Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: Ziyarah of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) Takes Precedence Over Self-Preservation When in Conflict
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Sadiq al-Husseini al-Shirazi led his daily scholarly session on Saturday, the 23rd of Muharram, July 19, where he addressed various jurisprudential questions from attendees.
Regarding the virtue of Ziyarah of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), Grand Ayatollah Shirazi stated: “The Ziyarah of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) is the only recommended act (Mustahabb) that, in cases of conflict with any other recommended act, such as performing prayers at their prescribed time, takes precedence.”
His Eminence further elaborated: “Although the pilgrimage to Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) is a recommended act, it can be said that it is the only recommended act that, in cases of conflict with exposing oneself to mortal danger (ta’ridh al-nafs li al-qatl), is given precedence based on an ‘Iqtida’i’ (demanding) ruling. This is in contrast to the pilgrimage to other infallible Imams (peace be upon them) or the Hajj pilgrimage, which do not hold such a ruling when conflicting with exposing oneself to mortal danger.”
It should be noted that the phrase “ta’ridh al-nafs li al-qatl”, both linguistically and jurisprudentially, means intentionally putting oneself in harm’s way or exposing oneself to being killed. This refers to a situation where someone knowingly places themselves in a position where there is a risk of death, without necessarily intending suicide, which is generally considered forbidden (haram) under normal jurisprudential circumstances.
