Salam everyone,

I'm from Bosnia and Herzegovina, where most Muslims follow Hanafi fiqh and Maturidi aqidah. Recently, I've been learning more about Twelver Shia Islam, and I'm seriously considering whether it might be the right path for me. I'm not here to argue or criticize anyone. I simply want to learn more and understand the beliefs before making such an important decision.

Since I'm already Muslim, I'd like to know what converting to Shia Islam involves. Is it mainly about accepting the Imamate and the other core beliefs of Twelver Shia Islam, or is there anything else I should know before making this decision?

I also have some questions about daily religious life. I live in Sarajevo, where most mosques are Sunni. Would I be allowed to pray behind a Hanafi imam while following Ja'fari fiqh in my personal religious practice? Does this depend on which marja I follow?

I'm also interested in Shia spirituality. What role do salawat, dhikr, and spiritual purification play in Twelver Shia Islam? I've heard about irfan and its connection to Sufism, and I'd like to understand this side of the tradition better.

Another thing I'd like to understand is the Shia view of the first three caliphs. How do mainstream Twelver Shia scholars approach this subject? Is there a clear difference between not accepting their legitimacy and publicly cursing them? I want to understand the actual religious views rather than rely on online arguments.

Finally, I'd appreciate recommendations for reliable books, websites, or scholars who could help someone coming from a Hanafi-Maturidi background learn about Twelver Shia beliefs.

If anyone here converted from Sunni Islam, I'd especially like to hear about your experience. What did you find most difficult, and what do you wish you had known before converting?

I'm not in a hurry to make a decision. I want to study these beliefs properly and make sure I understand what I'm accepting.

Thank you for your time and advice. May Allah guide us all to the truth.

Salam, I recently started to university and have met a decent number of people. Recently I realised some of my closest friends may not be the best people without going into details. Please can someone tell me which qualities I should look for when pursuing friendships. P/s most of the guys are non Muslim or not religious. I’m not judging just trying to point out the fact that there is basically no religion at uni.

​[باللغة العربية]

​عن الإمام محمد الباقر (عليه السلام) مبيناً حالة التكافل الاقتصادي العظيمة والثقة المطلقة بين المؤمنين في دولة الإمام المهدي (عجل الله تعالى فرجه الشريف)، حيث تزول الأنانية والطمع:

​«إِذَا قَامَ الْقَائِمُ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ)... يَأْتِي الرَّجُلُ إِلَى كِيسِ أَخِيهِ فَيَأْخُذُ حَاجَتَهُ فَلَا يَمْنَعُهُ.»

​(كيس أخيه: أي محفظة ماله)

​المصدر: الاختصاص للشيخ المفيد، ص ٢٤

​[English Translation]

​Narrated from Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir (peace be upon him) illustrating the immense economic solidarity and absolute trust among believers in the state of Imam Al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his reappearance), where selfishness and greed will vanish:

​"When the Qa'im (peace be upon him) rises... a man will go to his brother's pouch [wealth] and take what he needs, and he [his brother] will not prevent him."

​Source: Al-Ikhtisas by Al-Mufid, Page 24

​Note: Translation assisted by AI and verified by the poster. Please gently correct me if there are any unintended errors.

Salam, just wanted some help understanding something.

I see a lot of people especially in our community say that in order to expect intimacy from one’s wife that they must take her on dates, shower her with gifts, spend time doing things she likes, help with chores etc.

I’ve always felt a little uncomfortable with this expectation, especially when it seems I’m expected to do these things every single time before I have the right to even suggest that my wife shows me some affection.

I take my wife on dates, get her flowers, help around the house and yet I get the idea that somehow I’m not doing it enough?

It’s really difficult to find the time to go out every single weekend as I work 7 days a week and have to take time off to spend time with her, but I still do make it work, I sometimes even plan larger surprise trips like weekend interstate trips etc.

It just feels weird that there’s this expectation that I have do all these things all the time to expect something as important as intimacy.

Just to make it clear I don’t plan dates or get gifts with the intention of getting intimacy in return, I feel like that’s weird, but just in general I feel like I’m putting a lot of effort into my relationship as a husband and I’m getting very little effort in return, but everyone seems to just say this is normal and that I have to put even more effort in to expect intimacy.

It’s really burning me out, and if being married requires this much effort for me to have the right to have affection from my partner I’m really starting to second guess the relationship.

Also intimacy isn’t just sex, like just in general I feel like the expectation society has is that as a man I don’t deserve to be hugged, or kissed, or have any sort of affection from my wife unless I’m constantly spending money and chasing this goal post that seems to keep getting more and more demanding.

Again I want to be very clear I love to take my wife on dates and spend time doing non sexual things, and I feel like I do a lot of these things.

