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I realize this may be slightly tangential to the topic, but here is my response: There is no relationship between a wife submitting to her husband AFTER marriage and her having had a relationship in the PAST. She is not his wife until she marries him, so she doesn't have to submit herself to him until she is married to him. The fact of her being "touched" in the past has no bearing on her submission to her present husband. This is a bit rude on my part, but I really think this is a weak attempt at justifying a double standard. I am not against a man or woman wanting an "untouched" partner, so long as he/she is also "untouched".

Hmmm....It must be a gender thing - my husband hates it..

Very Simple. I will start with a question. First Member answers my question, and ask a question for next member. Lets start... Are you bald ?

About 2 years ago I developed a habit of drinking coffee occasionally. Initially, I would only drink it before a test if I had pulled an all righter, but it started becoming a frequent occurrence and now I can't function without coffee. I mean I could get 8 hours of solid sleep and still need a cup of coffee if I want to avoid being groggy and short with people. I drink up to 4 cups a day and I drink it black. I don't like the feeling of being addicted. Every time I think about about quitting I convince myself that I will do so after midterms.. finals.. after this essay.. after LSAT.. I am losing weight because of it and crashing randomly when I need to be alert. I am like a freggin crack addict all hyped up on caffeine :dry: what should I do? Has anyone ever quit caffeine? Please do not give answers unless you can back it up with haddiths and prove the chain of narration was not infiltrated by Jews, Sunnis, or homosexuals. This is a serious matter and I will not tolerate anything but literal interpretation of hundred year old haddiths.

All the promises I made I could not keep For I was smaller than my own words A beautiful woven masterfully crafted Lie But he was so unaware, so oblivious And so he put all his trust in me All the bitterness I awakened in him! This bitterness enabled me to steal The happiness of the little things His cynicism gave me purpose Allowed me to take all of life‘s joyful moments and hide them away forever And I relished in this power He went to sleep angry and awoke enraged I gave him this anger To replace solace And knowing this I paid no heed He was weak before my assurances Of heaven and of eternal salvation He was like a child I crafted his innocent dreams And then used my merciless hands To uproot them To shatter him All the confusion that I inspired For I was the source of everything I could taking it away willingly Knowingly and happily Confident in my control I grew close to him Letting him open me Assured he could do me no harm He was insignificant So I let my curiosity get the best of me For I too wanted to be inspired And when I grew too close to him When I let him overcome me I nourished him He grew from my love He thrived on my words And so he began to question me And I followed his lead Playing the role of the child of the mother All at once All so carefree, so recklessly To pacify myself when he chastised me And when he broke my heart When he shattered everything He had a thousand reasons All numbing me Silencing me Accusing me His words were enveloping me And my lies were suffocating me And I was broken Unable to say a word He had betrayed me And suddenly he did not seem so small to me

A translation of the Book: "23 Days with Ghadir", written by Dr: Adnan Derakhshan. In this book a day-by-day account of the events which happenned 23 days from the Eid of Ghadir until the Eid of Ghadir have been accounted. Every day the events of the corresponding date will be translated and uploaded in a new topic. Only 23 days left to the Eid of Ghadir, the Greatest Eid of Allah [1] Saturday, 25th of Zilqadah, year 10 (After Hejrah, A.H) 27th of February, 632 (A.D) It is Medina here. It has been a few days now that by his orders, the news of the Prophets (pbuh) Haj is being heralded in the streets and Bazaars[2]. Not just the people of Medina but also the people of other towns and near places have become aware of this news. Many people will accompany the Prophet (pbuh) in this pilgrimage which will be his first and last. Now the great caravan of Haj is setting off towards Mecca whilst being led by Gods most outstanding being. With his orders, everyone has brought with them the cloth of Ihram[3]. The Prophet (pbuh) himself has performed Ghusl[4] and is guiding the caravan. Those accompanying the caravan have the privilege of travelling with Fatimah, Imam Hasan and Imam Hossein (as). The great caravan of Haj with a population numbering more than 70,000 people [5], some riding and others on foot, leaves Medina. After travelling about seven kilometers the caravan stops at a place called 'Dhol hulayfa' also known as 'Abar Ali' which means 'the wells of Ali (as)'[6]. Nowadays this place is known as 'the Mosque of the tree' (masjid ul-shajarah). The prophet ordered everyone to put on their Ihram and continue with their journey. A journey in which they would learn how to perform Haj and would find out that God will leave for them an illuminating light to show them the path of guidance after the prophet. [1] Al-majlesi, Bihar ul-Anwar, vol. 95, p. 302 [2] Al-majlesi, Bihar ul-Anwar, vol. 37, p. 202 [3] The white cloth worn by those who want to perform Haj. [4] A special kind of washing the body. [5] Al-majlesi, Bihar ul-Anwar, vol. 37, p. 202 [6] In this place many wells were dug by Imam Ali (as).

