WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.650 --> 00:00:03.929 This is the Treatise on Rights, the Risalat al-Huquq. 2 00:00:03.929 --> 00:00:13.521 It's a short text by Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn, known as Zayn al-Abidin: the fourth Imam in Shia Islam, and a great-grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. 3 00:00:14.084 --> 00:00:16.883 In it, he lists about fifty rights that you owe. 4 00:00:16.883 --> 00:00:21.306 To God, to yourself, and to almost everyone you will ever meet. 5 00:00:23.017 --> 00:00:26.236 Read it top to bottom, and it feels like one long list. 6 00:00:26.803 --> 00:00:31.308 And the natural instinct with a long list is to memorize it, item by item. 7 00:00:31.308 --> 00:00:32.342 That's the trap. 8 00:00:32.342 --> 00:00:37.065 Fifty separate facts, with nothing linking them, is a heavy load on memory. 9 00:00:37.065 --> 00:00:39.120 A week later, most of it is gone. 10 00:00:39.685 --> 00:00:40.969 So we'll do it differently. 11 00:00:40.969 --> 00:00:44.599 First, the one big idea that holds everything together. 12 00:00:44.599 --> 00:00:47.231 Then, the few groups the rights fall into. 13 00:00:47.231 --> 00:00:52.195 Only then the details, and every detail gets hooked onto something you already understand. 14 00:00:52.735 --> 00:00:53.911 Structure first. 15 00:00:53.911 --> 00:00:57.492 Once you can hold the structure, the details have somewhere to live. 16 00:00:59.217 --> 00:01:01.643 Here's the whole treatise in one sentence. 17 00:01:01.643 --> 00:01:04.383 Everything you've been given comes with a duty attached. 18 00:01:04.947 --> 00:01:05.714 Your body. 19 00:01:05.714 --> 00:01:06.736 Your actions. 20 00:01:06.736 --> 00:01:08.743 Any power you hold over others. 21 00:01:08.743 --> 00:01:09.668 Your family. 22 00:01:09.668 --> 00:01:10.630 Your friends. 23 00:01:10.630 --> 00:01:14.151 Each one is a trust, and each one has a right over you. 24 00:01:14.709 --> 00:01:18.829 And notice: 'right' here doesn't mainly mean what you can demand. 25 00:01:18.829 --> 00:01:19.983 It means what you owe. 26 00:01:19.983 --> 00:01:21.582 The Arabic word is haqq. 27 00:01:21.582 --> 00:01:24.815 The question the treatise keeps asking isn't 'what do I get?' 28 00:01:24.815 --> 00:01:28.433 It's 'what does this person, or this thing, deserve from me?' 29 00:01:28.983 --> 00:01:34.690 The opening says these rights surround you in every movement you make and every moment you rest. 30 00:01:34.690 --> 00:01:36.793 So this isn't about special occasions. 31 00:01:36.793 --> 00:01:38.476 It's about ordinary life. 32 00:01:40.183 --> 00:01:41.251 Now the structure. 33 00:01:41.251 --> 00:01:43.571 Picture a stone dropped into a pond. 34 00:01:43.571 --> 00:01:45.566 At the center is the right of God. 35 00:01:45.566 --> 00:01:49.160 The text calls it the root, and every other right branches out from it. 36 00:01:49.705 --> 00:01:54.944 The first ripple is you: your own self, and the seven parts of the body you act with. 37 00:01:55.507 --> 00:02:01.803 The next ripple is your acts of worship: prayer, fasting, charity, pilgrimage, and the offering. 38 00:02:02.365 --> 00:02:04.791 Then the rights move outward to other people. 39 00:02:04.791 --> 00:02:10.801 First, relationships of power, in both directions: those above you, and those in your care. 40 00:02:11.359 --> 00:02:12.271 Then family. 41 00:02:12.271 --> 00:02:15.708 And here, the closer the relation, the bigger the right. 