From his (Adam's) progeny Allah chose prophets and took their pledge for his revelation and for carrying His message as their trust. In course of time many people perverted Allah's trust with them and ignored His position and took compeers along with Him. Satan turned them away from knowing Him and kept them aloof from His worship. Then Allah sent His Messengers and series of His prophets towards them to get them to fulfil the pledges of His ...
Mankind without religion is a pretty sorry lot. It has never been able to survive without faith. Yet, surprisingly agreement is never reached on a such vital subject. Thus, they have their own zealots who attack the religions of others, the result of which is intolerance and contention.
Inter-group relations, especially when religion is also involved, are full of conflict and suffering. Martyrology feeds the myths, and prejudice adds bitterness ...
From the study of history we find the fact that in the previous age woman was considered to be a part of wealth and property. She used to be sold and purchased like any property or animal. Illiterate Arabs of the pre-Islamic era considered woman the cause of bad luck and misfortune and buried the innocent girls alive. But Islam declared this consideration and notion wrong and unjustified. The Prophet (P.B.U.H.) fought strongly against such wrong ...
Explanation of the Sermon of Imam Sajjad in Damascus
In the foregoing pages we have reproduced the sermon delivered by Imam Sajjad in Damascus. Every word of that, sermon confirms the frankness, bravery and spiritual greatness I of the Imam and incidentally the value and necessity of such sermons and speeches delivered in the circumstances then prevailing become clear. It has also become evident that these sermons and addresses were not ...
In accordance with the faculty of reason and on the basis of Islamic traditions, prayer too has its etiquette and codes; some of them will be described here, but firstly it would be appropriate to describe the realities of prayer as follows: What is Prayer, and What it Ought to Be?The literary meanings of phrase prayer means requesting in a humble manner. A little pondering about this definition would reveal: Because the reality of prayer is ...
The War of Ban£’l-Mu¥§alaq
In Sha`b¡n[1] of the sixth year of Hegira, the Holy Prophet was informed that °¡rith ibn Ab¢-®ir¡r, the chief of Ban£’l-Mu¥§alaq—a branch of Ban£-Khuz¡`ah—had mobilized some men together with some Arabs of that region to attack Medina. The Holy Prophet mobilized Muslim troops and went forward as far as Musayr¢` Well[2] in the coastal areas of the Red Sea. The war took place there. ...
The messages & Achievements of the Ashura Movement
Muhammad Muhammadi Eshtehardi
One of the important aspects of the culture of Ashura, which is one of the constructive aspects of this culture, is the attention paid to the messages and achievements of the movement of Ashura, which has inspired anti-arrogance (anti-Taghuti) movements throughout centuries. It has also inspired many movements striving to gain certain rights, or movements ...
One of the incredulous things that Abu Sufiyan did after his apparent acceptance of Islam was to deny and repudiate the Day of Resurrection.
Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr says, "One day during the caliphate of ‘Uthman, Abu Sufiyan came to see him. He addressed ‘Uthman as follows: ‘After a lot of fighting and tribulation, the caliphate has finally come to you, one of our own kinsmen.
You should therefore nail its foundations strongly in our family. ...
History of the Shrines
History of the Shrine of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (pbuh)
The visit of Prophet Abraham and Isaac and Abraham's prediction and desire to buy the Valley of Peace.Those who have visited Najaf will remember vividly that to the north and east of the town there are acres of graves and myriads of domes of various colours and at various stages of disrepair. Whoever goes to Najaf will follow a road that approaches the town by a ...
The Unsuccessful Attack of Ban£-Asad
The Holy Prophet was informed of Ban£-Asad’s intention to attack Medina. He dispatched Ab£-Salamah with one hundred and fifty troops and ordered them to attack the enemy before they would have any chance. The troops arrived at the place of Ban£-Asad with tremendous speed. The tribesmen became overwhelmed and fled the scene. Ab£-Salamah returned to Medina with some prisoners and booties.[1]
This ...
One has to look beyond the canvas of the battlefield itself, into the early days of Islam, in order to understand the cause and the facts and circumstances, which led Imam Husain (a.s) to face an enormous army at Karbala and the reason and philosophy behind his refusal to submit to an apparently simple demand for allegiance to Yazid. From a reading of the following pages, the reader will understand that the seed for the battle of Karbala was ...
The "Bahreh Davoodis" are a branch of the "Ismaili" sect. The "Ismailis" believe Ismail, the son of Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) which passed away during his father's lifetime, to be the seventh Imam. The followers of this sect have unique beliefs that we will explain in the detailed answer. Of course there are some Hindus and Sunni Muslims known as the "Bohras", but in India the term "Bohra" is mostly used to refer to the "Dawoodi Mosta'leyah ...
The studies throughout the various historical periods have maintained that the victory of religion in a certain society is of great importance for spreading ethics. That is because nations follow the example of their leaders and adopt the aims of their laws. If religion had nothing but to enjoin people to do good deeds, prevent them from doing evil deeds, and purifying the self from clinging to worldly desires, then it would be enough.
This ...
Islam is a discipline of life, which is in consonance with the human nature, and the temperament of the Universe. It does not neglect the requirements of nature at any stage. The aims of Islam and the Nature are identical and their destination is the same! Therefore, in the Holy Qur’an “Din-Religion” is also called Islam:
إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الإِسْلامُ.
The Religion for Allah is only Islam. ...
The effects of the culture of Ashura on the Performance Arts of Iran
Ya'qoub Ali Borji
The culture of Ashura has had an active presence in all domains of the Iranian art. In this paper, I will focus on the effects of the culture of Ashura on the performance as well as religious arts by canvassing such fields as literature, design, calligraphy, theater, etc. Our people call such arts as Ta 'zieyah. Ta 'zieyah takes advantage of such ...
The previous paragraphs spoke of Lady Khadija's excellent and noble characteristics, which should be a fantastic example for mankind to follow. She is the lady who gave birth to Fatima Zahra and brought her up with talents and virtues.
Fatima Zahra was a descendant of two great people; we have briefly spoken about her parents, lives and virtues and have drawn a picture through which we can look at Fatima's genius and a corner of her life in ...
Islam is criticized for allowing polygamy, for popular culture in the West views polygamy as relatively backward and impoverished. For many Christians, it is a license to promiscuity, and feminists consider it a violation of women’s rights and demeaning to women. A crucial point that needs to be understood is that for Muslims, standards of morality are not set by prevalent Western thought, but by divine revelation. A few ...
From the day he left Madinah on the 28th Rajab in 60 Hijrah, at every stage, our Imam made his mission clear. He left no doubt as to his intentions. It was not to fight Yezid to get the throne of the empire over which the khalifah ruled. Imam mission was to reawaken the spirit of Islam and rekindle the Islamic conscience which was nearing extinction by the conduct of Muawiyah and Yezid. Justice and morality were gradually being destroyed by the ...
How Islam Immortalized Imam Hussein (a.s.) :The Blessed Infant
On the third of the blessed month of Sha'ban, the fourth year after Hijrah and a year after the birth of Imam Hassan (a.s.), the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) was given news of the birth of Imam Hussein (a.s.). He hurried to the house of Imam Ali and Fatimah al-Zahra' (a.s.)."O Asma'," he ordered Asma', the daughter of Umays, "bring me my son."She took the newborn to him. The infant ...
There are some people who portray the world as something undesirable and are themselves involved in iniquitous practices. They portray such practices as virtuous and ask people to follow them. Therefore the world that has been censured by the Shariah must be critically studied to ascertain what is good and what is evil.The meaning attached by people to the world is erroneous. Shunning the world doesn't mean totally abandoning it and considering ...
