God: World Perspective - Part 2

As part of my on going series, this is my second part for God: World Perspective. First series can be found at  God: World Perspective - Part 1.

Hinduism

Hinduism is the dominant religion, or way of life, of the Indian subcontinent, and consists of many diverse traditions. It includes Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism among numerous other traditions, and a wide spectrum of laws and prescriptions of "daily morality" based on karma, dharma, and societal norms. Hinduism is a categorisation of distinct intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, common set of beliefs. Hinduism has been called the "oldest religion" in the world, and some practitioners refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal law" or the "eternal way" beyond human origins. It prescribes the "eternal" duties, such as honesty, mercy, purity, self-restraint, among others. The main divisions of Hinduism today are

1.       Vaishnavism

2.       Shaivism

3.       Shaktism

4.       Smartism

1.       Vaishnavism - Vaishnavism (Vaisnava dharma) is one of the major branches of Hinduism along with Shaivism, Smartism, and Shaktism. It is focused on the veneration of Vishnu. Vaishnavites, or the followers of the Vishnu, lead a way of life promoting monotheism, which gives importance to Vishnu and his ten incarnations. Followers worship Vishnu, the Supreme Lord and preserver of the Hindu Trimurti ('three images', the Trinity), and his ten incarnations, including Rama and Krishna.

2.       Shaivism - Shaivism or Saivism is one of the four most widely followed sects of Hinduism, which reveres the God Shiva as the Supreme Being. It is also known as śaiva paṁtha and Saivam. Followers of Shaivam are called "Shaivas" (also "Saivas", "Shaivites" or "Saivarkal"). They believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. Shiva is sometimes depicted as the fierce God Bhairava. Saivists are more attracted to asceticism than adherents of other Hindu sects, and may be found wandering India with ashen faces performing self-purification rituals. They worship in the temple and practice yoga, striving to be one with Shiva within.

3.       Shaktism - Shaktism or Shaktidharma ('doctrine of power' or 'doctrine of the Goddess') is a denomination of Hinduism that focuses worship upon Shakti or Devi – the Hindu Divine Mother – as the absolute, ultimate Godhead. It is, along with Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Smartism one of the primary schools of devotional Hinduism. Shaktism regards Devi (lit., 'the Goddess') as the Supreme Brahman itself, with all other forms of divinity, considered to be merely her diverse manifestations. In the details of its philosophy and practice, Shaktism resembles Shaivism. However, Shaktas, practitioners of Shaktism, focus most or all worship on Shakti, as the dynamic feminine aspect of the Supreme Divine. Shiva, the masculine aspect of divinity, is considered solely transcendent, and his worship is usually relegated to an auxiliary role.

4.       Smartism - Smarta Sampradaya (Smārta, meaning Smarta Tradition), also spelt as Smartha, is an orthodox Hindu "family tradition" or sect composed of Brahmins, c.q. "certain category of brahmins", which follows Panchayatana. The term Smārta is used to denote a specific, specialized category of Brahmins, who specialize in the smriti, c.q. who hold the smriti as the most authoritative texts. Generally Smartas worship the Supreme in one of five forms: Ganesha, Shiva, Shakti, Vishnu, and Surya. Because they accept all the major Hindu Gods, they are known as liberal or nonsectarian. They follow a philosophical, meditative path, emphasizing man's oneness with God through understanding. It is not as overtly sectarian as either Vaishnavism or Shaivism and is based on the recognition that Brahman (God) is the highest principle in the universe and pervades all of existence.

Buddhism

Buddhism is a nontheistic religion that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha ("the awakened one"). According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end their suffering through the elimination of ignorance and craving. Buddhists believe that this is accomplished through direct understanding and the perception of dependent origination and the Four Noble Truths. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is the attainment of the sublime state of Nirvana, by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path (also known as the Middle Way).

There are 3 major denominations of Buddhism which are

1.       Mahayana

2.       Theravada

3.       Vajrayana

1.       Mahayana - which literally means "Great Vehicle" in sanskrit, is mainly the predominant sect in central and east Asia, and is making its appearance in western culture in forms of Tibetan, Zen, and Pure land Buddhism.  The origin of Mahayana Buddhism is now traced to about the beginning of the Common Era.  The Mahayana ideal is the bodhisattva, "one bearing enlightment" who realized it was important to save all others before realizing their own redemption.  In this denomination, they early on acknowledged the pularity of Buddhas that could also act from outside this world.  One of the main goals of Mahayana was to unfold or find the truth or hidden gem of enlightment.  Mahayana has come to be known as the second turning of the Wheel of Dharma.

