Questions About Sects

8/7/2019 Questions About Sects

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Strictly Following a Particular School of Thought

Question:

It is very clear that Islam is the divine religion and all its believers are Muslims. Despite

knowing this fact, people do not want to part from their fiqhs and enter the pure Islam.What is the reason behind this attitude?

Answer:I believe that if the holy Prophet (sws) would be alive and we were enjoying the blessingof learning directly from him, there would not have been a chance for a believer toattach to any particular fiqh. But after the demise of the Prophet (sws), even thescholars ofhadth have no choice but to consult the opinions of other scholars in varioussituations. A layman cannot understand the holy Qur'an and the Sunnah by himself. He

has no option save to accept the opinion of the scholars. Asking him to study Qur'anand Hadth independently ignoring the opinions and researches of the scholars canprove fatal for his religious self. The best option for such a man is that he shouldconsider the Qurn and Hadth, the only sources of the religion, and should accept onlysuch views of the scholars as seem compatible with the evidences given in the holyBook of Allah and Sunnah. If he find a counter opinion by any other scholar, he shouldnot reject it but through evidences and, in this regard, he should seek guidance from hisreligious mentor. If he finds that the view of the differing person is nearer to the hadthand the Sunnah, he should accept it and his affiliation to his school should not hinderhis correction. But it should be noted that one should differ or stick to a particular groupor school only for the cause of Allah and in obedience to His Prophet (sws).

Taqlid is a natural weakness. It can be condemned only when it hinders the path ofrighteousness and when a person denies the truth despite knowing it.

Difference between the Shi'is and Sunnis

Question:

What is the original dogmatic fault Shi'is? What are the differences between the Shi'isand Sunnis?

Answer:

Allow me not to comment here about the false and truth and simply illustrate thedifference between the Shia Muslims and the mainstream Muslims. The mainstreamMuslims consider the only divine source of Islam, existing after the Prophet (sws) to bethe Quran and Sunnah. However according to the Shia Muslims (the majority of them


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who are known as Imami Shia), beside the Quran there are twelve individuals from thegeneration of the Prophet (sws) who came one after the other as the divinely appointedImams of the Ummah after the Prophet (sws). According to the Shia Muslims theseindividuals are flawless and where needed can have access to the hidden knowledge.Accordingly they believe that only the guidance given by these Imams is the true

guidance and any one who follows other understandings of Islam is misguided or notfully guided. They therefore consider the Khulafa of Muslims (from Abubakr to the lastone, except Ali ra who they consider to be the first of these divinely guided Imams)to be transgressors-going beyond of the right of these Imams.

According to the Shia Muslims, the last Imam is the promised Mahdi who was born inthe third century and then went to occultation a few years later to remain safe till peopleare ready for his return. They believe that he is miraculously still alive and will returnbefore the end of the world.

Slah of the Shi'is

Question:

I have been researching all the differences between sunnis and shiites. Can you tell mehow different are there ways of praying? Why do certain people view theirkalima to bewrong considering a small addition at the end? I want my concepts to be clear as themasses view shiites as non-Muslims. Is there any relevant proof in document (a fatwa)that says otherwise about the shia school of thought is right in their own regard.

Answer:

I would like to first clarify two points about Shia:

1. No individual and no group has any authority to declare the followers of a sect ofIslam, Non-Muslims. It is only the jurisdiction of the Muslim community, in its collectivecapacity, that may take such a decision. Even then, as long as the person believes inthe fundamentals of Islam, reads his prayers and pays Zakah, then according to theQur'an, he should be considered a Muslim. This most definitely applies to ShiaMuslims.

2. The main difference between Shia Muslims and the mainstream Muslims is in theirbeliefs. The differences in practices are only secondary and such differences can befound among non-Shia Muslims as well.

In terms of belief, the difference between Shia Muslims and the mainstream Muslims isthat Shia Muslims believe that after the Prophet (pbuh) certain individuals (Imams) fromamong his Ahl Al-Bayt and generation are to be followed. They consider theseindividuals to be divinely appointed, infallible and being divinely guided. According to


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Shia the last Imam has been gone to occultation about 1000 years ago but is still aliveand will reappear to bring justice to the world and he is Mahdi.

Obviously as the Qur'an is our book of guidance, one needs to look at the Qur'an to seewhether the Qur'an directs us to hold the above belief.

In terms of the differences in prayers, these differences are mostly in details. I am notsure if this is what you are interested in but if you are interested please write back andwe will list these differences for you.

Hadith about Twelve Imams

Question:

My question is about the hadith about the twelve imams. What is your opinion about thathadith? Is it authentic? If it is than who are those imams which are addressed? Shiis

are very much certain that the referred to imams are their imams. If we say they arewrong then who are the imams? If the Shiis are right then why dont we accept theirviews?

Answer:

As for the Hadith you mentioned, there are a number of points to consider:

1. Hadith on itself is not a source of developing our obligatory beliefs. Any obligatorybelief needs to have its establishment in the Qur'an. If you know of any verses of theQur'an that says we need to follow certain individuals after the Prophet (sws) then you

need to follow that verse, otherwise people who hold a belief based on Ahadith like whatyou mentioned need to answer the question that why the clear book of guidance that issupposed to include everything for our guidance has not mentioned an obligatory belief.

2. The Hadith you referred to is narrated by Jabir ibn Thamura who at the time was onlya kid. He says that the Prophet (sws) said those words in presence of people. The factthat this Hadith is only narrated by Jabir is quite suspicious.

3. The Hadith is not about 12 Imams. It is about 12 Amirs. Amir means someone whohas the power in hand. From among the Imams of Shia only Ali (rta) and for a very brieftime Hassan (ra) had power.

4. The Hadith does not direct Muslims to follow these 12 Amirs. In fact it does not evensay that these 12 Amirs are rightly guided ones. It merely says that at their time Islam isin powerful position. If it was an obligation to follow these Amirs then (beside the factthat it had to come in the Qur'an as well) the Prophet (sws) would have made sure thateveryone had heard it and would have made it very clear that following them wereobligation.


