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سلام As we are all currently witnessing massacres and genocide of Palestinians, each of us needs to find a way to help the Palestinians in any way, shape, or form possible. It does not matter how small, we ought to do something. We simply can't do nothing in the face of this occuring tragedy. Sooner or later, by our children and Allah, we will be asked what we did during this time. So, let's do what we can. Let's use this thread to make a list of small things that each of us can do. 1. Donations towards the Palestinian cause. What are legitimate organizations that are actively assisting the Palestinians? 2. Communication. What are various podcasts, blogs, or YouTube channels that are currently spreading the Palestinian messages? Do they have Patreon pages? As the terrorists and their allies are trying to silence the Palestinians, we ought to amplify their voices. 3. Is there an updated list of products that we can/ought to boycott; products that support the Zionist regime, in any way, shape, or form. 4. Are there products that are made in Palestine or by Palestinians that we can purchase to boost Palestinian businesses? 5. Are there companies that regularly support and make donations to Palestinians? We can purchase their products to indirectly support Palestinians. Western racism, imperialism, colonialism, fascism, cannot be any more blatant and obvious as it is now. All of their words about "human rights", "democracy", and etc. have shown to be total rubbish. Let's do what we can, and pray for our support and deeds to be accepted by Allah.

Salam, I was wondering if anyone had contact information (email or phone number) for English-speaking maulanas (like Syed Asad Jafri, etc), or anyone educated (student or teacher as long as they have knowledge, also sisters or brothers) who is open to answering questions. If you think it is better to privately message me the contact information rather than post it on a public forum, please do so; my inbox is open inshallah. Duas.

سلام Do we have any textual evidence that animals were created before humans? Qur'anic six-day creation story is different from the Biblical version. And I haven't found, so far, any authentic/acceptable narrations or verses that indicate animals were created before humans. We have weak narrations that mention Hawa's menstrual blood was the first blood that hit/touched our Earth. And this wouldn't make sense, if animals, preys and predators, were created before humans, and lived on Earth before Adam and Hawa arrived. Any ideas? Thanks

سلام I found two contradictory Saheeh narrations on whether there are seven readings of the Qur'an. How can the following narrations be reconciled? #1) Source: الکافي ج ۲، ص ۶۳۰ عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ اِبْنِ أَبِي عُمَيْرٍ عَنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ أُذَيْنَةَ عَنِ اَلْفُضَيْلِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي عَبْدِ اَللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ اَلسَّلاَمُ إِنَّ اَلنَّاسَ يَقُولُونَ إِنَّ اَلْقُرْآنَ نَزَلَ عَلَى سَبْعَةِ أَحْرُفٍ فَقَالَ كَذَبُوا أَعْدَاءُ اَللَّهِ وَ لَكِنَّهُ نَزَلَ عَلَى حَرْفٍ وَاحِدٍ مِنْ عِنْدِ اَلْوَاحِدِ . #2) Source: الخصال ج ۲، ص ۳۵۸ حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ اَلْحَسَنِ بْنِ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ اَلْوَلِيدِ رَضِيَ اَللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ اَلْحَسَنِ اَلصَّفَّارُ عَنِ اَلْعَبَّاسِ بْنِ مَعْرُوفٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يَحْيَى اَلصَّيْرَفِيِّ عَنْ حَمَّادِ بْنِ عُثْمَانَ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي عَبْدِ اَللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ إِنَّ اَلْأَحَادِيثَ تَخْتَلِفُ عَنْكُمْ قَالَ فَقَالَ إِنَّ اَلْقُرْآنَ نَزَلَ عَلَى سَبْعَةِ أَحْرُفٍ وَ أَدْنَى مَا لِلْإِمَامِ أَنْ يُفْتِيَ عَلَى سَبْعَةِ وُجُوهٍ ثُمَّ قَالَ هٰذٰا عَطٰاؤُنٰا فَامْنُنْ أَوْ أَمْسِكْ بِغَيْرِ حِسٰابٍ . And if they can't be reconciled, which one should be rejected, and why? Thanks!

