Shia Reasoning [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

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Widely
transmitted narrations are recorded about him as being the awaited Mehdi whose
descendence is fromour honorable prophet, by many Muslim narrators.

For
further acquaintance with the life of these great leaders whose names were
mentioned by Gods messenger (p), refer to the following books:

1.
Tadhkira
Al-Khawas (Al-Ummah)

2.
Kaifiyyat
Al- Athar.

3.
Wafeyat
Al-Aayan.

4.
Aayan
Al-Shia (written by seyyid Muhsin Al-Ameen Al-Amili) which is more
comprehensive than the above mentioned books

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1.
Sahih
Muslim, vol.6 p.2 print: Egypt.

question 5:

Why is it so that when we send benedictions upon the Holy
Prophet, we follow it with mentioning blessings on his household and recite,

Allahumma swale Ala Muhammed wa Ale Muhammed.

ANSWER:

It is quite certain that the prophet (p) himself taught the
Muslims the way of sending benedictions upon him. When the holy verse,

Surely Allah and
His angles bless the prophet, O you who believe, call for divine blessings on
him and salute him with a (becoming) salutation.1

Was revealed, the
Muslims asked the prophet as to how they can do so, to which the Prophet
replied,

Dont make the incomplete benediction,

They asked again,

How can we do
that?

He then replied by
mentioning,

Allahumma swale Ala Muhammed wa Ale Muhammed.2

The position of the household of the prophet is so high and
lofty that Shafee says in his well-known poem:

O family of the
prophet, Your love is an obligation from God, that was
revealed in the Quran.

Of your lofty
position, it is enough that whosoever didnt send benedictions upon you, his
prayer is not accepted.3

1.
Ahzab:
56.

2.
Al-Sawaeq
Al-Muhriqa. (Ibn Hajar) 2nd print: Maqtabatel Qahera, Egypt, chap.
11 sect. 1, p.146; and repeated in Al-Dur Al-Manthoor, vol.5, interpretation
of (Ahzab: 56) narrating from narrators and authors of Sahahs and Masnads
such as Abdul-Razaq Ibn Abi-Shaibah, Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Abi-Dawud,
Tirmidhi, Nessai, Ibn Majah and Ibn- Mardawaih from Kaab Ibn Ajrah from the
honorable Prophet (p).

3.
Al-Sawaeq
Al-Muhriqah, sect.11 p.148, from 1st chapter, book of Ethaf (Shabrawee), p.29 and Mashreq
Al-Anwar (Hamzawee Maliki) p. 88, Al-Mawahib (Zarqani) and Al-esaaf (sabban)
p. 119.

question 6:

How do you claim that your Imams are infallible?

ANSWER:

There are several proofs that state the infallibility of the
Shia Imams; and we will only mention one of them:

According to the
Sunni and Shia scholars, the prophet (p), in the last days of his life said,

I am leaving amongst
you two weighty things, Gods book and my household and these two will never be
separated from each other till they join me at the pool (kawthar).1

The point
noteworthy here is:

Quran is undoubtedly secure from
any deviation and error. It is virtually impossible for the divine revelation
to be tinted by mistakes while its reveler is the
Glorious Lord Himself, and its revelation is sent through the angel Gabriel and
the receiver being the honorable Prophet (p)!
Due the fact that the infallibility of the three is crystal clear, and
Muslims all over the world believe the infallibility of the Holy Prophet and
the fact that he is immune from any mistake whatsoever, in form of receiving,
protecting it and propagating its message.
Therefore, if it is clear that Gods book has such pure and firm
infallibility, the prophets household is also immune from any mistake or
error.

This is so because in this narration, the prophets
household were mentioned as the those who are accompanying the Holy Quran in
guiding and leading the nation, and due to this accompanying, both tend to
have the same infallibility.

In other words, it
doesnt make sense to consider fallible individuals as being the ones
accompanying the holy Quran that is in the purest form.

The most evident
witness to the infallibility of the imams (p) is mentioned by the prophet (p)
himself that:

They will not
separate in (guidance and leadership) till they join me at the pool (of
Kawthar).

If it was so that
the prophets household are not immune from mistakes and in some instances
might have been liable to make them, then they have already separated from the
Quran which is free from all mistakes, and they have gone astray, whilst the
holy prophet himself strongly emphasized to their infallibility, by negating
them from any mistake whatsoever.

Of course, what
the holy prophet meant by his household were not all his relatives, because all
of them were not free from mistakes. It is only a special group of his family
(etrat) who possessed this honor, and this position applies to only a few of
them. These are the ahl-bait who all
along history, were the illuminators of the path of the nation, the protectors
of the prophets tradition and the guardians of the Islamic laws Sharia.

Mustadrak Al-Hakim, 3rd volume, p.148.
Al-Sawaeq Al-Muhregha, sect. 11, chapt.1,
p. 149. Similar to this context in
Kanz Al-Amal, 1st
volume, section of Al-etesam bil Kitab wal sunnah
p.44 and in Masnad Ahmad 5th volume, p. 182-189 among others.

question 7:

Why do you recite Ash hadu anna Aliyyan waliyyu Allah
in the call of prayer, thereby witnessing the guardianship of Ali (p)?

ANSWER:

Whilst answering this question, it is befitting to consider
the following points:

All
Shia scholars in their different books of jurisprudence, either argue, or
some go on to emphasize that testifying the guardianship of Ali (p) is not
part of the Adhan (call of prayer) or Eqamah, and nobody has the right to
include it in part of these two.
According
to the Holy Quran, Ali (p) is mentioned as one of Gods chosen friends.

