I gathered through my research that the misfortune which has befallen the
Islamic nation has been due to the Companions' interpretation of Islam
against the clear texts. Thus they violated the ordinances of Allah and
obliterated the Tradition, and the religious scholars and leaders who
followed their example often contradicted the Prophetic Texts if they did
not comply with what one of the Companions had done before them. At times
they even contradicted the Qur'anic Texts, and I am not exaggerating here,
and I mentioned earlier in this book the case concerning the "al-Tayammum"
verse. Despite the fact that there is a clear text in the Book of Allah as
well as in the Messenger's tradition about Tayammum, they still took the
liberty of interpreting it, and said that one should abandon the prayers
if there was no water. Abdullah ibn Umar justified this interpretation in
the way we have encountered elsewhere in this hook.
One of the first Companions to open the door of Ijtihad [interpretation]
was the second Caliph who used his discretion vis-a-vis the Qur'anic
Texts after the death of the Messenger of Allah (saw) to stop the shares
of those whose hearts inclined (to truth), although Allah had made its
payment compulsory out of the Zakat, and said, "We do not need you."
As for his interpretation of the Prophetic texts, they are numerous, and
on many occasions he contradicted the Prophet himself when he was alive.
We have indicated in another chapter his opposition during the peace
treaty of al-Hudaybiah, and how strongly he opposed the writing of the
Messenger's last recommendation and said that the Book of Allah was
sufficient. There is another incident involving the Messenger of Allah and
Umar which shows clearly the latter's mentality and how he allowed himself
to argue and oppose the Messenger. The incident was about spreading the
good news of Heavens. The Messenger of Allah sent Abu Hurayrah with the
instruction that whenever he met a man who is absolutely convinced that
"There is no other god but Allah" he was to give him the good news that he
would end up in Heaven. Abu Hurayrah duly went out to spread the good news
until he met Umar who prevented him from continuing his mission and beat
him as he lay on the ground. Abu Hurayrah went back crying to the
Messenger of Allah and told him about his encounter with Umar, so the
Messenger asked Umar, "What made you do that?" Umar replied by asking the
question,"Did you send him to spread the good news of Heaven to whoever
convincingly believes that there is no other god but Allah!" The Messenger
of Allah said, "Yes." Umar then said, "Do not do that, because I fear that
all the people will rely on there is no other god but Allah."
We also have his son Abdullah ibn Umar who feared that people would rely
on al-Tayammum, so he ordered them to abandon the prayers. I wish they had
left the texts as they are and that they had not changed them with their
futile interpretations which could only lead to the eradication of the
Islamic laws, the violation of Allah's sanctity and the division of this
nation into various creeds and warring factions.
Looking at the various stances that Umar took regarding the Messenger of
Allah and his Tradition we could deduce that he never believed in the
infallibility of the Messenger; and he thought of him as any other man
subject to right or wrong. Thus came the opinion adopted by the Sunni
scholars and al-Jamaah that the Messenger of Allah was infallible as
regards the transmitting the Holy Qur'an, but that apart from that he was
like any other human being, sometimes wrong and sometimes right.
Some ignorant people claim that the Messenger of Allah (saw) accepted the
temptations of the devil in his home. Once he was lying on his back
surrounded by women playing their tambourines and the devil sat joyfully
next to him until Umar came, then the devil ran away and the women hid
their tambourines under their seats. The Prophet said to Umar, "As soon as
the devil saw you, he left by a different way from the way you came in."
