For Every Effect there is a Cause

This post highlights the physical nature of the effects of disobeying Islamic laws. There is a misguided yet prevalent notion that there is a disconnection between the physical and the spiritual worlds. This misguided notion that has its roots in Manichaeism (Paganism) has dire consequences on one’s thoughts and behaviour. Such dualism may easily mislead religious individuals to monasticism or extreme asceticism, neither of which has any place in Islam. From another perspective, it may lead people to negligence and carelessnesss, since people may falsely see the so-called spiritual world in a distant and only care about the immediate physical world that they experience daily. Such perception, gradually, takes individuals away from religious orders and duties, since it removes the significance of following religious orders and laws.

The following authentic tradition, vividly connects the effects of sins to our worldly and physical lives and conditions. This post highlights the physical cause-and-effect aspect of Islamic laws and orders.

Following this tradition, I will make a few more points. 

Arabic Text: 

عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ وَ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ جَمِيعاً عَنِ ابْنِ مَحْبُوبٍ عَنْ مَالِكِ بْنِ عَطِيَّةَ عَنْ أَبِي حَمْزَةَ عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ ع قَالَ:

وَجَدْنَا فِي كِتَابِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ص إِذَا ظَهَرَ الزِّنَا مِنْ بَعْدِي كَثُرَ مَوْتُ الْفَجْأَةِ وَ إِذَا طُفِّفَ الْمِكْيَالُ وَ الْمِيزَانُ أَخَذَهُمُ اللَّهُ بِالسِّنِينَ وَ النَّقْصِ وَ إِذَا مَنَعُوا الزَّكَاةَ مَنَعَتِ الْأَرْضُ بَرَكَتَهَا مِنَ الزَّرْعِ وَ الثِّمَارِ وَ الْمَعَادِنِ كُلَّهَا وَ إِذَا جَارُوا فِي الْأَحْكَامِ تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الظُّلْمِ وَ الْعُدْوَانِ وَ إِذَا نَقَضُوا الْعَهْدَ سَلَّطَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ عَدُوَّهُمْ وَ إِذَا قَطَّعُوا الْأَرْحَامَ جُعِلَتِ الْأَمْوَالُ فِي أَيْدِي الْأَشْرَارِ وَ إِذَا لَمْ يَأْمُرُوا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَ لَمْ يَنْهَوْا عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَ لَمْ يَتَّبِعُوا الْأَخْيَارَ مِنْ أَهْلِ بَيْتِي سَلَّطَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ شِرَارَهُمْ فَيَدْعُوا خِيَارُهُمْ فَلَا يُسْتَجَابُ لَهُمْ.

Farsi Translation:

حضرت باقر عليه السلام فرمود:

كه در كتاب رسول خدا يافتيم (نوشته بود): هر گاه پس از من زنا پديدار شود مرگ ناگهانى فراوان گردد، و هر گاه از پيمانه و ترازو كم شود، خداوند آنان را بقحطى و كمى (خوار و بار و ساير وسائل زندگى) مأخوذ دارد، و هر گاه از دادن زكات دريغ كنند، زمين بركات خود را از زراعت و ميوه‏ها و معادن همه آنها (از آنان) دريغ كند، و هر گاه در احكام بناحق حكم كنند همكارى در ستم و عدوان كنند (و بستم همديگر دچار شوند) و چون پيمان‏شكنى كنند خداوند دشمنشان را بر آنان مسلط كند، و چون قطع رحم كنند خداوند اموال (و ثروتها) را در دست اشرار قرار دهد، و چون امر بمعروف و نهى از منكر نكنند و پيروى از نيكان اهل بيت من ننمايند خداوند اشرار آنان را بر ايشان مسلط گرداند، پس نيكان آنها دعا كنند و مستجاب نشود 

English Translation:

Narrated by Ali Ibn Ibrahim from his father and a number of our companions from Ahmed Ibn Mohamed and all of them from Ibn Mahboub from Malek Ibn Attiya from Abu Hamza from Abu Ja’far (peace be upon him) who said:

