Iqra Online

Hadith Files (6): "If the Prophet Dies or Is (Rather?) Killed?" Full Video: https://youtu.be/sYXg4_YDM5E In this Hadith Files episode, we examine a narration from Tafsir al-ʿAyyāshī that appears to indicate that two of the Prophet’s wives poisoned him. Our discussion centers on Qur’an 3:144: “If he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels?” In particular, we examine the significance of the word aw (أو) — “or” — in this verse and investigate whether it can legitimately carry a meaning beyond its apparent conjunctive usage. To do so, we go into the works of the Arabic grammarians, including Ibn Hisham’s Mughnī al-Labīb, Ibn al-Anbari’s al-Inṣāf, and the works of contemporary Shi'i grammarians such as Sayyid Hashim Tehrani. We explore the various grammatical usages of aw (أو) and ask whether interpreting the word in another sense in this particular verse is consistent with established principles of Arabic grammar.

(2) Tawhid from the Perspective of the Qur’an and the Sunnah Sources of Tawhidic Knowledge and the Rational Method in Proving the Existence of God In the previous session, it was explained that from the perspective of revelation, there are three sources of knowledge: reason (‘aql), innate nature (fitrah), and revelation (wahi). It was emphasized that these three sources must be employed together, since no single one of them alone leads to complete knowledge. Each of these sources plays its own particular role and occupies its own particular place in epistemology. 1. Is rational knowledge of God possible? 2. Is rational knowledge of God necessary? In this discussion, the focus will be on these two questions, and the answers will be drawn from the Noble Qur’an and the narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt (a). Full Lesson: https://iqraonline.net/2-tawhid-from-the-perspective-of-the-quran-and-the-sunnah/

Ibn Abi al-Hadid and the Prophet's Demise Popularly, most Muslims seemed to agree that the Prophet (p) passed away due to some sort of illness. A large number of them seemed to have acknowledged this was due to some poison he had consumed after the battle of Khaybar. A few – contemporary – Shi’a preachers and scholars even had to entertain the idea that perhaps the Prophet (p) was poisoned twice, once at Khaybar which did not have any impact on him, and a second time by ‘Ayesha and Hafsa which led to his (p) death. This completely alternative theory suggests it was ‘Ayesha – the wife of the Prophet – who was the ultimate culprit for poisoning the Prophet (p), citing an important incident called the story of ladud. Ibn Abi al-Hadid comments on this report and says: Continue Reading: https://iqraonline.net/reflections-thoughts-ibn-abi-al-hadid-and-the-prophets-demise/

Becoming Muslim Seminar This Saturday in Ottawa 🗓️ Date: Saturday, 15th August 2026 🕚 Time: 9:30 AM – 1:00 PM 📍 Location: 3856 Old Richmond Road, Ottawa Register Here: https://forms.gle/GLofc6EQwxZjh9XbA

In Service and Betrayal of Rituals: A Discussion on Shi'i Rituals and the Phenomenon of Ritual Inflation By Mohsen-Hesam Mazaheri Historical identity and the imperatives of group identity are one of the influential factors in shaping rituals. Generally, groups that have the characteristic of being a “minority” and perceive a threat from rival religious groups are more likely to have the potential to create distinctive rituals than groups that are in the majority. This is because rituals provide these groups with the possibility of “multiple differentiation.” Differentiation is a mechanism for preserving identity and ensuring the survival of an identity-based community. From this perspective, it is natural, for example, that Twelver Shi’ism, as a minority sect in the Islamic world, has a much greater potential for ritual creation than Sunni sects and communities. Continue Reading: https://iqraonline.net/in-service-and-betrayal-of-rituals-a-discussion-on-shii-rituals-and-the-phenomenon-of-ritual-inflation/

Book Club Session #4 | This Dark Age Full Session: https://youtu.be/VoF8q7go3IQ In Part 4 of our This Dark Age – Summer Intensive Book Club, we explore the decline of traditional spiritual and political authority, the rise of egalitarianism, and the resulting tension between religion, transcendence, hierarchy, and modern conceptions of equality. We also examine the relationship between contemplation and action, particularly the traditional distinction between spiritual authority, which is rooted in knowledge, and temporal power, which belongs to the realm of action. We then turn to the phenomenon of propaganda, examining how democracy creates an expectation that everyone should hold and express opinions on complex issues, even when they lack the knowledge necessary to form them. This produces a society increasingly dependent on manufactured opinions, where propaganda does not simply manipulate people but satisfies a demand it has helped create: the modern citizen feels compelled to care about everything, needs opinions about everything, yet often remains largely powerless to influence the events about which they are expected to care.

