Grand Ayatollah Shirazi Discusses Rules of Jihad, Khums, and Zakat in Relation to Principle of “No Harm” During Daily Scholarly Session

Another daily scholarly session led by Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Sadiq al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held in his honourable residence in Qom on Thursday, the 22nd of Rajab. During this session, as in previous ones, the Supreme Marja addressed questions from attendees regarding various jurisprudential issues.

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi emphasized the general nature of the principle of “no harm” (la darar), stating: “According to the principle that every general rule has exceptions, the rule of no harm also has specific cases where it does not apply.”

His Eminence continued, based on reasoning from narrations and rulings, jihad, khums, and zakat are indeed obligatory.

He further explained: “If we consider these rulings as potentially harmful, based on the aforementioned principle, they are exceptions. Therefore, wherever harm exists, there is also a specific ruling. Even though matters such as jihad may cause harm, because they are established rulings of the Shari’ah, they are exempt from this general principle.”