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Salamunalaikum Certainly something really important I am curious about. Their are many hadith about the qualities of a believer. How do you define a true believer from all those sources? I mean their are many qualities and every person has some of them while lacks the other qualities. (Not quoting narrations assuming that we all have a rough idea about this) One very important specific question is that in Salat al Layl we ask mercy and forgiveness for atleast forty believers. So, who are the people that actually fill the criteria of a believer??? @Mahdavist @ali_fatheroforphans @Ashvazdanghe @313_Waiter @F.M @Sabrejet Rest of the people too. I hope it would be a fruitful discussion.

The Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim In the name of Allah most gracious most Merciful. La illaha illAllah Muhammador Rasoolullaah May Allah shower his blessings on Muhammad and his Ahlul Bayt. Asalaam wa laikum brothers and Sisters, Alhamdulilah, for the past year when I turned 40 years of age strange occurrences happened to me and in these strange occurrences I believe that an insight was given to me as to a more definitive structural outlook of believers and outlook of disbelievers or unbelievers. I do not claim to receive revelation or alter revelation of the Holy Qur'an in any form. I only seek to understand Allahs Holy Book and how it relates to the nature of our existence in the past, present, and future. Please do give thought and reflection so that we all may enhance our understanding of our religion and ourselves. I was Born and raised only by title as a Sunni Muslim for most of my teenage years and then introduced to Ahlul Bayt in a blessed strange occurrence on the 19th of Ramadhan in the year 2000. For years I saw disbelievers as any religion outside the precincts of Al Islam with the exception of the people of the book whom I saw as Christians and Jews etc who lost their ways and went astray into disbelief. But then after some strange occurrences leading up to my 40 birthday while in the midst of reflection and thought one night in Rajab, it suddenly dawned on me at that moment! Human beings are two different species! The Holy Qur'an breaks us into two different species, Believers and Disbelievers. As we are created from dust ranging widely, We look alike and have physical features that resemble that of being of the same human race, but our patterns of thought and nature are on a completely different signal. This signal is the very signal that would not allow the two species to ever peacefully co exist throughout the time upon the Earth which we know as the ever revolving battle between good vs evil. The Holy Qur'an mentions how the two species kill each other by nature. This is why the Angels questioned Allah about the very existence of Man before being created and Allah scolded them. The Angels limited in knowledge only understood that in free will being a huge factor in the existence for man would give the disbelieving men and jinn the drive for war and bloodshed and rebellion and against Allah and his believing servants. So Allah revealed the exalted personalities which were to come through the loins of Adam AS over the course of time. Free will is part of the factor which creates the signal that separates the two species of humans. Allah mentions in the Qur'an how he could have made us one Nation but he didn’t. The unbelievers are those who fully exercise free will in believing there is no God and their desires become their God or they attribute others to God or even believe themselves to be a God like Ibliss, Nimrod, Pharaoh etc. By exercising full free will their hearts become blackened and hard like stone and in which a seal is set around that stone and then you have the expression their fate is sealed. They are therefore deaf, dumb, and blind. They are on a complete different signal which is why surah Kafirun was revealed. The Holy Qur'an is a signal to the believers who would be coming from different backgrounds through the loins of believers and Disbelievers alike warning them to submit which is what Islam essentially means, Those who submit their free will to Allah and are in peace, because the reality is that there is no free will outside the Tawhid of Allah. All creation outside of free will recognizes the Oneness and majesty of Allah. Those who believe are on the same signal of oneness even if they are not of Al Islam itself. It’s this signal which drives believers to Al Islam. It is how Allah makes the believers. If you read suratul Jinn, in this chapter believing jinns sought request to the presence of Muhammad SAW and so they explained how a group of them are believers and the others are like a different species or group who attribute sins and daughters with Allah. This is nature of the disbelievers to willfully sin and deceive and cause mischief in rebellion to the existence of Allah. There is no conscious or remorse with their sin and it’s purposeful. All the major sins are the same for them and they all excel at certain sins more that others. Like the believers who excel at certain good deeds and gain status in Jannah it is the same for people of Jahannam in regards to their evil deeds. On judgment day these disbelievers and munafiqoon who were amongst believer ranks will show up blackened faces and disfigured and bad smells. The true nature of their evils and who they really are will show. The disbelievers are a different species and This is why Allah forbids believers from eating their meat and taking them for friends and marrying them because They will always be of a rebellious sinful nature and only seek to do you harm and pull you away from the straight path. They don’t guard their thoughts and modesty. Their ambition to fulfill there