A Believer's Natural Disposition

In one of my previous posts, “unwilled offences,” I very briefly overviewed the formation of habits via frequent commitment to certain actions.  The reason and cause behind formation of habits is neurological, and it basically comes down to “neurons that fire together, wire together.”  What this means is that the more you commit a certain action, whether it is good or bad, certain neurons related to that action are stimulated to fire together and form connections.  These connections are called synapses. 

Your actions and experiences in life are directly linked to the internal structure of your brain.  In simple words, you are the architect of your brain.  The reason is that our human brains are very plastic. Our brains continuously change themselves to adapt to our actions, experiences and environments. 

            Once we learn about such neurological fact, we should become more aware and conscious about our environments and our actions.  Why? Because although we shape and construct our own neural networks, it is our neurons that will subsequently subconsciously enforce our actions via inclinations and desires.  It is a form of positive feedback.  In other words, when your brain realizes that you like a certain action or environment or experience, due to your frequent commitment to that action, your brain changes itself to make it easier for you to commit that action, and it promotes and causes desires in you to make you want to pursue that action. This mechanism is very helpful and is directly linked to our survival. Of course, how we train our brains is our responsibility.

            Needless to say, the underlying neuroscience behind habit formation is very complex.  However, if you would like to learn about the subconscious forces, feelings and inclinations that lead you to certain actions and behaviours, I would definitely recommend you pick up a book on neuroplasticity and read it.

Now, why did I say all that? The reason I stated what I did, was to set the context for the following two Good traditions.

            It is important for us to realize that our frequent actions lead us to form habits, and our habits form our characteristics, our natural disposition.  For example, an individual, who frequently cheats, forms the habit of cheating, and cheating becomes part of his characteristic.  He would be considered a cheater. 

            The following traditions, very concisely and clearly distinguish one’s characteristic from one’s actions.  It is important for us to notice and realize that believers may indeed commit some of the worst actions, such as adultery or lying, yet they are still considered believers because those actions are not in accordance with their characteristics or natural disposition. 

             One moral lesson we can learn from these traditions, in addition to noticing their accuracy about human natural disposition and modern brain science,  is that we must not be quick to judge others based on a few of their actions that we see. One’s actions do not always indicate or point to one’s characteristic. 

            Let us focus on forming the best characteristics for ourselves via putting ourselves in the right environments and via committing the right actions as often as possible.  In other words, let us use these traditions to motivate ourselves to follow the commands of Allah as closely as possible. 

           Now without any further ado, here are the traditions.

12) Good

Arabic Text:

عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي عُمَيْرٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ الْحَجَّاجِ قَالَ قُلْتُ لِأَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع الْكَذَّابُ هُوَ الَّذِي يَكْذِبُ فِي الشَّيْ‏ءِ قَالَ لَا مَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا يَكُونُ ذَلِكَ مِنْهُ وَ لَكِنَّ الْمَطْبُوعَ عَلَى الْكَذِبِ

Farsi Translation:

عبد الرحمن بن حجاج گويد: بحضرت صادق عليه السلام عرضكردم: كذاب آن كس است كه در چيزى دروغگويد؟ فرمود: نه، (زيرا) كسى نيست جز اينكه اين از او سر زند ولى مقصود آن كس است كه بدروغ عادت كرده است

English Translation:

Narrated by Ali Ibn Ibrahim from his father from Ibn Abu Omeir from Abdel Rahman Ibn Al-Hajjaj who said:

I said to Abu Abdullah regarding the liar; “Is the liar one who lies about a thing?” He [the Imam] said, “No; there is no man that does not do so. A liar is one whose nature is to lie.”

6) Good

Arabic Text:

عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ وَ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ جَمِيعاً عَنِ ابْنِ مَحْبُوبٍ عَنِ ابْنِ رِئَابٍ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع يَقُولُ إِنَّ الْمُؤْمِنَ لَا يَكُونُ سَجِيَّتُهُ الْكَذِبَ وَ الْبُخْلَ وَ الْفُجُورَ وَ رُبَّمَا أَلَمَّ مِنْ ذَلِكَ شَيْئاً لَا يَدُومُ عَلَيْهِ قِيلَ فَيَزْنِي قَالَ نَعَمْ وَ لَكِنْ لَا يُولَدُ لَهُ مِنْ تِلْكَ النُّطْفَةِ

Farsi Translation:

از ابن رئاب، گويد: از امام صادق (ع) شنيدم می‏فرمود:

راستى كه سرشت مؤمن دروغ گفتن و بخل و هرزگى نيست، و بسا كه دستى بدانها آلايد ولى بر آن نپايد، به او عرض شد كه: زنا میكند؟

فرمود: آرى، ولى از آن نطفه فرزندى نيارد

English Translation:

Narrated by Ali Ibn Ibrahim from his father and a number of our companions from Sahl Ibn Ziyad and all of them from Ibn Mahboub from Ibn Re’ab who said:

I heard Abu Abdullah (pbuh) say: “The characteristic of a believer is not that of lying, miserliness or lewdness. He may fall into one of these but does not continue.”

Someone said, “Such as adultery?”

He [the Imam] said, “Yes, but nothing is born of that seed.”

Source:

Al-Kafi, Volume 2, Page 340, Tradition #12

Al-Kafi, Volume 2, Page 442, Tradition #6