In this article we will continue our discussion regarding The Treatise of Rights by Imam Zayn Al-Abidin (AS). We will discuss the Right of Him Whose Advice You Seek. Regarding this, the Imam (AS) has said:

And the right of him whose advice you seek is that you should not accuse him when he gives you advice that does not conform to your own opinion. It is quite natural that opinions are divergent and people have various views about their affairs in which they disagree. You are free not to accept his advice if you doubt it.

However, you are not permitted to accuse him of providing you with ill advice as long as you consider him to be of those worthy of consultation. Do not stop thanking him for the thoughts and the good advice he has given you. And if it was appropriate for you, you should thank God for it, accept it from your brother with gratitude, and be ready to act similarly for him should one day he seek your advice. And there is no power but in God.

Here Imam Al-Sajjad (AS) advises us not to accuse the one whose advice we seek, if what they suggest does not agree with our own opinion. If his advice is in agreement with our own opinion, then we should thank God and be grateful to the person who advised us.

When wanting to approach someone and take his opinion regarding a specific matter we must take many factors into consideration. Some of these factors include but are not limited to that person’s honesty, trustworthiness, truthfulness and knowledge.

Commonly speaking truthfulness is restricted only to truthful speech. Islam, however, teaches that truthfulness is far more than having an honest tongue.  In Islam, truthfulness is the conformity of the outer with the inner, the action with the intention, the speech with belief, and the practice with the preaching. 

Truthfulness is one of the building blocks in achieving one’s full potential and achieving success. It is a way through one can live a peaceful and restful life. The individual who is constantly lying seems to always be anxious or unrelaxed, this is because they’re in constant fear that someone will find out the truth. Truthfulness is of such great magnitude that the Prophet (PBUH) constantly emphasized on it. The Prophet (PBUH) has said “I order you to be truthful, for indeed truthfulness leads to righteousness, and indeed righteousness leads to Paradise.  A man continues to be truthful and strives for truthfulness until he is written as a truthful person with God.  And beware of falsehood, for indeed falsehood leads to sinning, and indeed sinning leads to the Fire.  A man continues to tell lies and strives upon falsehood until he is written as a liar with God.”

From this we can conclude that truthfulness is an extremely important trait in an individual who advice is taken from.

Honesty, a term that is mentioned in every religion that exists, is a trait that not only assists in strengthening individualites but acts as one of the most important factors in society. Being the basic foundation on which all relationships are built, honesty incorporates the concepts of truthfulness and reliability and has a strong effect on all human thought, words, actions, hence having an impact on relationships. Honesty is more than just accuracy and truthfulness, as it also denotes integrity and moral soundness.  Islam, being the religion that is known as the completion to the other religions that exist, commands truthfulness and honesty and strongly forbids lying and dishonesty. Through the beautiful quote said by Imam Ali AS, it is trying to teach that the end result of being honest leads to nobility and honor whilst dishonesty is one of the main reasons behind the destruction of one’s self and faith. Now one may ask, what is honesty?

Honesty basically refers to a facet of moral character and connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness and bans the destructive traits of lying, cheating and dishonesty. This trait is mentioned in the religion numerous times and is known to be part of the character of every single messenger, whether it is a Prophet or an Imam. Because it is present in these holy individuals, Allah SWT also wanted it to be present in the individualities of his other creations. Allah wanted all of his creations to be on the side of those who are with the truth and to be honest with themselves when it comes to their relationships with one another and their creator. This is mentioned in the holy verse:” “O you who believe!  Fear God, and be with those who are true (in word and deeds).”

This holy verse is addressing those who fear God to be with the truth. In order to be with the truth, one must be honest in terms of their words and deeds. By doing this, one saves themselves from calamity and earns many solutions to any problems they may have. Allah SWT set the perfect example of remaining by the truth no matter what the consequence may be through his Prophets and the Ahulbayt AS. each Prophet and each member of the Ahulbayt were sent with a specific message, and were faced with numerous people who were against them, yet they remained by the truth no matter how tough the situations they were in were. We witness this through the saying of Imam Ali AS as he says: “remain with the truthful, no matter how few and stay away from the false no matter how many”

Having knowledge is regarded as one of the most important aspects of life. It allows us humans to see the world in a different way, a way which Allah is pleased with.

