What I Believe

Many people ask me about my personal beliefs, since I am neither here nor there. There are some things which I share in common with Sunni and Shi'ah sects of Islam, but I do not completely agree with either. There are also very extreme cases of beliefs in both sects which I try to politely condemn through use of the Qur'an.

We must realize that the difference between conventional Sunni Islam and conventional Shi'ah Islam is quite small. The biggest of our problems are mainly political issues; events that had taken place after the seal of Prophets, Muhammed (pbuh)

Beliefs I hold:

-The Qur'an is the main source. There are many Muslims today who are looking far more into Sahih Bukhari, al Kafi, Bihar al Anwar, the Bible, and other books, but are quick to forget that all hadith books and the Bible have had human intervention. They're not in their purest form, and never will be. The only book that will ever remain pure is God's direct words of the Qur'an, which is His final Message to humanity.

-I believe in the 12 Imams which the Shi'i Muslims revere. I see them as spiritual guides and successors to the Prophet (pbuh) and I get this belief from the Sunnah. In Sahih Muslim, Kitab al Imara section, it is noted that many prophets had "caliphs", or "successors" which carried the message of the prophet to his people. The Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) said he will have "12 successors from Quraysh", and it is also noted that there will be 1 Caliph around at all times.

This does not fit the traditional Sunni Muslim definition, because in Sunni Islam there have been dozens of Caliphs, and the Caliphate is not around today. Scholars have never agreed on 12 specific Caliphs, nor do they acknowledge any Caliphate today. The Prophet (pbuh) was indeed talking about 12 Imams, starting with Ali, son of Abu Talib (as) and ending with Muhammed al Mehdi, son of Hasan al Askari.

-I do not believe the 12 Imams had higher statuses than Prophets. The Imams did not receive divine orders, but rather acted on the ones delivered by Prophets. The Prophets, though, had either direct contact with God, or with His angels and viceroys. The idea that Imams are greater than Prophets emerges in Shi'i hadiths in Bihar al Anwar and al Kafi, and is recently trying to be backed up with a Qur'anic verse which says God "promoted" Abraham an Imam among men. What people are quick to forget is that the word "Imam" means "leader" - God made Abraham a leader, and a rolemodel among men. Imams and Prophets are essentially apples and oranges - the Prophets deliver the commandments, and Imams reiterate the message.

-I do not practice tawassul. I call on God exclusively in prayer and do not see a rational reason to call on any men (or women) who lay in their graves.

-I do not curse any companion of the Prophet, or any of his wives. I do speak critically on some of their actions, but judgment is for God in the afterlife and not for us today. I do not hate the first 3 Caliphs at all.

-I do not regard any book of hadith as perfect sources of the Sunnah. Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim do gain a lot of my respect and attention, but I do not believe they are completely perfect. At the same time, I can find all of the hadiths I need in these two sources alone. I do not regard Bihar al Anwar or al Kafi to be authentic in any sense and will never use or consider any of their hadiths. The Qur'an is of course my primary source.

-I use the Bible when talking and debating with missionaries, because every Islamic belief can be found within the Bible.

-I believe that the best way to get to know Imam Ali (as) is by reading Nahjul Balagha. It is not a completely authentic source, but it paints a very clear, unity-loving picture of the 4th Caliph and 1st Imam which is somewhat threatening to the Shi'i Muslim image of Ali. Read it and you will see that Ali was in fact a very extraordinary human being, who did not curse the companions, who wanted unity for the Muslims, who also did not practice tawassul, never said he was infallible, never said he was one of fourteen lights existing since creation, helping all of the prophets and those who called upon him before his birth.

-I do not believe anyone was infallible. On the contrary, the Qur'an says that if God judged all men only based on their actions, every man, there wouldn't be a single one left on the back of the earth unpunished.

-I do not believe the Companions were somehow naturally more special or more obediant than men of other generations.

-I am a believer of unity, and I intend to sew the differences and build bridges between both sects. People will always have their differences, and not everyone is capable of being an inbetweener like myself, but we must love our Muslim brothers for God's sake. Keep your sects private and limited to you and your family, and go out and be Muslims in the public. Pray with brothers from fellow sects, learn about their beliefs, recite the Qur'an together, and rejoice in monotheism. This is the one and only way to succeed as an Ummah.