desires is unguarded and they will oppress and transgress in fulfilling those desires in beastly ways and systematically. When believers sin they not only sin against themselves but they participate in sins that essentially are helping disbelievers rebel. The major Sins that are characteristic of the unbelievers can deform the soul of a believer and therefore he has to be cleansed through repentance or the grave or hellfire. When you think about the worlds problems most stem from disbelievers machinations and beastly ways. You watch the news and see a story and think to yourself who would do such a thing? The disbelievers would do such things because their minds work differently. Their lust for murder, raping, stealing, control, abuse, fornicating, gambling, drinking, vanity, etc is strong within them as individuals and collectively as towns, cities and nations. Allah has constantly been destroying certain lands based on not just the unbelief but the heavy sins that accompany unbelief. Allah mentions this in the Qur'an many times. In the Shaitan’s war against man he has everyone fighting against each other which takes the focus off him and his allies. There are believing Christians who are monotheistic but it is plagued by munafiqoon pretending to be Christian by calling Jesus the son of God or God outright. These are pagan Christians which are essentially unbelieving hypocrites and these type of hypocrites are in the ranks of Islam and most worldly religions who’s main principal is Tawhid as well. Allah knows the believing hearts and disbelieving hearts. They can’t fool Allah. The disbelievers aim is to disprove Allahs existence and deteriorate society by turning what’s unlawful into lawful and turning what’s lawful into unlawful. These are the owners of the fire, the people on the left who will be the losers on judgement day. It is in Gods mercy that we are not just Muslim but Shia Muslim Accepting all tenants of Allahs universal holy book and order. It makes us the upper echelon of believers. So it is imperative that we hold on to the rope of faith firmly. Those who didn’t accept all tenants but had tawhid will have to answer to Allah but salvation is attainable. Remember Muhammad SAW asked that of his ummah even those who just held on to La illaha illAllah will attain Jannah at some point and the last man to come out of Jannah will have had held on to just that, leaving Shaitan with those disbelievers he was meant to be with and not one believer. Give glad tidings to the believers when you see them especially because you don’t know the psychological duress that the enemies of Allah have them under in many different environments. There are believers who haven’t formally taken shahadah walking around trying to make sense of the evils in this world not realizing that the disbelieving men and women have joined forces with the like minded of the disbelieving jinn devils. I read a Hadith a long time ago in Muhammad says “those who understand Islam are in fact Muslim by heart”. I believe this refers to that universal signal of tawhid and goodness. Inshallah may Allah have mercy on the believing men and women around the world and forgive us our sins of ignorance, sins of arrogance, and sins of negligence.

The Qur’an and the narrations of the Infallibles (peace be upon them) point out a variety of signs that we Muslims should not only learn, but also incorporate into our everyday lives. This article will focus on the following narration that lists five signs of the believer: Imam Hasan al-Askari (peace be upon him) says, “[t]he signs of the believer are five: praying fifty-one Rak’at [including mandatory and optional prayers], Ziyarat al-Arba’een, wearing a ring in the right hand, prostration on dirt, and saying ‘Bismillah hir Rahman nir Raheem‘ in a raised voice.” (Wasa’il ush-Shi’a) http://www.islamicinsights.com/religion/the-five-signs-of-a-believer.html *Imam Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Baqir (as) once said to Muyassir: “O' Muyassir! Should I not describe to you who our Shia (true followers) are?” Muyassir replied, “But of course, may I be sacrificed for you (O' Imam).” The Imam continued: “Unquestionably they (our Shia) are like a fortified stronghold; their chests (hearts) are places that preserve the trusts (given to them such as secrets and private information) and are those who have a firm, dignified intelligence; they do not spread rumors that they are told (by others) and are not strict, severe people; nor are they people who show off. During the night time, they are as monks (they stay up in the night, busy in prayer and the worship of Allah) while during the daytime, they are as lions (active, energetic, and involved in the activities of the world and their community).” https://www.al-islam.org/ethical-discourses-vol1-makarim-shirazi/discourse-2-characteristics-shia-part-1

Salam Alaikom Am aware and heard names such as: mottaqi, momin, muslims, moztazafin, kafir, hypocrite, unjust, referring to people or group of people, they are synonym to each other and also opposite of it exist, so all of it is called/named generally what! What is a 'group name'; for example can we say, it is characteristics of the group or individual, or 'kinds of people' or certain level of people! WHAT IS A PROPER WORDING FOR ALL OF IT? And also any important group missing that i have not mentioned! Or maybe we can call it horizontal spectrum/ spectrum of 'what'-level of people, kind of people -. A name that can describe it and also other synonyms. Extra aref, aqil and so on. What more synonym is out there? Please let us know. What is the definition of each word? What is called or what we should call it altogether? What is the proper naming! The Host welcomes all to participate and hope all guests benefit from this topic.

