Vinay Khetia

Salaamun Alaykum,

Accountability is determined by the exercise their own free will and understanding of what they are doing. So for example a 4 year old child hitting another child or stealing is wrong but does the child fully understand yet- the implications of their actions. Are they held accountable in the eyes of Allah swt- the answer is no. This is also because their aql and rational/intellectual faculty is not yet developed fully. 

Hence those suffering with serious mental illness in which their aql is severely affected such as  severe bi-polar or severe mood disorders, or forms of schizophrenia  my have entire breaks from reality, they may for example even think "they are the president of the United States" and actually believe it. These are cases in which such a person is not rational whatsoever and hence would  most likely not be held accountable by Allah. Otherwise we are expected to control ourselves and not attribute excuses to simply being "crimes of passion" whereas we are expected to control our passions/impulses and not be controlled by them as human beings that is what distinguishes us from other creatures on this Earth.

wa Allahu al-'Alim,

And Allah is all knowing,

ws

Sh.Vinay

Bismihillah

Salaamun Alaykum,

The 12 successors hadith is common between Sunnis and Shiis.Even then the Twelver Shia are the only ones who uniquely have 12 Imams all of them being from Quraysh. This in itself is an important indication.

There are other explicit traditions in the Shii collections in which the Prophet names the 12 Imams. This can be found in Kamal al-Din of Sh. al-Saduq as one such example.

regards

Sh.Vinay

S/A

According to Ayt Sistani, there is no problem in having a Hindu server/waiter in itself providing you are not sure that he or she has touched the food with wetness.

The assumption in this case would be that they are not preparing the food hence not transferring wetness to the food- unless you have knowledge otherwise.

Furthermore, providing you have complete confidence that the food is halal both in terms of meat and the absence of cross contamination of haram/impermissible ingredients - ie alcohol, haram meat, etc. there is no Islamic legal requirement to inquire about the religious identity of the chef if you do not know his/her religion.

With all that said above, it is better to eat in trusted Muslim establishments where we are confident that the all the food products are halal.

regards

Sh.Vinay

Salaamun Alaykum,

You may refer to the narration provided by Shaykh al-Mufid in Kitb al-Irshad.

See page 123The Circumstances of the Last Illness and Death of the Prophet

ws

Sh.Vinay Khetia

https://www.shia-maktab.info/index.php/en/library/books/english?format=raw&task=download&fid=93&ved=2ahUKEwi4j5bXm7_jAhW8RhUIHayoAFgQFjAJegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw0S1qwIaQJjj3oAucQhEND0

ws

Sh.Vinay

Salaamun Alaykum,

Bismihi Ta'ala

Thoughts in and of themselves are not sins. But they however can easily lead to sin. The idea of thought control is very important in Islam and it begins with being attuned to our ideas and the images , sounds, and casual mixed gender interactions that effect our heart-whether it be in real life or online/social media.

For example if someone was to see an image that was sexually exciting that can lead him or her to have certain thoughts or imaginations of for example committing adultery or obsessing over another man or woman which in could  effect harmony of the marriage. We should pay close attention to our daily salaat, give in charity, read Qur'an/Du'a, and try our level best to control our glances. Also and perhaps most importantly, beseech Allah in du'a swt for his divine assistance ins seeking refuge from Shaytan and Satanic whispers while attempting to root out the causes of impure thoughts as mentioned in the question. Thus it requires a deeper investigation into the self to understand what triggers such ideas.

wa Allahu al-'Alim

wa salaam

Sh.Vinay

Salaamun Alaykum,

It is generally viewed by Sunni scholars to be a fadila or virtue of Ali akin to other companions in the sense that it demonstrated his closeness to the Prophet as a dear friend and confidant. It is not interpreted by Sunni scholars to indicate that he was to succeed the Prophet. Of course the Shia school of thought differs with such an interpretation by looking at the words themselves as well as the implications therein in light of the Prophet comparing himself to Ali in terms of his guardianship or wilaya over the community. A good book in this regard is Shiism Imamate and Wilayat by Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi, it can be found on al-islam.org

regards and wa salaam

Sh.Vinay Khetia

Salaamun alaykum

Abortion is not permitted in this case. It is only permitted in cases where the mothers life is at risk and there are circumstantial conditions in that scenario.

Ws

Sh Vinay

Salaamun alaykum

Ghusul al janaba is wajib following the scenario described in the question. She will have to repeat prayers that were performed while in state of impurity. Same goes for a man.

Ws

Sh Vinay

Bismihi Ta'aala,

Salaamun 'Alaykum,

The vast majority of contemporary Shia jurists allow for Friday prayer and state that it can replace salaat al-zuhr ( on Friday) as the Friday prayer is classified as al-wajib al-takhiyri (an optional obligation) -hence the option is there to perform either Friday prayers (along with all its attending conditions) or salaat al-zuhr.  Yes Friday prayers is discussed in the Qur'an as per an entire Sura being entitled "Friday" ( al-Jumu'ah). For instance, if one looks at Iran or Iraq you would see millions of Shia Muslims attending the various Friday prayers held in Basra, Najaf, Karbala, Tehran, Qum etc. 

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Sh.Vinay Khetia

S/A

There is no single 'Sunni understanding of history'. Islamic history and its vast sources are too vast and multi-vocal for it to have one understanding on this matter. The Sunnis themselves have multiple views on the subjects even among the theological schools of the 'asharis and mu'tazila (some of the theological schools among Sunnis). However the predominant view is that she died a natural death. However the Sunni leaning historical tradition such as History of al-Tabari and the Ansab al-Ashraf of al-Baladhuri do indicate that something violent or potentially violent occurred at the hosue of Fatima (as) following the death of the Prophet. For instane al-Tabari relates that the end of the his life, the first caliph said: " I wish I did not throw open/or unveil the house of Fatima - lam akshif manzil fatima, however they ( Ali, Fatima and those in the home) had locked it down with hostile intent - ghalaquhu 'ala al-harb. So clearly something violent or potentially violent occurred as per this narration found in al-Tabaris's history under the section dealing with the final words of the 1st caliph at his death.  That being said, the Sunni historical tradition for the most part do not describe her as being injured or killed as a result of that incident. However there were others such as al-Nizam, the famous Mu'atazlite theologian (who would also be considered to belong broadly to the Sunni school or at least non-Shia in a formal sense) who describes her as being injured and dying from this and he was in-fact blamed for this and condemned by later scholars for holding such a view. Thus it was a view that existed in the Muslim community.

wa salaam

Sh.Vinay Khetia

S/A

To my knowledge there is no specific book of duas written by the 12th Imam (ajt). What we do have is a series of letters ( tawqi'at) attributed to the Imam many of which which were written by him or dictated by him. As for dua's there are numerous ones that are attributed to the Imam and can be found in early sources such as Misbah al-Mutahajjid of Shaykh Tusi ( d.460 Ah). Sh al-Tusi had numerous turuq or isnads reaching contemporaries of the Imam during ghayba al-sughra as did later scholars such as Ibn al-Mashhadi who narrates the famous Ziyarat Al Yasin which was taught by the 12th Imam when we wish to turn to him and seek his guidance. To conclude, there are numerous supplications and even some ziyarat which can be reasonably traced back to the 12th Imam. However there is no book written by him per say at least in any extant surviving form.

wa Allahu al-'alim,

And God is the knowing, 

ws

Sh.Vinay Khetia