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Are Shi'a Muslims?

These are accusations against the Shia by an Ignorant Muslim

How powerful can propaganda be in this age? Flooded by publication in so many language, the Shi'a, for so many years, continously uttered falsehood as truth. For those who are ignorant of the Shi'a Beliefs, as every Muslim's duty, Sipah-e-Sahaba-USA intend to enlighten our brothers and sisters especially the REVERT MUSLIMS trying to understand the difference between being a Muslim and being a Shi'a.

Shi'a Beliefs according to their own BOOKS

Belief of the Immamat. The standard of Immamat is higher than the Prophethood. ( Hayatul Qaloob Vol. 3 pg. 10)
Angels bring WEHI to the Immamas:every Friday, they go to MIRAJ ( Asool-e-Kaafi pg. 135, 155)
Every year the BOOK reveals on the Immam of the Time of the night of the Qadr ( Comt. Asool-e- Kaafi Vol. 2 pg.229)
Their Immams got higher status, that can't be achieved by the Angels nor the Prophet. ( Khomeini . Hakoomatil Islamia pg.52)
Alteration in the Qur'an. A big part of the Qur'an is missing (Sani Comt. Asool-e-Kaafi Vol. 6 pg. 75)
Like the Torah and the Bible, they claim that the Qur'an is also corrupted and there were changes made in it. (Fazal-ul-Katab pg.70 )
Shi'a beliefs of 17,000 ayats (verses) in Qur'an ( Asool-e-Kaafi pg 671) Hazrat Abu Bakr and Hazrat Umer were never became true Muslims according to the Shi'a. ( Jal'l Ayuoon pg. 45 ) After the Prophet ( Sallalahu Alayhis Wasallam) passed away, all the Sahabas left Islam except for three. ( Qur'an Kaafi Vol. 3 pg. 115 )
Mutt'a ( temporary marriage) In the name of Mutt'a, Shi'a faith allows its followers to commit adultery. They allow man and woman to have sexual relations without having the NIKKAH. Mutt'a is a temporary Nikkah whereby you do not need witnesses. If the man and woman agreed, they can do Mutt'a. Mutt'a could be performed for ONE hour, ONE day, ONE month or whatever time limit was agreed upon by the two consenting parties. Mutt'a could be done with any women even professional prostitutes. (Froaiy Kaafi Vol.2 pg.189)
Mutt'a is higher than SALAT, FASTING, and HAJJ. When after performing Mutt'a , man and woman take Ghussul ( bath) , Allah(swt) forgive their sins in the amount of the hair in their bodies those became wet during the Ghussal ( Minal Yahderul Faqih pg. 431)
TAQIYYAH (lying) is an act of IBADAH ( worship ) in SHI'ASM. One who hides the faith (Shi'a), will be disgraced by Allah(swt). (Asool-e-Kaafi pg. 485) Taqiyyah is wajib(mandatory) . One who does not do Taqiyyah has no iman (faith) (Asool-e-Kaafi pg484)

Who can say these above mentioned aquaid (beliefs) to be Islamic? This is nothing but KUFR... Do not be mislead ! To the Muslim Ummah , SIPAH-e-SAHABA-USA, Inc. ( guardians of the SAHABA) urge all Believing Muslims to participate in this GREAT JIHAD, that Shi'a are not MUSLIMS ...

A write up by K. Zafar of Sipahe Sahaba (U.S.A.) entitled 'Are Shia Muslims?' has found its place in the internet, loaded with the time worn objections and arguments against the Shia sect of Islam. These have been adequately and amply answered time and again by the Shia scholars, but the zeal of Sipahe Sahaba to create dissention and disunity among the Ummah of Islam remains unabated.

Two cardinal points have to be clarified before we proceed with answering the objections raised by the writer:
It must be borne in mind that according to Shia belief, every book authored by a human mortal can be subject to error, and, therefore, unlike the Sunni brothers, they do not consider their books of Ahadith as 'SAHIH' or fully authentic and sound. While the Sunni school has 6 books labelled as 'SIHAH', eg SAHIH OF BUKHARI and MUSLIM etc., the Shias believe that the only book which can be classified as pristine and unsullied is the Book of Allah, the Holy Qur'an.

The quotations given by K Zafar are wholly inadequate. She does not quote from Usool al Kafi by giving Chapter and Hadith numbers, and contents herself by giving page numbers. As there are various editions of Usool al Kafi and the other books quoted by her, it is indeed difficult to verify their accuracy.

