Chapter Five: Our appeal to our readers
Our appeal to our Shi’a brethren
Your madhab is the truth and your Imams are leaders of the world. You are the lovers of the family of the Prophet (s) and adhere to them, we appeal that you continue to abide by their holy teachings. We are proud that we can proudly talk of each of the lives of our great Imams. They never fled the battlefield nor did they disparage the Prophet through disgraceful words. They never questioned the Prophethood of Muhammad (s), nor did they love those whom Holy Prophet expelled from his sight. They never in their own lives nor during the time of Prophet (s) participated in idol worshipping. All have to accept that our Imams are perfect, no one is like them, and they are the greatest of creations.
It is important that we adhere to the teachings of our great Imams so that we do not embarrass Maula ‘Ali (as) on the Day of Judgement. We must always remember the words of Imam Sadiq (as):
“Shi’a be a matter of pride for us”
Our appeal to Sunnis
The Sunni Madhab has two pillars:
1. Sunnah of the Prophet
2. The way of the Sahaba
No Sunni can deny that according to their madhab, guidance is dependent on adherence to these methodologies. We will bring both of these before our readers to decide.
The two principles have been spilt in such a manner that their split is quite clear that the Sunnah of the Sahaba is one thing, and the path of the Sahaba is another. If both are the same, then what is the difference between Sunnah and Path, when the Sunnah of the Prophet (s) is sufficient? It is clear that which has split from the Sunnah is an innovation in the Deen. Verily the Sunnah and the Path proves that this foundation of the Sunni faith is within itself Bidah, which is why at the time of the Sharh Maula ‘Ali (as) refused to adhere to the path of the Shaykhayn, and he proved that anything added to the Sunnah of the Prophet (s) in unacceptable. The texts of Ahl’ul Sunnah record that Maula ‘Ali (as) was offered the caliphate on the condition that he adhere to the Qur’an and Sunnah and the practices of Abu Bakr and Umar, a condition our Imam (as) rejected and Uthman duly accepted. They may try but there s no room for Nasibis to claim that this reference if a lie for the leading Imam of Ahl’ul Sunnah have recorded this event:
- al Bidayah wa al Nihaya Volume 7 page 146
- Sharh Fiqh Akbar page 66 “Fadail Naas badh ai Rasulullah”
- Iqd al Fareed Volume 2 page 213
- Tareekh Abu Fida Volume 1 page 166 Dhikr Maqaathil Umar
- Tareekh Khamees Volume 2 page 255
Tareekh Tabari Volume 14 page 158-159- Tareekh Kamil Volume 3 page 35 Dhikr Shura
Second proof of the split between the two is the suggestion that the Sunnah was not complete rather God forbid the completion of the Deen was dependent upon the path of the Sahaba, after all why the need for the way of the Sahaba? Did the Sahaba adhere to something outside the Sunnah of the Prophet (s)?
In such a circumstance we have to accept that the Deen was incomplete that is unacceptable. We have to accept that the Sahaba through their own opinion made addition / deletions in the Deen that led to this additional criteria.
Verily the foundation of your madhab is against the Qur’an and Sunnah, any madhab that contradicts these two sources, cannot claim to be the rightful saved Sect. From a religious angle, the Islamic faith is a natural hence the true faith is that which is logical and natural.
Why is mankind the best of all other creations? Only because it has been endowed with common sense, after all the other instincts are endowed in animals also, and every creature lives according to his limited intellect. The intelligence given to Man, is the ability to distinguish bad from good. Aql means thinking about the consequences knowing what is good and bad.
The Islamic Faith is logical guidance hence every correct Islamic Faith is according to logic. No act in Islam contradicts logic, rather Islam actually means logic. Use logic and think that we have animal to like the good and dislike the bad. The Islamic Faith says do the same, adhere to the good and keep aloof from the bad. What else is Islam?
It is clear that we don’t need to go into philosophy any Madhab that says good and bad are the same, all are equal, to say bad is bad is wrong, whatever the consequence silence is batter – is such an approach not against Aql?
Man is careful with every step that he takes in his personal life, yet when it comes Deen a matter that affects him at a practical and spiritual level, he acts against nature and follows blindly. If such a madhab was acceptable, tell us what was the reason for having Prophets on the earth? Whilst the cornerstone behind the mission of Allah (swt) is to distinguish between truth and falsehood, the Sunni madhab’s greatest blow is in relation to the fact that contrary to nature it rejects the notion of assessing the deeds of the Sahaba. When all agree that Sahaba are not infallible and they can fall into sin whether intentionally or intentionally.
They will need to accept that amongst the Sahaba there exist pious religious and money loving, greedy and irreligious individuals, who committed heinous acts that have been recorded in the books of Tareekh. Unfortunately the Sunni madhab have said that you cannot distinguish between good and bad Sahaba, rather all the Sahaba are protected from criticism. Since the foundation of this madhab is illogical and against nature, therefore it is unacceptable.
The Shi’a madhab deems it essential to assess and determine the character of the Sahaba, the pious, impious, good / bad, brave / coward, a necessity that is natural and logical hence this madhab is acceptable and should be followed.
In Shi’a madhab the two tools of Guidance are the Book of Allah and his Ahl’ul bayt (as) who will never separate until they meet the Prophet at the Fountain of Kauthar, both are in fact the same, one is the silent Book (Qur’an) the other the talking Book (Ahl’ul bayt (as), one is a principle the other its practical application, one is the Book the other the reciter, a Book without a reciter has no value, otherwise we would have to make all the scholars in schools / Universities / Madrassas redundant, and simply distribute books to students and leave it to them to understand and interpret these books accordingly.