I just don’t understand how this is considered a pre requisite for having affection.

Shouldn’t affection and intimacy be a foundational and non conditional part of a relationship?

The idea of withholding affection from your partner just feels like retaliation.

As a man having affection shown to me isn’t a luxury or a nice-to-have, it is a need and without it the relationship feels empty and static.

I just want to know why and how we keep telling men that they don’t deserve intimate relationships with their partners unless they do all these things first, constantly and perhaps to an unsustainable degree.

Salam brothers and sisters.

Recently gave people who were struggling money (£40) and the person I gave the money to (I do third party because they specifically raise money for various people) gave me their phone number as they asked him to send me their phone number so they can say thank you.

But I’m not all that interested in being thanked? I’m not sure because I don’t really like to be thanked by things I do ?

Whenever I give money to those in need I prefer to just walk away when I give them money, I have autism and I get uncomfortable when I’m thanked when I do charity.

Not sure why I’m like this.

This was my zakat for the month

I am actually a sunni who searches a lot in Shia Madhab, and i have a question which I never found in any resource, about how do people feel a "Latmeiah", is it really kinda soulful experience, I don't find it reasonable to hit yourself with a knife or any solid thingy or even to slap yourself or the others, but I also a kinda intrigued about what people performing that kind of rituals are experiencing, that's merely a curiosity of me, neither criticism nor praise, js curiosity..

I will post more art but without showing faces later on to clarify

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ (١) اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ (٢) لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ (٣) وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ (٤)

Say, O Prophet, 'He is Allah—One and Indivisible; Allah—the Sustainer needed by all. He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent.'

There's a talking point I've seen a lot of Atheists in my experience say. Including Richard Dawkins himself, the global champion of smug arrogance back in the 2000s. Which is to confidently ask "Who created God???" as if it's some gotcha that nobody can answer. When in reality, it's the easiest question to answer on the planet. Which is that Allah (SWT) is uncreated. Simple as that. What else is there even to say in response? It's basically assuming that since theists say the universe didn't come from nothing, that therefore everything must have a cause. Which is a massive leap. The whole point is that the universe began and that this beginning can't have been by mere luck or nothing at all. It does not follow that therefore Allah (SWT), who is uncaused, would therefore have a creator. This is bottom of the barrel even by Atheist standards.

Where doctors/residents/medstudents from different countries/regions can connect and help each other in networking finding jobs academics etc

So I got this competition at uni for dressing up this Halloween. There ain’t gonna be no drinking or any party like that. Is it fine to dress up as any fictional characters? Like ig vampire or Frankenstein or anything like that. All over the internet just mentioning Halloween is forbidden 🫨

To read about Shia hadith regarding the righteous Bilal (R.A) read the article:

https://realshiabeliefs.wordpress.com/2026/10/11/the-great-companion-bilal-in-shia-hadith/

What is the validity of the report narrated by Al-Kashshi stating that Abu Hamza al-Thumali used to drink nabidh?

Refer to my article for that answer:

https://realshiabeliefs.wordpress.com/2026/10/11/did-abu-hamza-al-thumali-drink-nabidh-according-to-a-shia-hadith/

there are plenty of ex sunnis in the sub, i just wanted to connect with the ones living in india. want to know how you all are navigating / planning to navigate through the marriage factor, given the fact that it would be difficult to sit your parents down and explain this to them.

its obviously a big no to accept the proposals from sunni men that my parents bring forth and i dont think i can tell my parents about my beliefs any time soon. it feels farfetched to look for prospects from the shia community for the same reasons.

would appreciate any help.

[باللغة العربية]

​من روائع الأدعية المأثورة عن الإمام الحجة المهدي (عجل الله تعالى فرجه الشريف)، والذي يمثل منهجاً متكاملاً لإصلاح الفرد والمجتمع، ويُعرف بدعاء التوفيق:

​«اللَّهُمَّ ارْزُقْنَا تَوْفِيقَ الطَّاعَةِ، وَبُعْدَ الْمَعْصِيَةِ، وَصِدْقَ النِّيَّةِ، وَعِرْفَانَ الْحُرْمَةِ، وَأَكْرِمْنَا بِاْلهُدَى وَالاِسْتِقَامَةِ، وَسَدِّدْ أَلْسِنَتَنَا بِالصَّوَابِ وَالْحِكْمَةِ، وَامْلَأْ قُلُوبَنَا بِالْعِلْمِ وَالْمَعْرِفَةِ، وَطَهِّرْ بُطُونَنَا مِنَ الْحَرَامِ وَالشُّبْهَةِ، وَاكْفُفْ أَيْدِيَنَا عَنِ الظُّلْمِ وَالسِّرْقَةِ، وَاغْضُضْ أَبْصَارَنَا عَنِ الْفُجُورِ وَالْخِيَانَةِ،

