Monday, September 24, 2018

Beliefs and Practices in Shi‘a Islam


The Shi'a belief on 'Imamat'

The Shiites believe that after the death of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and this till the end of the world, Allah has nominated twelve Imams. According to them, those twelve Imams had been nominated by Allah through Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The first Imam according to them is Ali (ra), the second one, his son, Imam Hassan, the third one Imam Hussein and the rest of the nine Imams being found in their bloodline.

From the first Imam (i.e. Ali) till the eleventh Imam (Hassan Askari), all died a natural death like the rest of mankind. As for the twelfth Imam, the son of Hassan Askari, he mysteriously disappeared in this youth and went into hiding in a cave. Now till the end of the world, according to the Shiites, he alone has the exclusive right to reign upon the world. The belief in Imamat is obligatory (Farz) for a Shiite and the one who does not believe in it shall see himself being rewarded hell as resting place. In one of their books, Al-Kafila there is the mention that if the earth (i.e. the world) remain without an Imam, it shall sink. Still according to this book, the (Shiites) Imams are selected by Allah just like Allah chose the prophets.

The Origin of the Sect

Shia in itself is not a religion; it is a sect in Islam. After the martyrdom of Hazrat Umar (ra) and during the caliphate of Hazrat Uthman (ra), Islam propagated in several countries outside Arabia, such as Persia, etc. Many people accepted Islam at that time. Many entered the fold of Islam sincerely while many others entered therein hypocritically.

Among the hypocrites there was one Jewish theologian from Yemen whose named was Abdullah bin Saba. He accepted Islam during the caliphate of Hazrat Uthman (ra). But his true objective upon embracing Islam was to cause division and havoc within. He came to Medina to execute his plans but failed because of the great extent of intelligent people there. He tried his luck in Basra and thereafter Syria but yet again failed in his attempts. At last it was in Egypt that he succeeded in beguiling the people and convinced them to listen to him. What did he do? He began to exaggeratedly extol the grandeur and status of Hazrat Ali (ra). He told the people there that it was Ali (ra) who should have been nominated as the successor of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) after his demise. According to him, [being previously a Jew], it has been mentioned in the Torah that it was Ali (ra) who should have been nominated as the successor of the Prophet of Allah (pbuh), but Abu Bakr (ra), Umar (ra), and Uthman (ra) stole the rights of Ali (ra).

Therefore, being the traitor that he is, he raised masses to counterattack Hazrat Uthman (ra). He prepared and raised an army of malefactors and vagabonds under his leadership to march towards Medina and they succeeded in assassinating Hazrat Uthman (ra). After Uthman (ra), it was Hazrat Ali (ra) who was elected Caliph. During the caliphate of Hazrat Ali (ra), there were the battles of Jamal and Siffin, where the group of Ibn Saba joined the ranks of Ali (ra). Ibn Saba grabbed this opportunity to put great blames on Hazrat Ali (ra). Whilst being in the army of Hazrat Ali (ra), he spread false notions on his account (i.e. on Hazrat Ali) and moreover, he stated that the archangel Gabriel (Jibril) – God Forbid – made an error when he came to give the divine revelations. According to Ibn Saba, it was Ali (ra) who should have been made prophet, and not Muhammad (pbuh). God Forbid.

Therefore, without any doubt, it is Abdullah bin Saba who began the sect of the Shias. Despite the fact that some Shiite “scholars/ theologians/ savants” deny the role played by Abdullah bin Saba, but their negation or denial do not stand because the name of Saba has been mentioned in a Shiite book by the name of ‘Asma-ur-Rijal’ under the sub title ‘Riyal-e-Kashishi’ and it has been mentioned therein that according to Imam Jafar Sadiq that Ibn Saba believed in the divinity of Ali (ra).

The advent of the Twelfth Imam

According to the Shiites, they believe in the advent of the twelfth Imam. Who is the Imam Mahdi according to them? 

