Prayers are the pillars of faith. Through prayer people establish communication and dialogue with God. It makes one become aware and realize that he or she is not alone in this universe and that each person has been created for a legitimate purpose. God created human beings to recognize and appreciate His grace and blessings.
The Necessity of Connection with the Absolute
The instinct to worship is an innate aspect of human beings - it is part ...
Verily, the Exalted God is the most beautiful and loves beauty, is the most generous and loves generosity, and is the cleanest and loves cleanliness.
اِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالى جَمِيْلٌ يُحِبُّ الْجَمَالَ، سَخِيٌّ يُحِبُّ السَّخَاءَ، نَظِيْفٌ يُحِبُّ النَّظَافَةَ.
HEIGHT OF RHETORIC (NAHJ AL-FASAHAH) WISE SAYINGS OF THE HOLY PROPHET MUHAMMAD ...
DIVISIONS WITHIN SHI'ISM
Each religion possesses a certain number of primary principles which form its essential basis and other principles of secondary importance. When the followers of a religion differ as to the nature of the primary principles and their secondary aspects but preserve a common basis, the result is called division (inshi'ab) within that religion. Such divisions exist in all traditions and religions, and more particularly ...
One should never lose hope of achieving high moral traits and perfection in one's faith. In fact one should not even
Allah has mentioned His names as:1) Tawwabun (one who accepts Tawbah) 2) Gaffarun (one who pardons)3) Ghafoorun (one who forgives totally)4) Ghaaferuz Zanbe (Pardoner of sins) 5) Qaabelut Tawbah (one who accepts repentance)
Allah has given a general invitation to all the people to turn towards Him and seek forgiveness ...
The fire ignited by the order of Namrood to burn Ibrahim (a.s.) was made bereft of its burning property, by Allah. It is said, that the fire was so intense that birds flying at a height of three miles used to be scorched by the heat and drop dead.
So they threw Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) into the fire with the help of a catapult from far away. In the Holy Quran Allah says: "We said: O fire! be coolness and peace to Ibrahim." (Surah Anbiya ...
Istedraaj denotes failure to repent
When Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was asked the meaning of "Istedraaj" he replied: "When a person commits a sin he is given respite and a new blessing, then when he fails to repent he is slowly led towards destruction; about which he is heedless. This is known as Istedraj and 'Allah's Plan." (Wasaelush Shia)
It is related from Amirul Momineen (a.s.) that he said: "Certainly, those who are given ...
The Prophets and Proof of Revelation and Prophecy
Many modern scholars who have investigated the problem of revelation and prophecy have tried to explain revelation, prophecy and questions connected with them by using the principles of social psychology. They say that the prophets of God were men of a pure nature and strong will who had great love for humanity. In order to enable mankind to advance spiritually and materially and in order to ...
Precisely speaking, it is understood from the above mentioned verse that the position and rank of Imamat which was bestowed upon Abraham (a.s.), only after successfully enduring those frequent difficult trials, was above and beyond the rank of prophethood.
The primary sense of meaning of the term / Imam / is that of being foremost, but it also has other different meanings including:
A) leadership in the worldly social affairs of people, (as ...
Hazrat Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) has informed; "One who commits qazaf is removed from the ranks of the believers of Allah and considered as a transgressor. Transgressor is also the opposite of believer as Allah himself says, 'Is he then who is the believer like him who is the transgressor?'" (Surah Sajdah 32:18)
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) has been reported to have said, "The person who accuses falsely a chaste man or a chaste woman of ...
There are many traditions that support the taking of a false oath in order to save the Muslims. For example, Shaykh Ansari in his book, Makasib quotes from Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.) and Imam Ali (a.s.) that they have narrated the following tradition of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.).
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) says: "Swear falsely by Allah, but save your Muslim brothers from unjust murder."
Ismael Ibne Saad records a confirmed tradition, ...
According to the Quranic ayats, one who resorts to short weighing and defrauding does not believe in the Day of Judgement and the Hereafter. If the person had any belief in the Hereafter, he would know that, even if he succeedes in fooling people, he would never be able to hide his fraud from the Lord of the worlds; he would realise that on the Day of Judgement he would have to account for whatever he has earned by defrauding and make good the ...
Although, Shaheed-e-Sani and many other Mujtahids consider every kind of falsehood to be absolutely haraam and a great sin, yet we find in traditions that falsehood is of different grades. Among these different kinds of lies, are some that are certainly greatest of the sins and some are among the greater sins. There are also some types of lying about whom there exists a doubt whether they are "greater" or not. Let us examine each kind of ...
The Riyakari (Show off) of a person is either related to obligatory acts or recommended acts. Either it consers the actual action or it is related to the condition of that action. For example a person intends to shows that he is steadfast in prayer he will pray in order to show off. If, however, he wants to show that he is very humble and devoted in prayers, he will exhibit these things in prayer. It is also possible that one show off in a part ...
No Imam began his Imamat in a more tragic atmosphere. The first day of his Imamat saw him seriously ill and a captive of the army of Yazid in Karbala. His father and predecessor had sacrificed all he had on the altar of truth; and Imam Zayn al-'Abidin found himself with a group of helpless widows and orphans being led from place to place, from the durbar of Ibn Ziyad to the court of Yazid. Finally they were thrown into a prison, where the Imam ...
The tradition explaining this concept is to be found in the tradition of Silsilatuz Zahab. It is related by Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.) from Imam Reza (a.s.). It is as follows: "Allah says, "The Wilayat of Ali ibne Abi Talib is My fort. Then one who enters My Fort is safe from My wrath (Ghazab)." (Oyoon al Akhbaar ar Reza).
There is no doubt that entering the Wilayat of the purified Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) implies taking refuge with the Ahlul ...
The Believer' Status Before, After and at the Time of the Prophets' Appearance
In another sermon of the Nahj-ul-Balagha known as „al-Khutbah al-Qasi'ah" (The Sermon of Disparagement),the Commander of the Faithful lays down and explains some of the matters which were quoted in previous from Sermon No. 1, concerning the status of the people during the Age of Ignorance, conditions of the time of the appearance of the Prophets and the situation ...
Allah’s words:
And most certainly I (Shaytan) will lead them astray and excite in them vain desires, and bid them that they shall slit the ears of the cattle, and most surely I will bid them so that they shall alter Allah’s creation, and whoever takes the Satan for a guardian rather than Allah he indeed shall suffer a manifest loss. Chapter 4 (The Women / al-Nisa) Verse 119
For this verse to be taken into consideration as a basis ...
PART III:
ISLAMIC BELIEFS FROM THE SHI'ITE POINT OF VIEW
CHAPTER IV ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
The World Seen from the Point of View of Being and Reality ; The Necessity of God
Consciousness and perception, which are intertwined with man's very being, make evident by their very nature the existence of God as well as the world. For, contrary to those who express doubt about their own existence and everything else and consider the world as ...
With my chain of authorities reaching up to the pioneering shaykh, Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni, may God's good pleasure be with him, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from al-Husayn ibn Said, from someone who narrated it from 'Ubayd ibn Zurarah, from Muhammad ibn Marid that he said, "I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, may peace be upon him, "A hadith has been narrated to us from you that you said: 'When you have d the ma'rifah (i.e. of the rights of the ...
in the same sense, stating that it is like saying to someone `May God forgive you', and it is not necessary in such benedictive expressions to take into consideration that the addressee already possesses the blessing invoked in the prayer. Although such an interpretation seems farfetched in relation to this noble verse-and we have already discussed it under one of the earlier traditions'[2]-it is basically right that mostly the actual possession ...
