Sheikh Mateen Charbonneau

Author: Sheikh Mateen Charbonneau

Sheikh Mateen Charbonneau is of French-Canadian descent. He was born in the United States to a Christian family, and later chose to convert to Shi’a Islam in 1999 at the age of 17, having studied both faiths. He started studying Islamic Seminary classes (Howza) in March 2013 at Imam Ali Center in Springfield, Virginia and studied abroad in Najaf al-Ashraf and Karbala and received his ‘amama (turban) from the esteemed marja’ Ayatollah Sayed Muhammad Taqi al-Modaressi in 2018. He earned a certificate from Harvard University in Islamic Studies, has filmed many documentaries about his journey to Islam, authored several books, taught in the Islamic Seminary (Howza), and is the founder of the nonprofit organization 2nd Chance Books (2014). He has lectured throughout the United States and various other countries spreading the message of Ahl ul Bayt (as). Since 2022 he has been residing in Antalya, Türkiye where he is the resident scholar of the local community and continuing his work with 2nd Chance Books.

Muḥammad b. ʿAjlān said: I was with Abū ʿAbd Allah (as) when a man entered and gave the greeting of peace. So [the Imam] asked him: ‘How are those you left behind, of your brothers?’
So he beautified their praised, commended, and extoled them.

So the Imam said to him: ‘And how do their wealthy visit their poor?’

So he said: ‘Very little.’

The Imam said: ‘So how do their wealthy see [to the needs] of their poor?’

He said: ‘Very little.’

The Imam said: ‘So how is the connection of their rich to their poor concerning what they possess?’

He said: You are describing manners rarely found among us.

So the Imam said: ‘Then how do these people claim to be Shīʿa?’*

*Laws of Islam by Ayatollah Sayed Taqi Modaressi pages 291-292,

Original source: Wasāʾil al-shīʿa, v. 6, p. 298, ḥ. 3

Author: Sheikh Mateen Charbonneau

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