Views on Shi'a Islam

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There are several views on the Shi'a.

Contents

[edit] Positive views

[edit] Negative views

[edit] Introduction

There are numerous books on history, literature, bibliography, etc - by both early and contemporary writers - that undermine the scholastic, literary, social, and cultural rights of the Shia. In cases where such works intend to discuss the works and virtues of the Shi'a, they fail in doing so and leave the facts about Shi'a and its intellectual legacy relatively untouched and unknown[1].

Researchers must be cautious in believing the contents of such works before careful scrutiny, as these works were often written by certain individuals motivated by their ambitions or bigotry[1], which resulted in fabrication, perversion, and calumny, therefore rendering their works unreliable [1]. The late religious authority of Egypt and president of Al-Azhar University, Sheikh Mahmud Shaltut, who declared the Shi'a twelver school of thought as a legitimate Islamic school of thought, also remarked:

Most of those who have written on Islamic denominations, have been influenced by the vicious spirit of prejudice.

Therefore anyone who cares about equity and fairness and wishes to study various Islamic denominations, should not base his opinions on such works, but instead must consult with the main books and sources of those denominations in order to approximate the truth and avoid mistakes.

It is an undeniable fact that the attention paid by Sunni Muslims to familiarize the world with Islam has been more than that of Shias. Sunnis retain many commendable achievements for this cause. However some of them have been affected by sectarian prejudice, thus portraying the Shi'a in a distorted way.

On the other hand, a phenomenon called orientalism and "Islamology" has existed for some time, the vanguards of which were individuals who were immediately assisted and collaborated by the agents of politics. The numerous extant distorted references and fabricated statements provided these people, in addition to their own ill intentions, to write anything they pleased. In the words of philosopher Seyyed Hosein Nasr:

Although western scholars have done extensive studies about various aspects of Islam and Islamic civilization in the past century, most of their works are full of bias and vicious intentions and distortive efforts are visible throughout them.[2]

Among the different groups, the Shi'a have been harmed more than any other Islamic denomination due to a lack of sufficient reliable references that are readily available to foreign researchers[1]. In the words of Edward Browne, "we still have no access to any detailed, sufficient, and reliable works on the Shi'i school of thought in any of the European languages."[3]

Shi'as contend and dispute the standard image portrayed for them by some, if not the majority, of western academic and Sunni sources [2].

[edit] Current sources on the Shi'a

Of the hundreds of contemporary academic sources that address matters pertaining to the Shi'a, "almost all resources used by Europeans in their studies about Islam are Sunni works"[2]. Whenever the Qur'an, hadith, history of Mohammad's life, fiqh, and kalam are touched on, it is the opinion of Sunni Muslims exclusively that is often taken as the standard version. It comes thus as no surprise that western scholars describe Sunni'ism as orthodox Islam and Shi'ism as a heretical sect [citation needed]. Sunni historians have always tried to, in the words of Marshall G.S. Hodgson, "show that all other schools of thought other than their own were not only false but, if possible, less than truly Muslim. Their work described innumerable firqahs in terms which readily misled modern scholars into supposing they were referring to so many heretical sects."[4]

On the other hand, what is often found on the Shi'a in some encyclopedias is full of errors, accusations, and superficial confused statements. Unfortunately, when these works are translated into Arabic, often by Sunni writers, they rarely add any footnotes pointing to these mistakes or shortcomings. This results in the spread of erroneous information that ultimately finds its way into even more sources, albeit inauthentic.

Furthermore, publications by Shi'i scholars remain comparably at low levels. To see this in a more visible light, it is educational to observe Dr. Abul-Jawad Falaturi's statements in this regard:

If we count all books and articles that have been published during the past 25 years in different European languages about Islam and Muslim countries--a task I performed based on Abstracta Islamica which listed all books published about Islam since 1943-- we can easily reach the conclusion that out of every 100 writings on Islam, only two relate to groups other than Sunni ones. Among this small number, one out of every seven work addresses The Twelver Shi'a. This means that out of every 350 books and articles, only one is specifically related to the Twelver Shi'a, a number even far less than The Zaidi or Ismaili Shia.[1]

Perhaps the historical background of the west is the major reason behind this blemish. The west had major direct contact with the Sunni form of Islam on almost all occasions, from Andalusia in the west to the Ottoman Turks in the east. Contacts with the Shi'a were confined to rather secret and rather limited relations with some Ismaili territories in Palestine during the crusades, but the west generally did not have any contact with the Shi'a world before the modern era. Islamic Iran, for example, only came to be known for the first time through the cultural acquaintance of India [citation needed].

