As we come to the end of our discussion, we find
that Sunnites and Shi’ites do not disagree on any
fundamental point in Islam, and that the mercenary
writers, whose goal is to divide Muslims, can not
substantiate any of their accusations. They have
tried to spread falsehood and deliberately mislead
some uneducated Muslims. The vicious campaign
which they have waged is opposed to the Holy
Qur’an and the authentic hadiths of the Prophet. To
prove this, we only need to read the first five verses
from the second chapter of the Qur’an, in which the
Almighty has defined the meaning of Al-Muttaqin
(the righteous).
"Alif Lam Mim. This is the Book
whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to
those who are righteous, who believe in
the unseen, and offer prayer, and spend
of what We have provided them, And
who believe in that which is revealed to
thee (Muhammad) and that which was
revealed before thee, and who are certain
of the Hereafter. They follow the
guidance (which comes) from their
Lord; and they are the ones who will
prosper."
These Qur’anic verses inform us of the
requirements which, if a person fulfills them, he will
be of the righteous people, and whoever is
righteous, is a Muslim and a believer.
These requirements are the following:
-
To believe in the unseen (as we believe in the
Creator and the Hereafter without seeing them). -
To offer the five daily prayers.
-
To spend, in the way of God, a portion of the
wealth God had provided us (by paying Zakat). -
To believe in that which God has revealed to His
Messenger Muhammad. -
To believe in that which was revealed to all
Messengers before Muhammad. -
To believe in the Hereafter.
Thus, whoever meets these six requirements, as
indicated by the first verse, will be righteous, and as
indicated by the last verse, will be well-guided and
successful.
Here, we can say that every Muslim who is
committed to the principles of Islam will meet all
the requirements.
True Muslims do not disagree on any Islamic
principle, and all of them believe in that which the
Almighty revealed to Muhammad and the previous
Prophets.
Authentically reported statements of the Prophet
are in accordance with the Holy Qur’an. The
following seven hadiths clearly point this out.
- Al-Bukhari, in his Sahih, part 1, page 19, and
Muslim, in his Sahih, part 1, page 66, recorded that
Talhah Ibn Ubaydullah reported that a Bedouin had
the following dialogue with the Messenger:
The Bedouin: What is Islam?
The Messenger: Five daily prayers.
The Bedouin: Do I have to add to them any
prayer?
The Messenger: No, unless you volunteer. And fast
in the month of Ramadhan.
The Bedouin: Do I have to add to it any other
fast?
The Messenger: No, unless you volunteer. Then he
mentioned to him the prescribed charity.
The Bedouin: Do I have to add to it?
The Messenger: No, unless you volunteer.
The Bedouin: By God, I shall not add to these; nor
shall I subtract from them.
The Messenger: The bedouin has succeeded if he
is true.
-
Muslim, in his Sahih, recorded that Abu
Hurayrah reported that a Bedouin said to the
Prophet: “Advise me of a deed that if I accomplish,
I will be admitted to Paradise.” The Messenger
said: “Worship God, ascribe no partner to Him,
offer the prescribed prayer, give the prescribed
charity, and fast the month of Ramadhan.” The
Bedouin said: “By God, in Whose hand is my soul,
I shall not add to these, nor shall I subtract from
them.” When he turned his back, the Messenger
said: “Whoever desires to look at a man from the
people of Paradise, should look at this man.” -
Muslim also recorded that Abadah Ibn Al-Samit,
while he was on his deathbed, said to the people
around him: "I have reported to you all the
beneficial Hadiths I heard from the Messenger
except one. I shall report it to you while my soul is
being taken by God. I heard the Messenger of God
say:
“Whoever testifies that there is no God but the
Almighty, and that Muhammad is Messenger of
God, God shall protect him from Hell.”