When one has prior knowledge about Allah and the Islamic values and morals, their outlook towards life will unconsciously change. One must have knowledge of what Allah wants, and also how he wants it preformed.

The Prince of believers, Imam Ali (AS) says:” O you who carry knowledge around with you; are you only carrying it around with you? For surely knowledge belongs to whoever knows and then acts accordingly, so that his action corresponds to his knowledge. There will be a people who will carry knowledge around with them, but it will not pass beyond their shoulders. Their inner most thoughts will contradict what they display in public, and their actions will contradict what they know.”

Imam Ali (AS) explains that an individual should not only learn about Islam he should also act upon what he says.

There is a quote from Imam Ali (AS) that is quote alarming, in the quote he says: “When a dead person is placed in his grave, four kinds of fire will cover him, but then the prayer will come and put one of them out, and the fast will come and put another one of them out, and then charity will come and put another one out, and knowledge will come and put the forth one out, and it will say : ' If I had come sooner, I would a have put all of them out, and given you delight for I am with you now, and you'll not see anything else distressing.”

This quote evidently embodies the importance and magnitude of knowledge.

Imam Ali (AS) also says “Knowledge and wisdom are really the privilege of a faithful Muslim. If you have lost them, get them back even though you may have to get them from the apostates.”

Imam Sadiq said: “A man went to see the Commander of the Faithful and said: “I have come to seek your advice and that of Hasan, Husayn and Abdullah ibn Ja’far about marriage.” The Blessed Imam Ali said:

“One whose advice is sought is a confidant”.

Then he told the man his viewpoints.

In the second tradition, we read that Imam Sadiq said:

“One whose brother seeks counsel from him and he does not counsel him with sincerity, God will deprive him of his soundness in judgment.”

Two important points have been mentioned in these two traditions. First off all, one whose advice is sought is trustworthy. Therefore, he will never cheat one. Therefore, one who seeks advice should never accuse the one whose advice he seeks. He should not be suspicious of him, as Imam Sajjad has said. Secondly, the one whose advice is sought should sincerely express whatever he thinks. Should he hesitate to do so, God will take away his effective point of view, since he has not been grateful for the blessing of being asked for advice.

An interesting point about seeking advice is that we can even seek the advice of those who are lower in rank than we are. We do not necessarily have to seek the advice of those in a higher position than we are. There is a chapter in Wasa`il al-Shī`ah in this regard. In the second tradition in this chapter, we read: Fuzayl ibn Yasar said that Imam Sadiq sought his advice on some issue.

Fuzayl asked the Imam how could such a lowly person like himself give advice to such a person like the Imam ? The Imam replied: “Whenever I seek your advice.”

“Hasan ibn Jahm narrated that he was with Imam Ridha when the Imam remembered his noble father and said: “His intellect was extremely superior to the intellect of the people of his time, and sometimes he used to seek the advice of one of his black slaves.” Then he was asked: “Can you seek the advice of such people?” Then Imam Ridha replied: “In fact, God the Blessed and the High expresses facts when they talk, and on many occasions my father used to act upon their advice regarding the garden.”

The compiler of Nahjul Balaghah, who is Sayyid Razi, narrated that once Abdullah ibn Abbas sought Imam Ali’s advice, and was in disagreement with the advice given to him by the Commander of the Faithful . Imam Ali said: “It is up to you to give me your advice. But whenever my advice is in disagreement with what you think, you must obey me.”5

In another tradition we read: Ali ibn Mahzyar narrated that Imam Baqir wrote him a letter and asked him to tell so and so to consult with him, but choose to do what they themselves think is best to do, since they are better aware of the conditions of their own town, and know how to deal with the rulers.

This is because consultation is blessed and God has ordered the Prophet in the Holy Qur’an to “consult with the people, but make a decision himself as to what is best to do, and rely on God after he makes up his mind.” Then if what the advisor says is correct, you can benefit from his advice, and if it is not correct, you can hope to guide him in the straight path with God’s will. When it is said seek their advice in the affairs, it is meant seek the good.”

Imam Ali said:

“There is no aid like seeking advice.”