42 00:02:16.273 --> 00:02:24.733 And finally, everyone else: neighbours, friends, partners, people you owe, people who owe you, even people who wrong you. 43 00:02:25.291 --> 00:02:27.717 So the whole text moves from the inside out. 44 00:02:27.717 --> 00:02:28.763 Six rings. 45 00:02:28.763 --> 00:02:31.876 Pause for a second and try to say them back without looking. 46 00:02:31.876 --> 00:02:32.549 Root. 47 00:02:32.549 --> 00:02:33.282 Self. 48 00:02:33.282 --> 00:02:34.039 Acts. 49 00:02:34.039 --> 00:02:34.773 Power. 50 00:02:34.773 --> 00:02:35.542 Family. 51 00:02:35.542 --> 00:02:36.371 Everyone. 52 00:02:36.371 --> 00:02:37.525 That's your skeleton. 53 00:02:37.525 --> 00:02:39.051 Everything else hangs on it. 54 00:02:40.750 --> 00:02:42.022 Let's start at the center. 55 00:02:43.072 --> 00:02:48.491 The greatest right of God is simple: worship Him, and don't associate anything with Him. 56 00:02:48.491 --> 00:02:51.231 And do it with sincerity, with ikhlas. 57 00:02:51.231 --> 00:02:52.950 Meaning: not for show. 58 00:02:53.506 --> 00:02:54.898 And look at what's attached. 59 00:02:54.898 --> 00:03:01.473 If you do this sincerely, God takes it on Himself to take care of your affairs, in this world and the next. 60 00:03:01.473 --> 00:03:04.550 So even the very first right isn't a one-way demand. 61 00:03:04.550 --> 00:03:05.800 It's a relationship. 62 00:03:06.340 --> 00:03:07.468 Why call it the root? 63 00:03:07.468 --> 00:03:13.465 Because every other right in the text is really this same sincerity, played out in a different place. 64 00:03:13.465 --> 00:03:14.511 Hold on to that. 65 00:03:14.511 --> 00:03:16.663 We'll see it come back again and again. 66 00:03:18.383 --> 00:03:20.076 Ring one: your self. 67 00:03:20.076 --> 00:03:24.812 The text says your self has a right over you: that you use it in obeying God. 68 00:03:24.812 --> 00:03:30.220 Then it breaks the self into seven organs: the seven tools that every action goes through. 69 00:03:30.785 --> 00:03:31.384 Tongue. 70 00:03:31.384 --> 00:03:32.069 Hearing. 71 00:03:32.069 --> 00:03:32.791 Sight. 72 00:03:32.791 --> 00:03:33.500 Hand. 73 00:03:33.500 --> 00:03:34.329 Legs. 74 00:03:34.329 --> 00:03:35.086 Stomach. 75 00:03:35.086 --> 00:03:36.204 Private parts. 76 00:03:36.755 --> 00:03:40.467 Now, instead of memorizing seven rules, look for the pattern. 77 00:03:40.467 --> 00:03:42.571 Almost every one has two sides. 78 00:03:42.571 --> 00:03:44.157 Guard it from what's unlawful. 79 00:03:44.157 --> 00:03:45.527 And use it for what's good. 80 00:03:46.085 --> 00:03:53.848 The tongue: treat it as too noble for foul speech, train it in good habits, drop pointless meddling, and speak well of people. 81 00:03:54.407 --> 00:03:56.545 Hearing: keep it clean of backbiting. 82 00:03:56.545 --> 00:03:58.804 Sight: lower it from what's forbidden. 83 00:03:58.804 --> 00:04:01.232 And here's a nice twist: use it to learn. 84 00:04:01.232 --> 00:04:04.129 Every time you look at something, take a lesson from it. 85 00:04:04.673 --> 00:04:07.183 Hands: don't reach for what isn't lawful. 86 00:04:07.183 --> 00:04:09.058 Legs: don't walk toward it. 87 00:04:09.058 --> 00:04:14.082 The text ties this to the narrow bridge on the Day of Judgement; you don't want your feet to slip. 88 00:04:14.082 --> 00:04:18.361 Stomach: don't fill it with the unlawful, and don't eat beyond full. 89 00:04:18.361 --> 00:04:22.376 Private parts: guard them from fornication, and from being seen. 90 00:04:22.931 --> 00:04:24.240 Look again at the stomach. 