ABOUT ALLAH/ISLAM 

• Sunni’s personify Allah 
  • Abu Huraira says:  “The clamor of violent rage of Hell will intensify, it will not calm down until Allah puts his leg in it.  Then hell will say, ‘Stop, stop! It is enough for me, it is enough for me” 
  • Abu Huraira also narrates that people asked the Holy Prophet, ‘Shall we see our Creator on the Day of Judgement?’ He replied, ‘Of course.  At mid-day when the sky is free of clouds, does the Sun hurt you, if you look at?’ They said: ‘No! Again he said: ‘During the nights when you see the full moon when the sky is clear, does it hurt you?’ They said: ‘No! He continued: ‘So when you see Allah Almighty on the Day of Judgement, you will not be hurt, just as you are not hurt by seeing these (the sun and the moon)…Then Allah will show them his bare leg.  Thereupon the believers will raise their heads upwards and will see Him in the same condition as they saw Him for the first time.  Then Allah will say that He is their Creator.  All of them will acknowledge that He is their Allah.” 
• Holy Qur’an rejects doctrine of visibility of Allah 
  • Allah says:  “Vision comprehends Him not, and he comprehends (all) vision..” (6:103) 
  • “He (Moses) said:  ‘My Lord! Show me (Thyself), so that I may look upon Thee.’  He said:  ‘You cannot (bear to) see me…” (7:143) 
• Imam Jafar as-Sadiq stated:  “He cannot be seen by these physical eyes.  It is the heart which sees Him through the light of the realities of conviction. 
• Holy Qur’an says:  “The dwellers of the desert say:  ‘We believe.  Say:  ‘You do not believe but say, we submit; faith has not yet entered your hearts.’” (49:14) 
  • Verse revealed in condemnation of the desert tribe of the Bani Asad, who were Muslims in name only.  During a year of famine, they flocked to Medina and, in order to get relief claimed to be believers 
• Two groups of muslims 
  • Sincere muslims who have acknowledged the realities of Iman 
  • Those who make verbal declarations of faith 
• Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) said:  “Allah has divided Iman into seven classes which consist of ^1.goodness, ^2.truthfulness, ^3.conviction of the heart, ^4.submission to the will of Allah, ^5.loyalty, ^6.knowledge, and ^7.ignorance.  These seven qualities have been unequally distributed among human beings.” 
  • One who completely possesses all these qualities is a perfect believer.  Hence, Islam is in the first category of Iman, in which there is only verbal declaration of belief in the prophethood of Muhammad and the unity of Allah.   
• The way of salvation for such a man is closed in the hereafter unless he becomes a man of good deeds here. 

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PROPHET—Syed/NonSyed 

• Myth:  lineage to the Prophet  is recognized from the male/father side only 
• Imam asked the caliph:  “Who was Jesus’s father?”  Harun replied that Jesus had no father.  The Imam said:  “There was no one, and yet Allah included Jesus in the progeny of the prophets through Mary.   Similarly, He has included us in the progeny of the Holy Prophet through our ancestor Bibi Fatima” 
• In the same manner, Hasan and Husain are truly the descendants of the Prophet—evidence by Mubahila 
  • Prophet said:  “Allah created the progeny of every Prophet from his own generation, but my progeny was created in the generation of Ali” 
• Umar bin Khattab said:  “I heard the Prophet say that on the Day of Judgment every ancestry will be disconnected except my generation.  Every generation of a daughter is from the father’s side except the generation of Fatima, which is connected with me.  I am their father and ancestor”   

WHY SHIAS COMBINE PRAYERS 

• Since the Holy Prophet used to offer these prayers in both ways, sometimes separately and sometimes together 
  • Myth:  this was only done when he was on a journey or some other hindrance, like rain.  People also say that it referred to situations involving fear, danger, rains, or winds. 
• Ibn Abbas said:  “The Prophet used to say Zuhr and Asr as well as Maghrib and Isha prayers jointly without being constrained to do so, or when he was at home” 
• Abdullah bin Abbas said “Woe be to you.  You dare remind me of prayer, even though during the Holy Prophet’s days we used to combine Zuhr with Asr as well as Maghrib with Isha Prayers”  
• He combined the two prayers so that his followers might not be put to undue hardship and suffering 
  • These hadiths have been verified in Sahih Bukhari and Muslim 
• Sunni legal scholars have recorded ahadith which permit the offering of Zuhr and Asr and Maghrib with Isha prayers as a matter of ease, comfort, or safety.  
  • Some authorities, like Abu Hanifa and is adherents, forbid it under any circumstances 
  • Shafi’ites, Malikites, and Hanbalites have permitted the combining of the prayers during a lawful journey 
• Shia ulema, in obedience to the Holy Imam and the progeny of the Holy Prophet, have unconditionally permitted the offering of prayers together.  Of course, the offering of prayers at the time specified for each ritual prayer is preferable to praying in one interval 
  • Since people are busy with their own affairs and have their own cares and anxieties, they fear they might miss their prayers 

