1

Chapter

Introduction

This is Answering-Ansar's rebuttal of this article where

'proofs' that the Shi'a are kaffir were based on what can be

identified in their books.It was put together by the Deobandi

group Maktabat Minhaaj Al-Sunnah, and found on many anti

Shi'a sites such as:

These adherents of Mu'awiya declare right at the beginning:

This group has clearly learnta great dealfrom anti Muslim

sites and adopted a methodology of adopting 'parts' of tradi-

tions out of context, in the same way that answering-Islam

evangelists such as Gilchrist quote hadith and Qur'anic verses out of context so as to convincetheir faithful that Islam is a false religion. We shall Inshallah go through the points cited and show how pathetic the Minhajal al Nasibi have been.

2

2

Chapter

The Shi'a Rejection of the Sahah Sittah

These adherents of Mu'awiya declare right at the beginning:

There is NO requirement in Islam to believe in Sahih

Bukhari, Muslim etc. Asthe Minhajj have taken offenceto the

comments let is look at some of these hadith, and then we

leave it to those with open minds to conclude whether these

are true words / deeds or folk tales, we present seven hadith

for our readers perusal:

Narrated Abu Hurayra(RA): The Prophet (s)said, "The

(people of) Bani Israel used to take bath naked (all To-

gether) looking at each other. The prophet Moses

(RA)used to take bath, alone. They said, 'By Allah! Noth-

ing prevents Moses from talking a bath with us except

that he has a scrotal hernia.' So, once Moses went out to

take a bath and put his clothes over a stone and then

that stone ran away with the clothes. Moses followed the

stone saying, "My clothes, O stone! My clothes, O

stone! Till the people of Bani Israel saw him and said 'By

Allah, Moses has got no defect in his body.Moses took his

clothes and began to beat the stone." Abu- Hurayra ad-

ded, "By Allah! There are still six or seven marks present on the stone from the beating."

"Sahih Bukhari" Volume. (1) Book (5): Bathing, Chapter (21): Taking bath in seclusion & completely naked

Do our readers believe this type of rubbish? The dashof the

stone with the clothes of Moses and the sprint of Moses (nude) after it is such a fabricated story that no rational mind is

3

ready to accept it. This hadith can only best be described as a fable, narrated by Abu Hurayra it cannot be a hadith of The

Holy Prophet (s).

Thus this isclearly a fabricated Hadith, that has clearly been based on folk lore.

"Narrated Jabir bin Abdullah: While Allah's Apostle (s) was carrying stones (along) with people of Mecca for (the

building of)the Kaaba wearing an Izar (waist-sheet cov-

er), his uncle Al-'Abbas said to him, "O my nephew! (it would be better) if you take off your Izar and put it over

your shoulders underneath the stones". So he took off his Izar and put it over his shoulders, but he fell unconscious and since then he had never been seen naked".

"Sahih al Bukhari" Volume. (I). Book (8)"The book of Salat (Prayers)" Chapter (8):"It is disliked to be naked during the prayers"

We are sure that any rational mind would agree that for any-

one to remove his trousers in broad day light in public is a de-plorable act of indignity.

No matter how exhausted a person maybe he would never

commit such an appalling act, let alone the beloved Prophet

Mohammed (s). This is an absolute lie fabricated by the Nasib-

iBanu Ummayya to degrade Banu-Hashim.

This is hence another tale!

"Having Sexual Intercourse and repeating it. And enga-

ging with one's own wives and taking a single bath (after

doing so)"

Narrated Mohammed bin Al-Munthahir on the author-

ity of his father that he had asked 'A'isha (RA) (about the Hadith of Ibn 'Umar). She said " May Allah be merciful to Abu Abdur Rehman. I used to put scent on Allah's

Apostle (s) and he used to go round in the morning he

4

assumed the Ihram,and the fragrance of the scent was still coming from his body".

"Sahih al Bukhari" Volume. (I). Book (5): "The book of Bathing" Chapter (13)

Narrated Qatadah: Anas Bin Malik (RA) said, "The

Prophet (s) used to visit all his wives in a round, during a day and night and they were eleven in number. I asked

Anas, "Had the Prophet(s) the strength for it?" Anas replied, we used to say that The Prophet(s) was given the

strength of 30 (men)"

"Sahih al Bukhari" Volume. (I). Book (5): "The book of Bathing" Chapter (13)

Narrated from A'isha (ra): We performed Hajj with the

Prophet (s) and performed Tawaf-al-Ifadaon the day of

Nahr

(slaughtering).

Safiya

got

her

menses

and

the Prophet desired from her what a husband desired

from his wife, I said to him, "O Allah's Apostle! She is having her menses". He said "Is she going to detain us?"

We informed him that she had performed Tawaf-al-

Ifadaon the Day of Nahr. He said, "Proceed".

"Sahih al Bukhari" Volume (II), Book 26:Book of Hajj, Chapter: The visit (of the Ka'aba to perform Tawaf-al-Ifada) on the Day of Nahr (10th of Dhu'l Hijja)

Narrated A'isha: "The Prophet and I used to take a bath from a single pot while we were Junub. During the

menses, he used to order me to put on an Izar (dress

worn below the waist) and used to fondle me. While in

Itikaf, he used to bring his head near me and I would

wash it while I used to bein my periods (menses)".

"Sahih al Bukhari", Volume. (I). Book (6): "The book of Menses", Chapter (7):"Fondling a Menstruating Wife"

Abu Wali used to send his menstruating maid servant

to bring the Qur'an from Abi Razin by carrying it from

the

hanger

(of

its

case)".Narrated

A'isha

(RA):

"The Prophet (s) used to lean on my lap and recite

Qur'an while I was in menses".

5

"Sahih al Bukhari" Volume. (I). Book (6)"The book of Menses"

Chapter (5):"To recite Qur'an while lying in the lap of one's own menstruating wife"

According to these 'authentic' traditions we can see clearly

that the above hadith prove that the Holy Prophet (s), The

Master of all the Prophets was::

1. So fond of Sexual Intercourse that he used to sleep with

his eleven wives in just one night

2.

He couldn't be patient even in the days of Hajj

(pilgrimage)

3. He liked fondling his wives, and could not restrain himself from fondling them even during their menses.

May Allah give us protection from such vulgar thoughts! As

far as his (s) strength and health is concerned Allah (swt) had blessed his Apostle (s) distinctly. He (s) was exceedingly strong both mentally & physically with vital senses many fold more sensitive & powerful then an ordinary human being. Despite this favour, the Holy Prophet (s)used his strengths modestly. It was his (s) complete self-control on emotions that depicted his (s)-exalted manners & sublime morality.

Allah (swt) praises his (s) manners in the Holy Qur'anin

Surah-Al-Kalam (The Pen) Verse 4 "

And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on anexalted

standard of character."

The Holy Prophet (s) was a just person. He (s) treated all his wives justly He (s) spent a day with each of them. He (s) visited only one wife in a night. He (s) preferred to sleep early afterthe Isha prayers and wake up soon after the midnight for Tahajjud

prayers he then continued various 'Ibadaat' (worship & veneration) until the Fajr(Morning Prayers), this was his routine.

6

The Actual Shi'a Position

We the Shi'a refuse to accept such filthy traditions, by doing so does that make us kaffir. Asfar as we are concerned protecting the integrity of the Prophet (S) if far more important

than protecting the integrity of Sahih al Bukhari! Hence yes we do regard these as tales we believe that:

1. It is utterly untrue that theHoly Prophet(s) visited all his wives (i.e. eleven) in just one night.

2. It is also untrue that Holy Prophet (s) had the desire of

fondling his (s) wives during menses

3. It is also untrue that The Holy Prophet (s) desired to have sexual

intercourse

with Hadhrath

Safiya

on

the

dayof

sacrifice.

4. It is also untrue that The Holy Prophet (s) recited The

Holy Qur'an inthe Laps of any wife during her menses.

The above traditions are derogatory tothe piety & holiness of The Holy Prophet (s).When a Non-Muslim commits blasphemy

by quoting these narrations our necks bow down with humili-

ation & embarrassment. And this Minhajj are trying to call uskaffirs because we reject these books! On the Day of Judgement at least the Shi'a will say we protected the perfection

of the infallible Prophet, whilst groups such as Minhajj dedicated their lives to degrading the Prophet (s) with the above

filthy traditions!

7

Part 1

Tahreef of the Qur'an

8

Are the Shi'a Kaffir Because Tahreef Traditions Exist in their Texts?

The Imami Shi'a have not only misinterpreted the Qur'an, but they have made actual alterations in the text itself: The false verse, "And we made 'Ali your in-law" has been added to Surah Al-Inshirah (Al-Kafi p.289) In 25:74, the verse "And make us a leader (Imam) for the God-fearing" is replaced with "And make for us a leader (Imam) from among the God-fearing." Of even greater audacity isthe addition of an entirely fabricated Surah to the Qur'an, called,"Surah al-Walayah" Translation ofthis false Surah is as follows: 1) O believers, believe in the Prophet and the guardian (wali), whom We sent to guide you to

the straight path.2) A Prophet and a Guardian, one from the other, and I am the Knower, the Wise. 3) Verily those who fulfil their covenant to Allah will have gardens of pleasure. 4) And for those who deny our signs when they are read to them, 5) Verily they will have a terrible place inHell when they are called for on the Day of Judgement, 'Where are the wrong-doers who denied the messengers?' 6) He only created them in truth and Allah will surelymake them victorious until a time in the near future. 7) Glorify the praises of your Lord and 'Ali is among the witnesses.

It's sad to see that one deviant individuals comments about

Surah al Walayah (al Tabarsi) have been translated by Nasibis

as the aqeedah of ALL Shi'as. If that is indeed the case then

al Tabari and Suyuti both record traditions that the Prophet (S) recited Satanic verses, should we conclude that this is the

aqeedah of Ahl'ul Sunnah?

Is that fair? Minhajj al Nasibi had also cited tahreef tradi-

tions from Usul al Kafi. In reply to these traditions we will advance the following arguments.

9

Hadith can Not Contradict the Qur'an

With regards to the traditions of Usul al Kafi that Minhajj

had shamelessly quoted, we should point out that these tradi-

tions have been deemed by the Ulema to be weak narrations.

In addition to this Allah (swt) takes the responsibility of protection of the Qur'an Himself by declaring:

"Certainly We revealed the Reminder and certainly We shall preserve it." (The Holy Qur'an 15: 9)

When Allah (swt) provides a guarantee that it is protected,

any hadith of tahreef automatically has to be rejected. We do

not deny that these traditions exist,but the Nasibis should

know that there is a difference between tahreef traditions and basing one's aqeedah on those traditions. The ultimate standard to determine the authenticity of any hadith isthe Qur'an, if it conflicts with Allah (swt)'s Book it must be disregarded. This isalso confirmed by al-Kulayni, compiler of al-Kafi from where the Nasibis cite the tahreef traditions to their followers. In the introduction to al-Kafi he states:

"Brother, may God lead you to the right road. You ought to know that it is impossible for anyone to distinguish the truth from the untruth when Muslim scholars disagree upon statements attributed to the Imams. There is only one way to separate the true from the untrue reports, through the standard which was declared by the Imam: "Test the various reports by the Book of God; whatever agrees with it take it, whatever disagrees with it reject it".

Despite thisquite logical fact Minhajjal Nasibiand the fellow

Nasibi groups have insisted on declaring Shi'as kaffirs on ac-

count of tahreef traditions. They are ineffect forcing us to accept that these traditions are a part of aqeedah. By that logic, if Shi'as are kaffir then so are the Ahl'ul Sunnahfor like the Shi'a their texts also contain traditions of tahreef. We will

provide a few examples:

10

Sunni Traditions of Tahreef

A missing verse on stoning?

Hadhrath Umar's saying that the current Qur'an is

incomplete:

Has one-third of the Qur'anbeen lost?

In Sahih al Bukhari Volume8, pages 209-210, we read this

sermon delivered by Hadhrath Umar during his last Hajj as

Khalifa:

"Certainly Allah sent Muhammad with the truth, and

revealed to him the Book. One of the revelations which

came to him was the verse of stoning. We read it and un-

derstood it".

"The Messenger of Godstoned andwe stoned after him.

I am concerned that if time goes on, someone may say,

'By God,we do not find the verse of stoning in the Book

of God;' thus, the Muslims will deviate by neglecting a

commandment the Almighty revealed."

"Stoning is in the Book of God. It is the right punishment for a person who commits adultery if the required

witnesses

are

available,or

there

was

pregnancy

without marriage or adultery is admitted."

11

Hadhrath Ayesha also Testified to a 'Missing'

Verse on Stoning

"When the verses "Rajm" [Stoning] and ayah "Rezah Kabir" descended,they were written on a piece of paper and kept under my pillow. Following the demise

of Prophet Muhammad (S) a goat ate the piece of paper

while we were mourning.

1. Sunan Ibne Majah, Volume 2,Page39, Published Karachi

2. Musnad Imam Ahmad,Volume 6, Page269, Published

Beirut.

3. Taweel Mukhtalif Al Hadees, Page 310, Published Beirut

12

Has Most of Surah Ahzab Been Lost?

Al-Muttaqi 'Alibin Husam al-Din in his book "Mukhtasar Kanz al-'Ummal" printed on the margin of Imam Ahmad's Musnad,

Volume 2,page 2, in his hadith about chapter 33, said that

Ibn Mardawayh reported that Hudhayfah said:

'Umar said to me 'How many versesare contained in

the chapter of al-Ahzab?' I said, '72 or 73 verses.' He said it was almost as long as the chapter of the Cow, which

contains 287 verses, and in it there was the verse of

stoning.

Suyuti narrates from Hadhrath Ayesha:

"During the life of the Prophet (s), Surah Ahzab was

read with 200 verses, when Uthman collected the verses

we only found that amount that is foundin the cur-

rent Qur'an".

Tafseer Durre Manthur Volume 5 page180, al Itqan Volume 2

page 25

13

Has One-Third of the Qur'an Been Lost?

The revered Sunni scholaral Hafidh Jalaladeen as Suyuti

writes:

"Hadhrath Umar said at the Saqifa that the Qur'an has

1,027,000 letters

"Tafseer al Itqan" by as Suyuti, page 88

The present Qur'an has 267,033 letters. According to

Hadhrath Umar's research the Qur'an should have approxim-

ately 90 parts. What is the Nasibis fatwa here?

14

Has Most of the Qur'an Been Lost?

Suyuti also records the following words of Abdullah ibne

Umar:

"No one can proclaim that I have found the Qur'an

complete because most of the Qur'anhas been lost".

"Tafseer Durre Manhur" as-Suyui Volume 1 page 104

15

Have 'Words' Been Omitted from the Present

Qur'an?

In Sahih Muslim Volume 7 (commentaryof al-Nawawi)in the

Book of al-Zakah, about the virtue of being satisfied with

whatever God gives and about urging people to have that vir-

tue, pages 139-140, reported that Abu al-Aswad reported that

his father said:

"AbuMusa al-Ash'ari invited the Qur'an readers of

Basra. Three hundred readers responded to his invita-

tion. He told them: You are the readers and the choice of

the people of Basra. Recite the Qur'an and do not neglect

it. Otherwise, a long time may elapse and your hearts will

be hardened asthe hearts of those who came before

you were hardened." "We used to read a chapter from the Qur'an similar to Bara'ah in length and seriousness, but

I forgot it. I can remember from that chapter only the

following words:

'Should a son of Adamown two valleys full of wealth, he

would seek a third valley, and nothing would fill Ibn

Adam's abdomen but the soil. "

'We used to read a chapter similar to Musabbihat and I

forgot it. I only remember out of it the following: "

'Oh you who believe, why do you say what you do not

do? Thus a testimony will be written on your necks and

you will bequestioned about it on the Day of Judgment."

It is obviousthat these words which AbuMusa mentioned are

not from the Qur'an, nor are they similar to any of the words of God in the Qur'an. It is amazing that Abu Musaclaims that

two Surah's from the Qur'an are missing, one of them similar

to Bara'ah(the chapter of Bara'ah contains130 verses).

16

A Missing Verse on Suckling

Muslim also reported in the Book of al-Rida'ah (Bookof Nurs-

ing), part 10, page29, that 'Ayesha said the following:

"There was in what was revealed in the Qur'an that ten times of nursing known with certainty makes the nursing

woman a mother of a nursed child. This number of nurs-

ing would make the woman 'haram' (forbidden) to the

child. Then this verse was replaced by'five known nurs-

ing' to make the woman forbidden to the child.

The Prophet died while these words were recorded and

read in the Qur'an. "

17

A Further Two Surah's Missing from the Qur'an Abi bin Ka'absaid that in his copy he has added"SurahAl khula" and "Surah Al hifd". Its verses were

"(Actual words are cited in the Arabic text)"

1. Mujma-ulZayad, Volume7,Page 157, Published Egypt

2. Al Itqan FilUlum-ulQur'an, Volume 2Page 66, Published

Lahoe

3. Ruh al Ma'ani Volume 1, Page 25, Egyp

18

Have Words Been 'Added' to the Qur'an?

The Imami Shi'a have not only misinterpreted the Qur'an, but they have made actual alterations in the text itself: …

The Nasibi had then cited traditionsto prove the point. What

they fail to point out is the books of Ahl'ul Sunnah also have similar traditions.

We read Sahih al Bukhari Volume 5 hadith number 86:

Alqama went to Sham and when he entered the

mosque, he said, "O Allah! Bless me with a pious com-

panion." So he sat with Abu Ad-Darda. Abu Ad-Darda'

asked him, "Where are you from?" 'Alqama replied,

"From the people of Kufa."AbuAd-Darda said, "Isn't there amongst you the keeper of the secret which nobody else

knows, i.e., Hudhaifa?" Alqama said, "Yes." Then Abu Ad-Darda further said, "Isn't there amongst you the person whom Allah gave refuge from Satan through the invoca-tion of His Prophet, namely Ammar?" Alqama replied in

the affirmative. Abu Ad-Darda said, "Isn't there amongst you the person who carries the Siwak (or the Secret)

(i.e. of the Prophet, namely Abdullah bin Masud)?"

Alqama said, "Yes." Then Abu Ad Darda asked, "How (Abdullah bin Masud)used to recite the Surah starting with:

'By the night as it envelops; By the day as it appears in

brightness?' " (92.1-2). Alqama said "And by male and fe-male." Abu Ad-Darda

then said, "These people(of

Sham) tried hard to make me accept something other

than what I had heard from the Prophet."

We read in Mustadrak:

Abdullah bin Abbas would read the following verse in

Surah Nisa "Fa ma asthatham thathu ba manaan ku"

with these words 'la ajal masmee". Whenhe was asked

about this he said 'Allah (swt) revealed this verse in this way.

19

Of interest is the fact that Allamah Dhahabi in his commentary of Mustadrak, confirms that the chain of narrators in this tradition is Sahih. (Mustadrak ma Talkhees Volume 2 page

305).

What fatwa should we pass here? After all the chain isSahih

and Ibn Abbas is stating that words are missing from the

Qur'an. Willthe Deobandi Nasibis issue takfeer against them-

selves? Or does this'rule' only apply to the Shi'a?

20

Did the Sahaba Read Verses Containing 'Ali's Name?

The false verse, "And we made 'Ali yourin-law" has been added to Surah Al-Inshirah (Al-Kafi p.289

We would like to makeit clear that this is the Nasibi's

own interpretation of the text. Before responding to this

lie let us first of all cite some of the texts of the Ahl'ul Sunnah.

Ibn Masud narrates: "We in the presence of Rasulullah (s) would read this verse (5:67) as follows:

"O Apostle! Deliver what has been sent downto you

from your Lord; 'that 'Ali is the Maula of the Momineen',

if you don't…."

1. Tafseer Durre Manhur Volume 2 page 298

2. Tafseer Fathul Qadeer, Volume 2 page 87

3. Tafseer Mazhari Volume3 page 153

Ibn Masud also notes that he would read this verse from

Surah Ahzab as follows:

"and enough was Allah for the believers in theirfight

'via Ali ibn Abi Talib'.

1. Tafseer Durre Manhur Volume 5 page 192

2. Tafseer Ruh al Maani, Volume 21 page157

One should note that Hadhrath Abdullah bin Masud would

read these verses with name the 'Ali. His text contained this, andhe himself states that he read a verse inthis way in the

presence of Rasulullah (s).Perhaps Minhajj al Nasibi could

shed light as to why we no longer find the name'Ali in the current Qur'an? The answer will of course be that the name here

was contained in Ibn Masud's Tafseer of the Qur'an.

We likewise say exactly the same when explainingour similar

texts, we believe that the some Sahabahad the name 'Ali inside 21

verses in brackets, as an interpolation so that they would know about whom the verse descended. The words 'Ali (as)

were NOT part of any verses, but simply a way of 'remember-

ing' that this verse descended in praise of 'Ali. The Imams of Ahl'ul bayt (as) likewise wanted to remind the people about

whom these verses descended.

22

Do the Shi'a Have a 'Different Qur'an, Called the Qur'an of Fatima?

But perhaps the greatest level of audacity is in the assertion that the Qur'an that we now possess isnot the true Qur'an at all, but rather a fabrication:"Abu Baseer reported that he said to Imam Ja'far,

"O Abu Abdullah(Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq) Whatis Mushaf

Fatimah?" He replied "It is a Qur'an containing three times what is found in your copy of the Qur'an; yet by Allah,it does not contain even a single letter from your Qur'an." (Al-Kafi p.385)

One needs to point out that "Mushaf" refers to a collection of

"Sahifa" which is singular for "page". The literal meaningof Mushaf is"Themanuscript bound between two boards". During that era people would write on leather and other materials.

They either rolled the writings — what isknown as scroll in

English.Or they kept the separable sheets and bound them to-

gether, in what could be called as "Mushaf", a book in today's terms. The equivalent to the word book"Kitab" used to (and still is) refer to either a letter (e.g. of correspondence) or to a documentthat was written down or recorded. The Arabic word

for wrote "Kataba" is a derivative of the same word.

Although the Qur'an is commonly called a "Mushaf" today, perhaps referring to its "collection" after it was dispersed.

Qur'an is a Mushaf (book), but any Mushaf (book) isnot neces-

sarily the Qur'an! Do the Minhajj for example follow the 'Mush-af of al Bukhari'? The Minhajj have used maximum dishonesty

when citing this tradition the text refers to Mushaf of Fatima, and the Minhajj have defined Mushaf as Qur'an. Can anyone be

more dishonest than this? There isno Qur'an of Fatimah. The

Mushaf was a text containing rules and regulations of the Deen that Sayyida Fatima (as) had in her possession

23

The Deobandi Scholar Maulana Anwar Shah's Fat-wa,thatthere is Tahreef in the Qur'an

We should point out to the Deobandi Sect, the fact that you

believe Sahih al Bukhari to be one hundred per cent authentic

(which is not our aqeedah (belief) about al-Kafi) means that

they have to believe in tahreef on account of the traditions of the Sahaba. The famous Indian Hadith scholar of the Deobandis Syed Anwar Shah Kashmiri in his recognized Ahl'ul

Sunnah work "Fayz ul Bari" page 395 Volume 3 under the Chapter "As Shah'adhat writes:

"It is my analysis based on Sahih alBukhari that the

Qur'an has tahreef with regards to words and this was an

accredited to Hadhrath Uthman's party as an uninten-

tional or intentional mistake".

Need we say any more? Onthe basis ofthe opinion of the

leading Deobandi scholar can we declare all Deobandi's kaffir?

24

Our challenge to Minhajj -are there Mistakes in the Qur'an?

Allamah Suyuti in al Itqan Volume 1 page 174 narrates the

following claim of Hadhrath Uthman, compiler of the Qur'an:

"There are some mistakes in the present Mushaf

(Qur'an) that we have".

Now Minhajj perhaps you could be so kind as to answer us

this, when Hadhrath Uthman had testified that mistakes are

present in the Qur'an then why did he not correct them?

The claim isnot just an isolated one we also read in al Itqan

Volume1 pages 183-184 as follows:

"Hashim binUrwa narrates that he asked Hadhrath

Ayesha about mistakes in the Qur'anfor example Allah

(swt) states 'Al Muqameen' when it should read

al 'Muqeemeen', the other says 'al Manaan' whenit

should state 'al Muneen' and thirdly we read 'al Saboon'

when it should read 'al Sabeen'. Hadhrath Ayesha

replied 'my nephew this has been the mistake of those

that transcribed the text".

Allamah Suyuti deems this narration to beSahih in accord-

ance with the standards of authenticity set by the two Shaykhs (al Bukhari and Muslim). Can we conclude that the presence of

this single Sahih hadith is enough to prove that Sunnis believe that there are mistakes in the Qur'an? The hadith is Sahih so

Minhajj, you are forced to choose between two options:

Either:

Hadhrath Ayesha was lying Or:

The Qur'an has indeed gotmistakes in it.

25

We leave it to Minhajj to pass their fatwa and then declare it on their website

26

The Actual Shi'a Position

We Shi'as, believe that the Qur'an is the Divine Revelation

(wahy) sent down from Allah, the Exalted, upon his noble

Prophet (s), containing an exposition of all things. It is also His everlasting miracle disabling all mankind from keeping

pace with it inrespect of rhetoric and eloquence, and the realities and sublime knowledge it contains, being guarded against

any alteration or changing or mutation (tahreef). The Qur'an

we have today is the same exact one revealed to the Prophet.

Anyone claiming to the contrary is a violator, misguided, mis-

taken, or ignorant, for itis surly Allah's Word, and falsehood can never come at it from before it or from behind it.

The Shi'a recite the same Qur'an at their homes and the

same Qur'an is taught at their Madrassas (religious schools).

Apart from this, Shi'a scholars have written commentaries of

the Qur'an in many languages including Arabic, Persian and

numerous other languages. Also there is no living soul who

would have seen a different version of Qur'an in any Shi'as

house or at their religious schools. Shi'as believe that this

Qur'an is complete and a miracle of the Holy Prophet (S),

which is an undoubtedly fact. But some corrupt, so-called,

scholar shave accused Shi'as of denying this high status of

Qur'an, which is a baseless accusation on Shi'as. To prove our point, we would present some sayings of the holy Imams of

Ahl'ul Bayt (as), some commentaries of the Shi'a scholars and

finally we would present some sayings of the Scholars of Ahl'ul Sunnah.

