Seventeenth: Giving Priority to the More Important over the Less Important from the Affairs of Religion
Regarding the religion, it must be given precedence over the mundane matters. The precedent matter of religion is to be given priority. It is to achieve the complete correct creed by believing in the oneness of Allah and to glorify Him, and it is to believe that He is the only one who has the descriptions of perfection and that He, absolutely, does not have any defect. It is also to believe that He is exalted high above likeness to creation, doing the ugly deeds, and lying in what He said. It is also to believe that Allah will never break any of His promises or threats and that Allah guarantees the sincerity of His prophet and the generality of his message. It is also to believe that Amīr al-Muminīn [‘Ali bin Abi Tālib], peace be upon him, had the right to govern them after him and to prefer Ahl al-Bayt over the others, to be kind to them, to precede them before the others, and take care of their right. It is to love his true Companions and declare his self innocent - before Allah - from any other religion, except the Religion of Islam, and from any creed which is not compatible with the will of Allah, exalted be He, and from any indecent heresy in the religion. Then He must learn from the Islamic Law as much as he can, and to keep the manners that it asks him to do. One must also refer to the competent erudite people of knowledge in all of what he is confused about and be used to doing this, always, and work upon it. One must not neglect learning the method as it is that which is a truly useful science. If an obligation and a praiseworthy matter contradict with each other, then he must prefer the obligation, and if many obligations contradict, then he must precede the more important before the less important obligation, like the individual obligation before the collective obligation, and the restricted before the expanded.
It is to be known that the intention is the religion, not the present life. Therefore, he should not keep his heart preoccupied with the present life, except with what is necessary for the religion and that which helps one to do it well. Then the human should be a custodian for himself, if he neglected for some time, he shouldn’t keep neglecting, but he must be careful and take from it what is necessary for him and to take care of the aspects of the his religion.
He must keep the moderate option from what suits his condition and to avoid extravagance and excessiveness. He must not delay neither the work for today till tomorrow nor the work for a time to the next time, as delaying the work and prolonging the hope is considered amongst the blameworthy matters. He must not preoccupy himself with the affairs of the public, except after reforming his affair and affair of his own people. He should, if he could, reform an affair of the affairs of Muslims, whether it is far or near. This is a great virtue.
Know that from the preferred reasons that accompany the praiseworthy manners and the righteous deeds that the human may accustom himself is to do the exact, known and limited functions. The purpose is that he distribute his time and divides them on what suits it from the acts of worship and means of proximity, recitations, prayers, invocations, or glorification. From being preoccupied by his affair of living and what concerns the affair of the public and what he was in charge of, if he has a custody, and he should be aware of the present life, and to ask for what exceeds his need, because it has more magic than Hârût and Mârût. He should always remember death, and keep it in front of his eyes. The scholars have unanimously recommended to maintain indifference towards the life of this world.
