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God: An Islamic Perspective

God: An Islamic Perspective Author: Allamah Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar Rizvi
Publisher: World Organization for Islamic Services (WOFIS)
Category: Fundamentals Of Religion

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God: An Islamic Perspective

Presentation
Foreword
Part 1: Belief in God
1) Belief in God: A Natural Instinct
2) To Be or Not To Be
3) Beginning Point of the World
4) Essential Qualities of the Eternal
5) Is Matter Eternal?
6) Matter begings and Ends
7) Two Suppositions
8) Matter not the Source of Life
9) Theism versus Atheism
10) Some Talks
11) Religion versus Darwinism
12) Where The Darwinists Went Astray
13) Russell's “Arguments”
14) Creation by Chance? Without a Creator?
15) The Safest Course for Agnostics
16) Universe: Witness of One God
17) Seven Reasons Why a Scientist Believes in God
Part 2: Oneness of God
18) Meaning of "One"
19) God cannot be more than One
20) Meaning of `Shirk'
21) The Holy Prophet on “at-Tawhid”
22) Islam versus Judaism
23) Unity versus Trinity
24) Unity versus Duality
25) Unity versus Idol-Worship
Part 3: At-Tawhid
26) At-Tawhid of Islam
27) Attributes of Allah
as-Sifaat ath-thubutiyyah
as-Sifat as-salbiyyah
28) Names of Allah
29) Al-Asmau'l-Husna (The Beautiful Names of Allah)
30) Attributes of Person and Action
Notes

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God: An Islamic Perspective

Author: Allamah Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar Rizvi
Publisher: World Organization for Islamic Services (WOFIS)

Fundamentals Of Religion

^English ^{2024-12-08 11:31:04}

www.alhassanain.org/english

God: An Islamic Perspective

Author(s):Allamah Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar Rizvi

Publisher(s): World Organization for Islamic Services (WOFIS)

Notice:

This workis published on behalf of www.alhassanain.org/english

The typing errorsare not corrected .

Table of Contents

Presentation 5

Foreword 6

Part 1: Belief in God 7

1) Belief in God: A Natural Instinct 8

2) To Be or Not To Be 9

3) Beginning Point of the World 10

4) Essential Qualities of the Eternal 11

5) Is Matter Eternal? 13

6) Matter begings and Ends 14

7) Two Suppositions 15

8) Matter not the Source of Life 16

9) Theism versus Atheism 17

10) Some Talks 18

11) Religion versus Darwinism 19

12) Where The Darwinists Went Astray 21

13) Russell's “Arguments” 22

14) Creation by Chance? Without a Creator? 25

15) The Safest Course for Agnostics 29

16) Universe: Witness of One God 30

17) Seven Reasons Why a Scientist Believes in God 33

Part 2: Oneness of God 37

18) Meaning of "One" 38

19) God cannot be more than One 39

20) Meaning of `Shirk' 40

21) The Holy Prophet on “at-Tawhid” 41

22) Islam versus Judaism 42

23) Unity versus Trinity 43

24) Unity versus Duality 44

25) Unity versus Idol-Worship 45

Part 3: At-Tawhid 47

26) At-Tawhid of Islam 48

27) Attributes of Allah 49

as-Sifaat ath-thubutiyyah 49

as-Sifat as-salbiyyah 49

28) Names of Allah 51

29) Al-Asmau'l-Husna (The Beautiful Names of Allah) 52

30) Attributes of Person and Action 55

Notes 56

Presentation

To reach God and to prove that origin of existence - apart from its scientific highway and Looking at the wonders of this designed world - pure thought on the truth ofencistence in also a clear original method. The philosophy of this highwayis considered far better and they choose it. We will readAt the beginning of this book, a summary of this physlosiphical highway and in a straight line without an intermediate directs the created towards the Creator. Then the book engaged in scientific reasoning and Presents the esteemed reader in the this field an interesting summary of the several directions of this scientific highway , especially the receptions of today's worlds notable researchers are presented.

In thefiled of theology, other than debate on inherent proof, other commotion causing problems are abundantly propounded. In this book a concise and interesting summary of the following diocesansAre also presented to the esteemed reader. Foreccample , where does the materialistic world originate from and how could it start? How can a living thing possessing life come from an unlovingelement. Drawing theory on the coming and development of evolution and to what extent this system is valuable? Whether is the principle of evolution theory agreeable with religion?

What do batter are brought forth by the theory of spontaneous and occidental creation propounded bypersons . with acceptance of the truth of the self - Existent (God) and passing the artificial rocky road of that direction, again, the subject of (God) in the arena of special problems and these problems, from the beginning, caused the branching of divine religions to appear. Is the Christian trinity acceptable andagreable ? Are Gods attributes as the Christians and yews say agrees withis propounded in their holy books? Comparing Islamic unity and the described God whether Common religions is the subject of the second part of the book.

Finally, we reach part three, the stage of reaping thought and theoretical benefits from the past three debates on principles, or discussions on the superior attributes and virtuous names of God as taught to man by Islam and the Quran- For this reason the Arabic and Quran text of Gods virtuous names and superior attributes, with the translation and transliteration in presented to the entombed reader at the end of the book.

Foreword

This booklet was initially written for theBilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania by the renowned Muslim scholarSayyid Sa'eed Akhtar Rizvi as the second unit of the Islamic Correspondence Course . It deals with the first Article of Faith namely at-Tawhid or Divine Unity.

Since we found the booklet extremely interesting, and our first publication of 5,000 copies was in such great demand by interested readers, this issuewas subsequently reprinted more than ten times in large quantities for mass circulation.

Now, in this reprinted edition, the author has completely revised the booklet and has added more facts and information to support his theory.

Finally, we invoke the Almighty Allah for guidance and success in our work.

World Organization for Islamic Services( WOFIS )

(Board of Writing,Translation and Publication)

Dhi'l-hijjah , 1398,

November, 1978.

Tehran - IRAN.

Part 1: Belief in God

1) Belief in God: A Natural Instinct

Belief in God is as natural as any instinct can be. An atheist asked ImamJa'far as-Sadiq howcould he convince him about the existence of God. Coming to know that the man had gone several times on sea voyages, Imam asked him “Have you ever been caught in a fierce storm in middle of nowhere, your rudder gone, your sails torn away, trying desperately to keep your boat afloat?” The answer was `Yes'. Then Imam asked: “And sometimes perhaps even that leaking boat went down leaving you exhausted and helpless on the mercy of raging waves?”

The answer was again `Yes'.

Then Imamasked: “Was not there, in all that black despair, a glimmer of hope in your heart that some unnamed and unknown power could still save you?” When he agreed, Imamsaid: “That power is God.”

That atheist was intelligent. He knew the truth when he saw it.

2) To Be or Not To Be

We think about thousands and thousands of things. We imagine a horse, a man, anaeroplane , the earth, a train and a book. We see the pictures of these things displayed on the screen of our imagination.

