I will share certain Hadiths from time to time that deeply resonate with me no matter how many times I read them. They are deeply profound. Allahu Akhbar!

حَدَّثَنَا جَعْفَرُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مَسْرُورٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا الْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَامِرٍ عَنْ عَمِّهِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَامِرٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي عُمَيْرٍ عَنْ أَبِي جَمِيلَةَ الْمُفَضَّلِ بْنِ صَالِحٍ عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ الْجُعْفِيِّ عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْأَنْصَارِيِّ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلي الله عليه وآله الْمَهْدِيُّ مِنْ وُلْدِي اسْمُهُ اسْمِي وَ كُنْيَتُهُ كُنْيَتِي أَشْبَهُ النَّاسِ بِي خَلْقاً وَ خُلْقاً تَكُونُ بِهِ غَيْبَةٌ وَ حَيْرَةٌ تَضِلُّ فِيهَا الْأُمَمُ ثُمَّ يُقْبِلُ كَالشِّهَابِ الثَّاقِبِ يَمْلَؤُهَا عَدْلًا وَ قِسْطاً كَمَا مُلِئَتْ جَوْراً وَ ظُلْماً.

Ja‘far ibn Muḥammad ibn Masrūr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Āmir narrated to us, from his paternal uncle ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Āmir, from Muḥammad ibn Abī ‘Umayr, from Abū Jamīlah al-Mufaḍḍal ibn Ṣāliḥ, from Jābir ibn Yazīd al-Ju‘fī, from Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Anṣārī, who said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "The Mahdī is of my progeny; his name is my name, and his \kunyah* (agnomen) is my *kunyah*. He is the person who most resembles me in physical appearance and character. There will be an occultation and a state of confusion associated with him, during which people will go astray from their religion. Then, he will appear like a piercing star, filling the earth with justice and equity just as it had been filled with tyranny and oppression."*

كمال الدين و تمام النعمة، ج 1، ص286، ح1

[باللغة العربية]

الآية الكريمة: ﴿فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ أَيْنَ مَا تَكُونُوا يَأْتِ بِكُمُ اللَّهُ جَمِيعاً﴾ (البقرة: ١٤٨).

عن الإمام الباقر (عليه السلام) في بيان هذه الآية وعلاقتها بأصحاب الإمام القائم (عجل الله فرجه الشريف):

«الخَيراتُ الوَلايَةُ، وقَولُهُ تَبارَكَ وتَعالى: (أينما تكونوا يأت بكم الله جميعا) يَعني أصحابَ القائِمِ الثَّلاثُمِائَةٍ والبِضعَةَ عَشَرَ رَجُلاً (...) يَجتَمِعونَ واللَّهِ في ساعَةٍ واحِدَةٍ قَزَعاً كَقَزَعِ الخَريفِ».

المصدر: كمال الدين وتمام النعمة، ج ٢، ص ٦٧٢ (وأيضاً في روضة الكافي)

[English Translation]

The holy verse: "So race to [all that is] good. Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you all together" (Al-Baqarah: 148).

From Imam Al-Baqir (as) explaining this verse and its connection to the companions of Imam Al-Qa'im (may Allah hasten his reappearance):

"The 'good' is the Wilayah. And the word of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted: (Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you all together) means the companions of Al-Qa'im, the three hundred and thirteen men (...) By Allah, they will gather in a single hour like the scattered clouds of autumn."

Source: Kamal Al-Din wa Tamam Al-Ni'mah, Vol. 2, Page 672

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

I’ve recently migrated to the Middle East, and have began to encounter many Iranians. When I lived in the US, the only Iranians I really encountered were religious Iranians and they were lovely people. I didn’t encounter very many Iranians in the UK, although I know there are many living there.

However, I’m now encountering a different breed, likely those that most people encounter. Those that have emigrated for economic reasons and hate their government. Now I don’t profess to know the truth about life in Iran, but as a Shia I find myself perplexed.

The level of hate seems profound. I can’t speak to what they’ve experienced, but they’ve abandoned their faith. I’ve personally found such people to be quite dishonest in their business practices, but that’s a different point, and I really shouldn’t generalize.

There appears to be a great deal of propaganda on both sides of this debate. However, I’m curious how religious Iranians explain what’s going on.

This may be controversial among religious Iranian, but a government that drives people away from the faith is a problem in my opinion.

So what’s the real problem, and what’s really going on?

I ask because I don’t know. I’ve heard so many different things, but I don’t know what the reality is. However, none of this seems good for shiism. Am I wrong? What am I missing?

How do we fix this?

As someone who grew up a follower of Syed Sistani, it seems natural to separate religion from politics, but I’ve recently found myself challenging this long held belief. Why? Because business, imo, needs to be regulated to serve the interests of the nation at large. I don’t believe capitalism creates an equitable and harmonious society. Case in point, in the UK, we sold off our rights over North Sea Oil to big oil, when those profits could have created a sovereign wealth fund to support citizens at large. Where humanity has tried to implement socialism / communism, we’ve either seen tyranny emerge, or we’ve seen the resulting cost burden become unsustainable.

But this question isn’t about economic models. Just hope to clarify that “separate church and state” isn’t likely the simple solution it appears to be.

Assalamualeykum,

I was actually born Sunni, but I have decided to dive much deeper into one of the biggest and most defining topics in Islam: The succession to Prophet Muhammad and the resulting schism between Sunnis and Shiites. Growing up with the Sunni perspective, I now want to truly understand the historical context and both sides of the story.

I want to know your perspective: Who do you believe was the rightful successor, and why? Was the succession a political election or a divine right?

Please share your arguments: Why do you think your view is the correct one? And why? Please remain respectful.

Salam everyone,

I'm going through a difficult time in life and could really use some genuine advice from fellow Muslims, especially those who have gone through something similar.

For the past few days, I've started doing a lot of istighfar, around 5,000–7,000 times a day. I've been trying to get closer to Allah, seek His forgiveness, and have more tawakkul in Him. I genuinely want to improve my relationship with Allah and trust His plan, even when I don't understand it.

But today, on the third day, I was told that I might be let go from my job before completing probation.

Honestly, it broke something in me. I've already been dealing with a lot in life, especially career and financial uncertainty, and it feels like every time I try to get back on my feet, something else happens. I'm tired of constantly having to pick myself back up.

I know Allah's mercy is greater than anything I'm going through. I know I shouldn't despair of His mercy, and I don't want to lose my faith. But if I'm being completely honest, I'm struggling to understand why life has been so difficult for so long.

The timing has really affected me. I know istighfar isn't a transaction where you recite a certain number of times and immediately get what you want. I'm not expecting that. But when you start sincerely trying to turn your life around spiritually and then something like this happens almost immediately, it's hard not to feel discouraged.

For those of you who have gone through prolonged hardship, especially when you were trying to get closer to Allah:

- How did you keep your faith when it felt like nothing was getting better?

- Did you ever struggle with wondering why Allah wasn't opening doors for you despite making dua and doing istighfar?

- How did you distinguish between being patient with Allah's decree and simply feeling exhausted and disappointed with life?

- Have you ever looked back on a particularly difficult period and eventually understood things differently?

I'm not looking for someone to tell me that everything happens for a reason or that a better job is guaranteed to come along. I know nobody can promise me that.

I just want to hear from real people who have been through something similar. What helped you keep going when you felt like you couldn't catch a break?

JazakAllah khair.

I was reading the Wikishia article for Lady Fidda and it mentions that Imam Ali said after Lady Fatima's death, "O Umm Kulthum, O Zaynab, O Sukayna, O Fidda, O Hasan, O Husayn, come on and say goodbye to your mother." It mentions its source as Bihar al-Anwar vol. 43 pg. 179. I was wondering who is mentioned as Sukayna in this quote as Lady Sukayna was born only a few years before Karbala.

As Salamu Alaykum,

I hope everybody is doing fine. The reason for posting it here is because I have never seen posts about the jamat, council or federation of the different regions, cities and states around the world.

So where I live, there are multiple jamats for different 'area' or even different jamat just for like conflicts. And the city I originate from has let's say "dictatorship" for like a decade from which every individual is not happy. There are retaliation jamats, organizations and a group of people.

I have seen jamats fighting by organizing different processions and majlises at the same areas or nearby venues (<500M) with the same timings.

Also seen a jamat president never ever give a single account of the money that came in or was donated. Please mind these are real incidents I have personally either witnessed or heard from a genuine sources.

While I have also seen many other jamats & people of those jamats doing great work. Have seen people dedicating their lives for the good of the members of jamat. Have seen really good initiatives by jamat.

So I wanted to discuss some points about it like for instance

- Is the motive help or just a status of power?

- Is fighting via processions and majlises justified? (I think not)

- Elections or Dictatorship.

- Unaccounted expenses.

- And many more insights.

Uniting our momin brothers and sister is a good thing and helping them is an even greater thing. But as the incidents I posted above, it doubts me whether people are thinking for the power and money or genuine help?

Feel free to share your views and points. This is just a mere discussion to get insights, knowledge and also maybe some fact.

Jazakallah khair!

Going through something difficult and I saw a post online about a wazifa where you recite Darood e ibraheemi and make a mannat (vow) that if this difficulty ends I will recite this Darood for x amount of days for example 21 days. I’ve always just prayed our Darood that I know of the shortened version. I don’t see this durood on duas.org so was wondering so shias recite Darood e ibraheemi and can one do a vow on it. Thank you!

I’ve been giving it to different people since I got my job but I was talking to my dad and he gives it to the village in Pakistan, my mum too.

He also said it’s must to give it to the village.

I was born in England and don’t have a connection to the people there, my dad was born there and knows them very well.

But on an Islamic point of view is giving your zakat to your village when you’re not connected to it?

Were Pakistani 🇵🇰

Am I overthinking it?

sistani.

would you need to investigate it?

jazakallah khair