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5. History informs us of existence of only 11 of the Shia Imams. There is no reliablehistorical evidence about the existence of the 12th Imam of Shia. The existence of the12th Imam of Shia is mostly argued based on theological and philosophical reasoningrather than any hard historical facts.

Nahj al-Balaghah

Question:

Kindly comment on Nahj al-Balaghah. Is this truly by Hazrat Ali (ra)? I read "Sermon 3:Sermon ofash-Shiqshiqiyyah." Please comment.

Answer:

The book Nahj al-Balagha is a collection of sermons, letters and sayings attributed to Ali(ra) that was collected by Sayyid Radhi in 4th century (died in 404).

Nahj al-Balagha itself does not have any Isnad (chains of narrators), but it is possible tofind the Isnad of much of its contents in other sources. It is not possible to rule anoverall judgment about the whole book, in terms of reliability. Rather every sermon,letter or saying should be looked at from other sources separately.

An interesting point about Nahj al-Balagha is that while there are a number of places inthis book where it is narrated that Ali (ra) was arguing about his right to Khilafa, in noplace in this book is there any reference to him being selected by Allah to be Khalifa orImam after the prophet (sws) and there is no reference to him being announced as theprophet's successor. In fact, in all places where these arguments (in favor of Ali havingright to Khilafa) are narrated, they are based on kinship and knowledge rather thanbeing appointed.

The Khutba of Sheqsheqya is one example, where you see that despite apparently veryopen criticism of other companions, there is no mention of Ali (ra) being appointed bythe prophet as his successor. This sermon has a few chains of narrators and none ofthem are flawless, even according to the books of Rijal of Shia.

Did Hazrat Ali (rta) and other Imams call them Shi'i?

Question:

If Shiis are wrong in their beliefs according to sunnis then why did their imams whowere close relatives of Hazrat Ali (rta) lead them (shiis)? Or in other words what didShia imams call themselves, sunni or shii?


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Answer:

First, we need to understand our religion from the Qur'an. If we can find the belief ofShia Muslims in the Qur'an then it is correct and if not, then it cannot be correct. This isas simple as that.

Second, if we want to use this argument then nearly every belief or every sect in Islamcan be argued to be on the basis of correct premises. Shia itself has been divided intotens of branches, some of which are currently existing. The same question can beasked about all these sects of Shia. The correct method of thinking however is toevaluate people by their arguments rather than to evaluate arguments by looking atpeople who have said them (this itself is an advice that is narrated from Ali).

Third, if you look at the more reliable narrations from Ali, Hassan, Hussain, Ali b. al-Hussain you do not find any explicit references to the core Shia belief (as we know ittoday). If you look at the narrations from Muhammad b. Ali and Jafar b. Muhammad youwill find two types of narrations from them. Those in which they deny any divinestatus/position and those in which (quite contrary), they consider divine status/positionfor each other. Technically speaking many of the latter type of narrators can be provedto be unreliable and weak according to the Shia books of Rijal.

My belief is that Shia Imams used to call themselves with the same title that the Prophet(sws) used to call himself, that is, Muslim.

Verse 22:78 considers this title to be fully satisfactory for us and my belief is that theShia Imams did not ignore this verse

Sons ofHussayn b. Ali (rta)

Question:

I have read in one of your articles that two sons of Hazrat Ali's (rta) were called Usmanand Abu Bakr. They were killed in Karbala. Kindly clear this issue giving the reference ofsome Shii books.

Answer:

This is from among the known facts among the Shia scholars. For instance the veryfamous Shia Alim, Sheikh al-Mufid writes in Al-Irshad, the section on Tarikh Amir Al-Mumenin, Bab 4 under


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...

"and Umar and Ruqayya ... and Abbas and Jafar and Uthman and Abdullah, who (i.e.these four sons) became martyred with their brother Hussain in Karbala ... andMuhammad al-Asghar whose title was Abubakr and Ubayd Allah who became martyrswith their brother Hussain in Karabala ..."

You can find the same details in Muntahi al-Aamal of Sheikh Abbas al-Qumi, Bab 3,Fasl 6.

As a quick reference, look at the following website that is one of the well known Shiasources in Internet where the martyrs of Karbala are listed. Number 7 is Uthman,

number 8 is the same Muahammad ibn Ali as above although it does not add that histitle was Abubakr, also look at number 9 in the website, Abubkar ibn Hassan ibn Ali, theson of Hassan (ra)

http://www.al-islam.org/short/sorrows/names.htm

Matamdari and Azadari

Question:

What is origin ofmatam and azadari. What is origin ofmajlis? Do matam and majlisenjoy any religious basis or these are only cultural activities? Is it fair enough to termboth matam and majlis into haram and halalcategory or one should not bother aboutthis issue. In a relationship like marriage between sunni and shia one should makethese things banned to other spouse or to stop him or her for doing this? Please guide.

Answer:

Even the learned Shia scholars agree that azadari and majlis in the way that ispracticed in our era does not have a very long history and has never been part of thereligion. This is nothing but obvious as we do not have any records of such type ofazadari during the time of the Prophet (sws), companions or their followers. Thesepractices have cultural and sometimes political roots and this is why in every time andevery society it is done in a different way.


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As for calling them haram, if they are practicing as part of the corpus of religion thenthey fall in the category of innovation and become haram.

As for stopping the spouse to participate in these events, this is a matter that needs to

be considered on the basis of the case in hand. The relationship between the husbandand the wife, the background, education, influence of relatives and many other factorsmake every case different. However in general it seems like advising in these cases(without expecting it to be immediately effective) usually works much better thanaggressive enforcement of the view.