Thisis called `the existence in imagination' (wujud-i dhihni )

And also a horse, a man, anaeroplane , the earth, a train or a book has its own existence outside our imagination. Thatis called 'existence outside imagination.' This is the real existence (wujud-i khariji )

Sometimes, we imagine suchideas which can never be found outside our imagination. We may imagine `2 + 2 = 5.'But can 2 + 2 be 5 in real existence? No. We may imagine that a thing existsand also does not exist at the same place at the same time.But can this happen in the world of reality?Certainly not.

Such imaginedideas which can never existwujud -

Also we imagine a man walking at a certain time.Can this happen in reality? Remove all other ideas from your mind. Just look at the imagined picture of that man walking at a particular time. Nowsay., is it necessary that that man in reality are called `impossible' (mumtani'u'l ) should be walking at that time?Or , on the other side, is it impossible of him to be walking at that time? The answer to both questions is `No'.

Why? Because it is neither essential nor impossible for any man to walk at a given time. He may be walking; he may not be walking.So far as the reason and logic is concerned both his walking and not walking are possible - possible, but not necessary.

Such imagined ideas which have equal relation called `mumkinul-wujud ' -Possible, or Transient. They may exist in reality; they may not exist. There is nothing in their nature to demand this or that.So far as their nature is concerned, `To be' and `Not to be' both are equal to them.

So far we have seen two categories of relationship between an imagined idea and its existence in reality with existence and non-existence, are

1. Where that idea has equal relation with existence and non-existence. It may exist; it may not exist. There is nothing in its nature to prefer either side.

2. Where that idea can have absolutely no relation with existence. It, by its very nature is non-existence.

It will appear from above classification that there should be a third category which would be opposite of `Impossible' (mumtani`ul-wujud ) mentioned in (2) above.

This third category is of theidea which can have absolutely no relation with non-existence. By its very definition, it is self-existent. Such an idea is called (wajibu'l wujud ) `Essential Existence' or 'Absolute Existence'.

Now the picture is complete.

3) Beginning Point of the World

There is much conflict between the points of views of atheists and those who believe in a Supreme-Being Who created the world. Still, there is one important point where both are in complete agreement.Both agree that the basic source or cause of the universe is Eternal - has no beginning and no end; was always and will remainfor ever . In other words, it is 'self-existent' or 'wajibu'l-wujud '. The reason for this idea is very simple: Asevery thing in this universe falls under the category of `mumkinul-wujud ' ` Transient,' it has equal relation with existence and non-existence. Once these things did not exist; now they exist; sometime in future they will cease to exist. By their nature, they cannot demand to exist or to cease to exist. Therefore, there must be a source or cause to bring them to existence or to terminate their existence.

And (it is the important point) that source or cause should not itself be just a ` Transient'; otherwise it will itself need a source or cause to bring into existence.And this chain of cause and effect must stop on a cause which needs no outside source or cause for its existence. It means that the final source or cause of bringing this universe into existence must be 'self-existent.' It is interesting to note that even the atheists accept this point, because they say that nothing can come out of nothing, and, therefore, the basic source of existence must be eternal. It is from ever and will remainfor ever .

Nowcomes the first difference. The atheists say that that eternal source of existence is `Matter.' The believers say that that eternal source of existence is God. We will discuss it afterwards. Here it is enough to establish a common ground of belief, and that is the faith that the basic source or cause of the existence of the universe is Eternal - without beginning and without end.

4) Essential Qualities of the Eternal

A) By its very definition, Eternal is Self-existent, it couldnever have been non-existent nor can it ever be terminated. In other words, it has no beginning - because if we suppose for it a beginning we must admit that it was non-existent before that beginning.But we already know that it could never have been non-existent. Therefore, we must accept that the Eternal has no beginning - it isever-existent .

B) By the same reason, it can have no end. It isever-lasting , because it can never be non-existent.

C) The Eternal must be self-sufficient. In otherwords it should be above all needs; it should not be in need of anything.Because, if it needs anything, it will be dependent upon that thing. But by its very definition, . the Eternal does not depend upon anything, as it is Self-existent. In other words, the Eternal must have absolute perfection.

D) The Eternal can be neither compound nor mixture. A compound or mixture depends for its existence upon its parts or components. As weaccept that Eternal is Self-existent, we cannot admit that its existence depends upon its components or parts. Moreover, look at any mixture or compound. You will find that the components or parts existed before the resulting mixture or compound. As the Eternal has no beginning, we cannot say that anything preceded it in existence. Otherwise, we will have to imagine a beginning point for theEternal which is admittedly wrong.

E) The Eternal can be neither a body nor a surface, neither a line nor a point. A body, by its very nature, needs space to bein . As we have already seen, the Eternal should not be in need of anything. It follows that the Eternal cannot be a body. In real existence, a surface needs a body; a line needs a surface; a point needs a line. Eternal needs nothing. Therefore, the Eternal is neither a surface, line nor a point.

Nor can it be anything which is found in a body, like dimension,colour , smell, position, condition or other such things which are called `incorporeal' (arad in philosophical language, because such things depend on a substance or body for their existence - they are not self-existent.

F) The Eternal should not be subject to any change, because if that changebe for better, it would mean that the Eternal before that change was not perfect, that is, it was in need of something.But we have already said that the Eternal cannot need anything.

And if that change be for worse, it would mean that the Eternal is now in need of something to make it perfect.And , as just explained, it is not possible.And if that change is just to the same level of perfection, then what is the need or use of such a change?

In fact, the changes mayoccur either in a substance (body, matter) or in its incorporeal qualities likecolour , dimension etc.But it has just been proved that the Eternal can be neither a substance nor an incorporeal quality of another substance.

G) The Eternal must be a living being.Because it is agreed that the Eternal is the source and cause of the existence of the universe. And also it is agreed that nothing can come out of nothing. Now, as we find abundance of life in the universe, we have to admit that the source of all these living things must itself be All-life. It could not bestow life if it had itself no life.

H) The Eternal source of world must be all-knowing (Omniscient). The intricate design of a single atom shows the perfect wisdom embodied in it. The elaborate system and perfect design of universe leaves no doubt that whoever or whatever is the source or cause of the universe isall-knowing .

I)By the same reasoning the Eternal source or cause of the universe must beallpoweful (Omnipotent).

5) Is Matter Eternal?

The atheists maintain that the matter is the Eternal source of the universe. It needs no great intelligence to see that matter does not possess any of the qualities of the Eternal mentioned in the previous chapter. Matter has a body and assuch it needs space. It is divisible and assuch it is made up of several parts. It is constantly changing.But the atheists maintain that matter has no beginning and no end; and therefore, it is eternal.

But the recent theories challenge these two last stands of atheism.

6) Matterbegings and Ends

What is `matter'?It is “substance of which a physical thing is made .”Or “anything which has the property of occupying space and the attributes of gravity and inertia.” Before goingfurther it is necessary to point out one important thing. There are, in every branch of science, certainideas which have no existence in reality. Yet theyare assumed to exist in reality just to make it easy for the beginners to understand the arguments of that subject.

