Congregational prayer is a source of both spiritual and social strength. Sakeb Ali illustrates this through quoting relevant passages from the Qurʾan and providing original translations of aḥādīth.

The Islamic Texts Institute, under the direction of Shaykh Rizwan Arastu, has recently published an original translation and commentary on Ziyārat ʿĀshūrāʾ, a devotional salutation to the Prophet’s (ṣ) grandson Imam Ḥusayn (ʿa) on the day of his tragic martyrdom. The translation is lucid, and the commentary profound, with subjects ranging from Imam Husayn’s birth to the logic of laʿn. al-Sidrah has obtained and published a short excerpt of this work.

Naveed Ganjani provides a concise review of Shahīd Muṭahharī’s text on the major disciplines studied in the Shiʿi scholastic tradition.

A summary of L.I.F.E. 2015, an intensive-studies course hosted by the Ahl al-Bayt Islamic Seminary.

Reza Hemyari sat down with Sayyid Sulayman Hassan to discuss Sayyid Sīstānī’s letter to the mobilization forces fighting ISIS.

This article focuses on the practical, a mustaḥab act of mulitple takbīr s in the daily ritual prayer. The daily prayer is central to the spiritual life and practice of all Muslims. As such, it is encouraged for a Muslim to beautify his or her prayer with the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt (ʿa).

This summarized tafsīr intends to provide brief yet meaningful insights into certain chapters of the Holy Qur’an, namely Ṣurat al-Kawthar and Ṣurat al-ʿAṣr. Drawing from scholarly tafāsīr, it brings together various approaches to tafsīr to uncover the riches of the Word of God.

This paper on Islamic virtues, examines some of the noble characteristics of Imam ʿAlī (ʿa). It is the first part of an edited transcript of a speech by Sayyid Sulayman Hassan, which focuses on why we need role models to understand and communicate divine mercy.

How do we treat others equitably and fairly? This edited translation focuses on the virtues of transacting, on what it means to be a good buyer and seller of commodities and goods. Drawing from a classical legal text by ʿAllamah al-Ḥilli, it attempts to draw out the ethical from the legal, the akhlaq from the fiqh as it relates to commercial transactions.

A summary of our 2016 L.I.F.E Summer-Intensive, including class descriptions, discussion summaries, and our new “L.I.F.E. Initiative” programs.

In honor of ʿId al-aḍḥā, here is a reflection on a duʿāʾ by Imam al-Mahdi that enumerates many of the individual and social virtues we should all aspire to.

Who is God? The following translation, from a treatise by the 5th-century Shīʿī scholar, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Karājikī, attempts to concisely explain Divine Unicity (tawḥīd), while discussing the basic creed of Shīʿī Islam.

How do we know our prayers are accepted? In this guest editorial, David Coolidge reflects on insights gained into this question and more during the 2016 L.I.F.E. program.

Listen to inspiring and thought-provoking jumu’ah khutbahs, occasional lectures, and interviews through our podcast and hipcast pages.

This article discusses legal opinions regarding the ideal times for ṣalāh (ritual prayer).

A selection of legal prohibitions that relate to a person’s relationships with Allah ﷻ and others, in accordance with the rulings of Sayyid Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani.

The beginning of a larger project, here is a list of books that are particularly insightful on various topics. This first list contains books that introduce Islam and an Islamic perspective.

Sayyid Sameer Ali, resident alim at the House of Wisdom Center in Wisconsin, discusses the sacredness and etiquette of visiting the sick in Islam, as understood by the teachings of the Prophet and the Ahl al-Bayt.

In an interview with Professor Nebil Husayn, we discuss how early Muslims, both Shi’a and non-Shi’a, viewed Imam Ali (‘a).

A lightly-edited selection and translation from the lectures of Sayyid Aḥmad Madadī, dealing with the history of the writing and circulation of hadith (tadwīn al-ḥadīth) in the Muslim world.

The Sidrah team has launched a new “Resources” website, dedicated to the study and dissemination of the numerous sciences studied in the Islamic seminary. Currently, the website includes a glossary on Arabic Morphology (sarf).