91 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:25.958 It's not only about the forbidden. 92 00:04:25.958 --> 00:04:28.218 Even with what's allowed, there's a limit. 93 00:04:28.218 --> 00:04:30.081 Moderation is part of the right. 94 00:04:31.783 --> 00:04:33.957 Ring two: your acts of worship. 95 00:04:33.957 --> 00:04:36.024 And here's a pattern really worth spotting. 96 00:04:36.024 --> 00:04:40.724 Almost every one of these rights begins with the same two words: 'know that'. 97 00:04:41.281 --> 00:04:44.597 Know what this act really is, and then you'll do it properly. 98 00:04:44.597 --> 00:04:47.674 Understanding comes first; action follows. 99 00:04:47.674 --> 00:04:48.755 Sound familiar? 100 00:04:48.755 --> 00:04:50.967 It's exactly how good learning works too. 101 00:04:51.523 --> 00:04:55.788 Prayer: know that you are arriving before God, standing in front of Him. 102 00:04:55.788 --> 00:04:59.995 If you truly get that, humility, hope and fear come on their own. 103 00:04:59.995 --> 00:05:02.483 You pray with your heart, not just your body. 104 00:05:03.037 --> 00:05:12.110 Fasting: know that it's a veil God sets over your tongue, your hearing, your sight, your stomach and your private parts, to shield you from the Fire. 105 00:05:12.110 --> 00:05:12.783 Wait. 106 00:05:12.783 --> 00:05:13.961 Look at that list. 107 00:05:13.961 --> 00:05:15.764 Those are the organs from ring one. 108 00:05:15.764 --> 00:05:18.108 So fasting isn't a separate topic. 109 00:05:18.108 --> 00:05:20.463 It's a training ground for the body's rights. 110 00:05:20.463 --> 00:05:23.059 That's exactly the kind of link you want to be making. 111 00:05:23.623 --> 00:05:29.030 Charity: know that it's a deposit you store with your Lord, one that needs no witnesses. 112 00:05:29.030 --> 00:05:31.734 Given in secret, you can trust it even more. 113 00:05:31.734 --> 00:05:35.677 And it pushes away hardship in this life, and the Fire in the next. 114 00:05:36.241 --> 00:05:41.408 Hajj: an arrival before your Lord, and a flight to Him away from your sins. 115 00:05:41.408 --> 00:05:45.170 The offering: do it for God, not to be seen by people. 116 00:05:45.715 --> 00:05:50.701 So the common thread of ring two: the inner meaning is what makes the outer act count. 117 00:05:50.701 --> 00:05:52.937 And notice, that's ring zero again. 118 00:05:52.937 --> 00:05:53.935 Sincerity. 119 00:05:55.650 --> 00:05:58.220 Ring three is the one I find most elegant. 120 00:05:58.220 --> 00:06:00.816 It's about power, and it's built like a mirror. 121 00:06:01.356 --> 00:06:04.263 The text says people can be over you in three ways. 122 00:06:04.263 --> 00:06:05.332 Through authority. 123 00:06:05.332 --> 00:06:06.354 Through knowledge. 124 00:06:06.354 --> 00:06:08.301 And through ownership: property. 125 00:06:08.862 --> 00:06:12.358 On the left side, someone is above you, through one of these. 126 00:06:12.912 --> 00:06:17.069 On the right, you are above someone else, through the same three channels. 127 00:06:17.069 --> 00:06:19.088 Same channels, two directions. 128 00:06:19.088 --> 00:06:22.321 Once you see the mirror, six rights become one idea. 129 00:06:22.866 --> 00:06:23.693 Authority. 