This is taking longer than I originally planned

I have written a lot of posts for the past 11 months. So I am not even half way done with my pages.  It will take another day or two. You can check out how it looks now. I have added some content in the Shia Sunni and Ismailis section.

Restructuring the blog

I am in the process of restructuring my blog. 


I am creating blog pages. As of now, I have the following pages
- Shia, Sunni, Salafi, Zaydi, Zahiri
- Ismaili, Bohra, Batini, Yazidis
- Ghulats, Alawi, Nusayris, Druze
- Mandaeism, Sabians, Zorastrianism


I'll probably create another page for all the minor sects that don't belong anywhere. The next step is to go through all my blog posts. I'll type out the title of the post and link it under each category/section. The process is very slow because there are just to many posts. Once the pages are completed, I'll get a better idea of the content here. It would also be easier to navigate through the site since the pages can serve as Index.


I'll get rid of the poll since it's closed now. The other thing that I am not happy with is the search box. It is completely useless. You cannot find anything with it. It is slow and not very effective.

Poll Closing in 17 hours

The poll on my blog will be closing in less than 17 hours. I'll get rid of it once it expired.


The purpose of the poll was to find out what people wish to see on my blog. 81 votes are evenly distributed among all the options.

A great majority of the votes, 48 %, wish to see/read more Shia contents here followed closely by people who wish to see more Sunni material, about 23%.

Then, 14% and 13% of the votes wish to learn more about the Zaydi and Alawi sect respectively, 12% for Ismaili, 9 % for Bohra and Druze, 8% for obscure sects. And 9% of the votes goes for Ghulats.

The Nastiest Things said about the Holy Prophet

This is part 2 of yesterday's post. In my last post, I went through bizarre interpretation of some of the incidents in Muhammad's life.

Moving on, the last section of the article contains Non-Muslim views about the Prophet. I was surprised to find out a number of hateful things said by the Medieval people of Europe. In a book written by S Hossein Nasr, he mentioned that Muhammad didn't get a fair treatment in early European literature (for a period of over a thousand year) until the 19th or 20th century

The negative portrayal of Muhammad's in the European literature are as following

• Muhammad was a charlatan driven by ambition and eagerness for power.
• He established a new false religion.
• Muhammad was worshiped like Jesus.
• He died in the year 666 AD [see the number of the beast? The correct date of his death is 632 AD and not 666 AD].
• The spelling of his name was corrupted to Mohound (devil incarnate).
• The European invented a new religion called Mohamedinism . 
• Dante's wrote the Divine Comedy and placed Muhammad, together with Ali, in hell.

and so on.

Erroneous information about the Holy Prophet

One of the most well written articles on Wikipedia about Islam is the biographical information about the Prophet of Islam. It contains almost everything you wish to know about the Prophet. While the article is comprehensive but it is not very insightful. My other complaint is the manner of how some facts are presented, such as

• Muhammad being the founder of Islam?? 
• Muhammad accompanied his uncle on trading journeys to Syria gaining experience in commercial trade, the only career open to Muhammad as an orphan?? [Career?]
• he met a Christian monk or hermit named Bahira who is said to have foreseen Muhammed's career as a prophet of God?? [Career?]
• Upon receiving his first revelations, he was deeply distressed and resolved to commit suicide. [What??]
• Muhammad desperately hoping for an accommodation with his tribe, either from fear or in the hope of succeeding more readily in this way, pronounced a verse acknowledging the existence of three Meccan goddesses considered to be the daughters of Allah, and appealing for their intercession. Muhammad later retracted the verses at the behest of Gabriel, claiming that the verses were whispered by the devil himself [WHAT??]
• ,Economically uprooted and with no available profession, the Muslim migrants turned to raiding Meccan caravans, initiating armed conflict with Mecca. Muhammad delivered Qur'anic verses permitting the Muslims to fight the Meccans [Seems to imply that the Prophet encourage the Muslims to steal and rob?!]

To be continued…

Fatso is now the Supreme Leader of North Korea

That's him in the picture.

His father, Kim Jong II, the North Korean dictator, died a week ago. Both of the Kims were serving the longest dictatorship in the world, about 63 years. And it will continue with his son.

Celebrating Jesus Birthday

The Christians will be celebrating the birth of Jesus tomorrow. Since his birth date is unknown, December 25th is taken as a symbolic date to signify his birthday. We don't know the exact reason for the selection of the date.

Regardless of the accuracy of date, everyone has pretty much accepted Christmas at the end of the year, unless you are a member of the Russian Orthodox Church, then, Christmas is on January 7.


The safest or the most politically correct way to wish someone is Happy Holidays.

Batriyya (Butris)

They are refereed in Shii hadiths. Please visit the tashayyu website.


The Batriyya are the companions of Kathir an-Nawa, al-Hasan b. Salih b. Hayy, Salim b. Abi Hafsa, al-Hakam b. `Utayba, Salama b. Kuhayl, and Abu ‘l-Miqdam Thabit the blacksmith.

They are the ones who invited to the walayat of `Ali عليه السلام then mixed it with the walayat of Abu Bakr and `Umar and affirmed their Imamate for them. 

And they belittle `Uthman, Talha, and az-Zubayr.

And they regard the going out (for jihad) to be with the under-tribes (butun) of the children of `Ali b. Abi Talib going in that to commanding good and prohibiting evil (al-amr bi’l-ma`ruf wa an-nahi `an al-munkar).

And for anyone who goes out (for jihad) from the descendants of `Ali عليه السلام, they affirm his Imamate with his going out.

