What is Shia Islam? - Twelverism

Iblis (Satan) refused to bow to Adam, and the Qur’an condemns him for it. But some of the most daring Sufi mystics read that refusal very differently: as the act of a perfect monotheist and a tragic lover who would not bow to anything but God, even at the cost of eternal separati ...  Show more

What is the Anqa? In this episode we explore the Anqa (عنقاء), the elusive, legendary bird of Arabic and Islamic tradition, often compared to the phoenix and the Persian Simurgh. We look at its origins in pre-Islamic Arabian lore, the story of how it vanished from the world, and ...  Show more

In this episode we discuss the formation of Shia orthodoxy. Picking up from our earlier episode on early Shi’ism we explore how the experience of persecution under the Umayyads and Abbasid shaped Shia thought and doctrine. We discuss the Muhammad al Baqir and Jaffar as Sadiq and ...  Show more

This episode traces the early developments of Shi’ism. In it we discuss the original schism of authority, how the Shiatul Ali form and the compromise that is reached by the community. We talk about how the divisions between the different tribes reflect the alignments of Pre-Islam ...  Show more

Things you'll learn in this episode of The Real Shia Beliefs:- How 'al-Shia al-Mufid Li'ilm' helps find the top Marja- Factors that can deem this principle unusable- How the concept of '2 just experts' works to find A'lam - What to do when '2 just experts' disagree?- Can we find ...  Show more

Things you'll learn in this episode of The Real Shia Beliefs:- Difference in Tahrif hadith in Bukhari and al-Kafi- Why Shias don't accept hadith on distortion in al-Kafi- Why scholars don't delete weak hadith from al-Kafi?- Tampering in Sahih al-Bukhari in the past decades- How S ...  Show more