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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books What A Muslim Should Know and Believe Preface The famous scholar, (late) Shaykh Ja'far Shushtari[^1] had written a small booklet, Manhaju 'rishad, dealing with some important aspects of the Fundamentals of Religion which every Muslim should know. Later, someone combined it with some other booklets of fiqh, and the collection was known as Majma'u 'r-risa'il, which served as an 'amaliyyah[^2] for a long time.

When after the death of (late) Sayyid Abul-Hasan Isfihani (d. 1365/1946), the Shias oflndian sub-continent (like their brothers in other countries) did taqleed of (late) Sayyid Hussyn Brojardi (Qum), some 'ulama translated his 'amaliyyah in Urdu; among them was Sayyid Qamaru 'z-Zaman, who translated Majma'u 'r-risa'ilwith foot-notes of Sayyid Brojardi, and named it Jami'u 'l-masa'il.[^3] In 1950, (late) Sayyid Khadim Husayn (Faizabad, lndia)[^4] translated Manhaju 'r­ rishad only from Majma'u 'r-risa'il, and named it Tuhfatu 'I-'ibad.[^5] When I was writing Day of Judgement in 1974, I wanted to include in it some matters explained by late Shaykh Ja'far Shushtari, because generally those subjects are not found in other 'amaliyyas; but I could find neither book in Dar-es-Salaam.

I left East Africa in August, 1978. But, as Allah willed it, I came back this year in February, for a short visit.

In May, when I was in Mombasa, I found a copy of Jami'u 'l-masa'il in the personal collection of my elder friend and host, Haji Ali Mohammad Jaffer Shariff.[^6] I showed the abovementioned part to him, where the author has enumerated six important things which a child must know and/or do the moment he/she becomes baligh (attains maturity); also the various categories of people according to their beliefs and deeds.

Haji Ali asked me to translate the two items into English in order that our people may know and benefit from it. In 1974, I went to Iran for about a week. There was not much time; so I decided to go to Mash-had in the morning, returning to Tehran in the evening. Mr. Dhikiri Omari Kiondo (now Editor of Sauti Ya Bilal) was then in Tehran, engaged in higher Islamic studies under the patronage of the World Organization For Islamic Services. On their suggestion, Mr.

Dhikiri accompanied me for the said Ziyarat.