(Salam) Have our Imams ever said anything about or mentioned owls in their sayings? Thank you

Assalamu alaikum, I am a Shia revert, I have been Shia for years but a while back I lost my way and I met my now partner and we have a son together and also my older son sees him as his father. He was not Muslim at all but since I have started to find my way back to Allah subhana wa’tala, alhamdulillah, my partner has learnt a lot about Islam and I explained that I have to find my way back to the right path and unfortunately I will have to choose my faith over my relationship. After he learned some more about Islam he said he wanted to revert, like I had done, and I’m really happy and excited about this. He has reverted now and I know we have to get married - in an Islamic way - because I do not want to live in this disobedience of Allah subhana wa’tala and I want to show my two children how to be good Muslims. Sorry for the background information! I’ll get on to my actual question now: we live in a city that has no Shia mosques. I’m not joking. There’s like only a couple of mosques here and I’ve actually never been them because I was anxious, the Muslim community here is small and not many reverts and I have been looked down upon by the Muslim community here and really not accepted even when I was practicing and doing my best. We need to get married, I would like a permanent marriage because we were going to get married legally anyway before, we are already engaged in a western sense, but I don’t really care about that so much at the moment. But without a mosque to go to and without a sheikh, can we even get married?! Permanently and validly? I looked on Sistani’s website and I was confused. I was in a mutah marriage before with a man who really did introduce me properly to Islam, this was a long time ago now, and now I don’t even know if that was valid - we didn’t have witnesses. But I was told then that for mutah we didn’t need them. But for permanent marriage it’s my understanding we do? Do they need to be Muslim? My family is not Muslim. Do we need a religious leader like a sheikh to make a permanent marriage valid or not & to do the contracts…? I feel silly asking these things like I feel I should know it but anyway. I’m hoping someone can help me out. What does a couple do if there is no mosque or sheikh…? Like I said there’s a couple of mosques but they are not Shia. Can a permanent marriage & ceremony be done without this? And like I asked also for witnesses, can they be non-Muslim because my family is not Muslim and neither is my partner’s family. Thank you for reading and I hope I don’t sound really dumb and I hope I can get some clarity and we will be able to get married inshallah!

سلام The bolded part of the following narration implies that Ruh is Nafs or Nafs is Ruh. This is a part of a longer narration. Is there a way to read the bolded part below for it to NOT imply that the Ruh is same as the Nafs? وَ رَوَى أَبُو عُبَيْدَةَ اَلْحَذَّاءُ عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ عَلَيْهِ اَلسَّلاَمُ : فِي قَوْلِ اَللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ «تَتَجٰافىٰ جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ اَلْمَضٰاجِعِ » فَقَالَ «لَعَلَّكَ تَرَى أَنَّ اَلْقَوْمَ لَمْ يَكُونُوا يَنَامُونَ» فَقُلْتُ اَللَّهُ وَ رَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ فَقَالَ «لاَ بُدَّ لِهَذَا اَلْبَدَنِ أَنْ تُرِيحَهُ حَتَّى يَخْرُجَ نَفْسُهُ فَإِذَا خَرَجَ اَلنَّفْسُ اِسْتَرَاحَ اَلْبَدَنُ وَ رَجَعَتِ اَلرُّوحُ فِيهِ وَ فِيهِ قُوَّةٌ عَلَى اَلْعَمَلِ فَإِنَّمَا ذَكَرَهُمْ فَقَالَ: «تَتَجٰافىٰ جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ اَلْمَضٰاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفاً وَ طَمَعاً»... Thanks

Salam Alaykoum, I have some weird superstitions and I am not sure if it is because of ADHD or other reason. Can someone help me? I will put my question all the way at the bottom. I am left footed so before a soccer game or before anything I have to enter with my left foot, I have to wear the shoes starting with my left foot, shorts left foot first, shirt left hand first, etc. I also like to do everything on odd numbers so like how many times I say Bismillah when entering the field has to be either 1,3,5,7,etc, if I don't I feel weird and it makes me thing that I will play bad, even when using the restroom I have to use odd numbers of toilet papers. Even when playing in the field I try to avoid stepping on the lines it makes me feel weird. If something good happened to me or if I had a good soccer game then the next day or next game day I would do everything I did the that certain day, like what I eat, drink, how I step in the field, how I stretch, etc. There is also many things similar to this that I do but it will take a long time to mention all. What do you guys think the cause of this is? How does this effect me? Does it really have an impact on my life? How can I stop these superstitions?

