The pillars upon which Islam is built are five: prayer, alms, fasting, Hajj, and the walaya of the Prophet and the Imams (s) after him. There are twelve Imams. The first of them is Amir al-Mu’minin `Ali b. Abi Talib, then al-Hasan, then al-Husayn, then `Ali b. al-Husayn, then al-Baqir Muhammad b. `Ali, then as-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad, then al-Kadhim Musa b. Ja`far, then al-Rida `Ali b. Musa, then al-Jawad Muhammad b. `Ali, then al-Hadi `Ali b. Muhammad, then al-`Askari al-Hasan b. `Ali, then al-Hujjat b. al-Hasan b. `Ali . [The Imami religion is] confirmation that they are the Masters of the Order (ulil amr) whose obedience Allah commanded. So, He said “Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and the possessors of the command from you” (4:59) The obedience to them is obedience to Allah, and disobedience to them is disobedience to Allah. Their friend (wali) is the friend of Allah, and their enemy is the enemy of Allah. Love for the progeny of the Prophet (s), when they are upon the course of their purified fathers, is a obligatory duty on the necks of the servants until the Day of the Resurrection, and it is the wage of the prophethood, due to the saying of Allah, “Say: I do not ask a wage of you but love of the near kin” (42:23).

It is the confirmation that Islam is the confirmation of the two testimonies. Faith (al-iman) is confirmation by the tongue, agreement by the heart, and action by the limbs. Faith is not but as this. Whoever testifies to the two testimonies, then his property and his blood is spared unless by their right, and his reckoning is upon Allah. It is the confirmation of the questioning in the grave when the deceased is buried, and of Munkir and Nakir, and of the punishment of the grave, and confirmation of the creation of Paradise and the Fire. [It is the confirmation of] the ascension (al-mi`raj) of the Prophet (s) to the seventh heaven, and from it to the Lote Tree of the Furthest Boundary (sidrat al-muntaha), and from it to the veils of light, and of the conversation with Allah [alone]. He ascended with his body and his spirit in soundness and reality, not in a vision in sleep. That is not because Allah is in a location there, for He is exalted above being in a location, rather He ascended him (s) out of honour to him, and out of extolling of his rank, to show him the kingdom of the heavens as He had shown him the kingdom of the Earth, and that he witness what is in it of the might of Allah, and so that he may inform his Nation of what witnessed in the highness of the signs and evidences. It is the confirmation of the Pond (al-hawd), and intercession (ash-shafa`a) for the sinners from the possessors of major sins. It is the confirmation of the Path (as-sirat), and the Judgment, and the Scale, and the Tablet, and the Pen, and the Throne (al-`arsh), and the Seat (al-kursi).

It is the confirmation that the prayer is a pillar of the religion, and that it is first of what the servant will be reckoned by of his acts on the Day of the Resurrection, and the first of what the servant will be asked about after the recognition (al-ma`rifa) (i.e. of proper beliefs). So, if it is accepted, what is apart from it is [also] accepted, and if it is rejected, what is apart from it is [also] rejected. The obligation of the prayers in the day and night are five prayers, and they are seventeen units: Thuhr is four units, `Asr is four units, Maghrib is three units, the final `Isha is four units, and the morning (al-ghada i.e. Fajr) is two units.

As to the voluntary prayers, then they are twice the like of obligation at thirty-four units: eight units prior to Thuhr, eight units after it prior to `Asr, four units after Maghrib, two units while sitting after the final `Isha – counted as a single unit, and it is the witr for whoever did not make the witr at the end of the night – and the night salat is eight units, each being two units with a taslima, the shaf` is two units with a taslima, the witr is a single unit, and the voluntary prayer of Fajr is two units. So, the sum total of the obligatory and the voluntary prayers in the day and night is fifty-one units.

The adhan and the iqama are dual (i.e. each sentence being said twice as opposed to once). The obligations of the prayer are seven: the time, the purification, the tawajjuh, the qibla, the ruku`, the sujud, and the du`a’. And the qunut is in every prayer, obligatory or voluntary, in the second unit prior to the ruku` and after the recitation. It suffices for the saying in the qunut: rabbi ‘ghfir wa ‘rHam, wa tajaawaz `ammaa ta`lam, innaka anta ‘l-a`azz al-akram (My Lord forgive and have mercy, and overlook what You know, verily You are the most powerful, the most generous). And three takbira also suffices in it. And if the praying person likes to mention the Imams in his qunut and to bless them, then he is to mention them collectively (i.e. without naming them individually).

