re yet more rushdie re islamic law what about the twelve imams who he considered incapable of error or sin khomeini supports this view of the twelve imans this is heresy for the very reasons i gave above i would be happy to discuss the issue of the imams with you although my preference would be to move the discussion to another newsgroup i feel a philosophy or religion group would be more appropriate the topic is deeply embedded in the world view of islam and the esoteric teachings of the prophet s a heresy does not enter into it at all except for those who see islam only as an exoteric religion that is only nominally if at all concerned with the metaphysical substance of man s being and nature a good introductory book in fact one of the best introductory books to islam in general is murtaza mutahhari s fundamental s of islamic thought god man and the universe mizan press translated by r campbell truly a beautiful book a follow up book if you can find a decent translation is wilaya the station of the master by the same author i think it also goes under the title of master and mastership it s a very small book really just a transcription of a lecture by the author the introduction to the beautiful psalms of islam translated by william c chittick available through muhammadi trust of great britain is also an excellent introduction to the subject we have these books in our university library i imagine any well stocked university library will have them from your posts you seem fairly well versed in sunni thought you should seek to know shi ite thought through knowledgeable shi ite authors as well at least that much respect is due before the charge of heresy is levelled as salaam a laikum