Can you believe this?

Putin won 99% of support in Chechnya!

Automatic Wudu Washer!

The Wudu Washer..

Ahl al-Haq

The English translation of the Arabic terminology is People of the Truth. I came across them when I was skimming through Matti Moosa's book about the Ghulat groups. 


Ali Hussain left the following comment:

I’ve just come across another ghullat group based in Iran:

Ahl-i Haqq – People of the truth. Also known as Ali Ilahis, “deifiers of Ali.” Members of a sect centred in northwest Iran, incorporating certain Shi’i and Sufi ideas, associated with Sultan Sohak (fourteenth or fifteenth century). Believe in seven successive incarnations of God, hierarchy of angels, metempsychosis, no single primary scripture. Resemble Sufi dervishes in some practices, such as dhikr sessions, master-disciple relations, and initiation rites.

Source: The Oxford Dictionary of Islam

For further reading, 'the islamaili society' have written an article on them, scroll down to 'IV. An Ali-Ilahi Fragment, by W. Ivanow' http://www.ismaili.net/Source/0723.html

Fatahiyya

This group considers Abd Allah al-Aftah, the eldest son of the sixth Imam (Jaffar al-Sadiq), to have been the seventh Imam. There is little evidence of them surviving beyond al-Aftah’s death, since he is commonly believed to have left no descendents.[1]

A related post

Reference
[1] Scripturalist Islam: The History and Doctrines of the Akhbārī Shiʿī School By Robert Gleave (Leiden: Brill, 2007), xxiii, 339 pp. EAN 978–9004157286. page 18

Four main questions about Islam

Generally, these are the four questions people have about Islam

1. What is Islam? - A religion

2. Who is the founder of Islam? -Islam doesn't have a founder but there is a Prophet.

3. Where do Muslims live (which countries/part of the world)? - Just about everywhere

4. And what do they (Muslims) believe in? - You won't be able to summarize it in a sentence.

Bilal al-Habashi

I always wondered what happened to Bilal.

After the Prophet’s death, Bilal was reluctant to deliver the call to prayer, as he may have felt dissatisfied with succession arrangements. Reportedly, he declined to pledge allegiance (bay‘a) to Abu Bakr (r. 11–13/632–634) as caliph, and he eventually emigrated and settled in Sham. [1]

On at least one moving occasion, Bilal is known to have delivered the adhan after the Prophet, and that was upon the request of Muhammad’s beloved daughter Fatima (d. 11/632) and her two sons, al-Hasan (d. 50/669) and al-Husayn (d. 61/680). [1]

Reference

[1] Meri, Josef W. “Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia”. Routledge, NY. 2005, p. 109 ISBN 978-0-41-596690-0

In recent days we have seen too many

maronic fatwas from Sunni/Salafi clerics


Saudis fear there will be ‘no more virgins’ and the people will turn gay if female are allowed to drive


Bananas are a no-no. Islamic cleric tells Muslim women. 
Cairo- An Islamic cleric said women should not be close to bananas or cucumbers in order to avoid any "sexual thoughts". The cleric added that if women wish to eat those food items, a third party, preferably a male related to them such as their father or husband, should cut the items into small pieces and serve.

Shi'ism is Not a Political Party

The western scholarship that only view Shi'ism as a political movement is factually incorrect. The concept of separation of church and state did not yet exist in the Muslim community, in the 6th century AD. S.H.M Jafri, the author of The Origin and Early Development of Shi'a Islam writes

Those who thus emphasize the political nature of Shi'ism are perhaps too eager to project the modern Western notion of the separation of church and state back into seventh century Arabian society, where such a notion would be not only foreign, but completely unintelligible. Such an approach also implies the spontaneous appearance of Shi'ism rather than its gradual emergence and development within Islamic society. [1]

Reference
Jafri, S.H Mohammad. "The Origin and Early Development of Shi'a Islam,”, Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 6, ISBN 978-0-19-579387-1

Writing the Traditions

I found the following traditions while reading

Write down [Tradition], for you will only remember it in this way

Through writing the heart finds confidence (al-qalb yattakil 'alä l-kitâba)

vocalize our words aloud, for we [the imams] are eloquent people (qawm
fusahâ')

al-Kulaynî, Usûl, vol. 1, pp. 66-67.

Total Eclipse of the Moon

December 10, 2011

Misconceptions about Ghulats

are sometimes spread by so-called western scholars of Islam.

If you see the wikipedia entry under Ghulat, the main reference used for Ghulat is a study done by a western scholar by the name of Marshall G. S. Hodgson.

 

Hodgson has written quite a bit about Ghulats. I attempted to read one of his paper about Druze 6 months ago. I stopped halfway. Not sure why. Maybe it wasn't that good.

The problem with Hodgson's work on Ghulat is that it is not very accurate.

I am currently reading the book [1]. On page 232, the author pointed out that the greatest number of Ghulat was not in the entourages of the fifth or sixth Imams but in the entourages of the tenth and eight Imams.

The author then added that the heresiographers are mostly lying (Note: He didn't really used the word lying) when they say that the Imams of Ahlul Bayt nourished and sheltered these extremist disciples.

And that is exactly what Hodgson's did with his work on Ghulats.

Through an injustifiable twisting of the situation, and in contradiction to the texts, Hodgson (who authored an article on Ghulât) states that it was the imams who were influenced by "extremist" ideas; he thus turns disciples into teachers and teachers into disciples.

This is contradictory to what has been reported in the Shia Imamiyyah corpus and by heresiographical works

Ideas like raj'a, the impeccability of the imams, or spiritual wasiyya, were also ideas professed for the first time by the ghulât.

