The principles of servitude

The principle of obedience and submission
Based on the foundations of Islamic lifestyle God has created the universe and man and He is the one who manages man’s affairs and has the attributes of provider, and is the governor and owner of the created world so any kind of governing and ownership must be commanded by him and a believer must obey His teachings to reach perfection and felicity in a way that obeying Allah should be the result of any kind of obedience and any leadership must be originated form his pure nature: “O you who have believed, obey Allah” Surat An-Nisa [verse 59].
This kind of servitude and obedience is about both fulfilling the divine rights such as the right of worship and also maintain the divine limits which deals with explaining lawful and unlawful things and etc.
Obeying other people which following them has been ordered in religious texts, is only allowed in the light of obeying God; with respect to hierarchical order these people are: Prophet, Imam and jurisprudent guardian; “O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.” Surat An-Nisa [verse 59].
The Tabarra & Tawala principle (“Protectorship of the Islamic Jurists).
Tawala in the Islamic culture means the acceptance of government, administration and the friendship of God, the prophets and those who are appointed by them and also the close relationship with those people, groups and systems that are accepted by God. In other words Tawala means the unity and the strong relationship between the believers who pursue the same goal. And Tabarra in the Islamic culture avoiding a person and a path which is not divine and is considered as the enemy of God. In other words, Tabarra means separating from the false front.
The definition of these terms are in fact derived from the narration of the Holy Prophet who said:
''The strongest and the most trustworthy handhold of faith, is the love and enmity for God and loving great men of Allah and enmity towards the enemies of God''.
Accordingly, protectorship of the Islamic Jurists means that the God’s patron and leader in its true meaning must be source and guide for the individual, social and organizational thought and behavior in all cultural, political and behavioral dimensions and he should be source for all movements and deployment and positioning. Imam Khamenei regarding the realization of protectorship in the society and among the individuals and its true nature says:
Protectorship in an individual means the intellectual and practical reliance on the patron which day by day increases more than before; find the guardian, know the God’s guardian, the person who is the real guardian of the Islamic society, try to know him. After that you identified him, individually connect your thought, action, mentality, manner and yourself with him. Follow him; in a way that your efforts, jihad, friendship and enmity be in line with him and his ideas. The guardianship of a man is his absolute dependency on the guardian. But what is the guardianship of a society? Firstly it means that the guardian in that society must have been identified; then he should be the source and inspiring factor of all forces and activities of that society, a source which other sections are originated from him, a central position which gives all of the orders and enforces the all laws and regulations; a position which all the people refer to it, all the people must follow him, he should run the lives of people and be the forefront of life in the society; This kind of society enjoys the guardianship.
3. The holistic view principle in Islam and integration
Based on the foundations of Islamic lifestyle, man has both physical and spiritual dimensions that in order to achieve happiness and perfection paying attention to each of them is necessary; protecting the physical dimension is necessary to survive; since by having a healthy body a believer can try to reach efflorescence, training his soul and proximity to God and enjoy the guidance of the prophets and the infallible Imams in this path and satisfy God by obeying his commands.
Accordingly, the rules and regulations which are formulated for the lifestyle of a believer should be holistic and consider all physical and spiritual aspects of man and help him to discover his hidden talents and also it must be full of guidelines that are integrated with each other. If the enacted laws and regulations consider the physical and emotional needs of human beings, but they are not integrated with each other, they prevent people from achieving the purpose of creation and prosperity.
Bases on this, man can only reach the goal and purpose of creation if his lifestyle is the teachings, regulations and guidelines which are balanced and fulfill his special needs considering each of this existential dimensions.
4. The principle of perceived justice
The enlightening school of Islam particularly focuses on the issue of justice and in the rich Islamic culture justice means putting everything in its own place, a place which is defined based on the abilities and merits.
In the holy Quran, everything is based on justice from monotheism to resurrection, from prophethood to imamate and leadership, from the individual ideals to social goals. The justice in the Holy Quran is in line with monotheism, the element of resurrection, the goal of prophethood legislation, the philosophy of leadership and imamate, the criterion of the individual’s perfection and scale of community health.
The revolutionist and pious believer expands justice as a comprehensive matter in all individual and social life affairs and lives in light of justice.
Justice in individual life is the basis of justice in social life and the person who does not behave himself fairly will not behave others with justice and the wise saying of Imam Ali A.S. refers to this point which says: “Behaving fairly towards oneself is the highest point of Justice''.
Social justice is of great importance in Islam as well in a way that congregational prayer, judgement, martyrdom, authority and leadership is not possible without it and the revolutionary believers should observe justice in their interactions with state, nation and the international community so that the least right of others will not be violated. Justice in family life is also a part of social justice that evolutionary believers are required to implement it.
