PART II

The
Fundamentals of the Religion

Before we deal with the roots and the articles of
faith in detail, we may divide our study of the Shi'a
religion according to five principles:

1. Knowledge of God.

2. Identification of His Prophet

3. How to worship.

4. Doing good actions and refraining from bad ones.

5. Belief in ma'ad (the Day of Judgement), and punishment
and reward

There are two parts to religion - theoretical and
practical - or, more precisely, belief or faith in God
and the unseen, and daily action based on this belief.

Tawhid (monotheism), Prophethood and ma'ad (the Day of
Judgement) are the three basic arkan (pillars) of Islam.
If anyone denies one of the arkan, he is neither a Muslim
nor a believer (u'min); if he does believe in them he
will be counted among the Muslims according to God
Almighty (refer to the following words which have been
taken from the Quranic text: "He who believes in
God, His Prophet and the Day of Judgement"), and
shall be entitled to all the rights of the Muslims.
According to the holy verse the Muslim is the "one
who believes in God, His Prophet and also performs good
actions"; the "iman" (faith) of a Muslim
refers to "belief in his heart, verbal
acknowledgment and performance of fundamental acts".

One may add another "rukn" (pillar) to these
three, which is the obligatory acts on which the entire
Islamic way of life depends. These obligatory acts are of
five kinds: (1) salat (prayers), (2) fasting, (3) zakat
(generally speaking, the Islamic system of taxation), (4)
hajj and (5) jihad (strivin or exerting oneself (even to
the ex tent of fighting) for Islam).

We may explain the difference between Islam and iman
as a matter-of degree. This difference is based on the
words of God Almighty in the surah
"al-Hujurat", "The Arabs say: 'We have
iman!' Say (to them, O Muhammad): 'You do not have iman;
but say "we have accepted Islam (aslamna:
lit. we have submitted)", for iman has not yet
entered your hearts.'" For further elucidation, He
says in another verse: "Verily, the believers (mu'minin)
are those who accepted faith in God and His Prophet and
never after that entertained any doubt; also they
performed jihad with their life and wealth in the way of
God - they alone are the true believers."
"Iman" thus means the combination of testifying
one's belief, and of acting in accordance with it. These
are the basic beliefs of all the Muslim. The Shi'as have
another "rukn" thus bringing the total to five
principles. This fifth pillar is faith in the imamate.

According to the Shi'a point of view, the Imamate,
like Prophethood, is divine vicegerency. Just as it is
God Almighty Who chose one from amongst His servants for
the rank of Prophethood or Messengership, in the same way
it is God Who chooses the Imams. God Almighty Himself
commanded His Prophet to announce the Imamate (spiritual
leadership) of the selected person before his death.

The Prophet, according to divine command, chose a
leader for mankind to protect and complete the religious
code. The only difference between a Prophet and an Imam
is that the Prophet receives "wahy"
(revelation) from God, while the Imam, through a special
blessing, receives commands from the prophet. So the
prophet is the messenger of God and the Imam is the
messenger of the Prophet.

The Imamate comprises twelve perfect persons, and every
Imam appoints his successor by a specific indication
(nass). Like all Prophets, the Imams are also infallible;
there is no possibility of their committing any sin. The
infallibility of the Imam is clearly proved from what God
Almighty says in the Holy Quran: "Verily, I make you
an Imam for mankind. He (Abraham) said: "And of my
offspring?" He said: "My covenant does not
reach to the unjust."

Moreover, an Imam is superior to all men in all
matters of knowledge and character, since the very
purpose of the Imamate is that humanity may be exalted to
the highest stage and may be adorned with knowledge and
good actions through the imitation of the Imam. What has
been said in the Holy Quran about Prophethood (that the
Prophets have been sent to people as His signs, to teach
them the Book and Wisdom), is equally applicable to an
Imam too, because an imperfect person cannot make mother
person perfect. What can someone give to another, when he
does not possess anything himself? A misguided man cannot
guide another man. Judged accordingly, an Imam is a
little below the Prophet, but over every human being.

Anyone who believes in the Imam is called, according
to the Shi'a terminology, a "mu'min" (a man of
faith and trust) in the special sense. Anyone who
acknowledges the four fundamentals, which are the centre
of faith of all the Muslims, is called a
"Muslim" and a "mu'min" in a general
sense; as has been said earlier, all Islamic laws apply
to him: the protection of his life, property, respect and
honour is obligatory. By only refusing to acknowledge the
Imamate, a person cannot be excluded from the Islamic
fold. Of course, on the Day of Judgement, and in the
stages of nearness to God and "karamat"
(miraculous signs), the Shi'a faith will reveal its
excellence over the Islam of the majority.