130 00:06:23.693 --> 00:06:31.458 If a ruler is over you, know that he is being tested through you; so don't needlessly provoke his anger and walk into your own ruin. 131 00:06:31.458 --> 00:06:36.458 And if you hold the power, remember: they're under you because they're weak and you're strong. 132 00:06:36.458 --> 00:06:42.407 So be just, be like a merciful father, forgive their ignorance, and don't rush to punish. 133 00:06:42.972 --> 00:06:43.799 Knowledge. 134 00:06:43.799 --> 00:06:52.682 Your teacher deserves respect: listen well, give full attention, don't raise your voice, don't answer questions meant for them, and defend them when they're not there. 135 00:06:52.682 --> 00:06:53.823 And if you're the teacher? 136 00:06:53.823 --> 00:06:55.422 Your knowledge is a trust. 137 00:06:55.422 --> 00:06:58.126 Teach gently; don't get impatient with people. 138 00:06:58.126 --> 00:07:00.170 Do that, and God gives you more. 139 00:07:00.170 --> 00:07:05.326 Hold it back, or be harsh, and you risk losing the knowledge, and people's respect. 140 00:07:05.886 --> 00:07:06.641 Property. 141 00:07:06.641 --> 00:07:14.298 Obey the one you belong to or work under, except in disobeying God, because no creature is obeyed against the Creator. 142 00:07:14.298 --> 00:07:16.725 And on the other side, those in your care. 143 00:07:16.725 --> 00:07:24.430 A spouse is described as a source of rest and comfort, a blessing from God: so honour her, be gentle, forgive. 144 00:07:24.430 --> 00:07:31.485 And the text, written when slavery existed, says of a slave: he's God's creation, your own flesh and blood. 145 00:07:31.485 --> 00:07:32.555 You didn't make him. 146 00:07:32.555 --> 00:07:34.778 Treat him well, and never torment him. 147 00:07:35.328 --> 00:07:40.170 Put the mirror together and you get one rule: power is a test, not a prize. 148 00:07:40.170 --> 00:07:43.355 Whichever side you're on, the duty is to handle it well. 149 00:07:45.083 --> 00:07:46.548 Ring four: family. 150 00:07:46.548 --> 00:07:48.074 The rule here is a ladder. 151 00:07:48.074 --> 00:07:50.598 The closer the relation, the bigger the right. 152 00:07:50.598 --> 00:07:56.812 Mother first, then father, then child, then brother, then the next closest, and so on. 153 00:07:57.365 --> 00:08:00.825 The mother gets one of the most moving passages in the whole treatise. 154 00:08:00.825 --> 00:08:03.217 She carried you as no one carries anyone. 155 00:08:03.217 --> 00:08:10.392 She went hungry so you could eat, thirsty so you could drink, stood in the sun so you could have shade, and gave up sleep for you. 156 00:08:10.392 --> 00:08:14.719 And the conclusion: you can't truly thank her, except with God's help. 157 00:08:15.263 --> 00:08:17.461 The father: know that he is your root. 158 00:08:17.461 --> 00:08:19.492 Without him, you wouldn't exist. 159 00:08:19.492 --> 00:08:24.648 So whatever you like in yourself, know he's the root of that blessing, and thank God for it. 160 00:08:25.217 --> 00:08:29.975 The child: they come from you, and they'll be linked to you, for good or bad. 161 00:08:29.975 --> 00:08:34.422 You're responsible for raising them with good manners, and for guiding them to their Lord. 162 00:08:34.979 --> 00:08:37.850 Your brother: he is your hand and your strength. 163 00:08:37.850 --> 00:08:40.230 But don't use him as a weapon to do wrong. 164 00:08:40.230 --> 00:08:45.038 Help him, advise him, and if he turns against God, God comes first. 