Beliefs

It is noteworthy to mention that the Shi'ah have adhered faithfully to the Book and Sunnah as sources of legislation, without adding any other source to them, due to availability of sufficient texts (nusus) with their Imams,for each and every matter and question (mas'alah) needed badly by people.

Some people may be suprised at this and regard as importable, that the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt possess texts containing all rules and solutions for all matters and problems facing people, for all ages and times till the Doomsday.

For the sake of exposing this fact, it is inevitable to indicate the following points:

If any Muslim believes that Allah--Subhanahu--has delegated Muhammad with a Shari'ah that perfects all previous shara', and prevails over them for continueing the march of humanity on earth, to return thereafter to the eternal life."He it is Who hath sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion".(9:33)

If a Muslim believes that Allah --Subhanahu --wanted man to be submissive to His rule and commandments in all of his sayings and acts, and to commit himself completely to the will of God."Lo! religion with Allah (is) the surrender (to His will and Guidance)".(3:19)

"And whoso seeketh as religion other than the Surrender (to Allah) it will not be accepted from him". (3:85)

If this be the case, God's rules should be perfect and all-inclusive for meeting all man's need in his tiresome progress toward overcoming all obstacles, and withstanding life challenges to attain the aspired aim.

About this fact, the Almighty Allah has stated in the Qur'an :

"We have neglected nothing in the Book of our decrees" (6:38).

On this basis, nothing is there but being mentioned in the Book of Allah- the Exalted -but man, due to his limited mentality, cannot percieve all things Allah, the Glorified, has mentioned (in Qur'an) for an extreme wisdom, known only for men of letters. This fact has been expressed by the Almighty Allah:

"And there is not a thing but hymneth His praise; but ye understand not their praise..."(17:44)

The phrase (there is not a thing) indicates man, animal, and substance,with no exception, all praise (God). Man may accept the praise of animal and living creatures, like plants, but his brain is unable to percieve the praise-hymn of stone for example, God has said:

"Lo! We subdued the hills to hymn the praises (of their Lord) with him at nightfall and sunrise". (38:18)

When admitting and believing in this, we should believe that Allah's Book contains all the rules that people badly need till the Day of Resurrection. But it is infeasible for us to percieve them unless we refer to the man unto whom the Book was revealed, and who apprehend all its meanings, being the Messenger of Allah, as stated by the Almighty Allah: "And We reveal the Scripture unto thee as an exposition of all things..." (16:89)

If we admit that Allah -Subhanahu-has exposed all things for His Messenger, so that he can expose to mankind what is revealed to them, we should admit that the Prophet (S) have verily exposed and explained everything needed by people till Doomsday, and has never neglected anything without a rule.

If we could not get access to that exposition, or being unaware of it today, it is due to our inertia, remissners and ignorance, or it is resulted from the betrayal of the medium between them and him (Prophet), or due to the Companions' ignorance and not comprehending what the Prophet (S) has exposed.

But Allah -the Glorified, the Exalted -is aware that all these probabilities are imminent, so for the sake of safeguarding His Shari'ah against loss and neglegence, He has elected Imams from among His bondmen, giving them the knowledge and exposition of the Book as inheritance, so that no plea will remain for mankind to raise against Allah.The Almighty has said: "Then We gave the Scripture as inheritance unto those wheom We elected of Our bondmen". (35:32)

The Messenger of Allah (S) verily underataken the task of exposing for people whatever they need, singling out his wasi' Ali with everything needed by people after him till the Doomsday, due to the merits possessed by 'Ali, from among all Companions, including infinite intelligence, sharp perception, strong memorizing and consciousness of whatever reaching his ear. So the Prophet taught him ('Ali) all the knowledge he (S) had, leading the Ummah to follow him as he being the gate from which people should enter (to get the knowledge).

