RE : The TWELVERS Written by Jameel Adekunle Sadique , A Publication of the MSSN College Of Health Sciences Unilorin

REJOINDER TO “THE TWELVERS” WRITEN BY JAMEEL ADEKUNLE SADIQUE, PUBLISHED IN AT-TABEEB, A PUBLICATION OF THE MUSLIM STUDENTS SOCIETY OF NIGERIA, COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN; VOL.20,JULY 2018 - Muhammad Murthadol 

IN HIS NAME, THE MOST HIGH

May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW), his pure household and his chosen companions. I have resolved to write this rejoinder not only to correct the misinformation and misconception of the writer but also to educate the like of himself and other innocent readers of his article. I believe that the coming of this rejoinder at this time, is  rather not too late because of the danger it portends to the Muslim Ummah. Allah says in the Holy Quran:

       Invite (all) to the way of thy your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; 

       and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord 

       knoweth best, who have strayed from His path, and who receive guidance. (Nahl :125)

A critical look at “The Twelvers” has revealed to me that the writer is quite deficient of the true knowledge of the Shiiat-ul-alulbyt and thereafter, he resulted in deception and name calling. This action is nothing but given a dog a bad name in other to hang it. 

According to the writer, Jameel:

The Shiites are an offshoot from Islam after the death of Prophet muhammad(SAW) who claimed that the cousin and son- in-law of the Prophet, Alee ibn Abee- Talib was divinely appointed as his successor and the first rightful caliph (The faction of Alee).

My response: 

The writer should learn to understand that the Shiites are muslims who rely on the message of the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet as reported by the ahlulbyt(his household). The term shia was first used in Islam by the messenger of Allah while referring to the friends and supporters of Ali ibn Abutalib (AS). Please check tafseer of suratul bayyinat in Durul-manthur by Alama Jalaludeen Suyuti. The prophet said to Ali (AS): “O Ali, you and your Shiia are the best of creation”. 

According to the verse from the Holy Quran where Allah has appointed prophet Ibrahim(AS)and promised his descendants when He says:

       “   I make you an Imam over people, what about my descendants? This”

          Covenant will not come to the wrongdoers from your descendants (Baqara: 124)

We can see that Imama is a divine position for selective servant ordained by Allah. Please, be informed.

Again, Allah, the mighty and the Glorious, has provided convincing evidence in the Quran where He says:

            Certainly your master is Allah and His prophet and those who believe, 

            those who establish prayer and give charity while they bow. And whoever

            take Allah and His messenger and those who believe as guardian, so surely

            the party of Allah will be victorious (Maidah: 55-56)  

This verse was revealed about Ali(AS) whem he gave out his ring as charity while in a state of bowing during prayer. Please refer to Sahih Nisai or the commentary of the surat  in Jama baynal shihah al-sitta; Kanz al-umal vol.6,pg 391; musnad Ahmad vol.5, margin of pg 38.

Let me add here, that the famous hadith of the prophet Muhammad (SAW) that was recorded in the book of ahlul-sunna wa jamah has mentioned the Twelve imams of this religion. If that is the case, anybody that stand to reject the leadership of this twelve   imams, is invariably rejecting the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). For more enquiry, consult sahih Buhari; book of legal judgement -6682, Sahih Muslim Kittabul-imarah 3393, Trimidhi – Book on the trials 2149; Abudawud- Book on Mahdi. Musnad Ahmad ibn hanbali- 5: 87,90,92,99, 107,108.kanzul ummal 13:27

Also, I am not sure whether the writer of “the Twelvers” is familier with Islamic history or he has just tried to play a role for creating a sort of hatred for the shiias. Therefore, I will like to take you back memory lane of Islamic history where the Prophet of this religion invited his kinsfolk to to the house of his uncle, AbuTalib. At the event, the holy prophet addressed the audience as follows:

    “  O children of Abdul mutalib, I don’t know anyone among the Arabs who brought for his nation a gift better than what I have brought for you. I have come to you with the good of this world and of the world hereafter, and Allah has ordered me to invite you to it. So let me know which of you is willing to assist me in this task and share my burden, so that he may become my brother, the executor of my will and my successor among you.” The entire audience was unresponsive, save Ali (AS), who was the youngest among them. He stood up and said: “O prophet of Allah , I will share this burden of yours” the messenger of Allah then places his hand upon the shoulder of Ali (AS)and said : “This is my brother, the executor of my will and my successor among you, so listen to him”. Check Musnad Ahmad bin Hambali vol. 1. Pg 111 and 159, Allama halabi in his sirah al-halabiyah vol.1 pg 381,Hakim in his mustadrak vol.3 pg 132, Thaalabi and Tabari in their commentaries of surat-Shuara (Q26:214).

Brother Jameel Sadique statements:

The Twelvers have idolatrous beliefs that exit them from islam. They have in their doctrine shirk and Kufr that clearly removes a person from the fold of islam. Added to this is their severe hatered and enmity for the muslims upon the sunnah that leads them to killing the people of sunnah and taking their wealth and property.

