INTRODUCTION
It was about two years ago that I received a long letter from an Iraqi student in Egypt. Briefly speaking, the writer of the letter had had an exchange of views with some eminent scholars of al-Azhar. Perhaps they talked about Najaf al-Ashraf, the scholars of that seat of learning and their ways of studies and also about those devoted to the spiritual atmosphere at the mausoleum of Hazrat Ali (a.s.).
There is no doubt, of course, that the educated class of Cairo are all praise for the great seat of learning at Najaf and are also well impressed with the intellectual advancement of its scholars. In spite of all this they do not refrain from saying:“Oh! What a pity! They are Shi'as.”
The writer of the letter says that he was very astonished and often used to plead with them,“Gentlemen! The Shi'asare
a Muslim sect and a part of the Muslim community.”
But their reply was,“No, Sir! The Shi'asare
not Muslims. What has Shi'ism to do with Islam? It is wrong to count it as a sect among the sects and a religion among the religions of the world; it was a plan devised by the Iranians and a political stunt to overthrow the Umayyad rule and bring about the 'Abbasid Caliphate. What has it to do with the ways prescribed by God?”
After this, this young man writes.“Respected Sir, at present I am young and have no knowledge of religions.
I know neither the philosophy of religious growth, nor do I know the history of its flourishing. Consequently I have entertained some doubts.”
After writing these words this student of the great college at Cairo desired that I should unveil the truth and rid him of that mental worry. In this connection he also wrote that if his request proved futile and he was misled from the right path, I would stand responsible for that.
Accordingly I considered the reply necessary and wrote to him in a letter answering him according to his intelligence. I must admit, however, that my own worries were more than the doubts of this youth.
I thought to myself: how is it credible that a cultured country like Egypt - the cradle of Islamic learning, the centre of the Arabs, nay, of all the Muslims in such a state of ignorance and hostility among its intelligentsia!
It was by chance that a book entitled“Farjru 'l-Islam”
by the famous writer Ahmad Amin reached my hands. I started wading it but.when
I reached the place where he wrote about the Shi'as, I felt that the learned author was not writing a book but building castles in the air. During the present age, even if a man from the distant regions of China had written such irresponsible things, he could not be easily forgiven.
Anyhow, I now felt satisfied that all that the Iraqi student had written was quite correct and instantly it struck me that if the people used to writing like Ahmad Amin have such a mentality, what can be the condition of the illiterate or half-literate masses; according to the spirit of the times, however, every Muslim of today supports unity and brotherhood among the Muslims and also believes that without such unity our life as well as death will be without meaning.
In truth, if our Muslim brothers were of the reality of the Shi'a religion and also proved to be just, such literature which lays the foundation of mutual enmity and satisfies the cravings of the Imperialist and irreligious forces would be done away with.
Let us study this passage of“Fajru 'l-Islam”
and consider its repercussions:
“The truth is that Shi'aism was the refuge of the destroyers of Islam.”
p. 330.
The writer is not innocent. He knew that the pen of the critics would pursue him and also knew that his aggressive tendency would injure the feelings of a nation which comprises tens of millions of people and is a very great power in the Islamic world.
It was thus quite a surprising event when last year (1349 A.H.), a cultural delegation from Egypt, comprising thirty members, came here and included Ahmad Amin himself. All the members of the delegation came to my residence. It was the month of Ramadan, night time, and the gathering was large. No sooner had I seen Ahmad Amin than“Fajru 'l-Islam”
came to my mind, since this book had already been seen by a number of our scholars.
We raised objections, but with respect, in a very mild and soft tone, so that it might not hurt his feelings. On this occasion the strongest explanation that Ahmad Amin offered was a lack of information and a dearth of books. To this we said,“Sir, when someone starts writing on some topic, he first gathers relevant material and then he fully examines the matter, otherwise the writer has no right to touch upon the topic at all.”
Consider the libraries of the Shi'as. Row well stocked they are! Examine our own library. It contains about five thousand volumes and most of the books are written by Sunnis: this is the collection of books in a small city like Najaf; strange how Egypt with its many large libraries is devoid of Shi'a literature!
Of course, these people know nothing about the Shi'as, but never hesitate in writing anything about them that they wish.
It is even stranger that the fellow Sunni brothers of Iraq living in our neighborhood are unaware of the Shi'as!
