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In the
name of Allah, the Beneficent,
the Merciful
May Almighty Allah bless Prophet
Muhammad and his progeny
“A faith in the beginning is
simple & uncomplicated.
As time goes on, people start
elaborating those simple beliefs
and that is when disputes arise
& different sects are
established.
It has happened in all previous
religions and Islam was not an
exception.”
A.
INTRODUCTION
The name “Shi‘a” or “Shi‘ite”
entered the Western media’s
common vocabulary during the
Islamic Revolution of Iran, and
it is being frequently heard now
in context of the war in Iraq
when reporters or commentators
say that sixty to sixty-five
percent of the Iraqis are
“Shi‘ite” or “Shi‘a
Muslims”.
If you travel across the Middle
East and
Asia, you will soon
realize that besides the
*similarity and uniformity*
found among the Muslims on basic
issues, there is also a great
*diversity* in the world of
Islam.
Not only in the composition of
its membership but also in
thought and practice: there are
different *theological sects*
and a variety of spiritual
brotherhoods*.
However, the most the important
division in Islamic theology has
placed the Muslims into
two main schools of thought: the
Sunni and the
Shi‘a.
The Muslims who believe that
‘Ali was the immediate successor
and caliph of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.)
are known as “Shi‘a”. The name
“Shi‘a” is a short form of the
Arabic phrase: “Shi‘atu ‘Ali – a
follower of ‘Ali.” ‘Ali, son of
Abu Tălib, was
the cousin and the son-in-law of
the Prophet of Islam.
Out of almost a billion Muslims
in the world, about fifteen
percent
are Shi‘a Muslims. The
following table gives the
distribution of Shi‘as in
countries where they are found
in considerable numbers:
Country
Shí‘a Population
Shí'a of Total Population
Iran 60,000,000 90 %
Pakistan 30,000,000 20%
India 10,000,000 1.8%
Iraq 16,000,000 65%
Turkey 1,000.000
Afghanistan 4,000.000 15%
Lebanon 1,000.000 30%
Bahrain 170,000 70%
Saudi Arabia 440,000 7%
mostly in the eastern region
Azerbaijan 5,000,000 62%
We can safely say that there are
about *127 million* Shí‘as in
the world.
It is important to note that in
most Muslim communities and for
most part of the their history,
the Shi‘as have lived in peace
and harmony with the Sunni
Muslims. Polemics in religious
writings on both sides has been
part of our history, but that
was limited to the learned and
the educated elite, and it never
degenerated into physical
violence against one another.
Unfortunately, in the last
twenty years, the Shi‘a Muslims
have been persecuted on
religious and political grounds
in certain Muslim countries,
especially in Pakistan,
Afghanistan
and
Iraq.
In
Pakistan,
by the Sipah-e Sahaba group; in
Afghanistan,
by the former Taleban
government; and in Iraq, by Saddam’s former regime.
B. WHO
IS A MUSLIM?
The Sunnis and the Shi‘as both
are Muslims, so let us first
define a
“Muslim”. A Muslim is one
who believes in the following
three
principles of Islam:
1. *Monotheism Tawhíd).
This is the belief that there is
only One God who is the origin
and creator of the universe.
This is the foundation stone of
Islam and is reflected in the
famous sentence that says that,
“I bear witness that there is no
god but Allâh”.
2. *Prophethood
Nubuwwa).*
This is the belief that God sent
thousands of prophets and
messengers
to guide the human
society. Some of the most
important prophets of God
in
whom a Muslim must believe are:
Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses,
Jesus,
and Muhammad (peace be
upon them all).
A Muslim must also believe that
Prophet Muhammad was the last
prophet and final messenger of
God. No prophet or messenger is
to come after him. This is
reflected in the famous saying:
“I bear witness that Muhammad is
the Messenger of God”.
3. *Resurrection and
Life Hereafter Qiyâmat).
*This is a belief that at the
end of time, all human beings
will be resurrected by God and
will be held accountable for
their worldly
life. The life in
hereafter will be an eternal
life. However, whether it
will be blissful or full
of sorrow depends on how we
spend our present
life.
All Muslims agree that the above
three principles are the minimum
requirement for joining into the
fold of Islam. Anyone who does
not believe in all three of the
above principles cannot be
called a
Muslim.
All the Muslims — the
Sunnis as well as the Shi‘as —
also agree on the following
important issues:
The *Qur’ăn* is the Word of God
revealed upon Prophet Muhammad,
and
that it is unaltered, and
the main source of Islamic
views. For example, one of the
earliest Shi‘a scholar, Shaykh
as-Sadűq (d. 381/991), said:
“Our belief is that the Qur’ăn,
which Allăh revealed to His
Prophet
Muhammad (s) is the one
between the two covers. And it
is that which is in the hands of
the people, & is not greater in
extent than that… And he who
asserts that we say that it is
greater in extent than this (the
present text) is a liar.”
Not only this most famous of the
early Shi‘a
scholar believes in the
integrity of the Qur’ăn, even
the most famous contemporary
scholar of the Shi‘a world, the
Grand Ayatullăh Sayyid
Abul Qăsim al-Khu’i has
written, Bayăn, in which he
convincingly proves the
integrity of
the Qur’ăn. (You may see
its English translation
published by the Oxford
University Press in 1998 under
the
“The Prolegomena of the
Qur’ăn”.) The *Sunna* (sayings
and deeds) of the Prophet of
Islam is, after the Qur’ân, the
main source of guidance for the
Muslims. The *Ka‘ba* in
Mecca
is the symbolic House of God,
and that Muslims face its
direction whenever they stand
for their daily prayers.
The following famous tenets of
Islam are accepted by both
Muslims,
the Sunni as well as the
Shi‘a:
* the* five daily prayers* (salât),
* the *fasting* during the month
of Ramadhân (sawm),
* paying of religious *charity
and monetary dues* (like zakât),
* the performing of *pilgrimage*
to
Mecca
(hajj).*C. WHO IS A SHI‘A
MUSLIM?*
A Shi‘a Muslim
believes in all the issues
mentioned above. What makes a
Shi‘i different from a Sunni are
two main concepts: leadership
and justice.
(1) Leadership (imâmat):
Shi‘i school of thought believes
that Islam is a complete way of
life, and therefore it is
inconceivable that the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him)
would have ignored the issue of
leadership after his death.
Shi‘as are of the opinion that
the Prophet not only gave
importance
to the issue of
leadership and succession but
also clearly appointed
‘Ali bin Abi Tâlib as his
successor and caliph, and also
mentioned that
the leadership of Islam
will continue in his family. We
believe that whatever the
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) did was done in
accordance with the will of God.
The Sunni Muslims are
of the opinion that Prophet
Muhammad set no guidelines for
the institution of leadership
after his death, and
that it was upon the
Muslims themselves to come up
with a system of leadership.
And, therefore, you see a
variety of methods were used
for appointment of
leaders and caliphs:
1. through a limited selection
by a small group of people in
Saqifa ashappened in the case of
the first caliph;
2. through a will written by the
first caliph appointing the
second;
3. through a committee of six
people hand-picked by the second
caliph ashappened in case of the
third caliph;
4. through people’s power when
the masses insisted on ‘Ali to
become their ruler;
5. through military superiority
as witnessed in case of Mu‘awiya;
and
also
6. through hereditary in case of
the Umayyids and the ‘Abbasids.
Shi‘ism bases its arguments on
the divine precedence in which
God never left the issue of
leadership in the hands of the
people; He appointed the
prophets and their successors.
Professor Wilfred
Made lung of the
Oxford
University makes an
interesting observation in his
book,
The Succession to
Muhammad, published in 1997. He
writes, “The Qur’ăn advises the
faithful to
settle some matters by
consultation, but not the
succession to prophets.
That, according to the
Qur’ăn, is settled by divine
election, and God
usually chooses their
successors, whether they become
prophets or not, from their own
kin.” (p. 17)
The Prophet of Islam, from the
very first day of his mission
started introducing ‘Ali bin Abi
Tâlib as his successor. He
clarified that
this was done by the will
of God.
*Names of the Shí‘a
Imams* (successors of the
Prophet) and their era of
leadership:
1. ‘Ali bin Abi Talib 632-661
2. Hasan bin ‘Ali 661-669
3. Husayn bin ‘Ali 669-680
4. ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin 680-712
5. Muhammad al-Băqir 712-735
6. Ja‘far as-Sădiq 735-765
7. Musa al-Kăzim 765-799
8. ‘Ali ar-Riza 799-818
9. Muhammad bin ‘Ali 818-835
10. ‘Ali an-Naqi 835-868
11. Hasan al-‘Askari 868-873
12. Muhammad al-Mahdi 873-Living
in Occultation.
The Twelfth Shí‘a Imam (or
successor of the Prophet) is
believed to have gone into
occultation (that is, he is
alive but is not known to
anyone). This occultation will
last till the reappearance of
the Twelfth Imam as the Savior
who will establish the
Kingdom
of God
on earth. The Shí‘as believe
that the Mahdi will be assisted
in his mission by Jesus.
Appointment of ‘Ali by the
Prophet:
From the very first day of his
mission, Prophet Muhammad
started introducing ‘Ali bin Abi
Tâlib as his successor.
Islam began when the Prophet
Muhammad became forty years old.
Initially, the mission was kept
a secret. Then three years after
the advent of Islam, the Prophet
was ordered to commence the open
declaration of his message. This
was the occasion when Almighty
Allăh revealed the verse
“And warn thy nearest
relations.” (26:214)
When this verse was revealed,
the Prophet organized a feast
that is known in history as
“Summoning the Family
Da‘wat dhu ’l-‘Ashira”. The
Prophet invited around forty men
from the Banu Hăshim and asked
‘Ali bin Abi Tălib to make
arrangements for the dinner.
After having served his guests
with food and drinks, when the
Prophet wanted to speak to them
about Islam, Abu Lahab
forestalled him and said, “Your
host has long since bewitched
you.” All the guests dispersed
before the Prophet
could present his message
to them.
The Prophet then invited them
the next day. After the feast,
he spoke to them, saying: “O
Sons of ‘Abdu ’l-Muttalib! By
Allăh, I do not know of any
person among the Arabs who has
come to his people with better
than what I have brought to you.
I have brought to you the good
of this world and the next, and
I have been commanded by the
Lord to call you unto Him.
Therefore, who amongst you will
support me in this matter so
that he
may be my brother (akhhí), my
successor (wasiyyí) and my
caliph khalifatí) among you?”
This was the first time that the
Prophet openly and publicly
called therelations to accept
him as the Messenger and Prophet
of Allăh; he also uses the words
“akhí wa wasiyyí wa khalífatí—
my brother, my successor, my
caliph” for the person who will
aid him in this mission. No one
answered him; they all held back
except the youngest of them —
‘Ali bin Abí Tălib. He stood up
and
said, “I will be your
helper, O Prophet of God.”
The Prophet put his hand on the
back of ‘Ali’s neck and said:
Inna hadhă akhhí wa wasiyyí wa
khalífatí fíkum, fasma‘ű lahu wa
atí‘ű - Verily this is my
brother, my successor, and my
caliph amongst you; therefore,
listen to him andobey.”*[3]
This was a very explicit
statement because the audience
understood the appointment of
‘Ali very clearly. Some of them,
including Abu Lahab, even joked
with Abu Tălib saying that your
nephew, Muhammad, has ordered
you to listen to your son and
obey him! At the least, this
shows that the appointment of
‘Ali bin Abí Tălib was clear and
explicit, not just implied.
After that, the Prophet at
various places emphasized the
issue of loving his Ahlul Bayt,
seeking guidance from them, and
drew the attention of the people
to the special status that they
had in the eyes of God and His
Messenger. (See 42:23)
Then the Formal Declaration:
Finally, just two months before
his death, the Prophet clearly
appointed ‘Ali in Ghadir Khumm
as the leader (religious as well
as political) of the Muslims. He
said, “Whom so ever Master I am,
this ‘Ali is his Master.” He
also said, “I am leaving two
precious things behind, as long
as you hold on to them both you
will never go astray: the Book
of Allăh and my progeny.”*[4]
Maulana Sayyid Muhammd Rizvi,
Toronto,
Canada
Office: (905) 707-0982
Fax: (905) 737-9781
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