Assalam alaykum. I'm at University and a new Shia convert. I love Islam and I love dawah. I've spent a few years practicing dawah on the internet with Christians, agnostics, and now wahabbi/salafi Muslims. However I feel like I've come to a difficult dilemma for the first time. Let me explain: I want to do dawah about Shia Islam to the Sunni Muslims in my course. So when the rare oppurtunity comes up to identify "I'm a Shia" and "You're Sunni, right?", the person rarely asks "So what's the difference?" I usually have to say "So do you know the difference between them?" Then they say they don't know, so then I volunteer the information "Sunnis believe that there was no successor to the Prophet and the matter was left hapharzardly to his Ummah, whereas Shias believe the Prophet had a successor, Ali ibn Abu Talib". The conversation then either dies off, due to little conversational input from the person, or very annoyingly the dilemma occurs: The person says "oh i don't believe in all that stuff. i don't believe in sunni shia sufi, or the sects". I think to myself "that's one of the stupidest things I've heard. The very essence of sects means differing opinions. A person has an opinion. you therefore by definition, by logic and by rationality, fall into one of the sects (or the "unorthdoxy" group)." And that's what happened. Someone asked if I was Shia. I said yes. The conversation died (naturally, not out of awarkwedness), so I say "do you know the difference between them?". "No". So i explain. Then my friend, who's not a greatly-practicing Muslim and who's not very knowledgeable, says "well i don't believe in the sects". and he started going on and on about how these divisions just caused hatred and division, and it's important to be united, and so on. I didn't know what to say. If i point out there is no such unity in the way he is talking about it, i'll just be implying these division and dislike is necessary. Then i tried to say "but even the sunnis aren't united. there are four madhabs". So one of them says "Oh, so which one are you?" I inform her of the existence of the shia madhab. Then my friend interrupts and says "yeah but even though there are four, it doesn't matter which one you are" (and that's what some modern sunni scholars indeed say, even if the madhab founders themselves disagreed with each other, and some of them may have disliked each other). Then he starts giving the absurd analogy of Harry Potter. He says that there were four founders of Hogwarts and they all made the same thing, and just like that the four sunni imams all made Islam, so if you follow any of them you're following Islam. I was starting to get annoyed by this annoying harry potter analogy and what my friend was saying. I tried to interrupt saying "but the hogwarts founders didn't all like each other. slytherin and griffindor had a fight, and the same is with the madhab founders", but i don't think he understood what I meant, and even if he did, he dismissed the idea. (I hid my annoyance.) I sat there feeling stumped for the first time, wondering how to proceed. If I say "but there are differences between Sunni and Shia. the sects are different. they believe in different things", then they're not really united are they? I'll be emphasising the differences between them, and they won't be united and it'll be divisions....therefore it'll be bad. But if I agree or don't say anything (which I did, because I didn't know what to say...amazing for me), then i'll be a) agreeing to irrationality B) dismissing the importance of Ahlulbayt c) My dawah will have sucked, since nothing was achieved, not even making the people aware of Shia Islam. In-fact, I'll have done the opposite: i'll have made them consider it unimportant. So, any ideas on how I solve this dilemma? How do I give dawah without this annoying factor of "unity", without some ignorant person illogically says "i don't believe in all that"? Help and ideas greatly appreciated. Allahumma salle alah Muhammadin wa aale Muhammad.