Philosophy of Physics: The Fundamental Challenge of New Physics by Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh Full Paper: https://iqraonline.net/philosophy-of-physics-the-fundamental-challenge-of-new-physics-by-dr-mohsen-fakhrizadeh/ I was still in the Hawzah when news broke of the assassination of Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, one of Iran's leading nuclear scientists. I hadn't known who he was before his death; but afterward, in some of our gatherings with scholars, I learned that Dr. Fakhrizadeh was deeply versed in Sadrian philosophy, and in Islamic philosophy more broadly. Since the following year was my last in the Hawzah, I never had the chance to look into his ideas directly. But my involvement in Islamic education, where the relationship between science and religion is always a central concern, eventually led me to explore some of his ideas. As far as I know, he has no published book or academic articles in journals (not any that I came across), but his views can be found in various shorter articles published on news websites, or preserved in transcripts of different academic seminars. There have also been several books written about him, his life, and his views in the field of science and philosophy. His interests, in fact, extended well beyond physics itself. He was deeply read in mysticism, from Platonic rationalism to illuminationist philosophy, with a particular love for poets like Hafez, Saadi, and Rumi. He was knowledgeable enough in Persian literature that the University of Tehran once invited him to teach in its literature department, an offer he had to decline due to his workload. He also had a strong theoretical grasp of traditional Persian music, though he didn't play an instrument himself. The West, notably, publicly recognized him as one of Iran's top nuclear scientists. In a 2018 presentation on Iran's nuclear program, Netanyahu named him directly and told his audience to "remember that name, Fakhrizadeh." He remains one of the only Iranian scientists Netanyahu has ever named publicly. The following text is a translation of a short article written by him, titled "Philosophy of Physics: The Fundamental Challenge of New Physics," and published by the Mehr News Agency. Below it, I've also included a translation of a second, shorter blog post by Dr. Fakhrizadeh, titled "The Necessity of Reviving Islamic Philosophy."

At times I have been accused of opposing the Sunnah and the [true] community, on the assumption that the community commanded to be followed - the saved group - is whatever the generality and common mass of people in every age happen to be upon, even where it contradicts the righteous predecessors. They did not realize that the true community is that which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, his Companions, and those who followed them in excellence were upon - an explanation of which will follow, God willing. And they have lied against me in all of this, or else simply erred. Praise be to God in every circumstance.

One of my favourite passages comes from al-I'tiṣām, the work of Imam al-Shatibi (d. 1388) - the Andalusian Maliki scholar of fiqh and usul - on the psychology of the muqallidin: those who follow a scholar or school so blindly that they begin to worship the personality of a scholar, Mufti or Marja' and their obsession eclipses the truth the scholar was meant to convey. Al-Shatibi wrote this in a Sunni context, describing how some had turned devotion to Imam Malik into a kind of sectarianism, unable to tolerate scholarship from outside their own school, but the pattern he describes resembles the same behaviour amongst many muqallidin in the Shi'a community. Al-Shatibi then turns to his own experience, listing the accusations levelled against him simply for holding to different positions rather than what was popular or expected. He writes: —— On the fourth flawed opinion: The fourth: the view of the blind followers (muqallidun) of the school of an Imam, who claim that their Imam is tantamount to the Shari'ah itself — so much so that they disdain any merit being attributed to a scholar other than their own Imam. Thus when someone who has attained the rank of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) comes to them and speaks on legal matters, yet is not affiliated with their Imam, they assail him with denunciation, loose upon him the arrows of criticism, and count him among those who have strayed from the path and split from the community - without any recourse to argument or proof, but purely out of common habit. Indeed, Imam Baqi ibn Makhlad, upon entering al-Andalus from the East, met the bitterest treatment from this very sort, until they made him an outcast whose company none would keep, and wronged him in his standing - simply because he possessed knowledge beyond their reach. For he had met, in the East, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, taken his compiled work from him, and studied fiqh under him; he had met others besides, until he compiled the Musnad, a work the like of which had never before been compiled in Islam. Yet these blind followers had fixed themselves rigidly upon the school of Malik, rejecting anything outside it. This is to set men up as arbiters over truth, and excess in devotion to a school of law. The very eye of fairness sees that all the Imams are virtuous leaders; so one who follows the school of a mujtahid, not having himself reached that rank, is not harmed by another's disagreement with his particular Imam, for all are walking the path they were charged to walk. Excess in blind imitation may well lead to rejecting matters the people have unanimously agreed not to dispute. The author's personal grievances At times it has been attributed to me that I hold it permissible to rise up against the ruling imams, and they attributed this to me for no reason but my not mentioning them in the Friday sermon, mentioning them therein being an innovation unknown to those who came before. At times I have been charged with undue strictness and extremism in religion; what led them to say so being simply that I have committed myself, in matters of legal obligation and formal opinion, to the well-known position of the school I adhere to, without going beyond it; whereas they go beyond it and issue rulings that make things easy for the questioner and suit his whims, even where such rulings are anomalous within the adhered-to school or elsewhere. The leading scholars hold the contrary view, and the matter is treated at length in the book al-Muwāfaqāt. At times I have been accused of enmity toward the friends of God, Exalted is He - the reason being that I opposed certain innovating dervishes who contravene the Sunnah and who set themselves up, by their own claim, to guide the people; I spoke to the public about a number of the conditions of these people, who attributed themselves to Sufism without truly resembling the Sufis.

Inside My Hawzah Study System: Notes, PDFs & Books Full Video: https://youtu.be/6ZbOhMH8qa0 In this video, I take you inside the study habits that shaped me during my years in the Hawzah in Qom. I explain why I made it a habit to write everything down, how the traditional Hawzah method of taqrīrāt transformed the way I learned, and how that approach continues to influence how I study today, whether I'm annotating physical books, marking up PDFs, or organizing research in Word documents.

As we come close to the signing of yet another MoU, here's a video I took on Qeshm Island in 2021, which shows how the history of colonial powers in this region runs more than 200 years deep and why full Iranian control over the Strait matters. It is a replica of a hut Iranian fishermen and traders once used to sell fish and shrimp secretly, on their own land, avoiding being caught by the British, at a time when Britain had complete control around the Gulf trade. From the early 1800s, Britain treated Qeshm as one of its key footholds in the Persian Gulf. Their troops officially occupied the island in 1820 and built a permanent naval base on the west of the island. Two centuries later, the question of who controls these waters hasn’t gone away, which is why if Iran starts managing and controlling the Strait completely, it will be seen as a huge victory for them and one of the worst defeats for the imperialists in a long time.

(5) In the Company of the Imams | Sayyid Ali Imran https://youtu.be/bAtcyJMdU2A A money-changer known to his opponents as Shaytan al-Taq and to his friends as Mu'min al-Taq, his sharp eye for counterfeit coins became, under the guidance of the Imams, a sharp mind for detecting counterfeit arguments. This lecture follows his growth into one of the four companions Imam al-Sadiq (as) called "the most beloved of people to me," including his famous debate with a man from Shaam, his encounters with Abu Hanifah, his humility before his Imam, and the most difficult moment of his life: sitting lost and weeping in the streets of Madinah after Imam al-Sadiq's death, searching honestly for the truth about who the next Imam was. We draw out what his story teaches us about mastering a trade, guarding our privacy, pairing sharpness with humility, and staying honest in our uncertainty rather than settling for premature answers.

(4) In the Company of the Imams | Sayyid Ali Imran https://youtu.be/LuQ-Y3v7i7s A merchant of cloth who arrived as a sharp debater and became the man who systematized Shi'i theology itself. This lecture follows Hisham ibn al-Hakam's conversion, his rise to become "our supporter with heart, tongue, and hand" while still a youth, and his growth into one of the leading theological minds of his generation. We also discuss his final debate at the time of Imam al-Kadhim, after which Harun al-Rashid described his tongue as "more dangerous than a hundred thousand swords." We trace his brilliance, his integrity in business and belief, and the closing chapter of his life, drawing out lessons on the wisdom of knowing when and how to speak the truth, and loyalty to those we love.

(3) In the Company of the Imams | Sayyid Ali Imran https://youtu.be/hIUsqzIGYLI Not every companion of the Imams was a fiery debater — some built their legacy through quiet, patient consistency instead. Muhammad ibn Muslim spent four uninterrupted years in Madinah with Imam al-Baqir (as), asking question after question, before returning home to Kufa — where he never abandoned his own trade, and later kept travelling back to Madinah to learn from Imam al-Sadiq (as) as well. This lecture follows his journey from an unassuming tradesman known by a string of unflattering nicknames to one of the four "pillars of the earth" — trusted with everything from the deepest questions of 'aqidah to the most sensitive social matters of his community. We explore what his story teaches us about sacrifice, humility in work, the discipline of asking questions rather than staying silent, and why not everyone needs to be the loudest voice in the room to become the most trusted one.

(2) In the Company of the Imams | Sayyid Ali Imran https://youtu.be/-nr5X7H_v_w Zurarah ibn A'yan didn't start out as a scholar; rather, he started out as a passionate and sharp-tongued youth. This lecture traces his remarkable journey: from heated debates and theological missteps with Imam al-Baqir (as), to a slow, patient transformation into the man Imam al-Sadiq (as) would trust to represent the entire school of Ahl al-Bayt (as) in open debate. Along the way we see him corrected, humbled, and ultimately shaped into "the leader of his companions in his era", and we draw out what his growth teaches us today about humility, controlling our emotions in disagreement, and how good teachers guide rather than discard a passionate but unrefined student.

(1) In the Company of the Imams | Sayyid Ali Imran After Karbala, the Shi'a community was left scattered and adrift, without even the basic knowledge of their own Hajj, halal, or haram. This first lecture in our Arba'een series traces how Imam al-Baqir and Imam al-Sadiq (as) rebuilt that community almost from nothing: who the earliest companions were, the hidden rooms, mosque corners, and long nights where the Imams would teach their students, and the constant danger they lived under. It's the essential historical context for everything that follows, as we turn to the individual journeys of Zurarah ibn A'yan, Muhammad ibn Muslim, Hisham ibn al-Hakam, and Mu'min al-Taq. Full Lecture: https://youtu.be/3NC5IAGX5tk

Becoming Muslim II: Crafting Our Story in the West Full Seminar: https://youtu.be/fuAy8sKe-y8?si=Non_eZibg-dnGsde In this 4 hour course, we ask a deeper civilizational question: once we know what truly defines religious identity, what story should Muslims in the West live by? In a time when dominant modern narratives are losing their moral clarity, Muslims in the West have an opportunity to recover and present a story rooted in God, ethics, knowledge, and institution-building. This seminar explores the need for Muslims in the West to move beyond survival, assimilation, and ritual activity alone. Drawing on Islamic principles, contemporary examples, and the model of knowledge-based communities, this session will argue that our future depends on building institutions of learning and ethical formation. The goal is not merely to preserve Islam in the West, but to craft a meaningful branch of Islamic civilization here. 0:00 Quran recitation 4:40 Recap - The hierarchy of religiosity 13:45 Menti Activity - Investment Options 27:30 Liberal democracy's grand narrative is exhausted 33:40 A people without a story - subdued, colonized and without an alternative 49:45 The Awakening - The first major rupture 55:45 Recent wars have exposed a reality 1:03:00 Cut off from tradition - unsure what to do 1:11:40 Our three choices: rejection, assimilation, continual organic growth 1:14:55 Evidence for rejection 1:36:45 Evidence for assimilation 1:50:40 Evidence for reconciliation and continual organic growth 1:58:35 Recap 2:00:00 What is a story? - A framework before we continue 2:04:30 Theme of Qur'anic stories: Salvation 2:04:50 Story 1: Da'wah, Then Merge 2:16:25 Story 2: Quietist Preservation 2:28:55 Story 3: Justice-Building 2:34:55 Story 4: The Creative Minority 2:43:20 Rising civilizations don't behave like mature ones 2:51:22 Six elements of a rising civilization 3:04:35 Craft your own story - group presentations

4 hour seminar video coming soon... Video will be accessible through the members portal: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_3z_R-TxdSLNIIXE-NADvQ/join

Hadith Files (5): "We Don't Know if Shrimp is a Fish" Full Video: https://youtu.be/mAzS8I4rNSc In this episode of The Hadith Files, we visit some narrations on Rabīthā and Irbiyān (shrimp) by reading them as a historical conversation rather than as isolated reports. Instead of beginning with later legal conclusions, we arrange the narrations in a plausible chronological sequence, revealing an intriguing progression from uncertainty about the identity of the animal to its eventual recognition as permissible. Along the way, we explore how our theological assumptions can shape the way we interpret these reports.

3 Days Left! Becoming Muslim II: Crafting Our Story in the West In this 4 hour course, we ask a deeper civilizational question: once we know what truly defines religious identity, what story should Muslims in the West live by? In a time when dominant modern narratives are losing their moral clarity, Muslims in the West have an opportunity to recover and present a story rooted in God, ethics, knowledge, and institution-building. This seminar explores the need for Muslims in the West to move beyond survival, assimilation, and ritual activity alone. Drawing on Islamic principles, contemporary examples, and the model of knowledge-based communities, this session will argue that our future depends on building institutions of learning and ethical formation. The goal is not merely to preserve Islam in the West, but to craft a meaningful branch of Islamic civilization here. You don't want to miss out on this seminar: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/becoming-muslim-ii-crafting-our-story-in-the-west