The Importance of Seizing Opportunities – Practical Principles – Preliminaries – First Preliminary

The Importance of Seizing Opportunities

As is customary, we begin the first session of the principles of jurisprudence course in the current academic year with illuminating words from the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them), to benefit from the blessings of these radiant words and to imbue this session with their spiritual light through the transmission of the sayings of the Infallibles (peace be upon them). This prepares our hearts and souls to receive divine knowledge, its prerequisites, and its tools.

In a narration cited in Bihar al-Anwar, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) says: “The time that has passed from this world of yours is not worth the fringes of this cloak of mine, and what remains of it is as similar to what has passed as water is to water. All of it is fleeting in its duration and near in its end. So hasten to act while you still have the respite of breath and the freshness of the saddlecloths, before you are seized by the throat.”

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) says: “By Allah, what has passed of this world of yours is not worth the fringes of this cloak of mine, and what remains of it is as similar to what has passed as water resembles water.”

How similar is water to water? Ordinary water, not water affected by anything—how similar is it to other water? By the same degree, what remains of your world is like what has passed of it. “All of it is fleeting in its duration and near in its end.” He says it will vanish soon, meaning everyone will soon depart. We think we are still far from leaving this world, and we see the time of death as distant. All of us are like this. We accept the principle of departing from this world, we believe in death, we know that we will all leave this world someday, but we perceive its timing as very far off. We accept the principle, but we all see its timing as distant. We believe that the end will come to everyone and then to us, yet after one minute, one second, we do not know what will happen.

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) first describes this and says: What has passed and what remains are very similar. He says that what has passed is not worth the fringes of this cloak, meaning it is very little. And what remains is also very little. Do not think that we have much time or many opportunities. “So hasten to act while you still have the respite of breath and the freshness of the saddlecloths, before you are seized by the throat.” As long as you have the opportunity of life, the opportunity to breathe, while the saddlecloths (al-aḥlās) are still fresh, and before you are seized by the throat (i.e., death), hasten to act. If the saddlecloth is fresh, what is the difference between it and an old one? They place something like a saddlecloth under the saddle of a camel or horse to stabilize it and prevent harm to the animal’s back. After some time, the saddlecloth’s fibers wear out, it becomes hard, and it is time to replace it. He says: Before you reach that stage, while the saddlecloth (called āgand, a felt or rug placed under the camel’s saddle) is still fresh, the opportunity is available. Before your breath is taken—before death comes—hasten to act. Death takes the soul from a person, making breathing impossible, and life ends. He says: Before you reach that point, “hasten to act.” When you reach that stage, you will not be able to do anything.

This is, in fact, an emphasis on seizing opportunities and making the most of them for action, because when a person reaches that point, they will no longer be able to do anything, and nothing will be added to their record.

In the previous academic session, I mentioned that what we are enjoined to pursue is beneficial knowledge—knowledge that benefits a person and reveals the righteousness or corruption of their heart, as opposed to harmful or neutral knowledge. The most obligatory and noble of sciences and knowledge are those that show a person this path, revealing the righteousness or corruption of the heart. If one must choose between learning knowledge related to the righteousness and corruption of the heart and soul or something else, the former is undoubtedly more obligatory. This does not mean that other sciences are without value; some are even obligatory, collectively obligatory (wajib kifa’i). But beyond necessity, these sciences are the noblest, the most worthy of praise, and the most obligatory.

How much time do we have? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) says: What has passed of your life is very little, and what remains is very little, just like the similarity of water to water. Imagine water—what has passed is water, and what remains is water; how similar they are! The life that has passed and the life that remains are exactly like that; nothing changes. Do not think that in the remaining time, for example, you have more time; do not think it moves more slowly; do not think something special will happen that will suddenly allow us to acquire everything we need to gain. It is the same. Acquiring beneficial knowledge and useful insights that reveal the righteousness or corruption of our heart is only possible by seizing our opportunities.

If a person recognizes the value of opportunities, they can attain these insights to a greater extent. There are many narrations emphasizing the necessity of seizing opportunities and that missing an opportunity is a grief that cannot be compensated. This applies not only to beneficial knowledge but to all sciences and all actions.

In the words of the Leader of the Pious, Amir al-Mu’minin (peace be upon him), he says: “Seize the opportunity before it becomes a source of grief.” Missing it causes sorrow and regret. How many opportunities have each of us had, golden opportunities we could have used to progress? Were those who were influential and beneficial to themselves and society special people with unique capabilities? Many successes, even by those with average talents, were achieved by seizing opportunities. Talent, no matter how great, will naturally fail to reach its goal if it does not recognize the value of opportunities.

