Sunni Feedback on The Issues of Infallibility and Ahulbayt [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Outline of Differences Between Shi'ite and Sunnit Schools of Thought INTRODUCTION There is no difference of opinion amongst Muslim schools that
the religion of Allah is Islam; that the only way to know Islam
is through the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet;
and that the Book of Allah is what is known as the Quran,
without any addition or deletion.

The
difference is in the interpretation of some of the verses of the
Quran; and in believing or not beliving some of the sunnah as
genuine; or in its interpretation.

This difference of
approach has led towards the difference in some basic principles
and some laws of religion.

As the basic principles of Islam
are well known, I do not think it is necessary to enumerate all
the beliefs. It will be sufficient if some of the important differences are described here to give the readers a fairly
comprehensive idea of the main characteristics which distinguish
the Shiats from the Sunnis.

All the Muslims argee that Allah is one, Muhammad (PBUH&HF)
is His last prophet, and that one day Allah will resurrect all
the human beings, and all will be questioned about their beliefs
and actions. All of them agree that anyone who does not believe in any of the above three basic
principles is not a Muslim.

Also, they agree that anybody
denying the famous tenets of Islam, like salat (prayers), sawm
(fasting), hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), zakat (religious tax), etc.
, or believing that the famous
sins, like drinkig wine, adultery, stealing, gambling, lie,
murder, etc.
, are not sins, is not a Muslim, though he might have been believing in
Allah and His Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HF).

That is
because to deny such things is like to deny the prophethood of
Muhammad and his shariah (Divine Laws).

When we go further, we come across those subjects which are not
agreed amongst Muslims, and the differences between different schools
of Islam begin there.

Many people think that the difference
between Shia and Sunni is the issue of leadership after the
death of prophet.

This is true, but as a matter of
fact, different leaders instruct different ways of approach to
each issue.

This may result to more differences as the
the time goes. I try to briefly explain these basic differences here.

PERSON OF GOD Some Sunni scholars hold beliefs which would imply that Allah
has body, but not like the bodies that we know, of course.
There are quite a number of traditions in Sahih al-Bukhari describing that God has a sign in
his leg, and he put his leg over the hell and so on.

For
instance see Sahih al- Bukhari, Arabic-Englich version, 9.
532s in which alleges
Allah has a sign in His Shin (leg) and when He uncovers His Shin (leg) people
will recognize Him.

Or in the same volume see Tradition 9.
604 and
9.
510 where it is said that Allah has fingers! Please also see the consequetive
articles given by Kaamran refrenced to Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.

Wahhabis who follow Ibn Taymiyyah (d.
728/1328)
confirm that the organs of God is physical entity and Allah is firmly seated in the trone.

However Ash'arites (followers of Abul-Hasan al-Ash'ari) which include a
vast amount of Sunnis, do NOT interpret face, hand, and leg as physical
organs.

They believe that Allah has face, hand, and leg, but they say:
We do not know how.

The Shia firmly believe that Allah has NOT got a body, nor face,
nor hands, nor fingers, nor legs.

Shaykh Saduq, one of the most
distinguished of Shia scholars says:

Verily, Allah is One, Unique,
nothing is like Him, He is Eternal;

Hearing, Seeing, Omniscient, Living,
Omnipotent, above every need.

He cannot be described in terms of
substance, nor body, nor form, nor accident, nor line, nor surface, nor
heaviness, nor lightness, nor color, nor movement, nor rest, nor
time, nor space.

He is above all the descriptions which can be applied
to His creatures.

He is away from both extremes: Neither He is just
a non-entity (as atheists and in a lesser degree Mutazilites
implied), nor He is just like other things.

He is Existent, not
like other existing things.

Shi'i reference: Shi'ite Creed (al-Itqadat al-Imamiyyah), by
Shaykh Saduq Of course, there are some verses in Quran which ascribe the
words used for limbs to the person of God.

But according to the
interpretation of Shi'ite Imams, they are used in metaphorical and symbolic sense, not
literal sense.

for example, the verse (28:88) of Quran which says: Every
thing is mortal except His face means 'except His person'.

Surely,
even Sunni scholars can not say that only the face of God will remain, while His other
so-called limbs (either physical or not) will die! Similarly, Allah has
used the word 'Hand' (Yad) in several places in the Quran.

But
it means His power and His Mercy, as in the verse (5:64): But His hands
are outspread.

In fact in the Quran and the Prophetic such mytaphorical
meanings were greatly used.

For example, Allah describes his
Prophets as :

men of Hands and vision.

(38:45) Even all Sunni scholars agreed that here 'hands' means power and
strength.

I should mention that the view of Shia is also different than
Mu'tazalites who take God to the boundary of non-existence.

CAN ALLAH BE SEEN?

As a direct result of the above-mentioned difference, Sunni
scholars believe that Allah can be seen.

Some of them, like
Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, say that He can be seen in this world, as well as in the word
after.

Others say that He can only be seen in the hereafter.

(Reference:
Sahih al- Bukhari, Arabic-English version, Traditions 9.
530-532 which
clearly state that God can be seen, and God changes His look to be
recognized by people).

On the other hand, Shiats say that He cannot be seen physically
anywhere, because He has no body, and because Allah says in the Quran:

Sight cannot reach Him
(6:103).

Sunni scholars use the following verse as their proof:

Some faces on that day (day of
judgement) will be fresh (blooming), looking towards their Lord
(75:22-23).

But in Arabic language the word nazar (looking
toward) does NOT imply seeing.

Often it is said: nazartu
ilal-hilal falam arahu which means I looked towards the new moon (crescent) but I did not see
it.

Therefore, the verse does not imply that they will see God.

According to the Shi'ite interpretstion, the verse means that they will be looking
forward to the blessing of Allah.

ATTRIBUTES OF ALLAH According to the Shia belief, attributes of Allah can be put in
two distinct groups: first those attributes which denote His person,
and second, those attributes which denote His actions.

Shaykh
Saduq says:

For example, we say that Allah
was from ever Hearing, Seeing, Omniscient, Wise, Omnipotent, Having
power, Living, Self-existent, One and Eternal.

And these are
His personal attributes.

and we do not say that He was from ever Creating, Doing,
Intending, pleased, displeased, Giving sustenance, Speaking; because
these virtues describe His actions; and they are not eternal; it
is not allowed to say that Allah was doing all these actions from
eternity.

The reason for this distinction is obvious.

Actions
need an object.

For example, if we say that Allah was giving sustenance from
ever, then we will have to admit the existence of sustained thing from
ever.

In other words, we will have to admit that the world was from
ever.

but it is against our belief that nothing except God is
Eternal.

Shi'i reference:

Shi'ite Creed (al-Itqadat al-Imamiyyah), by
Shaykh Saduq It appears that the Sunni scholars have no clear view of this
distinction, and they say that all His attributes are Eternal.

This
is the actual cause of their belief that Quran, being the Kalam (speech) of God, is
Eternal, and not created.
Because they say that He was
mutakallim (speaking) from ever.

Hanbalites so far said that 'Not only were the words
and sounds of the Quran eternal, so that even its recital was uncreated, but its
parchment and binding shared the same qualities.

In the
Testament of Abu Hanifa a more moderate view is expressed: We confess that the Quran is
the speech of Allah, uncreated, His inspiration, and revelation, not He,
yet not other than He, but His real quality, written in the copies, recited by
the tongues.

The ink, the paper, the writing are created,
for they are the work of man (Revelation and Reason in Islam by A.
J.
Arberry,
pp 26-27).

But since Shia distinguish between His personal virtues and His
actions, they say:

Our belief about the Quran is
that it is the speech of God, and His revelation sent by Him, and His word
and His book.

And that Allah is its Creator and its Sender and its
Guardian.

Shi'i reference: Shi'ite Creed (al-Itqadat al-Imamiyyah), by
Shaykh Saduq Among the Sunnis, the bitter quarrel between the Mutazilites and
the Asharites on this subject is well-known, and there is no need to
release it here.

Some claim that every created things has flaws in it and thus
Quran should be ethernal since it is without flaw.

This argument is
baseless since we Muslims believe that angels, though created, are flawless,
otherwise how can we trust Gabriel when he brought Quran to the Prophet? How
can you trust Prophet himself? Is Allah unable to create a flawless
creature? As such, we believe that Quran as well as all other things in the
universe are all created.

Nothing is eternal except Allah.

There
is a tradition from the Prophet (PBUH&HF) which states that:

(There was a time when) Allah
existed, and there was nothing beside Him.

PLACE OF REASON IN RELIGION This is one of the most important distinction between the Sunnis
on one side, and Shi'ites on another.

To be more exact, I
should have used the word Asharites, in place of Sunnis since a vast number of Sunnis
nowadays are Asharites; Mutazilites have become extinct a long time
ago, though some of the great scholars of the recent time like Justice Amir
Ali were Mutazilites.

Anyhow, the Shiats say that irrespective of religious
commandments, there is real merit or demerit in different courses of actions, and it
is because a certain thing is good that God orders it, and because the
other is bad that He forbids it.

Sunni scholars deny this
conception.

They say that nothing is good or evil in itself.

Only what God has
commanded us is good and what He has forbidden us is evil.

If something is
forbidden by God it is bad; then if God cancels the first order, and allows it, it
will become good, after being bad.

In other words, the Shiats
say that God has forbidden us to tell lie because it is bad; the Sunnis say that
lie has become bad because God has forbidden it.

Shiats
recognize the relation of cause and effect.