And likewise in the same verse,
it declares his guardianship to the believers where it says:

Only Allah is your wali and his
apostle and those who believe, those who keep up prayers and pay the poor-rate
whilst they bow (performing Ruku).1

Both narrations from Sahih and
Masaneed of the Sunnis have also mentioned that the holy verse was revealed
regarding Ali (p). 2

Hassan bin Thabit said the
following poem:

You are the one who helped the poor whilst bowing, may all the souls be
ransomed for you, O best of the bowers.

Therefore God revealed the best guardianship to you and explained it in
the clearly defined religious laws.

The
honorable prophet said:

Surely deeds are according to the
intentions.

i.e, the criteria and acceptance of any
deed is related to ones intention.

Thus, it is due to this, that the
guardianship of Ali (p) is one of the fundamentals of which the Quran has also
clearly testified, however the previous verse of the Holy Quran does not state
it to be part of the Adhan although there is no prohibition to mention it, and
is regarded in the same manner as bearing witness to the honorable prophet (p)
and his messenger ship.

What is
significant to mention here is the fact that if at all, adding a sentence in
the Adhan is not recommended, and the Shia are
criticized for this matter, then how can the following instances be justified:

According
to reliable sources of history, Hayya ala khairil amal was, and
still is part of the Adhan3, whilst
this practice was removed at the time of the second caliph ( thinking
that people will no longer go towards struggle by hearing that prayers
is the best action.) 4
The
phrase, As-salatu Khairun min al-Noumwas not part of the Adhan
during the prophets time and was added later on5. Thus Shafee in his book Al-omsays:

I dislike to say
As-salatu.. because Aba-Mahthoora (a narrator) didnt mention in his
narration.6

1.
(Maidah:
55)

2.
The
sources that prove this revelation is unanimous, therefore, we shall only
mention a few of the well-known ones.

1.
Tafseer
Al-tabari vol.6 p.186

2.
Ahkam
Al-Quran (Tafseer Al-Jasas) vol.2, p.542.

3.
Tafseer
Al-Baizawi, vol.1 p.345.

4.
Al-Dour
Al-Manthoor, vol.2 p.293

3.
Kanz
Al-Aaml, Kitab Al-Salat, vol.4 p.266 from Al-Tabarani Bilal was calling for the morning prayer and
used to say,Hayya ala Khairil amal Sunnan Al-Baihaqi, vol.1 p.424, 425; and
Muwata Malik, vol.1 p. 93

4.
Kanz
Al-Irfan, vol.2 p.158, Al-Sirat Al-Mustaqeem wa Jawahir Al-Akhbar wal Aathar
vol.2 p.192, Sharh Al- tajreed (Ghushchee), subject of Imamat p.484: He
ascended the pulpit and said, O people, three (things) were present at the
time of the prophet (p), I forbid, prohibit and punish for (committing) them,
and they are temporary marriage, (Muta of pilgrimage) and Hayya ala khairil
amal.

5.
Kanz
Al-Aamal, Kitab Al-Salat, vol.4, p.270.

6.
Dalael
Al-Sidq vol.3 2nd section p.97.

question 8:

Who is the Mahdi from the family of the Holy
prophet, and why to you await for his re-appearance?

ANSWER:

One of the
principles to which all the heavenly religious adhere to, is agreeing on the
matter concerning a Universal reformer, who will appear at the end of the
time. Not only will He reform the Islamic world, but also the Jews and
Christians will eagerly await this universal reformer of justice.

When referring
to both the old and new testaments, the reality of this matter is clarified.1

At this
juncture, the honorable prophet (p) in one of his traditions that was narrated
by the Islamic narrators, stated:

When nothing remains
of life except for one day, God will send a man from my household who will fill
the earth with justice after it having being filled with oppression.2

Therefore, just
as we had said earlier, people of the heavenly religions fully agree on the
belief of such a reformer, and in addition to this, there are also many
traditions mentioned in the authentic books of the Sunnis. Moreover, the
narrators and Islamic researchers of both the sects (Sunni and Shia) have
written many books regarding the awaited Mahdi.3

These traditions
specify his characteristics tracing right down to his descendents, reaching
directly to being the son of Imam Hassan Al-Askari (as)4, the eleventh leader of the Shias. According to these narrations also, our
awaited Imam has the same name as the honorable prophet (p),5 and he is the twelfth leader6 and the grandson of Hussein bin Ali bin
Abi-Talib (p).7

The awaited Mahdi
was born by the will of the divine commandment in the year 255 of Hijrat (from
the time the prophet migrated to Madina) and even today, he is still living, of
course without being identified, though we perceive not.

A point noteworthy mentioning here, is that such a long life
is not in disagreement according to science and general knowledge or even with
logic and revelation. According to the
current research, the world of knowledge is trying to increase the natural
life-span of human beings and firmly believe that humans do have the potential
to live a longer life than the expected one. The possibility of which would be
increased if some of the plagues and normal ailments are strictly
prevented. History has recorded the names
of some of the individuals who have even naturally had a lengthy life span.

The Holy Quran states the following regarding Prophet Noah:

And certainly
we sent Nuh to his people, so he remained amongst them a thousand years save
fifty ..8

As for Jonah, the Quran states the
following about him:

He would certainly have tarried in its belly to the day
when they are raised.9

Furthermore, both
prophet Khizr as well as Jesus (peace be on them)
happen to be alive even today, and to which all the Muslims agree as mentioned
in the holy book of Allah.