{221}

As regards the practice of the faith a Shia muslim shall:-
1.Offer regularly the prescribed five times compulsory prayers.
2. Fast the whole of the Holy month of Ramadhan.
3. Perform 'Haj' i.e., pilgrimage to the Holy Ka'ba in Mecca at least once in his life provided he could afford to do it as laid down by the Holy Prophet.
4. Pay the 'Zakat' (the prescribed poor-rate) of 2-1/2 per cent of his assets as prescribed by the Holy Qur'an and explained by the Holy Prophet.
5. Pay the 'Qums' (the 1/5th of the nett savings as laid down by the Holy Qur an and explained by the Holy Prophet.
6. Endeavour his most, i.e.,'Jehad' , as needed for the defence and the welfare of the faith and the faithful and even fight in the way of the Lord for the purpose if called to do it by the Apostle of God or any one of God's commissioned Guides the Imams.
7. Preach or enjoin what is good to his brethren in all peaceful and desirable ways.
8. Preach abstinence from evil, to his brethren in all peaceful and desirable ways.
9. Love God, God's chosen men and godliness and be always attached to the godly ones particularly to the Holy Prophet Muhammad and his Holy AhlulBait.
10. Always keep himself away from evils and the evil ones, having nothing to do with the wicked ones with definite aversion to their wicked conduct and character. Let any unbiased reader who pursues the above fundamentals and their practice declare, if there is nothing but good and it is nothing but godliness pure, in belief and practice, or if there is anything bad or obiectionable in it.
As regards the Holy Qur'an, a Shia muslim believes that the present Holy Qur'an, is the very same Book of God, complete in itself without any deduction or addition to it and without any

{222}

alteration or misarrangement of its verses This is the Holy Qur'an which was revealed to the Holy Prophet which was then and there recorded in writing by Ali ibne Abi Taleb, Abdullah ibne Mas'ood, and Ma'aaz ibne Jabal and which was read out to the Holy Prophet during his very lifetime.
As regards the 'Qiblah' or the point of turning towards, during prayers, a Shia muslim holds the Holy Ka'ba in Mecca as his Qiblah. As regards the daily prayers a Shia muslim offers regularly the five times compulsory daily prayers with the number of the Rak'ats or units as given below :-

Prayer                          Wajib          Rak'ats orUnits                     Sunnat 
Fajr(Morning)        ..          2                      ,,                                   2
Zohr(Mid-day)       ..          4                      ,,                                    8
Asr(afternoon)       ..          4                      ,,                                    8
 Maghrib(Evenin)   ..          3                      ,,                                    4
Isha(Night)            ..         4                      ,,                                    2
                                  ----------                                                  ---------TotalCompulsory              17                     ,,                                   24              
The 'Kalema-e-Shahadat' or the verbal declaration of the faith, the Kalema of a Shia muslim is the same as that of any other muslim:-
"La ilaha lilallah Muhammadur Rasoolullah." 'There is no god save (the One God) Allah. Muhammad the Apostle of God.'
A Shia muslim declares his identity with the Islam-Original to mean that his Islam is that of the Ahlul-Bait whose head after the Holy Prophet was Ali, and not the Islam adulterated by unwarrant- ed authorities, pronouncing his faith in Ali as the Friend of God or the Divinely commissioned Guardian over the muslims after the Holy Prophet. To do this a Shia muslim declares with in con- tinuation of the above declaration :-
"Aliyyan waliullah Wasiyyu Rasoolillah."
'Ali the Friend of God the Successor of the Holy Prophet.'
Be it known that the above two clauses are pronounced not as a part of the Kalema but just as a note of distinction of the faith from the creed adulterated later.

{223}

This is the whole of the Shia'ism or the Islam Original and nothing else.
Under the Ninth article of the practice of the faith called 'Tawallah' a Shia muslim mourns the martyrdom of each of the holy ones of the Ahlul-Bait and expresses his sorrow and grief for the miseries and the calamities the holy ones suffered, individually and also collectively in congregational services called the Majlis- e-Aza in which are recited the Holy Qur'an and the life-readings of the holy ones with the Islamic philosophy and religious teachings for the information of the fellows in the Shia faith. Let the readers themselves judge if the above conduct could be in agreement or the token of devotion to God and the loyalty to the godly ones who suffered the calamities and laid their all in the way of the Lord for the guidance of mankind, or it could in any manner or sense be in the least objectionable. At the same time it has at last to be judged that not doing so will be in- gratitude and disloyalty to God and the godly ones or not.

The Commemoration of The Historic'Ashoora'

 'ASHOORA' MEANs THE 'Tenth', i.e., the Tenth day, of the Lunar month of Moharram 61 A.H. on which historic day, Husain surren- dered his all in the way of the Lord to save the truth and thus to save humanity from getting beguiled by the Brute on the throne and the brutal forces of the mercinary scholars whom he had enlisted under his command. All those who love truth and the welfare of mankind at large, will naturally love Husain and his holy family, and will naturally be moved to express their sympathy and sorrow for the Great Godly Hero of Karbala who sacrificed his all, suffered the worst of miseries and met the most torturous and brutal death but neither yielded to the blasphemy perpetrated by the Brute nor the destruction of the Divine Principle of his holy Grandfather.
Honestly, not to commemorate such a solemn occasion will be thanklessness and ingratitude to godliness and to God Himself, and to do it will surely earn the blessings of the Lord. Every one who has the least appreciation or the admiration for the matchless sacrifices, the Great Hero and his godly comrades who suffered martyrdom along with him, will naturally be moved to express his sorrow on the solemn occasion, and those who love devilry and the Devil Yazid, will naturally be festive on that day.

{224}

Intercession or Shafa'at

THE POSSIBILITY OF intercession for the sinners on the Day of Judgment is quite obvious from the repeated declarations of the Holy Qur'an. The declarations are so clearly worded that none can misinterpret them otherwise:-
 "Who is any one to intercede with Him, save with His pertntssion." 2:255
According to this verse, intercession is possible only with permission of the Lord. There are the following verses clearer still:-
"They shall not own intercession, save lie who has cove- nanted with the Beneficent God." 19:87
"On that Day (of Judgment) no Intercession shall avail except of him whom the Beneficent Lord allows and with whose word He (God) is pleased with." 20:109
The above verses are too clear to create any doubt against some dear ones to the Lord having the authority from Him to intercede. Who else could be more entitled to this divine grace and unique privilege than the apostles of God, more particularly the Last one, the chief of them, and those who have surrendered their lives in the way of the Lord like Husain and his faithful comrades who were martyred along with him. The point is that to one who sincerely seeks to know the truth, a straight answer, with the simplest logic, will certainly suffice, but to one who wants to go on arguing merely for argument's sake, even the apostles from God could not satisfy. No amount of arguing will be of any avail when the understanding is never to come at all from within the enquirer. One can give an argument but never an understand- ing.

The Houses of Miracles and response to Prayers

LET THE MATERIALIST world know from the millions of the devoted muslims, who have visited the Shrines in Iraq and other holy places, how brightly the Glory of God shines in the shrines of Husain and the members of his holy family and also of his faithful com- rades who sacrificed their lives along with him in Karbala. One need not wait long to witness any miraculous event on any of the week days, in the shrines of Husain and Abbas, particularly the holy shrine of Abbas-e-Alamdar (i.e., Abbas the Standard Bearer

{225/1}

of Husain) is the place wherefrom hundreds of thousands of the sufferers get their prayers immediately heard, and many a time this valiant son of Ali, the Lion of God, has rendered miraculous and timely rescue to those who invoked the mercy of God in his holy name. It can be most confidently said, let any one try his holy name. It can be most confidently said, let any one try his luck if he needs any help from God with the necessary sincerity and devo- tion to the great saintly brother of the King of Martyrs. Even today the holy name 'ABBAS' is a watchword for millions and millions of his sincere devotees for the immediate and miraculous rescue needed, in any unavoidable risk or danger. Where is the wonder for one who surrenders himself to God, God will also surely honour his name when mentioned in any prayer to Him. God Himself enjoins on man to seek a medium unto Him:-
"Seek ye a medium untO Him (God)." 5:35
It is the disbelievers who get hopeless of their dead. Be it noted that the 'Kalema' or the Word of the Declaration of the Faith 'Shia'ism', is only :-
" Lailaha Illallah Muhammadur Rasoolullah."
'There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the (Holy) Prophet of God.'