The takbirat al-iftitah (i.e. takbirat al-ihram) is once, and seven (times) is best. Jahr (recitation aloud) with bismillaahi ‘r-rahmani ‘r-rahim is obligatory in the salat at the opening of al-Fatiha and at the opening of the sura after it. It is a verse from the Quran. It is closer to the greatest name of Allah than the black of the eye is to its white. It is recommended to raise the hands in every takbira in the prayer, and it is the adornment of the prayer.

The qira’at in the first two [units] of the obligatory prayer is al-Hamd and a surah. It is not to be of the `aza’im in which one does sujud. And they are: sajda Luqman (32), hameem as-sajda (41), an-najm (53) and sura iqra bismi rabbika (96); and the sura is also not to be li-eelafi (106) or alam tara kayfa (105) or wa ‘d-duha (93) or alam nashrah (94) for li-eelafi and alam tara kayfa are a single sura, and wa ‘d-duha and alam nashrah are a single sura. So, it is not permissible to isolate one of them alone in an obligatory unit. So, whoever want to recite them in the obligatory prayer, then he is to recite li-eelafi and alam tara kayfa in a (single) unit, and wa ‘d-duha and alam nashrah in a [single] unit. And coupling (al-qiran) is not permissible between two surahs in the obligatory prayer, however in the voluntary prayer there is no harm with the man reciting whatever he wants. There is no harm with reciting the `aza’im in the voluntary prayer, for that is disliked only in the obligatory prayer. It is obligatory to recite Surat al-Jum`a and al-Munafiqin in the prayer of Thuhr on the day of Jum`a, and the Sunna brought that about.

The saying in the ruku` and the sujud is three tasbihat (saying subhanAllah), and five is better, and seven is best, and the [single] complete tasbiha suffices in the unit and the sujud for the person who is sick and the one in a hurry. So, whoever does less than the three tasbihat in his unit and in his sujud, and he is not sick and not in a hurry, then he has reduced a third of his salat. Whoever leaves off two tasbiha, then he has reduced two thirds of his prayer. Whoever does not do tasbih [at all] in his unit and his sujud, then there is no salat for him unless he does tahlil (saying la ilaha illAllah) or does takbir or blesses the Prophet and his family by the number of the tasbih, for that suffices him. The two testimonies suffice in the tashahhud, so what is more [than that] then it is [additional] worship (ta`abbud). [As to] the taslim in the prayer, one time facing the qibla suffices, inclining one’s eye to one’s right. Someone who is in a jama`a with the opponents (ahl al-khilaf) does taslim with two taslima, a taslima to his right and a taslima to his left, as they do, out of taqiyya.

It befits the praying person to do tasbih with the tasbih of Fatima al-Zahra after every obligatory prayer. It is: thirty-four takbira, thirty-three tasbiha, and thirty-three tahmida (saying alhamdulillah). So, if he does that after the obligatory prayer prior to bending his legs, Allah forgives him. Then he sends blessing upon the Prophet and the Imams and supplicates for himself with whatever he likes. He does sujud after he is finished from the du`a’ with the sajda of thankfulness, saying three times in it: shukran lillah (thanks be to Allah). One does not leave it off unless there is an opponent present, out of taqiyya.

Takfir (folding the hands) and saying “ameen” after the Fatiha of the Book is not permissible, nor putting the knees upon the ground in the sujud prior to the hands. It is not permissible to do sujud but upon the earth or upon what the earth grows, except for what is eaten or worn. There is no harm with prayer in [clothing with] the hair and soft hair of every [animal] whose meat is eaten. That whose meat is not eaten, then prayer is not permissible in its hair and soft hair except with that for which permission has been specified, and it is prayer in [the hair of] the squirrel, the sable, the fennec fox, and the beaver, and the first (i.e. the better) is that one not pray in it, but one who prays in it his salat is allowed. And as to the foxes, then there is no permission in it except for in the state of taqiyya and exigency.

Prayer is broken by wind (i.e. flatulence) when it comes out from the prayer, or other than it of what breaks the wudu, or that he remember that he is not upon wudu, or he finds an injury, or a [severe] wound for which it is not possible for him to endure it, or a nosebleed that a lot of blood comes out from his nose, or he turns until he sees whoever is behind him. Nothing breaks the prayer of the Muslim that passes before him of a dog or a woman or a donkey or [anything] other than that.