27

Sayings of the HolyImams of Ahl'ul bayt(as)

There are many saying of the Imams of Ahl'ul Bayt(as) that

clearly vouch for the authenticity of the Qur'an, being the same unaltered text revealed to Prophet Muhammad (S) by Allah (swt). There are numerous traditions from the Imams that

prove this point,for the sake of brevity we shall cite a few.

28

3

Chapter

Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (as)

"We did notmake humans rulers, but we made the

Qur'an the ruler over humans. This Qur'an is free from

change but does not speak on its own accord, an inter-

preter is needed for this task.

"Nahjul Balagha part 6 page 7,Publishers RehmaniaEgypt 29

4

Chapter

Hadhrath Imam Ja'far Sadiq (as)

Ali bin Salam narrates from his father who asked Imam

Jafer Sadiq (as) "O descendant of Prophet (S). What are your views on the Qur'an? Imam Jafer (as) replied 'the

Qur'an is Allah's book; it contains commands of Allah;

sent by Allah. It is not subject to alteration, neither can anyone claim that it has been changed, nor has anyone

evermade sucha claim.

Amali-al-Shaykh Saduq, Page 545, Published Iran

30

5

Chapter

Hadhrath Imam Ali Naqi (as)

"The whole Ummah agrees on the authenticity of the

Qur'an. No sect in the Ummah denies this fact, and this

claim is true" .Ehtijaje-Tabrisi, Page234, Published Iran) Many copies of the Qur'an, that were hand written by Imam

Ali (as), Imam Hasan (as), Imam Hussein (as) and Imam Zain-

ul-Abideen(as) can be located at the Imam Raza(as) library

in Mashed, Iran. If one examines these copies, one will see that they are identical to the Qur'an incurrent usage. The claim ofthe Nasibis that the Shi'a reject the Qur'an is a baseless lie.

31

Comments of Shi'a Scholars Refuting These Lies Shi'a scholarshave written numerous commentaries of the

Qur'an in which they have stipulated categorically that the

Qur'an has not been altered in any shape or form. Shi'a schol-

ars have infact written several books on this very issue. Here are just a few of their sayings:

32

6

Chapter

Shaykh Saduq (R.A)

The completeness of Qur'an is so indisputable among Shi'a

that

the

greatest

Shi'a

scholar

of Hadith,

Abu

Ja'far

Muhammad Ibn Ali Ibn al-Husain Ibn Babueyh, known as

"Shaykh Saduq" (309/919 - 381/991), wrote:

"Our belief isthat the Qur'an which Allah revealed to

His Prophet Muhammad is (the same as) the one

between the twocovers (daffatayn). And it is the one

which is in the hands of the people, and is not greater in

extent than that. The number of Surah'sas generally ac-

cepted is onehundred and fourteen … And he who as-

serts that we say that it is greater in extent than that, is a liar."

1. Etikadat Shaykh Saduq 93, PublishedIran)

2. Awailel-Mukalat, Page55-56, Published Najaf

3. Shi'ite Creed (al-I'tiqadat al-Imamiyyah),by Shaykh Saduq, English version, p77

33

7

Chapter

Sayyid Murtaza Alam Ul-Huda

We have a firm belief that the Qur'an is complete in the

sameway that we believe in the existence of Kufa, Basra

or any other city, or the great events that oc-

curred through history. The reason for this firm belief is

(firstly) due to the deep affections Muslims have towards

the Qur'an and other reason which keep this book,

of Almighty Allah, safe from any alteration. Also the

Qur'an is (a sign of) the miracle of Prophet Muhammad's

Apostleship. It is the source and foundation via which

we locate our religious edicts and regulations. It is for

this reason that Muslim scholars throughout history

have taken great care in its compilation to the extent

that if they were unsure about the minutest of matters,

they would to examine it (the Qur'an) rigorously. Our be-

lief about the compilation being the exact copy (as the

original) is as strong as our belief that the Qur'an is the Book of Allah (swt). The present Qur'an is exactly the

same Qur'an that was compiled during the life of Prophet

Muhammad (S).

Tafseer Majma-ul-Bayan,Edition 1 Page 15, Published Iran

34

8

Chapter

Allamah Muhammad Ridha Mudhaffar

"We believe that the Holy Qur'an is revealed by Allah

through the Holy Prophet of Islam dealing with every

thing which is necessary for the guidance of mankind. It

is an everlasting miracle of the Holy Prophet the like of

which cannot be produced by human mind. It excels in

its eloquence, clarity, truth and knowledge. This Div-

ine Book has not been tampered with by any one. This

Holy Book which we recite today is the same Holy Qur'an

which was revealed to the Holy Prophet. Any one

who claims it to be otherwise is an evil-doer, a mere

sophist, orelse he is sadly mistaken. All of those who

have this line of thinking have gone astray as Allah in

Qur'an said:

"Falsehood can not reach the Qur'an from any direction (41:42)"

The Beliefs of Shi'ite School, by Muhammad Ridha Mudhaf-

far, English version, p50-51

35

9

Chapter

Shaykh Abu Ja'far Musawi

The main reason behind the compiling of this book is

to teach us about the meanings of the words contained

inthe Qur'an. As far as the question of there being any

addition or deletion in the Qur'an, there is no need to de-

bate on this matter as everyone agrees there has been no

change made to it the comments of Sayyid Murtaza Alam

ul-Huda have been discussed and proved. I have seen

many commentaries in the books of Shi'a and Ahl'ul Sun-

nah suggesting that the Qur'anis incomplete or that a

verse has been transferred from its original place to an-

other but these are secluded cases and cannot relied

upon. It is best to abandon such texts and let them be-

come extinct….we are sure of Qur'an being true. The

Ummah has never objected or rejected Qur'an.

Al Batiyan Fil Tafseer-ul-Qur'an, 1st Edition, Page 3, Published Najaf

36

10

Chapter

Allamah Shaykh Muhammad Hussein Kashif

The Qur'an that we possess is the same text that Allah

(swt) sent as a miracle, to bring fear to the people, to let them know about the commandments and the difference

between good and bad. It has never been changed nor

has any addition or subtraction ever occurred to it, all

the scholars agree to this fact. Moreover these scholars

agree to the fact that whoever alleges that Qur'an has

been changed is wrong. Also all the claims of Qur'an not

being complete, whether made by Shi'as or Ahl'ul Sun-

nah, are very weak. These claims are not beneficial in

any regard whether that be to attain knowledge or per-

form a good deed. These claims should be disregarded.

Usul al-Shi'awa Asool-laha,Page 101-102, Published Najaf

37

11

Chapter

Allamah Shaykh Ja'far Kashif

There is no doubt about the fact due to the Protection

of the Creator of the Deen Allah (swt); the Qur'an is free

from any change or harm. Some verses inthe Qur'an con-

firm this point, the scholars, in all languages; have like-

wise testified to this fact. If there is an opinion that the Qur'an is incomplete, it is an incorrect one, such a view

should not be adhered to.

Kashaf-al-Ghatafy Al Fuqa, Page 315, Published Iran

38

12

Chapter

Allamah Muhammad Hussein Tabatabai

This renowned scholar of the Qur'an writes inhis very famous

exegesis, Tafseer-ul-Meezan, 12th edition, page 109, Published Iran:

The Qur'an, which Almighty Allah descended on Proph-

et Muhammad(S), is protected from any change.

In addition to these explicit declarations the Shi'a Ulema

have in their commentaries have relied on verses of the Qur'an, saying of Prophet Muhammad (S) and the Imams (as) as evidence that the Qur'an is complete andno changed has ever oc-

curred in it.

39

Scholar's of Ahl' ul Sunnah that have Vouched for the Shi'a Viewpoint

Despite the belated efforts of these Nasibis inspreading lies, there are true humble Sunni Ulema that have looked beyond

these lies and have confirmed that the Shi'a believe that

the Qur'an is the uncorrupted Word of Allah (swt). We cite

some of those opinions:

40

13

Chapter

Imam of Ahl'ul Sunnah Allamah Shaykh

Ghazzali of Egypt

Whilst addressing the allegation that theShi'a ascribe tahreef totheQur'an. Hesaid:

In one gathering I heard a man saythat Shi'as have a

different Qur'an,whic his unlike the Qur'an we have. I

asked him, "Where is that Qur'an? Islam is being prac-

ticed on three continents. Since the demise of the Holy

Prophet (S) until today, a passing of fourteen hundred

years, the Ummah has known of the existence of only the

one Qur'an, we possess knowledge of where the chapters

begin and end, endas well as the number of verses that

they contain. Where is this other Qur'an? During this

long passage of time how is it that any man or jinn have

not located this 'other' Qur'an? These lies cause dissen-

tion between brothers and cause dissention about the

Book. There is only one Qur'an, if it is published in Cairo, it is considered holy in Najaf and Tehran as well, they

will hold it in their hands and keep it in their

homes. They have nothing but respect for the Creator

that sent it, and the person through whom it was re-

vealed. Why then are such rumours and lies spread about

people and this message?

Wafaan Al aqida wa Al Shariah,Page 265-266,PublishersAl

kutub Al hadisia, Egypt, 1985

41

14

Chapter

Allamah Rehmatullah Hindi Dehlavi

This Renowned scholar of Ahl'ul Sunnah whilst writing about

the Shi'a states:

"According to the scholars of the Shi'a Ithna Ashari

(12'ers), the Qur'an has never been changed, and who-

ever and any individual who claims otherwise, is

deemed unacceptable in the eyes of the scholars of the

Imamia sect.

"After writing the sayings of Shi'a scholars about the completeness of Qur'an. Allamah Dehlavi further comments:

"This proves that Shi'a Ithna Ashari scholars believe

that this is the same Qur'an that was descended by

Almighty Allah upon Prophet Muhammad (S) and this is

the only text that the people possess, no other exists. In

addition it was complied during the time of Prophet

Muhammad (S) notby only Abdullah bin Masood and

Ubay bin Ka'b butby numerous Sahaba who were hadith.

[The Shi'a believe] they will become famous again with

the coming of 12th Imam, Shi'as emphasize on the fact

that Almighty Allah said that, "We descended the Qur'an and we shall protect it". In "Tafseer Sirat-ul-Mustaqim", which is an important and valuedcommentary to the

Shi'a, it written that this verse means that Allah would

protect Qur'an fromany change" .Izhar-ul-Haq, 2nd edition, Page 89-90, Publishers Mutabah Amira, Istanbul

42

15

Chapter

Principal of the Shariah Departmentof Al

AzharUniversity, Allamah Shaykh

Muhammed-al-Madani

To state that the Shi'a Imamia believe thatthe Qur'an

on account of traditions that can be located in their

texts, is just the same as reaching the conclusion on

the basis of such referencesin our books - but both Shi'a

and Sunni scholars have refuted these claims. None

amongst the Imamia Shi'a and Zaidia believe in this

lie, in the same way that none of the adherents of Ahl'ul

Sunnahdo. Whoever accuses the Shi'a of ascribing to

tahreef of the Qur'an, should read books such as Al-

lamah Suyuti's "Tafseer Itqan" and objectively look at the traditions that point to tahreef of the Qur'an. Although

we do not accept these sorts of traditions, one Egyp-

tian scholar in 1948 wrote a book titled "Al Furqan" in which he copied many of these traditions from the works

of Ahl'ul Sunnah. Should we on this basis conclude

that the Ahl'ul Sunnah do not believe that the Qur'an is

complete? Or should we on account of these traditions

which were copied by someone or written in such

and such bookby such and such a person, adopt the view

point that the Ahl'ul Sunnah believe that the Qur'an is

incomplete?The

same

conclusion

could

likewise

bereached about the Shi'a, as like us they also have sim-

ilar traditions in their books.

Risalah'thul-Islam, 11th Edition, Pages 382-383, 4th Part

43

Allamah Najam-ul-Ghani Rampuri

"The Twelver Shi'a do not believe that the Qur'an is incomplete - the popular misconception that the Shi'a

Ithna Ashari believe that the Sahaba omitted ten parts of

Qur'an and that many Shi'a recite Surah-e- Hassnain,

Surah Fatima or Surah-e-Ali are pure lies. No Shi'a Ithna

Ashari scholar believes in this. The scholarsof the

Shi'a Ithna Asharisect have refuted such claims in their

books.Shaykh Abu Ja'far Muhammad bin Ali Babweia

wrote in his book that, 'the Qur'an, that Almighty Al-

lah caused to descend on Prophet Muhammad (S) is the

same (Book) that the people now have. There has been

no addition or subtraction to it'. In "Tafseer Majma

ul Bayan", that is considered to be an authentic com-

mentary bythe Shi'a Ithna Ashari, Syed Murtaza attests

that 'the Qur'an that was present during the times of

Prophet Muhammad (S) is the same one that we

have'.Qazi Noor Ullah Shostari writes in his book titled

"Masaib-ul-Nawasib" that 'the popular belief, which is associated with Shi'as that they do not believe in the com-

pleteness of Qur'an, is a lie. Shi'a researchers do not

agree to this fact. And whoever says otherwise, is a liar.

Allamah Sadiq Sharah writes in "Kafi-a-Kulayni" that'

this Qur'an shall continue to remain in this same form

till the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (as)'. Muhammad

bin al Hasan Amali comments that 'whoever analyses the

traditions objectively will realize that on account of cer-

tain factors, the Qur'an can never be subject to

alteration'.

1.

Mazahib-ul-Islam,

Page447,

Publishers

Lakishwar

Lucknow;

2. Muzayl-al-Ghawashi Sharah Usool Alshashi, Page9,Pub-

lished Karachi

44

16

Chapter

Teacher of History at Jamiah Milia Islamia

Aligarh, India - Allamah Hafidh Muhammad

Aslam Jirajapuri

After narratingthe sayingsof several Shi'a Scholars attesting

to the completeness of the Qur'an Jirajpuri concludes:

These are the sayings of those scholars, that are very

famous and recognized authorities of the Shi'a sect.

There is opportunity to revise these sayings and it cannot

besaid that these scholars lied, due to the fact that some

of these scholarshave written books refuting the claims

that had been put forward by the scholars of Ahl'ul Sun-

nah; to suggest that they were lying is without basis.

Moreover, Abu Ja'far Qumi's book "Al Aitiqad" and Mullah Mohsin's book " Tafseer-e-Safi" are books taught as part of the curricula at Shi'a schools. It is somewhat unlikely to suggest that they would teach their students

texts that contradicted their beliefs.

Tareekh-ul-Qur'an, Page 62-67, Published Karach

45

17

Chapter

Shaykh of Tafseer at Dar-ul-Ulum Deoband

and Shaykh of Hadithat Jameah Islamia Dh-

abil, Allamah Shamas-ul-Haq Afghani

In his article titled "Shi'a and tahreef of the Qur'an", Afghani states:

After trying their level best, and failing, to prove that

the Qur'an had been altered the non-believers formu-

lated a new strategy alleging that a large sect of

Muslims believe that the Qur'an has been altered, the

Sect in question being the Shi'a. The non-believers wrote

with such confidence as to suggest that belief in the in-

completeness of the Qur'an was an established belief

amongst the Shi'a. This is a completely incorrect asser-

tion. Shi'as like Sunnis believe that the Qur'an is protec-

ted from any type of alteration….

This proves that apart from a few untrustworthy indi-

viduals, the Shi'a do NOT ascribe to a belief in the alteration or incompleteness of Qur'an. For more refer-

ences Numan Alusi's book titled "Aljawab-un-naseeh lemana fiqh Abdul maseeh" should beread. The Qur'an is

protected in its present written form, and is embedded in

the minds of people. Moreover, the words and meaning

of Qur'an testify that they are miracles.

Taken from Ulum-ul-Qur'an, Page 134-136, Published Lahore

46

18

Chapter

Allamah Abdul Haq Haqani Dehlavi

Up until the present time no Shi'a scholar, or for that

matter any adherent of the Islamic Faith has held a be-

lief that the Qur'an has ever been altered or changed.

The Shi'a scholars have reiterated this point in their

texts.

Tafseer-e-Haqani, 1st Edition,Page 63, Published Lahore

47

19

Chapter

Allamah Salim Al Bannah View Point

Imam of Ahl'ul Sunnah and Founder of the Muslim Brother-

hood Allamah Salim Al Banna:

The Qur'an we Ahl'ul Sunnah have is the same Qur'an

that is used in Shi'a homes and mosques.Al-Sita AL-

Muatri Aliha, Page 60, Published Egypt

On page 263 of the same book, he writes

The Ithna Ashari Shi'a deem anyone who believes in the

alteration of Qur'an to be a non-believer, this is a known

and agreed fact that has been held the inception

of Islam.

48

20

Chapter

Imam of Ahl'ul Sunnah ShahAbdul Aziz

Muhadith Dehlavi

Shah Abdul Aziz Muhadith Dehlavi, while acknow-

ledging that the Shi'a do not believe that the Qur'an had

been altered states: It is proven from all the traditions of the Imamia that the Ahl'ul bayt used to recite this same

Qur'an and based their decisions in accordance with it.

The commentary of Qur'an by Imam Hasan Askari is the

commentary of this (same) Qur'an. All his children, relat-

ives and servants studied 'this' Qur'an, and he used to or-

der them to recite this Qur'an when praying. It is due to

this fact that Shaykh Ibn-e-Bawia in his book "Al

Aqidath" denied that Qur'an had been altered.Tuhfa

Ithna Asharia, Page 281, Published Istanbul the Qur'an

we have is the same that was compiled during the life-

time of Prophet Muhammad (S), proven bythe fact that

the people used to recite the Qur'an and Prophet

Muhammad (S) would listen to them.

On 16th October 1947 in Akhbar-ul-Zia's page 6, column 1,

he wrote:

The fact that Qur'an is complete has been proved by

numerous traditions from Muslim scholars. The Shi'a

also a scribe to this view, this was proven in a previ-

ous edition with a reference to the famous commentary

"Tafseer Majma-ul-Bayan".

49

Apart from the scholars cited, numerous other Sunni scholars have also confirmed that the Shi'a do not believe that the Qur'an is incomplete.

• Ahmed Abraham Being Ustad Shaykh Shaltoot in "Ilm

Usul-e-Fiqh", page 21 published Egypt.

• Allamah SamiArif-ud-Din in "Al muslimunman Hum", Page 98, Published Egypt.

• Allamah Muhammad Ali M.A Lahore in "Jameih-al-Qur'an", Page 111, PublishedLahore.

•

Maulana Ghulam Dastagir Anjahani in "Imamate-ul-

Burhan", page 5, Published Lahore.

• Ghulam Ahmed Prevail in "Mazahib-e-Aalim ki Armani

Cetacean",Page 144, Published Lahore.

• Imam Abu Zahra Misri in "Al Imam Al Sadiq", Page206, PublishedEgypt.

50

21

Chapter

Shi'a rejection of the Sahaba

"According to Imami Shi'a doctrine, the vast majority of the Sahaba were liars and apostates" One of the leading scholarsof the Shi'a, alKashshi, reported that AbuJa'far said: "The people (including the Sahaba) all became apostates after the Prophet's death except for three." When asked who they were, he

replied, "Al-Miqdad ibn Aswad, Abu Dharr, and Salman as mentioned in the verse, 'If he (Muhammad) dies or is killed, will you then turn on your heels.'" (Rijal al-Kashshi pp12-13)".

51

The Actual Shi'a Position

This is not a topic that should cause discord and hatred

between Muslims. Whilst we acknowledge there is a difference

between the way Sunni and Shi'a approach the issue of the Sa-

haba- it is incorrect to conclude that the Shi'a reject the Sahaba. We should point out that our books arereplete with

chapters praising the Sahaba of Rasulullah (s). We however do

not ascribe to the belief that one should blindly follow and respect anindividual because he benefited from Rasulullah's

blessed company, wedeem adherence and respect to be based

on what we learn about them from the Qur'an, Sunnah and his-

tory.We acknowledge the sacrifices that the Sahaba had made,

BUT our yardstick for determining the truth is the Qur'an

and Sunnah. Hence both schools believe in the Sahaba the only

difference being one school examines each individual in rela-

tion to their manners/ attitude, whilst the other does not

deemthis to be a necessary component.As Shi'a we look at the

character of a companion against the Qur'an, Sunnah and his-

tory and then decide on his reliability. The (14th) century,the well known Sunni scholar, Maulana Wahidu 'z Zaman of Hy-derabad Deccan explains the point:

"Those that sat in the company of Rasulullah (s) are

true Sahaba. Those deserving of the title 'Sahaba' are

those that bore love and respect of Rasulullah (s) and

his Ahl'ul bayt (as). The title 'Sahaba' does not suffice,

we shall cite an example:

'A King has some servants, on account of their love for

their king they also love one another. Then one of the

servants rebels against the King, he kills the Kings fam-

ily, relations and friends, and becomes their enemy. In

light of such facts should we STILL love the servant, on

the sole basis that he was the kings servant?"Anwaru 'l-lughah Volume 14page 20

Earlier on in the samebook Zaman states:

52

"The verses and hadith praising the Sahaba refers to those that sat in the midst of Rasulullah (s) and showed love and respect towards his Ahl'ul bayt and supported them".Anwaru 'l-lughah Volume 14page 10

Sunni scholarAllamah Sayyid Asad Haydher writing on the

Shi'a aqeedah on the Sahabastates:

"The Shi'a of the Ahl'ul bayt respect Rasulullah's Sa-

haba, they do not play down respect for them, but when

following the life of Rasulullah (s) they stress that the

Shari'a applies equally to Sahabaand non Sahaba -the

Sahaba's position and status is in accordance with their

deeds and actions".

Taken from alSahabeeyathfi NazharShi'a page 32, printed in Egypt

53

Appraisal of the Sahaba by the Imams of Ahl'ul bayt(as)

To counter the lies of the Nasibi we present the comments of

two of our Imams (peace be upon them) that sets out their

views on the Sahabaof Rasulullah (s):

Imam Zaynul Abideen (as) our fourth Imam is known

inMuslim andnon-Muslim circles for his beautiful supplications, some of which have been complied into book format in Sahifa

al Kamilah.One of his (as) specific du'as was for the pious Sahaba of Rasulullah (s) may Allah be well pleased with them:

"O God, andas for the Companions of Muhammad spe-

cifically, those who did well incompanionship, who stood

the good test in helping him, responded to him when

he made them hear his messages' argument, separated

from mates and children in manifestinghis word, fought

against fathers and sons in strengthening his prophecy,

and through him gained victory; those who were wrapped

inaffection for him, hoping for a commerce that comes

not to naught in love for him; those who were left by

their clans when they clung to his handhold and denied

by their kinsfolk when they rested in the shadow of his

kinship; forget not, O God, what they abandoned for Thee

and in Thee, and make them pleased with Thy good

pleasure for the sake of the creatures they drove to Thee

while they were with Thy Messenger, summoners to Thee

for Thee".Imam Zayn al-'Abidin, Sahifaal-Kamilah, (English translation London, 1988), p.27

Imam Jafer Sadiq (as) had praised the Sahabaof Rasulullah

(s) as follows:

"Allah (swt) from amongst the Sahaba had selected a

group, and showered them with respect, they were suc-

cessful

and

the

blessed

lips

of

Rasulullah

(s)

praised them for virtues. You should [likewise] love

them, extol their virtues and separate from the people of

54

Bidah as sitting with them leads to one's heart being filled with kufr and hatred".Misbah al Shaiah page 67

55

Did the Vast Bulk of the Sahaba Apostatize After the Death of Rasulullah (s)?

"One of the leading scholars of the Shi'a, alKashshi, reported that AbuJa'far said: "The people (including the Sahaba) all became apostates after the Prophet's death except for three."

When asked who they were, he replied, "Al-Miqdad ibn Aswad, Abu Dharr, and Salman as mentioned in the verse, 'If he

(Muhammad) dies or is killed, will you then turn on your

heels.'" (Rijal al-Kashshi pp12-13)".

This is one of the favourite traditions that are cited by the

Nasibi against the followers of Ahl'ul bayt (as). We had already cited the comments of Imam Zaynul Abideen (as) and Imam

Sadiq (as) where they had set out their admiration and love for the Sahaba of Rasulullah (s). Is it believable that these two

Imams were praising just three individuals? Not only do

these traditions go against those explicit traditions that we

have cited,we should also point out that one of the narrators of this tradition was Hanaan bin Sadeed who adhered tothe "Wakfee al Madhab", and Imam Raza(as) declared the following

about such persons:

"An adherent of the wakfee al madhab isanindividual

opposed to the truth, should he remain on this deviant

path untilhis die, his ultimate resting place shall

bein Hell".Mukees ad'araraya fi ilm alriwaya page83

If the Minhajjare still going insist that we adhere to this belief then we would suggest that examine the testimony in Sahih al Bukhari your most authentic book:

Narrated 'Abdullah:

The Prophetsaid, "I am your predecessor at the Lake-

Fount". 'Abdullah added: The Prophet said, "I am your predecessor at the Lake-Fount, and some of you will be

brought in front of me till I will see them and then they

will betaken away from me and I will say, 'O Lord, my

56

companions!' It will besaid, 'you do not know what they did after you had left.'Sahih Bukhari,Hadith: 8.578

Narrated Anas:

The Prophetsaid, "Some of my companions will come to

meat my Lake Fount, and after I recognise them, they

will then be taken away from me, whereupon I will

say, 'My companions!' Then itwill besaid, 'You do not

know what they innovated (new things) in the religion

after you."1. Sahih Bukhari, Hadith: 8584 2. Sahih

Muslim, part 15, pp 53-54

Narrated AbuHazim from Sahl bin Sa'd:

The Prophet said, "I am your predecessor (forerunner)

at the Lake-Fount, and whoever will pass by there, he will

drink from it and whoever will drink from it, he will nev-

er be thirsty. There will come to me some people whom I

will recognise, and they will recognise me, but a barrier

will be placed between me and them." Abu Hazim added:

Nu'manbin Abi 'Aiyash, on hearing me, said. "Did you

hear this from Sahl?" I said, "Yes."He said, " I bear witness that I heard Abu Said al-Khudri saying the same,

adding that the Prophet said: 'I will say: They are my

companions. Then it will be said to me, 'You do not know

what they innovated (new things) in the religion after

you left'. I will say, 'Far removed, far removed (from

mercy), those who changed after me." Abu Huraira nar-

rated that the Prophet said, "On the Day of Resurrection a group of companions will come to me, but will bedriven

away from the Lake-Fount, and I will say,'O Lord (those

are) my companions!' It will besaid, 'You have no know-

ledge as to what they innovated after you left; they

turned apostate as renegades (reverted from the true

Islam)"Sahih al Bukhari Hadith: 8585

Narrated AbuHuraira:

57

The Prophet said, "While I was sleeping, a group (of my followers were brought close to me), and whenI recognized them, a man (an angel) came out from amongst

(us) me and them, he said (to them),'Come along.' I

asked, 'Where?' Hesaid, 'To the (Hell) Fire, by Allah' I

asked,'Whatis wrong with them?' He said, 'They turned

apostate as renegades after you left.' Then behold!

