Questions about shia-ism

Thanks to the response brother/sister.

The word shia as for as I know now just means follower/supporter/helper of another. And I don't in particular agree to using it as an ideology. If you say the word shia like say shia of the prophet s.a.w then that is fine to me as it will be same as follower. But if one is referring to ideology I do not agree as they may differ from one to another.

The word imam is used but I don't see any relevance to the 12 imams and also the word has been used in bad and good context.

As for your last point about the statement, honestly I do not agree to the Shia view on this event. This is because I believe completely that our prophet s.a.w completed his prophethood fulfilling the deen Islam and he would have never left us hanging without providing something so important. Also Allah would never had let that happen during his prophethood as he fulfilled Islam and would not leave us in confusion. Hence, I do not want to discuss about that further.

Salam

Shia isn't an ideology, and you're correct in saying that it means to follow. But however, it can be used to represent a specific group of people. For instance, Shia of Ali, means those who follow Ali as their leader. Thus, denoting a specific group.

An imam is a leader, and the Holy Prophet has indeed said there will be 12 leaders after me. In our belief, the 12 imams are the 12 leaders that the Prophet was referring to, as they were appointed by God and they're part of his Ahlulbayt, who we are already ordered to follow, from numerous hadiths. Thus, there's a link.

Respectfully brother/sister, I wasn't giving a 'shia' view on the last part, rather just stating a fact and then giving my opinion at the end. Indeed, the Holy Prophet did fulfill his prophet hood, but as stated in the hadith, he was interrupted and frankly got angry after that. It's also vital to note that he wanted to inform us, but was interrupted. Notice how the exact same wording has been used in two different yet clearly related hadith, which are:

Follow Quran and Ahlulbayt, and you will never go astray

I will write something for you, that if you follow you will never go astray (the reply was) The Quran is enough.

Hopefully, you can see that the only thing missing from the second one is Ahlulbayt, which is why even some sunni scholars have said that the Prophet was going to reveal the Ahlulbayt.

Last thing on this specific event, (of course you don't have to answer this), it honestly seems like you don't believe that the whole Calamity of Thursday incident (which caused Ibn Abbas to cry to the extent that the stones beneath him became soaked) occurred. I apologize if this isn't the case, but it is clear that the Prophet wanted to give the companions something that will ensure they will never go astray, but was stopped. From reading your response which says that the Prophet would never leave us in such a state, is rather contradictory, as something that was really important, clearly wasn't said to the companions?

Salamunalaykum to all

I've read in brief replies, inshAllah after my exams i will get to responding in full!

Wa'alaikum Asalaam

I understand you. However, I would not like to state my opinions on matters to do with events like that as the scholars are more educated on those matters. In Shaa Allah I am trying my best to stick to the Sunnah of the prophet s.a.w and the Qur'an which ofcourse his household followed and so same in both ways to me.

I do still believe as all Muslims do (hopefully) that the prophet s.a.w had covered everything that was important to us to know during his lifetime/prophet hood. Hence any bid'ah etc In Shaa Allah trying to avoid.

I would like to just end with a dua: may Allah keep us all on the straight path and increase our level of Imaan. Ameen

That's fair enough about the scholars, in fact, that's the reply of one of my friends to me when we were discussing a different issue.

Yes, I agree that the Prophet covered pretty much everything, but all I am saying that it's a shame that He was interrupted and disobeyed just before his death. To me, it's not much of what He missed out, as we already know to follow Quran and Ahlulbayt and we have indications of who they are.

However, it's the fact that just before he's about to die, he was disobeyed and angered, such that he ordered some companions to leave. The way He was treated, is my issue, and it was so bad that it caused Ibn Abbas to cry such that rocks beneath him were soaked, when he remembered what happened.

Normally, with such incidents I discuss and then close it, but this one does truly sadden me, how on His own death bed, the same man who even God and all the angels send their salutations upon, even the Quran commands everyone to obey Him, they still disobeyed and angered him.

Your sincerity to stick to the Sunnah of the Prophet is indeed admirable, and inshallah Allah will not only guide us to it, but most importantly keep us on the true path of Islam. Ameen.

In terms of fiqh, he would follow his own ijtihad due to the absence of any other option.

If he holds no sect specific interpretation of ayaat from the Quran in that he understands it as the vast majority of groups do, he is Sunni by default (hence the term, ahlus-sunnah wal-jama'ah).

So simply following the content of the Quran, with no other input or influence, makes one a Sunni.

I wonder if this view is shared by followers of other sects?

So simply following the content of the Quran, with no other input or influence, makes one a Sunni.

I wonder if this view is shared by followers of other sects?

x

Salamunalaykum,

It is a belief among both sunni's and shia's that Imam Mahdi a.s is from his descendents, and he will be the leader of muslims not just in the middle east, but the imam of the entire ummah worldwide and globally. Not only that, but Jesus Christ pbuh will pray behind him (in authentic hadiths), obedience to Imam Mahdi a.s will become wajib upon every muslim, and to disobey or disbelieve in him is disbelieving in Rasullah s.a.w

So imagine, a man who will be the leader of the entire Ummah, bring peace and prosperity and create a Utopia in the entire world, have even the likes of Jesus Christ peace be upon him praying behind him, is not mentioned by name or explicitly in the Quran.

Imagine if when he appears, someone states that they will not obey him because they could not find his name in the Quran?

Allah swt by his wisdom has chosen to mention things explicitly, and other things refer to them in a more general way, and ask us to obey what is said by Rasullah s.a.w

By his wisdom, he knows why he has done so. Among the reasons could be the preservation of the Quran among other reasons.

We refer to Rasullah s.a.w to elucidate on the Quran.

Rejecting a genuine mutawattir hadith can be seen as paramount or similar to rejecting an ayah of the Quran.

Interesting. So, in the absence of any "official" rulings or interpretations, and individual's own reasoning, based on their own interpretation of the content of the Quran, is valid and acceptable.

So simply following the content of the Quran, with no other input or influence, makes one a Sunni.

I wonder if this view is shared by followers of other sects?

In the scenario that you presented, there would frankly be no other option. Ijtihad was always reserved for cases where some extent of judgement had to be exercised by necessity; the example you provided is one where the individual would seek to understand and derive rulings based on whatever his mind can deduce, due to the absence of any guidelines or resources.

I answer yes to this question. Being a Sunni is the default, hence why Sunnis are (and always have been) the vast majority of Muslims. Other groups came into being and were defined and labelled in accordance to their differences.

Some of these differences arose from politics, others arose from abandoning Islamic obligation (such as the prohibition of drinking alcohol and the payment of zakah), others arose from adopting deviant beliefs in 'aqeedah which took them beyond Islam's definitions, and so on.

So simply following the content of the Quran, with no other input or influence, makes one a Sunni.

I wonder if this view is shared by followers of other sects?

I don't do it. Afaik, in Islamic shariah, what is done openly is what matters. If someone openly promotes say, apostasy, or homosexuality, as per shariah in the right circumstances, that is punishable.

Afaik, in any shia gathering, in shia mosques, in shia video's, in books written by shia's, in shia's on forums, in shia's in real life, in shia's on podcasts, it's forbidden to ask Allah to remove his mercy , even if you believe that individual wronged Rasullah s.a.w and disobeyed Allah swt. On shia forums, you can get auto-banned for doing it. We recognise the fact the Ummah has divergent historical views, and a large body strongly holds a certian view, as well as how respected these individuals are.

Salamunalaykum,

Yes, and I eat pork and I don't pray.

Dear brother/sister in Islam,

InshAllah after my exams, we can delve deeper into the reasonable points raised.

But, just out of interest (i ask this to a lot of people) - where is Allah swt?