A word from the Persian translator
The history of Islam and knowledge of its famous and important personalities serve as a necessary starting point of departure for an understanding of the main text of Islam. We may even venture to claim that without a proper and exact understanding of the history of Islam, one cannot get a true feeling of the facts and realities of this faith. For, on the one hand, knowledge of the great and well-known Islamic personalities and their ideas, conducts and deeds which form a part of the text of religion and which are translated into the term“tradition”
, is not possible without a knowledge of the time, place, customs, habits and morals of their contemporaries, and on the other hand an understanding of the characters opposing Islam reveals the perspicacity Islam, and shows the manner of the combats and strivings of Islam and leaders against the wicked and wickedness.
In view of the importance of this principal fact we see what the role of a true history and its worth and position are in the religious life of the Muslims. We realize to what extent a knowledge of historical facts helps us in our clear understanding of the realities of our religion, and after being alien for many centuries from the rise of the bright sun of Islam, to what extent we are capable of noticing this brilliant light and how close we are getting to this fountain virtues.
In the coming pages we shall see how the history and tradition of Islam have become subject to the plots of sensualists, and how far falsehood and alterations have found their way into them.
History and texts of traditions were greatly altered and misinterpreted by the hands of these plotters who were supported by the Umayyad rulers, particularly by Mu‘awiyah himself. Every day that went by in the life of Islam, fresh lies were added to the enormous collection of falsehoods, to such an extent that the brilliant sun of God’s religion seemed, little by little, to have become obscured under so many lies and forgeries. It is here that the constancy and self-sacrifices of the Imams of the Prophet’s household act as savior of Islam, and these noble personalities and their devoted Shi‘ah followers rise to protect Islam, and engage in their perpetual and bloody combat with forgers and their supporters.
On the other hand the sentinels of paganism, namely the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs, endeavour to preserve the falsehoods which have been fabricated especially in the time of Mu‘awiyah, and even to spread them more widely every moment, since the foundation of their caliphate is nothing but dishonesty. In the battlefield of right and wrong, this combat between the party of God and Satan’s never ends, and no period is free from it.
In our own time, a keen-eyed scholar has with his penetrating insightfulness taken a great step to draw a line between truth and falsehood, and he has obliterated from the scene of history hundreds of falsehoods and alteration. Forty years of continual research in first-hand texts of history and tradition has led the scholar Sayyid Murtada ‘Askari to certain facts, which are published in a series of research volumes entitled“Dirasat fi al-hadith wa at-tarikh”
. His daily scrutiny, reflection and labor have enabled him to unearth from thick layers of forgeries many true facts of Islam, and to place them at the disposal of seekers of truth in the world.
Indeed now the big idols and high barriers in the way of a proper understanding of the history of Islam have been broken, and such early and well-known texts as the at-Tabari history, a pioneer of historians, can no longer be relied on without reference to their research values. Thus Mahmud Abu Rayh, the famous and free-minded Egyptian scholar, rightly says:“Everyone who longs to be acquainted with the facts of the history of Islam since the time of its advent until the period of allegiance to Yazid, must study the two valuable research books of ‘Abd Allah ibn Saba’ and Ahadith of Umm al-Mu’minin ‘A’ishah.”
The author of this book, scholar Sayyid Murtada ‘Askari, is of Iranian origin, whose ancestors have for many centuries acted as religious and missionary authorities in the cities of Sabzevar and then Saveh. He was born in city of Samarra’, and was brought up in a genuinely clerical family. His grandfather, Ayatollah Mirza Muhammad Samarra’i, a great and virtuous theologian, had a great role in his education. Scholar ‘Askari received his preliminary religious instructions and parts of his higher theological training in Samarra’. Then he travelled to Qom where he was engaged for five years the acquisition of higher knowledge in the theological center of that city. After that he returned once more to Iraq as a pilgrim to the holy shrines of his exalted ancestors. The last stages of his studies were covered in the religious cities of Iraq, and since then he has been fully active, devoting his whole life to scientific research and educational, social and missionary activities, so that fifteen Shi‘ah institutes including primary and high schools, colleges, hospitals, and welfare organizations are memorials of the social activities of scholar ‘Askari.
The scientific works of Professor ‘Askari have certain characteristics, which enhance the possibility of discovery of truth in his investigations, and allow the views expressed in these works to posses precision, weight and dignity.
The first quality that we observe in all his books and writing is his remoteness from prejudice and partiality. As we shall see in this book, in his care to preserve truth, beside his analysis of the weak points in the character of the personality concerned, namely ‘A’ishah, he has devoted a separate chapter to a description of her good qualities.