(Another) group (of my followers) were brought close to

me, and when I recognized them, a man (an angel) came

out from (me and them) he said (to them); 'Come along.'

I asked, 'Where?' He said, 'To the (Hell) Fire, by Allah.' I asked,'What is wrong with them?' He said, 'They turned

apostate as renegades after you left.' So I did not see

anyone of them escaping except a few who were like

camels without a shepherd".Sahih Bukhari Hadith:

8.587Faced with such explicit traditions Nasibis try and

re-define Sahaba here, namely the words don't refer to

the Sahaba per se but in fact refer to the Ummah i.e. the

vast bulk of the Ummah will be in the fire. To counter

this we suggest our readers check the Arabic it says the

words "Sahaba". We are yet to find any Arabic dictionary that states Sahaba means Ummah.

Further proofs come from the wording of the traditions. In

addition 8: 587 'They turned APOSTATE as renegades after you

left.' When you LEAVE somebody, you do so having already

BEEN WITH THEM, i.e. he had been amongst them. The words

"after youleft" clearly indicate that the group being referred to are those who survived the Prophet (S) i.e. the Sahaba. This is absolutely logical, when a parent dies, they leave behind them their children - they have survived their parents.

Moreover in tradition 8: 585 Rasulullah (s) say's: "There will come to me some people whom I will RECOGNIZE"and in 8:

587 "While I was sleeping, a group (of my followers were

brought close to me), and whenI RECOGNIZED them". Now in

both hadith our infallible Prophet (S) refersto a group "whom I will recognise" - I can only recognise someone if I have SEEN

that person - common sense.Rasulullah (s)'s surprise isbecause 58

heis seeing those who he sat with (companions) being lead into the fire.

These authentic traditions make it clear that the vast bulk of Sahaba

(1) Innovated

(2) Became Kaffir

(3) Only a few will be saved from the fire!

Ummul Momineen Umm Salma (ra) narrates in alIstiab

Volume3 page 390 and Kanz al Ummal Volume 6 page 67 that:

"Amongst my Sahaba are some that I do no wish to look

at, and after my death they shall not see me".

Commenting on this hadith Deobandi scholar Shaykh ul

Hadith Maulana SarffarazKhan Safdar states;

"These are those individuals that recited the Shahada before Rasulullah (s)and after him became murtad (apostates), this includes later generations that became murtad and the people pf

Bidah"

-for

further

details

one

can

consult

Sharh

Nawawi Volume 1 page 129" Taken from Izalath al Rahab page 398

For further references along this line readers can consult:

1. Sunan Nasai Volume4 page 114 (Delhi);

2. Mishkaat alMasabih pages 487-488 (Delhi);

3. Tafseer Kazaan Volume 7 page 451 (Beirut);

4. Tafseer Fathul Qadeer Volume 6 page 490 (Egypt);

5. Tafseer Durre Manthur Volume 6 page 400 (Egypt);

6. Tafseer Rul al Maani page 244 (Egypt).

Al-Qummi claims thatAbu Ja'far said thatthe following verse was revealed about them; "Verily the doors of Heaven will not open for those who deny Our signs and are arrogant towards them, nor will they enter paradise until a camel passes through the eye of a needle."(7:40) He also adds that the camel in the verse refers to their camel. Thus, according to Al-Qummi, Tal-hah (RA) and az-Zubayr (RA), who were both amongst the

59

ten who received glad tidings of paradise from the Prophet SAWS himself, will never enter paradise! (Rijal al-Kashshi pp12-13)"

Whilst we have not gleamed into the particulars of this narra-

tion one should point out to the Minhajj that they have tradi-

tions in their beloved Sahih al Bukhari that not only places

Talha and Zubayr in the fire, but also the vast bulk of the Sahaba that according their traditions have been guaranteed

paradise!"Sahihal Bukhari" Volume. (I). Book (2):"The bookof Faith" Chapter (23): "And if two parties of believers fall to fight then make peace between them both" (49:9)

Narrated Al-Ahnaf bin Qais : "WhileI was going to help this man ('Hadhrath Ali Ibn Abi Talib(AS) ), Abu Bakra

(RA) met me and asked, Where are you going? I

replied," I am going to help that person. He said "go back for I have heard Allah's Apostle (s) saying, "when two Muslims fight (meet) eachother with sword, both the

murderer and the murdered will go to the Hell-Fire." I said, O' Allah's Apostle (s) it is all rightfor the murderer but what about the murdere done? Allah's Apostle (s)

replied, "surely had the intention to kill his companions."

"Sahih al Bukhari"

Volume. (IX).Book ():

"The book of Afflictions"

Chapter (10):"If two Muslims meet (fight) each other with their swords":

Al Hasan;(Al Ahnaf said) "I went out carrying my arms

during the nights of the affliction (i.e. war between 'Ali

and A'isha) and Abu Bakra met me and asked, "Where

are you going?" I replied, "I intend to help the cousin of Allah's Apostle (i.e. Ali). Abu Bakra said, "Allah's Apostle said "If two Muslims take out their sword to fight each other, then both of the mare from the people of (Hell)

Fire". It was said to the Prophet,"it is alright for the killer but what about the killed one?". He replied "The killed one had the intention to kill his opponent".

60

We would urge our readers to examine these two 'sahih'

hadith from the Sahihal Bukhari. These hadith clearly infer

that all those involved in the Battles of Jamal,Sifeen and the Tragedy of Karbala are destined forHell. And among them

areUmmul-Momineen Hadhrath Ayeshaand the eminent per-

sonalities of Hadhrath Imam Ali (AS) & Imam Hussain (AS) and all their martyred companions(AS), and of course Talha &

Zubair. What is the fatwa of Minhajj al Nasibi here?

61

Does Cursing the Sahaba Make the Shi'a Kaffir?

Whilst we willInshallah refute the collection of fatwas in the final chapter we felt that it would be appropriate for us to reply to three fatwas that had been cited suggesting that the Shi'a

are kaffir due to their position on the Sahaba.

"During one of Imam Malik's classes, it was mentioned that the Rafidi Shi'a curse the Sahaba. Imam Malik recited the

verse, "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and those with him are harsh with the disbelievers and gentle among themselves. Sothat the disbelievers maybecome enraged with

them." (48:29) He then said, "Whoever becomes enraged when the Sahabaare mentioned is the one about whom the

verse speaks."(Tafseer al-Qurtubi) 4) Abu Zur'ah arRazi: He said of the Rafidi Shi'a doctrine of cursing the Sahaba, "If you see someone degrade any of the companions of the Prophet SAWS know that he is a disbeliever.Because the Prophet

SAWS was real, what he brought was the truth and all of it was conveyed to us by way of the Sahaba. What those disbelievers wish to do iscast doubt onthe reliabilityof our narrators in order to invalidate the Qur'an and Sunnah. Thus the disbelievers are the ones most deserving of defamation." 6) Imam Al-Alusi: He declared the Rafidi Shi'a disbelievers because of their defamation ofthe Sahaba. His position was based on the rulings of Imam Malik and other scholars. In response to their claim to be followers of the Ahl al-Bayt (the Prophet's SAWS family) Al-Alusi said, "No, they are really followers of the devils and the Ahl al-Bayt are innocent of them."(Rijal al-Kashshi pp12-13)".

It is sad that Nasibi cults such as this group seek to vent

maximum emotion amongst actual Sunni's by highlighting Shi'a

criticism of the Sahaba with the sole aim that thiswill lead to them joining them inthe chorus of takfeer against the Shi'a. We will Inshallah address Imam Malik's Fatwa separately in the final chapter,suffice it to say the Shi'a views on the Sahaba do NOT inany way mean that one can conclude that the Shi'a are

kaffir. These Nasibis cannot prove from the Qur'an or hadith

that either Allah (SWT) or Rasul (S) ever declared Sahaba who

62

cursed one another to have become Kaffir. This is a fact, they quarrelled, fought each otherin his blessed presence andhe

NEVER said that they had become kaffir. In fact Sahaba even

criticized him (S) accusing him of being delirious on his death bed and yet curiously we never hear these Deobandi and Salafi

Nasibis ever running to the aid of our Rasul and deeming such

individuals as Kaffir.

When a person enters into the fold of Islam, he is required to recite the Kalima tayyiba and Shahada, upon doing so he

comes under the umbrellaof Islam.It isfollowing this recital

that he can be told about the core components of Iman/ beliefs that make up this declaration.From the texts of Ahl'ul Sunnah

we learn that the declaration of Iman, isas follows:

"I believe in Allah, in his Angels, In his Books, inthe Day of Judgment, the fact that everything good and bad

is from Allah and that Life exists after death".

These are the conditions of Iman, there exists no require-

ment to have faith in the iman of Abu Bakr, Umar or for that

matter any other Sahaba. In the absence of this fact, on what

basis do these so-called scholars conclude that disrespect of

the Sahaba makes you a kaffir?

If one examines the entire contents of the Holy Qur'an there

exists no evidence that entry into the fold of Islam is dependent on testifying to the iman of the Sahaba.

Some individuals will seek to cite verses and suggest that

these pertain to Abu Bakr, Umar etc,thus concluding that to reject these individuals' means that one is rejecting the Qur'an.

From this view point they will argue that believing in the iman of the Sahaba is a necessity since without them, the link to

guidance shall be broken - hence to reject them makes one a

kaffir. When debating on the issue of takfeer one needs to re-

cognize that this is such a serious matter that a fatwa can only be issued when there is no doubt whatsoever. There is no arguing that general verses came down with regards to specific

individuals, but one needs to appreciate that Abu Lahab and

63

Zaid bin Harith are the only individuals that are mentioned by name in the Qur'an. Even if we are to accept the claim that

verses descended with regards to Abu Bakr and Umar, thiscan

not in any way be deemed to proof beyond a doubt, since com-

mentators of the Qur'an interpreted these verses according

their knowledge, thoughts and personal view points i.e., they

interpreted verses according to their own school of thought.

Whilst some for example cite the verse that refers to Abu Bakr in the cave, deeming this as a verse of appraisal,others have

criticized his Iman on this particular occasion.

4) AbuZur'ahar-Razi:He said of the Rafidi Shi'a doctrine of cursing the Sahaba, "If you see someone degrade any of the companions of the Prophet SAWS know that he is a disbeliever. Because the Prophet SAWS was real, what he brought was the truth and all of it was conveyed to us by way of the Sahaba.

What those disbelieverswish to do is cast doubt onthe reliability of our narrators inorder to invalidate the Qur'an and Sunnah. Thus the disbelievers are the ones most deserving

ofdefamation."

This isa verycommon Nasibi argument. Since the Deen

(Qur'an / Sunnah) reached us via the Sahaba, loving them is

part of the Deen. We would state that thisismatter of person-

al preference, since it is these Ulema and their neo Nasibi followers that have made the mistake of wrongly deeming this to

bea part of Iman, they are now seeking to force the Shi'a to

embrace this incorrect notion.

The Ahl'ul Sunnah deem every companion as reliable due to

the fact that he professed belief in Rasulullah (s) and had the benefit of seeing him - hence he is a 'Sahaba'. At the time of the Farewell Pilgrimage there were at least 100,000 Sahaba, is it correct to conclude that every one of these individuals was just? If it is not,then why dothe majority school uphold the belief that ALL the Sahaba were just? In addition we are also expected to believe that all the Sahabaare like stars, whoever

amongst them you follow will lead you to guidance. We will an-

swer this claim by citing this example:

64

"If Rasulullah (s) appeared in this present era, and a Shepherd,

bus

conductor, street

cleaner,

barber,

butcher, Doctor, engineer, Professor and trader all

saw Rasulullah (s) and embraced Islam having met him

and hence with that were deemed Sahaba,would it be fair

to

conclude

that

they

ALL

developed

the

same knowledge, sagacity, piety, mental attitude? Can we

deem them ALL to beon an equal level BECAUSE they

saw Rasulullah (s)and were hence his Sahaba?

On the 'Stars'principle you will have a choice tofollow a

street cleaner or professor, can we conclude that both will be equal in knowledge? The majority school deem all those who

saw Rasulullah (s) to be his Sahaba no matter how far away

they were from him, when in fact the sad fact is even those

thatsat close to him, behavedinappropriately as can be

vouched for inhistory.

The books of history testify that on the day of Hudaibiya, one particular Sahaba raised doubts on the Prophethood of

Muhammad (s),at Uhud prominent Sahaba fled for the moun-

tains, onefled so far that he returned to Madina after three

days. At Khayberthe companions led by prominent Sahaba fled

in retreat from the enemy, when Rasulullah (s) asked for writ-

ing materials on his deathbed, Sahabasaid he was delirious.

Rasulullah(s) ordered the army of Usamah to leave Makka, Sa-

habarefused to go, after the demise of Rasulullah (s) Sahaba

were debating overhis succession at Saqifarather than participating in his funeral arrangements. These are clearly a historic-al problems, so whoever's heart wishes to gleam over these

facts then they can choose such personalities as their guides, and whoever accepts these facts is entitled toreject these individuals as guides. Ifthe majority school do indeed want to

grasp such individuals would the better approach not beto

grasp those individuals with an exemplary character, and de-

clare such persons as the necessary components of the Deen?

The reality is that the necessary parts ofDeen are the Ahl'ul

Bayt (as) and Rasulullah (s) had told the Sahaba at the

Farewell

Pilgrimage"I

am

leaving

amongst

you

two

65

weighty things if you follow them you will never go astray, the Qur'an and my Ahl'ul bayt". Rasulullah (s) also identified Imam

'Ali (as) to be the Gate of knowledge, if the Ummah had de-

cided to close the door themselves, grasp the Qur'an and turn

their backs on the Ahl'ul bayt (as) then that is their loss, why are they demanding that we do likewise?

If the Minhajj group are seeking to cookup a frenzy citing

the fact that the Shi'a are opposed to the Sahaba and certain

wives of the Prophet (s), then allow usto cite some traditions and look in to the facts of history. We will cite the treatment of the beloved daughter of Rasulullah (s) Sayyida Fatima (sa).

After Rasulullah's demise she remained alive only for a further six months, during which time her treatment at the hands of

Hadhrath 'Abu Bakr became so bad that not only did she stop

talking to him, she left an explicit instruction that he not attend her funeral.

We read in Sahih al Bukhari hadith 4:325 that Ayesha stated:

"After the death of Allah 's Apostle Fatima the daugh-

ter of Allah's Apostle asked Abu Bakr As-Siddiq to give

her share of inheritance from what Allah's Apostle had

left of the Fai (i.e. booty gained without fighting) which

Allah had given him. Abu Bakr said to her, "Allah's

Apostle said, 'Our property will not beinherited, whatever

we (i.e. prophets) leave is Sadaqah (to beused for char-

ity)." Fatima, the daughter of Allah's Apostle got angry and stopped speaking to Abu Bakr, and continued assuming that attitude till she died. Fatima remained alive

for six months after the death of Allah's Apostle".

She died angry with Abu Bakr and Rasulullah (s) warned of

the consequences of upsetting Sayyida Fatima, we read in

Sahih al Bukhari Volume 5 hadith 61

"Allah's Apostle said, "Fatima is a part of me, and he who makes her angry, makes me angry."

66

In relation to Imam 'Ali (as), he [Imam 'Ali (as)] testified to hearing these words of Rasulullah (s):

"By him who split up the seed and created something

living, the Apostle (may peace and blessing be upon him)

gave mea promise that no one but a believer would

love me, and none but a hypocrite would nurse grudge

against me."Sahih Muslim, English version, Chapter

XXXIV, p46 Tradition #141

Its is little wonder that we have the testimony of Abu Said al Khudri: "

We recognized the hypocrites by their hatred of Ali."

1. Fada'il al-Sahaba, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v2, p639, Tradition 1086

2. al-Isti'ab, by Ibn Abd al-Barr, v3, p47 - alRiyad al-Nadirah, by al-Muhibb al-Tabari, v3, p242

From these traditionsit is clear that 'Ali (as) was the subject of hatred, and that those that heldenmity towards him were infact only 'pretending'to be Muslims. Upon the death of Rasulullah (s) this hatred became more open. Whilst it isdifficult to visualize the events with the passage of some 1400 years, it is clear that the situation deteriorated to suchan extent that

swords were raised against Imam 'Ali (as), that being the case how difficult can it be to identify and name the enemies of

Imam'Ali (as)? Rasulullah (s) declared that a momin would nev-

er hate Imam 'Ali, but Ummul Momineen Ayesha and the Sa-

haba fought the rightly guided khalifa and in the process were responsible for causing the blood shed of thousands. In light of these facts what fatwa will Minhajj al Nasibi and their Imams

invoke on Hadhrath Ayesha based on these facts?

"Hatred of 'Ali is such a thing that no gooddeeds will benefit, whilst love of 'Ali is such a thing that no bad

deeds will harm you".taken from Ahlul Sunnah book, al-

Nasa'ihal-Kaafiyah page 67

67

Hatred did not just end there Mu'awiya's hatred of Imam Ali (as) was such that as Khalifa he made the cursing of Imam'Ali

(as) a compulsory practice.

Maulana Sayyid Abu'l Ala Maudoodi records this fact inhis

"Khilafathwa Mulukiyaat". On page 174 he writes:

"Ibn Kathir in al Bidayah records that one unlawful and out rageous practice started by Mu'awiya was that he and

his governors would curse Hadhrath 'Ali during the Fri-

day sermon from the Imam's position. This took such an

extreme that this practised even took place in the

Mosque of the Prophet, in front of the grave of

the Prophet (saws), the cursing of the most beloved rel-

ative would take place, in the presence of Hadhrath 'Ali's

family who would hear this abuse with their own

ears." also:

1.Tabari Volume 4 page 188

2. Ibn Athir Volume 3 page 234

3. al Bidayah Volume 8 page 259 and Volume 9 page 80

So, where were the Minhajjand their Deobandi ancestors at

this time? Why did they not take a stand and seek to prevent

the cursing of Imam' Ali (as)? Why did they not expose

Mu'awiya and write eloquent articles like the one that we are

refuting here? If despite his being an alleged Sahaba and jurist Minhajj can find it intheir hearts to forgive Mu'awiya for cursing Imam 'Ali (as) the Sahaba and cousin of Rasulullah (s), why can they not forgive the Shi'a likewise? If our sin is that we distance ourselves from one group of Sahaba, it is on account

of the fact that we love Rasulullah (s) and his Ahl'ul bayt(as).

How can we be forced to havea heart that loves the Ahl'ul bayt (as) and at the sametime also professes love for their enemies? It is indeed incredible that these Nasibis like Minhajj have a deep affection for the enemies of Ahl'ul bayt (as) such as Mu'awiya, Marwan and Yazeed. The Shi'a are kaffir because

they curse the Sahaba, whilst those that cursed, oppressed and killed them are radhiallah-ta'ala-anho! Take the example of

Marwan, ask any Deobandi or Salafi about him,and they

68

willextol him asa pious Sahaba (ra), but Imam of Ahl'ulSunnah, al Muhaddith Shah 'Abdul Aziz declares:

"Love oftheAhl'ul Bayt is a part of religion it is not a Sunnah, love ofAhl'ul Bayt means hating Marwan, and

speaking ill of him.He treated Imam Hussain and

the other members of Ahl'ulBayt badly,and was their en-

emy. We denounce this Shaytaan".Fatwa Azizi, page 225

What is of interest is this article appears on a Deobandi Web-

site, and yet the Minhajj al Nasibi have failed to cite even a single opinion of 'Abu Hanifaon those that curse the Sahaba?

Why is that? This is because this would go against their

beliefs.

Allamah Tahavi whilst setting out Abu Hanifa aqeedah

states:

We love the Companions of the Messenger of Allah but

we do not go to excess in our love for anyone individual

among them nor do we disown any one of them. We

hate anyone who hates themor does not speak well of

them.

So here based on the fatwa of Imam Numan one who curses

the Sahaba may not be a like able person BUT he cannot be

deemed a kaffir.

We should also point out that Imam Abu Hanifa must have

stated this (i.e. not a like able person) in a context since he had disrespect of Hadhrath Abu Bakr and Hadhrath Umar in

his heart,as we learn of…

69

Imam Abu Hanifa's Disrespect of the Shaykhayn In Tarikh Baghdad Volume 13 page 373 we read that:

"Imam Abu Hanifa said that Iblis and The Great Truth-

ful one Abu Bakr were equal in Iman".

Allamah Shibli Numani in his book "Imam Abu Hanifa" page 76 (English translation) states:

"There lived in the Imam's lane a miller who was a fanatical Shi'ah and who had, therefore named his two don-

keys Abu Bakr and Umar, respectively. One day one

of the donkeys kicked the miller so hard in the head that

he died. Hearing of this, the Imam said, 'It must be the

donkey who hehad named Umar'. On inquiry the guess

was found correct".

Please takenote of this reference, one that kicks out is Umar.

In addition to his claim that Abu Bakr's Iman was on par with

Iblis, what more can we say? Minhajj al Nasibi can collate as

may fatwas of takfeer by their Nasibi Imams as they like, but it will be to no avail - since takfeer due to disrespecting of the Sahaba even 'AbuBakr and Umar cannot be proven, andif it can

then they should issue takfeer against their beloved Imam Abu

Hanifa.

70

Ulema of Ahl'ul Sunnah have not Deemed Cursing the Sahaba to Constitute kufr

To counter these absurd claims we present the fatwa of Ibn

Taymiyyah, the Shaykhul Islam of the Nasibis, who writes:

"And merely abusing some one other than the Prophets

does not necessarily make the abuser Kaffir; because

some of those who were in the time of the Prophet

(i.e. companions)used to abuse one another and none of

them was declared kaffir because of this (practice); and

(also) because itis not Wajib to have faith particularly in any of the companions; therefore abusing any of them

does not detract from the faith in Allah and His books

and His messengers and the Last day."As Sarimu l ma-

sul", Ibn Taymiyyah,page 579 Published in 1402/1982 by Alam al-Kutub

Mulla Ali Qari in his work of Sharh Fiqh alAkbar whilst set-

ting out Hanafi aqaid on the Sahaba states:

"to abuse Abu Bakr andUmar is NOT Kufr, as Abush

Shakuras Salimi has correctly proved in his book, at

Tamhid. And it is because the basis of this claim(claim

that reviling the Shaykhayn is kufr) is not proven, nor its meaning is confirmed. It is so because certainly abusing

a Muslim is fisq (sin) as is proved by aconfirmed

hadith, and therefore the Shaykhayn (Abu Bakr and

Umar) will be equal to the other (Muslims) inthis rule;

and also if we suppose that some one murdered

the Shaykhayn, and even the two sons in law (Ali and Us-

man), all of them together, even then according to Ahl'ul

Sunnah wa al- Jamah, he will not go out of Islam (i.e. will not become kaffir)"

1. Mulla Ali Qari, Sharah al Fiqh al AkbaMatba Uthmaan-

iyya, Istanbul, 1303 page 130 Matba Mujtabai, Delhi, 1348, page86 Matba Atab e Hind, India, No date, page 86) Since this conflicts with the new Nasibi thinking, namely those who curse the Shaykhayn are Kaffir, they have tampered withtheir texts.

71

The above quote was taken from three (3) editions, printed in India and Turkey. Now a new edition has been printed by Darul Lutubil Ilmiyah, Beirut in 1404/1984, which claims to be the first edition, and from which four pages (including the above text) have been expunged.

Famous Hanafi scholar, Allamah Alaudeen Hanafi in Durr al

Mukhthar in his chapter on Imamate page72 states as follows:

"And whoever turns in the direction of the Kaaba is not a kaffir.Even the Khwaarij are not kaffir, despite the fact that they deem it halaal to take our lives and property.

Similarly those that deemit permissible to curse the Sa-

haba, and deny the concept of seeing Allah (swt), can not

be deemed to be kaffir, since their beliefs are based on

interpretationand doubt - the fact that they are not held

to be kaffirs is proven by the fact that there testimony is accepted whilst those of Non Muslims is not, this proves

that they are Muslim".

Hanafi scholar Maulana Abdu Hai Lucknawi in response to a

question regarding the Shi'a position on cursing the Sahaba:

"This is bidah (aninnovation) not kufr. They believe

'Ali to be superior to the Shaykhayn some state that it is

a duty to curse the opponents of 'Ali such as Mu'awiya

and Ayesha - this is bidah not kufr, it is based on inter-

pretation, in conclusion to deem the Shi'a kaffir on ac-

count of their cursing of the Sahaba contradicts the

opinions of the Ulema".Mujmoo al Fatawa Volume 1

pages 3-4

Deobandi scholar Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi in responded to a

question on the following topic inthis manner:

Q. "Can we deem one that commits the great sin of

speaking ill of the Sahabato be outside the folds of Ahl'ul Sunnah?"