Significance of Incident of Ghadeer

Question:

What is the status of hadth-e ghadir? Is it true or not as many authentic hadth booksconsider it to be true. Secondly in that hadth one point is confusing that prophet (sws)took Ali's hand in air and said: All my friends and allies are friends of Ali. According tothe sunni version: Everyone whose master is Muhammad, Ali is his master. Myquestion is that we must consider the fact that all the pilgrims were returning fromMakkah and Ghadir is the place from where all were going to depart. At this place andat this moment when most of the pilgrims were there from all the tribes the Prophetmust have had something important to tell about Ali and his status. Merely taking it tomean that he wanted to tell that Ali was his friend does not apparently seem to be thepurpose. Does it sound proper from the Prophet to stop the people and tell them with

great care that Ali was his friend? I think it must have a more important significance.

Answer:

Hadith of Ghadeer is a reliable Hadith since it has reached us through a number ofsources and narrators. Of course there are versions of it that are not reliable howeverthe narration of the main story is a reliable one.Your question is based on a number of assumptions that to me are not true:

1. The place that the Prophet (pbuh) gave the Khutba was in fact far from Mecca. Mostof people who were in Hajj where not there simply because many remained in Meccaand many went to other directions. Ghadeer Khum was in fact a place where people ofMadina and surrounding areas were separated. It seems like the Prophet (pbuh) left thismessage about Ali (ra) to this point simply because it was related to the issue that hadraised in the army that was led by Ali (ra). The army consisted of people from Madinaand surrounding. If we assume that what the Prophet (pbuh) said had a very important


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implication for all Muslims, then it would only make sense that the Prophet (pbuh) say itin Mecca and during the Hajj, where he had the most population of Muslims around him.

2. The Khutba that the Prophet gave was not just about Ali (ra). It was a longer Khutbaand near the end the Prophet (pbuh) also said that wonderful sentence about Ali (ra).

3. The degree of importance of a message that comes from the Prophet (pbuh) for hisfollowers can only be assessed by looking at whether this message has been also givenin the Qur'an or not. It is only obvious that if a message of the Prophet (pbuh) carried somuch fundamental importance and added a significant substance to the corpus ofreligion then it had to be included in the Qur'an, that is Furqan and Mizan. This ofcourse is not to say that what the Prophet (pbuh) said was not important! However theissue is, whether it had implications as important as some Muslims believe it had.

4. The implication of the Hadith of Ghadeer is not depending on the meaning of thework Maula. Maula can be interpreted as friend or master, but what makes us

understand the implication of the Hadith is first, whether the issue is also addressed inthe Qur'an (see point 3 above) and second what the background of this Hadith was (seepoint 1 above).

5. One of the best ways of understanding the implications of this saying of the Prophet(pbuh) is to see (through reliable narrations) whether Ali (ra) himself interpreted theHadith of Ghadeer the way that some Muslims interpret it. As far as I have seen, thereis no such reliable narration from Ali (ra) about this, which makes me concludethat even Ali (ra) had not seen Ghadeer the way that some Muslims see it today.

Eid-e Mubahila

Question:

What is Eid-e-Mubahala and why only Shii celebrate it?

Answer:

There is no such a thing as Eid-e Mubahala promoted by the Prophet (sws) as the part

of the religion. There are only two Eids in Islam:E

id al-FitirandE

id al-Adh'ha, as it isevident from the Sunnah of the Prophet (sws).

Shii Muslims believe that the incident of Mubahala proves an extra ordinary religiousposition for Ali, Fatima, Hassan and Hussain (rta). This is the incident in which theProphet (sws) is ordered in verse 3:61 to invite the Christians of Najran to a challengeand a test in which each of the two sides would curse the liars to see who will be savedand who will be harmed as the result. Those Shii Muslims who celebrate this incident


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According to the Shia school of thought, Hazrat Umar (rta) is responsible of the death ofHazrat Fatima (rta), the daughter of the Messenger of Allah. They explain it further byclaiming that when Hazrat Ali (rta) refused to do bayat (pledge allegiance to) at thehands of Hazrat Abu Bakr (rta), Hazrat Umar (rta) stormed the house of Hazrat Ali (rta)with several soldiers and during the struggle to enter the house Fatima (rta) got injured

and lost her unborn child and later after few months she passed away. I want to knowhow true this is and what is the background of the story? If Hzarat Umar (rta) hasanything to do with the death or injury of Fatima (rta) then what is the status of HazratUmar (rta) in Islam in regards to this. Your prompt reply shall be highly appreciated.Please note that one quick response would be that the narratives are not reliable. But Iam looking for a detained response on the issue. Whey the narratives then areacceptable to shia and unacceptable to the sunnis?

Answer:

To be able to blame a Companion of the Prophet (sws) and in deed any person of a

crime as serious as murder (let alone murdering the beloved daughter of the Prophet)one needs to have relevant and reliable evidences.

We try to examine the available evidences here:

I. Evidence in Mainstream Sources

"The accusation here is: The suspect (Umar) burned the door to the house of the victim(Fatima) and pushed it on the victim, which resulted in the miscarriage of her expectedchild."

Now let us look at one of the popular sources of evidence of this sort, one that isbrought forward occasionally by Shia brothers:

Tarikh Al-Tabari:

It is recorded that Umar threatened to set the house of Fatima on fire. There is nomention that he actually did that.

Further more, the hadith is not reliable. It is narrated via Muhammad Ibn Hamid IbnHayyan. This is a very unreliable narrator. In the book ofTahzib Al-Tahzib we read thatBukhari says: There are concerns about his narrations. An-Nasayee says: Not reliable,has been reported that he was a liar. Al-Joozajani says: Not reliable. Al-Razisays: Ihave 5000 ahadith from him and will not narrate even one of them. Saleh IbnMuhammad Al-Asadi says: I Haven't seen any one bolder to Allah Ta'Ala than him. Heused to collect ahadith and forge them together. I haven't seen any one cleverer thanhim and Sulayman Al-Shazekuni in lying. Baihaqi says: The Imam of Hadith, IbneKhuzayma does not narrate from him.


