Our edicts are based on the teachings of the Imams of the Ahlulbait (peace be upon them) through the narrations that reached us in reliable ways, which all Muslims are required to act upon. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) ordered the nation of Islam to refer to the Ahlulbait and follow them in the famous well-known narration that is reported by numerous ways in the books of Shias and Sunnis: "I leave among you the two weighty things: the Book of Allah and my progeny; as long as you follow both of them, you will never be misguided."
Acting upon this narration, as well as other similar narrations, to follow the AhlulBait is not obligatory on the Shias only, but it is an obligation on all Muslims.

The said person is not considered as disobedient, but is liable for proceeding to commit an act that he was informed to be a sin. An example of this is if a person drinks from a glass thinking it to be wine, but it turns out to be water.

We cannot eat pork because of the express prohibition of it in the Holy Quran: “Forbidden unto you (for food) are carrion and blood and swine flesh…” (The Holy Quran 5:3).

We do not know the reason behind such a law since the prayer is a practice of pure worship, that consists of acts set by the Divine Legislator who prescribed this method for us to worship Him. He is the only One who knows the reason behind His desire to be worshipped in this way. The verses and the narrations did not explain such a law and we remain obedient to His orders.

Shias did not make this up. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) joined between the Dhuhr and Asr prayers, and between Maghrib and Isha prayers when he was not traveling and when it was not raining – i.e. without an excuse and not during special circumstances – as per the texts narrated in famous Sunni hadith books.

One could understand from some of the narrations of the Ahlubait (peace be upon them), that there are two types of prayers time; one describes the time during which one can usually offers the prayers, the other is the best time to offer them. This suggests that it is permissible to join between Dhuhr and Asr prayers and between Maghrib and Isha prayers. The verdicts of the Shia jurists reflect the same, since Shias rely on the teaching of the Imams of the Ahlulbait (peace be upon them), and the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) ordered Muslims to do the same when he said: "I am leaving amongst you the two weighty things: the Book of Allah and my household, my progeny". This narration is reported in many famous Sunni books.
On the other hand, it is reported in many famous Sunni books that Ibn Abbas narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) used to join between the two prayers when he was not traveling, and it was not raining. Ibn Abbas himself explained the wisdom behind the Prophet’s act: making the prayers an easier task for the Muslims. From this, one can conclude that the narrations that indicate the prohibition of joining between prayers are unreliable and one cannot depend on them.

If denying the obligation of khums means a denial of its obligation on the unused amount of the yearly income, then this does not affect the person being regarded as a Muslim. However, denying the khums in an absolute way is a clear rejection to the Quranic verses and the traditions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny).

Taqiyya is position that one takes to express an idea he does not believe in or waive his right on a matter, in order to protect himself from being harmed.
Taqiyya was established in the Holy Book when Almighty Allah said: “Let not the believers take disbelievers for their friends in preference to believers. Whoso doeth that hath no connection with Allah unless (it be) that ye but guard yourselves against them, taking (as it were) security. Allah biddeth you beware (only) of Himself. Unto Allah is the journeying” (3-21).
He also said: “Whoso disbelieveth in Allah after his belief – save him who is forced thereto and whose heart is still content with the Faith - but whoso findeth ease in disbelief: On them is wrath from Allah. Theirs will be an awful doom” (16-6).
This last verse was revealed when Ammar bin Yasir was coerced to let the idolaters hear what they wanted to hear, words of disbelief, in order to avoid being tortured further. When he stated this to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny), he approved what Ammar did. The Prophet even told Ammar that if the idolaters return to you, let them hear again what you told them.
This incident is mentioned in various books of history and Quranic commentaries. The Imams of the Ahlulbait (peace be upon them) were subject to difficult situations, and they were forced to apparently recognize the rulers of their times, even though the Imams knew of the oppression and tyranny of such rulers.

The connection made between reconciliatory Taqiyya – which is based on softening the hearts – and the mentioned verse is originated from intolerance against the Shias and ignorance of the reasons and justifications behind Taqiyyah. All Muslims are under the flag of Islam and softening their heart by the decrease of their differences is amongst the interests that has concerned the Shias and their Imams throughout history.
The mentioned verse speaks of the hypocrites who do not believe in the Hereafter or in the foundations of the religion, and they claim to be Muslims in front of other Muslims. So how are those people considered to be attempting to unite the Muslims and decrease the level of differences between them?
Those fanatics do not understand anything but intolerance and rejection of other sects and disregarding them, and do not care about the image of Islam or its high concerns. Today they are more harmful than the direct enemies of Islam as a result of their behaviors that originated from narrow-minded thinking and blind prejudice.

It was narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) has said: “Indeed, Earth is made for me (by Almighty Allah) a place of prostration and a mean of purification (in Tayammum).” This narration and the like clearly indicates that it is obligatory to prostrate on natural earth like soil, stones and the like, instead of carpets and rugs. Sunnis do not act upon these narrations because of misinterpretation or they do not rely on them.

Islam is a divine religion that Almighty Allah revealed to guard the welfare of people. Almighty Allah knows the reality of things and what benefits His slaves, so He set laws accordingly for them to observe. Since Islam is the seal of religions, these laws are for until the end of this world. Because of corruption, badness and evilness in certain things or acts, He commanded us to refrain from them and made them prohibited. Similarly, because of benefits and goodness in certain other things, He ordered us to perform them and made them obligatory on us. Some of these laws are general and apply to all people, all the time, and anywhere.
The ability of the human being is limited, so is unable to find out and understand the reasons behind the Sharia of Almighty Allah. Sometimes Allah Almighty has taught us through the Holy Prophet and the Imams (peace be upon them), the wisdom behind certain few rulings. We must obey His laws by refraining from the prohibited acts and undertaking the obligatory acts, even if we do not know the reason behind each and every one of them.
The najasah of the dog is one of the rulings about which we do not know the wisdom behind.

The Holy Quran in the mentioned verse is explaining the permissibility of consuming the meat of marine animals in general, without specifying the permissibility of all of them. It is natural that some other texts prohibit certain species. Narrations from the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) affirm and establish the prohibition of eating fish that do not have scales, without specifying the reason behind this ruling. We should adhere to that in submission to Almighty God in what he ordered and forbade, even if the reason behind the ruling is unknown to us.

Only Almighty Allah knows the reasons and wisdoms behind the rulings.