MUQASSIR BETTER THAN MUSHRIK

We are better off with our trusted Shiite scholars (some of them shown above in the picture) than these ignorant ghullat such as those who believe that Ali created Adam!

     In my previous post regarding the threat posed by some members of the esteemed zakir community of Pakistan, I have explained the variety of beliefs we have in the Shiite community.

An anti-Shiite fanatical organization in Pakistan

      After the Battle of Karbala (680 AD) and the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the 3rd Shiite imam, the Shiite community got divided into multiple sects. One sect asserted the significance of Husayn's half-brother Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyah as the successor of Husayn. These people are called the Kaysaniyah and they still reside in Saudi Arabia around the Ridwa Mountain. The other sect maintained the imamah of Husayn's son Ali al-Sajjad and grandson Muhammad al-Baqir as the 4th and the 5th leaders of the Shiite community respectively, but they rejected the authority of the 6th imam J'afar al-Sadiq. Instead, they supported Baqir's half-brother Zayd as their leader who died fighting against the Umayyad tyranny. May God bless his soul! These Shiites are to be known as Zaydis and they are thriving to overthrow the Saudi oppression in Yemen right now. But the orthodox or mainstream Shiite community went with al-Sadiq until he died and then a minority refused to follow his son Musa al-Kadhim. They are called Isma'iliyah. They established the Fatimid Empire in Egypt and are currently divided into Bohris and Aghakhanis. The 52nd Agakhani Imam is Prince Abd al-Karim Agha Khan. May Allah bless him! Moreover, there were some Shiites who considered al-Sadiq as the final imam. Furthermore, some believers assumed that al-Kadhim was the final one so they became the Wathiqiyah. Other Shiite sects emerged after the death of 11th imam Hasan al-'Askari whom the majority of Shiites accepted as their legitimate leader. When he died, Shiites agreed upon his hidden offspring Abu'l-Qasim ibn al-Hasan (named after the Prophet [but whom Sunni Muslims consider a fictional character]). This 12th child imam was identified as the promised Mahdi who was to enter occultation (ghaybah). During his ghaybah, a number of four deputies served as his representative to the outside world.

    The orthodox Shiite Islam was divided into five parts i.e. Usuliyah, Akhbariyah, Nusayriyah, Alawiyah and Shaykhiyah. Nusariyah reject the Four Deputies rather consider a person called Muhammad ibn Nusayr al-Numayri as al-Mahdi's correct representative. Shaykhis believe in the Four Deputies but they also consider their leader Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i as the modern-world deputy of the 12th imam. Usuliyah, the largest school in Shiite Islam, accept the Four Deputies but believe that, after the end of the career of the deputies, nobody can claim permanent connection with al-Mahdi. I am an Usuli and we believe in the authority of the mujtahidin. We do taqlid (imitation) of the scholars from Iran and Iraq. I imitate Ayatollah Ali Husayni al-Sistani. Other scholars include Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Bashir Husayn al-Najafi, Araki, Golpaegani, Wahidi Khorasani etc.

A slain Akhbari orator from Pakistan - Nasir Abbas of Multan - trying to prove his beliefs with rhetorical metaphors instead of solid textual arguments

    What do Akhbaris believe in? Well, they believe that the Four Books of Shiite Islam are enough. Thesed Four Books include al-Kafi, Man La Yahduruhu'l Faqih, al-Istabsar and Tahdhib al-Ahkam. The first book was written by Yaqub al-Kulayni while the author of the second one was Shaykh Seduq Ibn Babawayh al-Qummi. Both were born during the era of the Four Deputies. The author of the last two books was Abu J'afar al-Tusi. Usulis also accept the authority of these Four Books (and many other works such as Wasa'il al-Shi'yah) but we also believe that these books include both sahih and da'if riwayat. One needs to apply rijal science before blindly following any narration just because it's written in a sacred book.

    Akhbaris in Pakistan have some weird and improper beliefs as well. Some aggressive ones perform matam on Id days. They think they are mourning the Ahlul-Bayt because, on Id al-Fitr, you can have Ali ibn Abi Talib's daswan (the 10th day following someone's death) while, on Id al-Adha, you can have Muslim ibn 'Aqil's death anniversary. Some violent Akhbaris break their fasts at 'Isha time. Others believe that it is important to recite Shahadat-e-Thalithah (Ali un Wali Allah [Ali is a Friend of God]) in tashah'hud. They have adopted such an extremist perception regarding the Third Testimony that they literally call someone who doesn't believe in reciting it in tashah'hud as a muqassir. They also make fun of these so-called muqassirin or batris by stating: "One who is against the Third Testimony is a bastard!" They tend to make bizarre observations regarding the Third Testimony. Some Akhbaris have adopted polytheistic beliefs regarding the excellence of the Ahlul-Bayt. They consider them as the creators of the universe.

     Recently, an Akhbari zakir from Lahore (Pakistan) namely one Asif Raza Alvi (آصف رضا علوی) was sued for declaring stuff like: "Ali pre-existed Adam so Ali is not a human or a son of Adam rather the father and the creator of Adam." He further stated: "Adam was made from turab (dust) and Ali is Abu Turab (Father of Dust)."

