The Safest Course

by admin

Considering all the arguments that are presented in favour of and against blood flagellation, the safest course of action to take would be to refrain from the rituals. Consider the following four scenarios*:

1, If a person performs blood shedding and if the act is detrimental for all the reasons that have been given, then that person would be committing some serious sins.

2, If a person performs blood shedding and if the detriments are not real then the merit of performing the acts is very minimal since Ahlulbayt (a) would not refrain from a significantly meritorious act.

3, If a person refrains from the performance of blood shedding and if the act is detrimental for all the reasons that have been given, then that person would receive rewards for refraining from a harmful act that was not practiced by Ahlulbayt (a).

4, If a person refrains from the performance of blood shedding and if the detriments are not real then the merits lost due to non-performance is very minimal since Ahlulbayt (a) would not refrain from a significantly meritorious act.

The argument can be summarized using the following decision matrix:

The rituals are detrimental The rituals are not detrimental
Perform blood shedding Commit serious sins Minimal rewards
Refrain from blood shedding Rewards available Avoid minimal rewards

*The scenario given above assumes that the individual has sufficient knowledge of this subject area.

~ And Allah knows Best ~