Tradition

ما تَشاوَرَ قَوْمٌ إلاّ هُدُوا إلى رُشْدِهِمْ

Imam al-Hasan (‘a) is narrated to have said: “No group consulted with one another in their works but that they were guided to their best interests.”1

Brief Commentary

When people cooperate and work together, this becomes a source of goodness and great blessings for them. They progress and are able to do things which would have been impossible for them individually. This is particularly true when it comes to intellectual and organizational issues, where the combined ideas of many have an especially powerful effect. Some people are unfortunately affected by a sense of stubbornness when it comes to the issue of consultation and so they refuse to seek the advice of others.

Such people find themselves constantly making mistakes and being entangled in various problems. The reason behind this is that each individual is able to see only one facet of an issue (or, at the very most, several facets). It is very rare to find someone who is able to look at an issue from all the possible angles.

Therefore, when people consult others, they are able to more fully understand a given issue and this aids them in making a more comprehensive decision. Such decisions will almost always be stronger and more correct than a decision made by someone who can only see one side of the issue. Let us make a firm decision to always consult others during appropriate circumstances for this is the way to success and proper decision making in life.

• 1. Tuhaf al-’Uqul, p. 164.