سلام I've looked through our narrations to find an authentic narration to properly understand the following: خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا This is part of 39:6. "He created you from a single being/nafs, then made from her her spouse." The words مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا have female pronoun suffixes, referring to the نفس/nafs. Therefore, this nafs is a female or a feminine entity. It is probably not Adam. So, my first question is, what/who is this نفس واحدة? I Couldn't find any authentic narration to clarify this issue, and even weak narrations are all over the place, and do not point to a single coherent story. "Nafs" refers to a living being. So, it seems, we are created from one living female being/nafs.

سلام Did God create colours in the physical world, independent from our conscious observation? Or are colours only perceived due to the presence of a conscious observer? In other words, if consciousness didn't exist (or wasn't created), would this world still be colourful? Thanks

Salam, I cannot properly understand the following narrations. If you do, could you please clarify them? Thank you! (The first narration is Saheeh, and the second one is Mawththaq.) ِ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ إِنَّ فِي كِتَابِ عَلِيٍّ ع أَنَّ كُلَّ ذِي رَحِمٍ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الرَّحِمِ الَّذِي يَجُرُّ بِهِ إِلَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ وَارِثٌ أَقْرَبَ إِلَى الْمَيِّتِ مِنْهُ فَيَحْجُبَهُ “Abu ‘Abd Allah, ‘Alayhi al-Salam, has said that it is in the book of Ali, ‘Alayhi al-Salam, that every relative is like the kinship and womb that has established such relation unless there is one who is closer to the deceased than him who then becomes a barrier.’” ُ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع يَقُولُ وَ لِكُلٍّ جَعَلْنا مَوالِيَ مِمَّا تَرَكَ الْوالِدانِ وَ الْأَقْرَبُونَ (النساء -: 33 -) قَالَ إِنَّمَا عَنَى بِذَلِكَ أُولِي الْأَرْحَامِ فِي الْمَوَارِيثِ وَ لَمْ يَعْنِ أَوْلِيَاءَ النِّعْمَةِ فَأَوْلَاهُمْ بِالْمَيِّتِ أَقْرَبُهُمْ إِلَيْهِ مِنَ الرَّحِمِ الَّتِي تَجُرُّهُ إِلَيْهَا Zurarah has narrated the following: “I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah, ‘Alayhi al-Salam, saying about the words of Allah, ‘. . .for everyone We have made Mawali (guardians, heirs) in what the parents and relatives leave behind,’ (4:33) what is meant thereby are relatives in inheritance, not the benefactors who provide benefits. Thus the more deserving of a deceased is one who is nearest to him as a relative and womb, and the relationship which brings him toward it.’”

سلام The end of the following verse seems to imply that there are a few people, who wouldn't have followed Shaytan, even without God's grace. بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ وَاِذَا جَآءَهُمۡ اَمۡرٌ مِّنَ الۡاَمۡنِ اَوِ الۡخَـوۡفِ اَذَاعُوۡا بِهٖ‌ ۚ وَلَوۡ رَدُّوۡهُ اِلَى الرَّسُوۡلِ وَاِلٰٓى اُولِى الۡاَمۡرِ مِنۡهُمۡ لَعَلِمَهُ الَّذِيۡنَ يَسۡتَنۡۢبِطُوۡنَهٗ مِنۡهُمۡ‌ؕ وَلَوۡلَا فَضۡلُ اللّٰهِ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَرَحۡمَتُهٗ لَاتَّبَعۡتُمُ الشَّيۡطٰنَ اِلَّا قَلِيۡلًا ... وَلَوْلَا : And if not فَضْلُ : (had been the) bounty ٱللَّهِ : (of) Allah عَلَيْكُمْ : on you وَرَحْمَتُهُۥ : and His Mercy, لَٱتَّبَعْتُمُ : surely you (would have) followed ٱلشَّيْطَٰنَ : the Shaitaan إِلَّا : except قَلِيلًا : a few. ...And had there not been Allah's grace upon you and His mercy, ye would surely have followed Satan, save a few. (4:83) This brings up a couple of interesting questions: 1. Who are those few people? 2. Do they need God's grace? 3. Are they naturally and essentially different than most people? And if so, what is so different about them that makes them not fall for Shaytan even without God's grace? Since the term "Uli al-Amr" is used in the same verse, I can see how the "few people" could be a reference to Ahlul Bayt (عليه السلام). And if so, this verse seems to support their 'isma (infallibility). Shaytan cannot misguide them, even without God's grace. They are created differently than us, and due to their different essence, they cannot be misguided. Thoughts?