It is not therefore surprising that Umar has his own views on the religion
and allowed himself to argue with the Messenger of Allah about political
issues as well as religious ones, as we explained before regarding the
good news about Heaven. From the idea of Ijtihad and using one's own
opinion vis-a-vis the texts, a group of Companions, led by Umar ibn
al-Khattab, started gathering force, and we saw on "The Day of Misfortune"
how they supported Umar's point of view rather than the clear text. We can then also deduce that it was the same group that did not accept the
"al-Ghadir" text in which the Prophet (saw) made it clear that Ali would
be his caliph [successor] over all the Muslims, and that they waited for
the right opportunity to reject it when the Prophet died. The meeting at
"al-Saqeefah" and the subsequent election of Abu Bakr was a result of that
Ijtihad, and when they completed their control over the affairs, people
started to forget about the Prophetic texts regarding the succession to
the caliphate and started to interpret everything. They challenged the Book
of Allah, they violated the boundaries and changed the rules. There was
the tragedy of Fatimah al-Zahra after the tragedy of her husband and his
removal from the caliphate. There was also the tragedy in the payment of
Zakat and the interpretation of that case despite the clear texts. Then
came the succession of Umar to the caliphate which was an inevitable
result of Ijtihad, because Abu Bakr implemented his own interpretation of
the situation and dropped the Shura [the consultative council] which
always used to help him with the running of the caliphate's affairs. After
that Umar came and made things even worse, he permitted things which were
forbidden by Allah and His Messenger [114] and forbade what Allah and His
Messenger had permitted [115].
- [114]
- As in the case of the divorce by three times
Muslim, Sahih, Chapter on the divorce by three times
Sunan, Abi Dawood, vol 1 p 344
- [115]
- As in the case of his prohibition of Muta al Hajj and
Muta al Nisa Sahih, Muslim, Chapter on Hajj Sahih, Bukhari, Section on al
Hajj Chapter on al-Tamattu
When Uthman came to power after Umar, he went a long way in al-Ijtihad,
and did more than any on his predecessors had done, until his opinions
started to affect political and religious life generally, thus leading to
the revolution, and he paid with his life as a price for his Ijtihad.
When Imam Ali took charge of the Muslims' affairs he encountered great
difficulties in trying to persuade people to go back to the honourable
Prophetic Tradition and the Holy Qur'an, and tried his best to rid Islam
from all the new innovations, but some people shouted loudly, "Behold!
Umar's Tradition!"
I am convinced that those who fought and contradicted Imam Ali (as) did so
because he forced them to go back to the correct texts. Thus he eradicated
all the new innovations and interpretations that had been attached to the
religion for the previous quarter of a century to which people had become
accustomed, especially those who had their own whims and greeds and who
used the wealth of Allah and the people for their own ends, and deprived
the ordinary folks of the basic rights of Islam.
We always find that self-opinionated individuals tend to favour Ijtihad
because it allows them to reach their end by any means to hand, and the
texts appear as barriers in their way and prevent them from achieving
their goals.
It is worth noting here that Ijtihad may have its followers among the
ordinary people, at any time and at any place simply because it is easy to
implement and has no firm commitments .
Because the text demands commitments and lacks freedom, politicians tend
to call it theocracy, which means the rule of Allah; but Ijtihad, with its
freedom and its lack of commitment, is called democracy, meaning the rule
of people. The men who met in al-Saqeefah after the death of the Prophet
(saw) decided to abolish the theocratic government which was established
by the Messenger of Allah on the basis of the Qur'anic texts, and changed
it to a democratic government chosen by the people. However, these
Companions were not aware of the word "democracy", for it is not an Arabic
word, but they knew the "Shura" system [116].
- [116]
- In fact such thing doesn't happen even in this type of
election, because those who are elected are not entitled to represent any nation, in any form.
Those who do not at present accept the text regarding the succession to
the caliphate are the proud supporters of "democracy", claiming that Islam
was the first to adopt such a system, and they are the supporters of
Ijtihad and reforms, and today they are considered to be the nearest
possible thing to the western system, and that is why the western
governments glorify them and call them the progressive and tolerant
Muslims.
The Shiites, who support theocracy or the government of Allah, refuse
Ijtihad vis-a-vis the text, and differentiate between the rule of Allah
and the Shura. They do not see any connection between the Shura and the
Texts, but their main concern is about Ijtihad and the Shura in issues
that do not have texts.
We see that Allah - praise be to Him - chose His Messenger Muhammad but He
still said to him: "And consult them about the matter" (Holy Qur an
3:159).
As for the choice of the leaders of the people, Allah said: "And your Lord
creates and chooses whom He pleases, to choose is not theirs" (Holy Qur'an
28:68). When the Shiites advocate for the succession of Ali to the caliphate after
the Messenger of Allah, they are actually committing themselves to the
text, and when they discredit some of the Companions, they do it with
regard to a few who replaced the text with Ijtihad and thus lost the rule
of Allah and His Messenger and opened a wound in Islam that has not yet
healed.
