Tradition

مَنْ هانَتْ عَلَيْهِ نَفْسُهُ فَلا تَأْمَنْ شَرَّهُ

Imam al-Hadi (‘a) is narrated to have said: “Be careful of the evil of those who have no character.”1

Brief Commentary

One of the most important things which prevents evil and corruption is a sense of character and self-respect. Those individuals who have character, even if they are looked down upon by others, will always maintain a standard of good behavior because of the self-respect which they have for themselves. Yet, if these same people felt that they had no character or self-respect, then they might perform all kinds of evil actions. This is why the Imam (‘a) is saying that we should be careful of such people.

It is for this same reason that one of the important facets of training and educating one’s children is through the creation of self-respect and character for them. When a child senses that he is worthy and the people respect him, this will result in him being careful of what he does both in public and in private, and this will prevent him from a great many sins and evil actions.

• 1. Tuhaf al-’Uqul, p. 362.