We found in the book of the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him):

“Should forbidden sexual intercouse [Zina] emerge after I am gone, sudden death will increase, and should cheating in measurements by weighing down the balance [unfairly] occur, Allah takes from them via famine and defections, and should alms-giving be refrained from, the Earth will withhold its blessings of every crop, fruit, and metal and minerals, and should they judge unjustly amongst people and help one another in iniquity and aggression or should they break pledges, Allah will set their enemies dominant upon them. Should they sever the ties of kinship, wealth will fall in the hands of the evil. Should they not enjoin to good nor forbid from what is prohibited, and not follow the righteous from amongst the people of my house, Allah will set upon them the evil ones from amongst them. Consequently, the righteous amongst them shall supplicate but their [supplications] shall not be answered.”

Source :

Al-Kafi, Volume 2, Page 374, Tradition #2

Here are a few points that I noticed in this tradition:

• Forbidden sexual intercourse [or zina] is a physically unhealthy behaviour with dire physical consequences. It is one of the contributing factors to sudden death.

19 Million New Cases Of Sexually Transmitted Disease Annually In The USA

Cheating men more likely to have heart attacks

Researcher Dr Alessandra Fisher found: “Several interpersonal, sexual, and biological factors are associated with having extramarital affairs.

“Unfaithfulness in men seems to be associated with a higher risk of major cardiovascular events.”

She told the Daily Mail: “Extra-martial sex may be hazardous and stressful because the lover is often younger than the primary partner and probably sex occurs more often following excessive drinking and/or eating.

“It is possible that a secret sexual encounter in an unfamiliar setting may significantly increase blood pressure and heart rate, leading to increased oxygen demand.”

Here’s the complete study:

Sexual and Cardiovascular Correlates of Male Unfaithfulness

This study was first published on April 2012.  It is the first of its kind. Hopefully, more related research will be done to examine this topic further and in detail.

• An implicit, yet quite interesting, point in this tradition is the link between the action of alms-giving and the Earth. In this tradition, it is said that it is the Earth that withholds its blessings. It is implied that the Earth has been created and designed in such a way to detect the deed of alms-giving. How does this occur? I do not know. However, this fact links our actions and deeds to our Earth and environment. In other words, our Earth responds to our actions. If we follow what God has commanded, our Earth will open its blessings to us. On the other hand, if we disobey God’s commands, our Earth keeps its blessings away from us. Our action is the cause, the Earth’s response is the effect.

• A significant fact that is brought to our attention in this tradition is that our deeds or negligence has an effect, not only on our own prayers and supplications, but also on supplications of the righteous amongst us. If via our actions we create a negative atmosphere, the supplications of the righteous amongst us will not be answered. This may be the answer to a common question, “why, amidst our regular supplications, do our societies continue to become more immoral? Why isn’t oppression and difficulties taken away from our societies even though we supplicate regularly?” Moreover, this point highlights the importance of supplicating in the right environment. It brings our attention to the status of our environment. If we want supplications to be answered, then we must enjoin to good and forbid from evil, in order to create a positive and receptive environment.

So, why are our societies in such a downward spiral? Because many people amongst us, many people in our societies, disbelieve in or do not follow the teachings of ahlul bayt (as). The teachings of ahlul bayt (as) help us to create a positive atmosphere, an atmosphere that is responsive to our supplications. If and when we do not follow their guidelines, we allow a negative atmosphere to surround us, an environment that blocks our prayers and supplications from being answered.

In conclusion, we need to realize that our deeds, our bodies and our environments are linked and interconnected.  Our obedience or disobedience of God’s commands are linked to our physical, worldly environment and our physical bodies. It is a mistake to connect religion, sins or obligations, to only the hereafter. The sooner we realize the immediacy of the effects of our actions, the sooner we begin to care about our daily deeds and intentions, and the sooner we begin to prepare a healthy environment, where the supplications are answered. 