Response:

The writer didn’t mention in particular the idolatrous beliefs of shiia as claimed in his write up. But, on the issue of enmity and killing he mentioned, people will agree with me that this allegation is nothing but distortion of history. In history, shiias are beign persecuted and killed mostly by the sunni extremist for the only reason that they were shiias . A good knowledge of Islamic history will revealed how Muhawiya initiated the cursing of  Ali, Fatimoh, Hassan and Hussain on the pulpit during  Fridays’sermon. This was done for so many years until it was stopped by Umar ibn Abdulazeez. Do you know Imam Ali (AS) was murdered while observing his night prayer, Imam Hasan was also poisoned while Imam Hussain was beheaded by the command of Yazid bin Muhawiya. Uptill today the persecution still continues in places like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kasmir and Yemen to mention a few. 

Allah says:

          “ And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell; 

           he shall abide in it, and Allah will send His wrath on him and curse 

          him and prepare for him a painful chastisement.”(Nisai :93)

Imagine Imam Ali who is a criterion of faith and Sayida Fatimoh whose virtues were recorded in most book of hadith were not spared in their dangerous moves to annihilate the light from the household of Muhammad (SAW). Here is how Prophet described his daughter:

    ”Fatimoh is a piece of me, whoever hurts fatimoh hurts me, 

           Whoever angers Fatimoh angers Allah”.  (Buhari--- 3767and 3714, Muslim---2449B)

The writer quoted usool al-kafee saying:

“If the imams desire to know something they come to know it” also brother Jameel said “sheea ascribe divinity to these Imams, worship them as Allah is worshipped”

Response:

All the scholars of ahlulsunna and the shiia attest to the superiority of the knowledge possessed by Imam Ali(AS) The prophet said on many occasion concerning Ali that:

          “ I am the city of Knowledge and Ali is the gate, so whoever wishes

           to seek the knowledge must come to the gate” this hadith is confirmed by ulama of sunnah such as: Suyuti in his Jamul-jawamiy; bin Jarir Tabari: Tahdhibu-l ansar, tadhkiratu l-abrar by sayyid  Muhammad Buhari and Mustadrak by Hakim nishapuri.

It is quite unfortunate that the writer has turned blind eyes on the above facts and many others that have give prominence to knowledge of all the Imams. Allah says : 

     “ …And we appointed, from among them, Imams , giving guidance

        under our command, so long as they persevered with patience 

        and continued to have faith in our signs. (Sajda:24)

Imam Malik has this to say regarding one of Imams of ahlulbyt: “No eyes as ever seen, no ear has ever heard, nor has it ever occurred to the mind of any mortal, the like of Imam Jaafar Sodiq (AS)”. Likewise Imam Abu Anifa has said that If it is not for the two years he spent with Imam Jaafar , he would have being ruin. Know therefore that Imams’ possession of this knowledge is never independent of Allah. It is by virtue of Allah has chosen them and given them the task of guiding this ummah at different age.

The Quran says: 

       “  Are people envious, because of what He(Allah) has given them. 

           He has given the descendants of Ibrahim the book and 

          wisdom and has given them a mighty dominion over people”. (Nisai: 54) 

Therefore, we should stop being jealous of the position of the Imams of ahlulbyt (AS). They were chosen for that role by Allah (SWT) and they have been purified as well. Check Quran
(Ahzab:33)
According to the writer of “TheTwelvers” he explained the beliefs of shiia regarding the Quran; with respect to the wives of the prophet and the companions.
Response:
I think it is highly hypocritical for anyone to sit down at the comfort of his home and rely on a book written by some fallible scholars to castigate innocent Muslims. It is important to know that people may destroy your image, stain your personality but they can’t take away your good deeds because no matter how they describe you, you will still be admired by those who really know you better. Let us go back to the Quran and authentic hadith of the prophet as original sources of information in islam.  My challenge to those propagandists is to bring out the so called shiia Quran, if they found any, and show it to the world.
However, there are extremist among the shiia who engage in reviling and abusing some of the companions, but it will interest you if not surprise you that the shiia scholars have issued fawas (decree) to make it haram for any shiia muslims to curse or revile any companions. For better clarity on this, anybody can search for the fatwas online.
Finally, our Prophet said :
“Behold! My ahlulbyt are like the ark of Noah, whoever emberk in it was saved, and whoever turned away from it was destroyed.” Kanzul ummal: vol.6, pg 216.
“I am leaving behind two weighty things so long as you will remain connected with them you will never go astray after my departure. One of them is Al-Quran and the other is my Progeny (Ahlulbyt)”. Sahih Muslim vol. vii, pg 122, musnad Ahmad bin Hambali vol.iii, pg14-17, Trimidhi part2 pg307 and No 3792.
And the Quran says:
“…..And what the messenger grants you, so take it; and what he forbids you, refrain from it, and be careful of your duty to Allah; indeed Allah is severe in retribution”.(Al-hashr:7)
“…..Ask the followers of the remembrance, if you know not” (Nahl:43)
Remember once again that ignorance has destroyed people; let us try to break the shackles of ignorance so we can be set free from the enslavement. I enjoy all to engage in an independent research to arrive at the true guidance of Islam. Ma’a salaam
Written by:
Mohammed Murtadha