2.       Theravada - also known as Southren Buddhism, is mainly in South and South East Asia.  It is the only surviving tradition of the 30 original sects and is said to be the closest to the original teachings of the Buddha.  Their focal point is to an order of monks.  Their ideal is to a person's nonattachment to the world and practicing the Buddhist path of renunciation.  The monk’s main task is to live to that ideal to pass on Buddhist teachings and way of life.  Theravada is also known as the first turning of the Wheel of Dharma.

3.       Vajrayana - is the most exotic of the denominations and is the third turning of the Wheel of Dharma.  Around the 3rd century in the Common Era, Vajrayana became the more prominent denomination in India and many other regions of the Buddhist world.  It dominated in the Himalayan region and quite a few other areas.  Vajrayana is the "secret vehicle" of Buddhism, and is also called the diamond or electric vehicle, due to its indestructible and clarity qualities, or in reference to the thunderbolt scepter of Indra, a Vedic god.  The Vajra represents cosmic power and its prongs represent different Buddhas, and the power of enlightment itself.  Vajrayana uses aspects of both Buddhism and Hinduism and uses mantras, which are magical chants and syllables, a lot.  It is also known as Mantrayana because of that.  Tantric Buddhism is another name it is known as due to the great use of Tantric texts and rites.

Now we have a basic idea of some of the world’s popular religions and their beliefs. Who do you think is the real God and who do you think are the man-made god? As I mentioned at the start of this blog, there are more god’s than number of animal species in this world, but there can be only one true God. The rest of them are man-made idols for just creating a group of people who believes in some non-existent God.

I will try to give you the answer to my question of “Who is the real God” in my next blog about God: The only real one with logic and reasoning behind the conclusion.

Read More

Exodus Killing by God vs ISIS Killings - Cannot Compare

Difference between Exodus and ISIS Killings

Biblical Interpretation

Insight into Exodus:

At the end of the biblical book of Genesis, Joseph and his eleven brothers go to Egypt to live. They have many children and their children have many children. Eventually, there are so many of them that Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, begins to fear that they—the Hebrews will rise up against him. To prevent this, Pharaoh enslaves the Hebrews. According to tradition, these slaves are the ancestors of the Jewish people. Pharaoh is cruel. He takes away the Hebrews’ freedom and makes them work very hard.

Despite having enslaved the Hebrews, Pharaoh continues to fear them. So he comes up with another plan: he will send soldiers to kill all the Hebrew baby boys. One of these babies is named Moses. To save his life, his mother and sister place him in a basket and set it in the river. They hope he will be found by someone who will take care of him as a son. The basket floats down the river and is discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter. She saves Moses and, not knowing he is a Hebrew, raises him as a prince of Egypt.

Moses grows up he sees an Egyptian guard beating a Hebrew slave. Angered by the brutality, he kills the guard. Moses then flees for his life. He runs away to the desert where he becomes a shepherd. Then one day, while he is taking care of his sheep, he sees a burning bush. God’s voice calls out to him from the bush, commanding him to return to Egypt and free the Hebrews from slavery.

In Egypt, Moses and Aaron assemble the elders of Israel to tell them that the time of their redemption has come. The people believe; but Pharaoh refuses to let them go and even intensifies the suffering of Israel. He increases the burden of labor on his Hebrew slaves, commanding their taskmasters to cease bringing the Israelites straw to make the bricks. Now, they must go to the fields to collect the straw themselves, but maintain the same quota of brick production.

So to show the power of God and to give warning to Pharaoh, God unleashes 10 plagues, one after another when Pharaoh refuses each time to leave the people of Israelites free. The 10 Plagues are:

1. Aaron strikes the Nile, the waters turn to blood;
2. Swarms of frogs overrun the land;
3. Lice infest all men and beasts. Still, Pharaoh remains stubborn;
4. Hordes of wild animals invade the cities,
5. a pestilence kills the domestic animals,
6. painful boils afflict the Egyptians.
7. Fire and ice combine to descend from the skies as a devastating hail. 