THE LIGHT (NUR) TO BE FOLLOWED: الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيَّ الْأُمِّيَّ الَّذِي يَجِدُونَهُ مَكْتُوبًا عِندَهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالْإِنجِيلِ يَأْمُرُهُم بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَاهُمْ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَالْأَغْلَالَ الَّتِي كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ فَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِهِ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَاتَّبَعُوا النُّورَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ مَعَهُ ۙ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful. (7:157) What is the Light sent down with the prophet that the believers should follow? Quran is considered as the light that has been sent with the prophet saww that we need to follow. We look in prophet traditions that Quran is not separated from the Progeny of the prophet saw (Ahl al bayat as). Based on a parallel (Mutawatir) tradition upon whose authenticity all Muslims agree, the Messenger of Allah (as) informed his followers in several occasions that he would leave them two precious/weighty things and that if Muslims adhere to both of them, they will never go astray after him. They are the Book of Allah (Quran) and the Members of the House of the Prophet (Ahlul-Bayt), peace be upon them all. It is narrated in Sahih Muslim as well as many other sources that: Someday (after his last pilgrimage) the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) stood to give us a speech beside a pond which is known as Khum (Ghadir Khum) which is located between Mecca and Medina. Then he praised Allah and reminded Him, and then said: "O' people! Behold! It seems the time approached when I shall be called away (by Allah) and I shall answer that call. Behold! I am leaving for you two precious things. First of them is the book of Allah in which there is light and guidance... The other one is my Ahlul-Bayt. I remind you in the name of Allah about my Ahlul-Bayt. I remind you in the name of Allah about my Ahlul-Bayt. I remind you in the name of Allah about my Ahlul-Bayt. (three times)." Sunni Reference: - Sahih Muslim, Chapter of the virtues of the companions, section of the virtues of Ali, 1980 Edition Pub. in Saudi Arabia, Arabic version, v4, p1873, Tradition #36. - And many others such as Sahih al-Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmad. For the English version of Sahih Muslim, see Chapter CMXCVI, v4, p1286, Tradition #5920 At many occasions it has been defined by the prophet saww that his Ahl al bayat includes Ali, Fatima, Hassan , Hussain and nine descendents of Imam Hussain. The last one of them is Al-Mahdi. Also, it can be seen in prophet traditions that there will be 12 Imams/ caliphs / amirs from hi Ahl albayat. The first one is Imam Ali and the last one is Imam Al-mahdi. So according to the above verse and prophet traditions we need to follow both Quran and Ahl al bayat as they are not separated from each other. The following tradition has been narrated by the Imams from Ahl al bayat as: H 495, Ch. 13, h 1, part 4 (Al-kafi,) Al-Husayn ibn Muhammad has narrated from Mu‘alla ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn Mirdas who has said that Saffron ibn Yahya and al-Hassan ibn Mahbub have narrated from abu Ayyub from abu Khalid al-Kabuli who has said that he asked Imam abu Ja‘far (a.s.) about the meaning of the words of Allah ,in the following. "Those who believe in him, honor and help him, and follow the light which is sent down to him, will have everlasting happiness." (7:157). The Imam (a.s.) said, "O abu Khalid, I swear by Allah that it is the Imams from the family of the Holy Prophet (s.a.) up to the Day of judgment who are called light in the above verse. They, I swear by Allah, are the light of Allah whom He sent down. It is they, I swear by Allah, who are the light of Allah in the heavens and in the earth. O abu Khalid, I swear by Allah, that the light of the Imams (a.s.) in the hearts of the true believers is more bright than the light of the sun in the midday. They, I swear by Allah, give light to the hearts of the true believers and Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, may block such light from reaching the hearts of whoever He may will, thus their hearts remain dark. O abu Khalid, no one would believe in our Divine authority except that Allah will cleanse his heart. Allah will not cleanse the heart of a person until he or she will acknowledge our Divine authority and live in peace with us. When one lives in peace with us Allah will safe guard him against the severity of the day of reckoning and grant him security against the great terror on the Day of Judgment" H 496, Ch. 13, h 2, part 4 (Al-kafi) Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated through his chain of narrators from abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) about thewords of Allah that say, There are those who follow the Messengers, the illiterate Prophet (not conventionally educated), whose description they find written in the Torah and the Gospel. [He (the Messenger) enjoins them to do good and forbids them to do all that is unlawful, makes lawful for them all that is pure and unlawful all that is filthy, removes their burdens and the entanglements in which they are involved]. Those who believe in him, honor and help him, and follow the light which is sent down to him, will