Tafaʾʾul
Tafaʾʾul (Arabic: التَفَأُّل) is to take things as good omens or to make an optimistic prediction. This is recommended in hadiths, just as tatayyur or pessimistic predictions (taking things as bad omens) are prohibited. It is well-known that the Prophet (s) tended to take things as good omens. For instance, in the story of Hudaybiyya Peace Treaty, when the representative of Meccan officials went to the Prophet (s), he took this as a good omen, telling his companions "now things will go smoothly for you."
The reason why it is recommended to take things as good omens and it is prohibited to take things as bad omens is that the former inspires hope and has positive psychological effects. There are hadiths in which fortune-telling or tafaʾʾul by the Quran is prohibited. However, some scholars interpret those hadiths as concerning the prediction of future events through the Quran, rather than any sort of tafaʾʾul.
Tafaʾʾul and istikhara are not the same thing, as the latter is to leave the decision to God when one has undecidable reservations about doing something.
Definition of Tafaʾʾul and Its Difference from Istikhara
Tafaʾʾul is to make a good omen or to make an optimistic prediction, whether in one’s heart or with one’s tongue. This is contrasted to tatayyur, which is to make a bad omen.[1] Tafaʾʾul is different from istikhara, in that the former is to be hopeful and optimistic about things,[2] while the latter is to leave undecidable matters to God; that is, actions the rightness or wrongness of which cannot be settled through consultation with others.[3]
Recommendation to Tafaʾʾul
According to hadiths, it is good to take things as good omens. For instance, there is a hadith from the Prophet (s) that says: “always make good omens so that you may find them.”[4] Moreover, the Prophet (s) is said to like making good omens and disliked making bad omens.[5] Indeed, he often took things as good omens.[6]
In the story of Hudaybiyya Peace Treaty, when Suhayl b. ʿAmr went to the Prophet (s) for negotiations on behalf of Meccan officials, the Prophet (s) took this as a good omen, saying to his companions: “Now things will go smoothly for you.” [7]Moreover, when the Prophet (s) was told that Khusruw Parwiz had torn his letter apart and sent him a handful of soil, the Prophet (s) took this as a good omen, saying “soon will Muslims conquer his land.”[8]
According to a hadith from Imam ʿAli (a), it is a right thing to make good omens.[9]
The Reason Why Tafaʾʾul is Recommended
According to Tafsir nimuna, making good omens does not have natural consequences. However, since it has positive psychological effects, it was not prohibited, unlike tatayyur (making bad omens).[10]
See Also
Notes
- ↑ Ṭarīqadār, Kandukāwī darbāra-yi istikhāra wa tafa'ul, p. 117.
- ↑ Zūzanī, Kitāb al-maṣādir, vol. 2, p. 586; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 6, p. 317.
- ↑ Ḍamīrī, Istikhāra.
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 20, p. 333.
- ↑ Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, vol. 10, p. 168.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 19, p. 86.
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 20, p. 381.
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 20, p. 381.
- ↑ Sayyid Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, Ḥikmat, 400.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 6, p. 317.
References
- Ḍamīrī, Muḥammad Taqī, Ḥusaynī Zādih, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Rasūl. Istikhāra. In Daʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Qurʾān-i karīm. Accessed: 2022/05/28.
- Ḥāfiẓ. Dīwān-i Ḥāfiẓ. Ghazal Number 58. Accessed: 2022/05/28.
- Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad b. Mukarram. Lisān al-ʿArab. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1411 AH.
- Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1390 AH.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1361 Sh.
- Sayyid Raḍī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Nahj al-balāgha. Edited by Ṣubḥī Ṣaliḥ. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-Lubnānī, [n.d].
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1394 AH.
- Ṭarīqadār, Abu l-Faḍl. Kandukāwī darbāra-yi istikhāra wa tafaʾʾul. Qom: Markaz-i Intishārāt-i Daftar-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī, 1377 Sh.
- Zūzanī, Ḥusayn b. Aḥmad. Kitāb al-maṣādir. Edited by Taqī Bīnish. Mashhad: Kitābfurūshī-yi Bāstān-i Mashhad, 1340 Sh.