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Lesson: 36 Self Respect
Ghairat or
self-respect is a virtue for which the man-making religion of Islam has much
emphasised and the guiltless Imams have always talked about it. Religiosity
of every Muslim also demands that, besides ones relatives like wife, children
Ghairat or support and backing based on self-respect must be extended to the
Islamic state and its laws especially regarding or with respect to the pitiable
condition of world Muslims as almost everywhere complaints against the oppressions
of the imperialism are rising calling for help form the Islamic Republic of
Iran. Thy have emphasised it as our Islamic duty and have never neglected this
matter.
Yes, it is
now our duty to Islam and defend the Islamic revolution with the power of our
wealth and lives and to export it the revolution to all the points of the world
where they feel thirst for it, that is for the truth and justice. It is incumbent
upon us all to defend this Islamic revolution with total courage and self-respect
till death. We should never be like those who have made Islam a means of satisfying
their greed and passion, Rather we should fight with such persons even if they
are our close relatives and they should be excommunicated because the Holy Quran
commands: O you who believe! Do not take your fathers and your brothers for
guardians if they love unbelief more than belief; and whoever of you takes them
for a guardian, these it is that are the unjust. Say: If your fathers and your
sons and your brethren and your mates and your kinsfolk and property which you
have acquired, and the slackness of trade which you fear and dwellings which
you like, are dearer to you than Allah and His Apostle and striving in His way,
then wait till Allah brings about His command: and Allah does not guide the
transgressing people.
Anyway, everything
should be sacrificed for Islam and Quran. But it is very sorrowful that there
are some who, despite claiming to be Muslims, have become so much negligent
that they conspire even with the enemies. This group of Muslims should imitate
that courageous and heroic woman from Isfahan who says:
I like to take
up a gun in my hand to fire the first shot on the heart of my son who has turned
a hypocrite and has be come disloyal to the beloved Imam and to the dishonest
to the martyr-nourishing nation of Iran.
Yes, truly,
a Muslim must be like this and not like the one who justifies the dishonest
behaviour of his son and defends him because what Islam tells us is that: In
case your children turn disloyal and dishonest they must no more be considered
as members of the family. Hence Allah asserts regarding the son of Apostle Nuh
(a.s.): Surely he is not of your family.
Words of
Religious Leaders about Ghairat
Imam Sadiq
(a.s.) said: Verily Almighty Allah is zealous and loves every zealous person
and it is for His zeal that He has prohibited shamelessness open or hidden.
The Holy Prophet
(s.a.w.s.) also has said: Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) was zealous and I am more zealous
than him. If a believer has no zeal or self-respect Allah ruins his position,
rubs his nose on earth makes him defamed.
Addressing
the Iraqi people Amirul Mo-mineen (a.s.) says: O People of Iraq! Do you not
feel ashamed when your women mix up with male mobs in the streets and markets?
Some Rules
for preventing Corruption
In order to
prevent shamelessness and turmoil in society Islam has framed laws and rules
for the society. Some of them are:
Ali (a.s.)
has said: Do not mount women on saddled animals as it provides preliminaries
of sin.
The Holy Prophet
(s.a.w.s.) has said: Women should not walk in the middle of the roads. Rather
they should walk by its sides
Imam Sadiq
(a.s.) has said: One of the promises obtained by the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.)
from women was that: they would not ravel or settle with men in isolation.
The Holy Prophet
(s.a.w.s.) has said: One who has faith in Allah and the Hereafter should not
sleep in a place where he can hear the breathing of a female stranger.
Abu Baseer
says: I asked Imam Sadiq (a.s.): How if a woman walks on the road and man looks
at her from behind? The Hazrat replied: Do you like that someone looks at your
wife in this way? I said: No. Then desire for others what you desire for yourself.
Imam Sadiq
(a.s.) has said: If a man's eye gets injured by an arrow while peeping into
the house of others there is no compensation.
Yes, God and
His Apostle love self-respecting and zealous person s. Many narrations have
been recorded in this matter from the innocent Imams (a.s.). They have given
much importance to the problem of Ghairat. Of course, here it must be remembered
that Islam has strictly prohibited unnecessary harshness and misplaced suspicion
and has taken into consideration only those things that have been prohibited
by Islam. It is obvious that suspicion and undue harshness has torn apart sweet
relations in many families. That is why Amirul Mo-mineen (a.s.) says to his
son Imam Hasan (a.s.):
Beware of misplaced
zeal and undue strictness as this attitude drags pious women from the right
path to wrong lanes.
Imam Sadiq
(a.s.) has said: Paradise has been denied prohibited to a shameless man who
has no self-respect.
Truly, this
deserves deep thought, as family affairs are very fine and delicate. So undue
harshness may perhaps result in corruption and destruction.
Is Ghairat
a Must for Women Also?
It is obvious
that only Islam has given so much importance to the issue of Ghairat zeal, self-respect,
jealousy and only within the frame of the Shariah, can Islam moot it. It is
also clear that Muslim women also have some duties and responsibilities in the
frame of Islamic laws that much be adhered to. For example, if a man behaves
in an un-Islamic manner his wife should, in response to her Islamic Ghairat
prevent him.
But it is seen
that many women show opposition to and fight against their husbands if they
take second or wide. Now, if the husband has taken into account and managed
to abide by the rules framed by Islam in this connection, and goes for second
marriage, and if the wife opposes him then, she has not only not acted according
to Ghairat but has shown her jealousy or envy. This is the interpretation of
Imam Sadiq (a.s.) who says: Ghairat of woman is Hasad.
Similarly he
has said at another place: Verily, Allah has ordained compulsory Jihad for men
and also a jihad for women. The jihad of men is to sacrifice his wealth and
life in the path of God until finally they attain martyrdom and the jihad of
women is to show patience and tolerance in course of life to tolerate trouble
misbehaviour of their husbands who act with Ghairat!
