Publisher: Zahra Publications ISBN (Printed Version) – Paperback: 1-0-946079-87-0 ISBN (Printed Version) – Hardback: 1-0-946079-88-9 ISBN (E-Book Version): 978-1-919826-62-2 http://www.zahrapublications.pub First Published in 1986 © Haeri Trust and Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this eBook may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from Zahra Publications. Copying and redistribution of this eBook is strictly prohibited. Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................. i Book Description ........................................................................................................................... iv About Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri ........................................................................................................ v Editor’s Note .................................................................................................................................. vi Preface........................................................................................................................................... vii Preface to the English Edition........................................................................................................ ix Foreword ......................................................................................................................................... x Introduction .................................................................................................................................. xiii Our System of Belief ...................................................................................................................... 1 Belief in Allah ............................................................................................................................. 1 The Way of Oneness ............................................................................................................... 1 Islam........................................................................................................................................ 5 Faith ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Fear of Allah and carefulness in one’s behavior (taqwa) ..................................................... 12 Trust in Allah ........................................................................................................................ 15 Reflection .............................................................................................................................. 18 Sincerity and Devotion ......................................................................................................... 20 Justice.................................................................................................................................... 22 Having a good opinion of Allah ........................................................................................... 25 The Trial and the Test ........................................................................................................... 27 Contentment with Allah’s Decree and One’s Own Destiny ................................................. 30 Belief in the Last Day and the Place of Return..................................................................... 34 Remembrance of death ......................................................................................................... 38 The Barzakh, or matters pertaining to the time spent in the grave before the Day of Resurrection .......................................................................................................................... 42 The Place of Assembly of the Day of Resurrection.............................................................. 45 The Garden and the Fire ....................................................................................................... 47 Belief in Prophethood .............................................................................................................. 50 Creation’s Need of the Prophets and Messengers ................................................................ 50 The Mission of the Seal of the Prophets ............................................................................... 53 The Life Story of the Prophet Muhammad ........................................................................... 56 Belief in Imamate ..................................................................................................................... 61 i Necessity of the existence of the Imam after the Prophet..................................................... 61 Necessity of Obedience to the Imam after the Prophet ........................................................ 65 The Family of the Prophet .................................................................................................... 69 The Commander of the Faithful, Imam `Ali ibn Abi Talib .................................................. 72 Imam al-Hasan ibn `Ali ibn Abi Talib .................................................................................. 76 Imam al-Husayn ibn `Ali ibn Abi Talib................................................................................ 80 Imam `Ali ibn al-Husayn ...................................................................................................... 83 Imam Muhammad ibn `Ali al-Baqir ..................................................................................... 86 Imam Ja`far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq .................................................................................. 90 Imam Musa ibn Ja`far al-Kazim ........................................................................................... 93 Imam `Ali ibn Musa al-Rida ................................................................................................. 96 Imam Muhammad ibn `Ali al-Jawad .................................................................................... 99 Imam `Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi .................................................................................... 102 Imam al-Hasan ibn `Ali al-`Askari ..................................................................................... 103 Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Mahdi .......................................................................... 106 Imam al-Mahdi ................................................................................................................... 107 The Importance of the Learned (al-`ulama’) during the period of the Mahdi’s occultations ............................................................................................................................................. 111 Our Way of Worship ................................................................................................................... 115 Prayer (Salat) ......................................................................................................................... 115 The Obligatory Prayers at the Appointed Times ................................................................ 115 Prayer in the Night .............................................................................................................. 120 Remembrance of Allah ....................................................................................................... 122 Supplicatory prayer (du`a’) ................................................................................................ 124 The Conditions of Prayer .................................................................................................... 128 Humility .............................................................................................................................. 130 Fear and Turning to Allah for Forgiveness ......................................................................... 131 Different Kinds of Wrong Actions ..................................................................................... 137 Recitation of the Qur’an ..................................................................................................... 138 Fasting (Sawm) ...................................................................................................................... 144 Pilgrimage (Hajj) ................................................................................................................... 148 Purification or Poor-rate Tax (Zakat and Khums) ................................................................ 153 Zakat ................................................................................................................................... 153 Khums ................................................................................................................................. 157 ii Struggle in the Way of Allah (jihad) and Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil (al-amr bi al- ma`ruf wa-al-nahi `an al-munkar) ......................................................................................... 161 Struggle in the Way of Allah .............................................................................................. 161 Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil.................................................................................. 165 Behavior and Courtesy in Islam .................................................................................................