Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Mus’haf of Fatima

Mus’haf of Fatima1

The famous religious book of Shias, Usul al-Kafi has the following tradition on page 146:

Imam (as) said, “We have Mus’haf-e-Fatima. And do you know what Mus’haf-e-Fatima is?” He said, “It is a Quran, and By Allah! It does not have even a single letter in common with your Quran.”

Now, this is a third Quran. First a forged one, then a real one, which is with the Hidden Imam and a Mus’haf-e-Fatima also. But we don’t know in which cave it is and who is hiding with Mus’haf-e-Fatima.

The greatest calamity for a man is to be involved with a fool. In all of the above statements the ignorance of Rizwan about Arabic grammar has become clear. Hence it is necessary to explain some points here.

1) The Rizwan editor has translated the unit of measurement of the length of Quran as ‘yard’. O respected scholar! My sincere advice to you is to get your translations checked by an elementary student of Arabic Grammar before publishing them. The Arabic word ‘Dharaa-a’ does not imply ‘yard’ but it means ‘a hand-span’.

2) You have messed the translation of what should be: ‘Mus’haf-e-Fatima is three times your Quran and by Allah, it does not have a single letter of your Quran.’ While you simply state: ‘It is a Quran, and by Allah! It does not have even a single letter in common with your Quran.’

3) Also Rizwan says: ‘and do YOU know what is Mus’haf-e-Fatima?’ While pronoun is ‘they’ and the translation should be: ‘and do THEY know what is Mus’haf-e-Fatima?’ That is the Imam (as) wanted to say: ‘What could the people who have left Ahlul Bayt (as) out of the love of others know what Mus’haf-e-Fatima is!’ Thus Ahlul Sunnat scholars like the Rizwan editor are also unaware of it.

At first, I was surprised how the Rizwan editor, Maulana Syed Mahmud Ahmad Rizvi could make such silly mistakes. But after a thorough study of Rizwan I surmise that the writer is perhaps a follower of Abu Hanifah. My surprise disappeared after this guess because the Imam of the Rizwan editor was also unaware of the rules of Arabic language and science of traditions. Imam Ghazzali writes in Mankhool:

“As for Abu Hanifah, he was not even a jurist because he was ignorant of language (i.e. Arabic). It was due to this ignorance that he said, “Lau ramaahu bi Abu Qubais” (while even a student will say, “Bi Abil Qubais”). Also, he had no knowledge about the recognition of traditions. Hence he used to accept weak traditions and reject the correct ones. He was not a jurist and used to say anything anywhere from his mind, which used to be completely opposed to reality.”2

By the grace of the Almighty, all these qualities of his leader are also manifested in the Rizwan editor.

Actually Mus’haf-e-Fatima is a book of Lady Sayyida Fatima (s.a.), which contains divine secrets and divine recognition. It is one of the trusts of God, which is three times the Quran. It is clear from the saying of Imam (as) that not a single letter of it is common with the Quran that it is neither a Quran not its commentary. It is a storehouse of the knowledge of unseen and signs of prophethood, which is beyond the reach of the people other than an Imam, and it remains only with the Imam.

Similarly, ‘Jame’ (and Ja'fr) are the two books of Amirul Momineen (as) containing all the events that shall occur till the Day of Judgment written under a heading, which only an Imam can understand. The only thing Imam (as) said about it was that its length was seventy hands (which the Rizwan editor mentions as seventy yards). However since the Rizwan editor would not be satisfied with my justifications I quote Muhaqqiq Syed Sharif, a renowned Sunni scholar. He has written a gloss on Muwaaafiq (which is a book of belief and theology of Ahlul Sunnat.) Muhaqqiq Sharif writes in this gloss as follows:

“These two (Ja'fr and Jame) are books of Imam Ali (as). He has compiled in them all the events that shall happen till the Day of Judgment through his knowledge of letters. All the Imams of his progeny know these books very well and used to issue commands according to them. Imam Ali bin Musa Al-Reza (as) wrote in a document after accepting the heir-apparency of Mamun: ‘You recognized those of our rights, which your ancestors failed to do. I accept your pledge but Ja'fr and Jame show that this pledge shall never be fulfilled.’”

The poor editor of Rizwan is found to be absolutely ignorant of the books of the household of Ahlul Bayt (as). Hence whenever he heard a name of a book from an Imam he mistook it for Quran. It is good that he has not heard of books like Sahifa Alawiya and Sahifa Sajjadiya, otherwise he would have considered them also Qurans and instead of three, he would have accused the Shias of believing in five Qurans.

I recall a humorous incident about this sort of wisdom. Swami Dayanand, the founder of Arya Samaj has raised some objections on Quran and Islam in the fourteenth chapter of his book Satyarth Prakash. He objects against the challenge of Quran that:

“And if you are in doubt as to that which We have revealed to Our servant, produce a chapter like it and call on your witnesses besides Allah if you are truthful.”3

The Swami says: Well! Is it impossible to produce a chapter like unto it? Did not Maulavi Faizi in the time of King Akbar compile a Qoran without making use of any dotted letters in it?”4

Now what can be said about the double research of Rizwan editor who has concluded that the ‘Jame’, ‘Jafr’ and ‘Mus’haf-e-Fatima’ are three different Qurans?

Notes

1. Scroll of Fatima

2. Mankhool, source: Istiqsaaul Afham

3. Surah Baqarah 2:21

4. Actually Faizi had written a commentary of Quran with the condition that it shall not have any dotted letters. Swami Dayanand Saraswati has mistaken it for another Quran.