بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
“Alif Laam Raa. A book which we have revealed to you (Muhammad) so that you may lead the people from out of the darknesses into the light by their Lord’s leave to the path of the All-Mighty, the Praiseworthy.” [14:1]
This site is for those who are in the search of truth and it is to be used for educational purposes only.
A little about my Background:
I was born in Iran and grew up under Shia and secular ideology during my early years. During my school years in Iran, we had to study the Shia form of Islam in the public schools as compulsory requirement by state. However During eighties, I became obsessed with western style of life. I used to think that this is the coolest thing to do at those times.
Our country of Iran was in war against Iraq in those days therefore my parents started to feel worried about me that maybe one day the government may send me to war against Iraq as it was common in those days for young people to be recruited to fight the war in Iraq against Saddam.
So they decided to migrate to the land of freedom where we all can be safe and happy. Therefore the ideal country for this purpose was United States where we could start a new life and live with those who have the same ideology as we did. Upon my arrival to United States, I felt a sense of freedom to research and chose what it the truth.
However one thing was missing and that was inner peace. I started to feel dismal as if I could feel my heart tightened Allah mentions in the Quran that:
فَمَن يُرِدِ اللّهُ أَن يَهْدِيَهُ يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهُ لِلإِسْلاَمِ وَمَن يُرِدْ أَن يُضِلَّهُ يَجْعَلْ صَدْرَهُ ضَيِّقًا حَرَجًا كَأَنَّمَا يَصَّعَّدُ فِي السَّمَاء كَذَلِكَ يَجْعَلُ اللّهُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ
“And whomsoever God wills to guide, He opens his chest to Islam and whomsoever He wills to let go astray, he makes his chest to be tight and constricted, as if he is climbing up to the sky: This way God puts the anger on those who don’t believe”.(6:125)
(Persian Translation) :
آن كس را كه خدا بخواهد هدايت كند، سينهاش را براى (پذيرش) اسلام، گشاده مى سازد; و آن كس را كه بخاطر اعمال خلافش بخواهد گمراه سازد، سينهاش را آنچنان تنگ مىكند كه گويا مىخواهد به آسمان بالا برود; اين گونه خداوند پليدى را بر افرادى كه ايمان نمىآورند قرار مىدهد
One day when I got out of the shower my eyes gazed at the Quran in my closet, I suddenly remembered what my teacher said to us when I was at school in Iran. He was my religious teacher in the public school who said” If you want to respect the Quran, you will respect it by reading it”, this saying ringed in my head as soon as I gazed my eyes to the closet where I had a Quran with Persian translation. I picked up my Quran and sat on my bed and told myself, let GOD alone choose a page for me, so I just opened it and started reading.
Then suddenly when I was reading it, my head felt light and felt peace in my heart as if fire was extinguished. Such a strange feeling of tranquility! This was my first time that I actually was reading the Quran for myself and not for getting a good grade at the school in Iran, it felt a huge difference. After I opened the Quran and started reading it, I came across this verse:
إِلَّا مَن تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَأُوْلَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا
“Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous deeds; as for such, Allah will change their sins to good deeds. Allah is ever Forgiving,Merciful.(25:70).
(Persian Translation):
مگر كسانى كه توبه كنند و ايمان آورند و عمل صالح انجام دهند، كه خداوند گناهان آنان را به حسنات مبدل مىكند; و خداوند همواره آمرزنده و مهربان بوده است
I was filled with joy and felt the hope for the mercy of my lord and felt that this is the best deal that I can get. A year passed and one day when I was in the the market, for the first time, I saw a Sunni Muslim. After I came to know that he was a Sunni Muslim, I assumed that since all the Sunnis are kafir (infidel) therefore I have the obligation of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil by converting him to Shiaism.
One day when I was debating him about Shia-Sunni issues, I asked him if the Sunnis say in their Adhan that Omar or Abubakr are the friends of god as the shias do with Ali “I bear witness that Ali is the friend of god, I bear witness that Ali is the proof of God” and he responded no, that in prophet days such issues and problems didn’t existed which shias do agree with this fact as well.