72

A. Despite this great sin he is not expelled from the Ahl'ul Sunnah wa al Jamaah".al Fatawa Rasheedia,

Volume 2 pages 140-141

If a Sunni that speaksill the Sahabais not a kaffir and re-

mains a member of the Sunni Sect, why is it that the Shi'a by

perpetrating this same act become kaffir?

73

An Appeal to the Deobandi's

The Shi'a havedistanced themselves from those Sahaba that

subjected the Ahl'ulbayt (as) to ill treatment. Our position is clear and not negotiable.

Maudoodi states in his "Khilafath wa Mulukiyaat" page 233:

"With regards to those that fought 'Ali, 'Ali was more in the right". At the same time he fails to condemn those that opposed him

He says later on page 338 of the same book:

"The majority scholars commenting on 'Ali's stance,

deem that he was the rightful Imam, no scholar has said

anything different. The Hanafi Ulema agree with the ma-

jority scholars that 'Ali was right and his opponents were

rebels".

Praising the concept of freedom of speech Maudoodi writes

in the same book

"Abu Hanifa felt that if anyone speaks ill ofthe rightful Imam, swears or intends to kill him, no action can be

taken against him, no one can be indicted nor im-

prisoned UNTIL he practically implements rebellion".

[page 263]

We would urge the Minhajj and their fellow Deoband is to

contemplate this reference. Allow us to benefit from the free-

dom of speech that your Imam Abu Hanifa had advocated. The

Shi'a do not use foul language nor do we intend on spilling

blood BUT we will speak out to defend the truth, why should

we be prohibited from condemning Imam 'Ali (as)'s opponents?

We refuse to desist from such an approach; we the Shi'a have

separated from such individuals. Asfar as we are concerned the matter is straight forward. If one party is on the path of truth then the other party is on the path of falsehood. If the Sunni 74

Ulema despite this fact have deemed those in the wrong as worthy of praise since they exercised Ijtihad, for which they

shall be forgiven and awarded,ignoring the scores that were

killed and failing to apportion blame - then that istheir problem not ours. It is indeed regrettable that these 'Ulema' have issued takfeeragainst the Shi'a because we refuse to join them in this approach.

75

A Matter to Ponder Over

Before we conclude this section, allow us to analyse this mat-

ter from another angle. There is no doubt that the Shi'a are the sole Sect that have in light of established facts been highly critical of the Sahaba, that includes Hadhrath Abu Bakr, Umar and

Uthman. If we are to accept the argument advanced by these

fatwas that the Shi'a are kaffir on account of their views of

the Sahaba then itmakes logical sense that the Shi'a will enter the Fire on the Day of Judgement for holding such a belief.

In an authentic tradition found in the texts of Sunni and

Shi'a, Rasulullah (s) said that his Ummah would become di-

vided in to 73 Sects, only one would enter paradise all the others would go into the Fire. On the basis of these fatwas let us for arguments sake conclude that the Shi'a due to their condemnation of the Sahabaare one of the 72 Sects that shall

enter the Fire. That leaves us with a further 71 Sects that shall also join the Shi'a in Hell. The difficulty for the Nasibi is the fact that of the remaining 71 Sects all revere the Sahaba, and are not critical of any one of them. Despite the fact that they respect all the Sahaba they shall still enter the Fire on the Day of Judgement.

This proves that respecting or disrespecting the Sahaba is

NOT that factor that shall determine whether the adherents of

a Sect shall enter Hell on the Day of Judgement! This is clear and logical. We would invite those with open minds to ponder

this point carefully and to think twice before being taken in by these three illogical fatwas cited by Minhajj al Nasibi.

76

22

Chapter

The Wilayat of Ali Ibne Abi Talib (as)

In the book "Al-Kafi fil-Usool, a collection of ahadith attributed to the Prophet SAWS and some of the Imams of the Shi'a,

and heldin the same esteem amongst Shi'a as Sahih Bukhari

is amongst the Ahl us-Sunnah, we find the following…"Who-

ever sets up another Imam besides 'Ali and delays 'Ali's ca-

liphate is a polytheist." (vol.10 p.55) (this "hadith" refers to everyone who accepts the validity of the caliphates of Abu

Bakr, 'Umar and Uthman. The Shi'a claim that the caliphate

was stolen from 'Ali, and only he and his descendants have the right to rule the Muslims):

What we are talking about here is the Wilayat (Mastership)

of 'Ali ibne Abi Talib (as) over the Ummah after Rasulullah (s).

To expand on this we will need to explain that there is a world of difference between the two schools on Imamate. We will Inshallah expand on thisin a separate chapter.Suffice it to

say,Sunnis believe that the appointment of an Imam is the duty of the public, Shi'as believe it is a duty (RIGHT) of Allah (swt) via the Prophet. We would ask someone rationally, isit really lo-gicalto believe that the Prophet (S) did not even bother to

leave a successor after him?, When he predicted that the

Ummah would be divided, fall into turm oil,fight and kill each other? Ifthe Sahaba thought the issue of Imamate was more

important than the Prophet's Janaza (funeral) don't you think

he did? Did they caremore about future interests of the

Ummah than him? That's why we believe that Rasulullah (s) ex-

plicitly lefta successor and that:

(1) It was Imam Ali (as)

77

(2) With this appointment he (s) inherited the same rights over the people as did Rasulullah (s)

(3)The Wilayat of 'Ali is so important that we will be asked

about iton the Day of Judgement

We read the following address to Rasulullah (s) in Surah

Baqarah verse 120 (Yusuf Ali translation):

Never will the Jews or the Christians be satisfied with

thee unless thou follow their form of religion. Say: "The Guidance

of

Allah,-that

is

the

(only)

Guidance."

Wert thou to follow their desires after the knowledge

which hath reached thee, then wouldst thou find neither

Protector nor helper against Allah.

Then in Surah Rad verse 37(Yusuf Ali translation) Allah (swt)

speaks tohis beloved Messenger (s) as follows:

Thus have We revealed it to bea judgement of authority

in Arabic. Wert thou to follow their (vain) desires after

the knowledge which hath reached thee, then wouldn't

thou find neither protector nor defender against Allah.

Does it make sense that Hadhrath Muhammad (s) after

whom noother Prophet shall come, is being rebuked that

should he turn his back onhis position, and follow falsehood,

and leave Allah (swt)'s deen he will have no helper? Was there really a riskthat Rasulullah (s) might turn his back on Allah

(swt)? We are sure that no Muslim would ever entertain such a

thought,then why would he address Rasulullah (s) in this man-

ner? Although the verse was addressing Rasulullah (s) we the

Shi'a believe that this was in fact an address to the Ummahat

large.

Accordingly we argue that an individual that 'knowingly' is

aware ofthe wilayat of 'Ali and then despite this seeks to ignor-eit and follow his own desires ison the path of falsehood.

There is no need for the Minhajj to makethis an issue of con-

tention with us since many leading Ulema of Ahl'ul Sunnah in

78

their commentaries of this verse al Maidah 'Baligh' (5:67) have stated that following the descent of this verse Rasulullah (s) declared the wilayat of 'Ali (as) to the people - that he was the Imam after him (s).It is common sense that any Leader when

leaving a post puts into position an individual to succeed him and administer the affairs of the State. Failure to do so will lead to insecurity in the State, uncertainty,confusion and worse still leaves the nation tothe mercy of an enemy nation that

might take the opportunity andseize power over a leaderless

people. Appointment of a successor is the first thing that any

'sensible' leader will do. That is why we believe that in accordance with the guidanceof Allah (swt) revealed this verse to Rasulullah (s), to openly declare his successor to the masses who had joined him at the time of the Farewell Pilgrimage. The declaration of Ali's wilayat was to quell the scheming / nefarious planning of the hypocrites. That is why Allah (swt) declared:

"O Apostle! Deliver what has been sent downtoyou

from your Lord; and if you don't do it, you have not de-

livered His message (at all); and Allah will protect you

from the people … " (Qur'an 5:67).

The followingUlema of Ahl'ul Sunnah have confirmed that

the declaration of Ali's wilayat followed this verse:

• Tafseer Mazhari by Thanaullah Panee Pathee Volume 3

page 143

• Tafseer Kabeer Volume 3 page 472 narrated on the author-

ities of Ibn Abbas, al-Bara Ibn Azib, and Muhammad Ibn Ali.

• Tafseer Fathul Qadheer Volume 2 page 57by Shaukhani

• Tafseer Durre Manthur under the commentary of verse

5:67

This was clearly that matter that Rasulullah (s) feared that

the people would oppose. With the open declaration of Ali's

Wilayat all rules / regulations were completed. Deen was com-

pleted with the appointment of a successor / a Guide to ensure that the people followedthe right path.

79

We believe that the evidence is so clear that any rational mind will conclude that this was a declaration of Imamate.

Nasibis can disagree but let uscite the comments of one of your very own Deobandischolars, Shah Ismail Shaheed the Indian

reformist who introduced the teachings of Abdul Wahab in In-

dia. He writes:

"The Imam is the Prophet's successor, the Imam has

the same relations with Allah as the Prophet had with Al-

lah. The Imam isthe leader, in the same way the Proph-

et had the right to lead the people, the Imam also has

the samerights over the people. We read in Surah Azhab

'The Prophet is aula (authority) to the believers', and

the Prophet willbea witness to this fact on the Dayof

Judgement. The Prophet has rights over the people, as

does the Imam, both in this world and the next, which

iswhy the Prophet said 'Don't I have more rights over the

people than they have over themselves, to which the

people replied 'Yes'. The Prophet then said 'Of whomso

ever I am Maula, Ali is his Maula'. This is why Allah says

in the Qur'an that on the Day of Judgement you will be-

called according to your Imam (3:17), and why when Al-

lah says 'And stop they are to bequestioned' (37:24), we will beasked about the Wilayat of Ali on the Day of

Judgement" Munsub-e-Imamate, by Shah Ismail Shaheed, p 71

Shah Ismail was not writing in isolation when heasserted

that we would be asked about the Wilayat (Mastership) of Ali

(as)on the Day of Judgement.

Numerous Sunni scholars intheir commentaries of the verse:

"And stop they are to be questioned" (Qur'an 37:24)-

have narrated from Abu Said alKhudri (ra) that he heard the

Prophet say that:

"On the Day of Judgement the peoplewill beasked

"whether or not they truly accepted Ali as their Wali

(Master), as they were instructed bythe Prophet to do,

or did they ignore it".

80

al Sawaiq al Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajr Haythami, Ch11 subhead-ing 1, as quoted by Wahidi and al Daylami; Faraid al Samtain, by Hamawaini, sec ion 14; Mudham Durar al Samain, by Jamal alDin al Zarandi

Mohib al Tabari, in his "Riyadh al Nadira", records that the Holy Prophet (saww)declared:

"On the Day of Judgement, when the people will be

brought together, no one will be able to pass the Bridge,

until they have the ticket declaring Ali's wilayat

"Riyadh al Nadira, by Mohib al Tabari, Par3, p 116

81

Obedience to Imam 'Ali (as

In the book "Obedience to 'Ali is true humility and disobedience to him is disbelief in Allah."(vol.10 p.54)

The Nasibis donot even know what is on their own

books, for the books of Ahl'ul Sunnah record the follow-

ing words of Rasulullah (s): "Whoever obeys 'Ali, obeys me, whoever obeys me, obeys Allah, whoever disobeys' Ali

disobeysme, whoever disobeys me, disobeys Allah"

1. Kanz ul Ummal, hadith numbers 32973-32976

2. Mustadrak al Hakim Volume 3 page 123

3. Riyadh ul Nadira Volume3 page 110

82

23

Chapter

The Shi'a Concept of Imamate

Before launching directly into a reply it would bebest to first of all set out to our objective readers the concept of Imamate from the texts of Ahl'ul Sunnah and Shi'a.

To begin the leading Imamof the Deobandi'sShah Ismail

Shaheedstates as follows:

"One should remember that there may be somethat in-

herit one, two or three traits with the Prophets, hence

Imamate is of different states, some are superior to oth-

ers, this is 'Absolute Imamate' when an individual shares

all the traits of Prophets - his Imamate is superior to all people, the only difference is that he is not a Prophet.

We can say,in support of sucha person that had Prophet-

hood continued after our Prophet (s) it would have been

this person".Taken from Munsub-e-Imamate page 42

Shibli Numani in al Faruq Volume 2 page 96 whilst discuss-

ing the topic of Imamate and Jihad states:

"The position of Imamate is in fact the mirror image of the Prophet, an Imams nature is like that of Prophets".

Both of these renowned Hanafi scholars had said that Imam-

ate was like Prophethood, and the Imam sharedcharacteristics

with Prophets, with the exception that he (The Imam) is NOT

a Prophet.

83

Compare these comments tothe Shi'a position as vouched for by Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi inHaq al Yaqeen Volume 1

page 29:

"The position of Imamate is like that of Prophethood".

Can those with open minds show usthe difference between

the Shi'a and Sunni view points on Imamate based on these

comments?

Imam of Ahl'ul Sunnah, Mir Seyyed Shareef in Sharh Muwaf-

faq page 729 states:

"Before discussing the appointment of the Imam it is

imperative that we define Imamate. Our Ulema have

deemed

Imamate

to

be'Kingdom'

in

the

spiritual

and physical sense…it means to uphold and protect the

Ummah, it is succession to Prophethood, its obedience is

compulsory on the Ummah".

Similarly Imam of Ahl'ul Sunnah Ibn Abideen Shami in Fat-

awa Shami Volume 1 page 384 comments:

"Imamate is that Kingdom that is spiritual and worldly, it acts on behalf of Prophethood".

84

Who Appoints the Imam?

Whilst there is no difference on the importance of hav-

ing an Imam, the difference lies on the method of ap-

pointment. The Shi'a believe Allah appoints the Imam,

Sunni's believe this is the right of the Ummah. For the

Sunni argument we need to go no further than quote

Mulla Ali Qari'sbook "Sharh Fiqh Akbar",which sets out the madhab of Imam Abu Hanifa, this is what we read in

the Chapter "Masala Nusbul Imamah" (Issue of appointment of the Imam):

"It is the majority opinion that there is a duty toappoint an Imam. But there is a difference, as to whether this is

Allah's duty or whether this is incumbent on the public.

The belief in the eyes of Ahl'ul Sunnah and Muttazalites

is that the duty to appoint an Imam is a duty of the pub-

lic. In terms of hadith and logic this is a dutyof the pub-

lic. In accordance with this belief, there is a hadith in-

Sahih Muslim, narrated by Abdullah ibne Umar 'He who

dies without giving bayah toan Imam dies the death of

one belonging to the days of jahiliyya'. This is why the

Sahaba viewed the appointment of the Imam as so im-

portant that they preferred it to attending the Prophet's

funeral, because the Muslims need an Imam so that or-

ders can be made on Jihad, and so that Islamic Laws can

be implemented"

Taken from Sharh Fiqh Akbar, by Mulla Ali Qari, p 175 (publishers Muhammad Saeed and son, Qur'an Muhall, Karachi

Here lies the difference between the two Sects

1. Ahl'ul Sunnah believe that the Imam is appointment by the

People

2. Shi'a believethat Allah (swt) and his Prophet (s) appoint

the Imam

It is common sense that the Imam was just not needed after

the death of Rasulullah (s) but is 'always needed' because

85

failure to recognise the Imam of the Time leads to a Muslim dying the death of jahiliyya. At the same time Numani stated that the Imamate is the mirror image of Prophethood. Recognising

the Imam saves a Muslim from dying as a Kaffir, and yet when

we look at previous Imams from the Banu Ummayya and Abba

side era, can it really be said that recognising these Imams

prevented the death of jahiliyya? Can Imams like Mu'awiya,

Yazeed and Marwan etc be deemed to be the mirror image of

Prophethood? Are these Imams who in Shah Ismails words

shared characteristics with Prophet's that made them 'absolute Imams'?

Let us leave the past, what about today,which Imams recog-

nition will prevent usfrom dying the death of jahiliyya? The

Imam is said to bethe mirror image of Prophethood, whilst

the Imams are the mirror image of American-Israeli policy.And

yet the duty is to havean Imam, but there are so many to

choose from, and Mullah Ali Qari states in Sharh Fiqh Akbar

page 178:

"We are notallowed to have two Imams at any one given

time, otherwise disputes shall break out".

As Shi'a we believe that Allah (swt) knows what is best for

His servants in the same way he appointed Prophet's to guide

mankind, he also appointed Imams to continue the mantle

of guidance. We believe that the fallible human being is not

competent enough to appoint an Imam that shall represent the

Deen on a completelevel. Many factors 'influence' appointment.

If one assesses the politics of the world we see regular

change, with regards to the selection of people. Peopleare ap-

pointed on to different positions. That can be at different

levels, at a Committee level, a Council level, a Governmental

level. When we choose that person, we do so having a specific

expectation, a faith in that individual.Unfortunately the person elected often does not live up to expectation. You become disil-lusioned with that individual, hehas not fulfilled the promises he made during the elections,pledges you relied on when deciding to vote for him.

86

Man chooses without knowledge of the unseen, he does not know what the future holds.He elects an individual via his own limited capacity, his own limitations. The person elected likewise has

limitations,

he

has

limited

knowledge,

and

heisunaware of what will happen in the future.

When Allah (swt) selects anindividual who is perfect on all

accounts, his knowledge is perfect, he has blessed know-

ledge;Allah (swt) has endowed him with his treasures suchas

the Ghayb to help him. We believe that Allah (swt)'s individual is without fault he is not an Alim (learned) he is Aleem

(Exalted). When man selects an individual he comes out defect-

ive, when Allah (swt) selects an individual he is ma'sum

(infallible).

The leader elected by menhas weaknesses, he can make mis-

takes, Allah (swt)'s chosen leader faultless. The leader elected by men will seek the counsel / advice of others, they are dependent on others for help. Allah (swt)'s leader has no such

worries, heis being guided by Allah (swt) alone and does not

need toturn to others for assistance.

When the man made leader comes to power he is frequently

subject to stern criticism by his opponents, Allah (swt)'s select individual is so pious that even his enemies are unable to

pick any fault in him.

When people elect their fellow citizens to power they doso in

their limited capacity. It is not necessary that they like that individual have factors which have forced them to vote for

him,i.e. external pressure such as duress from, family, friends, and powerful figures in the community.

In Feudal Europe and the present third world it is common

for landlords to exert pressure ontheir tenants / subjectsto vote for their choice of individual, failure could do so could lead to severe consequences suc has loss of employment, home etc.

Individuals vote not out of choice but through fear.

87

People will also take in to account factors such as relation-ship to the election candidate, they might have some tribal / fa-milial loyalty which forces them to vote in a particular way. On the other hand, when Allah (swt) chooses a leader he does so

without considering such factors, neither does he have a family or tribal loyalty, he will not be swayed in this way because

as Surah Ikhlas makes clear He (swt) is:

'Lum ya lid wa lum yu lad' ('Neither is he begotten nor has

been be gotten')

When man makes his selection he looks at his own problems /

situation and he asks himself 'how will my voting this individual benefit me/my family, my business' . Mans' selection is based on self interest. Allah(swt) has no such self-interest; his concern is for the welfare of the Ummah and individual who will benefit the entire community and not just a class of

individuals.

That is why we believe Allah (swt) knows what is best for his

people and out of his compassion for us he has appointed

Imams to ensure that we are tread the path of salvationin this world and the next.

With the Sunni / Shi'a viewpoint briefly summarised let us

now look at the objections that had been raised by Minhajj al

Nasibi on the Shi'a concept of Imamate.

88

Infallibility of the Imams

The Imami Shi'a consider the Imams to be utterly infallible,

incapable of eventhe slightest error.

And by the Shi'a believing that the Imams are infallible how

does that make them Kaffir? It would have been better for Min-

hajj al Nasibi to set out what their aqeedah is on this

point.They will no doubt proclaim that Isma(infallibility) is a right bestowed only on Prophets. What they fail to inform the

people is there 100% conviction in the authenticity of Sahih al Bukhari means that they cannot even prove the Isma of Rasulullah (s).Isma means a loof from sin, and in Shi'a aqeedah it is deemed to be a right, that was bestowed on Allah (swt)'s

Prophet's and after them on the Imams from Ahl'ul Bayt(as).

From a logical point we argue that the Imam is that individual that is occupying the position of Rasulullah (s); he is the guide over the nation and hence in the same way the Prophet (s) was

ma'sum so are his Imams who have been entrusted the duty to

guide mankind. How can the people have faith in an Imam that

is capable of making mistakes, whose character is one that

does not reflect the seat that he occupies? How can a man cap-

able of mistakes ensure the smooth running of the Islamic

State, free from incorrect edicts, ruling setc?This could naturally lead to disastrous consequences and we believe that this

would goagainst the Justice of Allah (swt). Hence we argue

that the Imam as the legitimate leader at the helm of the State has to be ma'sum, since he shall rule solely by the rule of law, he shall be untouched by personal views, bribery, corruption

and his goal shall be one, that of serving Allah (swt).

Like the Shi'a viewpoint leading Ulema of Ahl'ul Sunnah have

also vouched for the fact that Isma (infallibility) can be be-

stowed on non Prophets.

Al Muhaddith Shah Waliyullah Dehlavi states inAt-Tafhimatu

l-Iahiyah Volume 2 page 21:

89

"No one doubts that truthfulness, purity, pietyand good deeds were present in those individuals beforethey

were appointed as Prophets. Similarly non Prophets can

also naturally posses such virtues,this is called Isma

(infallibility)".

So the question arises 'whoare these people (other than

Prophet's) that have attained the rank of infallibility. Shah

Waliyullah answers this question as follows:

"Finally the Prophet's Waris (Executors) are of three

types, those that possess Hikmah (Sagacity, wisdom),

Isma(Infallibility) and Qutbiyat Batiniyah (are Spiritual

Pivots) they are his Ahl'ul bayt and special people" .

At-Tafhimatu l-Iahiyah Volume 2 page 14

Shah Waliyullah then proceeds to expandon the concept of

Ismaof the Ahl'ul bayt (as) yet further:

"And He is (Allah's) beloved, and whatever Allah has

created was created for him. And when 'Isma is com-

pleted, all his actions become Haqq(true, correct). I do

not say that his actions occur according to the Haqq: but

(I say that) his actions are the Haqq (personified);

rather, the Haqq is a thing which is reflected from those

actions as the rays are (reflected) from the sun. And the

messenger of Allah has pointed to this rank when he

prayed to Allah Ta'ala about 'Ali, saying: "O Allah! turn the Haqq with him wherever he ('Ali) turns"; and he did not say:

Turnhim ('Ali) wherever the Haqq turns." At-Tafhimatu l-Iahiyah Volume 2 page 22

As his (s) executors, the Imams from the Ahl'ulbayt inherited

the knowledge and wisdom of Rasulullah (s). After Rasulullah

(s) Imam'Ali (as) was the yardstick of truth.Shah Waliyul-

lah was an open advocate of the Isma of the Ahl'ul bayt (as)

that Minhajj al Nasibi have taken issue with the Shi'a on. His student Mullah Muhammad Moeen Sindhi expanded on thisyet

further in his discussion on the verse of purity (33:33):

90

"Whoever has the slightest integrity in him cannot doubt that the hadith and verse refers to the 12 Imamsand Leader of Women of Paradise Sayyida Fatima Zahra. There exists no doubt

of their infallibility, they are free from sin, in the same

way that Imam Mahdi (whois from among them) isMa'sum - for

there are hadith where we are told that he shall tread the path of Rasulullah (s), similarly Shaykh Akbar elaborated on this, as we cited in response to a previous question".

Dhurasthul Bheeb pages 208-209In connectionwith this it

would be most apt to cite the comments of classical Sunni

scholar Fakhraddin Razi states as follows in his discussion of this verse:

"O you who believe! Obey Allah and his Apostle and those in authority among you".Qur'an, Surah Nisa, Verse 59

The type of obedience that Allah (swt) has ordered is

unconditional obedience, it must relate to that individual

who is ma'sum, if he was non ma'sum andcould mistakes,

then Allah (swt) would be telling us to follow such a per-

son and adhere to him…Allah (swt) told us to follow the

Ul il Umr unconditionally, he MUST be Ma'sum, a fact

that is testified to by this verse".

Tafseer al Kabir Volume 3 page 243

Similarly Shah Ismail Shaheed Deobandi whilst elaborating

on the comments of his teacher Sayyid Ahmad, states as

follows:

"And the protection afforded to Prophets and wise men

is called Isma (infallibility), do not assume that to identi-fy spiritual elevation, wisdom, prestige and infallibility in non Prophets contradicts the Sunnah and constitutes

bidah".

Seerath Mustaqeem page 43

One should also remind ourreaders that these Deobandi

Hanafis are split into numerous groups one group is"Ishaath 91

Tauheed Wa'l Sunnah". Its leader Shaykh Hasan 'Ali wan Pa-chran from Mianwalli, Pakistan also testified to the infallibility of the Imams from the Ahl'ul bayt (as). Discussing the chains of Tassawuf and that of the "Shathreeya order" he states:

"Our infallible Imam Zaynul Abideen (ra)"Fayouzaath ai Hayneeya Ma'roof ba Taua Ibraheemiya page 202

We the Shi'a believe that our Imams as the legitimate guides

appointed by Allah (swt) have been bestowed with the virtue of infallibility, that ensures they always tread the path of right-eousness. Our belief has been vouched for byleading Sunni

Ulema, who have made it clear that Isma is NOT the exclusive

right of Prophets. If this aqeedah iskufr then perhaps Minhajj al Nasibi would be so kind as to offer their views on Shah Ismail Shaheed, Shah Waliyullah, Fakhraddin Razi, Shaykh Has-

an Ali and Shaykh Akarm. It is only when they get their own

house in order and issue verdicts on these individuals who

share their aqeedah, that they can then look to the views held outside.

92

Obedience to the Imam

Hence following them, according to Shi'a doctrine is obligatory on all true Muslims until the Day of Judgement.

