Reddit mentions of Holy Qur'an: Translated by Ali Quli Qara'i "Phrase by Phrase English Translation"

Hello, wa alaykum!

1. Do all of you think that Abu Bakr, Omar and Uthman were sinners/kuffar or do some view it as a political leadership while Ali was the spiritual leader of the Ummah? I know this is an interpretation of some Sunni Mutasawwufin who are genuine about their tasawwuf and don't give into salafist/wahhabist politics.
   
   That's the mainstream view of those individuals in contemporary Imami Shi'ism today.
   
   >2. How does irfan differ from tasawwuf? Are there the same rituals of dhikr and such present?
   
   I've heard the claim that those who practice irfan still follow the sharia while those who practice tasawwuf don't "line," but this seems ignorant of the fact that there are multiple strains of sufism in Islam, some that we can term as antinomian (rejecting some/all mainstream laws) and others that are very in-line with traditional legalistic views of Islam. My knowledge of both irfan and tasawwuf is really limited, and I've wanted to know the answer to this myself, but I think while both practices are often learned from a teacher (and both practices are somewhat controversial within their respective schools), I don't think Shi'i irfan features structured orders/brotherhoods the way Sunni Tasawwuf does. Also, I think there are Shi'i sufi orders too although they're rare (I think some are associated with Sunni Sufi orders, but with the adherents of the order converting to Shi'ism), and I'm not sure if they're antinomian or legalistic; I think they skew more antinomian.
   
   >3. How similar is the fiqh of the Shi'a to Sunni schools? I am aware that all of the 4 imams in Sunnism trace their learning back to the 6th Imam of the Shia community Jafar al-Sadiq, though the 4 schools do have their own disagreements.
   
   They're pretty similar in terms of applied legal theory. In many legal issues on topics such as the form of prayer, ablution, ritual purity, dietary law, crime and punishment, dress code, etc., the difference between the Shi'i school and one of the four Sunni schools will be closer than the biggest gap between two of the Sunni schools. There are a few big differences considering inheritance law as it concerns women, the types of wealth khums is applicable to, the types of wealth zakat is applicable to, restrictions on timing prayers, the universal requirements of Friday prayer, the permissibility of praying non-obligatory prayers in congregation (the Shi'i do not allow this, except for the prayer for rain), and most controversially mut'ah (temporary marriage). In terms of legal theory proper, the big difference is that Shi'i law does not hold qiyas (analogistic reasoning) as a valid legal indicator (but allows for aql or reason, which in some contexts can allow for the same legal derivations). Usuli Shi'i law is also more flexible/adaptive, with more developments in legal theory in contemporary times.
   
   >4. How similar is Shi'i Aqidah to either the Maturidi or Ash'ari schools of Aqidah in Sunni Islam?
   
   Assuming we're talking about more detailed stuff than the big picture concepts that are universally associated with Islam (monotheism, belief in Prophets, belief in divine revelation, belief in jinns, belief in the specific jinn Satan, belief in angels, belief in divine revelation, belief in the resurrection, belief in heaven, belief in hell) I would say that Shi'i kalam (theology) / aqaid (creed) is quite substantially different from that found in the Maturidi and Ash'ari schools (and also that found in Athari/Hanbali creed). In fact, since the time of Shaykh Mufid (d. 1022 CE), if not earlier, Shi'i kalam has been substantially closer to that found in the now defunct non-Shi'i Mu'tazili "school." I should add that I'm pretty unaware of the specific tenants of Maturidi aqaid, but I roughly understand that it's pretty closer to Ash'ari aqaid.
   
   Two of the most important early theologians (who were also notable legal theorists) in Twelver Shi'ism, Shaykh Mufid and his student Sharif al-Murtadha are known to have espoused views close to the Baghdadi and Basran schools of Mu'tazilism, respectively. Some Shi'is deny that they were influenced by the Mu'tazilis, but I don't think this thesis is taken seriously by contemporary historians. What we know of early Shi'i aqaid of the companions of the imams (and the traditionalists during the minor occultation and the early years of the major occultation) is that it was quite diverse. Some companions of Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (as) such as Zurara b. 'Ayan and Hisham b. Hakam were theologians who engaged in speculative technique and debate, drawing their own conclusions based on the teachings of the imams, while others were quite literalist, even holding anthropomorphism views. There's at least some evidence that the imams supported the former in their endeavors to some extent. It seems that early Shi'i aqaid (whether what we know of the imam's teachings or what we know of the opinions of their companions) were still on the whole closer to what we would now call Mu'tazilism than what we would now call Ash'arism.
   
   I would highly recommend reading the book Shi'i Islam: An Introduction by Najam Haider based on the questions you are asking. At the very least, skim pp. 13-29 (although four of them are unavailable) in this free preview.
   
   The mainstream Shi'i view on the Qur'an is that was created, by the way (consistent with the Mu'tazili view).
   
   >5. Are there any recommended Shi'i translations of the Quran?
   
   There are quite a few in English now, as far as which are recommended, it depends on who you ask. One that some, but not all, people seem to like is Ali Quli' Qarai's "phrase by phrase" translation (see here). I've not read it.
   
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I read the Qur'an in Arabic, but I bought this translation by Ali Quli Qara'i for my husband. Having read through quite a bit of it, it's an excellent translation and I highly recommend it. He includes footnotes that both explain his translation choices (and any literal translation that had to be rephrased) when needed as well as basic commentary. It also has the Arabic and English phrases side by side, so someone learning Arabic can easily compare the two.

The NAV/NIV Bible is supposed to be good - the NAV being the equivalent of the English NIV, and written in a simpler language.


As to the Qur'an, I like Holy Qur'an: Translated by Ali Quli Qara'i "Phrase by Phrase English Translation" , as it uses a method of translation that uses the same English word for the equivalent Arabic word, it's also a good translation in general, but the Arabic is printed in the same "phrase by phrase" pattern instead of just a continuous block of text as you normally get, so you can actually look at the Arabic word by word, sentence by sentence. It's very good.