I have been experiencing bad thoughts and misgivings about Azadari. I try so much but it happens again and again which leads to depression and stress. What should I do? | Ask A Question | Al-Islam.org

Azadari Depression

I have been experiencing bad thoughts and misgivings about Azadari. I try so much but it happens again and again which leads to depression and stress. What should I do?

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Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answered 5 years ago

The short answer is, azadari is optional not required, so if you don't want to do it or don't want to be in a place where people are doing it, this is not *religiously* necessary (although, socially, in some places, this may be a challenge).

The longer answer is, bad thoughts and misgivings come from somewhere. Sometimes they arise for good reasons, such as seeing people do wrong or hypocritical things.

Sometimes they arise for bad reasons, such as listening to false ideas (such as some of the baseless criticisms of Shiism in some websites) or self-hatred/embarrassment about one's culture.

So, it doesn't hurt to look into what you are thinking and explore why you are thinking it, and whether it is something that is leading you towards truth and a more enlightened way of being, or not.

Whether or not you choose to make azadari part of your life, it is good to be tolerant towards other people's practices (insofar as they are permissible) and to acknowledge and respect them even if you choose not to do them.

Otherwise if we become intolerant towards how other people live their religion simply because we disagree with them, we will not be any different from those people who go around attacking Shiis for being kuffar because Shiis pray on turbahs and that sort of thing.

Also, regarding azadari, sometimes people become less enthusiastic about azadari as they get older. I guess this is because younger people have more energy and spirit and also things are newer to us when we are younger, then at some point we max out on what we are getting out of azadari, and wish to explore other things. This is of course not true for everyone (I can already imagine the emails of objection flooding my inbox!) but it is true for some people and for most things in life; that is, sometimes things work for us during some life phases and not others.

Religiously speaking, there are also plenty of other things you can focus on that are also meritorious, for instance, if, currently in your life, you feel like you get more out of focusing on reciting the Qur'an or doing charitable work or something else that has value. Of course it is still also meritorious to remember and express sadness for Ahl al-Bayt (A)!