Reference

[1] Moezzi, Mohammad Ali Amir. The Divine Guide in Early Shi'sm : The Sources of Esotericism in Islam, 1994. State University of New York Press ISBN 9780791421222

We all know the mission of al-Qaim

He will establish an Islamic state and apply Islamic laws that was revealed to the Prophet[1]

But you can also find some narration that states al-Qaim will also rule by the law of David and Jesus. What does this mean exactly?

Reference
[1] Nasr, Sayyed Hossein. "Expectation of the Millennium : Shiìsm in History,”, State University of New York Press, 1989, p. 19, ISBN 978-0-88-706843-0

ShiaChat is back on the .com domain

ShiaChat is back on its old domain http://www.shiachat.com/forum/

*sigh Today, I wasted a lot of time changing some of my posts with broken links to ShiaChat.org only to have them move back to the .com.

The blood thirsty Batinis

A Qaramite by the name of Ahmad began to propagate the Batini teaching in Iraq after the year 891 AD. The following are some of his teaching [1]

• Only 2 daily prayers instead of 5
• Removed the obligatory religious bath
• Allowed drinking of the intoxicants
• Allowed the killing and looting of non-Batinis

The Qarmaṭians instigated what one scholar termed a "century of terrorism" in Kufa. They considered the pilgrimage to Mecca a superstition and once in control of the Bahraini state they launched raids along the pilgrim routes crossing Arabia: in 906 they ambushed the pilgrim caravan returning from Mecca and massacred 20,000 pilgrims [2]

According to the view of historians the distinguishing characteristic of the Batini school is that it interprets the external aspects of Islam in an esoteric manner and considers the externals of the Shari'ah to be only for simple-minded people of little intelligence who are deprived of spiritual perfection. Yet occasionally the Batini Imams did order certain regulations and laws to be practiced and followed. [1]

References
[1] Shia by Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai
[2] Qarmatians on Wiki

Huge Ashura Procession in Iraq

Please watch

Muharram 2011/1433 Lectures (English)

Lecturers/Speakers -- Website/Audio-Video Location

Haji Hassanain Rajabali -- http://www.shiasource.com/drive/self/lectures/br-hassanain-rajabali/muharram-1433-2011/

Sayyed Ammar Nakshawani -- http://www.sayedammar.com/sayedammarnakshc.html

Shaykh Hamza Sodagar -- http://www.shiasource.com/drive/self/lectures/sheikh-hamza-sodagar/

Shaykh Usama Abdul Ghani -- http://www.muslimcongress.tv/avc-search.aspx?k=speech

Sayyed Mustafa Modaressi -- http://hujjat.org/index.php?option=com_zina&Itemid=29&p=Audio/Sayyid%20Mustafa%20Al-Modaressi/Muharram%201433

Shaykh Shomali -- http://www.aimislam.com/muharram-2011-with-sheikh-shomali/

Shaykh Arif -- http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL50164EEB39EC2C0E

Sayyid Mahdi Moderassi gave his lectures from the ABTV studio. Once it gets uploaded, I will modify this page with the location.

I am still looking for other Muharram speakers and their audio/video. Please leave a note with the info here if you know of any.

How do Sunnis observe Ashura?

I am checking out my local Sunni mosque calendar and they have absolutely no activity on the eve of Ashura or the day of Ashura. The calendar is listing an organizational meeting.

Violence on Ashura

Yesterday, a suicide attack killed 55 people and critically wounded 160 at a shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan where a crowd of hundreds had gathered for the day of Ashura observation.

When the Skies Wept Blood

Oasisoftruth recommends watching the movie When the Skies Wept Blood and reading the article on the Myth of Ashura.

Please listen to Muharram lectures

Muharram lectures are really good. The first ten days are for reflection. You get a chance to learn about Imam Hussayn and his sacrifice at Karbala, Iraq. You get a chance to participate in highly recommended religious rituals. You can also get connected to your congregation (the people).

If you don't have a Shia mosque to go in this month, then please visit Shia websites to get information about Muharram lectures. Dozens of lecturers are speaking at many Shia centers around the world. You can stream these lectures to your computer and listen at your convenience. It is simply amazing what remembrance of the Prophet family (may peace be upon them) can do to your Iman/faith.

Youtube is looking ugly today

I am not going to complain about the color and the font because those are very subjective. But I don't think anyone can miss that huge over-sized banner. It looks very unprofessional. Google please shrink the banner to half of its size.

A really pretty blog

see for yourself

Love of the near kin

Al-Quran chapter 42:23

23. That is (the Bounty) whereof God gives Glad Tidings to His Servants who believe and do righteous deeds. Say: "No reward do I ask of you for this except the love of those near of kin."And if any one earns any good, We shall give him an increase of good in respect thereof: for God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Ready to appreciate (service).

ذَٰلِكَ ٱلَّذِى يُبَشِّرُ ٱللَّهُ عِبَادَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ ۗ قُل لَّآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِلَّا ٱلْمَوَدَّةَ فِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ ۗ وَمَن يَقْتَرِفْ حَسَنَةًۭ نَّزِدْ لَهُۥ فِيهَا حُسْنًا ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ شَكُورٌ ﴿٣٢﴾

Muharram is generally a sad month

The Shias mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussayn (as), his family and his loyal companions on the first 10 days of this month. The biggest day is the tenth of Muharram or the Ashura (December 6th, 2011).

