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value to be dependent on their effort distance a person from truth and God.
and endeavor. In one of His sayings, Therefore, anyone who seeks happiness
He said, “The worth of a man is in this world and the hereafter must use
according to his courage” (Sharīf al- their free will to save themselves from
Raḍī, Wisdom 47). falling into the pit of imitation and make
The Imams not only invited people to truth their criterion.
strive and work hard but also practiced Conclusion
it themselves, and this is observable in Based on the previously discussed
their practical conduct. For example, points, we can conclude that:
one day, Imam Ali was extremely
hungry in Medina. He went to the upper • Imam Ali explicitly rejects both
determinism
and
delegation,
parts of the city in search of work and emphasizing the role of human will in
encountered a woman who had actions.
gathered some clods of earth. He
thought she wanted to soak them in • After rejecting determinism and
water, so He approached her and agreed delegation, a moderate view called
to pull water out of a well for her in ‘Amr Bayn al-Amrayn is proposed.
exchange for one date per bucket. He This theory is a doctrine of work and
pulled out sixteen buckets, and His seriousness, in which laziness and
hands blistered. Then He drank some wasting time are rejected. In this view,
water and went to her, saying His hands humans are free but not independent.
were blistered and could no longer pull One of the manifestations of this view
water out of the well. She counted is the effort and endeavor to change
sixteen dates and gave them to Ali undesirable conditions and move
(Arbalī, 2002, Vol. 1, p. 170; Ḥakīmī, towards desirable ones. Of course, it is
2007, Vol. 2, p. 400; Majlisī, 2012, Vol. obvious that a believer should not
41, p. 33). Therefore, He is considered become arrogant about their free will
a model and exemplar in work and and freedom but should always
effort for the Islamic community. maintain themselves between the
states of fear and hope for divine
Human Free Will and Intellectual assistance.
Independence • Another manifestation of free will is
One of the ways to achieve a pure life the governance of beliefs. A person
and attain happiness in this world and must strive to preserve their freedom
the hereafter is for a person to have and not allow beliefs and values to
freedom of thought and intellect. be controlled by emotions; rather,
Blindly following fathers and those emotions and feelings should be
around us is not acceptable and may controlled by religious beliefs.