There is no sahw (forgetfulness, i.e. doubts in regards to how many units one has performed) in the voluntary prayer, so whoever has sahw in a voluntary prayer then he is to build upon whatever he wants (i.e. in terms of which unit it is). Sahw is only in the obligatory prayer. So, someone who has sahw in the first two [units] is to repeat the prayer. Someone who doubts in the Maghrib is to repeat the prayer. Someone who doubts in the ghada is to repeat the prayer. Someone who doubts in the second and the third, or in the third and the fourth, then he is to build upon the most [i.e. the higher number]. So, when he has done taslim, he completes what he suspects he had decreased. The two sajda of sahw are not obligatory upon the praying person except for when he stood when he was in the state of sitting, or he sat in the state of standing, or he left off the tashahhud, or he did not know whether he added in his prayer or decreased from it. They are after the taslim in [a situation of] addition and decrease. In them it is said: bismillahi wa billaahi as-salamu `alayka ayyuha ‘n-nabiyyu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh (by the name of Allah and by Allah, peace be upon you O prophet and the mercy of Allah and His blessings).

As to the sajda of the `aza’im, then it is said in it: “la ilaha illAllahu Haqqan Haqqan, la ilaha illAllahu imanan wa tasdiqan, la ilaha illAllahu `ubudiyyatan wa riqqan, sajadtu laka ya rabbi ta`abbudan wa riqqan la mustankifan wa la mustakbiran, bal ana `abdun dhalilun kha’ifun mustajir” (there is no god but Allah, truly, truly, there is no god but Allah, in faith and in belief, there is no god but Allah, in servitude and in bondage. I have prostrated to You O Lord, in servitude and in bondage, not in boast and not in arrogance. Rather I am a humble, fearing, slave seeking refuge). Then he does takbir when he has raised his head.

Nothing is accepted of the prayer of the servant but what one devotes oneself to with one’s heart, to the point that sometimes a fourth of one’s prayer is accepted or a third of it or less than that or more. However, Allah completes it with the voluntary prayer.

The most rightful of the people in advancing forward (i.e. to lead the prayer) in the jama`a are: the most recite-ful of them of the Quran, so if they are equal in recitation then the senior-most of them in hijra, so if they are equal in hijra then the oldest of them, so if they are equal in age then the most comely of them in face. The owner of the mosque has the most right to his mosque. Whoever prays with a group (i.e. leads them in prayer) and in them there is someone who is more learned than him, their affair does not cease to be towards abasement to the Day of Resurrection.

The jama`a on the day of Jum`a is a wajib farida, and in the rest of the days [it is] a sunna. One who abandons it out of disdain of it and of the jama`a of the Muslims without a reason (or, illness), then there is no prayer counted for him. Jum`a has been unburdened from nine: from the minor, the senior, the insane, the traveler, the slave, the woman, the sick, the blind, and one who is on the head (i.e. distance) of two parasangs. The prayer of the man in jama`a is superior to the prayer of the man alone by himself by twenty-five degrees in Paradise.

The obligatory prayer of travel is two units, except for Maghrib, for surely, the Messenger of Allah (s) left it upon its state in travel and residence. One does not pray anything of the voluntary prayers of the day in travel, and one does not leave off anything of the voluntary prayers of the night. Night Prayer (salat al-layl) is not permissible from the beginning of the night except for in travel. When the person does its expiation (qada) then it is better for him than praying it in the beginning of the night.

The bound of travel in which taqsir (shortening) is obligatory in the prayer and the iftar in the fast is eight parasangs. So, if the man’s travel is four parasangs, and he did not want to return on the same day, then he has a choice whether to complete (the full prayer) if he wants or to shorten if he wants. If he intends to return on the same day, then taqsir is obligatory upon him. Someone whose travel is one of disobedience (i.e. sin), then completion in the fast and prayer is [obligatory] upon him. The one who completes [his prayer] in travel is as one who shortens in residence. Those upon whom completion in the prayer and the fast is obligatory in travel are: the pack-animal driver, the camel driver, the ishtiqan (?) – and he is the courier (?) – the shepherd, and the sailor, for it is their work. Also, the companion of the hunt if his hunt is out of vanity or merriment. If his hunt was out of what he supports his dependents thereby, then taqsir is [obligatory] upon him in the fast and salat. It is not of piety that the man fast a voluntary [fast] in his travel. It is not permissible for the one who breaks his fast in travel in the month of Ramadan to have sexual intercourse (i.e. during the day).