Someone may argue that Allah has sent the Prophet unto all mankind, so he is not entitled to single out only one of them, with his knowledge, and deprive all others. Our reply is thus: The Messenger of Allah has no right whatsoever in this matter, since he is just a commanded bondman, executing whatever is revealed unto him fom him Lord. In fact he has been ordered by Allah to do so, since Islam is a religion of monotheism (tawhid) and established on unity in everything.It is neccessary to unify people an gather them under one leadership, which is an intuitive matter determined by the Book of Allah, and approved by reason ('aql) and conscience.The Almighty Allah said:

If there were therein gods beside Allah, then verily both (the heavens and the earth) had been disordered". (21:22)

He also said:

"...Nor is there any god among with Him; else would each god have assurely championed that which he created, and some of them would assurely overcome others..."(23:91)

Also, had God sent two messengers at a time, mankind would have divided into two nations, and have turned to be to rival parties. Allah-the Exalted- said: "...And there is not a nation but a warner hath passed among them ".(35:24)

Further, for every prophet there has been a wasi (executor), to succeed him among his folk and ummah, to prevent their scattering and segregation.

This being a natural matter known by all, whether being learned or ignorant, believer or infidels.It is fact that every tribe, and every party and every state should have one head (president), to head and lead it, being impossible for them to be ruled by two chiefs at the same time.

That is why Allah-Subhanahu- has elected apostles from among angels and mankind, honouring them with the task of leading His bondmen, and making them example (imams) to guide people to His religion. Allah--the Exalted --said: "Lo! Allah prefered Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the Family of 'Imran above (all His) creatures". (3:33) The Imams, Allah has elected to seal the Muhammadan message, are the Imams of guidance from the Prophet's Kindered ('Itrah), all being from the family of Abraham, a progeny descending from the other. It is them who have been refered to by the Messenger of Allah (S) by saying: "The successors (khulafa') after me are twelve ones, all being from Quraysh".127

For every time there should be a certain Imam, whoever dies without being aware of the Imam of his time, his death is that of ignorance. Certainly when Allah -Subhanahu wa ta'ala -elects one as an Imam, He verily purifies him, guards him (against error), and gives him knowledge, as He never gives wisdom but to those deserving it.

Should we return to the point, that is the Imam's being aware of the rules of Shari'ah needed by people, through the texts revealed in the Scripture and the Sunnah, which keep pace with the march of humanity till the Doomsday. No one among the Islamic Ummah can claim having this merit except the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt (A), who have recurring disclosed their possessing al-Sahifah al-Jamiah (the all inclusive sheet), that was dictated by the Messenger of Allah and written by 'Ali ibn Abi Talib containing all things (rules) needed by people till the Doomsday, even arsh al-khadash (the smaller trouble) .

We have refered to this al-Sahifah al-Jamiah, that used to be held by Ali everywhere, and it was mentioned by al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Sahihs, so no Muslim ever deny this.

On this basis, the Shi'ah, who have devotedly followed the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, have ruled in the Shari'ah according to the texts (nusus) of the Qur'an and Sunnah, never being coerced to follow other than them throughout three centuries -the lifetime of the Twelve Imams.

But Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah have resorted to ijtihad and qiyas and other alike percepts, due to the absence of nusus and their Imams' unawareness of them, from the earlier days of caliphate.This being natural for them, when knowing that their caliphs have burn the Prophetic texts, beside preventing and hiding them, and when hearing their head say: We are sufficed with the Book of Allah, neglecting and ignoring thus the Prophetic Sunnah, which exposes the rules of the Qur'an itself.

We are all aware of the scarcity of the apparent Qur'anic rules, and that they are generally in need of the Prophet's exposition . So Allah-the Exalted -has said: ''And We have revealed unto thee the Remembrance that thou mayst explain to mankind that which hath been revealed for them..." (16:44)

If the Qur'an is in need of the Prophetic Sunnah to expose its rules and meanings, and if Ahl al-Sunnah have burnt the Sunnah that exposes the Qur'an, so they are left with no texts to expose the Qur'an and to expose the Sunnah itself.

They had no choice but to apply ijtihad and qiyas, and consult their 'ulama', adopting istihsan and that which meets their temporary convenience. It has been natural for them to be in need of all these acts due to their lack for the texts (nusus).

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127. This hadith is reported in Sahih al-Bukhari, vol viii, p. 127, and Sahih Muslim, vol. vi, p. 3. In other narrations he said: All of them are from Banu Hashim, instead of Quraysh. Whether they be from Banu Hashim or Quraysh, all of them are as it is known, from Abraham's household.

Adapted from the book: "The Shi'ah; The Real Followers of the Sunnah" by: "Dr. Muhamad al-Tijahi al-Samawi"