[edit] Misconceptions about the Shi'a

  • Misconception: Shi'a hate the Sahaba [5]
Fact: Shi'a disassociate (Tabarra) themselves from people they consider to be enemies of God and Muhammad's progeny (Ahl al-Bayt), while pretending (Munafiq) to be Muslims and companions of Muhammad (sahaba)). However true muslims cannot judge people who are considered so high, without hard evidence, Amongst all Creation, The Prophets (AS) were greatest (of them Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was the highest), after The Prophets (AS) the highest people were the Sahaba (RA). These people are not considered Muhammad'a companions by Shi'a in contrast to Sunnis, who regard every single person who professed Islam and died without retracting the statement to be an upright companion of Muhammad. This contrast leads to friction when Shi'a disassociate themselves from people who Sunnis consider to be righteous companions of Muhammad. More accurately, it can be stated that Shi'a and Sunni differ on who the companions of Muhammad were, and even among those agreed on, Shi'a do not consider all of them to be fully sincere [6].
  • Misconception: The Shi'a are a political sect [7]
Fact: The Shi'a do not see themselves as a political sect, in fact, some interpretations of the Shi'a state that one should not get involved into politics before the re-emergence of the twelfth imam.
  • Misconception: The Shi'as apply the ancient Persian idea of royal inheritance to Muhammad's progeny and merely replace royal inheritance with Imamah.[citation needed]
Fact: Shia's do not believe that Imamat is inherited but instead individuals were chosen by God. This is why the brother might be chosen or the youngest child might be chosen which is not the case with royal inheritance.
  • Misconception: That the Shi'a believe in the distortion of the Qur'an. [8]
Fact: Shias have the exact same Qur'an as the Sunnis.[9]
  • Misconception: That the Shi'a believe that Gabriel made a mistake in bringing the revelation to Muhammad instead of Ali. That the Shi'a say "Gabriel betrayed"(Arabic: خان امين) after their prayer.
Fact: Shias say that "God is the greatest" (Arabic: الله اكبر) after their prayer and do not believe that angels or God can make mistakes.[citation needed]
Fact: Shi'as believe that the Prophet was the greatest man who was and will be created. They believe the Imams were sent on this earth to continue preaching the message of the Holy Prophet(s); thus a full and exact knowledge of the message is required. Therefore, the Imams, who act as middlemen between God and His followers, must have the same knowledge of the message to be transmitted as the prophets who originally received the message in order to pass it on in its exact form.)
  • Misconception: That, similarly to Christian beliefs about Jesus, the Shi'a believe in the sacrifice of a sacred person by the name of Husayn ibn Ali, to save the Ummah from their sins [11].
  • Misconception: That the Shi'a are a Sufi sect.[citation needed]
  • Misconception: That the Shi'a are a Jewish sect [5].
  • Misconception: That the Shi'a believes that Ali is God although some sects do claim that Ali was a re-incarnation of Allah, Ali himself rejected this, and Shia and Sunnis both reject these groups as being outside the bounds of Islam. [12].
  • Misconception: Shi'a are Persians who hate Arabs [13].
  • Misconception: Shi'a believe Fatimah had "her own" Qur'an [14]
  • Misconception: That Ibn Saba founded Shia Islam [5].
  • Misconception: Shi'a slander A'isha, breaking Qura'nic rules.[5].
Fact: Shi'a do no such thing.[citation needed]

Such allegations have encouraged various orientalists and their followers such as Ahmad Amin to attack the Shi'a in their writings. Even the Encyclopaedia of Islam has not been immune from these attacks. One can find biased statements from the Belgian Henri Lammens (1862-1937) and the Hungarian Ignaz Goldziher (1850-1921) in this encyclopedia against the Shi'a and their sanctities. According to Nasr, most parts of the two or three other books and discourses that exist in English are the products of the minds of several Christian missionaries "who have spent their lives trying to annihilate and refute the Shi'i thought" [2].

