notifications_active Weekly Meshkat-e Noor Session: Thursdays at 20:30 at Haj Reza Mosque
Given that everything we do affects our inner selves, our spirits, our thinking, our character, and so on, how can we read a variety of books for the purpose of critique and analysis while protecting ourselves from their negative influence?
Reading a variety of books, especially questionable ones, is like consuming food contaminated with poison: it can set both this life and the next ablaze. To assess and critique such books, one must have a firm grounding in the principles and beliefs of the Two Weighty Things (the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Household). With caution, trust in God, and seeking refuge in Him, one can guard against their harmful effects.
Reading various dubious books is like drinking or eating food and drink that may be contaminated with poison. When it becomes necessary to use such books, their contents should first be tested by appropriate means, and read only once they have been shown to be safe.
Poisons, once they enter the human bloodstream, can kill; deviant ideas, if they penetrate the heart, consign a person’s worldly life and afterlife to the flames. Thus, only with the necessary expertise should one be permitted to enter the domain of such books—and then only after the foundational principles of the Two Weighty Things have been firmly established, faith and certainty have taken root in the heart, and one observes safeguards of caution, trust in God, and recourse to His aid, while seeking refuge in the Divine Presence. In this way, clear boundaries can be drawn against the harmful elements of deviant books.