Only a few months ago a promising Shi'a boy of Baghdad wrote in a letter that recently he happened to go to Dalyam (just adjacent to the Baghdad district). Most of the people there are Sunnis. The correspondent became intimate with them and attended their assemblies. Since the people of Dalyam were unusually impressed by the excellent behaviour and high morals of the stranger, they warmly welcomed him. But when they came to know that the person in whom they were taking so much interest was a Shi'a, their wonder had no bounds.“We were under the impression that the people of this sect were deprived of even the smallest light of civilisation and culture - quite wild, totally savage!”
Such were their whims and speculations.
At the end of the letter this young boy appealed to my conscience that, through the endeavours of my pen, I should remove the misunderstanding in the minds of such people and introduce a true picture of Shi'aism.
After some time the same youth went to Syria to spend the summer there.
From there he went to Egypt.
From Cairo he wrote another letter, telling me that the condition of Egypt was not different from that of Dalyam.
He wrote:“Here also the same views about the Shi'as are common. So, it is requested that you may perform your duty of informing them of the truth. Believe me, the views that the common people of Islam have formed about the Shi'as are intolerably obnoxious.”
And this is not all. The false imputations, which are being continuously published in the journals of Egypt, Syria,etc.
are no less grievous; those under attack are as innocent as Joseph, but unfortunately ignorance and fanaticism have no remedy.
However, silence in the face of transgression is synonymous with the acceptance of injustice, so I had an obligation to speak out. But it should be made clear that I do not wish to reply to the slanderers of the Shi'as but rather to remove that veil of ignorance from the eyes of the rest of the Muslims so that the truth may be clearly visible to them; moreover it may serve as the last word to the elements hostile to Shi'as and as a true picture of Shi'aism. We hope it may also remove the mutual discord among the Muslims, so that writers like Ahmad Amin may never get another opportunity to indulge in destructive activities. The author of“Fajru 'l-Islam”
writes“The truth is that Shi'ism was the refuge of those who wished to destroy Islam through enmity and baseless talk, and it was the place of shelter for those who wanted to introduce their ancestral teachings of Israelite, Christian and Zoroastrian religions into Islam”
.
Again
he writes:“Thus the faith in “raj'at”
(the returning) is what the Isra'elites believe in. The Shi'asbelieve
, moreover, that the fire (of hell) is“haram”
(unlawful) for them.
The Israelites also say that the fire will not touch them except for a few counted days.
“Christianity's influence appeared likewise in the way in which some of the Shi'ashave
given the same relationship for the Imam to God as is given for Christ to Him.
They also say that the Imam is the confluence of 'Lahut' and 'Nasut' (where divinity and earthly beings meet). Also, according to their faith the continuance of prophethood and risalat (messengership) is unbreakable. They hold the view that he who is absorbed in 'Lahut' is a prophet. Besides this, transmigration of souls, the physical body of God and 'hulul' (God's entering another body), which are the old beliefs of the Brahmins, philosophers and fireworshippers, appeared one by one in the Shi'a religion . .”
For fear of destroying the unity of the Muslim community and inciting hatred I will refrain from replying.
Otherwise it would be quite easy to show who those people were who introduced un-Islamic ways into Islam to undermind and divide the Muslim community'.
Of course I should like to ask the author of 'Fajru 'l Islam”: Respected Sir, which was that group of Shi'as which had decided to destroy Islam? Was it the first group, which includes the selected companions of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.)
, for instance.Salman Muhammadi, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, al-Miqdad, 'Ammar, Khuzayma, Dhu sh Shahadatain, Abu Tihan, Hudhayfah Yamani, az-Zubayr, al-Fadl ibn al-'Abbas and his respectable brother 'Abdullah, Hashim ibn 'Utbah, al-Marqal, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Aban and also his brother Khalid, the sons of Sa'id ibn al-'As, Ibn Ka'b and Anas ibn al-Harith who had heard the Holy Prophet saying:“My son Husayn (a.s.)
will be martyred at the place known as Karbala'.
So any one of you, present at the time of that tragedy must go to help him.”
Accordingly Anas drank the cup of martyrdom on the 10th of Muharram, (see“al-Isabah fima'rifati' s
-sahabah”
and“al-Isti'ab fi ma'rifati' s-sahabah”
. These two books on the lives of the Companions are the most authentic compilations of the Sunni community.)