Let us not forget that,

... And Allah is Swift at reckoning. (2:202)

... Allah is Swift at reckoning. (3:19)

... and He is Swift at reckoning. (13:41)

... Truly, Allah is Swift at reckoning. (14:51)

... and Allah is swift at reckoning. (24:39)

... Truly, Allah is Swift at reckoning. (40:17)

Five Worldly and Otherworldly Consequences of Adultery

Most of us are already (and hopefully) aware of the horrendous religious consequences of committing adultery / zina. Most of us already know that it is considered amongst the worst of sins, and thus, we are aware that we should constantly remain vigilant to stay away from anything that may put us on the path to adultery.  It is necessary to point out that adultery is not merely having intercourse with a man or a woman, outside of marriage, when you are married.  Any form of lustful or sexual deed that falls outside of what is religiously permitted, is considered zina / adultery, including masturbation.  Keeping this in mind, we should be very attentive about staying away from zina / adultery.  

Since most of us are already informed about the sinful aspect of adultery, in this post, I would like to bring our attention to it from a different perspective, namely from the cause-and-effect or physical perspective.

Unfortunately, there is this prevailing idea amongst too many religious people that sins are harmful only in the spiritual realm (whatever that may be in their minds) and only injurious to our souls (however they may understand the soul.)

For this reason, they may be more careless about keeping away from sins.  After all, unfortunately, more people seem to care more about what is immediately physically evident than what is not immediately physically noticeable. For this reason, the idea that the harm of a deed may not even be physical may make many religious people more negligent of the harmful consequences of that deed.

In this post, via two traditions, one Reliable and one Good, I would like to highlight that adultery has physical, and not just spiritual, consequences.

Following the traditions below I will make a couple of points regarding the second tradition.

9) Good

Arabic Text:

عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ حَمَّادِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنْ حَرِيزِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَنِ الْفُضَيْلِ عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ ع قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ص فِي الزِّنَا خَمْسُ خِصَالٍ يَذْهَبُ بِمَاءِ الْوَجْهِ وَ يُورِثُ الْفَقْرَ وَ يَنْقُصُ الْعُمُرَ وَ يُسْخِطُ الرَّحْمَنَ وَ يُخَلِّدُ فِي النَّارِ نَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ النَّارِ

English Translation:

Narrated by Ali Ibn Ibrahim from his father from Hamad Ibn Eissa from Huraiz Ibn Abdullah from Al-Fadil from Abu Ja’far (peace be upon him) who said:

The prophet (peace be upon him) said, “In adultery there are five qualities. It causes the loss of countenance [face], it bequeaths poverty, shortens life, arouses the indignation of the All-Beneficent and [he who commits it] remains in hellfire; may Allah spare us from hellfire.”

8) Reliable

Arabic Text:

مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ ابْنِ فَضَّالٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَيْمُونٍ الْقَدَّاحِ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ قَالَ يَعْقُوبُ لِابْنِهِ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تَزْنِ فَإِنَّ الطَّائِرَ لَوْ زَنَى لَتَنَاثَرَ رِيشُهُ

English Translation:

Narrated by Mohamed Ibn Yehya from Ahmed Ibn Mohamed from Ibn Faddal from Abdullah Ibn Maymoun Al-Quaddah from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) who said:

“Jacob (peace be upon him) said to his son, ‘My son, commit not adultery for if even a bird commits adultery its feathers become scattered.’”

The latter tradition is very significant, though its significance may not be readily noticed.  In the latter tradition, it is vividly stated that even birds (or animals), who are beyond the realm of spiritual, who are not judged for their deeds in the hereafter, cannot escape the effects of adultery.  Thus, this tradition, very clearly, highlights the physical and worldly effects of adultery / zina. 

Another acute element that stands out in this tradition is the connection that is made between a sin and animals.  This connection should provoke us to re-examine our understanding of the concept of sins.  If animals could be said to be involved in sins, then what exactly are sins?  If animals cannot sin, then why use what is impossible to occur in a moral lesson? 

Source:

Al-Kafi, Volume 5, Page 542, Traditions #8, #9