Beliefs of Shi'a

Shia religion is based upon certain beliefs and ideologies. Anyone having these beliefs is a Shia even if he does not call himself "Shia . One not having these beliefs can never be Shia even if he calls himself "Shia . Allah, His Messenger, and Masoomeen (as) did not separate the beliefs and acts of Shia from each other. They are one and the same. Because beliefs are acts themselves. Acts are beliefs themselves. Because beliefs are exposed through one s actions, and one s actions exposes one s beliefs.

Beliefs and actions cannot be separated from each other. The people themselves divided the Shia religion into two parts, usool e deen and furoo e deen.

Usool e Deen (Principles of Religion)

Asal means root. Its plural is usool. Usool means roots. So the meaning of usool e deen is "roots of religion . According to the scholars, there are five usool e deen.1. Tawheed (oneness) 2. Adl (justice) 3. Nabuwiat (prophet hood) 4. Imamate 5. Qiyamat (Day of Judgment). We will discuss this later on in our book Furoo e Deen Fara means branch. Its plural is furoo. Furoo means branches. The meaning of furoo e deen is "branches of religion . Because usool and furoo were established by non masooms, there is a dispute regarding this issue. In the beginning, there were six furoo e deen.

1. Namaz (prayer) 2. Sawm (fasting) 3. Hajj (pilgrimage) 4. Zakat (poor tax) 5. Khums 6. Jihad (struggle in the way of Allah), but later they included four more branches. 7. Tawalla (love of Ahlul Bayt as) 8. Tabarra (disassociation from the enemies of Ahlul Bayt as) 9. Amr bil maroof (enjoining the good) 10. Nahi anil munkir (forbidding the bad)

The people take the meanings of "amr bil maroof nahi anil munkir to be enjoining the good and forbidding the bad. Due to this explanation, there are many Islamic missionaries busy in this act. However, we will find its true meaning based solely upon the sayings of Masoomeen (as).

Someone asked Imam Jafar Sadiq (as), "Moula (as), who is "maroof which we must invite the people towards?" ( Maroof means one who is recognized) Moula (as) replied, "This is one who is "maroof on the earth as well as in the heavens." Then the person said, "Moula (as), please explain in detail.

" Imam (as) replied, "Maroof is My Grandfather Ali (as) ibn Abi Talib (as), and munkir is His enemy." So the real explanation of "amir bil maroof nahi anil munkir is to invite people towards the wilayat, imamate, and love of Moula Ali (as) and disassociate ourselves from the enemies of Moula Ali (as).

Love

We must know and remember the true root of the Shia religion, its spirit, purpose, destination, beginning, end, apparent, and hidden, is only one thing and that is love. In Usool e Kafi Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) says, "Religion is nothing except love and hate". It means loving Ahlul Bayt (as) and being an enemy of Their enemies is the true religion. After delivering the whole religion, RasoolAllah (saw) asked for the reward of His prophecy to be the love of Ahlul Bayt (as). Quran says, "O Prophet! Say I do not ask an y reward from you except to love My Beloved Daughter Syeda Fatima Zahra (sa)."

Love has been proven to be the true religion. Without this all other things, regardless if they are usool or furoo, are worthless. They can only be of benefit to you if your foundation is the love of Ahlul Bayt (as). In reality this whole universe was created for love. Its end is also based upon love.

The purpose of the creation of the universe is revealed in this Hadith e Qudsi where Allah says, "I was a hidden treasure. I decided to be recognized. There fore, I created an essence."

Allah says on another occasion, "O Ahlul Bayt (as) of Muhammad (saw)! I created this whole universe in Your love. If it had not been for You, I would not have created anything."

The purpose of creating this whole universe is the love of Ahlul Bayt (as). This universe is worthless without the love of Ahlul Bayt (as). W e have looked at the beginning. Now let us look at the end and see what will decide whether one goes to jannah (paradise) or jahannum (hellfire).

Ameerul Momineen (as) says, "I will be standing at the door of jahannum (hell). I will ask it to catch this person because he was My enemy. And to leave that person because he was My lover in this world." The jannah and jahannum will be divided upon the basis of love. Our beginning is love and our end will also be love. If someone from their beginning till their end is neglectful of the love of Ahlul Bayt (as), then he should know what his place is.

When it has been decided the center of the beginning and end is the love of Ahlul Bayt (as), it is our duty to make the love of Ahlul Bayt (as) the center of our life. W e should only love those who love Ahlul Bayt (as) and hate those who are enemies of Ahlul Bayt (as). As Ameerul Momineen (as) said in " Mani ul Akhbar", " Be friends to My friend even if he is the murderer of your father and brother. Be enemy of My enemy even if he is your father or brother."

Adopted from the book: "Kashaful Salat" by: "Seyyed Baqir Nisar Zaidi"