Take for example geometry. They teach the children that `point' is a thing havingneither length, breadth nor depth . Such a thing has no physical existence. They teach that `line' is a thing having only length, but neither breadth nor depth. This also has no physical existence. In fact, it is only by taking a body (which has all three dimensions - length,breadth and depth) and sub-dividing it in imagination that we can understand the conception of surface, line and point.

Still students of geometryare taught as though these things have real physical existence.

Itis done not to deceive the student, but to make it easier for him to understand geometry.

Likewise, in chemistry, the studentis taught that matter can neither be created nor destroyed.But it is just a stepping stone so that student can understand further arguments.

Also , it is for this reason that chemistry students are taught separate conservation of matter and energy.

But read the following quotation carefully: “In classical mechanics, mass and energy are considered to be conserved separately; in atomic and nuclear reactions, matter can be converted into energy and vice versa . So far as chemistry is concerned, the law of conservation of matter, that is, matter can neither be created nor, destroyed can be assumed to be true.” So you see, the theory that matter is eternal (it is neither created nor destroyed) is just an assumptionfor the purpose of simplifying the subject for chemistry students. It is a fact that matter changes into energy.

So it is not a thing ever-lasting nor is it a thing which does not change. Thus, we see that matter does not pass the test of eternity - it is not without end, and it is not without change.And as it is supposed that energy can be changed into matter, it is admitted that matter has a beginning.So it is not eternal - it is not without beginning.

It is assumed that when the matter changes into energy, it exists in that form, and, thus they try to prove that matter isever-lasting-But what is Energy? It is “Capacity of matter to perform work as the result of its motion or its position in relation to forces acting upon it.”So , the energy is not a thing having independent existence. It is an incorporeal thing, that is, it depends upon a matter or substance for its existence. By its very definition, itcannot be found except in a matter. As energy is a dependent thing, it cannot be an eternal thing.

7) Two Suppositions

Now, itshould be mentioned here that there are two hypotheses, that is, tentative theories, in science about the creation or beginning of the universe (Universe: All created or existing things).First there is the evolutionary theory. This theory says that all the material in the universe wasformallly concentrated in a sort of `primeval' (that is, ancient) atom; that the universe was created at one particular moment and that it will eventually die. If this idea is correct then that primitive atomcannot be said to be eternal. Athing which dies, which comes to an end, cannot be said, by any stretch of imagination, to be self-existence, ever-lasting or eternal.

The second hypothesisis called `Steady state' theory. It maintains that the universe has always existed and will existfor ever , and that fresh matter is continually being created. Now the universe is a collection of matter; and they believe that matteris continually being created . In other words, the universe is a compound of created things. How can a collection of created things be called “Eternal” (without beginning) is beyond credulity.

Thus it is clear that, whatever view one takes matter cannot be proved to be eternal( without beginning and without end). Now, that matter is believed to be constantly created afresh, is known to change into energy, is known to need a shape and a place, is subject to division and constant changes, can it be said that matter is eternal when all its qualities are those of Transient.

Five atheists had had a discussion with the Holy Prophet, at the end of which the Holy Prophet told them “This universe is of such a nature that some of its parts are dependent on some other parts; they cannot exist without those other parts, just as some parts of a structure depend upon other parts for their strength and existence.

And that whole universe is, in this respect like that building. Now, tell me, if that part (which is dependent upon other parts for its strength and existence) is eternal in spite of its dependence and need, then what would have been its quality had it been just transient (possible, not eternal)?” Yes. Let the atheists say what it would have been like if the matter were not eternal?

8) Matter not the Source of Life

Now, we come to the last three qualities mentioned in chapter 4. We have already accepted the atheists' notion that nothing comes out of nothing. Now, we see in the universe a most intelligent design and pattern and amost perfect coordination in this unparalleled system.And we see it teeming with life.And , admittedly, matter has no life, and hence no power or knowledge.

Had the matter been the cause or source of the universe, the universe would have been without life; it would have been without system and coordination, because it could not give to universe what it did not possess itself. Is there still need to emphasize in so many words that mattercannot be considered as the source of universe?

9) Theism versus Atheism

Here I give the translation of the discussion of the Holy Prophet with the atheists, a part of which has been mentioned earlier: The Holy Prophet asked them: “What is the reason of your belief that the universe has neither beginning nor end and that these things are from ever and will remainfor ever ?” Atheists: “We believe only what we see. As we have not seen the beginning of the universe, therefore we say that it has always existed, and as we have not seen its extinction, we say that it will remainfor ever .”

Holy Prophet: “Well, have you seen that the universe is without beginning and without end?”

Atheists: “No, we have not seen its being without beginning nor have we seen its being without end.”

Holy Prophet: “Then how do you believe in its eternity? And why should your view be preferred to the view of that person who believes the universe to be transient because he has not seen it being without beginning or without end?”

Then after some more arguments the Holy Prophet asked: “Can you tell me whether the days (time) which have passed on this earth were finite (limited) or infinite (limitless) ? If you say that thetime which has passed so far was limitless, then how the later time came in if the former did not pass away?

“And if you say that the time is finite (limited) then you will have to admit that it is not eternal.”

Atheists: “Yes, it is finite.”

Holy Prophet: “Well, you were saying that universe is eternal, notcreated nor finite. Do you realize what is the implication of your admission that time is finite? What were you denying? What have you admitted? ” Atheists accepted that their belief was not correct.

Incidentally, this argument of the Holy Prophet shows that `time' has unbreakable relation with matter. Otherwise, he could not have introduced the element of time in the discussion about matter.The beauty of this can best be appreciated by only those who have studied the theory of Relativity .

10) Some Talks

Themost simple arguments of ancients on this topics are still valid, in spite of all the complexity of the modern science. An old woman was spinning yarn. Someone asked her why she did believe in God. She stopped her hand and the spindle stopped. She said: “Yousee, a simple spindle needs a hand to make it revolve. Can you think that this sun, this moon, these stars, all this world moves without any guiding hand?”

Imam `Aliibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) was asked for a proof of the existence of the Almighty Designer. Hereplied: “Thefaeces of camel and of donkey lead one to conclude that such animals have passed that way. The traces of human feet indicate a man's trek. Do not this magnificent universe, with all its sublimity and this lowly point (the earth) with all its solidity point to the existence of the Almighty Allah, theSublime and the Omniscient?” Once AbuShakir ad-Dayasani (an atheist) came to ImamJa'far as-Sadiq (p.b.u.h .) and asked him to guide him to the recognition of “my Supreme Lord.” The Imam asked him to take his seat. There arrived a small child with an egg in his hand.

The Imam, taking the egg from him, addressed AbuShakir ad-Dayasani : “Here is a mysterious fortress enclosed within a hard shell, underneath which is a fine wrapping which covers molten silver (the albumen of the egg) and some molten gold (the yellow yolk). The molten golddoes not get alloyed with the molten silver, nor does the molten silver get mixed with the molten gold. (Yet both aresemifluid and they should havemixed together on jerking.)