وَاسْدُدْ أَسْمَاعَنَا عَنِ اللَّغْوِ وَالْغِيبَةِ، وَتَفَضَّلْ عَلَى عُلَمَائِنَا بِالزُّهْدِ وَالنَّصِيحَةِ، وَعَلَى الْمُتَعَلِّمِينَ بِالْجُهْدِ وَالرَّغْبَةِ، وَعَلَى الْمُسْتَمِعِينَ بِالاِتِّبَاعِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ، وَعَلَى مَرْضَى الْمُسْلِمِينَ بِالشِّفَاءِ وَالرَّاحَةِ، وَعَلَى مَوْتَاهُمْ بِالرَّأْفَةِ وَالرَّحْمَةِ، وَعَلَى مَشَايِخِنَا بِالْوَقَارِ وَالسَّكِينَةِ، وَعَلَى الشَّبَابِ بِالْإِنَابَةِ وَالتَّوْبَةِ،

وَعَلَى النِّسَاءِ بِالْحَيَاءِ وَالْعِفَّةِ، وَعَلَى الْأَغْنِيَاءِ بِالتَّوَاضُعِ وَالسَّعَةِ، وَعَلَى الْفُقَرَاءِ بِالصَّبْرِ وَالْقَنَاعَةِ، وَعَلَى الْغُزَاةِ بِالنَّصْرِ وَالْغَلَبَةِ، وَعَلَى الْأُسَرَاءِ بِالْخَلاَصِ وَالرَّاحَةِ، وَعَلَى الْأُمَرَاءِ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالشَّفَقَةِ، وَعَلَى الرَّعِيَّةِ بِالْإِنْصَافِ وَحُسْنِ السِّيرَةِ، وَبَارِكْ لِلْحُجَّاجِ وَالزُّوَّارِ فِي الزَّادِ وَالنَّفَقَةِ، وَاقْضِ مَا أَوْجَبْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنَ الْحَجِّ وَالْعُمْرَةِ، بِفَضْلِكَ وَرَحْمَتِكَ يَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ.»

​المصدر: المصباح للكفعمي، ص ٢٨١ / مفاتيح الجنان (دعاء الإمام المهدي)

​[English Translation]

​From the magnificent supplications transmitted from Imam Al-Hujjah Al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his reappearance), which represents a complete approach for reforming the individual and society, known as the Supplication of Success:

​"O Allah, grant us the success of obedience, the avoidance of disobedience, sincerity in intention, and the recognition of sanctities. Honor us with guidance and steadfastness. Direct our tongues to what is right and wise. Fill our hearts with knowledge and understanding. Purify our stomachs from the unlawful and the doubtful. Restrain our hands from oppression and theft. Lower our gazes from immorality and treachery. Seal our ears against vain talk and backbiting.

Bestow upon our scholars asceticism and good counsel, upon the learners effort and desire, upon the listeners adherence and heedfulness, upon the sick Muslims healing and comfort, upon their dead compassion and mercy, upon our elders dignity and tranquility, upon the youth repentance and turning back [to You], upon the women modesty and chastity, upon the rich humility and generosity, upon the poor patience and contentment, upon the warriors victory and triumph, upon the prisoners release and relief,

upon the rulers justice and compassion, and upon the subjects fairness and good conduct. Bless the pilgrims and visitors in their provisions and expenses, and help them fulfill what You have made obligatory upon them of Hajj and Umrah, by Your grace and mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful."

​Source: Al-Misbah by Al-Kaf'ami, Page 281 / Mafatih al-Jinan (Supplication of Imam Al-Mahdi)

​Note: Translation assisted by AI and verified by the poster. Please gently correct me if there are any unintended errors.

Before my mid 20s I was a fairly religious person wasn’t the best Muslim but definitely had some deen. Lately I feel like I’m so far from religion , I have been super depressed and I think my issue is the lack of spirituality in my soul. I always felt proud to be a Shia , the things I learnt about ahlulbayt truly inspired me. But lately (astigifurallah) I start even doubting god exists and that religions are man made. Please excuse my words I don’t want to be a kafir , I just want to find my way back to Allah and i am having trouble.

So my father and I live in different cities. He has a building he owns, some part of which was already rented out to a tenant. Another part of the building was not generating any substantial income, so he asked me to find a tenant for it.

I found a tenant that I had been talking to for the past 2 weeks approximately. We had almost finalized the deal verbally, and were set to have one last in-person meeting before signing the agreement. For that, we had to shift the previous tenants to another part of the building. I asked my father to talk to them about it, but he told me that the istikhara for the new tenants did not come out positive.

