wikishia:Featured articles/2025/05

{{{alt}}}

Biʿtha means the selection of prophet by God for the guidance of people. The Prophet Muhammad (s) at the age of forty in the Hira' cave in Mount Nur (close to Mecca) has been chosen as a prophet, and the first verses of Qur'an 96 has been revealed to him. The Bi'tha, according to the Shia point of view, was the beginning of Islam and occurred in Rajab 27, 13 lunar years before Hijra (June 25, 610).

Before the mission of the Prophet (s) began, most people in that region were idol worshipers. Other divine religions had some followers in different places in that region. However, after the beginning of the mission of the Prophet (s), Islam expanded, and idol-worshipping was wiped away from Hijaz. The anniversary of the beginning of the Prophet's (s) mission is among the celebrations of Shias and is known as Eid al-Mab'ath.

The word is derived from Arabic "ب ع ث" (Ba', 'Ayn, Tha') root, which means sending, exciting or dispatching. In technical terms, Bi'tha means sending a human by God toward other humans and jinn to guide them on the right path. The word is mainly used for the Prophet (s) when he was chosen as a prophet.

The word Bi'tha in Qur'an indicates a unique stage of life which has a kind of transformation; therefore, besides the meaning of becoming a prophet, it also refers to resurrection in hereafter. However, the dominant meaning is selecting and sending someone as a prophet.

In all of the Qur'an, Bi'tha is always attributed to God, that is, resurrection in the hereafter, special rules of the universe, and sending the prophets to show the mightiness of God and his program in ruling the world. One of the considerable points about Bi'tha is that God has graced humanity by sending prophets, and this grace could be seen from two aspects:

1. Bi'tha is the way of guidance for humanity
2. The prophets have been chosen among the people themselves to be the same type........

Full article ...

Other featured articles: Nahj al-balagha (book) – Imam Ali b. Musa al-Rida (a) – Lady Fatimah al-Zahra' (a)