    First of all, let's consider this blasphemous claim that Ali created Adam. If you read the proofs these Akhbaris present in favor of their illogical claims, you will see that they are nothing more than poetic pseudo-rhetoric babbling. They are similar to those pseudo-Hindus who try to prove that Quantum Mechanics was stolen from Vedas or K'abah was an Indian temple erected to venerate Shiva. These Akhbaris make such arguments like: "God made Adam from His hands but He has no hands. Thus, those hands were someone else's. Ali's laqab is God's Hand so he was the one who created Adam." May God guide these Akhbaris! Ali's alqab include God's Eye, God's Hand, God's Lion and even God's Face. This is a fact. But Jesus' name was God's Soul in Qur'an. Does this mean Jesus was God or a part of God's existence? God states that He blew soul in Adam's body. Does this mean God became Adam? When Qur'an claims that God made Adam with His hands, the word "hands" is used in purely metaphoric sense. It symbolizes God's power and qudrah. This is an established Shiite and Mutazilite belief.

    Did Ali pre-existed Adam? Yes, he did. Even Adam pre-existed Adam. I mean God created Adam's soul before He made Adam's body. We all pre-existed Adam in this sense. We were born after our souls had been created. We believe that Muhammad's light was the first thing God invented. Thus, the Prophet pre-existed everything. He pre-existed the entire universe. There was once just God and the Prophet. Peace and blessings be upon him and his purified progeny! But does this mean the Prophet created the universe? No, God did. The Prophet just witnessed the Creation. Similalry, the Ahlul-Bayt were created before the Creation but they didn't help God in Genesis rather witnessed the Creation events. There is an ancient sect within Shiite Islam called the mufawwidah who believed in tafwid. This belief states that God created the universe and then gave it to our 12 imams. This belief was strongly contested by our true Shiite scholars. Why? Because this belief goes against the teachings of Qur'an. So, if just believing that the Ahlul-Bayt run this universe goes against the teachings of Qur'an, how can one believe that the Ahlul-Bayt created the universe?

    Then how can we explain Ali's pre-existence? Well, just like Muhammad pre-existed Adam, we all did. Even Adam's soul was there before Adam's body was created. Qur'an mentions the Day of Alast. We all existed as souls billions of years ago, probably before the Big Bang. But we came into bodily existence when we were born. Thus, our parents didn't create us. Our parents gave us existence as human beings. Thus, Ali is a human and a son of Adam because he appeared on earth as a human being through his parents, by extension, via Adam. Denying that Ali is not a human being but Prophet Muhammad is, makes Ali superior than the Prophet. We all are human beings because we were born on earth as human beings. But, in fact, we are just souls who pre-existed Adam.

    So, we can state:
⦁    Ali ibn Abi Talib did not create Adam, God did.
⦁    Ali ibn Abi Talib pre-existed Adam just like all of us (including Adam himself) but, as Ali was born as a human being on earth, it makes him a son of Adam, just like Prophet Muhammad's being born on earth as a human being makes him a son of Adam.
⦁    God didn't use Ali's hands to create Adam rather He created Adam with his power. How could God use Ali's hand when Ali was a soul? Ali got hands when he was born thousands of years after Adam. When Ali witnessed the making of Adam, he existed as a holy soul. Souls don't have hands!

Iraq-based Pakistani Shiite cleric Bashir Husayn of Najaf is a common target for these filthy ghullat who try to refuse a grand jurist such as him with fantastical arguments entirely based upon assuming some quite unrelated object irregularly to be parallel to their ideas

      What about the Third Testimony? It is haram to recite it in tashah'hud. Why? Why can we say it in adhan and iqamah? When we declare it in adhan and iqamah, we don't say it with the niyyah of wajib. It is not wajib rather mustahib to say it in adhan and iqamah. Why is it forbidden to say it in tashah'hud? These Akhbaris don't understand the language of logic. Let's answer them in the way they want to comprehend Islam. Namaz is something which differentiates a mu'min from a kafir. It has to include only those things which are agreed upon by all Muslims. We know that a Muslim must believe in the kalimah which states: "No god but God and Muhammad is His Messenger." So we recite this kalimah in tashah'hud. But one doesn't need to believe in Ali ibn Abi Talib to become a Muslim. Belief in Ali ibn Abi Talib makes a person a believer. A Muslim can be an enemy of Ali ibn Abi Talib, a believer can't be. But namaz makes us Muslims. So, there shouldn't be anything in namaz that could be contested by other Muslims. So, qunut is not an obligation in namaz. Now, if we believe that tashah'hud has to have the Third Testimony as an obligation, we are saying that Sunni are non-Muslims because they won't recite the Third Testimony in their tashah'hud. Moreover, the Ahlul-Bayt didn't teach us to recite any such thing in namaz. That's why all the top Shiite scholars have unanimously stated that the Third Testimony makes one's namaz batil because God didn't permit us to recite it in tashah'hud. If one insists on including it in tashah'hud, then how can he accuse Sunnis of introducing innovations in Islam when he is doing the same thing?

    Also, these Akhbaris make the most of Shiites who abuse and curse the Companions (رضوان اللہ علیہم) and Wives (رضوان اللہ علیھن) of the Prophet (علیہ الصلوٰۃ و السلام). Usulis, as per the fatawa of their marajay, refrain from insulting the celebrities of our Sunni brethren. 

And I really need to start writing on non-controversial fun topics!

[Today's Banimesh's first birthday, everybody!]