But that would be a "supererogatory" moral act (above and beyond one's moral obligation).
|
|
These supererogatory merits were at the disposal of the pope, who could, in effect, offer them for sale.
|
|
The material world has lost its symmetry to an extent so wild that attempts to find beauty in it feel occasionally supererogatory, more often dumb.
|
|
In a play on the term "supererogatory" — which refers to acts that go above and beyond what duty requires — the philosopher Julia Driver coined the term "suberogatory," for acts that are deplorable but not a breach of obligation.
|
|
Whether an act is supererogatory or obligatory can be debated. In many schools of thought, donating money to charity is supererogatory. In other schools of thought that regard some level of charitable donation to be duty (such as with the tithe in Judaism, zakat in Islam, and similar standards in many Christian sects), only exceeding a certain level of donation (e.g. going above the common 2.5%-of-capital-assets standard in zakat) would count as supererogatory.
|
|
A Muslim must complete a minimum of the five daily prayers, each typically lasting an average of 5 to 10 minutes. Supererogatory prayers beyond these are known as nafl prayers, and praying them is considered to bear additional reward. There are also several other supererogatory acts in Islam, such as fasting outside of the month of Ramadhan, or giving sadaqah (charity, consisting of simple acts of kindness to financial assistance) that is not obligatory.
|
|
In criminal law, it may be observed that state prohibitions on killing, stealing, and so on derive from the state's duty to protect one's own citizens. However, a nation state has no duty to protect the citizens of an adjacent nation from crime. To send a peacekeeping force into another country would be — in the view of the nation doing it — supererogatory. Some schools of moral philosophy do not include supererogatory acts.Urmson, J. O. (1958) “Saints and Heroes,” in A. I. Melden (ed.) Essays in Moral Philosophy.
|
|
The word witr (وتر) means "odd number" as an adjective and "string" or "chord" as a noun. Witr is offered after the salah of 'Isha. Some Muslims consider witr compulsory while others consider it supererogatory. It may contain an odd number of rakats from one to five according to the different schools of jurisprudence.
|
|
In the theology of the Roman Catholic Church, "works of supererogation" (also called "acts of supererogation") are those performed beyond what God requires. For example, in 1 Corinthians 7, Paul the Apostle says that while everyone is free to marry, it is better to refrain from marriage and remain celibate to better serve God. The Roman Catholic Church holds that the counsels of perfection are supererogatory acts, which specific Christians may engage in above their moral duties. Similarly, it teaches that to determine how to act, one must engage in reasonable efforts to be sure of what the right actions are; after the reasonable action, the person is in a state of invincible ignorance and guiltless of wrongdoing, but to undertake more than reasonable actions to overcome ignorance is supererogatory, and praiseworthy.
|
|
The phrase is said during each stage of both salah (obligatory prayers, performed five times a day), and nafl (supererogatory prayers, performed at will). The Muslim call to prayer (adhan) by the muezzin and to commence prayer (iqama) also contains the phrase. While there are many short prayers like it, the usage of takbir is more frequent than any other short prayer.
|
|
Seattle: University of Washington Press, pp. 198–216. In utilitarianism, an act can only be better because it would bring more good to a greater number, and in that case it becomes a duty, not a supererogatory act. The lack of a notion of supererogation in utilitarianism and related schools leads to the demandingness objection, arguing that these schools are too ethically demanding, requiring unreasonable acts.
|
|
SCAN does not charge for its papers or advertise for external companies, and has no formal political sympathies. Its editorial stance varies significantly from year to year and its opinion pieces demonstrate wide internal pluralism, sometimes to the point of being combined into contrived and supererogatory ‘head-to-head’ articles. However, SCAN’s legal and financial dependence on the students’ union has often brought its true political independence into question.
|
|
Islamic tradition holds that moral qualities and good actions elevate the status of a man. Since the pursuance of moral qualities are more of a voluntary nature, their observance falls into the category of supererogatory worshipping, and is seen as the key to attaining the nearness of God.Leaman (2006), p. 139-143 Islamic prophet Muhammad said, "The best among you are those who have the best manners and character" ().
|
|
A Sunnah prayer () is an optional or supererogatory salah (ritual prayer) that can be performed in addition to the five daily salah, which are compulsory for all Muslims. Sunnah prayer have different characteristics: some are done at the same time as the five daily compulsory prayers, some are done only at certain times (e.g. late at night), or only for specific occasions (e.g. during a drought); some have their own name (e.g.
|
|
Plural: Anbiya. See: Rasul. ;Nafs (النفس) : soul, the lower self, the ego/id ;Nāfilah () : An optional, supererogatory practice of worship, in contrast to farida ;Najāsah (نجاسة): Impurity ; Nājis (): impure ;Nakīr and Munkar (نكير و منكر) : two angels who test the faith of the dead in their graves ;Namaz: Ritual Prayer in Turkish and Persian language. ;Naṣīḥa (نصيحة) : advice ;Naskh (نسخ) : The doctrine of al-Nasikh wal-Mansukh (abrogation) of certain parts of the Qur'anic revelation by others.
