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What do you guys think? Do you agree that Abu Layth may be cleverly hiding his Shiasm to lure the Sunnis? I mean he advocates Mu'tah, criticises Bukhari and Sunni hadith tradition, subtly argues against uprightness of the Sahabah (criticises Abu Hurairah via Ka'b as has been argued by Shia) , "borrows" shi'ite hadith narrator criticism, rejects sunni understanding of mutawatir, rejects seeing Allah, advocates maliki fiqh (similar to jafari e.g. in Salah) and argues that Sunnis should be receptive to Shia. He doesn't talk about the imams as that would be too obvious and obviously outwardly expresses sunni views on other issues (but its like this isn't the main focus). Can't be too obvious. But the way he attacks sunni hadith and opens the door to criticism of the Sahabah does make you think... I think his strategy is to get Sunnis to doubt or reject their hadith and scholars. He's the push to conventional twelver pull. It's an interesting take on reconciliatory taqiyyah. What do you guys think?

Salams to all To all my shi'i brothers.. i need help in this issue! This is what ive read/heard soo far..correct me if im wrong.. that its confirmed Zurarah was cursed a few times by Imam Ja'far, BUT it was to save him as narrated by his son. Do we have a better argument/explanation than this? The words used by Imam Ja'far seems explicitly clear.. and sounds like something someone would say in anger. He lied upon me.. may Allah curse Zurarah etc.. this is the worst thing an Imam can say about a person.. It totally destroys a persons credibility! And im guessing the Imam said it openly.. thats how it reached Zurarah's own ears. My question is this.. if this 'curse to Zurarah' IS confirmed. If for example.. i personally heard Imam Ja'far clearly and explicitly curse Zurarah and call him a liar in all seriousness, why would i believe what Zurarah's son narrated in his defence? Why would i believe in what anyone else says in his defence? Being a shi'i; i believe in the Imam and follow him. After hearing what the Imam said clearly and harshly, am i to reject what i KNOW the Imam said and meant.. and instead believe in this supposed meeting where the Imam says he didnt mean it and it was to protect him. Im sorry for going around in circles to paint this picture.. it just doesnt sit right soo far. Its like taking the ambiguous instead of what is clear. Leaving the open and known words for the secret and hidden ones.. This and a few other issues have put me in a lot of doubt. Please help me in clarifying how we accept and understand this.

Assalamualaikum, I will be traveling to the Middle East in a couple weeks in shaa Allah, and I have a bunch of questions regarding prayer. Keep in mind I am a relatively new convert, so please be patient with me. 1) I read that all prayers during travel are 2 rakat. What counts as "travel"? I will be traveling for around 14 days, going in between cities, staying a couple nights in each and going around either to nearby cities or exploring the city I am staying in each day. Is "travel" simply the plane rides and bus rides, or the whole trip, since I am not staying in the same place the whole time? 2) Part of my trip will be in Jerusalem, and I plan to pray at Al Aqsa in shaa Allah. I was warned by a Palestinian friend of mine, however, that it is very dangerous if I pray like a Shia there and I should do taqiyyah and perform my prayers like a Sunni. Given recent events, it is even more dangerous to be praying noticeable differently at Al Aqsa, as people might suspect me to be a Zionist actor and become violent. Do I have to make up prayers later that are performed in taqiyyah? 3) Just in general, what are the rulings on praying salat at a Sunni mosque with Sunnis? The nearest Shia mosque to me is 3 hours away, and I cannot drive. The nearest Sunni mosque is 15 minutes by bus. If I prayed Jummah there, would I follow the imam or do it the way we do it? Would I stand in line with all of the others, or just quietly do my own thing in the back? Background note, I am a woman, so since congregational Jummah prayers are not obligatory upon me, I have not been going to the mosque. 4) If I am in a situation where I am unable to find pure water or dust for wudu, should I pray anyway, or would they not count? Is impure water better than nothing? 5) What's up with sutrahs? Do we use those anymore, or does a prayer rug essentially outline the space necessary for salah? JazakAllah khair and thank you for your patience with me.

I would like to ask something on the subject......: if someone is under Taqiyah, can he give a false or misleading statement on religion or deen? And if yes, can he ascribe something to someone like a scholar or an Ayatollah where as the latter might not have said such a thing? [Note: Anyone who would like to respond to the above is requested to use rather brief quotations/references where required]. Thanks.

As-Salam 'Alaikum, I just want to share this beautiful article, which I read some minutes ago: On the anniversary of the demise of Hazrat Abu Taleb (as), 26th Rabi` al-Awwal, we look at three reliable hadiths in al-Kafi and see the status of this great man, despite claims from the Mukhalafeen that he is a kafir (audhubillah). http://purifiedhousehold.com/salam-alayka-ya-abu-taleb-as/

Salams, Everyone. Hey guys, how have you all been? So, it's been two weeks since I became Shia(I was a Naqshbandi Sunni before), and boy has it been spiritually rewarding. Today, however, I had to resort to something that I had hoped to avoid. Nevertheless, it has helped me understand the troubles faced by the Shia communities elsewhere. If you've had similar taqiyyah experiences, please share them. I belong to the elite of Bangladesh, and therefore have rarely experienced real fear. I attend Jum'a at the local mosque--which as you might've guessed is Sunni--and prayed nafila of dhur while others prayed salat'al jum'a. Now, I already knew that praying according to the Jafari method was going to draw attention, but I didn't think much of it. I used to pray like the malikis before, and people never bugged me at all. Today, however was different. After I finished Dhuhur-'Asr--before I even had time to breathe--an entire herd of madrassah students in their twenties surrounded me. This alone scared me, for indeed, attracting an alim's attention was akin to being called a heretic--or even worse in the Shia's case, a kafir. These young men unleashed a barrage of questions in my direction. My initial response ,of course, was to simply identify myself as a maliki. That wasn't enough for them. They went on to ask me the intricacies of Maliki Fiqh. It was a bit difficult making up genuine lies on the spot, especially lying about why "Malikis" prostrate on a small piece of wood( i don't have a mohr). Throughout the exchange, however, I was genuinely afraid. All it would take for them to know I'm a rafidha, was to spot a chink in my armor of lies. I knew about the financial background of these madrassah students(it's a sorrowful tale for the most part) and have witnessed for myself that they can resort to violent zealotry to feel good about themselves. Mentally, I kept asking Alllah(swt) to grant me Imam Ali's courage. Thankfully, they believed me and in turn gave me an entire lecture on the Hanafi fiqh. After I mentally heaved a huge sigh of relief, I decided to milk a little a information out of them. Plastering a dumb expression on my face, I asked them about this Masjid's attitude towards Sufism, Wahabism and the Deobandi school I'd heard so much about. They took a midway stance between sufism and wahabism, saying that there have been genuine saints(haqqani pirs) but most of them are charlatans. They even went on to say that Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab wasn't too bad of a person(subhanAllah!). They promptly informed me that this masjid( which is also an Islamic research centre) was Deobandi. Images of the Taliban flashed through my mind. We went on to talk about Bissho Iztema--the second largest congregation of Muslims in the world(after Hajj)--which takes place twice every year in Bangladesh. I tactfully asked if the Shia attend it. One of them sniffed and said, "Naaaaaaaa, Shia ra toh Kafir!" which translates to "Noooooooo waaaaay, those Shias are kafirs!". I giggled mentally and soon realized that this masjid was a breeding ground for sunni extremism. They also believed that all Shias share the same belief as the Ghorabiyyah(that Jibreel made a mistake). As the conversation neared its end, one of them grew attached to me. He insisted on giving me an entire tour of the Madrassah(it's a pretty big place) and I complied. He asked me to have lunch with him, but I politely refused. This man, had he known my true aqeeda, would have unleashed a mob of zealots on me. Of that, I have no doubt. Anyways, practicing taqiyyah for the first time actually allowed me to see the wisdom behind Imam Jafar as-Sadiq's(a.s) statement: Taqiyyah is 9/10 of the religion. I also acquired useful information about the masjid and its alims. When I told my mum about this incident, she nearly had a fit. Again she mocked me for leaving sunnism, and asked me to start praying like hanafis again. I've given up on my parents entirely--they want to follow the fatwas of Lady Fatima Zahra's(a.s.) killer, they're free to do so. I only wish to serve my Imams. For now, I'll bare the brunt of their insults and mockery. Please pray so that I have the strength to go through social hardships that are part-and-parcel of being Shia. Also, what should i do if I fear physical harassment on Jum'a day, ie if I pray like a Jafari? And am I obligated to obey my parents regarding something that is OK in sunni law but is prohibited by the scholars of the School of Ahlul Bayt? If I have offended anyone, I apologize. That was not my intention. If you've ever been through something similar, please share them here. la fata illa 'Ali wa la saif illa Dhulfiqar.