Useless negotiations

When people commune, interaction is inevitable. Even the introvert inside of me recognizes the value and importance of interacting with other people in society. 

One such interaction that is quite common in society is negotiations with its many forms, which are usually carried out in a closed setting with limited attendees. The more advanced societies are, the more diversified the interests of everyone involved are, depending on the scale of the negotiation, negotiations become more complex, as each party will have different agendas and expectations from the outcomes of the negotiation. And the more complex negotiations are, the more effort, time, and energy will be needed to agree on something. 

There are many difficulties in reaching a consensus in negotiations, but the biggest hurdle is the ego and individual interests. Perhaps it is in our egotistical nature to plot for getting the best out of negotiations based on our personal interests, even though we know that there is a greater good. 

Anyway, when we talk about negotiations and secret talks, according to the Islamic tradition, all of those long hours and energy wasted can be useless, having no benefit whatsoever (from a spiritual perspective, which will be the default from hereon), if they are missing certain criteria and have mistaken orientation/purpose.

Every secret talk or negotiation, in order to be beneficial (in the spiritual sense, which is the only thing that really matters), needs to be for the purpose of establishing justice, enjoining charity, enjoining what is good, preventing evil, or establishing peace. Negotiations for anything other than those purposes, whether for money, power, or influence, among other things, will render negotiations useless.

So whenever we find ourselves being involved in negotiations in society, we need to ask ourselves whether the negotiation corresponds to one or more of the purposes mentioned. If it’s not for establishing justice, enjoining charity, enjoining goodness, preventing evil, or establishing peace, we should refrain from any sort of participation, as it will just be useless talk. 

On the other hand, whenever other people are indulged in useless negotiations, even when their purpose is to harm us, we need to understand that in reality, their plots have no benefit in the spiritual sense. Their plots have no weight whatsoever with God, and whatever effect that the results of such negotiations have, no one will truly benefit from them. 

God knows best.

Reflections from Surah An Nisa verse 114

#negotiations, #secret talks, #plots, #islam, #quran, #reflection, #society, #life 

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