Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

www.alhassanain.org/english

InDefence of Truth

Author: Dr. A.Alwaeili

www.alhassanain.org/english

Notice:

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

The composing errorsare not corrected .

Table of Contents

Enmtiy with Shi’ism and Calumny Against it 5

The Reasons of the hostile attitude towards shi’ism 7

The first example Some Examples of slanders Against shi’ites 11

The second example 15

1) Al-Fakhr Al-Razi 15

2- Alkurtubi Almaliki in his “The Big Interpretation” 16

3- Ibn Taimeia 16

The third Example 19

Notes 22

Enmtiy withShi’ism and Calumny Against it

Every tracer of nations’ and groups’ circumstances can evidently conceive and be sure that it hadn’t happened throughout all history that a party or a group had been subjected to calumny and been defamed in every purport asshi’ites had been subjected to in whatever is related to it as groups and sometimes as individuals.

They were subjected to the worst accusations and stigmatized of what they had been innocent, related to have what others had and perhaps to what the accuserhimself had. We shall recite some examples of what we have said and we shall try to mention them briefly because of the very long list and the huge amountbeing accumulated throughout several centuries.

This subjecthas been treated elaborately and so much had been written on it so we will refer to it briefly.Certainly if those who wrote aboutshi’ites and explained their beliefs had been motivated by a good intention or a searching for truths they would have found in whatshi’ites themselves wrote, what they answered questioners and by what they had refutedbiansed inquirer what satisfied them in order to manifest truths, to scatter obscurities and to illuminate the darkness that had been wanted to cover their history.

But it appears that the issue is far from being a searching for truths, rather it is an unveiled attempt to obliterate symptoms, to slander truths, to blockadeshi’ism andshi’ites and to oust them fromislamic identity at all costs, this goal has not been fulfilledthrought years in so many attempts but those people are still insisting on that aim in a strange consensus.

Some regimes insist on it for unhidden reasons while ordinary people do that for different motives, some aremercenarized for that, another is led astray and grown up in an environment thatnorished him with these ideas while he hasagood intention about them, another one keeps step with the current without minding to examine such issues, another has taken that as a sacred tradition then he find it difficult to suspect least he should hurt his religious conscience which has been brought up to take them as axioms and so on.

But we can except few ones from those we have mentioned whose religion and conscience had obliged them to be fair. Or that who has realized the dangers of such issues onislamic nation.

Those had called shyly formoslems toequit shi’ites and to attempt to adjust their Islamic Identity from the viewpoint of otherislamic sects This may be done by taking some of the ideas related toshi’ites as to be of some individuals or relating them to some perished sects ofshi’ites , or by regarding some of their views as wrong discretions from which they must be advised to desist, others proposed to leave them out and to arrange quiet campaigns to contain them in order to preserve unity and to protectislamic structure from cracking.

But I have found neither of those intending to review his traditional stored thoughts which insist onshi’ites ’ enmity nor was he ready to examine his items to knowwheter what he espouses is sound or merely some fancy which has taken the shape of religion or a belief the items of which, as he thinks, are conceded truths thatcann’t be discussed or reviewed.

I said that those who called forsh’iite ’ equity are very few and their soundsdiappear in the long distant space, and that their wishes vanish…, in an overwhelming trend which calls for eradication ofshi’ietes and to separate them from life in all its fields. All this happens at thesametime we findsunnis throughout all of itscurrnents devote themselves to persuade a single person to join their sect,

but they at thesametime do their best to expel three hundred millionshi’ites moslems out of the nation’s body depending on unjustified evidences if those - so called - researchers bothered to examine the foundations of their warrants they would find that they are related to sentiments not to bases or evidences, and that theconslusions from them are built on a collapsed groundwork.

They also hadn’t taken in consideration the dangerous probable results of such practices, the least of which is preparing the background for those who intend to rift amongmoslims to serve their own interests and attempt to provoke doubts in minds that Islam is not the religion of unity,

rather the religion of dispersion in addition to what we believe that Allahwilln’t grant us his mercy and success Allah said in Quran “They forgot Allah so He made them to forget themselves”.