-
Muslim also recorded that 'Ubadah Ibn Al-Samit
reported that the Messenger of God said:
"Whoever says: I bear witness that there is no God
but the Almighty, alone without partner; that
Muhammad is His servant and Messenger; that
Jesus is His servant and Messenger and the Son of
His maid, and word, which He (Allah) had given to
Mary and a spirit from Him, that Paradise is a
reality and Hell is a reality, God shall admit him into
Paradise through any of its eight gates He chooses. -
Muslim also recorded that Mu’adh Ibn Jabal
reported that the Messenger said: “What is due to
God from His servants is that they worship Him,
ascribe to Him no partner; and what is due to
God’s servants from Him is that He will not punish
anyone that does not ascribe to Him a partner.” -
Al-Bukhari, in his Sahih, recorded that Abu
Hurayrah reported that the Messenger said to a
questioner: The Iman (faith) is to believe in God,
His Angels, His meeting, His Messengers, and to
believe in the resurrection. He said also to the
questioner: Islam is to worship God, ascribing to
Him no partner; to offer the prescribed prayers; to
pay the prescribed charity, and to fast the month of
Ramadhan. -
Muslim recorded, in his Sahih, that 'Umar
reported that the Messenger said to a questioner:
"Islam is to testify that there is no God but the
Almighty and that Muhammad is the Messenger of
God; to offer the prescribed prayer; pay the regular
charity; fast the month of Ramadhan, and visit the
Ka’bah.
The same questioner asked the Prophet to inform
him about Iman. The Prophet said to him: To
believe in God, His Angels, His Book, His
Messengers, the Day of Judgement, and to believe
in: “Qadar,” pleasant and unpleasant.
These authentic hadiths, plus many other reliable
hadiths which I did not quote, agree with the Qur’an
and indicate that whoever believes in God, His
Angels, His scriptures, His Messengers, the
Hereafter, worships God alone by offering the
prescribed prayer, fasts the month of Ramadhan,
pays zakat, and performs the pilgrimage if he has
the financial and physical ability, will be considered
a Muslim in good standing.
There is no real difference between the Shi’ites and
Sunnites concerning articles of the Faith of Islam.
There is a disagreement between the two schools in
two areas.
-
The Caliphate.
-
The Islamic rule when there is no clear Qur’anic
statement, nor is there a hadith upon which Muslim
schools have agreed.
The disagreement about the caliphate should not be
a source of division between the two schools.
Muslims agree that the Messenger did not appoint
Abu Bakr as the first Caliph. They agree that his
caliphate came through election. Election implies
choice and freedom, and that every Muslim has the
right to elect or not elect the nominee. Whoever
refuses to elect him does not oppose God or His
Messenger because neither God nor His Messenger
appointed the nominee.
Election, by its nature, does not compel any
Muslim to elect a specific nominee. Otherwise, the
election would be a coercion. This means that the
election would not lose its own nature. It would be
a dictatorial operation. It is well known that the
Prophet said: “There is no validity for any
allegiance given by force.”
Imam Ali refused to give his allegiance to Abu Bakr
for six months. He gave his allegiance to Abu Bakr
only after the death of his wife Fatima Al-Zahra,
Daughter of the Holy Prophet. (Al-Bukhari, his
Sahih, part 5, page 177).
If refusal to give allegiance to an elected nominee
was prohibited in Islam, Imam Ali would not have
allowed himself to delay in giving his allegiance.
The well known companions, Abdullah Ibn 'Umar
and Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas, refused to give their
allegiance to Imam Ali for the duration of his
caliphate. (Ibn Al-Athir, his history AI-Kamil, part
3, page 98). But the Imam did not punish the
companions, nor did he call them transgressors.
If it was permissible for a Muslim, who was a
contemporary of a caliph, to refuse to give his
allegiance, it would be more permissible for a
person who came in a later century to believe or not
believe in the qualifications of that elected caliph. In
doing so, he would not be sinning.
