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I wish I could punch people out through the computer.

(salam) I know I've posted this before but it seems as thought not many people read it, so I will again try my best to get people to read this. It's not some small matter, it's everything. Your live life with it or with out it. You think the imam (as) would choose some one who can't even hold his tongue for his army? Think again. This is only for our benefit, can people just leave ego's out of the equation. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) and his Ahlulbayt (as), the pinnacle of creation, were sent down to complete the infallible religion of Islam. To do this they themselves must be infallible so that no flaws arise, simple logic.. So what does that have to do with Akhlaq? To first attempt to even improve our Akhlaq we must have something to compare it against so that we know what level we’re at and what needs to be done for this improvement to happen, in practical terms. (actually everything we do) What better comparison than our beloved ma’soom? Because they do not sin, they are perfect in every way. They are our set examples, like our fathers we must obey them but also make it so that we try to be like them in every aspect. We know that they are perfect and therefore the level of Akhlaq shown by them is second to none. So by accepting their perfection in all aspects is the first step to improving our selves. Allah (SWT) speaks about the importance of good conduct in the holy Qu’ran: ‘And say to My servants (that) they speak that which is best.’ (17:53) ‘Worship Allah, and do not associate partners with him. And be good to your parents, and the relatives, and to the orphans, and to the poor people, and the neighbor that is close to you and the neighbor that is not close to you, and your companion on the journey.’ (4:36) These verses remind us that we must show good conduct and morals especially to others e.g. Parents, neighbors, orphans, relatives, friends and even enemies. There are also numerous Hadith about Akhlaq, I will post a few that highlight that this is no small matter but rather Akhlaq is VITAL to our religion, as I will explain. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) has said: ‘I have been sent by Allah to teach people good manners.’ Imam Ali (as) said, ‘O Believer! This knowledge and good manners are the value of your soul so strive to learn them, for however much your knowledge and good manners increase, so will your value and worth accordingly.’ Sulayman-ibn-Mahran said that he visited Imam Sadiq (as) while some of the followers (Shi’a) were attending him (as) and he heard that the Imam (as), addressing them, said,‘(Behave) to be as ornaments for us and not to be against us as shame. Tell people of goodness, and protect your tongues and hold it from excessive talk and offensive speech.’ Just by using a few hadith to back up what is in the Qu’ran and we find Akhlaq is a ‘must’ and not to be taken lightly. As well as looking at the example set by our beloved (as). Lets go back and take a look at the time the Prophet (pbuh) had not yet announced prophethood. You’ll find that their Akhlaq was perfect, they became known as the honest & trustworthy and this was shown through their actions. If the Prophet (pbuh) had bad Akhlaq, nausubilah, then people would have doubted the Prophet (pbuh) at a later date. This example is perfect as it shows Akhlaq, in fact, is everything.. If a ‘religous’ man/female has no Akhlaq then people would be turned off, not just by you but Islam as well. So please for the sake of your lord and his chosen faithful servants keep good Akhlaq in everything you do and everyone you meet.. INCLUDING SHIACHAT (wasalam)

I love old people, they're so cute ^_^

Thought: the same woman had said salaam alykum to me once last week and again today while I'm walking to school.. I'm not sure if she knows me from somewhere or if she is just saying saalam to a fellow Muslim (which I think is recommended?) I would've asked, but I'm usually so into my thoughts that I become startled so I'm only able to mumble a reply... Either way, it made me smile :D

Thoughts: Don't depend too much on anyone in this world.. Coz even your shadow leaves you when you're in Darkness... :rolleyes:

masha'Allah @ his humility

Thunderstorms. :wub:

mashaAllah taking time off for Imam Hussein (as) ^_^ May Allah (swt) help you succeed in your work insha'Allah and may Muharram be a month of blessing and sadness (for Imam Hussein (as)) insha'Allah Though: I cannot wait till Muharram :cry:

(salam) LOL, does anyone else find the flashing lights in the first gun just adding to the humor of the video? Plus, epic fail with the gun's sound being in English-

Best thing Al-Mufeed taught me was a farsi saying - Wuzu bidoon wilayat ab bazeest. Wuzu without believing in wilayat is like playing with water. :yaali:

Sorry for the late response Eid and family duties delayed me from answering your questions. (1) im sorry if you were hoping to keep this a secret forever, but you should have known it would be the very first thing i asked. you once flew to kuwait, and from kuwait, over several weeks/ months, you WALKED TO KARBALA. please tell us this ziarah, in as much detail as possible, right down to the number of times you scratched your head. I think you may have been misinformed, I was originally planning to do the walk from the Kuwait border/basra to Karbala, but unfortunately due to a number of reasons out of my control I was not able to do it. It is a life time goal though, I hope that Imam Hussain invites me to see him again and allows me the honor of being among those who walk long distances and strive through difficulties to see him. The late Marja – Sayed Burujardi (as reported by his students and friends) in his later years had a severe eye problem that hindered him in his studies/teaching. He went for ziyarat in Iraq and there while he was in the south of Iraq he came across a group of zuwar on a train that had made the trip to karbala from various cities barefoot. One of them was asleep and he had some mud on his feet which had collected from his trip. Sayed Burujardi says he took some of the mud off the foot of the man and then asked for the shifa’a of Imam Hussain and rubbed the mud on his eye, and instantly his vision problem was corrected. He used to tell everyone about this story, as a reminder of the blessings of making the ziyarat of aba abdillah . That ziyarat trip was a very blessed one for me, even though I was unable to do the long walk as I had planned. There are many people who do not understand things of this nature, ie spending 8-9 days walking to see Aba Abdillah (as). I have a friend in najaf, a shaikh who is a teacher at the howza and a fairly well known speaker in Iraq who recites the tragedy of Imam Hussain (as). Every year he walks from najaf to Karbala barefoot through the hot desert. Even his own students at the howza question him about it, and say he is an educated scholar etc, why is he doing such things? He would tell them that for imam hussain (as) it is worth it, even if it means walking for days in hot desert sands and burning his feet. فَاخْلَعْ نَعْلَيْكَ ۖ إِنَّكَ بِالْوَادِ الْمُقَدَّسِ طُوًى “put off thy shoes: thou art in the sacred valley Tuwa” During my trip I was able to visit the various shrines, and ask for my needs. I find the haram of aba abdillah to be a most amazing place. Every Friday night (Thursday night by solar calendar) it is full of people, I mean full to the extent where you can barely move around. The narrations say the Angels come there, and probably the Imam is there along with holy servants who are unknown to us. It is beautiful to be there on Friday nights, looking around and wondering where the Imam may be. There are so many people sometimes it almost feels like you cannot breathe, and it makes you think of the Day of Judgment. Everyone is standing around crying and praying, some people are even screaming, but there are so many people every one is drowned out and you don’t pay any attention to anyone else, and you just focus on yourself. Every time my eyes see the haram it burns my heart. When I was in karbala I would spend several hours a day at the haram, and when I am not there I try and make ziyarat to Aba Abdillah (as) every day at home or at work, or where ever I am. (2) did you attend formal islamic education (in a hawza)? if so, where, who were your teachers, how long did you attend and so on? if not, where do you hope to go? I have attended formal Islamic education. I have spent some ime studying in Karbala, as well as Najaf and I have done some corispondence studies with various scholars in qum. The howzas where I actually studied at were – howza imam sadiq (as) and madressa amir al mumineen – which is a very old school in Najaf, fairly close to the shrine. My teachers were good, they were good people, pious and knowledgable scholars. I don’t think anyone would recognize them if I mentioned their names. If Allah allows me the opportunity I would like to go back in to my studies, I would like to spend some time in Mashad if possible, and some time in qum as well, perhaps with periodic stayes in Iraq. If it were in my hands I would like to spend my life in the howza. (3) what do you say to those whose mission it is to stop people like us doing aza? There is nothing much I can say except to parrot the words of Allah (swt) يُرِيدُونَ أَن يُطْفِئُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَيَأْبَى اللَّهُ إِلَّا أَن يُتِمَّ نُورَهُ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ They wish to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will not agree except that He will perfect His light, even if the disbelievers hate it. (4) what is the best way for the youth to prepare for the awaited imam (atf)? Follow the shariah properly. The answer is as simple as that. Everything else is secondary. Before going on to all the recommended things, they should get them selves to the level where they are fulfilling the wajib things and stopping the haram things in their lives. This means prayer, paying their khums, following all the rules of halal and haram, obeying their parents etc. Just all of this alone is a full time job for most people, and from my personal experience the majority of people barely ever got past this level. Some people will spend their whole lives and still not be able to due all their prayers on time etc. No one is massom, but a mumin person should be adil, they have to stop performing the sins, and do the wajibat. I think people are very foolish, they think that they will be with the Imam (as) even though they commit a dozen sins a day and do not care for their salat. Imam hussain (as) died for the establishment of Salat. People do not care for salat, and this would be the biggest advice I would give to the youth, take care of your prayer. Allah (swt) says in the quran: وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ ۖ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ Establish the prayer, for surely prayer is what wards off evil and debauchery Prayer is the tent pole of religion according to the narrations, and the prophet (pbuh) said that some one who abandons prayer is not a muslim, and that the difference between kufir and iman is salat. Also imam sadiq in the very well known narration states that the people who do not take their prayer seriously will not receive the shifa’a of ahlululbayt. And as we know through the narrations this is the only key to heaven (shifa’a of ahlulbayt). Allah also says in the quran: فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَن صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ Woe (wail) on the prayer makers Those who are unmindful of their prayers. Imam Sadiq (as) says that this verse refers to people who do pray, but do not take their prayer seriously. When the time for prayer comes they delay their prayer, even though they have no excuse. Also you should note here that wail is also a destination of hell, and imam sadiq (as) says that Allah never uses wail against a people unless they are disbelievers. Meaning those who do not take prayer seriously are considered to be among the disbelievers (as is also noted in various narrations.) Most of us will not even take a few hours out of our lives to study the fiqh rules of prayers and even learn them properly. What does that say about our position? I have found that to be the case with 90% of youth, they do not even know how to perform the prayer properly, nor do they know the rules associated with the clothes of prayer, place of prayer etc. They can spend 4 hours a day watching t.v or playing video games but not spend that much time to even learn how to pray correctly and learn the mustahabat of the prayer, but then they think that they will be with the imam when he returns? In a well known narration the prophet (pbuh) said if a person does not pray correctly and they die with out correcting their prayer, they will not die on his religion. So to re-iterate, the youth should learn and follow the rules of the religion correctly – with a major emphasis on salat. That would be my best advice for them. Other than that they should marry early to keep themselves away from sins, and allow them to mature quickly and be able to better focus on the various aspects of religion. (5) have you met any mujtahids/ marjas? can you tell us of your meetings? Yes I have met some. Several mujtaheads, and a few maraja. My meetings have been fairly short. Largely just giving my greetings and exchanging a few kind words. I have yet the opportunity to sit down and discuss anything in depth with any of the. 6) who is hajj abbas, why must we know who he is when we go karbala? Well hajj abbas was an individual I told you about, and suggested you try and meet him when/if you go to the holy city of karbala. He is an elderly man who is well known to the locals. He lives near a hotel called Jannatul Hussain (very easy to find,its next to the haram of Abbas and its probably the most famous hotel in karbala). In order to find Hajj Abbas, you would just have to ask one of the locals in that area, and they will guide you to his home. He is a very pious and kind man. His parents bore him through a nadhir that they took at the shrine of Abal Fadhlul Abbas . Because of that they named him Abbas and they dedicated him to be a life long servant to the shrine. He spent his entire life serving the visitors of Abul Fadhlil Abbas and performing the various duties in the shrine. He is now too old for that and spends his time at home. He is an exceptionally pious man, and when you meet him you can sense that. People visit him from various parts of the world, because his duas for people seem to almost always come true. Allot of people from Iran visit him for that, especially women who cannot give birth. Nearly every day he has dozens of visitors at his home asking for him to make dua for them. He also recently finished a book where he compiled all the various amazing and miraculous things that he saw in his life time at the shrines of Abbas and Imam Hussain . He shared a beautiful story with us about a poor man who had walked barefoot to the shrine of Abbas (as) from a village some where in the south of Iraq. He was present in the haram when the man walked in, he came in crying and his feet where mangled and blistered from the long trip. He went to the gate of the grave and threw him self on it and started crying and speaking loudly. He said my master Abbas (as) I have come all this way just to see you. I don’t have any hajaat that I want to ask, all I wanted was to come to visit you and see your grave. But I am your guest and I know that you always take care of your guests, you are the son of Ali (as). This guest of yours has hurt his feet, could you please help with that? – And he told us that he saw with his own eyes the feet of the man suddenly heal up, and the people who were there threw themselves on the man and started crying and tearing at his clothes. (7) how did you get the mod/ admin job at sc? how do you find it? have you ever met Ali (the owner)? Other mod/Admins recommended me to be one (the bribes probably helped). To be honest, its just like being a regular member, not much different, except you have the responsibility of attending to issues on the forum where people break rules. I have never met Ali, may be one day inshaAllah. (8) what is your long term goal in life? When I was younger I used to always think I would like to do this or that in my life, but as I got older I realized that pretty much everything is in the hands of Allah, and you never know what situation you are going to end up in, all you can really control is how you act in it. At this point my main goal is to just die – with out having any religious debts to Allah, or monetary/religious debts to people. If I can do that, ie fulfill my wajib duites to Allah and the people I interact with in my life, then I would be more than satisfied. (9) how did you become an azadar of maula hussain as a child, who taught you, who inspired you? Who ever told you I was an azadar of Imam is lying. I could never count myself among those who properly mourn Imam Hussain This is a heavenly duty that according to the narrations is done by prophets, shaheeds, Angels and all the blessed and noble creatures of Allah. I could never be counted among this group. There is a narration where imam sadiq has stated that mourning for Imam Hussain is a right that the Imams demand from us. I can not even fulfil the rights of my own body, and that of my family etc, how in the world can I fulfill the rights of the imam (as)? (10) is it rude for a deaf person to use sign language with their mouth full of food? If the person located in a place where its culturally rude to speak while eating, then yes, I would say it probably is. (I wanted to apologize for not putting the correct form of respect after the names of holy personalities in this post, the forum limits the amount of time you can use emotions, and alayhisalam and peace be upon him etc are considered to be emotions, so i was forced to erase many of them to make the post actually post)

(salam) Will you count the brave sons, who on that day were felled; Or those who stood witness as the sisters were unveiled? How many times did the empty cradle swing before it went mute; And the scavenging animals, disguised as men, carried it for loot? For how long did the children's cries of 'Uncle!' 'Uncle' go Before they realised uncle was not coming back from the shore? 'Abbaas kneels at the shore, weakened by war and thirst, Then empties his cupped hand at the thought of being quenched first. Sukayna asked the way to Najaf, the burial place of Allah's friend, To tell him of her pain and grief, which no one else could mend. The birds fell out of the skies in their blinding sorrow, Oh the calamity, the atrocities to be done on the morrow! Ali Akbar, the comfort of the mothers has been slain, Now the vandals clamor and call for the blood of Husain. Hurr, the faithful slave from his debt has been freed, As the last breaths of life from his gaping wounds bleed. As-Sajjaad can barely walk, yet no one takes pity, And he is dragged in chains, all the way to yazid's city. O Believer! The true men of God on this earth are numbered, At the call of Husain, did you awake or remain those who slumbered? 'Husain was martyred and his blood spelt it out for all times: Allah is One! Thus we hold to the path, and wait for him at whose hand justice will be done. -S- http://scentedscroll.blogspot.com/2011/10/count-part-ii.html Link to Part I here (wasalam)

And your argument seems to be "I am just going to assume I am right and ignore all the basic reasons why I'm wrong." This is the dumbest thread ever.

I think Replicant has said all that is needed and I am locking this thread.

Yes, sure we can - when they've done something blatantly wrong. Over here, he has done nothing wrong. Something may seem rude to YOU, but that doesn't mean it's rude generally. It is similar to Indian culture - when they meet an elder, they go down to touch their feet out of respect, even though they know they have a chance that the elders will reject them. The Prophet (pbuh) met with people whose culture used to be to greet you by pulling your beard and putting their knees on your lap. To you, that would seem rude, but the Prophet (pbuh) didn't say anything and accepted the culture. If you meet Sayed Sistani, he doesn't often smile but he's still very warm. Please stop judging him in such a negative, you don't know how much this man has served Islam and the level of piety he has. Once you reach a small fraction of his level, then you might be able to say something. The Prophet (pbuh) said "If you knew what I know, you would never smile." Sayed Sistani realises the burden he has on his shoulders with the following he has, so it would be very hard to laugh and smile all the time when he knows how much responsibility he has. It's not like he NEVER smiles - you can find pictures of him smiling, and people who have met him have also seen him smile plenty of times (such as myself). Forget the fact he's an Ayatollah - it's rude to find faults in ANY believer.

Thoughts: I hate it when people mistake humility for weakness. Thoughts: Mario Puzo - "there was no greater natural advantage in life than having an enemy overestimate your faults, unless it was to have a friend underestimate your virtues." Or directly from The Godfather, "Let your friends underestimate your virtues. Let your enemies overestimate your faults."