How are they "Wrong" for you? simply based on the fact that hes been in a halal relationship before? Okay I even understand when some women come forward and scream ew honestly hes a great man but I am not physically attracted to him but his past relationship does not even factor into the mans attractiveness so I don't know where this is coming from. I also understand why some women would PREFER a past relationship free man considering they are virgins themselves but to outright hold that as s condition is unfair. As I said, you are not eliminating a large pool of men who are WRONG for you, rather simply cutting your options short with respects to men who could perfectly satisfy all your needs. You can choose to be however picky you want to be, that is your problem, but if you think about it, this may not be whats best for YOU in the end.

I think you aren't too picky and I agree that a man should have all those qualities except one which, according to me, isn't that important. If you are gonna marry young, then you cannot expect the guy to be in a very good financial position. Most of the times, men get into a good financial position after working for sometime and someone who is just out of uni cannot be expected to have loads of money. Apart from that, I think you are pretty much right on. And I completely agree with you that a girl with no sexual past deserves a man who doesn't have a past either. There are many non-virgins for the men who aren't virgins themselves and they are better suited for each other.

Alakum salam, Just to point out something (maybe I'm misunderstanding you) just so you're clear on it. You DO have right to specify that your husband cannot marry any other women while he is married to you and he must follow this as part of the marriage contract. If he marries another women (despite this being specified) while married to you then the contract is voided. If this is what you want, I would just make sure that this is actually written (not just spoken) in the marriage contract and that you discuss the implications of this with your local Imam (Islamic scholar) before you make the final decision. May Allah (s.w.a.) bless you with the best husband, and may your future marriage be a blissful one that leads you both closer to Allah (s.w.a.)

Knowledge is a never ending process. Its value is measured by its benefit; emotional growth is as important. Time is an essential factor, but not without experience. The best lessons in life are usually learned the hard way. Marriage is not primarily about family and children or even dependant on knowledge and education, none will guarantee happiness; like every other social establishment, it's a simple concept of sharing people tend to complicate in order to justify their insecurities. Rather than marriage, perhaps kids can wait.

EID MUBARAK to all SHIAN _E_JAHAN

Well I only said what I did since I wouldn't hold it against a girl myself. The way he dealt with his past relationships is a very relevant and critical issue but having problems solely with the fact he was in a relationship before is unfair in my opinion.

How did they come up with this??

