Question: Is there any mention of the concept of “Imamah” (Divine Leadership) in the Holy Qur’an? Answer: The Imams are definitely mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. It is firstly interesting to note that the word ‘Imam’ is used 12 times in the Holy Qur’an, with different meanings. The following ayat of the Holy Qur’an deal [...]

Question: What is the ruling with respect to placing and holding of the hands on the chest compared with leaving the hands straight down during prayers? Answer: Differences between Shia & Sunni prayers The followers of the Ahlul Bayt i.e. the Shia Ithna Asheri, all pray with their hands by their side. With the exception of [...]

Question: According to Sunnis, we believe Allah is not fair in His judgement? Please clarify. Answer: All Muslims believe that God is Just. In many instances throughout the Qur’an, Allah (SWT) declares that He does not oppress any of His creatures at all, and so there is no doubt about God’s Justice amongst all Muslims. [...]

Question: I am a revert, and I am afraid of committing shirk (associating partners with Allah). I want to know, isn’t it wrong to believe that Imam Mahdi sees and knows everything we do wrong, on every Friday? Because Allah is the All-Hearing, All-Knowing? And isn’t it wrong to believe that Ahlul Bayt are aware of everything [...]

Question: Is it true that we don’t like Khaled ibn Waleed because he killed Iranians? And is it true that Shiism comes from Iran? Answer: Khalid Ibn Waleed was initially a Kafir (disbeliever) fighting against Muslims even in the battle of Uhod. He later on announced his Islam. During the reign of Abu-Bakr he committed numbers of [...]

Question: Define taqiyyah? Is it lying? When can it be used? Can it be used with non-Shia? Answer: The word taqiyah comes from waqaya, meaning to protect. In this context, taqiyah means “to agree with someone, in words or in action, on something which is not true, because of fear of harm from that person” [...]

Question: As a young kid in primary school I was asked to draw ‘God’, but I believed that it is blasphemous to draw my Creator and I didn’t know what my creator looks like, and I also believed that the Creator has no gender (because the word ‘He’ is just used out of respect instead of something silly [...]

Question: How can I prove to my Sunni friend that Imam Mahdi (ajtf) is currently alive? Answer: The easy way in short to prove the existence of Imam Mahdi (ajtf) to a Sunni is the following: Premise 1: All Muslims agree that the Holy Quran is very explicit and clear that time will come that a universal just [...]

Question: What is the proof that Allah (swt) has given the Ahlul Bayt shafa’ah(intercession) for the Shias? Answer: The fact that Allah the Exalted has given the Prophet the right of intercession for Muslims is proven in the following Qur’anic ayah: “and had they, when they were unjust tothemselves, come to you and asked forgiveness [...]

Question: The shirt of Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) (a.s.) healed the blindness of the Prophet Yaqub (Jacob) (a.s.). Is there any benefit (either spiritual or physical) to kissing the graves of the Imams (a.s.) or any of the Prophets (a.s.)? If so, is this a form a shirk (polytheism)? If not, then why do we kiss the graves, [...]