They retain their separate states. No artist comes out of it to say that hehas made any changes therein, nor does any vitiating agent enter it to tell of any vitiation therein. Noris it known whether it is designed to produce a male or a female. Pea-birds of floridcolouration issuetherefrom . Do you think it has a Designer (the Omniscient Creator)?

Who has painted all this inside it?And how did the chick come about? Who designed all these variegated hues, the feathers, the limbs, the paintings, the feet, the beak, the wings, the eyes, the ears, the nose, the 33 bowels, the crop, the joints, etc., etc. seeing that no one entered it? ”

AbuShakir , according to the narration, was absorbed in his thoughts forsometime with his head downcast and then suddenly proclaimed, “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the one without peer, and I bear witness that Muhammad (peace be upon him and his progeny) is His servant and prophet, and that you are Imam and Proof of Allah for His creation, and I turn away from my erstwhile attitude.”

11) Religion versus Darwinism

When Darwin first published his treatise Origin of Species in 1859, he stirred a thunderous opposition from religious groups. The religious oppositionwas based , mainly, upon two factors:

1. Darwin asserted - with convincing proofs - that the universe was not made in six days, as described in the Bible, but in a veryvery long time with so many stages between the first state and the present form; and

2. He denied - without any valid reason, of course - the need of a Supreme Being( God ) in the scheme of the universe. The Jews and Christians of that time believed in the six day-creation quite literally; they could not swallow the idea of the protracted creation easily.And so the conflict between Christianity and Science reached its climax in thelater half of the 19th century.But what about the Muslims?

The Qur'an says that the skies and the earth were created in six “ayyam ” .The word “ayyam ” has two meanings: `days' and `periods'. The Sunni commentators of Qur'an generally followedKa'bu'l-Ahbar , a former Jew converted to Islam in the days of second Caliph. It was but natural for him to explain the verses of Qur'an in the light of his previous learning.So he imported every Jewish legend into Islam. Though the Qur'an was silent about the details, the Muslims interpreted the `ayahs' in such a way that every detail of Genesis (of the Bible) was incorporated in the commentaries of Qur'an and thus became a part of Sunni religious belief.

But theShi'ahs commentators rejected the idea of six-days-creation right from the early days of Islam. According to them, `ayydm ' in those verses meant `Periods' and not the `days'. For instance, see the commentaries of Qur'an by `Aliibn Ibrahim al-Qummi (died sometime after 919 A. D.) andMuhsin Fayd (d. 1680 A.D.).Also see the Dictionary of Qur'an and Traditions, by ash-Shaykh Fakhru'd -Din atTarihi (d. 1676 A. D.). According tothem the Qur'an says that the skies and the earth were created in six periods. (Or should we say `in six stages''. )

Therefore, we, theShi'ahs , have nothing against the theory of gradual Creation, whichis embodied in the theory of evolution. More than that, ours is not a belated attempt of reinterpreting our religion - as Christians are doing now to cover the Christianity's defeat by the science. We were thinking on this line one thousand years before Darwin.

But it must be mentioned here that the acceptance of gradual creation does not mean that we endorse the hypothesis of evolution. Evolutionists claim that

1. Living things change from generation togeneration producing descendants with new characteristics;

2. This process has produced all the groups and kind of things now living as well as others now extinct;

3. All these different living thingsare related to each other.

But , as was mentioned in Need of Religion there is not a single fossil-evidence to show that a member of lower species developed into a higher species. It is for this reason that Dr. T. N.Tahmisian (a physiologist for the Atomic Energy Commission) said: “Scientists who go about teaching that evolution is a fact of life are great con men, and the story they are telling may be the greatest hoax ever. In explainingevolution we do not have one iota of fact.” It is one thing to say, as we say (and the fossils and scientific data support us) that God created this universe in stages and created the things and living beings on earth one afteran other with time gaps in between; and quite another, as theDarwinisms or neo-Darwinisms say (and have no evidence to prove it) that the living things on this earth developed from non-living matter and that unicellular organisms developed stage by stage to become a human being.

12) WhereThe Darwinists Went Astray

So much about the first ground of the conflict between religion and science. Now we come to the second ground of the conflict, that is, the denial of God. Here we, theShi`ahs , as well as other religious (and many scientists of the present generation) are totally against the Darwinism.

The whole deliberation on `evolution' attempts to answer the question “How the universe came into being?”But it does not touch the other big question: “By whom was it created?”But Darwin and his followers said that as they could explain the sequence of the creation and its working method, so it was automatically proved that there was no God. It is just like saying, “As I can explain the working of an automobile and can guess the sequence of its manufacturing, so it is automatically proved that there is no manufacturer of that car.” It may seemabsurd as I have put it on paper here.But the more you read their denial of God the more you will be reminded of this fallacy in their arguments.

Now let us look at one more fallacy of atheism. Ithas already been mentioned in previous chapters.But here it is repeated to complete the picture. They assert that `thing' cannot come out of `nothing'. Therefore, according to them, it is wrong to say that God created the universe out of nothing. There must be a source ofevery thing .So , they believe that the Matter is eternal; andevery thing is a development of the eternal Matter.

This line of argument goes straight until it reaches the stage where begins the phenomenon called life'. Nobody has ever succeeded in solving the mysteries of life. Nobody knows where the life came from. Having rejected the belief in God, the atheists are compelled tosay “We do not know; but the life must have come from the Matter.” Now, Matter is lifeless. If `thing' cannot come from `nothing', how can the `life' come from `lifeless'?

Not only this. Let us proceed further. As they say, there must be a source for everything.And as everybody knows, the Matter is a `thing'. What was the source of `Matter'? These phenomena of the universecannot be explained without stopping at a certain point and believing that the universe began from it. Theatheist say that the Matter is that beginning point.But the Matter is lifeless. So, the existence of lifecannot be explained by this theory.And the Matter is senseless. The existence of Sense and Wisdom in the animals and human beingscannot be explained by it.

Therefore, if we are to have a satisfactory theory for the existence of the universe as a whole, we have to accept that there is an Eternal Being Who is the Source of Existence, the Source ofLife and the Source of Wisdom. That Being is God.

Part Two

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

The Prophet of Islam Muhammad (P) passed away leaving behind two valuable assets as his religious legacies for his followers, viz., the holy Qur'an and his Descendants. He urged upon his people to adhere to them firmly and never to part with them.1

The holy Prophet during his life-time had explained to the people all the Qur'anic truths, and, in the form of hadith, he had promulgated all the Islamic learning concerning faith, doc trines and tenets among all his followers. About the narration of hadith he had said, "May Allah bless a person who listens to hadith from me, receives it thoroughly and conveys it to those who have not heard it! There are a large number of people who communicate learning to the wiser and more intellectual persons than them ".2

Now, we shall see what the members of the Islamic polity did to the holy Qur'an and to the holy Prophet's Descendants and how they carried out the orders concerning the hadith.