Ghadir: The Day of Salvation of Mankind “Oh Messenger! Proclaim what has been revealed from your Lord, if you do not do it, then you have not discharged your mission, and Allah will protect you from the (evil of) people.” Holy Quran 5:67 On 18th Dhul-Hejjah in 10 AH, Prophet Muhammad (S), while returning to Madinah from his farewell Hajj pilgrimage and shortly after parting ways at Johfah with pilgrims that had come from different directions of the Arabian Peninsula, was suddenly stopped in the scorching sands beside a pond (Ghadir in Arabic) in the obscure place called Khum by the emissary of God, Archangel Gabriel, who brought the above verse. As is clear from the wording of the ayah there was urgency in the matter. The divine tone was rather unusual and stern to the person whom God refers in the Holy Quran as “Mercy to the creation.” It was reassuring as well, as is clear from the Lord’s promise in the last part of the ayah to protect the Last and Greatest of Prophets from the evil of mankind. It means people were averse to follow whatever the Prophet preached and could easily veer off the track in pursuit of selfish tendencies in absence of divine authority. After the Seal of Prophets no divine messenger would ever come since the All-Wise Creator had decreed Islam as the universal faith for all humanity with emphasis on the dynamism of the Quran, whose timeless wisdom was designed to cater to all aspects of mankind’s needs even anticipating ideas and progress in scientific and other spheres. Still the mission of the Messenger was not quite complete. Obviously there was something vital, which needed public proclamation in view of the fact that Prophet Muhammad (S) was God-sent and was not someone who had been chosen to guide and reform society by the Arabs, the majority of whom until recently were fiercely opposed to his mission because of the residue of polytheism that lingered in most minds and prevented them from understanding the dynamics of monotheism. Prophet Muhammad (S) “never speaks, but it is revelation revealed,” says God in Surat an-Najm (Holy Quran 53). Without an iota of doubt this is confirmation of the Prophet’s every single word by the One and Only Creator, Who among other things reminds humanity in the Holy Book about the creation of Adam and his appointment as vicegerent (khalifah) on earth with explicit orders for angels and the until then obedient genie Iblis, to prostrate to the first ever man. The Quran then tells us that all prostrated except Iblis who was cast out as the Satan for having disobeyed divine commandment by resorting to the warped reasoning of his fallible mind. The Quran cautions us against the seditious whispers of the ever-deceiving devil - granted respite by the All-Wise in order to test the faith of the children of Adam, whether they heed divine decrees or are misled by satanic reasoning. We read in the Holy Quran the prayer of Prophet Abraham (AS) after being appointed by God as Imam (Leader of Mankind) to keep this divinely ordained authority among his descendants. Prompt comes the reply that the imamate will never reach oppressors (of all kinds and various degrees even if it means living a part of life in ignorance of God’s commandments) We also read in the Holy Quran the prayer of Prophet Moses (AS) to God to make Aaron his legatee, a request that was granted since deputizing for the Prophet needs divine decree and not the choice of people who could be easy swayed by that avowed enemy of humanity, the Satan. The heavenly scripture then mentions how Satan deceived the Israelites (just delivered from the tyranny of Pharaoh) to ignore the divine appointee Aaron and worship the golden calf in a ‘democratic manner’ during the absence of Moses (AS) who was in meditation on Mount Sinai. We are also informed by God that it was He Who sent Prophet Jesus (AS) to guide the lost sheep of Israel but the treacherous Israelites ganged up against the Messiah in violation of divine commandments. Thus in view of these realities, the express commandment to Prophet Muhammad (S) to stop then and there in his tracks in the wilderness on 18th Dhul-Hejjah and proclaim a very important matter (more significant than prayer, fasting, zakat and other forms of worship that need no urgency). Moreover barely nine days ago the Prophet in his memorable sermon at Jabal ar-Rahmah (Mount of Mercy) in the plain of Arafat during the Hajj had informed the huge multitude that his days in the world were numbered and in order to prevent the ummah from going astray after him he was leaving behind amongst it the Thaqalayn (two weighty things). Although he specified these two as the Holy Quran and his progeny the Ahlul-Bayt, still a sort of ambiguity prevailed as to which person actually had the God-approved authority to be in charge of mankind’s affairs. Certainly, it is against the principle of Divine Justice to leave people groping in the dark. Thus in obedience to God’s commandment and after receiving assurance of safety from evildoers, Prophet Muhammad (S) recalled all those who had parted ways some hours earlier and waited for those who lagged still behind. At midday (in broad daylight) amongst a 140,000 strong gathering, he proclaimed those memorable words: “Man kuntu Mawlah fahadha Aliyun Mawlah (For whomsoever I am Master, this ‘Ali is his Master).” This was in fact a official declaration of all that he had formally and informally said about the prime position after him of his dear cousin Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) right from the day 23 years ago in Makkah when the barely 10-year old lad had stood up to voice support for his divine mission as the Prophet while the rest of the Arab gathering had mocked at him. The Day of Ghadir is thus a vital link in the chain of divine authority (wilayat) from Adam’s proclamation as khalifah to the promised advent of Imam al-Mahdi (AS) to establish the global government of justice, and ensures adherence to God’s Will, without which mankind is liable to fall into the dark abyss of Saqifah and all other democratically disguised devilish plots to confound the fate of humanity by that avowed enemy of mankind, the Satan. That was the reason that God swiftly sent Gabriel again that day with the tidings - amidst the greetings of the Prophet’s companions “bakhin bakhin laka Ya ‘Ali” (congratulations to you Oh ‘Ali), you are our Master and the Master of all true believers (Amir al-Momenin): “Today I have completed your religion for you, chosen Islam as your faith and perfected My favours upon you.” (Holy Quran 5:3)

