Commentary on Imam Sajjad’s (AS) Treaties of Right By Mohammad Sobhanie.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

وَأمّـــــــــا حَقُّ المُشِيرِ عَلَيْكَ، فَلا تتَّهِمْهُ فِيمَا لا يُوافِقُكَ عَلَيهِ مِنْ رَأْيِهِ إذا أَشَــــــارَ عَلَيْكَ.  فَإنَّمَا هِيَ الآرَاءُ وَتصَرُّفُ النَّــــاسِ فِيهَــــــا وَاختِلافُهُمْ. فَكُنْ عَلَيهِ فِي رَأيِهِ بالخِيَارِ إذا اتَّهمْتَ رَأْيَهُ، فَأَمّا تُهْمتُهُ فَلا تَجُوزُ لَكَ إذَا كَانَ عِنْدكَ مِمَّنْ يَسْتَحِقُّ الْمُشَاوَرَةَ. وَلا تَدَعْ شُكْرَهُ عَلَى مَـا بَدَا لَكَ مِن إشْــــــــخاصِ رَأْيِهِ وَحُسْنِ وَجْهِ مَشُورَتِهِ، فَإذا وَافَقَكَ حَمِدتَ اللَّهَ وَقَبلْتَ ذلِكَ مِن أَخِيكَ بالشُّــــــــــــــــــــــــكْرِ والإرْصَادِ بالْمُكَافَأَةِ فِي مِثلِهَـــــا إنْ فَزِعَ إلَيْكَ. وَلا قُوَّةَ إلا باللهِ.

The Right of Counsellor (41st)

Translation: Your advisor’s right incumbent on you is that you should not accuse him of betrayal simply because his advice does not align with your own opinion. People naturally have differing perspectives on various matters. You are free to reject his advice if you have doubts about it. However, if you value his input enough to consult him, it is inappropriate to claim he is giving poor advice. Regardless of your disagreement, be grateful to him for sharing his opinion in good faith.

If you agree with his advice, thank God and accept it from your brother in faith with gratitude. Be prepared to follow his example if he ever asks for your advice and remember that all power belongs to God.

Commentary

According to a Hadith from Imam Sadiq (AS), a good counsellor should possess several important qualities: wisdom, religiosity, honesty, knowledge of the client’s issues, and trustworthiness in keeping the client’s secrets. When these traits are present, the advice can be beneficial for the client; otherwise, the potential harm may outweigh the benefits. The Arabic text of the Hadith is as follows. [1],[2]

إنّ المَشورَةَ لا تكونُ إلاّ بِحُدُودِها الأربعةِ … فأوَّلُها أن يكونَ الذي تُشاوِرُهُ عاقِلاً، والثانيةُ أن يَكونَ حُرّا مُتَدَيِّنا، و الثالثةُ أن يكونَ صَديقا مُواخِيا، و الرابعةُ أن تُطلِعَه على سِرِّكَ فَيكونَ عِلمُهُ بهِ كَعِلمِكَ ثُمّ يُسِرَّ ذلكَ ويَكتُمَهُ.

Meeting with a qualified counsellor could result in two outcomes: either the client agrees with the counsellor’s recommendations, or he disagrees.

If the client agrees with the counsellor, Imam Sajjad (AS) encourages the client to express gratitude to God and thank the counsellor for the insightful guidance and support provided in making this decision. The Imam’s (AS) statement is as follows.

فَإذا وَافَقَكَ حَمِدتَ اللَّهَ وَقَبلْتَ ذلِكَ مِن أَخِيكَ بالشُّــــــــــــــــــــــــكْرِ والإرْصَادِ بالْمُكَافَأَةِ فِي مِثلِهَـــــا إنْ فَزِعَ إلَيْكَ.

If you agree with his advice, you should thank God for it, accept it from your religious brother with gratitude, and be prepared to act similarly for him should he one day seek your advice.

If a client disagrees with the counsellor’s advice, that is entirely understandable. The client is not obligated to accept the advice and has every right to disregard it. However, the client should not accuse the counsellor of providing poor advice. It is important to remember that if the client believes the counsellor is qualified to give advice, then claiming that the advice given is inadequate is unfounded. The Imam’s (AS) statement is as follows:

فَلا تتَّهِمْهُ فِيمَا لا يُوافِقُكَ عَلَيهِ مِنْ رَأْيِهِ إذا أَشَــــــارَ عَلَيْكَ.  فَإنَّمَا هِيَ الآرَاءُ وَتصَرُّفُ النَّــــاسِ فِيهَــــــا وَاختِلافُهُمْ. فَكُنْ عَلَيهِ فِي رَأيِهِ بالخِيَارِ إذا اتَّهمْتَ رَأْيَهُ، فَأَمّا تُهْمتُهُ فَلا تَجُوزُ لَكَ إذَا كَانَ عِنْدكَ مِمَّنْ يَسْتَحِقُّ الْمُشَاوَرَةَ. وَلا تَدَعْ شُكْرَهُ عَلَى مَـا بَدَا لَكَ مِن إشْــــــــخاصِ رَأْيِهِ وَحُسْنِ وَجْهِ مَشُورَتِهِ،

You should not accuse him of treason just because his advice does not conform to your own opinion. People have diverse views and may disagree on various matters. You are free to reject his advice if you have doubts about it. However, it is inappropriate to label him as giving bad advice if you consider him a worthy source of consultation. Regardless of your disagreement, it’s essential to appreciate his willingness to share his opinion in good faith.

Translation of Phrases:

Note: 

[1] https://www.hadithlib.com/hadithtxts/view/23010046

[2] http://imamalinet.ir/fa/Book/View/45520/161772/خصوصيات-شخص-مشورت-كننده-(يا-حدود-مشورت)-

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