The Disagreement About Islamic Rules
As to the disagreement among the Mujtahids (the
high Islamic scholars) in their verdicts, it is
permissible by all Islamic schools. Therefore, we
see that the imams of the four schools did not agree
with each other in their verdicts concerning many
Islamic rules. Had they been always in agreement,
there would be only one Sunni school rather than
four.
If it is permissible for Muslims to follow the four
schools, the school of Imam Ja’far Al-Sadiq would
have more right to be followed. Both Abu Hanifah
and Malik were students of Imam Ja’far. Al-Shafi’i
was a student of Muhammad Ibn Al-Hassan
Shalbani who was a student of Abu Hanifah, and
Imam Ahmad was student of Al-Shafi’i.
Thus, the four imams were either students of Imam
Ja’far or students of his students.
It would be extremely curious to impose on
Muslims the duty of following the verdicts of one
of the four imams and prevent them from following
the verdict of Imam Ja’far who was the teacher of
the four imams.
Certainly this does not agree with the Qur’an
because the Qur’an declares that the Almighty had
completed his religion before the death of the
Messenger of God. The Holy Qur’an declares that
in the following verse:
"Today I have completed your religion
for you, and have perfected my favor
upon you and chosen Islam as your
religion." (ch. 5, v.10)
Since the religion had been completed before the
death of the Messenger, it would be unfair to
impose on the Muslims to follow one of the four
schools which came over one hundred years after
the death of the Prophet Muhammad.
Abu Hanifah was born 80 years after the Hijra and
so was Malik Ibn Anas. These two are the oldest of
the four imams. They did not become imams the
day they were born. It took each of them at least
forty years or more to reach the degree of Ijtihad.
This means that the school of Abu Hanifah was
formed 120 years after the death of the Messenger
and so was the school of Malik. The other two
schools came decades after the Hanafi and Maliki
schools.
This means that the imposition on Muslims to
follow one of the four schools is an innovation
which has no support from the Book of God or the
hadiths of the Prophet. No one reported that the
Messenger of God ordered Muslims to follow any
of these schools.
Had this imposition been legitimate, all devotional
works of the companions (including the four
caliphs) would be nullified and unaccepted because
they were not Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, or Hanbali.
And what should one say about the Prophet’s
worship?!!! He also was not a follower of any of
the four schools.
It would have been more logical to say that it is
permissible for any Muslim to follow any imam he
considers (after serious research) to be the most
knowledgeable among them whether that imam is
related or not to the four schools.
The School Of Ahl Al-Bayt
We are certain that the Prophet neither commanded
Muslims nor recommended that they follow any of
the four imam’s verdicts. There is no reported
statement by the Prophet that he commanded us to
follow one of the four imams (Abu Hanifah, Malik,
Shafi’i, or Ibn Hanbal).
However, the Sunnites and the Shi’ites recorded in
their authentics that the Messenger commanded
Muslims to follow the members of his House.
Al-Tirmidhi and others from the authors of the
Sihah (authentics) reported that Zayd Ibn Arqam
reported that the Messenger of God said:
"Certainly I am leaving for you that
which if you follow, you will never go
astray after me: the Book of God, a rope
extended from heaven to earth, and the
Members of my House. They will never
part with each other until they come to
me on the Day of Judgement while I am
standing at the Hawd (basin). Be careful
how you treat the two after me."
Al-Tirmidhi, his Sunan, part 5, page
329)
Al- Tirmidhi also said:
"There are on this subject hadiths of
Abu Dharr and Abu Sa'id and Zayd Ibn
Arqam and Hudhayfah Ibn Usayd."
This hadith clearly indicates that the Messenger
commanded Muslims to follow the Book of God
and the instructions of the members of his House
concerning Islamic law. He informed us that the
instructions of the Members of his House always
agree with the Qur’an. He declared that the Qur’an
and his Itrah (Members of his House) will never
part with each other until the Day of Judgement.
