Study and see how the Family of the Prophet (‘a) was treated after the martyrdom of our beloved Prophet (S). How the Prophet (S) was poisoned, How his beloved daughter Fatimah (‘a) was crushed behind the door, whipped and made to miscarriage her unborn son Muhsin (‘a) all while they were setting fire to her house while her children the masters of the youths of paradise Hasan (‘a) and Husayn (‘a) were inside. How they stole her land of Fadak and source of income as a way to put economic sanctions on them.

How Imam Ali (‘a) was made to suffer under the rule of these oppressive rulers who stole his rights and then eventually killed him by a fatal blow of a sword while he was in prostration to his Lord. How they tortured and killed his followers, the Shia, by cutting out their tongues, burying them alive inside of walls, crucifying them, exiling them, cutting off their heads and the list goes on. How they poisoned Imam Hasan (‘a) then obstructed his body from being buried beside his Grandfather the Messenger of Allah (S).

How they Brutally massacred Imam Husayn (‘a), his family, friends and even his 6-month-old baby, who none had food or water for three consecutive days. How they imprisoned his women and children and made them march from Karbala to the prison of Damascus while whipping them and with all of the heads of their loved ones mounted on spears in the front of the army of these devils. How all of the Imam’s to follow, except Imam Mahdi (‘aj), were all killed by poison.

Find in-depth narrations of these stories and more in the book The Suffering of the Ahl ul Bayt (‘a) and their followers (Shi’a) throughout History by Mateen J. Charbonneau available at www.yasinpublications.com

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The idea that prompted me to write this book Mystery of the Shia was due to the fact that so many new converts to Shia Islam would always ask me why we did things differently than other sects. They would be exposed to different things upon going to various mosques. They would ask me why people pray with their hands by their sides while others would fold their arms, why was the call to prayer different, what is that “stone” we prostrate on, etc.? I used to find myself explaining these things on a daily basis, so I decided to write these questions and answers down and share them with people who came to me. That was the first phase of this project. Later on, I decided to add the Usul ad-Deen (roots of religion) and Furu ad-Deen (branches of religion) being that these differ from other schools of thought as well.

After I looked at what I had put together I thought that this would be a very beneficial piece of information for new converts to Islam. This was designed to help them not only to learn why Shia believe and practice the way we do, but also to learn with clear proofs from the sources. I then proceeded to add a few other chapters to help give a good basic foundation for one to start in their quest for knowledge.

In total this work deals with a variety of topics including:

• Usul ad-Deen

• Furu ad-Deen

• The Word Shia and its Meaning

• The 30 rights of a Muslim

• Forbidden acts of a Muslim

• Some Important Dates and Things to Know

• Cleanliness in Islam

• Wudhu

• Salat

• Ahadith showing the importance of knowing the Ahl ul Bayt (‘a)

• Why we say bismillah aloud in salat

• Why we say hayya ala khayril amal in adhan

• Why we dont fold our hands in salat

• Why we takbir 3 times after salat

• Why we dont say as-salatu khayrum min nawm in our fajr adhan

• Why we say taslim once while looking straight instead of turning our head right and left

• Why we prostrate on turbah

• Why we say aliyan waliyallah in our adhan and iqamah

Find in-depth narrations of these stories and more in the book Mystery of the Shia by Mateen J. Charbonneau available at www.yasinpublications.com

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Logic is needed to correct and perfect our thinking. For example, Allah created us with the ability to speak, but we need a teacher to instruct us in the rules of speaking such as grammar to prevent us from committing errors. Mistakes in thinking and drawing conclusions is one of the greatest mistakes and causes the worst confusion. Unfortunately, this is a common mistake encompassing every science and art.

Logic is a tool that will guide our thinking to make us aware of unknown thing. It will teach us a formula to put the images that we have in our mind into a sequence to come to a correct and sound way of thinking and to reach things that are unseen and unknown to us. It will allow you to draw the correct reasoning for actions. This tool of logic will put the dots on the letters and thus prohibit your mind from mistakes in thinking. This tool will help you understand other sciences better and if you do not understand and comprehend Manteq than you will not come to the right conclusion when studying Fiqh or other sciences. However, not everyone who learns logic will be free from mistakes; It is a tool that requires application. Without Logic you cannot be safe from inattentiveness in whichever knowledge you enter. This is not realized by the student except after having studied this science with comprehension and after he understands it in depth. Most of these corrupt fundamentals which sweep away the majority of people in its snare are only due to the result of their lack of studying the science of Logic. You see people bending with the wind whichever way it blows them. If they could only recognize the correct method of drawing conclusions from the mistaken method and the manner of deducing results from premises than they would not slip at every arriving thought and they would not embrace every new opinion.

Excerpt from A Study Guide to Logic by Mateen J. Charbonneau, available at Yasin Publications.com