The Barelvi Scholar Sufi Allah Dittah sought it imperative to prove the kufr of Hadrath Abu Talib (as) by shamelessly writing an entire book on the subject matter and at one point seeks to stamp his adherence to Sunni orthodoxy with this bold statement:
And from works we see that the reliance on the verse “And your turning over and over among those who prostrate themselves to Allah.” (26:219) to prove the faith of the father and ancestors of the Prophet (s) is a methodology that only the rawafid use"
Source: Kashifo Qayd Al Shalib fee iman Abi Talib on page 101
Reply One - The Shia are proud that we believe this
Let us be clear that the Shia are not in anyway embarresed with a belief that the ancestors of the Prophet (saaws) were believers. We do believe that this verse proves the iman of the ancestors of the Prophet (saaws), in this regard we have narrations from our infallible Imams confirming this. We for example have one narration in Tafsir Burhan Volume 5 page 515 that the Prophet (saaws) said that "Allah did not transfer me but from al-purified men to clean women".
We also have explicit traditions proving this. Allamah Majlisi for example records:
Imam Ja‘far as-Sadiq quotes the Messenger of Allah in a reliable tradition as saying, “I am the chief (Sayyid) and the best of Prophets, and my successor is a chief and the greatest among the successors of Prophets. My successors are the best among the successors of Prophets. Indeed Adam implored Allah to bestow him with a noble successor. Allah revealed to him, ‘I have exalted my Prophets with Messengership for testing the faith of the creatures and from the righteous people chose successors of the Prophets. O Adam! Make a bequest to your son Shith.’ He was Hibtullah the son of Adam. Adam appointed him as his successor. Shith appointed Sha‘ban as his vicegerent. Sha‘ban was born through the huri sent by Allah from Paradise as a wife for Shith. Sha‘ban bequeathed the vicegerency to his son Mohhith. Mohhith to Mahooq, Mahooq to Ameesha, Ameesha to Akhnooh. Akhnooh is known as Idris. Idris appointed Nahoor as his legatee, Nahoor’s bequest was for Nuh. Sam was the vicegerent of Nuh. Sam delegated to Athamar, Athamar to Bareeshasha, Bareeshasha to Yaafith (Japheth), Yaafith to Baraa, Baraa to Jafeena, Jafeena to ‘Imran. ‘Imran transferred the legacy to Ibrahim, Ibrahim to Isma‘il, Isma‘il to Ishaq, Ishaq to Ya‘qub, Ya‘qub to Yusuf, Yusuf to Bathariya, Bathariya to Shu‘ayb. Shu‘ayb entrusted the legacy to Musa, the son of ‘Imran. Musa to Yusha‘ ibn Nun. Yusha‘ to Dawud; Dawud to Sulayman, Sulayman to Asif bin Barkhiya. Asif to Zakariyya, Zakariyya to Sayaa, Sayaa to ‘Isa son of Maryam. ‘Isa bequeathed to Shamoun, Shamoun to Yahya bin Zakariyya. Yahya bin Zakariyya to Mundar, Mundar to Saleema, Saleema to Burda, Burda entrusted the legacies to me. O ‘Ali! I make the bequest to you. You entrust the legacy to your vicegerent and he would pass it to his successors. All of them are from your progeny.
One after the other, this series shall reach the best inhabitants of this Earth. He shall be the last of the Imams. People shall have serious disagreements regarding your successorship. Anyone from the Ummah (Muslim community) who believes in your successorship shall be like one who has a firm faith and one who dissociates with you and does not follow you shall be in Hellfire; the abode of disbelievers.”
A reliable tradition from Imam Muhammad al-Baqir quotes the Messenger of Allah as saying that the first person to be appointed as the successor of Prophet was Hibatullah the son of Adam. Each and every Prophet had a legatee. Altogether, there were one hundred and twenty four thousand Prophets, five of them being Ulu’l-‘Azm Prophets: Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, ‘Isa and Muhammad. ‘Ali is having the same status with regard to Prophet Muhammad as Hibtullah had with Adam. ‘Ali was the legatee of Prophet Muhammad and the inheritor of all the previous successors. And Muhammad was the inheritor of all the preceding Prophets and Messengers.