Sunni sholars deny it.

They say that there is no cause except Allah.

And it is just a habit of Allah that
whenever, for example, we drink water He quenches our thirst.

Based upon the above difference of attitude about the position
of reason in religion are the following differences: Shiats say that God
never acts without purpose or aimlessly.

All His actions are
based on wisdom and intelligent purpose (e.
g.
, Because it is not
commendable, rationally, to act without purpose).

The Sunni scholars on the other
hand, because of their denouncement of rational merit or demerit, say that it is
quite possible for God to act aimlessly.

It follows that,
according to the Shiats, God does nothing which has inherent demerit in it.

The Sunnis deny it.

Shiats say that all actions of Allah are
intended for the benefit of His creatures.

Because He Himself has no need; and if
His actions become devoid of benefits for His creation also, they will become
aimless, which is rationally not commendable.

The Sunnis deny it,
because of their stand about rational merit or demerit.

GRACE (Lutf or Tafaddul) Based on the above differences, there is a difference about
their attitude towards the Grace of Allah.

Shiats say that the Grace
is morally, incumbent upon Allah.

They say Grace is the actions of God which
would help to bring His creatures closer to His devotion and obedience and
facilitate their moral correction (which is) morally incumbent on Him.

Allah
has commanded us to be just, while He Himself treats us with something better,
namely Grace (tafaddul).

The Sunni scholars, on the other
hand, say:

God leades astray whom He wills
and guides to right path whom He wills, and it is not incumbent upon
God, the Most High, to do something that may be best for the
creature.

Sunni reference: Creed of an-Nasafi GOD'S PROMISES Based upon Shia position on Justice and Grace, they say that:

Whatever God has promised as
reward for a good work, He will fulfill it; but whatever He has threatened as
punishment for a bad work, it is upon His decision.

If He
enforces the punishment, it will be according to His Justice; but if He forgives it,
it will be according to His Grace.

Shi'i reference: Shi'ite Creed (al-Itqadat al-Imamiyyah), by
Shaykh Saduq Shia is confronted both by the Kharijites and Mutazilites on one
side and the Asharites on other side.

The Mutazilites and
Kharijites say that it is incumbent upon God to fulfill His threats also.

He has
no power to forgive.
The Asharites, on the other hand say that it is not incumbent
upon Him even to fulfill His promises of rewards.

They go so far as
to say, Even if Allah wants to send the prophets in Hell, and Satan to Paradise,
it is not against virtue, because there is no inherent demerit in any
action.

WHY BELIEVE IN GOD The Shiats say: Man is obliged by his reason to know God, and to
obey His commands.

In other words, necessity of religion is
proved, first of all, by reason.
Sunni scholars say it is necessary to
believe in Allah, but not on the account of reason.

It is necessary because Allah
has ordered us to know Him.

According to the Shi'ite point of view, this
type of proof creates vicious circle.

Believe in God.
why? Because
God has ordered it.

But we do not know who God is.

Why should we obey Him?

LIMIT OF LAW The Shiats say: God cannot give us a command beyond our
strength, because it is wrong rationally (La Yokalleffollaho nafsan illa vosaaha).

Some
Sunni scholars do not agree with it.

OUR ACTIONS: TAQDIR Are our actions really ours? Or we are just a tool in the hands
of Allah!

Shia scholars say:

Taqdir means that, Allah
possesses foreknowledge of human action, but He does not compel anybody to act in
any particular way Shi'i reference: Shi'ite Creed (al-Itqadat al-Imamiyyah), by
Shaykh Saduq The above quote gives evidence to the fact that according to
Shia, human has option either to obey God's rules, or disobey.

To
make it clear, it should be explained here, that man's conditions or actions are
of two kinds (i) Those actions about which he can be advised, ordered,
praised or blamed.

Such actions are
within his power and are dependent upon his will.

(ii) Such conditions about which he cannot be praised or blamed,
like life, death, etc.

Such conditions
are outside of his sphere of will or power.

For example, we can advise a patient to consult this or that
doctor and remain under his treatment; but we can not advise him to become
cured.

Why this difference? Because getting treatment is under his power,
but getting cured is not in his power.

It is something which comes
from Allah.

Freedom of action is a gift of Allah.

He has given us
power, freedom, strength, limbs, wisdom and everything with which we do any
work.

Therefore, we are not independent of Allah, because our freedom
is not only given but even sustained by Him.

However our actions
are not compelled by God, because He, after His showing us the right and wrong ways,
and after His encouraging us to do right, has left us to our own free
will.

If we go wrong, it is our own choice.

Shaykh Saduq stated:

Our belief in this respect is
what has been taught by Imam Jafar al- Sadiq (the sixth successor/grandson of
Prophet): There is no compulsion (by God) and no
relinquishing the authority (of God); but a condition between these two conditions.