Maybe not an official representative, but what Syed Sistani does certainly effects the perception of outsiders on the Shia. Also, any person who people go to get rulings from etc. is "acting" as the Imam. (In the loosest sense of the word)

salawat for IMAM MAHDI (AJF)

if iranians are jews, saudis are from pigs. may Allah curse saudi wahabbis

this has been posted b4...

Yeah mutah and zanjr threads have only been posted once :P Na first time ive seen it tho :) alhamdhulilah. May Allah swt bless ayatullah sistani.

People need to grow up

Go onto your marja's website and read through everything he says about prayers, you are gonna be in for a shock if after years of praying you find out they are void due to you being ignorant of a rule. Alhamdulillah I found out sooner rather than later.

Nice to see someone specializing in a meaningful topic other than mut'a :lol:

Time...grows on the shore A wise tree...watching My life...flows along I feed the twisted roots Wisdom is the sticky sap That nourishes the flying bug It's a world of paradox The beetle carries it in its horns

Where can I buy this toy?

Salams, I think women should have the right to choose whether to do mutah or not. The problem is that now, they don't have that right. Their family and their cultural dogmas decide it for them, and Islam is disregarded. The main problem is that women who are previously married, either in mutah or permenant are seen as 'damaged goods'. This is not only the Indian/Pakistani culture, but other S.Asian societies and the Arabic socieities. This idea comes from the days of jahiliyah, where women were seen as not human, but merely as a 'product' or possession like a horse or goat. Their value was judged based on their physical characteristics, and this value was propagated and accepted by society. Just like a horse or a goat, they were judged based on how tender their meat was, how much milk they produced(if a goat or cow), and the quality of their wool (for sheep). They had no intrinsic value, they were simply a possession. Islam is what gave women intrinsic value and status as a human being. It is our Prophet (pbuh) that taught us that we should not kill baby girls and that we should respect women and treat they like we would want to be treated. If a women is judged based on the presence or absence of a hymen (virginity membrane), then assigned a value based on that, then that means her family, her community, and herself(if she accepts that) is still going based on the values and norms of jahiliyah and then calling it 'Islam'. If a women was not judged and commodified based on this physical characteristic, then I think that the problem would solve itself and a women would get married when she choose to and not based on these remnants of jahiliyah that are still present in our society. The least that our sisters could do is recognize this as jahiliyah and speak out against it. It seems that now many of them accept being viewed like a horse or goat, and this is the sad part. So the service that a faithful (muslima) wife provides is unlimited in value. A wife who is kind and loving to her husband and sees to his needs while making herself anonymous to other men preserves Islam and preserves sociey. She keeps her husband from haram and also strenghtens the bonds between families and within the community. She also increases her own Iman and becomes heir to paradise in the next life. If she becomes a mother and raises good children by teaching them and guiding them without being overly harsh or abusive, then she is guaranteed paradise (paradise is at the feet of mothers, Hadith from our Holy Prophet). So she is far above what the 'pricetag' the society or community or her family puts on her hymen. She is more noble as a creation of Allah(s.w.a) than to be valued or evaluated in that way. But many of our sisters 'buy into' this jahiliya system which still dominates our communities. If you study biology, you will see that they only difference between a virgin and a non-virgin is a very thin piece of skin, which is almost undetectable. Any part of her body that was in contact with her previous husband is no longer a part of her body after her iddah is over. The simple reason is that the husband only comes in contact with the outermost layer of her skin (inside and outside), the epidermis. These cells are shed off the body on a regular basis and after two to three months, they are gone completely and a new set of cells has already grown. So from a biological point of view, after the end of her iddah, and for all practical purposes, the virgin and non virgin are virtually identical. Something to think about.

This doesn't make sense. You can't punish someone for a crime they have committed in another country. It's not like he came to Saudi and started doing 'sorcery'. He was doing umrah and his experience of umrah might have made him a better person and turn religious.

Lol, the Syed never smiles anyways. It's not necessarily like that. You might not know he's gonna reject you, but yeahh, its fine in our culture. Like, on Eid day, I kiss my grandparents hands, but sometimes my grandfather doesn't let me - exactly like what the Syed did. Its normal, noone gets offended :)

Location for Hassanain Rajabali's lectures this Muharram for all those who want to attend: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=269084856461197

Shake hands in formal settings if you do not want to make a spectacle of yourself. Allah isn't your average mullah with a holy beard. He understands.