Adhan
At this poin I started to think about the authenticity of the Shia doctrine. This is when I discovered how they have changed Islam and added their own philosophy. So if one thing is wrong, what about the rest? Obviously one thing led to other. Therefore questioned: from where are the shias coming from if they didn’t exist in prophet time?
The Sunnis & shias both believe that Ali (Radiallahu anhu) was a friend of God. But this doesn’t mean that we have the right to change the Adhan or Azan of Prophet Mohammad. Even Ali (RA) during his caliphate did not do this. For instance, Imam Hasan and Husein, All the prophets were also the friends of God, therefore why we don’t witness them in Adhan as well?
I later found that this innovation started in the tenth century after hijra year in the time of King Ismail during the Safavid Dynasty. The shia scholars say that this is the sign of the shias in the world. But neither Ali (RA) nor anyone of Ahle bait believed in this kind of Adhan having “Ash-hadu ana Alian waliullah” and “Haya ala khairul amal”. We should make Adhan according to Prophet Mohammad time, the way Bilal (RA) did with his blessed voice. So let’s go back to the root, the true Islam. If it is the love of household of Prophet, then the suns believe in it as well but they don’t worship them.
Therefore After I realized this simple issue of Adhan then I woke up and I started asking myself: if it didn’t exist during the prophet time, then where did it come from and why? Why do we shias beat ourselves injure ourselves on the day of Ashura, when hurting ourselves is forbidden in Islam.
Later after I studied more about Islam I discovered a lot of logical explanations for the elections of Abubakr as the first caliph of Islam and for first the time in my entire life, I came across hadith about Abubakr, Omar and Othman (RA):
From Sahih Muslim, Jundub narrates: I heard the Prophet (sas) five days before his death saying:
“I declare my innocence before Allah that I should have any bosom friend among you for Allah Most High has taken me as His friend just as He took Ibrahim as His friend. If I were to take any bosom friend from my nation I would take AbuBakr. Listen! Those who came before you took the graves of their prophets and their righteous ones as places of worship. Listen! Do not take graves as places of worship. I forbid you that.”
Or in the case of Omar & Othman (RA):
Narrated Abu Musa: That he was in the company of the Prophet in one of the gardens of Medina and in the hand of the Prophet there was a stick, and he was striking (slowly) the water and the mud with it. A man came (at the gate of the garden) and asked permission to enter. The Prophet said, “Open the gate for him and give him the glad tidings of entering Paradise.”I went, and behold! It was AbuBakr. So I opened the gate for him and informed him of the glad tidings of entering Paradise. Then another man came and asked permission to enter. The Prophet said “Open the gate for him and give him the glad tidings of entering Paradise.” Behold! It was Omar. So I opened the gate for him and gave him the glad tidings of entering Paradise. Then another man came and asked permission to enter. The Prophet was sitting in a leaning posture, so he sat up and said, “Open the gate for him and give him the glad tidings of entering Paradise with a calamity which will befall him or which will take place.” I went, and behold! It was Uthman. So I opened the gate for him and gave him the glad tidings of entering Paradise and also informed him of what the Prophet had said (about a calamity). ‘Uthman said, “Allah Alone Whose Help I seek (against that calamity). [Bukhari]
I was shocked, not even as a joke I expected to see our prophet praising them. But here it was our prophet saying “if I choose a friend, I will choose Abubakr as a friend” or Omar who was given the title of Al-Farooq which means the one who separate the right from wrong, or Othman whom our prophet (saw)said” if I have another daughter , I would have married her to him”. I didn’t even know that Ali (RA) used to love and defend the first three caliphs of Islam and they used to love him as well.
So after I found out that I was living in darkness, I decided that it is time for me to enter the true Islam, the original Islam, or return to the fundamentals.
A week before I chose a way of Sunah, I saw my beloved prophet Mohammad (saw) in a dream. In the dream, I was running away from a crusader and went to this place and closed the door. Then I saw a road in the galaxy coming down towards my direction. I opened the door and it was Prophet Mohammad (saw). I saw him in a green turban as if it was real life and not a dream. In the coming weekend I went to my friend in the market and asked him “How can I become a Sunni?” he said: You are a Sunni!
