لطفا منتظر باشید ...
 |
Part IV
Allegations
Against the Shi'a
Refutation of the Claim that their are Un-Islamic
Borrowings in Shi'a Beliefs.
All that we have set down in this book is but a mere
indication of the beliefs and convictions of the Imamiyah
sect. It would require many volumes to deal with them in
detail. But the religious leaders, and indeed the Muslims
in general, can tell us if there was anything in the
facts that we have just stated which could be said to be
the cause of the destruction of Islam, or if there is any
matter which has been derived from Judaism, Christianity,
or Zorastrianism (see introduction), or if anything
appears which is against the basic principle of
monotheism (tawhid) or against the Book (the Qur'an) and
the sunnah (words and deeds of the Holy Prophet
(s.a.w.)). By God, you should be just and not simply
utter caluminous remarks.
Finally, our prayer is that our brothers in Islam
should come out of the world of doubt and uncertainty,
and gather together under the one banner of the Qur'an,
so as to successfully regain their past glory. It is
quite obvious that this is an impossibility as long as
our sectarian conflicts continue.
May God bless us with mutual tolerance and may the
bonds of love between us be strengthened.
The Problem of Bada'
In this matter also the Shi'as are much reviled. The
misconstrues, distorting the concept of "bada",
try to convince people that according to the Shi'a faith,
God, the Almighty, performs actions of which He has no
knowledge. God forbid. Can there be greater ignorance
than this? This is plain infidelity because, on the one
hand, it is a denial of the attribute of knowledge of God
the Almighty, and on the other, He is considered as being
subject to accidents and changes. This negates the very
essence of the infiniteness and absoluteness of God. The
Imamiyah sect vehemently opposes these foolish and absurd
ideas. Rather, no Islamic sect supports this misleading
view. Of course, these nonsensical ideas have been
attributed to some of those elements who believe in the
physical body of God. Thus it was one of them who said
about God, "Only excuse Me for My beard and private
parts. Otherwise you may ask Me anything you like."
The correct meaning of "bada", which the
Shi'as believe in, is included in the secrets and
mysteries of the House of Muhammad (a.s.),. The
traditions of the ahl ul-bayt (a.s.) say, "There is
no other way in which the duty of worship of God is
better performed than it is with the acknowledgement of
"bada". One who does not make "bada"
the proof of this knowledge does not possess a complete
understanding of God."
There are many other reports with the same sense. In
fact, knowledge is of two kings: One is that with which
God has endowed His angels and prophets (a.s.). According
to this knowledge, whatever has been told them must
surely happen. The second kind is that which is neither
known to an angel close to the Presence of God, nor to
any exalted Prophet (a.s.). It is only He Who knows it.
So, according to this, He may cause something to happen
earlier or delay a happening, or efface or write down
something as He pleases. That is the stage of knowledge,
which God the Almighty calls "'umm al-kitab".
This shows the perfect Might, absolute Wisdom and divine
Sovereignty of the Lord of the universe.
The problem may also be understood in the following
way. "Bada" in the world of existence has the
same status as "naskh" (abrogation) in the
commands of the shari'ah. Thus, just as in the shari'ah,
amendments, additions, changes and alterations give
untold advantages, so also, in the world of being, the
secrets and unknown advantages of "bada'" are
beyond human understanding.
"Bada'" can also be explained thus. The
highest servants of God have knowledge of a matter, but
they do not know what will facilitate or hinder its
occurrence. For example, Jesus knew that the bridegroom
would die on the first night of his marriage, but he did
not know that failing to give charity was a condition for
this. So it happened that the bridegroom's mother gave
out charity and he was spared. When the reality of the
matter was put before Jesus, he said, "you must have
given charity on his behalf. Charity wards off
calamities."
There are many other instances of this sort. The
advantages that accrue from these states of affairs is
that, in the first place, human beings are put to the
test, and, in the second, they are trained in the habits
of submission. A clear proof of this is the manner in
which Abraham was put to the test over his son.
Also, if there were no "bada'", all the
invocations, charity, intercession, weeping and
impoloring of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and his successors
(a.s.), and their fear of God, would be meaningless,
despite their complete obedience to Him.
Evidently the cause of their fearing and trembling is
that hidden and treasured knowledge which nobody is aware
of and which is the fountainhead of "bada'".
If someone wishes to know the details of the different
kinds of "bada"', "qada",
"qadr" and the "lawh mahw" and the
"lawh ithbat", he or she should read the first
volume of our book "ad-Din aw l-Islam". We have
there gone into these topics in great detail.