Salam. I'm not sure what the solution to this problem is. If we try to remain a bit realistic here, I'm sure most would agree with me that most families would probably not feel so good about giving their precious daughters away to men who can't support them in manners that they'd like their daughters to be supported in. And that's a pretty fair concern, I think. You can't mass-change peoples' mentalities so the way I see it, the solution is that the men should gain some more confidence, and try their luck with women and their families until there's someone that will accept them and their financial status... On another note, I've noticed that people genereally like to divide things very black/white, put contrasts together or even create a relation between elements that have nothing to do with one another. Some examples: "poor and happy or rich and miserable?" "skinny and miserable or fat and happy?" "love or money?" (I especially never understood this one. What has love and money got to do with one another?) "religious but poor or infidel and rich?" etc. It's not fair to make it out to people that these are their only choices to choose from, and that one choice is always, unconciously, considered "the right choice". For instance, the person who'd say he or she chooses money over love would be considered a bad, materialistic person whereas a person who'd say he or she chooses love over money would be considered a sweet, sincere person with his or her priorities straight. The world is, thankfully, more abstract than this. Women don't have to choose between either poor, but good, men or rich, but bad, man...there is actually a grey zone: the good men who have an okay financial status. I guess you can say the grey zone of men is making things hard for the poor, but good, men and for the rich, but bad, man.

Salam. I didn't write down all the things that are important to me, I just gave you guys an idea of where my priorities lie. I agree with Marbles that labelling things as "unislamic" should be done parsimoniously. Wanting a financially stable man has nothing to do with distrusting Allah, subhana wa ta'ala, at all but everything to do with wanting to live comfortably. Note that I'm not asking for a billionaire, Palace and Ferrari, just for someone who's stable enough to financially support a family. I don't think there's anything unislamic about that, or any disrespectful tones towards Allah, subhana wa ta'ala, in that.

SubhanAllah, khudawand ezojal hamen is wilayat ki nemate uzma se istefade ki toufeeq ata frmae aur Syada--e-Konain Bibi Fatima zehra (sa) ki trha se pasdareye wilayat ka haq ada krne ki tarap paida frmae, k ham bhi Zahoore Maulae Asr (afh) k leye koshan ho sirf duaun se nahen apne hise ki koshish se, Aameen.

I will take that as a total failure to deal with the issue at hand. ;) Yah, the only legitimate government in the whole world is Iran's supposedly Islamic system. The rest are just following 'kuffr'. Nothing new. This is for the satisfaction and freedoms of the "insiders", the people of the Iran. I, in my position as a non-Iranian, am not going to insult the ordinary people with my support for those who suppress their individual rights regardless of whether the system has support from a small minority or 'among wide sectors of the masses'.

Bro, it will be easier to discuss matters of disagreement if you stop considering every other comment as a slap in the face. Anyways. . . As for Muslim scholars encouraging scientific advancements, well, science has advanced to the degree that it is blindly obvious to encourage and promote research and invention instead of obstructing it . Muslim scholars, Shia included, are not doing something out of the world. Even the scholars of Christianity, who were traditionally resistant to new scientific ideas no longer create barriers, save for some hardliners, when it comes to contraception, cloning, stem cell research, and even for much hyped hadron collider in Switzerland. The case of anti-science Christians religious men is comparable to the similar sort among Muslims only in the period when scientific inventions/discoveries were newly introduced to them. It came from the West and it was duly resisted. I am not sure about Shia scholars of Safavid era in Persia but Ottomon scholars rejected the printing press technology of Europe by calling it an 'instrument of the devil'. Same happened with loudspeakers and clocks. There have been religious edicts on the impermissiblity of owning a television set because it breached hijab for women in the house. Electricity was also handiwork of the devil because it caused death [if you touched a livewire], I can go on and on. That happened for no other reason but ignorance. The arguments which mullahs brought against those scientific inventions were supposedly "Islamic", or so the mullahs thought. The resistance to scientific inquiry is not exclusive to Christian clergy of the Middle Ages. Every organised religious community had its fair share of resistance. The good luck with Muslims is that it came to them when most of the things were so obvious that they couldn't be resisted. I wonder how would a Shia scholar in 988 C.E. have reacted to the proposal that it is not the sun that moves around the earth, but the earth that goes around the sun. Switch your mental time machine on, go back to the said year, and see how ridiculous this proposal sounds. Seestani and all other Shia maraji' in Iraq badly need your advice. They should stand up and turn Iraq into another Shia dominated theo-democracy just like Iran. They will get a big round or applause from the pro-WF. Bad analogy. I wouldn't want a gynecologist to operate on my eye. I wouldn't want masters of Islamic jurisprudence to run the political affairs of my country unless they can demonstrate their competence and popularity in a free and fair election.