These people ousted the members of the holy Prophet's family from the general society and compelled them to live in seclusion. They subjected them (the holy Prophet's Descendants) to an inexpressible harassment.3 And when they succeeded in snatching and wresting power, they tried to separate the holy Qur'an and the hadith which were the real interpreters of the holy Qur'an, in a bid to interpret the holy Qur'an as they desired and wished.

The holy Prophet's sayings and his mode of life, generally known as "Sunnah", were the main obstacles in the diplomacy of the Caliphs and powerful repeller of the attacks of the adversaries, so the Caliphate saw no other way out but to disarm its opponents of this powerful weapon.

In the beginning, Abu Bakr decided to get the possession of this weapon exclusively for himself. With this objective in view, he collected five hundred hadith of the holy Prophet (P), but after some time he found that that would not serve his purpose, because it was not possible to limit the hadith then, so he burnt up all these traditions.4

In those days, it was indeed, impossible to restrain people from narrating or writing the hadith and to compel them to benefit from those hadith only which Abu Bakr had collected. For this reason, Abu Bakr saw no other alternative except to place a ban on the hadith of the holy Prophet so that people might not have access to this strong weapon; therefore the Caliph prohibited the Muslims to quote the hadith of the holy Prophet, and issued a proclamation to the effect that the people were not to quote the hadith of the holy Prophet and that they had to follow only the holy Qur'an.5 The idea was that the holy Qur'an should be separated from the hadith, so that the Caliphs could interpret it as they wished.

Before his death Abu Bakr prepared a will deed by virtue of which he left the Caliphate to 'Umar.6 There is no doubt that most of the Muslims who, having been deprived of the hadith of the holy Prophet, had a narrow vision, so they did not oppose the move.

Even 'Umar, during his rule, followed strictly the policy of banning the hadith. Once, however, he put before the people a proposal regarding the narration and the writing of the holy Prophet's hadith in order to get their opinion. The people, in general said that it was necessary to revive the practice of quoting and writing the hadith. With extreme cleverness, 'Umar, after having pondered over the problem for a month, discovered a way out of the narrow strait in which he had been placed. He went to the people and made the following pronouncement:-

"I very much wanted to write down the Sunnah of the holy Prophet (P) but I remembered the peoples of the past, who by writing some of the books and paying too much attention on them, neglected the heavenly book, so I decided not to mix up the holy Qur'an with anything else."7

When He ('Umar) used to send out the holy Prophet's companions on official business, he emphasized upon them not to narrate any hadith, because that would make the people neglect the holy Qur'an. And if he came to know that any of them had disobeyed his orders, he would summon him to appear before him and used to detain him as long as he lived.8 Besides, if some written hadith were discovered with the people he would collect and burn them up.

Thus ended the Caliphate of 'Umar, and 'Usman succeeded to the Caliphate with the help of an organized party that had come into being.9 During the rule of 'Usman, the Caliphate authorities waged a severe war on the narration of hadith. If 'Umar used to harass the holy Prophet's companions and detain them in Medina and burn up their writings, 'Usman in order to stop the narrations of the holy Prophet's statements and descriptions of his ways of life, tortured or exiled some of the well-known companions of the holy Prophet (P). For instance, he exiled Abu Dharr from Medina and thence to Rabzah, until this notable comrade of the holy Prophet died on the burning sands of a strange land! Another companion of the holy Prophet, 'Ammar bin Yasir, was beaten so hard that he fell unconscious on the ground!10

For twenty-five years during the rule of the first three Caliphs, the comrades of the holy Prophet and other sons of Islam passed their lives in tremendous frustration, until at last as a result of a general uprising, the Caliphate of 'Usman was overthrown and the Caliph was killed. After this the people turned to Imam Ali (P) and chose him as their next Caliph.11

Imam Ali succeeded to the Caliphate at the time when Muslims, having passed a quarter of a century under the previous Caliphs, had become used to their ways of life, Imam Ali (P) has him self-described the situation prevailing at that time as follows12

"The Caliphs before me did things wherein they consciously went against (the dictates) of the holy Prophet of Allah (P). They broke their covenant with him and changed his 'Sunnah '. Now if I force the people to give up those things and restore the affairs as they had been in the days of the holy Prophet, my army men will be scattered away from me, leaving me alone and helpless. At the most I shall have a small number of my adherents left at my side, these adherents who recognize my Imamat through the Book of Allah and the 'Sunnah 'of the holy Prophet.

"What do you think will be the result if I take the following measures? :

(a) Replace "Maqam lbrahim" (the standing place of Abraham) to where it had been ordered by the holy Prophet.

(b) Restore 'Fadak' to the next of kin of Fatima (daughter of the holy Prophet).

(d) Restore the lands to those whom the holy Prophet had given.

(e) Cancel the cruel laws enforced by the Caliphs.

(f) Re-adjust Zakat on the original basis.

(g) Reformulate rules regarding ablutions and prayers.

(h) Restore the women who have been illegally separated from their husbands and given away to others, to their rightful husbands.

(i) Distribute money from 'Bait al-Mal' (state Treasury) equally among the deserving people as it was at the time of the holy Prophet not allowing it to concentrate in the hands of the rich only.13 The money from the State Exchequer has so far been distributed on the basis of party politics.

(j) Repeal the land taxes.14

(k) Declare all the Muslims equal in the matters of conjugal relations.15

(l) Collect Khums (fifth part of the property) as tax according to the Command of Allah.16

(m) Restore the holy Prophet's Masjid to its original structure, as it was at the time of the holy Prophet. Re-open the entrances to the Masjid, closed after the holy Prophet's death, and close them that were opened after him.

(n) Prohibit the wiping on the leather shoes17

(o) Impose legal penalties and special punishments on the drinking of 'Nabidh ' and date wine.18

(p) Legalize Mut'a of women and that of Hajj as they were in the days of the holy Prophet.19

(q) Declare 'Takbir' (glorification of Allah) five times during the prayers over the dead.20

(r) Make it compulsory for the Muslims to recite, 'Bismillah hir Rahmanir Rahim' loudly at the commencement of prayers.21

(s) Order the divorce to be strictly in accordance with the practice during the holy Prophet's days.22

(t) Order the treatment with the prisoners of war of various nationalities to be strictly in compliance with the commands of Allah and His Prophet.23

"In short, if I try to make the people follow the commands of Allah and His holy Prophet, they will leave me and wander away.

"I swear by Allah that when I ordered the people not to offer congregational prayers in the Masjids in the month of Ramazan except the obligatory ones and explained to them that to offer commended prayers in congregation was a new method; a group of my army men who had once fought on my side, started shouting 'Ah! The tradition of 'Umar. O' Muslims, Ali wants to change the tradition of 'Umar and intends to stop us from saying commended (Mustahab) prayers in the month of Ramazan'. They raised such a hue and cry that I feared they would rise in revolt.

"Alas", continued Imam Ali (P), "what sufferings I underwent at the hands of these people who opposed me tooth and nail and obeyed their misled leaders, who were only leading them to Hell-fire."

