But people have cut off their affair (of unity), between them into sects: each party rejoices in that which is with itself. (Holy Qur’an, 23:53)The tumult of the Quraysh group could not leave the Muslim ummah unscathed. Although the popular viewpoint today is that Islam has maintained two sects—Sunni and Shi’a, but the fact of the matter is that virtually hundreds of Muslim religious sects came and went in the ...
IntroductionOne of the distinctive features of Islam is its emphasis on knowledge. The Quran and the Islamic tradition (sunnah) invite Muslims to seek and acquire knowledge and wisdom and to hold men of knowledge in high esteem. Some of the Quranic verses and relevant traditions will be mentioned in the course of our discussion.At the outset we may recall a famous hadith of the Holy Prophet upon whom be Allah's peace and benedictions that has ...
Opinions Concerning God's Justice
The problem of justice as one of God's attributes has had its own distinct history. Various schools of thought in Islam have held different views on the subject, interpreting it in accordance with their own distinctive principles.Some Sunnis who follow the views of the theologian Abu'l Hasan Ash'ari do not believe in God's justice as a matter of faith, and they deny that justice is accomplished by the divine ...
By: Shaykh Nasir Makarim ShiraziQuestion: What is the reason that we pray Zuhr-Asr and Maghrib-Isha prayers together, whereas for every Prayer there is a special time and the great leaders of Islam used to pray on the particular times. That is they used to pray five prayers are five different times a day?Answer: There is no scope of argument in this matter that to establish Prayers five times a day and pray on the special times had been the ...
The Creation of the UniversePraise is due to Allah whose worth cannot be described by speakers, whose bounties cannot be counted by calculators and whose claim (to obedience) cannot be satisfied by those who attempt to do so, whom the height of intellectual courage cannot appreciate, and the depths of understanding cannot reach; He for whose description no limit has been laid down, no eulogy exists, no time is ordained and no duration is fixed. ...
y: Dastghaib ShiraaziWhatever we have mentioned above make it clear that if the dislike for death and longing for living longer and longer in this world is because of one's madness (excessive affection) or due to the thought that death becomes a barrier between his beloved things depriving him of worldly pleasures and luxuries then is unwise from the viewpoint of brain (logic) also and an unpleasant attitude from religious viewpoint too.But if ...
Is the tradition mentioned in Shia books about Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Hussain (AS) praying behind Marwan bin Hakam reliable?Concise answerThe narrations regarding Imam Hasan and Imam Hussein (AS) offering prayers behind Marwan have been narrated in Shia sources through different chains of transmission. One of the narrations has been narrated from Imam Ja'far Sadiq (AS) and the other from Imam Musa bin Ja'far (AS). These narrations are treated ...
The transmission of the Qur'an, from the day of its revelation up to the present day, is flawless. The chapters and verses have been in constant use amongst Muslims and have been passed on perfectly intact from one generation to the other. The Qur'an we know today is the same Qur'an which was revealed to the Prophet some fourteen centuries ago.
The Qur'an does not stand in need of historical proof for its identity or authenticity, (although ...
(a) Longevity They object to the Mahdi being a contemporary of so many successive generations during the past ten centuries and continuing to live until he reappears on the scene. How is it possible for him, they ask, to live such a long life without being affected by the natural laws, according to which everyone has to pass through the stages of old age and senility and eventually has to die at a time far earlier than the supposed present ...
Allah is an Arabic-word for: The One and Only Deity/ God,Islam is the only religion that can describe themselves as True-monotheists, why?In Islam, we do not believe in anthropomorphism (i.e. attributing human-facets to The Divine One)In the Old Testament, in Genesis it says:26 And God said; Let us make man in our image, after our likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, ...
Islamic brotherhood is not a honorific expression but a reality mingled with the spirit of faith whose fruits emerge one after the other. Our Holy Leader Imam Sadiq has explained some of the fruits of Islamic brotherhood in the following way: 'A believer is the brother and guide of another believer. He does not betray or oppress him, nor does he ever cheat his brother. A believer never breaks his promise'. 123One of the requirements of Islamic ...
In our age, Muslims need real unity more than ever. God has endowed Islamic countries with invaluable resources which others intensely covet. Thus, they try every means possible to divide Muslims and distract them from their critical situation. It goes without saying that dispersion, lack of unity, and negligence are extremely effective causes of ruin and slavery, and obviously the world-devouring enemies of Muslims are quite aware of this fact. ...
The Immaculate Imams of the Ahl ul-Bayt (a) preceded everyone else in the fields of virtue and perfection and won the loftiest honor of lineage and ranks. They were brought up in the houses of the Prophet’s successor, grew up under the shadow of the divine mission, and received the facts and principles of Islam from their great grandfather, and, hence, became the heirs of his knowledge, keepers of his wisdom, protectors of his code, and his ...
I have written in my message to you what I have heard and read about ‘burhan al-siddiqin’ or what is said in philosophers’ parlance ‘proof of the veracious’. If you find any problems with the details, please inform me. We understand by way of the things around us that the thing which is real is its finite and limited existence. That is to say, when we look at things, we come to know that it is the limited and finite ...
In the above tradition Imam (a.s.) first quotes the ayat where 'sin' is labelled as Haraam. Then he mentions that verse where wine is ordained to be a 'sin'. Hence when it is shown that 'sin' is Haraam and wine is sin, then wine (and all alcoholic drinks) must necessarily be Haraam.
Alcoholism According to the Traditions of Ahlul Bayt (a.s.)
Traditions that denounce alcohol are numerous. Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) says:"On the day of ...
Shaheed-e-Thani1 (r.a.) describes the grades of Sileh Rahmi in the following words: It is deduced from the traditions that the highest stage of Sileh Rahmi is to consider the relatives as our own selves. That is, we should wish for our relations whatever we wish for ourselves.
The next stage of Sileh Rahmi is to help relatives overcome the difficulties and hardships they may be facing. Next, we must earnestly try to benefit our kith and kin as ...
One of the frequently discussed issues in the Nahj al-balaghah is that of government and justice. To anyone who goes through the book, it is evident to what extent 'Ali ('a) is sensitive to the issues related to government and justice. He considers them to be of paramount importance. For those who lack an understanding of Islam but have knowledge of the teachings of other religions, it is astonishing why a religious personage should devote ...
Allah is an Arabic-word for: The One and Only Deity/ God,Islam is the only religion that can describe themselves as True-monotheists, why?In Islam, we do not believe in anthropomorphism (i.e. attributing human-facets to The Divine One)In the Old Testament, in Genesis it says:26 And God said; Let us make man in our image, after our likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, ...
Adopted from the Book : "Shi'ism; Imamate and Wilayat" by : "Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi"The Origin of Shi'ism is not separated from the origin of Islam since the Prophet himself sowed its seed by Proclaiming the wisaya (succussorship) and khilafat (caliphate of Ali bin Abi Talib in the first open call to Islam the he made in Mecca.Islam began when the Prophet Muhmmad (peace be upon him and Progeny) became forty years old. Initially, the mission was ...
To be convinced of the truth of a thing is different from believing it intellectually because of the existence of some scientific arguments to prove it. The impeccability of the Prophets was due to their firm conviction. A man who is fully convinced of a truth, cannot act contrary to his conviction. If you were sure that somebody was standing near you with a drawn sword in his hand and that he would kill you if you uttered a single word against ...
