This lecture studies the following:
The viewpoints about Significance of Aqaed.
The Unicity of God.
The Principles of din (osoole din).
The branches of din (foroe din).
The important virtues of din (fruits of din).
The general characteristic of Shia Islam.
What is the meaning of Tawhid, Nabovat, Adl or Maad being as principles of din?
Summary of this session:
The viewpoints about Significance of Aqaed: Aqaed or our beliefs are not only something that we should know about. In fact, our beliefs play a role in forming our personality. One’s belief is a part of their spiritual and physical personality. Aqaed is something which must always be growing as, it is a part of our growth and development.
Unicity of Allah (swt): The Principles of din (osoole din): Why do we have five principles? We don’t have any specific texts whether it be the Quran or Hadith which says the principles of religion are five. It seems that this was a historical development; gradually when different theological schools were developed to identify themselves and distinguish their position from other schools, they decided to emphasis on some differences that they have in addition to some commonalities that they have. Common Principles 1. Unicity of God(Tawhid), 2. Prophet hood(Nabovat) 3. Resurrection (Maad) These three principles are what we share and to identify the Shia school of thought, two more were added Justice and Imamate. The branches of din (foroe din): We have ten practices which we say as foroe din; Salat, Zakat, Khums, Hajj, Amre be Maroof and Nahy az Monkar, jihad, Tawalla and Tabarra. The important virtues of din (fruits of din): These are trustfulness, trustworthiness, humbleness, loyalty and (nobility) karamah. The general characteristics of Shia Islam: What is the spirit of Shia Islam? 1. Rationality: Shia Islam is a religion of rationality, so we must work towards gaining this but as far as the teachings of Ahlulbeyt, our great Olama and leaders are concerned, rationality is a very important part of our understanding of Shia Islam. 2. Spirituality: Spirituality is very important. We are not satisfied with just doing rituals. We must find the depth of meanings and spirits in every ritual. 3. Search for justice: If you have these three together, you would have a balance. You would neither be extreme nor radical. What is the meaning of Tawhid, Nabovat, Adl or Maad being as principles of din? How do you connect creation and legislation with prophethood? Each of these (osoole din) not only are a major doctrine that you should believe in, but they are also the way of understanding the whole world. For example, Tawhid is not just to believe that God is one. For us Tawhid is everything. Tawhid is a principle that can totally change the way that you look at the world and the way you behave. Justice is not just about divine justice that God is just. We believe the whole creation is based on justice and Allah (swt) also wants us to treat each other with justice. Prophethood is not just to believe in revelation and coming of the books, creation and guidance. Imamate is not something only about twelve Imams. Imamate is a general principle in the world that there must be a connection between the world and God the almighty. Maad is not only about something to believe in about the future that there would be a day of resurrection. Maad is the hidden layer of the same world we live in. So, each of these (osoole din) by themselves are a new way of understanding the whole world.
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This lecture studies the following:
Unicity of God.
The significant of Tawhid and its types.
why “unicity of God” and not “the existence of God” has been chosen as a principle?
what was the problem with Sheytan.
Summary of this session:
Unicity of God: Tawhid can be classified into two general ways: Some types of Tawhid you must accept and believe in for example Theoretical Tawhid (التوحید النظری) and some types of Tawhid you must act upon for example. Practical Tawhid (التوحید العملی).
1. Theoretical Tawhid (توحید نظری): 1)The unicity with respect to divine essence (التوحید الذاتی/ التوحید بالذات) There is only one God who has no parts and no partners. 2)The unicity with respect to divine attribute (التوحید فی الصفات) There is only one reality which has different attributes like knowledge, power, life and will. So, His (swt) essence and attributes are not different, these are all different in our conceptions. 3)The unicity with respect to divine actions (التوحید الافعالی) All the actions that take place in the world are divine actions. Allah (swt) is the doer of everything in the sense that nothing happens in this world independent from Him (swt) but under Him (swt) so, all of actions finally go back to Allah (swt). 2. Practical Tawhid (توحید عملی): 1. The only one to be worshiped is God and we should worship Him. (التوحید فی العباده). 2. we should not only worship God we should also obey God. Unconditional obedience is only for Allah and what Allah tells us to do. (التوحید فی الطاعه) why “unicity of God” and not “the existence of God” has been chosen as a principle? Because, first you have to say God exists and then you say God is one. The answer is that in the Quran the existence of God is taken as something which is not very difficult to understand. The Quran sometimes mentions some arguments for the existence of God like (verse 35 of chapter52). The emphasis is not on existence the emphasis is on having proper understanding of God and the main part of understanding God is Tawhid. Allameh Tabatabai has a beautiful point about Tawhid. He says: “if you are a Movahed (the one who believes in Tawhid) then you do not do anything bad”. so, Tawhid is the solution for all problems. The meaning of “there is no God other than Allah” (لا اله الا الله) Saying (لا اله الا الله) is a matter of changing your life style. The is the hadith of golden chain (سلسله الذهب) from Imam Reza (as) Imam Reza says (لا اله الا الله حصنی) because he knows that the problem starts when we lose Tawhid. what was the problem with Sheytan: The problem was التوحید فی العبودیه) in the sense of obedience. With worshiping Allah, he didn’t have a problem but when it came to obeying Allah unconditionally he had a problem. He was telling Allah (swt) how he would like to obey him(swt). So, the bottom line for Tawhid is التوحید فی العبودیه و الطاعه.
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This lecture studies the following:
Interactive questions and answers.
Few points that should be observed by a teacher of Aqaed.
Tawhid.
Different methods of teaching Aqaed.
The explanation of some Shia beliefs.
Summary of this session:
Interactive questions and answers: 1. What is the meaning of Tawhid, Adl, Nabovat Or Maad being a principle of din? 2. How do you connect creation and legislation with prophethood? 3. What is the impact of believing prophethood in the way you understand the creation?
Few points that should be observed by a teacher of Aqaed: Teaching Aqaed is a challenging task because you are building the foundation of someone’s belief and the subject of Aqaed is very wide. So, a teacher of Aqaed should always be studying and trying to learn more. We must consider the age of the students. This is maybe more difficult than Nabovat, Imamate or even Maad. you must find out what are the main things that they need to understand. We need to make them love Allah (swt). You must show Allah (swt) as the one who has given them everything. How can we have good structures or organization for teaching the different ages? The explanation of some Shia beliefs:
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