Kashaful Salat
Introduction
So far I have written books for elders, friends, adults, and women. Their encouragement always renews my energy and enthusiasm. This is the first time I am writing for the youth of my nation. It was a very difficult task, but my friends pressured me in such a way that I had to do as they wished. It is a very difficult task to teach children about. One must teach them in such a way they understand the true beliefs, but at the same time, they do not feel any burden upon their minds.
I relied on my Moula (as) who is the helper of the whole universe. My real purpose is to make the youth become accustomed to thinking deeply upon the matters of religion. So when they become adults, they will have enough understanding of their religion that no one will be able to make them deviate from the true path. I have no doubt my Moula (as) will help me, and I will be successful in my purpose.
Basically it is the responsibility of parents to teach their children, but in these fast pac ed times, men are busy in their jobs and women are busy in the home. They do not have enough time to fulfill their most important responsibility. The result of this is they have left the teaching of their children up to the worldly schools and the maulvis (religious scholars). Now the maulvis have begun to teach the children a "shortened version" of beliefs,
and the parents have no objections to this. When the child becomes older, the result of the education gained while under the tutelage of these maulvis becomes apparent. That is the time when the parents start to worry, but the time for teaching their children has passed. Children born in the houses of momineen sometimes disobey or even turn against Ahlul Bayt (as).
The parents are responsible for this. All of the par ents must remember on the day of judgment Allah will ask them regarding their children.
In this situation I am forced to write such a book which tells the youth about the true beliefs. Once they fully understand, it will make their foundation strong. When they get older, they will continue their journey towards gaining knowledge and marifat (recognition).
This will keep them firmly on the right path, and also they will become the source of forgiveness for their parents. It is very important to tell them from birth that they are born only in the obedience of Masoomeen (as) not some mujtihid (scholar). If they want to find the solution to any issue, they will find it in the words of Masoomeen (as) not in the fatwas of so called scholars.
Namaz (Prayer)
Prayer is a way for recognizing one s religion. In reality prayer is the most beautiful way to express one s belief, but it should not be without marifat (recognition). He must understand not only what he is doing but why he is doing it. This is the basic mistake which every parent makes. They teach their children the method of prayer.
Then they think they have fulfilled their duties, and their child has become a namazi (one who prays). This makes their children have a tendency towards blind following. If he has this tendency towards worshiping blindly, then throughout his life he will become more and more deviated from the right path. His relationship with his beliefs will become weaker and weaker.
Until such a time will come, when he completely rebels against the beliefs he has been taught. He believes these apparent acts of worship will take him into the jannah (paradise). During this time, shaitan starts to teach him about these beliefs. He becomes a follower of shaitan. He becomes joyous because he feels he now has a guarantee of jannah because of his worship of Allah.
In reality he is worshiping shaitan.
A famous poet, Josh, said:
When someone reads namaz without marifat, This is a deviation from shaitan Look around yourself and see how many people have signs of sajda (prostrations) on their foreheads. They only talk about prayer and always keep themselves in wudhu (ablution), but you can see they are the fiercest enemies of Ahlul Bayt (as) in their words and actions.
They consider the azadari of Imam Hussain (as) as if it was an ordinary everyday occurrence. They openly insult Ahlul Bayt (as). If you say one word against their so called scholars, there are some who will not hesitate in killing you.
This is a result of the wrong teachings they learned in childhood. They were taught the method of namaz (prayer), but no one explained to them what the true meaning of namaz is. This is why, in our book, we have divided the explanation of namaz into three parts.
- Order of Prayer
- Method of Prayer
- Description of Prayer
This book was written with intense sincerity and love. Please do not consider this book to be just an ordinary work. It is the duty of every momin to make sure this book is available in every Shia hom e. It is a necessity for every home and will save the upcoming generations from becoming astray.
We did not mention the references in our book. If you wish to see the references, then kindly read our book "Kashaful Ahkam".
Rabbana taqqabul minna innaka anta asameeh ul aleem
The true beliefs of Shia religion Who is Shia?
If someone claims to be a scientist but does not know what science is or if s omeone claims to be a cricketer but has no knowledge of cricket, then no one will accept either of them, as a scientist or cricketer. Likewise, if someone claims to be a Shia but has no knowledge of what a Shia is, then that person can never be a S hia. The whole world will consider him ignorant.
It is compulsory on anyone who c laims to be a Shia to be aware of the reality of the word "Shia". It is compulsory for him to know the truth of the Shia religion, beliefs, methods of worship, and those things which not only include one in the Shia religion but also those things which will exclude one from the religion.
In short a person cannot be a real Shia simply by labeling themselves as a Shia, or because they happened to be born in a Shia family. No one can be Shia unless they have full knowledge regarding the Shia religion.
There are two kinds of religion, religion by birth and religion by option. In religion by birth, the person has no choice. He is completely dependent upon the family in which he was born into.
This type of religion is totally worthless. This is only a label which is automatically placed upon him. It has no effect upon his personality. In our society, a vast majority of people belong to this type of religion. To Allah, their value is not more than the animals who wander here and there in the jungles. The true religion is religion by option. W hatever religion one selects, he must have solid proofs regarding his choice. This only becomes possible after he has studied the religion intensely and gained all of the knowledge regarding its tenets.
Description of Shia
If you look in the dictionary, you will find many different meanings of the word Shia. For example, follower, group, party, supporter, etc. So when the word Shia is spoken, immediately these questions come into the mind; Whose Shia? W hose follower? Whose group? W hose party? Whose supporters? Unless you find the answer to these questions, the word Shia has absolutely no value.
In the time of Ameerul Momineen Hz Ali (as) ibn Abi Talib (as), there were two types of Shia. One was "Shiaian e Ali (as)" and the other was shiaian e muawiaya (la). Later the shiaian e muawiaya (la) changed their name, and only the Shiaian e Ali (as) remained. Because Shia are so beloved by Allah, He has made such an arrangement where the Shia and Ali (as) are associated with each other for eternity. So now the Shia is one who will be the Shia of Moula Ali (as).
He cannot be Shia of anyone else.
This is a great blessing and kindness from Allah that even the shiaian e muawiya (la) do not like to call themselves "Shia . Whenever the word Shia is spoken, it is meant only for the Shiaian e Ali (as). So we must understand if we call ourselves "Shia , then we are only the Shia of Moula Ali (as). W e are the group of Moula Ali (as). We are the party of Moula Ali ( as). W e are the supporters of Moula Ali (as).
Alhamdulilah there is not one single part of our religion which is without Moula Ali (as). W hether it is the kalima, adhan, iqama, namaz (prayer), everywhere you will find Moula Ali (as). If someone excludes Moula Ali (as) from any part of the religion, then he will no longer be a Shia. He will become a munafiq (hypocrite). The meaning of being a Shia is to be associated with Moula Ali (as).We cannot disassociate ourselves from Moula Ali (as) even for the blink of an eye or even if we find ourselves in a loss.