✦⋆· said,"On the Day of Resurrection, pulpits will be set up around the Throne for my Shi'as and the Shi'as of my household, who are sincere in their adherence to our guardianship.

Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, will say, 'Hurry to Me My servants that I may spread My Magnanimity over you, for you have been hurt in the world."

● The Prophet (saw) was asked by Ibn 'Aabbas about the verse of Allah in the Quran, "And the Foremost Ones are the foremost ones: they are the ones brought near to Allah" [Qur'an 56:10,11],

To which he replied, 'This refers to Ali (as) and his Shi'as - they will be the foremost to enter Paradise, the ones brought near to Allah through His Magnanimity over them."

✦⋆· said, "I complained to the Prophet (saw) about people's jealousy towards me, so he replied, 'O Ali, the first four people to enter Paradise will be myself, you, Hassan and Hussain. The rest of our progeny will be behind us, those who love us will be behind them, and our Shi'as will be on either side of us."

● Imam Ali (as) asked Nawf al-Bakali, "Do you know who my Shi'as are, Nawf?' to which he replied, 'By Allah, no.'

Imam replied, 'My Shi'as have parched lips and empty stomachs. They are those whose faces disclose asceticism, for they are ascetics by night, lions by day."

✦⋆· said in answer to a man who said to him, "Verily I am one of your Shi'as, 'O 'Aabdallah, if you are truly obedient to us in our commands and prohibitions, then you are telling the truth. But if not, then do not add to your sins by falsely claiming such a dignified position that you are not worthy of.

Do not say, 'I am one of your Shi'as, but say rather, 'I am one of your adherents and one of your lovers and an enemy to your enemies.' You are [doing] good and aiming towards good."

✦⋆· said, "Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet (saw), was once asked about [the status of] Ali b. Abi Talib (as), to which she replied, 'I have heard the Prophet (saw) say, 'Verily Ali and his Shi'as are the victorious ones."

● "Our Shi'as are none other than those who are consciously wary of their duty to Allah and obey Him.

They are known solely for their humbleness, their humility, their returning promptly whatever is entrusted in their care and their Abundant remembrance of Allah."

● "Our Shi'as are of three types: one type dupe people in our name, one type are like glass which discloses everything that is inside it [that they, like glass, cannot keep hidden that which is placed in their trust, like secrets (ed.)], and one type are like red gold, which the more it is brandished in the fire, the purer it becomes."

● "O community of Shi'a - the Shi'as of the household of Muhammad - be like the middle saddle-cushion, on which the extremist who has slid forward falls back, and with which the follower who is yet to come catches up.'

Upon hearing this, a man called Sa'ad from among the ansar asked him, 'May I be your ransom, who is an extremist?'

He replied, 'They are a group of people who say such things about us that we do not say about ourselves.

Neither are these people from among us, nor do we associate ourselves with them.'

Then the man asked, 'Who is the follower that is yet to come?'

He replied, 'The one who is searching for good and wants it, and who will eventually attain it and be rewarded for it."

✦⋆· said, "Verily the Shi'a of Ali were those who restrained their stomachs and their sexual desires, who struggled and fought intensely, who worked hard for their Creator, who hoped for His reward and feared His punishment.

If you have seen such people, then they are the very Shi'a of Ja'afar."

● "Test our Shi'as with regard to three things: the prayer times to see how well they observe them, their secrets to see how well they guard them from our enemies, and their wealth to see how they help out their fellow brothers with it."

● "Verily our Shi'as are those who possess four eyes: two in their head, as well as two in their heart.

Actually, all people are such, except that Allah has opened their [the Shi'a's] eyes, and blinded others' [as a result of their rejection of His guidance]."

● "One who claims to follow us with his tongue, but does the opposite to our actions and deeds is not from among our Shi'as."

● "There is a group of people who claim that I am their Imam, but by Allah, I am no Imam of theirs - may Allah curse them - every time I conceal a secret, they disclose it.

Every time I explain a matter, they retort, saying, 'Actually that means such and such.' I am only the Imam of those who obey me."

● Imam Sadiq (as) once asked a man about his tribe and brothers whom he had left back home, which the latter replied by praising them, attesting to their integrity and extolling them.

Then Imam (as) asked, 'Do the rich among them visit the poor when they are ill?'

He replied, 'Not much.' 'Do the rich frequent the poor at all?' asked Imam.

The man replied, 'Not much.' 'Then, do the rich maintain relations with the leaders from amongst the poor?'

The man replied, 'Verily you are listing virtues that people amongst us rarely possess.' Imam said, 'Then how can these people claim to be Shi'a?!'

● "The Shi'as are of three types: one type who loves us and shows affection towards us, and he is one of us.

The other type is he who adorns himself through us, and we will serve as an adornment for whoever adorns himself through us.

And the third type seeks to cheat people and enrich himself in our name, and whoever does this will be impoverished."

● "O 'Aabd al-A'ala, ... give my greetings of peace and the mercy of Allah to my Shi'as, and tell them: 'Allah has mercy on the servant who incites love in the people towards himself and towards us [when attracting them towards Islam], by displaying to them that which they already like, and keeping from them that which they would reject."

● "O Shi'a community, be an adornment for us [amongst people] and not a disgrace to us. Say good words to people, guard your tongues and restrain yourselves from mindless chatter and offensive speech."

✦⋆· said, "One who goes into retreat [in order to achieve spiritual upliftment] and who does not attain piety in his heart as a result is not from among our Shi'as."

According to another hadith, "Allah (swt) gets rid of misery & disasters of 100 neighbours of a righteous Shi'a."