Yet again theNasibi have failed to look at what is in their own books on this matter. First and foremost one must understand

that adherence is based on recognition. Oncethe Imam is re-

cognised, unconditional obedience is afforded to him, for as

Shi'a we believe the Imams to be the legitimate protectors of

the Deen. On this type of recognition the Ahl'ul Sunnah ascribe to the same belief. Suffice it to say, Maulana Abdul Aziz

Fehrawi sheds light on this matter as follows:

"The appointment of the Imam is compulsory, its

foundation is based on the fact that Rasulullah (s) said

whoever dies in a state where he has failed to recognise

the Imam of his time….who dies at a time when the Imam

is present and fails to recognise him, or dies when no

Imam exists (nevertheless), his death shall be the death

of jahiliyya (one belonging tothe time of ignorance). We

have a hadith in Sahih Muslim by Ibn Umar whoever dies

without an Imam dies the death of jahiliyya. In the tradi-

tion of Muslim we find these precise words "Whoever

dies instate, having not had bayya over his neck shall die

the death of one belonging to the time of jahiliyya".

al Nabraas Sharh al aqaid page 512).

To die the death of jahiliyya is definitely kufr. Now that we

have addressed this matter we now question these Nasibis,

which Imam's recognition isnecessary,Mu'awiya, Yazeed, and

the Ummayya and Abbaside khalifas, whose bayah is the differ-

ence between dying as a Muslim or as a kaffir? Would giving

bayya to Yazeed prevent you from dying a kaffir? Accordingly

we believe that the rightful Imams are the Ithna Ashariyya

Imams, the Shi'a have always given them bayah and believed in

their unconditional obedience. The Nasibis can feel happy in

having ancestors that gave bayah to Mu'awiya and Yazeed, we

will learn on the Day of Judgement whether Allah(swt) such

93

bayah as one that had protected their ancestors from dying the death of jahiliyya.

94

The Superior Rank of Imamate

Ayatullah Khomeini asserts in his book, "AlHukumah Al-Islamiyyah", "Certainly the Imam has a dignified station, a lofty rank, a creational caliphate, and a sovereignty and mastery over all the atoms of creation. It isdefinitely a basic belief in our school of thought, that our Imams occupy a station unattainable by either an angel or a major Prophet.

So here he is stating that the station of the Imams is superior to:

1. Angels

2. Prophets

95

Are the Imams Superior to Prophets?

The Minhajj al Nasibi have sought to intentionally mislead

the facts as a means of issuing takfeer on the followers of the Ahl'ul bayt (as). Whenwe are talking about superiority it is

with regards to their role in protecting the Din al Islam.Previous Prophets brought a part of the Deen that was completed by

Prophet Muhammad (saww). These Imams are the Imams of

the completed Deen the Imams of the Final Messenger hence

their rolein the protection of the deen is far greater than that of previous Prophets, they are the Imams of the complete Deen

al Islam, hence their more superior rank. That is why Khomeini had stated "our Imams occupy a station unattainable by either an angel ora major Prophet". The word 'station' is the key wordhere, the position / role that they hold at that particular time.

96

Imam Mahdi (as)'s Station Shall be Superior to that of Prophet Isa (as)

The superior station of Imamate is even acknowledged by

Sunni Ulema. Hadith confirm that Prophet Isa (as) will pray

Salat BEHIND Imam Mahdi(as) - why? Because he is represent-

ing the complete Deen whilst Isa (as) only brought a part of it: Jalaluddin al-Suyuti mentioned that:

"I have heard some of the deniers of (truth) deny what has been conveyed about Jesus that when he descends

will pray the Fajr prayer behind al-Mahdi. They say, Jesus

has higher status than to pray behind a non-Prophet.This

is a bizarre opinion since the issue of prayer of Jesus

behind al-Mahdi has been proven strongly via numerous

authentic traditions from the Messenger of Allah, who is

the most truthful." And then al-Suyuti goes onnarrating some of the traditions in this regard.

See Nuzool Isa Ibn MaryamAkhir al-Zaman, by Jalaluddin al-

Suyui, p56

Also al-HafidhIbn Hajar al-Asqalani mentioned that:

"The

Mahdi

is

of

this

Ummah,

and

thatJesus

(PBUH&HF) will come down and pray behind him.

"Taken from Fat'h al-Bari, byIbn Hajar al-Asqalaniv5,p362

This is also mentioned by another Sunni scholar, Ibn Hajar

al-Haythami, who wrote:

"The Ahlul-Bayt are like the stars through whom we are guided in the right direction, and if the starts are taken

away(or hidden) we would comeface to facewith the signs

of the Almighty as promised(i.e., the Day of Resurrec-

tion). This will happen when the Mahdi will come, as

mentioned in the traditions, and the Prophet Jesus will

say his prayers behind him, the Dajjal will beslain, and

97

then the signs of the Almighty will appear one after another.

"taken from al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajar Ch. 11, secion 1 p234) - a Book that was written AGAINST the Shi'a.

Ibn Hajar alsoquoted Abual-Husain al-Ajiri saying:

The traditions of al-Mustafa (PBUH&HF) on the rising

of al-Mahdi has been transmitted via numerous authorit-

ies and is more than the level of (being sufficient for)

Mutawatir, describing that he is of his Ahlul-Bayt, and

will fill the earth with justice, and that Jesus (AS) will

come at the same time and he will assist Jesus for killing

al-Dajjal in the land of Palestine, and that he will lead

this nation and Jesus will pray behind him.

Taken from Abu al-Husain al-Ajiri asquoed inal-Sawa'iq al-

Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajar, Ch. 11, section 1, p254

In Mishkat al Masabih the Rasulullah (s)narrates in the

Chapter on the descentof Jesus Hadith 2, Volume 4 page 82:

"How will you be when the son of Mary will come down

amongst you and your Imam will come from among you".

In the commentary of Mishkat, the statement of Sunni schol-

ar / English translator Maulana Fazlul Karim isindeed worthy

of note since it backs our argument, he writes under foot-

note 2363a:

"He is said tobe Imam Mahdi behind whom Jesus will

pray. Jesus will show by example that he is a follower of

Muhammad".

So Minhajj, who will be leading this movement? Imam Mahdi

(as) not Isa (as) as his rank as Leader in thiscircumstance is superior. Now that the truth has been made manifest let

us present for the benefit of Minhajj and their Nasibi brethren their viewpoint on infallibility.

98

Sunni Beliefs, that the 'Infallible' Shaykhayn Were Superior to Rasulullah (s)

Although most Ulema of Ahl'ul Sunnah believe that infallibil-

ity is restricted to the Prophets of Allah (swt) - Peace be upon them all, we should point out that they have traditions that

not only suggest that Abu Bakrand Umar were infallible but

had a rankfar above Rasulullah (s).

We read in Sahih al Bukhari Volume 8 hadith 108

Umar

bin

Al-Khattabasked

permission

of

Allah's

Apostle to see him while some Quraishi women were sit-

ting with him and they were asking him to give them

morefinancial support while raising their voices over the

voice of the Prophet. When 'Umar asked permission to

enter, all of them hurried to screen themselves.

The Prophet admitted 'Umar and he entered, while the

Prophet was smiling. 'Umar said, "May Allah always keep you smiling, O Allah's Apostle! Let my father and mother

be sacrificed for you!" The Prophet said, "I am aston-ished at these women who were with me. As soon as they

heard

your

voice,

theyhastened

to

screen

them-

selves." 'Umar said, "You have more right, that they should be afraid of you, O Allah's Apostle!" And then he ('Umar) turned towards them and said, "O enemies of

your souls! You are afraid of me and not of Allah's

Apostle?" The women replied, "Yes, for you are sterner and harsher than Allah's Apostle." Allah's Apostle said,

"O Ibn AlKhattab! By Him in Whose Hands my life is,

whenever Satan sees you taking a way,he follows away

other than yours

Such is the rank of Umar that Shaythan is unable to follow

the way he travels along. One who is untouched by Satan isone

who hence is aloof from sin i.e. infallible. Hence inlight of

this tradition Umar is infallible in all but name.

99

Compare this to the troubles that Rasulullah (s) issubjected to by Satan,in Sahihal Bukhari Volume 4 hadith number 504:

"The Prophet offered a prayer, and (after finishing) he said, "Satan came in front of me trying persistently to di-vert my attention from the prayer, but Allah gave me

the strength to over-power him."

We would urge our Sunni brethren to consider these tradi-

tions. Hadhrath Umaris not only Ma'sum (untouched by Satan)

but superior to Rasulullah (s) because Iblis does not even

stop harassing Rasulullah (s) when he is offering Salat.

In Mishkat al Masabih underthe Chapter dealing with the vir-

tuesofUmar Volume 4 hadith 14we read:

"The Prophet returned from one of the Holy Wars.

When he came back a black girl came and said 'O Apostle

of Allah! I have taken a vow that if Allah takes you

back sound I shall beat this Daf in your presence with a

song. The Apostle said "if you have taken a vow then

beat, and if not, not". Then she began to beat. Abu

Bakr entered while she was beating, There after Ali

entered while she was beating. Usman entered while she

was beating. There after when Umar entered, she

threw the Daf under her buttock and sat on it. The

Apostle of Allah replied "O Umar the Devil certainly

fears you. I was sitting and she was beating, then Ali

entered and she was beating. Then Usman entered and

she was beating. When you entered O Omarshethrew

down the Daf."

Do our opponents actually believe this hadith thatso belittles the rank of the Ma'sum Prophet (s)? First andforemost it ishar-aam for a man to listen to a woman singing. The hadith

is therefore suggesting that the Prophet (saww) was indulging

in a sin! Then it wants us to believe that Hadhrath Umarwas

the hero of the hour who brought this activity to an

end.Hadhrath Umar saved the Prophet (saww) from the

clutches of Shaythan - he had been taken in by the activity, as 100

were Hadhrath AbuBakr and Hadhrath Ali. There is no other interpretation possible the words of the Prophet "Only

Shaythan

is

afraid

of

you"would

prove

that

Hadhrath Umar'srank is above that of the Prophet (s).

In relation to the superior rank of 'Abu Bakr, Ibn Hajr re-

cords the following in Sawiqh al Muhriqa (Urdu translation

page 121)

"Ibn Dhunjuya narrates: Gabriel went to Rasulullah (s) and told him that Allah (swt) had told him to seek the counsel of

'Abu Bakr".In another tradition in the same book on page 251

we read this hadith:

"Allah does not like the fact that Abu Bakr can do any

wrong".

What position can we hold of a Sahaba whose rank according

to these traditionsis such that Allah (swt) cannot tolerate that he commit any wrong doing, a man who Rasulullah is told

to seek the counsel of. Again one who commits no wrong is in-

fallible and Rasulullah's seeking his advice clearly indicates his position to be superior to Rasulullah (s).

In addition to these traditions that we have cited we should

also point out that their own Nasibi Deobandi Ulema have ex-

tolled the Sahabas virtues above those of Ulil Uzum Prophets!

Maulana

Muhammad

Na'eemLucknawi

declaresthe

following:

"Hadhrath Abu Bakr's superiority cannot be matched

by Musa or Isa"Kitab ay Shahaadah by Maulana

Muhammad

Na'eem

Lucknawi,

Volume

2

page

11(Kurzan Press Publishers)

Do we need to say anythingfurther on this topic?

101

Superiority of the Imams over the Angels

The Nasibi's by citing the comments of Khomeini are of

course seeking to suggest that the view point that man can be

superior to Angels is kufr. Yet again theNasibis do not even

know their own aqeedah is that man can have a rank superior

to Angels.

Suffice it to say that Rasulullah (s) had stated:

"In the eyes of Allah, the momin is superior to certain angels".

In his explanation of this hadith classical Hanafi scholar,

Mullah 'Ali Qari declares: "

Thayabi has commented that this hadith means that ordinary

people can be superior to ordinary Angels and superior people

are superior to ordinary and superior angels in the same way

that superior angels are superior to ordinary men".Mirqat Hadith Mishkat page 510 hadith number 5

We are sure that not even Minhajj would seek to openly deny

that the Imams of the Ahl'ul bayt(as) are superior individuals.

Hence in accordance with this hadith their rank is superior to that of Angels.

To expand onthis further, we shall cite the comments

ascribed by the renowned Sunni Sufi scholar Ali bin Usman Al

Jullabi Hujwiri in Kashf al Majhub the oldest Persian script on Sufism (translated by Prof ReynoldNicholson). He writes in the Chapter "Discourse on the Superiority of the Prophets and Saints to the Angels"as follows:

"The whole community of orthodox Muslims and all

the Sufi Shaykhs agree that the Prophets and such of the

Saints are guarded from sin (mahfuz) and are superior

to the angels"Page 239.

102

"….the angels are equal to the Prophets in knowledge but not in rank. The angels are without lust, covetous-ness and evil; their nature is devoid of hypocrisy

and guile, and they are instinctively obedient to God;

whereas lust is an impediment in human nature; and

men have a propensity to commit sins and to be im-

pressed by the vanities of this world; and Satan has so

much power over their bodies that he circulates with

blood in their veins; and closely attached to them is the

lower soul (nafs) which incites them to all manner of

wickedness. Therefore one whose nature has all these

characteristics and in spite ofthe violence of his lust re-

nounces this world, and though his heart is still tempted

by the Devil, turns back from sin and averts his face from

sensual depravity in order to occupy himself with devo-

tion and persevere in piety and mortify his lower soul

and contend against the Devil, such a one is in reality su-

periorto the angel who is not on the battle field of lust,

and is naturally without the desire of food and pleasures

and has no care for wife and child and kinfolk,and need

not have recourse to means and instruments, and is

not absorbed in corrupt ambitions". (page 240)

"….in short, the elect among the true believers are superior to the elect among the angels and the ordinary believers are

superior to the ordinary angels.Accordingly those men who are

preserved (ma'sum) and protected (mahfuz) from sin are

more excellent than Gabriel and Michael, and those who are

not thus preserved are better than the Recording Angels

(hafaza)and the noble scribes(kiram-I-katibin)" (page241) So Hujwiri is stating:

1. There isan ijma amongst Ahl'ul Sunnah that Prophets and

some Saints are superior to Angels

2. The superiority is because, whilst Angels have no nafs and

cannot sin, the individual who has control over his nafs and

commits no sin has succeeded- fighting the shackles of worldly desires

3. The Head of believers is superior to the Head of Angels

103

4. The individualwho is "ma'sum" and "mahfuz" ranks higher than Gabriel (as) and Mikhail (as).

According to Hujwiri one who controls Nafs is superior to An-

gels, this being the case what about that individual that has not just controlled,but SOLD his nafs for the pleasure of Allah (swt)?

"And among men there is who sells himself (soul) seeking the pleasure of God; and verily, God is affectionate unto His (faithful) servants" (2:207).

So who is this verse praising?

Imam of Ahl'ul Sunnah Abdul Hamid Ghazzali writesthe fol-

lowing in his most famous work 'Ihya Ulum id din records

that:"

The Quraish youths one day surrounded the house of the

Prophet in order to kill him. Hadhrath Ali in order to save his life,thought his life insignificant and went tothe bed of the

Prophet. God then addressed Gabriel and Michael and said: 'I

have established brotherhood among you and gave you equal

period of life. Who is there among you who can sacrifice his life for another?' Both of them preferred to save his own life. God then said to them: 'Why could you not show example like Ali? I have established brotherhood between him and Muhammad,

and Ali is spending the night by lying upon the bed of

Muhammad in order to save the life of the latter. Go to

the earth and save him from his enemies. Gabriel began to pro-

tect him keeping near his head and Michael near his feet. Gab-

riel said to Ali 'blessed you are, blessed you are. There is no comparison with you. God is taking boast of you before the angels. God then sent this revelation 'There is a man among men

who sacrifices his life in search for the pleasure of Allah'

-2:207"Ihya Ulum id din, by Abdul Hamid Ghazzali, Vol 3 p 237

- English translation by Maulana Fazal Karim

Other Sunni scholarshave also recorded this event in exactly

the same way:

104

• Tafseer al Kabir, by Fakhr ad Din al Razi, v 2 p 189;

• Noor ul Absar,p 86

• Hakim al Mustadrak,v 3 p 4

• Ghayatul Maryam, p 344 — 345

• Tafseer e Qurtubi, v 3 p 347

• Asadul Ghaibafe Marifatil As Sahaba, v 4 p 25

• Tafseer Nishapuri (Allama Nishapuri ) , v 1 p 281

• Kifaytul Talib, p 114

• Zhakhiar al Uqba, p 88

In this tradition both Gabriel (as) and Mikhail (as) the

highest ranking Angles are testifying to the superiority of

Imam Ali(as) over them, sohas theShi'a aqeedah not been

proven or are our opponents going to accuse these great An-

gelsof committing kufr as well?

105

Do the Imams have Control Over the Atoms of the Universe?

"The Imam has a dignified station,a lofty rank, a cre-

ational caliphate, and a sovereignty and mastery over all

the atoms of creation"..

By citing this reference the Minhajj al Nasibi are suggesting

that control of atoms constitutes divinity. To suggest that this isdivinity is absurd, for we believe that Allah (swt) gives

this powerful to his chosen Servants. If only our opponents had botheredto examine the contentsof the Holy Qur'an.

The Great Book informs usof the miracles of the Prophets of

God.

"And what isthat in thy right hand, O Moses? He said:

"This is my staff. On it, I lean, and with it, I beat

branches for my sheep, and in it I find other uses". God said: "Cast it down, O Moses!" He cast it down, and behold! It became a snake, slithering. God said: "Grasp it and fear not. We shall return it to its former state. And

draw thy hand to your side, it will come forth white

without harm. That will be another miracle." (ch. 20. vs.

17-22).

This means that the dead cells that composedthe rod of

Moses were transformed into living cells. Then those living

cells miraculously went back to dead cells.

In chapter Al-Shu'ara, we read the following words of the

Almighty:

"We revealedto Moses: Strike the sea with thy staff. It parted, and each part was like a huge mountain." (ch. 26, v.64) Does this not mean that God made the sea obedient to Musa

(as) tosuch a degree that Moses was able to divide the water of 106

the sea into two solid parts, each of them as huge as a mountain in height and size?

The Qur'an Informs Us Of Hadhrath Isa (as) in Al- 'Imran,

weread that the Almighty informedus about Jesus:

"And we will make him a messenger to the children of

Israel (with this message): I come to you with a sign

from your Lord. Lo! I fashion for you out of clay the like-

ness of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomesa bird,

by Allah's leave. I heal those born blind, and the lepers,

and I raise the dead by Allah's leave … "(ch. 3, v.49) Here we see that the Almighty enabled Isa (as) to transform

a piece of clay into a living bird that could fly like other birds.

Is this the work of Moses or Jesus? Would the Qur'an invite

usto deify someone other than God?

With regard to the Prophet Muhammad (s), we read God's

word inthe chapter of The Moon:

"The hour (of judgement) is near, and the moon has

been split. But if they see a sign, they turn away and

say:This is prolonged magic." (ch. 54, vs. 1-2)

This verse informs us that Allah split the moon in response to His Messenger Muhammad's prayer, and this never happened

before the time of Muhammad.

Ibn Hisham reported similar to this: "Rukanah Al-Mut-

talibi was the strongest man in Mecca. He met the Mes-

senger outside Mecca and the Messenger invited him to

Islam.Rukanah said: "If you can prove that you are a true messenger, I will follow you." The Messenger said:

"What do you say if I wrestle you down? Will that make you believe that I am a true prophet?" Rukanah said:

"Yes."

TheProphet

wrestled

him

down

twice.Rukanah said: "Muhammad, this is really amazing.

Did you really wrestle me?" The Prophet said: "I will show you more amazing things than this if you obey God

107

and follow myway." Rukanah said: "What is it?" The Prophet said: "I will call this tree which you are looking at, and it will come to me." Rukanah said: "Call it", and the Prophet called it. The tree came until it stood in

front of him. The Prophet said toit: "Go back to your

place," and it went to its original place. Ibn Hisham, AI-Seerah al-Nabawiyyah part 1, page391

These miracles that occurred in response to prayers of the

Messenger of God testify, as documented inthe Qur'an, that Al-

lah empowersHis great servants to perform miracles by

His permission. Inother words, He respondsto the prayers of

His Messengers by creating miracles.

What happened through the prophets does not indicate that

they had any touch of divinity. Onthe contrary, it testifies that those prophets weretrue servants of God. They ascended to

the highest degree of servitude to Him,and that their obedi-

ence to Him was absolute. Had they been otherwise, they

would not have been able to perform any miracles, and nopray-

er by them would have been answered. They obeyed God com-

pletely and He responded to their prayers. The Authority that

Allah has given to them is authority via which atoms shall submit to them. Ayatollah Khomeini nor any other leading Shi'a

scholars believe that the Imams of Ahl Al bayt without the will of Allah can do anything or change the course of nature.

The Creator GIVES authority to his Faithful Servants. They

do NOT act of their own accord, everything they do is by the

Will of Allah(swt). This Authority is given to them by Allah

(swt) because of their purity, their obedience, their striving inthe path of Allah, their knowledge, their merits, virtues and their complete submission to the will of Allah.

Does Minhajjal Nasibi think that Allah will not respond to

their prayers if they pray to Allah to change the natural

course?

1. Did Allah not makethe moon obedient to Prophet

Muhammad's command?

108

2. Did Allah not makethe sea obedient to Moses command?

3. Did Allah not makedeath obedient to the command of

Jesus?

Yes! It was Allah behind all these happenings but the com-

mand was from the servants of Allah.

Isa (as) said:"

..by Allah's leave. I heal those born blind, and the

lepers, and I raisethe dead by Allah's leave … " (ch.

3,v.49) We believe that the Imams from Ahl'ul bayt (as)

can also with Allah's leave make every atom submit to

them, in the sameway that the dead cells inthe rod of

Musa (as) were turned into living cells.

No doubt the Minhajj will seek to convince their Nasibi flock

that this power is only vested in Prophet's (peace be upon them all) - we suggest that they takea closer examination of

the Qur'an. Allah (swt) gives this power to the Servant of

Prophet Sulayman (as):

"The One with whom was just a part of the Knowledge

of the Book said: 'I shall bring it to you within the twinkling of an eye!' Then when (Solomon) saw (the throne)

set in his presence, he said: 'This is by the grace of my

Lord! to test me whether I amgrateful or ungrateful!'"

(Qur'an 27:40).

A Non Prophet was able to transport the atoms inside of the

throne of Bilqis before Hadhrath Sulayman within the twink-

ling of an eye. He had a control over these atoms, this does

not mean that this faithful Servant was Allah(swt)!How did he

attain that feat? Simple the verse states he hada 'partial' knowledge of the book. If one with partial knowledge can obtain

control over the atoms, what power do you think is possessed

by Imam Ali (as) who has a complete knowledge of the Book?

As the Sahaba and Hafiz of the Qur'an Ibn Masud himself

testified:

109

"The Holy Qur'an has outward and in ward meanings, and Ali Ibn Abi Talib has the knowledge of both. " Hilyatul Awliyaa, by Abu Nu'aym, v1, p65

If Imam Ali possessed a complete knowledge of the Book as

is vouched by Ibn Masud and other traditions then heto by the

will ofhis Creator had the ability to control the atoms of

the Universe.

110

Do the Imams Possess Knowledge of the Unseen?

The Nasibi had cited chapters from Usul Kafi to 'prove' that

Shi'a are kaffir.

The Imams are thought to have absolute and infinite know-

ledge, despite what Allah says in the Qur'an; "Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (alone). It is He who sends down rain, and it is he that knows what is in the wombs.

Nor does anyone know what it is that he willearn tomorrow, nor does anyone know in what land he is to die. Verily with Allah is full knowledge and He is acquainted (with all

things)"(31:34) This incredible belief that the Imams know the unseen can be amplyattested by the following chapter headings in Al-Kafi fil-Usool. 1) Chapter: The Imams have knowledge of All that was given to the angels and the Prophets. (Al-Kafi p.255) 2) Chapter: The Imams know when they will-

die, and they onlydie by their choice. (Al-Kafi p.258) 3)

Chapter: The Imams have knowledge of the past and future;

and nothing is hidden from them. (Al-Kafip.260) Clearly, the book Al-Kafi fil Usool contains such extreme statements of ku-fr (disbelief) and shirk (polytheism) that it alone is sufficient to push anyone who believes init into the Hellfire for eternity. Yet Ayatullah Khomeini states that the sum total ofhis religion is contained in it, saying: "Do you think it is enough for our religious life to have it's laws summed up in Al-Kafi and then placed upon a shelf?" (AlHukumah Al-Islamiyyah p.72)

111

What is Ghayb?

Yet again theMinhajj haveused deception citing an isolated

verse on Ghayb without examining the whole issue. The origin-

al meaning of "Ghayb" inArabic is "that which has been concealed", and it is with this meaning which has appeared in the Holy Qur'an (4:34, 12:52, etc.)

It's the knowledge of something hidden. Hidden can bein

several ways. Something you can't:

1. See

2. Hear

3. Comprehend

Something beyond your understanding can also constitute

Ghayb (hidden) its beyond your comprehension. We shall cite

an example:

You present a young child with a line in Arabic, he

can't read Arabic for him its Ghayb, hidden its beyondhis

comprehension.

You present a second child with that same line,he can

readit, why?Because hehas read Arabic, but if you ask

him to interpret the MEANING he cannot, he can read

but not understand the words, for this child the meaning

is Ghayb.

You present the same line to someone who has studied

Tafseer of the Qur'an, he can read it, translate it and

even provide a commentary to it.

Same line three different responses. What is Ghayb to one

person is not Ghayb to another,how are the keys of Ghayb un-

locked via Ilm(Knowledge). We will provide another example,

'is knowledge of tomorrow's weather not Ghayb? Is it not hid-

den?' This being the case how is it that science has developed to such an extent that weather reports can tell us the

112

weather, temperatures etc, not just tomorrow but for the en-tireweek? Simple because this Ghayb has been unlocked via

knowledge. If the keys of Ghayb can be unlocked by normal fal-

lible scientists, don't you think Allah (swt) would also equip his representatives, messengers, Imams to the keys of Ghayb on a

bigger level?

The shameless Nasibis had cited this verse as 'proof that

Shi'as are kaffir'.

"Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (alone).