The very opinion of orientalists of the past century that considered the Shi'a form of deviation and heresy from true Islam (bid'ah) has thus come to be accepted in most western circles today [citation needed]. There are those that even consider the Shi'a as an "invention" by some particular groups.[15]

[edit] Arguments against the Shi'a

These are some arguments made against Shia's based on common misconceptions:

[edit] Sahaba

  • Claim: There could not be any hypocrites amongst those who Sunni consider Sahaba, since Muhammad or God whould have known this. Claiming that the Sahaba were unrighteous equals making the same accusations against Muhammad and God [5]
Shi'a Answer: The shia believe that God and Muhammad knew that some of the companions were hypocrites so this claim is baseless.
  • Claim: Shi'a are contradicting themselves by insulting Abu Bakr and his daughter, but regarding his son as a good person, especially since he "does not have any contribution in raising Islam"[5].
Shi'a Answer: Shia do not believe that his son had "no contribution in raising Islam." Furthermore, not having a major contribution in raising Islam does not mean that you are a good or bad person. Instead it is purposely hindering of the true Islamic movement that reveals your bad intentions which is what Abu Bakr and Aisha did according to the Shia.
  • Claim: By insulting Abu Bakr Umar and Uthman, Shi'a are destroying Islam, since Islam is transmitted through them [5].
Shi'a Answer: Islam is transmitted through the Prophets successors the 12 Imams.
  • Claim: Shi'a are disbelievers for being enraged by the Sahaba [5].
Shi'a Answer: A baseless claim with no supportive evidence.
Shi'a Answer: A baseless claim with no supportive evidence.
  • Claim: Shi'a curse Ali by cursing Umar, since Umar was Alis son-in-law [5].
Shi'a Answer: Marital relations do not make you idealistically synonymous especially during those times. However, Umar was not Ali's son-in-law. The husband of umme kulthum (Ali's daughter) was Aun bin Ja'far and not Umar.
  • Claim: Shi'a curse Hasan by cursing Muawiya, since they negotiated peace [5].
Shi'a Answer: Imam Hassan was never fond of Muawiya because on his treachery and Muawiya later killed him.

[edit] Muhammad's wives

  • Claim: Shi'a curse Muhammad's wives, "the most important part of his family" [5].
Shi'a Answer: Another baseless claim. Shia do not curse all of Muhammads wives instead they view them as individuals who are responsible for their actions just like everyone else. but shia do belive that the first three caliphs were unsurpers and as aisha supported them they do not take kinly to her, as she also raised an army against ali, ali and the prohpet muhammed forgave aisha but may shias do not.

[edit] Ahl al-Bayt

  • Claim: Shi'a depict Ali as weak, when they insist that Ali was robbed of his power, especially considering he had the upper hand, in contrast to Ali fighting for Islam when he was among the few in Mecca.[5].
Shi'a Answer: Imam Ali was never robbed of his power. No one can rob him of successorship just as no one can rob the prophet of prophethood.
  • Claim: Shia also take their Imams as gods other than Allah.[5].
Shi'a Answer: Absolutely false and the answer was mentioned above.

[edit] Sources about the Shi'a

  1. Shi'ism: Doctrines, Thought, and Spirituality
  2. A Shi'ite Anthology
  3. Our Belief: A Brief Description of Islam, as the Shiite believe
  4. A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims
  5. Al-islam.org

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Message of Thaqalayn', Vol 3, No 1-2, p.121-122.
  2. ^ a b c d Shi'a in Islam, by Allameh Tabatabaei. Introduction by Seyed Hosein Nasr. SUNY publications. 2ED, 1979
  3. ^ A Literary History of Persia, by E.G. Browne. p418. 1998. ISBN 0-7007-0406-X
  4. ^ 7. The Venture of Islam, Hodgson, M.G.S., vol. 1. Chicago. University of Chicago Press, 1974. p. 27. ISBN 0-226-34683-8, p66-67
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n http://islamicweb.com/beliefs/cults/shia_answering.htm
  6. ^ al-Islam.org [1]
  7. ^ [2]
  8. ^ [3]
  9. ^ Is the Qur’an Corrupted?Shi’ites’ View
  10. ^ [4]
  11. ^ [5]
  12. ^ [6]
  13. ^ al-islam.org [7]
  14. ^ See "Sunni view" of Book of Fatimah for refutation
  15. ^ See articles by allaahuakbar.net [8]

[edit] External links

Shi'a:

Sunni:

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