Muslim Prayer for US Soldier Killed in Afghanistan

New York State: Prayer for a US Muslim Slodier Killed on Duty in Afghanistan

Ali Shariati: Red Shi’ism vs. Black Shi’ism

Islam is a religion which made its appearance in the history of mankind with the cry of “No!” from Mohammad (PBUH), the heir of Abraham, the manifestation of the religion of the Unity of God and the oneness of mankind; a “No” which begins with the cry of “Unity”, a cry which Islam reiterated when confronted with aristocracy and compromise.

Shi’ism is the Islam which differentiates itself and selects its direction in the history of Islam with the “No” of the great Ali, the heir of Mohammad and the manifestation of the Islam of Justice and Truth, a “No” which he gives to the Council for the Election of the Caliph, in answer to Abdul Rahman, who was the manifestation of Islamic aristocracy and compromise. This “No”, up until pre-Safavid times, is recognized as part of the Shi’ite movement in the history of Islam, an indication of the social and political role of a group who are the followers of Ali, known for their association with the kindness of the family of the Prophet. It is a movement based upon the Qoran and the Traditions; not the Qoran and the traditions as proclaimed by the dynasties of the Omayyids, Abbasids, Ghaznavids, Seljuks, Mongols and Timurids, but the ones proclaimed by the family of Mohammad.

Happy Nowruz and New Persian Year 1388

A Haft sin table in Tehran.

Nowruz 1388 in Google

Watch: Iranian new year with traditional dances of diffrent peoples of Iran with a short folkloric music

About Nowruz:

Nowrūz Persian نوروز /Kurdish نه‌ورۆز /noʊruz/ ↔ [noʊɾuːz]; with various local pronunciations and spellings, meaning ‘New Day’)/Turkish Nevruz is the traditional new year holiday celebrated by Iranian peoples, having its roots in Ancient Iran. Apart from the Iranian cultural continent (Greater Iran), the celebration has spread in many other parts of the world, including parts of Central Asia, South Asia, Northwestern China, the Crimea, and some ethnic groups in Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia.

Hajj by Dr. Ali Shariati

Download the whole book from here.

The book of Hajj written by Dr. Ali Shariati is translated into English by Ali Behzadnia and Najla Denny. I have put it in a pdf format for download for those of you interested in Dr. Shariati’s books. I have read several books on Hajj, but Shariati’s Hajj is very different. (The free download link is at the end of this post)

In the “Preface by the Author” He writes:

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As a person who is “knowledgeable about religion” and whose field of study is “the history of religions”, I reached the following conclusions as a result of my study and research of the historical evolution of each faith whereby I compared what the faiths were in the past and what they are now as well as a comparison in the differences between the “truth” and the “reality” of the faiths. My conclusion is not based on personal religious feelings nor prejudices:

If we study and evaluate the effectiveness of each religion in terms of the happiness and evolution of mankind, we will discover that there is no prophecy which is as advanced, powerful, and conscious as the prophecy of Mohammad (PBUH) (i.e. Islam and its role in man’s social progress, self-consciousness, movement, responsibility, human ambition and struggle for justice; Islam’s realism and naturalness, creativity, adaptability with scientific and financial progress and orientation toward civilization and the community).

Karbala, Hajj and Hussein

Today is Ashoura (the 10th day of Moharram), the day witch Imam Hussein and 72 of his followers were massacred by Yazid ibn Mavieh forces. Hussein and his people were surrounded. In the hot desert of Karbala the evil forces of Yazid cut the water on them. . . Hussein and the 72 people were killed because they didn’t bow down for injustice and corruption under the name of Islam. The following is a part of Hajj by Dr. Ali Shariati witch discusses Imam Hussein and Karbala movement.

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The fact that Imam Hussein left Mecca for Karbala where he was martyred before completing his Hajj duties taught us a more important lesson than Shahadat.

Hajj was a duty that all his ancestors struggled for. Blood was shed to vitalize this tradition. He did not finish the ceremonies and decided to leave and become a Shaheed!

He did not complete his Hajj in order to teach the Hajj makers those who pray and have faith in Ibrahim’s tradition, that if there is no Imamat and there is not true leadership, if there is no goal, if “Hussein” is not there and “Yazid” is there, making Tawaf (Circumambulating) around the house of Allah is equal to making Tawaf around the idol-house. The people who continued their Tawaf while he went to Karbala were no better than those who were circumambulating around the green palace of Muawiyah.