The Reasons of the hostile attitude towardsshi’ism

We may wonder as we are dealing with the identification of this issue and others wonder too about the reason and the secret of this attitude. To answer this questionsI willsummurize what I could find, hoping them to be sufficient for explaining that enmity, so I say:

1. Sinceshi’isim was born at the prophet’s lifetime and a group of people had been identified as Ali’sshi’ites likeSelmaan ,Abuzer ,Almekdad ,Ammar Ibn Yaser and others, it wasbombseiged because it’s birth had been an evaluation of AliIbn Abitalib (A.S) and was a result of distinguishing him from others according to the texts ascribed to the prophet (s.w.a ) and his attitudes towards Ali (A.S) as a result of the greatachievments which Ali (A.S) has fulfilled to serve Islam and Moslems.

2. As for the texts, from the verses of the HolyQuran we have a number that ranges from 70 to 300 verses of the Quran as AbdullahIbn Abbass and others stated.

These verses dealt with some concerns ofAli( A.S) alone one time and with others another time, the books which explain the reasons of the verses’descendence from heaven had undertaken the task of counting them, we also have hundreds ofHadiths recited by those concerned with thehonourable propheticsunna .

As to Ali’s attitudes, there are in the books of “sieerah ” what is enough to enchant minds and hearts, all that called forth, that a group of “Sahabah ” gathered around him and preferred him to others, others took a negative attitude against them regarding them as an apposed group when power was taken by the other groups.

They mobilized against them all whatrulling groups often mobilize against the opposition.

2 – Because AliIbnaabi Talib’s debts ofQureish bloods were very heavy beginning from “Alsaraia ” battles ending to the big wars whose number waseighty three small and big battles. Ali’s share was the most. In “Badr ” battle half of the murderedwere killed with Ali’s Sword, in “Auhud ” battle the number of those killed with his sword was eighteen in addition to the Arabic families of whom he killed some persons.

Those warsinspite of being Islamic wars against infidel sidesi.e they didn’t take place for a special motive or a tribal aim rather it was a conflict between infidelity and Islam fulfilled bymoslem fighters against infidel fighters but the responsibility of those killed in those battles was not accounted to Islam as a religious side but the prophet (s.w.a ) and his household were hold accountable for them and Aliibn Abitalib (A.S) undertook its complete responsibility.

This responsibility extended to include those who gathered around him for this Ali’sshi’ites were exposed to a revenge in different shapes ranging from shed blood, plundered right, wasted esteem and finally floods of accusations and slanders against them.

The least of those accusations was to drive them out of Islam, then all that had beenfulfulfilled byQureish rulers whose period of rule lasted for a long time, in reality it was a revenge onshi’ites by those whom Ali (A.S) has killed their infidel ancestors.

3) During that theshi’ites ’ theory of rule integrated and whose right it has beenwas identified , the political nature ofshi’ism became clear.

This nature formed anitellectual conflict in the field, the pens of the two sides were animated to it, the intellectual abilities of the two sides were mobilized to form two wrestling currents one of them defends (shi’ites current), the other attacks (the current of rulers) and the governed masses who are mostly follow the religion of their kings, and this was the stronger side rather there is no place for comparison between them.

Some of those means were the pens called up to carry on a continuous war in which history was betrayed, responsibility to one’s word disappeared, rather the honest word vanished, exchanged with a blasphemy whichislamic treatment and honest pen don’t accept, the issue reached to an extent of impoliteness that makes every ardentmoslem feel sad.

As a result of that a large amount of slanders aboutshi’ites accumulated and stretched out since the first day till nowadays, rather now it has become more violent and more wild because it isnorished by two flowing veins of money and grudge, they supply pens and furnish the fire with fuel least it goes out only, Allah can savemoslems from this fire through His mercy.

4) Acompelete conviction dominated the Islamic field that reigning has been fixed at the hands ofsunnis , certain geographic, racial and ideological factors helped that fixation, here is not the proper time to explain them in detail but here we merely hint to them, it is clear that the party which holds power attracts all energies but some exceptions and that was what exactly had happened as theproponants of the party in power monopolizedevery thing in the field using different means whileshi’ites were forced out of the field, the belief that rule remains at the hand ofsunnies resulted thatshi’ites were antagonized by opportunists.

5)shi’ites ’ thought and jurisprudence is known of its literalalherance to sacred texts, they don’t subject the text to other considerations such asinterst , or to the viewpoint of the doctrine when it contrasts with the doctrine as a result of that there is no room here for that who wish to gain a share or that who wants to jump over the signification of texts to reach one of these aims at the time which the signification of text has been extended in order to open a vast space for the expectation searching for a vent to go through for its interesteventhough at the expense of religion for this reason and other reasons people overlookedshi’itic thought, then this overlooking of theshi’itic intellect developed into an attack under the guise of sluggishness and the disability to keep with the spirit of the text, a pretext used to veil their interest although it was covered with another guise.