The second characteristic of his works is his reliance on important sources and first-hand texts, so that in the primary plan of his discussion he does not rely on the books written in the fifth century onward as the only reliable sources, and even in his use of first-hand texts he resorts to such books which are fully acceptable by the people. For instance, owing to the doubt expressed by some modern scholars concerning some historical books, he does not rely on the book of ‘Abd Allah ibn Saba’ as the only available source. Dr. Hafni, professor of the faculty of literature of Egypt, writes in an article printed in Iraqi journals on the occasion of the publication of the book of ‘Abd Allah ibn Saba’:“This scholar and expert of comparative history collects his highly scientific facts form many works and books, and he has stepped on every scene of history in order to discover forgotten truths. This master investigator tries to prove his points by basing them on the arguments presented in the writings of anti-Shi‘ah scholars. In this way he chooses the shortest route to vanquish the enemies of Shi‘ism through their own arguments.”
The third distinct quality of scholar ‘Askari’s works is the multiplicity of the sources on which he relies. For example for the first chapter of this book 114 sources and references have been mentioned, whereas in Persian there are no more than forty pages and in the Arabic text no more than twenty pages. This quality is more noticeable in the first volume of ‘Abd Allah ibn Saba’, and the Arabic text of the present book, so that sometimes half of the page or more is devoted to footnotes and mention of the source.
Lastly the most significant characteristic which is not seen so much in the works of eastern and western scholars is a non-reliance on old and first-hand texts as a perfectly unquestionable and reliable source. In the researchers of scholar ‘Askari neither at-Tabari, nor Ibn Hisham, nor Ibn al-Athir, nor anyone else is accepted without care and calculation, however famous they might be and however reliable they may have been regarded by others. As a first step, the documents related to the historical topics and narrations are subjected to an analysis and evaluation, and if necessary, each narrator is subjected to a careful scrutiny, and then the related text is compared with other historical narrations in order to distinguish the correct from the incorrect.
It should be mentioned that western investigators usually and mostly pay attention to the texts and try to estimate the truth and falsehood of the events through those texts without paying attention to the narrators of the texts. Modern eastern scholars, too, who have studied in European and western schools, mostly follow the method of their masters, and if they present any work of research, it is not beyond the method of European historical research. On the other hand, that group of earlier eastern scholars who have written historical books, rely mostly on the reliability of an author with the result that sometimes they quote the most idle matters on the strength of the fame and credit of the author concerned.
But the tradition scholars of Islam have chosen the exactest possibly way by mingling the two above methods, and after a careful evaluation of the narrators, they deal with the evaluation of the related text, and compare it with other available sources and evidence, and eventually offer their conclusions.
The main research works of scholar ‘Askari are based on the adoption of such a method, and his novel views concerning the historical events and matters of Islam are derived in this manner. Those who have studied the two books of“‘Abd Allah ibn Saba’”
and“Khamsun wa mi’ata sahabi mukhtalaq”
(One Hundred and Fifty False Companions) confirm our statement.
Professor James Robson of Glasgow University in a letter written to him, confirms his point and says:“The method of your discussion in the survey of the topics narrated by Sayf
, is very interesting in this way that you have firs surveyed Sayf’s narrations and then you have compared them with other narrations. This careful comparison has been carried out both on the topic of Sayf’s narrations and on their source and evidence. This shows that Sayf has often quoted from unknown individuals, namely fictitious narrators. Then the question arises why other writers have not quoted anything from any of those narrators. Therefore one concludes that Sayf himself has fabricate those narrators. This charge levelled to Sayf is a serious accusation and a logical conclusion derived from the comparison of Sayf’s narrations with the narrations of others. I am very glad and grateful to have had the opportunity of spending much time on the study of these topics which are perfectly convincing to me, and I feel sure that all those who study this book with a clear and broad mind, will praise the strength of argumentation.”
Now we will mention the scientific and research works and writings of scholar ‘Askari:
1-” ‘Abd Allah ibn Saba’ wa asatir al-ukhra”, printed in 1375 AH in an-Najaf, 1381 AH in Cairo, 1388 AH in Beirut, and 1393 AH in Tehran. This book has been translated into Persian, Turkish and English. The second volume of this book was published in 1392 AH. in Tehran with the efforts of the Great Islamic Library. The third volume is not yet ready for publication.
2-”Khamsun wa mi’ata sahabi mukhtalaq”, first edition in Beirut, second edition in 1389 AH in Manshurat kuliyat al-usul ad-Din, Baghdad. The second volume of this book is printed in Beirut and is ready for publication. The third volume is being prepared. These three volumes try to prove the fictitious identity of 150 so-called companions of the Prophet. The first volume begins with a preliminary discussion and then deals with 23 companions who exist only in the world of imagination, and proves them to be fictitious individuals.
3-”Ahadith Umm al-Mu’minin ‘A’ishah, adwar min hayatiha” (Traditions of ‘A’ishah and periods of her life), printed in Tehran in 1381. This book is translated into Persian in three volumes, and the present book is its third volume. The Urdu translation of the whole book has been published some years ago in Pakistan. The second volume of the book, which deals with the most significant narrations of ‘A’ishah, has not yet been printed and is being prepared.