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Based on the above we can safely conclude that the above evidence (in Tabari) is bothinsufficient and unreliable.

Moreover when we look further in the book of Tabariwe find ahadith that conflict withthe above story. Only few pages after the above record we read the following two:

Abu Sufian asked Ali to give him his hand forBay'atand Ali shouted at him and saidwe had agreed on Abu Bakr.

When hearing about the Bay'atin Saqifa, Ali came out of his house while he was notdressed properly only to rush in doing bayat with Abu Bakr.

Please note that here I am not arguing that the above two records are reliable. All I amsaying is that an unbiased mind should take all these into consideration and test all ofthem before any attempts for ruling a judgment.

It is not a rational approach to ignore the rest of the records in books like Tabari andonly rely on those parts that suit our belief and even then without any attempts to testthe reliability of what they are quoting.

I have examined a number of other sources that are usually referred to by Shia brothers(e.g. Al-Imama wa Al-Syasah, Al Iqd Al-Farid, Qurra Al-Ayn Fi Tafzil Al-Shaykhayn). Innone of them have I found a record that fulfils the following conditions:

Clearly suggesting that Umar actually burned the door or pushed the door on Fatima(RA).

Having reliable chains of narrators (in fact the majority of these sources do not evenhave a chain of narrator)

Not accompanying with conflicting records.

Based on the above I can say that there is no evidence in the mainstream sources thatcan support the accusation. I am more than happy to examine any other sources thatmight be put forward.

II. Evidence in Shia Sources

It is one of the basic rules of judgement that evidences for an accusation should not betaken from the sources of those who have accused. Having said that, and whileappreciating that there are records in support of the accusation in some of the Shiasources, I would like to point out that it is very strange that in some of the more popularand old Shia sources there are no mention of the incident.

For instance the book Al-Irshadby Mufid:


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According to the Shia brothers the book is one of the very reliable sources of history notonly because of its author (who is one of the gurus of Shia) but also because of thecloseness of the time of writing the book to the time of the presence of ShiaImams.

In his book, when it came to naming the children of Ali, (RA) initially we find no mention

of the name of the miscarried infant (Muhsin).Mufid then says:

"and in Shia there are some who say Fatima miscarried a male infant after the Prophet,who had been given a name by the Prophet, and that is Muhsin. So based on thesaying of these people the children of Amir Almo'menin (Ali) will be 18 and Allah knowsbest" (Irshadp. 336 by Mufid)

It is interesting that Mufid is not approving the miscarriage and attributes the story tosome of Shia. It is also interesting that even here there is no mention of the alleged

attack on Fatima (RA). This is while the book of Irshad is dedicated to narrate theimportant incidents of the life ofShia Imams, including Ali (RA).

In Kafi, one of the four main books ofShi'ism there is again no mention of the incident inthe chapter on life of Fatima. It only says that Fatima was angry with Umar without anyreferences to any attacks taken place.

In Kashf Al-Qumah another classical book of Shi'ism again we read that there aredifferences of opinion about Muhsin and that some ofShia consider him to be the son ofAli from Fatima who died because of miscarriage. Again no mention of the incidentitself.

Among the Shia scholars, we have Allamah Fadhlullah who is famous for putting aquestion mark on the incident and calling it unlikely because of the conflicting recordsand also based on rationality. He was condemned severely by other Shia scholars forhis opinion.

Based on the above I think no judge can conclude that the Shia sources can provide uswith satisfactory evidence.

III. Rationality

Being disappointed in finding hard evidence to rule against the suspect, let us now turnto rationality:

Ali according to Shia was the bravest of Arabs. In the Shia book Nahj Al-Balaqah weread that he has said something to the effect that he was not afraid of anything when itcomes to protecting the right. I find it very strange that such an incident could take placewithout Ali trying to protect his wife (the daughter of the Prophet). We fail to findanything about such natural reaction by Ali.


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Later we find no attempts by Ali or any of the other companions or people closed to Ali'sfamily to bring Umar to justice.

Not only this, we even find Ali give the name of "Umar" to one of his children. I do not

want to claim that Ali named his son after Umar the second Khalifa. I am well aware ofthe answer given by our Shia brothers implying that the naming was not after Umar thesecond Khalifa. However I find it very strange that someone like Ali could give the nameof the murderer of his wife (the daughter of the Prophet) to his son. Ali was from thesame family as the Prophet. It is narrated that the Prophet never wanted to see the faceof Wahshi the killer of his uncle Hamzah even when Wahshi embraced Islam. This is avery serious issue. Today you find no Shia with the name Umar. The other two sons ofAli, Uthman and Abu Bakr were present in Karbala with Husayn and were brutallymartyred in protecting their brother. Yet when you go to the mourning ceremonies ofShia brothers you will hear the story of all the Ahl Albayt of Husayn except Uthman andAbu Bakr only because of their name. This attitude of Shia about names is very

understandable and acceptable if one holds the same view that Shia hold for thesecompanions. One wonders why Ali's attitude was not as would have been expectedfrom any human being. How many people do we know who are happy to give the nameof the murderer of their wife to their son? Any one who is slightly familiar with the cultureof Arab will appreciate that this is even stranger for an Arab.

To see the further complication, we will be amazed to find that according to records inShia books Ali gave her daughter Umme Kulthom to Umar as his wife (although someShia brothers make some arguments to deny this). So here we have the husband of thevictim not only calling his son with the name of the murderer of his wife but also givinghis daughter to the murderer of his wife!

It is also very strange to think that such a huge crime has been taken place, and (notonly Ali, but) none of the companions of the Prophet (sws) ever bothers to complainabout it and to bring the sinner to the justice.

I think it is safe to conclude that even rationality does not support the accusation.