This trend formed bigfunds which created a tradition difficult to be dissent from, the proponents of this tradition attacked what contradicts with it even though by distorting truths. These are merely some examples and samples of manyfactors which resulted in creating that huge amount of slanders againstshi’ites and as a result of what we have mentioned the intellectual and social activities ofshi’ites must dwindle because of successive blows on different levels.

The mass media such as press, books, radio and T.V at the others’ hand, the curriculums also are an attack against theshi’itic intellect and a praise to the other ideology, theapportunities of life are opened forsunnis intellectuals while they are shut forshi’ites rather they are shut for those who sympathized with them except a little personal activity here and there that form the least possible amount, and if there hadn’t been the divine providence forA’ali Mohamad’s ideology even this remnant would had gone.

6- If the readerdoesn’t accept what we havemetioned of reasons as a justification or an accuse for the attack onshi’ites across centuries there shouldn’t remains single factor which issummurized in the truth.

That the motives of blockadingshi’ism sinceit’s early days were political, aiming at driving them out of power by expelling their Imams from reign, justifications for this expel must be created.

Ideological justifications were the most important, in the course of time a generation emerged, nourished withshi’ite’s hatred by mass media because they are “deviants from religion” This generation began to form a tendencyproliteraled and inherited by generations, believing that the deviations contributed toshi’ites has been truths, theiradherance to their religion and their observation of Islam prompted them to take a negative attitude towardsshi’ites , especially with the presence of pens that continue the campaign, supply the fire with fuel to keep with the dominant tendency in order to protect their interests and dignity that may be lost if they say the word of right, and correct thecours , they may be subjected to dangers if they venture to treatshi’ites with equity, the attitude ofAhlilsham towardAlniss’ei had not been forgotten or eliminated from people’ memory when they asked him about the comparison between Ali (A.S) andMu’aweia ha said; is it just to say thatMua’weia may be equal to Ali(A.S) aside from being better than him? So they trampled him under foot until he died.

Butloyality to history, feeling the responsibility of word, saying the word of right, all of these remain as motives for thinkers and men faithful to religion to reveal the word of right, dot thei’s and cross thet’s , we hope that their feeling of responsibility forislamic interest, the prestige ofislamic nation and the nation’s unity would prompt them to find that difficult task facile in order to gain Allah’s satisfaction and the eternal abode considering the profits ofislamic unity when it isacheived .

That is a hope which fills every spirit with no fanaticism, became faithful to Allah, although that is an advantage difficult to be obtained, but every important and dear aim cannot be achieved without passing through obstacles, plunging into difficulties, especially now, truths have become evident because of mass media prevailing, the sources ofshi’itic thought became available andmoslems inter mixing with one another.

All that has been to disperse darkness and to identify realities, wasn’t thealegation of havingaspecial Quran ofshi’ites enough to come across a single copy of that Quran, and if it is difficult to obtain a copy of it, there they are the sources ofshi’itics “Ahkaam ”, the books ofshi’ites ’ jurisprudence are available and one can specify their documents as they are clear, for that who has a mind or listens for the truth and accept it.

So the summary of this last respect is that hostility towardsshi’ites and slander against them is a movement resulted from the powerfulcontinuoust movement of those who attempted to drive them out of the field.

The first example Some Examples of slandersAgainst shi’ites

After thisintroduction I will get into the essential idea at which I aim.I.e giving some examples of what had been attributed toshi’ites in order to expel them from Islam, alienatingmoslems from them, and to finish them off.I will confine to three examples to be taken as criterion by which so many of what has been attributed toshi’ites can be compared:

The first example: The slander of saying that Quranis distorted .

The Holy Quran is Allah’s revealed speech which includes no vain at all, it is the source of our civilization and constitution, it is the well spring from which the nation drinks, it has a sacredness at the heart ofevry moslem whichcann’t be equated by anything.

As it is the main source ofislamic legislation to which all other sources end themoslim can not be sure of the soundness of “Ahkaam ” with saying that perversion has come over it, as additions or decrease or playing with its words and sentences (we have revealed Quran and we preserve it), because of this dignityevry moslem feels towards Quran so everysect or group says that there is a perversion in Quran they will be considered as a strange body or organ in the structure of the nation, they will be the place of indignation.

