Shia Reasoning [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

.

1.
Usool Al-Kafi, vol. 1 Kitab Al-ilm, Bab AL-skhth
bil-Sunnah was
Shawahid Al-Kitab, narration 3

2.
Previous reference, narration 5

3.
Usool AL-Kafi, vol. 1 Kitab Al-Fazl AL-Ilm, Bab
AL-Akhth bil Sunnah was Shawahid Al-Kitab, narration 2.

4.
Previous reference, narration 8.

5.
Previous reference, narration 6

6.
Jame a Ahadith, AL-Shia, vol.1 p. 129

7.
Previous reference, p. 127.

8.
Previous reference, p. 128.

9.
Sahih Al-Tirmidhi, Kitab AL-Manaqib, Bab Manaqib
Ahlu Bait Al-Nabi, vol. 5 printed in Beirut, p. 662, narration 3786.

10. Previous
reference, p. 663, narration 3788.

11. Sahih Muslim,
vol. 7, Bab Al-Fazael Ali bin Abi Talib, printed in Egypt, p. 122-123.

12. Mustadrak Al-Hakim,
vol. 3 p. 148; Al-Sawaeq AL-Mohreqah, Bab 11 chapt. 1 pg. 149; and similar
context and be observed in the following books: Masnad Ahmad, vol. 5, p. 182,
189; Kanz al-Amal, vol. 1 Bab Al-Etesam Bil Kitab wal sunnah,
p. 44.

13. Sahih Muslim,
vol. 7, Bab fazael Ali bin Abi talib, Printed in Egypt, p. 123.

14. Sahih Muslim,
vol. 6, p. 3 printed in Egypt.

15. Previous
reference.

16. Nahj AL-Balagha
(subhi Saleh), speech 144.

Question 29:

Did Abu-Talib die as a believer of Islam such that the Shia consider it an honor to visit his shrine?

ANSWER:

According to the view of the Shias, AbuTalib, the Son of
Abdul Muttalib and the father of the Commander of the faithful, the uncle of
the honorable prophet of Islam is a believer in the message of God and His
prophet, and was a supporter of the Prophet during difficulties and hardships
right from the early period of Islam.

The Family of Abu
talib:

He was born in the family of Abdul-Muttalib, the Prophets
grandfather who happened to be the hero of the followers of the religion of
Prophet Ebrahim, the friend of God.
Abdul-Muttalib never desisted in worshipping Allah and supporting the
truthful religion of unity, and this is clearly noted throughout the pages of
History. It all began when Abraham came
with a heavy army of elephants aiming to destroy the Holy sanctuary of Kaaba
and in the midst of their path; some of the camels of Abdul-Muttalib were
confiscated. At this juncture, Abdul-Muttalib came and asked Abraham to restore
his camels, Abraham retorted:

Instead of asking back for your
camels, why dont you ask that my army should return back, and Allahs
sanctuary, the Holy Kaaba, not be destroyed?

Abdul-Muttalib answered with an overflowing spirit of faith
and reliance towards the Lord that:

I am the owner of my
camels, and this House the Kaaba has a Lord in the same manner, for its protection.1

Then Abdul-Muttalib
came towards Mecca and reached the
holy Kaaba, and supplicated to the Lord whilst holding the loop of the door,
saying,

O my Lord, I have
no hope whatsoever in anyone but Thou. O Lord! Protect me from the evil of
these enemies, the enemies of the Kaaba who are fighting against you, prevent
them from destroying your Holy Sanctuary.2

Such eloquent utterances among other similar ones, clarify
the evidences of His worship towards Allah, and his firm faith this is why
Yaqoobi in his history writes the following regarding Abdul-Muttalib:

He refused to worship idols and was a believer in the one
and only Exalted and Glorious Lord.3

Now let us now look at the opinion of Abdul-Muttalib
regarding his son, Abu-Talib:

Abu Talib from the
viewpoint of Abdul-Muttalib:

Amidst the pages of History, it is evident that some of the
predictors of clear conscience informed Abdul-Muttalib of the bright future of
the Holy prophet and his prophethood.