Still, "the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he would not let the children of Israel go; as God had said to Moses."

The people of Egypt have suffered too much. They beg Pharaoh to let the Jews go. When Moses comes to warn Pharaoh of the eighth plague, Pharaoh says: You say that you want to go serve your God? I'll let the men go, as long as the women and children stay behind. No, says Moses, we must all go, men women and children, cattle and herds. Pharaoh once again refuses.The next plagues descends upon Egypt.

      8. a swarm of locusts devours all the crops and greenery;

      9. a thick, palpable darkness envelops the land.

The Israelites are instructed to bring a "Passover offering" to God: a lamb is to be slaughtered and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel of every Israelite home, so that God should pass over these homes when He comes to kill the Egyptian firstborn. The roasted meat of the offering is to be eaten that night together with matzah (unleavened bread) and bitter herbs.

Then God brings the tenth plague upon Egypt,

       10. all the firstborn of Egypt are killed at the stroke of midnight of the 15th of the month of Nissan.

So there was ample warning to Pharaoh and people of Egypt about the power and might of our God and they refuse to believe. Our God gave them 9 times to let go the people of Israelites and they refused to do so. So God took the 10th plague of killing the firstborn of everyone who does not have their doorpost sprinkled with blood. Even Egyptians were told about this and they did not believed. Some of them believed in our God and they were saved along with the Jews. Another reason is that God created everything that is in this universe, and as a creator He has the right to take what he created. So one who created the first born child took them back. And it is not like God just killed all of the Egyptian first born child, but God gave opportunity to them also to save their firstborn and some of them did and they also got saved along with Jews. According to Exodus 12:38, A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.

There are more evidences to this other than Bible to say that what was done during passover was justified. For more than 2,000 years Jewish sages have wondered what was happening within Egyptian society and have written midrash (literary explanations) about factors that are not in the Bible but might explain the Egyptians’ plight. One of them says like this:

When God sent the plague of the firstborn ... all the firstborn Egyptians went to speak to their fathers and said “Everything which Moses has said has come true, don’t you want us to live? Let us get the Hebrew slaves out of our homes now. Otherwise we are dead.”

The fathers answered “even if all of Egypt dies they are not leaving.”

All the firstborn gathered in front of Pharaoh and screamed “Please remove the Hebrews, because of them evil will befall us and you.” Pharaoh said to his servants, “Remove the protesters and break their knees.” What did the young Egyptians do? Each took a sword and killed his father.

(Midrash Tehillim 136:6) (What is Midrash Tehillim? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midrash_Tehillim)

If, according to this interpretation, the first-borns all killed their fathers, then they were all guilty of murder. They likely were all sentenced to death and killed by Pharaoh’s army. In other words, in the eyes of this midrash, the firstborn of Egypt are killed because of the stubborn patriarchs and authoritarian leadership.

Not only does this midrash give us a story in which responsibility for the death of the firstborn is shifted away from God, but it creates a dynamic in which the firstborn of Egypt rebel against the decrees of Pharaoh.

So, does Passover celebrate the death of innocent Egyptians?

The short answer to that question is no. It celebrates the defeat of a murderous despot and his narrow-minded, bloodthirsty army. It commemorates a tragic tale when fathers refused to listen to their children’s pleas. And it marks the long road to freedom as the Hebrews let go of their slavery mentality. But the death of ordinary Egyptians is not marked by joy. And one thing to note here is that this is not done to convert anyone to believing in something that is not true, but instead done to free the God’s promised people from the clutches of Egypt.

Insight into ISIS Killings:

Now on the other hand coming to ISIS, they are killing people for not converting to Islam. They are not doing this for giving freedom for anyone from any nation. They are following the things written in Quran and doing this killings in the name of their god Allah. Quran itself is a book that was written after 600 years of Jesus Christ, and is told that God revealed the things to the guy named Muhammad.  The Islamic religion claims that the Qur’an, revealed allegedly by the angel Gabriel to the prophet Muhammad beginning in 610 A.D., is the inspired and inerrant word of God. Such an assertion, however, is highly problematic, and many, many arguments could be given to convincingly refute it. (http://crossexamined.org/simple-reason-quran-word-god/)