For that reason the first thing the kitchens of rule had cooked and asked their agents to market it wasattributting the view of distortion in the Holy Quran toshi’ites , we shall see soon the verity of this attribution and whatsunnis say in this concern in order that the trueness of what was attributed toshi’ites becomes clear.

Our jurisprudents and explainers haveconcured to disavow this attribution, to refute this slander in more than one of the source books ofshi’ites so that youdon’t comeacroos a book ofshi’ites which deals with the subjects and sciences of Quran without finding a research in which he refutes Quran distortion.

As it is not my aim here to inspect what has been written I only want to direct reader to some of theresources which explainImameiah’s viewpoint plainly, in a sufficient amount to prove so I mention what satisfies the occasion:

The viewpoint ofshi’ites public is that Quran is protected from distortion of any kind of addition or deficiency in its beginning until its end, circulated amongmoslems , one can be sure of that by turning to the introduction of “Tefseer El-Tebian by Sheikh Al-Toosi , and the introduction ofMejmeaelbaian byTebressi ,

and “keshfel kheta’a ” by SheikhJa’afar in the chapter of Quran, and “ha’kul yakeen ” byMuhsin Feiz kashani , “A’ala ’arrehmaan ” by sheikh MohammadJawad elbalaghi , “Albaian ” byseied Abul Qasim Khuei that was the view point ofMufeed ,Behaei andKhazzi rather it is the viewpoint of All our researchers, as to what Is attributed toAlsheikh Al-kuleini in his book “Alkaafei ” he mentions some narrations which state that there is perversion in Quran he himself controverts them, that is assured by thefoolowing matters:

1) TheHadeeths which give the impression of mentioning perversion stated byAlkuleini are cited by him in the chapter of uncommonHadeeths , the meaning of uncommonHaddiths is the oddHadeeths which are not considered in practice, an oddHadeeth when it contradicts with the Book andsunneh or when it is right in itself but it is opposed with another narration which is more common among narrators than it,

it is not considered, this is what our scholars adopt in the chapter of “Alta’adul waltarajeeh ” since the narration of wrench contradicts with the Book andsunneh and it is contrasted with a more common and acceptable narration it is not put into effect.

2) It is stated in the issue of distinction between right and wrong narration that the narration is compared with the Book andsunneh if it agrees with them it is accepted, if it doesn’t it is discounted, and this is an evidence that those narrations are disregarded but they were narrated just asBukhaari and Moslem have narrated theinformations of alteration.

3) He stated the narration ofSa’adel Kheir inRawzatel kafee ”, it denies frankly any shortage in Quran, asAlBaqir (A.S) said toSa’adel Khair : (one aspect of their casting off the Book was that they protected its letters and wasted or violated its laws) and it is clear of the completeness of the letters of Quran.

4) It is not necessary that the narrator who states anaration accepts its purport as it is stated in different branches of sciences.

This is only a meresammurized idea about the distortion of the Holy Book andshi’ites attitude towards that, it is very plain, we have many evidences stating thatshi’ites don’t say that Quran is distorted, rather those who maintain distortion in Quran in the meaning of addition ordimination other thanshi’ites .

As for distortion in the meaning of altering the meaning of words, verses, and the reasons ofrevealation ,shi’ites have a frankviewpiont in this concern, they say that distortion in this meaning has taken place by many narrators and explainers for unhidden motives.

We, after that, return to the viewpoint of a group ofAhlulsuneh who say that there is a decrease in Quran (according to their resources):

It is strange that those who say that there are diminutions in Quran areAhlilsunneh their views are frank about the decrease in the Quran which is circulated amongmoslems to day disregarding whether they consider the corollaries of this view or not – they got as in the habit of adopting the view without complying with its corollaries, here is not the place of proving that, it has another place and research, we may deal with it in another occasion, I say that their views about that are frank but they charge others with it as we shall see in the coming examples.

Let as review some of their views concerning their professing distortion in Quran, these are merely examples as to that who wants more details we shall refer to some of their resources:

1 – Al-sayoti stated in his book “Aletkhan Fi U’lum el Quran” in the chapter dealing with the numbers ofsurahs , words, and letters of Quran some narrations cited from the CaliphAu’mer Ibn elKhattab as saying “the letters of Quran are athoausand thoausands and twenty seven thousands letters.