If we were to attempt to compile a list of the Shi'a companions and begin to prove their Shi'ism, it would require a complete and volumionous book. And the fact is that the noble efforts of the Shi'a 'ulema have made it unnecessary to do so: the brilliant masterpiece,“ad-Darajat 'r rafi'h fi tabaqatu 'sh-Shi'a”
written by Sayyid 'Ali Khan (the author of“as-Salafah”
and the standard dictionary“Tarazu 'l-Lughan”
describes the eminent personalities of the Banu Hashim family like Hamza and 'Aqil Sa'id Khudri, Qays ibn Sa'id ibn 'Ubadah, Burayda, Bura' ibn Malik, Khabab ibn al-Irth, Refa'a ibn Malik, Amir ibn Wa'ila, Hind ibn Abi Hala, Ju'da ibn Hubayra, Makhzumi and his mother Umm Hani Bint Abi Talib and Bilal ibn Riyah the mu'adhdhin (caller to prayer) etc.
But I believe that, from the books on the lives of the Sahaba like“Isaba”
,“Asadu 'l-ghaba”
and“Isti'ab”
we have collected the names of about three hundred distinguished companions and it is possible some scholarly person may compile a longer list than this.
Were these persons desirous of ruining Islam? If the Imam of the Shi'as, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.), of whom the“Thaqalayn”
(the book of God and the Ahle Bayt) are the witnesses, had not used his sharp-edged sword in the battles of“Badr”
“Uhud”
,“Hunayn”
and“ Ahzab”
Islam would not have flourished or attained an imposing height. Abdu 'l-Hamid Mu'tazali begins his poem ofpraise :
“lla innama al-Islam law la hisamahu…”
(if
his sword had not been there, Islam ...)
Yes, if“Zulfiqar”
(Hazrat 'Ali's sword) had not been there, if the lion of God had not taken the lead, as he did before and after the hijrat, if there had been no sincere help from Hadrat Abu Talib the illustrious father of 'Ali (a.s.) and if Hazrat 'Ali Murtada (a.s.) had not offered extraordinary support in the holy lands of Mecca and Medina, the rebellious group of the Quraysh and the blood-thirsty wolves of Arabia would have nipped Islam in the bud.
Muslims pay little respect for Abu Talib's (a.s
.) services in that they do not seem prepared to call him a Muslim. On the contrary when they talk of Abu Sufyan, the root cause of all the troubles of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) they are prompt in endowing him with Islam, although everyone knows that he had very reluctantly and unwillingly aligned himself with the Muslims. When Hazrat 'Uthman got the Caliphate, it was Abu Sufyan, who cried out,“Sons of Umayyah! Just catch hold of the caliphate as you would a ball. I swear by him by whom Abu Sufyan can swear that there is neither heaven nor hell!”
In short, according tohe
verdict of the Sunni majority, Abu Sufyan is a Muslim and as to Abu Talib the great supporter of Islam (whose beliefs are apparent from these lines:“In my knowledge the religion of Muhammad (s.a.w.) is the best of all religions in the world”
) he is labelled as a non-Muslim! Was Abu Talib (a.s.) either so helpless or of such a weak intellect that he knew that Muhammad's (s.a.w.) religion was the best of all religions and did not follow it for fear of the people? It should be clearly understood that he was at the center of all Mecca's forces and strengths.
Now let us again examine the story of the subversion of Islam. Now were these people (about whom we have just been talking) the persons who subverted Islam, or it was the later group, which is known as the“tabi'in”
(the followers), in which are included Ahnaf ibn Qays, Suwayd ibn Ghuflah, Atiyah, Ufi, Hakam ibn Atibah, salim ibn Abi Ju'd, 'Ali Abi Ju'd, Hasan ibn Salah, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, Sa'id ibn Musayab, Asbagh ibn Nabatah, Sulayman ibn Mohran, and Yahya ibn Ya'mar 'Adwani'? After them come the personalities of the“tab'inu 't-tabi'in”
(the followers of the followers) who laid the foundation of Islamic teachings such as Abu 'l-Aswad Du'ali, the originator of syntax, Khalil ibn Ahmad, the founder of lexicography and the science of rhyme in poetry, Abu Muslim Ma'adh ibn Muslim Al-Hira', the founder of grammar, whose Shi'ism has been admitted even by Siyuti (Al-Muzhir, volume II) and as-Sakit Ya'qub ibn Is'haq, the master of Arabic literature. Also, in the group of commentators is the distinguished name of 'Abdullah ibne 'Abbas, who tops the list and whose Shi'ism is beyond doubt. Next come the names of Jabir ibn 'Abdullah al-Ansari, Abi' ibn Ka'b, Sa'id ibn Musayyab and Muhammad ibn 'Umar Waqidi, who was the first to collect and arrange the Qur'anic sciences. (Ibn Nadim and others have acknowIedged that they were Shi'as.“ar-Raghib”
is the name of the commentary of Waqidi).