Now all I discussed above was in a generic form, trying to forget the personality ofUmar. I think a Muslim who wants to be closer to Allah Ta'ala and have better Taqwashould even have more cautious and fear in accusing a close companion of the Prophet(sws) of such incident. Let us not forget that we are advised in the Qur'an to pray thatAllah cleanse our hearts from any bad feelings about the early immigrants (i.e.Muhajerin) and Helpers (i.e. Ansar). This of course does not mean that we cannotacademically challenge views or actions of any of them but at least we should be fairenough by basing our criticism on sound evidence. I can guarantee we would notcriticise an ordinary man in our time of a crime as simple as theft with evidences asirrelevant and as unreliable as the ones mentioned above.


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Following Shi'i Fiqh

Question:

I wanted to learn the meaning of the expression ul al-amr(those vested with authority)

in Q 4:59. The verse says:O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger and ul al-amr minkum.TheShiis take it as a basis for their concept of imamat? Secondly would you kindly tellme if I can follow fiqh-e Jafriyah if it appeals me? What about the small differences forexample in method ofwudu and placement of hands in the Prayer?

Answer:

Thank you for writing to us. We believe that the wordsul al-

amr min

kum refer to therulers. They do not refer to the religious scholars. As for the question of following fiqh-e

ja'friyah it is upon you to decide. Though the questions dealt with in a fiqh are mainly ofpractical nature and we may adopt any of the existing ones or found a new one yet wemust appreciate the fact that fiqh-e jafriyah is based on belief in imamat whichfundamentally differs from the sunni Islam. We do not find the belief in conformity withthe basic Islamic beliefs. For example we do not find it possible to hold someonema'soom (infallible) source of religious knowledge. But the shii hold their imams asinfallible. In their fiqh the ruling of the imam would be final. This is why we cannotsuggest or recommend following this fiqh.

On Appointment of the First Caliph

Question:

Several ahadith approve Ali's (rta) khilafat. Abu Bakar's (rta) khilafatwas either anaccident or deliberation. And in the light of the above; was he a true khalifah al-Rasool?Was Muawiya's decision to appoint Yazid as his successor, legitimate especially in thepresence of Hussayn?

Answer:

Khilafah of Abu Bakr Siddique (rta) was acknowledged by the entire community of theCompanions of the Prophet (sws). The Companions as a community, could not havejoined hands on differing from the authority of the Prophet (sws). The Holy Qur'anaffirms their truthfulness and puts on them the huge responsibility of communicating thereligion of Allah to the world. Since their trueness is confirmed by the Book of Allah we


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cannot claim they disregarded the command of the Prophet (sws) regarding imamatofAli (rta). Who would have known more than them that the Prophet (sws) intended themto take Ali (rta) as a caliph if that was the case? The whole dispute of khilafat, it needsto be appreciated, originates in the fact the Prophet (sws) did not appoint anybody.

I am sorry I cannot comment on the decision of the Caliph Mu'awiyah. This is because Ido not and cannot know the ground realities in that time. We believe that Islam does notgive any special privilege on religious basis to the members of the family of the Prophet(sws).

Invoking a Qur'anic Verse to Prove Imamat of 'Ali (rta)

Question:

(We sent) messengers as the givers of good news and as warners, so that peopleshould not have a plea against Allah after the (coming of) messengers; and Allah isMighty, Wise." (Q 4:165)

The good news could have been the designation of Hazrat Al as imm after him andthe coming of the imms after Al. This verse also shows that the Prophet (sws) wasonly a warner and there will be guides after him.

Answer:

My dear brother, understanding Islam cannot be based on works of guess andestimation. The meaning of the verse is crystal clear and all the significant experts ofthe Qurn, the Sh and Sunni, in principle have the same understanding of the "giversof good news" in the verse that is a translation for the word "Mubashshirn". Accordingto their understanding, which is also in line with other verses of the Qurn, the goodnews is the fact that those who accept the message of a Messenger will reach salvationand paradise in the hereafter.

If unlike all the Sh and Sunni experts of the Qurn, you believe that "good news" heremeans the designation of Al (ra) as the Imm then the responsibility is on you to prove

this. We are supposed to learn our religion from the Qurn, not to interpret the versesof the Qurn based on our own understanding of religion. What you are doing here isexactly what Al (ra) has advised us not to do in Nahj al-Balghah, that is, leading theQurn to our personal beliefs rather than letting the Qurn leading us to the correctbelief.

The verse has no indication that the Prophet (sws) was not a guide and that there willbe guides coming after him. In fact, this goes directly opposite to what the verse is


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saying. The verse is saying that after the Messengers there remain no excuses forpeople. A genuine excuse emerges when there is a genuine unfulfilled need. The verseis in fact saying that this "need" is fulfilled with the coming of the Messengers.

I would also like to remind you that according to Sh, the Prophet (sws) himself was an

Imam. Therefore according to Sh, the Prophet (sws) was also a guide.

Are the Shi'i Muslims?

Question:

First of all I am really thankful for all your help by answering my questions. Please helpme out in this one. Ahmedis/Qdiyns are considered non-Muslims according to allMuslim sects. Recently I was watching a video on youtube in which an Ahmedi guy wassaying that if Ahmedis are considered non-Muslims then why Shah are not considered

non-Muslim as well. I thought very hard and am still confused. My point of view is thatthere should not be any Prophets/Imms after our last Prophet (P.B.U.H) but Shahalso have some weird faiths like: revelation was intended to be conferred on Hazrat Alibut was mistakenly bestowed upon the Prophet Mohammad (sws). There are someother beliefs openly discussed as well.

Why only the Qdiyn's were declared non-Muslim? Is there any political scenarioinvolved in it? Or is it a matter of religious beliefs.

I know my question is a little sectarian but believe me it is just to clear my own mind.Please let me know about Javed Ghamidis views on Qdiynis and Shah.