4-”Ruwat mukhtaliqun” is a survey of false narrators in whose names fictitious historical events have been recorded in reliable books of history. Logically this book is a supplement to the three volumes of“One Hundred a Fifty False Companions”
.
5-”Min tarikh al-hadith” (On the history of Tradition) is the most precise book concerning the fate found in history by tradition as the second basis for understanding Islam. This book is in 300 pages, and still requires further research and completion.
6-”as-Saqifah is an elaborate research on the most significant phases of the history of Islam. It is about 300 pages and requires further elaboration.
7-”Mustalahat Islamiyah is an interesting project for a more exact understanding of Islam, on the basis of the Qur’an and tradition. It is a treatise of 300 pages about the special terminology used in the text of Islam. This survey is based on the comparison of the verses with the aid of the traditions of the Prophet and impeccable Imams, and serves to expand methodical revision in the Islamic attitude of the present time. If this book is completed and published, it can uproot all the alterations, which have been produced in the meaning of a number of religious and Islamic terms.
8-”Ma‘a ad-Duktur al-Wirdi fi kitabihi Wu‘az as-salatin”, is a scientifically critical study of the book of“Wu‘az as-salatin”
by Dr. ‘Ali al-Wirdi, in 300 pages.
9-”Kayfa ta‘lam ad-din”, in two volume, on the topics to be learnt by children in religious matters.
10-An Introduction to“Mir‘at al-‘uqul”
, which is a great research book by the exalted scholar, Mulla Muhammad Baqir Majlisi on the great book of al-Kafi. The new edition of this great work is to be published with an elaborated introduction by scholar ‘Askari. This introduction is an independent and exceedingly useful book in about 250 pages comprising the newest historical and narrational researches, and it may be regarded as one of the most useful works of scholar ‘Askari. This book is about to be completed and printed.
11-Introduction to the book of“‘Ali wa as-sunnah”
(‘Ali and tradition) by Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani, the great scholar of the eleventh century of the Hijrah.
12-An Introduction and Survey for the book of“Tibb ar-Rida”
by Dr. Sahib Ziyni. The last part of the book gives a brief account of the life of this great Imam.
13-An Introduction to the book of“al-Ijazat al-‘ilmiyah ‘ind al-Muslimin”
by Dr. ‘Abd Allah Fayyad, professor of the education college of Baghdad and History of Islam on the principles of religion, printed in Baghdad in 1967.
14-An introduction to the book of“Asl ash-Shi‘ah wa usuliha”
(The Origin of Shi‘ism and its principles) by Ayatollah scholar Kashif al-Ghita’. Its latest edition was printed in Tehran.
15-An introduction to the book of“A Survey of Sahihayn”
by Muhammad Sadiq Najmi, published in Iran in 1972. An elaboration of this introduction and translation of the introduction to“Asl ash-Shi‘ah”
is to be published as a separate treatise entitled“A Glance at the story of Tradition”
.
There are also many articles by scholar ‘Askari printed in such Arabic scientific journals as“Risalat al-Islam”
, and“al-Mujtama‘ al-Islami”
in Baghdad,“al-Adwa’”
and“al-Iman”
in an-Najaf, and“al-‘Irfan”
in Beirut. Moreover, this scholar has had a share in founding the two scientific journals of“Risalat al-Islam”
and“al-Mujtama‘ al-Islami”
.
The present book is a translation of the last part of the book of“Ahadith of Umm al-Mu’minin ‘A’ishah, adwar min hayatiha”
entitled“Ma’a Mu‘awiyah”
. The two preceding parts have already been published under the titles of“The Role of ‘A’ishah in Islam”
and“ ‘A’ishah in the Time of Imam ‘Ali”
.
As the text of the book has been written for Arabic-speaking scholars, and thus in some cases brief references are made to certain topics, we have been compelled in our Persian translation to offer additional explanations. But as the Persian translation has been effected wholly under the supervision of the exalted author, it is naturally devoid of the particular viewpoint of the translator, and may thus be regarded as a fresh book of his. Moreover, in some cases the author has added new pages wherever necessary, the example of which are the addendum and the subject of the arbitrators, which are re-written by the translator to bring them into harmony with the rest of the book. In this way this book takes the form of both compilation and translation, and thus the reader of the Arabic text can also benefit from the Persian translation.
In conclusion I must express my thanks to the scholarly friends who have read the manuscript and made useful suggestions in removing errors made. I am also grateful to the great scholar Mr. Nur ad-Din ‘Askari by whose endeavour the indices of the sources and bibliography have been prepared, and also to other friends who have assisted me in matters of print and proof-reading. In conclusion I request dear readers to make me indebted and thankful to themselves by informing me of any errors or shortcoming which they have appeared in this book.
Muhammad ‘Ali Jawidan
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Author: Allamah Sayyid Murtadha Askari