Among those who laid the foundations of the teaching of“Hadith”
is Abu Rafi', who was the freed salve of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and the author of the book,“al-Ahkamwa 's
-sunan wa 'l-qadaya”
. He had a special relationship with Amir al-mu'minin (a.s
.); during the caliphate of the Holy Imam (a.s.) he was in charge of the Treasury at Kufa, his sons also were both remarkable personalities. 'Ali ibn Rafi' was the secretary of Amir al-Mu'minin (a..
s.) He was the first person after his father who began writing on“fiqh”
(jurisprudence) and his brother, 'Abdullah ibn Rafi' took the lead in the writing of history and the recording of events in the Muslim community.
Abu Hashim ibn Muhammad ibn Hanafiya was the first to write about the nature of Islamic beliefs. Many fine books on this topic have been written by him. We may examine also the works of 'Isa ibn Rawzah who lived up to the time of Abu Ja'far (Imam Baqir). It should be noted that the above persons lived before Wasil ibn 'Ata and Abu Hanifah, and that Siyuti's opinion is correct that the latter were the earliest writers on the philosophy of Islamic beliefs.
Next we may reflect upon two eminent Shi'as, Qays an-Nasir and Muhammad ibn 'Ali Ahwal, (known as Mu'min at-Taq”), Hisham ibn al-Hakam and an-Nawbakht. The latter was an exalted family who continued serving the cause of Islam for more than a hundred years. Among their works,“Faslu 'l-yaqut”
, is of extraordinary importance. Also among the pupils of Hisham Ahwal, and an-Nasir, the names of Abu Ja'far Sakak Baghdadi, Abu Malik Zuhak Khazrami, Hisham ibn Salim and Yunus ibn Ya'qub deserve special mention. These were the persons who undertook masterly debates with sages of other religions and provided irreputable arguments on topics like the unity of God and the Imamate.
If all their scholastic subjects of discussion, particularly the debates of Hisham ibn Hakam, were collected together, it would make an excellent book. Similarly, if we included all the Shi'a philosophers and scholars, a great number of voluminous compilations will be required.
I request therefore that the author of“fajru 'l-Islam”
tell me whether these men wanted to ruin the religion of God, or whether they were so conscientious that they worked day and night to record historical facts and events and collect together reports of matters relating to the life, miracles, battles, and the purity of character of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.)
One of the finest scholars in this connection is Aban ibn 'Uthman al-Ahmar Tabi'i (died 140 A.H.). He was a pupil of Imam Ja'far Sadiq (a.s.). After him Hisham ibn Muhammad, ibn sa'ib Kalbi, Muhammad ibn Is'haq Matalabi and Abu Makhnaf Azdi continued in this particular field of knowledge. All the writers of the later age depended upon them as source material in historical matters.
If we examine a list of historians, we will find that all the distinguished writers were Shi'as; for instance, the compiler of Kitab al-Mahasin, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid Barqi, Nasr ibn Muzahim Manqari, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Sa'd Thaqafi, 'Abdu 'l-'Aziz Juludi Basri Imami, Ahmad ibn Ya'qub(whose book Tarikhu 'l-Ya'qubi has been published in Europe), Muhammad ibn Zakariya, Abu 'Abdillah Hakim, al-Ma'sudi, author of“Muruj adhdhahab”
Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Taba'taba' the author of“Adabu 's-sultaniyah”
and hundreds of other scholars like them, who cannot be included here.
Among the men of letters, the Shi'asare
also in a majority. The literary men are of different groups. The first group is that of the companions. All the famous men of letters belonging to this class are attached to Shi'ism. Nabigha Ju'di, for instance, took part in the battle of Siffin on the side of 'Ali (a.s.) and the“Rajaz”
(rousing verses) that he composed for the occasion are very well known; 'Urwah ibn Zayd al-Khayl was also with the Holy Imam (a.s.) in the battle of Siffin (see al-Aghani). some people acknowledge that Lubayd ibn Rabi'ah 'Amiri was of the Shi'a faith; Abu Tufayl 'Amir ibn Wa'ilah, Abu 'l-Aswad Du'uli, and Ka'b ibn Zuhayr, the author of“Banat Sa'id”
are likewise but a few of the Shia' men of letters we have room to mention here.
The second group is contemporary with the Tabi'in. In this class al-Farazdaq, Kumayt, Kathir, Sayyid Humayri and Qays ibnDharih .
have
a very prominent place.