Source: Hayat al Quloob volume 1
Reply Two - Sunni scholars have also concurred with the Rawafid position on this verse
Whilst this shameless author insists that only the rawafidh rely on this verse to prove the iman of the ancestors of the Prophet (s), allow us to highlight examples of esteemed Sunni figures that opined likewise:
1) The founder of Sufi's own Sect, Ala Hazrat Ahmad Raza Barelvi penned a book to prove that the parents of the Prophet (saaws) were believers, and cited this verse as follows:
"And your turning over and over among those who prostrate themselves to Allah
Imam Razi said that this verse proves that the light of the Prophet transferred through believers and thus proves that the ancestors of the Prophet were Muslim. and Allamah Ibn Hajar and Allamah Zarqani may Allah be pleased with both and other notable figures opined likewise"
Source: Shamail al Islam al Usool al Rasul al Karram page 14
2) The Barelvi scholar Fayz Owaisi relied in this verse in order to prove that the parents of the Prophet were Muslim
Source: Hazoor ki ma baap Musalman thay page 6
3) The Barelvi scholar Muhammad Yasin Qasoori Naqshbandi said:
"Allah (swt) affirmed the faith of the the parents and ancestors of his final Prophet (s) through this verse 'And your turning over and over among those who prostrate themselves to Allah”
Source: Walidain mustafa page 28
4) Imam of Ahlul Sunnah Ibn Hajar al-Haytami said:
"and Allah (swt) says 'And your turning over and over among those who prostrate themselves to Allah' - one understanding of this verse is the light of the Prophet continued to transfer through the loins of those that prostrate and this proves that Hadrath Amina and Hadrath Abdullah were believers"
Source: Al-Minah al-Makkiyyah fi Sharfi Hamziyyah al-Busiriyyah pages 101-102
5) Al Hafidh Jalaludeen Suyuti wrote six books proving the faith of the parents of the Prophet (saaws), in one of then he also relied on this same verse to prove that the ancestors of the Prophet (saaws) were believers:
"and Imam Fakhradeen Razi in his book Israr al Tanzil said that the verse 'And your turning over and over among those who prostrate themselves to Allah' proves that the all of the ancestors of the Prophet (s) were believers"
Source: as-subul al-jaliyyah fi'l abaayi'l aliyyah page 10
6) The Sunni scholar Ali ibn Ibrahim Nur al-Halabi also relied on this verse to evidence the fact that the ancestors of the Prophet (saaws) were believers
Source: Insan al-'uyun fi sirat al-Amin al-Ma'mun volume 1 page 37
7) The renowned Hanafi Barelvi scholar Peer Karam Ali Shah in his commentary of this verse relies on the opinion of Ibn Abbas to prove that movement refers to the transfer through pure loins that prostrated to Allah (swt) and then comments:
"That is why many Ulema have relied on this verse to prove that the parents of the Prophet (s) were believers and this was the view of the great renound scholars from amongst the Ahlul Sunnah wa al Jamaah"
Source: Zia al Quran volume 3 page 221
8)Imam of Ahlul Sunnah Abi al Muzaffar As Sam'aani in his commentary of the Quran says:
"...'those who prostrate themselves to Allah' means that group that has transferred through loins and there is a narration on the authority of Ibn Abbas that one Prophet was transferred through the loins of the next Prophet to the point that the Prophet appointed Rasulullah (s) and in this verse the term 'those who prostrate' refers to Prophets"
Source: Tafsir ul Quran volume 4 page 71
9) Maulana Muhammad Naeemudin Muradabaadi in his commentary of Ahmad Raza Barelvi's translation of the Quran, whilst discussing this verse, says:
"This proves that all of his (the Prophet [s]) ancestors from his own father back into Adam were believers"
Source: Khazain al Irfan by Sadrul Afazil Syed Muhammad Naeemuddin Muraadabadi
10) In Noor ul Irfan by Mufti Ahmad Yar Khan Naeemi, (that is based on Ahmed Raza Barelvis Quranic commentary Kanz ul Iman) his commentary of the verse is as follows:
"From this we learn all the blessed predecessors of our Holy Prophet (saaws) were believers, monotheists and devotees of Allah Almighty. None of them were infidels or sinners"
11) Sayed Ahmad bin Zaini Dahlan Makki also relied on this verse to prove that the ancestors of the Prophet (saaws) were believers
Source: Seerat al Nabawiya volume 1 page 48
12) The highly revered Barelvi scholar Gulam Rasool Saeed cited this verse to prove that the ancestors of the Prophet (saaws) were believers
Source: Tabeen al Quran pages 478-480
13) Qadhi Thanaullah Pani Pathi al Hanafi also in his commentary of the Quran, said this verse affirmed thar the ancestors the Prophet (saaws) were believers
Source: Tafsir Mazhari volume 7 pages 134-135
14) The Sunni scholar Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Salihi al-Shami relied on this verse to prove the the ancestors the Prophet were believers
Source: 'Subul al-huda wa al-Rashad fi Sirah Khayr al-`Ibad Volume 1 page 275
Conclusion
In his effort to prove the apostacy of the blessed father of Maula Ali (as), Hadhrath Abu Talib (as), Sufi Allah Ditta ended up humiliating himself by suggesting a Quranic verse that the rawafid use to prove that the ancestors of the Prophet (saaws) were Muslim is a belief unknown to Sunnism. The actual reality is a plethora of Sunni scholars have concurred with precisely what the Rawafid believe. As such, Sufi Allah Ditta has through his cursed pen condemned many of bulwarks of his Sect to the sentence of their being rawafid!