Answer:

Please let me comment on two things you mentioned:

You said: "Ahmedi/Qdiyns are considered non Muslims according to all Muslimsects." Please note that it is not the responsibility of any Muslim sect to declareassociates of a belief as Non-Muslims and their verdict on this matter carries noauthority. It is solely the responsibility of a Muslim state to declare associates of a belief(among its citizens) as non-Muslims and this has to be done after consultation withqualified scholars of Islam.

You said: "Shah also have some weird faiths like: revelation was intended to beconferred on Hazrat Ali but was mistakenly bestowed upon the Prophet Mohammad(P.B.U.H). I can assure you that no learned Shah holds this belief."

You asked: "Why only qadyani's are declared non-Muslim? Is there any politicalscenario involved in it? Or is this a matter of religious beliefs."


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For a citizen of an Islamic state, the mere fact that the state has declared associates ofa faith as Non-Muslims should be enough, unless one believes that the state has donethis without enough consultation with qualified scholars and for dishonest and wrongreasons. Otherwise it is entirely up to the state to decide (where needed and after dueconsultation with qualified scholars) if a group of believers was Muslim or non-Muslim.

As for comparison between Shah and Ahmadis/Qdiynis, I think you need toappreciate that there is a significant difference between the two. Shahs do believe indivine Imams but consider these Imams as guides who apply and explain the Sharahrules and Islamic beliefs, while Ahmadis believe in theirKhulafas divine reformers ofIslam. A reformer of a system has much more potential of introducing significantchanges to the system as compared to a guide of a system. This is apart from the factthat the majority sect among Ahmadis considers Mirz Ghulm Ahmad Qdiyn to be aProphet capable of receiving Allah's revelation, a claim that goes against the Qur'an andagainst some of the reliable Ahdth narrated from the Prophet (sws).

As far as I know, what I wrote above is inline with the views of Mr. Ghamidi.

Difference between Shi'ism, Sufism and Sunnism and the Rightly Guided Sect ofthe Muslims

Question:

1- Are the human beings kind or evil by nature? Common questions kids ask these

days as taught in school? 2- What is difference between suf, Sh and Sunn, which isright path?

Answer:

My answers to your questions follow:1- Are the human beings kind or evil by nature? Common questions kids ask thesedays as taught in school.

According to the Qurn human being by nature is a humble entity that likes to be a

servant of his Lord. (Q 30:30)2- What is the difference between sufism, Shism and Sunnism? Which is the rightpath?

Sufis are group of people (some considering themselves as Muslims and somecoming from other faiths) who believe in certain mentors (Sheikh) as the mediumbetween Allah and his servants and are often engaged in doing certain practices (likeuttering certain names of Allah at certain times in specified numbers or using musicor chanting in an attempt to find spiritual aspiration). One of the main characteristics of a


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typical Sufi is that they do not observe rules of the religion they are originally ascribed to(e.g. Islam). They consider these rules to be only for normal (not Sufi) followers of thosereligions.

Sunns are the majority of Muslims who follow the Qurn, Hadth and the works oftraditional scholars of Islam. Their beliefs and practices are very much influenced by

their perception of the opinions of traditional scholars. Apart from the Qurn, a majorsource of understanding Islam for this group is Hadth, specifically the six main books ofHadth known as Sihh (the sound ones). Sunns often use Ahdth to interpret theQurn.

Sh are those Muslims who believe that after the death of the Prophet (sws) therewere divinely appointed infallible individuals from the generation of the Prophet (sws),called imms, who were and are supposed to be followed. Any understanding of theQurn and Islam according to this group should be through these individuals.Consequently books and narrations attributed to these imms are considered as themost important sources of understanding Islam after the Qurn. These sources are alsoused by Sh to interpret the Qurn.

The right path in Islam is the one that is relying on fully reliable divine sources,where unreliable sources are not used to interpret these reliable sources. The only fullyreliable divine sources in Islam are the Qurn (as an independent source) and thereligious practices that were established by the Prophet (sws) among his companions,the knowledge of which was transferred, generation after generation, to our time and onwhich there is general agreement (Sunnah).

A few Questions about Shi'i Beliefs

Question:

I have a few questions and shall appreciate your reply by e-mail.1. I need reference of any book/document in which names of the ten blessed

Companions are mentioned.2. What are the fundamental differences between the Sunns and Shs?3. Is Tabbarrah (cursing the Companions) an essential part of Sh beliefs?4. Was temporary marriage (muta) permitted by the Prophet (sws)? If it was then

why are the sunns against it?5. Is a sunn boy allowed to marry a Sh girl or vice versa? My son wants to marry

a Sh girl. My family and I are not in favour of it. I need to convince him and seek yourhelp.

Answer:

Thank you for writing to us. My answers to your questions follow.1. Please refer to Sahh Ibn Hibn No: 6993, Sunan Timiz No: 3747, Sunan Ibn

Mjah No: 133, Sunan Ab D'd No: 4649, Musnad Ahmad No: 1631, Al-Mustadrak


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al al-Sahhayn No: 5858, Al-Sunan Al-Kubr No: 8195 and Musnad Ab Ya'l No:971.

2. The Shs believe that the divine guidance continues after the ProphetMuhammad (sws). Accordingly they believe in Imms who according to them areinfallible and appointed by Allah to guide people. The first Imm is Ali (ra), then Hassan

(ra) then Hussain (ra) and then 9 other Imms from the progeny of Hussain (ra). Thelast Imm (Muhammad Ibn Hassan - Mahd), according to them, went to occultation in329 AH and is still alive and will appear near the end of the world to bring justice to theworld. Accordingly, just as the rest of Muslims have the books of Ahdth narrated fromthe Prophet (sws), Sh has books of Ahdth narrated from their Imms. Also sinceSh believe that their Imms were appointed by Allah, they do not consider any otherrule at the time of Imms to be legitimate, unless it is ruled by the Imm himself or theruler can be seen as the representative of the Imm.