And the prayer is three thirds: a third is purification (tuhur), a third is ruku`, and a third is sujud. There is no prayer without tuhur. The wudu is done singly (i.e. the washings are done one time each), and someone who does wudu twice (washing twice), then it is permissible, however he is not rewarded for it. Water, all of it, is pure (tahir) until you know it is impure. Nothing ruins water but that which has a coursing self (i.e. running blood). There is no harm in [performing] wudu with rosewater and doing the ghusl al-janaba with it. As to water which the Sun has warmed, then there is no harm with [performing] wudu with it. It is only disliked [to perform] wudu with it and washing clothing and doing ghusl because it brings about vitiligo. Nothing makes water which is of the quantity of a kurr najis, and the kurr is one thousand two hundred rotl by [the measure of] the Iraqi rotl. It is narrated that the kurr is that which is three hand spans in length and three hand spans in width and three hand spans in depth. Well water is a purifier, all of it, so long as nothing falls into making it najis. Seawater is a purifier, all of it.

The wudu is not broken but by what exits out from the two ends of urine or feces or wind or semen, and the sleep which removes the intellect. The wiping (al-masH) is not permissible [to be done] upon the turban nor upon the cap nor upon the khuffs or the socks except for from (i.e. because of) an enemy from one is doing taqiyya or ice/snow from which one fears for the feet, so the khuffs take the place of the splints (al-jaba’ir, pl. of jabira) and one wipes upon them. `A’isha narrated from the Prophet (s) that he said: The most severe in regret of mankind on the Day of the Resurrection will be the one who sees his wudu upon the skin of [someone/something] other than himself. `A’isha said: That I should wipe upon the back of a wild donkey in the waterless desert is preferable to me than that I should wipe upon my khuff.

Someone who does not find water is to do tayammum as Allah said, “So betake to wholesome earth” (4:43). “Earth” (sa’eed) means the elevated place; and “wholesome” (tayyib) means that from which the water descends. So, when the man wants to do tayammum, he strikes his hands upon the ground one time, then he shakes them off and wipes his face with them, then he strikes his left hand upon the ground and wipes his right hand with it from the elbow to the ends of the fingers, then he strikes his right hand upon the ground and wipes his left hand with it from the elbow to the tips of the fingers. It has been narrated that the man wipes his forehead and his eyebrows, and wipes upon the back of his hands, and [this is how] our elders have performed it.

Whatever breaks the wudu breaks the tayammum. Looking at water breaks the tayammum. Someone who did tayammum and prayed, then found water while he is [still] in the time of prayer or has exited the time, then there is no repetition [of the prayer] upon him, for the tayammum is one of the two purifications. So, he is to do wudu for another prayer. There is no harm that the man should pray all of the prayer of the night and day with a single wudu so long as did not have a hadath (something that breaks the wudu). Likewise is the person with tayammum so long as he did not have a hadath or come upon water.

And the ghusl is in seventeen places: the ghusl of the seventeenth night of the month of Ramadan, and the nineteenth night, the twenty first night, and the twenty third night, and for the two Eids, for entering the two Sanctuaries, for donning ihram, the ghusl of ziyara, the ghusl of entering the House, the day of Tarwiya, the day of `Arafa, the ghusl of the deceased, the ghusl of the one who gave the ghusl of the deceased or did his kafan or touched him after he became cold, the ghusl of day of Jum`a, the ghusl of the eclipse – when the disc has been entirely eclipsed (lit. burnt) and the man did not know it – and the ghusl of janaba is an obligation (farida), and likewise is the ghusl of menstruation (al-hayd) for al-Sadiq said: The ghusl of janaba and hayd is one. In every ghusl there is a wudu in its beginning except for the ghusl of janaba, for it is an obligation and when two obligations (fardan) convene then the greater of them suffices for the lesser of them.