•••

Unfortunately, it seems sometimes the media doesn't focus on good and the depth of a topic and matter and just bases it off what they see from outside or any incidents or things that occur. At least, this is what's been happening for a long time regarding Shi'as.

For people who come across images or an article written by the media, they quickly let it impact their judgement and influence them. Not knowing their sources and reasons. Believing it all.

One of these cases can be seen when you search Sh'ia online. Such grand position and faith, with such beautiful depth and understanding and following the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (saw), Teachings of Holy Qur'an and the true leadership of Imam Ali (as). With so much more that can't be described easily.

Yet, when you search online the word Shi'a, you tend to mostly find images of people who have cut themselves and are bleeding.

They capture some moments and interpret the rest themselves without having any proper knowledge or base their entire view upon that act only.

This is what the enemies of Islam wants.

But, The Day of Ashura, is the 10th of Muharram and commemorated by Shi'a Muslims as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali (as), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (saw) and the third Imam (as).

During Muharram, it is customary to donate blood in memorial of Imam Hussein's fight for preservation of Islam.

The Imam Hussain (as) Blood Donation Campaign (IHBDC) is a voluntary campaign.

The campaign was inspired by the sacrifice of Imam Husayn (as) and tries to use his stance as motivation for others to make their own significant sacrifice by donating blood.

During the last 10 years, the campaign has saved many lives by providing blood packs to the patients.

The campaign has clarified that donating blood is a permitted and, in fact, a recommended act in Islam.

Some eminent religious scholars have issued information regarding the donating of blood and shown support for the campaign.

Now, this good deed should be spreading worldwide, Not the images of people cutting themselves and the grand reason behind it made clear, as to why people are donating blood. The significant teachings behind it.

Shi'as have been encouraged to donate their blood even to non Muslims. Any human being who needs it can use it.

They would know the blood running through their veins is of a Shia. Their master is Imam Hussain (as). Who is Imam Hussain (as)? and what did he do that his followers are so kindly helping and donating their blood on the day of his martyrdom to those who needs it.

Followers of Sheikh Zakzaky Donate Blood More Than Any Section of Nigerians

There is no section of the Nigerian society that donate Free Blood to all Nigerians like members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria under the leadership of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky.

And conversely there is no section of the Nigerian society that Tyrant Buhari and gang brutally murdered in thousands like Followers of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky. There are multiple Shia mass graves in Kaduna and Kano states created by these genocidal criminals in power in Nigeria.

Every year especially during the Ashura and Arbaeen mourning periods, tens of thousands of members of the Movement, male and female, donate Blood in various towns and cities of Nigeria.

The price of Blood is not cheap in Nigeria. A Doctor said that, A pint of blood, for example, may cost between N15,000 and N25,000, depending on the blood group, that is AB, O- and O+. The O- Blood group is more expensive because it is rare.

It is important to note that 60% of donated Blood in Nigeria comes from paid Donors. And members of the Movement usually donate Blood Free to poor Nigerians.

Nigerians should ask this question; "Why did the Buhari gang massacred them on at least 3 occasions? Why sent heavily-armed soldiers and police to mass murder these unarmed civilians in Zaria, Kano and Abuja?"

.....and we will overcome!

Leaders of Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria have listed five conditions for possible truce and presented some demands to the federal government.

Leadership reports that the main condition was the immediate release of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.

Briefing journalists in Abuja, Abdulmumin Giwa, the group's media forum secretary, and Abdulrahman Abubakar, the leader of the movement in Yola, insisted that the killing of Shi'as by Nigerian army in Zaria, Kaduna state, was unprovoked.

The group's leaders said that they had incurred human and material losses as a result of the clamp down on them by the soldiers.

"We want the army to hand over our leader, Sheikh El-Zakzaky, to us immediately for medical care. We ask the military to release all our arrested members.

We ask for the army to stop molestation of our members; all corpses of our brothers and sisters killed by the army should be released for proper Islamic burial.

We want full compensation for the lives lost as well as our properties destroyed, and we want a full-scale investigation and prosecution of culprits involved in the killing of our members," they said.

Giwa lamented that since the Saturday incident, members of their sect have continued to suffer more deaths.

According to him, on Tuesday, December 15, men of the Nigerian Police Mobile Force attacked their members and killed four.

"We had no premeditated plan to attack the chief of army staff as claimed by the army.

On that fateful day when we were getting set to celebrate the Maulud of our holy Prophet (saw) at the Husseiniyya prayer ground, the Nigerian army came and stationed a detachment of soldiers there and the military presence created tension amongst our members.

Even when the COAS came to pass, there was no incident at all. But two hours later, soldiers came back and began to open fire on our members. More than 300 people were killed there," he said.

According to him, later in the night, the army went to Gellesu residence of leader and opened fire on his members, including his leader, Sheikh El-Zakzaky, and three of his children.

More deaths were recorded there; in fact the death toll was four times more than what was recorded at Husseiniyya. He said that most of the dead bodies were evacuated by the army and taken to unknown places.

The two spokesmen revealed that El-Zakzaky had called some of the members shortly before soldiers arrested him. He told them that he had sustained bullet injuries in his eyes and in his right shoulder.

"He informed his only surviving son that he was bleeding profusely and that the corpses of his three sons: Hamad (18), Ali (16) and Humeid (13) were lying dead in front of him at the time the soldiers were shooting into his home,"Abubakar said.

Denying the allegation that the Shia members were armed during the clash with soldiers, Giwa stressed that their group had been known as one of the most peaceful religious bodies in the country.

"We have never been associated with any form of violence in many years of our existence. In fact, we have been rated as the highest donor to the blood bank in Nigeria," he noted.