ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Lessons from the Holy Prophet of Islam (S) The Personality and teachings of the Holy Prophet (S): The Pivot of Muslim unity One of the factors that can serve as the pivot of Muslim unity is the existence of the Holy Prophet (S). Muslims and Muslim intellectuals should invest their time and efforts on the personality of the Holy Prophet (S), his teachings and Muslims' love for him, with a comprehensive outlook on Islam.

Among the factors which can serve as the pivot of this unity and which all Muslims agree about, is following the household of the Holy Prophet (S). All Muslims hold the household of the Holy Prophet (S) in high regard. Of course, Shia Muslims believe in their imamate and non-Shia people do not consider them as Imams in the same sense as Shia Muslims, yet they consider them among Islamic luminaries and the Holy Prophet’s (S) household.

They too believe that our Imams were knowledgeable about Islamic teachings and divine rules. Muslims should be unanimous in implementing the words of the Imams (a.s.) and the Holy Prophet’s (S) household. This is one of the instruments that can be used to achieve unity. Of course, this is a task that should be carried out by experts. It is an easy and simple task. Experts on hadith and related areas of knowledge know what the requirements are.

It is necessary to reach an agreement on the standards of understanding and interpreting hadith, and the standards of verifying the validity of hadith. It is necessary to reach an agreement on hadith narrators. In the past – during the time of the Umayyad Caliphate and particularly during the time of the Abbasid Caliphate – they tried to erase the teachings of the Holy Prophet’s (S) household from the minds of Muslims. For this reason, there are fewer narrations from their time.

A hadith narrator goes about the task of narrating hadith without being favoring a particular person to narrate from. So why would they not narrate from Ja’far ibn Muhammad (a.s.)? It was the governments of Harun, Ma’mun, Mu’tasim, Mutawakkil and other such people that would stand in their way and sometimes they would condemn hadith narrators. Therefore, one of the things that must be done is reaching a common understanding in the areas relating to the requirements of hadith.

Religious scholars are responsible in this regard. Muslim intellectuals are also responsible.