Now ISIS is doing this to make more muslim nations and forcefully making people to follow Islam or else kill them. ISIS members want an Islamic state or caliphate run according to Islamic Sharia law. A caliphate is an Islamic state. It’s led by a caliph, a person considered to be a political and religious successor to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Throughout history there have been eight caliphates, though there is some debate about which of these were legitimate. It’s not a case of just wanting to set up a caliphate. ISIS believes it is a legitimate state right now, rather than a rebel group. It wants recognition by the rest of the world and for all Muslims to recognize its version of Islam. ISIS believes a prophecy from the Prophet Muhammad means the end of the world is coming. The 1,300-year-old prophecy says the Day of Judgement will come after an epic battle between Christians and Muslims. 

So if you see you cannot even compare the killings of ISIS with what happened in Exodus.

Read More

God: World Perspective - Part 1

In this 21^st century of autonomous cars, robots, virtual realities etc., people are not getting time to think about the creator who created this whole universe. This beautiful world today has more gods than I think more species of animals in it. That is the state of the people in this present time. People worship every type of god’s from different kinds of animals to different kind of evil rituals to the so called Guru’s or Preachers. People even worship themselves like looking into the mirror after coming from Gym and saying that wow this body is worth worshiping or this face is beautiful than angels in heaven etc. I am not telling we should get away from fitness or day to day heath activities but those things should be given a place in life for just keeping us healthy and not for showing off or making a role model for ourselves. Today we just worship whatever makes us happy and not focusing on the real creator of the world who is the true God.

In today’s world we have people who believe God exist and some are of the perspective that God does not exist. People who believe that God does not exist are phrased as “Atheist”. Atheism is usually defined incorrectly as a belief system. Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods. Older dictionaries define atheism as "a belief that there is no God". Then there are some people who believe that there is God and such people follow certain religions that are currently in the world. There are 1000’s of religions in the world and some of the most famous are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism etc. And there are sub religions or sub casts for many of them, such as for Christianity there are many denominations like Orthodox, Catholic, Protestants, Restorationists and others, for Hinduism there are denominations like Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and Smartism, for Islam there are denominations like Sunni, Shia, Sufism and others etc. etc. and the list goes on, for Buddhism there are 3 major denominations which are Mahayana, Theravada, and Vajrayana. So many people who follow at least one of the religion are having to worship in different ways which leads to the question that, is there really 1000’s of god’s or saints who are to be worshiped.

We will now go little deep in to some of the major religions to analyze the above question of is there really 1000’s of god’s or is there only one True GOD.

Christianity

First we will take the case of Christianity which is considered as the world’s largest religion. The Christian share of the world's population has stood at around 33% for the last hundred years, which says that one in three persons on earth are Christians. Christianity can be mainly divided into 4 kinds of churches:

1. Catholicism
2.  Protestantism
3.  Orthodoxy
4.  Nondenominational

 1.  Catholics - Catholicism consists of the Catholic Church itself, as well as a number of independent churches and movements that self-identify as Catholic. They all claim continuity (based upon Apostolic Succession) with the early Church. These churches are based on documented liturgical worship and set of principles set by Church over the centuries. The church teaches that it is the one true church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles, and that the Pope is the sole successor to Saint Peter, who was given primacy among the apostles. The Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it presents as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches and religious communities such as the Jesuits, Mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders reflect the variety of theological emphases within the Church. The Catholic Church is composed of 23 Churches:

The Western or Latin Church

22 Eastern Catholic Churches

a.       The Latin Church

The Latin Church (not to be confused with the Roman Rite, which is one of the Latin liturgical rites, not a particular Church) is the largest and most widely known of the 23 major Churches that together make up the Catholic Church.

b.      Eastern Catholic Churches

All of the following are Particular Churches of the Catholic Church. They are all in communion with the Bishop of Rome and acknowledge his claim of universal jurisdiction and authority. They have some minor distinct theological emphases and expressions (for instance, in the case of those that are of Greek/Byzantine tradition, concerning some non-doctrinal aspects of the Latin view of Purgatory). The Eastern Catholic churches and the Latin Church (which together compose the worldwide Catholic Church) share the same doctrine and sacraments, and thus the same faith.