As a result we find the western governments and their thinkers despise the
Shiites and call them religious fanatics and reactionaries because they
want to go back to the Qur'an which rules that the thief should have his
hands cut off, and the adulterer should be stoned, and urge people to go
and fight in the name of Allah, but all that is haughtiness and barbarism,
as far as they are concerned.
Throughout this study I started to comprehend the reason why some of the
religious leaders of the Sunni tradition and al-Jamaah closed the gate of
Ijtihad as far back as the second Hijri century. Perhaps they predicted
the repercussions of Ijtihad on the Islamic nation from misfortunes to
bloody civil wars, and how it would change a nation, about which Allah
said, "You are the best nation that has come out to the people" to a
nation of warring factions where anarchy rules and eventually turns from
Islam to the Jahiliya [pre-Islamic period].
Ijtihad continued with the Shiites, as long as the texts remained intact
and nobody could change them, and what helped them in that was the Twelve
Imams who inherited their grandfather's knowledge, and used to say that
there was no problem that did not have Allah as its judge and that the
Messenger of Allah (saw) had made it clear.
We also understand that when the Sunni traditionists and al-Jamaah
followed the Companions who undertook Ijtihad and prevented the writing of
the prophetic tradition found themselves compelled, due to the absence of
the texts, to use personal interpretation, Qiyas [analogy], Istishab
[association], as well as closing the field of Dhara'i [pretext] and many
other measures.
We also understand that the Shiites gathered around Imam Ali, who was the
gate to the city of knowledge, and he used to say to them, "Ask me about
anything, for the Messenger of Allah taught me about one thousand [doors]
of knowledge, each one of which opens one thousand more doors." [117]. But
the non-Shiites gathered around Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan who knew little
about the Prophetic Tradition.
- [117]
- Tarikh Dimashq, Ibn Asakir, vol 2 p 484
Maqt al Husayn, al Khawarizmi, vol 1 p 38
al Ghadir, al Amini, vol 3 p 120
After the death of Imam Ali. the leader of the unjust faction became the
commander of the believers, and he abused Islam through the implementation
of his own personal opinions, which caused more damage to Islam than
anybody else before him. But the Sunni traditionists and al-Jamaah say
that he was "The writer of the Revelations", and that he was one of the
outstanding scholars in the interpretation of Islam. How could they judge
him like that when he was the one who poisoned al-Hasan ibn Ali, leader of
Heaven's youth? Perhaps they say, "This was an aspect of his Ijtihad
[interpretation], but he got it wrong!"
How could they judge his Ijtihad, when he was the one who took the
nation's acclamation for himself by force, then gave it to his son Yazid
after him, and changed the Shura system to a hereditary one?
How could they judge his Ijtihad and give him a reward, when he was the
one who forced people to curse Ali and Ahl al-Bayt, the offspring of the
Prophet, in every mosque, so that it became a followed tradition for
sixty years?
And how could they call him "The writer of the Revelations" since the
revelation came upon the Messenger of Allah (saw) for twenty-three years,
and Muawiyah was a polytheist for the first eleven years of them, and
later, when he was converted to Islam, did not live in Medina (for we
could not find any historical reference to support that), whereas the
Messenger of Allah (saw) did not live in Mecca after al-Fath [the conquer
of Mecca by the Muslims]? So how could Muawiya manage to write the
Revelation?
Behold! There is no power except in Allah, the Most High, the Great. And
the question comes back, yet again: which group was right and which one
was wrong? Either Ali and his followers were wrong or Muawiyah and his
followers were wrong.
The Messenger of Allah (saw) explained everything. but some of those who
claim to follow the tradition got it wrong, for it has become apparent to
me through the research that the people who defend Muawiyah could only be
the followers of Muawiyah and the Umayyads and not, as they claim, the
followers of the Prophetic Tradition [Sunnah]. If we observe their
positions, we find that they hate the followers of Ali, and celebrate the
Day of Ashura as being a festival and defend the Companions who hurt the
Messenger of Allah during his lifetime and after his death, and always
correct their mistakes and find justifications for their actions.