A number of activities are planned on this day, such as, giving speeches remembering Imam Hussayn (as), reciting sad poetries (marsiya, nouha, latmiyah), carrying banners and arts decoration in support of Prophet family and also participating in the Ashura procession.

Please click here to see the philosophy of the mourning.

Interesting post in my reading list

I have been following a number of interesting blogs. For the past few days, the entries have been really good, but what caught my eyes today is a letter written by The Perfectionistas. She urged the silent majority to end the silence on the event of Ashura. She said

much time is spent relating how God blessed a string of noble prophets on Ashura, the 10th day of the sacred month of Muharram, as they spread the Divine message on earth. But little to no time is given to discuss the Ashura event that safeguarded this same message from corruption after the era of the prophets came to an end.

Respected scholars, I ask you to disseminate the story of Hussain far and wide--not just for the sake of historical truth or inclusiveness--but because it is the sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet (S) and exactly what the world needs right now!

ShiaChat.ORG

ShiaChat is up.

I had a nice little vacation. How about you?

ShiaChat hacked?

The sectarian hackers left the following message


"So you have to be living in the moon to believe the mahdi is going to be shia"

Yep! The Imam al-Mahdi is a true follower of the Prophet and his family. The Mahdi would not be following their brand of misguidance (murjiyyah aka Sunnism or Salafism/wahabism).

What is happening in Egypt?

29 dead since Saturday.

The military rulers in Egypt tried to keep power to themselves by promising to handover the rule to the civilians in 2013. The Egyptians want the military to handover the rule now. So, the military is now promising to step down in July next year. The people are outraged.

This is a very good comment

ali_hussain left a well-researched comment on one of my post. It contains hadith references, both from the Sunni and the Shia sources, on why the Zorastrians are considered Ahl al-Kitab or The People of the Book.

I thank him for taking the time to find the information and for posting it here.

Who are the people of the book?

An anonymous user posted the following question

If these people were not in iran do you think they would be considered as people of the book? I serioulsy doubt it, going by this flimsy definition of who are the people of the book, every religion should be included.

This is a good question. Since I know very little about the Zoroastrianism, I don't know for sure why they are considered as People of the Book.

However, I do know for sure that we don't define and classify people based on geographical location.

There are verses in the Quran that refer to groups of religious people as Ahlul Kitab (29:46, 3:113-115, 3:199, 2:62, 3:64)

A common theme in all the verses is that these religions have a divine origin; divine revelations or prophets from God. Perhaps Jews and Christians are the two most well known religion. Other faiths that are more obscure are the Sabians and Mandaeism

I find this topic very interesting. I am not knowledgeable enough at the moment to give a concise answer on why the Zorastrians are included as the people of the book. The answer given by the Shaykh seems to indicate that Zorastrianism has a divine origin; a reveled scripture and a prophet of god. Also remember that Zoroastrianism is not an extinct religion. You will find people, until this day, that profess this religion.

I am trying to

improve the outline of my blog.

I eliminated a bunch of categories, such as,

the obscure sects. Now, the labels will appear as sects name Sabians, Mandaeism, Manichaeism
the non-sects and other-sects because they are pretty vague.

I really like the cloud labels for more categories. It is taking far less space than the labels configured on the top of the blog.

I am also going to work on blog Pages. I have a page for the Shia-Sunni posts. And maybe another page for the non Shia-Sunni. Still haven't figure out a name.

What is the Purpose of Life?

I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me. [Al-Quran 51:56]

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ ﴿٦٥﴾

Are Zoroastrians People of the Book?

This question was answered here.

Many scholars regard Zoroastrians as People of the Book because Zoroastrianism was originally a monothesitic religion. Allah (swt) sent them a prophet, who some say his name was Zoroaster or "Zardosht." They also have a sacred book which was revealed to them commonly called the "Avesta." Therefore, since Zoroastriansm had a divine origin, even though it has now been significantly changed and adulterated, some classify its followers as part of the People of the Book. In the history of Islam, for some time the Muslims treated them as the part of the People of the Book and imposed the jizya on them.

Thanks to the Sayyed for answering the question.

The actions or works of humans are an integral part of the faith--part 3

In the Quran, faith is mentioned in the verse of changing of the Qibla

We appointed the Qibla to which thou wast used, only to test those who followed the Messenger from those who would turn on their heels(From the Faith). Indeed it was (A change) momentous, except to those guided by God. And never would God Make your faith of no effect. For God is to all people Most surely full of kindness, Most Merciful. [2:143]

The following verses indicate that the faith of someone may increase

Whenever there cometh down a sura, some of them say: "Which of you has had His faith increased by it?" Yea, those who believe,- their faith is increased and they do rejoice. [9:124]

For, Believers are those who, when God is mentioned, feel a tremor in their hearts, and when they hear His signs rehearsed, find their faith strengthened, and put (all) their trust in their Lord.[8:2]

So, if the faith was already perfect with the initial confession, then there would be no room for any increase.

The hadiths mentioned a number of duties and practices as part of faith. And new duties/practices are added to reflect the various stages of the revelation.

Abu Ubayd (the Sunni Traditionalist) sums up by declaring that "Faith/Iman" consists in intention (niyya), speech and work". Whoever affirms his belief of God and his messenger is only entering the faith and not perfecting it.

I still don't understand why the great majority of Muslims are soo blind

They act as if the incident at Ghadeer never happened! Despite this being one of the most narrated event in the Islamic history. And today is the 1079 anniversary of that event.

