SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – German philosopher Martin Heidegger’s magnum opus, Being and Time (1927), constitutes one of the most important contributions to philosophy of the last century. Beyond having a defining influence on numerous fields of study within philosophy that include but are not limited to existentialism, post-structuralism, and deconstruction, Heidegger has often been viewed as “the most creative religious writer of the twentieth century” (Ireton, 243). It should thus not be surprising that his ideas were widely…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – How often does our mind come across death, the hereafter, heaven, or hell? Do you ever wonder what the next world is like? There are so many questions left unanswered because we do not give ourselves the time to reflect and comprehend the next world. In today's society, some people will say, "Allah is All-Merciful; He will forgive the wrongdoings I have committed in this world. Therefore, I have no worries but to live…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- The change in appearance and outer features as one ages are related to this world, but this isn't the case for the hereafter, especially heaven; people don’t have different appearances and faces there. For example, it is not so that some will be children, some will be middle aged, and some old. Even if we believe that the world to come is a material one, still, age, the way we see and perceive it in…

  SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- According to Islamic philosophy, death means that the soul no longer manages the body and simply leaves it. This viewpoint can be traced back to the ahadith and Quranic verses that negate death being annihilation and the end of life. When observing Islamic literatures, one can find many descriptions of death. However, none of them convey the meaning that death is a form of annihilation. Instead, they speak of death as going from one…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The following inquiry was directed to His Eminence Ayatollah Lutfullah Saafi Gulpaygani by a group of believers: With condolences on the heart-rending martyrdom of the Prophet's only daughter Lady Fatima Zahra (peace be upon them both), we would like to inquire that since we don't know the actual date of her martyrdom, on what date should we commemorate the martyrdom? Additionally, what is the proper etiquette of mourning for her tragedy? Ayatollah Gulpaygani responded…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) In Arabic, Ziarah literally means tendency and inclination to do a work[1]. Technically it means to visit someone to respect and honor him[2]. It has three components: 1-Za'er: someone who has a tendency toward someone or something 2-Mazoor: visited person or place 3-Inner tendency and inclination, a quality existing with the pilgrim to respect and honor. When one of these components is absent or not functioning properly, true ziarah is not implemented or actualized.  The more knowledge…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) Imam Ali al-Hadi (peace be upon him) has said: "Remember when you are on your deathbed and your body is lying before your family members, then there is no physician to prevent you (from death) nor a friend to avail you." (Bihar al-Anwar) When most of us are around a dying or deceased person, whether it is someone we love and feel close to or perhaps somebody we may not be so familiar with, we…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) Islamic laws are not derived exclusively from the Holy Quran. In fact, the traditions (ahadith) of the Prophet of Islam (pbuh), the sayings  of infallible Imams (a.s.) and their lifestyles (seerah) are also another authoritative source from which Islamic laws are derived. There is no mention of dogs being najis (impure) in the Quran but there are many traditions and sayings from the Infallibles according to which dogs are ritually impure. Detailed Answer Islamic laws…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- This question actually goes back to the general question about why we need religion, and about what the status of Islam is amongst other religions. We can address this question both from an outer and an inner perspective, but first we need to explain what the term religion itself denotes. What is religion? Religion is a set of beliefs associated with practical and moral principles delivered to humankind by God's messengers, in order to show…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – If we want to talk about Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr's personality, we could very easily say that he was without any doubt a genius, without a doubt a personality who was ahead of his time! If in the worldly sense we call Einstein a genius, or before him it is said that Leonardo Da Vinci was a genius, in the same sense we could very easily say with the complete consensus of the…