How could you love Ali and Ahl al-Bayt and at the same time you bless
their enemies and their killers? How could you love Allah and His
Messenger and at the same time defend those who changed the rules of Allah
and His Messenger and interpret these rules in their own way?
How could you respect those who did not respect the Messenger of Allah and
accused him of Hajr and criticized his leadership?
How could you follow religious leaders that have been appointed by the
Umayyads and the Abbasids for political reasons, and leave other religious
leaders although the Messenger of Allah pointed out their number [118]
and their names [119].
- [118]
- Sahih, Bukhari, vol 4 p 164
Sahih, Muslim, p 119 - [119]
- Yanibul Muwaddah, al Qunduzi al Hanafi
How could you follow somebody who did not know the Prophet very well and
leave the gate to the city of knowledge, whose relation to the Messenger
was the same as the position of Harun to Musa?Who was the first to use the term Ahl al-Sunnah [Sunni Traditions] and
al-Jamaah? I have searched through the history books and found that they
agreed to call the year in which Muawiyah seized power "the year of
al-Jamaah". It was called thus because the nation became divided into two
factions after the death of Uthman: The Shia of Ali and the followers of
Muawiyah. When Imam Ali was martyred and Muawiyah seized power after his
pact with Imam Hasan which enabled him to become commander of the
believers the years was then called "al-Jamaah". Therefore the name Ahl
al-Sunnah [Sunnah Traditionists], and al-Jamaah indicates the Sunnah
[tradition] of Muawiyah, and the agreement on his leadership, and does not
mean the followers of the Sunnah [tradition] of the Messenger of Allah.
The Imams and other members of Ahl al-Bayt, who are the descendants of the
Messenger of Allah, know more than anybody else about the Sunnah
[tradition] of their grandfather and what it entails, for as the proverb
goes. The people of Mecca know its paths better than anyone else. But we
opposed the Twelve Imams whom the Messenger of Allah mentioned in his
sayings and followed their enemies. Despite our acknowledgement of the
tradition in which the Messenger of Allah mentioned twelve caliphs, all of
them from Quraysh, we always stop at the four caliphs. Perhaps it was
Muawiyah who called us Ahl al-Sunnah and al-Jamaah, meaning the agreement
on his Sunnah [tradition] in which he made it compulsory to curse Ali and
Ahl al-Bayt. This continued for sixty years until Umar ibn Abdul Aziz -
may Allah be pleased with him - stopped it. Some historians inform us that
the Umayyads themselves plotted to kill Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, and he was
one of them, because he killed the Sunnah, which was the cursing of Ali
ibn Abi Talib.
O my people! Let us go - guided by Allah, the Most High - and search for
the truth and rid ourselves from that blind prejudice, because we are the
victims of the Abbasids and the victims of the dark history and the
intellectual barrenness which we have been subjected to for a long time.
Undoubtedly we are the victims of the cunning and the shrewdness of people
like Muawiyah, Amr ibn al-As, al-Mughirah ibn Sh'bah and others. Research
into our Islamic history in order to reach the absolute truth and Allah
will reward you twice. Let us hope that we can unite this nation which was
stricken by the death of its Prophet and then became divided into
seventy-three factions.
Let us unite this nation under the banner of "There is no other god but
Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" and to follow Ahl al-Bayt,
whom the Messenger of Allah commanded us to follows and said, "Do not be
in front of them, for you will perish, and do not keep away from them, for
you will perish, and do not teach them, for they know more than you do?"
[120]
- [120]
- al Durr al Manthur, Suyuti, vol 2 p 60
Usd al Ghabah, vol 3 p 137
al Sawaiq al Muhriqah, Ibn Hajar, p 148, 226
Kanz al Ummal, vol 1 p 168
Majma az Zawaid, vol 9 p 163
If we do that, Allah will lift His anger from us, and He will change our
fear to peace and tranquillity. and will enable us to rule on this earth,
and will make His friend Imam al-Mahdi - may peace be upon him - appear to
us, since the Messenger of Allah promised us with his re-appearance to
fill the earth with peace and justice after it had been filled with
injustice and oppression ... thus Allah will complete, through him, the
enlightment of the whole world.