Bro, Shia mujtahideen of the gone past would have smacked you hard if you had said the same to them. :P

Therein lies the fallacy. How did you assume that a great religious leader has necessary skills and expertise to either opine or lead a country inhabited by Muslims in 2009? In other words, why is the top job is restricted to religious scholars?

Come now, you're not as thick as that, are you? Here. Put the Qu'ran on a desk. Put your ear really close to it. Be perfectly silent. Listen. What do you hear? Nothing. The Qu'ran doesn't speak. It needs a human to read and interpret it. The Qu'ran literally says, "when the sacred months are over, kill the unbelievers wherever you find them." Do you go on a kill-crazy rampage each year? No? Why? Because you, and scholars you are confortable with interpret the text, in the context of the larger passage, and in the historical context in which it was revealed. Always there is this human mediation. We have narrations describing the sunnah of the prophet and aimmah. But does that talk for itself? No. There is a difference of time, space, culture, language, and technology between us and them. How do you close that gap? With human interpretation. Which interpretation? Whose interpretation is best? Well ... that's .. open to ... interpretation.

I find this dichotomy that is commonly advanced about a supposedly individualist West and a supposed collectivist Islam to be problematic. I question the basis for this in reality. It's not one pole or another. An individual is part of a community or nation, and the community or nation is made up of individuals. The growth of an individual is fostered by a healthy community, but the sustained growth and vibrancy of a community is conversely fostered by creative individuals with ideas and insights who are able to freely express and share their ideas. If you block the freedom of people to discuss and organize, you cut the risk of disruptive, corrosive influences and the ability of malevolent people to sow discord. But the cost of that is a harming of the ability of genuinely sincere people to meet and promote needed and benficial reform needed for the system as a whole to stay fresh and relevant. The Western nations promote individual liberties, but the reason they do this is because they believe a community in which people are free will ultimely make possible the best possible community. Their constitutions heavily promote individual freedoms, but also promote the power and duty of a government to promote the general welfare of the people. So this individualist vs collectivist notion is a false one. I'm also troubled that your line of argument and your turns of phrase are largely recycled communist thought with a few changes of vocabulary.

I suppose you could merely speak about the lives, actions, debates and sayings of the Holy Imams. These alone are enough to impress most people I think. The rest is really up to them. If you try to get into a theological debate at first, it may not go so well.

+1

No you don't. You believe in taking 1200 and 1400 year old statements addressed to social relations when most women could not read or write and applying them literally, with no consideration of this contextuality to a time when women make up the majority of university graduates even in Islamic nations. That's not "honest submission to the religion;" it's incompetent analysis of its texts.

False. Do you believe in Astrology ?

False. Do you believe in Aliens & UFO's.

True. Do you like painting ?

False. Are you a Procastinator ?

False. (Sucks) Are you a student ?

True. (A Bit) Are you Egoistic ?

False. Have you done sky diving ?

Inshallah ! False (I am what I am) Do you love yourself ?

False. :( Are you Haji ?

True (I Love). Do you like boating ?

False. (Only while praying) Do you pray regularly ?

True. (It an easier way to spend your time) :blush: Do you love reading ?

False. (I am Very bad at it) Do you like poets ?

False. (Never ) :mad: Do you Swim ?

True. (Playstation). Do you watch movies ?

True. What about Coffee ?

