'usyan" literally means any disobedience of God. Thus, it not only includes the abandoning of one's [[obligation]]s, but also the abandoning of [[mustahab|recommended]] actions. Thus, [[Adam]]'s (a) disobedience does not mean that he committed a sin.<ref>Ṭabrisī, ''Majmaʿ al-bayān'', vol. 7, p. 56.</ref> According to ''Tafsir-i nimuna'', commands and prohibitions are sometimes "irshadi" or instructive; one case in point is when a physician tells a patient to take some medicine. In such a case, if the patient does not obey the physician's command, they only harm themselves. [[God]]'s prohibition of eating the [[forbidden tree]] does not mean that its eating was a sin because God had not regulated obligations yet. Instead, it meant that eating the fruit would lead to Adam's (a) [[Fall|exit]] from the [[Heaven of Adam (a)|heaven]] to the Earth where he would suffer pains.<ref>Makārim Shīrāzī, ''Tafsīr-i nimūna'', vol. 13, p. 323.</ref>

[[Category:Theological terms]]