|
|
Vincible ignorance is, in Catholic moral theology, ignorance that a person could remove by applying reasonable diligence in the given set of circumstances. It contrasts with invincible ignorance, which a person is either entirely incapable of removing, or could only do so by supererogatory efforts (i.e., efforts above and beyond normal duty). An example of vincible ignorance would be a person who is unsure about certain Catholic teachings, but refrains from seeking an explanation of those teachings.
|
|
In Islam, a nafl prayer (, ṣalāt al-nafl) or supererogatory prayer is a type of optional Muslim salah (formal worship). As with sunnah prayer, they are not considered obligatory but are thought to confer extra benefit on the person performing them. An example is the offering of 4 "nafl" (optional but beneficial) rakats before the compulsory dhuhr prayers. According to the following hadith, nafl not only draws one closer to Allah but also helps one attain the better success in the afterworld i.e.
|
|
I myself used to hide my inkwell and pen inside my clothes, and go secretly to visit the scholars. If they [the Sufis] had found out, they would have fought me and they would have said: You will not succeed. Later they found themselves needing me." When Ibn Khafif became too weak to stand in his habitual supererogatory prayers, he prayed double their number sitting, in view of the Prophet's report whereby "The prayer of one sitting is half that of one standing.
|
|
The demandingness objection is a common argument raised against utilitarianism and other consequentialist ethical theories. The consequentialist requirement that we maximize the good impartially seems to this objection to require us to perform acts that we would normally consider optional. For example, if our resources maximize utility through charitable contributions rather than spending them on ourselves, we are, according to utilitarianism, morally required to do so. The objection holds that this clashes with our intuitions about morality, since we would normally consider such acts to be "supererogatory" (praiseworthy but not obligatory).
|
|
The name of the committee has also been translated as Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Elimination of Sin, abberviated CAVES. They are known colloquially as hai’a (literally "committee", also transliterated as Haia or Hayaa). In academic sources, committee officers or the volunteers have also been called by several Arabic terms derived from the root ṭ-w-ʿ, including mutaṭawwiʿūn (, volunteers), muṭawwiʿ (, one who compels obedience), and muṭāwiʿa (no literal translation given). These words are etymologically related to the Quranically derived terms muṭṭawwiʿa and mutaṭawwiʿa (those who perform supererogatory deeds of piety).
|
|
Though not a mandatory part of the course, most Muslims supplicate after completing salah. Sun'nah salah are optional and were additional voluntary prayers said by Muhammad. They are of two types (optional or supererogatory), the sunnat mu'aqqaddah (""), practiced on a regular basis, which if abandoned causes the abandoner to be regarded as sinful by the Hanafi School; and the sunnat ghayr mu'aqqaddah (""), practiced on a semi-regular practice by Muhammad, of which abandonment is not considered to be sinful. Certain sunnah prayers have prescribed waqts associated with them.
|
|
Grand Mosque of Nishapur Sujud (prostration) is one of the main pillars of daily prayer in Islam. A single act of sujud is called a sajdah (plural sajadāt). Muslims do sujud several times in each prayer, depending on the number of raka'at of prayer: two sajadat are performed every raka'ah, and prayers vary in obligatory length between two and four raka'at (additional supererogatory raka'at are often performed as sunnah muakkadah, or emulation of the example of Muhammad as represented in the sahih hadith). A raka'ah is a unit of set actions that have to be performed in a prayer.
|
|
The main contention, however, was with his religious views as he was, like his father, an Akhbarí. The Akhbarís, who had a greater reliance on the traditions of the Imams, were opposed by the Usúlís, who relied on rationalism and ijtihád (Islamic rulings based on the judgement of the clerics). Ḥujjat denied the authority of the mujtahids (Usúlí clerics who could issue rulings based on ijtihád), denounced his fellow 'ulamá', issued legal rulings sharply at variance with their own and imposed supererogatory observances on his followers. One example of his variance in rulings concerns the concept of ritual purity.
|
|
He was also different in that he appeals to Pre-Lombardian figures, and in his use of Anselm of Canterbury and Bernard of Clairvaux, whose works were not cited as frequently by other 12th-century scholastics. Aristotle is also quite frequently quoted in Alexander's works. Alexander was fascinated by the Pseudo-Dionysian hierarchy of angels and in how their nature can be understood, given Aristotelian metaphysics. Among the doctrines which were specially developed and, so to speak, fixed by Alexander of Hales, are the thesaurus supererogationis perfectorum (treasury of supererogatory merits) and the character indelibilis (sacramental character) of baptism, confirmation, and ordination.
|
|
The satisfaction theory of atonement is a theory in Catholic theology which holds the Jesus Christ redeemed humanity through making satisfaction for humankind's disobedience through his own supererogatory obedience. The theory draws primarily from the works of Anselm of Canterbury, specifically his Cur Deus Homo ("Why was God a man?"). It has been traditionally taught in the Roman Catholic tradition of Western Christianity. Theologically and historically, the word "satisfaction" does not mean gratification as in common usage, but rather "to make restitution": making an offering the value of which redeems the injury or insult which was inflicted on the offended party.