All Muslims are equal in the world and are brothers,
but in the next world there will certainly be a
difference of ranks. People will be accorded positions
according to their performance and intention. The final
decision is in God's hands in these matters, and it is
therefore better for us not to involve ourselves.

We have explained that that which distinguishes the
Shi'a from the Sunni Muslims is their belief in the
Imamate of the Twelve Imams, and it is for this reason
that this sect is called "Imamiyah". It should
be noted that all Shi'as are not Imamiyah, because the
word Shi'a applies to the Zaydiyah, the Isma'iliyah, the
Waqifiyah and the Fathiyah as well. These are sects which
are counted as Muslim. But a more careful study of other
sects will show that there are many which are totally
excluded from Islam, but which, nevertheless, are
sometimes still called Shi'a as, for instance, the
Khitabiyah, who are an example of the hundred or more
sects which cannot be regarded as Muslim.

At the present time, however, the word of Shi'a
specifically refers to the Imamiyah sect; which is the
biggest body of Muslims in the world of Islam after the
Sunnis.

In Islamic learning, faith in the twelve imams is not
anything new; it is referred to in all reliable and
authentic books by Muslim authors. The Imams Muslim and
al-Bukhari narrated traditions concerning the twelve
Imams in their Sahihs in different ways. A few of
them are given here:

1. Jabir ibn Samrah says, "One day when I went to
the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) along with my father, the Holy
Prophet (s.a.w.) said: 'The universe shall not come to an
end until all the twelve caliphs have appeared.' After
this the Prophet (s.a.w.) said something silently, which
I could not hear. I asked my father what the Prophet of
Islam (s.a.w.) had said. He said: "The Holy Prophet
(s.a.w.) says that all of them shall be from the
Quraysh."

2. Another tradition says: "So long as there are
the twelve authorities, the Muslims will continue to
exist."

3. Again: "So long as there are the twelve
caliphs, the grandeur and majesty of Islam shall live on.

4. God knows who these twelve caliphs are. The Holy
Prophet's statement that "after me the caliphate
shall remain for thirty years, then it will become the
object of deceit and fraud" is well known to all
Muslims both Shi'a and Sunni.

We do not want to enter into discussion and arguments
concerning this topic. If anyone seeks a complete proof
of the existence of the twelve Imams, he can study the
thousands of volumes devoted to this subject.

The Fundamental Beliefs

From the Shi'a point of view, the religion is divided
into two sections: knowledge and practice. That is,
matters concerning the intellect, and matters relating to
the human body. Those matters which concern knowledge or
wisdom, are called "Usul ad-din" (fundamentals
of religion) and they are five: (1) tawhid
(monotheism), (2) nubuwah (Prophethood), (3) the Imamate
(Vicegerency), (4) 'adl (Justice) and (5) ma'ad
(the Day of Judgement). We shall explain each topic
separately.

Tawhid (monotheism):

According to the Imamiyah faith, every sane thinking
person has a moral duty to know his Creator. He should
believe in His Oneness and Divinity, and should ascribe
no partner to Him in His Actions. He should also believe
that creation, sustenance, life and death are governed by
Him alone. He is the All-pervading, and if somebody
ascribes sustenance, creation, or the giving of life and
death to anyone else except God, he will be considered an
unbeliever (kafir), someone who ascribes partners
to God in His work (mushrik) and will be excluded
from the Islamic fold.

Similarly, in obedience and worship of God sincerity
is necessary. That is, if somebody worships anything else
other than God Almighty, or adores someone or something
else, or considers worship of something other than Him as
a means of nearness to Him, he also, according to the
Imamiyah faith, shall be regarded as an unbeliever.

Worship of anyone except God, the One without any
partner, is not lawful. Obedience to anybody except God
the Almighty, the Holy Prophets, and the Holy Imams is
also not permissible.

Obedience to the Prophets and the Imams is indirectly
obedience to God, because they are the ones who proclaim
of the divine command; but to obey them with the idea
that it is worship of God is unlawful and purely a
satanic deceit. To seek blessings from these revered
persons, to make them a means of intervention between
ourselves and God, and also to offer certain prayers at
their graves is lawful because this is worship of God and
not worship of them. This is quite an obvious difference.
According to the Holy words of God the Almighty, "in
houses which God has permitted to be raised to honour,
for the celebration in them of his name", it is
lawful to offer prayers to God in these sacred places.
This is the faith of "tawhid" of

the Imamiyah sect, which is unanimously supported by
all our 'ulama'.

