SHAJÂ'AH – شجاعة

 

Literally: A being or becoming brave. Bravery. Valour.

The wasat degree of al-quwwa al-ghadhabiyyah (the power of savage passion). Using al-quwwa al-ghadhabiyyah in the bounds of as-sirât al-mustaqîm. Giving freely of one’s rûh with love and eagerness for the defence of the laws of Islam and the upholding of the Word of Tawhîd.

 

“The authorities on Hadith and foremost Imam Bukhari report that it was rumoured one night that the enemy was attacking outside Madinah al-Munawwarah. Brave horsemen went out to investigate. On the way, they saw someone coming. They looked and saw that it was Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm. He told them there was nothing. He had mounted Abu Talha's famous horse, as his sacred shajâ'ah impelled him to, and had gone before everyone else to investigate, then returned.” The Letters (190-191 )

 

“After the Qur'an, the greatest miracle of Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm was his own self. That is, the elevated moral virtues brought together in his person which as friend and foe agreed, every aspect of which were of the very highest level. A hero of the shajâ'ah, Hazrat 'Ali, said again and again: "Whenever the fighting grew fierce, we would take refuge behind Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm." Like this, he was the highest and unattainable degree in all praiseworthy qualities.” The Letters ( 219 )

 

الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ : Know that as-sirât al-mustaqîm is justice (‘adl) and the summary of hikmah, ‘iffah and shajâ'ah which are the wasat in the three degrees of man's three powers (quwwa).

To explain: Allah (‘Azza wa jalla) housed the rûh in man's changing and needy body exposed to dangers. He entrusted three powers (quwwa) to it in order to preserve the rûh.

The First: al-quwwa ash-shahawiyyah al-bahîmiyyah, the power of animal appetites to attract benefits.

The Second: al-quwwa al-ghadhabiyyah as-sabui’yyah, the predacious power of anger to repulse harmful and destructive things.

The Third: al-quwwa al-aqliyyah al-malakiyyah, the power of mind pertaining to the malâikah to distinguish between benefit and harm.

However, in accordance with His hikmah that necessitates mankind achieving perfection through the mystery of competition, Allah did not determine limits on these powers in man’s fitrah, although He did on the powers of animals. Through the Sharî’ah, He determined limits on them and prohibited ifrât and tafrît and ordered the wasat. This is what is clearly ordered by the âyahفَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَٓا اُمِرْتَ 1 . Since there is no fıtrî limitation in these three powers, three degrees occur in each: the degree of tafrît, which is deficiency, the degree of ifrât, which is excess and the degree of wasat, which is justice (‘adl).

Here, the degrees of al-quwwa al-aqliyyah:

1. Tafrît in al-quwwa al-aqliyyah is gabâwah and foolishness.

2. Its ifrât is deceptive jarbaza and over-meticulousness in trivial matters.

3. Its wasat is hikmah.2 وَمَنْ يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ اُو۫تِىَ خَيْرًا كَث۪يرًۜا 3

Know that just as these powers vary in these three degrees, so does each of their branches. For example, in the matter of the creation of actions4 , the wasat is the madhab of ahl al-Sunnah5 between the Jabriyya6 and the Mu'tazila7 . And, in the matter of belief, the madhab of tawhîd is the wasat between the denial of the attributes or existence of Allah (ta'til) and anthropomorphism (tashbîh). The examples can be made further on this analogy.

The degrees of al-quwwa ash-shahawiyyah:

1. Tafrît in al-quwwa ash-shahawiyyah is khumud which is having no longing for anything.

2. Its ifrât is fujûr, which is to desire whatever is encountered, whether halal or haram.

3. Its wasat is ‘iffah, which is desiring what is halal and shunning away what is haram.

Compare the branches of this quwwa, such as eating, drinking, dressing, and so on, with the root of this principle.

The degrees of al-quwwa al-ghadhabiyyah:

1. Tafrît in al-quwwa al-ghadhabiyyah is jabânah, which is fear of what is not to be feared and having wahm.

2. Its ifrât is tahawwur8 , which is the source and father of despotism, domination and dhulm.

3. Its wasat is shajâ'ah, which is giving freely of one’s rûh with love and eagerness for the defence of the laws of Islam and the upholding of the Word of Tawhîd.

Compare its branches with it.

The six extremes are thus dhulm and the three wasat are justice (‘adl) which is as-sirât al-mustaqîm and is to act in accordance withفَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَٓا اُمِرْتَ 9 . Whoever passes along this bridge of as-sirât al-mustaqîm will cross the bridge of sirât suspended over the Fire.

  The Sign of Miraculousness-53

 

 

As for the Shi'a the khilâfah10, they have no right over the Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamâ'ah other than shame because they decrease the value of Hazrat ‘Ali (ra), and their madhab necessitates accusing him of immorality, although they claim to have tremendous love for him. Because they say, “Although Hazrat Siddîq and Hazrat ‘Umar (ra) were wrong, Hazrat ‘Ali (ra) made concessions to them. He dissembled according to the Shi'a terminology, that is, he was frightened of them and behaved hypocritically.” I wonder: is it love to see a person who was such a hero of Islam, won the title "Asadullah"11 and was the commander and guide of the siddîqîn as a person having riyâ and showing feigned love for people he did not love out of fear, making concessions to them in fear for more than twenty years, and accepting to follow the unjust? Hazrat ‘Ali (ra) would reject a love of that sort. Thus, the people of haqq's way in no way decreases the value of Hazrat ‘Ali (ra) or levels accusations of immorality against him. They do not attribute cowardice to such a wondrous shajâ'ah; they say, "Hazrat ‘Ali (ra) would not have acknowledged or obeyed the Rightly-Guided khalîfah for even a moment if he had not considered them to be rightful. It means that since he considered them rightful and superior, he subjugated his endeavour and shajâ'ah to the path of worshipping the haqq.”

The Fourth Flash