He was an effective and visionary leader, a distinguished religious scholar, an inspirational pioneer – one who was widely admired and loved by whoever path he crossed. 

Imam as-Sadiq was a scholar of over two hundred disciplines, ranging from mathematics to political science, and founded the first university in the Islamic world. Modern scientists find agreement with many of the Imam's theories including those concerning the origin of the universe, physics, heat energy, and hydrogen. Among the students of Imam al-Sadiq were Jabir ibn Hayan (Father of Chemistry), Abu Hanifa (founder of the Hanafi school of thought), and Malik ibn Anas (founder of the Maliki school).

Lady Zainab took the same concept of trust in Allah to do what is best and lived by it her whole life. Upon the grievous sight of Imam Hussain's severed head, she called out, "O Allah, accept this sacrifice and reward [Hussain] for his deed."

When Lady Zainab gave powerful speeches in the streets about Ashura, her words also shook people to the core. When she spoke, she had the eloquence and fire of words that her father had had.

Within the past thirty years in the Middle East, certain movements went against all odds and became successful because they put their trust in Allah. This is a lesson for us today when we are trying to make a difference in our communities: change may seem impossible, but with the correct vision in the way of Allah and with a desire to attain Allah's nearness, anything can be accomplished.

It is rather unfortunate that this great lady is often only remembered for her financial contribution to Islam. Of course this contribution is not to be undermined. The same Khadija whose caravans equalled the caravans of all other traders of the Quraysh put together died without a single dinar or dirham to her name. She gave all her wealth for Islam. As the saying goes, "Islam was not saved except through Ali's sword and Khadija's wealth."

After the day of Ashura, the enemies attempted to take the Ahlul Bayt (peace be upon them) as captives to Kufa and from there to Damascus with the intent of humiliating them and presenting them

While we are awaiting the arrival of our 12th Imam (may Allah hasten his reappearance), are there skills we have that can be cultivated to serve the Imam of our time? Are we using our skills for the right purposes?

He conducted higher level jurisprudence lectures (Dars al-Kharij) for over 50 years in the Najaf seminary. A detailed discussion of Imam al-Khoei's contributions to Shia jurisprudence is beyond the scope of this article. However, under his leadership, the seminary produced among the greatest scholars of our generation.

Since his days in Najaf, Ayatollah Mar'ashi was greatly concerned about the loss of Shia intellectual heritage. He was quite saddened to find out that many rare books and manuscripts were in possession of British colonial officials.