It is He who sends down rain, and it is he that knows

what is in the wombs. Nor does anyone know what it is

that he will earn tomorrow, nor does anyone know in

what land he is to die.

Verily with Allah is full knowledge and He isacquainted (with

allthings)"(31:34)

Another verse Nasibis quotes against Shi'as is this one (we

were some what taken aback when Minhajj al Nasibi didn't

quote it):

"With Him are the Keys of the Ghayb; non knows them

but He." (Qur'an 6:59)

According to the Minhajj the Shi'a attribute this power of

Ghayb to their Imams hence they are kaffir. If they are simply going to argue that their prosecution case has been proven by

these verses suggesting only Allah (swt) has knowledge of

Ghayb and hegives it to noone, then kindly explainto me why it is that the Holy Prophet (S) predicted future events?They need to examine Sahih al Bukhari under the chapter Bab al Fitan, it is replete with predictions of future events, afflictions on the Sahaba, the signs of the Day of Judgement the coming of al

Mahdi (as), how could the Prophet (S) say these things if we

are to rely on the verse that only Allah(swt) has knowledge of Ghayb?

113

We do not doubt that the knowledge of the unseen belongs to the Creator and in that there is no doubt. It however also

needs to be pointed out that Allah (swt) gives this knowledge

to his servants.

Rasulullah (s) had declared:

"All the keys of the Universe have been laden onto a horse and have been given to me".Sharh Zurqani Volume 5 page 360, Beiru edition

We also cite another tradition:

"Rabiya bin Kabnarrates that he was helping Rasulul-

lah (s) perform Wudhu, Rasul said 'Rabia, ask of me

whatever you wish'. Rabia said 'I ask that I am in

Paradise with you'. Rasul (s) said'is that all you want, do you want anything else?' Rabia said' I don't require anything else'. With that Rasulullah (s) said, 'fight your

nafs, worship excessively and help me".

In his commentary of this tradition Deobandi scholar

Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani states:

"Rasulullah's stating 'Ask' for something without re-

striction,points to the fact, that Allah (s) had given him

(s) from his treasures,the power to'spend' and to distrib-

ute this right. From this our Imams have deduced one

virtue given to Rasulullah (s) was that whatever he

wants,or whatever others ask of him can be provided for,

by the Will of Allah (swt).Fath'al Muhum, Sharh Muslim

Volume 2 page 96

Similar comments on this hadith have also been echoed by

Mulla Ali Qari al Hanafiin his Sharh Mishkat Volume 2 page

322 and al Muhaddith Abdul Haqq Dehlavi Ashiat al Lamaath

Volume1 page 425.

We the Shi'a believe that Rasulullah (s) and the Imams of

Ahl'ul bayt (as) as the Chosen of Allah (swt) have been given

114

the Keys ofAllah (swt). One such key is the power of Ghayb.

This does NOT in any way mean that Allah (swt) has retired

and left administration of the Universe to them (Allah Forbid), they have been given the knowledge such as Ghayb to the extent that they need to do so as to carry out their duties. No

Sunni or Shi'a worships anyone other than Allah (swt), we

deem our Imams to be the Faithful Servants of Allah (swt) se-

lected by Allah (swt) to guide the people to the right path.

Of relevance here are the comments of Shah Abdul Aziz

Dehlavi, whilst discussing God gifted powers bestowed on

Saints in Tafseer Azizi page 113, Part "An Meem" states:

"Those Saints that Allah (swt) has selected to guide

people were given powers bythe Creator, so that that the

needy could turntothem for help, they turn to themto re-

solve their problems, whatever they desire is resolved by

them, from their lips they recite the chant 'turn to us and we shall answer your prayers".

Allah (swt) undoubtedly holds the keys of Ghayb as stated in

the Qur'an, BUT Allah (swt) in other verses makes it clear that Allah (swt) gives this powers to his elects.

We read in Surah Jinn verses 26-27:

"He (alone) knows the Unseen nor does He make any-

one acquainted with His Mysteries, Except an apostle

whom He has chosen: and then He makes a band

of watchers march before him and behind him

"In his commentary of this verse Sunni scholar Abdullah

Yusuf Ali under footnote 5749 makes these crucial comments:

The Unseen has two aspects. The relative Unseen is so

with reference to a particular person, because of the in-

tervention of Time, Space, or particular circumstances.

For example, I cannot see today a house which I saw last

year, because it has sincebeen pulled down. Or I cannot

in

Lahore

see

the

"Gateway

of

India"

in

115

Bombay, although any one in Bombay can see it. Or I cannot see the satellites of Jupiter with the naked eye,

though I can through a telescope. But the Absolute Un-

seen, the Absolute Mystery, is something which no

creature can knowor see, except in so far as Allah reveals

it to him. And Allah reveals such things to the extent that is good for men, through His chosen messengers, among

whom the greatest is Muhammad. The exact time of the

Hour of Judgment has not been so shown, because we

must not wait for it, but live as if it is to beat this

minute. See last note and next note, and the references

there.

So the Absolute Unseen isthe soleright of Allah (swt) BUTAl-

lah (swt)delegates this powers tohis elect. Yusuf Ali had stated that this knowledge is given to Messengers of Allah (swt),

we argue that this favour is also extended to the Imams from

Ahl'ul bayt(as) as Allah(swt) has made them Guides over the

Ummah.

The Holy Qur'an tells aboutthe knowledge and the interces-

sion of the Prophet Muhammad and his rightful successors

that:

"Who can intercede with Him except the cases He per-

mits? He knows what is in front of them and what is be-

hind them, and they encompass nothing of His know-

ledge except what He will." (Qur'an 2:255)

We the Shi'a deem this to refer to the Prophet and the

Imams. The verse shows that the core/keys of the Knowledge

of Ghayb is with Allah, but He may release "anews of Ghayb"

to the one He wills.

To give a simple example, consider a person who looks at a

monitor that displays some part of a database located in the

hard drive of a computer. The user can retrieve any part of this database and see it on the monitor.But the whole database is

always in the computer and not in the user's head. Further-

more, the user is unaware of any real-time modifications that

116

may happen to this data base and the formulas behind the modifications.

117

The Actual Shi'a Viewpoint

We believe that Allah (swt) let the Prophet and Imams know

whatever they needed to know. It is by the will of Allah (swt) he gives it to them, they don't possess it exclusively! We read:

"He possesses the Ghayb and Hedoes not discloses His

Ghayb to anyone except to such a Messenger as He is

well-pleased with." (Qur'an 72:26-27)

From the above verse, it is evident that although Allah alone

possesses the with held knowledge (Ghayb), but He may dis-

close a news from it to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HF). On

the other hand, Prophet Muhammad transferred whatever

hewas reached from the news of "Ghayb" to those who quali-fied, as the following verse testifies:

"And he (Muhammad)is not niggardly the Knowledge

of the Unseen."(Qur'an 81:24)

Therefore, if the newsof Ghayb reached to the Prophet

Muhammad (and consequently the Imams of Ahlul-Bayt), it is

only because it was given to him by Allah. It is for this reason that according to Qur'an the messengers are all instructed to

tell people that they do not possess the Knowledge of Ghayb of their own,for it is reached to them by Allah only as He wishes.

In Usul a-Kafi, it is narrated that:

Ammar al-Sabati said: I asked Abu Abdillah (Imam Ja'far al-

Sadiq)

concerning

if Imam

knows

al-Ghayb(Unseen).

Hereplied: "No, but when he wishes to know something, Allah causes him to know that."Usul al-Kafi, Kitab al- Hujjah, Tradition #666)

Shaikh al-Mufeed (d. 413/1022) one of our great classical

scholars said: "

118

… Saying that they (Prophet and Imams) possess the knowledge

of

Ghayb

should be

refuted

as

being

something clearly incorrect, because the attribute of this

can only be for someone who possesses the knowledge of

(all) things within himself, not the knowledge obtained

from another. And this can only befor Allah, to whom be-

long Might and Majesty. All Imamis agree on this except

those who deviated from them and are called Mu-

fawwidah and extremists (al-Ghulat)."Awa'il al- Maqalaat, p38

We need to stress that neither the prophets nor Imams ever

claimed that they have all the knowledge within themselves.

Obviously they did not know those of information that was "hidden" to them. However, this does not mean that whatever they knew is "visible" to us as well. The information,which is considered to be "hidden" to us, may be "visible" to them. Thusthe visibility of knowledge is relative to the person

119

Those with a Knowledge of the Book Can Unlock the Secrets of Ghayb

The keys to the Ghayb are provided by Allah (swt) to those

who have attained a knowledge of the Book. The Holy

Qur'anmentionsthat

at

the

time

of

Prophet

Solomon

(Sulayman), a person in the name of Asaf, who was the Minis-

ter of Solomon and had only a very small part of "the Knowledge of the Book",was able to bring the throne of Queen Bilqis from another place of the world within the twinkling of an eye:

"The One with whom was just a part of the Knowledge

of the Book said: 'I shall bring it to you within the twinkling of an eye!' Then when (Solomon) saw (the throne)

set in his presence, he said: 'This is by the grace of my

Lord! to test me whether I am grateful or ungrateful!'"

(Qur'an 27:40).

Here a non Prophet was able to transport the throne that

was Ghayb (hidden), and bring it before Hadhrath Sulay-

man(as).

As stated in Verse 27:40 of Qur'an, the one who possessed a

small part of "the Knowledge of the Book",was able to unlock Ghayb and bring the throne of King Bilqis from another place

of the world within the twinkling of an eye.So those who have

the whole "Knowledge of the Book" should be able to do more.

In that, there is nodoubt, because Allah (swt) says in Surah

Namlverse 75:

"And there is nothing concealed (Ghayb) inthe heaven

and the earth that is not contained in this Book" - look at the Arabic not the watered down translations! All Ghayb

is contained in the Book, so he who has knowledge of the

inner and outer meanings of the Qur'an can also attain

the power of Ghayb.

Ibn Mas'ud said:

120

"The Holy Qur'an has outward and inward meanings, and Ali Ibn Abi Talibhas the knowledge of both."

In addition contemplate these words of Imam Ali (as):

"Ask me about the Book of Allah, because there is no

Ayah but that I know whether it was revealed at night or

in daytime, on the plain or in the mountain"History of the Khailfa's who took the right way by Jalaladeen Suyuti, English translation by Abdassamad Clarke, p 194

The Deobandi Hanafi scholar Shah Ismail Shaheed extolled

by the Wahabis expands on this point to an even greater depth:

"Imamate is the Shadow of the Prophethood. The

Imam's leadership is openly declared. Whereas history

providesevidence

of

Saints

that

remained

silent,

the Imam announces whatever powers he possesses as

Imam Ali did when he declared 'I am the Siddiq al Akbar

(The Great Truthful One)and whoever declares this

after me is a liar and I am the talking Qur'an" . Munsub-e-Imamate by ShahIsmail Shaheed page 69

121

The Imams 'Inherited' the Knowledge of the Unseen from Rasulullah (s)

This incredible belief that the Imams know the unseen can

beamply attested by the following chapter headings in Al-Kafi

fil-Usool.1) Chapter: The Imams have knowledge of All that

was given to the angels and the Prophets. (Al-Kafi p.255)

There is nothing objectionable here since we believe that the

Imams of Ahlul bayt(as) are the true representatives of Rasu-

lullah (s) they inherited his knowledge in the same way

Prophet's inherited knowledge from one another. We believe

that the Ahl'ul bayt inherited knowledge from the Holy Prophet (S) in their capacity as Was is (inheritors) of his blessed knowledge. He who inherits the Holy Prophet (s) mission also inherits the same virtues, such as power over limited Ghayb and it is also common sense that that the person who inherits that mission also executes that mission, which is why the Prophet (s)

declared Ali (as) to be his Wasi (executor) and Waris

(inheritor).

The Holy Prophet once in the presence of his compan-

ions said to Ali (as), "You are my brother and inheritor", when the Companions asked what previousProphet's had

left as inheritance, he replied "The Book of God and the teachings of that Prophet "taken from Riyadh al Nadira, Vol 3 p 123; IzalatulKhia (Urdu translation), by Al Muhadith

Shah Waliyullah Dehlavi, Vol 1 p 444

As further evidence of the inherited power of Ghayb, we shall

cite this incident recorded by the renowned Hanafi scholar Ab-

dul Rahman Jami.:

"During the Battle of Sifeen, the army underthe com-

mand of Ali were unable to find any water. There was a

church nearby and Ali went there to ask the people in-

side where water could be obtained from. They replied

that water could only befound several miles away. The

army then asked Ali if they could go and drink from it,

122

Ali told them not to worry. The army began to travel west, all of a sudden he stopped and pointed to the

ground and told the armyto start digging there. They

began to dig, and they found a big stone, Ali (as) told

them to lift the stone, but they were unable to do so. Ali, then pulled the stone out with his hand, and fresh water

began to spurt outof the ground. A Christian priest had

been watching the episode, he went upto Ali and asked:

'Are you a Prophet?' to which Alireplied 'No', the

priest then asked 'Are you an Angel?', Ali replied 'No'.

The Priest then said 'You are not a Prophet or Angel, so

what are you?'. Ali replied 'I am a wasi of the Seal of

all Prophet's, Muhummudal Mustapha'. The Priest then

said 'Take out your hand so that I can embrace Islam'.

Ali told him what to say (i.e. the Shahada) and the Pri-

est then said the following "I testify there is no God but Allah. I testify that Muhummud is the Prophet of Allah,

and I testifythat Ali is the wasi of the Prophet Muhum-

mud "taken from Shawahid un Nubuwwa, by Abdul Rehman Jami, (Urduedition printers Maktaba Nabavi, Gunjbaksh Rd,

Lahore), p 287

Clearly the existence of thespring was Ghayb but Allah (swt)

had unlocked the key in this regard on account of Maula Ali

(as)'sposition as the Wasi of Rasulullah (S).

123

Ghayb Attributed by Ahl'ul Sunnah to Hadhrath Umar

What amuses us the most isthat whilst issuing takfeer on the

Shi'as for holding this belief they list this power Ghayb as one of the miracles of Hadhrath Umar! Ibn Taymiyya Imam of the

Wahabi Nasibis records the following: ?

"Umar ibn Al Khattab once sent out an army and as-

signeda man named Sariah asits leader. Whilst Umar was

giving a khutbah he shouted out while still on the Min-

bar: O Sariah the mountain! Later a scout from the army

came to Madina. WhenUmar asked him the news ofthe

army, he said, O Leader of the believers, we met the en-

emy and were being defeated. Suddenly there was

someone screaming: O Sariah the mountain! So we put

our

backs

to

the

mountain,

then

Allah

de-

feated them. This is narrated with a good i.e. Hassan

chain of narration)" (Taken from the crierion by Ibn Taymiyya page145

Suyuti also records thisin Tarikh ul Khulafa under the

Chapter "The miracles of Umar".

Umar according to this narration has powers of Ghayb, he

can fore see a calamity about to be fall his army, despite the fact that its hidden from his eyes - if Sunni's record such a

event it is a miracle, if Shi'as attribute such powers to their Imams they are Kaffir! Is this not clear hypocrisy?

124

24

Chapter

The Shi'a Concept of Taqiyyah

One other Imami Shi'a doctrine that must be related is the doctrine of Taqiyyah, or dissimulation,(i.e. calculated deception). In support of this doctrine of deception, the Shi'a attribute the following to Abu Abdullah (Ja'far as Sadiq): "Nine tenths of religion is Taqiyyah (dissimulation), hence one who does not dissimulate has no religion." (Al-Kafi vol.9 p.110) "He who conceals his religion has saved it, and he who makes it public has destroyed it." "A believer who does not dissimulate is like a body without a head." (Tafseer al-Askari) "Mix with them

(i.e.

non-Shi'a)

externally

but

oppose

them internally." (Al-Kafi vol.9 p.116)

125

The Actual' Definition of Taqiyyah

Taqiyyah means 'concealing one's religion or faith due to

fear, but in one's heart, the person must believe in the religion s/he is concealing'.In other words itis a form of self-defence that encompasses defending one's life, property, esteem and

beliefs. According to Shariah,if a person is caught up between two hardships and one of them is intolerable, then to save

one's self from the bigger hardship,one should tolerate the

smaller one. Therefore, Imam of Ahl'ul Sunnah Allamah

Fakhruddin Razi wrote

When faced with two hardships, one should go through

the smaller one to save one's self from the bigger one.

This is a recognized fact.Tafseer-e-Kabir, Volume 5,Page

746-750, published Istanbul

In the same Tafseer, Volume 2, Page746, PublishersDar-ul-

Taba Istanbul, Raziwrites

For a momin, Taqiyyah is allowed till the day of Judgement.

And this is the right act, for the reason that using self-control to defend oneself against a hardship is a necessity.

This commentof Razi can also be foundin "Libab-ul-Tawil", Volume1, Page 283, Publishers Altaqdeem Cairo.

If speaking the truth can cause a man to loose his life, prop-

erty or esteem, then it is a natural instinct that heseek to protect those things, one can, and in some cases, one has to re-

frain from stating the truth. Islam claims to be the religion of nature, one that in times of desperate need allows its adherent to even eat the meat of dead animal or pork.

He hath only forbidden you dead meat and blood and

theflesh of swine and that on which any other name hath

beeninvokedbesides that of Allah but if one is forced

by necessity without wilful disobedience nor transgress-

ing due limits then is he guiltless. For Allah is Oft-

126

Forgiving Most Merciful.Surah Al Baqara, Ayah 173; translieration of Abdullah Yusuf Ali

127

Taqiyyah Proven from the Qur'an

It is an irrefutable fact that the use of Taqiyyah can be

proved from both Qur'an and the sayings of Prophet Mo-

hammed (S). All the prophets(A.S),the Imams (A.S) and others

pious people have advised to perform Taqiyyah. Following are

some Ayahs from Qur'an to prove our case:

First Verse

Anyone who after accepting faith in Allah utters unbelief ex-

cept under compulsion his heart remaining firm in faith but

such as open their breast to unbelief on them is Wrath from Allah and theirs will be a dreadful Penalty"Surah An-Nahal, verse 106 transliteration by Abdullah Yusuf Ali

All Muslim scholars agree that this verse descended inrela-

tion to the suffering of Ammar bin Yasir (ra). Allamah

Jalaladeen Suyuti in his commentary of this verse states:

The non-believers once caught Ammar-bin-Yaser (ra)

andthey forced him to say praise their false gods and to

condemn Prophet Muhammad(s). They forced him to an

extent that Ammar bin Yasir (ra) gave in an exceeded to

their demands. After that, when he returned to the

Prophet Mohammed (s), Ammar (A.S) narrated the whole

story to him (s). Prophet Muhammad (S) asked him,how

do you feel in your heart? To which Ammar(A.S) replied,

I am fully content with Allah's religion in my heart. To

this Prophet Mohammed (S) said, if non-believers ask

you to say the same again, say it. At which time the fol-

lowing ayah was descended.

Anyone who after accepting faith in Allah utters disbe-

lief (save under compulsion and even then his heart re-

mains firm in faith) on them is Wrath from Allah

and theirs will be a dreadful Penalty"Tafseer Durre Manthur Volume 4 page 132, Cairo edition)

128

In some Tafseer books, it is written in the following manner: When this incident occurred with Ammar bin Yasir, people

said to the Holy Prophet (s), "O messenger ofAllah (s), Ammar has become a non-believer. Prophet Muhammad (s) replied it is

not possible; Ammar is full of Islamic zeal from head to toe.

This zeal is mixed in his flesh and blood. A while late Am-

mar(A.S) came tothe Prophet(s) crying, after wiping Ammar's

(A.S) tears, Prophet Mohammed (S) said, what happened? If

non-believers force you to repeat these words, repeat them.

After writing the above incident, Qazi Bezawi commented:

"This verse is a proof that if one is forced to, one can denounce Islam" .Tafseer-e-Bezawi, Volume1, Page 453, Publishers, Luknow

Regarding this verse, Imam of Ahl ul Sunnah Allamah Abu

Hussein Firah Al baghwi commented:

All scholars in the MuslimUmmah agree on the fact that at

times when one is forced, one can denounce Islam.Tafseer

Mu'alim Al'Tazyeel, Volume 2Page 214, Published Bombay

Allamah Fakhraddin Razi in "Tafseer-e-Kabir", Volume5, Page 564, Published Istanbul,wrote:

It is an agreed fact that while denouncing the Islamic faith,

one's heart must not be content with it Allamah Khazin in

"Libab-ul-Taweel", Volume 3,Page136, Published Egypt, while writing a commentary about this ayah, after giving the traditions regarding Ammar (A.S), wrote

This verse is directed to anyone who has been forced to

denounce Islam, but is content with Islam in his heart,

even if the reason behind is out of the ordinary.

Second Verse

129

Let not the believers take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah: except by way of precaution, that ye may

Guard yourselves from them. But Allah cautions you (To re-

member) Himself; for the final goal is to Allah. Surah Al- Im-

ran, verse 28 transliteration of Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allama Zamakshhari in "Tafseer Kashaf"Volume1,Page 197, and Published Calcutta, while writing the commentary of this

verse, said:

The believers are given the permission to befriends or

fallin love with nonbelievers of whom they are scared.

Qadi Bezawi states in Tafseer-e-Bezawi, volume 1, page 134,

Publishers Luknow, in his commentary of the verse states:

Yaqoob Qari read Taqiyyah as Taqiyyah. In this verse,

Allah (swt), has stopped the believers from befriending,

(be it openly or secretive) non-believers, unless they

are under a state of fear. Only under fear, one can be-

friend them.

Allamah Fakhruddin Razi had commented on this verse:

Undoubtedly, there is no harm in practicing Taqiyyah if

a believer is caught up between non-believers and his life

or property is under threat from them. In such circum-

stances he should conceal his enmity from them. Infact,

he should talk in such a manner that his words should

show passion. His hear should not confirm what he is

saying. Taqiyyah does not have an effect on one's heart;

it only has anexternal effect. Tafseer-e-Kabir, Volume2,Page 626, Published Istanbul

So we have the word of Allah, and the confirmation of the

Sunni Ulema that these verses endorse the use of Taqiyyah to

protect ones life. And yet the Minhajj cult are seeking to

define Taqiyyah as calculated deception that contradicts the

130

Qur'an. Whose word shall we rely those of this Nasibi group or the verdict of Allah (swt)?

131

Al Muhaddith Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlavi Believed in Taqiyyah

Darling of the Ahl'ul Sunnah and leading opponent of the

Shi'a, al Muhaddith Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlavi, despite his anti

Shi'a views testified to the legitimacy of Taqiyyah:

Taqiyyah is permissible, proven from the Qur'an one

such verse is ,"except by way of precaution, that ye may Guard yourselves from them.".

Taqiyyah means "toprotect one's life, property in the

face of one's enemies, it is of two types, one when faced

with enmity ongrounds of religion e.g. opposition by kaf-

firs and mushriks, the other is linked with the material

world e.g. One's wife, property and personal posses-

sions".Tuhfa Ithna Ashariyya page 584 [Farsi edition]

132

People Adopted Taqiyyah During the Reign of the Banu Ummayya

Imam of Ahl ul Sunnah Allamah Dhahabi states:

"When Waleed ibn Abdul Malik bin Marwan came to

power he entered the Mosque of the Prophet in Madina

and saw an elderly man surrounded bypeople. Upon en-

quiry he discovered that the man was Saeed bin

Maseeb.Waleed summoned Saeed but he did not go to

him, this led to Waleed becoming furious. Umro bin

Aas commented that during this time people practiced

Taqiyyah and a few individuals in order to save Saeed bin

Maseeb approached Waleed and pleaded with him, even-

tually Waleed abandoned his idea to kill Saeed

"Sira Alam page227

It is clear from this tradition that during the Nasibi reign of the Banu Ummayya people adopted Taqiyyah to protect themselves. Allamah Dhahabi confirms this fact, and yet the Minhajj al Nasibi either through their ignore or lies have sought to

define this lawful practiceas 'calculated deception'.

"He who conceals his religion has saved it, and he who

makes it public has destroyed it."

Note that the Minhajj had failed to even cite the sourceof this narration! What we know is that the Imam's comments on

'Taqiyyah' weresaid in answer to queries at a time when people were being oppressed. One needs to recognise that duringthe

reign ofthe Banu Ummayya throughouttheir vast domain, Imam

'Ali (as) was openly cursed onthe mosque pulpits. The Imams

(as Imam Ali's direct descendants) and theiradherents were

likewise deemed the enemy of the State. What choice werethe

people left with? It was in such a situation that the Imams

made clear comments endorsingTaqiyyah as legitimate, forto

convey one's belief openly wouldhave lead to serious con-

sequences. To prove our point we shallcite a tradition from

Usul al Kafi:

133

An individual by the name of Muammar bin Khalidasked Imam Abul Hasan (as) how to respond to oppressiverulers? He

replied

our

descendentImamMuhammadBaqir

statedthat

'Taqiyyah is the religionof our forefathers. Whoever does not

practice Taqiyyah has no Deen".

Now, wewould ask Minhajjal Nasibi - 'Your own esteemed

scholarDhahabi hadcited the episode involving Saeed bin

Maseeb,

and

stated

that

during

that

time

the

people'practiced Taqiyyah' - clearly these people must have

learn tthis practice from the Deen of their forefathers, they

must have adopted this practice based on someone's guidance.

Why did these people with true faith respond to Waleed and

the

other

Nasibi

BanuUmmayya

Khalifas

by adopting

Taqiyyah? Why did they not initiate jihad against them? Were

all these individuals Shi'a? This incident demonstrates that

Taqiyyah was being practised in Madina. Was thisa calculated

deception? Clearly not, these individualswere hiding their faith to protect their lives, in the same way that the Imams had advocated Taqiyyah as a way of protecting one's deen.