The subject of the monotheism has been divided into
several types: "tawhid ad-hdhat" (the Essence
of the one God), "tawhid as-siffat" (the
Attributes of the One God), "tawhid al-af'al"
(the Actions of the One God). For the sake of brevity we
will not dwell on this topic.

Prophethood:

Imamiyah Shi'as believe that all the Prophets were
appointed by God; all of them were sent by Him and they
are all His exalted servants. Hadrat Muhammad al-Mustafa
(s.a.w.) is both the "Seal of the Prophets"
(the final prophet) and the Chief of all the Prophets. He
was perfectly infallible, free from sin and deviation.
All his life the Holy Prophet acted according to the will
of God Almighty; God enabled him to travel from Masjid
al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa, from where he went bodily to
al-'Arsh and al-Kursi (the throne and the footstool) and
even beyond the "hujub" (the veils) and the
"suradiq" (the highest point beyond the heaven
of heavens); he finally came to within two bow spans or
less of the presence of God.

It is the firm faith of the Imamiyah Shi'as that
whoever claims prophethood or revelation after Hadrat
Muhammad al-Mustafa (s.a.w.) is an unbeliever and liable
to be put to death.

The Quran which today is in the hands of the Muslims
is the same text of guidance and religious commands which
God the Almighty revealed as a miracle. There has been no
addition to, or subtraction from, it. Muslims believe in
"tahrif" (changes in the original) ,are wrong,
because it violates the Quranic declaration: "We
have revealed the Book and We are its Protector".
All the 'ulama' (religious scholars) are unanimous on
this point, and if there is any tradition against it, it
is unauthentic; any tradition which has come down to us
through imperfect chains of transmission cannot be relied
upon as source of knowledge and cannot thus be acted
upon.

The Imamate:

It is the question of the Imamate which distinguishes
the Shi'a sect from all other sects; it is the basic and
fundamental difference which separates this school from
other schools of thought. Other differences are not
fundamental; they are "furu'i" (that is they
are concerned with the details of the code of writing and
action). Such differences of secondary importance are
present between the views of the Imams (religious heads)
of the majority community of the Muslims. For instance, a
large number of the Hanafi laws do not correspond with
the laws of Shafi'is- According to the Imamiyah sect, the
Imamate is the rank of the Perfect Man; like prophethood
it is sustained by Almighty God for the guidance of the
people. The Shi'as believe that Almighty God ordered His
Prophet (s.a.w.) to appoint 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) as
his successor, so that after the end of Prophethood the
mission of spreading Islam might be continued. The Holy
Prophet (s.a.w.) knew that this appointment would be
looked at with displeasure by others. Many of them would
think that it was due merely to brotherly love or undue
regard for his son-in-law.

It is quite obvious that from the beginning of the
Islamic era until the present age the Muslims have in
general not truly followed the Holy Prophet's guidance.
The All powerful declared in very clear words: "Oh
Prophet, deliver immediately what you have been commanded
to from your Lord and if you do it not, then (it will be
as in you have not delivered His message (at all)".
Accordingly after his last hajj the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.)
gathered the people at "Ghadir al-Khum" and
addressed them thus: "Am I not better than every
believer present here?" Then all of them said with
one voice: "Certainly, O Prophet of God. You are
superior to all of us."

After this testimony of allegiance the Holy Prophet
(s.a.w.) said: "Whoever has accepted me as his
master, then 'Ali is his master . . . " Moreover, on
various other occasions, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.)
clearly explained the reality of the Imamate, sometimes
by implication and sometimes quite openly. The Prophet
thus performed his duty and God 's command was carried
out. As soon as the Holy Prophet had breathed his last
breath some Muslims presumptuously tried to hide the
reality of the Imamate. They misconstrued the open
declaration, and through their personal interpretation
began to make changes in the religious commands. The
result is well known as we have seen.

However 'Ali (a.s.) and his group, which comprised
high-ranking sahaba (companions) kept aloof from this
selfish struggle for power and refused to offer
allegiance.

