Friday, January 28, 2011

The Shia Aqeedha

Broadly the Aqeedah of the Shias is divided into two parts:
a)      Roots of Religion (Usūl al-Dīn)
                                I.            Tawhīd (Oneness): The Oneness of Allah.
                              II.            Adalah (Justice): The Justice of Allah.
                            III.            Nubuwwah (Prophethood): Allah has appointed perfect and infallible prophets and messengers to teach mankind the religion (i.e. a perfect system on how to live in "peace".)
                            IV.            Imamah (Leadership): God has appointed specific leaders to lead and guide mankind — a prophet appoints a custodian of the religion before his demise.
                              V.            Qiyamah (The Day of Judgment): Allah will raise mankind for Judgement.

b)      Branches of Religion (Furū al-Dīn)
                                I.            Salat (Worship) – The 5 daily prayers.
                              II.            Sawm (Fast) – Fasting during the month of Ramadan.
                            III.            Zakaat (Poor-rate) – Paying the poor-due.
                            IV.            Hajj (Pilgrimage) – Undertaking the pilgrimage to Mecca.
                              V.            Khums (20% of savings of which the first half (Sihmu 'l-Imam) must be given to the Imam of Ahlul-Bayt or his representatives
                            VI.            Jihad (Struggle/Striving) – Struggling to earn the favor of God. The greater jihad, "al-Jihad al-Akbar", is the struggle against the evil within one's own soul. The lesser jihad, "al-Jihad al-Asghar", is where one fights on the battlefield in defence of his religion when attacked.
                          VII.            Amr-Bil-Ma'rūf (Promotion) – Encouraging people to perform good deeds.
                        VIII.            Nahi-Anil-Munkar (Dissuasion) – Discouraging people from performing sin.
                            IX.            Tawallá (Love) - To love Muhammad and his Ahl al-Bayt
                              X.            Tabarrā' (Disassociation) - To disassociate from the enemies of God, his Messengers and his Ahl al-Bayt

 We will discuss these in details in the coming posts(Insha'allah)

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