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What can I do not to sin?Clip
Agha AliReza Panahian Nov.02, 2019

What can I do not to sin? What can I do to fear God? In order to be religious, people should first be trained to have a program and to plan. Help him or her to understand that we have to be disciplined. We must plan in addition to being disciplined, so that we can manage our own lives. They have told us repeatedly about this fact in the traditions that discipline is first.
You prove God to me a hundred times, and I still don’t listen to him. You prove the Hereafter and other things too, and I still don’t obey, because my will has become stubborn. I can’t listen! I haven’t been disciplined.
If we want to convince someone not to sin, the first step is to convince him that he can’t live without a program. Being without a program means being passive. A passive person doesn’t get up until he’s kicked. God hasn’t brought Hell to kick him now! It’s for later. So, he doesn’t do anything! He’ll only get up if he’s kicked!
His temperament is such that his life is without any program. He does things when he’s forced to, threatened, encouraged, or someone is standing over his head. He doesn’t know how to live based on a program at all! If you keep telling him about Hell, it’s useless! This Hell isn’t now. It’s later on. This undisciplined person without any program won’t move himself because of a future Hell. He’ll move whenever he’s kicked. An undisciplined person won’t move himself because of a future Hell.
If my child doesn’t pray, what can I do to get him or her to pray? I’m confused and don’t know what to do. Where should I start? Have you taught your child the key, necessary element in life, which is discipline? We ill-manneredly eat, say Salam, sleep, wake up, walk, dress... Ill-mannered, ill-mannered, ill-mannered! If a child isn’t disciplined, can you turn him into a disciplined person?
It’s easy to add one or two etiquettes to a disciplined person. He observes the etiquettes about neighbors, about sleeping and being awake, about his own room, and about other things. It’s not hard if you add a couple more etiquettes. He says, “What should I do?” “Observe the etiquettes about the Lord.” “What are they?” “Stand like this and say ‘Allahu Akbar.’ Don’t move for five minutes. Prostrate. Bend. Stand up. These are its etiquettes.” He’ll understand and do it. It’s not hard.
It’s hard for the child who has no discipline in his house. There’s kindness, but no discipline. There’s belief in God, but no discipline. There’s spirituality, but no discipline. It won’t work with just these! I’m not talking about whether dancing is forbidden, or not. Whether vulgar songs are vulgar, or not. Or, from what age should we teach children the differences between genders? I’m not talking about Islamic covering and other such things.
People who don’t want discipline for children in Elementary Schools are criminals. The argument is not over religion! Everyone needs a plan to live. And, this planning should be in a person’s blood. For planning to be in a person’s blood, he or she must have been disciplined in childhood. This discipline may be that of the Communists, the East, or the West. But, there should be discipline! The politicians who advocate unruliness in the education environment are criminals.
In order to convince someone not to sin, we must first convince them that we cannot live without a program. Why do you talk to a person about religion when he\'s not used to living with a program? It’s easy to add one or two etiquettes to a disciplined person. He says, “What should I do?” “Observe the etiquettes about the Lord.” “What are they?” “Stand like this and say ‘Allahu Akbar.’ Don’t move for five minutes. Prostrate. Bend. Stand up. These are its etiquettes.”
Imam Sadiq (‘a) said, “Planning is part of religion.”