RACISM/NATIONALISM 

• Prophet said:  “The Arabs should not boast that they are superior to non-Arabs and vice versa; and the whites should not boast of their superiority to the blacks and vice versa.  Superiority lies only in knowledge and piety”  
  • Prophet showed special affection for Salman Farsi of Iran, Suhaib of Asia Minor, and Bilal of Abyssinia.  
  • On the other hand he rejected Abu Lahab—his uncle 
• Islam proclaims that all Muslims regardless of race, color, or nationality are brothers
  
   

MUTA 

• Was initially practiced during time of Abu Bakr and Umar’s 
• Umar brought a complete reversal of the Qur’anic order.  He said, “Two muta’s as were in effect during the time of the Holy Prophet.  I now decree both of them unlawful and will punish those who engage in this practice.” 
  • Umar said, “In the time of the Prophet two mut’as were permitted.  I make both of them unlawful, and if any one does it, I will punish him.” 
• Since the basis and foundation of religion is Holy Qur’an, if any ordinance is present in the Holy Qur’an and is abrogated, its abrogation must also be present in it 
• Caliph Umar did not advance any reason for his revoking the divine order.   
• Sura Nisa:  “…then as to those by whom you benefited (from muta), give them their dowries as appointed…” (4:24) 
  • Throughout this sura, several kinds of marriage and wedlock have been mentioned:  permanent nikka, mut’a, and marriage with mulk-e-Yamin (servants) 
• Sura Nisa:  “Then marry such women as seem good to you, two and three and four; but if you fear that you will not do justice (between them), then only one or what your right hands possess.” (4:3) 
  • The command in verse 4 (..as to those by whom you benefited…) was for muta.  It could not be for permanent wedlock, for otherwise, it would mean that in the same chapter the decree regarding permanent wedlock has been repeated twice, which is against the rule, and if it is for mut’a then it evidently is a permanent and separate decree. 
• Distinguished companions practiced it at the time of the Holy Prophet 
• No verse was later revealed to make it unlawful, nor did the Holy Prophet ever prohibit it 
• Jabir said, “We have performed both of these during the time of the Holy Prophet.  Thereafter, when Umar forbade it, we could not do it.” 
• Abdullah ibn Abbas said:  “We used to practice mut’a during the time of the Holy Prophet.  When Umar was caliph, he said that ‘Allah made lawful whatever He liked for His Holy Prophet.  Now he is dead, and the Qur’an takes his place.  So when you begin the Hajj or the Umra, you should complete them as Allah has ordered you.  You should repent of and abstrain from Mut’a.  Bring him who has practiced mut’a to me so that I may stone him.” 
• Verdict of Malik who says:  “Mut’a is lawful.  It is permitted by religion.  Its lawfulness, as confirmed by Ibn Abbas, is quite well known and most of his companions from Yemen and Mecca have practiced it.  At another place he says:  “mut’a is lawful since it has been permitted and its lawfulness and permissibility hold well unless it is repealed.” 
• A woman joined with a man through mut’a is protected by all the provisions of any wife except those which have been reasonably excluded 
  • Not definitely established whether a woman united by mut’a is deprived of her right of inheritance 
  • Woman united by mut’a must also observe ‘idda.  Its shortest period has been fixed at 45 days.  If the husband dies, she should observe this period whether she had sex with him or not. 
• Expiration of the agreed upon period is itself her divorce.  Similarly, with the consent of her husband, she may be divorced before the expiration date 
• If a righteous man does not find himself the capacity to shoulder the responsibility of having a permanent wife, and if he wishes to avoid an unlawful action, he would, in compliance with the code of religion, wish to take a woman in mut’a or temporary marriage 
  • At the time of the agreement, he would provide the mehr (dowry), which woud be sufficient for the ‘idda—45 days 
  • After the separation, he would look after the woman during the period of ‘idda 
  • If she were pregnant, he would take proper care of the mother so that he might take his child after its born 
• A Syrian man asked Abdullah bin Umar bin Khattab what he considered about Mut’a-e-Nisa.  He said:  “of course, it is lawful.”  The man said, “It was ordered by the Holy Prophet; so if it has been prohibited by my father that order cannot supersede the order of the Holy Prophet.  I am the follower of the Holy Prophet’s order.” 
• If Caliph Umar had heard of the cancellation of the order of mut’a from the Holy Prophet, he should have spoken about it during the life of the Holy Prophet up to the period of his own caliphate 
• The practice, which had been current among the community, could only be nullified by the Holy Prophet 
  • Would the Holy Prophet have only mentioned this to Umar and then never repeated it?? 
  • Umar could have said when he prohibited it that he himself had heard the Holy Prophet say that the practice of mut’a had been banned 
• The banning of this spread lewdness 
  • Imam Ali said, “If Umar had not put a restraint on mut’a noone, except an unfortunate man, would have committed fornication” 
  • “Mut’a was really a mercy of Allah, which He gave to the community of Muhammad.  If Umar had not banned it, noone except an unlucky man would have committed adultery.” 