سلام Different translators have translated the following verse (33:43) differently, with different implications. هُوَ الَّذِىۡ يُصَلِّىۡ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَمَلٰٓٮِٕكَتُهٗ لِيُخۡرِجَكُمۡ مِّنَ الظُّلُمٰتِ اِلَى النُّوۡرِ ؕ وَكَانَ بِالۡمُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ رَحِيۡمًا If God does not send His Salah/Blessings upon His angels, would they enter into or stay in darkness, too, like humans?

Salam, I do not understand the following (saheeh) narration, and there are many (saheeh narrations) like it, emphasizing the same idea. Why is making a will about less of one's legacy better? الْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ مُعَلَّى بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ جَمِيعاً عَنِ الْوَشَّاءِ عَنْ حَمَّادِ بْنِ عُثْمَانَ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ مَنْ أَوْصَى بِالثُّلُثِ فَقَدْ أَضَرَّ بِالْوَرَثَةِ وَ الْوَصِيَّةُ بِالْخُمُسِ وَ الرُّبُعِ أَفْضَلُ مِنَ الْوَصِيَّةِ بِالثُّلُثِ وَ مَنْ أَوْصَى بِالثُّلُثِ فَلَمْ يَتَّرِكْ Hammad ibn ‘Uthaman has narrated the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah, ‘Alayhi al-Salam, has said, ‘If one makes a will about one-third of his legacy he has harmed the heirs. Making a will about one-fifth or one-fourth of the legacy is better than making a will about one-third. If one makes a will about one-third he has not left anything (for the heirs).’” Thanks!

How many of you have the entire Qur'an memorized - from Surah al-Fatihah to Surah An-Nas? If so, what is your favorite to recite?

سلام According to our narrations, can a substance be a مسکر but not خمر or نبیذ? Do we know, if there were intoxicants other than خمر or نبیذ, which the Imams (عليه السلام) talked about? Or are all of the narrations that we read about مسکر referring to خمر or نبیذ? I am trying to figure out if psychedelic drugs are considered مسکر or not. Thank you

Bismillah i Rahman i Raheem Assalaam o 'Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah i Wa Barakaatuh So I have been starting to frequent this forum more than I did a few years ago, and I have always seen an ad for ShiaMatch. I'm genuinely curious, I'm aware the service claims to be successful, but is it even that active and is it really successful in recent terms? Also I recently came across a service called ShiaCafe through Twitter follow recommendations after I followed an account related to Shi'as. Is that also even active and successful in recent times? I'm curious since for some reason I doubt either of these services are that active and recently successful at the back of my head. JazakAllah Wa 'Alaikum Assalaam Wa Rahmatullah i Wa Barakaatuh

سلام I'm currently reading a book called, Sexuality in Islam. It's written by a Sunni author. There's a claim in it, which is linked to Sunni hadith narrations, stating that Iblees is an asexual/non-sexed being, who was very jealous of Adam due to Adam having a sexual organ. In addition, apparently, Adam's penis was the first organ that was created and gifted to him. Do our narrations support any of these claims? Thank you

سلام In the chapter of Yusuf in the Quran, we read: وَلَقَدْ هَمَّتْ بِهِ ۖ وَهَمَّ بِهَا لَوْلَا أَن رَّأَىٰ بُرْهَانَ رَبِّهِ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ لِنَصْرِفَ عَنْهُ السُّوءَ وَالْفَحْشَاءَ ۚ إِنَّهُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا الْمُخْلَصِينَ - 12:24 She indeed desired him, and he (Yusuf) was about to desire her, too, had he not seen a clear proof (برهان) from his lord. What was this clear proof? How did he see it? Where was it? And I find it particularly fascinating that one of God's prophets was about to give in to temptation, and what stopped him was almost literally a miracle from God, an external help. Sexual temptations and desires are quite powerful that they could tempt even a prophet.

Is it haram to hang around people/Friends that are constantly saying the F word, even though you've said again and again not to swear to them>?