3. Yes, Tabarr is one of the ten essential branches of belief (Furog-i Deen) that theShs hold. These are Prayer, Zakah, the Fast, Hajj, Khums, Jihad, Amr bi al-Marf(advise to good), Nahy an Al-Munkar (advise against evil), Tawall (friendship with

friends of Allah), Tabarr (dissociation from the enemies of Allah).4. Temporary marriage was practiced by Muslims for some time during the life ofthe Prophet (sws) and many believe this was a practice that was already in vogueamong the Arabs even before Islam. According to Ahdth the Prophet (sws)later forbade people from it. According to the Qurn 70:29-31, the only ways by which aman can have relationship with a woman is either by proper (permanent contract)marriage or by owner slave relationship (which is not applicable at our time). Accordingto the Shs, however, the verse 5:24 refers to temporary marriage. Non-Sh scholarsdisagree.

5. Purely from Islamic point of view, yes. They are both Muslims.

Do Shi'i condemn the MajorCompanions?

Question:

Thank you very much for your reply to my questions. I still need some clarifications:Do Sh consider the 1st three caliphs (Khulaf-i Rshidn), Hadrat ''ishah (rta) andHadrat Hafsah (rta) amongst enemies of Allah. And do they consider curse them avirtue?

Answer:


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The Sh do not consider the first three caliphs Khulaf legitimate and considerthem usurpers to the right of Ali (ra) who only believe to be the only legitimate anddivinely appointed caliph. Because of this they consider the three Khulaf as those whodid not follow the order of the Prophet about Ali (ra). As for ''ishah (rta), because of herinvolvement in the battle of Jamal and because of some other historical Ahdth,

generally Sh consider her as one who had enmity with Ali (ra) and his family (Ra-hom). However, there is less sensitivity about Hafsah (rta).As for whether the Sh consider it a rewarding virtue to curse the above

personalities, I would say that, cursing the first three caliphs Khulaf and in particularthe first two is not unusual. This, however, varies among the Sh. There are Shminorities who are more moderate in this regard and do not curse; there are anotherbigger minority who are on the other extreme and curse these personalities on a regularbasis to earn reward. The majority do not mind cursing them but also do not do it on aregular basis.

One of the popular supplications that the Sh read is called ZiarahAshura. This isa Ziarah in which the Sh say salm to Hussain (rta). The Ziarah is generally

considered as very reliable and a regular reading of it is recommended. At the end ofthis Ziarah there is a sentence that says:

O Allah let the first oppressor to be specifically cursed by me and start (this cursing)with him as the first one. Then (curse) the second and the third and the forth. Oh Allahcurse Yazid as the fifth one and ..."

It is generally believed that the first to fourth in the above refer to the first threeKhulaf and Mu'wiyah (rta).

Imam as the Teacher of the Qur'an

Question:

Did the Prophet Mohammad put the Qurn in the present form before his death?What I understand from the Qurn is that:

1. Allah revealed the Qurn in stages and according to changing circumstances.Have the circumstances not changed after the demise of the Beloved Prophet?

2. Allah said that He will change the verses and replace it with other better ones. If

the need for change was felt even then, then why not now?3. Allah said that people will forget some verses if Allah pleases. How can we claim

that certain verses were not forgotten during the compilation?

4. Allah said that our Prophet (sws) would deliver, preach, teach.... Is there no needof a teacher after the demise of the Prophet (sws) to interpret and teach the Word ofAllah?


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According to me the Qur'an is a living book and it will be open to interpretationaccording to the need of the time and the meaning can change, and there is a need of aperson who has been chosen by Allah to do so according to the time and age. TheProphet (sws) had said that he will leave behind the Holy Book and his Itrat(ahl-e-bayt)and if we follow both we will not go astray. The book cannot exist without a teacher and

the teacher needs to be present at all times to open the message of Allah according tothe need of the time. This- the Book and the Itratwill not be separated from each othertill they meet the Prophet (sws) at the kawthar.

If I do not agree with you then will you tell that I am not a Muslim? Or will you try toforce your opinion on me? Or will you take out a fatwa against me or will you call me akafir?

Please answer, because I want to follow the Qurn as I understand it and I mightdisagree with you in quiet a number of things. Is it not enough that I have faith in Allah,in the Prophet (sws) and in the Qurn? Or is it a must for me to follow what others say

and which others say is the true Islam.Do I have a right to differ?

Answer:You have listed a number of assumptions and have then come up with some

conclusions based on these assumptions. There is no point if I start arguing about thoseconclusions if I do not agree with the assumptions at the first place. So let me gothrough these assumptions one by one in order to let you know what I think about them:Allah revealed the Qurn in stages and according to changing circumstances?

To be more accurate, Allah revealed the Qurn according to different phases of themission of the Prophet (sws) and with addressing specific issues that were happening inthose phases.have the circumstances not changed after the demise of the Beloved Prophet?

As I said above, its not about changes of circumstances, rather it is about differentphases of the mission of the Prophet (sws).Allah said that he will change the verses and replace it with other better ones. if theneed for change was felt even then, then why not now?

If we believe that because of different circumstances the Qurn needs to bechanged (which appears to be what you are suggesting) then we are practically makingthe Qurn redundant. I dont think any scholar of Islam will support what you aresuggesting.

Whatever needed to be changed and replaced in the Qurn, have been changedand replaced within the time of revelation of the Qurn and the Qurn we have now,contains what relates to us, no matter at what time and what circumstances we areliving.Allah said that people will forget some verses- if Allah pleases, then how can we claim

that certain verses were not forgotten during the compilation.


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Nowhere Allah says that people will forget some verses. What it says is that theProphet (sws) will not forget a verse and even if he forgets a verse that is because Allahwants it, which means there is a good reason for which he might forget a verse (87:6,7).The Qurn also says that Allah Himself is the one who collects and protects the Qurnin its ultimate shape (75:16-19, 15:9).