Happy Eid al-Ghadeer to all the believers of the Wilayah of the Ahlul Bayt. And here is a wonderful video that can be enjoyed by everyone, including those who don't believe in the wilayah of Ahlul Bayt.

Video of Eid al Ghadeer

This is the last sermon of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). He told the Muslims that he is leaving behind two precious things and if the Muslims adhere to them, they will never go astray.

The first precious thing is the book of Allah swt.
And the second precious thing is his family (Ahlul Bayt)

And the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said that “the two shall never separate from each other until they meet me at the pool of Kauthar in Paradise”

Then to emphasize his message and to let the people know what he means by his family..in case someone had doubt about his family, he called Ali ibn Talib to the podium and said
“For whoever I am his leader (mawla), then Ali is also his leader (mawla)”.

Detail event of the Ghadeer http://www.al-islam.org/ghadir/incident.htm

The Two Opposing Doctrines of Faith in Sunni Islam --part 2

The book al-Iman is analyzed on page 3. According to Madelung, while many people believe that the author of the book is unknown/ anonymous, a lot more believe that this book is actually the work of the Sunni traditionalist Abu 'Ubayd al-Qasim.

The first chapter of the book al-Iman is entitled "chapter on the definition of faith in its perfection (istikmdl) and its degrees". Here, Abu Ubayd states that the ulama are divided into two groups.

• The position of the first group is, the Iman/faith consists in "sincere devotion (ikhlas) to God in the hearts, testimony of the tongues, and work of the limbs". (Position 1)
• The other party maintains that faith "is in the hearts and tongues". Works or actions are not part of the faith. (Position 2)

Abu 'Ubayd stated that the first position is supported by the Quran and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet. He added that Islam rejects the second position. The second position is represented by the Sunni Imam Abu Hanifah or Hanafi Murji'ism. He argued that many Islamic rituals were reinstated in Medina beginning with the change in the direction of the Qiblah. And had the people not follow the new direction of the Qibla,

"this would have availed them nothing and would have amounted to a repudiation of their confession, since their first act of obedience was no better entitled to the name of faith than their second one"

Abu 'Ubayd maintain that the Murjiyyah and the earlier Hanafis were wrong because they did not include the Islamic acts and rituals (many that were established in Medina) as part of the faith.

On the other hand, the Murjiyyah reasoned that since the Quran already referred to the people in the early days of the Prophet mission (in Makkah) as Muslim, so all the newly established ritual would not have any effects on their Iman/faith. They also argued that if the ritualistic part of Islam was so fundamental or if it was crucial to completing the faith/Iman, then Allah swt should have not called the earlier folks Muslims!

The Two Opposing Doctrines of Faith in Sunni Islam

I am reading an interesting paper.

Here are the two opposing doctrines of Faith in Sunni

School of Abu Hanifa and Maturidi theology (Murjiyyah)
Faith/Iman is knowledge or verbal confession. Your work/actions are excluded.

Hanbali or Ashari theology (Traditional Sunni)
Faith/Iman is the knowledge, verbal confirmation and actions.

The author of this paper (Wilferd Madelung) has analyzed the

• Hanafi Sunni-Murjiyyah point of view by reading the book K. al-'dlim wa I-mula'allim of Abu Muqatil al-Samarqandi (d. 208/823)
• And the book al-Iman whose author is the Abi 'Ubayd al-Qasim b. Sallam al-Harawi

The court system in Malaysia is very unfair towads the Shia Minority

A judge in Malaysia decided to rule in favor of a politician. The politician, Muhammad Khusrin, who was the director of JAIS, was sued by the Malaysian Shia for Slander.

I don't really know if the judge is corrupt or incompetent, but his reasoning is extremely flawed. According to the judge (Singham), and I am translating verbatim

The Judge decided that the statement uttered by then director of the religious department on December 2010, which was published in the newspaper 'Utusan Malaysia' on December 17, was not referring directly to any individual. The statement is only referring to a group of Shia. The judge continued by saying that the statement never mentioned the plaintiff or any Shia.

And to add salt to injury, the judge said "The plaintiff only imagined that the statement is referring to himself".

I still don't know if the judge was bribed or not. Maybe he is sincere but very incompetent. This should have been an easy victory for the Malaysian Shia because the politician who was sued for slander and libel, made his slanderous remark on camera on national tv, after he arrested the plaintiff and 200 other Shias for being deviant on the December of last year. Here are the videos of the arrest.

These are some of the remarks made by the politician (who was then the director of the organization) who arrested the Shias of Malaysia for being deviant:

• JAIS Director Datuk Muhammed Khusrin Munawi said, they believe the group has been active for two years and they have enough evidence to relate the group as Syiah deviants before conducting a raid.
  
• He added that the teachings of Syiah if let to be spread could pose as a threat to the nation’s security as its fanatic followers regard Muslims from other denominations as kafir.
• According to the Islamic Jurisdiction Administration Enactment of 1989, Syiah is considered a deviate from Sunnah Wal Jamaah as some of its teachings contradict from from aqidah and syariah views.
• 
  Among its practices include excessive praising of Saidina Ali, allowing mutaah (contractual) marriages, rejecting hadith narrated by Sunnah Wal Jamaah and labeling other the companions of the Prophet as kafir.
• Khusrin said all those who were detained will be charged under Section 12 © of the Selangor Syariah Criminal Enactment 1995 which are insulting, rejecting, or dispute the violation of the instructions set out and given a fatwa by the religious authorities

Many of his statements were printed in newspaper and other medias (TV and radio)

Its director, Datuk Mohammed Khusrin Munawi said they have been investigating the group since two years ago and after gaining enough evidence to tie them as a hardcore follower of the teachings of the Shia, then the headquarters was raided. He said that the Shiite doctrine, if left to grow could threaten national security because of the fanatical followers of the sect considers other Muslims as infidels.

