ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books What A Muslim Should Know and Believe Some Terminologies Explained Unfortunately not all men have remained on right path. As Allah has repeatedly said in the Qur'an, an overwhelming majority has deviated from the true faith.

Accordingly, Islam has divided them in various categories, which are given below: Muslim One who believes and affirms that there is only One God, that Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) is His Last and Final Prophet and Messenger, and that there is to be a Day of judgement, is called a Muslim. We may also say that anyone who believes in earlier-mentioned Usul al-Islam (i.e. Tawhid, Nubuwwat and Qiyamat) is a Muslim.

Shi'a A Muslim who also believes that Ali (a.s.) was the First Imam after the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) by appointment of Allah, is called Shi'a. Shi'a Ithna 'ashari A Muslim who believes in divinely-appointed twelve Imams (mentioned earlier) and in 'Adl of Allah, is named Shi'a Ithna 'ashariyah. (Ithna 'Asher = twelve; Ithna 'asheriyah= the believers in twelve Imams; the Twelver’s). We may also Say that anyone who believes in the five usul-e­ deen is a Shi'a Ithna 'asheriyah.

Kafir If a person does not believe in existence or oneness of God, or the prophethood of the Prophet of lslam (s.a.w.a.) or the Day of Judgement, he is called kafir, (unbeliever). Plural: Kuffar (unbelievers). To make our meaning clearer, we shall call them non-Muslims. Non-Muslims are divided in two main categories: Mushrik: one who ascribes any partner or colleague to God? Plural Mushrikeen (polytheists.) Ahlul-kitab: (the people of the book) i.e. the Jews and the Christians.

There are some groups which claim to be Muslims, but they are kuffar, and the Shi'a Ithna 'ashari shari'ah treats them such. They are as follows: Anyone who rejects, insults or doubts any of the Zaruriyat al-deen (the things everyone knows as part of Islam). For example, paradise and hell, 5-times daily prayer and many other things. A person rejecting, doubting or insulting such things is kafir, even though he may be reciting kalimah a hundred times a day.

(See chapter 6 for explanation and some details.) 4)Ghali ((inordinate); plural: ghulat): Anyone who believes that any of the prophets or Imams was god, or that God was incarnated in him, or that any of the Imams were prophet in short, anyone who assigns to the prophets or Imams a status higher than their true position and status is called Ghali: such a person is kafir even if he claims to be Muslim.