                                                               i.      Albanian Byzantine Catholic Church

                                                             ii.      Armenian Catholic Church

                                                            iii.      Belarusian Catholic Church

                                                           iv.      Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church

                                                             v.      Chaldean Catholic Church

                                                           vi.      Coptic Catholic Church

                                                          vii.      Byzantine Church of Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro

                                                        viii.      Ethiopian Catholic Church

                                                           ix.      Greek Byzantine Catholic Church

                                                             x.      Hungarian Byzantine Catholic Church

                                                           xi.      Italo-Albanian Catholic Church ; a.k.a. Italo-Greek Catholic Church

                                                          xii.      Macedonian Catholic Church

                                                        xiii.      Maronite Catholic Church

                                                        xiv.      Melkite Catholic Church

                                                         xv.      Romanian Catholic Church

                                                        xvi.      Russian Catholic Church

                                                      xvii.      Ruthenian Catholic Church ; usually called the "Byzantine Catholic Church" in the United States

                                                     xviii.      Slovak Greek Catholic Church

                                                        xix.      Syriac Catholic Church

                                                         xx.      Syro-Malabar Catholic Church

                                                        xxi.      Syro-Malankara Catholic Church

                                                      xxii.      Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

2. Protestantism - These are the churches "which repudiated the papal authority, and separated or were severed from the Roman communion in the Reformation of the 16th century and of any of the bodies of Christians descended from them." Three fundamental principles of traditional Protestantism are the following:

a.       Scripture alone - The belief in the Bible as the supreme source of authority for the church. The early churches of the Reformation believed in a critical, yet serious, reading of scripture and holding the Bible as a source of authority higher than that of church tradition. The reformers rejected some of the traditions of the Western Church because they did not find justification for them in the Bible.

b.      Justification by faith alone - The belief that believers are justified, or pardoned for sin, solely on condition of faith in Christ rather than a combination of faith and good works. For Protestants, good works are a necessary consequence rather than cause of justification.

c.       Universal priesthood of believers - The universal priesthood of believers implies the right and duty of the Christian laity not only to read the Bible in the vernacular, but also to take part in the government and all the public affairs of the Church. It is opposed to the hierarchical system which puts the essence and authority of the Church in an exclusive priesthood, and makes ordained priests the necessary mediators between God and the people.

            3. Orthodoxy - Eastern Orthodoxy comprises those churches in communion with the Patriarchal Sees of the East, such as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Like the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church also traces its heritage to the foundation of Christianity through Apostolic succession and has an episcopal structure, though the autonomy of its component parts is emphasized, and most of them are national churches. A number of conflicts with Western Christianity over questions of doctrine and authority culminated in the Great Schism. Eastern Orthodox Christian theology is the theology particular to the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is characterized by:

a.       Trinity

b.      Sin, salvation and the incarnation

c.       Resurrection of Christ

d.      Bible

e.      Holy tradition and the patristic consensus

f.        Territorial expansion and doctrinal integrity

g.       Theotokos and saints

      4. Nondenominational - Non-denominational Christian institutions are those not formally aligned with an established religious denomination, but are historically Protestant, or that remain otherwise officially autonomous. This, however, does not preclude an identifiable standard among such congregations. Nondenominational church congregations may establish a functional denomination by means of mutual recognition of or accountability to other congregations and leaders with commonly held doctrine, policy and worship without formalizing external direction or oversight in such matters. Some nondenominational churches explicitly reject the idea of a formalized denominational structure as a matter of principle, holding that each congregation is better off being autonomous.

Islam

Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion articulated by the Qur'an, an Islamic holy book considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Allāh), and for the vast majority of adherents, also by the teachings and normative example (called the Sunnah and composed of hadith) of Muhammad (c. 570–8 June 632 CE), considered by them to be the last prophet of God. An adherent of Islam is called a Muslim. Most Muslims are of two denominations:

