A question Sent on 19/12/2013, by: ʻAlī ʻAbd al-Jabbār.
Answered on 10\1\2014, by: scholar Sheikh H̱usayn Muẖammad al-Mad͟hlūm.
The question:
Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you.
I liked your website and the recognition and answering directly to the questioner without the means of slanders and ignorants, or transferring talks from people to people… specially that accusation against you1 have been abounded. So, would you please consider answering the following questions?
What are your religion basics?
Who are the Imams? Mention by number and name.
Who is the best of creation? Prophet Muẖammad, Imam ʻAlī, or Messengers of Firm Resolve2 ?
If al-Mahdī al-Qāʼim is included in Imams, what is your belief about him?
Peace be upon you.
The Answer:
In the Name of Allāh, the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.
All praise is to Allāh, Lord of the worlds; prayers3 and peace be upon Muẖammad, his infallible4 family, and his chosen companions.
Religion basics in the Alawite Islamic belief5 is exactly the same as the all-other Muslims.
The first is Monotheism6 of God Almighty, due to the saying of the prince of believers and the Imam of pious7 [ʻAlī] -peace be upon him-:
“The foremost of religion is knowing God. The perfect knowing of Him is the confirmation of Him. The perfect confirmation of Him is monotheism. The perfect monotheism is the negation of attributes/characteristics from Him, because every attribute is something else than the described [thing], and the described is something else than the characteristic.”
So, the pure monotheism that is free of polytheism8 is the negation of both similarity9 and nonexistence10 . Hence, who says that God is similar to his creatures, he admits that He is physical and not old! And who deactivates his existence, becomes an atheist11 . So, both [similarity and nonexistence] are negated.
Allāh is existent without similarity, transcendent12 without nonexistence. He is the just who doesn’t oppress or treat anybody unfairly, and never overloads anybody. He ordered a little but rewarded a lot. It’s neither forcing nor authorization, but something in between. He ordered with choices, and forbade with warnings; and gave people the power to do or not to do. Therefore, whether one does well or not, his deeds will be reflected to himself.
The second of the basics is the admission and belief in prophets and messengers –may God’s blessings be upon them-, and that God has sent them for the sake of guidance and mercy.
The last and the master of them is the prophet of mercy and the messenger of the nation Muẖammad Ibn ʻAbd Allāh (may God’s blessings be upon him and his family), and his mission involves all the previous divine missions and it is the last, and no prophet after him.
Also, we believe that “imamate”13 is a perfection and completeness of prophecy. The most honored messenger [Muẖammad] conveyed the nation on behalf of his God the “Imamate and Walāyah14 ” of ʻAlī Ibn Abī Ṯālib –peace be upon him- and his descendants:
2. Al-H̱asan al-Mujtabá
3. Al-H̱usayn ash-Shahīd in Karbalāʼ
4. ʻAlī Zayn al-ʻĀbidīn
5. Muẖammad al-Bāqir
6. Jaʻfar as̱-S̱ādiq
7. Mūsá al-Kād͟him
8. ʻAlī ar-Riḏā
9. Muẖammad al-Jawwād
10. ʻAlī al-Hādī
11. Al-H̱asan al-ʻAskarī
12. and the imam Muẖammad Ibn al-H̱asan (al-H̱ujjah) the owner of the era and the time, the apparent in countries, the invisible to eyes, and that he will appear at the end of time15 and nobody knows when except the lord of all creation – the Almighty and Sublime-.
The third of the basics is the belief in the last day which is described as the physical hereafter, the day of rebirth and resurrection, and the appearance of the hidden.
Regarding the best of creation in our doctrine,
- he is the prophet of the nation, our master Muẖammad -God’s blessings be upon him and his family-,
- our lord ʻAlī -peace be upon him- ,
- then the Messengers of Firm Resolve.
Our belief in the foreseen al-Mahdī is clear; he will fill the Earth with justice and fairness as it has been filled with oppression and injustice, may God hasten the relief of believers by his emergence.
We believe in the infallibility of the prophet and Imams as well as all of the prophets and messengers, and that God has backed them with miracles and supernatural phenomena supporting their callings.
We believe in all of the divine books and that they are all from Allāh16 , and that the last one is the holy Qurʼān which is impossible for any falsehood.
This is briefly the whole of our faith. We took it with firm conviction by research and examination without any imitation, because imitation is not permissible in the faith basics. Whoever wants to extend in these basics and go into the details, he has to read “Nahj al-Balāghah” [the collection of the words of Imam ʻAlī –peace be upon him-] because it contains eloquence and sufficiency.
- 1You: Referring to the Alawites.
- 2Messengers of Firm Resolve/The Resolute Messengers/(Ulū al-ʻazm) were so called because they showed great fortitude in calling to Allāh The Almighty. They also displayed great patience in the face of any severe harm that befell them for the sake of Allāh The Almighty and they stood firm against falsehood and courageously upheld the truth. They also have other attributes that characterized them, may Allāh exalt their mention. The Messengers with strength and patience are five: Nūẖ (Noah), Ibrāhīm (Abraham), Mūsā (Moses), ʻIsā (Jesus) and Muẖammad, may Allā’s peace and blessings be upon them.
- 3Prayers: Blessings.
- 4Infallible: never wrong, failing, or making a mistake.
- 5Belief: doctrine, school, faith...
- 6Monotheism: the doctrine or belief in the existence of one God, or in the oneness of God.
- 7pious adjective [singular/plural]: Strongly believing in religion, and living in a way that shows this belief, e.g: She/He is a pious follower of the faith, never missing her/his prayers.
- 8Polytheism: belief in many different Gods.
- 9Similarity: the state of being almost the same, or a particular way in which something is almost the same.
- 10Nonexistence: the fact or state of not existing or not being real or present.
- 11Atheist: someone who does not believe in any God.
- 12Transcendent: beyond or above the range of normal or physical human experience. The idea of a transcendent God who stood apart from mankind.
- 13Imamate is a Shiʻah belief that all imams should be spiritual descendants of the Prophet Muẖammad. Shiʻah Muslims believe that imams are leaders appointed by God to be Muẖammad’s successors. Shiʻah Muslims believe that imams are inspired by God, are without sin and are infallible, which means that they can interpret the teachings of the Qurʼān without making any errors.
- 14“Walāyah”: following and obeying the Imams. A distinction is often made between “Walāyah” and “Wilāyah”. “Wilāyah” generally preferred to convey the meaning of “power”, “authority”, or “domain of authority” (e.g. a political subdivision of a country).
- 15The end of time: the end of the world, shortly before the Day of Resurrection.
- 16Belief in the Books of God: All Muslims believe that God revealed holy books or scriptures to a number of God’s messengers. These include the Quran (given to Muhammad), the Torah (given to Moses), the Gospel (given to Jesus), the Psalms (given to David), and the Scrolls (given to Abraham).
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