K Zafar says:

(1) "Belief of the Imamat. The standard of Imamat is higher than the Prophethood".
It is impossible to find anything objectionable in this belief, because it is based on the Holy Qur'an, see verse 124 of Sura Al Baqarah: "And when Ibrahim was tried by his Lord with certain Words, and he fulfilled them, He (Allah) said: Surely I will make you an Imam to the people,..."
This verse clearly states that the elevation of status to Ibrahim, peace be upon him, came in the form of a WAHY (a revelation). This means that he was being promoted from Nubuwwah to Imamah.

(2) "Angels bring WEHI (sic) to the Imams: every Friday they go to MIRAJ(sic)".
The writer may like to consider the following verses from the Holy Qur'an:
"And your Lord sent WAHY to the bee to build its cells in hills...." (al Nahl, verse 68)
"So We sent WAHY to the mother of Musa that suckle him...." (al Shua'raa, verse 7)
"And we made them Imams, guiding men by Our command and We sent WAHY to them to do good deeds..." (al Anbiya', verse 73).

From the verses quoted above, it is evident that WAHY is used by the Holy Qur'an to mean inspirations, intuitive knowledge, apart from the WAHY in the form of a revelation to the Prophets. WAHY to Imams came as the inspirations as vouched by the Holy Qur'an. That is the meaning of revelation on the night of Qadr, coming to the righteous Imams.
(3,4) "Their Imams got higher status, that can't be achieved by the Angels nor the Prophet"
This objection is very surprising. For both Sunni and Shia schools agree that not only the Imams, but also an ordinary MU'MIN, following the Shariah of Islam can achieve higher status than the angels. Angels do not have emotions, passions and desires. Humans have to combat all the evils to achieve purity. Therefore, when he frees himself from base desires and obeys his Master, he has a higher place.

As for our Prophet, peace be upon him and his proginy, no Shia scholar has ever claimed a higher status for any Imam.
(5,6,7) These deal with quotations from Shia sources saying that the Holy Qur'an has had omissions or changes.
At the very outset, I made it clear that such reports are not accepted as sound. We, Shias, unlike our Sunni brothers do not accord the status of 'SAHIH' to any book other than the Holy Qur'an. Every report is subjected to a meticulous study, based on the laid down standards of RIJAAL and SANAD. Time and again we have reiterated that the Holy Qur'an as it exists is the WHOLE book, having no interpolations at all.

It might interest K Zafar and other partisans of Siph-e-Sahaba to consider the following reports from SAHIH books of Sunni school:

(i)"Reported from Caliph Umar(Rad.) who said from the pulpit: Surely Allah sent Muhammad, peace be upon him, with Truth, and sent down to him the Book, and among the things revealed therein was the verse of RAJM. We read it, understood it and assimilated it. (That is, the verse about stoning the adulterer: tr.) The Prophet stoned the adulterer and we did the same after his passing away. So, I fear that with the passage of time, someone may say that we do not find this verse in the Book of Allah, and thus go astray by not practising that which has been ordained. The mention of RAJM in the Book of Allah is truth for the one who commits adultery." (Al Bukhari,Vol4/120. The chapter of Rajmul HUbla min al Zina. Kitabul Hudood).

According to this report appearing from Al Bukhari, which is SAHIH according to SUNNI school, a verse from the Holy Qur'an is missing.

In the SAHIH of Ibn MAJAH, Ayesha, the wife of our Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, is reported as under:

"The verse of RAJM and about suckling a child at least 10 times, had indeed been revealed and they were written on a page which was under my bed, but when the Prophet died, while we were occupied with the tragedy, a domestic animal entered and ate the page up." (SUNAN ibn MAJAH: Hadith no 1944 and 2553).

Hadhrat Ayesha tells us of the irretrievable loss of a verse from the Holy Qur'an.

In spite of the above reports from their own sources, which they consider as 'SAHIH', K Zafar and her likes have the audacity of throwing stones while living in glass houses. We, the Shias, believe that these reports appearing in Al Bukhari and Ibn MAJAH are false, and neither SUNNI nor SHIA believe in any change having occured in the Holy Book.
(8,9) About the SAHABA being true Muslims.
We Shia believe that Hazrat Abu Bakr and Hazrat Umar were MUSLIMS. And the SAHABA who survived the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, were MUSLIMS. The qualifying term "true" is judged by the actions of an individual.
10. K. Zafar's hue and cry against MUTA'H is very amusing. This practice of MUTA'H was ordained by the HOLY Quran is its verse:

" And for the pleasure you derive from them, give them their dowers, as prescribed...... "(al Nisa, V 24)

In order to understand the verse from SUNNI sources, refer to Tafseer of al-Tabari elucidating the verse from a report by Habib b. Ali Thabit. Also see al Bayhaqi in his SUNAH 7/205, Sharah of SAHIH MUSLIM by al-Nawawi 9/179, al-Kasshaf by Zama Khshari 1/519, Tafseer of Ibn Katheer 1/474, and also al-Durr al Manthoor of Suyuti 2/140-141.

