The Shiite Belief: Clearing Misconceptions

As I am a Shiite Muslim I need to clear up something in the mind of others who see me from as almost a non-Muslim. I often search on the internet to find out what people think about Shiites. Sometimes, I do find really good things and good remarks from people of different schools of thought, out of the good ones, I really liked this blog:  Sunni Muslim Prays at a Shia Mosque

However, seeing something good and positive is not always the case and I still get surprised to see how people hate my belief and have so many wrong perceptions about it. Not only on the internet do I see those stuff but occasionally me or someone (Shiite) I know gets inquired about our belief. There have also been a lot of moments when the questions of the people have been so irrelevant and their perception so untrue that I get surprised by it. But no matter how irrelevant things are, I believe that asking is the right thing as it clears up the misconceptions in one's mind. Therefore, I decided to answer some the questions that we mostly encounter.

I am no scholar so I can not give full explanation of things but I am pretty sure that I know the basics. So there we go:

1. Do Shiites not pray to Allah? 
Alright, this is something that is veryyy common. So common and irritating that I want to bang my head on a wall when I read posts that claim that Shiites do not pray to Allah  but to Imams. This is false. We pray to only one God, just like every other Muslim. I can say that with complete satisfaction because too pray Namaz and there is no step where we pray to anyone else. We bow down to Allah and prostrate in front of him. I hope that helped.

2. Do Shiites have a separate Quran? 
No! Not at all. Shiites have the same Quran as Sunnis or any other sect of Islam. Someone once asked to my relative, "Is it true that Shiites had a Quran of 40 Juz' and that 10 of them were eaten up by a goat?" This was the most shocking thing I could have heard. Please guys! even if someone tries to convince you, I promise that they are wrong and don't ever believe it. All Muslims follow one Quran which has 30 Juz'.

3. Do Shiites preform Hajj in Iraq, or Iran or Syria? 
No we don't. Hajj is the obligatory pilgrimage that every Muslim performs in Saudi Arabia in the month of Zil Hajj (12th month of the Lunar Islamic Calendar). As far as the visit to Syria, Iran and Iraq is concerned, it is an optional visit and does not replace the importance of the Hajj. We don't have to go to these places but we do go to the shrines of Imam Hussain(a.s), Imam Ali (a.s), Imam Ali Raza (a.s), Hazrat Zainab and other important personalities i.e. the Ahl-e-Bayt (The household of the last Prophet of Allah). Long story short, our Hajj and your Hajj is performed at the same place and in the same dates. :)

4. Do Shiites hold Imamat at higher rank than the Holy Prophet(p.b.u.h)?
We DO NOT hold the 12 Imams at a higher rank than Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h). Period.

5. Why do Shiites wear that red thread? Even Hindus wear that. 
That's right, even Hindus wear that. Wearing that has nothing to do with Islam. It is just a way of people of only India and Pakistan to express their sorrow (even I didn't understand how and I don't do that). As Muslims who had lived in India under a heavy majority of Hindus, many activities of their culture also became a part of the culture of the Indian Muslims. One example is the Rasm-e-Henna or Mehendi which is a popular cultural wedding ritual in Pakistan but has nothing to d with Islam. It is a cultural thing.

6. Is it true that Shiites have a different Qibla?
Many people think that the Shrine of Imam Hussain(a.s) is the Qibla for Shias and they recite namaz in that direction. This is FALSE. We have the same Qibla. Like everyone else, we pray in the direction of the Holy Kaaba which is situated in the Holy city of Mecca. No building is holier to us than the Holy Kaaba and the Sacred Mosque.

The Holy Kaaba.

Conclusion:

At the end, I would like to only say that every sect of Islam has minor difference and more than Shia, Sunni, Wahabi we are Muslims. The followers of the same God, Quran and Prophet. 

No individual has no right to declare the other as a Kafir or a non believer. :)

Live and Let Live. 

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Stories From British India #1

I remember some of the stories that my grandmother used to tell about her life in Jaipur, before they migrated to Pakistan in 1947. I don't really know about the present, but according to her, there were a lot of Monkeys in the city back in the days when they used to live there.

I personally found the story about Monkeys and Jaipur very funny and was always curious in knowing how it was to live among all those Monkeys. A greater reason for my curiosity every time she discussed India, was my interest in knowing how life would have been in the Indian Subcontinent back then when Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and others lived together.

"She once told me a scene that took place at her Phuppo (her aunt) who was making chapatis for lunch. After a long battle with the dough, trying to make several perfectly shaped rotis, she had finally wrapped them in a cloth to keep them hot and prevent them from hardening (Yes! Desi chapatis literally get hard and dry if left out).

After all the hard work, she placed them on the kitchen counter and left the kitchen to complete other domestic chores. She had left the kitchen window open.

To her dismay, when she came back to the kitchen the scene was absolutely different. All the time she was out of the room, doing other chores, the room was not left unattended. There were monkeys safe guarding the kitchen. Or I should say, they came to attack the chapatis.

Yes! there were monkey in her kitchen and they had unwrapped the cloth which covered the chapatis. She panicked. Tried to hush them. Screamed. Yelled at them. And then, all hell broke lose. The monkeys became chaotic. Skillfully, they gathered as many chapatis as they could and escaped the kitchen through the open window, which acted as a doorway for them to do this crime."

Imagine how much anger would have prevailed in her as those mischievous monkeys took away the food she cooked. Now she had to make the chapatis all again. Have you or someone you know ever been a victim of losing all your hard work at the hands of someone else? If so, then feel free to share it with me and lighten up your sorrow.

If you have any such interesting stories then please share them in the comment section. Thank you and goodbye. :)