And Al-Tabarani stated that in a confident title with reference toUmar bin Al-khattab .

2 – The Author of “kenzelu’maal ” narrated, fromZer Ibn Hubbeish ” as saying:Aubei said tome : “O,Zer how do you read “Suretel Ahzaab ” I replied 73 verses, he said: it has been equal to “Suret elBakarah ” or it had been longer than it.

The significance of these two narrations is that according to the caliph’s narrations, the presentnumber of the letters of Quran are less than third of the original number, and the significance of the second narration is that the actual “suretel Ahzab ” isathird of the revealedsureh ”.

3 –Ahlil sunneh stated that the twosurehs of “Alhafid walkhale’a ” are of the shortsurahs of Quran that were not cited in Quran, the caliphAumer Ibn elKhattab , these two missed shortsurehs has been read by him when hesubmisses to Allah in his prayer, they are as follows: (O Lord we depend on you and ask your forgiveness,ealogize you,

we don’t disbelieve in you, we take off and leave who disbelieve in you) (O Lord we worship you, pray to you and kneel, strive to you, we hope your mercy and fear your wrath, your torture will befall disbelievers) look upAlsayouti , the chapter of thenmuber ofsuras He narrated that from different ways. Although these twosurahs are not in Quran.[ 1]

4 - AhmedIbn Henbel stated in his “Mesned ” in the first volume, narrating fromIbn Abbas QuotingAumer Ibnel Khattab saying: Allah had sent Mohammad (s.w.a ) by right and revealed to himalkitaab ”,Ayatel rejem ”.

“Do not be away from yourfathers, it is infidelity on you to be away from your fathers”.

So the prophet threw stones and we threw after him we had been reading (wala terkhebo anA’abaeikum Enkefera bek upAnter khebu anA’abaeikum ”, this verse is not in Quran.[ 2]

5)Alsayuuti stated in “Aletkhan ” narrated fromnafe’a fromIbn Aumer : Anyone of you must not say that I have taken (read) all the Quran as he doesn’t know whatis the whole Quran , so much of Quran has been wasted.

But let him say I have taken what remained, appeared.[ 3] As it was narrated fromA’aeisha the prophet’s wife she said: Thesureh ofAhzaab had been read at the prophet’s time twohandred verses, whenAuthmaan wrote Qurans we did not read of it but what we read now, these two narrations are very frank.

6)Imam Moslem narrated in his “Seheeh ” in the third volume fromAbiherb Ibn eabi elaswad fromAbamous’al asha’ari , said to readers ofBasrah : we had been reading asureh likesureh Barra’h in length and violence, Ifor got it but I memorized of it, if man has twovallies of possessions he would seek a third valley, nothing can fill man’s abdomen but dust, we had been reading asureh we likened it to one of “almusebbehat ” I forgot it but I memorized of it,

o believers why do you say what you don’t practice, as it is written as a witness against you and you will be liable for it in the day of resurrection” nothing of these twosurehs or “Aayeh ” he cited is there in Quran, they are wasted according to his views, this is in addition to what we presented of examples.

The way Quran has been collected and written as it is narrated byAhlisunneeh , theirbelife that itsTelawa (recitation) abolishes some verses of Quran whether “Hukum ” Abrogated or not, all that results in believing that Quran has been distortedt.e , it has decrements.

7-Ibn Majeh narrated fromA’aeish the prophet’s wife as saying: the verse of pelting with stones and the verse of nursing baby until ten were revealed, these verses were written on a leaf under my bed stead, when the prophet died we were busy with his death, a poultry entered and ate it, this is also narrated by Al-Dumeiri in his book “Hayaat elHaiwan ” in “Daajin ” Our scholars elaborated in many of their books on discussing those who accept distortion in Quran and refuted their views,

one can look up the resources we mentioned,inspite of all that we illustrated only some examples, we have other resources enough to compose books and books inAhlilsunneh and their professing to distortion but in spite of all that as we stated slanders don’t stop at a limit rather it iscontinous following the proverb “she accused me of what she has and went.

I believe that what we write and explain to refute these slanders doesn’t benefit but so little of those objective faithful persons who are searching for truths, as to the majority of our people aren’t truth seekers, they insist onfalsitude and wrangling to the limit of calling sun as the black stone but our comfort is that we present our effort to that who searches for truth, may Allah benefit by it whom he wishes.