Now, in order to explain to K. Zafar what MUTA'H actually means in the FIQH of ISLAM, I quote herebelow from TAUDHIHUL MASAIL according to the Fatawa of Shia scholars, because she has levelled allegations against the Shias.

"Whether marriage is permanent or temporary, the formal formula must be pronounced; mere tacit approval and consent, or written agreement, is not sufficient. And the formula (Sigha) of the marriage contract is pronounced either by the man and the woman themselves, or by a person who is appointed by them as their representatives to recite it on their behalf.

"If a woman with whom temporary marriage is contracted, makes a condition that her husband will not have sexual intercourse with her, the marriage as well as the condition imposed by her will be valid, and the husband can then derive only other pleasures from her. However, if she agrees to sexual intercourse later, her husband can have sexual intercourse with her, and this rule applies to permanent marriage as well.

"A woman with whom temporary marriage is contracted, is not entitled to share the conjugal bed of husband, and does not inherit from him, and the husband, too, does not inherit from her. However, if one or both lay down a condition regarding inheriting each other, such a stipulation is a matter of Ishkal as far as its validity is concerned, but even then, precaution should be exercised by putting it into effect.

"If a wife of temporary marriage goes out of the house without the permission of her husband, and the right of the husband is in anyway violated, it is haram for her to leave. And if the right of her husband remains protected, it is recommended precaution that she should not leave the house without the permission.

"If a man contracted a temporary marriage with a woman, and the period of her Iddah has not ended yet, he is allowed to contract a permanent marriage with her or renew a contract for temporary marriage with her."

From those ramifications, it is easy to observe that MUTA'H is a contract, just like NIKAH in a permanent marriage, it has a formula to pronounce, and it has certain responsibilities. This was ordained to prevent MUSLIMS from committing adultery and fornication, and from demeaning the status of MUSLIM women. Today, this ordinance is even more pertinent and relevant.

In his MUSNAD, Imam Ahmed b. Hanbal reports from Abu Saeed al-KHUDARI, who said: "We contracted MUTA'H during the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in lieu of the cloth. (see MUSNAD of AHMAD 3/22).

In the SAHIH of MUSLIM, a report from ATA' appears who said: "JABIR b. Abdillah once came for Umrah, and we met him in his house. People gathered there asked him a few things, and then they mentioned MUTA'H. He said: "Yes, we contracted MUTA'H during the times of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and of Abu Bakr and Umar" (see SAHIH MUSLIM. KITAB AN-NIKAH, Hadith No. 1405, page 1023).

It was Umar b. Khattab, who later forbade MUTA'H, and opened the gate of vices for MUSLIMS. In his Tafsir al-Kabir, Imam Fakhr Al-Razi says: "Had it not been for Umar who forbade MUTA'H, no one would have indulged in fornication except the wretched one". (see Tafseer al-Kabir - 3/200 in the exegesis of the Ayah).

11. K. Zafar has totally misunderstood the meaning of Taqayyah. It is not lying. It is hiding ones faith in a situation which justifies it.
The Holy Quran says:-
"A believing Man, from among the people of Pharaoh who had concealed his faith said...." (al MO'MIN v. 28)

For the one who was concealing his faith, the verse says he was "RAJULUN MOMINUN". So, what is wrong if one has to conceal his faith if circumstances warrant? The early history of Islam is fraught with incidents when the early converts had to conceal their faith. The most glowing example is that of Ammar b. Yasir. And yet, when he came to the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, ashamed of what he had done by way of simulation, the Prophet said: "Faith has covered Ammar from his heed to his toes".
Inshallah, these explanations will allow Sipahe Sahaba to understand Shia beliefs dispassionately. Let the Ummah of Islam be saved from the unscrupulous hands, and from the enemies within and without, Amin.

Our final prayer is that "All Praise belong to the Lord of the worlds".

Asgharali M.M. Jaffer