Thus, if I were to offer two recommendations—or rather, an affirmation and a recommendation—at the start of the academic year, a reminder and advice from the words of the Infallibles for seekers of divine knowledge, they would be summarized in two sentences derived from these narrations, one from Imam al-Kazim (peace be upon him) mentioned in the jurisprudence lesson, and the other from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): First, I emphasize the importance of this path and the environment that Allah has granted us—the environment for acquiring beneficial knowledge, the knowledge that reveals the righteousness or corruption of the heart. I said that this environment provides the opportunity, not that everyone who acquires or learns this knowledge has fully reached the goal. Second, seizing opportunities and time. The more a person acquires divine knowledge, the more they understand the depth of their heart’s righteousness or corruption, and their actions become more disciplined and orderly. This, in truth, leads to the elevation of a person’s status in the hierarchy of existence. A person may not have worldly status, fame, or reputation, but this world, from its beginning to its end, is insignificant. What matters is the eternal abode, the everlasting life, and the status and rank a person attains there. That status is the result of acquiring beneficial knowledge and seizing opportunities. “Hasten to act.” Before regret comes and it is no longer possible to acquire these things, we must prepare ourselves, God willing.

Practical Principles

Since we began discussing the principles years ago, we reached the topic of proofs (ḥujaj) and addressed the indicators (amārāt) one by one: speculation (ẓunūn), apparent meanings (ẓawāhir), solitary reports (khabar wāḥid), and the practice of rational people (binā’ al-‘uqalā’). The discussion of indicators has concluded, but the discussion of practical principles remains.

Practical principles are also among the proofs, but they differ from indicators. If you recall, Sheikh Ansari in Al-Rasā’il presented the discussion of practical principles in this order: A person has different states—sometimes certainty, sometimes speculation, and sometimes doubt. He outlined three states for the obligated person. Then, he explained issues for each of these states and placed the four practical principles within these streams. These streams have been subject to critique, questioning whether these divisions are correct. Alternative explanations have been offered to Sheikh Ansari’s presentation.

Preliminaries to the Discussion

Before delving into the practical principles themselves, we will first mention several issues as preliminaries:

First Preliminary: When did this terminology emerge? Since when did the term “practical principles” enter our scholarly texts?

Second Preliminary: This concerns the history and development of practical principles.

Third Preliminary: Is the discussion of practical principles considered part of the science of principles of jurisprudence, or not? We established a criterion for what constitutes an issue of the science of principles, stating that an issue is considered part of this science if it meets this criterion. We want to examine, first, what that criterion is, and whether it is applicable to the discussions of practical principles.

Fourth Preliminary: What is the relationship between practical principles and indicators? Are practical principles and indicators parallel to each other or sequential? Some statements suggest that among earlier scholars, practical principles were considered parallel to the Book and the Sunnah. We use the term “practical principles” loosely, so what is the relationship between practical principles and indicators, and what is the reason for their precedence? These are issues that must be discussed in general.

First Preliminary

Undoubtedly, the term “practical principle” as such was not present in the words and expressions of earlier jurists and scholars of principles. Perhaps we can infer from some expressions of Muhaqqiq Hilli, the author of Sharā’i‘ al-Islām, references to “the principle” or “the practical principle.” He says: “Ijtihad in action is based on the indication of the principle, the indication of precaution, and other matters.” This may refer to the practical principle, but it does not explicitly use the term “practical principle.”

It appears that the first to use the term “practical principle” was Mulla Ahmad Naraqi, as well as the author of Hidāyat al-Mustarshidīn. This means the term is not ancient. For example, during the time of Sheikh Tusi, Sayyid Murtada, and Sheikh Mufid, the term “practical principle” did not exist. Yes, the word “principle” (aṣl) was used in their texts, but not in the sense of a practical principle. It had several uses and meanings.

Sometimes, they used “principle” in the context of analogy (qiyās), referring to the subject of analogy (maqīs) and the basis of analogy (maqīs ‘alayhi) as the “branch” (far‘) and the “principle” (aṣl). The Second Martyr used the term “continuity” (istiṣḥāb) or “principle” instead of the basis of analogy, as did others. Thus, sometimes the word “principle” was used to mean one of the three components of analogy.

At other times, “principle” had a broader meaning than the practical principle. Sometimes they referred to “principle” to specifically mean, for example, exemption (barā’a) or precaution (iḥtiyāṭ). Therefore, the term “practical principle” was not used in the texts of earlier scholars.

However, more important than the presence or absence of the term “practical principle” in the texts of earlier scholars is whether we can find traces of the essence of the practical principle in their statements. Or, if they referred to something in passing, was it, in terms of content, the same, and how did they express it? This is very important.

What is clearly stated today about the streams of practical principles was certainly not present in this form in the past. This is natural, as sciences evolve over time. For example, we may find in the texts of earlier scholars references to exemption, continuity, or precaution, but something like the principle of choice (takhiyyur) is rarely seen in their statements.

Martyr Sadr, at the beginning of this discussion, provided a relatively brief overview, which is useful. He made claims, some of which seem to require further reflection.

The importance of understanding the history of practical principles among the Shia, how they were perceived among the Sunnis, and their conceptualization are matters worthy of attention, and we will address them, God willing.