المُداهَنَة

PLIABILITY *

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2– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Whoever flatters himself trespasses into the forbidden transgressions.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 9022]

3– Imam al-Baqir (AS) said, ‘Allah revealed to Prophet Shuaayb
[Known as Jethro – Prophet Moses’s father-in-law - in the biblical tradition (ed.)], ‘Verily I am punishing one hundred thousand members of your community: forty thousand from among the evil doers and sixty thousand from among the good doers.’ He said, ‘My Lord, evil doers fine, but what about the good doers?’ Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, revealed to him, ‘They were pliable with the transgressors and did not express any anger at what angers Me’.’
[Mishkat al-Anwar, no. 51]

4– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Do not compromise the truth when you come across it and you recognize that it is the truth, lest you suffer clear loss.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 291, no. 2]

5– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘By my life, never will I compromise with or be slack when fighting anyone who opposes the truth or one who has fallen into transgression.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 24]

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* Translator’s Note: The word mudahana in Arabic has no exact English equivalent, and can be translated with two or three English words depending on the context it is used in. It denotes 'pliability', 'flattery' or 'sycophancy’. In the text it has been translated differently in its different contexts in order to best convey the meaning of the traditions, though the title has been kept as 'pliability' because of its most general implication.