Since when is identity as a Shia determined by whether one has memorized Mafatih' al-jinaan? Since when is identity as a Shia determined by whether one regularly uses Mafatih' al-jinaan? Why would someone who doesn't use Mafatih' al-jinaan regularly (opening the text up for every wafat and mawlad) open it up to read the entry for Eid Ghadir in detail if noone had ever bothered to mention to him that Eid Ghadir has an importance on par with or higher than Eid Fitr or Eid Adha? Why would the average believer with family and job feel compelled to look that up if he has never been given any indication that it is to be considered as anything more than a minor, secondary eid? Maybe this is one of those things they only say in Arabic or Persian at the community centers? Then again, even if not, why would I even be moved to go out to the community center for the occasion when no one has bothered to communicate that Eid Ghadir has any importance more than a minor, secondary eid? If you're going to drop your akhlaq to the level of making baseless accusations and slander, this discussion is finished. If you can't take some basic constructive criticism about how you go about posting things, this discussion is finished. I try to offer you a little basic advice, and you start to question my faith? What is this? What is your problem? You're welcome to post a poll on the site to ask who has heard before of the notion that Ghadeer is "the greatest of eids."

Salam brother, I agree to some extent to what you say, but, Although this is an open site do remember I have posted in the Prophets and Ahlulbayt sub-Forum, not in other sub-Forums created specially for discussing subjects which people from other sects and religions or shia disagree on. The thread I created was never intended for this purpose. Although I have given references for my claims I never expected to see a fellow Shia brother questioning the fact that the Eid of Ghadir is the greatest of Eids. What surprised me more is that you think this claim is an "extraordinary claim". I am willing to create a completely new thread to discuss this subject thoroughly. I am sure we will both be enlightened and learn new things from each other. :angel: As i said brother this thread was written for Shias in mind. Just because the majority of muslims disagree it dosnt mean it is not a fact. The majority of Muslims also disagree that Imam Ali is the successor of the Prophet (pbuh) and Imam Mahdi even exists but their beliefs does not oblige me to first prove these facts then speak about them when I am speaking to a Shia audience who already have these beliefs. I thought the narrations I mentioned were enough as an explanation But here is a very simple one (Please note that I am speaking with you as a Shia): The five pillars of Islam are: Salat, Zikah, Fasting, Hajj and Wilayah. The most important one is Wilayah (I hope you agree with this) which sunnis don't even accept as being a pillar of Islam . Now: Eid al-Fitr is associated with Fasting. Eid al-Adh'ha is associated with Hajj. Eid of Ghadir is associated with wilayah. It is more rational that the Eid associated with the most important pillar is greater than the other Eids. In this case being Eid of Ghadir. Do you agree? Maybe the strong reaction is because you were brought up in a different society that I was? Any way Inshallah God guides us both by the Hands of Amir ulmomeneen. P.S. Feel free to ask any questions and to question any of my claims.B)

Salam, Here are a few of the narrations I've come upon. Hope it helps: I asked Imam al-Sadiq (as): "Do the Muslims have an Eid other than the day of Friday and al-Adhha and Fitr?" He answered: "Yes, and more respected (Holy) than those". I said: "May I be sacrificed for you, which Eid is that?" He answered: "The day that the messenger of Allah (pbuh) installed Amir-almo'mineen (as) and said 'He that I am his Mowla Ali (as) is his mowla." I said: "Which day is that?" He answered: "… It is the eighteenth of dhil hajjah." I said: "What shall we do in that day?" He said: "Remembering Allah in that day by fasting and worshipping and remembering Mohammad and his Family (pbuh). The messenger of Allah (pbuh) advised Amir-almo'mineen (as) to adopt that day as an Eid and likewise the other messengers of Allah used to order their vasi (heirs) the same thing and they would adopt it as an Eid." [1] The messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: "The day of Ghadir of Khum is the greatest Eid of my nation (ummah)." [2] Imam Sadiq (as) said: "The day of Ghadir is the greatest of Eids." [3] Imam Sadiq (as) said: "The day of Ghadir is the greatest Eid of Allah." [4] [1] al-Kulaini, al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 194. Al-majlesi, Bihar ul-Anwar, vol. 37, p. 172. Al-Ameli, Vasail ul-Shia, vol. 10, p. 440. [2] Al-majlesi, Bihar ul-Anwar, vol. 37, p. 109. Al-majlesi, Bihar ul-Anwar, vol. 94, p. 110. Seyyed ibn Tavous, al-Iqbal, p. 466. Al- Saduq, al-amaali, p. 125. [3] Al-Saduq, Al-Khisal, vol. 2, p. 394. Al-majlesi, Bihar ul-Anwar, vol. 56, p. 26. Al-majlesi, Bihar ul-Anwar, vol. 94, p. 110. [4] Al-Toosi, Al-Tazhib, vol. 3, p. 143. Al-Ameli, Vasail ul-Shia, vol. 8, p. 89 also vol. 10, p. 442. Al-majlesi, Bihar ul-Anwar, vol. 30, p. 368, vol. 31, p. 127, vol. 37, p. 156, vol. 95, p. 302, vol. 95, p. 321, vol. 95, p. 354.