5. The principle of revolutionary and jihadi action (effort).
Based on the foundations of Islamic lifestyle what helps people to achieve happiness is faith and action: “Those who have believed and done righteous deeds - a good state is theirs and a good return” Surat Ar-Ra'd [verse 29]. The thing which is proposed for a believer at a higher level is the revolutionary and jihadi action; in a way that he must try his best and plan his actions in the path of God and fighting against the enemy; the noticeable point that almighty God has placed the ways of progress in jihadi efforts: “And those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways” Surat Al-'Ankabut [verse 69].
6. The principle of equality and tolerance (the spirit of brotherhood and fraternity)
Based on the foundations of Islamic lifestyle, since man is a social being and the main part of his life is formed by his relationship with other human beings, observing equality, forgiveness, patience and tolerance is the basic principle governing this part of his life. The holy Quran deals with society in some parts of its teachings and studies the social principles of lifestyle in them, including: toleration: “and when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace” Surat Al-Furqan [verse 63-77];
Forgiveness: “Take what is given freely, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the ignorant” Surat Al-A'raf [verse 199];
Patience: “O you who have believed, persevere and endure and remain stationed” Surat Ali 'Imran [verse 200];
Equality: The commander of the Faithful in his will kumayl introduces equality as one of the factors of benediction in property: “O Kumayl the benediction in property is from paying zakat and equality with the believers and relationship with the relatives and kinship''.
“7. Nafy-e Sabil” principle
Based on the foundations of Islamic lifestyle, man is a social creature and a part of his social life is related to his relationship with disbelievers and strangers; that even in case of having friendly relationship, the type of his interaction including deals and policies related to this group should be in a way that the grounds for their dominance and the humiliation of Islam, Muslims and the believers will not be prepared; because God has not left any way for the domination of infidels over the believers: “and never will Allah give the disbelievers over the believers a way [to overcome them]” Surat An-Nisa [verse 141].
8. The deontology principle
Here the duty means the responsibility which is entrusted to man by God and based on it he will be worthy of punishment and reward. Deontology means that the religious commands must be the basis for doing any deed and after knowing the duty and obligation, nothing should prevent man from performing it.
From the viewpoint of Islam deontology is a deed in which divine actions and duties are the basis of any action and divine orders and religious teachings form the behavior of a Muslim. Accordingly, a deontologist man considers himself responsible in front of the Creator and duties and always try to know his divine duties and perform them in the best way by having a deontologist spirit.
Imam says:
Our goal is performing our duty, our duty is protecting Islam. If we’re killed in the path of God we’ve performed our duty and if we kill the enemies again we have fulfilled our duty.
Worship
Worship has several roots including magnificence, sense of poverty and dependence, paying attention to the blessings and nature. After believing that God is one and understanding the relationship between man and God that He is the Creator and we are the creatures, He is the owner and the rich and we are the servants and we are poor, He is great and powerful and we are weak the wisdom make us bow down to God who is the source all kinds of goodness and worship Him and prostrate him with humbleness.
Accordingly, the intellect understands the need and necessity of worshipping. Most of the verses of the Quran related to worship also invites man to monotheism in worship, not the worship itself, because the spirit of worship exists in human. The spirit of worship that is innate in human beings, sometimes is in the right way and make man reach "monotheism" and sometimes it leads people to worship false deities and stone, wood, sun, cow, money, car, wife due to the ignorance or deviation from the right path.
The prophets have not been sent for creating the sense of worshipping, rather their mission is to guide this natural instinct to the right path. Imam Ali A.S. says:
''Allah sent Muhammad (S) with the Truth so that he may take out His people from the worship of idols towards His worship''.
The philosophy of worship
So far we discussed the roots of worship; but the philosophy of worship is clarified when based on the Islamic lifestyle foundations man as a creature in the world in fact the superior creature among the other ones has a creator, origin and resurrection and enjoys a divine soul which forms his nature. The formation of this divine spirit is the divine names and attributes. The more the divine attributes are manifested in him, the closer he will be to God; this is the truth of proximity and it is not achieved except by worshipping. Therefore, the “Philosophy of worship is that man should find God in order to find himself. The philosophy of worship is discovering oneself again and self-consciousness in way that the Holy Quran mentions it''.
This worship, obeisance and submission must be repeated not because that God does not forget His servant, but because man should know that there is a God. As we always remember that we are servants; then we have a duty. Let's not forget that the divine (fair) law also exists in the world and the law must be enforced.
There are many types of worshipping. Some of them consider the human body such as saying prayers and fasting; some of them are related to the properties such as Khums and Zakat and charity in general; the others are related to the human spirit that are referred to as worship in the form of thought and contemplation.
But regarding the worship related to the man’s property since they are closely related to the society and relationship with others and also one’s property, its parameters and indicators in the field of relationship with others will be discussed later. Worshipping in the form of contemplation will be studied the discussion on relationship with oneself; therefore, the components discussed here are: prayer, intimacy with the Qur'an.