165 00:08:45.605 --> 00:08:46.757 Here's a link to make. 166 00:08:46.757 --> 00:08:49.918 The father is called your root, and you are your child's root. 167 00:08:49.918 --> 00:08:53.813 That's the same root-and-branch picture we saw at the very center of the map. 168 00:08:53.813 --> 00:08:56.361 The text keeps reusing its own images. 169 00:08:58.083 --> 00:09:00.041 The outer ring: everyone else. 170 00:09:00.041 --> 00:09:03.851 This is about half of the whole treatise, more than twenty-five rights. 171 00:09:03.851 --> 00:09:07.541 Try to memorize these one by one, and this is where you'll drown. 172 00:09:07.541 --> 00:09:09.920 So, again, look for structure. 173 00:09:10.485 --> 00:09:14.798 Notice that most of them come in pairs: two sides of the same relationship. 174 00:09:14.798 --> 00:09:17.479 The one who freed you, and the one you freed. 175 00:09:17.479 --> 00:09:20.063 The one you owe, and the one who owes you. 176 00:09:20.063 --> 00:09:23.560 The opponent with a claim against you, and the one you claim against. 177 00:09:23.560 --> 00:09:27.118 The one who asks your advice, and the one whose advice you ask. 178 00:09:27.118 --> 00:09:28.344 Older and younger. 179 00:09:28.344 --> 00:09:31.108 The one who asks of you, and the one you ask. 180 00:09:31.647 --> 00:09:33.809 And the duty changes with the side you're on. 181 00:09:33.809 --> 00:09:34.915 Owe someone a debt? 182 00:09:34.915 --> 00:09:36.249 If you can pay, pay. 183 00:09:36.249 --> 00:09:40.323 If you can't, keep them content with kind words, and send them off gently. 184 00:09:40.881 --> 00:09:46.420 In a dispute: if their claim against you is true, be a witness against yourself, and don't wrong them. 185 00:09:46.420 --> 00:09:48.680 If it's false, still be gentle with them. 186 00:09:48.680 --> 00:09:52.418 And if your own claim turns out to be false, fear God and drop it. 187 00:09:52.971 --> 00:09:53.835 Advice. 188 00:09:53.835 --> 00:10:00.169 If someone asks for your advice and you know the right course, tell them; if you don't, send them to someone who does. 189 00:10:00.169 --> 00:10:05.421 And when you ask someone else, don't suspect them just because their advice isn't what you wanted to hear. 190 00:10:05.973 --> 00:10:10.274 Older people: honour them for their age, and for coming to Islam before you. 191 00:10:10.274 --> 00:10:13.135 Don't walk ahead of them, or treat them as foolish. 192 00:10:13.135 --> 00:10:14.625 Younger people: mercy. 193 00:10:14.625 --> 00:10:17.354 Teach them, forgive them, cover their faults. 194 00:10:17.354 --> 00:10:18.772 Someone asks you for help? 195 00:10:18.772 --> 00:10:20.322 Give in the measure of their need. 196 00:10:20.322 --> 00:10:21.344 You ask someone? 197 00:10:21.344 --> 00:10:22.882 If they give, thank them. 198 00:10:22.882 --> 00:10:25.443 If they refuse, accept their excuse. 199 00:10:27.150 --> 00:10:29.336 Then the relationships of daily life. 200 00:10:29.336 --> 00:10:37.268 Your neighbour: guard him when he's away, honour him when he's there, help him when he's wronged, and hide his faults instead of hunting for them. 201 00:10:37.268 --> 00:10:40.634 Your companion: don't let him beat you to generosity. 202 00:10:40.634 --> 00:10:44.119 Your partner: don't decide without him, and never betray him. 203 00:10:44.119 --> 00:10:48.578 God's hand is over two partners, as long as they don't betray each other. 204 00:10:49.128 --> 00:10:51.806 And maybe the hardest one: someone who wrongs you. 205 00:10:51.806 --> 00:10:53.297 The right is that you pardon them. 206 00:10:53.297 --> 00:10:58.513 But, and this matters, if you know that pardoning will cause harm, you may defend yourself. 