The third group belongs to the second century of the hijrah: Abu Nawas, Abu Tamam, Bahtari, Da'bil Khuza'i, Dik al-Jin, 'Abd as-Salam, Abu sh-Shaysh, Husayn ibn Duhak ibn Rumi, Mansur an-Namri, Ashja' asalmi, Muhammad ibn Wahib and Sari' al-Ghawani. Morevoer, during the reign of the 'Abbasid rulers all the prominent literary figures, excluding Marwan ibn Abi Hafsah and his progeny were Shi'as:
Similarly among the celebrated poets and men of letters of the fourth hijra century were many Shi'as : Mutanabbi Maghrib ibn Hani Andalusi, ibn at-Ta'awidhi, Husayn Hajjaj (the author of“al-Majnun”
), Mahyar Daylami, Abu Fads Hamdani, (about whom it has been said that poetry began and ended with him); we may cite also Kashajum, Nashi' saghir, Nashi' Kabir, Abu Bakr Khwarizmi, Badi' Hamadani, Tughrai, Ja'far Shams al-Khilafah, , Ammarah al-Yamani, Wida'i Zahi, ibn Basam Baghdadi, Sibt ibn Ta'awidhi, Salami, Nami who were all Shi'as.
The fact is that the Shi'as attained such an exalted rank in the field of literature that experts had to say: 'Is there any literary man who is not a Shi'a?' It is worth noting that in praising some piece of composition, there was a common saying that such and such a man writes like the Shi'as. Some people have written that Mutanabbi and Abu 'l-'ula' were also Shi'as (please refer to where some of their verses are quoted).
Shi'a poets of the Quraysh family such as Fadl ibn 'Abbas (whose life history is given in“al-Aghani”
), Abu Dihbai Jamhi, Wahib ibn Rabi'ah and the literary scholars such as Sharif Radi, Murtada, Sharif Abu'l Hasan , Ali 'Alawin Jumani son of Sharif Muhammad ibnja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Zayd ibn 'Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.) are also worthy of attention.
Sharif Jumani used to say“I am a poet; my father was a poet; my grandfather was a poet”
. Muhammad ibn al-'Alawi was an eminent man of letters.Writing about him Abu 'l-Faraj Isfahani has made available to us the valuable pearls of wisdom that he left behind.
For further details it is worth while studying“Nasmatu 's
-sahr min tashayyu' wa shi'r”
. In this esteemed masterpiece of Sharif Yamani, there is not only a fair account of the 'Alawimen ofletters, but there is also an account of the Shi'a poets of the Amawi dynasty. Forinstance
Zamakhshari writes in his book“Rabi 'al-abrar”
about 'Abdu 'r-Rahman ibn Hakam, Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn 'As and Marwan ibn Muhammad Saruji Amwi; these verses -are quoted from the latter:
“Oh descendents of Hashim ibn 'Abd Munaf!
wherever
I amy be I am yours.
“Youare ,God's
chosen ones, and Ja'far Tayyar belongs
to
your own family.
“Ali, the Lion of God, Hamzah the uncle of the Prophet and
al-Hasan
and al-Husayn are the members of your own family.
“Yes, though I am of Amawi lineage, yet I have no
concern
with Banu Umayyah.”
Similarly, the name of Abu Warda, the well-known author on Najdi and 'Iraqi schools of thought, is also worthy of mention. A part from these there are also many other notables of this lineage, but since this bookis
being written without preparation it is difficult to give details of all of them.
When we study the history of great kings, distinguished politicians, statesmen and viziers, we find the Shi'as likewise in prominence also. Besides the Fatimid and Bawayhid rulers, other kings like the Al Hamdan, Banu Mazid, Banu Wasis, 'Imran ibn Shahid, Muqallid ibn Musayyab,'Aqili
and Qarwash ibn Musayyab were all Shi'as. Also the faith in Shi'ism ofWajihu' d
-dawlah Dhu 'l-qarnayn Taghlabi and Tamim ibn Mu'izin the ruler of Marakish is not a secret thing.
If we now consider the early Muslim viziers (ministers) we find that nearly all of them are Shi'as.
Ishaq Katib, for example, was perhaps the first person for whom the appellation of Vizier was formally used. Abu Salmah Khilal al-Kufi was the vizier of the first 'Abbasid Caliph. In view of his administrative capability Saffah entrusted him with all the affairs of the State.
Abu Salmah was known as the 'Wazir Al Muhammad and it was because of his love for Al Muhammad that he was martyred on the order of the same Saffah.