Join the Ahl al-Bayt Islamic Seminary July 1st through 8th, for its 3rd Annual intensive course. This year, we will explore Nahj al-Balāghah as a means of understanding the life of the Imam ʿAli ibn Abi Talib (ʿa) and the sacred wisdom he inherited from the Noble Prophet Muhammad (ṣ).

This guest translation discusses how the Qur’an portrays pious women as universal role-models. An excerpt from Ayatullah Jawadi Amuli’s Women in the Mirror of Divine Beauty and Divine Glory, translated by Ustadah Fatemah Meghji.

In this student resource, the seminal fiqh work, al-Lum’ah al-Dimishqiyyah is updated to include the opinion of some modern jurists, along with other relevant issues.

In this interview with Sayyid Sulayman Hassan Abidi, we discussed how to approach the Qur’an and its stories. What do these stories mean and how can we contemplate their meaning?

How do we emulate the Prophet’s prayer? This article explores one recommended act in the daily canonical prayer, an act instated by the Prophet and continued by the Imams.

Mulla Fayd al-Kashani, in this translated introduction to his Tafsir al-Safi, explains the profound role the Qur’an plays in the life of a believer.

Ustadah Fatemah Meghji, in an essay drawing from the teachings of Ayatullah Jawādī Āmulī, calls the reader of the Qurʾan back to a fundamental principle: that the Qurʾan is primarily a source of Divine wisdom & guidance, not a store of mundane facts & information.

Hasan Kashani, in an article on how the Qurʾan portrays law, describes the integral relationship between Islamic law and morality, a synergy foreign to our modern conceptions of secular law and the modern state.

Professor Aun Hasan Ali illustrates in this essay the pivotal relationship between the Qurʾan and hadith, and how indispensable hadith is in allowing us access to Islamic law.

In a research article, Syed Shiraz Agha evaluates the various arguments Islamic scholars presented on the nature of the Qurʾan’s miracle, as they contemplated the profundity of Islam’s most sacred text.

Can anyone fully understand God’s Words? Only those who first received those Words and inherited them, al-Fayd al-Kashani argues.

Shaykh Rizwan Arastu delves into how to bridge the vast gulf between ourselves and our sacred sources of guidance, that is, the Ahl al-Bayt and the Qurʾan.

Sayyid Ahmad al-Madadi discusses the early development of hadith, and why the ban on writing hadith could not have been by the Prophet’s command.

Imam al-Husayn exemplifies the core ethical and spiritual principles of the Qurʾan throughout his life. In this treatise, Sayyid ul-ʿUlamāʾ outlines an exegesis of the Imam’s life “as given in God’s Words.”

In those times of dire decisions, there is the istikhārah. In an brief interview, Shaykh Muḥammad ʿAlī Girāmī explains this “consultation of God,” and what it entails.

Explaining the Qurʾan is called taʾwīl, literally “the returning of a thing to its origin.” Yet the question remains: what origin or reality is it returned to?

In the following detailed synopsis, Dr. Aun Hasan Ali explores al-Dharīʿah ilā Taṣānīf al-Shiʿah, a renowned work in bibliographical studies that provides a glimpse into the vast intellectual legacy of Shiʿi scholarship.

This article contains anecdotes by the contemporary marjiʿ, Sayyid Mūsā al-Shubayrī al-Zanjānī on the exemplary scholar Sayyid Muhammad Hasan al-Shīrāzī, sharing reports of his knowledge, piety, and scholarship.

A lecture by Shahīd Murṭaẓā Muṭahharī on the role of intellection (taʿaqqul) in the Islamic tradition, and the role it plays in the guidance of human beings.

In this article, Shaykh Shuja Ali Mirza presents a nuanced perspective on how to balance the Oneness of Truth along with the reality of differing human perspectives.

What do the Qurʾan and aḥādīth teach us about knowledge and wisdom? And what can we learn from the lives of our ʿulamāʾ, in the role of knowledge and wisdom in our own religious lives? We sat down with Sayyid Munīr al-Khabbāz to gain insights into these questions and more.