It was a challenge for me as a young teenage boy entering Islam. I didn’t know what was Tawheed or Monotheism,because the shia tawheed or idea of monotheism is similar to pagans, they say that if you ask Allah via 12 Imams is better than you ask Allah directly, so they make shirk and partnership to Allah like some sufis. So I thought that now I must ask the first 4 caliphs of Islam for help or to use them like the shiat Imams as wasitah.
It took me time to realize that this is a major sin in Islam and that it will kick the person out of Islam, so I didn’t even know how to pray or fast, etc in a proper way.
At one of the parties I met a so called Muslim who told me that there was a mosque in that city so I got the direction and got on my bicycle looking for the mosque. After finding the mosque which was a humble house in those days, for first time in my life since my arrival to United States, I entered a mosque. I was so happy that I felt, this is my new home.
I met many Muslims from different countries and that was and is the positive side of Muslims in the west. I found a lot of good friends who used to help me get a ride to the mosque if they see me walking in street.
But my hardest exam from Allah was about to start.
At first I had to keep my connection to Islam and Quran a secret from my parents due to their miss understanding of Islam.
They eventually found out and I went through a great trial as you can imagine . Allah said in the Quran:
أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوا أَن يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُون
“Do the people think that they will be left to say, We believe,without being put to the test? [29:2]
My people and parents made many attempts to make me leave the religion but Allah was with me. This is was the way of prophets and the men of God and that is to be beaten, imprisoned, tortured, deported and killed for the sake of their creator. My life is nothing compared to their hardship.
Scholars say that those who think that after their Islam, they will not be tested are only imagining.
My Advice to fellow shia:
Dear SHIAS: Remember that you will meet your lord one day and that you will be questioned for your actions. Therefore take the opportunity now and change. Accept the way of our prophet, don’t do what pleases people or anyone else, do what pleases Allah. Just because our parents follow the falsehood, don’t mean that we do the same.
Just to be a Muslim and reform your beliefs. Start with Tawheed , stop praying to the dead people,saints,graves and etc. Pray directly to Allah alone for your needs . Love and respect the Companion of the prophet. Remember that every true Muslim whether Shia or Suni loves Ali and ahle bait as well . Remember that Ali and his two son Hasan and Husein (RA) were the strong supporters and defenders of Othman (RA)the third caliph of Islam. Remember the reasons that Imam Husein stood up and fought for; He fought against the bida’h in order to restore the Sunnah, he stood for the justice and truth until he was martyrd .
Remember that all the wives of the God prophets through the history were protected from adultery including our beloved prophet Mohammad (may the peace be upon all of them).
The prophet Nuh(Noah) and Lut(Lot) wives did not believe in the message of Allah but they never committed adultery. Because this is the honor of prophets and God protects their honor. Therefore, how would someone dare to accuse the wife of Prophet Mohammad “AYESHA” for something that even Allah sent a verse in the Quran (ch.Noor) proving her innocence? and top of that all the wives of our prophet are called the mother of believers. That is why accusing Ayesha is considered kufr because of denying the verse in the Quran. Denying any verse in the Quran is considered to be kufr by both Shias and Sunis.
Your guidance is not in my hand, I do my job as enjoining good and forbidding evil and the rest is up to Allah and your choice. If your excuse is that we should follow our forefathers, then pay attention again, how many times in Quran you read verses about prophets coming and telling their people about believing in God and they responded that they follow whatever their fathers did.
f you are afraid of public and what they may say about you , then remember that when you die, they are never there to help you from Allah. Remember that you are not going to be asked in your grave for what they do nor are they going to be asked about you. Stick to the truth even if the entire world is against it. The Islam should not become the topic of public criticism, but must dominate it. It must not become a servant of the masses, but their master.
I hope that my experience was educational and informative for those of you in thirst of knowledge.
May Allah make us steadfast in his religion and may the peace and blessing be upon his prophet Mohammad
