Part 2 - CARE - Love thine Shiaa brethren

Part 2 - CARE - Love thine Shiaa brethren

Walaikum Assalam.

I guess now you are now moving into dangerous waters. If you read the books of our many "respectable" ulema of the past and present belonging to different schools of thought, you would come across more such inconsistencies and at times downright insinuations.

Please...let us stop quoting "opinions" of scholars out of context, especially when the same relate to Muslim brothers and sisters. Yes, we must treat all Muslims (sunnis and shias) as our brothers and sisters (as long as we don't see them doing kufr and shirk openly). This is the TRUTH, the fundamental TRUTH.

Some of them may be misguided, but certainly do not deserve the label of mushriq and kaafir. And I guess, all the "divisive" literature written over centuries reflecting discords among the ulema and scholars or simply political compulsions together carry no weight for a Muslim who takes guidance from the Glorious Qur'an and follow the Prophet PBUH as his only Imaam.

Ethnic profiling has no place in Islam. We must treat all humans - not just the Sunnis, but Shias too, with kindness and invite them to the right path with lots and lots of grace and patience, just as the Prophet PBUH used to do. This is another FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH that Islam teaches us. Even if all the ulema, past and present tell otherwise, the TRUTH stands.

I would refer to your earlier posting where you compared Shias with Ahmadiyas. There is an important difference you forgot to mention. Ahmadiyas brought a new Prophet and that sealed their fate. And let us be clear, there is no reason why we should not give Da'wah even to a second-generation Ahmadiya who has inherited his beliefs from his parents rather than treat him/her as an enemy of Islam.

I would also like to bring to your attention the"division" between the so-called rightly guided Sunni scholars. You may like to see what the differing schools say about each other - Ahle hadith, Salafis, Deobandis, Tablighis, Khanqa - followers of specific scholars, Barelvis, Naqshebandis, and the list is too long indeed.

Quoting opinions based on historical events is all the more difficult to interpret.

Regarding your recent email on the writings of Maulana Manzoor Naumani, may I state that I have the great privilege of personally meeting the Maulana during my student days in Lucknow and I have the highest regards for him as a great scholar and a great Abid and Alim.

However, I feel our times are somewhat different from the times of the Maulana who lived at a time of great animosity between Indian Shias and Sunnis (with frequent riots in Lucknow over incidents of disrespect shown to Sahabah by some misguided Shias).

And the times are changing fast.

The idea of Islamic solidarity and unity between different sects and schools of Islam is more relevant than ever.

No one denies the problem with their Aqeedah. Why should we (the ones with right Aqeedah) feel threatened by them? More so in an age when we are facing Western conspiracies at the highest level to malign Islam and its followers?

With due respect to Maulana and his apprehensions about Shiaism, I personally feel strongly that we need NOT keep going back to books of history to develop a perspective for the future. In this age we feel we should invite the Jews and Christians (supposedly worst enemies of Islam according to some) through Dawah. We prefer not to go by racial profiling and we are proved correct when we are witnessing many of them actually converting to Islam (not withstanding the crusades of the past and what-have-you), there is no reason to believe that the "present day" Shiahs would never revert to the right path and get united with the Sunnis under the banner of Islam.

Rationality and Islamic solidarity will never get a chance if both Shias and Sunnnis keep referring to the books written by their "respected" ulema about the dangers of being friendly with the "other" sect.

At another level, may I state that in the field of Islamic economics and law, I have come across some real gems in the writings of Imam Baqi Al-Sadr (author of Iqtesaduna). To the best of my knowledge the legal texts of Imam Jaafar also draw wide appreciation by Sunni scholars.

It is indeed easy to find fault with the "other"school of thought and take excuse of "protecting one's own flock from falsehood and fitna". But how many more divisions we would need to make of the Ummah to finally feel secure of being on the right path and being with the right Jamaah?



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Part 1 - CARE - Love thine Shiaa brethren

Part 1 - CARE - Love thine Shiaa brethren

Walaikum assalaam.

The perversion of Shia beliefs is something most people (among Sunnis) would agree to. What is striking, and alarming, is that you have called for, perhaps implicitly, the Shias to be declared as non-Muslims, in the same breed as Qadianis and "Submitters".

From what I know, the scholars of Islam, have traditionally considered the Shia to be "Fussaaq" (plural of Faasiq). A "Faasiq", as we know is a "perverted transgressor". Even a Muslim can be a perverted transgressor.

In fourteen centuries of Islamic scholarship, the consensus of the Ulema has been that Shias are seriously misguided, but not outside the pale of Islam. Al-Azhar University in Cairo admits both Shia and Sunni students.

There is a difference between a person or group falling into "kufr", and legally declaring the person or group as "Kaafir". A legal declaration would imply that the group is prevented from entering the sacred precincts of the Haram, just as the Qadianis are not allowed to perform Hajj.

My knowledge of Islamic history is limited, but I am not aware of any period in which the Shias were prevented from performing Hajj. I am not sure if the late Ali Mian Nadwi pronounced takfeer on the Shias. Even today, I do not believe that any scholar or group you refer to have called for such a ban.

This is not to say that the consensus of the scholars cannot be critiqued. However, the critique must come from a position of profound knowledge. In other words, the posting on your blog does not give compelling reasons why a common man like me should set aside fourteen centuries of scholarship and now sit up and take notice of the views of one "Mr. NewJoy"!!

While scholars have refrained from declaring the Shia as "Kuffaar", rank hatred for them and from them has festered over the centuries. The vast majority of Sunnis, therefore, do not need to be convinced that Shia beliefs are deeply problematic. Rather the need is to bring about some balance in this discourse, something that your posting clearly does not even attempt to do.

Do you feel that your posting will be a step towards bringing the Shia closer to the truth? I for one, am not holding my breath on this one.

More likely it will only add to the hatred that common Sunnis have towards the Shias, which I am certain is not your objective. Sunnis have been ranting against the Shias for centuries in precisely the same manner that you have done. The results are known to all who follow the events in the Muslim world, particularly in countries like Pakistan. With due respect, I have heard insanity being defined as "doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results".

So there can a middle way, between saying "Its all OK", and boiling with anger and hate towards the Shias (or any other deviant group for that matter). The brief foreword written by the late Ali Mian Nadwi to Maulana Manzoor Nomani's book, is an example of such scholarly and dignified discourse. Why not leave these things to folks who know?

And Allah Knows Best.


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