AFA_pride

Salam and Ya Ali Madad, So I had an idea to start a web series (YouTube) that discusses the teachings of Ai'mmah (as) with video to go along with it. Something along the lines of what Neil DeGrasse Tyson does but shorter 3-5 minutes. Topics that would be covered: Cosmos Black Holes Dark Matter Dark energy Oceanography Star Physics Earth Physics Formation of Rocks Significance of Sajda Animals in Nature Human Nature Basic biology topics Gemstones and their significance Alhamdolillah I have done a fair amount of research to be able to at least scratch surfaces on the aforementioned topics but I need some more input, starting with a cool name for the series, and any additional things that would be useful and cool for viewers (nothing too difficult or time consuming on my end) Jazakallah Khair

Start chugging on this! And become superSHIA!:yaali:

Last night I saw the moon myself, so Eid Mubarak! What I was referring to was some of my Ahle Sunnat Brothers/sisters (we have friends) who celebrated Eid on Monday without looking at the moon, and assumed that when Eid is announced it's official.

Do people even look at the moon anymore before they decide. Or do they let someone announce it, so they can start chowing down donuts.

Identifying the differences between the words will help inshallah. Worship: Showing reverence or adoration for a deity (Namaz) Supplication: the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly (Dua in Namaz) referring to Allah as the deity Invocation: the action of invoking something or someone for assistance or as an authority. (Dua in general) As mentioned before the Imams were capable of Mojizaat (miracles) just as the Holy Prophet was. I don't remember the post but someone referred to as Christians when they call out "Jesus Christ!" as something bad is happening (someone falls, accident, etc) The reason it is shirk is because they believe Jesus is the son of God. When we call out "Ya Ali Madad" we are fully aware that Imam Ali is not a partner to Allah nor is he independent of him. The fact that we can acknowledge that Ali is not in any way shape or form a deity it is not shirk. As far as the video is concerned the Imams in no way had the power to create things, I do not know where he got this information from but like all sects there are people who take things to the extreme left and right just as there are in Sunni scholars.

What was it, there were many. Which one satisfied you more than others. and again what is YOUR belief?

Comparing Imams to doctors is ok assuming that we believe that Imams can do more for us BECAUSE of supplications. In the month of Ramadhan we recite Dua'a Iftitah in which it says: (Discussing 12th Imam) "O Allah, send him to call the people unto Thy Book for establishing Thy religion and make him succeed in the earth, as Thou caused those who were before him to succeed and establish for him his faith which Thou has approved for him, and give him in exchange safety after fear. He serves Thee. He ascribes nothing as partner unto Thee." You also asked why do Shia not call on Imam directly, yet there are some shias who do. You might be surprised to hear that many of the Molana/Sheiks/Zakir consistently remind us that Imam Ali (as) as great as he was he still prayed to Allah s w t and tells us to not forget that. I'm also going to admit to some people in the community feel a bit more strongly about Imam Ali and have hints of Nusariyat. A true shia as stated by the 5th Imam Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (as) once said to one of his companions: "O Jabir it is not enough that a person says; I am a Shia and I love the Prophet (sa) and the Prophet's family and the Imams. By Allah, a Shia is the one who is perfectly pious and obedient to Allah's commands. Anyone else is not a Shia no matter how much they say they love Imam Ali (as) and no matter what they call themselves. O Jabir Our Shias are known by these signs: ( a ) They are truthful, trustworthy and loyal; ( b ) They always remember Allah; ( c ) They offer their prayers, observe fasts, and recite Qur'an; ( d ) They help their neighbors, take care of orphans, and say nothing but good of people; ( e ) They act nicely towards their parents; ( f ) They are worthy of peoples trust and confidence.

^word. :yaali:

You are asking where is Allah? Maybe the best answer is that there is no answer. 6 pages of sourced answers along with logical inputs by members if it is not satisfying you then I pray for you. I have not seen input from you, what do you honestly believe. Wasalam.

Even if you could it would still be no. You are not praying to them, you are asking for Allah's help through them You are ONLY asking for help. Ya Ali Madad=O Ali Assist Me. We all face the Kaaba and pray to Allah no one else. "You alone do we worship, and Your aid alone we seek" Holy Quran Surah Hamd Aya 5

We don't have supplications to get power from the Imams. Imams/Prophets are the best of Allah's creation, asking them for assistance does not mean they will assist you directly, but because they are so close to Allah they can help you through as the aforementioned posts have discussed, through intercession. Definition Intercession: the act of saying a prayer on behalf of another person. Just like asking the smartest student in a classroom for tips, because they know the material well. We ask the Aimmah/Prophets for guidance because they were sent to this earth with knowledge beyond our own. Many people would be mushrik if what you are saying is true, because people often say things like, "Pray for me" which is not shirk.

^ Actually that sums up everything you discussed. I don't want to get into the details of good vs. right because it will not help you to answer the question. You asked: Where is Allah? Why did you make the assumption that Shia school of thought would have a different reply. Many of the brothers/sisters have posted numerous sources both Shia and Sunni even external references including ones that you referred to. What are you trying to get at? Do you want location? Do you want a physical location? Are you asking to challenge yourself? I have already said Allah is existence. Not exactly what you would refer to as Wahdatul Wujood because in Wahdatul Wujood everything is considered as one "being" but existence itself is Allah. What I am referring to is more of Allah being the domain of existence and everything in this world (ie. space time) are subsets of that domain. Nothing can be outside that domain, if it were how would we know. I am glad you ask the questions of why and how? Perhaps if any one human was omnipotent we could answer, but everything we know is in the domain of Allah.

OK, To answer your questions Difference between right and good. Good is objective in the sense that it has an obvious positive effect on someone/something Right is subjective in the sense that it is morally acceptable. Just like your video link. Essentially good refers more to a well-being or helpful idea Whereas right can have variation of what a human feels is morally correct/incorrect Example: It might be good for a country to get rid of immigrants to improve education & economics but it may be wrong(not right) to move hard working people out of the country after their many years of service and residence. I assume you're human before I assume anything else. If you plan to reject everything I say this will be a fruitless intellectual waste of time. You are correct regarding the animals perhaps I should have used intellect instead of morals as the key that distinguishes us from them. So we can drop that argument. As far as nature goes. Do humans innately decide that lying is bad. Let's just say for the sake of argument that yes lying is bad and we as humans decided that. Who out of us would decide that. The first human to think of such an idea would have to get it from somewhere. This is what I was referring to as the essence of Allah you can call human nature essence of Allah. Example: giving someone a hug is a sign of affection, but if we all as a society decided that now hugging people means you hate a person it would be universal. So why hasn't that happened why is it that since the beginning of time everything that was considered human nature has not changed. I know you already know the answer and you are challenging yourself and others: Where is Allah? Allah is the entire existence so there cannot be a question of where or when? He simply IS