Muslim scholars may argue about the indication of
this hadith that the Prophet Muhammad appointed
the members of his House to be the caliphs after
him. But it is not logical to argue about the
indications of this hadith that the Prophet wanted
Muslims to follow the instructions of the Members
of his House concerning Islamic rules.
It is needless to emphasize the authenticity of this
hadith after it was reported by about twenty
companions. [Ed. Please see Hadith al-Thaqalayn,
a study of its tawatur] The Sunnite Muslim scholars
say it is mandatory to follow one of the four
schools and their verdicts. Yet it was never
reported that the Prophet said that the duty of
Muslims is to follow the verdicts of these four
schools. Knowing this, we find no justification for
the refusal of the Sunni scholars to follow the
instructions of the Members of the House of the
Holy Prophet Muhammad after the Prophet
Muhammad himself testified that the members of
his House are allies of the Qur’an and will never
part with it.
The least that the Muslims should do toward the
teachings of the members of the House of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad is to consider their teaching
equal to the four schools (if not better).
The fact is that the followers of the four schools
took a negative attitude towards the teachings of the
Imams from the House of the Prophet without
knowing their teachings. They thought, without any
research, that their teaching is not worthy of
consideration and respect. This tells us that the
followers of the four schools did not agree with
their imams, and that they were more kingly than the
kings. Abu Hanifah was a student of Imam Ja’far,
and he believed that Imam Ja’far was the most
knowledgeable in Islamic law among all the people
of his time.
The Abbasid Al-Mansur commanded Abu Hanifah
to prepare for Imam Ja’far a number of questions
concerning Islamic law and to ask the Imam those
questions in the presence of Al-Mansur. Abu
Hanifah prepared forty difficult questions and
asked Imam Ja’far about them in the presence of
Al-Mansur. The Imam not only answered all the
questions but also informed him of the opinions of
the Iraqi scholars and the Hijazi scholars. Abu
Hanifah commented on this episode saying:
"Certainly, the most knowledgeable
among people is the most
knowledgeable of their different
opinions."
Abu Hanifah described his feeling (when he entered
the palace of Al-Mansur and found Imam Ja’far
with him) by saying:
"When I saw Imam Ja'far, I felt that his
personality commands more respect
than that of the caliph himself. Yet the
caliph was ruling the Muslim world, and
Imam Ja'far was a private citizen."
(Shaykh Muhammad Abu Zahra,
AI-Imam AI-Sadiq, page 27)
Imam Malik was also one of the students of Imam
Ja’far, and it is reported that Malik said:
"I used to come to Ja'far Ibn
Muhammad and went to him for a long
time. Whenever I visited him, I found
him praying, fasting, or reading the
Qur'an. Whenever he reported a
statement of the Messenger of God, he
was with ablution. He was a
distinguished worshipper who was
unconcerned with the material world. He
was of the God- fearing people."
Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal reported the famous
hadith of Thaqalayn (the two valuables) through
more than one source. He reported through his
channel to Zayd Ibn Thabit that the Prophet said:
"Certainly I am leaving for you two
Caliphs: The Book of God, a rope
extended between the heaven and the
earth and the members of my House.
They will never part with each other until
the Day of Judgement" (Imam Ahmad,
his Musnad, part 5, page 181).
Imam Ahmad also reported through his channel to
Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri that the Messenger of God
said:
"Certainly I am about to be called upon
(by God), and I will respond (by
departing from this world), and I am
leaving for you the two valuables: The
Book of God and the members of my
House. The Book of God (which) is a
rope extended from heaven to earth and
the members of my House. The
Almighty informed me that the two will
not part with each until they meet me
near the Basin. Beware how you treat
them after me (same source, part 3, page
17).
Imam Ahmad also reported this hadith through his
channel to Zayd Ibn Arqam (same source, page
371).
Shaykh Muhammad Abu Zahra who was one of the
outstanding Sunni contemporary scholars said:
"The Muslim scholars of various Islamic
schools never agreed unanimously on a
matter as much as they agree on the
knowledge of Imam Ja'far and his virtue.
