Sheikh Mateen

The reason could be that some scholars do not believe the Holy Prophet (s) had more than one daughter. According to our tradition, he had only one daughter (Fatima (as)). The other daughters according to some traditions were the Children of Khala (Khadija’s Sister). They came to stay with the Holy Prophet (s) when they lost their mother. Another reason could be if we do believe that the Prophet (s) had more than one daughter, would be that they were not at the same status as Fatima (as). Similarly, many of the Imams had many sons but we normally only hear and know of the ones who were destined for Imamate.

This happens to most people regardless of gender. Ask Allah to help you and strive to get in the habit of reading the benefits of salat and acts of worship.

Build up your beliefs by studying about Islam and prepare yourself mentally before salat to realize who you are standing in front of

It has been recommended by the Prophet and his household (as) to say the shahadatayn on our death beds and then to reaffirm our beliefs and believing in the wilayat is one of our beliefs.

Shaytan knows our weak points thus we need to realize what they are as well. Just as a country will prepare its military to defend its weak points we must also prepare our army to defend our weak points against our Shaytan. A very effective dua against the Shaytan is:

‎اللهم إن إبليس عبد من عبيدك يراني من حيث لا أراه وأنت تراه من حيث لا يراك وأنت أقوى على أمره كله وهو لا يقوي على شيء من أمرك, اللهم فأنا أستعين بك عليه يا رب فإن لا طاقة لي به ولا حول ولا قوة لي عليه إلا بك, اللهم إن أرادني فأرده وإن كادني فكده, واكفني شره, وأجعل كيده في نحره برحمتك يا أرحم الراحمين, وصلى الله على محمد وآله الطاهرين.

“O Allah, Iblis (Satan) is one of Your creatures who sees me from a place that I cannot see him and You see him from a place that he cannot see You, and You have power over all his affairs while he does not have power over any of Your affairs. Therefore O Allah, I resort to You for help against him, because O Lord (provider, nourisher, sustainer, the one who transforms potentiality into actuality) I do not have any capability against him, no power to change or force to enact, except through You. O Allah, If he intends evil for me, turn it back on him, and if he schemes against me then you scheme against him. Save me from his evil, and make his scheme to attach to his own neck. By Your mercy, O the most merciful of those who show mercy. May Allah bless Muhammad and his purified progeny.”

The best book with all the proofs is this one and is available via amazon

Commemorating the Mourning Rights of Imam al-Husayn https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1514298619/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_6802V0FJW0Y9PBJBNYX9

Also i did a lecture on it 6 years ago

https://youtu.be/Fdt19d8E90Q

https://youtu.be/XIs2LUow23k

See this book:

https://www.al-islam.org/greater-sins-volume-3-ayatullah-sayyid-abdul-husayn-dastghaib-shirazi/forty-first-greater-sin

See this book:

https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/37438

https://corpus.quran.com/

Recite ziyarat and after ask your hajjat.

90 benefits

https://imammahdiac.org/resources/duas/newduas/faraj/

You can add it in ruku and sajdah

It builds a connection between you and your Imam. Also it repels calamities

https://youtu.be/Mubz90H1dZw

Part your hair to make sure water reaches. One finger is sufficient to wipe.

No this is not same as dajjal and Allah knows best

1) He broke Omars nose after they stormed the house and said he would have killed him if he didnt take an oath from the prophet not to fight against them. I suggest you to read this book

https://www.al-islam.org/tragedy-al-zahra-doubts-and-responses-jafar-murtadha-al-amili

It will clear many misconceptions for you inshallah. Also read kitab sulaym hadith 4 Here is a small excerpt from the lengthy narration ““Hadhrat Ali (AS) rushed, held him by the neck and pushed him away and Umar fell down and hurt his neck and nose. Hadhrat Ali (AS) intended to kill him. He remembered what the Holy Prophet (SAW) had said, and he said: “By Him, who gave Muhammad the status of Prophethood, O son of Sahak, if the Book from Allah had not been revealed and if the Holy Prophet (SAW) had not taken a promise from me before, then you would have known that you could have never entered my house.”

2) His short time in power was plagued by civil war after civil war. He was not able to do a lot of things because certain people would not stop trying to topple him.

No this is not haram

It is permissible to refuse vaccine if one chooses

You can recite ziyarat ashura for 40 consecutive days and ask Allah each day to help you get married.

I have not seen this particular narration but inshallah these following should give some clarification

Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (as) said “Those who look at a non-mahram woman with an evil intention and fill their eyes with this sight (that is they look for a long time) Allah will, on the day of Qiyāma fill (pierce) their eyes with burning rods. They will continue in this way till Allah completes the hearing of the cases of all the people. Only after that will He order them to be thrown into Hell.” (Greater Sins by Ayatollah Dastaghayb Shirazi)

Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (as) said “There is no man who is not to some extent guilty of fornication. The fornication of the eyes is the evil glance, the kiss is the fornication of lips and touching a non-mahram woman is the fornication of hands.” (Greater Sins by Ayatollah Dastaghayb Shirazi)

The Holy Prophet (s) said; “The wrath of Allah is very severe upon the married woman who apart from her husband sees another non-mahram man with a prolonged glance. When this woman does this, Allah the mighty invalidates all her good deeds and does not give her any rewards.” (Greater Sins by Ayatollah Dastaghayb Shirazi)

Surah al-an'am, ayah 38 and Surah al takwir ayah 5 show that the animals will also be gathered.

Strive to be the best follower of him by learning about him and implementing his teachings and those of his forefathers (as). With knowledge comes certainty.

Yes but do not swallow any

Faith is something that can fluctuate in people but we always need to work on strengthening it by reading Quran, narrations of Ahl ul Bayt (as) stories of the prophets (as) and Ahl ul Bayt (as) for example among other things

Yes

Read the stories of the prophets of Allah (as) and these would instill hope and faith inshallah. I would recommend

https://imam-us.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Gods-Emissaries-Published-by-IMAM.pdf

You should give yourself time before fajr which is called imsak where you stop eating and drink prior to fajr by 10-15 minutes. In your case now you should consider your fast valid but as ihtiyat pay kafarra of feeding 60 people. This can be done anywhere as an example this would cost $30 in Afghanistan or less in Iran. Also as ihtiyat to do the qadha

Wa alaykum salam. No this is not haram

Sakina was the teenage daughter of Imam Hussain (as). Ruqayya is the 3-4 year old daughter of his. She is the one who died in the dungeon of Yazid. Sakina is also buried in Syria as well. The urdu speaking community refer to both of these daughters with the same name which is why there is confusion. There was another daughter who was left in Madina because she was ill.

Qadha is required but not kafarra in this case. You should turn away from this action and turn towards Allah. When we are fasting it is not only refraining from food and drink but also we fast with our eyes, ears, tongue and limbs by staying away from those things Allah would disapprove of.

Wa alaykum salam. I understand. I myself did 9 years in maximum security. It takes a lot of perseverance to make it brother. Check out this lecture https://youtu.be/N5R3PxrUsn8

I also founded a program to send books into prisons www.2ndchancebooks.org

May Allah make it easy on you brother

Ghusl by shower needs to be done in sequence: Head/Neck, Right side, left side.

Your ghusl is in order either way. Intention does not need to be spoken aloud, but intention is that you are aware of what you are doing and that you are doing this action qurbatan ilallah (for seeking nearness to Allah).

Yes Dogs are impure (najis). However, Dry upon dry does not transfer impurity (najasat).

Try to visit when you are able, call or video call home often. Make friends in your current location and find activities to do there which keeps you busy and builds in you a fondness for your new place.

No this is not haram

Yes

No, exams and narcolepsy are are not valid reasons to miss fasts.

As a mercy for us. Some things are less preferable but not haram. If everything was haram than this would be very difficult on us.

The Islamic system of government cannot be accurately described by any of these forms or theories of government we see today. Here is a small booklet about the government of Islam

http://iswf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/the-islamic-system-of-Goverment.pdf

1) No
2) No
3) Try to be still as possible while reciting dhikr
4) Treat as pure
5) Ignore the doubt
6) Ask Allah to help you in this matter by the right of ahl ul bayt
7) If najis water splashes in something clean that with pure water. It is not najis al ayn but rather it is mutanajis and clean with pure water

He can choose any one of the qualified maraja to follow.

1) Two rakats sitting is in jalsa position like the position you sit for tashahud.
2)| Jumah is two rakats with qunut in first rakat before ruku and in second rakat after ruku

The proper name of God is Allah and this is how He is named in the Quran. So we should stick to what names He has used for himself.

Unfortunately marijuana is not permitted but you can ask your doctor to ask for some sort of non addictive muscle relaxer.

No this should not be done.

This should give some clarity inshallah.

https://www.al-islam.org/restatement-history-islam-and-muslims-sayyid-ali-ashgar-razwy/muslims-and-jews

Salat has specific method and that is to be done in Arabic. Salat would be invalid in any other language. However dua can be done in any language. No matter where we are from we all learn at least the basics of salat in Arabic and this enables us to all pray together in unity despite a variety of people coming together who do not speak the same language. The convert must learn these basics of salat in Arabic and can write them down and use their notes in salat until they memorize them. They should also learn the meanings of what they say as well in order to get that connection through their salat.

When you receive the money from the recycling center if that money is excess when your khums date arrives then you will need to pay khums on that amount.

I would highly recommend this book.

https://imam-us.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Islamic-Laws-of-Expiation-Published-by-IMAM.pdf

It would be better to find a female driving instructor

There is no problem with that

If you are able to reschedule then do so but if you cannot and it cannot not be done without it then follow advice of doctor and repeat fast at a later date.

It means the scholar who has reached the level of ijtihad in his studies. Meaning he can deduce all of the Islamic rulings from their sources.

I would refrain from this

From your description this is considered pre ejaculation which is a clear liquid. This would not invalidate your fast. However you should turn away from this action and turn towards Allah. When we are fasting it is not only refraining from food and drink but also we fast with our eyes, ears, tongue and limbs by staying away from those things Allah would disapprove of.

May Allah help us all.

Salam. Yes we should not wrong anyone.

If before fajr did you know and go back to sleep without making ghusl? Did you have intention to make ghusl but overslept?

If after fajr then fast is valid but need to make ghusl in order to pray. Also in order to fast the next day

Yes you can brush teeth while fasting but do not swallow any water or toothpaste

Yes it needs to be slaughtered with the proper conditions to make it halal.

See: https://imam-us.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Islamic-Rulings-of-Food-and-Drink-Published-by-IMAM.pdf

Allah is the ultimate source of the need being solved but using a waseela (means) is recommended. See Quran 5:35

Wailing is recommended for Imam Hussain (as) in many narrations.

When we have a loss in our lives we remember and mourn Imam.
I highly recommend this book

Commemorating the Mourning Rights of Imam al-Husayn https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1514298619/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_25H7R9JH0X7R70JBFGW6

https://youtu.be/Fdt19d8E90Q

I have not read of a specific age

Even though this may be relating to believers specifically in another perspective it would not be morally good to talk bad about others even if they are non Muslims.

It happened in both ways.

Kufa is part of Najaf. They are joined to each other

Wudhu is valid with pure water.

One of the purposes Allah created them for is consumption.

You can send salam to your Imam (as) and address him directly.

I am a random southerner from South Carolina who accepted Islam in 1999 after investigating/studying the religion.

https://youtu.be/bgK5hTO3cZk

I started a program which has al hamdu lillah converted over 1,400 Americans to Islam throughout the United States. So, yes if religion is presented correctly they will accept inshallah.

Visit www.2ndchancebooks.org

To see the program.

Men and women are created equal in the sight of Allah but not the same in their roles. This does not make either of them inferior or to be looked down on. We have many narrations praising women and a group of women will be those supporting Imam Mahdi (aj). Unfortunately these negative stereotypes are cultural.

Study Guide

Aqaed (Beliefs)

1. Commentary to the Faith of Shia Islam of Allama Muzaffer by Maulana Sheikh Mateen Charbonneau
2. Principles of Faith by Ayatollah Wahid Khorasani
3. Listen to the 110 classes of Dr. Sayed Khalil Tabatabai: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFF83513F53A767BA

History of Prophets and Imams

1. Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims by Syed Ali Asghar Razway
2. The Message by Ayatollah Jafar Subhani
3. Abu Talib the Faithful of the Quraysh
4. Kitab al Irshad by Sheikh Mufid
5. Gods Emissaries from Adam to Jesus by Sheikh Arastu
6. Suffering of the Ahl ul Bayt and their Shia Throughout History by Maulana Sheikh Mateen Charbonneau
7. Recalling the Sacrifices of Karbala by Maulana Sheikh Mateen Charbonneau

Fiqh

1. Risalat of your marja
2. Ahkam al Islam by Ayatollah Sayed Taqi al-Modaerssi because he has included the reasoning behind his fatawa with ahadith
3. Listen to the 50 classes of Dr. Sayed Khalil Tabatabai: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL41068B1E7FC973A0
4. 30 Principles of Jurisprudence by Sayed Milani
5. Introduction to Jurisprudential Maxims by Sheikh Baqir Irwani

Mahdawiya

1. Miracles of the Imam of the Time by Ayatollah Langroodi
2. In Remembrance of the Last Ruler of God by Ayatollah Khorasani
3. Candle of Hope by the late Ayatollah Sayed Ridha Shirazi
4. Aroma of Mercy by Ayatollah Sayed Sadiq Shirazi
5. Mikyal Makaram
6. Kitab al Ghaybah (Majlisi, Tusi and Noumani)
7. Listen to Sheikh Safdar Razi’s 50 part series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD2F0DFA18BFBD747

Hadith

1. Tuhaf ul Uqul
2. Mishkatul Anwar
3. Al-Amaali by Sheikh Mufid
4. Al-Kaafi by Sheikh al Kulayni
5. Al-Mawaaiz by Sheikh Saduq
6. Glad Tidings for Mustafa for the Shia of Murtadha
7. Prophetic Gems by Maulana Sheikh Mateen Charbonneau
8. Introduction to Hadith Studies by Abdul Haadi al-Fadli

Sunni-Shia Issues

1. Then I was Guided
2. Ask Those Who Know
3. To be with the Truthful
4. Shia the Real Followers of the Sunnah
5. Peshawar Nights
6. Al-Muraja’at
7. Commemorating the Mourning Rights of Imam Husayn by the late Sayed Hassan Shirazi
8. Kamil al Ziyarat by Sheikh Abbas Qummi

Akhlaq

1. Holy Household of Muhammad: Moral Exemplars by Sayed Mahdi al-Sadr
2. Greater Sins by the late Ayatollah Dastaghayb Shirazi
3. Essence of Insight by the late Sayed Muhammad Shirazi

General Questions

1. ‘Ilal Shari volume 1-2 by Sheikh Saduq
2. Al-Mahassin volume 1-2

Arabic Grammar

1. Summary of Tasreef Vol 1 and 2
2. Bidatu Nahw (Arabic)

Both of these classes have been taught and recorded on video by Sheikh Mohammad BagherNejad in Imam Sadiq Online Seminary https://imamsadiq.tv/en/

The majority of these books can be found on Amazon.com or PDF’s available online free

Keep seeking forgiveness of Allah and ask for His help in purifying your self.

A good dua is: Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem, Yaa Hayyu Yaa Qayyum, Yaa Muhyil Quloob, As aluka an tuhyil qalbee, Allahumma salli ‘ala muhammadin wa aale muhammad.

In the name of Allah the Gracious the Merciful O’ the Ever Living the Self Subsistent, O who gives life to the hearts, I ask you to enliven my heart, O Allah bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.

Try your best and also explain to your parents you are trying hard. Use the dua that Allah gave the prophet (s) in the Quran 20:114 Rabbi zidnee ‘ilmaa (my Lord increase my knowledge).

When you want to do an an action think if the action would be pleasing to Allah or not? Would the prophet or Imam approve if he was in our presence?
We should keep them in our mind and thoughts

These are from various maqaatil (historical works written on the events of Karbala) such as those written by: abdul razzaq al muqarrim, Muhammad Hussain Kashfatul Ghita, Abdul Wahhab al Kaashi, Abu Mikhnaf, Abdul Zahra al Ka’bi, Sayed Ibn Tawus, Sh. Abbas Qummi

Yes it is permissible to buy from Amazon.

The marja’ saying not too much would be in the definition of common usage of people as what is seen as not too much.
Scholars differ on this even with cats. Some say a few hairs are ok whereas others say none. The usage of three is just to denote a small amount

A lot of prophets had bad wives as well as we see with Prophet Lut (as). Some people come from good families and turn out bad such as the son of prophet Nuh (as).

The author Sh. Baqir Qarashy has a great biography set on the 14 Masumeen (as). One volume per Masoom. I would highly recommend it.

1) It is dissimulation. It is when you conceal your beliefs due to an imminent threat.

2) Yes when you are in fear of imminent danger.

That is not a valid reasoning. Look at Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr and it becomes clear.

Belief gets strengthened as knowledge increases. Seek knowledge and strive to implement it. Ask Allah to make you firm in your faith and to bring you closer to Him and the path of Ahl ul Bayt (as).

Commentary to the Faith of Shia Islam by Allama al-Muzaffar: Volumes 1 - 4 https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1537536249/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabt1_Dj9RFb3RYEWPZ

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM_dnJgwGVEkzvXs5V_XceKo8-_qV1hqJ

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFF83513F53A767BA

No but according to Ayatollah Sayed Sadiq Shirazi you can add as a mustahab but needs to be worded specifically in a certain way which is different than what you mentioned. He says you can say wa anna ‘Aliyan ni’mat wali. For more see his islamic law book

Make an intention not to repeat the act and ask Allah for his forgiveness and His help

No

The Arabic script requires wudhu to touch. They should be given translations of the Quran instead.

No but the dog should not be kept inside unless it is for a necessity

"[O, believers! Remember] When Allah covered you with a slumber To bestow you rest from His Presence And He caused rain to descend on You from the sky, to clean you thereby And to remove from you the impurity From Satan and to strengthen your Hearts and to keep your feet firm Therewith." Quran 8:11

It is narrated -regarding the above-mentioned verse- that what does Allah mean by the impurity from Satan is the semen.

The prophet received the revelation from Allah and had all of their names mentioned. There are many narrations to this regard and an especially famous one which Jabir Ibn Abdullah Ansari narrated.

I submitted this question to the office of Ayatollah Sayed Sistani and the reply i got was this:

If the person did not know the ruling and was not negligent in learning it, then he does not have to perform Qada’.

Sarah was prophet Ibrahim’s (as) cousin thus was blood related.

The beginning part of verse 33:33 addresses the women where as the the grammatical structure changes from feminine to masculine when it addresses the Ahl ul Bayt (as). See this video below for more detailed grammatical explanation if you like


https://youtu.be/3RFY1mImv9c

As far as McDonalds USA if you search their ingredients you will see they do coat their fries and hash browns in non halal animal fat. So this would make it unlawful for us.

As for other restaurants we can eat the halal and vegetarian options as long as we are not aware the food has been cross contaminated. Most of the times they would not do that because of threat of being sued by vegans or other religious groups who do not eat meat.

Allah knows best.

You should try to bring him back to the path of Islam through discussion and dialogue but not by force or being harsh.

Yes washing machine is fine. It washes it twice once for wash and second for rinse

Page 22 onwards

https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/12219

Yes

Yes in the treatise of rights by Imam Sajjad (as) Right number 20, 22, 23

Allah is Just and does not wrong His creatures. Wrongdoing comes from mankind misusing the faculties Allah gave him.

This is just the way society views women but when they go before Allah for judgement there is no difference of male and female in regards to sin.

https://www.sistani.org/english/book/48/2244/

If you think that it was not a barrier than your ghusl was correct

There is nothing wrong in this as we see the prophet (s) married the daughter of Abu Sufyan.

There is no kaffara for this action.

Keep relations with him, but at the same time do not condone what he is doing. The late Ayatollah Dastaghayb Shirazi wrote in his book Greater Sins: “If Sileh Rahmi towards a Kafir (disbelieving) relative, in some way, strengthens his conviction towards his own religious views; or if Sileh-Rahem towards a sinful relative provides him with opportunity and encouragement in his unlawful ways, then this kind of Sileh Rahmi is forbidden. In fact, if Qat-e-Rahem induces a disbeliever to introspect and reconsider his disbelief, then, Qat-e-Rahmi is obligatory on us. In the same way Qat-e-Rahem is obligatory if it discourages or dissuades a relative in his sinful ways.”

If you leave after Zuhr time then you continue your fast. If you return the next day you have the option to not fast because you’re traveling. However if you return before Zuhr time and have not done any of the fast invalidators then you can start your fast.

1) There would be a greater severity if done in a sacred place rather than at home.

2) There is a difference of doing a sin in private then going out in public and sinning openly. The latter is corrupting society which is another sin in itself. If a person drank alcohol at home privately this is a great sin but imagine someone drinking alcohol while at the Holy Kaaba for example. This would be of a greater magnitude.

We have similar in regards to good deeds. If someone prays at home it is good but isn’t it better to pray in vicinity of the Holy Kaaba or one of the shrines of Ahl ul Bayt (as)?

3) No one should make excuses to justify their committing sins

Keep studying the beliefs and eradicate doubts. Knowledge is the key to eliminate the doubts. Ask Allah to help you as well and to grant you certainty.

https://www.al-islam.org/principles-faith-usul-al-din-husayn-wahid-khorasani

Being mindful in Islam is to be aware and know that at all times that Allah is watching what you are doing.

Allah has cleary shown us what is tight and wrong in the Quran and the examples of the Holy Prophet (s). It is up to us to learn these and enact the teachings in our lives. We ask Allah to guide us to the straight path so clearly there is a path of good and we ask him to keep us away from the path of those who have gone astray. The status of morality is set by the Quran and Ahl ul Bayt (as). Just because some people begin accepting haram actions does not make it ok

Depends on the authors style of writing. But ultimately his opinions should have their roots in Quran and narrations.

We need to build a strong foundation and this comes from knowing our beliefs with proofs. I would like to recommend this small book for you.

https://www.al-islam.org/principles-faith-usul-al-din-husayn-wahid-khorasani
https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/30800

No they did not.

Here is a good site for English books
https://islamiclib.wordpress.com

Surah 20 ayat 1

طه

I dont think he was a slave

https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/9662

He was an immigrant from Yemen

The dua can be said anytime but to attain what the narration mentioned it says the mornings.

Yes they are from the Holy Prophet (s). It will be hard to escape but some may and Allah knows best.

A Muslim should stay away from pornography

The Quran is the word of God Almighty and Wise and within this Quran He put forth the challenge to all the great poets and people who specialized in literature to come forth and bring something like it. When the literary experts heard this Quran they were amazed and either said that it is the word of God or either that it was magic, but it definitely was not the work of a mortal human being.
God describes the Quran being sent to the people as follows:
كِتَابٌ فُ ِّصلَتْ آ َيا ُتهُ قُرْآنًا َعرَ ِبيًّا لِّ َقوْ ٍم َيعْلَمُونَ
“A Book whose verses have been detailed, an Arabic Qur'an for a people who know.” Quran 41:3
They would make noise so that others would not hear the heavenly words and be persuaded to follow the prophet Muhammad (s).
وَقَالَ الَّذِي َن كَفَرُوا لا َت ْسمَعُوا لِ َهذَا الْ ُقرْآنِ وَالْغَوْا فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ َتغْلِ ُبونَ
“And those who disbelieve say, "Do not listen to this Qur'an and speak noisily during [the recitation of] it that perhaps you will overcome." Quran 41:26
The experts were not able to refute the Quran or produce anything like it so they turned to fighting the holy prophet (s) and his followers. This itself shows the truthfulness of the Holy Quran, because it would have been much easier to just produce one surah like it the amount of Surah Kawthar, which is just 3 ayats, rather than going to battle and losing many lives. We see however that they were not able to challenge the Quran and this was also stated by God that they would not be able to nor would they ever be able to.


The Quran speaks of many scientific things that were unknown to people back in the time of the prophet of Islam. Now days we see that science is confirming and attesting to what was mentioned in the Quran dating back to the year 610 AD. Some of these things that were mentioned in the Quran were the detailed description of the stages of the creation of man in the womb, the planets all in orbit, the mountains are as pegs in the earth meaning that as they go up in the sky they also delve deep into the Earth, the layers of the sky, plants being created in pairs of male and female, the salt water and fresh water seas not mixing with each other, the universe expanding and many more scientific miracles which whole books have been dedicated to.

Just try to be the best at what you do inshallah. Don’t worry about others who are being judgmental of you without cause.

https://youtu.be/X4JVPVTmyus

We see that the mother of Maryam wanted a boy as well but Allah gave her a daughter who was Maryam.

https://www.al-islam.org/hayat-al-qulub-vol-1-allamah-muhammad-baqir-al-majlisi/account-maryam-mother-isa

These two reads should have the answers you are searching for and clarify the subject matter inshallah.

https://www.al-islam.org/khums-islamic-tax-sayyid-muhammad-rizvi

http://najaf.org/books/249/249.pdf

No those do not invalidate fasting

https://www.al-islam.org/khums-islamic-tax-sayyid-muhammad-rizvi

If what you’re describing is pre-ejaculate then no it does not invalidate the fast or necessitate ghusl.

Yes you must make ghusl janaba before dawn.

In second scenario if you have a wet dream in the day you need to make the ghusl janaba before you make salat whether you woke up before zuhr or after zuhr had entered.

Yes it is permissible.

You can do ghusl jabeera where while doing ghusl, you can wipe over that part which is bandaged similar as done in wudhu jabeera

One way is to reflect that Allah is present and sees your actions at all times.

Another way is to reflect on death often.

Use this dua that is found in the Holy Quran

No we cannot.

Ayatollah is a mujtahid but not necessarily a marja

Ayatollah Uzma is a mujtahid who has declared his marjaiya

Marja and marja taqleed are the same thing meaning they are a mujtahid who have people following them in Islamic Laws

Marja Aalam means the most knowledgeable marja

If the parts of wudhu that needed to be washed and wiped were not najis and the najasat was somewhere else then the wudhu was valid. If one realized the najasat after salat then salat is valid. If one knew najasat was present but forgot then remembered they need to repeat the salat.

https://www.sistani.org/english/qa/search/3413/

Allah has distinguished us from animals by giving us ‘aql (intellect)

It is fine and you should ignore your doubt and continue on.

My suggestion is to just continue to be kind to him. If you see he is in a bad mood then give him space. Don’t be confrontational with him. Ask Allah to improve your father’s character and temperament.

The companions names are not written. There is a chapter about them and the role of the women being Imam Mahdi’s supporters in this book:


https://www.amazon.com/Mahdi-Understanding-Awaited-One/dp/1943393249

His short time in power was plagued by civil war after civil war. He was not able to do a lot of things because certain people would not stop trying to topple him.

Welcome to the path of Ahl ul Bayt (as) and may Allah aid and assist you in your journey.

As far as studying my teacher started an online howza a few years ago in English. They are based in Iran/Iraq. The link for that is:

https://imamsadiq.tv/en

You should pray Zuhr at work. If you go to the jumah service of a non shia then you would still need to make salat al zuhr.

We do know that magic is real, because the Quran mentions the magicians of Pharaoh. Also when we read surah Falaq 113 in the Quran we are seeking refuge from magic. The last two surah from quran are effective (for protection)

This requires several things

1) Learning the benefits of making salat which can be done through reading upon the subject or listening to majalis on the topic.
2) Making intention and asking Allah constantly for His help
3) Disciplining your nafs to get in the habit of prayer. You should set an alarm on your mobile to help you with this.

These are some of the ways we can improve.

Allah says in another ayat:


يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ ضُرِبَ مَثَلٌ فَاسْتَمِعُوا لَهُ ۚ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ لَن يَخْلُقُوا ذُبَابًا وَلَوِ اجْتَمَعُوا لَهُ ۖ وَإِن يَسْلُبْهُمُ الذُّبَابُ شَيْئًا لَّا يَسْتَنقِذُوهُ مِنْهُ ۚ ضَعُفَ الطَّالِبُ وَالْمَطْلُوبُ - 22:73


“O people, an example is presented, so listen to it. Indeed, those you invoke besides Allah will never create [as much as] a fly, even if they gathered together for that purpose. And if the fly should steal away from them a [tiny] thing, they could not recover it from him. Weak are the pursuer and pursued.”

So He is saying that the disbelievers idols cannot create even something as small as a fly. Similar in this ayat you mentioned Allah is saying we can even look at something as small as a gnat and how Allah has created it with life and all the necessary parts it needs. This is one interpretation.

We do not have to go look at something very large as an elephant to see the complexity in Allah creations we can see the complexity in something very small like a gnat and this makes us say Subhanallah.

Yes.

You could investigate to see their halal certification.

Sayyed Sistani says:

"Washing the teeth does not invalidate the fast as long as the person does not swallow the saliva that has mixed with the mouthwash or toothpaste. However, the lingering flavour or taste of the paste that mixes with the saliva does not affect the fasting."

How do I determine if the saliva I swallow afterwards is just the taste mixed with it or if its a bit of the moutwash mixed which is not allowed? Or can I be sure that when spitting it out at least 3 times it is fine whatever taste I feel?

It is permissible to buy them non halal meat if they are non Muslims but it is not permissible to buy them pork.

I would highly recommend you to read this book especially the introduction.

https://www.islamic-college.ac.uk/shop/desire-aspirant-teacher-student-pbk/

If the oil is a barrier then you should make sure the water reaches the scalp and it will be correct.

We can not put a limit on Gods forgiveness.

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ بِرَحْمَتِكَ الَّتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ

O Allah, I ask Theeby Thy mercy, which embraces all things

No that is not correct. Allah is the most merciful and one of the great sins is to despair of the mercy of Allah.

For najasat (excluding urine) you need to remove the essential impurity then if using small amount of water, like from a water bottle for example, you pour one time and it is purified.

Yes in your case if you used a wet sponge to clean the impurity it would make the sponge najas.

We have a general rule that everything is tahir unless known to be najis

Najasat transfers through moisture and not a dry thing touching dry thing.

Cleaning this najasat of kafir requires only cleaning once with water.

About transferring of najasat see the following rule of Ayatollah Sayed Sistani:


Ruling 119. If a pure object touches an impure object and both or one of them is wet – such that the wetness of one transfers onto the other – the pure object also becomes impure; however, it does not become impure through multiple intermediaries [i.e. the transfer of impurity is limited to two intermediaries].
An example: if the right hand has become impure (mutanajjis) with urine, and [after drying,] that hand touches the left hand with a new wetness, this touching causes the left hand to become impure; and if after drying, the left hand touches some wet clothing, for example, the clothing also becomes impure; but, if the clothing touches some other wet object, that other object is not ruled as being impure. Furthermore, if the wetness is so little that it does not transfer onto another object, the object that was pure does not become impure even if it touches an intrinsic impurity.

Ruling 120. If a pure object touches an impure object and one doubts whether or not both or one of them was wet, the pure object does not become impure.

If you have frequent doubts in this matter then yes you should ignore them.

I believe you may find your answer here in this small booklet

https://www.duas.org/pdfs/surabenefits.pdf

One of the conditions for meat to be halal is that the one slaughtering the meat is a Muslim. The verse you mentioned is referring to the non-meat items such as vegetables, fruits and grains as was explained by our 6th Imam (as): Hussain bin al-Mundhir said to Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (as): We are a people who frequently go to the mountains and the distance is great between us and the mountains. We therefore buy animals in large number for food, and we ask the herdsmen about their religion and they reply that they are Christians. "So, what do you say about the slaughtering of animals by the Jews and the Christians?" The Imam said, "O Hussain! The Islamic slaughtering can be done with Allah's name only and no one can be trusted with that except the people of tawhid (i.e., Muslims)."

Yes it is permissible to pray to Allah for a person to become your spouse.

Knowing Allah is Merciful does not permit us to just go about doing sins and not even saying we are sorry for them and seeking his pardon. We would not accept this from another human being. Imagine if we are merciful but someone keeps trampling our rights and treating us bad then they never apologized. We would not accept this from them and be upset with them. We must do tauba and ask Allah’s forgiveness and not feel arrogance that we deserve Allah’s mercy.

Imam Ali (as) said: “A pure repentance is feeling of sorrow in the heart, seeking forgiveness with the tongue (by utterance), and the intention not to do the sin ever again.”

So we see it starts in heart then through tongue and then intention

Jabir ibn Abdullah Ansari (ra) says that a man came into the mosque and after offering two units of prayer said, “O’ Lord! I seek your protection and pardon.” Then turning to the man Imam Ali (as) said, “O’ man seeking pardon by such a hasty movement of the tongue is a false repentance.” The man asked as to what repentance means. Imam Ali (as) said, “Repentance consists of six conditions.
1) Repentance of the sin
2) Determination to avoid the sin in the future
3) Fulfilling the duty neglected
4) Discharging the trust if there was any
5) Humiliating or sublimating the self that has revolted against prayer
6) Feeling sorry for the enjoyment realized in the past sins.”409
Also in another narration it is said: It is narrated that someone said: 'Astaghfirullah (I seek God's forgiveness) before Imam 'Ali (as). He said to him. “May thy mother mourn for you! Do you know what is istighfar (seeking forgiveness)? Verily istighfar is a degree of the 'illiyyun (people of high station) and it is a word that means six things. First is remorse over the past. Second, the resolution not to return to it ever. Third, to return to the creatures their rights (usurped in the past) so that you meet God Almighty in such a state of purity that no one has any claim against you. Fourth, that you fulfill every duty that was neglected by you, in order to satisfy your obligation in respect of it. Fifth, that you attend to the flesh of your body that had grown on unlawful nourishment so that it melts away as a result of grief and mourning and the skin adheres to the bones, after which new flesh grows there between. Sixth, that you make your body taste the pain of obedience in the same way as it tasted earlier the pleasure of sinfulness. When you have done these things then say Astaghfirullah!”


Imam Ali (as) said “Seek God’s forgiveness very frequently, because it brings about earnings.

Yes if the child is of discerning age.

Tarawih is an innovation that arose after the prophets (as) death. We have other recommended prayers we pray and are mentioned in the books such as Mafatih al Jinan by Sh. Abbas Qummi

https://www.amazon.com/Youth-Advice-Ayatullah-Sayyid-al-Sistani/dp/0998254436

No.

No, as long as there are no haram ingredients.

It is something appears one way but then something happens which changes the outcome. For example the punishment seemed imminent for the people of Yunas (as) but then his people sought forgiveness and then the punishment was averted.

Yes. It is narrated in many traditions that sadaqa lengthens life and removes disasters that were imminent.

Yes they would need to actually make the ghusl.

The general rule of Ayatollah Sayed Sistani is If the music that is suitable for entertainment and amusement gatherings comes out of it then it is not permissible.

These children’s rhymes do not seem to be the music that are used for night clubs for example. However the child listening to these and getting involved in these things may eventually lead them to want to listen to the other types of music when they get older. It is very difficult to navigate these things when our children go to school in the West and may Allah help us all. We should strive to teach them as much as we can at home without overwhelming the children of course. We can tell them that there is no benefit in these types of entertainment and the real benefit is in other things which lead us closer to Allah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqey9Plc6vQ&feature=share

We do not fast on Ashura rather we abstain from food and drink till after Asr salat without the intention of fasting. This is recommended.

Wa alaykum salam. Does the husband allow?

It is allowed as long as the husband doesn’t forbid her from going.

We send English Qurans. You need taharat to touch the Arabic script.

Strive to make salat on time and you can set reminders on your phone for this inshallah

You can recite dua. Its recommended to go to your place of salat during the times you normally pray and do tasbih and dua.

As for reciting the Quran:
Zurāra has narrated: I asked Imam al-Bāqir (as) about the menstruating woman and the person who is in a state of major ritual impurity: can they recite anything of the Qurʾān? He said: Yes, whatever they wish, except verses of prostration, and they can engage in the remembrance of Allah in any circumstance.’

It is forbidden for a menstruating woman to touch the text of the Qurʾān, to touch the names of Allah (so long as they are referring to Him), and also the names of the Prophets and Imams : according to precaution.

She is forbidden from reciting those verses of the Qurʾān which require an obligatory prostration, or even their respective sūras based on precaution.

So if she is reading from her phone she should take care not to touch the text of the Quran.

The verses in Quran before and after were not all revealed at same time.

I suggest that you read the book alGhadir by Allama Amini. The book is summarized in 3 volumes in English published by Ansariyan Publications

This event was witnessed by 120,000 people and is narrated by all schools of Islam. It is a mutawatir event which no one has denied. They just try to interpret the word Mowla differently playing a game of semantics. Even it is famous that Omar congratulated Imam Ali on him becoming the master of all the believers at this event of Ghadir

Remember we have Prophet Musa and Harun at same time. The Prophet often refers to this in the widely narrated tradition known as al Manzila.

O Ali you are to me as Harun was to Musa...

http://en.wikishia.net/view/Hadith_al-Manzila

Yes

http://www.english.shirazi.ir/books/the_quran_when_was_it_compiled.pdf

What do Muslims Believe by Ayatollah Sayed Taqi Modarresi

Christians Who Defended and Died for Prophet Muhammad and his Family by Mateen Charbonneau

Both are available on Amazon

There are differences of opinions. Some shia scholars believe he had other daughters and some believe only Fatima (as).

It wouldn’t take away status just as the Imams had more children but it doesn’t take away virtues of the their child who is the next imam.

Many lessons can be derived from the tragedy of Karbala, but it also pains us to hear what happened to the household of the prophet (as). This is so when we have developed a love for them.

There is no limit on tawassul.

I have not heard this in the way you are presenting it. We do have narrations about the squeezing or tightening of the grave due to ones sins.

No it is not a sin to have a picture of a scholar in your house but one should not pray in the direction of those pictures

Ruling 2416: And a Muslim man cannot marry women who are disbelievers other than those from among the People of the Book. However, there is no problem if a Muslim man contracts a temporary marriage with Jewish or Christian women but, based on obligatory precaution, he must not contract a permanent marriage with them. As for Zoroastrian women, based on obligatory precaution, a Muslim man must not contract marriage with them, not even a temporary marriage.
A man who has a Muslim wife cannot contract marriage with women who are from among the People of the Book without the permission of his wife; rather, even with her permission, it is not permitted (jāʾiz) for him to marry them.

If you consider both of these places to be your homes then you pray tamam.

Then you pray qasr in the place if you dont consider that your home.

Quran says in 6:116 “And if you obey most of those upon the earth, they will mislead you from the way of Allah . They follow not except assumption, and they are not but falsifying.”

Majority holds no weight in Islam

Their scholars distorted their books as was mentioned in the Quran.

After saying your salam you should should look forward and do takbir three times.

https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/38019

Yes a two rakat namaz with intention of tauba. There are some dua for tauba which can be found in sahifa sajjadiya

Advice on how to get closer to Imam Mahdi (aj) - Sayed Murtadha Shirazi Arbaeen 2012

The first thing he replied was that this is an easy thing to say, but in reality it is not an easy task to accomplish. He continued to say that we needed to pray to Allah and ask Him to open our container and expand our capacity, so that we can receive the knowledge pertaining to Imam Mahdi (pbuh). Being among those who are close to the Imam means having a very high level of knowledge and piety, so we must be prepared mentally and spiritually to understand, comprehend and accept this knowledge.

He proceeded to say that one of the ways that we can gain proximity to the Imam is to fulfill all of our obligations (wajibat) that Allah has asked from us. Next is to stay away from all of the things Allah has forbidden us from doing (muharramat). This reminds me of the first thing he told me when he said that it sounded easy but in reality, was not an easy task at all. Last of all he told me that to become close to the Imam we should be careful of how we treat others. We should always treat others well, with respect and give them their due rights. We should never be oppressors and mistreat people.

Yes there is definitely benefits in reading the Quran even in English

What was your initial intention? To stay more than ten days or to travel to different cities within that time?

Those 8 days you prayed tamam you would need to repeat as qasr. This is because when you made intention to stay there you had less than ten days left. So your Zuhr, Asr and Isha prayers you prayed the last 8 days as tamam just repeat those as Qasr.

It is fine if you pray them separately. We pray together and also separate. Sunni’s also do the same.
https://www.al-islam.org/articles/laws-and-practices-why-do-shiah-combine-prayers

This is not something which is taught in the howza. You may be able to find a private teacher for that there.

Prophet Ibrahim earned the level of Imamate through tests yet the 12 Imams were always Imams since birth.

One of the companions of Imam Al-Sādīq (peace be upon him) said to him, “My master, my I be sacrificed for you. When someone loses a loved one, they sit by the deceased, mourning and lamenting. Yet, I see you and your Shī`ā (followers), lament (mātām) and mourn (`azā) from the beginning of the month upon al-Husāyn b. `Ālī (peace be upon him).

Our master Imam Al-Sādīq (peace be upon him), “O you, when the crescent of Muharram arrives, the angels circulate the heavens with the blood stained shirt of Imam al-Husāyn (peace be upon him), a shirt that shows the marks of the swords. We see this, us and our Shī`ā, not with the naked eye, but with our hearts, and upon witnessing us our eyes explode in tears”.

Imam Ridha (as) said:

“The month of Muharram was a month that even those who lived in the era (time) of ignorance used to sanctify. They would forbid fighting in this month. Yet, our blood was made lawful, our sanctity transgressed, our descendants and women were taken captive, our tents were burnt, and all that we owned within the tents were stolen. The sanctity of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him & his family) was not reverenced through our matter. The day of Husayn (peace be upon him) has wounded our eyelids, shed our tears, and humiliated (disgraced) our loved ones on the lands of Kārb (adversity) and Balā (affliction), and made us inherit adversity and affliction till the Day of Judgment. Hence, for the likes of Husayn, let the weepers weep, for the tears that are shed eradicates the greatest of sins.”

When we refer to mumin it means Shia Ithna Ashari.

As for other you can pray for their guidance.

I suggest that you see a specialist and explain to them to see what is going on. In the meanwhile keep up your daily prayers and try to keep yourself engaged in positive activities to stay busy. Whenever you feel that pressure call someone and talk with them to get your mind off of it. Inshallah you feel better soon.

https://www.al-islam.org/nafasul-mahmum-relating-heart-rending-tragedy-karbala-shaykh-abbas-qummi/children-imam-husayn-and

Yes

The general rule of Ayatollah Sayed Sistani is If the music that is suitable for entertainment and amusement gatherings comes out of it then it is not permissible.

These children’s rhymes do not seem to be the music that are used for night clubs for example. However the child listening to these and getting involved in these things may eventually lead them to want to listen to the other types of music when they get older. It is very difficult to navigate these things when our children go to school in the West and may Allah help us all. We should strive to teach them as much as we can at home without overwhelming the children of course. We can tell them that there is no benefit in these types of entertainment and the real benefit is in other things which lead us closer to Allah.

Yes tattoos are permissible, but some maraja state that one should not get Arabic tattoos of the name of Allah, Quran or names of Ahl ul Bayt (as).

I have not been able to locate Sayed Khomeini’s ruling on tattoos at this time, but the issue is not with the tattoo itself but rather when one becomes junub he should not touch the names of Allah the script of the Quran or the names of Ahl ul Bayt based on recommend precaution.

You should avoid this as it’s problematic and undesirable

عقيدتنا في صفات الإمام و علمه‏
Chapter 25: Belief in the Attributes and Knowledge of the Imam
و نعتقد أنّ الإمام كالنبيّ يجب أن يكون أفضل الناس في صفات الكمال من شجاعة و كرم و عفة و صدق و عدل، و من تدبير و عقل و حكمة و خلق و الدليل في النبيّ هو نفس الدليل في الإمام.
{We believe that the Imam, like the prophet, must be the best among mankind, and that he must excel in all human qualities, such as bravery, generosity, chasteness, truthfulness, justice, prudence, reason, wisdom and morality. The reason for this is the same as that which we gave for the prophet's superiority.}

One of the reasons, as we mentioned before, is the one who holds the position of Imam must be the most superior of all mankind, because it would be against the intellect and reason to select someone who is less qualified over the most qualified.

Imam Ali (as) is reported to have said: “How did the people choose an ignorant coward as their Imam?! One who used to worship idols, while the Imam must be knowledgeable and cannot even have ignorance ascribed to him.”
أمّا علمه فهو يتلقى المعارف و الأحكام الإلهية و جميع المعلومات، من طريق النبيّ، أو الإمام من قبله. و اذا استجدّ شي‏ء لا بدّ أن يعلمه من طريق الإلهام بالقوّة القدسيّة الّتي أودعها اللّه تعالى فيه، فإن توجّه إلى شي‏ء و شاء أن يعلمه على وجهه الحقيقي لا يخطأ فيه و لا يشتبه، و لا يحتاج في كلّ ذلك إلى البراهين العقليّة، و لا إلى تلقينات المعلمين و إن كان علمه قابلا للزيادة و الاشتداد و لذا قال- صلّى اللّه عليه و آله- في دعائه: «رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْماً»
{He derives his education, the Divine commandments and all his knowledge from the Prophet or from the previous Imam. When a new question arises, he knows the answer from Divine Inspiration through the pure mind that God has given him. If he gives attention to some matter in order to know it, he will obtain a perfect understanding with no error, for the Imams do not derive their knowledge from methodological reasoning, or from the teachings of men of knowledge, although it is possible for their knowledge to be increased and strengthened. For the Prophet said: “O Lord, increase my knowledge!” Quran 20:114}

Some accuse us of associating partners with God, by saying that we say the Imams (as) are all-knowing like God. What these critics fail to realize is that the knowledge given to Ahl ul Bayt (as) is not independent of God, but rather it is a divine gift that God has given to them and through inspiration from God they are able to know whatever it is that they would like to know. No one, outside of another infallible, has ever taught any of the Prophets or Imams. They gain their knowledge through divine inspiration and we see that they are dependant on God for their knowledge as the Quranic verse mentioned above where the Prophet (s) asks God to increase his knowledge.

There are 2 categories of knowledge:

1. 1) One is that which is known only to God. Bada falls under such knowledge, however when things change in this knowledge the first beings this knowledge becomes available to are the Ahl ul Bayt (as).

1. 2) The second category of knowledge is what is known by Prophets, Imams and angels. We have a narration that states that there are 27 parts of knowledge. Mankind only knows 2 parts whereas the Imam knows all of them.
(أقول): لقد ثبت في الأبحاث النفسيّة أنّ كلّ إنسان له ساعة أو ساعات في حياته قد يعلم فيها ببعض الأشياء من طريق الحدس، الّذي هو فرع من الإلهام بسبب ما أودع اللّه تعالى فيه من قوّة على ذلك.
{It has been shown by psychological investigations that every man has, during his lifetime, one or two moments in which he is able to understand something by intuition. In fact, this is a kind of inspiration from God.}
و هذه القوّة تختلف شدة و ضعفا و زيادة و نقيصة في البشر، باختلاف أفرادهم. فيطفر ذهن الإنسان في تلك الساعة إلى المعرفة من دون أن يحتاج إلى التفكير و ترتيب المقدمات و البراهين أو تلقين المعلمين. و يجد كلّ إنسان من نفسه ذلك في فرص كثيرة في حياته،
{This power has not been given to mankind equally, but in different degrees, according to their capacities. At such a time the human mind is capable of discovering certain facts without thinking or reasoning, and without guidance from someone else. Everyone acknowledges this condition from his own personal experience many times during his life.}
وإذا كان الأمر كذلك فيجوز أن يبلغ الإنسان من قوّته الالهامية أعلى الدرجات و أكملها، و هذا أمر قرّره الفلاسفة المتقدمون و المتأخرون.
{Therefore, it is possible that a human may attain to the
highest degree of this state, one which both ancient and contemporary philosophers have described.}

I personally believe that, as some scientists state that mankind only uses a portion or percentage of their brains, the Imams (as) are in use of their full capacity and ability.
فلذلك نقول- و هو ممكن في حدّ ذاته-: إنّ قوّة الإلهام عند الإمام الّتي تسمّى بالقوّة القدسيّة تبلغ الكمال في أعلى درجاته، فيكون في صفاء نفسه القدسيّة على استعداد لتلقّي المعلومات، في كلّ وقت و في كلّ حالة، فمتى توجه إلى شي‏ء من الأشياء و أراد معرفته استطاع علمه بتلك القوّة القدسيّة الالهامية، بلا توقف و لا ترتيب مقدمات، و لا تلقين معلم، و تنجلي في نفسه المعلومات، كما تنجلي المرئيات في المرآة الصافية لا غطش فيها و لا إبهام.
{We maintain that the powers of the Imams to receive inspiration have reached the highest degree of excellence, and we say that it is a Divinely given power. By this means the Imam is able to understand information about anything, anywhere, and at any time, and he understands by means of this Divinely -given power at once, without recourse to methodological reasoning or guidance from a teacher. When he desires to know about some matter, it is reflected in his pure mind as if in a polished mirror.}

A man came to Imam Baqir (as) and said to him, “Your Shia’s claim that you know everything, even the total amount of all the drops in the Tigris River and even the weight of each drop.”

Imam Baqir (as) replied: “Is God capable of giving such knowledge to a mosquito?”

The man replied: “Yes.”

The Imam (as) then said “I am more honorable in the eyes of God than a mosquito.”

In the Holy Quran we see that God says:

‎وَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَسْتَ مُرْسَلًا قُلْ كَفَى بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمْ وَمَنْ عِندَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ

“And those who disbelieve say: You are not a messenger. Say: God is sufficient as a witness between me and you and who has with him knowledge of the Book.” Quran 13:43

From tafasir we know that this one who God says is a witness to the prophethood of Muhammad has knowledge of the whole book. This person is Imam Ali (as). We know from looking at other verses that nothing is left out from the book.

‎وَعِندَهُ مَفَاتِحُ الْغَيْبِ لَا يَعْلَمُهَا إِلَّا هُوَ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلَّا يَعْلَمُهَا وَلَا حَبَّةٍ فِي ظُلُمَاتِ الْأَرْضِ وَلَا رَطْبٍ وَلَا يَابِسٍ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ

“And with Him are the keys of the unseen treasures-- none knows them but He; and He knows what is in the land and the sea, and there falls not a leaf but He knows it, nor a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor anything green nor dry but (it is all) in a clear book.” Quran 6:59

and that God keeps everything recorded with the manifest clear Imam:


‎إِنَّا نَحْنُ نُحْيِي الْمَوْتَى وَنَكْتُبُ مَا قَدَّمُوا وَآثَارَهُمْ وَكُلَّ شَيْءٍ أَحْصَيْنَاهُ فِي إِمَامٍ مُّبِينٍ

“Surely We give life to the dead, and We write down what they have sent before and their footprints, and We have recorded everything in a clear Imam.” Quran 36:12

Unfortunately, many translators have translated the words إِمَامٍ مُّبِينٍ (Imam Mubeen) as a clear book, but if God wanted to say that it was a clear book He would have refered to it as He did in the the ayat previously mentioned 6:59
‎ كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ (Kitab Mubeen). This is to mislead the people about Imamate and to hide the virtues and true position of the Holy Imams (as).

So, these proofs from the Quran suffice us for this discussion about the knowledge of the Imams (as).

It also shows the high status of the Imams (as) who have complete knowledge of the book, whereas prophets like Musa (as) and Isa (as) only had partial knowledge.

Imam Sadiq (as) said that the tablet of Musa (as) said “From the things of knowledge” and Isa (as) said “I will explain to you some of what you dispute about” However when it comes to Imam Ali (as) he knows the whole complete knowledge of the book.

The question arises, do the Imams (as) know when the day of judgement is? If I were to tell you that I had knowledge of everything that would happen up until Friday and then you ask me when is Friday and I reply that I do not know how would I be truthful in my claim? If the Ahl ul Bayt (as) state that they have knowledge up until the day of judgement then the mind necessitates that they must know when the day of judgement is.
Imam Sadiq (as) said “Our knowledge is of what will be (ghabir), of what is past (mazbur), of what is marked in hearts (nakt fi al-qulub), and of what is tapped into ears (naqr fi al-asma). We have the red case (jafr), the white case, and the scroll of Fatima (s.a.) and we have (the document called) al-jami'a in which is everything the people need."
He was asked to explain these words and he said: "Ghabir is knowledge of what will be; mazbur is knowledge of what was; what is marked in the hearts (nakt fi al-qulub) is inspiration; and what is tapped into the ears (naqr fi al- asma) are words of angels; we hear their speech but we do not see their forms. The red case (jafr) is a vessel in which are the weapons of the Apostle of God (s). It will never leave us until the one (destined) among us members of the House, to arise (qa'im), arises. The white case (jafr) is a vessel in which are the Torah of Moses, the Gospels of Jesus, the Psalms of David and the (other) Books of God. The scroll of Fatima, peace be on her, has in it every event which will take place and the names of all the rulers until the (last) hour comes. (The document called) al-jami'a is seventy yards long which the Apostle of God (s) dictated from his own mouth and Ali b. Abi Talib (as) wrote in his own handwriting. By God, in it is everything which people need until the end of time, including even the blood-wit for wounding, and whether a (full) flogging or half a flogging (is due).”
He also used to say “We have the tablets of Moses and we are the heirs of the prophets.”
Sheikh Mufid reports in Kitab al-Irshad: “The Shia give an account of the tablet that Gabriel brought down to the Prophet (s) from heaven. The Prophet gave it to Fatima (as). In it are the names of the Imams after the Prophet (s). The Shia also report that God sent down to His Prophet a document sealed with twelve seals. He ordered him to give it to the Commander of the Faithful (as) and to break the first seal and he should act according to what is in that part of the document. At the time of his death he should pass it to his son al-Hassan (as) and tell him to break the second seal and act according to what is in that part of the document. At the time of his death he should pass it on to his brother al-Hussain (as). He should tell him to break the third seal and act according to what is below it. Then at his death he should pass it to his son Ali ibn al-Hussain (as) and he should instruct him in a similar way. Then Muhammad ibn Ali (as) should pass it down to his son right down to the last of the Imams (Imam Mahdi).”
When Imam Mahdi was 7 days old he recited from the books of Adam, Idris, Nuh, Hud, Salih, Ibrahim, Torah, Zabur, Injeel and the Quran. Then he went on to narrate stories of all the prophets until his own time.
و يبدو واضحا هذا الأمر في تاريخ الأئمة- عليهم السّلام- كالنبيّ محمّد- صلّى اللّه عليه و آله- فإنّهم لم يتربوا و لم يتعلموا على‏ يد معلم من مبدأ طفولتهم إلى سنّ الرشد، حتى القراءة و الكتابة، و لم يثبت عن أحدهم أنّه دخل الكتاتيب أو تتلمذ على يد أستاذ في شي‏ء من الأشياء مع ما لهم من منزلة علميّة لا تجارى. و ما سئلوا عن شي‏ء إلّا أجابوا عليه في وقته، و لم تمر على ألسنتهم كلمة (لا أدري)، و لا تأجيل الجواب إلى المراجعة أو التأمل أو نحو ذلك،
{It is clear from the histories of their lives that, like the Prophet, the Imams were not trained or taught by anyone at all, not even in reading and writing, from their childhood's to the maturing of their minds. No author or teacher was seen to instruct one of them, but they were incomparable masters of knowledge, so that they were never asked about any problem without being able to answer it immediately, and they never said that they did not know. They never required time to consider a question before replying.}

We have the famous phrase that Imam Ali (as) said where he asked the people to ask him before they lose him. He could have answered anything for them but these ungrateful people squandered this opportunity and asked silly questions like how many hairs do I have on my head.

Imam Ali (as) said “O Kumayl, God educated the Prophet (as); he educated me and I educate the believers and leave behind me the good education to the honorable people.

O Kumayl, I am the opening of every aspect of knowledge and Al-Qa’im (as) will be the sealer. O Kumayl, we are the offspring of one another. God is All-hearing and All-seeing.”

Lady Hakima says Imam knows the thoughts before they’re spoken. She said: "By God, whenever I wanted to ask him (Imam Mahdi (aj)) something he used to tell me about it before i could even ask and it also happened many times that i faced a problem then with with the blessings of his eminence I got the solution to it at the same moment, even without me asking about it."

Imam Mahdi (aj) said: “Our hearts are the utensils of the Divine will so when God wishes something, we too wish the same.”

He also said: “We are not heedless to your life affairs and do not forget mentioning of you. Indeed, we have thorough knowledge, which encompasses your news (incidents and affairs of life). And nothing of your news remains hidden from us.”
Imam Al-Mahdi (aj) wrote in a letter to Ash-Shaykh Al-Mufid: "We are aware of your circumstances and nothing of your affairs is concealed from us."
Imam Baqir (as) said: "When our Qaim rises, sets his hand (authority) over the heads of the servants, then, he will give them intellectual development and complete their patience and insight. After that, God will extend their sight and their hearing so that there will be no barrier between them and the Qaim when he decides to speak with them, then they hear, and they can watch him while he is in his place."
في حين أنّك لا تجد شخصا مترجما له من فقهاء الإسلام و رواته و علمائه إلّا ذكرت في ترجمته تربيته و تلمذته على غيره و أخذه الرواية و العلم على المعروفين و توقفه في بعض المسائل أو شكّه في كثير من المعلومات كعادة البشر في كل عصر و مصر
{In comparison with this, it has never been said of any Islamic scholar, narrator or scientist, in his biography, that he did not study or was not educated by some other scholar, or that he never had any doubts about any problem, for human nature has always been thus.}

http://www.lulu.com/shop/sheikh-mateen-charbonneau/commentary-to-the-faith-of-shia-islam-by-allama-al-muzaffar/hardcover/product-24153068.html

Ruling 2395. If a girl wishes to get married and she has reached the age of legal responsibility (bulūgh) and is mature (rashīdah) – meaning that she is able to determine what is in her interest – and she is a virgin, and she is not in charge of her life’s affairs, such a girl must obtain the consent of her father or grandfather. In fact, based on obligatory precaution, even if she in charge of her life’s affairs, she must still obtain their consent. The consent of her mother or brother is not necessary.

Ruling 2396. If a girl is not a virgin, or if she is a virgin but her father or paternal grandfather totally prevent her from marrying every individual who is legally (sharʿan) and commonly considered to be appropriate for her, then it is not necessary for her to obtain their consent. Furthermore, if they are not at all prepared to participate in the matter of her getting married, or if they are not competent to give their consent because of insanity or suchlike, then in these cases, their consent is not necessary. Similarly, if it is not possible to get their consent because they are absent or because of some other reason, and if the girl has a great need to get married at that time, the consent of her father or paternal grandfather is not necessary.

It means that she is supporting herself independently

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17-HkOjU_8SR6k1YwFAd-21apCJTS07TT/view

All maraja have some slight differences in some rulings due to their ijtihad. Is there a particular issue that you would like to know both of their verdicts to see if they have a difference?

I don’t think that the differences are enough to cause any problems.

Yes it is permissible to change your taqlid.

No I haven’t. People are happy to receive the books.

Some say its because its a form of pledging allegiance, some say its a form of respect to say he is above our heads, some say its because the Imam will touch the heads of his followers perfecting their intellect. Allah knows best.

As for your second question, please read the following book

https://www.al-islam.org/fazail-ul-mahdi-ali-akbar-talaafi/benefits-imam-mahdi-aj-during-his-ghaibat

We should avoid talking about our good deeds to others in order that we don’t show off.

My personal advice: Make sure to learn and practice your religion in a way that you are firmly rooted in your faith. If you cannot find good muslims to be around but only have non muslims with good akhlaq to hang out with then try to influence them towards Islam through your dealings with them. If they start calling you towards haram or disrespect your religion then you should remove yourself from their company.

Can you lift your feet for wudhu?

I pray you recover soon. Below are the rulings by Ayatollah Sayed Sistani in regards to not being able to pray in the normal way.

Ruling 955. If a person becomes unable to stand while performing prayers, he must sit down; and if he is unable to sit down as well, he must lie down. However, he must not say any of the obligatory dhikrs until his body becomes still.

Ruling 956. As long as a person is able to perform prayers in a standing position, he must not sit down. For example, someone whose body shakes when he stands, or is compelled to lean on something or incline his body a little, must perform prayers in a standing position in whatever way he can. However, if he cannot stand at all, he must sit straight and perform prayers in a sitting position.

Ruling 957. As long as one can sit, he must not perform prayers in a lying position, and if he cannot sit straight he must sit in whatever way he can. If he cannot sit at all, he must – as mentioned in the rules relating to qibla – lie on his side in a way that the front part of his body faces qibla. Furthermore, as long as it is possible for him to lie on his right side, he must not – based on obligatory precaution – lie on his left side. And if neither of these are possible, he must lie on his back with the soles of his feet facing qibla.

Ruling 958. With regard to someone who performs prayer in a sitting position, if after reciting Sūrat al‑Ḥamd and the other surah he can stand and perform rukūʿ in a standing position, he must stand up and from a standing position go into rukūʿ; but if he cannot stand and perform rukūʿ in a standing position, he must perform rukūʿ sitting.

Ruling 959. With regard to one who performs prayers lying down, if he can sit during prayers, he must do so as much as he is able to. Similarly, if he can stand, he must do so as much as he is able to. However, as long as his body is not still, he must not say any of the obligatory dhikrs. And if he knows that he can stand for only a short while, he must do so specifically for the standing that is connected to the rukūʿ.

Ruling 960. If someone who performs prayers in a sitting position can stand during prayers, he must perform prayers in a standing position as much as he is able to. However, as long as his body is not still, he must not say any of the obligatory dhikr. And if he knows that he can stand for only a short while, he must do so for the standing that is connected to the rukūʿ.

Ruling 961. If someone who can stand fears that by standing he will become ill or that he will be harmed, he can perform prayers in a sitting position; and if he also fears [illness or harm] from sitting, he can perform prayers in a lying position.

One should not look at the size of the sin but whom he is sinning against. Instead of choosing between two haram actions you could have a temporary marriage with a suitable woman.

May Allah ease your situation.

There is a difference of opinion amongst the scholars

While performing salat you will see that a lot of Muslims hold their hands in different positions while in qiyam (standing position). Some will fold their hands across their chest, some by their navel, and some let their hands hang by their sides. You probably asked yourself, “Why do they do these things?” Let us first look at the word qiyam. This word when looked up means: upright, erect. When you stand upright your arms should be straight as well. If your arms were folded then your body would be in qiyam but your arms would not be. To have the whole body erect would be the position of qiyam. According to The Five Schools of Islamic Law by Muhammad Jawad Al-Mughniyyah, all the 4 Sunni schools and the Shia school agree that holding the hands by the side is permissible. None of them states that takkatuf is obligatory. The Shia scholars say that takkatuf will void your salat, because it is a later bidah.

Placing the right hand over the left hand while standing in prayer is what is called Takattuf.

We find that Imam Ali (as) said “The believers should not put one hand on the other during standing erect in prayers like the disbelievers.”

Al-'Allamah ibn al-Mutahhar al-Helli says in Tathkirat al-Fuqahaa: al-Takkatuf invalidates the prayer and it is placing the right over the left during recitation and the scholars of the Shia sect agree on this—al-Sheikh and al-Murtada both said—al-Baqir (as) said: "And do not make Takkatuf (placing right over left), for it is something that the Zoroastrians do."

Also, Muhammad bin Muslim asked one of the Imams about the man who places in prayer his right hand over his left. He (as) replied: "That is (called) al-Takkatuf, do not do it."

Al-'Allamah Muhammad Hassan Najafi who was the head of the Shia sect in his time says in Jawahir al-Kalam:

“It was said about 'Umar that when they brought him the prisoners from the non-Arabs ('Ajam), they did Takkatuf (placing right over left) in front of him, so he asked about it and they told him that they did this as a sign of submission in front of their Kings, so he saw that it was good to do it for Allah in prayer but did not pay attention to the unpleasantness of imitating the Zoroastrians in Shari'ah.”

al-'Allamah Najm-ul-Deen al-Tibsi says in Al-Irsaal wal-Takkatuf bayn al-Sunnah wal-Bid'ah pg.13-14:

“There are many narrations from Ahl ul-Bayt (as) prohibiting al-Takkatuf and describing it as being from Zoroastrianism”

And he also said on pg.18-19:

“It was said that it was innovated by the Caliph 'Umar bin al-Khattab, he took it from the non-Arab prisoners.”

Ayatollah Sayed Sadiq al-Shirazi said in Sharae'e al-Islam by al-Helli, #235:

“It is what is called ‘al-Takattuf’ and al-Takkatuf that the 'Aamah (Sunni’s) practice, following the path of 'Umar bin al-Khattab, and 'Umar had taken it from the Zoroastrians then inserted it into salat, this was one of his innovations and it was never done by the Prophet (sawa) nor his Ah ul Bayt (as).”

Grand Ayatullah al-Khoei says in Kitab al-Salat vol. 4 pages 445-446:
“It is no secret that the act of Takkatuf was never practiced during the time of the great Prophet (sawa), even though it was narrated through several chains that do not come through us (Shia) thus they are all fabricated and false. Then we should not be hesitant to class it as one of the later innovations after his time. As for the time of the first caliph as it is said or most probably the second as we see in the narration, that when they brought the Persian prisoners to 'Umar, and he saw them in that state so he asked for the reason and they answered that this is what they do in front of their kings to glorify them, so he was pleased with it and ordered that it be done in prayer as Allah is worthier of praise.”

https://youtu.be/3RFY1mImv9c

I have not heard or read anything about that. Allah knows best.

Yes it’s as you said

I have not read anything to say that you cannot do this.

We do have some recommended dua’s for the bathroom

We have fundamental principles such as Allah is the most Wise. Knowing this we understand that He would never do anything that is against Wisdom because that would be a deficiency and Allah is without deficiencies because He is Absolute Perfection.

The scholar you mentioned is not limiting Allah by saying He doesn’t have the power to do such and such but rather saying that He would never do such and such thing if it is against wisdom.

The Bible has many differences than the Quran. We believe the Qurans version as it was the last book of God sent to us. It corrected many stories from the Bible which were incorrectly narrated.

The Imam’s (as) are the ones whom people do Tawassul by.

https://youtu.be/ZG0M0avhxxU

Masturbation is forbidden and for the one who has no wife the semen will eventually release from your body naturally via nocturnal dream.

No

Zakat is obligatory (wājib) on ten things:
1. wheat;
2. barley;
3. dates;
4. raisins;
5. gold;
6. silver;
7. camels;
8. cows;
9. sheep [and goats];
10. business goods, based on obligatory precaution (al‐iḥtiyāṭ
al‐wājib).


Khums becomes obligatory (wājib) on seven things:
1. profit from earnings;
2. mined products;
3. treasure troves;
4. lawful (ḥalāl) property that has become mixed with unlawful
(ḥarām) property;
5. precious stones that are acquired by underwater diving;
6. spoils of war;
7. land that a dhimmī1 purchases from a Muslim, based on the
well-known (mashhūr) juristic opinion.

For more details please refer to the Islamic Law book of a jurist

If you are born a Muslim there is no need for you to pronounce shahdatayn to become a Muslim.

Not in the view of your marja’ Sayed Sistani

Because it depends on sighting of the moon

A man is allowed to be married (nikah) to four wives at the same time. This does not refer to the life span of a person.

Yes

Make the intention when starting the nafl salat to gift the reward of that salat to whichever of the masumeen (as) you want.

This is a mustahab act and no punishment if you do not do it, unless you made a oath or vow by Allahs name to do it then abandoned it

The love of Hussain drives the lover insane as the poets say.

I dont feel comfortable saying that i love one Imam more than the others. Allah knows best.

We have a fundamental principle that Allah is unlike anything else and nothing can be compared to Him.

It does answer the question: Allah is not like any of His creation. The creations are physical therefore Allah is not physical.

Try to organize your tasks by making a list and then focus on them one by one until you complete them inshallah

The 4 rakat salats are shortened to 2 rakats.

You do not shorten those

Whispering loudly would not be whispering.
Whispering is low

1. Its fine
2. Yes its fine but stay motionless while reciting the dhikr
3. Same as number 2
4. Its fine but stay motionless while reciting the dhikr

Yes you have many doubts about this issue so you should ignore your doubts regarding this issue.

Your prayer is valid

Here are the rulings of Ayatollah Sayed Sistani in regard the one who has Kathiratu Shakk

Ruling 1170. An excessive doubter is someone who doubts excessively, i.e. a person who doubts more than usual when compared with other people who are like him in terms of being subject to the same factors that cause one to have an unsettled mind. An excessive doubter is not only someone who has already made a habit of doubting excessively; rather, it is sufficient for one to be in a state of developing a habit of doubting [for him to be considered an excessive doubter].

Ruling 1171. If someone who doubts excessively doubts whether or not he has performed an obligatory component of the prayer, he must assume he has performed it. For example, if he doubts whether or not he has performed rukūʿ, he must assume he has performed rukūʿ. If he doubts whether or not he has performed an act that invalidates prayers – for example, he doubts whether he performed ṣubḥ prayers as a two rakʿah prayer or as a three rakʿah one – he must assume he has performed it correctly.

Ruling 1172. If a person doubts excessively about a particular act of the prayer such that his excessive doubting is considered to be only with regard to that particular act, in the event that he has a doubt about another act of the prayer, he must act according to the instructions concerning that doubt. For example, if someone who doubts excessively about whether or not he has performed sajdah also doubts whether he has performed rukūʿ or not, he must act according to the instructions concerning that doubt; i.e. if he has not gone into sajdah he must perform rukūʿ, and if he has gone into sajdah he must dismiss his doubt.

Ruling 1173. If a person always doubts excessively in a particular prayer – for example, in the ẓuhr prayer – such that his excessive doubting is considered to be only with regard to that particular prayer, then, if he doubts in another prayer, such as the ʿaṣr prayer, he must act according to the instructions concerning that doubt.

Ruling 1175. If a person doubts whether or not he has become an excessive doubter, he must act according to the instructions concerning doubts [and not consider himself to be an excessive doubter]. Furthermore, as long as someone who is an excessive doubter is not certain that he has returned to a state that is normal among people, then, if his lack of certainty about this stems from being unsure about a change having taken place in his condition rather than from a doubt in the meaning of being an excessive doubter, he must dismiss his doubt [and consider himself to be an excessive doubter].

Ruling 1176. If an excessive doubter doubts whether or not he has performed a rukn and dismisses his doubt but later realises that he had actually not performed it, in the event that he has not started to perform the next rukn, he must perform that rukn [about which he doubted] and what follows it. However, if he has started to perform the next rukn, then based on obligatory precaution his prayer is invalid. For example, if he doubts whether he has performed rukūʿ or not and dismisses his doubt, in the event that before performing the second sajdah he remembers he has not performed rukūʿ, he must go back and perform rukūʿ; but if he remembers this in the second sajdah, then based on obligatory precaution his prayer is invalid.

Ruling 1177. If a person who doubts excessively doubts whether or not he has performed an act that is not a rukn and dismisses it and later realises that he had not performed it, in the event that the time for performing that act has not passed, he must perform it and what follows it. However, if the time for performing it has passed, his prayer is valid. For example, if he doubts whether or not he has recited Sūrat al‑Ḥamd and dismisses his doubt, in the event that he remembers in qunūt that he has not recited Sūrat al‑Ḥamd, he must recite Sūrat al‑Ḥamd and the other surah; but if he remembers this in rukūʿ, his prayer is valid.

Ruling 1232. If a person intentionally does not perform sajdatā al‑sahw after the salām of the prayer he commits a sin; and based on obligatory precaution, he must perform it as soon as possible. And in the event that he inadvertently does not perform it, he must perform it as soon as he remembers and it is not necessary for him to perform the prayer again.

There is no problem with lifting your feet but keep them stationary when wiping them.

Yes you can do one ghusl with intention of different ones.

The intention does not need to be said aloud but one should know what they are doing ghusl for.

1. Can you explain the errors more specifically?

2. You Wudhu is fine

You can do sajdata al-sahw for mistakes in your recitation but if you correct the recitation while in salat there is no need to make sajdata al-sahw.

That doubt does not invalidate the salat. There is no need to repeat it.

If you pass gas for certain then it invalidates your taharat and you would need to abort your salat, go make wudhu and repeat.

Dead body of animals not slaughtered in the Islamic way are najis.

You can make your Qadha prayers anytime and the sooner the better

Yes they are haram

Ruling 2395. If a girl wishes to get married and she has reached the age of legal responsibility (bulūgh) and is mature (rashīdah) – meaning that she is able to determine what is in her interest – and she is a virgin, and she is not in charge of her life’s affairs, such a girl must obtain the consent of her father or grandfather. In fact, based on obligatory precaution, even if she in charge of her life’s affairs, she must still obtain their consent. The consent of her mother or brother is not necessary.

Ruling 2396. If a girl is not a virgin, or if she is a virgin but her father or paternal grandfather totally prevent her from marrying every individual who is legally (sharʿan) and commonly considered to be appropriate for her, then it is not necessary for her to obtain their consent. Furthermore, if they are not at all prepared to participate in the matter of her getting married, or if they are not competent to give their consent because of insanity or suchlike, then in these cases, their consent is not necessary. Similarly, if it is not possible to get their consent because they are absent or because of some other reason, and if the girl has a great need to get married at that time, the consent of her father or paternal grandfather is not necessary.

‎يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ ۖ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا ۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ
“Believers, stay away from conjecture; acting upon some conjecture may lead to sin. Do not spy on one another or back-bite. Would any of you like to eat the disgusting dead flesh of your brother? Have fear of God; God accepts repentance and is All-merciful.” Quran 49:12

Imam Ali (as) said “Beware of backbiting. True Muslims should never backbite each other, because God forbids this in His saying: “Would any of you like to eat the disgusting dead flesh of your brother?”
Seriousness of Backbiting
Imam Sadiq (as) said: “Backbiting is equal to disbelief and listening to and being pleased with it is like polytheism.”
The Prophet (s) said: “Be careful of backbiting because backbiting is worse than adultery, in that a person who commits adultery can repent and ask forgiveness from God, and God can forgive him whereas God will not forgive the backbiter until the person who was at the receiving end forgives him.”

Backbiting is so serious that it is in fact worse than adultery! We look at Adultery as something horrible that we would never want to commit that act, but then we take backbiting as something light and indulge in it on a daily basis. Backbiting is much worse as for this sin you need to seek forgiveness from God, but on top of that you must seek forgiveness from the one that you were backbiting against. Imagine saying something horrible about somebody and then in order to be forgiven you need to go approach that person and ask for them to forgive you. We would be humiliated in front of this person. I know this would be so hard for us to do, so we need to be more mindful and refrain from this sin of backbiting.

Nevertheless, we see that right after God shows us the seriousness of this sin and the repulsive nature of backbiting by comparing it to eating the flesh of our dead brother, we see that he ends the verse by calling us to repent and turn away from this action by saying that He accepts repentance and is All-merciful.

Imam Hussain (as) said “Do not say a word about your brother in his absence that you would not like him to say during your absence.”

What is backbiting (Gheeba)?

“Backbiting is defined as the exposure of the fault of a brother-in-faith with the intention to vilify him in such a way that irritates him, whether it is by speaking, behaving, implying or suggesting.

Some people take backbiting to cover only that, which is false or contrary to the truth. According to them, to relate what was seen or heard, exactly as it was, is not backbiting. They say that they are not backbiting but only relating exactly what they saw or heard. But in fact, backbiting is the name of this very relating of the facts because if it is not factually correct, it will be slander, a false accusation and a wrong blame.

The Prophet (s) said: “Do you know what backbiting is?”

People said, “God and His Prophet (s) know better.”

Then he said, “Backbiting means that you say about your brother a thing which causes him pain.”

Someone said, “But what if I say what is actually true about him?”

The Prophet (s) replied, “It is backbiting only when it is factually true; otherwise, you will be accusing him falsely (committing slander).”

There are many causes for indulging in backbiting. Because of this, a man commits it sometimes knowingly and sometimes unknowingly.”

The intention of the backbiter is to hurt and defame the other and expose his faults to others people. This is definitely not how we should behave with our brothers in faith. We should never want to humiliate our brothers and sisters in faith. We should always wish the best for them and to build them up, not tear them down.

Imam Sadiq (as) said: "God will humiliate you in this world and the Hereafter if you humiliate one of your believing brothers while you are able to help them. The reward of helping a believing brother is more than that for one month of fasting and spiritual retreat in the Ka'aba."

He (as) also said: "Whoever says something about his believing brother with the intention of belittling him and damaging his honor and respect in the eyes of the people, God the Almighty will force him away from God's friendship and push him into the domain of friendship with Satan."
We definitely should want to be in the favor of God and earn the rewards of fasting for one month and doing retreat in the Ka’aba. God said in order to attain this we need to help our brothers in faith and honor them and refrain from humiliating and dishonoring them by going around backbiting them.

We have to examine our lives and ask ourselves are we earning God’s favor and friendship or are we the first to send out the group message on Whatsapp or on social media talking bad about one another? “Did you see what that person wore to the center? It was so ugly right?” Did you see the brothers car? What a piece of junk?” These are just some examples. May God help us all from partaking in backbiting.

Some of the things that are considered to be backbiting are mentioned by the late Ayatollah Dastaghayb Shirazi in his book Greater Sins:

1. 1) Backbiting of ones family origin is saying, ‘His father was a sinner, evil, stingy, immoral, from the lower class, etc. 

How can we begin to criticize one based upon their families? How many times have we seen in the history that amazing personalities ended up coming from some of the worst of people? Look at Muawiya son of Yazid (Muawiya the 2nd). He had a teacher from a young age who taught him the fundamentals of the faith and also secretly cultivated the love of Ahl ul Bayt (as) in his heart. He ended up renouncing his father, mother and grandfathers deeds against Islam. He regretted that he even came from such a family and cried profusely because of the atrocities his family committed. Listen to what he said after his fathers death:

“It is written in Hayatul Haiwan that the son of the accursed Yazeed made himself aloof from the Caliphate of his father and sat for a long time on the pulpit. And after praise and glory of God he said: “O people! I am not interested in Caliphate and you consider the material kingdom to be something great, while I find it detestable and you all find me detestable too, because I will be involved with you and you would be involved with me. My grandfather, Muawiyah opposed Ali (a.s.) for this very Caliphate. His Eminence, Ali (a.s.) was rightful and superior. No companion of the Messenger of God (S) was equal to him in any quality. At last, by deceit, the Caliphate came into the hands of Muawiyah and then to Yazeed. Yazeed did not deserve the Caliphate. He committed greater sins and transgressions. By God, I am helpless due to lack of control on myself that I am speaking these words. The love of Ali (a.s.) is inscribed on my heart.”

The people of Shaam disliked the words of this supporter of Ali (a.s.) and the one who left the worldly kingdom. They caught hold of him and buried him alive, by which his soul departed to the spiritual realm. “Surely we belong to God and to Him we shall return.”

And often times we see that some disbelievers came from honored individuals and even prophets such as the son of Noah (as).

‎وَهِيَ تَجْرِي بِهِمْ فِي مَوْجٍ كَالْجِبَالِ وَنَادَىٰ نُوحٌ ابْنَهُ وَكَانَ فِي مَعْزِلٍ يَا بُنَيَّ ارْكَب مَّعَنَا وَلَا تَكُن مَّعَ الْكَافِرِينَ
‎ قَالَ سَآوِي إِلَىٰ جَبَلٍ يَعْصِمُنِي مِنَ الْمَاءِ ۚ قَالَ لَا عَاصِمَ الْيَوْمَ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّـهِ إِلَّا مَن رَّحِمَ ۚ وَحَالَ بَيْنَهُمَا الْمَوْجُ فَكَانَ مِنَ الْمُغْرَقِينَ
“When the Ark sailed on with them amid the mountainous waves, Noah called out to his son who kept away from them, ‘My son, embark with us. Do not stay with the unbelievers.’ His son replied, "I shall climb up a mountain and this will save me from the flood." Noah said, "No one can escape on this day from God's command except those on whom He has mercy." The waves separated Noah from his son who was then drowned with the rest (of the unbelievers).” Quran 11:42-43

1. 2) Backbiting of character is saying such and such is bad-character, stingy, arrogant, coward, weak, hypocrite, thief or an oppressor.

We should not try to search out the flaws of our brothers and sisters in order to highlight them to others in order to belittle them. We should try to conceal the faults of our brothers as we would want God to conceal our faults.

Imam Sadiq (as) said “The smallest thing which turns a man out of faith (renders him faithless) is that he keeps counting the faults, lapses and mistakes of his brother in faith so that one day he may reprimand him (by those weaknesses).”

We are only permitted to reveal the faults of others in specific situations which will be brought up later.

1. 3) Backbiting with regard to religious matters is saying that a person is a liar, a drunkard, he neglects prayers, he is bad mannered, ungrateful, he doesn’t realize his low position, etc. 

We should try to go to those who need help with their religious matters secretly and offer to help them. We shouldn’t go to them like we are so superior to them and kick them while they are down making them feel worse than they already do. We need to be more compassionate towards each other and remember that we are one big family.

Imam Hassan Al-Askari (as) said, “Whoever admonishes his brother secretly he has decorated him and the one who admonishes him openly and publicly has vilified and rebuked him.”

He also (as) said, “The best of your brothers is the one who forgets your sin and remember and mentions the favor you did for him.”

1. 4) Backbiting in relation to dress is saying his dress is dirty, torn, old, long or short. If these are mentioned in a manner that a person wouldn’t like to hear about himself, it is considered backbiting.

We shouldn’t judge a person by what he has or doesn’t have, what type of house, car or clothes he has, but rather one should judge a person on their fear of God.

1. 5) Excessive praise of someone. For example, saying: ‘He is so nice! It’s a shame he’s caught in Satan’s trap and became such and such.’

The Prophet (s) said: "Never gloat over the misfortune of your brother, for he may be freed from it and you may be the next victim."

1. 6) Being sad in a hypocritical way, for example saying: ‘I am really sad and my heart breaks in the sorrow for such and such person.’

This isn’t true because if he were really sincere and a true friend he would not have criticized him and exposed his defects.

It should be clear that it makes no difference whether the defect is mentioned verbally or expressed in action or gestures. Even if one makes an allusion and it is understood in the sense he intends, it is backbiting.

Who is it forbidden to backbite against?

Imam Sadiq (as) said “The one who deals with the people and does not commit excess upon them, talks to them and does not tell lie, makes a promise and does not break it he is one of those whose slandering and backbiting is prohibited, his forbearance and fortitude is completed, his justice and equity is exhibited and evident, his brotherhood is obligatory and binding upon others.”

We should always think the best of our brothers and sisters in Islam. If only we talked about the good qualities that people had instead of always focusing on the negative. If a person is shown a blank piece of paper with a black dot on it, we will immediately focus on the black dot and start to talk about it. This is similar how people are with each other too, they only focus on the negative.

In some cases, criticizing falls under permissible backbiting:

1. 1) Backbiting of a person whose defect is not hidden and it is known to all, like the one who roams the streets with a drinking wine openly.
We find in the book al Makasib A tradition that says,
“One who sins openly is not worthy of respect and his backbiting is not forbidden (haram).”
A tradition also says,
“(The backbiting of) one who has thrown away the robe of shame (and commits sins openly) is not backbiting.”
If the person has already given up the sin his backbiting is forbidden. By the same token he must not be scolded or criticized because forbidding what is wrong (Nahi ‘Anil Munkar) is to wean him away from sin; if he himself has given it up there is no sense in reprimanding him. If he has not discontinued it and he does it secretly then his sin comes in the scope of secret sins and it is forbidden to mention them to others.
If a person has left a life of sin and repented to God, we should not keep reminding him of his or her past. We should not be asking them how was it when you used to drink alcohol and go to nightclubs? How was it when you used to get high and sell drugs? What did pork taste like when you used to eat it? These things and types of questions would definitely bother someone and make them feel uncomfortable and even ashamed.
I have a good friend who was at one time a salafi who hated the followers of Ahl ul Bayt (as). This guy was on his way to scope out the place where one of the shia scholars resided in order to come back with a group to hurt the scholar. However, this scholar started debating with him and proving why the shia believe the way they do and it completely opened the eyes of the guy. He had never heard this before and never seen the proofs from the Quran until that moment. He left his hatred of Shia’s and actually became a believer at that very moment by accepting the guardianship (wilayat) of Amir al Mumineen and the 12 Imams (as) from the family of Muhammad.
Now my point in mentioning this story was that now any time some people are around him and see a group of salafi’s doing something against Ahl ul Bayt (as) they say remember when you used to do that? Or if they see a terrorist group calling to kill the shia’s some others would say O’ so and so remember when you used to be on the same side as them? This really is offensive and causes pain to the brother who sincerely repented and regrets what he used to do. This is a type of backbiting that we must stay away from.
1. 2) If an oppressed person complains about the oppressor and mentions his acts of injustice, it is not backbiting. As God says in the Holy Quran:
“And whoever defends himself after his being oppressed these it is against whom there is no way (to blame). The way (to blame) is only against those who oppress into and revolt in the earth unjustly, these shall have a painful punishment.” (Quran 42: 41-42)
“God does not love the public utterance of hurtful speech unless (it be) by one to whom injustice has been done.” (Quran 4: 148)
Precaution demands that we must complain of injustice to someone who is capable of redressing it. It is not permitted to complain to someone who is not capable of getting justice for you.
If we feel that someone has wronged us then we should only address this with one who can actually make a difference in solving the matter. We shouldn’t go around and publicize what happened to every person we meet.
Also, times we can go from being the oppressed one to becoming the oppressor. How is that so? For example, a person backbites about you to one person, then you find out and decide to get revenge for what they did. Instead of backbiting them to the extent that they did to you, which was one person, you go into a crowd of people and backbite against that person to everyone in that place. Now you have surpassed the sin they did and you went from being the oppressed to becoming the oppressor.
1. 3) Giving advice to those who ask for it. If a Muslim approaches you for advice in a particular deal that he intends to enter with a person and you know about a defect of that person which, if he does not reveal then the person who enters into the contract will suffer loss and have problems; in this case there is no harm in passing such information.

If someone comes to you and says so and so brother wants me to invest $100,000 dollars with them and the opportunity looks great. What do you think? If you know that this person they are referring to is a con artist for example or is known for his shady business practices then you should inform them so that you are protecting you brother in faith from loss.

1. 4) Backbiting of a person is allowed if in addition to committing the sin himself he is instrumental in instigating others to follow him. For example, he introduces an innovation in God’s religion. In order to warn the people of his deceit his backbiting is permitted.

If a person is misguiding others due to his sins or is leading people away from Islam by making false claims that are rejected by the teachings of Ahl ul Bayt (as) then it is permissible to warn others of that person.

Note that some scholars have differing opinions on issues and this is due to their ijtihad (juristic reasoning). Some scholars have written books refuting each other, but in a respectable way and they both show their points on why they have come to their different conclusions. That is fine and this is not what we are talking about here. So, if a marja has a different view than yours this is not a cause to say he is innovating something not permitted in the religion, but rather we are speaking about if someone makes claims that are against Quran, Hadith and Ijma (consensus of the early scholars). For example, if someone now comes and claims he is the special appointed representative of Imam Zaman (aj) and that he is in direct communication with him. This would be some one that we would need to warn people against his false claims.

1. 5) Backbiting is allowed in connection with a person who narrates a false hadith or gives a false testimony. It should be to ensure that people are not misled by his falsehood.

We must expose those who narrate false traditions in order to make sure we do not become duped by people who forged narrations.

1. 6) It is allowed to mention the defect of a person by which he is well-known. For example, blind, deaf, lame etc. Our intention must not be to point out his defect but by way of indication. Also, one must bear in mind that the person himself not feel irked by these titles. Only in such circumstances is it allowed, otherwise we must use some other means to indicate towards him.

Also, “To describe any fault of a patient before a physician for purposes of treatment is not backbiting.”

If describing a person by their disability is the only way to convey the meaning to the person you are talking to, then it should be done with respect and dignity. We should never use a person’s disability to make fun of them or belittle them.

Imam Sadiq (as) said: "Whoever says something about his believing brother with the intention of belittling him and damaging his honor and respect in the eyes of the people, God the Almighty will force him away from God's friendship and push him into the domain of friendship with Satan."

The Prophet (s) said: "Never gloat over the misfortune of your brother, for he may be freed from it and you may be the next victim."

1. 7) “If the life, property or honor of someone can be protected only by informing him of some fault, it will not be backbiting.”

The backbiter is not a true brother
Imam Baqir (as) said: "How bad is a hypocrite with two faces and two tongues. He admires his brother in his presence, but gossips about him in his absence. He will envy his brothers if they get rich and will not help them if they get in trouble."
Some people befriend you in order to get close to you and find out your personal matters. Once they find out private issues in your life they try to use these to destroy you and ruin your life. These types of people are miserable and they want to wreak havoc on anyone who is happy or successful. They pretend to be your brother or sister in faith, but in reality they are just out to ruin your life and care nothing about you.
Imam Sadiq (as) said: "A believer will never deceive his fellow believing brothers, nor oppress them, be treacherous with them, humiliate, gossip about or grumble at his believing brothers. He will never say his believing brother is lying. Should he ever grumble, their friendship will be ruined. Should he accuse him in any way he will lose his faith in just the same manner that salt gets dissolved in water."

So, from the above narration we see that a true believer would never wish any ill will towards his brother in faith and would never backbite against him.

Imam Kadhim (as) said “And believer is the real brother of believer although his parents may not have given birth to him (Biologically). Cursed is the one who accuses his brother, cursed is the one who plays trickery and treachery with his brother. Cursed is the one who does not admonish and advise his brother. Cursed is the one who back bites his brother.”

We must take note that all of these evil characteristics that Imam Kadhim (as) has mentioned were cursed by him. We must strive our utmost not to acquire any of these evil qualities and if we have found that we do possess one or more of these than let’s turn to God and seek His forgiveness.

We should never humiliate our brothers

We should never want to humiliate our brothers and sisters in faith. We should always wish the best for them and to build them up, not tear them down.

Imam Sadiq (as) said: "God will humiliate you in this world and the Hereafter if you humiliate one of your believing brothers while you are able to help them. The reward of helping a believing brother is more than that for one month of fasting and spiritual retreat in the Ka'aba."
Imam Sadiq (as) said: "Whoever says something about his believing brother with the intention of belittling him and damaging his honor and respect in the eyes of the people, God the Almighty will force him away from God's friendship and push him into the domain of friendship with Satan."
Defending the honor of your brother

We should do more than just be mindful of the sin of backbiting ourselves, but we should also refrain from listening to it. Furthermore, we should defend our brother or sister in faith when they are being dishonored.

Once a man defamed and slandered another man in presence of the Prophet (s) so a person who was present there refuted him. The Prophet (s), said: "Whoever defends the honor of his brother, that act will shield him from hellfire."

“He (s) also said: “If the backbiting of ones believing brother is being done in ones presence and it is possible to defend him, one must defend him and God will help such a person in Hereafter. And if in spite of being able, he does not defend him then God will leave him on his own in the Hereafter and He shall not help him.”

“If one defends his believer brother’s honor while back-biting is done about him in a way that he proves his innocence, God shall remove from him thousands of mischiefs from the world and the hereafter. But if he does not dispel them in spite of being able to do so, his sin shall be seventy times that of the back-biter.”

After quoting the above tradition, the Shaykh (The Late Ayatollah Dastaghayb Shirazi) says that the sin of the listener is more than that of the back-biter because, if it were not for the ones willing to listen then the backbiter would not have dared to back-bite. Also, we should note that listening to backbiting silently without saying anything implies support of the back biter.

What should we do when we hear backbiting?

1. 1) If the defect mentioned is according to religious law, one should try to absolve the believer in whatever way possible.
2. 2) One can present a valid excuse for his actions
3. 3) If this is not possible, one should draw the attention of the criticizer that after all a believer is not infallible;
4. 4) If a believer falls into sin we should pray for his forgiveness, instead of exposing and defaming him.
5. 5) We should also make him realize that his revealing the sin can be a more serious sin than the one originally committed by the believer.”
May God save us all from this evil vice of backbiting and protect us from its harmful effects. May God help us all to be more supportive and kind to each other and become united as brothers and sisters under the banner of the family of Muhammad (as)
‎رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا وَلِإِخْوَانِنَا الَّذِينَ سَبَقُونَا بِالْإِيمَانِ وَلَا تَجْعَلْ فِي قُلُوبِنَا غِلًّا لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا رَبَّنَا إِنَّكَ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ
"…Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and clear our hearts of any ill will against the believers. Lord, You are Compassionate and All-merciful." Quran 59:10

This ring is called aqiq. They are easily found sold in Iraq/Iran. Sometimes people bring them from there and sell them in the West.

Should be an authentic aqiq.

Perhaps it is a sign to bring remembrance of your Imam (aj)

One should not work in the department or section of the store where they sell haram. He should not be a cashier or a bagger of the groceries that are haram either. Perhaps he can work in the produce section for example where no haram is involved.

I remember in 2012 asking an Ayatollah about this in Najaf. Here is what he told me.

Advice on how to get closer to Imam Mahdi (aj) -

The first thing he replied was that this is an easy thing to say, but in reality it is not an easy task to accomplish. He continued to say that we needed to pray to Allah and ask Him to open our container and expand our capacity, so that we can receive the knowledge pertaining to Imam Mahdi (pbuh). Being among those who are close to the Imam means having a very high level of knowledge and piety, so we must be prepared mentally and spiritually to understand, comprehend and accept this knowledge.

He proceeded to say that one of the ways that we can gain proximity to the Imam is to fulfill all of our obligations (wajibat) that Allah has asked from us. Next is to stay away from all of the things Allah has forbidden us from doing (muharramat). This reminds me of the first thing he told me when he said that it sounded easy but in reality, was not an easy task at all. Last of all he told me that to become close to the Imam we should be careful of how we treat others. We should always treat others well, with respect and give them their due rights. We should never be oppressors and mistreat people.

Also check out

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZB7poMxFUhKmDQ9RS8Xx6jTD8lxkxfnK

Sufism

When Imam Al Sadiq peace be upon him was asked about the Sufis, he said: “They are our enemies. Whoever is inclined to them is of them and will be gathered with them on Judgement Day. There will be people who claim that they love us, but will be inclined to the Sufis, they will resemble them, they will use their titles; they will replicate their words. Whoever is inclined to them is not of us. We reject those ones; whoever denies them and responds to their words will be granted the status of performing Jihad with the prophet peace be upon him and his family” Safinat Al Bihar by Al Qumi vol 2, page 57.

Imam Al Ridha peace be upon him said: “Whoever is mentioned before him the Sufis and he did not deny them by speech or in private does not become of us. Whoever rejects them will be granted the status of performing Jihad with the prophet peace be upon him and his family”, same previous reference.

Imam Al Askari peace be upon him said to Abi Hashim Al Jaffari: “Oh Abi Hisham! There will time when people seem to be happy, but their hearts are full of distress. The true Sunna among them is described as an innovation; an innovation among them is called a Sunna. A true believer among them is humiliated; a known Libertine among them is highly respected. The ones who rule them are tyrants. Their scholars do walk towards the gates of darkness. The wealthy people among them steal from their poor ones. The young ones are more esteemed than the elderly. Any ignorant will be taken as an expert scholar. People will not be able to distinguish between the faithful and unfaithful. People will not be able to distinguish between human wolves and human sheep. Their scholars are the worst of Allah’s creation ever because they are inclined towards Philosophy and Sufism. By Allah! Those are the ones who bring aggression and corruption into Islam. They take our Shia astray. If they secure a high position, they will not get enough from corruption; if they do not, they will acts of worship are nothing but pretence. They are the bandits on the ways of the believers. They are the ones who call for the path of the disbelievers. Beware them! Keep your faith secure from them! Safeguard your faith from them! Oh Abi Hashim! This had been told to me by my forefathers, so keep what I told you safe and reveal it appropriately”.

Ref: Safinat Al Bihar by Al Qumi vol 2 page 58.

Strive to replace it with something else like listening to Quran, Dua or majalis.

Things are created in pairs male and female such as humans, animals and plants etc.

Fidya is to be paid to poor needy Shia Muslims. For each day it currently equals about $5 a day. You can get an Islamic center or organization such as IMAM to carry this out for you to make it easier if you wish.

Ok good so just wait and do qadha. No need for fidya at the moment.

Yes you still receive the multiplied benefits of the month of Ramadhan in regards to the good actions you do.

Yes this type of alcohol is permitted

This may be a good book for you to read

https://www.amazon.com/101-Ways-Concentrate-Prayer-Al-Hilli/dp/190811021X

When we refer to mumin it means Shia Ithna Ashari.

As for other you can pray for their guidance.

1) If God is One Essence but in three different forms or parts than all of these forms would have to have been Qadeem (eternal). However, we see that Jesus (as) which is the 2nd part of this trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit was himself created and born of the virgin Mary (as). Secondly, If God were made up of three forms then it would mean that God would be in need of His parts to be complete. Thirdly, if all of the attributes of Father, Son and Holy Spirit are separate from His essence than this would mean we would need to have some gap to differentiate between them and this would mean that all of them would be in need of these gaps and God is free of need from anything, thus it is impossible for God to have any partner.

‎يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لَا تَغْلُوا فِي دِينِكُمْ وَلَا تَقُولُوا عَلَى اللَّـهِ إِلَّا الْحَقَّ إِنَّمَا الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ اللَّـهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُ أَلْقَاهَا إِلَى مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ مِّنْهُ فَآمِنُوا بِاللَّـهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَلَا تقُولُوا ثَلَاثَةٌ انتَهُوا خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ إِنَّمَا اللَّـهُ إِلَـهٌ وَاحِدٌ سُبْحَانَهُ أَن يَكُونَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَكَفَى بِاللَّـهِ وَكِيلًا

“People of the Book, do not exceed the limits of devotion in your religion or say anything about God which is not the Truth. Jesus, son of Mary, is only a Messenger of God, His Word, and a spirit from Him whom He conveyed to Mary. So, have faith in God and His Messengers. Do not say that there are three gods. It is better for you to stop believing in the Trinity. There is only One God. He is too glorious to give birth to a son. To God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. God alone is a Sufficient Guardian for all.” Quran 4:171

Another point to mention is that we know Allah is not in need of anything and has no deficiencies. Humans sleep because they become weak and they need sleep to recharge. We can all admit that Jesus (as) slept. How can we say a person who has slept is all powerful? We all can say that Jesus ate food and drank water and this is done in order to gain energy. If we go without food or drink we will collapse. This is a weakness that man has but Allah has no weaknesses. And lastly after we eat the food is processed through out body and we relieve ourselves by going to the restroom. How can we say that anyone who does something as filthy as using the restroom is Allah?! This goes against out intellect to accept such a thing.

2) Allah sends us his perfect message and chooses the best to bring us that message and be an example for mankind. He knows best where to place His message as He knows His creation the best.

Question: What is the Kaffara for breaking one's fast intentionally?
Answer: One who has broken his fast intentionally he must, in addition to making up the qadha of that day, fast for two months the first thirty one days in a row. Or he must feed 60 poor Momins to their fill or he must give 750 grams of wheat to each one of them. If none of these is possible for him, he is free to either fast for eighteen days or feed as many poor people as he can. If he cannot do this also, he must ask Allah for forgiveness even if he has to say "Astaghferullah" once. And it is an obligatory precaution that if he is able later, he must give the kaffarah. Of course, the kaffarah is obligatory in the case that his ignorance was not due to his own negligence in learning the rulings. However, if he has grown up in a place that without his own choice, he was unaware of the rulings, then it is obligatory that he must make up that day only.


https://www.sistani.org/english/qa/01236/

Yes if you intentionally break one fast without a valid reason then you need to make qadha of that day and do kafarra of two months fasting

Please watch this and inshallah it will be made clear

https://youtu.be/ZG0M0avhxxU

https://www.imam-us.org/powerful-supplication-salawat/

1. A utensil which becomes najis because of alcoholic beverage, should be washed three times, with no difference between Kurr, lesser, or running water.

2. Once with water

3. Is this alcohol the intoxicating kind?

Khums must be paid on seven things:
1. War booty
2. Mineral wealth
3. Buried treasures
4. [Wealth from] diving
5. Licit wealth mixed with illicit wealth
6. Land purchased by a non-Muslim citizen (dhimmi¯) from a Muslim
7. Surplus income

As long as the girl has reached the age of being baligh then she is obligated to fulfill her wajibaat and khums is one of those.

You should limit your interactions on social media with non mahram as much as you are able, especially private messages should be avoided when possible. If a man is approaching you wanting to learn Islam please refer him to a brother who can assist him.

Muslims are not immune from being murdered just as is the case with anyone else. Injustices are committed by the free will that man has and they have to answer for their crimes before God.

Here are some ahadith about Calamities and Hardships from the book Mishkatul Anwar fi Ghurur il Akhbar that I compiled. I pray it benefits you.

Hadith #1718 Imam Baqir (a.s) narrated that once when Moses (a.s) left the house, he met one of the Israelites. He went to Mount Tur with him and asked him to sit down until he returned. He drew a circle around him and raised his head towards the sky and said: “I entrust You with my friend. You are the best Guardian.” Then he left. Then he went away and made supplications to God in a truly spiritual way. When he returned, he saw that a lion had attacked his friend, torn him into pieces, and eaten him up. Then Moses (a.s) raised his head towards the sky and said: “O' God! I entrusted him with You because You are the best Guardian. But You sent your worst beast to attack him, kill him, tear him into pieces and eat him up!” A revelation came: “O' Moses! Your friend had a rank in Heaven that he could not attain otherwise. O' Moses! Look!” Then the curtains of the Unseen were drawn aside and Moses (a.s) looked on and saw his friend in an exalted house. Then Moses said: “O' Lord! I am pleased.”

-1712 Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “God the Almighty always sends calamities upon a believer. He cannot sleep one night and wake up the next morning without any problems. Either he gets ill or he has a family or financial problem or suffers from a natural disaster. All these are so that God can give him a reward instead.”

-1713 Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “Any believer is reminded (of God) once every forty days by either a tragic event of a financial or physical nature for himself or his children, or a sort of sadness which he does not understand the reason for. Then he will be rewarded.”

-1716 Imam Baqir (a.s) said: “Whenever God wishes to honor one who has committed sins, He will make him ill, or needy, or make him suffer from a difficult death to compensate for his sins. Whenever God wishes to humiliate someone who has done some good deeds, He will make him perfectly healthy, or improve his living conditions, or make his death an easy one for him to compensate for his good deeds (in this world before he goes to meet his Lord).”

-1706 Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “There will not pass forty days before God either descends a calamity or a physical illness upon a believer so as to reward him for it.”

-1707 Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “If a believer only knew what the reward for perseverance in the face of calamities is, he would always wish to be torn into pieces.”

-1709 Imam Baqir (a.s) said: “A group of people went to see Imam Sajjad (a.s). Abdullah ibn Abbas was with him, too. The people talked about the calamities of the Shiites and their sufferings. Then they went to see Imam Hussein (a.s) and said the same things. Imam Hussein (a.s) said: “I swear by God that the speed with which poverty and calamities rush towards our friends is more than the running speed of the zebra, the speed of the flood and the rainfall. If you are not suffering this way, then we know that you are not one of us. Your orphans will be helped by us, your debts will be repaid by us, and your sins will be forgiven by us.”

-1710 Someone talked about calamities and things that God has allocated to believers in front of Imam Sadiq (a.s). He said: “They asked the Prophet of God: “Who experiences the worst calamities in this world?” The Prophet answered: “The Prophets experience the worst calamities in this world. Then those who are most similar to them, and then the believers experience calamities based on their level of faith and good deeds. The calamities experienced by those whose deeds are more will be worse. Whoever has a weaker faith and less good deeds will experience less calamities.”

1722- Zaris al-Kanasi narrated that he went to see Imam Baqir (a.s) with several other people including Hamran ibn Aein. Hamran said: “O' May I be your devoted servant! When we read the verse: “Whatever misfortune happens to you is because of the things your hands have wrought.” [The Holy Quran: Shura ] 42:30 does it mean that the misfortunes that happened to the Prophet (a.s) and Ameer al-Momineen (a.s) and the Holy Household were due to sins?” Imam Baqir (a.s) replied: “O' Hamran! Their misfortunes were not due to sins. But their misfortunes were so extensive that they will get rewarded for them.”

1725- Imam Baqir (a.s) said that God the Almighty said: “Some of My servants are such that their religious affairs will not improve unless they get poor or sick.”

1737- Imam Sadiq (a.s) quoted on the authority of God's Prophet (a.s): “I swear by God that no one can attain nobility near God unless his sufferings increase.”

1739- Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “The people who suffered the worst hardships were the Prophets. Then there are those are most similar to the Prophets who suffer the worst hardships.”

1740- Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “God's Prophet (a.s) was asked: “Which people suffer the most in this world?” The Prophet (a.s) said: “The Prophets. Then those who are most similar to them. Then the believers will suffer according to the degree of their faith and good deeds. The stronger their faith, and the more their good deeds are, the worst will their sufferings be.”

1741- Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “A believer is similar to a scale. The stronger his faith, the more his sufferings will be.”

1744- Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “Those who follow the right way are always in hardship. But this hardship is for a short duration, and it will be followed by a long period of well-being.”

1745- Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “There is a rank near God for His servants which they cannot attain unless they either get sick or lose some property.”

1755- Whoever says the following seven times after the morning prayer before saying anything else: “In the Name of God, the Most Gracious Most Merciful. There is no strength nor power but in, or by means of, God, the Exalted.” God will fend off seventy types of calamities from him- the simplest of which is leprosy.”

1. Answer: From Ayatollah Sayed Sistani’s website

Question: I am living in India and I have a lot of doubts about things I am using and I eating. What is my duty about such things?

Answer: A well known religious law says: "Everything is ritually pure for you unless you come to know that it is ritually impure." This law declares everything to be pure unless one becomes sure a particular item has become impure. And as long as you are not sure that it has become ritually impure (najis), it is to be considered pure and you can apply all the rules of purity to it without any hesitation or doubt.

2. Your hand has najasat on it and touches another thing this thing becomes mutanajis then this thing touches another thing while wet that thing becomes mutanajis but after that it does not transfer

3. The leftover water from ghusl is not najis

4. According to Ayatollah Sayed Sistani If the probability of the leather originating from a zabiha (an animal slaughtered Islamically) source is so weak that people would not normally give any credence (for example, the probability of 2%), it is to be considered impure and this cannot be used in salat. But if the probability is not so weak, it can be considered pure and using it in salat would be permissible.

5. Being a Muslim you should assume he has taken the proper steps to clean your area and consider the area pure unless you become certain it is najis

Follow the general rule that everything is pure unless proven najis.

As for the last question yes your hand is najis but that would not transfer again

I am not sure of this hadith as i have not seen it.

As for achieving the middle road one should not be extreme in either direction. One should balance their things in life.

We do have some narrations for Nowruz but they are generally seen as weak narrations. There is no harm in celebrating Nowruz and it’s done by different nationalities of Shia’s especially Iranians.

Allah knows best.

I was there and saw this as well. The person is a famous poet. The part about about the prophets seeking help via Ahl ul Bayt (as) is true and I have done a lecture about this as well.

https://youtu.be/ZG0M0avhxxU

However the part about the assassination is just him being poetic acting as if this would have happened, yet it has no record in the history.

Hirz is worn for protection

Muharram
Rajab
Dhul Qidah
Dhul Hijjah

You can pray behind them but with the intention of singular salat and prostrate on something permissible to prostrate on for example a straw mat or piece of straw and show them the narration in the books which show the prophet (s) prayed on this item. If you can not prostrate on anything permissible then repeat your prayer in private where you can use the mohr. These are some options and i hope your situation eases.

It is called the Majestic We or the Royal We. You can read more about it here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_we

The following is from the risalat of Sayed Muhammad Taqi Modaressi

The time for the fajr prayer begins with daybreak and lasts until sunrise.
It is highly recommended to hasten to pray fajr at the beginning of its time rather than delaying it until almost sunrise, except for one who is sleeping, who forgets or who is pre-occupied. But it is best to offer this prayer before the sky becomes entirely illuminated, while it is still dark and gloomy.

Sunan pertaining to the time for prayer
It is highly recommended to hasten to prayer and offer one’s prayers at the earliest moment possible, in the preferred time (waqt al-fad?i¯la), and to avoid delaying them unnecessarily. It is also recommended to pray as soon as possible, even after the preferred time has lapsed, as the closer a prayer is offered to the beginning of its time, the better that prayer is.

No it would not be permissible. However I have been told there is an alternative to vanilla extract which is called vanilla essences that has no alcohol.

https://www.sistani.org/english/book/48/2201/

You should explain that you dont feel comfortable being in this close relationship with a non mahram. Perhaps if she wants to be with you in that way you could do a temporary marriage which will make her mahram and then possibly explore being permanently married with each other.

Keep track of the cities you will be flying over and their fajr times. The plane usually has a map that shows the locations of where you are and you can pray according to the time of the local city you are flying over

As far as i know we do not have a specific date of his birth. There are several good books i could recommend

https://www.amazon.com/Emissaries-Jesus-Shaykh-Rizwan-Arastu/dp/0692214119

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Testament-Christians-About-Jesus/dp/0994240902

https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Through-Quran-Shiite-Narrations/dp/1879402149

As far as the adhan you should start focusing on the task ahead and mentally prepare to go stand in front of your Lord for salat.

In some cases fault finding or criticizing does not fall under backbiting: 

1) If the oppressed person complains of the oppressor seeking redress, it is not backbiting. Allah says about it: Allah does not love open utterance of evil in speech except by one who has been wronged” (Qur’an, 4:148). 

2) To relate anyone’s fault while giving advice is not backbiting because dishonesty and duplicity is not permissible in counseling.

3) If, in connection with seeking the requirements of a religious commandment, the naming of a particular individual cannot be avoided, to state the fault of such a person to the necessary extent will not be backbiting. 

4) To relate the misappropriation or dishonesty committed by someone with a view to saving a Muslim brother from harm will not be backbiting.

5) To relate the fault of someone before one who can prevent him from committing it is not backbiting.

6) Criticism and expression of opinion about a relater of traditions is not backbiting.

7) If a person is well acquainted with someone’s shortcoming, then to relate such a fault in order to define his personality, for example, describing a deaf, dumb, lame or handless person as thus, is not backbiting.

8) To describe any fault of a patient before a physician for purposes of treatment is not backbiting.

9) If someone claims wrong lineage, to expose his correct lineage is not backbiting.

10) If the life, property or honor of someone can be protected only by informing him of some fault, it will not be backbiting. 

11) If two persons discuss the fault of another, which is already known to both, it will not be backbiting, although to avoid discussing it is better, since it is possible one of the two might have forgotten it. 

12) To expose the evils of one who openly commits evils is not backbiting as the tradition runs: “There is no backbiting in the case one who has torn away the veil of shamefulness.”

Nahjul Balagha translated by Yasin T. Jibouri Commentary to Sermon 138

Religious knowledge brings one closer to Allah when it is contemplated and applied. One does not need to take on the role of a sheikh to acquire knowledge.

One should pursue knowledge with the intention being pure. He should want to seek nearness to Allah, save himself and his family from hell fire and help others as much as he can. These are some reasons.

I always had a passion for studying and learning new things about Islam. I wanted to learn how to do things the proper way and the most pleasing way to Allah. I wanted to serve the cause of Ahl ul Bayt (as) to the best of my ability and to help others especially people like myself who are facing the hardships of converting to a new religion. These are just some of the reasons.

It is permissible

The urinary outlet must be cleaned with water. Once if using kurr water or twice if using qalil water. An example would be if you use a bidet or hand held bidet this would be considered as kurr because it is connected to a large water source which meets the kurr amount. An example of qalil water would be if you used a water bottle or the small flower watering pot people sometimes use as it is less than kurr water.

The rear outlet can be cleaned with water once at minimum or with cloth/toilet paper three times (must be three different pieces of cloth).

If you have not done anything that would invalidate your state of ritual purification then you can use that same wudhu to pray.

They follow the one whom they regard as the most knowledgeable in the path of Ahl ul Bayt (as).

Women should not recite for non mahram men. You’re not obligated to attend any events even if they are your relatives

We have four canonical books of ahadith

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Books

As-salaamu ‘alaykum

Yes

https://www.amazon.com/Tragedy-Fatima-Daughter-Prophet-Muhammad/dp/1501012797

No one is in direct contact with the Imam (aj) and no one can guarantee a dua being answered. If a dua is answered or not depends on many conditions. You should strive to recite Dua Tawassul every Tuesday evening.

Also this dua

Eleventh: Shaykh Kaf`ami in his book al-Balad al-Amin has written, "This is the du`a of Imam Mahdi (`a) that he taught a person who was imprisoned. He was released, thanks to reciting this du`a.
إِلَهِي عَظُمَ الْبَلاَءُ وَ بَرِحَ الْخَفَاءُ وَ انْكَشَفَ الْغِطَاءُ وَ انْقَطَعَ الرَّجَاءُ وَ ضَاقَتِ الْأَرْضُ وَ مُنِعَتِ السَّمَاءُ
My Allaah, irretrievable is our plight, our helplessness causes pain and trouble, (now our) urgency has been laid bare (before Thee), (all) hopes have been cut off, the (plentiful) earth has shrunk (with very little to spare) for us, the heavenly blessings have been withheld,
وَ أَنْتَ الْمُسْتَعَانُ وَ إِلَيْكَ الْمُشْتَكَى وَ عَلَيْكَ الْمُعَوَّلُ فِي الشِّدَّةِ وَ الرَّخَاءِ
we call upon Thee for help, we refer our grief and sorrow to Thee, we have full faith in Thee, in the time of distress as well as in good fortune.
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ أُولِي الْأَمْرِ الَّذِينَ فَرَضْتَ عَلَيْنَا طَاعَتَهُمْ وَ عَرَّفْتَنَا بِذَلِكَ مَنْزِلَتَهُمْ
O Allaah, send blessings on Muhammad and on the children of Muhammad , the "Ulil Amr" (authority), obedience to whom has been made obligatory, through which their high status has been made known.
فَفَرِّجْ عَنَّا بِحَقِّهِمْ فَرَجاً عَاجِلاً قَرِيباً كَلَمْحِ الْبَصَرِ أَوْ هُوَ أَقْرَبُ
Therefore let there be joy after sorrow for us for their sake, right away, in the twinkle of an eye, more rapidly.
يَا مُحَمَّدُ يَا عَلِيُّ يَا عَلِيُّ يَا مُحَمَّدُ اكْفِيَانِي فَإِنَّكُمَا كَافِيَانِ وَ انْصُرَانِي فَإِنَّكُمَا نَاصِرَانِ
O Muhammad, O AIi, O Ali, O Muhammad, Give me enough, because both of you provide sufficiently, and help me, because both of you help and protect.
يَا مَوْلاَنَا يَا صَاحِبَ الزَّمَانِ الْغَوْثَ الْغَوْثَ الْغَوْثَ أَدْرِكْنِي أَدْرِكْنِي أَدْرِكْنِي
O Our Master, O the Authority of our times (Saahibaz Zamaan), Help! Help! Help! Come to my help! Come to my help! Come to my help!
السَّاعَةَ السَّاعَةَ السَّاعَةَ الْعَجَلَ الْعَجَلَ الْعَجَلَ يَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ بِحَقِّ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ الطَّاهِرِينَ
in this hour, in this hour, in this hour! Be quick, Be quick, Be quick! O the most Merciful, For the sake of Muhammad and his pure progeny.

We have many recommended supplications, but if they will be accepted from the reciter or not is known to Allah. We should seek forgiveness and be sincere in our supplications hoping for Allah to accept them.

If they did not know of Islam nor had the ability to find it then they would be considered Mustad’af. They will be tested in the next life before being judged.

Firstly seek Allah’s help and forgiveness. Send Salam to the 12th Imam (aj) and ask for his help.

One suggestion is that you could make a nazr (vow) to Allah that if you fell into that haram action then you would do something to compensate. You could specify that as something difficult that would deter you from that action. Perhaps like fasting 3 days or paying $50 charity, etc.

Dua makaram al akhlaq

Everyone has their own struggles they’re dealing with. Try to advise them the best you can. Let them know you are there for them and willing to help them if they need anything.

السلام عليكم As-salaamu ‘alaykum

Yes it is fine to return there. The restaurants wash the plates before using them again.

Also we have a general rule that is to assume everything is pure until otherwise known that it has become impure.

There is no problem in that.

I would highly recommend this book for you

https://www.amazon.com/al-Mahdis-Reappearance-Sheikh-al-Din-al-Sagheer/dp/1976265231

https://www.sistani.org/english/qa/search/1329/

I would like to suggest that you take a look at the origins of this holiday.

When one learns about himself and the complexities of his creation he then recognizes that he has a Creator.

The scholars have different opinions about this matter. Ive read some books from authors stating that the prophet only had one daughter and then others saying he had four. Allah knows best.

Prophet Muhammad a Mercy to the World by the late Sayed Muhammad Shirazi page 4. The biography of Prophet Muhummed by Sheikh Baqir Qurayshi says the other daughters were his foster daughters Page 131 he says that Fatima (as) is the prophets (s) only daughter

The reason is that we don’t believe the Holy prophet had more than one daughter. According to our tradition, he had only one daughter ( Bibi Fatema (as))
The other daughters according to our tradition were the Children of khala ( Bibi Khadija’s Sister).
They came to stay with the holy prophet the lost their mother.

The general shia opinion is not. Ayatullah Subhani is no doubt a great scholar and one of my teachers. The reason why you don’t hear our centres or mosques talking about other daughters is because not most uphold the view that he had more than fatima as daughter

You could make a nazr (vow) that if you commit the sin then you have to do such and such for example fasting 3 days or give a certain amount of charity. Something difficult for you. This would defer you because when you want to commit the sin you will think of the things you have vowed to do if you make that sin.

Never put yourself down and be confident and trust in Allah that He will provide. Read ziyarat ashura for 40 consecutive nights and ask by the right of Ahl ul Bayt (as) to help you in this matter.

We do not claim that any book is 100% authentic except the Holy Quran

Yes it’s permissible

Question: In the West, there are many public laundry places in which Muslims and non-Muslims wash their clothes. Is it permissible for us to pray in the clothes washed in such facilities, especially when we have no knowledge whether or not the washing machines are connected to the kurr water2 at some stages of the washing, and whether or not it purifies the clothes in the process of washing?

Answer: There is no problem in praying in those clothes that were pure before washing them [in such facilities] as long as you are not aware that they have become impure. [In other words, what goes in the public washing machine as pure comes out as pure unless you are sure that it has become impure.]
Similarly, [you can pray in] the impure clothes [that were washed in the public laundry machines] provided that you are reassured:
- that the impure element, if any, has been washed away;
- that the pure water covered the entire impure area twice (if it had become impure by urine and even if the water was connected to kurr source as an obligatory precaution) or just once (if it had become impure by other elements);
- and that the water was removed from the clothes by wringing or other similar method [i.e., spinning of the machine] if it was qalil.
However, if you are not sure and just have conjecture that the garment has been purified as per religious requirement, the previously impure garment will still be considered impure and praying in it would not be valid.

https://www.sistani.org/english/qa/search/34299/

No you dont need to if you are certain that the najasat would be removed in the rinsing cycles of the washing machine.

Correct

I would recommend you to listen to this very good series to gain info about Imam Mahdi (aj)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD2F0DFA18BFBD747

No one can place a definite time on when the Imam (as) will make himself known to the public. All we can do is pray for the hastening of his reappearance and prepare ourselves by striving to be the best servants of Allah that we can be.
Here is a book about the signs of reappearance

https://www.amazon.com/al-Mahdis-Reappearance-Sheikh-al-Din-al-Sagheer/dp/1976265231

We should occupy ourselves with our own faults and this will keep us busy from thinking bad about others.

In majalis strive to think solely about the topic of the majlis and about the personalities of Ahl uk Bayt (as). Remove yourself from the worldly distractions for this time and dedicate that time solely to seeking the pleasure of Allah.

رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا وَلِإِخْوَانِنَا الَّذِينَ سَبَقُونَا بِالْإِيمَانِ وَلَا تَجْعَلْ فِي قُلُوبِنَا غِلًّا لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا رَبَّنَا إِنَّكَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ - 59:10

"Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith and put not in our hearts [any] resentment toward those who have believed. Our Lord, indeed You are Kind and Merciful." Quran 59:10

I would highly recommend reading Kamil al Ziyarat by Sheikh Abbas Qummi before going.

Wa alaykum salam. I would like to share this small book which would explain your questions in detail.

https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/38019

It seems to be quite an ambiguous post unless people know who you are indicating. It may be better to refrain from posting these types of things though. Take the lesson out of what happened to you and move on from it

Allah will forgive any sin if one sincerely repents (and gives back the rights if they were something that was taken for example).

To get recognition of Allah we need to refer to the infallible ones Allah sent to guide us and refer to them to get the proper understanding.

If we were to say that the Quran is pre-existent just as God is then this poses several problems.

1. You would be saying that the Quran is Qadeem (eternal). This would imply that there were two things that were God and not just One God.
2. If there were more than one God than they would also be in need of each other and this neediness is a deficiency. God has no deficiencies.
3. If the Quran was a separate independent thing alongside of God than this would mean we would need to have some gap to differentiate between them and this would mean that all of them would be in need of these gaps and God is free of need from anything, thus it is impossible for God to have any partner.

These same points can be applied to the Trinitarian belief of Christianity. If God is One Essence but in three different forms or parts than all of these forms would have to have been Qadeem. However, we see that Jesus (as) which is the 2nd part of this trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit was himself created and born of the virgin Mary (as). Secondly, If God were made up of three forms then it would mean that God would be in need of His parts to be complete. Thirdly, if all of the attributes of Father, Son and Holy Spirit are separate from His essence than this would mean we would need to have some gap to differentiate between them and this would mean that all of them would be in need of these gaps and God is free of need from anything, thus it is impossible for God to have any partner.

Allah says:

“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” Quran 51:56

“[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving “ Quran 67:2

Allah is free of need, yet He creates what He wills.

To put in terms that we can understand, a mother cares for her child and wants them to reach the highest level in life so she guides her child by giving him rules and guidelines to follow. This is what Allah does for us. He cares for us and wants us to reach perfection so he gives us rules and guidelines to follow in life. These are what we call ibadaat. Worship is not just prayer but many things fall under the category of ibadaat.

You are trying to view Allah as a being who has needs the way we do when Allah is free from needs and and can not be compared to His creation. If you give money for example to a poor person this does not give you any material benefit to you but rather it benefits the one you are helping. No one would say this is pointless or useless rather they would say that this is an honorable thing done by someone who doesn’t need anything from that person in return.

If you are compelled and not listening willfully then the sin is not upon you.

You make your Qadha prayers at any time. The sooner the better.

We should avoid gatherings in which haram things are being done.

We cannot hurt Allah.

As far as shirk being worst sin: Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) says:

“The greatest of the Greater Sins is to attribute partners to Allah.”

The following verse of the Holy Qur’an asserts:

“Surely Allah does not forgive that anything should be associated with him, and forgives what is besides that to whomsoever He pleases, and whoever associates anything with Allah, he devises indeed a great sin.” (Surah an-Nisā’ 4:48)

It means that whoever dies as a polytheist, there is no chance of his salvation. Although Allah (S.w.T.) may forgive any of those who have committed any other sin. Allah (S.w.T.) says:

“Surely whoever associates (others) with Allah, then Allah has forbidden to him the garden, and his abode is the fire; and there shall be no helpers for the unjust.” (Surah al-Mā’ida 5:72)

Also the Holy Qur’an states:

“Do not associate aught with Allah; most surely polytheism is a grievous inequity.” (Surah Luqmān 31:13).

“And whoever associates anything with Allah, he devises indeed a great sin.” (Surah an-Nisā’ 4:48)

https://www.al-islam.org/greater-sins-volume-1-ayatullah-sayyid-abdul-husayn-dastghaib-shirazi/first-greater-sin-shirk

All the sins can be forgiven by Allah because that person may still believe in Allah but committed a crime against humanity. Whereas one who doesn’t believe in Allah’s oneness is a disbeliever. إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِۦ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِٱللَّهِ فَقَدِ ٱفْتَرَىٰٓ إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا “Surely Allah does not forgive that anything should be associated with him, and forgives what is besides that to whomsoever He pleases, and whoever associates anything with Allah, he devises indeed a great sin.” (Quran 4:48) So, we see here that Shirk is a sin of great magnitude. It is even the greatest sin! He has set this as an unforgivable sin. This is for those who are persisting knowingly in this act. Allah is the one who has established the laws and rules of creation, so he is the one who says which sins are greater than others. Some may say is how can a thought like shirk be worse than an action like murder, theft, etc? We can see, just as an example, that sometimes even in our society that people are punished more for conspiracy to commit a crime than some who have actually done the crime. Another aspect is that when one commits a crime against another person that person may forgive them or overlook them. Even in some cases we see the family of the one who was murdered forgive and hug the killer in the court room. However, when we come to the sin of shirk it is a continuous sin against Allah where the person is constantly rejecting the Oneness of Allah. He must stop the crime in order to get forgiveness. Also, when we look at crimes, they vary in degree according to who the crime was against. It is natural for us to react to a man killing another man in the street as a horrible thing, but how much worse would we view it if that man killed his mother or grandmother who nurtured him and raised him with love and affection?! What about in the case of shirk? This is not even a crime committed against another human being, but it is against the nurturer and sustainer of mankind. Despite man committing this sin against Allah, He is still merciful by providing them with the faculties they need to be alive such as air to breathe and He also gives them sustenance whether they are believers in Him or not. Imam Sadiq (as) has mentioned in a longer narration: “Do you not see the sun shines upon the believers and the nonbelievers, and the rain comes down upon the good and the bad?” “When it rains, it pours upon both the houses of the faithful and the unfaithful. When the sun shines, its rays enter both the houses of the Prophet and the Abu-Jahl. The rivers pass through the cities of the believers and the disbelievers. God’s blessing are always like this. It is the nature of this world.” -The late Sayed Mohammad Shirazi Shirk is the root of many sins and this corruption in beliefs is the chief of all wrong beliefs. Committing Shirk would lead one to gain no benefit from their actions. وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَعْمَالُهُمْ كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَةٍ يَحْسَبُهُ الظَّمْآنُ مَاءً حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءَهُ لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئًا وَوَجَدَ اللَّـهَ عِنْدَهُ فَوَفَّاهُ حِسَابَهُ وَاللَّـهُ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ ﴿٣٩﴾ “The deeds of the unbelievers are like a mirage which a thirsty man thinks is water until he goes near and finds nothing. Instead, he finds God who gives him his due recompense. God's reckoning is swift.” Quran 24:39

“And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry those that please you of [other] women, two or three or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then [marry only] one or those your right hand possesses. That is more suitable that you may not incline [to injustice].” Quran 4:3

وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تُقْسِطُوا فِي الْيَتَامَىٰ فَانكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُم مِّنَ النِّسَاءِ مَثْنَىٰ وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ ۖ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا فَوَاحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَدْنَىٰ أَلَّا تَعُولُوا - 4:3

The author has compiled ahadith from shia and sunni sources. This one happens to be a sunni hadith. Means if a person disperses his knowledge in a way just so the people hear him and to become known then he will be lowered in status by Allah.

Yes not to show off or gain reputation as the hadith is speaking of

Shirk means associating partners to Allah. The Imams have special knowledge but it is not independent. Whatever power they have been given is dependent on Allah.

Yes

It is a sign of grieving for Imam Hussain (as)

There is no historical evidence in the maqatil to verify this. Watch this and it will explain

https://youtu.be/3RFY1mImv9c

https://youtu.be/dEzh3Ws88bQ

This is done to remember the lion Harith who came to protect the Imams body

Be a good example to them through your character. Teaching is not always by speaking but a lot of the time you can influence and teach through your actions.

She must be obedient to her parents as long as they are not asking her to disobey Allah. Prayer is accepted in the meaning that qadha is not liable, but what is indicated is that one does not receive the spiritual rewards for the prayers during this time period. In this case of him being abusive, I suggest she request from her marja what the limits she must observe in his regard.

If you would like to avoid these discussions with people due to the uncomfortable feelings it brings you then i suggest to politely tell people that you dont wish to discuss those matters and refer them to someone who can help them, such as a scholar at the local Islamic center.

I would suggest having two apps and test with both to see if the Qibla is the same or do they both give different readings.

https://www.sistani.org/english/qa/search/708/

1) The Prophet (s) had 3 boys and 1 daughter (or 4 daughters according to a different view)

2) Qasim, Abdullah, Ibrahim, Fatima

3) Fatima (as)

4) There is a difference of opinion about this issue whether the other girls were daughters of the prophet or if they were his foster children from Kahdija’s sister who passed away.

5) There is no general consensus but differing views according to each individuals research.

Several years ago i asked this same question to a Mujtahid in Najaf. The first thing he replied was that this is an easy thing to say, but in reality it is not an easy task to accomplish. He continued to say that we needed to pray to Allah and ask Him to open our container and expand our capacity, so that we can receive the knowledge pertaining to Imam Mahdi (pbuh). Being among those who are close to the Imam means having a very high level of knowledge and piety, so we must be prepared mentally and spiritually to understand, comprehend and accept this knowledge.

He proceeded to say that one of the ways that we can gain proximity to the Imam is to fulfill all of our obligations (wajibat) that Allah has asked from us. Next is to stay away from all of the things Allah has forbidden us from doing (muharramat). This reminds me of the first thing he told me when he said that it sounded easy but in reality, was not an easy task at all. Last of all he told me that to become close to the Imam we should be careful of how we treat others. We should always treat others well, with respect and give them their due rights. We should never be oppressors and mistreat people.

The second question you asked, you just make the intention to gift the reward of the good action to the particular person you would like to dedicate it to.

The Imam does not need this from us but it is a gesture towards him that shows our love for him. We give our family and close friends gifts on the holidays to show our love to them but we forget our Imam (as). We should strive to do things and gift them to him to show our loyalty, love and appreciation for him.

The most important thing in this concern is first of all we should check ourselves and find how much we are having thirst to see our beloved Imam. Secondly we should purify our souls from all sorts of evil example if anyone has Hasad, Keena,Bughz in his heart then how he/she can face Imam even if it became possible to see him. Thirdly we have to follow the most important teaching of Islam simply it can be said that we have to follow Wajebaat and refrain from Moharramat. And lastly we should recite recommended Duas eg Dua e Ahad and Dua e Nudba and sit in a corner cry for the oppressive and tyranny act done by enemies of Islam against the Islam and ask Allah to hasten our Imam’s Reappearance and ask Our Imam to make possible his appearance for us. Because Imam loves his true followers and always ready to help them. We all have seen our Imam but due to a certain hijab (barrier) we can’t recognise him. So we have remove this barrier and for that we have to achieve true cognizant(marefat) to our imam.May Allah fulfil our wish and make it possible to see our Imam and hasten his appearance as soon as possible.

Is his arm in a cast?

If its not in a cast he makes wudhu normally but if in a cast he makes wudhu jabeera and wipes over the cast. However for salat, if he is not able to do sujud properly then he would need to pray sitting.

No he needs to perform sujud with both hands, if he cannot then he should pray sitting

I do not know the countries regulations for their meat, but are the owners or managers Muslims? You should approach them and ask them if their meat is halal. I have been to non Muslim countries such as England where they have fully halal KFC.

You have two things to consider: Firstly you are in an Islamic country and secondly the meat is labeled as Halal. If you are still in doubt then you can write to the company itself, but i do not see the necessity in doing this as they have already put the halal sign on their products.

If you have Salatul Qadha that you need to make for that same day then it is recommend to make these before making the current salat.

Once Imam Ali (as) caught someone doing this. He hit him on his hand and then went to get him married so he didn’t commit this sin again.

Also, If someone knew he could masturbate than he would just do that and may prolong getting married.

Masturbation also can cause health problems, such as blindness.

These are just a few reasons. Allah knows best.

Salam

Mutah is a marriage contract where the woman is viewed as ones wife and given respect and rights as a wife for a specified time. Whereas in prostitution the woman has no rights at all and is looked at in a bad disrespectful way.

Sometimes for different reasons: getting to know one another before the nikah, sometimes people were away for very long times away from home (wars back in the times of the Prophet for example), sometimes people do mutah and have a lawful relationship while saving to prepare the type of nikah ceremony they want. These are just some of the things I have seen. Mutah doesn’t have to be of a sexual nature it could be just so the intended couple can speak to each other and see each other freely.

Can you give me example?

These are threats to show the disbelievers what a horrible punishment awaits them. These things show them the severity pf their crimes and how they should mend their ways and seek forgiveness.

وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ - 3:85

“And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.” Quran 3:85

The People of the book that came prior to the Prophet (s) yet were waiting on him would be granted Jannat after they are judged inshallah

The fault is not with Allah as you said He is not granting a way out but we must stop the sin by having firm resolve in not doing it. Study the outcomes of the sins in this world as well as their outcomes in the next. This knowledge will come to your mind when wanting to do that sin and inshallah will refrain you. May Allah help us all.

Here is a logical proof: Gods existence is unlimited and He encompasses all things. There cannot be other gods besides Him, because He encompasses everything and His existence is unlimited so there is no room or space for another god to occupy. An example is, if you have a fountain of water that is full all of the way to the brim and this water occupied all of the space available in the fountain, how could you add more water to the fountain? It would be impossible, because there is no space to add anything. God occupies all of existence and there is no room for another god, because God is already encompassing the totality of existence.

I would recommend diverting your attention to something else to keep your self busy in doing something productive.

Try to go to sleep while in a state of ritual purity. If the temptations still come then go do something productive instead like getting up to make Salat ul Layl

He should try his best with determination not to commit this sin and if he should seek Allah’s forgiveness.

He could also make a nazr that every time he commits this sin that he would fast one day for example. This may deter him.

This is not a thing particular to Islam, but in Arabia and many parts of the world polygamy was and is normal. In Arabia there was not set limit to the number of wives one may have. Islam set a limit to four if they are treated justly. A question was put forward to Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Taqi al-Modarresi about marrying multiple wives: Question: I am interested in polygamy as I intend to marry a second time. It has to be noted that I am fair and just with my wife, and she does not fall short in fulfilling her duties towards me. We are remarkably happy with each other according all our relatives. Is it permissible for me to marry another woman if I fulfill all the conditions of justice and adherence to the divine limits? Answer: It is permissible, but we advise you to think carefully before taking action to marry another woman because your current married life will be affected, and you are likely to lose the happiness that you enjoy at present. If you are living a happy life as you have said, then why do you want to marry another woman when you do not need to?

Wa alaykum salam. You should look at piety, justness, knowledge. Study their book of Fiqh as well to see what the rulings are of the scholar. Ask other learned people about who is a good scholar to follow and why?

In relation to the question about inheritance, the man is given more of a share because he has to use this money to take care of his family members, whereas the woman’s money is her own to do whatever she pleases with. So, this ruling is actually better for the woman than it is for the man and is also just.

About hijab, the hair and neck are considered to be part of the woman’s beauty whereas this is not the case in regards to men.

الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفُورُ - 67:2

“[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving” Quran 67:2

Allah says that He will try us. He knows what we will choose but has left the choice to us. He does not force us to do right or wrong. This is a test that we must pass.

As far as creating man perfect and then having him perform circumcision could be a test to see who follows the command to perform this from those who do not. Also, this act protects one from being unclean.

Allah created fingernails for us but we have to clip them, Allah created hair for us but we need to trim it eventually, etc.

Allah has set in place a system of reward and punishment. If He did not try us as then we would have an excuse on the day of judgement and say why did you choose hell for me when you never gave me a test or opportunity to achieve paradise? This would be against Allahs justice. He gives us the opportunity by testing us to do right or wrong.

I remember a fellow scholar speaking about this same question and will also send you his reply

https://youtu.be/vtU5_BSfu_w

You will pray Qasr because you’re not in the same place for ten days.

The general rule is that whatever you take from the hand of a Muslim is deemed as halal.

If you take meat from the non muslim you must assume that it is haram and inquire if it is halal or not.

Vegetables are fine.

Was the person touching your wet hair from the people of the book (Jew or Christian)? Or were they an atheist or hindu for example?

Ok, you would need to wash those parts they touched while being wet.

Wa alaykum salam. You should visit the Islamic College of England. Seek their counsel and look at their programs since you are in London.

According to Sayed Sistani: Based on obligatory precaution it is not permissible for a man to shave his beard. Similarly, it is not permissible for him to just leave the hair on his chin and shave the sides. This too is based on obligatory precaution. A Muslim is allowed to shave his beard, if he is compelled to do so or if he is forced to shave it for medical reasons, etc. It also allowed if he fears harm to his life by not shaving or if growing the beard would put him in difficulty (for example, if it becomes a cause of ridicule and humiliation that is not normally tolerable by a Muslim). We see that it is impermissible to have a clean shaven face and also a goatee. So this shows us that the beard should be complete. As far as length it should be enough to be considered that he has a beard even if it is very low.

Do your best of growing a beard and of course you would not be held accountable for what is out of your power or what is not in your capability

It’s not binding on you to go to the Islamic center although there is a lot of benefit in attending.

There is a high reward for taking care of ones parents.

If you live in California and your parents live in Illinois, and you do not take their house as your home, then you should consider your visit as traveling and shorten your prayers.

Imam Hussain’s (as) horse had both of these names.

Hijab is what is commonly referred to as the scarf that women use to cover their hair, but it is more than just this. It is modest covering but also being modest in our behavior.

Imam al-Ṣādiq (as) was asked about prayer on a boat. So he said: ‘Face the qibla, and when the boat shifts directions, if possible to turn again to face the qibla then one should do so. Otherwise, he should pray whatever direction he faces. If he is able to pray standing, then he should do so, and if he cannot, then he should sit and pray.’

Wasāʾil al-shīʿa, v. 3, p. 235, ḥ. 13

A traveller must work out the direction of the qibla. He is not allowed to offer his obligatory prayers while riding on something, unless he can offer them without any defects, as when one is on a plane, train, or boat, and he will not be bothered by their movements. But if the vehicle is not steady, like a boat in turbulent waters or a plane during take-off or landing, etc., then precaution requires the traveller to delay his prayers until he can offer them while he is steady. And so he must always face towards the qibla; adjusting towards it whenever his means of transportation turns. However, if he cannot maintain his position facing the qibla and he fears that he will miss his prayers, he should face it to whatever extent possible in his prayers, even if this is only for the takbīrat al-iḥrām. Otherwise, he can offer his prayers without facing it; and the same applies to someone who is compelled to pray while walking.

Prophet Muhammad (s) is, according to the Shia belief, a ulil azam prophet who is the last messenger amd the highest of all prophets and he is also an Imam. Similarly we see in surah baqarah that propeht Ibrahim (as) was a prophet and also an Imam. However we believe that there os a living present hujjah upon the earth at all times. So, after the martyrdom of the prophet Muhammad (s) this was Imam Ali (as) and the Imams from his progeny. The current proof of Allah on the earth now is Imam Mahdi (atf).

We see in Quran that every people will be called with their Imam.

يَوْمَ نَدْعُو كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ ۖ فَمَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ فَأُولَٰئِكَ يَقْرَءُونَ كِتَابَهُمْ وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلًا - 17:71

(Remember) the day when We will call every people with their Imam; then whoever is given his book in his right hand, these shall read their book; and they shall not be dealt with a whit unjustly.

Quran 17:71

You should do the sajda as soon as you are able.

Some people within Islam hold a political theory that one grand jurist (marja taqleed) is over all of the other grand jurists (maraja). They call him the Rahbar which means leader. This is just one of many political theories in Islam and is not an essential part of the religion.

It means whoever angers Fatima (as) has committed a sin and angered God.

This question in itself has a lot of different things to address. The scriptures have obviously been corrupted as the Quran attests to

Do you covet [the hope, O believers], that they would believe for you while a party of them used to hear the words of Allah and then distort the Torah after they had understood it while they were knowing? Quran 2:75

So woe to those who write the "scripture" with their own hands, then say, "This is from Allah," in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn. Quran 2:79

The Christians should judge each other according to their own books laws when having legal disputes and this has nothing to do with the Quran or rejecting Islam.

The Quran attests to the veracity of the original books that were given to the previous prophets and not the corrupted versions that exist today.

This person who wrote this obviously does not understand the Quran and probably has never read it.

Wa alaykum salam. If you pass gas it invalidates your wudhu and you will need to go make wudhu again and repeat the salat again.

If you do not pass gas then your salat is not invalidated

If you pass gas it invalidates your wudhu and you will need to go make wudhu again and repeat the salat again.

If you do not pass gas then your salat is not invalidated

Allah commanded the angels to make prostration to Adam (as) and this is not shirk. It is not a prostration of worship but one of respect.

Alcohol is of different kinds. The kind that is Najas is the type that people drink to become intoxicated such as wine, beer, liquor. I believe you are referring to what we call rubbing alcohol used for medical purposes which is tahir.

Im not familiar with that title. Can you send it to me?

Hadith al-Ikhtiyar, recorded by Imam al-Tabarani (d. 360 H):

حدثنا محمد بن جابات الجند نيسابوري و الحسن بن علي المعمري قالا : ثنا عبد الرزاق عن معمر عن ابن أبي نجيح عن مجاهد عن ابن عباس قال لما زوج النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم فاطمة عليا قالت فاطمة : يا رسول الله زوجتني من رجل فقير ليس له شيء فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم : أما ترضين يا يا فاطمة أن الله عز و جل اختار من أهل الأرض رجلين أحدهما أبوك والآخر زوجك
Muhammad b. Jabat al-Jund Naysaburi AND al-Hasan b. ‘Ali al-Ma’mari – ‘Abd al-Razzaq – Ma’mar – Ibn Abi Najih – Mujahid – Ibn ‘Abbas:

When the Prophet, peace be upon him, married Faṭimah to ‘Ali, Faṭimah said, “O Messenger of Allah! You are marrying me to a poor man who has nothing.” So, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, “Are you not pleased, O Faṭimah, that Allah the Almighty the Most Glorious chose, from the people of the earth, two men: one of them is your father and the other is your husband?”



https://www.al-islam.org/ali-best-sahabah-toyib-olawuyi/33-hadith-al-ikhtiyar-ali-true-second-two

The masajid of the Ahl ul Sunnah call Adhan at the wrong time which is too early for prayer to have set in.

Yes. The adhan of Ahl al Sunnah does not actually signify that it is prayer time, because they call to prayer before it actually sets in.

Make an action plan of the things you need to do. Something like a spiritual schedule for yourself. Make time for your salat, reading Quran, reading other books and time for reflection. Keep yourself occupied in your free time by planning out ways to reach your short term goals that you set. Inshallah this will keep you focused and productive.

Yes

What kind of alcohol?

This type of alcohol is not the forbidden type

Yes it is permissible to work at McDonalds.

No, it is not permissible to serve alcohol.

Yes, you may give Khums to a needy person who is sadaat

I am very sad to hear this. Inshallah he can make it out of this spiritual rut. I would suggest that you have him watch this show with you and perhaps it will open his eyes.

https://youtu.be/GHMSxpflqPM

You can make du’a and ask Allah directly without making tawassul. It is more preferred that you ask by the right of Ahl ul Bayt (as) to grant your need. Also, you can make a Nazr (vow) that if your need is granted then you will do some good deed (specify the deed) and dedicate that reward to the 12th Imam (aj) for example or any other Infallibles (as).

If it becomes unbearable on you and you fear for your health then it is permissible to break your fast and do qadha

I have made an Autism workshop video which is two parts.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZB7poMxFUhLBPIvd5U7eJofBQmBWGBFW

Try to make your prayers at the earliest time possible so that you do not get tired and delay them. You can set alarm to remind you of the prayer times and also they have apps on the phones for this. Always keep your salat first and schedule your other things around the salat and not the opposite of trying to fit your salat into your schedule. I hope this will help you inshallah.

You should use precaution and stop eating a few minutes before fajr.

Customarily you end the fast at the adhan of Maghrib then make salat al maghib and isha

Rule 1559 from Ayatollah Sayed Sistani says it is better to wait a little bit after Maghrib has set in as a means of precaution.

https://www.imam-us.org/qada-fasts-kaffarah-1439/

Religion is the English translation for the word Deen. Deen means a way of life which for us is our religion.

There are even more things that are essential belief of religion than the ones commonly mentioned. These 5 and 10 usul and furu e deen are just the ones that are commonly known and mentioned which are extracted from our ahadith of the imams (as).

A good book is Aqaed Imamiyya (Faith of Shia Islam) by Allama Muzaffer

In some cases fault finding or criticizing does not fall under backbiting: 

1) If the oppressed person complains of the oppressor seeking redress, it is not backbiting. Allah says about it: Allah does not love open utterance of evil in speech except by one who has been wronged” (Qur’an, 4:148). 

2) To relate anyone’s fault while giving advice is not backbiting because dishonesty and duplicity is not permissible in counseling. 3) If, in connection with seeking the requirements of a religious commandment, the naming of a particular individual cannot be avoided, to state the fault of such a person to the necessary extent will not be backbiting. 

4) To relate the misappropriation or dishonesty committed by someone with a view to saving a Muslim brother from harm will not be backbiting.

5) To relate the fault of someone before one who can prevent him from committing it is not backbiting.

6) Criticism and expression of opinion about a relater of traditions is not backbiting.

7) If a person is well acquainted with someone’s shortcoming, then to relate such a fault in order to define his personality, for example, describing a deaf, dumb, lame or handless person as thus, is not backbiting.

8) To describe any fault of a patient before a physician for purposes of treatment is not backbiting.

9) If someone claims wrong lineage, to expose his correct lineage is not backbiting.

10) If the life, property or honor of someone can be protected only by informing him of some fault, it will not be backbiting. 

11) If two persons discuss the fault of another, which is already known to both, it will not be backbiting, although to avoid discussing it is better, since it is possible one of the two might have forgotten it. 

12) To expose the evils of one who openly commits evils is not backbiting as the tradition runs: “There is no backbiting in the case one who has torn away the veil of shamefulness.”

Nahjul Balagha translated by Yasin T. Jibouri Commentary to Sermon 138

Perhaps you are being distracted by something. You should strive to dedicate some time, even if 10 minutes a day, to read. Make sure you go to a quiet place and away from electronics so you dont get distracted.

Watch this and it will explain

https://youtu.be/3RFY1mImv9c

Seek forgiveness and Allah knows best about answering the hajjat or not. You can always continue doing these ‘amal of reading ziyarat ‘ashurah for your hajjat

I would say not to worry about other people’s opinions and just to be yourself. As long as you’re doing what is pleasing Allah than thats what matters.

Im not sure whats going on with this situation and why people are acting this way. I am sorry that you are going through this. It has nothing to do with the religion because this is not the way the Ahl ul Bayt would have treated people. I will share some hadith with you that hopefully will provide some insight.

1. Imam Sadiq (as) said: "A believer's faith is not proven unless he is even worse than a donkey's corpse in the eyes of the public."
2. Imam Sadiq (as) said: "If you want to be among my believing brothers and companions, you must prepare yourselves for the people's hatred and animosity, otherwise you are not amongst my companions."
3. Murazem narrated that Imam Sadiq (as) said: "O' Murazem! Always treat the people nicely, even if they swear at us."
4. Imam Sadiq (as) said: "There has never been a Prophet or a believer, and shall never be any, until the Resurrection Day who does not have a neighbor who bothers him."
5. Imam Sadiq (as) said: "A believer always has one or more of the following troubles. Either a person with whom he lives in the same house will close the door and not let him in, or there is a neighbor who will bother him, or someone will bother him on his way to work. Even if a believer lives on the top of a mountain, God will appoint a Satan to disturb him. God will establish a companion out of his own faith for him not to fear anyone."
6. Imam Sadiq (as) said: "If a believer is at sea on just a piece of wood, God will send a Satan to bother him."

These Ahadith are from Mishkatul Anwar Fi Ghuraril Akhbar by al-Tabarsi

https://youtu.be/6rah16eU6wA

This is referring to the verse in the holy Quran

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِي آدَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ ۛ شَهِدْنَا ۛ أَن تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَٰذَا غَافِلِينَ - 7:172

"And when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants, and made them bear witness against their own souls: Am I not your Lord? They said: Yes! we bear witness. Lest you should say on the day of resurrection: Surely we were heedless of this."

This took place in what is called Allama Dharr (the world of particles) when we were particles.

When a non muslim person, other than Ahlul Kitab, touches something and moisture or wetness is involved then the najasat transfers from them and makes the thing they touched najas as well.

People who are not Jews or Christians

Correct

The rulings in regards to salat were given from the prophet and cannot be changed. Never have we seen in the lifetime of the prophet or the imams that they appointed a woman to lead men in salat.

We have narrations that its better for the women to pray in their houses rather than in congregation. You also will see that even in the times that salatul jumah and salatul eid was obligatory that it was not obligatory on women to attend.

If you can not remember the part to be said in Sajdah then do the sajdah and then recite it after.

It is recommended to recite Ziyarat Ashura for 40 consecutive nights to get your need solved.

To allow for time to make the supererogatory (nawafil) prayers And also to say certain recommended dua

We are permitted to offer zuhr and ‘asr together as well as maghrib and ‘isha prayers together. We are also allowed to perform them separately. Both ways are correct, but it is better to offer them separately which has more rewards according to narrations. The time for zuhr or maghrib becomes qadha is when there remains only sufficient time left to make salat ul ‘asr and salat al ‘isha respectively.

Yes.

We are permitted to offer zuhr and ‘asr together as well as maghrib and ‘isha prayers together. We are also allowed to perform them separately. Both ways are correct, but it is better to offer them separately which has more rewards according to narrations. The time for zuhr or maghrib becomes qadha is when there remains only sufficient time left to make salat ul ‘asr and salat al ‘isha respectively.

Asking Allah for things is in itself a good action. Continue asking Allah, but the reason for delay could be a number of things that are unknown to us.

We have a narration from Imam Sadiq (as) that states “if one were to see the reward in the hereafter for all of the prayers that were not answered in this world he would wish that none of his prayers were ever answered at all!”

Sometimes a request we asked for may not happen and we think it is bad but in reality it might have been good. We may have prayed to get a certain job, but in reality that job might have been bad for you.

It happens sometimes that you want to go somewhere and your tire gets flat. You get mad because you will be late, your tire costs money and takes time. Maybe if you would have not had the flat you could have been in an auto accident but you avoided it.

So, Allah may be protecting us from something unknown to us and we should thank him in all situations.

We should always seek Allahs forgiveness as well. We see that one of the keys to having your dua accepted is true and sincere repentance. We see that we read in Dua Kumayl:

I have never read anywhere that they had water. All of the reports that I have seen said they died thirsty.

Our Shia faith is preserved by our scholars from generation to generation.

It is not preferred to marry from the Jews and Christians as long as there are Muslim women to marry. Yes the Nikah is done the same.

It is Makruh (discouraged) to fast on Ashura. https://www.imam-us.org/fasting-on-ashura/?utm_term=%5Cu2018Fasting%20on%20the%20Day%20of%20Ashura%5Cu2019&utm_campaign=Exclusive%20Content%20for%20Muharram%2C%201439%20A.H.&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-Exclusive%20Content%20for%20Muharram%2C%201439%20A.H.-_-%5Cu2018Fasting%20on%20the%20Day%20of%20Ashura%5Cu2019

No it is only for those effected by it.

Yes being a nurse is an honorable profession. When you touch men you can use gloves. If it’s necessary to save ones life then you can touch the male patients without gloves

This is better when dealing with the opposite gender

If it is necessary for you to take medication than you're not obligated to fast. If you will be off of this medication before next Ramadhan then you will do the Qadha of those days umyou missed, but if you will be continuously in need of this medication then you need to pay fidya of feeding one poor shia per day of the missed fasts.

The Commander of the Faithful, peace be on him, had twenty-seven children, male and female:
1. Al-Ḥasan
2. Al-Ḥusayn
3. Zaynab the elder
4. Zaynab the younger, who was given the kunya Umm Kulthūm.
Their mother was Fāṭima, the blessed, mistress of the women of the worlds, daughter of the master of those sent by Allāh and the seal of the prophets, the Prophet Muhammad.
5. Muḥammad, who was given the kunya Abū al-Qāsim. His mother was Khawla, daughter of Ja‘far b. Qays al-Ḥanafī.
6. ‘Umar
7. Ruqayya
They were twins. Their mother was Umm Ḥabīb, daughter of Rabī‘a.
8. Al-‘Abbās 9. Ja‘far
10. ‘Uthmān 11. ‘Abd Allāh
(The last four) were martyrs with their brother al-Ḥusayn on the plain of Karbalā’. Their mother was Umm al-Banīn1, daughter of Ḥizām b. Khālid b. Dārim.
12. Muḥammad, the younger, who was given the kunya Abū Bakr.
13. ‘Ubayd Allāh
Both of these were martyrs with their brother al-Ḥusayn on that plain. Their mother was Layla, daughter of Mas‘ūd al-Dārimī.
14. Yaḥyā
His mother was Asmā ̓, daughter of ‘Umays al-Khath‘amī, may Allāh be pleased with her.
15. Umm al-Ḥasan
16. Ramla
The mother of these two was Umm Sa‘īd, daughter of ‘Urwa b. Mas‘ūd al- Thaqafī.
17. Nafīsa
18. Zaynab, the youngest
19. Ruqayya, the younger
20. Umm Hānī ̓
21. Umm al-Kirām
22. Jumāna, who was given the kunya Umm Ja‘far. 23. Umāna
24. Umm Salama
25. Maymūna
26. Khadīja
27. Fāṭima
These, the blessings of Allāh be on them, had different mothers.
Among the Shī ̔a, there are those who mention that Fāṭima, the blessing of Allāh be on her, after the Prophet had a miscarriage with a son, whom the Prophet, may Allāh bless Him and His Family, had (already) named during her pregnancy as Muḥsin.2 According to this group there were twenty-eight children of the Commander of the Faithful, the blessing and peace of Allāh be on him. Allāh knows and judges best.

Kitab al Irshad Ch 8 by Sheikh al Mufid

Sheikh Nuri al Tabarasi:

Imam Hassan al-Askari (as) said to Abi Hashim: "O Aba Hashim, a bad time will come upon the people. Their faces would be happily laughing, and their hearts dark and gloomy, the sunnah in them (would be) bidah, and the bidah in them (would be) sunnah.

The momin (believer) between them would be worthless, and the fasiq (sinner) between them honourable, their rulers would be ignorant oppressors, and their scholars (would be present) in doors of darkness, their rich would be looting the belongings of the poor, and their young ones would be stepping ahead of their old ones, and every ignorant near (for) them would be knowledgeable, and every imposter near them would be faqir, there wouldn't be any distinction between sincere and the skeptical (bad aqidah people), they won't recognize the sheep from the wolves.

Their scholars would be the evilest creatures upon the face of Earth, for indeed they would be inclined towards philosophy and Sufism, and by Allah (swt) indeed they're from people of ilhad (crossing boundaries/limits) and tahreef (distortion), doing exaggeration in love of our opponents, and misguiding our Shias and Mawalis.

If they're placed in an official position they won't be satiated with bribes, and if taken (power taken back) they would worship Allah (swt) upon showing off, indeed they would not be but robbers of the path of believers, and callers to be limit crossers/atheists, so whoever finds/comes across them so should protect themselves and safeguard their religion and faith".

Then (Imam) said: "O Aba Hashim, this is what I heard from my father (a.s), from his forefathers Ja'far b. Muhammad (a.s), and it's from our secrets, so hide it except from its capable."

Source : Mustadrak al-Wasa'il. Vol. 11, Pg. # 380

Qabil killed Habil. Habil had a son named Sheeth. Allah sent down a Hawra (woman of paradise) and her name was Na’imah. Sheeth (Seth) married her. They gave birth to a girl named Hurriyah.

Source: Gods Emissaries Adam to Jesus by Sheikh Rizwan Arastu Page 62

Amongst the Shia there is a difference of opinion in the number of daughters the prophet (s) had. Some believe Fatima (as) is the only daughter, some scholars believe the prophet had other daughters with Khadija, and some scholars believe thosewere his foster children who were khadija’s sisters children

We do have turbah made from other places such as the shrine of Imam Ridha (as). However the land of Karbala has special merit in our narrations

For example,

In Mifatihul Jinan by Sheikh Abbas Al-Qummi we find the following about the merits of Turbah: Imam Rida (as) said “Whoever uses the rosary made of the clay of Imam Hussain’s (as) tomb repeating the following statements with each bead Almighty Allah shall record for him six thousand excellent points, erase six thousand evil doings of him, raise him six thousand ranks and decide for him six thousand times of intercession.

* • Subhanallah (Glory be to Allah)
* • Al-Hamdu lillah (Praise be to Allah)
* • Laa ilaha illa allah (There is no god but Allah)
* • Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest)”
Imam Sadiq (as) said “Whoever uses the rosary made of the clay of Imam Hussain’s (as) tomb imploring for Almighty Allah’s forgiveness one time only, shall be considered to have implored his forgiveness seventy times. Whoever holds in his hand such a rosary without uttering any statement of glorification, shall be considered to have uttered seven statements of glorification for each bead.”

I suggest that you read books about our 12th Imam such as Kitab al Ghayba by Allamah Majlisi, Kitab al Irshad by Sheikh Mufid, Miracles of the Imam of the Time by Ayatollah Langroodi, the Biography of Imam Mahdi by Sayed Qurayshi are just a few.

As to your second question, we as Shia pray in the way the prophet instructed us to pray. The other sects pray differently due to them changing the salat in order to be able to distinguish themselves from the Shia

Yes

Is the foreign country a Muslim country or non muslim country?

If the restaurant is owned by a muslim than you can assume that the meat is halal. If the restaurant is owned and run by non Muslims than you must assume the meat is haram.

You can ask them if the meat is halal and if they do have halal meat they usually have some sort of halal certification.

In a non muslim country you must assume that the meat is haram

Jumah is not obligated for women. Women can not have their own Jumah services or lead Jumah prayers.

However women can have their own programs (excluding Jumah) and give a speech and lead the obligatory prayers when there are only women present.

Yes we can reach high levels of piety by following the examples and advice of the Ahl ul Bayt (as). We must avoid sins as much as possible, seek forgiveness, fulfill our obligations and also try to add more supererogatory acts of worship.

As far as books of Theology, i would recommend Principles of Faith (Usul e Deen) by Ayatollah Wahid Khorasani and also Faith of Shia Islam (Aqaed Imamiyya) by Allama Muhammad Ridha Muzaffer. A good YouTube series to watch would be: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFF83513F53A767BA

I have a question before i proceed. Are these thoughts doubts about the religions veracity or thoughts of committing haram actions?

Your answer wont lie in just saying supplications but also you need to study beliefs and firmly ground yourself in knowledge. Knowledge removes doubts and establishes certainty.

I have a course on beliefs if you can download the app Telegram and follow this link

https://t.me/ShiaBeliefs

I can also recommend some books if you like

Isa (as) was raised by Allah to the heavens and will return to assist Imam Mahdi (aj) in the end times.

I fail to see where these verses show he died. There is ijma that Nabi Isa (as) was not killed but rather raised to the heavens. In narrations we see that one of the disciples was offered to be at the level of Isa in the heavens and this was in the fact that he would take on the likeness of Isa and the Jews would kill the disciple instead while thinking they were actually killing Isa.

Not directly by name but verses refer to them and one needs to refer to the tafaseer and ahadith in regards to the exact names of them.

About the question regarding Imamate.

We see in a famous Hadith Qudsi from Imam Ridha (as) that on his way to Neysabour when the people asked the Imam for advice as his caravan was leaving. He said “The statement, there is no god but Allah is my fortress. Whoever enters my fortress will be saved.” Then the Imam turned and said “With its conditions and I am one of its conditions.”

From this we see that belief in the Imam is essential to complete the belief in Tawhid and without it one belief in Tawhid will remain incomplete.

One may ask how is this possible? Once the belief in One God is established, we must believe that He is just and due to His being just He will inform us of Himself. He does this by sending us messengers to guide us, after the messenger dies then He must have people to safeguard this message of Islam, so He appoints Imams for us.

Also, this links to Me’ad (return on the day of judgement), Allah says



يَوْمَ نَدْعُو كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ ۖ فَمَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ فَأُولَٰئِكَ يَقْرَءُونَ كِتَابَهُمْ وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلًا



“(Remember) the day when We will call every people with their Imam; then whoever is given his book in his right hand, these shall read their book; and they shall not be dealt with a whit unjustly.” Quran 17:71



He also states that He will bring a witness from every nation and bring the prophet as a witness over them.

“How will it be, then, when We bring from every people a witness and bring you as a witness above these” Quran 4:41

We see that in Tafir al-Ayashi there is a narration from Imam Baqir (as) about this verse that the witness from every nation is it’s Hujjah (proof) which are the prophets and their successors and the witness above these proofs is the Holy Prophet (s).

Imam Sadiq (a.s) was asked about the meaning of the above Quranic verse which he replied, 'This verse refers particularly to the nation of the Holy Prophet (s) In every era an Imam from among us is a witness upon them and the Holy Prophet (s) is a witness upon us.' [1]

This is one of the ways that believing in the Imam of our time is linked to the belief in the Oneness of God.

We find in Ilal Shari by Sheikh Saduq a beautiful narration by the Prophet (s): “The stars are a security for the inhabitants of the sky, and the People of my Household are a security for the inhabitants of the earth. So, if the stars were to go away, there would come to the inhabitants of the sky what they dislike, and if the People of my Household go away, there would come to the inhabitants of the earth what they dislike’ – meaning by the People of the Household, the Imams, the obedience to whom Allah has Paired as being obedience to Him, so He Said [4:59] O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the messenger and those in authority from among you, and they are the Infallible, the Purified who are not committing any sins nor are they disobeying (Allah), and they are the supporters, the conciliators, the Guides due to whom Allah sustains His servants. It is due to them that His Countries survive, and it is due to them that there are drops (of rain) from the sky, and it is due to them that the Blessings come out from the earth, and it is due to them that the Torment and the Punishment is delayed and is not hastened upon the people of the disobedience. Neither will the Holy Spirit separate from them nor would they separate from it. Neither will they separate from the Quran; nor would it separate from them”[1]



We see that Allah commands us to obey the Prophet and those who possess the authority (Imams) unconditionally and their obedience is linked to the obedience of Allah (swt).



يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ ۖ فَإِن تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا



“O you who believe! obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority from among you; then if you quarrel about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the last day; this is better and very good in the end.” Quran 4:59



This absolute obedience that Allah commands us to follow them in is without any conditions, meaning that they must be infallible because Allah would never command us to obey someone in sins or mistakes. We see that other places in the Quran where Allah has commanded us to follow fallible beings such as our parents, but the obedience was not absolute, rather it was limited with the condition that they do not command you to obey them in worshipping other than Allah or wrongdoing.


[1] Ilal Shari by Sheikh Saduq Chapter 103


[1] Al-Kafi, vol. 1, p.190, tradition 1

There are numerous verses about Imamate in Quran. I suggest you to read the book Peshawar Nights and this will show you numerous evidences even from the Sunni's text.

We do not believe in Darwins theory of evolution that man evolved from monkeys. Sheikh Osama Attar has done some lectures on this topic which are available on YouTube. The Quran does speak of a group of people that Allah transformed into apes and swine due to their rebellion.

There is no harm in hearing them in the background. For example if the Quran is playing in another room and you happen to hear it while in the bathroom. However, deliberately playing the Quran in the bathroom where you relieve yourself would be seen as a disrespect towards the Quran and one should refrain from anything that disrespects the Quran.

No they are both Mustahab.

No this would not be permissible. He would need two witnesses for divorce to be effective.

Sayed Sadiq Shirazi in his book of Islamic Laws on page 244 says "The gas in the mouth inhalers used by asthma sufferers does not invalidate the fast, as it is not thick dust."

One suggestion is perhaps you can see if they go for ten days for example, if you can get the schoolwork that she will miss and complete the assignments outside of school. She could do the school work on the flight or set aside sometime in the hotel to do some of the work there.

Yes to all of these questions and we should pray for his forgiveness.

It is highly recommended to read Ziyarat Ashura continuously for 40 days. Another thing is reading Dua Ahd after Salatul Fajr

Yes because cats are Tahir (pure).

I would like to give you some information to watch inshallah

https://youtu.be/gnGjHbVC1pY

https://youtu.be/sGUm8qkYanI

This should answer your questions

Did the said person pray intentionally knowing they had najasat on them?

If he did not know or that he had najasaat on his clothing than he would not need to repeat the prayers

If he knew there was najasaat or had a doubt there was najasaat on his clothing before prayer and did not investigate to remove it then he would need to repeat that prayer as Qadha. However, if these thoughts never entered his mind and he just prayed than there is no need for qadha.

Does the clear liquid contain blood or feces?

Then if that is the case than it is not najas

You know the meaning already, so you should continue practicing your tajweed. After much repetition it will become natural for you and wont require such concentration. At that point the meaning will become the primary focus.

Yes

Can you define what you are meaning by Kafir. Do you mean an Atheist? If so did he prepare haram meat? If the Meat was halal did he touch it with bare skin or was he wearing gloves?

Ok so the food was Najas. The narration you mentioned does not apply for all good deeds but specifically mentions prayers not being accepted for 40 days. This means one does not receive the thawab (reward) of their prayers during this time, although they still make them to fulfill their obligations. As for Ziyarat for every step you take towards this your sins are forgiven, so youre prayers would be answered inshallah

The tap is connected to a source of Kurr water and this should have purified the tap upon contact as long as the impurity is not still present by color taste or smell

https://youtu.be/UeRPLeB_02M

You should not imagine anything as the image of Allah because Allah is unlike anything. If something comes to your mind unintentionally then you should dismiss this thought as an evil thought that has no basis.

Cats are permissible to have, but it is not allowed to pray with cat hair on ones clothes. This is because, even though being Tahir, we are not allowed to pray with fur from an animal that is forbidden to eat.

Yes their urine and excretion is najas

To clean urine you must was with water twice when using leas than Kurr water or either once with Kurr water or something connected to kurr water

Excretion needs to be cleaned with water once.

Wilayat Ali is accepting the authority and position of the Imam.

Imam Ali (as) said said “If a man worships Allah between rukn and maqam and fasts every single day of his entire existence without believing in our wilayat, he will not benefit in any way.” 
(Bisharat al-Mustafa, pg. 402, Hadith 30)

Imam Baqir (as) said: “If a man keeps standing the whole night for salat, keeps on fasting during the day, gives out all his wealth as alms, and performs hajj all the years of his life while he does not recognize the guardianship of the vicegerent of Allah so as to love him and perform all his practices under his guidance and leadership does not have any right out of his rewards and is not from among the faithful.” (Discourses of the 14 Infallibles)

* We also have many narrations such as the mutawatir narration from Sunni and Shia sources that the Prophet said He who dies with out recognizing the imam of the time will die the death of Jahiliyya (disbelief). And many many more narrations. Also, it is agreed upon that if someone rejects one of the Daruriyaat of Islam then he is outside of Islam and considered a disbeliever. For example if someone rejects salat as an obligatory act or fasting or Hajj. In our our Usul e Deen we have the fundamental belief in Imamate and if someone rejects this fundamental principle he would be considered as a non Muslim.

Imam Baqir (as) said: “The person who serves Allah according to a religion so putting himself in great inconvenience and hardship for it, and doesn’t have an Imam fixed by Allah, then his endeavor is unaccepted and he is lost, gone astray, and a wandering person in a state of perplexity. Allah is the enemy to his practices and his example is that of a sheep that has lost her shepherd and herd wandering here and there all day long. And by Allah, similarly, in this ummah too anybody who starts a morning in a condition that he doesn’t believe in the Imam appointed by Allah, an Imam who is apparent, evident, just, and equitable. He will start the morning in a condition that he is gone astray and perplexed. And if he dies in this very condition he will die a death of disbelief
(Kufr) and hypocrisy (Nifaq).” (Discourses of the 14 Infallibles)


Imam Sadiq (as) said: “We are those that obedience to whom Allah has made an obligation. Nothing is proper for the people except to know us, nor are the people absolved from being ignorant about us. He who knows us is a believer (mu’min) and he who knows us and denies us is a disbeliever (kafir). He who neither knows us nor denies us is misguided, until he returns to the path of guidance, which Allah has made an obligation for him as a binding obedience to us. If he dies in his misguidance then Allah will do with him what he pleases.”

(Usul Al-Kafi vol. 1 Al-Usul pt. 2-4 “The Book of Divine Proof,” pg.60)

Hadith Qudsi from Imam Ridha (as) on his way to neysabour when the people asked the imam for advice as his caravan was leaving. He said “The statement, there is no god but Allah is my fortress. Whoever enters my fortress will be saved.” Then the Imam said “With its conditions and I am one of its conditions.”

From this we see that belief in the Imam is essential to complete the belief in Tawhid and without it one belief in tawhid will remain incomplete.

One may ask how is this possible? Once the belief in One God is established, we must believe that He is just and due to His being just He will inform us of Himself. He does this by sending us messengers to guide us, after the messenger dies then He must have people to safeguard this message of Islam so He appoints Imams for us. Also this links to Mead on the day of judgement Allah says that he will bring a witness from every nation and bring the prophet as a witness over them. This is one of the ways that believing in the Imam of our time is linked to the belief in the Oneness of God.

https://www.al-islam.org/hayat-al-qulub-vol3-allamah-muhammad-baqir-al-majlisi/part-4-it-mandatory-know-imam-time

The Horse on which prophet Muhammad S.A.W.W went to Miraaj
The Female Camel of Hazrat Saleh A.S
The Fish which kept Yunus A.S in his belly
The snake which the stick of Moosa A.S turned into
The Lamb Ibrahim A.S. sacrificed in ransom for Ismail A.S

While performing salat you will see that a lot of Muslims hold their hands in different positions while in qiyam (standing position). Some will fold their hands across their chest, some by their navel, and some let their hands hang by their sides. You probably asked yourself, “Why do they do these things?” Let us first look at the word qiyam. This word when looked up means: upright, erect. When you stand upright your arms should be straight as well. If your arms were folded then your body would be in qiyam but your arms would not be. To have the whole body erect would be the position of qiyam. According to The Five Schools of Islamic Law by Muhammad Jawad Al-Mughniyyah, all the 4 Sunni schools and the Shia school agree that holding the hands by the side is permissible. None of them states that takkatuf is obligatory.[1] The Shia scholars say that takkatuf will void your salat, because it is a later bidah.[2]



Placing the right hand over the left hand while standing in prayer is what is called Takattuf.



We find that Imam Ali (as) said “The believers should not put one hand on the other during standing erect in prayers like the disbelievers.”[3]



Al-'Allamah ibn al-Mutahhar al-Helli says in Tathkirat al-Fuqahaa: al-Takkatuf invalidates the prayer and it is placing the right over the left during recitation and the scholars of the Shia sect agree on this—al-Sheikh and al-Murtada both said—al-Baqir (as) said: "And do not make Takkatuf (placing right over left), for it is something that the Zoroastrians do."



Also Muhammad bin Muslim asked one of the Imams about the man who places in prayer his right hand over his left. He (as) replied: "That is (called) al-Takkatuf, do not do it."



Al-'Allamah Muhammad Hassan Najafi who was the head of the Shia sect in his time says in Jawahir al-Kalam:



“It was said about 'Umar that when they brought him the prisoners from the non-Arabs ('Ajam), they did Takkatuf (placing right over left) in front of him, so he asked about it and they told him that they did this as a sign of submission in front of their Kings, so he saw that it was good to do it for Allah in prayer but did not pay attention to the unpleasantness of imitating the Zoroastrians in Shari'ah.”



al-'Allamah Najm-ul-Deen al-Tibsi says in Al-Irsaal wal-Takkatuf bayn al-Sunnah wal-Bid'ah pg.13-14:



“There are many narrations from Ahl ul-Bayt (as) prohibiting al-Takkatuf and describing it as being from Zoroastrianism”



And he also said on pg.18-19:



“It was said that it was innovated by the Caliph 'Umar bin al-Khattab, he took it from the non-Arab prisoners.”



Ayatollah Sayed Sadiq al-Shirazi said in Sharae'e al-Islam by al-Helli, #235:



“It is what is called ‘al-Takattuf’ and al-Takkatuf that the 'Aamah (Sunni’s) practice, following the path of 'Umar bin al-Khattab, and 'Umar had taken it from the Zoroastrians then inserted it into salat, this was one of his innovations and it was never done by the Prophet (sawa) nor his Ah ul Bayt (as).”



Grand Ayatullah al-Khoei says in Kitab al-Salat vol. 4 pages 445-446:

“It is no secret that the act of Takkatuf was never practiced during the time of the great Prophet (sawa), even though it was narrated through several chains that do not come through us (Shia) thus they are all fabricated and false. Then we should not be hesitant to class it as one of the later innovations after his time. As for the time of the first caliph as it is said or most probably the second as we see in the narration, that when they brought the Persian prisoners to 'Umar, and he saw them in that state so he asked for the reason and they answered that this is what they do in front of their kings to glorify them, so he was pleased with it and ordered that it be done in prayer as Allah is more worthy of praise.”




[1] The Five Schools of Islamic Law” by Muhammad Jawad Al-Mughniyyah page 91

[2] An unlawful and unauthorized addition into the religion

[3] Tuhaf al-Uqoul pg 127

Mystery of the Shia by Maulana Sheikh Mateen pages 70-72

Takkatuf (Folding the Hands in Salat)

While performing salat you will see that a lot of Muslims hold their hands in different positions while in qiyam (standing position). Some will fold their hands across their chest, some by their navel, and some let their hands hang by their sides. You probably asked yourself, “Why do they do these things?” Let us first look at the word qiyam. This word when looked up means: upright, erect. When you stand upright your arms should be straight as well. If your arms were folded then your body would be in qiyam but your arms would not be. To have the whole body erect would be the position of qiyam. According to The Five Schools of Islamic Law by Muhammad Jawad Al-Mughniyyah, all the 4 Sunni schools and the Shia school agree that holding the hands by the side is permissible. None of them states that takkatuf is obligatory.[1] The Shia scholars say that takkatuf will void your salat, because it is a later bidah.[2]



Placing the right hand over the left hand while standing in prayer is what is called Takattuf.



We find that Imam Ali (as) said “The believers should not put one hand on the other during standing erect in prayers like the disbelievers.”[3]



Al-'Allamah ibn al-Mutahhar al-Helli says in Tathkirat al-Fuqahaa: al-Takkatuf invalidates the prayer and it is placing the right over the left during recitation and the scholars of the Shia sect agree on this—al-Sheikh and al-Murtada both said—al-Baqir (as) said: "And do not make Takkatuf (placing right over left), for it is something that the Zoroastrians do."



Also Muhammad bin Muslim asked one of the Imams about the man who places in prayer his right hand over his left. He (as) replied: "That is (called) al-Takkatuf, do not do it."



Al-'Allamah Muhammad Hassan Najafi who was the head of the Shia sect in his time says in Jawahir al-Kalam:



“It was said about 'Umar that when they brought him the prisoners from the non-Arabs ('Ajam), they did Takkatuf (placing right over left) in front of him, so he asked about it and they told him that they did this as a sign of submission in front of their Kings, so he saw that it was good to do it for Allah in prayer but did not pay attention to the unpleasantness of imitating the Zoroastrians in Shari'ah.”



al-'Allamah Najm-ul-Deen al-Tibsi says in Al-Irsaal wal-Takkatuf bayn al-Sunnah wal-Bid'ah pg.13-14:



“There are many narrations from Ahl ul-Bayt (as) prohibiting al-Takkatuf and describing it as being from Zoroastrianism”



And he also said on pg.18-19:



“It was said that it was innovated by the Caliph 'Umar bin al-Khattab, he took it from the non-Arab prisoners.”



Ayatollah Sayed Sadiq al-Shirazi said in Sharae'e al-Islam by al-Helli, #235:



“It is what is called ‘al-Takattuf’ and al-Takkatuf that the 'Aamah (Sunni’s) practice, following the path of 'Umar bin al-Khattab, and 'Umar had taken it from the Zoroastrians then inserted it into salat, this was one of his innovations and it was never done by the Prophet (sawa) nor his Ah ul Bayt (as).”



Grand Ayatullah al-Khoei says in Kitab al-Salat vol. 4 pages 445-446:

“It is no secret that the act of Takkatuf was never practiced during the time of the great Prophet (sawa), even though it was narrated through several chains that do not come through us (Shia) thus they are all fabricated and false. Then we should not be hesitant to class it as one of the later innovations after his time. As for the time of the first caliph as it is said or most probably the second as we see in the narration, that when they brought the Persian prisoners to 'Umar, and he saw them in that state so he asked for the reason and they answered that this is what they do in front of their kings to glorify them, so he was pleased with it and ordered that it be done in prayer as Allah is more worthy of praise.”


[1] The Five Schools of Islamic Law” by Muhammad Jawad Al-Mughniyyah page 91

[2] An unlawful and unauthorized addition into the religion

[3] Tuhaf al-Uqoul pg 127

From the book Mystery of the Shia by Maulana Sheikh Mateen

There are some other greater sins that have narrations about them which are like the narration you mentioned about drinking alcohol. For example visiting a fortune teller. A good book to refer to about the greater sins is Greater Sins by the late Ayatollah Dastaghayb Shirazi.

https://www.al-islam.org/greater-sins-volume-1-ayatullah-sayyid-abdul-husayn-dastghaib-shirazi

Ayatollah Sistani says in his risalat 1054. A person offering prayers should perform two sajdahs after the Ruku, in each Rak'at of the obligatory as well as Mustahab prayers. Sajdah means that one should place one's forehead on earth in a special manner, with the intention of humility (before Allah). While performing Sajdahs during prayers, it is obligatory that both the palms and the knees, and both the big toes are placed on the ground.

we also read in the books of fiqh we see that if you need to pray in a najis area that you should at least make sure the place where the forehead is placed in sujud is tahir.

We see in narrations that the prophet (s) was described as having mud on his forehead, meaning he prostrated his forehead on earth.

These things all emphasize on the forehead, not in other parts. If it were necessary for your knees and feet to be placed on turbahs, for example, then we would need to pray in shorts and without socks so as to to let those parts touch. We know that the customary dress of the people who were Muslims at that time wore long dishdasha's so they would not be able to put their knees on turbah.

Not for reading the Quran, but it would be required if you were touching the Arabic script.

Ayatollah Sayed Sistani ruling 323. “It is haraam to touch the script of the holy Qur'an with any part of one's body, without performing Wudhu. However, there is no harm in touching the translation of the holy Qur'an, in any language, without Wudhu.”

These are separate acts of worship. The fasting would be accepted whereas he would be liable for the prayers he missed. Allah knows best.

One should not despair of the mercy of Allah. Allah is the Oft Forgiving (al-Ghaafur).

Check this out: https://www.al-islam.org/greater-sins-volume-1-ayatullah-sayyid-abdul-husayn-dastghaib-shirazi/second-greater-sin-yas-despair

These were instituted by the Prophet (s) upon divine revelation. One of the reasons may be to draw significance and show the importance of the verse and to show thankfulness.

Praying to Allah asking Him for help shows that we acknowledge our dependence on Him. It shows that we need and want His help.

The hudud (divine punishments) are to be implemented by a masoom (infallible). This punishment is more of a threat to show people the severity of the crime. It would almost be impossible to meet all the conditions to implement it.

If you make a mistake in recitation then correct yourself but do not abandon the salat to redo all over again.

Since you are one who has frequent doubts in your prayers the ruling would be to ignore the doubts and proceed with the prayers.

According to Sayed Sistani: Based on obligatory precaution it is not permissible for a man to shave his beard. Similarly, it is not permissible for him to just leave the hair on his chin and shave the sides. This too is based on obligatory precaution. (See the question-answer section below.)A Muslim is allowed to shave his beard, if he is compelled to do so or if he is forced to shave it for medical reasons, etc. It also allowed if he fears harm to his life by not shaving or if growing the beard would put him in difficulty (for example, if it becomes a cause of ridicule and humiliation that is not normally tolerable by a Muslim). We see that it is impermissible to have a clean shaven face and also a goatee. So this shows us that the beard should be complete. As far as length it should be enough to be considered that he has a beard even if it is very low.

Do your best of growing a beard and of course you would not be held accountable for what is out of your power or what is not in your capability

Hijab is what is commonly referred to as the scarf that women use to cover their hair, but it is more than just this. It is modest covering but also being modest in our behavior.

Salam. Prophet Muhammad (s) is, according to the Shia belief, a ulil azam prophet who is the last messenger amd the highest of all prophets and he is also an Imam. Similarly we see in surah baqarah that propeht Ibrahim (as) was a prophet and also an Imam. However we believe that there os a living present hujjah upon the earth at all times. So, after the martyrdom of the prophet Muhammad (s) this was Imam Ali (as) and the Imams from his progeny. The current proof of Allah on the earth now is Imam Mahdi (atf). We see in Quran that every people will be called with their Imam. يَوْمَ نَدْعُو كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ ۖ فَمَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ فَأُولَٰئِكَ يَقْرَءُونَ كِتَابَهُمْ وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلًا - 17:71 (Remember) the day when We will call every people with their Imam; then whoever is given his book in his right hand, these shall read their book; and they shall not be dealt with a whit unjustly. Quran 17:71

Wa alaykum salam.Try to make your prayers at the earliest time possible so that you do not get tired and delay them. You can set alarm to remind you of the prayer times and also they have apps on the phones for this. Always keep your salat first and schedule your other things around the salat and not the opposite of trying to fit your salat into your schedule. I hope this will help you inshallah.

Salam. Deen is translated into the word religion in most cases. Deen means a way of life which for us is our religion.

Wa alaykum salam وذكر فيه (الثقفي في تاريخه)، عن هبيرة بن ميرم قال: كنا جلوسا عند علي عليه السلام، فدعا ابنه عثمان، فقال له: يا عثمان، ثم قال: إني لم أسمه باسم عثمان الشيخ الكافر، إنما سميته باسم عثمان بن مظعون. أبو الصلاح الحلبي، تقريب المعارف، ص ٢٩٤ Al-Thaqāfi (in his book of history) has narrated from: Hubarātah b. Mariam, he said: We were sitting with Ali (as) & Ali (as) had called for his son 'Uthmān to come, he said to him:O Uthmān, he continued and said: I did not name him 'Uthmān because of the Kāfir Shaykh 'Uthmān, for I named him 'Uthmān because of 'Uthmān b. Math'un. Abu Salah al-Halabi, Taqreeb al-Ma'ārif, Pg. 294

As Salamu alaykum. If you are uncertain about it you can do an istikhara about the situation.

I believed thats what you were referring to by the word khera? Istikhara is a method that a person can use to take a decision whether it comes back good or bad. You can refer to a Sheikh who knows how this is conducted.

No it is only for those effected by it.

Wa alaykum salam. In Sayed Sadeq Shirazi's English risalat on page 98 it says "It is makruh (discouraged) for the one who has Hayd (heavy bleeding) to recite the Holy Quran, have it with her, carry it or touch the space between the lines."

Ws I did come across this hadith which shows to that remembrance of Allah brings peace and tranquility. So doing the dhikr when u get anxious would help. The Prophet (s) said "There is no group of people who starts remembering Allah without being surrounded by the angels, receiving Allahs mercy, peace of mind and tranquility." Tuhaf al Uquol Hadith #270

Wa alaykum salam. If it is necessary for you to take medication than you're not obligated to fast. If you will be off of this medication before next Ramadhan then you will do the Qadha of those days umyou missed, but if you will be continuously in need of this medication then you need to pay fidya of feeding one poor shia per day of the missed fasts.

Jumah is not obligated for women. Women can not have their own Jumah services or lead Jumah prayers. However women can have their own programs (excluding Jumah) and give a speech and lead the obligatory prayers when there are only women present.

Salam. I have tried to research this fish to see if it has scales or not, but unfortunately not able to find out. The general rule is if the fish has scales it is permissible. Perhaps you can inquire from those that catch these types of fish.

Salam. I have a question before I proceed. Are these thoughts doubts about the religions veracity or thoughts of committing haram actions?

Your answer wont lie in just saying supplications but also you need to study beliefs and firmly ground yourself in knowledge. Knowledge removes doubts and establishes certainty. I have a course on beliefs if you can download the app Telegram and follow this link https://t.me/ShiaBeliefs I can also recommend some books if you like

Isa (as) was raised by Allah to the heavens and will return to assist Imam Mahdi (aj) in the end times. May Allah hasten the reappearance

I fail to see where these verses show he died. I can look into some tafasir once i return to my home later if you like, inshallah.

There is ijma that Nabi Isa (as) was not killed but rather raised to the heavens. In narrations we see that one of the disciples was offered to be at the level of Isa in the heavens and this was in the fact that he would take on the likeness of Isa and the Jews would kill the disciple instead while thinking they were actually killing Isa.

As for why Fatima (sa) did not open the door: As for the question about Fatima, i have something i would like you to read but I am unable to upload the document here. Its from Sayed Jafar Murtadha Amili. Do you have an email that i could send you the document, if you dont mind.

Salam. Not directly by name but verses refer to them and one needs to refer to the tafaseer and ahadith in regards to the exact names of them.

Wa alaykum salam. About the question regarding Imamate. We see in a famous Hadith Qudsi from Imam Ridha (as) that on his way to Neysabour when the people asked the Imam for advice as his caravan was leaving. He said “The statement, there is no god but Allah is my fortress. Whoever enters my fortress will be saved.” Then the Imam turned and said “With its conditions and I am one of its conditions.” From this we see that belief in the Imam is essential to complete the belief in Tawhid and without it one belief in Tawhid will remain incomplete. One may ask how is this possible? Once the belief in One God is established, we must believe that He is just and due to His being just He will inform us of Himself. He does this by sending us messengers to guide us, after the messenger dies then He must have people to safeguard this message of Islam, so He appoints Imams for us. Also, this links to Me’ad (return on the day of judgement), Allah says   يَوْمَ نَدْعُو كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ ۖ فَمَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ فَأُولَٰئِكَ يَقْرَءُونَ كِتَابَهُمْ وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلًا   “(Remember) the day when We will call every people with their Imam; then whoever is given his book in his right hand, these shall read their book; and they shall not be dealt with a whit unjustly.” Quran 17:71   He also states that He will bring a witness from every nation and bring the prophet as a witness over them. “How will it be, then, when We bring from every people a witness and bring you as a witness above these” Quran 4:41 We see that in Tafir al-Ayashi there is a narration from Imam Baqir (as) about this verse that the witness from every nation is it’s Hujjah (proof) which are the prophets and their successors and the witness above these proofs is the Holy Prophet (s). Imam Sadiq (a.s) was asked about the meaning of the above Quranic verse which he replied, 'This verse refers particularly to the nation of the Holy Prophet (s) In every era an Imam from among us is a witness upon them and the Holy Prophet (s) is a witness upon us.' [1] This is one of the ways that believing in the Imam of our time is linked to the belief in the Oneness of God. We find in Ilal Shari by Sheikh Saduq a beautiful narration by the Prophet (s): “The stars are a security for the inhabitants of the sky, and the People of my Household are a security for the inhabitants of the earth. So, if the stars were to go away, there would come to the inhabitants of the sky what they dislike, and if the People of my Household go away, there would come to the inhabitants of the earth what they dislike’ – meaning by the People of the Household, the Imams, the obedience to whom Allah has Paired as being obedience to Him, so He Said [4:59] O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the messenger and those in authority from among you, and they are the Infallible, the Purified who are not committing any sins nor are they disobeying (Allah), and they are the supporters, the conciliators, the Guides due to whom Allah sustains His servants. It is due to them that His Countries survive, and it is due to them that there are drops (of rain) from the sky, and it is due to them that the Blessings come out from the earth, and it is due to them that the Torment and the Punishment is delayed and is not hastened upon the people of the disobedience. Neither will the Holy Spirit separate from them nor would they separate from it. Neither will they separate from the Quran; nor would it separate from them”[1]   We see that Allah commands us to obey the Prophet and those who possess the authority (Imams) unconditionally and their obedience is linked to the obedience of Allah (swt).   يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ ۖ فَإِن تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا   “O you who believe! obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority from among you; then if you quarrel about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the last day; this is better and very good in the end.” Quran 4:59   This absolute obedience that Allah commands us to follow them in is without any conditions, meaning that they must be infallible because Allah would never command us to obey someone in sins or mistakes. We see that other places in the Quran where Allah has commanded us to follow fallible beings such as our parents, but the obedience was not absolute, rather it was limited with the condition that they do not command you to obey them in worshipping other than Allah or wrongdoing.   [1] Ilal Shari by Sheikh Saduq Chapter 103   [1] Al-Kafi, vol. 1, p.190, tradition 1 There are numerous verses about Imamate in Quran. I suggest you to read the book Peshawar Nights and this will show you numerous evidences even from the Sunni's text.

Salam. I have some good information for you about this but the app will not allow me to paste it for some reason. Would you mind it if I emailed it to you? Its in PDF format

Wa alaykum salam. No they are both Mustahab.

Wa alaykum salam. One suggestion is perhaps you can see if they go for ten days for example, if you can get the schoolwork that she will miss and complete the assignments outside of school. She could do the school work on the flight or set aside sometime in the hotel to do some of the work there.

Wa alaykum. All Muslims agree that there are five mandatory prayers throughout the day and night. They also agree that these five daily prayers have specific times in which they must be performed, and that combining the prayers is, at least, sometimes permissible (saying the dhuhr (noon) prayer then immediately followed by the asr (afternoon) prayer, or saying the maghrib (post-sunset) prayer then immediately followed by the isha (night) prayer). The Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali schools of thought agree that combining of the prayers while traveling is permitted, but they do not allow combining of the prayers for other reasons. The Hanafi school of thought permits combining of the prayers only on the day of Arafat. Whereas the imami Shia school of thought, allows combining of the prayers in all cases— while traveling or not, for any or no other specific reason, during war and peace, while the weather is rainy or not, and so on. The real dispute is as to when the exact beginning and end of the prayer times are. Thus, the dispute must be referred to the Holy Quran and narrations of the Holy Prophet Muhammad. Three verses in the Holy Quran speak of the times for the prayers. Allah, the Exalted says, “Perform the prayers from the mid-day till the darkness of the night, and recite the Quran in the early dawn. Verily, the recitation of the Quran in the early dawn is ever-witnessed.” (Quran 17:78) “Mid-day” refers to the shared time for the dhuhr and asr prayers, “the darkness of the night” refers to the shared time of the mahrib and isha prayers, and “early dawn” refers to the fajr (dawn) prayer. The Holy Quran clearly and simply states that there are three main times for the five daily prayers. Although the prayers are five, still they fall into three main periods of time. The great Sunni scholar, Fakhr al-Din al- Razi understood this interpretation from this verse also. (Fakhr al-din al-Razi, Tafsir. Vol. 5. 428.) Of course, the prayers must be done in order; the dhuhr prayer must be performed before the asr prayer, and the maghrib prayer must be performed before the isha prayer. The Holy Quran also says, “And perform the prayers at the two ends of the day, and in some hours of the night. Verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds. That is a reminder for the mindful.” Quran 11:114 Muslim jurists and Quran commentators agree that this verse refers to the five compulsory prayers, as the Holy Quran states, it determines the timing of the prayers—the three main times; two of them at the “ends of the day” and the third in “some hours of the night.” The first, “ends of the day” is the time of the morning prayer, the second, “ends of the day” begins at noon and ends at sunset (making this the time for the dhuhr and asr prayers), and the “hours of the night” is the third main time in which the maghrib and isha prayers should be said; these prayers extends from the beginning of the night until midnight. A similar division of times is expressed in a third verse, “So bear with patience (O Muhammad) all that they say, and glorify the praises of your Lord before the rising of the sun, and before its setting, and during a part of the night, also glorify His praises, and so likewise after the prayers.” Quran 50:39-40 As in the previous verse, the jurists and the commentators also agree that this verse refers to the times of the five mandatory prayers; in addition to, dividing the time for the prayers into three segments: first, the time from dawn until sunrise which is the time for the dawn prayers (fajr); second, the time from noon until sunset, which is the time for the noon and afternoon prayers; and third, the “part of the night” which extends from after sunset till midnight, which is the time for the evening and night prayers. Referring to the last part of the cited verse (50:39-40), “And so likewise after the prostration,” according to the commentators, it refers either to the nawafil (recommended) prayers or specifically to salat al-layl (the midnight prayer) which are among the highly recommended prayers. Imam al-Bukhari and others report that the Holy Prophet used to combine his prayers into three sections of time, “The Messenger of Allah observed the noon and afternoon prayers together and the sunset and night prayers together without being in a state of fear or journeying.”  Sahih al-Bukhari. “Book on Times of Prayers.” Hadith 510 and 529. “Book on Friday Prayer.” Hadith 1103. Sahih Muslim. “Book on the Prayer of Travelers.” Hadith 1146. al-Tirmidhi, “Book on Prayer.” Hadith 172. al-Nisa’i. “Book on Timings.” Hadith 585, 597-599. Abu Dawud. “Book on Prayer.” Hadith 1024, 1025, and 1027. Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Vol. 1:217, 221, 223, 251, 273, 283, 285, 346, 349, 351, 354, 360, and 366. Malik, “Book on Shortening the Prayer While Traveling.” Hadith 300. Imam Muslim narrates the same hadith and adds that when the Holy Prophet was asked by Ibn ‘Abbas why he authorized combining of the two prayers, the Holy Prophet replied that he did not want to cause difficulty for his nation.  Sahih Muslim, “Book of the Prayers of Travelers.” Ch. 6. Hadith 50-54. In the same book, ibn ‘Abbas himself narrates that they used to combine the two prayers during the time of the Holy Prophet.172 Therefore, both the Holy Quran and the tradition of the Holy Prophet indicate clear authorization and permission to combine the two prayers without any particular reason. It also asserts that Allah the Merciful made His religion easy for the believers. This is quoted from the book Inquiries about Shia Islam 2nd Edition by Sayed Mustafa Qazwini pages 87-90 In the last paragraph where it says 172 this was a footnote for a hadith Sahih Muslim ch 6-8 hadith 58-62

Salam. I would like to give you some information to watch inshallah https://youtu.be/gnGjHbVC1pY https://youtu.be/sGUm8qkYanI

While performing salat you will see that a lot of Muslims hold their hands in different positions while in qiyam (standing position). Some will fold their hands across their chest, some by their navel, and some let their hands hang by their sides. You probably asked yourself, “Why do they do these things?” Let us first look at the word qiyam. This word when looked up means: upright, erect. When you stand upright your arms should be straight as well. If your arms were folded then your body would be in qiyam but your arms would not be. To have the whole body erect would be the position of qiyam. According to The Five Schools of Islamic Law by Muhammad Jawad Al-Mughniyyah, all the 4 Sunni schools and the Shia school agree that holding the hands by the side is permissible. None of them states that takkatuf is obligatory.[1] The Shia scholars say that takkatuf will void your salat, because it is a later bidah.[2]   Placing the right hand over the left hand while standing in prayer is what is called Takattuf.   We find that Imam Ali (as) said “The believers should not put one hand on the other during standing erect in prayers like the disbelievers.”[3]   Al-'Allamah ibn al-Mutahhar  al-Helli says in Tathkirat al-Fuqahaa: al-Takkatuf invalidates the prayer and it is placing the right over the left during recitation and the scholars of the Shia sect agree on this—al-Sheikh and al-Murtada both said—al-Baqir (as) said: "And do not make Takkatuf (placing right over left), for it is something that the Zoroastrians do."   Also Muhammad bin Muslim asked one of the Imams about the man who places in prayer his right hand over his left. He (as) replied: "That is (called) al-Takkatuf, do not do it."   Al-'Allamah Muhammad Hassan Najafi who was the head of the Shia sect in his time says in Jawahir al-Kalam:   “It was said about 'Umar that when they brought him the prisoners from the non-Arabs ('Ajam), they did Takkatuf (placing right over left) in front of him, so he asked about it and they told him that they did this as a sign of submission in front of their Kings, so he saw that it was good to do it for Allah in prayer but did not pay attention to the unpleasantness of imitating the Zoroastrians in Shari'ah.”   al-'Allamah Najm-ul-Deen al-Tibsi says in Al-Irsaal wal-Takkatuf bayn al-Sunnah wal-Bid'ah pg.13-14:   “There are many narrations from Ahl ul-Bayt (as) prohibiting al-Takkatuf and describing it as being from Zoroastrianism”   And he also said on pg.18-19:   “It was said that it was innovated by the Caliph 'Umar bin al-Khattab, he took it from the non-Arab prisoners.”   Ayatollah Sayed Sadiq al-Shirazi said in Sharae'e al-Islam by al-Helli, #235:   “It is what is called ‘al-Takattuf’ and al-Takkatuf that the 'Aamah (Sunni’s) practice, following the path of 'Umar bin al-Khattab, and 'Umar had taken it from the Zoroastrians then inserted it into salat, this was one of his innovations and it was never done by the Prophet (sawa) nor his Ah ul Bayt (as).”   Grand Ayatullah al-Khoei says in Kitab al-Salat vol. 4 pages 445-446: “It is no secret that the act of Takkatuf was never practiced during the time of the great Prophet (sawa), even though it was narrated through several chains that do not come through us (Shia) thus they are all fabricated and false. Then we should not be hesitant to class it as one of the later innovations after his time. As for the time of the first caliph as it is said or most probably the second as we see in the narration, that when they brought the Persian prisoners to 'Umar, and he saw them in that state so he asked for the reason and they answered that this is what they do in front of their kings to glorify them, so he was pleased with it and ordered that it be done in prayer as Allah is more worthy of praise.” Mystery of the Shia by Sheikh Mateen Charbonneau pages 70-72   [1] The Five Schools of Islamic Law” by Muhammad Jawad Al-Mughniyyah page 91 [2] An unlawful and unauthorized addition into the religion [3] Tuhaf al-Uqoul pg 127

Takkatuf (Folding the Hands in Salat) While performing salat you will see that a lot of Muslims hold their hands in different positions while in qiyam (standing position). Some will fold their hands across their chest, some by their navel, and some let their hands hang by their sides. You probably asked yourself, “Why do they do these things?” Let us first look at the word qiyam. This word when looked up means: upright, erect. When you stand upright your arms should be straight as well. If your arms were folded then your body would be in qiyam but your arms would not be. To have the whole body erect would be the position of qiyam. According to The Five Schools of Islamic Law by Muhammad Jawad Al-Mughniyyah, all the 4 Sunni schools and the Shia school agree that holding the hands by the side is permissible. None of them states that takkatuf is obligatory.[1] The Shia scholars say that takkatuf will void your salat, because it is a later bidah.[2]   Placing the right hand over the left hand while standing in prayer is what is called Takattuf.   We find that Imam Ali (as) said “The believers should not put one hand on the other during standing erect in prayers like the disbelievers.”[3]   Al-'Allamah ibn al-Mutahhar al-Helli says in Tathkirat al-Fuqahaa: al-Takkatuf invalidates the prayer and it is placing the right over the left during recitation and the scholars of the Shia sect agree on this—al-Sheikh and al-Murtada both said—al-Baqir (as) said: "And do not make Takkatuf (placing right over left), for it is something that the Zoroastrians do."   Also Muhammad bin Muslim asked one of the Imams about the man who places in prayer his right hand over his left. He (as) replied: "That is (called) al-Takkatuf, do not do it."   Al-'Allamah Muhammad Hassan Najafi who was the head of the Shia sect in his time says in Jawahir al-Kalam:   “It was said about 'Umar that when they brought him the prisoners from the non-Arabs ('Ajam), they did Takkatuf (placing right over left) in front of him, so he asked about it and they told him that they did this as a sign of submission in front of their Kings, so he saw that it was good to do it for Allah in prayer but did not pay attention to the unpleasantness of imitating the Zoroastrians in Shari'ah.”   al-'Allamah Najm-ul-Deen al-Tibsi says in Al-Irsaal wal-Takkatuf bayn al-Sunnah wal-Bid'ah pg.13-14:   “There are many narrations from Ahl ul-Bayt (as) prohibiting al-Takkatuf and describing it as being from Zoroastrianism”   And he also said on pg.18-19:   “It was said that it was innovated by the Caliph 'Umar bin al-Khattab, he took it from the non-Arab prisoners.”   Ayatollah Sayed Sadiq al-Shirazi said in Sharae'e al-Islam by al-Helli, #235:   “It is what is called ‘al-Takattuf’ and al-Takkatuf that the 'Aamah (Sunni’s) practice, following the path of 'Umar bin al-Khattab, and 'Umar had taken it from the Zoroastrians then inserted it into salat, this was one of his innovations and it was never done by the Prophet (sawa) nor his Ah ul Bayt (as).”   Grand Ayatullah al-Khoei says in Kitab al-Salat vol. 4 pages 445-446: “It is no secret that the act of Takkatuf was never practiced during the time of the great Prophet (sawa), even though it was narrated through several chains that do not come through us (Shia) thus they are all fabricated and false. Then we should not be hesitant to class it as one of the later innovations after his time. As for the time of the first caliph as it is said or most probably the second as we see in the narration, that when they brought the Persian prisoners to 'Umar, and he saw them in that state so he asked for the reason and they answered that this is what they do in front of their kings to glorify them, so he was pleased with it and ordered that it be done in prayer as Allah is more worthy of praise.”   [1] The Five Schools of Islamic Law” by Muhammad Jawad Al-Mughniyyah page 91 [2] An unlawful and unauthorized addition into the religion [3] Tuhaf al-Uqoul pg 127 From the book Mystery of the Shia by Sheikh Mateen Charbonneau

Wa alaykum salam. There are some other greater sins that have narrations about them which are like the narration you mentioned about drinking alcohol. For example visiting a fortune teller. A good book to refer to about the greater sins is Greater Sins by the late Ayatollah Dastaghayb Shirazi. https://www.al-islam.org/greater-sins-volume-1-ayatullah-sayyid-abdul-husayn-dastghaib-shirazi

Ayatollah Sistani says in his risalat 1054. A person offering prayers should perform two sajdahs after the Ruku, in each Rak'at of the obligatory as well as Mustahab prayers. Sajdah means that one should place one's forehead on earth in a special manner, with the intention of humility (before Allah). While performing Sajdahs during prayers, it is obligatory that both the palms and the knees, and both the big toes are placed on the ground. we also read in the books of fiqh we see that if you need to pray in a najis area that you should at least make sure the place where the forehead is placed in sujud is tahir. We see in narrations that the prophet (s) was described as having mud on his forehead, meaning he prostrated his forehead on earth. These things all emphasize on the forehead, not in other parts. If it were necessary for your knees and feet to be placed on turbahs, for example, then we would need to pray in shorts and without socks so as to to let those parts touch. We know that the customary dress of the people who were Muslims at that time wore long dishdasha's  so they would not be able to put their knees on turbah. I hope this helps answer your question inshallah

Wa alaykum salam. Reports are from both groups but the reports from Shia sources are smaller whereas most comes from the opposers.

Wa alaykum salam Here are a few small books https://www.amazon.com/Grand-Ayatollah-Sayed-Mohammad-Al-Modarresi/dp/ https://www.yasinpublications.com/product-page/the-guide-to-hajj-rites-the-rulings-procedures https://www.yasinpublications.com/product-page/hajj-the-duties-and-rulings