Then
Imam was asked: How is it? He said: Suppose you see a man
intending to commit a sin; and you forbade him; but he did not listen to
you; and you left him; and he did commit that sin.

Now when
he did not pay attention to you and you left him, nobody can say that you
ordered him or allowed him to sin.

Shi'i reference: Shi'ite Creed (al-Itqadat al-Imamiyyah), by
Shaykh Saduq In other words, we believe that God has given us power and will
and then has left us free to do what we like.

At the same time,
He has taught us through prophets, what is right and what is wrong.

Now,
as He is Omniscient, He knows what will be our actions in different times
of our life.

But this knowledge does not make Him responsible
for our actions more than a meteorologist can be responsible for cyclones and storms,
if his forecasts comes true.

True forecasts are the result,
not the cause of the impending event.

The Sunni scholars on the other hand
say that Allah is the Creator of all of our acts:

No act of any individual, even
though it is done purely for his benefit is independent of the will of
Allah for its existence; and there does not occur in either in
physical or extra terrestrial world the wink of an eye, the hint of a
thought, or the most sudden glance, except by the decree of Allah.

of
His power, desire and will.

This includes evil and good, benefit and
hurt, success and failure, sin and righteousness, obedience and
disobedience, and polytheism or belief.

Sunni reference: al-Ghazali (as quoted in Shia of India, p43) PROPHETHOOD Based upon their belief of LUTF (Grace), the Shiats believe that
it is incumbent upon Allah to send prophets and their successors in
this world to put people on right path.

The Sunni scholars say that
it is not incumbent upon Allah, because they do not accept necessity of Grace.

SINLESSNESS:

The Shiats and Sunnis in first instance, and then the Sunnis
among themselves, disagree about the theory of ISMAH (sinlessness;
protection) of the prophets.

What is our conception of sinlessness?
It is the Grace of Allah which helps a person to refrain from sins, without
effecting in any way his will and power.

A MASUM (sinless person) has
power to commit sins;

but he does not even think about sins because his spiritual
standard is so high that such inferior things do not enter his mind.

The Sunni scholars do not speak with one voice in this subject:

1.
They first differ about the point when sinlessness
of prophets begins.

Some Sunnis say it is after the declaration of
prophet-hood; others say that it is since childhood.

2.
The scope of sinlessness before declaration of
prophet-hood: Some Sunni scholars say that it covers all sins; the majority say
that they are protected from KUFR (infidelity) only.

3.
The scope of sinlessness after declaration of
prophet-hood: It is agreed that the prophets do not tell lie after prophet-hood.

But
what about other sins? Some Sunni scholars say that they commit
other sins either intentionally or unintentionally; but the majority say
that they could commit it unintentionally, but not intentionally.

4.
The minor sins: Some Sunni scholars say it was
possible for prophets to commit minor sins, even intentionally.

But that
they were protected from such minor sins which might have degraded them in the
eyes of people.

The Shia point of view about sinlessness is that all the
prophets were sinless and infallible; they did not commit any sin, whether
capital or minor, and whether intentionally or unintentionally; and that
they were sinless from the beginning of their life till their last breath.

About
the prophets, Shaykh Saduq wrote:

Their word is the word of God,
their order is the order of God, their forbidding is the forbidding by God .

And
that the Chiefs of the prophets are five, and they are
(called) 'Ulul-Azm' and they are Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (be
blessings of Allah upon them all) and that Muhammad is their Chief
and best of all.

IMAM (LEADER):

Shiats say that Imam must be appointed by God; that appointment
may be known through the declaration of the Prophet or the preceding
Imam.

The Sunni scholars say that Imam (or Caliph, as they prefer to say)
can be either elected, or nominated by the preceding Caliph, or
selected by a committee, or may gain the power through a military coup (as was
in the case of Muawiyah).

Shia scholars say that Imam must be sinless.

The Sunni
scholars (including Mutazilites) say that sinlessness is not a condition for
leadership.

Even if he is tyrant and sunk in sins (like in the case of Yazid, or
Today's King Fahd), the majority of the scholars from the shools of
Hanbali, Shafi'i, and Maliki discourage people to rise against that
Caliph.

They think that they should be presevered.

Shiats say that Imam must possess above all such qualities as
knowledge, bravery, justice, wisdom, piety, love of God etc.

The
Sunni scholars say it is not necessary.

A person inferior in these qualities
may be elected in preference to a person having all these qualities of superior
degree.

Shiats say that Ali was appointed by Allah to be the successor
of the Prophet, and that the Prophet declared it on several occasions.

More
than one hundred of those occasions are recorded in the history.

The
Sunni scholars believe that the Prophet did not appoint anybody to be
his successor.

This is despite the fact that there are
many traditions in the six authentic Sunni collections which support this assignment.

Wassalam.