However...

However, those who have accepted the religion of the truth (Islam) [3] march in all sincerity upon the path of God, while those who have not accepted the religion of the truth have been diverted from the divine path and have followed the wrong road. [4] Islam etymologically means surrender and obedience.

The Holy Quran calls the religion which invites men toward this end "Islam" since its general purpose is the surrender of man to the laws governing the Universe and men, with the result that through this surrender he worships only the One God and obeys only His commands. [5] As the Holy Quran informs us, the first person who called this religion "Islam" and its followers "Muslims" was the Prophet Abraham, upon whom be peace.

[6] Shi'ah, which means literally partisan or follower, refers to those who consider the succession to the Prophet-may God's peace and benediction be upon him [7] -to be the special right of the family of the Prophet and who in the field of the Islamic sciences and culture follow the school of the Household of the Prophet. [8] NOTES Editor's note: The original title given by 'Allamah Tabataba'i to the book is Shi'ah dar Islam (Shi'ism in Islam).

What the author intends by the title is Islam as seen and interpreted by Shi'ism. Therefore we have chosen to call it Shi'ite Islam. 2. Editor's note: Although we have rendered the word din by religion, its meaning is more universal than that usually given to religion today. Din is the set of transcendent principles and their applications in every domain of life which concern man in his journey on earth and his life beyond this world.

It could properly be translated as tradition as understood by the traditional authors in the West such as F. Schuon, R. Guenon, and A. K. Coomaraswamy. 3. Editor's note: Speaking as a Muslim religious authority the author has mentioned Islam in parentheses as "the religion of the truth" without, however, in any way negating the universality of revelation asserted in the Quran.

For a Muslim quite naturally the "religion of the truth" par excellence is Islam without this beliefdetracting from the verity of other religions to some ofwhich the author himself has referred in this and other works. See S. H. Nasr, "Islam and the Encounter of Religions," The Islamic Quarterly, vol. X, nos. 3 and 4, July and December 1966, pp.47-68. 4.