Imam Ali had prepared a programme by which he wanted to proceed along the lines of the holy Prophet and against the practice of the Caliphs, especially in respect of hadith. He waged a perpetual war for the destruction of all traces of the Caliphs' tradition.24 Practices were defaced and made topsy-turvey. Consequently the true Islam was completely changed into a new one.

The ruling parties officially recognized only this metamorphosed Islam. This Islam, the warp and weft of which had been prepared in the time of Mua'wiyah has, to this day, passed for the true faith. In our own days, things have come to such a pass that if the true Islam of the holy Prophet's days is presented to these people who have been used to the official Islam, they find it very difficult to believe that this is really the true Islam, because they have known their Islam from the pages of books containing false and fabricated hadith. By way of example we quote one hadith from the heap invented in Abu Hurayrah's work shop:-

"A group of people said to the glorious Prophet, 'O Prophet of Allah, shall we be able to see Allah on the Day of Resurrection?'. He replied, 'Don't you take pleasure when you look at the disc of the moon on the night of the fourteenth?'. 'We do', replied they. Again he said, 'Do you feel any trouble in sighting the sun which is un clouded?'. They replied 'No, O Prophet of Allah'. Then he said, 'You will see Allah in the same way'. On the Day of Reckoning, Allah will assemble all people and command them to follow those whom they used to worship. Those who used to worship the sun will follow the sun and those who worshipped the moon will follow the moon; and those who worshipped the devils will walk behind their gods. The only people left will be the Muslims including the hypocrites. Then Allah will appear to them in the form different from the one the people knew in the past and say, 'I am your Allah'. They will say, 'We seek the protection of Allah from thee' .We will remain here till our Allah comes to us and we shall recognize Him'. Then Allah will reappear before them in the same form that they had known before. Then they will cry out, 'Certainly Thou art our Lord', and they will follow Him".25

It can be seen clearly that the hadith has spoilt the very base of the knowledge of Allah and the Islamic conception of Resurrection.

In another tradition it is narrated that on the Day of Judgement, the holy Prophet will request Allah thus: 'O my Allah, in return for my curses that I flung at the believers in anger bless and purify them."26

Similarly it has been narrated that the holy Prophet (P) once said to the people, "Date palm doesn't need pollination", or, he said "Don't pollinate the date palm, it will be better for it". Accordingly the people didn't fertilize the date palms with the result that that year the date palms didn't flourish and when the holy Prophet came to know of this situation, he said, "I knew only that much. Don't ask me any further", or he said "About the worldly affairs you know better".27

It has also been narrated that one day the holy Prophet, while leading prayers in Mecca, was reciting Sura Najm until he reached the verse "Did you see Lat, Uzza and the other third Menat". While he was reciting this verse, Satan put the following words in his mouth: "These are the eminent gods (gharaniq) like white birds and their intercession is hoped for". When the poly theists heard these words, they became happy thinking that the Prophet had after all, spoken well of their gods, and at the same time, all the Muslims and polytheists together fell down prost rate. Then Gabriel came down and drew the attention of the holy Prophet to this great lapse. The holy Prophet said that the devil had put those words in his mouth.

According to another narration Gabriel asked the holy Prophet to repeat the said verse, which the holy Prophet did, adding also the words "These are the eminent gods (gharaniq)". Gabriel told him that he had not revealed those words to him, and that it was Satan who had made him (the holy Prophet) utter them.28

These narrations have been quoted in the famous and reliable commentaries of Sunni scholars like Tabari, Ibn Kasir, Suyuti and Allama Sayyid Qutub.

These people have narrated such a large number of fabricated hadith ascribed to the holy Prophet that they have concealed the true picture of the holy Prophet behind the screen of lies and false statements.29

The portraits of the Quraishiite rulers and officers were also painted in false colours. Phantom qualities were invented for them, and their opponents were made targets of reproach to the extent that men like Abu Dharr Ghifari, Malik al-Ashtar, Ammar bin Yasir and others of their sort, were declared to be conceited and ignorant of religion.30

Besides, they have cited many hadith regarding the attributes of Allah, Resurrection and Reckoning, Rewards and Punishments, Heaven and Hell, stories of the Prophets of the past, the beginning of the Creation, Islamic faith and tenets, but in fact their sources of information are the products of their own brains.

It has been estimated that the hadith of this sort fabricated in large numbers and the fields of narrations became so wide that all the religious truths were reduced to mere shadow and, instead, a new Islam emerged that of the Umayyid and Abbasid rulers, and it continued to be in vogue until the end of (The Turk) Usmani Caliphate.

Throughout the history of Islam there has been another group of people that opposed the fabricators of false hadith. Members of this group had been doing their best to give currency to the correct Sunnah of the holy Prophet even at the cost of their lives.

Abu Dharr, a great companion of the holy Prophet (P) is considered to be one of the leading figures of this group. One day he was sitting near the "Middle Devil" in Mina with a crowd of people around him. The people were asking him questions about the religion. Suddenly an evil natured official of the Umayyid government came to him and said "Haven't you been warned against answering people's questions?" Abu Dharr replied, "Have you the authority to keep a watch on me? ". Having said this, he pointed to the nape of his neck and said, "If you put the sword here and I may think that before my head severed off my body I can quote a few words that I have heard from the holy Prophet, I shall certainly do that ".31

Rashid Hijri, another great man belongs to this group. At the time when Ziyad, the governor of Kufah cut off his hands and feet and he was sent home, a large number of people came to see him and started crying. Rashid said to them, "Stop crying, bring something with which to write, for I want to dictate you what I have heard from my master"; The people agreed, but when the news reached Ziyad, his (Rashid's) tongue was also ordered to be cut off.32

Maisam Tammar, was also a valiant worker of this group. When Ibn Ziyad cut off his hands and feet and was going to hang him, (with much (difficulty) he stood up like a speaker on the pulpit, and cried, "Listen O' people, anyone who wishes to listen to the hadith that I have heard from Imam Ali (P), should come near me". People gathered around the gibbet and Maisam started speaking. When Ibn Ziyad came to know of this, he ordered his tongue to be cut off. After his tongue had been cut off, Maisam could not stand the agony more than an hour and gave his life at the gallows in a pool of blood!33

We have seen that the influence of the Caliphate had gradually increased immensely in the realm, to the extent that they were able to change the commands of Allah and His holy Prophet concerning legal or illegal acts.

Eventually, things took such a bad turn that the orders issued by the Caliph were enforced as if they were Divine Commands!

However, this state of affairs did not last long after 'Usman's Caliphate. General uprings against that arbitrary rule put an end to it, until the tides turned to the side of Mua'wiyah with the help of a group of forceful propagators picked up from the fabricators of hadith, Mua'wiyah chalked out a programme to revert to the old practices34 and regain the so called glories of the past. But the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (P) thwarted these designs forever and it was no longer possible for the Caliphs to revive the past practices. For this reason, the innovations and additions, that had separated true Islam from the official one, no longer made any headway. The succeeding Caliphs could not make any fresh innovations.35

The martyrdom of Imam Husayn bore another fruit. The revengeful acts such as imprisonment, maltreatment, torture and murder against the followers of the actual Islam and the reproducers of the holy Prophet's hadith were toned down, because the later governments could not adopt such painful and inhuman measures. Therefore, they decided to put in every effort to select the correct hadith from among the thousands of fabricated ones manufactured by the workers of the previous Caliphs and make these hadith available to the Muslims.