"For them, the blood of the followers of other faiths is lawful and it means that adherents of the followers of Sunnah Wal Jamaah could be killed.

"Shia doctrine is more dangerous than other deviated teachings like Al Arqam (a local deviated group that was banned by the government). Shi'ite followers in Iran and India, for example, are fighting between Muslims merely because of different faiths.

"This shall be avoided in the country and the purpose for which it blocked," he told reporters when met at the location of the raid here today.

Penn State Sexual Abuse

Absolutely shocking and horrible.

Jerry Sandusky, the child molester & also an assistant coach, was arrested for sexually molesting 9 little boys over the period of 15 years at the Penn State University Campus. The University did absolutely nothing to either stop the abuse or to keep the children away from the molester. The University did not even attempt to report the pedophile to police. A number of eye witnesses saw the molester sodomizing little boys in the locker room. See an incident reported in the New York Times (caution very graphic).

The eye witness did nothing to stop the act

A pedophile caught in the act, and you’d think a graduate student would know enough to stop the rape and call the police. But McQueary, who was 28 years old at the time, was a serf in the powerfully paternal Paternoland. According to the report, he called his dad, went home and then the next day went to the coach’s house to tell him.

The head coach didn't think it was his duty to call the police.

Paterno, who has cast himself for 46 years as a moral compass teaching his “kids” values, testified that he did not call the police at the time either.

The athletic director did nothing.

Tim Curley, the Penn State athletic director who had been a quarterback for Paterno in the ’70s. Curley did not call the university police, who had investigated an episode in 1998 in which Sandusky admitted he was wrong to shower with an 11-year-old boy and promised not to do it again

The vice president of Penn State did nothing

The eye witness repeated his sodomy story for Curley and Gary Schultz, a university vice president who oversaw campus police. Two more weeks passed before Curley contacted McQueary to let him know that Sandusky’s keys to the locker room had been taken away and the incident had been reported to The Second Mile, the charity Sandusky started in 1977.

The president of Penn State did nothing.

Curley told the university president, Graham Spanier, about the matter, and it got buried.

There were other incidents too. The University did absolutely nothing. As Maureen puts it "Like the Roman Catholic Church, Penn State is an arrogant institution hiding behind its mystique."

An attorney for the victims pointed out that

"This situation is perfectly analogous to all the Catholic church cases I've litigated," Anderson said. "People at the top protected the institution at the peril of children. Here the coaches and administrators of Penn State were acting just like the bishops, cardinals, and archbishops of these dioceses. The same moral and legal quagmire exists. Penn State protected the football program's reputation instead of the children." He said that Sandusky's alleged acts, just like the Catholic priests, were both "cunning and careful."As a result, Anderson said, "They (Penn State) clearly face severe legal exposure for institutional failure. They are liable for these incidents."

Early Sunni Doctrine Concerning Faith

I will try to read this article in the next few days, Insha Allah.

Early Sunnī Doctrine concerning Faith as Reflected in the "Kitāb al-Īmān" of Abū 'Ubayd al- Qāsim b. Sallām (d. 224/839)
Author(s): Wilferd Madelung
Source: Studia Islamica, No. 32 (1970), pp. 233-254
Published by: Maisonneuve & Larose
URL

Is Shaykhism Shi`ism with a Sufi twist?

Nader coined an interesting concept about Shaykhism (see post #3 )

In essence Shaykhism is Shi`ism with a Sufi twist.

Also, I have been noticing that Shayh Ahmad Ahsai position is not very clear. Or maybe we are not understanding his position.

Please click on the link for further info.

Was Shaykh Ahsai an Akhbari or an Usooli?

post # 8 from SC topic (contribution by a user)

Shaykh wasn't akhbari. He was usooli and one of his teachers was Sayyid Mahdi Bahr al-'Ulum Tabataba'i from whom he received letters of ijtihad as well as Kashifu'l Ghita & others. He did have akhbari teachers since Bahrain was a major center of akhbari activities in the late 1700s and they didn't mind teaching him.

According to some reports by the time of his death in the 1820s, about a 25% of Iran's population gave him taqlid. During his heyday, he was one of about 7 marjas in Yazd and Kermanshah but his followers were considered to be unusually attached to him & his teachings. He was originally from eastern Arabia and taught in Bahrain and attended the hawzas of Najaf & Kerbala. He refused to acquiesce to other ulema on his views and he refused to be legitimized by the Fath 'Ali Shah, the Qajar king.

The major source of issue for some about him was that he was an arif and because of this sometimes the views of the arif contrast with those who are juristic in background. He viewed the Shi'ite jurisprudent as a mystic and one who should be overwhelmingly spiritual by nature. The concept, as totally expounded by Shaykh, is similar to the Sufi concept of a qutb. In simpler terms, another form of legitimacy for the jurisprudent was through the qalb (heart) via dreams and he based his views on various Qur'anic passages as well as from certain hadith.

He had takfir pronounced upon him by Mulla Muhammad Taqi Baraghani of Qazwin but none of the ulema of the first order such as Shaykh Musa, the son of Kashifu'l Ghita, Mulla Ali Nuri or Mulla Ahmad Naraqi to name a few would do such. Really, there's nothing much different (from my unknowledgeable eyes) that's different from the school of Isfahan. Had Shaykh lived 200 years earlier, he would have been included among them.