1.       Sunni

2.       Shia

1.       Sunni - Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam; its adherents are referred to in Arabic as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah, "people of the tradition of Muhammad and the consensus of the Ummah" or ahl as-sunnah for short. In English, its theological study or doctrine is called Sunnism, while adherents are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis, and Sunnites. Sunni Islam is the world's second largest religious body (after Christianity) and the largest religious denomination for any religion in the world. Some Islamic scholars faced questions that they felt were not explicitly answered in the Quran and Sunnah, especially questions with regard to philosophical conundra such as the nature of God, the existence of human free will, or the eternal existence of the Quran. Various schools of theology and philosophy developed to answer these questions, each claiming to be true to the Quran and the Muslim tradition (sunnah). Among Sunni Muslims, various schools of thought in theology began to be born out of the sciences of kalam in opposition to the textualists who stood by affirming texts without delving into philosophical speculation as they saw it as an innovation in Islam.

a.       Maturidi - Founded by Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (died 944). Maturidiyyah was a minority tradition until it was accepted by the Turkish tribes of Central Asia (previously they had been Ash'ari and followers of the Shafi'i school, it was only later on migration into Anatolia that they became Hanafi and followers of the Maturidi creed).

b.      Ash'ari - Founded by Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (873–935). This theological school of Aqeedah was embraced by many Muslim scholars and developed in parts of the Islamic world throughout history, Imam al-Ghazali wrote on the creed discussing it and agreeing upon some of its principles.  Ash'ari theology stresses divine revelation over human reason. Contrary to the Mu'tazilites, they say that ethics cannot be derived from human reason, but that God's commands, as revealed in the Quran and the Sunnah (the practices of Muhammad and his companions as recorded in the traditions, or hadith), are the sole source of all morality and ethics.

c.       Athari - Athari, or "textualism", is derived from the Arabic word athar, literally meaning "remnant", and also referring to "narrations". Their disciples are called the Atharis or al-Atharia. The Atharis are considered to be one of three Sunni schools of Aqidah. The Athari methodology of textual or literal interpretation is to avoid delving into any extensive theological speculation. They believe in God and his attributes in the exact fashion that they were mentioned in the Quran, the Sunnah, and by the Sahabah. They do not attempt to further interpret the aforementioned texts by giving an altered meaning like the Tashbih (simile or likening), nor through tahrif (distortion), nor ta`weel (allegory or metaphor), nor ta'teel (denial). They avoid entering into deep rational philosophical discussions of matters relating to Islamic beliefs that are not supported by the Quran, the Sunnah or the understanding of the Sahabah with specific wording; rather, their discussion and presentation of beliefs revolves entirely around textual evidences found in these three main sources, while remaining cautious to avoid taking the path of non-Atharis either. The Atharis believe this to be the methodology adhered to by the first three generations of Muslims (i.e. the Salaf), therefore making it the school of Sunni Aqeedah that they believe is adhering to the truth and keeping to the balanced middle path of Islam.

2.       Shia - The Shia, or the Shiites, represent the second largest denomination of Islam. Adherents of Shia Islam are called Shias or the Shi'a as a collective or Shi'i individually. Shi'a is the short form of the historic phrase Shīʻatu ʻAlī meaning "followers", "faction" or "party" of Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin Ali, whom the Shia believe to be Muhammad's successor in the Caliphate. Twelver Shia (Ithnā'ashariyyah) is the largest branch of Shia Islam, and the term Shia Muslim is often taken to refer to Twelvers by default. The Shia Islamic faith is vast and inclusive of many different groups. Shia theological beliefs and religious practises, such as prayers, slightly differ from the Sunnis'. While all Muslims pray five times daily, Shias have the option of always combining Dhuhr with Asr and Maghrib with Isha', as there are three distinct times mentioned in the Quran. The Sunnis tend to combine only under certain circumstances. Shia Islam embodies a completely independent system of religious interpretation and political authority in the Muslim world. The original Shia identity referred to the followers of Imam Ali, and Shia theology was formulated in the 2nd century AH, or after Hijra (8th century CE). The first Shia governments and societies were established by the end of the 3rd century AH/9th century CE. The 4th century AH /10th century CE has been referred to by Louis Massignon as "the Shiite Ismaili century in the history of Islam". Shia Muslims believe that just as a prophet is appointed by God alone, only God has the prerogative to appoint the successor to his prophet. They believe God chose Ali to be Muhammad's successor, infallible, the first caliph (khalifa, head of state) of Islam. Muhammad, before his death, designated Ali as his successor.

I will be looking into Hinduism and Buddhism in my next part. The ultimate goal of this multi-part blog is to research and give evidence on who the real God is.

Read More