Grand Ayatollah Shirazi remarks on uncertainty of fate, studying philosophy

The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadiq al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held on Thursday and Friday, the 14th and 15th of Jumadi al-Thani. In this session, like the previous meetings, the Marja answered the questions of the attendees about various jurisprudence issues.

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi emphasized that there is no guarantee about the fate of non-Ma’soom people, and said: Sometimes it is possible that a scholar deviates, so the phrase “vicious scholars” has been mentioned several times in hadiths. For example, Ali b. Abi Hamzah al-Bata’ini, who was a just and learned man, and the trustee of Imam al-Kazem (peace be upon him), who has narrated hadith from both Imam al-Sadiq and Imam al-Kazem, but he became deviant at the end of his life. So, we should always ask God to bring a good ending to our affairs. Because, as long as Satan and the carnal self exist, there is no guarantee for salvation, and one should seek refuge in God Almighty.

Regarding the permissibility of studying philosophy, His Eminence said: studying philosophy as much as covered in “the premise of existence”, in order to answer dubious questions posed by philosophy, is a sufficiency obligation, and as long as there are not enough knowledgeable people in this field, such study becomes an individual obligation.

He went on to say: But in relation to in-depth study and contemplation over philosophy, I would not recommend it, as it is not beneficial for the worldly affairs of people, nor for the Hereafter of individuals. The Marja cited a statement to this effect from Sheikh Abdul-Karim al-Ha’iri, late founder of the Qom seminary.