So as you see, we do not claim anything, it is the Qurn itself that assures us that ithas remained intact.You write:

according to me the Qurn is a living book and it will be open to interpretationaccording to the need of the time and the meaning can change, and there is a need of aperson who has been chosen by Allah to do so according to the time and age.

If you know any verses of the Qurn that tells us that after the demise of the Prophet(sws) there are certain divinely appointed teachers from whom we should learn theQurn then please bring them to my attention. Otherwise what is in accordance to yourthinking does not seem to be in accordance to what the Qurn teaches us.

On the other hand, I have a question about one of the verses of the Qurn. There isa difference of opinion about the meaning of this verse within Sh scholars (as well asSunni scholars), could you let me know:

1. Where is this Allah appointed teacher from whom I may ask my question?2. Why (with such teacher) there is still significant difference of opinion among his

followers when it comes to interpretation of the Qurn?You said:

The Prophet had said that he will leave behind the Holy Bookand his Itrat (ahl-e-bayt)and if we follow both we will not go astray.

I humbly suggest that you never say the Prophet (sws) said this or that. After all, wewerent there at the time. We should remain cautious and always say it is narrated fromthe Prophet (sws) that .

Second, the hadth you are referring to has been narrated in many different ways:

1. The Prophet (sws) says he leaves behind the Qurn.2. he says he leaves behind the Qurn and the Sunnah3. he says he leaves behind the Qurn and that is what we should adhere to and

then he reminds us about Ahl Al-bayt.4. he says he leaves behind the Qurn and Ahl Al-bayt and that we need to

adhere to both of them and that they do not separate from each other.From the above four versions, the first two are inline with the Qurn and the third

one is inline with the Qurn and the Sira of the Prophet (sws) from which weunderstand his in-depth love for his family.

The fourth version is neither inline with the Qurn or the Sira of the Prophet (sws),nor it has reached us through reliable narrators.

At the end of your writing you start asking some questions that really baffles me. Youask:If I do not agree with you then will you tell that I am not a Muslim? [.] And youcontinue in this line to the length of a paragraph, ending with do I have right to differ?.


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My dear brother, perhaps I need to remind you that I never contacted you. It was youwho contacted us and started asking us questions and follow up questions and sendingus articles, etc. We are not in the business of calling other people Non-Muslim etc. Weare only trying to share our understanding with those who express interest by sendingus questions.

Need for an Imam

Question:Why do we need an Imam?

Answer:If by Imam you mean a leader, I think every human being and every civilised society

agrees that every group of people with a common goal need a leader to coordinate allthe tasks and to guide people towards their goals with the best of his/her abilities.

However if by Imam you mean a divinely appointed person who is supposed to bethere for us after the death of the Prophet (sws), then I should say there is no need for

such a person and in fact there has not been such a person after the death of theProphet (sws).The Qurn has made it clear for us that after the Messengers, we do not need any

other live and divinely appointed guidance and that the delivering of the message ofIslam has been completed at the time of the Prophet (sws):(We sent) messengers as the givers of good news and as warners, so that peopleshould not have a plea against Allah after the (coming of) messengers; and Allah isMighty, Wise. (Al-Nis 4:165)This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favour on you andchosen for you Islam as a religion. (Al-Midah 5:3)

Concept of imm in the Holy Qur'n

Question:Is their a concept ofimm in the Holy Qurn?

Answer:I believe the answer to this question depends on what you mean by imm. If you

mean some one who guides others, then yes it definitely exists in the Holy Qurn.

However if you mean a divinely appointed guide other than a Prophet that is supposedto be followed by people and one that only through his guidance followers of Islam canreach salvation, then the answer is no, there is no such a concept in the Quran.

Concept of Imam

Question:


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Where is this Allah appointed teacher from whom I may ask my question?

Are you living in this world? There is a man, on this earth, alive and who claims to be adirect descendant of our beloved Prophet, the Imam (leader) of the time and age andthe holder of Authority, the Noor () or reflection and glow of Ali. Please do some

research and I am sure you will be able find an answer. I have Iman in him, I am hisfollower, and he is my guide for straight path (sirat-al mustaqeem).

Answer:

Let's keep the level of this dialogue in an academic level rather than informal chitchat.Yes I am living in this world, otherwise I was not able to communicate with you. I hopeyou do not believe that all Muslims who do not know your Imm (perhaps about 98% ofMuslims) are not living in this world!

The problem my brother is that once a group of Muslims starts to associate

themselves with beliefs that are not established in the Qur'an, they will then easilyspread out into many sects and branches, since there won't remain any tangible sourceto stop them from doing so. Given that these groups of Muslims decide to believe inthings that are not established in the Qur'n and given the numerous number of thesesects who have separated themselves from the mainstream Muslims, it will be very timeconsuming to get familiarized with all these beliefs and their details.

When I search books and internet in order to guess who your Imm might be, I comeup with many results. It depends which sect (from among those who have beliefs notestablished in the Qur'n) you belong to:

- If you are an ImmiSh your Imam's name is Muhammad b. Hasan and he is in

occultation.

- If you are a Nizari Esmayeelee Sh then your Imam's name/title is Karim AghaKhan IV.

- If you are a Mustali (Dawoodi Buhra) Esmayeelee Shia then your Imam's name isMuhammad Burhaneddin.

- If you are a Mustali (Sulaimani Buhra) Esmayeelee Shia then your Imams areAbdullah ibn Hibatullah and/or Mohammed Ibrahim Ziaee.

And to remain brief I do not add more than other dozen Islamic sects who believe in

divine authorities after the Prophet (sws) including some of the Sufi sects.I can spend the rest of my life trying to figure out who among all these people who

somehow claim divine authority is the real Imam. However I do not need to do this. TheQur'an has assured me that all disputes in regard to religious guidance have to bedecided on the basis of this Book (2:213; 25:1). I am confident that there is no divineauthority after the Prophet because the Qur'an has not informed me about it.


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Questions About Sects

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