207 00:10:58.513 --> 00:11:00.592 The text quotes the Qur'an on this. 208 00:11:00.592 --> 00:11:04.234 Forgiveness is the default, not a rule that lets harm spread. 209 00:11:04.794 --> 00:11:07.641 The very last rights reach the widest circle. 210 00:11:07.641 --> 00:11:15.730 Your whole community: love for them what you love for yourself, and see their elders as your parents, their young as your brothers and your children. 211 00:11:15.730 --> 00:11:24.251 And the non-Muslims living under Muslim protection: accept from them what God has accepted, and do them no wrong, as long as they keep their covenant. 212 00:11:25.983 --> 00:11:26.642 Okay. 213 00:11:26.642 --> 00:11:27.844 Let's zoom back out. 214 00:11:27.844 --> 00:11:31.186 If you only keep four things from this video, make it these. 215 00:11:31.737 --> 00:11:32.372 One. 216 00:11:32.372 --> 00:11:39.896 The rights move from the inside out, like ripples: root, self, acts, power, family, everyone. 217 00:11:40.443 --> 00:11:41.018 Two. 218 00:11:41.018 --> 00:11:42.196 Know, then do. 219 00:11:42.196 --> 00:11:45.357 Each right starts with understanding what something really is. 220 00:11:45.357 --> 00:11:47.917 The right action grows from the right understanding. 221 00:11:48.477 --> 00:11:49.088 Three. 222 00:11:49.088 --> 00:11:52.947 Every relationship has two sides, and you have duties on both. 223 00:11:52.947 --> 00:11:56.913 Over or under, owing or owed, older or younger. 224 00:11:57.471 --> 00:11:58.323 And four. 225 00:11:58.323 --> 00:12:03.443 Many of the rights end with the same refrain: 'there is no strength save in God'. 226 00:12:03.443 --> 00:12:07.662 The text admits these duties are heavy, and that you need help to carry them. 227 00:12:07.662 --> 00:12:12.806 Its introduction ends the same way: blessed is the one whom God helps to fulfil them. 228 00:12:14.517 --> 00:12:16.318 Now, watching isn't learning. 229 00:12:16.318 --> 00:12:17.459 Let's make it stick. 230 00:12:17.459 --> 00:12:19.923 Pause the video and do three things. 231 00:12:19.923 --> 00:12:23.830 First: grab a blank page and draw the six rings from memory. 232 00:12:23.830 --> 00:12:24.899 Don't look back. 233 00:12:24.899 --> 00:12:27.219 Put two or three rights in each ring. 234 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:31.134 Whatever you can't place shows you exactly where your gaps are. 235 00:12:31.134 --> 00:12:33.093 That's useful, not a failure. 236 00:12:33.657 --> 00:12:36.155 Second: answer these in your own words. 237 00:12:36.155 --> 00:12:38.342 Why is fasting connected to the body? 238 00:12:38.342 --> 00:12:40.674 What do a ruler and a teacher have in common? 239 00:12:40.674 --> 00:12:43.775 And why might pardoning someone sometimes be the wrong choice? 240 00:12:44.331 --> 00:12:47.646 Third: pick one relationship in your life this week. 241 00:12:47.646 --> 00:12:50.362 A neighbour, a parent, a coworker. 242 00:12:50.362 --> 00:12:52.935 Ask: what does this person deserve from me? 243 00:12:52.935 --> 00:12:54.353 And do one thing about it. 244 00:12:54.909 --> 00:12:56.962 Because that's the point of this treatise. 245 00:12:56.962 --> 00:12:58.717 It isn't a list to memorize. 246 00:12:58.717 --> 00:13:04.089 It's a way of looking at every person, and every gift, and asking: what do I owe here? 247 00:13:04.089 --> 00:13:05.147 Thanks for watching.