Allah had created Adam and Hawwa and sent them on earth to reproduce, spread all over the earth and when Allah sends His Guides on earth, to follow their commands. The prime objective of man’s creation was to pray (Ibadh) andobey His Commands communicated through Hid Guides.
When He created a new born, his tentative age is determined
and recorded in the Safe Tablet (Lauh-e-Mahfouz). A new born is created on the
nature i.e. Islam. Later his parents make him a Christian, Jewish or
Hindu. As the caravan of humanity
progressed, Allah sent 124,000 prophets according to needs of the time. As the
human intellect reached a level, He finally sent Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.s.)
as the last messenger and no prophet will come after him till the Day of
Resurrection.
Allah sent the Glorious Qur’an as a complete guide together
with the Divine Instructor-the Messenger who practically demonstrated the
teachings of Islam during his lifetime. But as the guidance was to be available
to human race till the last day of this world, hence the Merciful Allah has
other set of Guides known as the Imams to fill the gap. First imam was Imam Ali
(a.s.) born inside the Holy Ka’ba, raise by the Prophet himself, who defended
Islam from idol worshipers. As the guides had to be infallible, hence all
prophets and twelve Imams were infallible. The Prophet married his daughter
Sayyida Fatima Zahra to Imam Ali, hence the Imamate continued in Imam Ali
(a.s.)’s sons Imam Hasan and Imam Hussayn (a.s.). The nine Imams were from Imam
Hussayn (a.s)’s lineage. As every Imam were being martyred by the enemies of
Allah by poison, hence Allah saved the twelfth imam. Imam Mahdi was about 5
years old when by the Divine Will he disappeared in Samarra, Iraq. When Allah
permits, he will reappear in the world to fill it with Justice as it will be
filled with injustice and oppression. The infallibility of “The Holy Fourteen”
which includes the Noble Messenger, Sayyida Fatima Zahra and the Twelve Imams
has been established by many Ayahs of the Glorious Qur’an specially the
following:
Surah al-Najm Ayah 3, “Nor does he speak out of his own
desire.” (The Noble Messenger s.a.w.a.s.)
Surah al-An’am Ayah 50, “Say ‘I follow only what is revealed
to me.” (The Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.)
Surah al-Ahzab Ayah 33, “Indeed, Allah desires to keep away
all impurity from you, O People of the Household, and purify you with a through
purification.” (Prophet Muhammad, Fatima
Zahra, Imam Ali, Imam Hasan & Imam Hussayn)
Surah al-Imran Ayah 61, “Should anyone argue with you
concerning him (Jesus), after the knowledge that has come to you , say, ‘Come! Let
us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, our souls and your
souls, and let us pray earnestly and
call down Allah’s curse upon the liars’ (same as above)
Surah al-Ra’d Ayah43, “The faithless say, ‘You have not been
sent by Allah’ Say, ‘Allah suffices as a witness between me and you, and he who
possesses the knowledge of the Book.” (Imam Ali)
Every soul has been assigned a time in this world to do
virtuous deeds which is the prime reason for their creation. No one knows when
he will be called back by Allah, hence we should be ever ready for the return
to the Creator. There are two bonus points to increase our life span: virtuous behavior
with our kins and charity to the deserving.
Roots of Shia Islam are; the Unity and Justice of Allah, the
prophethood and Imamate and the Day of Resurrection. The jurisprudence Shia Islam
is detailed in the books. Important points may be mentioned here. Every human
being is born free. No one should oppress others. Everyone is strongly
encouraged to acquire (useful) knowledge. Everyone is required to account for
his deeds on the Day of Resurrection and will rewarded for virtuous deeds and
punished for committing sins. Allah owns everything and sees His creatures 24
hours hence every action should be done for His Pleasure only not to show to anyone
else. He gives life takes it back and increases sustenance. Respect for elders
specially parents is over emphasized. Rights of kins or relatives is especially
important. Family life is the foundation of Islam.
Sunnah of the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) is also a great
source of guidance. It includes all the spoken words as well as his silence
when an action was performed in front of him but he did not disapprove it. Unfortunately,
an enormous number of fake hadiths were fabricated by the successive
governments hence any hadith has to be thoroughly scrutinsed to separate the
fake hadiths. The followers of Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) rely on those hadiths which
were reported by one of the Infallible Imams. Thousands of books have been
written as aid for the salvation but for the followers of AhlulBayt (Household of
the Messenger) there are three books sufficient for the preparation of the
journey:
The
Glorious Qur’an
Nahjul
Balagha, a compilation of the Sermons, letters, and golden sayings of Imam Ali
(a.s.)
Sahifa-e
Kamila (Sahifa-e Sajjadia), Supplications of Imam Ali ibnal Hussayn,
Zayn-al-Abidin (a.s.)
(1/23) TAHAWWUR
ALI MIRZA
