As it was mentioned in previous matters, the sharia is from the wise
God who is the creator and the owner of the living creatures and is aware of
the advantages and disadvantages of all affairs. Hence, he orders us to do
whatever is in our favor and prevents us from doing whatever is ugly and vulgar
and reward whoever obeys his orders. The exalted God knows the qualifications
of every person and rewards human for their good deeds. In other words, he
rewards human exactly and fairly and does not deprive anyone of his or her
right. There is no question that God with such complete attributes never orders
us to do vulgar actions. [1]
Another important point is that
the exalted God orders and prevents persons that have the conditions of
obligations. The conditions include:
A. wisdom
A person that is obliged should be wise and there are no
obligations for persons that are mad. Of course, there are some rules for the
life of mad people in the Islam and they are considered as his or her rights.
B. life
Obviously obligations can only refer to people who are alive.
C. Ability
There are no obligations for persons that are not able to follow
the orders of God.
D. Knowledge
A person should have enough knowledge toward his or her obligations.
He or she should have preparations to do actions or it should be possible for
them to acquire it. In other words, they should have necessary means for doing
actions.
Obligations should not have any evil consequences. In other words,
things that cause such evil consequences should not be considered as obligations
and duties. Hence, the exalted God never considers whatever causes evil
consequences as rules, but all rules of the Islam lead human to happiness and
bliss.
It is completely clear that whatever is considered as obligations should
already be known for an obliged person. In other words, an obliged person
should have enough time to know the stages and conditions of whatever he or she
is obliged to do; otherwise, such obligations are ugly and vulgar. For example,
before Eid al-Fitr arrives, the value of fast should be explained to an obliged
person because it is not accepted to punish a person for his or her sins before
she or he is enlightened[2].
Another point that should be mentioned about the orders and rules
of God is that an obliged person should be able to do his or her obligations.
In other words, it should not be impossible for them to fulfill obligations and
obligations should be possibly done by obliged persons.
Another important point about obligations or actions that an
obliged person should do is that if an obliged person wants to do an action,
that action should be good and advised. If this advised action is obligatory,
it should be done and is vajeb religiously necessary and if it is not
obligatory, it will be mostahab
recommended in Islam .
If an obliged person should give up an action, that action should have
evil consequences. If an evil action is obligatory, doing it is haram religiously
prohibited . If there is no preference in doing an evil action, doing it is
makrooh disapproved but not unlawful in Islam . In conclusion, obligations
should be advised or they should have evil consequences; otherwise, the order
related to doing or giving up such an action is preference and such an
obligation will be abolished by God.
What has been understood so far is that there is definitely a lot
of prudence in the rules of God and no rules are without reason. Of course, in
some situations, doing an action is advised and in other situations, avoiding
an action is advised. If such actions that are not advised are done, they can
have evil consequences. For example, it is advised that gamble should not be
done because it definitely has evil consequences.
Analyzing the conditions of obligations, we can understand that
Islam is the religion of sharia, obligations and rules and acting them
guarantees the reality of the life and the life of human. In other words, the divine
rules are the favors of the exalted God for having a right life and fulfilling
obligations appropriately.
1. Matters related to obliged soul and obligations belonging
to a person that enacts obligations and a person that is obliged have been
discussed in the scholastic books such as Sharh Tajrid by Khaje Nasir
Al-Din Tusi, Khashf Al-Morad by Alame Heli and Ghavaed Al-Haram by Ibn
Meitham Al-Bahrani
2. Abu Al-Hasan Sharani; the explanation and the translation
of the book Kashf Al-Morad p 457