The Sunni imams who lived during his
time were his students. Malik was one of
them and those who were as
contemporary as Malik such as Sufyan
Al-Thawri and many others. Abu
Hanifah also was his student in spite of
their being close in age, and he
considered Imam Ja'far the most
knowledgeable in the Muslim world."
(the same source, page 66).
Imam Al-Shafi’i was truly attached to the members
of the House of the Prophet. His love and
adherence to their way is well known and conveyed
by scholars who were in the place of confidence of
Muslims. Imam Al-Razi recorded in his
commentary on the following Qur’anic verse:
"Say (to the Muslims) 'I ask from you
no reward (on my endeavor in leading
you to the right path) except your love
for my close relatives.'
Imam Al-Shafi’i in his poetry said:
"Members of the House of the Prophet,
your love is a Divine duty on mankind.
God revealed it in His Qur'an. It is of
your high distinctions that whoever does
not pray on you has no prayer." He also
said "If the love of the members of the
House of the Prophet is Rafd (rejection),
let mankind and the Jinns testify that I
am a rejecter."
My Humble Effort In The Path Of Islamic
Unity
In 1959, I attempted to begin a campaign in this
direction. I visited Egypt and met the late President
Jamal Abdul Nassar. I discussed with him and
separately with the late Shaykh Al-Azhar, Shaykh
Mahmud Shaltut (on the first day of July), the
matter of reconciliation between the Sunnite and the
Shi’ite schools. I spoke to each of the two leaders
about the necessity of solving this problem and
about the way through which it can be solved.
This problem, I said, had started during the
Umayyad era and continued through the Abbasid
and the Turkish era. We still suffer a great deal
through this problem, which continues to separate
Muslims and spread suspicion among them and
make them reciprocate false accusations.
The Shi’ite Imami Ja’fari (the followers of the Imam
Ja’far Al-Sadiq) are not seeking a privilege or
superiority. They want the Muslim world to know
that the teachings of Imam Ja’far Al-Sadiq and the
rest of the members of the House of the Holy
Prophet are not less valuable and sound than the
teachings of the four imams. The teachings which
the Shi’ite Imami Ja’fari follow deserve and
command the respect of all Muslims. Those who
follow these teachings are sound Muslims and true
believers like the followers of the four schools. I
said that a declaration by Shaykh Al-Azhar in this
direction will be a sound step in the way of Islamic
unity.
Shaykh Al-Azhar asked me: “Would it not be
sufficient for solving this problem to teach the
Ja’fari Madhhab (school of thought) at Al-Azhar?” I
replied in the negative and mentioned to him two
reasons:
-
Teaching of the Ja’fari Madhhab does not
indicate that Al-Azhar and its shaykh believe in the
soundness of such a Madhhab. Al-Azhar can
decide to teach the Marxist theory. This would not
indicate that you believe in the soundness of that
theory. -
Teaching of the Ja’fari Madhhab at Al-Azhar may
make a few hundred students of Al-Azhar aware of
this Madhhab. This is not our goal. Our goal is to
inform millions of Muslims of the soundness of the
teachings of the members of the House of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad. This would not be
accomplished except by issuing a verdict of
equality between the Ja’fari Madhhab and the four
Madhhabs. Such a declaration should be published
and announced through all Islamic media. This may
inform millions of Muslims at once about this truth
which has been ignored for hundreds of years.
The grand Shaykh responded to this suggestion
immediately. On the following day his son-in-law
and secretary, Mr. Ahmad Nassar, visited me and
brought the good tidings; the Grand Shaykh had
responded to my suggestion and issued a verdict
about the subject. I went with him to the Grand
Shaykh, thanking him for his historical achievement.
The Shaykh read to me the text of the verdict
before publishing it.
On the seventh of July, 1959, the Middle East radio
station and the Egyptian and the Lebanese press
published the text of the verdict of the Grand
Shaykh.