have everlasting happiness." (7:157) The Imams (a.s.) said, "It is Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.) and the Imams (a.s.) after him who are called ‘light’ in the above verse of the Holy Quran." Thus it is confirmed that 12 Imams should be followed who are referred as Light in the above verse (7:157) of the quran. If we continue searching the word Light (نور ) in the Quran till this verse (7:157), the following is revealed: مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا فَلَمَّا أَضَاءَتْ مَا حَوْلَهُ ذَهَبَ اللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمْ (Al-Baqra, 17). وَتَرَكَهُمْ فِي ظُلُمَاتٍ لَّا يُبْصِرُونَ اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ ۖ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَوْلِيَاؤُهُمُ الطَّاغُوتُ يُخْرِجُونَهُم مِّنَ النُّورِ إِلَى الظُّلُمَاتِ ۗ أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ (Al – Baqra, 257). يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءَكُم بُرْهَانٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَأَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكُمْ نُورًا مُّبِينًا (Al-Nissa, 174) يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولُنَا يُبَيِّنُ لَكُمْ كَثِيرًا مِّمَّا كُنتُمْ تُخْفُونَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَيَعْفُو عَن كَثِيرٍ ۚ قَدْ جَاءَكُم مِّنَ اللَّهِ نُورٌ وَكِتَابٌ مُّبِينٌ (Al-Maidah, 15) يَهْدِي بِهِ اللَّهُ مَنِ اتَّبَعَ رِضْوَانَهُ سُبُلَ السَّلَامِ وَيُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَيَهْدِيهِمْ إِلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ (Al-Maidah, 16) إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَا التَّوْرَاةَ فِيهَا هُدًى وَنُورٌ ۚ يَحْكُمُ بِهَا النَّبِيُّونَ الَّذِينَ أَسْلَمُوا لِلَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالرَّبَّانِيُّونَ وَالْأَحْبَارُ بِمَا اسْتُحْفِظُوا مِن كِتَابِ اللَّهِ وَكَانُوا عَلَيْهِ شُهَدَاءَ ۚ (Al-Maidah, 44) وَقَفَّيْنَا عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِم بِعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ ۖ وَآتَيْنَاهُ الْإِنجِيلَ فِيهِ هُدًى وَنُورٌ وَمُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَهُدًى وَمَوْعِظَةً لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ (Al-Maidah, 46) الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَجَعَلَ الظُّلُمَاتِ وَالنُّورَ ۖ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ يَعْدِلُونَ (Al-Anam, 1) وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ إِذْ قَالُوا مَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ بَشَرٍ مِّن شَيْءٍ ۗ قُلْ مَنْ أَنزَلَ الْكِتَابَ الَّذِي جَاءَ بِهِ مُوسَىٰ نُورًا وَهُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ ۖ تَجْعَلُونَهُ قَرَاطِيسَ تُبْدُونَهَا وَتُخْفُونَ كَثِيرًا ۖ (Al-Anam, 91) أَوَمَن كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَاهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُ نُورًا يَمْشِي بِهِ فِي النَّاسِ كَمَن مَّثَلُهُ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ مِّنْهَا ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِلْكَافِرِينَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ (Al-Anam, 122) الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيَّ الْأُمِّيَّ الَّذِي يَجِدُونَهُ مَكْتُوبًا عِندَهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالْإِنجِيلِ يَأْمُرُهُم بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَاهُمْ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَالْأَغْلَالَ الَّتِي كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ فَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِهِ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَاتَّبَعُوا النُّورَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ مَعَهُ ۙ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ (Al-Araf, 157) The word light (نور) as quoted I n the above verse from beginning of the Quran to this verse of Aura-AlAraf (7:157) has exactly been used 12 times equal to the number of Imams from Ahl al bayat as declared in the prophet traditions. It confirms for the believers that the truth has been defined by the Pure Imams and Quran also verifies their sayings in this Numerical order, as both are non-separable. This is a wonderful miracle of Quran and the excellent proof of Truth in the sayings of 12 pure Imams. Conclusion: كِتَابٌ أَنزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ مُبَارَكٌ لِّيَدَّبَّرُوا آيَاتِهِ وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ (Here is) a Book which We have sent down unto thee, full of blessings, that they may mediate on its Signs, and that men of understanding may receive admonition. (Sad, 29) إِنَّ هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنَ يَهْدِي لِلَّتِي هِيَ أَقْوَمُ وَيُبَشِّرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ الَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ الصَّالِحَاتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ أَجْرًا كَبِيرًا Verily this Qur'an doth guide to that which is most right (or stable), and giveth the Glad Tidings to the Believers who work deeds of righteousness, that they shall have a magnificent reward (Al-Isra, 9) From above discussion, it can be concluded that obeying the 12 Imams is the only way to which the Quran guides the mindful people in order to be believers. Obeying the Imams is declared as following the light sent with the prophet. This straight way should be followed as Quran gives glad tidings of great reward for them and they will be the successful. ;