With 'Umar bin 'Abd al-Aziz, having assumed reins of Caliphate the hundred-year old ban on the hadith came to an end, and with the advent of the second century Hijra the followers of official Islam got orders from their government to start writing down the hadith of the holy Prophet. Consequently a large number of books on the biographies of the holy Prophet and his Companions were compiled. The holy Prophet's hadith were also collected and compiled in a number of books, but, among thousands of them, only a few such hadith can be found as having come down through the sources of the real pupils of the School of Islam; but even those few hadith caused a headache to the so called intellectuals who had sold their conscience away to the government, so, in order to get rid of them they adopted two measures:

Firstly, in the science of the investigation about the narrators of hadith and the scrutiny of the hadith intellectually, it was decided that if there be a narrator, a well-wisher or an ally of Imam Ali (P), his narration would be considered weak and of no value.36

Secondly, they compiled books on hadith that contained none of that type (narrated by the allies of Imam Ali).

The books on hadith that were thus compiled were called "Correct" (or "Authentic") and they were six in number. Among them, Bukhari was regarded to be the most reliable, because he had paid the highest attention to two things. He accepted the narration even from the Kharajites like 'Umar bin Khattab but he did not include any narration from Abu 'Abd Allah Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq.

In the same way he embodied all such hadith that related to the Caliphs, in spite of the fact that they were incomplete and disjointed. This is why the followers of the official Islam consider Bukhari's book as the most correct book after the Qur'an!

On the same basis, among the book son biographies and history, the history of Tabari has been counted as the most authentic of all the history books, because he has also toed the line of Bukhari. He has taken due care not to embody in his book a hadith that clashes in the least with the interests of those people who were considered respectable by the officials of Neo-lslam. On the other hand, he has quoted all such hadith that dealt with the justification of cruelties practised by the Caliphs! For this reason, Tabari narrated hundreds of hadith cooked up by the enemies of Islam, thus, totally distorting all the historical events relating to the period of the holy Prophet and the early Caliphs.37 This is why that writer (Tabari), because of his staunch loyalty to the Caliphs and their associates, became so famous and was considered so reliable that he (Tabari) was called the leader of the historians. After him the other hisorians like Ibn Asir, Ibn Kasir and Ibn Khalldun based their histories of the holy Prophet's companions on his (Tabari's) writings.38

After the fourth century Hijra onwards, the followers of the official Islam got the above six books published and declared that they were to be acted upon.

In history writing, only Tabari and his followers were regarded to be the main sources with the result that hundreds of books of history, hadith and commentary, that had been compiled by the writers, sank into oblivion!39 In this way, the path of investigation and research about the true Islam which the holy Prophet had brought for mankind as a great gift, was closed for all and forever.

The later generations, after the fourth century hijra till today, have blindly followed the same writers, with the result that now, with the exception of followers of the School of the Descend ants of the holy Prophet, all the people know that the current Islam is the same official Islam that has come into being at the hands of the "Innovators of hadith". Consequently, we find that the fabrication of hadith is the greatest obstacle in the way of knowing the true Islam, its tenets, commandments, rules and rituals, history and life histories of the eminent personalities of the past.

In the light of what we have stated above, it is the pressing need of the hour that all the intellectuals and learned scholars of the world of Islam should make thorough investigations in order to get access to the true Islam which can be found only in the school of the holy Prophet's family.

This is the greatest need of the time and I have placed it before the intellectuals and learned scholars of the world of Islam: Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iran and other countries. I hope that our Circles of Religious Knowledge and Learning that are the guardians of the holy Prophet's great legacy will pay due attention to my appeal and give a positive response.

Notes

1. See Ahmad bin Hanbal "Musnad " Vol.III/4, 172926 Vol V/182 and Muhammad bin 'Isa Tirmizi "Sahih '' Chapter "Manaqib ".

2. ) Muhamad bin 'Isa Tirmzi "Sahih" Vol 1/125, Vol 1/14, Chapter "Fazl al-Ilm ", "Tabligh al·Hadith" 'an Rasul Allah, " Muhammad Baqir Al Majlis "Bihar al-Annwar" VolI 1/09/112

3. How well Salman and Abu Dharrr, the great companions of the holy Prophet described the conditions prevailing at that time, in their eloquent speeches.

Says Salman: "Now you are wondering over the effects of your bad deed (usurpation of the Caliphate), and you have fallen far off from the main source of guidance" (Ibn Abi al-Hadid, annotation of Nahj al-Balagha, Vol. 11/131, 132 and Vol. 6/17).

Also says he: "It was a bad deed on your part (to have usurped the Caliphate). If you had offered Bay'ah (oath of allegiance) to Imam Ali (P), you would certainly have been immersed in the heavenly and earthly blessings.

Says Abu Dharrr, "If you had given priority to what Allah gave priority and if you had forsaken what Allah forsook, and if you had recognized rulership and succession for the family of your holy Prophet, you would certainly have been immersed in the blessings of Allah but now that you acted in such a bad manner as you have (done for the present), you must bear the consequence of your misdeeds and 'Those who do wrong will come to know by what a (great) reverse they will be overturned' ".

4. Shams al-Din Zahabi "Tazkirah al-Huffaz", Vol. 115.

5. Shams al-Din Zahabi "Tazkirah al-Huffaz".

6. "Nahj al-Balagha", Sermon:3, Shaqshaqiyah.

7. Muhammad bin Sa'd, Secretary-scribe of al-Waqidi "Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra", Vol. 111/287 Ibn 'Abd al-Bar "Jami al-Bayan al 'ilm wa Fazlihi" Vol. 1/64, 65.

8. We have described the details pertaining to this subject in the book "Min Tarikh al-Hadith".

9. Imam Ali bin Abi Talib "Nahj al-Balagha" Sermon 3, Shaqshaqiyah. Details of the occurrences may be seen in the book " 'Abd Allah bin Saba" Vol. 1/142-151, second edition.

10. Ahmad bin Yahaya Balazuri's "Ansabal-Ashraf", Vol. V/49.

11. Sayyid Murtadha Al·Askari"Ahdith Ummal- Mu'minun 'Ayeshah", Chapter 'Ala Ahd al-Sahrayn /115.

12. Here we have respond the pathetic plaintive words of the Imam, the Commander of the Faithful. However we have not given the literal translation, because that would require annotation and explanation. Instead we have reported its meaning. Details may be seen in Muhammad bin Ya'qub Kulayni's book "Rawza Kafi'' Vol.VIIl/63-61.