Amir al-Mu'minin (a.s.) remained silent for some time;
out of consideration for Islamic unity, but when
Mu'awiyah tried to bring the Islamic rule and authority
under his subjugation and started destructive activities,
Amir al-Mu'minin set himself against him; supporting a
man like Mu'awiyah and tolerating his wrong policies
would have been a deadly poison for Islam, and it was the
foremost duty of Hadrat, Ali (a.s.) to protect the divine
religion.

The Imamiyah believe that spiritually they are with
'Ali (a.s.) and are his followers; anyone who takes 'Ali
as a friend, we too are friends of that person, and of
whoever takes 'Ali (a.s.) as an enemy, we also are his
enemy.

This faith is based on the Holy Prophet's words: "Oh
God, be a friend of the one who loves 'Ali (a.s.) and be
an enemy of the one who is an enemy of 'Ali (a.s.)."

The Imamiyah Shi'as believe that Almighty God never
leaves the world without a Prophet or an Imam whether
this "proof of God" is apparent or hidden. The
Holy Prophet (s.a.w.), through an explicit ordinance,
made 'Ali al-Murtada (a.s.) his successor. 'Ali (a.s.)
made al-Hasan (a.s.) his successor, and Imam al-Hasan
(a.s.) made his brother Imam al-Husayn (a.s.) his
successor. In this way this chain continued until the
eleventh Imam. The Eleventh spiritual guide Imam al-Hasan
al-' Askari (a.s.) was succeeded by his son the twelfth
Imam, the Imam of the Age, the Awaited One (a.s.),
vicegerent of God. This belief is not an innovation of
the Shi'as, rather it is a divine practice, which started
with Adam (a.s.) and continued until the last Prophet
(s.a.w.).

There are innumerable books written by eminent 'ulama'
on this topic. We give below the names of some 'ulama' of
early centuries who have written on the topic of
"wasiyah" (succession).

1). Hisham ibn al-Hakam.

2). Husayn ibn Sa'id

3). 'Ali ibn Miskini

4). 'Aliibn al-Mughirah

5). 'Aliibn Husayn ibn Fadl.

6). Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Sa'id

7). Ahmad ibn Muhammad Khalid al-Barqi, the author of
"al-Mahasin".

8). The great historian 'Abdu 'l-'Aziz ibn Yahya al-Judi.

Most of these writers belong to the first and second
centuries, but the number of writings from authors of the
third century hijri is also large:

1). Yahya ibn Mustafad.

2). Muhammad ibn Ahmad as-Sabuni

3). 'Ali ibn Ra'ab

4). Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Farukh

5). The well known historian, Ali ibn al-Husayn
alMas'udi, the author of "Muruj adh-Dhahab".

6). Shaykh at-Ta'ifah Muhammad ibn al-Hasan at-Tusi

7). Muhammad ibn, Ali ash-Shalmaghani

8). Musa ibn al-Hasan ibn, Amir

Books written after the fourth century can hardly be
counted.

al-Mas'udi wrote in his famous book "Ithbatu
'l-wasiyah". "Every prophet had twelve
successors". The writer also gave the names of all
of them, and wrote brief life-sketches of each; at the
end of the work he writes in more detail about the twelve
Imams.

The Shi'as have been the target of attack from both
Muslim and non-Muslim groups concerning the existence of
the twelfth Imam. We should thus like to explain the
reality of this belief in a few words. Those who object
think that the Shi'as believe in a baseless and
ridiculous thing.

When we examine the view-point of these critics however
we find that it is based on two rather naive doubts; the
first being "How can a person naturally live for
more than a thousand years?" and the second,
"What advantage is gained from his
disappearance?" or "What is the use of a hidden
Imam whose existence and non-existence are both
equal?" As to the first doubt, we should like to
draw the reader's attention to the prophet Nuh's age.
According to clear Qur'anic statements the prophet Nuh
lived for nine hundred and fifty years, calling the
people to God among his nation; according to the opinion
stated by the 'ulama' his age was at least one thousand
six hundred years, and a number of other scholars have
gone so far as to say that he lived to be three thousand
years old. The scholars of hadith of the majority
community also acknowledge the longevity of other persons
besides Nuh (a.s.). The great scholar an-Nuwi in his book
"Tahdhibu 'l-Asma"' writes: "Though there
is a difference of opinion among the 'ulama' about the
age and the Prophethood of Hadrat Khidr (a.s.), the
majority of scholars admit that Khidr is still present
with us. The Sufis, moreover, unanimously declare that he
is still alive, and innumerable stories about his
meetings with people, and about what was said at these
meetings, are quite well-known."