سلام، Have the Ahlul Bayt (عليه السلام) provided a definition of "intoxicant" for us? What is very clear is that all intoxicants are prohibited. What is not clear is what "intoxicant" means or implies. As I went through some narrations, it seems intoxication is almost always linked to a liquor or a liquid drink, whether it's raisins or grapes or ... Would the Ahlul Bayt (عليه السلام) have labelled non-liquid substances as intoxicants, too? As the scientific community is studying certain "drugs" such as psilocybin and MDMA and CBD, they're noticing significant health benefits of consuming these "drugs" under certain conditions. My question is, would these non-liquid substances be considered intoxicants, too? Are psychedelic "drugs" intoxicants? Clearly, the effects (عاقبة) of psychedelics and خمر (wine) are different, vastly. Are both considered مسکر (intoxicants)? Are there any acceptable narrations that may clarify these issues?

سلام Recently, I've been thinking we need to translate as many classic Shi'ite books into English as possible. I can only imagine that there must be 100s of important Shi'ite books in Arabic and Farsi that have not yet been translated to English. The first step forward would be to make a list of important books that have not yet been translated to English. What are some illuminating books that you think need to be translated? After making a list, we can prioritize our list. After making a prioritized list, we can search for professional translators. And lastly we can start an ongoing Shiachat crowd funding project. If we all chip in a small amount, per month, we can probably gather enough funds to pay towards a book translation project. And of course a money given toward this project would be considered sadaqa. What are your thoughts on this idea? What are some of the challenges? Are there any similar Shi'ite projects currently occuring? Thanks

Salam, The following narrations are both acceptable, found in Al-Kafi, one is Mawththaq and one is Saheeh. In both, it is narrated that Imam Ali (عليه السلام) warned people not to give in marriage to Imam Hassan (عليه السلام), since he frequently divorced. حُمَيْدُ بْنُ زِيَادٍ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سَمَاعَةَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ زِيَادِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ سِنَانٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ إِنَّ عَلِيّاً قَالَ وَ هُوَ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ لَا تُزَوِّجُوا الْحَسَنَ فَإِنَّهُ رَجُلٌ مِطْلَاقٌ فَقَامَ رَجُلٌ مِنْ هَمْدَانَ فَقَالَ بَلَى وَ اللَّهِ لَنُزَوِّجَنَّهُ وَ هُوَ ابْنُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ص وَ ابْنُ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ع فَإِنْ شَاءَ أَمْسَكَ وَ إِنْ شَاءَ طَلَّقَ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ إِسْمَاعِيلَ بْنِ بَزِيعٍ عَنْ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ بَشِيرٍ عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ أَبِي الْعَلَاءِ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ إِنَّ الْحَسَنَ بْنَ عَلِيٍّ ع طَلَّقَ خَمْسِينَ امْرَأَةً فَقَامَ عَلِيٌّ ع بِالْكُوفَةِ فَقَالَ يَا مَعَاشِرَ أَهْلِ الْكُوفَةِ لَا تُنْكِحُوا الْحَسَنَ فَإِنَّهُ رَجُلٌ مِطْلَاقٌ فَقَامَ إِلَيْهِ رَجُلٌ فَقَالَ بَلَى وَ اللَّهِ لَنُنْكِحَنَّهُ فَإِنَّهُ ابْنُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ص وَ ابْنُ فَاطِمَةَ ع فَإِنْ أَعْجَبَتْهُ أَمْسَكَ وَ إِنْ كَرِهَ طَلَّقَ Are there other reliable narrations that would clarify the concern here? Thanks!

Salam, What is an accurate translation of the following narration? مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ ابْنِ مَحْبُوبٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ سِنَانٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ مُلَامَسَةُ النِّسَاءِ هُوَ الْإِيقَاعُ بِهِنَّ Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn Mahbub from ‘Abd Allah ibn Sinan who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah, ‘Alayhi al-Salam, has said, ‘Touching women is falling upon them.’” Sarwar indictes that "falling upon them" implies "going to bed" with them. However, I can't understand how can "touching" someone is equivalent to sleeping with them or having intercourse with them. Any thoughts? Thank you! P.S. This narration is Saheeh.

سلام I'm trying to better understand the concept of "sin". In our faith, there are different words used for "sin." My assumption is that not all of those different words point to the same notion or mean the same thing. There must be nuances when it comes to the concept of "sin." However, at this point, I have one simple question: Can we sin against animals and trees? In your replies, please use narrations from our Imams (عليه السلام), and if possible please post the Arabic texts of narrations, too, so I could see what's the word used for "sin" when it comes to animals and trees. Thanks!