Someone who wants to do ghusl from janaba is to make an effort to urinate so that whatever is left in his urethra of semen exits out. Then, he washes his hands thrice before entering them into the vessel. Then, he does istinja and cleanses his private. Then, he puts three handfuls of water on his head, and separates his hair with his fingertips until the water reaches the root of all of his hair. Then, he takes the vessels with his hand and pours it on his head and his body twice, and passes his hand on all of his body, and runs his finger through his ears. All that the water comes in contact with is thus purified. When the junub immerses [himself] in water with a single (complete) immersion, that suffices him for his ghusl. When he stands in the rain until it washes him, that suffices him for his ghusl. Whoever likes to do the mouth-rinsing and to do the nose-rinsing in the ghusl of janaba then he is to do so, but that is not obligatory as the ghusl is upon what is on the outside, not upon what is on the inside, except that when he wants to eat or drink prior to the ghusl it is not permissible for him unless he washes his hands and rinses his mouth and nose, for al-baras is feared for him if he eats or drinks prior to that. When the junub sweats in his garment, and the janaba from a halal [intercourse], then prayer is halal in the garment. However, if it was from a haram [intercourse], then prayer is haram in it.

The least number of days of menstruation (al-hayd) is three, and the maximum of it is ten days. The least number of purity is ten days, and its maximum has no limit. The maximum number of days of the woman in post-partum bleeding (al-nafsaa) in which she refrains from prayer is eighteen days, and she waits a day or two unless she is purified prior to that.

Zakat is upon nine things: upon wheat, barley, dates, raisins, camels, cattle, sheep, gold and silver, and the Messenger of Allah (s) pardoned what was apart from that. It is not permissible to pay the zakat to anyone other than the people of walaya. From the people of walaya it is not permissible to give to one’s parents, one’s child, one’s husband, one’s wife, one’s slave and anyone for whose expense the man is obliged.

The khums is obligatory in everything that reaches a gold coin in value from treasure, metals/minerals, diving, and profit/spoils (al-ghanima). It is for Allah, for His Messenger (s), and for the near kin from the well-off and the poor, and the orphans, and the needy, and the traveler from the people of the religion. Fasting three days per month is equivalent to fasting for the full year: a Thursday in the beginning, a Wednesday in the middle, and a Thursday in its end. Fasting the month of Ramadan is obligatory, and it is [initiated] through sighting [of the Moon] rather than through opinion or thought. He who fasts before the sighting or breaks his fast before the sighting has opposed the religion of the Imamiyya. The witnessing of women is not accepted in divorce, nor in sighting the crescent. Prayer in the month of Ramadan is the same as prayer in other months. Whoever would like to increase should pray twenty units every night: eight units between Maghrib and the final `Isha’, and twelve units after the final `Isha until twenty nights of the month of Ramadan have passed. Then, one prays thirty units per night: eight units between Maghrib and `Isha’, and twenty-two units after `Isha’. In each unit, one recites al-Hamd and whatever he would like from the Quran; except on the night of the twenty first and the twenty third. It is recommended to keep vigil in them and to pray one hundred units in each night. In each unit, one recites al-Hamd once and qul huwallahu ahad ten times. Whoever spends these two nights reviewing knowledge, it is better.

One the eve of al-Fitr, a man should pray the three [units of] Maghrib, then perform a sujud, then say in his sujud: ya dhal tawl, ya dhal hawl, ya mustafi Muhammad wa nasirah, salli `ala muhammadan wa alih Muhammad, waghfir li kulli dhanbin adhnabtahu wa nasitah, wa huwa `indika fi kitabin mubin (O Patient and Powerful [God]! O Him who chose Muhammad and supported him! Bless Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad, and forgive me for every sin that I remember and that I have forgotten; and [they are all] with You in a Clear Book). Then, he should say one hundred times: atubu illallah `azza wa jal (I repent to Allah, Glorious and Majestic). Then, he should do takbir after Maghrib, the final `Isha’, the morning prayer, the Eid prayer, Thuhr, and `Asr just as he does takbir on the days of tashriq, saying: Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, la ilaha illallah, wallahu akbar, Allahu akbar, wa lillahil hamd. Allahu akbar `ala ma hadana, walhamdu lillah `ala ma ablana (Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest. There is no god but Allah. Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest. All praise is due to Allah. Allah is greatest upon what He guided us to. Praise be to Allah upon what He taught us). He should not say therein: warzuqna min bahimat al-an`am (and grant us from the beasts of livestock), for that is only for the days of tashriq.