...Shaykh al-Ahsai did not have anything to do with the creation of the Shaykhi school of thought, although again, his views were considered controversial among Usoolis & Akhbaris alike. He had influence on them but Sayyid Kazim Rashti, one of al-Ahsai's disciples, was the actual founder and even he didn't see himself or the latent Shaykhi movement as something seperate from the Usooli school.


Shaykh al-Ahsai never saw himself outside of the mainstream flow of Shi'ite ideology. Some of Shaykh's writings are confusing when read but you would need a qualified spiritual instructor to get through some of his letters. The Bahais like to use him because of his writings on the Perfect Shiite or the Perfect Man (Insan-e-Kamal). There's a lot more. You can read an article on him from Juan Cole who has written extensively on him and there's another work I read on Shaykh but I can't remember the author's name right now but it was very profound because it dealt with the metaphysical aspects of Shaykh's views and it was the author's thesis. I'll know in two weeks because there's a brother I know who has the book and I'll see him next weekend.

Shaykh Ahmad Ahsai bio.

Translating Arabic words to English

The Grammar Girl podcast has a new episode on why it is so difficult to translate Arabic words to English.

Translating Arabic words to English is difficult because the languages use different alphabets and there are no set rules to correlate the Arabic letters to the Latin letters we use in English. When we see Arabic words written in English, they’re actually not a translation, but a transliteration--a representation of how the Arabic words would sound if they were written in the Latin alphabet. Since sounds can be interpreted slightly different ways, you'll see "Gadaffi," "Kadafi," "Qaddafi," and so on.

It’s the same reason you see “Koran” spelled a few different ways in English publications including “Koran,” “Quran,” and “Qur’an.” There isn’t a right or wrong way; it’s a style choice.

So Many Books

Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance by Gabriel Zaid
A small book with a total of 142 pages.

This is a book review done in September of last year. It was originally posted here.

To the Unrepentant Reader,

The reading of books is growing arithmetically; the writing of books is growing exponentially.

If our passion for writing goes unchecked, in the near future there will be more people writing books than reading them!

This book is asking a question that nobody in their right mind would think to ask;

Is reading books really useful, healthy or even necessary?
If you say YES! Then you are absolutely wrong!

I am quoting selective passages from the book, so you can see what the author thinks

Page 22:

Books are published at such a rapid rate that they make us exponentially more ignorant. If a person read a book a day, he would be neglecting to read four thousand others, published the same day. In other words, the books he didn’t read would pile up four thousand times faster than the books he did read, and his ignorance would grow four thousand times faster than his knowledge.

Page 24:

A Universal Library system is established (a great library of Babel) that holds every single book ever published, more than fifty million titles;…each reader is able to read four books a week, two hundred a year, ten thousand in a half-century. It would be as nothing. If not a single book were published from this moment on, it would still take 250,000 years for us to acquaint ourselves with those books already written.

When we say that books should be read by everyone, we aren’t thinking. Our simple physical limitations make it impossible for us to read 99.9 percent of the books that are written.

Humankind writes more than it can read.

Differences between 12-Imam Shi'ism and Zaydis or Ismailism

Straight from this book

Imamis (The Twelver)
The Shi'ites asserted that the Islamic caliphate, of which esoteric guidance and spiritual leadership are inseparable elements, belongs to Ali and his descendants. They also believed that according to the specification of the Prophet the Imams of the Household of the Prophet are twelve in number. Shi'ism held, moreover, that the external teachings of the Quran, which are the injunctions and regulations of the Shari'ah and include the principles of a complete spiritual life, are valid and applicable for everyone at all times, and are not to be abrogated until the Day of
Judgment. These injunctions and regulations must be learned through the guidance of the Household of the Prophet.

Imamis vs. Zaydis
From a consideration of these points it becomes clear that the difference between Twelve-Imam Shi'ism and Zaydism is that the Zaydis usually do not consider the imamate to belong solely to
the Household of the Prophet and do not limit the number of Imams to twelve. Also they do not follow the jurisprudence of the Household of the Prophet as do the Twelve-Imam Shi'ites.

Imamis vs. Ismailis
The difference between the Twelve-Imam Shi'ism and Isma'ilism lies in that for the latter the imamate revolves around the number seven and prophecy does not terminate with the Holy Prophet Muhammad. Also for them, change and transformation in the injunctions of the Shari'ah are admissible, as is even rejection of the duty of following Shari'ah, especially among the Batinis. In contrast, the Twelve-Imam Shi'ites consider the Prophet to be the "seal of prophecy" and believe him to have twelve successors and executors of his will. They hold the external aspect of the Shari'ah to be valid and impossible to abrogate. They affirm that the Quran has both an exoteric and an esoteric aspect.

Reference
Shia by Allamah Sayyed Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai

Shaykhi Sect - part 3

Shaykhism - from users contribution

These posts are owned by their respective authors. They have the full rights to it.

post # 12

Sheikh Ahmed Al-Ahsaei is originally from Eastern Al-Jazeera Al-Arabia, and he was an Akbari Sheikh, who believed that Imam Al-Mahdi was going to appear at any time (During the year 1840), and he ordered his followers to look for the Imam, and some of them did. One of those students was Muhammad Ibn Ali Al-Shirazi, who later on Proclaimed to be Imam Al-Mahdi, and the founder of the Babi religion, and Ultimately Bahaism later on.

post # 18 and 21

The name of the founder of Bahaism is Hussayn Ali Al-Nuri, who was later renamed Baha’ullah - and he was one of the followers of Sayed Muhammad Ali Al-Shirazi, who proclaimed to be Imam Al-Mahdi after the death of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Ahsaei.