13. 'Umar in the distribution of money from the State exchequer had introduced a class system in the Islamic society, because a list was prepared of the Muslims of that time and a group of them was entitled to receive five thousand dirhams per annum, while another group was to get four thousand, and others three thousand, two thousand, one thousand and five hundred to two hundred dirhams. In this way, on one hand a class of nobles and the rich came into being and on the other another class of the poor came into existence in Islam.

14. Umar bin Khattab fixed the land revenue in Iraq on the basis of the land revenue laws of the Sasanid Iran, and in Egypt on the basis of the revenue laws of the Roman Emperors.

15. 'Umar bin Khattab banned the marriages of the nonArabs with the girls of Arab origin.

16. The Caliphs dropped the share of kith and kin from "Khums" after the holy Prophet.

17. "Khuf" is a foot gear made of the skin of animals. The Sunnites, following their ancestors consider it obligatory to wash the feet if they are bare. But if they are covered by a footgear, "Khuf", they consider it legal to wipe it.

18. "Nabidh " is a light wine, which is prepared mostly from oats/barely, a kind of beer.

19. 'Umar, the Caliph, declared two Mut'as illegal. Mut'a of Hajj, that is the pilgrims were to take off their "lhram" after having performed "Umrah ", and after that they used to put on "Ihram" the second time for the performance of Hajj. This had been the practice in Islam, but 'Umar ordered the people to continue to remaining "Ihram" until the end of all Hajj rituals. The Mut'a of women is the same fixed-time marriage, which according to the declaration of Qur'an and narrations of the Sunnites, has been a part of clear Islamic injunctions.

20. The Sunnites on the authority of Abu Hurayrah maintain that the "Takbir" during the prayers for the dead is four times. See Ibn Rushd Andolusi "Bidayah al Mujtah1d" Vol. I/240.

21. A section of the Sunnite sect drop "Bismillah" from "Al-Fatiha" and also the Sura (itself ) from prayers. Apparently they follow Mu'awiyah in this matter. Refer to "Tafsir al-Kashshaf" Commentary of Suraal-Fatiha Vol. 1/24-25.

22. The Sunnites hold that the pronouncement of divorce for a woman three times in one sitting is legal and hasten to ratify if without the presence of a just witness. Refer "Bidayah al-Mujtahid" Vol. 1/84-80.

23. Umar issued a proclamation that all the Arab prisoners of war be set free, but the prisoners of Iran were not allowed to enter even Medina, the metropolis of Islam. Among his contraventions of Sunnah of the holy Prophet was that those children who were born to a non-·Arab woman and had seen the light of the world in a non-Arab land, were deprived of the right of inheritance. Refer "Al-Muwatta" by Malik bin Anas Vol. 1/80.

24. He placed a ban on all the tale-tellers also who, under the orders of 'Umar and 'Usman, used to address people on Fridays in the Masajid of Islam. He allowed the citation/recitation of the holy Prophet's narrations freely without hindrance. As far as he could, he exterminated the innovations of the Caliphs. For further details refer to "Min Tarikh al-Hadith".

25. See Mohammad bin Ismail Bukhari (Sahih) Vol.I, topic "Fazlal-Sujud",Vol.IX"Kitab al-Tawhid",Vol. V I II Chapter "Al-Sirat, jasr' Jahannam". Muslim bin Hajjaj Neshapuri (Sahih) Vol. 1, topic "Ma'arifah Tariq al Ru'yah".

26. Muslim bin Hajjaj Neshapuri (Sahib) Bab (topic) "Man La' anahu al-Nabi or called him names 'Ja'ala Allah Lahu Zakatan wa Tahuran' ".On this topics several Hadith have been narrated from 'Ayeshah and Abu Hurayrah as well as from other respectable companions. In the end Muslim mentioned the saying of the holy Prophet about Mu'awiyah. He (the holy Prophet) had said, "May Allah not satiate his stomach!" Accordingly, all the curses of the holy Prophet on the people of Banu Ummayyah and others will bring to them purity and blessings

27. The same book, Bab "Wujab lmtithal ma qalahu Shar'an, duna Zakarahu Min Ma'ayish al Nas ala Sabil al Ra'y". In other books of Hadith also the same narration has been quoted from 'Ayeshah and Anas as well as from Companions. From the Hadith of this sort the Sunnite obtain the meaning that it is permissible to oppose the holy Prophet in his orders pertaining to worldly affairs. However, it remains to be seen as to which incident or time may be regarded as worldly matter, for instance the issue of the Caliphate!

28. In the commentary of the glorious verse: "Neither sent We a Messenger or Prophet before you but when he recited the message, Satan proposed (opposition) in respect of that which he recited thereof. But Allah abolishes what Satan proposes" (Hajj, 22: 52) as given in Commentary of" Al-Dhurr al-Manthur" by Suyuti Vol. IV/366-368 fourteen narrations purporting to this topic

have been narrated by the distinguished companions

29. With the publication of such narrations in the Islamic society there was no room left for criticizing or finding faults of the Umayyid and Abbasid caliphs and their henchmen because after all these people, as these narrations suggest, are the holier and more distinguished than the Prophet of the people.

30. Sayyid Murtadha al-Askari" 'Abd Allah Ibn Saba "Chapter I" Manshaal-Qissah" p.7-9,second edition printed at Cairo.

31. See Darami "Sunan" Vol. 1/1 32. Muhammad bin Sa'ad 's "Tabaquat al-Kubra" Vol. 11/354. This hadith and narration (Khabar) arc specimens of the narrations which the hands of the wicked got hold of from some parts of the books of hadith and maliciously destroyed and distorted them into pieces.

32. Muhammad bin al-Hasan Tusi "lkhtiyar Ma'rfah al Rijal", known as "Rijal Kushi"/75 and Allama Baqir Majlisi 's "Bihar al-Anwar" Vol. IX/6 3 2 printed, Company.

33. lbid/76-78.

34. People like Umm al-Mu'minin'Ayeshah, Abu Hurayrah, Anas bin Malik, 'Abd Allahbin 'Umar, 'Abd Allahbin'Amr' As Mughira bin Shiba and Samrah bin Jundub (are the main narrators). For further information refer: Sayyid Murtadha al-Askari's u Ahadis Umm al Muminin 'Ayeshah" and "Min Tarikh al-Hadith". Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din's "Abu Hurayrah", Shaykh Mahmud Abu Riyah's "Azwa 'Ala Sunnah al-Muhammadiya" and "Shaykh al-Muzirah".

35. One of 'Abd al-Malik's many steps was his order that the people instead of going to the Ka'ba for Hajj should go to Jesrusalem and should go round the house that had been built but the innovation could not held its ground, Refer '"Tarikh al-Ya.qubi" Vol.III/7,8 printed at Najaf al-Ashraf.

36. Refer all the Sunnite books on narration

37. Refer to Sayyid Murtadha al-Askari'sbook" 'Abd Allah bin Saba" 2 Vols.

38. Ibid.

39. Briefly quoting from Balazuri's stupendous book of history called "Ansab al-Ashraf" and the large and medium size books of history by Mas'udi, called the "Akhbar al-Zamman" and "Awsat."