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Ahlul-Bayt is a Quranic, Hadith, and theological term meaning the family of the Noble Prophet of Islam (s). This term with this meaning has been used in the Quran in the verse of purity (33:33): انما یرید الله لیذهب عنکم الرجس اهل البیت و یطهرکم تطهیرا”” (Verily Allah desires to rid you of impurities, Ahlul-Bayt, and purify you; a through purification) Theologians, traditionalists, and commentators on the Quran have used the term Ahlul-Bayt which has been used in the Quran in a special way. There are differences of opinions amongst the commentators of the Quran, the traditionalists, and the theologians regarding who are included inRead More →

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Ahl al-Bayt is a Quranic, Hadith, and theological term meaning the family of the Noble Prophet of Islam (s). This term with this meaning has been used in the Quran in the verse of purity (33:33): انما یرید الله لیذهب عنکم الرجس اهل البیت و یطهرکم تطهیرا Verily Allah desires to rid you of impurities, Ahl al-Bayt, and purify you; a through purification The lexical meaning of ahl means love and closeness (Fayūmī, Misbāh al-Munīr, p.28) and bayt means a place of living. (Ibid, p.68) The lexical meaning of Ahl al-Bayt is a person’s family who he is close to (Ibid) but, in a more general sense, it includesRead More →

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Ahlul-Bait, as a Quranic, traditional, and theological term means the Prophet’s family (s). This term has been used to mean this in the verse of purity (33:33): “Verily, Allah desires to rid you of all impurities, Ahlul-Bait, and purify you a thorough purification.” («انما یرید الله لیذهب عنکم الرجس اهل البیت و یطهرکم تطهیرا») Commentators of the Quran say regarding this verse that what is meant by Allah’s desire is a natural desire (Al-Mīzān (Farsi edition), v.16, p.467) because Allah’s legislative desire has been coupled with the purity of all humans. Everyone is able to reach purity from sin by obeying the teachings and rulings of Allah,Read More →

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In response to the foregoing question, we must mention a few points: A) We have enquired the office of late Ayatollah Bahjat about whether or not the Ayatollah had said those words and they denied that he had said them. Instead, His Eminence had said that whenever difficulties and problems increase, then the time of reappearance is near (“اذا اشتد الامر قرب الفرج”). This saying by Ayatollah Bahjat is derived from a narration which says: “Before the reappearance, the seditions become visible and the world will be filled with oppression and injustice.” B) When it comes to fixing the time of the reappearance of theRead More →

WHICH ONE OF THE HOLY IMAMS (AS) RECITED DUA FARAJ?

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The term “faraj” means remedy or improvement or relief from grief and sorrow. (Ibn Manzur, Muhammad bin Mukram, Lisan al-Arab, vol.2, p.343,  term “al-Faraj”, Dar Sadir Publications, Beirut, Third  Edition, 1414 A.H; Turaihi, Fakhruddin, Majma’ al-Bahrain, researcher and editor: Sayyid Ahmad, vol.2, p.323, Murtazawi Bookstore Publications, Tehran, 3rd edition, 1416 A.H.) The hadith books which include this term and also duas and deeds (a’amāl) have referred to the same meaning.   We suffice to mentioning a few examples of duas which have been named “dua Faraj” or “Namaz-e Faraj”:1. A dua, which has also been called “Dua Faraj”, has been narrated from the Holy Prophet (S) as such: «اللَّهُمَّRead More →

WHAT IS THE THEOLOGICAL BASIS OF MAHDIISM?

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A thorough analysis of the theological basis of Mahdiism (the belief in Imam Mahdi as and his coming) calls for a detailed and profound discussion which we will leave for another time. Here, we will briefly mention a portion of the basis of this concept and belief: Great theologians link the concept of Mahdiism to the “Law of Grace” which is a famous one in theology and have proven the necessity of the existence of an imam through this law. Khajeh Nasiruddin Tusi, a great Muslim theologian says:  انحصار اللطف فیه معلوم للعقلاء و وجوده لطف و تصرفه آخر و عدمه منا (Kashful-Murad, pg. 363.)Read More →

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF IMAM ZAMAN’S (AS) DHUHUR (REAPPEARANCE) AND WHICH ONES ARE RELIABLE?

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1- The rise of Imam Zaman (as) is one of the most important incidents to take place in this world, to the extent that he has been given the title of “The Promised one of all Religions” and “The Universal Reformist to the People of the World”. 2- Since his appearance is of so much significance, it must be accompanied by signs that have never taken place before, like the birth of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) which was accompanied by several extraordinary signs. 3- The reasons and benefits of such signs can be summarized in the following: a) Some of these signs are so great thatRead More →

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF THE REAPPEARANCE OF IMAM MAHDI (ATF) AND THE EVENTS THAT SHALL TAKE PLACE THEREUPON?

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Your question concerning the reappearance of the Imam of Time can be investigated around four focal points: First: The signs for his coming are categorized into different groups, one of them being their classification into “certain” and “uncertain” signs: According to some hadiths, five signs are considered “certain” which we will mention them cursorily: Abu Hamzah Thumali says: “I told Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) that his father, Imam Muhammad Baqir (as) once said: “The emergence of an individual by the name of Sufyani is for sure, the echo of a call from the skies is also for sure, as is the rise of the sun from theRead More →

DOES IMAM MAHDI (AJ) HAVE A SPOUSE AND CHILDREN?

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Imam Mahdi’s (as) personal life is an issue that one can barely reach any certain conclusions on, but some possibilities can be presented considering the hadiths there are on it. Concerning the question regarding Imam Mahdi’s (as) having a spouse and children or not, there are three possibilities: a) The imam hasn’t married anyone. b) He has married but doesn’t have any children. c) He has married and has children as well. The first necessitates that the imam hasn’t performed one of the greatest Islamic traditions and it doesn’t seem like he would disregard such an important tradition. Of course, some have said that ImamRead More →

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It is a practice among the Shi’as that whenever the name “Qa’im (a.s.)” is pronounced in their gatherings, all of them stand up in reverence. Though this action is not established as an obligatory one, it is prevalent as a highly recommended act for expressing deference for the beloved Imam (a.t.f.s.).Imam As-Sadiq (a.s.) was asked, “What is the reason for standing while mentioning the title al-Qa’im?”He (a.s.) replied:“Sahib al-‘Amr (a.s.) will have a long occultation. Whenever he will be addressed by the title al-Qa’im, due to the intense love which his followers will have for him, they will remember his noble era and express sorrowRead More →