As for those who said he's not an Akhbari, well I suggest you reread his history again because he rejects Taqleed and the principle of conjecture through emulation of Ahlul Albayte - not to mention his complete rejection of the usage of Aql, but taking all Ahadeeth as true from the Holy Imams, which explains why Sayed Alkhomeini compared him to Wahabbism’s founder (This is the first time I hear of this, so my answer is assumed from what I read above in this regard).

This is not my opinion, but that of the Akhbari School within Athna Ashari Shiism :) Of course, the power of dispute in Ilm Al-Rijal; and how hadeeth basically functions can differ from our two schools, but non the less, it was on a high scale with Sheikh Ahmad Al-Ahsaei, and this is why Sayed Ali Muhammad Al-Shirazi took advantage of that and proclaimed the Mahdism for himself.


Post #24
I am not claiming that Sheikh Ahmad Al-Ahsaei has done anything wrong in being an Akhbari, nor did I say that Akhbaris are not Shias or anything remotely close to such a thing. As for Sheikh Ya3qoob Al-Kulyni rejecting Taqleed, he did but for a very clear reason, and that’s because the infallible Imam was present, and under the grounds that an infallible is present, Taqleed becomes void - and that exactly what Sheikh Al-Kulyni was standing on.

Once again, I am not here to discuss the roots of the two schools, both have great arguments in supporting their stances, but you have to realize that depending on Scholars is an Islamic concept, not a Sunni innovation. Most of the Usoli Mujtahids you're referring to have claimed that Sunnis have beat us to this field first due to the fact that we as Shias were oppressed and killed for many centries due to their stance against us, not to mention that Al-Ghayba Al-Kubra went into full effect in the beginning of the fourth century after the death of Al-Bab Muhammad Al-Sammiri - we did not need scholars in interpreting our faith since the Imams where there, not to mention Al-Niabah Al-Khassah which lasted a little less than a century.

Shaykhi Sect - part 2

A few more notes on the Shaykhi sect (Note: These are mostly from users contribution).

Shaykh Ahmad Ahsai

• Shaykh Ahmad Ahsai is/was an Usooli scholar.
• He promoted using the wisdom and philosophy from the traditions of Ahlul Bayt.
• He strongly believe all knowledge originate or is contain in the Holy Book
• He rejected using Sufi or Greek philosophy.
• Shaykh Ahmad appointed Sayyid Kazim Rashti as his successor

Division

• The Shaykhi school crystallized after the death of Shaykh Ahmad Ahsai (see wiki reference on his bio)
• The division in the Shaykhi school happened after the death of Sayyid Rashti (please see ShiaChat discussion)

This is a direct quote from this discussion

The first group followed Merza Hassan Qohar where he used to live in Karbala. Others followed Mohammad Kareem Khan who lived in Kerman.

The followers of Merza Johar followed Ahmad Alehsaei path in Usool and faith, while Kermanis added things to the Ahsaei intellect as The Fourth Rekn (Alrekn Alreabe3) like Sufis, That shaykh Ahmad is the shaykh and the guide.

Unfortunately yes, there isn\t much about the school of shaykh Ahsaei in English. That is because who follow his school today are inactive. Moreover, the shaykh is oppressed intellectualy by shia like persian who prefare the phlosophy of Mula sadra.

Lecture: Life through Trials

Description:
02/25/2011 - Haj Hassanain Rajabali speaks at the YMA Friday night program. He discusses how we live our life through trials and tribulations, and how we can deal with it. He points to the ultimate role model for living through this life, which are the Holy Prophet and his holy progeny Ahlul-bayt [as].

Listen to the lecture.

ShiaChat it not online

It went down yesterday night.

Some Confusions- Industrial Alcohols vs. the Intoxicants

Interesting reading (see posts by user Abdul Hussain).

Namely:

All kinds of alcohol (whether extracted from wood or other sources) is pure, not najis. So, the medicines, the perfumes, and the food containing alcohol are pure and can be used. It is also permissible to eat such food if the amount of alcohol is very minute, e.g., 2%.

The differentation here is Alcohol which is liquor and intoxicating, i.e which is liquid in origin and underwent the process of fermentation (e.g wine), and that which is not liquid in origin, is not intoxicating and did not undergo fermentation (e.g ethyl alcohol). Personally, I like to use the phrases liquor alcohol to describe the first and industrial alcohol to describe the second. So, it becomes apparent that there is no conflict in the rulings.

It's actually incorrect to say that the ruling is based on the potabilty, though you would be correct to assume that it is the differentiating factor, because the deduction of the ruling comes from the verses and hadiths showing the impermissibilty of firstly drinking alcohol and then it being najis. The scholars of previous times have said that the "intoxicant which is liquid in origin is najis" [Luma'a v1 p22] which shows that even then there was a distinction made between that which is liquid in origin and not. With the development of science a wide variety of chemicals not intoxicating or not liquid in origin have come under the category of alcohols, which is why the fuqaha have exercised precautions in the matter. Thus, what can be drunk as an intoxicant (assuming it is liquid in origin i.e fermented) would be classified as najis, and that which is not drunk as an intoxicant (ethyl alcohol is poisonous dose-related) and is derived from other sources would be classed as tahir either by precaution or as a direct ruling.

That's why fragrances, medicines and most other alcohol-containing consumer products are classed as tahir for use. [There is some controversy over vanilla extract because of the type of alcohol used in the extraction process].