اَلْحَمْدُ
لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا… اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ
مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ
الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ
عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی
غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
ثم الصلاه و السلام علی محمد عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و
دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین کله و لو کره المشرکون
اوصیکم
عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه
Twelfth Virtue: Not to be lazy
أَجْسَادُهُمْ
نَحِيفَةٌ
The body of people of pious is frail.
The weakness of the body, which Amir
al-Momenin expresses in virtue of pious, does not mean that they are weak to do
something. In another word, Amir al-Mu minin says in the description of
“friend of God”:
وَ كَانَ
ضَعِيفاً مُسْتَضْعَفاً
He was not weak
But the statement goes on:
فَإِنْ
جَاءَ الْجِدُّ فَهُوَ لَيْثُ غَابٍ وَ صِلُّ وَادٍ
When the time was serious, he was like a
forest lion and a desert snake.
Disability is not a virtue that amir
al-Momenin praise people of pious because of it.
Prophet Muhammad says:
المؤمن
القوی خیر و أحب الی الله من المؤمن الضعیف؛
For God, a strong Mumin is better and more
beloved than the weak Mumin.
Of course, financial disability and physical
disability are sometimes considered to be blessings and good because one can
not oppress others and eliminate their rights.
Yes, the lack of force and power to harass
people is a blessing, and it s a good thing, but it
is not a virtue.
The person who have eyes and does not look
haram, or someone who has a tongue and does not lie or does not do other sins
that are related to tongue, this is the exact meaning of virtue.
Shahid Motahari says: when you don’t have the
power to hurt, that’s not a big deal, the main point is that when you have the
power, at the same time you don’t hurt anyone. Morteza
Motahari, Moral Philosophy, pp. 149-150
So here, when Imam Ali is expressing the
virtues of piety, we should not see weakness in the sense of disability. And also it should not be understood as being thin in
the body, because it is lean or fatness, which is neither virtue nor a vice.
The proper meaning of being thin in this word
of Amir al-Mu minīn and weakness in his other word, both of which are as
expressions of virtue, must be understood as not to be in a denial
body building. Because there is also two forms of body
building: deprecate and praiseworthy.
Praiseworthy body building
Physical training with sports and sports is
one of the things that are very much considered in Islam and an independent
discussion of jurisprudence has been dedicated a part to it. Imam Sadeq informs
about the sporting events with the presence and encouragement of the Messenger
of Allah:
ان رسول
الله سابق بین الخیل وأعطی السوابق من عنده؛
The Prophet would throw competition among
horse riders, and giving the winners the prize himself.
Amir al-Mu minin considers the harshness to
the body unprotected and says:
ان نفسک
مطیتک ان أجهدتها قتلتها وان رفقت بها أبقیتها؛
Your body is like your riding compound. You
will kill it if you overpower it, and you will save it when you tolerate with
it.
Deprecate body building
The term deprecate is usually used for this
kind of thing. Mollycoddle and uplifting and intolerant of the hardships needed
to achieve the high goals and prosperity are examples of this kind of body
building.
This type of bodywork in the words of the Prophet is considered to be a concern that
they have expressed about the Ummah of Islam:
ثَلاثٌ
أَخَافُهُنَّ عَلَى أُمَّتِي مِنْ بَعْدِي الضَّلالَةُ بَعْدَ الْمَعْرِفَةِ
وَمَضَلاَّتُ الْفِتَنِ وَشَهْوَةُ الْبَطْنِ وَالْفَرْجِ؛ کافی:ج2، ص79
There are three things that I am afraid of
after myself to my Ummah: A misleading after
knowledge and misleading trials and lust of the abdomen
and sexual lust.
أَكْثَرُ
مَا تَلِجُ بِهِ أُمَّتِي النَّارَ الاَجْوَفَانِ الْبَطْنُ وَالْفَرْجُ؛ کافی:ج2،
ص64
The greatest thing that my nation enters into
the fire of hell because of them are two things: abdomen and genital organ.
Resisting to Deprecate body building and resisting the unnecessary physical
pleasures is the basis of human excellence and advancement in the moral aspects
of spirituality.