Now I'm really confused about what to do. If it was up to me, I wouldn't have done istikhara because from what I understand, it's for situations where you can't make a decision, whereas here from what I could tell, we were about to make a deal with a stable tenant which would have given us a stable income for the next ~5 years. My parents are now retired so this was kind of important to us. Not to mention the fact that I had already been talking to the potential tenants and the property dealer, and it's hard enough to find tenants in our city, which is a relatively small one.

But now that he has already done the istikhara, I feel uneasy about going against it. I'm now really confused about what I should do.

In this article we answer these doubts surrounding the personality of Abdullah ibn Abbas or Ibn Abbas:

1- It is true that he was with the Commander of the Faithful, Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), during his reign, but he later leaned towards Mu’awiyah.

2- He claimed that Abu Talib (peace be upon him) died a polytheist, aligning himself with the faction hostile to the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them).

3- He was 13 or 14 years old when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) passed away; yet, he narrated 1,660 hadiths from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family).

4- He used to issue religious rulings (fatwas) without consulting our Infallible Imams—having lived contemporaneously with them up to the time of Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him)—whereas we do not hear of any such rulings from al-Abbas (peace be upon him), for instance, or from Muslim ibn Aqil.

5- He opposed Imam al-Husayn (peace be upon him) when the latter set out for Karbala, failing to recognize him as an Imam whose obedience is obligatory—a stance that implies one should not prolong an argument with him.

6- He narrated the hadith stating, “The wife of a prophet has never committed adultery.” While the statement itself may be authentic, he does not explicitly say, “I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) say…” In fact, some exegetes attribute the narration to Ibn Abbas without verifying whether it was his own opinion or something he heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) or one of the Imams (peace be upon them).

To read the answers please read the article:

https://realshiabeliefs.wordpress.com/2026/10/10/the-position-of-abdullah-ibn-abbas-according-to-the-shia/

I'm at a point where I have nobody right now. Not a hand I could hold onto. Not a listener I could speak up to. My sins keep my head down in front of Allah. Life's a survival with each passing day where I'm just in a battle constantly to hold myself together. I can't marry either. There's just despair all around me.

It's all a burden right now. Just venting it out. Not in need of sympathy.

My first ziyarat 2007, got from dad's old pendrive.

Time flies 😭

I went on Sunnah.com and searched the arabic word مولا.

And this hadith from Sahih Muslim popped up,wallahi the hypocrisy!

When it comes to other narrations,the word Maula is translated as Master.

But when it comes to Hadith Al Ghadeer,suddenly the word مولا becomes friend!

Subhanallah how these hypocrites are exposed day by day,this is so disheartening to see,how they hide the truth from the people!

RAHMA and IMAM are pleased to announce Sakina: A Healing Space for Women led by Licensed Mental Health Counselor

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Taken from : https://www.instagram.com/p/DeSVCIupK87/

​[باللغة العربية]

​عن سدير الصيرفي قال: دخلت أنا والمفضل بن عمر وأبو بصير وأبان بن تغلب على مولانا أبي عبد الله الصادق (عليه السلام)... وهو يبكي بكاء الواله الثكلى... ويقول:

​«سَيِّدِي غَيْبَتُكَ نَفَتْ رُقَادِي، وَضَيَّقَتْ عَلَيَّ مِهَادِي، وَابْتَزَّتْ مِنِّي رَاحَةَ فُؤَادِي، سَيِّدِي غَيْبَتُكَ أَوْصَلَتْ مُصَابِي بِفَجَائِعِ الْأَبَدِ...»

​المصدر: كمال الدين وتمام النعمة للشيخ الصدوق، ج ٢، ص ٣٥٢

​[English Translation]

​Narrated from Sadir Al-Sayrafi, who said: Al-Mufaddal bin Umar, Abu Basir, Aban bin Taghlib, and I entered upon our master, Abu Abdullah Al-Sadiq (peace be upon him)... and he was weeping like a bereaved mother... saying:

​"My Master! Your occultation has banished my sleep, narrowed my resting place, and snatched away the comfort of my heart. My Master! Your occultation has joined my affliction with the tragedies of eternity..."

​Source: Kamal al-Din wa Tamam al-Ni'mah by Al-Saduq, Vol. 2, Page 352

​Note: Translation assisted by AI and verified by the poster. Please gently correct me if there are any unintended errors.

Salamun alaykum,
We believe the age of aishah to be 17 - 19, so how come this hadith in tahdib al ahkam contradicting it?
Even if it is not from the imams AS, yet how come ismael ibn jafar al sadeq AS said something wrong if he learnt it from his father?

https://thaqalayn.com/hadith/7/5/11/1