Abu 'Abdillah Ya'qub ibn Dawud was the Vizier of al-Mahdi al-'Abbasi; the Caliph confided the entire administration of the state to him.This verse,“Oh Banu Umayyah!
Get up! And arise from your deep slumber! Ya'qub ibn Dawud is the Caliph”
, refers to him. He too was to later suffer captivity for his Shi'a belief.
Al Nawbakht and Banu Sahl are well known as the families of the viziers. Fadl ibn Sahl and Hasan ibn Sahl were the viziers of Ma'mun ar-Rashid.Similarly from Banu al-Furat, Hasan ibn 'Ali was thrice made the vizier of the Caliph Muqtadar.
Abu 'l-Fadl Ja'far, Abu 'l-Fath Fadl ibn Ja'farand ,
Amid Muhammad ibn Husayn and his eldest son Dhu'l-kifayatayn Abu'l-Fath 'Ali ibn Muhammad were the viziers of Rukn ad-dawlah.
Banu Tahir Khyza'i was likewise entrusted with minis tership by. Ma'mun. Other viziers were Mahlabi, Abu Dalf 'Ajalli, Sahib ibn 'Ibad, the great politician Maghribi and Abu 'Abdillah Husayn ibn Zakariya, who is known by the epithet“Shi'i”
.
There are others besides them, such as Ibrahim Suli, Talaya' ibn Zarik, Afdal, the commander-in-chief of Egypt and his son Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Fatit, Abu'l Mu'ali Habat-ullah, Vizier of Mustazhir and Mu'yad Muhammad ibn Abd al -Karim Qummi, who first became the vizier of Nasir and was later offered ministership by Mustazhir.
During the time of“Baramakah”
Hasan ibn Sulayman was the Chief Secretary. He was also widely known as“Shi'i”
.
Among other Shi'as entrusted with administrative posts we may mention the author of“al-Awraq”
, (Suli) Yahya ibn Salamah Hasfaki and ibn Nadim (the author of“alFihrist”
), Abu Ja'far ibn Yusuf and his brother Abu Muhammad Qasim (whose panegyrics and elegies upon the Ahlu 'l-bayt have no parallel: see“al-Awraq”
) were“mu'tamad 'umumi (general secretaries) during the time of Ma'mun, and even for a considerable time after the latter's death. Similarly the names of Ibrahim Uysuf and his son, the master of the Arabic language and author of “al-Mu'jam”
, Abu 'Abdillah Muhammad ibn 'Imran Marzbani, are also worth remembering, Sam'ani has made mention of their Shi'ism. Viewed in the same perspective there are hundreds of persons whose administrative abilities, political sagacity and national services would need volumes and volumes to be recorded.
My late father had tried to collect the life histories of different groups of Shi'as. He classified thirty groups into alphabetical order in ten volumes, under the titles“'Ulama (scholars), philosophers, kings, viziers, astronomers and physicians, etc.”
The name of this collection is“al-Husun al-Mani'ah fi Tabaqat ash-Shi'a”
. This voluminous book despite its nature is not complete.
At this stage we would also like to ask the author of“Fajru 'l-Islam”
whether, in his opinion, these persons who had established the teachings of Islam and provided the basis for true knowledge and learning, wanted to ruin our sacred religion.
And again the question arises whether he and his teacher Dr. Taha Husayn are true supporters of the Islamic religion.
If that is the case, we can bid farewell to Islam, or rather we may quote the words of a poet, if one calls Hatim Ta'i a stingy person“it is better to die than to live oneself with such a narrow outlook on life.”
In fact it was not my aim to write at such length but the pen moved on regardless. We hope that the present-day or future writers might learn something from it and they may at least be careful in the manner of their writing and may express their thoughts only after researching into their subject.
Islam's greatest sage Hadrat 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s
.) says:“A wise man's tongue is subordinate to his heart, and the heart of an ignorant person is obedient to his tongue.”
Ahmad Amin's opinion that“the belief in Raj'ah”
(the return) came from Judaism among the Shi'as” is extremely deplorable. I wish they would make it clear whether“raj'ah”
is the main element of Shi'ism, whether it is one of the fundamental beliefs of their religion, so that they may justify their criticism. If one's knowledge is of this nature, is it not proper for him to hold his tongue and preserve his dignity?