The zakat al-fitr is obligatory for every man – he must pay it on behalf of himself and on behalf of his dependants, from the young to the old, the free and the slave, the male and the female. [He should pay] one sa`a of dates, or one sa`a of wheat, or one sa`a of barley – and the best of that is dates. One sa`a is four mudds, and one mudd is the weight of two hundred and ninety-two and a half silver coins. That is one thousand and one hundred and seventy silver coins in Iraq. There is no problem paying its value in silver or in paper. There is no problem with a person paying on his behalf and on behalf of his dependants to one person [who needs it]. It is not permissible to pay two people what can only suffice one person. There is no problem with paying the fitr from the first of the month of Ramadan till its end. It is a zakat until he prays on Eid. If he gives it after the prayer, then it is a sadaqa. The best time [to give it] is the last day of the month of Ramadan. Whoever has a Muslim or dhimmi slave should pay the fitr on his behalf. Whoever gives birth to a newborn on the day of Fitr before the zawal should pay the fitr on his behalf; but if he is born after the zawal, then there is no fitr incumbent upon him. It is the same if a man converts to Islam before the zawal and afterward.

There are three types of Hajj pilgrims: a qarin (one who performs `Umra and Hajj at the same time), a mufrad (one who only performs Hajj), and a mutamati` bil `umra ilal Hajj (one who performs `Umra, then takes a break, and then performs Hajj). It is not permissible for the people of Mecca and its surrounding areas to do the mut`a of Hajj. They can only perform the qarin and the ifrad, as Allah says, “This is for those whose family is not in the sacred precincts of the Sanctified Mosque.” (2:196) The perimeter of the sacred precincts of the Sanctified House includes the people of Mecca and its forty-eight Roman mile radius. Whoever is outside of this perimeter does not perform Hajj except that he does the mut`a of `Umra to the Hajj – and Allah does not accept other than that. Ihram should be gowned in `Aqiq – its beginning is in Muslih (in Medina), its middle is in Ghumra (on the road to Mecca), and its end is in `Arq (between Najd and Tihama) – and its beginning is best, for the Messenger of Allah (s) assigned `Aqiq to the people of Iraq, Qarn al-Manazil to the people of Ta’if, Yalamlam to the people of Yemen, al-Mahi`a – which is Juhfa – to the people of the Levant, and Dhul Halifa – Masjid al-Shajara – to the people of Medina. It is not permissible to gown the ihram before reaching al-Miqat, nor is it permissible to delay it passed al-Miqat except for a legitimate reason.

The obligations of Hajj are seven: (1) ihram, (2) the four talbiyat – which are labbayk Allahumma labbayk, labbayka la shareeka laka labbark, innal hamda wan-ni`mata laka wal mulk, la sharika lak labbayk (I am at Your service, O Allah, I am at Your service. I am at Your service, You have no partners, I am at Your service. Surely, the praise, blessing, and kingdom is Yours. You have no partners. I am at Your service). Other forms of talbiya are from the sunna. The one performing talbiya should frequently say labbayka dhil ma`arij labbayk (I am at Your service, Lord of Pathways of Ascent), for that is the talbiyya of the Prophet (s). (3) Making circuits (tawaf) around the House is obligatory. (4) Praying two units at the maqam of Ibrahim is obligatory. (5) The sa`i between Safa and Marwa is obligatory. (6) Standing at `Arafa is obligatory. (7) The hadi al-tamattu` is obligatory. Every other rite of Hajj is a sunna.

Whoever reaches the Day of Tarwiyya at the zawal of the Sun until night has reached the mut`a. Whoever reaches the Day of Sacrifice in Muzdalifa has attained the Hajj.

It is not permissible to sacrifice except a grown camel – that which has completed five years and has entered its sixth. It is permissible to sacrifice a grown cow and goat that has completed one year and entered its second. It is permissible to sacrifice a lamb that has reached eight or nine months to a year. It is not permissible to sacrifice an animal with blemishes. A cow can suffice for five individuals if they are members of a family; a bull for one, and a camel for seven … A sacrifice is split into thirds: one third for eating, one third for gifting, and one third for charity.

Fasting is not permissible during the days of tashriq, for they are days of eating, drinking, and bathing. The sunna is to break your fast on the [Eid] day of sacrifice after coming back from prayer; and before going out to pray on [Eid] al-Fitr. Takbir [is recommended] in the days of tashriq after fifteen prayers, from Thuhr on the day of sacrifice to [Fajr] on the fourth day; and after ten prayers in other cities, from Thuhr on the day of sacrifice to [Fajr] on the third day.

