Glossary of Sufism 8. Wara'

The "scruple" is the abstention of anything with implication of despising consequences.

For the vulgar, it means to avoid what is forbidden (haram) and what is doubtful (mutashaabih).
To the elite, it means to avoid whatever could cause trouble in our hearts, whatever provokes an aversion or darkness in our hearts. They follow the Prophet words . "Let what is doubtful and go toward what you don't know."

For the elite's chosen ones, it is the rejection of attaching oneself to what is not God, the act of closing the door to the desire for what is not God, to concentrate upon God absolutely all our thoughts and only want shelter from God. This last form of "scruple" has an equivalent as the "religion's pivot" (milaak al-diin) as defined by Hasan al-Bari when, someone having asked him: "What is the pivot of Religion"?, he replied:"the scruple!". And, to the question:"What is the corruption of religion"?, he replied:"concupiscence!" (al -tamaa).But, the scruple, which in all views, is its counterweight belongs to the elite's chosen ones. A fraction of this scruple equals a thousand prayers and fasting days. This is why the author of Tanwiir has written: "It is not the abundance of science what proves the understanding of the servant, but the fact that he waits everything from Him, the fact that he consecrates to Him (inhiyaash) in the heart's intimacy, that he is set free from the concupiscence's servitude and dressed by the jewel of the scruple", understanding here the scruple of the elite's chosen ones or the scruple of elite. But God knows More!


Translated from Glossaire du Soufisme, by Iban Agibah, edited by A. Saleh Hamdan.

For further reading:

.10 signs of scrupulous piety
Le scrupule (In French)



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