When the eleventh Imam, Hassan Askari (CE 846-874) died, he was childless, and this was confirmed by his brother Jafar bin Ali, and according to them, the role of Imam should go only to the son of the previous Imam (i.e. only the son of an Imam can become Imam). [Inset: Al Askari Mosque, Samarrah, Iraq]

This became a problem when Imam Hassan Askari died. He was sonless. Therefore, according to the Shiites, four or five years before the death of Imam Hassan Askari, a son was born to him from a slave girl and the child was kept hidden so that nobody sees him. Ten days before the death of Hassan Askari, that child disappeared and took with him the Quran (the complete and original version) written by Ali (ra), and all sacred books such as the Torah, Psalm of David, the Gospels and a leather bag containing the miracles of all the prophets, as well as the rod of Moses (as), the shirt of Adam (as), the ring of Solomon (as) etc. The child went into hiding in a cave called Surra Man Ra’a.

According to the Shiites, that child was the last Imam, but as the world cannot exist without an Imam, therefore, that last Imam shall live (remain alive) till the Day of Judgement and he shall remain into hiding till the appointed day when he will come out and he shall rule the world. According to a Shiite “scholar” by the name of Allama Baqar Majlisi (CE 1627–1699), he has mentioned in his book Haqqul Yaqin (Iranian edition) on page 527 that when Imam Mahdi shall come, he shall destroy the Sunnis; he shall begin with their Ulamas and afterwards shall destroy the disbelievers (Kafireen)

Hatred for pious Caliphs

Two persons absolutely hated by the Shias are Abu Bakr (ra) and Umar (ra). They gave these two caliphs as well as the members of their families all sorts of bad names. In his book Kitabur Rauza, Kalini reported Imam Baqar as saying: “May the curse of Allah, of the angels and of the whole mankind be, therefore, on those two (i.e. Abu Bakr et Umar).” (Page 115) – God Forbid.

The hatred of the Shiites for the caliph Hazrat Umar (ra) is so great that they called the assassin of Umar (ra), Abu Lulu’ah Al-Majoosi as ‘Baba Shujaa-‘ud-Dinsa’ (The brave of the Deen - religion).

Ali bin Mathahir, a Shia, reported that Ahmed bin Ishaq Al-Qummi Al-Ahwas, a Sheikh of the Shiites had said: “The day that Umar was murdered is an Eid, a day of pride [rejoice] and honour, a day of purification and a day of blessing and consolation.”

Whenever Mullah Baqar Majlisi – a renowned author and Mujtahid of the Shiites – mentioned the name of Umar Faruq (ra) in his books, he added “Alaihil-lanat wal Azaab” (upon him be the curse and punishment of Allah). God Forbid.

But whenever the Shiites mentions the name of the murderer of Hazrat Umar (ra), Abu Lulu’ah, they say “Rahimullah [Alayh]” (May Allah have mercy on him). They send great felicitations and prayers on a Zaalim (a wrongdoer) who killed a great companion of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) and Caliph of Islam.

According to the Shiites, Karbala is superior to the Ka’aba. In his book Haqqul Yaqin on page 360, Allama Baqar Majlisi cite a narration by Imam Jafar Sadiq, wherein Allah has ordained the Ka’aba to keep silence and not to declare itself superior to Karbala. According to that narration Allah has described the exceptional qualities of Karbala over the Ka’aba. God Forbid.


Mut’a: The Practice of Temporary 'Marriage' 

First of all, let me explain what is meant by “Mut’a”. Mut’a is the temporary sexual agreement made by a man to a woman. In order to satisfy his sexual needs, a man approaches a woman and offers her a sum of money, or wheat, or dates and defines the time limit during which they shall live together, a day or two, as per the agreement. Therefore, in Mut’a, there are two things involved: Ajal (time limit) and Ajr (reward).

Mut’a is a practice which existed in the times of ignorance (Jahiliya) by the Arabs. Like the consumption of wine (alcoholic drinks) did not stop instantly, likewise, the issue of Mut’a needed to be addressed. The transition from the time of ignorance to Islam was a difficult one. Islam found its place amidst the Arabs step by step. At the beginning of Islam, the practice of Mut’a continued especially in the times of war when a soldier could approach any woman and propose to stay with her for a limited time and to give her, her reward, and after securing the agreement, the man satisfied his sexual needs. In this way, in Islam Mut’a took the form of temporary marriage and later on was completely annulled, exterminated and condemned by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) after he received the divine instruction to put a stop to this practice completely. (Bukhari, Muslim).

Now let us see what the Shias say about the practice of Mut’a. According to them, this practice is licit (Halal) and highly recommended. According one of their fabricated tradition which is found in Manhaj-us-Sadiqin, the Prophet of Islam (pbuh) said : “He who does Mut’a once will reach the station of Imam Hussein, he who does it twice will reach the station of Imam Hassan, and he who does it thrice will reach the station of Hazrat Ali and the person doing it four times will be equal to me in rank.” This is completely false. The prophet (pbuh) never said that.

Allama Majlisi cited another tradition, which according to him, the prophet of Allah has said (which of course is utterly false): “Whoever performs Mut’a once in his life is from the people of Jannah. When a man who makes intention to perform Mut’a and the woman who gets ready to perform Mut’a, when both of them meet, an angel comes down and protects them until both of them come out of their house. The conversation that both of them make is equal to making Tasbih. When both of them grab the hands of each other, their sins are cooked through their fingers. When both of them kiss each other, Allah gives them the reward of Hajj amd Umrah for each kiss. The time until they are busy in sexual intercourse, Allah gives them reward equal to a mountain for each every lust. When they get finished and perform Ghusl, while they know and believe that their God is Allah and to perform Mut’a is accepted Sunnah, then Allah says to the angels: ‘See both of my men who have stood up to perform Ghusl with this faith that I am their God, you bear witness that I have forgiven all of their sins’. No water drops from a hair of their body that ten rewards are written for them for each hair and ten of their sins are forgiven and they are exalted to ten top levels… When they finish and perform Ghusl, then for each drop of water Allah produces angels who perform Tasbih and its reward will reach them until the Day of Judgement.”

Allama Majlisi cited another (false) tradition that the Prophet (pbuh) said (God knows where he got that!): “Mut’a with believing women is like 70 times journey to Ka’aba.” And in another place, still according to Allama Majlisi, the Prophet (pbuh) said: “He who will have done this virtuous deed (Mut’a) a large number of times God will elevate his rank. Such people will cross the Pul Sirat like a flash of lightning. They will be accompanied by seventy rows of angels. Those seeing them will wonder whether they were angels, close to God, or Prophets or Messengers. The angels will tell them: ‘These are the people who followed the practice of the Prophet (by doing Mut’a) and they will enter Paradise without any accounting…”.

I should like to highlight here that these traditions (on Mut’a) is absolutely false. They are fabrications made by those Shiite “savants/ theologians”. They don’t have any affinity with Islam (They do not originate from Islam).

We all know how authentic the two collections of Hadiths are, i.e. the Sahih al Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, after the Quran. But the Shiites reject these two main Hadiths compilations. They do not have any regard, they do not believe in these two Imams, i.e. Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim.

To conclude this subject for today, it is extremely serious the amount of falsehoods which the Shiites have invented and thrown on the Prophet (pbuh). The fabricated Hadiths by their so-called theologians are what they are: false, completely false. The Prophet of Allah (pbuh) never said such stupid things.

The Prophet of Allah (pbuh) warned about the one who lies on his account. Hazrat Ali (ra) narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Do not tell a lie against me for whoever tells a lie against me (intentionally) then he will surely enter the Hell-fire.” (Bukhari).

Salama narrated that the Prophet of Allah (pbuh) said: “Whoever (intentionally) ascribes to me what I have not said then (surely) let him occupy his seat in Hell-fire.” (Bukhari).

May Allah help each one of us against all these kinds of lies and practices and preserve and maintain us always on the right path and give us courage to explain them (i.e. the Shias and others) the true teachings of Islam. Insha-Allah. Ameen.


----Extracts from the Friday Sermon of 21 September 2018(11 Muharram 1440 AH) delivered by Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.