When Saif bin thi
Yazdan was ruling over Abysinnia, Abdul-Muttalib who was heading a mission
came to meet him, and after presenting him with an eloquent speech, the
commander of Abyssinia gave him the glad tidings that a dignified Prophet shall
be born in his family, then added to the following regarding the
characteristics of the Prophet;

His Name will be
Muhammed (p), His father and mother shall die and both his grandfather and
uncle will take the responsibility of his guardianship.4

Later the king went
on giving a detailed description of this prophet who would come in the future
adding that:

He worships the beneficent God, prevents the Satan, puts
off the fires and destroys the idols. His speech shall be the criterion for
distinguishing right from wrong and his judgment will be based on justice. He will not only invite the mankind to enact
the lawful, but will also practice it himself, and shall forbid the people from
committing the unlawful and will nullify it.5

Then the King said to
Abdul-Muttalib:

Undoubtedly, you are his grandfather.6

Abdul-Muttalib after hearing all these glad tidings, immediately went in prostration to show his
gratitude towards the Lord. He mentioned the story of this blessed child as
follows:

I had a son whom I
loved very dearly, in his youth, I arranged his marriage with an noble lady
known as Aminah, the daughter of Wahab bin Abd-Manaf, she then gave birth to
a boy whom I named Muhammed, His parents after some time, died and so both his
uncle and I became his guardians.7

According to the above-mentioned statement of
Abdul-Muttalib, it becomes quite evident that Abdul-Muttalib was aware of the
bright future of the orphan child and thus, he planned to assign his
guardianship to his dearest son, Abu-Talib after him and deprived the rest from
this great honor of the guardianship of the Prophet.

Therefore it was only
Abu-Talib who was worthy to guard the Holy Prophet according to the Abdul
Muttalib, who was a staunch believer in the unity of God.8

For further
explanation, let us go on to mention the proofs of the faith of Abu Talib:

The
Proof Of The faith of Abu-Talib.

His
Library and Scholarly works:

The Islamic scholars and historians have mentioned beautiful
poems of Abu Talib that cover very high literary scholarly works, and disclose
his true faith. Let us mention some of
these:

Let the noble and great people
know that Muhammed is a prophet as was Prophet Musa and Jesus. He had the same heavenly light which they
had; thus all the divine prophets with Gods command guide the people and
prevent them from the unlawful.9

Dont you
know that we found Muhammed (p) a prophet as Moses; this was explained in the
heavenly books. People love him and no
oppression should be practiced against the one whom the Mighty Lord has put His
love in the hearts.10

The Glorious Lord has honored his Prophet
Muhammed. Therefore, the most honored
creature of God is Ahmad. God had
derived the Prophets name from His own, wanting to glorify him. Thus, God, the owner of the throne is Mahmood
(the praiseworthy), and his prophet is Ahmad (the very much
praising)11

O Gods messenger, never shall
your enemies get to you, not till I rest in my grave, so dont worry, disclose
your mission, give glad tidings and enlighten the hearts. You called me to your
religion and I know that you are only a well- wisher to me, and also sincere in
your call. I clearly realized that
Muhammeds (p) religion is the best of religions in all of the worlds.12

O Gods religion witness upon me, witness to my faith in Gods
messenger: Muhammed (p), if others are
misled in religion, I am guided.13

Abu-Talib in his last days of his
sacred life, adviced the important figures of the tribe of Quraish to give
their full support to Gods messenger and this is clearly witnessed in the
following poems (translated)

I advice four persons to support the
prophet of goodness, my son Ali, the great man of our tribe: Abbas, Gods Lion:
Hamza who has always been the protector of the honored prophet, and my son
Jaffer. You-who is my beloved and I am
sacrificed for you- be as the shields towards Gods messenger, before the
enemies.14

Any impartial and righteous person, by
witnessing all these Lovely poems which states with perfect frankness and
lucidity, explaining Abu-Talibs faith in the Oneness of God and the honorable
Prophets message, will realize his perfect faith; and will feel remorseful for
the baseless accusations which some writers, with special political aims, have
against the believer of Quraish, Gods prophets uncle and the protector of the
great religion in the most difficult circumstances of early Islam.

Abu
Talibs love and affection towards the Holy prophet shows his faith in
Islam:

All the well-known historians and
biographers mention that his unique devotion to Gods messenger clearly states
the evidence to the firm belief that he had.

Abu Talib with the aim of protecting Islam
and the Holy Prophet, preferred three years of seclusion besides Gods
messenger in the mountain pass defile of Abu-talib, to heading Quraish. He stayed with the Honorable Prophet will the
end of the economical siege and bore all the problems in those
unendurable circumstances.15

Moreover, he also called his beloved son Ali
(p) to have perfect agreement with the messenger of Allah and to accompany him
in all the difficult circumstances during the early period of Islam. Ibn Abi-Al-Hadid Al-Mutazali in the
commentary of Nahjul-Balagha mentioned that Abu-Talib addressed his son (p)
Ali, of this:

Gods messenger is only calling you to goodness, thus make sure to
always accompany him.16

It is clear that all these services of
Abu-talib towards the Holy prophet and his sincere self-sacrifices in the
defending of Islam are the most evident witnesses to his faith.

Therefore, this great Muslim scholar Ibn Al-Hadid said the following
poem regarding the crucial role of Abu-Talib in protecting Gods messenger and
His religion.