Shaykh Abu 'Umar ibn Salah writes in his
"Fatawa": "The majority of the 'ulama'
decided that Hadrat Khidr is alive, but some of the
scholars of hadith do not accept it." I seem to
recall that in another work Shaykh Abu 'Umar wrote (and
az-Zamakhshari also has written this in his Rabi'u
'l-abrar) that the Muslims are unanimous in their belief
that four prophets (a.s.) are still alive among us. Two
of them are in the sky, that is 'Isa (a.s.) and Idris
(a.s.), and two are on the earth and these are Khidr and
Ilyas. Hadrat Khidr was born in the time of Ibrahim
Khalilu 'llah (a.s.). Thus we have clear proof of the
existence of persons who lived for hundreds of years.
'Allamah as-Sayyid al-Murtada has written in his
"Imali" about persons who have lived to a great
age and as-Shaykh as-Saduq has given an even a longer
list in his "Kamal ad-Din". Even in the present
age we find some people who have lived for a hundred and
thirty years, and some for even longer.

Logically we may pose the question: "If someone
is capable of living to an abnormal age, say a hundred
and thirty, then is it possible that in extraordinary
conditions a man may live to be a thousand?" At the
most you can call it something super-normal. Moreover, is
super-normality in the case of Prophets and the
"awliyah" (those near to God) a particularly
strange thing?

If one turns over the pages of the old volumes of
"Majallatu 'l-Muqtatif", you will find that
they are full of articles written by western scholars who
have scientifically proved that man can theoretically
attain eternal life in this world. Some western thinkers
even say. "If Ibn Muljim's sword had not struck 'Ali
ibn Abi Talib (a.s.), he would have lived forever. We are
justified in this supposition because the Holy Imam was
endowed with such qualities of excellence and healthy
liying." Much could be added on this topic but the
scope of this book does not allow further discussion.

Concerning the second objection, we might ask whether
it is fitting that the Muslim nation should know every
detail of divine will and intention. Is it necessary to
know all the secrets of the world and of the religious
commands?

Before demanding such knowledge we must carefully think
whether under the screen of some outwardly
incomprehensible divine command there is also hidden some
other secret. For example, a stone, in itself, neither
benefits nor harms man. Nevertheless, we kiss the Hajaru
'l-Aswad (the black stone in the Ka'bah). What is the
wisdom hidden behind that, we may ask.

The "maghrib" prayers are offered in three
rak'ahs (units); the "isha'' prayers are performed
in four units. The morning prayers consist of only two
units. What expediency is there in this difference of
units?

Rather we must realise that there are a large number
of matters of which neither archangel nor prophet has any
knowledge; concerning the knowledge of the last hour,
God, the Almighty says: "Verily God alone has
knowledge of the Hour, the Day of Judgement and when it
will rain." A part from this, there are many other
things which have been kept secret from us and their
justification is unknown; we may refer, for example, to
"ismu 'l-'azam" (the Greatest Name),
"laylatu 'l-qadr" (the time for the acceptance
of Invocation). We would like to make clear by the above
examples that one need not be amazed at those divine
matters whose wisdom is not apparent. Rather, we should
recognise that an order or action exists, and act
accordingly as believing Muslims.

If something is proved by the authentic statements of
the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and his infallible successors,
we must accept it. There is no other option: to enter
into an argument about the nature of wisdom and man's
obligation to find a reason for everything would be in
vain. As far as possible we have deliberately not
provided arguments and proofs in this small booklet;
there are already large volumes in which these points
have been discussed in detail; likewise we examine the
"Qa'im Al-Muhammad", the presently existing
descendant of Muhammad (s.a.w.). There are a great number
of authentic traditions concerning the "qiyam"
of al-Mahdi (the rising of the twelfth Imam) in books of
knowledge of both sects.

Though we acknowledge the fact that God knows better
the wisdom about the occultation of Imam al-Mahdi, we
would nevertheless point out that a number of rational
proofs have already been given in reply to some Shi'a
questionners. The decisive fact to bear in mind is that
in every age the existence of an Imam is necessary; the
world cannot remain without a divinely appointed guide;
his very existence is a blessing for mankind, and his
authority over us is also a blessing. The question of the
wisdom hidden in this action of God's is thus invalid (a
blessing cannot be rationalised) and acknowledgment of
the "ghaybah" (occultation) is a necessary duty
of every obedient Muslim.