The fact is that faith in“raj'ah”
is not one of the fundamentals of Shi'ism. Of course recognising its validity is considered necessary, just as in other Islamicgroups
one should affirm the events of the unseen and the signs of doomsday: we may mention for instance, the coming of Christ and the appearance of the Dajjal, which all the sects believe in.These are not counted among the principles of Islam nor is
their denial the cause of expulsion from Islam, nor belief in them proof of one's being a Muslim. The same argument view holds good for faith in“raj'ah”
.
Indeed even if it is demonstrated that it relates to the roots of the faith of the Shi'as, we should ask whether concurrence with any Jewish belief is the result of Jewish influence. The Muslims believe in the oneness of God.
The Jews also worship one God. As a result of these shared views, can anyone have the courage to talk of the influence of Judaism? It would be interesting to see what these people who indulge in taunts and emotional slander have to say in this matter.
“God Almighty will give life to a group of people for the second time.”
Is itan impossibility
? Has this story never been mentioned in the Book ofGod ?
“Consider, oh Muhammad, Those of a past age who left their homes in their thousands, fearing death, and God Said to them: Die, and then be brought back to life.” (2:243)
Has
the following holy verse never been read by anybody?“And the day on whichWe
shall raise a group from every “ummah”
(27:83).
If it means the day of judgement, then on that day not a group from every ummah but all the ummahs (peoples) will be restored to life.
This is not a new affair. The 'ulema of the majority community have been making this matter a target of attack since the very beginning. It has been noted, in this connection that when they do not find any grounds for criticising the veracity of an eminent Shi'a reporter of hadith, they begin taunting the Shi'as about“raj'ah”
as if they were accusing someone of idol-worshipping or polytheism. Relative to this problem in question is the well known story of Mu'min at-Taq and Abu Hanifah. We believe,however ,
that this matter does not merit further argument.
We consider it sufficient to have established the moral perversion of certain misguided persons.
The author of“Fajru 'l-Islam”
says:“The fire of gehennam will not be allowed to burn the Shi'as, except for a few among them and then only for a time.”
Only God knows from which Shi'a book this view has been taken. I wish the learned writer had some better evidence and could provide the necessary proof for this view.
The Shi'abooks clearly says
:“Paradise is the reward for the obedient servant of God even if he is an Abyssinian slave, and hell is for the wicked even if he is one of the Sayyids of Quraysh. Traditions on the above subject have been related by the Holy Imams (a.s
.) and they are so many in number that they can hardly be counted. If theabove mentioned
author is referring to the intercession of the Prophet (s.a.w.) or the Imams (a.s.) then of course the question of intercession is another matter which all the Muslims believe in. This matter will be dealt with in more detail in another book.
Suffice it to say that belief in such a matter is hardly a reason to say that Shi'ism has been taken from Judaism just because the latter shows this belief.
Abu Hanifah agrees in some questions of marriage (nikah) with the Zoroastrians, but would it be appropriate to say that the Imam of the Hanafis had based his 'fiqh' (jurisprudence) on Zoroastrianism? And for further proof, advantage could be taken of his being a man of Iranian descent. In short, these are all baseless ways and means through which the desires of certain Shi'ahs men for mutual confusion and discord among the various Muslim sects are fulfilled.
The allegedinfluences of Christianity in the Shi'a religion is
another taunt, which is hardly less painful. Honesty should demand that Ahmad Amin research his material more carefully. he erroneously considered sects like the Khitabiyyah, the Gharabiyyah, the Alawiyyah, the Mukhmasah, the Bazi'iyyah and the Ghullat as Shi'as, although, like the Qaramitah, they are apostate groups having no real link with the Shi'as. The Imania Shi'as and their religious leaders are absolutely aloof from these schools of thought; the aforesaid sects are hardly like Christians, but they go so far as to believe that the Imam is himself god in the the form of an incarnation. Their faculty concepts have a striking resemblance to the faith and beliefs of mystics. It appears from the statements of well-known mystics like Hallaj, Gilani, Rafa'i and Badawi, etc. which they thought that they had reached a stage which was higher than divinity and godhead itselfThose
who believe in 'wahdat al-wujud' (pantheism) also have the same conceptions.
But the Imamia Shi'as who number millions in Iraq, Iran and the subcontinent of India and Afghanistan are, as Shi'a, free from such beliefs, and regard these conceptions as infidelity and digression from the right path. Their religion is pure 'tawhid' (Oneness of God). Neither do they believe that God resembles any created being, nor do they tolerate that His perfect attributes be considered defective or comparable to creation's attributes; rather they consider anyconcept which
is the negation of His eternal existence and attributes utterly wrong.