If it was not for Abu-Talib and his son, the religion of Islam would
never be settled; the one gave protection to him in Mecca
and the other (his son) immersed in the maelstrom of death (in defense of Gods
messenger).

Nobody can ever harm the glory of Abu-talib,
neither the ignorant idle-talker, not those who are aware, pretending of
ignorance!17

The
final will of Abu Talib shows his faith in that:

The well known historians of Islam such as
Halabi Shafe-ee in his history and Muhammed Dayar-bakri in Tareekh
Al-Khamees mentioned the last speech of Abu-Talib calling his people to the
support of the messenger of Allah saying that:

O people of Quraish, be the
lovers and followers of Muhammed and support his party (Islam), swearing to
God, that whosoever followed his light of guidance will gain nothing but
felicity. If my life would have continued and death gave me a respite, I would
have undoubtedly removed all his hardships and difficulties. He said this and
then passed away.18

Gods
messenger in many occasions glorified his uncle-Abu-Talib- showed his love
to him, that we shall point two instances:
A
group of historians narrated to the following that the honorable Prophet
(p) said to Akeel bin Abi-Talib:

I Love you for two reasons, one, due to
the relationship you have towards me, and the other is because I know that my
uncle Abu-talib loved you.19

Al-Halabi,
along the history, narrated the following from the Messenger of Allah
glorifying his uncles position (Abu-Talib);

Until the time Abu-Talib was
alive, Quraishi infidels could not harm me at any cost.20

It is also clear that the prophets love
towards AbuTalib and his glorification of his high position is clear witness of
his pure faith; because, the messenger of God, according to the Quranic
verses, only loved the believers and was uncompromising with the non-believers
and polytheists.

The Holy Quran
says in this regard:

Muhammed
is the Apostle of Allah, and those with him are firm in their hearts against the
non-believers, compassionate amongst themselves; 21

Yet in another instance, it
clearly states that,

You shall not find people who believe in Allah and the
day of judgment befriending those who act in opposition to Allah and His
Apostle, even though they were their own fathers, or their sons or their
brothers or their kinsfolk, these are they in whose hearts He has impressed
faith, and whom He has stnghtehened with an impression from .22&23

By considering the mentioned verses and
comparing them with the prophets love towards Abu talib and his glorifying Abu
talib in various occasions, there remains no trace of doubt left that Abu-talib
had a high degree of belief before Allah and his prophet (p).

Testimony
of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah.

A group of the companions of the
prophet testified of the true faith of Abu-Talib, that we shall mention a few
of these:

When a stranger made
an unjust accusation to the position of Abu-talib in the presence of the commander of the faithful,
Ali (p), his holiness, became perturbed and said angrily:

Be quiet! May God
destroy your mouth! By Allah who appointed me as His messenger, if my father
Abu-talib caused the intercession of any sinner, God would accept his
intercession.24

In another instance
he said:

By God, Abu-Talib
Abd-Manaf bin Abdul-Muttalib was a believing Muslim and concealed his faith
from the non-believers of Quraish so that they should not have a wiff of his
tactics for the benefit of Islam, and so that they should not have any enmity
towards the clan of Bani-hashim.25

This statement of
Imam Ali (p) does not only approve of the strong faith that Abu Talib
possessed, but also considers him of the group of the bleoved of God, who with
the permission of Allah, can even intercede for others.

a.
Abu Dharr Al-Ghaffari said the following
regarding Abu-Talib:

I swear by the Lord Almighty
that there is no God other than Him, and that Abu-Talib did not die except
after becoming a Muslim.26

b.
It is also narrated from Abbas-bin-Abdul
Muttalib and Abu-Bakr bin Abi-Qahafah with various chains of narrators that:

Abu Talib did not die until he had
uttered the following:

There is no God but Allah and that
Muhammed is His messenger.27

6. Abu-Talib
according to the viewpoint of the household of the Prophet (p).

All the imams of the household
have stated to the firm belief that Abu-Talib possessed, and in different
occasions have also defended this sincere supporter of the Holy Prophet, that
we shall only cite two of these examples.

i.
Imam Baqir (p) said:

If the faith of Abu Talib was put in one
side of the scales pan against the faith of all these people, then that of Abu
Talib would suppress the rest.28

ii.
Imam Sadiq (p) narrated form the
messenger of Allah that,

The people of the cave concealed their
faith (due their own best interests) and pretended of disbelief, thus Allah
rewarded then doubly. Abu-Talib also concealed his faith and pretended of
polytheism, thus Allah rewarded him doubly.29

Of the
mentioned narrations, it becomes evident that Abu-Talib enjoyed a special
status: