haidermpr

We have strong Hadith from Imam Sadiq (عليه السلام) that when Imam Mahdi (aj) reappeares his claim is clear as sun in clear sky of noon & he doesn't need to prove himself 

(bismillah)
The question of why only 12 Imams is a difficult one to answer. I would consider this a non-rational element of our beliefs. That is to say that our rational faculty could not possibly deduce why only 12. For the same question could be posed in regards to why only 124,000 prophets. Why not keep that same system of guidance of prophethood till the Day of Resurrection. It's one that we simply do not possess the ability to rationalize. As I could say that 13 Imams would have been better and provided a case as to why it would have been so. And another person could bring forth an argument in which 1 Imam would be the best scenario. Only Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) knows and His Wisdom cannot be comprehended.
However, what we can do, like you mentioned in your post, is to rationally concluded that an Imam must exist and that he must be infallible (at the very least in regards to his action and words). So, rationally speaking, we could say that Allah ( سبحانه و تعالى) must provide us with Divine Guidance at all times and for that to be relatable to humans (i.e. The guidance must also come in human form). With this, we try and live according to the famous and widely-acknowledged hadith of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). The hadith which states that one must adhere to two forms of Divine Guidance in order to stay clear from error, The Noble Qur'an and the Ahlul Bayt (as). This reaffirms our rationally-derived statement that Allah ( سبحانه و تعالى) must provide us with humans who can guide us to the right path. And His Book to act as a miracle proving the veracity of their claim as "heirs to the Prophet (pbuh)" (i.e. they must not contradict the dictates of His Book).
So, yes we can conclude that an Imam must exist at all times to guide the Ummah. However, such questions as to how he guides the Ummah, how many Imams there are, who exactly are they, how much knowledge do they have, what is their status and position, along with thousands of other theological queries cannot be rationally-derived. For these questions, we must refer to the traditions that have so far reached us. Hope this helps.
(wasalam)

Your idea is completely wrong ,Holy Qur'an clearly says we only can from food of people of book & Muslims , any wet contact by an unbleiver to anything make everything Najis specially food because of this rulling wahhbist/Salafis  say people must not eat from food of Shias although we are Muslims but they don't have problem eating impure food of unbleivers like as atheists.

Bismehe Ta3ala,
Assalam Alikum.
May I live to see the end of House of Sauood.  Insh'Allah the two holy sites will be freed from the impure Nawasib.   
God hasten the appearance of Imam, Al aman al aman ya sahab al zaman.
M3 Salamah, FE AMIN Allah

This question can be answered in two parts:
A) Hajj is one of the greatest worships that one can borrow money for, and there are hadiths by the infallibles regarding the permissibility of borrowing for it in hadith sources.[1]
B) Another issue that arises here is that since financial capability is one of the conditions of this worship becoming obligatory, will a Hajj performed out of getting a loan count as the Hajj that is mandatory for everyone to perform once in their lifetime? In other words, does this Hajj count as the wajib Hajj?
The view of many of the maraje’ regarding this question is as follows:
If one can't afford to perform Hajj, and borrows money for it, he still won't be considered [religiously] capable, even if he can easily pay back the loan later.[2] If he performs Hajj with it, it won't suffice for his Hajjatul-Islam [the wajib Hajj].[3] Of course, some marja’s, such as Ayatullahs Khu’I, Golpaygani, Fazel Lankarani, Khamene’I, Safi Golpaygani, and Zanjani believe that if someone borrows enough money to afford going to Hajj and can easily repay the money, Hajj will become wajib upon him.
  [1] Kuleini, Muhammad bin Yaqub, Kafi, vol.4, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah, Tehran, 1365 (solar).
[2] Imam Khomeini’s viewpoint, see: Manasek Hajj (annotated by Imam Khomeini), pg. 35, Mash’ar Publications, Tehran, 1380 (solar).
[3] Manasek Hajj (annotated by Imam Khomeini), pg. 25, issue 20.
https://www.islamquest.net/en/archive/question/fa14068

It has been mentioned in the Prophet's sake that when Saad bin Ma'azz died , Prophet went into the grave and said constantly: "give stone, give mud" until the seams filled the clay and The grave was paved. It would seem that the Prophet made the grave so good that the companions were amazed at why they were all solid in making a grave! So the Prophet said:
إنّی لَأعلم أنّه سیبلی و یصلُ إلیه البَلی و لکنّ الله یحبُّ عبداً إذا عَملَ عملاً أحکمَه
I know that he will soon be worn and kink; but God loves a servant who does it right because he does something.
Prophet Muhammad (pbu)
نّ الله تعالی یحبّ مِن العاملِ إذا عَمِلَ أن یحسِن
Allah loves that any worker who works works good
إذا صلّیتَ فأحسِن رُکوعَک و سُجودَک و إذا صُمتَ فتَوقَّ کلَّ ما فیه فسادُ صَومِک
Imam Sadiq (as):beneficence, this is , when you pray, do your bowing and prostration in best way, and whenever you fast, take away from everything that your  is destroying your fasting.
https://hawzah.net/fa/Magazine/View/3881/5524/52708/خوب-کار-کردن-و-کار-خوب-کردن(بحثی-درباره-ضرورت-کمال-گرایی)
Why is Shia the best religion?
 
Question Why is Shia the best religion? I am a follower of the Shia religion but I do not know what the superiority of Shia religion over Wahabism is. I am afraid lest we should be part of the 72 misguided Muslim sects. How can I be sure about it? Concise answer The superiority of the Shia religion is because of its being the "true" religion and there is only one true religion in all times and ages. As for other religions, they are either invalid and baseless or defunct and abrogated. Today, the true and righteous religion is the religion of Islam which manifests itself in Shi'ism. Indeed, it is only the teachings of the Shia religion that can depict the pure Muhammadan Islam.
 
Historical evidences and religious texts confirm the point that we mentioned, and Wahabism lacks this feature.
Detailed Answer
https://www.islamquest.net/en/archive/question/fa2163
why I shouldnt turn my back on ahlu sunnah?
we know all sects of Islam as Muslims like a sphere that some of them are close to center of it that is Qur'an & Ahalulbayt (عليه السلام)  & the rest are around it that some sects are closer & some of them are farther but all are Muslims 
 

Apologies if I'm being presumptuous  here, but if by that you saying you are Somali, I know for a fact that others like you do exist, including one I know irl.
I've been there and know experienced these internal conflicts. I know it sounds cliche, but really, follow your heart.
Baaically it got to a point where I felt by continuing to follow the Sunni narrative and practise - I felt deep down that I was lying to myself. No covering it up or ignoring worked. It's not a nice feeling knowing you are lying to yourself, you just know.
Gradually I found myself moving closer without realising and have no regrets.
I think the fact you no longer identify as Sunni but a Shiat Ali is telling, you are there in your heart, the rest of you needs to catch up, insha'Allah.
One day, when you feel ready, take the plunge and visit your nearest Shia mosque or centre if you have not already, you will see nothing but genuine love for the Rasool (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and his family (عليه السلام), you can also ask away with any questions you feel are holding you back.
Sometimes I still visit my old Sunni mosque, it does not quite feel the same and I realise how "muted" it is in comparison, no salawats. 
You only realise these things looking back having experienced being with those who love ahlulbait (عليه السلام)
Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) knows best
 

Assalam alaikum. Im looking to become a Shia after a lot of debating and thinking, Ive come to the conclusion that the best path to me to follow is the path of Qur'an and Ahlul Bayt as is mentioned in both Sunni and Shia hadith. Only thing is, whats holding me back is my lack of knowledge so to speak. From my understanding, everything we do from salah to wudhu is different. On top of that, I come from a very salafi indoctrinated ethnicty and I know that backlash and ostracism are only to be expected. I havent officialy accepted the Shia view of Islam yet but at the same time I don’t really consider myself from ahlu sunnah anymore. to be honest im in denial but I think sooner or later ill consider myself a shiatu Ali (عليه السلام) any thoughts on why I should become a full fledge Shia or why I shouldnt turn my back on ahlu sunnah?

Salam nobody in hadith claimed that it was Saudi King but attributes in hadith is matching with them but it can be about another ruling family  anyway I agree with rest of your word but it's a feeling between us that is near inshaAllah.

Wa alaikum as salam,
First of all, we Shia believe and have firm belief on this that all 14 are infallible and hence they are free from all sorts of even mistakes forget about wrongdoings of any sorts.
I also read other thread where arguments were going on between brethren based on assumptions, facts and figures.
We need to understand, that majority of historical work was written during the Oppressive regimes of Umayyad and Abbasid and hence we can’t take everything from these historical accounts on face value. Instead we need to weigh them against traditions available from Ahlebait (عليه السلام) and our own AQL. 
All Imam (عليه السلام) did/doing things as per order/wishes of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) and hence we can’t presume that they could/would have done similarly or differently based on circumstances. Rather than giving any example from life of Imam (عليه السلام), I would like to quote incident of Prophet Mohammed (saww) himself-the fountainhead of Ahlebait (as)- He asked the followers to be ready for pilgrimage and moved towards Makkah and after reaching close to Makkah they returned back without pilgrimage after signing the Treaty of Hudaibiya. 
This incident proves without doubt that Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) can change his order/wish to be performed/conveyed by same/different messenger/Prophet/Imam and we don't need to question all this. we just need to submit to His orders/wishes conveyed to us through His messenger/Prophet/Imam.
Now come to second question whether all Imam are same are different-
Once Prophet (saww) told us to believe that all of them Mohammed that means all of them are same in every aspect of life without any doubt. Merely having different way of living doesn't mean they are different instead they were/are doing their work as per wishes of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) in their lifetime.

Of course they do. 
You know what I think? I think whoever wants a war should go fight it themselves, leave innocent poor young men out of it, just presidents and prime ministers and kings, in a battle of strength and wits. 
I'm ok with it being paintball or laser tag. Nobody has to die, just killing people to take their stuff is stupid and primitive. Humans should have grown beyond that by now. 

Salam all Shia mosques in Bahrain belongs to before time of Al-Khalifa regime all of them made from old time until Pahlavi dynasty that Shah of Iran gifted it to british & American agents in name of independence but after establishing Al-Khalifa dynasty in Bahrain ,they stated to demolishing Shia mosque that in recent years this process accelerated by them anyway separating Bahrain from Iran was painful for all Iranians that even now some of anti Iranian regime groups are claiming that want to fix this error & return Bahrain to Iran in any cost  .

1. I quote  the example of the Prophets who are all chosen representatives of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) delivering the same message of Islam and they played their role in the different circumstances.The Qur'an mentions the following verse for them:
آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِ ۚ وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ
Shakir
The messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers; they all believe in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers; We make no difference between any of His messengers; and they say: We hear and obey, our Lord! Thy forgiveness (do we crave), and to Thee is the eventual course. (2:285)
Thus it is clear evidence that we do not make any difference among chosen representatives. If some on thinks otherwise then he/ she violates this verse of Qur'an
2.   The verse of purification and earlier mentions hadith are sufficient evidence that the virtues and characteristics of All Imams are the same  however they have played the role according to their circumstances.
As per your thought they have difference then I may like to see a hadith that only one of two grand sons of the Prophet Muahmamd saw is chief of the youth of paradise and the other is not to confirm this difference that they are not the same.
Are both not covered under the scope of the verse of purification?

First of us is Muhammad and in the middle of us is Muhammad, and the last of us is Muhammad, whoever knows me perfectly. He is   on steadfast and upright religion  In this verse he says: "That is the upright religion" I explain this to Allah's mercy and thanks.Now I say Salman and Abazar! Mohammed and I were one light from light of Allah. The Lord ordered that the light, which is divided into two parts, to half of it, said be Muhammad, and said to the other half, be Ali .Therefore, the Prophet ((صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)) said:' Ali is from me and I from Ali I am and nobody acquires it to me, except Ali.
http://www.ghadeer.org/Book/2610

Salam,
Prophets and Imams are Actors and they are physically different.  They just follow and say whatever the Scripts descends from Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) to their heart and souls.  
They will listen and follow.
If there are two on them are present, they will behave accordingly (according to the scripts).  One will be leader, the other follow.  At the same time, Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) will allow and make them to behave like normal humans and having different point of views within "protected frameworks" and not misleading.  All in all there are lessons for other humans to learn in their behavior differences. We are social human beings.
The only time the differences between them are none is the spiritual content in term of Tauhid.  Only One Light exist in them.  Brightest in Prophet Muhammad and Ahlul Bayt (عليه السلام).  Physically.
Surely we can learn from their human behaviors.
Because Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) allows Prophet and Imams to behave as normal humans and when we are physically with the Prophet or Imams, we can have conversation and express opinions with them.  We can check our opinions and learns when we are with them.
We can see how Musa(عليه السلام) and Haron (عليه السلام) behaved as normal human behavior would and we also learned how Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) protected both of them. We also both were physically different.  Haron (عليه السلام) can communicate better than Musa (عليه السلام).  Both delivered same message...Tauhid (Light of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى)) while behave as normal humans.
So Tauhid is the Rope that unite us together.  And that Rope is Prophet and Ahlul Bayt.

Alhamdulilah, 
Hassan (عليه السلام) had followers but realized that most of them had taken deals and had been bought off and there really wasn’t any zeal to oppose that evil. Thus he cane to terms that making a treaty was better and the treaty was Alhamdulilah a brilliant treaty according to it terms and the situation Alhamdulilah. 
I was always baffled as a teenager about Hassan (عليه السلام) not fighting but once I learned more details as to why? Alhamdulilah I realized my lack of knowledge of the full spectrum of why he did it and the brilliance within the contents of the treaty. May Allah shower his blessing on Muhammad SAW and his Ahlul Bayt. 
Its not always a numbers game. If it was always about sufficient amount of followers The battle of Badr wouldn’t have never taken place. The bottom line is that they all effectively made the right decisions because they were rightly guided. This is how Allah would let everything play out through out time for a reason. 
 

Locked. 
[Mod Note: Inappropriate posts on the last two pages were removed. Two members will be warned.]

Salam
1) he was reacting in the best way toward situation of his time 
2) all of them have same policy but they had to act in best way according to conditions of their time , once Abbasid caliph hisham (la) challenged Imam Baqir (عليه السلام) in targeting with arrow because he was thinking that he is just man of science & can’t be successful in hitting target that can’t throw an arrow & Imam hitted center of target with four arrows continuesly that at the end the four arrows was looking an arrow that still now impossible for professionals 
3) this is just a propaganda by Ummayids 

Knowledge and wisdom are completely different. You are free to accept @Ibn al-Hussain's opinion that the Imams were confrontational.
I choose not to do so. Furthermore, I believe it is a deliberate action to portray a confrontational Imam who made a mistake and got himself killed. Your loyalties lie with him rather than with haq and so be it. But don't presume for a second that I have to even consider what you have to say.
Shiaism is not just based on knowledge. It is based on wisdom (aql). What sets us apart from the Sunnis and the other religions is in our use of AQL, not knowledge. Otherwise you would have to bow down to every hafiz-e-Qur'an.
While the number of posts by him and volume of books read may impress you, they don't impress me one bit because he has not been able to put his knowledge to good use.

Wa alaikum As salam
I think enough have been discussed by brothers and sisters on the subject in different threads on topic.
People who are assuming this or that are Khorasani/Yamani, I respect their love for these wonderful leaders but can't accept their version of assumptions based on very important hadith of Imam Jafar al Sadiq (as)- Sofyani, Khorasani and Yamani will come on same day of same month in same year-like beads of rosary coming one after other. And there are enough evidences of hadiths and riwayat that Sufyani lanatullah will arise in month of Rajab. Since no such things had happened till now, hence we can’t assume anyone to be Yamani or Khorasani. Sufyani rise will be from depth of damascus/Wadi e Yabis and he will destroy and defeat all other forces of Syria.. nothing of that sort happened till now....
Khorasani will be Syed though there are debate whether he will be from lineage of Imam Hasan (عليه السلام) or Imam Hussain (عليه السلام) and he will come out with large army to help the oppressed and to defeat Sufyani. 

Yeah that’s what I thought. No examples, just opinions based upon own’s prejudice. I’m pretty sure you spend just doing that. I love it how the reverts know better than the ulama that spends years researching particular topics. Case closed. 
It is a common knowledge that the Kitāb al-Imāma wal-Siyāsa was authored by Ibn Qutaybah. Sunnis always play this game that if an author slowly reaches the facts and truths, he had/has to be an orthodox Muslim. You do it with multiple Sunni scholars, not only Qutaybah. Ibn al Nadim and countless others too. Some modern Sunnis even accuse al Tabari of being a crypto-Shia because he recorded ahadith such as that Uthman was killed by other Sahaba “for changing Allah’s religion” , and because it doesn’t suit Sunni narrative that the first three were all this and that, Tabari slowly becomes a Shi’ite. Matter of time I guess. 
The burden of proof is upon you and not him when you criticise. I remember studying books from the unauathentic Six,  through Ibn Taymiyyah to modern day Sunni authors and all were weak and easily refutable. That’s why till now there isn’t even one Sunni book that will convince me to leave orthodox Islam. Not even one. 

Salam brother, it would be helpful to know what languages you speak fluently so that I could link you few books to read. Definitely look into al-Tijani’s books for general guidance. He is a Tunisian man from well established Sufi Sunni family, who became a Wahhabi to end up as a Shia Muslim after debating face-to-face various prominent Shia ulama. You may also read books by brother Toyib Olawuyi. Brother Olawuyi was a Nigerian Sunni who converted to Shia Islam and dedicated his life to spreading proper and correct teachings of orthodox Islam. If you have any questions, just ask. Allahu Alam

Wa alaikum As salam
I think enough have been discussed by brothers and sisters on the subject in different threads on topic.
People who are assuming this or that are Khorasani/Yamani, I respect their love for these wonderful leaders but can't accept their version of assumptions based on very important hadith of Imam Jafar al Sadiq (as)- Sofyani, Khorasani and Yamani will come on same day of same month in same year-like beads of rosary coming one after other. And there are enough evidences of hadiths and riwayat that Sufyani lanatullah will arise in month of Rajab. Since no such things had happened till now, hence we can’t assume anyone to be Yamani or Khorasani. Sufyani rise will be from depth of damascus/Wadi e Yabis and he will destroy and defeat all other forces of Syria.. nothing of that sort happened till now....
Khorasani will be Syed though there are debate whether he will be from lineage of Imam Hasan (عليه السلام) or Imam Hussain (عليه السلام) and he will come out with large army to help the oppressed and to defeat Sufyani. 

Sure. There is nothing that you need to do. If you believe in Shia teachings, you are Shia. You don't even have to tell your family is you don't want to. Muslim is Muslim. 
You will find lots of informative resources here: https://www.al-Islam.org/
Be sure to check out the Shia way of wudu and salah. There are a few differences. https://www.al-Islam.org/nutshell/

ASSLAM O ALAIK
I born in Sunni family and I am Sunni Muslim, is it possible to change my sect? I want to become Shia. and my family is not like this thing, I need your people help what can I do for becoming Shia Muslim.