|
|
There cannot be moral good without the spiritual good. Or at least the moral good will not have a high bearing if not accompanied by the spiritual good. Spiritual good includes the acts of worship including Prayer (obligatory and supererogatory), remembrance of God in the aftermath of the prayer or at any other time, acts of prescribed charity (zakat), reading of the Quran, among others. The moral good comes from treating parents with love and affection, and not with disdain; visiting sick people, keeping ties of kinship, spending money wisely in charitable causes, giving family their due rights, etc.
|
|
In Satisficing Consequentialism, Michael Slote argues for a form of utilitarianism where "an act might qualify as morally right through having good enough consequences, even though better consequences could have been produced." One advantage of such a system is that it would be able to accommodate the notion of supererogatory actions. Samuel Scheffler takes a different approach and amends the requirement that everyone be treated the same. In particular, Scheffler suggests that there is an "agent-centered prerogative" such that when the overall utility is being calculated it is permitted to count our own interests more heavily than the interests of others.
|
|
Supererogation (Late Latin: supererogatio "payment beyond what is needed or asked", from super "beyond" and erogare "to pay out, expend", itself from ex "out" and rogare "to ask") is the performance of more than is asked for; the action of doing more than duty requires. In ethics, an act is supererogatory if it is good but not morally required to be done. It refers to an act that is more than is necessary, when another course of action—involving less—would still be an acceptable action. It differs from a duty, which is an act wrong not to do, and from acts morally neutral.
|
|
Their intention is to emphasize the responsibility of persons for their actions, not to contest the character of those works as gifts, or far less to deny that justification always remains the unmerited gift of grace". Roman Catholicism "speaks of merit in three distinct ways": condign merit (which God crowns freely), congruous merit (nonobligatory reward that may result in sanctifying grace), and supererogatory merit (given for doing above what a Christian is required). Reformed doctrine, on the other hand, puts more emphasis on the merit of Christ that humans receive through divine grace. Protestants generally teach that merit can never be used to earn or achieve salvation: "Because Christians are justified by faith alone, their standing before God is not in any way related to personal merit.
|
|
Táhirih's behaviour was regarded as unbecoming of a woman especially because of her family background and she was received negatively by the clergy. Despite this, many women admired her lessons and she gained a great number of women followers. At some point the authorities in Baghdad argued with the governor that since Táhirih was Persian she should instead be arguing her case in Iran, and in 1847, on instructions from the Ottoman authorities she, along with a number other Bábís, was deported to the Persian border. A reason may have been her increasing note of innovation in religious matters – in his early teachings, the Báb stressed the necessity for his followers to observe the Islamic Sharia, even to perform acts of supererogatory piety.
|
|
As Theodora's soul exits her body, two angels weigh her good deeds against her sins until Basil arrives to provide a scarlet bag full of gold, his supererogatory good works, to outweigh her sins. The demons leave and Theodora and the angels go up through the air. The passage through the air towards heaven is interrupted by 21 toll houses (telonia), each manned by demons and dedicated to exposing a specific sin: Theodora's soul runs out of good deeds to outweigh her sins by the fifth toll house and must rely thereafter on Basil's gold. The angels tell her that at baptism each person receives a guardian angel to record her good deeds and a demon to record her sins.
|
|
And their poisonous error has > spread thus to the whole world until everyone regards these teachings of > Christ not as precepts binding on all Christians alike but as mere counsels > for the perfect.Martin Luther, "Temporal Authority: To What Extent it Should > Be Obeyed" (1523) Dietrich Bonhoeffer argues that the interpretation of the evangelical counsels as supererogatory acquiesces in what he calls "cheap grace", lowering the standard of Christian teaching: > The difference between ourselves and the rich young man is that he was not > allowed to solace his regrets by saying: "Never mind what Jesus says, I can > still hold on to my riches, but in a spirit of inner detachment. Despite my > inadequacy I can take comfort in the thought that God has forgiven me my > sins and can have fellowship with Christ in faith." But no, he went away > sorrowful.
|
|
In a 1523 essay, Martin Luther criticized the Church for its doctrine that the evangelical counsels were supererogatory, arguing that the two-tiered system was a sophistic corruption of the teaching of Christ, intended to accommodate the vices of the aristocracy: > You are perturbed over Christ's injunction in Matthew 5, "Do not resist > evil, but make friends with your accuser; and if any one should take your > coat, let him have your cloak as well." ... The sophists in the universities > have also been perplexed by these texts. ... In order not to make heathen of > the princes, they taught that Christ did not demand these things but merely > offered them as advice or counsel to those who would be perfect. So Christ > had to become a liar and be in error in order that the princes might come > off with honor, for they could not exalt the princes without degrading > Christ--wretched blind sophists that they are.
|
|