Intercourse becomes permissible in three scenarios: marriage with inheritance, marriage without inheritance, and intercourse with concubines. No one has a right to a woman except through her father when she is a virgin. If she has consummated [an Islamic marriage before], then no one has guardianship over here; neither her father nor anyone else can marry her off without her [expressed] consent and an obligatory dower. Divorce cannot take place except upon the Quran and the Sunna. There is no oath in divorce nor in manumission. There is no divorce prior to marriage. There is no manumission prior to ownership. There is no manumission except for the sake of Allah.

Bequeathal [in a will] does not exceed one third. Whoever bequeaths more than one third, it is returned to one third. A Muslim [in such a situation] should bequeath something of his wealth – small or large in sum – to his relatives who do not normally inherit anything from him. Whoever does not do that has sealed his actions [in this world] with a sin. A Muslim can inherit from a disbeliever, but a disbeliever cannot inherit from a Muslim. The son of a mala`ina does not inherit from his father, nor from anyone from his father’s side; he inherits from his mother. If he does not have a mother, then from his maternal uncles and his relatives from his mother’s side. If the father acknowledges the son and the mother does not return to him, then the son inherits from the father, but the father does not inherit from the son.

Among the conditions of the religion of the Imamiyya are: certainty, sincerity, reliance [on Allah], contentedness [with Allah and His will], submission [to Allah], piety, striving, asceticism, worship, honesty, earnestness, returning trusts to the righteous and the transgressors – even if they be the killer of al-Husayn ; goodness to parents, chivalry, patience, enthusiasm, avoiding the forbidden, not being wishful for what is in the hands of the people, enjoining in established virtues, prohibiting evil, jihad in the cause of Allah in person and in wealth – upon its rightful conditions; giving space to brethren, recompensing workers, thanking bestowers of blessing, commending the doers of good, being grateful with little, connecting with blood relatives, goodness to fathers and mothers, neighbourliness, genuineness, altruism, accompanying good people, avoiding evil people, meeting the people with beauty, greeting all people who believe that the peace of Allah does not go to the oppressors, being generous with Muslim who are graying, respecting elders, being gracious with the young, honouring the nobles of every community, modesty, humility, remembering Allah much, reciting the Quran, supplicating, lowering the gaze, openness, beautification, taqiyya, goodly friendship, suppressing anger, sympathy to the poor and the needy and assisting them in their livelihood, fearing Allah in private and in public, goodness to women and to slaves, holding the tongue except in good, having a positive opinion of Allah, regretting sin, acting on generosity and magnanimity, acknowledging your own shortcoming, all honourable deeds and behaviours for the religion and for this world, avoiding slander both in brief and in detail; avoiding anger, discontentedness, hot-headedness, racism, arrogance, coercion, contempt for people, pride, astonishment, obscenity, indecency, betrayal, severing blood ties, envy, territorialism, evil, greed, wearing rags, ignorance, foolishness, lying, infidelity, sinning publicly [and unashamedly], debauchery, swearing false oaths, concealing testimony, lying under testimony, backbiting, making false accusations, overtaking, insulting and cursing, backstabbing, plotting, fooling, treachery, breaking oaths, killing unjustly, oppressing, hard-heartedness, coldness, hypocrisy, haughtiness, adultery, sodomy, usury, fleeing from the battlefield, migrating from places of religious refuge, disobeying the parents [in good things], conning the people, consuming the wealth of the orphan unjustly, and accusing a chaste woman.

This is what is agreed upon with regards to his dictation briefly describing the religion of the Imamiyya. I will dictate an explanation and an interpretation of it if Allah eases my return from my destination to Nishapur, God-willingly.

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From Abi `Abdillah Ja`far b. Muhammad al-Sadiq . He said: When the month of Ramadan comes, then recite inna anzalnahu one thousand times every night. Then, when the night of the twenty-third comes, strengthen your heart and open your ears by hearing the astonishing things that you will see.

He said: A man said to Abi Ja`far : O son of the Messenger of Allah! How will I know that the Night of Power occurs every year? He said: When the month of Ramadan comes, recite Surat al-Dukhan once every night. Then, when the night of the twenty-third comes, you will await the confirmation of what you have asked about.

It is reported that Abi `Abdillah said: The morning of the day of the Night of Power is like the Night of Power, so act and strive [in worship].