"Nine tenths of religion is Taqiyyah (dissimulation), hence one who does not dissimulate has no religion." (Al-Kafi vol.9

p.110)

This hadith also needs to beexplained in terms of the context

in which it was said. Islam had come as the all-encompassing

Deen that would rule over the people, and thus ensure that

they lived safe lives under the Sharia. But the situation at that time was so serious that tyrannical rulers were at the helm of the State, they dictated what the State religion was, and they had changed the entire face of the Deen. Religion had been

turned on its head, and had in effect become unrecognisable,

and to prove this we have the testimony of the Sahaba of Malik binAnas in Sahih al Bukhari Volume 1 hadith number 507:

"Anas said, "I do not find(now-a-days) things as they were (practiced) at the time of the Prophet." Somebody 134

said "The prayer (is as it was.)" Anas said, "Have you not done in the prayer what you have done?"

Narrated Az-Zuhri that he visited Anas bin Malik at

Damascus and found him weeping and asked him why he

was weeping. He replied, "I do not know anything which I used to know during the lifetime of Allah's Apostle except this prayer which is being lost(not offered as it

should be)".

This well known Sahaba was testifying that the practices dur-

ing the time of Rasulullah (s) had been completely lost, save

Salat that was also now being changed. The question that we

pose is, 'what were the Sahaba doing at this time?' Were they

either endorsing these practices or had they simply gone un-

derground and hidden their beliefs in their hearts. Clearly they must have also been practicing Taqiyyah. When the Imam (as)

had declared that 9/10th of the Deen was Taqiyyah,it was be-

cause 9/10th of Deen that was being propagated by the State

was NOT the Deen of Allah (swt), as had been vouched for by

Malik - hence the actual 9/10th was hidden in one's hearts it

was Taqiyyah. Anyone who did NOT practise Taqiyyah and had

infactembraced the State practices was NOT following the

Deen of Allah(swt) i.e., one who does not dissimulate has no

religion."

"Mix with them (i.e. non-Shi'a) externally but oppose them internally." (Al-Kafi vol.9 p.116)

Perhaps these Nasibis could answer us this, if you live in

country where the vast bulk of the people are non Muslim, and

where very few adherents of your thinking live near you -

worse still you are surrounded by those hostile to you, what is the best option for an individual to pursue? This problem is

particularly acute in this day and age, indeed since September the 11th 2001, where Muslims living in the West are being

deemed 'the enemy' - and are frowned upon by 'others' as ter-

rorists / extremists / fanatics. The hatred vented against

Muslims has lead tomany going into hiding fearing verbal and

135

physical abuse. So Minhajj al Nasibi in such circumstances whatis a Muslim to do?

To understand the comment of the Imam Sadiq (as) here let

uscite the words of Rasulullah (s). We read in Sahih al Bukhari, v4, p45 publishers Uthmania, Egypt that Abu al-Darda' said

he heard the Prophet (s) state: "(Verily) we smile for some people, while our hearts curse (those same people)."

Narrated in Sahih al Bukhari, v4, p44, publishers Uthmania,

Egypt that the Prophet (s) said:"O Àyesha, the worst of people in the sight of Allah (SWT)are those thatare avoided by others due to their extreme impudence."

NOTE: The meaning here isthat one is permitted to use dip-

lomacy to get along with people. The above tradition was nar-

rated whena person-sought permission to see the Holy Prophet

(s) and prior to his asking permission the Prophet (s) saidthat he was not a good man, but still I shall see him.The Prophet

talked tothe person with utmost respect, upon which A'isha in-

quired as to why did the Prophet (s) talk to the person with respect despite his character, upon which the above reply was

rendered.

Now look at these two hadith and tell us, what is the objec-

tion with the words of Imam Jafer Sadiq (as)? What is the dif-

ference between the hadith of Rasulullah (s) and the words of

Imam Jafer Sadiq (as)?

136

Abdullah Ibn Umar practised Taqiyyah in the Presence of Mu'awiya

We read in Sahih al Bukhari (English translation) Volume 4

hadith number 434 that:

Ibn 'Umar said, "I wentto Hafsa while water was dribbling from hertwined braids. I said, 'The condition of the people is as you see, and no authority has been given tome.' Hafsa said, (to me), 'Go to them, and as they (i.e. the people) are waiting

for you, and I am afraid your absence from them will produce

division amongst them.' " So Hafsa did not leave Ibn 'Umar till we went to them. When the people differed, Mu'awiya addressed the people saying, "If anybody wants to say anything in this matter of the Caliphate, he should show up andnot conceal himself, forwe are more rightful to be a Caliph than he and his father." On that, Habib bin Masalama said(to Ibn'Umar),

"Whydon't you reply to him (i.e. Mu'awiya)?" 'Abdullah bin

'Umar said, "I untied mygarment that was going round myback and legs while I was sitting and was about to say, 'He who

fought against you andagainst your father for the sake of

Islam, is more rightful to be a Caliph,' but I was afraid that my statement might produce differences amongst the people and

cause bloodshed, and my statement might be interpreted not

as I intended. (So I kept quiet) remembering what Allah has

prepared in the Gardens of Paradise (for those who are patient and prefer the Hereafter to this worldly life)." Habib said, "You did what keptyou safe and secure (i.e. you were wise in doing

so)."

So we see here:

1. Mu'awiyaproclaimed his superiority to the Khilafath.

2. Ibn Umar disagreed and wished to highlight the truth

openly before the people.

3. Ibn Umar chose not to challenge the claim as he was

"afraid that my statement might produce differences amongst the people and cause bloodshed

4. Habib commented to Ibn Umar "You did what keptyou

safe and secure (i.e. you were wise in doing so).

137

"Ibn Umar's silence to prevent bloodshed and Habib's confirmation that he had adopted this stance to protect himself is clear proof that Ibn Umarwas practicing Taqiyyah. Would Min-hajjalso deem this to be 'calculated deception' on the part of this Sahaba or was hepractising Taqiyyah in order to save his

life and the lives of others? What is there fatwa here?

138

Hanafi Fatwa,at the Time of Danger, One Can Swear at Rasulullah (s) -(naudobillah)

One should point out that the Deobandis very own aqeedah is

that when one is being threatened, he can swear at Rasulullah

(s) (naudobillah), we cite a text that isstill read as part of the curriculum in Deobandi Madrassas "Usul Al Shashi", Chapter

"Al Dheema" page 114:

"When under duress one can swear at Rasulullah (s),

in order to protect a Muslims life / possessions. One can

recite the Kalima of kufr, provided his hearthas not ac-

cepted this, one who accepts this without Taqiyyah is a

kaffir".

We should also point out that Imam of Ahl'ul Sunnah Abu

Shakoor in al Tamheed Chapter 1 pages 18 & 19states:

"Kufr is the worst act, but when one is threatened he

can adopt Taqiyyah and recite the Kalima of kufr. It is

permissible in such circumstances, a person who recites

the Kalima of kufr should NOT be deemed a kaffir,and

the Shari'a has deemed Taqiyyah to be a favourable act".

139

Why Were the Majority Silent When 'Ali was

Cursed?

Allamah Anwar Shah Kashmiri in his work "Fayz ul Bari"

page 359 highlights the following fact:

"The Sunnah is that the Salat of Eid should take place before the khutbah, but Marwan altered the placing of

the khutbah,on the grounds that this was a time when

'Ali was cursed, and the people would get up and leave".

From history we learn that the sole individual that objected

to this alteration was Abu Said al Khudri, and he spoke out

against this change openly. This was a time when many of

the Sahaba were still alive. No doubt they would have been

fully aware that the Sunnah had been changed, so why did they

remain silent on the matter?Tell us Minhajj 'When the rightly

guided khalifa 'Ali (as) was being cursed from the Mosque pul-

pits (including the Mosque of the Prophet (s) in Madina) on the Day of Eid, and the State had made him the target of vilifica-tion,why did the majority remain silent?'There can only be two reasons:

Either:

The majority (that comprised of the Sahaba and Tabaeen)

considered the cursing of 'Ali (as) to be a virtuous act, if thisis the case then we challenge Minhajj to pass their verdict on

the majority at that time.

Or:

These individuals remained silent in the face ofthe tyrannical Banu Ummayya Nasibi rulers, and knew that speaking out

would result in them losing their lives. They were therefore left with no other choice but to adopt Taqiyyah and remain silent.

Clearly this option is the better one to accept, particularly for Minhajj, if there intention is to protect the status of Sahaba and other Muslims of that time.

140

Sunni scholarUmar bin Bahr Jahiz accepted this option writing in "al Bayan wa'lTabayeen" page 29:

"And these are the people who lowered their eyes due

to fear of the next world, there was a fear of the time

[they lived in] amongst them were those who had become

dispersed and divided. Some were on their own living in

fear, some were in waiting, offering prayers. They were a

sorrowful people, they were lost in Taqiyyah".

The Imams from the Ahl'ul bayt (as) weredeemed a threat by

the Leaders of the time. They were conscious of the need to

propagate the true teachings of Islam, hence it was import-

ant that they protected their lives as well as those of their followers, they therefore took the decision to adopt Taqiyyah as a necessary response to the difficult times they lived in.

141

The Ulema of Ahl'ul Sunnah Believe in the Legitimacyof Taqiyyah

It is interesting to see that the Nasibi brand Taqiyyah decep-

tion,whilst their own aqeedah is lying i.e. deception when ne-

cessary isnot only allowed, but a must. Therefore, Imam

Nawawi wrote:

All the scholars agree on the fact that ifa cruel man

comes to kill a person who is hiding, or comes to wrong-

fully take someone else's possessions, and asks for in-

formation about that (possession), thenit is a must on

everyone who has any knowledge about it, to hide it and

lie about it. This is not just a lie, infact it is a must for the reason that it is a means of protecting the weak from

the cruel.Sharh Muslim Nawawi, Volume 2,Page106-266,

Published Luknow

Due to these reasons, some scholars of Ahl'ul Sunnah have

openly agreed to the logic behind Taqiyyah.

In al-Nasa'ih al-Kaafiyah page 109, (Bombay edition), Imam

of Ahl'ul Sunnah, Muhammad binAqeel Shaafi writes:

I say our scholars (Scholars of Ahl'ul Sunnah) agree on

the fact that when needed, telling a lie is allowed, and

this is Taqiyyah.But if we namethis Taqiyyah, a lot of the

scholars raise an objection, since Shi'as use this term. So the difference between Shi'a and Sunni is only the word

difference.

Shaykh Ahmed Fehmi Mesri in "Hashia Al mihal-wa-An na-

hal", Volume 1, Page 195, Published Cairo, wrote

Taqiyyah is allowed at times of fear, and Tabbara said that

our companions say thatin times of need, Taqiyyah is al-

lowed;rather, in some cases to create an environment of unity, it can also be used. And all the narrations which are

present speak for it."

142

The Khwaarij are the Only Sect that Reject

Taqiyyah

Minhajj whilst defining Taqiyyah as'calculated deception' and

rejecting its as an act of hypocrisy,should know that they have infactexposed their 'actual'beliefs. The fact of the matter isin Islam all Sects agree that Taqiyyah is a legitimate practice except the Khwaarij.

Imam of Ahl'ul Sunnah, Ibn Asakir discusses the beliefs of

the Khwaarij in Tadheeb Volume 4 page 147, whilst comment-

ing on the lifeof Hasan binFarokh. He states:

" The fourth characteristic of the Khwaarij is that they consider it permissible to kill their enemies women and

children…the sixth characteristic of the Khwaarij is

they deem advocating (verbally) and practising Taqiyyah

to be unlawful".

Mir Shareef in Sharh Muwaffaq page 757 whilst setting out

the beliefs of the Khwaarij states:

The Khwaarij consider the endorsement and practice of

Taqiyyah to be a haraamact, and deem it permissible to

kill their opponents.

Similarly Abdul Kareem Shahrastani in his famous text al Mi-

hal wa al Nahal Volume 1 page 122, whilst settingout the views of the Khwaarij, states:

"The sixth characteristic of the Khwaarij is that they consider the act of Taqiyyah (by word and deed) to be

unlawful".

We would like to makeit clear that both Shi'a and Ahl'ul Sun-

nah believe in the legitimacy of Taqiyyah and the only group

that deny it and deem itto be 'calculated deception' are the Khwaarij and Nasibi like Minhajj al-Sunnah, who also deem

143

shedding the blood of their opponents to be an act for which they shall be rewarded.

For comprehensive study into the topic of Taqiyyah please

read our article:

144

25

Chapter

The Fitnah of Takfeer

Having misrepresented the true creed ofthe Shi'a, Minhajj al

Nasibiseek to conclude their fitnah by presenting the fatwas of Sunni Ulema on the Shi'a.

What Do Scholars of AhluSunnah in the Past and Present say

about Shi'a (Rafidah)?:1)Imam Ash-Shafi'i:On one occasion

Imam Shafi'i said concerning the Shi'a, "I have not seen among the heretics a people more famous for falsehood than the

Raafidi Shi'a." and on another occasion he said; "Narrate knowledge from everyoneyou meet except for the raafidi Shi'a,

because they invent a hadith and adopt them as part of their

religion." (Minhaj as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah) (Some Shi'a at the time of the Alid Imam Zayd ibn 'Ali demanded that he

make a declaration of innocence (tabarra) from whoever dis-

agreed with 'Ali's right to be Imam. When Zayd refused,they

rejected him, and became known as the "raafida" or reject-ors.Those who followed Imam Zayd became known as Zaydis,

and have very little difference from mainstream Islam.The

Raafidi evolved into the various Imami Shi'a sects, the largest of which is the Ithna 'Ashari.)

2) Imam Abu Hanifah:It is reported that often Imam Abu

Hanifah used to repeat the following statement about the

raafidi Shi'a; "Whoever doubts whether they are disbelievers has himself committed disbelief."

3)Imam Malik:Once when asked about the Rafidi Shi'a, Imam

Malik said; "Do not speak to them or narrate from them, for surely they are liars." During one of Imam Malik's classes, it 145

was mentioned that the Rafidi Shi'a curse the Sahaba. Imam Malik recited the verse, "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and those with him are harsh with the disbelievers and gentle

among themselves. So that the disbelievers may become en-

raged with them." (48:29) He then said, "Whoever becomes enraged when the Sahabaare mentioned is the one about whom

the verse speaks."(Tafseer al-Qurtubi)disbelievers wish to do is cast doubt onthe reliability of our narrators in order to invalidate the Qur'an and Sunnah. Thus the disbelievers are the ones

most deserving of defamation."

4) AbuZur'ahar-Razi: He said of the Rafidi Shi'a doctrine of

cursing the Sahaba, "If you see someone degrade any of the companions of the Prophet SAWS know that he is a disbeliever. Because the Prophet SAWS was real, what he brought was

the truth and all of it was conveyed to us by way of the Sahaba.

What those disbelievers wish to do is cast doubt on the reliability of our narrators inorder to invalidate the Qur'an and Sun-

nah. Thus the disbelievers are the ones most deserving of

defamation."

5) Ibn Hazmal-Andalusi: During the period of Muslim rule in

Spain, Imam Abu Muhammad ibn Hazm would often debate

with the Catholic priests about their religious texts. He

brought before them evidence of textual distortions in

the Bible and the loss of the original manuscripts. When they

replied by pointing out the Shi'a claims that the Qur'an has

been distorted and altered,Ibn Hazm informedthem that

Shi'a claims were not valid evidence because the Shi'a were

not themselves muslims.

6) Imam Al-Alusi:He declared the raafidi Shi'a disbelievers

because of their defamationof the sahaba. His position was

based on the rulings of Imam Malik and other scholars. In re-

sponse to their claim to be followers of the Ahl al-Bayt

(the Prophet's SAWS family) Al-Alusi said, "No, they are really followersof the devils and the Ahl alBayt are innocent of them."

7) Muhammad Rasheed Rida:Thisscholar was among those

who worked sincerely for rapproachment between the Shi'a

146

and the sunni, and they in turn pretended moderation for his benefit. However, in the midst of his efforts, they caught him by surprise by presenting him with a number of their

books which slander Islam. He then replied ina paper called

As-Sunnahwa Ash Shi'a in which he exposed their false doc-

trines and idolatrouspractices.

8) Dr. Hilali:After living close to the Shi'a for some years, the famous Moroccan scholar, Dr. Hilali wrote a paper on them in

which he declared them to be disbelievers.

9) Abul-A'la Maududi: This great Pakistani scholar wrote an

introduction to the book, "Ar Riddah bain al-Ams waal-Yaum"

In it was written,regarding the Imami Ja'fari Shi'a, "despite their moderate views (relative to other Shi'a sects), they are swimming in disbelief like white bloodcells in blood orlike fish in water."10)

among the other contemporary scholars

who have expressed similar views are: Sheikh Abdul 'Aziz ibn

Baz,

Sheikh

Nassiraddin

Al-Albani, Allama

Ash-Shanqiti,

Sheikh

An-Nashashibi, Imam

Ahmad

Ameen,

and

Dr.

Rashaad Salim.

147

The Testimony of One Sect Against Another Cannot be Deemed to be 'Proof'

Those againstus are of one school of thought, so it iscommon

sense that they would throw dirt on those who do not ascribe

to theirbeliefs. In addition we should point out that those

that have made such verdicts have often done so in accordance

with their own Nasibi views (whether open or hidden) and mis-

guided propagandaagainst the Shi'a.

It is ironic that these alleged scholars despite their own differing views are united/ one voice against the Shi'a! We reject these fatwas, for it isonly fair for a Judge to look at both sides ofa case before reaching a decision. That would be the 'just'

method, but then what correlation do these Nasibis have with

justice?

The Minhajj bycollating these fatwas feel as if they have

proven their argument beyond a shadow of a doubt, when the

truth isthe opinion of one sect against another can never

be deemed as proof.

Deobandi scholar Maulana Zafar Ahmad Uthmani writing on

Jauzjani commented in Kawaid fiUlum il Hadith page 400:"

I say that Jauzjani wasa Nasibi who hated 'Ali, those op-

posed to Uthman are the Shi'a, we should be friends with

both, since the opinion of one school of thought against

another can never be deemed to be valid".

We will proceed to look at these fatwas, and should point

that we have already refuted the fatwas of takfeer in the previous Chapter based on enmity towards the Sahaba.

148

26

Chapter

The Fatwa of Imam Malik

During one of Imam Malik's classes, it was mentioned that

the Rafidi Shi'a curse the Sahaba. Imam Malik recited the

verse, "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and those with him are harsh with the disbelievers and gentle among themselves. So that the disbelievers may become enraged with

them." (48:29) He then said, "Whoever becomes enraged when the Sahaba are mentioned is the one about whom the

verse speaks."(Tafseer al-Qurtubi)

Although we have already addressed fatwas based onhated

of the Sahabain a previous let us now analyse the views of

Imam Malik.

Classical Maliki scholar Qadi Iyad in "Tartheeb ul Madharik wa Takreeb al Masalik" Volume 2 pages 45-46 states in his discussion on Malik's beliefs:

"Once an Alawi asked Malik 'Who was superior after

Rasulullah (s)?

Malik replied Abu Bakr. He then asked "Then who" he replied "Umar". The Alawi then asked "Then who". Hesaid "Thevictim Uthman". Malik's student Mashab asked Malik whowas superior after Rasulullah? He replied Abu

Bakr. Then someone asked him,'Then who'. Malik replied

Umar. 'Then' Malik replied 'Uthman'. When asked 'Then'

Malik said 'people's view thendiffered', these are the be-

loved of Rasulullah (s), Abu Bakr was made the Imam

ofSalat by Rasulullah (s), Umar was appointed by Abu

149

Bakr and Umar made a 6 man Shura and people chose Uthman, after that the peoplestalled. In another narration Malik had stated whoever was desirous of the Ca-

liphate ('Ali) cannot besuperior to one who did not want

it (Abu Bakr).

Renowned Sunni scholar Abu Zahra commenting on the

above narrationsstates:

"From the above narrations we can see thatMalik was a

supporter of Mu'awiya and the Banu Ummayya cause…If

we look at the reason behind Imam Malik's statements,

in relation to his comments about the Sword of Islam,

brother and son in law of Rasulullah (s) - 'Ali, from

whomthe descendants of Rasulullah (s) came, we can see

that this view was borne out of Banu Ummayya thought,

even if he did not like their deeds he did not give 'Ali the due respect that he deserved".Malik Hayath au Asrapage 85

Abu Zahra further states onpage 59:

"Some experts have pointed out that Imam Malik did

not take many hadith from 'Ali and Ibn Abbas due to his

pro Banu Ummayya leanings, in concluding this discus-

sion, Malik belonged to that group that had no associ-

ation to politics, nor encouraged revolution, they never

objected to the Khalifas of the time,they took asalary

from the State. Malik's thought / views brought him

closer to the Banu Ummayya, this pro Banu Ummayya

viewpoint was such thatit never brought him against the

Banu Ummayya, his view point against 'Ali was like those

held by Banu Ummayya, he ascribed to Banu Ummayya

views on 'Ali".

So we learn that Imam Malik supported the Banu Ummayya

and shared their thoughts. He clearly avoided mentioning 'Ali

as the rightful khalifa inline with Banu Ummayya thinking. It

is therefore common sense that one critical of 'Ali will likewise be opposed to his Shi'a. His fatwa therefore has no legitimacy.

150

The Fatwaof Ibn Hazm

5)Ibn Hazmal-Andalusi:During the period of Muslim rule in

Spain, Imam Abu Muhammad ibn Hazm would often debate

with the Catholic priests about their religious texts. He

brought before them evidence of textual distortions in

the Bible and the loss of the original manuscripts. When they

replied by pointing out the Shi'a claims that the Qur'an has

been distorted and altered,Ibn Hazm informedthem that

Shi'a claims were not valid evidence because the Shi'a were

not themselves muslims.

The key to answering thisfatwa lies in Minhajj alNasibi's very own admission that Ibn Hazm was the Imam "During the period of Muslim rule in Spain". The Muslim rule during that time-was that of the Banu Ummayya, who had a bitter enmity to-

wards Imam 'Ali (as). In connection with this we cite the words of Allamah Shibli Numani al Hanafi:

"Traditions were first formed in book formin the days

of Ummayads, who, for about 90 years, throughout their

vast dominions stretching from the Indusin India to

Asia Minor and Spain, insulted the descendants of

Fatima and got Ali openly censured in Friday sermons at

the mosques. They had hundreds of saying coined to eu-

logise Amir Mu'awiya.taken from Siratun Nabi, Volume 1

page 60

Ibn Hazm was the Imam inSpain during this era.Whilst there

is no doubt that khalifa Umarbin Abdul Aziz had put an end to

the ritual cursing of Imam Ali (as) we ask 'what was the likeli-hood of this injunction changing three generations (schol-

arsand ordinary folk) who had been brought up on a staple diet of bearing enmity to'Ali (as)'? Would these anti 'Ali sentiments have just vanished? Clearly not, particularly when the State

sponsored Imams continued to advocate the legitimacy of the

rule of Mu'awiya (and his actions) then it was natural that

they condemned his opponents. Like his BanuUmmayya Nasibi

Khalifas Ibn Hazm toed the sameanti 'Ali line and to prove this 151

we quote Dhahabi who stated in Tadhkirath ul Huffaz Volume3 page 1152:

"Ibn Hazm Umawi was hated bysome people, as he was a

supporter of the Banu Ummayya Khalifas past and present,he

considered their Imamate to berightful, which is why he was

deemed to be a Nasibi".

Ibn Hazm authored al Fasl fi Mihal al Nihal in which he

stated that the Imamat of Imam 'Ali can neither be proven by

text or ijma, just by logic. This further exposes his Nasibi beliefs, a supporter of the Nasibi Banu Ummayya his bigoted Nas-

ibi views make this fatwa void.

152

Verdicts of the Salafi Nasibis

7) Muhammad Rasheed Rida:Thisscholar was among those

who worked sincerely for rapproachment between the Shi'a

and the sunni, and they in turn pretended moderation for

his benefit. However, in the midst of his efforts, they caught him bysurprise by presenting him with a number of their books which slander Islam. He then replied ina paper called As-Sunnahwa Ash Shi'a in whichhe exposed their false doctrines and idolatrouspractices.

8) Dr. Hilali:After living close to the Shi'a for some years, the famous Moroccan scholar, Dr. Hilali wrote a paper on them in which he declared them to be disbelievers.

10) among the other contemporary scholars who have ex-

pressed similar views are: Sheikh Abdul 'Aziz ibn Baz, Sheikh Nassiraddin

Al-Albani, Allama

Ash-Shanqiti,

Sheikh

An-

Nashashibi, Imam Ahmad Ameen, and Dr. Rashaad Salim.

The common link between this group of Nasibis isthe fact

that they are adherents of the Salafi cult who unlike 'true' Sunnis reject Tawassul,performing ziarat to Rasulullah's grave

etc.The key link to these Nasibis is the fact that they deem

their Imam to be Ibn Taymiyya, they deem him to be "Shaykh ul Islam"and their Nasibi thought is in line with his views. Now let us analyse what the Ahl'ul Sunnah have said about their

Nasibi Imam:

153

Ahl'ul Sunnah Viewson Ibn Taymiyya

Deobandi scholar Anwar Shah Kashmiree in Anwar al Bari

Volume 6 pages 220 -221 states:

"Tahavi's acceptance of the hadith 'Radd ai Shams' as

true and Ibn Taymiyyah's reaction against Tahavi, indic-

ates that he had Khwaarij views".

(Our note: Radd ai Shams isthe hadith in which Imam Ali (as)

returned the sunset via the pointing of his finger).

Shah Abdul Aziz in Fatawa Azizi Volume 2 page 79

"The pen of IbnTaymiyya in Minhajj at some points is

so atrocious, in particular his views on Ahl'ul bayt where

he has sought to play down their merits, prohibits visit-

ing the tomb of Rasulullah (s), is opposed to Saints and

condemns the Sufis. According to the views of Ahl'ul

Sunnah his pen is cursed, his writings cannot deemed to

be those of the Ahl'ul Sunnah".

