LEADING THE UMMAH

Title: LEADING THE UMMAH
Author: Ja'far Subhani
Project supervisor: Translation Unit, Central Office of Research, Cultural Affairs Department / The Ahl al-Bayt (a) World Assembly (ABWA)
Translator: Mahmud Farrokhpey
Editor: Tahereh Ansari
Proofreader: Andalib Abbas
Publisher: ABWA Publishing and Printing Center
First Printing: 2011
All rights reserved.

Foreword - 13
The introduction to the second edition - 15
What is the objective of the present book? - 17
In the Islamic culture and commandments - 19
CHAPTER 1
The philosophy of recognizing the Imams (as) - 21
CHAPTER 2
Two Hypotheses on Imamate - 25
1. The Sunnite point of view - 25
2. The Shiite point of view - 27
CHAPTER 3
The reasons for the validity of Shiite’s view - 29
I The new problems 29
Another interpretation of the issue of the perfection of religion - 30
The Ignorance of the Ummah’s religious leaders - 32
CHAPTER 4
The Prophet recognizes Imamate as a Divine position - 35
Imamate and prophethood are two sides of the same coin - 36
CHAPTER 5
Islamic rules and the Holy Quran Need the interpretation by Infallibles - 39
Disagreements over the interpretation of the Quran - 41
A statement from Hisham - 42
CHAPTER 6
The triangular danger - The three enemies of Islam - 45
The first side of the triangle of enmity - 45
Other sides of the enmity triangle - 46
CHAPTER 7
Mental and spiritual perfection in the light of an Innocent Imam - 49
CHAPTER 8
Is the Shiite view on Imamate against the principles of freedom? - 51
A Solution - 51
A) The issue of appointing the position of Imam is distinct from the issue of dictatorship - 52
B) The weak points of democratic governments - 52
C) Was the election of Caliphs done by the majority at the advent of Islam? - 55
CHAPTER 9
Consultation in Islam - 57
CHAPTER 10
Let us be fair in our judgments - 61
Now let us refer to the letter - 61
Let us be fair - 62
CHAPTER 11
The sad story of Saqifah Bani Saedah - 65
The Prophet's worry about the regression of the Ommah - 65
The logic of the members of Saqifah - 67
CHAPTER 12
The logic of the Ansar and the Muhajirin - 73
Imam Ali (as) diagnoses the logic of the people of Saqifah - 75
Imam Ali's rationale for his right on the caliphate - 76
CHAPTER 13
Being the leader of a congregation is not a sign of greatness - 79
Abu Bakr being the congregation leader - 80
An Answer - 80
CHAPTER 14
Governing is not distinct from spiritual leadership - 83
The position of explaining the Divine commandments and guiding people - 85
It is not right to separate these two positions - 87
Christianity - oriented view - 89
CHAPTER 15
The caliphs’ ignorance of Divine commands - 91
Some samples of the ignorance of the first caliph - 93
The level of knowledge of the second caliph - 94
The third caliph’s level of knowledge 96
CHAPTER 16
The Prophet's disciples were not immune against sins - 99
How to recognize right from wrong - 101
CHAPTER 17
The narrative reasons for the leadership of Imam Ali (as) - 109
1. The Narration of Endearment - 110
An Answer to a Question - 113
CHAPTER 18
2. The Event of Ghadir (Part one) - 115
1. Accusations - 115
2. The torture of the followers - 116
3. Inviting the Arabs' great story-teller - 116
4. Prohibiting the recitation of the Quran - 116
5. The Economic sanctions - 116
6. The plot to assassinate the Prophet - 117
7. The Bloody conflicts - 117
8. The Prophet's demise - 117
CHAPTER 19
2. The Event of Ghadir (part two) - 123
The historical event of Ghadir is an eternal event - 123
Ghadir's Event is Eterna - 125
Other Reasons for the eternity of the Ghadir Event - 126
CHAPTER 20
2. Ghadir's narration (Part three) - 129
What was the objective behind the Glorious Event of Ghadir? - 129
CHAPTER 21
Answers to Questions - 135
Two Questions - 135
The Answer to the first Question - 135
The answer to the second Question - 138
CHAPTER 22

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