Taqiyah (pious dissimulation or concealing
one's faith in dangerous circumstances)
In the matter of taqiy ah also the Shi'as are very
much defamed and the reason for that is that ordinary
people are quite ignorant of its reality. A careful
consideration will show that the taqiyah in which the
Shi'as believe is not peculiar to them alone. Rather, it
is a logical necessity and a natural demand. There is no
commandment of the shari'ah which is inconsistent with
wisdom and learning. In every problem, knowledge and
wisdom appear together .
If one assesses innate human tendencies, one has to
admit that everyone has a natural disposition to defend
himself: life is dear. Of course, if there is a matter of
honour at stake, or a question of protecting the truth,
then, even though life is dear, it is not given any
relative importance. But if circumstances do not reach
such an extreme, what sane man would be prepared to
endanger his own life just so that the world may laugh at
him?What is more, to court danger is against the counsel of
wisdom and religion.
Thus the Holy Lawgiver has permitted the Muslim who is
surrounded by danger and who risks his or her life or his
or her honour to hide his or her belief outwardly
although he or she must continue to observe his or her
religion inwardly. There are also verses in the Holy
Qur'an suggesting the same thing and the story of 'Ammar,
his parents and some other companions of the Prophet
shows that when he was suffering the persecutions of the
idol-worshippers, he professed unbelief.
There are of course rules for taqiyah. They are three:
1) if life will be lost for no purpose, then it is an
obligation;2) if expressing the truth would serve some useful
purpose, then it is optional;3) if atheism (kufr) is gaining the upper hand, people
are being led astray, and their is danger of cruelty and
oppression, then taqiyah is forbidden.
Now let us throw some light onto the matter so that a
conscientious person may make up his own mind as to
whether the Shi'a are actually guilty of taqiyah
(supposing that it is condemnable), or whether they were
forced to do taqiyah by certain groups who took away
their freedom and forced them to dissimulate their
beliefs.
As soon as Mu'awiyyah took over power, he made the
shari'ah into a plaything and victimized the Shi'as of
'Ali (a.s.) with unconcealed savagery. The blood of the
Shi'as was cheaper to him than water. The Marwanid
caliphs also followed the same iniquitous policy. Then
came the 'Abbasid period, and they even increased the
atrocities. Consequently, those who loved the ahl ulbayt
(a.s.) had to adopt various tactics. Sometimes they went
into hiding, sometimes they rose up. Sometimes they were
forced to conceal themselves and sometimes they stood up
against the oppression in their enthusiasm for the truth
so that their blood might become a beacon lighting the
path for others.
Some great Shi'ahs, therefore, paid no heed to taqiyah
and braved all kinds of cruelties, sometimes ending up.
as martyrs. There is the very famous story of the martyrs
of Maraj Azra, who were fourteen brave warriors who
sacrificed their lives in the way of God under the
leadership of the pious companion Hajar ibn Abi Kindi. He
was also the military leader who was responsible for the
conquest of Syrai. Mu'awiyyah said of him, "I know
what was the case with everyone of those whom I put to
the sword in Maraj Azra, but I am at a loss to understand
what the crime of Hajar was for which he was
killed." But we can easily say what his fault was.
He did not feel there was any need to do taqiyah, because
he wanted to let the world know the tyranny of the
Umayyids and the deep religious feelings of his own
family.
Let us not forget the events surrounding the ends of
the great companions 'Amr ibn Himq al-Khuza'i and
'Abdu'r-Rahman ibn al-Hasan al-Ghazi, who were buried
alive by ibn Ziyad. Nor Maytham Tammar, Rushayd al-Hajari
and 'Abdullah ibn Yaqfar who were crucified. Moreover,
there are the examples of the hundreds and thousands of
other Muslims who died fighting for their beliefs. in the
way of God before the disbelievers who crushed them to
death.
These lovers of truth did not do taqiyah because such
was the need of the moment. Their abstaining from taqiyah
protected the truth and showed up the false religiosity
of Mu'awiyyah, Yazid, Ziyad and Ibn Ziyad.
How can we possibly forget the events surrounding the
martyrdom of al-Husayn (a.s.) and his worthy companions?
They, of course, considered taqiyah to be unlawful in its
particular circumstances, but there are other situations
in which it may be compulsory, or may be merely optional.
It is reported that once Musaylimah, the false
prophet, captured two Muslims and forced them to
acknowdedge his prophethood and deny the prophethood of
Muhammad (s.a.w.). One of them refused and was therefore
killed, but the other accepted and was released. When the
news reached the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.), he said,
"The first man made haste to reach heaven, the
second man marked his time. Both of them will be
recompensed."
O Muslims! Do not taunt your brothers concerning
taqiyah. May God bless you and us in the hereafter, and
may we all be united on the point of guidance. Salam,
peace, to you all, and may God bestow on you His Mercy
and His Blessings.
| |