GRAVES 

Imam Ali (as) grave 

• Ummayad oppression was so intense during Ali’s later life; he stipulated in his will that his body should be laid in a grave secretly at night and that no trace of the grave should be left.  That’s why it was discovered 150 years later. 
• Remained virtually unknown until the days of Caliph Harun ar-Rashid 
  • Harun went hunting in Najaf.  When the hounds chased the deer, they took refuge on the mound of Najaf, a small hill which the hounds would not ascend.  Harun then asked why this was going on  
  • An old man said, “Once I came here with my father, who went on to the mound and offered prayers there.  When I asked him what was there, he said that they had come there with Imam Ja’far Sadiq for a visit.  The Imam had said that this was the sacred grave of his revered grandfather” 
  • The grave was then dug up and the signs of a grave showed a tablet with an inscription in Syriac, meaning:  “In the name of Allah, the Beneficient, and the Merciful.  This grave has been prepared by the Prophet Noah for Ali, the Vicegerent of Muhammad, 700 years before the deluge” 
  • Harun paid respects to the place and ordered the restoration of the Earth 
  • Harun then decreed that a stone building be erected over Commander of the Faithful’s sacred grave, which came to be known as Hajar Haruni, “the stone structure built by Harun” 
• Locations of the grave—myths  

Desecration of graves 

• In 1216AH on Eidi’l Ghadir, when most of the residents of Karbala go to Najaf for pilgrimage.  The Wahhabis of Najaf attacked Karbala and murdered the Shias.  They demolished the tombs of those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of Islam.  About 5,000 residents of Karbala were slaughtered.  The treasury of Imam Husain was looted. 
• In Mecca and Madina, the Wahhabis destroyed the tombs of the martyrs of Uhud, including that of Hamza, the ancestors of the Holy Prophet, like Abdu’l-Muttalib, Abdullah, and others.   

ORIGINS OF SHIAS 

• Myth:  Usthman pursued the Israelites and they fled to Egypt, where they established a sect known as the Shia.  They spread false reports about Caliph Uthman and fabricated ahadith to the effect that the Holy Prophet had appointed Ali as caliph and Imam 
  • With the formation of this sect, there was widespread violence, which led to the murder of Uthman 
  • The Shia became powerful during the period of the Dailamites and the Safavid Kings and were finally recognized 
  • In short, the Shia sect was founded by a Jew, Abdullah bin Saba—part of Jewish faith 
    • According to Shia sources, Abdullah bin Saba was a Jew and a hypocrite 
• Shia literally means “follower” 
  • The name Shia commonly means every person who is a friend of Ali and his AhleBaith 
  • The Prophet called the followers of Ali “Shia”, the “delivered”, and the “rescued” 
• Holy Prophet addressing Ali said:  “O Ali, the best of creatures (Khairu’l-bariyya) in this holy verse refers to you and your followers (Shia)”  
• At the time of Prophet’s death, the Prophet rested on Ali’s chest and said:  “You have heard the holy verse:  ‘Those who believe and do good deeds, it is they who are the best of creatures.’ (98:7)  These are your Shia.  My and your meeting place shall be at the fountain of Kauthar” (Peshawar Nights) 
• Holy Prophet said:  “I swear by Him who controls my life that this man (Ali) and his Shia shall secure deliverance on the Day of Resurrection” 
• In the same way Muslims would become divided into three groups.  One of them would be the Shias, the true believers.  The other group would be Ali’s enemies, and the third group would be the exaggerators of his position 
• The Prophet said:  “O Ali, on the Day of Judgement, you and your Shias will come before Allah fully satisfied and pleased, while your enemy will come in grief and with hands bound” 
• The first new word that came into general acceptance in Islam in the days of the Prophet was “Shia”.  The word was applied to four prominent companions:  Abu Dharr Ghifari, Salman Farsi, Miqdad bin Aswad Kindi, and Ammar Yasir  
• Moral:  the term Shia was there at the time of the Prophet