'Adl (Justice)

God the Almighty is not unjust to anybody, nor does He
commit any action which could be considered bad by man's
primordial sense- This is what is known as'adl (justice).
Justice is one of the attributes of Almighty God ,
existence of which is necessary. It is essential, like
all the other attributes of Oneness. The Ash'arites
differ greatly in their beliefs from the Imamiyah and the
Mu'tazilah (the Imamiyah and the Mu'tazilah are both
called "'Adliyah") The reason for this
opposition is that the Ash'arites reject "goodness
and badness" as rational concepts, and affirm rather
that "goodness" is that which is called
"good" by religion, and "badness"
that which the code of religion calls "bad".
They regard knowledge of the Creator and recognition of
the prophets as being outside the scope of the intellect;
they accept miracles according to the dictates of
religion, and they completely discard the dictates of
wisdom. Consequently they are in perplexity.

The '"Adliyah" (that is, the Imamiyah and
the Mu'tazilah) maintain that Islam is in accordance with
reason.

Reason considers some actions good and some actions
bad, and it is reason too which considers a bad act to be
impossible for God the Almighty. He is All-wise and a bad
action would be contrary to the dictates of His wisdom.

To chastise an obedient person is unjust, and
injustice is a bad action; reason assures us that the
Creator of the world could not unjustly chastise obedient
Muslims as this would be a bad action.

The Imamiyah sect have paid special attention to the
problem of 'adl and have included this attribute among
the fundamentals of religion. (It is worthy of note here
that the Ash'arites do not themselves deny justice; their
faith in this respect is that whatever God the Almighty
does cannot affect justice and goodness; they are of the
view that wisdom is so insignificant that it cannot
decide as to whether one thing is appropriate for God and
another thing inappropriate.) The Imamiyah have clearly
demonstrated that the best criterion for testing goodness
and badness is wisdom. It is through this means that we
have come to the conclusion that the All-perfect Being
(God) must have all good attributes and be free from all
imperfections.

On the basis of this view of goodness and badness, and
faith in the justice of God, certain other beliefs have
formed: the notion of "lutf" (God's
all-permeating benevolence and blessing), and the belief
that it is the duty of a Muslim to thank God, Who has
given him everything. The notions of "jabr" and
"iktiyar" (the coercion of man by God and the
freedom of man to act as he wishes respectively) are
closely connected to the ideas of goodness and badness.

Absolute destiny and freewill have always been a major
subject of discussion in every philosophy or religion.
The Ash'arites believed in "jabr", and the
Mu'tazilah and the Imamiyah held and still hold the view
that every man is free and independent: he can do
everything voluntarily, and perform all his actions with
his own will; Like the existence of self, the faculty of
volition is also a gift from God. The Creator of the
universe created people and gave them freedom of action;
absolute authority is God's alone, but in his day-to-day
speech and actions man is quite independent. God, the
Almighty, neither forces anyone to some action, nor
restrains him from doing it; the sons of Adam do as they
please. It is for the same reason that the intellect
demands that a crime be punished and a good act rewarded
or praised.

If we do not follow this basic rule, reward and
punishment, the sending of the prophets, the revelation
of the Books, and the promise of Gehenna or Paradise in
the hereafter becomes meaningless.

There is, unfortunately, no further room for
discussion within the restricted framework of this book.
We would refer the reader to part I of our book
"ad-Din wa 'l-Islam".

In short the Imamiyah religion believes that God is
"adil" (just) and that man is independent and
free to act Ma'ad (the Day of Judgement)

Like all Muslims, the Shi'as believe that Almighty God
will bring all people to life again for accountability,
punishment and reward on the Day of Judgement. Ma'ad
involves the appearance of every person before his Lord
in exactly the same human bodily form he had while on
earth. It is not necessary to know in what way the return
will be effected; suffice it to say that whatever has
been stated about final requital and accountability in
the Book of God and the authentic traditions is a part of
our faith, namely, belief in hell or paradise, comfort or
pain in "al-barzakh" (i.e. purgatory),
"al-mizan" (the balance), "'as-sirat"
(the path), "'al-a'raf" ("the
heights", a place situated between paradise and
hell), and "kitabu 'l-a'mal" (the record of
deeds) which will show all the deeds one has done in
one's life. The Shi'as therefore finally believe that
every one shall be entitled to receive punishment or
reward according to his deeds. Good actions shall be
rewarded and bad actions shall entail punishment: God
says in the glorious Qur'an: "Whoever does an atoms
weight of goodness will see it on the last day, and
whoever does an atom's weight of bad will see it on the
last day."