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Hello, I have some questions on my mind. My birthday is on October 15th, in the beginning of ashura. It is my 18th birthday and I want to celebrate it but I dont know if it is right to do so in that specific time. My family members told me a couple of stories about people who disrespected the sad period and were faced with difficulties later on in life. I wanted to know a couple more peoples views on this topic, have you heard any stories about people partying during ashura? If so, did anything happen to them?

As-salamunalaikum, I was wondering what people think about the moral traits, behaviour, akhlaq, of a person (male and female) towards other people in general life, IN THIS GENERATION. How do you think one should be with other people (Muslim and non-Muslim)? What moral traits and characteristics do you think are a MUST in this generation towards other people, and why? What kind of a person are you when you are alone, and what kind of a person are you when you are around other people? If there is a difference, then why is that so? How do you react when people judge you based on your traits? What traits and lessons have you adopted from the teachings of Islam and the Ahlulbayt? What do you do when you see someone constantly scared from judgement from others? How would you help them? How would you help a depressed person? - OR - How do you deal with your own depression? How do you deal with anxiety and nervousness? Especially, when around other people? What keeps you grounded to your roots? What is your idea of tawakkul? What is your idea of a happy and satisfying life? What are things that give you happiness? What satisfies you? What advice would you give to your fellow people about these traits and life in general? I'm really hoping to get some answers for these questions, since I think they'll be beneficial for others as much as for me. So kindly try your best to answer at least a few or all of them, if possible. Jazakallah Khair Wa-assalamualaikum Wa Rahmatullah

Salaam alaikum brothers and sisters Today United States President Trump signed an executive order rescinding all or almost all laws, guidelines, and regulations meant to curb or remedy "global warming", or as it is more correctly called, "climate change". But why should we care? Is climate change even really happening? And if it is, is it caused by human activities? And is it worth the loss of income to major energy producers and manufacturers to try to stop it even if it is? How will climate change affect the world and society? More extreme weather predicted It's documented. It's verified. But is it caused by human activity? I don't think it matters: everything we can do to reduce the effects of man-made climate change is good for the environment in other ways too. Further reading

(salam) I was just wondering whether white converts/reverts would still be eligible for "white privileges", even after submitting themselves to Islam? what I am seeking to know, is the following type of benefit (counted as white privilege): being the one offered lotion samples at the mall? I have seen this a lot: once a white female converts to Islam, people no longer see her as a white woman but rather as a Muslim hence her hijab. Thanks ahead of time,

Salam alaykum brothers/sisters I am going to talk about the role of Imams (S.A) in society; The Imam is necessary for spiritual life of people to remain alive. The Imam is like water in purity. God says in surah al-Furqan verse forty eight, وَ اَنزَلنا مِنَ السَّماءِ ماءً طَهُورا "...and We send down from the sky pure water". Water is both pure and purifier. In the same way, the Imam is both in a high level of purity and can make others spiritually pure as well. It is narrated from Imam Ali saying, وَ لَو قَد قَامَ قَائِمُنا ... لَذَهَبَتِ الشَّحنَاءُ مِن قُلُوبِ العِبادِ "When our Upriser (Imam al-Mahdi) arises, the animosity will go away from the hearts of people."2 This narration points to spiritual purification of people that will be obtained with the help of the Imam. Sources: l.'Usul al-Kafi, v. 1, p. 25, hadith no. 1. 2. al-Khisal, v. 2, p. 626.

I will be attending a talk this weekend which will address the Muslim's role (if any) in politics. I'm assuming the talk will limit itself to British politics, but what I've written below applies to (secular) Muslim majority countries as well. There are three aspects to answering this question: Religiously, we need to asses the role of one's world view viz his/her interaction with society The intellectual foundations of political activity of Muslims living in the West/East What I call the 'Clash of the Paradigms', which deals with the religious movements' failure to provide practical solutions to society's needs. I will touch on the first aspect in this post, the rest will follow after I've attended the event. The Religious Aspect Society plays a direct role in the spiritual development of a believer, since there are a number of existential perfections¹ that are unattainable unless one cooperates and interacts with others. An individuals' worldview is key to correct behaviour that will ensure those spiritual stations are achieved. For the materialists, however, technological development and pursuing worldly pleasures is the only perfection, and his behaviour will reflect that accordingly. A religious person with a superficial faith in God, will have his eyes set on pleasures in the afterlife. He is motivated to adhere to religious laws, because he knows it's his key to enter paradise and avoid hell-fire². True perfection, however, lies in attaining nearness to God. This worldview encourages the believer to search out and attain behaviours that will bring him nearness, and avoid everything that might create a barrier and veil between him and his Lord. Therefore, correct religious knowledge is essential to correct behaviour, in turn ensuring correct faith. As a person progresses in this path, he will realise that higher levels of perfection will require bigger sacrifices and harder struggles. Only those with strong resolve, patience and a true yearning for that closeness to God will ensure he evolves spiritually³. The articles of faith ('aqeedah) are essential to shaping a person's world view and behaviours. A person who believes in the separation of religion and political activity, will not be motivated to pursue the establishment of social justice in this world. He has his eyes set on the afterlife, and will focus on the personal religious duties (to the minutest details) to ensure he avoids hell-fire. He will tell himself that it's the religious establishment's responsibility to sort out all his problems. Unfortunately, he would have most likely inherited this worldview from said religious establishment (his parents would ensure this reactionary vision is ingrained in his mind). In order for us to contribute to society and interact at the socio-political levels, we will have to correct this superficial view of our faith, and move towards a deeper understanding of its concepts. The one-dimensional understanding of Islamic doctrines, where the emphasis is on juristic laws and personal religious duties (which have become rituals in most cases), is limiting us as individuals as well as communities in the diaspora. Ideologically, western concepts have taken over and dominated our thinking, where Islamic doctrines have failed to fill that gap, that yearning for a deeper understanding of the world. And once a person's worldview is confused with neo-liberal concepts, it becomes an uphill struggle to 1) change that worldview, and 2) for that person to live by an Islamic understanding of the world. Even in Muslim majority countries, you will find this to be the dominant trend. Individual Muslims performing their obligatory religious duties, yet refrain from social contributions and cooperation, not due to any physical hindrances or lack of talents, but because their worldview is focused on 'material' gains in the afterlife! In short, if we are serious about a revival of the stagnant state we are in, and are keen to contribute positively at the socio-political level (in the UK or elsewhere), we need to correct our worldview first, move away from legends, falls concepts and outright fabrications, and truly believe that with sincerity we can change the world ('O ye who believe! If ye help Allah, He will help you and will make your foothold firm' -47:7). Once we, as a collective, appreciate that this isn't utopian fantasy talk, that our purpose is to evolve in the 'arc of ascent' towards perfection, we'll start to realise that this is only achievable if we characterise ourselves with the divine Names. Once this mindset is widely accepted, and becomes part of the collective subconscious, the idea of social justice will manifest itself naturally and organically, as each individual will have become a physical manifestation of the divine Name 'The Just'. ¹ I have spoken about this in detail in my other blog here. ² '..., and a group worshipped God out of desire for paradise, and that is the worship of tradesmen;...' - part of a narration by Imam Ali (as) in Nahjul Balaghah, Vol4, pg53 (Arabic edition) ³ Some people are willing to dedicate some of their time, usually at a personal level, however refrain from spending their money when the need arises. That is because his docility is limited, which in turn is due to the low goal he has set himself.

Salaam Dear Brothers and Sisters, So, i have started looking for a suitable match recently for myself. And i have come across this real problem. Maybe, i am thinking too shallow, or maybe that is how our society has turned out to be. There are 2 things i want to state here and get your opinion on what's going on here. 1. There are profiles of people where they mention, they are VERY religious and would want someone to be religious and who is striving to be perfect and what not. However, in their profile, they have mentioned that they are not willing to relocate to another country. Although, at first this seems like a non-issue. However, if someone is actually looking for someone who is very religious; then the choice becomes quite narrow. So, when someone from a country other than the potential "very religious" person's home country comes across their profile, there is this almost impenetrable barrier; geographical location. There are a plenty of examples in Islamic history that arabs married non-arabs, quraish married hashimis and so on., then why would this location thing become a barrier for a very religious person? they may have their reasons and everything BUT still, why? Now, i am not saying that it is wrong, nonetheless, this becomes really very irritating for us living here in Pakistan. 2. There are many mentions in our religion that if we can find someone pious; that should be enough of a decision parameter in terms of marriage; But no, today everything else matter BUT piety in most cases. Parents want their son-in-laws to be on the higher side from the perspective of this world and least care about how they are for the next world. Someone who owns properties and a number of cars would be preferred over someone who is just able to make ends meet and earn a lawful living. Where does the pious man go then when all he wants to do is save his half of religion? P.S: the website i am referring to is www.shiamatch.com

What is Religion! We must know about religion, what it is, to develop to know our position to it. How can we practice Islam that is a religion-not any religion but religion to the whole creation beyond derby -, without knowing about what religion is. Sure all are good and excellent followers of Islam, but Islam is a religion so what is religion again! What specific thoughts occur in you, please let us know. If it is not cool to mention I, AGAIN I AM, than maybe we should use 'you'- hmm how logical is this sentence -. Our scholars say religion has three parts-or 3 whatever - that is: Ahklaq, Aqaed and fiqh- respectively Ethic-ethical morality, belief and jurisprudence-Islamic law -. If any religion misses one of these parts, that religion is defected, handicap,or either sick but can we say it is no religion! Why Islam is the last holy religion to humanity? You have probably confronted the above question in your life! In this topic following questions should be dealt with: What is religion? What is a defected religion? If we accept the concept of religion, than why should we accept Islamic religion and not any other Ibrahimic religion; what answer is needed here? Why Islam the final stage, what can we say about the development of religion because we read in the holy Quran, some Prophets Peace upon Them said that we are muslim! Hope this topic is successful Allah will, and this 'riter a excellent host to guests participating in this topic. Please leave your view and thoughts, this servant will be frugal in using posts to develop text in this regard.

While we were celebrating one of my sons' return from a trip with a family dinner, he related that there was a toddler in the seat behind him on the plane,fussing most of the way home. The mother was apologetic, but my son just laughed it off and told her that it was okay...the little guy was probably uncomfortable or scared...and since he was from a large family, he knew that that's what babies do and for her not to feel bad about it at all. Then he said " I'm glad for her that I wasn't one of THOSE people ." I asked him what he meant by that and he said ' you know...THOSE people...the ones that hate kids. It's going around." The other kids chimed in and said things like that happen all the time. I asked them if they meant people who didn't want kids or felt "bringing a child into this world is irresponsible",etc. they said no..all that was something they could understand, and most of those folks didn't hate kids and weren't actually rude...but they meant people who really resented the presence of children in their general environment at all. " Why should I put up with your noisy brat in public?"...that sort of thing. They each said they had been criticized for wanting kids. " Don't you have any ambition to do anything BETTER with your life?" " Kids are a bad career move." Etc. My oldest son and his wife suffered an early miscarriage early last year. He's still a bit tender and when someone recently got into his face with that, he confessed to me he had told the guy to " Eat a bag of dirt". ( well, sort of...) this is the first I've heard of this,and was skeptical that people could actually want kids banished from public life, however unlikely to happen that may be,but my offspring were adamant that it's an attitude that often occurs among the 20-40 set. Wow. they also said the same type hates the elderly, too. It's like they resent anyone who is "dependent" ( as if they weren't babies once or won't grow old?) At any rate, they decided that the silver lining was that they would have to deal with those people fussing at "us breeders" for only one generation, though. I have known people who did not want kids, but they didn't mind others having them at all and shared in the happiness of the arrival of a new baby for their friends and family. Even if they didn't really get into kids, they didn't mind their presence. I don't know where this other attitude comes from. Just musing here.

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Subhanallah. These lecturers are more worth while, that when you hear about the deen of Allah, in your sights is one of the greatest servants of Allah. inshAllah I will try and post every lecture. They are being uploaded here: https://www.youtube.com/user/imamhussein3tv/videos May Allah bless you all in this holy moth. Eltimas-e-dua (wasalam) These are series with sayed Mustafa al-Qazwini about Ramadhan, and the deeds which all Muslims should do in this holy month, however, some of the behavior which muslims have to behave in their lifetime will be highlighted in these series as well. 1st Night: LIVE from Karbala with Sayid Mustafa al Qazwini-1st Ramadhan 1435, 30-06-2014 In this episode He speaks about the benefits of the holy month of Ramadhan regarding self-control and experiencing the feeling of poverty. He highlights that The ninth month of the Islamic Hijri calendar, Ramadhan. holds a special significance for Muslims around the world. It is in this month that Muslims attempt to let go of the worldly pleasures and decide to reorient themselves towards being better humans — humans that are not so lost in the pursuit of their desires that they cannot sense the needs of others. The cruelties that man shows towards his own body round the year are redressed in this month. The body is allowed to rejuvenate and repair the damage caused during the rest of the year. Conscience, that guiding light, is strengthened and prepared to shine through the dark alleys of human greed. And the soul is provided with the spiritual nourishment that it needs to connect with its creator. Although he mentioned many obvious benefits for fasting have been observed both by spiritualists as well as scientists, by this episode the viewers can find that Muslim fasts because God has so commanded. This, while it may seem dogmatic, is inherently cogent. A command of an omniscient god cannot possibly be wrong because if it was then He wouldn't be omniscient. However, this holds good provided it can be established through reason that it is indeed His command. This is one of the fundamental rationales of the Islamic thought and the foundation of its call to acceptance because faith built on unreasonable premises is unworthy of submission. 2nd Night: Live from Karbala with Sayid Mustafa al Qawini - 2 Ramadhan 1435 - 01-07-2014 The topic of this episode is the relationships between people, or in another words brotherhood and sisterhood and friendship between them. He highlights onto the advantages of them as well as how can we be able to be friends and to be a good brothers or sisters of others. He says that Allah the almighty and the prophet, peace be upon him, ordered us to be a good brothers or friends of each other, and he proves that by some of the prophet's quotes and some of the verses of the noble Qura'an. However, he will highlights onto some of the fruitful topics in the coming episodes of these series. 3rd Night: Live from Karbala with Sayid Mustafa al Qazwini - 3 Ramadhan 1435 - 02-07-2014 This episode is a continuation of the previous episode, which is about brotherhood and sisterhood and friendship. But he adds the behavior which we should behave toward our friends and brothers and sisters. He advises people to treat their friends or brothers kindly and dont hurt them in any way by mentioning some of the sayings of the imams, peace be upon them all. 4th Night: Live from Karbala with Sayid Mustafa al Qawini - 4 Ramadhan 1435 - 03-07-2014 He continues to talk about brotherhood and friendship which is the topic of the last two episodes. In this show he advises us to chose the suitable friend and he teaches us how do we behave with them in a way that Islam ask us to do. 5th Night: Live from Karbala with Syid Mustafa al Qawini - 5 Ramadhan 1435 - 04-07-2014 In this episode also he continues to speak about friendship and brotherhood, but here he highlights onto the feeling between friends and brothers. He clarifies that how for a person to know the feeling of his friend. according to the saying of the imams and the prophet, peace be upon them all. Also he compares between the real love between friends and physical one, which is between male and female.

Hey dear sisters! I hope you are all doing well. You see, the reason for my post today is to talk about some things that frustrate me about people's attitude towards the hijab. I am sure not everyone disrespects the hijab, but a large number of the people I've met do, and I could not help bringing this to topic. Opinions please? [rest of post deleted]

(bismillah) (salam) I made this observation about racism, and its causes, in another thread and I'd like you to discuss it. Do you agree or disagree?

Problem No. 2 Choosing a Career: When we are growing up we are always asked a question that “When you grow up, what would you want to be?? We innocently say whatever comes to mind. But that was childhood. We are not allowed to choose the field of study. Our parents select it for us. I remember after completion of 10th grade I wanted to be an engineer because I was good at mathematics and physics but my father forced me into becoming a doctor and I was least interested in being a doctor. And here I am stuck somewhere in between. Neither a doctor nor an engineer. Injustice?? Yes I believe it is. Career should be determined according to the aptitude of a child. I had a teacher who always advised me to study according to my aptitude. But I did otherwise. I did not want my dad to be angry with me. I did start to study pre-engineering in 12th grade but then my dad did not talk to me for one whole week. I had to give in. So I quit and went for pre-medical. What do you guys think should be done in this scenario?

Maybe the majority of the Shiachatters are living in non-Muslim and non-Shia(majority) countries. After reading a news article and some topics on here questions arise to which extend Muslims in general are sincere to their societies in which they live. Some demand from Muslims to be politically active in their societies. One major thing is: The majority of Shia Ulama are living in Iraq or Iran. They may not be aware of situation of Muslims in the West or in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia etc.. although they read news and see what is happening in the West or in countries with non-Shia majority. But they give Fatwas for Shia in those countries as well. Now the question arises: Are we meant to be politically active or religiously? Since both seems to be impossible. Sometimes Muslims have to make agreements with parties to get for example a new mosque built, or new laws in favor of Hijab. Now the same party also support issues which might be against Muslims or Shia. One issue is for example Bahrain: One of the reasons(not the only one) why the West is reluctant in supporting Bahraini uprising is because it fears that it might become another place for Iranian involvment(which openly condemns the West). Another is Afghanistan or Pakistan, in which Shia are sometimes seen as Iranian puppets. As for Sunnis(and secular Shia), they integrate easier into societies, why? Because the simply don't follow political advice from other places(except for the new rise of Wahabi/Salafi who follow their Saudi Shaikhs). The problem to me is: when it comes to Shia and politics people start fearing Shia(one reason: Iran against West). Now the question is are we sincere towards the societies in which we live when we involve politics(international) and religion? And to whose benefit is it? How should Shia people proceed? Do you keep out of poltics because you think it is not your business? How important is politics in your life? Do you agree with everything your Marja(if you have one) says on politics? I mean, lets be direct: Perhaps the Shia think that society is stupid and they can go everywhere and try to convince others both politically and religiously from Shia/Islamic path. But this results in stagnation and no progress as society is not so easily tricked. What do you think on Islam and politics?