Shaykh Al-Azhar issued his verdict in a form of an
answer to a question that was directed to him as
follows:
“Some people view that in order to have religiously
sound devotions and transactions, it is imperative
to follow one of the four known Islamic schools:
Hanafi, Shafi’i, Hanbali, or Maliki. This excludes
the two Shi’ite schools: Imami (Ja’fari) and Zaydi.
Shaykh Shaltut in answering this question stated the
following:”
"It is permissible for a "non-mujtahid"
(the one who is not qualified to give his
own opinion in Islamic law) to follow the
opinion of the "the 'Ulama" (the Muslim
scholars), whose knowledge and piety
are known, provided such an opinion
reaches its followers in a correct and
nearly certain way, directly or indirectly.
"We should not be concerned with a
view expressed in some books which
claims that the four schools are the only
ones to follow, and that it is not
permissible for a Muslim to move from
one school to another.
"The word Shi'a (Shi'ite) by which the
followers of Ali (son of Abu Talib) are
known, is derived from the word
"mushayya'ah" which means to follow . .
. There are groups related to Ali, and
they are the well guided ones. Of these
Shi'a is the group which is known by the
name of Ja'fari or Imami Ithna-Ashari.
This well known school follows
principles that are taken from the Book
of God and the teachings of His
Messenger which reached them through
their Imams in both fundamental belief
and Islamic law.
"The difference between the Ja'fari and
Sunni schools is not greater than the
difference among the Sunni schools
themselves. They (the Ja'faris) believe in
the fundamental principles of Islam as
they are stated in the Glorious Qur'an
and the teachings of the Prophet. They
also believe in all the rules whose
inclusion in the religion of Islam is
self-evident and whose recognition is
required for being a Muslim and the
denial of which excludes the person
from Islam. The Madhhab of these
Ja'fari Shi'ites in the Islamic laws is
completely recorded and well-known. It
has its own books, conveyers (who
reported the statements of the Prophet
and the Imams), and the supporting
evidence of what they convey. The
authors of these books and those from
whom these authors had received the
(hadiths) are well-known, and their
scholarly and jurisprudential ranks are
respected among Muslim scholars.''
From this explanation, it becomes evident that:
-
Islam does not command any of its followers to
follow a particular Islamic school. On the contrary,
it establishes for every Muslim the right to follow,
at the beginning, any one of the correctly conveyed
Madhhabs, whose verdicts are recorded in their
respective books. It is permissible also for anyone
that follows one of these schools to shift to
another, any other school, and he is not sinning by
doing that. -
The Ja’fari school which is known as the
Madhhab of the Ithna-Ashari, Imami Shi’a is a
sound school. It is permissible to worship God
according to its teachings like the rest of the Sunni
schools. -
Muslims ought to know this and get rid of their
undue bigotry to particular schools. The religion of
God and His law do not follow, nor are they bound
to, a particular school. All the founders of these
schools are Mujtahids (qualified to give verdict)
reward-deserving from God, and acceptable to
Him. It is permissible for the non-mujtahid to
follow them and to accord with their teachings,
whether in devotion or transactions.
This recognition should have taken place during the
second century after the Hijra when the four Islamic
schools were at the state of formation. The School
of Imam Ja’far is the School of the House of the
Prophet Muhammad who declared it to be
inseparable from the Qur’an, and that the adherence
to the Qur’anic teaching and their teaching
represents security against straying. This is the
School of Imam Ali who was declared by the
Prophet to be the gate of the city of knowledge.
The fact is that the Umayyad and Abbasid policies
viewed that recognizing the School of the House of
the Prophet is dangerous to them.
However, the Declaration of Shaykh Al-Azhar is a
positive step and in the right direction. It is true that
it came very late but it is an indication that some of
the contemporary Islamic scholars have a new and
sound way of thinking. Should this step be
followed by other positive steps, the Muslim World
may regain its brotherhood and unity.