Shi'a

Shia (شيعة‎ Shīʿah, from Shīʿatu ʿAlī, "adherent of Ali"), also transliterated Shiah and Shiʿah, is a branch of Islam which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor and the Imam (leader) after him, most notably at the event of Ghadir Khumm, but was prevented from the caliphate as a result of the incident at Saqifah. This view primarily contrasts with that of Sunni Islam, whose adherents believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor and consider Abu Bakr, who they claim was appointed Caliph through a Shura, i.e. community consensus in Saqifa, to be the first rightful Caliph after the Prophet. Adherents of Shia Islam are called Shias of Ali, Shias or the Shi'a as a collective or Shi'i or Shi'ite individually.

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answer updated 4 años ago

1. Shia means the followers. In Quran Allah called the sincere followers of the Prophet Musa as his Shia (The person who was from his Shia seeked help from him against the person who was from his enemies) (فاستغاثه الذي هو من شيعته على الذي من عدوه) (Sura Al-Qasas, Verse 15.)

2. Allah in Quran called prophet Ebrahim as a Shia (sincere follower) of the prophet Noah. ( وان من شيعته لابراهيم )(And verily, among his Shia (followers) are Ebrahim). (Sura al-Saffaat, verse 83.)

3. The Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) called the sincere obedient Muslims as Shia of Ali and said that they will be the winners in the Day of Judgment.

( Tafseer al-Tabari, Vol 30, Page 146)

(Tafseer al-Dorr al-Manthoor by al-Soyooti 6/379) and many other Sunni books.

4. Shia Muslims are the sincere followers of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) who took his Sunnah and Tafseer of Quran from his holy Progeny Ahlul Bayt (AS) being he most authentic source.

Wassalam. 

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 4 años ago

Our Shia scholars are always very strict in assessing every narration by studying and assessing every narrator
of every Hadeeth. There is no scope in our books of Hadeeth to accept
any narration or consider any narration which is politically motivated
as our leading scholars in our history stood against every tyrant
ruler whether he was a Sunni or a Shia. So no narration is accepted if
there is s slightest doubt that it is fabricated for the sake of
pleasing the rulers or justifying their wrong deeds.

Wassalaam.

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Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 4 años ago

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. Not at all. Praying through the wasilah of the Infallibles (as) is a direct prayer to God. The form it takes is to ask Allah by the honor of that wasilah in His eyes. So one may take the Quran as a wasilah, or the Kaba or a prophet and so on. It is perfectly fine for someone to pray without asking by the right of a wasilah.

May you always be successful.

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Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answer updated 4 años ago

Zanjeer involves hitting yourself with chains or sometimes blades as part of a mourning ceremony for Imam Husain. It is customary in some areas.

There is a difference of opinion on this these days. Some Shi'is consider it to be a good expression of dedication or loyalty to Imam Husain or as a practice they associate with their identity. (Personally I think some people associate it with being manly, as women do not usually do it, but admittedly no one around me has ever put this into words.)

Other Shi'is consider it wrong because it does not have a solid basis in Qur'an/hadith, because there is evidence that it is a later addition to Shi'i practice, because they feel it gives Islam a bad image, because it could distract from doing acts that the Qur'an teaches about, or because it might lead to self-harm.

Anyway there are plenty of enthusiastic debates about this online which you can read.

God knows best!

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Seyed Ali Musawi, Seyed Ali Musawi studied religion and history at the University of California, San Diego and subsequently he studied for more than 8 years at the Islamic Seminary in Qum, Iran, focusing on Islamic... Answered 4 años ago

Salaam Allaikum,

There may be some slight differences between the marajah, so it is important to check this with your specific Marja, but in general, the time of maghrib begins when the redness in the Eastern sky has dissipated.

Oftentimes, people think maghrib is when the redness of the western sky (where the sun sets) has dissipated but this is actually not the case and Maghrib occurs a bit earlier than this....

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Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 4 años ago

Thank you for your question. I think this kind of question arises from a misunderstanding of the historical circumstances of the people of Kufa and the success of Ibn Ziyad's policies in Kufa before the arrival of Imam Husayn (as). Not everyone in Kufa was a Shia and equating Kufans to Shias is not true or accurate. There were nobles in Kufa who stood to loose from the  establishment of Imam Husayn (as) as the leader of Kufa and they helped Ibn Ziyad enforce tyrannical policies which induced an extreme amount of fear within the Kufan population such that all but the staunchest supporters of the Imam (as) chose silence and compliance over uprise.

For example, if any member of a tribe was seen to support the Imam, the whole tribe would be punished through the cutting off of stipends (which was the income for most people), not just the individual. This meant that before a person took action they had to think about all of their family members and their wider tribe including the women and children. They also had to bear in mind that many were willing to divulge any plans of disruption to Ibn Ziyad in order to protect their own skin and to seek favour with the government. It is in this way that many thousands of Kufans were forced on the battlefield but a much smaller percentage actually took part in the battle. People who wrote letters to the Imam (as) were not able to break out of these policies. It was also not certain for the people participating in the battle that the intention was to actually kill the Imam (as) until much later in the ordeal. I am certainly not justifying their lack of support of the Imam (as) at such a critical time, but am explaining the reason as to why these phenomena occurred and that is by coercion. Coercion does not prove anything other than the responsibility of the person who coerced, who was Ibn Ziyad.

The Tawwabun movement was also comprised of Shia that had been imprisoned and some historians have opined that it was the taking of the women as captives and their journey to Damascus that were significant causes for that movement. As for the blame for the death of the Imam (as), there is no doubt that it is on the immediate killers of the Imam (as) as well as all of those that were happy that he had been killed. There is no true Shia that would claim to be happy with the martyrdom of the Imam (as), whereas the tribe of Bani Umayyah celebrated the killing of the Imam (as) in the most flagrant manner.

May Allah's Mercy be distant from the killers of Imam Husayn (as) and may you always be successful.

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answer updated 4 años ago

This baseless claim is made by those who try to deny the facts of history admitted by their main scholars, just to run away from the curse on their leaders who caused the killing of Imam Husain (AS).

Let us go briefly through the crime and who committed it to know whether Shia or their opponents killed Imam Husain (AS):

1. Imam Husain (AS) was killed by Yazeed son of Mo’awiyah, who sent a big army to Karbala for this crime. The army was led by Omar Ibn Sa’d. 

Mo’awiyah is praised by many Sunni persons claiming that he was a companion. They overlook his crimes which are clear for every student or researcher.

Shia curse Mo’awiyah because he fought against Ameerul Mo’mineen Ali ( AS), while many Sunnis praise him.

2. Yazeed is cursed by Shia while you find some Sunni books praise him.

3. Omar Ibn Sa’d is cursed by Shia because of his role in killing Imam Husain (AS) while you find big Sunni scholars like Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani praising him and claiming that he was an authentic narrator of  Hadeeth ( Taqreeb al-Tahtheeb, 1:717).تقريب التهذيب لابن حجر 

Another Sunni book by the name of Ma’rifat al-Thiqaat by Al-Ijli معرفة الثقات للعجلي admitted his role is killing Imam Husain, yet praised him 2:166.

Al-Dhahabi is another very prominent Sunni scholar, praise Omar Ibn Sa’d in his book Meezan al-I’tidaal 3:198. ميزان الاعتدال للذهبي 

So, when you see these facts and many similar facts, How can any person with minimum sense accept the false allegation that Shia were behind the killing of Imam Husain ( AS) ?

Wassalam.

Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answer updated 4 años ago

First, I would question why someone is bringing this up. Are they asking because they have a genuine historical inquiry? Or is it just an attempt to prove "Sunnis are right, Shi'is are wrong" [or vice versa]? If it is the latter, people should be called on this at the outset. 

Assuming it is a genuine question... First, the primary blame for a crime goes on the perpetrators. In this case, that is those who ordered the killing of Imam Husain (A) and those who struck blows. Yes, the people of Kufa had a secondary responsibility for not supporting the Imam, but it is rather revisionist to blame a bystander for a crime. (How often does that happen today!)

Second, the line between "Shi'i" and "Sunni" was not as firm then as it is today. While, early on, the concept of "Shi'a of 'Ali" was known, the concept of "Sunni" took time to develop. Many Muslims - in Kufa and otherwise - were favorable to Imam 'Ali (A) and his descendants because they had had a good experience with him as caliph, or because the Prophet (S) had respected Imam Husain (A), or because of a sort of tribal loyalty to the Prophet (S). However, they can't all be said to have been Shi'is, in the sense of having an unwavering, lifelong dedication to the Imam as the imam, or advocating Shi'i fiqh or theology. They were simply inclined towards him.

Basically, there was a big middle ground between what we would today consider "Shi'i" and "non-Shi'i" or "Sunni". There were some dedicated Shi'is, such as al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, who were genuinely unable to be present in Karbala for reasons such as imprisonment. Conversely, what happened in Karbala upset many Muslims, not just Shi'is. While the people of Kufa at that time, overall, had human failings (and exceptions apply), I don't think there is any text in which the Imams say that "our followers killed us". 

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 4 años ago

If the genes of the person confirm his or her gender, but they look like a different gender, then it is allowed for them to seek medical help to make their original gender more clear in their body.

No one is allowed to change his or her original gender confirmed by their genes.

Wassalam.

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Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answered 4 años ago

Sunni view:
(a) He never openly converted
(b) Some quotations from Sunni hadith and history books and interpretations of Qur'an.

Shi'i view:

(a) He was obviously a clear supporter of the Prophet and couldn't have done that if he were openly a Muslim.

(b) Hadith and quotations such as the marriage khutbah he is said to have recited for the Prophet (S) and Khadijah

In my view, the important thing is to maintain respect for him as a human being and not make this into a purely sectarian issue. Often, certain issues are hotly debated between Sunnis and Shi'is not for their own sake, but because they are closet debates aiming to prove "I'm right and you're wrong", which is more about ego or group identity than the actual issue at hand. 

Further details can found rather copiously online!

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answer updated 4 años ago

The meanings of Quranic verses must be taken from the Prophet himself as Allah (SWT) said in Quran   وأنزلنا إليك الذكر لتبين للناس ما نزل إليهم 

( We revealed on you the Thikr ( full knowledge of Quran) So that you explain to the people what was revealed for them). Al-Nahl, 44)

Verses which seem to suggest that any Prophet was fallible, are been misunderstood. Verses regarding Prophet Adam (AS) are been explained by the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and his Holy Progeny confirming that Adam did not commit any sin whatsoever.

Ahlul Bayt (AS) had many debates in this subject including a very well known debate between Imam Al-Redha (AS) and Al-Ma’moon al-Abbasi, the ruler of that time, in which al-Ma’moon put to the Imam ( AS) the Quranic verses which were according his understanding, showing fallibility of some prophets, and Imam Al-Redha (AS) explained the real meaning which confirms infallibility of all the Prophets.

You may see Tanzeeh al- Anbiyaa’ by al-Shaikh al- Mofeed. تنزيه الأنبياء للشيخ النفيد.

The claim of fallibility of any Prophet goes against Quran where Allah orders people to absolutely obey the prophets. Allah will never order people to obey a sinner.

Wassalam.

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 4 años ago

When you can directly meet the Prophet (SAWA) or Ahlul Bayt ( AS), you will not need any one after them, but when we are unable to meet them, we need to follow their teachings and since the gap between us and them is big, there are many different narrations on same subjects, we need to refer to the most learned  scholars who know which narrations are authentic and which narrations are not authentic, and can explain the meanings of the narrations in the best way. That is why, you need to follow the evidence provided by the Marja' of Taqleed to be sure that you are really following the Prophet (SAWA) and Ahlul Bayt ( AS) and not something or someone else.

With out following the Marja' of Taqleed, your religious acts will be with out authentic evidence. Such evidence can not be found and taken  but from the most learned scholar who is called Marja' of Taqleed.

Wassalam.