The metaphysical beliefs of the shi'as are carefully explained in numerous books. The smaller “at-Tajrid”
of KhwajahNasiru 'd
-dinn at-Tusi, or the monumental“Kitab al-Asfar”
of Sadru 'd-din ash-Shirazi, both merit study in this subject. Thereare
thousands of other books in which the theories of metempsychosis, divine union and re-incarnation are proved erroneous.
However the author of“Fajru 'l-Islam”
, by levelling utterly false charges against the Shi'as, has not done any useful service to the religion of Islam and its ummat (nation). Since we have shown in some detail that the book“Fajru 'l-Islam”
is full of false claims and accusations unsupported by evidence we will pass on to consider other areas- of misunderstanding. (We have mentioned this book and its author as an example, so that the world may know how ignorant the masses must be if the 'ulema' and authors of the majority community are as we have described.)
The difficulty is that those who write about theShi'as,
take such unlikely authors as ibn Khaldun and Ahmad ibn 'Abdi Rabbih Andalusi as their source. Moreover the present day writers in their show of liberality regard Professor Wellhausen and Professor Dozy as authorities. But no one takes the trouble of referring to the scholarly works of the Shi'as. The result is that when a Shi'a goes through the books of these scholars he finds in them the same sort of absurdities about himself to which Raghib Isfahani has referred to in his book“al-Muhadirat”
. The author writes:“In the court of Ja'far ibn Sulayman a Muslim was giving evidence about someone's infidelity. When he was asked what he knew about the defendant, he said, “This man is Mu'tazili.he
is Nasibi; he is Harwari; he is Jabri; he is Rafzi; he rails at 'Ali ibn Khattab, 'Umar ibn Abi Qahafah, 'Uthman ibn Abi Talib, and Abu Bakr ibn 'Affan. Also he abuses Hajjaj, who pulled down Kufah on Abu Sufyan, and on the day of Qata'if (the day of Tafur 'Ashura') fought against Husayn ibn Mu'awiyah”
. Hearing this Ja'far said,“Damn you! I do not know for which branch of learning I should envy you - historical, religious or geographical knowledge!”
As regards 'Abdullah ibn Saba, whose name has been associated with the Shi'as, if one studies any Shi'a book one will find that he is held in contempt; rather the mildest works about him that are to be found in the books written by Shi'a authors are:“'Abdullah ibn Saba - curses be upon him”
. We should mention that some people hold the view that 'Abdullah ibn saba, like Majnun, 'Amiri, and Abu Hilal, were in fact only ficticious heroes of story and legend.
During the middle period of the Umayyah and 'Abbasid rule, self-indulgence, sport and play, had reached the middle period of the Umayyah and 'Abbasid rule, self-indulgence, sport and play, had reached such a height that story-telling had become a part of the life of the residents of the palace. It was in such an atmosphere that the stories were contrived.
Our original aim was to dwell on this subject. But considering the repeated attacks on the authors of the present age, we thought it necessary to introduce briefly the beliefs and faiths, important principles and the articles of practice of the Shi'as. It should be noted that in the Shi'a religion the door of“Ijtihad”
(endeavor to arrive at a conclusion regarding any religious problem) is always open, and so long as there is no violation of“ijma”
' (consensus), the Book (the Holy Quran), sunnah, and intellectual reasoning, every“mujtahid”
(religious scholar of exceptional merit) is free in his opinion; anyone who violates these limits and draws his own conclusion will be considered misguided; the opinion of such a man will be regarded as purely personal, individual and unfit to be followed.
In these pages it is not possible to deal with all matters in detail, so only those fundamentals of Shi'ism will be explained in which there is no room for disagreement.
Not much attention will be paid to arguments and proofs as this is appropriate only for larger volumes. Our only aim is that all the Muslims, individually and collectively, may know the real beliefs of the Shi'as and, by refraining from attributing false beliefs to their brothers, may not do injustice tothemselves
. Rather than considering Shi'ahs as evil spirits, demons, jinn, beasts and monsters, they should regard them as a special branch of their society, since by the grace of God the Shi'as of Hadrat 'Ali (a.s.) are adorned with a true Islamic character, knowledge of and belief in the Holy Quran and Sunnah, blessings of faith, and kind manners, and live according to principles which are based on reasoning and certain proofs.
Muhammad Husayn Al-Kashifi 'l-Ghita'
Najaf al-Ashraf
Jamadi 'l-awwal 1350 A.H. (1931 A. D.)
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Author: Allamah Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Kashifu al-Ghita