154

Takfeer Issued Against Ibn Taymiyya

We should also point out to these Salafi Nasibis that

40Ulema of Ahl'ul Sunnah deemed their beloved Imam Ibn

Taymiyya to be a kaffir, names included leading Sunni Ulema

(of the 4 schools)of the time such as:

1. Muhammad bin Ibrahim Shaafi

2. Muhammad bin Abu Bakr Maliki

3. Muhammad bin Abu Bakr Jareer Ansari Hanafi

4. Abdullah bin Umar Muqaddis Hanbali

These 40 Ulema declared Ibn Taymiyya to be a kaffir, and it

was declared in Syria that if anyone shared the view of Ibn

Taymiyya, then it was valid to shed their blood and appropri-

ate their land". (The fatwa and this text can be found in Al Nabraas Sharh al Aqaidpage 114 footnote 4 [printed in Meerath,

India], Sharh Aqaid Jalali page 80 [printed in Afghanistan].

AdDhur ra al Kamina, by Ibn Hajr Asqalani, Volume 1 page 147

[Dakkan].

In addition to this we learnthat Shaykh Zaynudeen bin Rajab

Hanbali in light of Ibn Taymiyya incorrect views, deemed him

to be a kaffir. (taken from Anwar al Bari Volume 11 page 190).

We further read in Anwar al Bari Volume 11 page 119 that:

"18 Egyptians deemed Ibn Taymiyya to be a kaffir, in-

cluding Qadi Taqiudeen Muhammad bin Abu Bakr Akhi

Maliki. This was based on the fact that his view,prohibit-

ing pilgrimage to Madina in order to visit Rasulullah (s)

proved his disrespect of Rasulullah (s), the penalty for

such kufr was death".

Shaykh Alaudeen Bukhari al Hanafi:

"After analysing Ibn Taymiyya Fatwas he said' Whoever

deems Ibn Taymiyya to be "Shaykhul Islam" is a

155

kaffir".Takdhirathul Huffaz page 316 [Damascus]; Anwar alBari Volume 11 page 192 [Multan]

Theses Nasibi followersof Ibn Taymiyya [who according to

Ahl'ul Sunnah disrespected Rasulullah (s)] have been deemed

to be kaffirs as they adhere to his thinking and call

him "Shaykh ul Islam". They therefore have no right to throw dirt at us, their fatwas have no validity, since the Ahl'ul Sunnah consider them to be kaffirs.

156

The Fatwas of the Three Fiqh Imams

1) Imam Ash-Shafi'i:On one occasion Imam Shafi'i said con-

cerning the Shi'a, "I have not seen among the heretics a people more famous for falsehood than the Rafidi Shi'a." and on another occasion he said; "Narrate knowledge from everyone you meet except for the Rafidi Shi'a, because they invent ahadith and adopt them as part of their religion." (Minhaj as-Sunnah anNabawiyyah) *(Some Shi'a at the time of the Alid Imam Zayd ibn 'Ali demanded that he make a declaration of innocence

(tabarra) from whoever disagreed with 'Ali's right to be Imam.

When Zayd refused,they rejected him, and became known

asthe"raafida" or rejecters. Those who followed Imam Zayd became known as Zaydis, and have very little difference from mainstream Islam. The Rafidi evolved into the various

Imami Shi'a sects, the largest of which is the Ithna 'Ashari.) 2) Imam Abu Hanifah:It is reported that often Imam Abu

Hanifah used to repeat the following statement about the

RafidiShi'a; "Whoever doubts whether they are disbelievershas himself commited disbelief."

3) Imam Malik: Once when asked about the Rafidi Shi'a,

Imam Malik said; "Do not speak to them or narrate from them, for surely they are liars."

First and foremost one needs to point out that Nasibi Ibn

Taymiyya in Minhajj al Sunnah has recorded these three fatwas

in Minhajj alSunnah. Readers should know that this Nasibi fails to cite 'from where' he has taken these fatwas, we ONLY have

his word that these are the fatwas of these three Imams, an-

dthe testimony of this Nasibi is of no value. We would ask the Minhajj and their fellow Deobandi parties to consider the fact that if we are to indeed to accept these fatwas, then we should also acceptthe fatwas that they have issued against oneanoth-er. If wewere to adopt this approach, accepting all of these

testimonies as proof of kufr,then no one would remaina Muslim

the adherents of the four madhabs have issued fatwas of tak-

feer against one another.We will cite some examples:

157

Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani's Deemed Abu Hanifa and his Follower Stobe in the Fire

Whilst discussing the Sects thatare in the Fire, Shaafi schol-

ar Shaykh Abdul Qadir Gilani wrote in Ghaneeyuth al Talibeen

pages 62 - 63 (printed in Egypt):

"There exist 12 sects of the marijee the Jahimiyya,

Saleheeya,

Shamneeya, Yunuseeya,

Yuhnaaniya,

Bukharia,

Gilania,

Shahbibeeya,

Hanafeeya,

Mahzeeya, Muriseeya, Kharameeya. These are all Marijee

as they believe that once an individual has recited the

Shahada, no matter how many sins you then commit,

you will attain paradise, since iman is connected with

heart not with one's deeds, practices are a part of the

Sharia - iman remains stagnant. People cannot super-

sede others on iman, the iman of Prophets, Angels and

ordinary people are equal, iman neither goes up nor

down, it does not lessen by words that are recited, even

an individual fails to practice he remains a momin.Imam

Numan bin Thabit stated that 'iman comprises of recog-

nising Allah, his Rasul (s) and Angels".

This was indeed the aqeedah of Imam Abu Hanifa hestated:

"Recitation with the tongue is iman and then accept-

ing this with one's heart. Iman does not go up nor down,

whether this relates to People of the skies or People

on the earth, the iman of ALL Muslims is equal".

Commenting on this belief Mullah 'Ali Qari states in Sharh

Fiqh Akbar pages 101 - 105:

"People of the skies heremeans Angels and the people

of Heaven, people on the earth refers to Prophets, Saints

and all Muslims - whether good or bad, all equal in iman,

it neither goes up nor down".

158

In accordancewith thisaqeedah, thatiman is equal for all, Gilani deemed the Hanafi Sect to be the ninth Sectof the twelve

that shall bein the fire. If these Deobandi Nasibis are going

to issue takfeer against the Shi'a we would urge them to exam-

ine this fatwa and then talk with us. It is indeed amusing that the Minhajj al Nasibi have sought to highlight that their four Imams deemed the Shi'a as kaffir, when in fact…

159

Hanafi, Shaafi, Hanbali and Maliki have Called Each Other Kaffirs

Seventh century Hanafi Scholar Sharafudeen Isa Abi Bakr

who authored the Sharh of Imam Hasan Shubaniz "Al Jami al Kabeer" - wrote against the writings of Baghdadi, he was originally Shaafi and then converted to the Hanafi school of

thought.

When asked by a relation this question: "When your en-

tire family are Shaafi, why are you a Hanafi? Are you not

happy at the fact that amongst you is one that has be-

come a Muslim?".al Fawaid al Bahya page62

If we are to accept this viewpoint then all Hanafi's are kaffir.

Qadhi Muhammad bin Musa Hanafi writing on the Shaafi

school of thought said:

"If I was in power I would order the Shaafi's togive

Jaziya".taken from Meezan al Itidal Volume 4 page 52

Jaziya isa tax that is imposed on non-Muslims,so this Judge

felt that Imam Shaafi and his followerswerekaffir to the point that he issued a fatwa deeming it haraam for a Hanafi woman to marry a Shaafi man,although it was okay for a Hanafi

man to marry a Shaafi woman.[taken from Bhazazeeya al

Hindy Volume 4 page 112, printed in Quetta Pakistan].

So this Hanafi scholar felt that the marriage rules with a

Shaafi were on par with those of Ahl'ul Kitab.

In 714 Hijri differences between the Hanbali's and Shaafi's

became such that Ibn Kathir states in al Bidayah Volume 14

pages 75-76:

"This year fitnah between the Shaafi's and Hanbalis in-creased, the matter went before the Khalifa who negoti-

ated a settlement".

160

Ibn Kathir also records in al Bidaya Volume 11 page 162:

"The Hanbalis in Muhro set fire to a Shaafi Mosque,

that lead to many people dying in Nishapur.The Hanafis

and Shaafi's had a dispute that resulted in Madrassas

and markets being torched, many Shaafi's lost their lives,

they avenged this a few days later".

We read in Meerath al Janaan Volume 3page 307 that:

"The view of Ibn Taymiyya led to people opposing the

Hanbalis, there was a declaration that if someone fol-

lowed Ibn Taymiyya, it would belawful to take that

person's life and property, as they were kaffirs that

should betreated as kaffirs".

Ibn Khalikaanin Wafay' at thu Ayan Volume 1 page 415

states:

"Imam Shaykh Ali ibne Ali Sayfudeen Ahmadi (died in

631 Hijri) was a Hanbali who converted tothe Shaafis-

chool of thought. The Hanbali Ulema opposedhim declar-

ing him to bea kaffir, Zindeeq and said that it was lawful

to kill him".

Allamah Shaykh Abu Bakr al Mukree al Waiz (d. 476 Hijri)

was a Shaafi scholar who declared throughout the province of

Baghdad:

"Whoever

is

a

Hanbali

is

a

kaffir"Taken

from

Shazraath al Dhahab Volume3 page 353

Imam Subkee in "Tabaqat au Shaafiya Volume 4 page 234

states:

"Shaykh Abu Isaac bin Ibrahim bin Ali bin Yusuf Firoz-

abid (d. 479 Hijri) was a famous Shaafi scholar opposed

to the Hanbalis. He was oppressed this led to a Shaafi /

Hanbali dispute that resulted in many dying

161

"Subkee, in "Tabaqat au Shaafiya" Volume6 page 390 writing on the life of Muhammad bin Abu Mansur al Faqeeya al Bur-wee (d. 576 Hijri) states:

"The Hanbalis at night sent a woman with food, poison

had been placed inside the potatoes, Abu Mansur ate it,

and he and those that ate withhim lost their lives".

The greatest fitnah in Baghdad was between Shaafi's and

Hanbalis, as a result of which manypeople died. The Deputy of

Baghdad tried to intervene, and the Shaafi representatives

cried' On what basis should we negotiate, and with who? A

Resolution is when there is a difference between two parties

over power. These people(Hanbalis) deem us a kaffirs and we

deem anyone that does not a scribe to our view to be a kaffir, hence peace between usis impossible". (taken from Tabaqat al Janabal la bin Rajab Volume1 page 20 - 21 & Wafay' at thu Ay-an Volume 1 page 308).

Allamah Ibne Abdideen (d 1254 Hijri) writing on the Khwaar-

ij in 'Radd al Mukhthar, Maaruf Fatawa Shaami' Volume 3 page

427, states:

"In modern times Ibn Wahabcamefrom Najdand took

control of the holy cities. They said that they wereHan-

bali but inreality they deemed only those that followed

their way to be Muslim, whoever opposed them were

mushriks, accordingly they deemedit permissible tokill

the Ahl'ul Sunnah and their Ulema".

162

Hanafi Versus Hanafi Takfeer Fatwas

Here we should point out that one view cited was thatof Deo-

bandi scholar Maudoodi:

9) Abul-A'la Maududi: This great Pakistani scholar wrote an introduction to the book, "Ar Riddah bain al-Ams waal-Yaum"

In it was written,regarding the Imami Ja'fari Shi'a, "despite their moderate views (relative to other Shi'a sects), they are swimming in disbelief like white blood cells in blood or like fish in water."

Maudoodi was a Deobandi scholar and hence an adherent of

the Hanafi school of thought andyet in the Indian Subcontinent Barelvis and Deobandis DESPITE being Hanafi deem each other to be kaffir.

Ex Leader of the Nasibi Sipah-e-Sahaba Zia ur Rahman

Faruqi in his defence of the banning of Ahmad Raza Barelvi

Khan Tafseer of the Qur'an is Saudi Arabi stated:

"We know that some have sought to revoke this ban,

and have attempted to cover up the fault of its

writer…The meaning and translation done by Ahmad

Raza Khan of the Barelvi Sect and Mufti Naeeemudin

should not only be banned in the Arab world, but in fu-

turethe followers of Raza Khan should be prohibited

from performing the rites of Hajj".Taken from Kanz al

Iman phur phabandhee kyo? Page3 printed Ash'aathul

Maarif, Faislabad

Likewise Barelvi Hanafis deem Deoband is to be kaffir. Their

Imam Ahmad Raza stated:

"Worse than murtad's are munafiqs, this is worse than

sitting in the company of one thousand kaffirs, in partic-

ular the Wahabiand Deobandi deem themselves to

be Ahl'ul Sunnah andclaim that they are Hanafi, Chisti,

Naqshbandi, they perform Salat, Fast, read books, and

163

yet they throw abuse at Allah (swt) and his Rasul (s), they are the most dangerous of all".Taken from

Ahkaam ai Shariat Volume 1page 77, Agra Press

Writing on Deobandi's in Fatwa Rizvi, Barelvi states:

"Neither is their prayer valid, nor is it permissible to pray behind them".Volume 1 page 191 and Ahkaam ai

Shariat page 92

In response to a question posed to Barelvi we read inMul-

foozath Part 1 page 95[Hasani Barelvi Press]:

"Is a Wahabi Mosque aMosque or not? Answer: No it is

a house, a Mosque of kaffirs, whoever denies the kuffar

of

Khaleel

Ahmad,

Rasheed

Ahmad

Gangohi

and

Ashraf Ali is himself a kaffir".

Also in Ahkaam ai Shariat Volume 1 page 95 Barelvi issues

thisfatwa:

"Wahabis,

Deobandis…lamadhabis,

Qadiyani's,

Chukralwis, Naychris, anything slaughtered by them is

impure it is haraam [meat], even if they were torecite

the Kalima 100,000 times and were to portray them-

selves as pious and praise worthy, they are all kaffir" .

Zia Rehman Faruqi Deobandi Nasibi wrote a letter to King

Fahad:

"You should know that Fiqh Raza Khan is the same per-

son that condemned your father Sultan Ibne Aziz's

Government when it was established and deemed it to be

a kuffar (Government)".Kanz al Iman phur phabandhee

kyo? Pages 3-4

If they are so divided that they do not regard each other as

Muslim what credence / authority can be given to their fatwas

against the Shi'a?

164

'Reliable' Al Albani's Condemnation of Fiqh Hanafi Leaves the Deobandi's with Serious

Problems

Minhajj had in the final section sought to high light the fat-

was of the Ulema that they deemed as 'reliable' names that or-

dinary folk would sit up and take heed of. The difficulty for the Deobandi Hanafis is the fact that one of the 'reliable' opinions cited was that of Sheikh Nassiraddin Al Albani. This same

'reliable' Al-Albani hadin his commentary on al-Mundhiri's

Mukhtasar Sahih Muslim, 3rd ed. (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islami,

1977, p. 548) deemed Fiqh Hanafito be on par with the

Gospels. We shouldpoint out that suchis the dishonesty of the

Salafi Nasibis, this phrase was has been mysteriously ex-

punged from later editions.

This

leaves

Minhajj

and

its

Deobandi

hostwebsite

"IslamZine.com" with some serious questions to answer: 1.

Do you acceptthe 'reliable'Al Albani's claim that

FiqhHanafi ison par with the Gospel?

2. If Al Albani can be relied onwhen issuingtakfeer against

the Shi'a then does the same reliability not apply when heis at-tackingFiqh Hanafi?

3. This being the quite logicalconclusion, will Minhajj and

the host Deobandi site "Islam Zine.com" be brave enough tois-sue a statement on their site, in light of 'reliable' Al Albani's Fatwa - declaring that they no longer adhereto Fiqh Hanafi

since it is on par with the Gospel?

4. If they are going to reject Al Albani's assertion and STILL

remain Hanafi, does this not therefore mean they nolonger

deem him reliable?

5. If they no longer deem Al Albani reliable could they ex-

plain why they have cited his opinion on this article?

6. If Al Albani can ONLY be relied upon when attacking the

Shi'a then is this not blatant hypocrisy?

165

27

Chapter

Conclusion

As we have sought to, prove these Ulema have a habit of call-

ing each other kaffir, no one has escaped their takfeer fatwas, what sort of Islam is this? The cheapest thing that one can pur-chase isa fatwa, the Ulema have throughout history without a

seconds thought issued takfeer against others. If we are to accept the testimony of all of these scholars then that

would mean that NO ONE is a Muslim! Its is indeed sad that

when we look at these fatwas, we see that the Ulema have con-

verted less people to Islam, and declared more Muslims to be

kaffir.

These fatwas have divided the Ummah and ripped the core

out of Muslim unity. The key to unity is to stand shoulder to

shoulder against the kaffir, not as Minhajj al Nasibi have done, to collate baseless fatwas declaring other Muslims askaffir and then kill them! If we are to accept these fatwas then NO ONE

will remain a Muslim. Remember Minhajja person can only

give a fatwa if he is himself a Muslim in the first place, and yet all Muslims, your Nasibi Sect included have been declared kaffir byother scholars. What has been particularly amusing is this culthave collated fatwas of those they deem to be Sunni scholars- when they are not deemed to be Sunnis by actual Sunnis,

but have been labelled as Wahabis, Khwaarij and Nasibis. How

can they cite such fatwas when they are themselves not Sunni?

It is tantamo untto a Catholic citing verdicts of Protestants

against adherents of the Pentecostal Church!

These fatwas mean nothing, remember ANYONE can defame

another sect by taking references out of context and

166

presenting them to the massesas aqeedah. Butsuch methods are in line with the followers of Mu'awiya and Yazeed who always sought to undermine the religion of truth by suchtactics.

Alas their lies have been exposed, we suggest they examine

their own aqeedah before mud slinging and distorting the be-

liefs of others.

167

28

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169

"Wisdom is the lost property of the Believer,

let him claim it wherever he finds it"

Imam Ali (as)

Document Outline

- Chapter 1

- Chapter 2

- The Actual Shi'a Position

- Part 1 - Tahreef of the Qur'an

- Are the Shi'a Kaffir Because Tahreef Traditions Exist in their Texts?

- Hadith can Not Contradict the Qur'an

- Sunni Traditions of Tahreef

- Hadhrath Ayesha also Testified to a 'Missing' Verse on Stoning

- Has Most of Surah Ahzab Been Lost?

- Has One-Third of the Qur'an Been Lost?

- Has Most of the Qur'an Been Lost?

- Have 'Words' Been Omitted from the Present Qur'an?

- A Missing Verse on Suckling

- A Further Two Surah's Missing from the Qur'an

- Have Words Been 'Added' to the Qur'an?

- Did the Sahaba Read Verses Containing 'Ali's Name?

- Do the Shi'a Have a 'Different Qur'an, Called the Qur'an of Fatima?

- The Deobandi Scholar Maulana Anwar Shah's Fatwa,thatthere is Tahreef in the Qur'an

- Our challenge to Minhajj -are there Mistakes in the Qur'an?

- The Actual Shi'a Position

- Sayings of the HolyImams of Ahl'ul bayt(as)

- Chapter 3

- Chapter 4

- Chapter 5

- Comments of Shi'a Scholars Refuting These Lies

- Chapter 6

- Chapter 7

- Chapter 8

- Chapter 9

- Chapter 10

- Chapter 11

- Chapter 12

- Scholar's of Ahl' ul Sunnah that have Vouched for the Shi'a Viewpoint

- Chapter 13

- Chapter 14

- Chapter 15

- Allamah Najam-ul-Ghani Rampuri

- Chapter 16

- Chapter 17

- Chapter 18

- Chapter 19

- Chapter 20

- Chapter 21

- The Actual Shi'a Position

- Appraisal of the Sahaba by the Imams of Ahl'ul bayt(as)

- Did the Vast Bulk of the Sahaba Apostatize After the Death of Rasulullah (s)?

- Does Cursing the Sahaba Make the Shi'a Kaffir?

- Imam Abu Hanifa's Disrespect of the Shaykhayn

- Ulema of Ahl'ul Sunnah have not Deemed Cursing the Sahaba to Constitute kufr

- An Appeal to the Deobandi's

- A Matter to Ponder Over

- Chapter 22

- Obedience to Imam 'Ali (as

- Chapter 23

- Who Appoints the Imam?

- Infallibility of the Imams

- Obedience to the Imam

- The Superior Rank of Imamate

- Are the Imams Superior to Prophets?

- Imam Mahdi (as)'s Station Shall be Superior to that of Prophet Isa (as)

- Sunni Beliefs, that the 'Infallible' Shaykhayn Were Superior to Rasulullah (s)

- Superiority of the Imams over the Angels

- Do the Imams have Control Over the Atoms of the Universe?

- Do the Imams Possess Knowledge of the Unseen?

- What is Ghayb?

- The Actual Shi'a Viewpoint

- Those with a Knowledge of the Book Can Unlock the Secrets of Ghayb

- The Imams 'Inherited' the Knowledge of the Unseen from Rasulullah (s)

- Ghayb Attributed by Ahl'ul Sunnah to Hadhrath Umar

- Chapter 24

- The Actual' Definition of Taqiyyah

- Taqiyyah Proven from the Qur'an

- Al Muhaddith Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlavi Believed in Taqiyyah

- People Adopted Taqiyyah During the Reign of the Banu Ummayya

- Abdullah Ibn Umar practised Taqiyyah in the Presence of Mu'awiya

- Hanafi Fatwa,at the Time of Danger, One Can Swear at Rasulullah (s) -(naudobillah)

- Why Were the Majority Silent When 'Ali was Cursed?

- The Ulema of Ahl'ul Sunnah Believe in the Legitimacyof Taqiyyah

- The Khwaarij are the Only Sect that Reject Taqiyyah

- Chapter 25

- The Testimony of One Sect Against Another Cannot be Deemed to be 'Proof'

- Chapter 26

- The Fatwaof Ibn Hazm

- Verdicts of the Salafi Nasibis

- Ahl'ul Sunnah Viewson Ibn Taymiyya

- Takfeer Issued Against Ibn Taymiyya

- The Fatwas of the Three Fiqh Imams

- Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani's Deemed Abu Hanifa and his Follower Stobe in the Fire

- Hanafi, Shaafi, Hanbali and Maliki have Called Each Other Kaffirs

- Hanafi Versus Hanafi Takfeer Fatwas

- 'Reliable' Al Albani's Condemnation of Fiqh Hanafi Leaves the Deobandi's with Serious Problems

- Chapter 27

- Chapter 28

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

The Actual Shi'a Position

Part 1 - Tahreef of the Qur'an

Are the Shi'a Kaffir Because Tahreef Traditions Exist in their Texts?

Hadith can Not Contradict the Qur'an

Sunni Traditions of Tahreef

Hadhrath Ayesha also Testified to a 'Missing' Verse on Stoning

Has Most of Surah Ahzab Been Lost?

Has One-Third of the Qur'an Been Lost?

Has Most of the Qur'an Been Lost?

Have 'Words' Been Omitted from the Present Qur'an?

A Missing Verse on Suckling

A Further Two Surah's Missing from the Qur'an

Have Words Been 'Added' to the Qur'an?

Did the Sahaba Read Verses Containing 'Ali's Name?

Do the Shi'a Have a 'Different Qur'an, Called the Qur'an of Fatima?

The Deobandi Scholar Maulana Anwar Shah's Fatwa,thatthere is Tahreef in the Qur'an

Our challenge to Minhajj -are there Mistakes in the Qur'an?

The Actual Shi'a Position

Sayings of the HolyImams of Ahl'ul bayt(as)

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Comments of Shi'a Scholars Refuting These Lies

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Scholar's of Ahl' ul Sunnah that have Vouched for the Shi'a Viewpoint

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Allamah Najam-ul-Ghani Rampuri

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

The Actual Shi'a Position

Appraisal of the Sahaba by the Imams of Ahl'ul bayt(as)

Did the Vast Bulk of the Sahaba Apostatize After the Death of Rasulullah (s)?

Does Cursing the Sahaba Make the Shi'a Kaffir?

Imam Abu Hanifa's Disrespect of the Shaykhayn

Ulema of Ahl'ul Sunnah have not Deemed Cursing the Sahaba to Constitute kufr

An Appeal to the Deobandi's

A Matter to Ponder Over

Chapter 22

Obedience to Imam 'Ali (as

Chapter 23

Who Appoints the Imam?

Infallibility of the Imams

Obedience to the Imam

The Superior Rank of Imamate

Are the Imams Superior to Prophets?

Imam Mahdi (as)'s Station Shall be Superior to that of Prophet Isa (as)

Sunni Beliefs, that the 'Infallible' Shaykhayn Were Superior to Rasulullah (s)

Superiority of the Imams over the Angels

Do the Imams have Control Over the Atoms of the Universe?

Do the Imams Possess Knowledge of the Unseen?

What is Ghayb?

The Actual Shi'a Viewpoint

Those with a Knowledge of the Book Can Unlock the Secrets of Ghayb

The Imams 'Inherited' the Knowledge of the Unseen from Rasulullah (s)

Ghayb Attributed by Ahl'ul Sunnah to Hadhrath Umar

Chapter 24

The Actual' Definition of Taqiyyah

Taqiyyah Proven from the Qur'an

Al Muhaddith Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlavi Believed in Taqiyyah

People Adopted Taqiyyah During the Reign of the Banu Ummayya

Abdullah Ibn Umar practised Taqiyyah in the Presence of Mu'awiya

Hanafi Fatwa,at the Time of Danger, One Can Swear at Rasulullah (s) -(naudobillah)

Why Were the Majority Silent When 'Ali was Cursed?

The Ulema of Ahl'ul Sunnah Believe in the Legitimacyof Taqiyyah

The Khwaarij are the Only Sect that Reject Taqiyyah

Chapter 25

The Testimony of One Sect Against Another Cannot be Deemed to be 'Proof'

Chapter 26

The Fatwaof Ibn Hazm

Verdicts of the Salafi Nasibis

Ahl'ul Sunnah Viewson Ibn Taymiyya

Takfeer Issued Against Ibn Taymiyya

The Fatwas of the Three Fiqh Imams

Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani's Deemed Abu Hanifa and his Follower Stobe in the Fire

Hanafi, Shaafi, Hanbali and Maliki have Called Each Other Kaffirs

Hanafi Versus Hanafi Takfeer Fatwas

'Reliable' Al Albani's Condemnation of Fiqh Hanafi Leaves the Deobandi's with Serious Problems

Chapter 27

Chapter 28