I've no words to express my sympathies for your loss of such a radiant blessing. All I can say, it's heartrendingly beautiful tribute - perhaps, as beautiful as your son.

Zahratul and Calm - man I don't understand how drinking coffee would result in weight loss. My 5/6 cups of coffee a day plus many mugfulls of tea have no effect on my jelly belly. Wish I could also do that without working my arse off in the gym. LOL

This is an adviceless post so ignore if you don't want to waste your time :P To kid you not, right now I am drinking my, ummm, I think 5th cup of coffee of the day. The big cup, actually mug, of tea with 3 teabag fulls that I had in the morning is separate. This is my winter intake for the last 4 years and I have not once felt even the slightest bit of addiction to caffeine or whatever other drug this stuff contains. In summers, I just drink two cups of tea a day. No coffee at all. The weird bit is that I can go without tea and coffee for days and not feel an iota of difference in my body functions. Perhaps I'm immune to that? :unsure: Oh I have seen people drinking litres of coffee in the hope that it will keep them going till late during exams. Maybe it works for them but I have discovered during my academic years that no amount of tea or coffee can keep me active if I am indeed yearning for bed. It just doesn't work for me. Sorry dear, I just can't relate to your problem. :blush: But yeah, sis smiley makes a lot of sense.

Meri itnaaaaa sara khayaal rakhnay walee itneeeee achee walee adee. . . :salam: Pehlay tou kaan pakarr ke ma'afee mangoon ke main itnaaaaay saray dinon ke liye bagher bataaye rawposh ho gayaa. iraada tou na thaa magar soorat-e-haalat aisee banee ke koi soorat-e-halaat nazar nah aayee. Mera mujh jaisa boorrhaa computer javaab de gayaa. uss ke gittay goday jorr, sab nakaara ho gaye. ilaaj karaata raha magar afaaqa naa hua. ooper se uni ka kaam. meer ke ishq ke bhaaree pathar sa. aur main thehra hatta katta naa-natavaan. uss ke bhi aur ooper: kaam, kaam, kaam, kaam, kaam aur kuch mazeed kaam. Full time learning with Full time earning. ye kisi desi kaalay ka hee kaam ho sakta hai. is baat ka kisi gori chamrree se zikr karo tou aankhen phaarr kar U JOKIN' EH? keh kar ttattha karta hai. so idher chaupaal main dosto se milnay naa aa sakaa tou bass naa hee aa sakaa. bass ye khulaasa daastaan-e-gham kaa. baqee, aaj xmas day hai. sajaa hua sheher magar sunaan. kahaan jayen? dil chahta hai khaak ho kar bikhar jaayen. . .abhi do haftay baad pehlay module ke parchay hain. sar pe aan banee hai. dua kijiye gaa. khusoosan. har namaaz ka baad. dher saree der tak. naam le kar. Allah buhat ajar de gaa. jaa-o-izzat de gaa. chahat-o-muhabbat de gaa. aur ye ghareeb ye sab duaen de gaa. aap kahiye na. kaisee guzar rahee hai? kuch nayaa? khaas? accha? ba kamaal? behtareen? ehem? qabil-e-zikr? qabil-e-sitaaish? ya'ani chotay/chotee ke sifarveen salgirah kab hai? bak bak band karta hoon :blush: