ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books For a Better Future I Begin Here I do not think that there is someone who has not thought about the future! Even the insane, who have lost their minds, think of the future at least to the extent of their eating to remain alive. Normal human beings, regardless of whether or not they have religious beliefs, often think of the future. They always ask about tomorrow – how will it begin and how will it end?

Therefore, human beings persist in their daily routines and hence their cultures and environments determine their conduct in life – either to bring them happiness or to bring them wretchedness, depending on the kind of culture and upbringing they receive. It is narrated that Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) has said when interpreting the phrase “his food” mentioned in the Verse, (then let man look to his food) ,[^1] that it means the knowledge one receives from others[^2].

Hence, it becomes clear that culture and intellect are of great importance and that the deviate culture, which most people pay no attention to at all, is too dangerous. At the same time when Islam has emphasized reading and researching through the Qur'an, the Sunna, and the conducts of its great leaders, we find the tragedy of aversion from reading in general and from reading the religious knowledge in particular.

This is the state of many people who consider themselves Muslims whereas their Prophet (S) had encouraged and emphasized reading, seeking knowledge, mediation, pondering, and planning for the future.

In fact, the Prophet (S) had spent his holy life educating the Umma with this principled method according to the verse that had been revealed unto him: (He it is Who raised among the unlettered ones a Messenger from among themselves, who recites to them His communications and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and the Wisdom, although they were before certainly in clear error. And others from among them who have not yet joined them; and He is the Mighty, the Wise) [^3] .

After this, is it not regrettable to say about ourselves that we are Muslims and we are from the community of (S) while we feed on bad cultures and imitate foreign habits via misleading pens, pre-planned films, and immoral books and magazines that fish in the troubled water? I do not deny that time and changes in technology have made a revolution in the life of man and made his requirements and ideas differ from those of man in the previous ages.