The change was the beginning of a spiritual happiness for me, and I sensed
an inner silence with great joy for the right creed that I had discovered,
and had no doubt that it was the true Islam. I felt ecstatic and proud of
myself for what Allah had granted me from His guidance and direction. I
could not bear the silence and the secrecy about what was going on inside
me, and I said to myself, "I have got to tell the truth to people." "Talk
about the graces of your Lord", and it is one of the greatest graces, or
indeed, it is the greatest grace in this world and the life hereafter, and
"he who keeps silent about the truth is a dumb devil" and "after the truth
there is nothing to go astray "
What made me convinced that I should spread this truth was the innocence
of those Sunni traditionists and al-Jamaah who love the Messenger of Allah
and Ahl al-Bayt, and all what needs to be done is to remove that mist
which was made by history and then they would follow the right path, and
that is what happened to me personally.
Allah, the Most High, said, "... You too were such before, then
Allah conferred on you a benefit" (Holy Qur'an 4:94).
I invited four of my colleagues who taught with me at the institute, two
of them taught Religious Education, the third taught Arabic and the fourth
taught Islamic Philosophy. None of the men came from Gafsa, rather, they
came from Tunis, Jammal and Susah. I invited them to investigate with me
this dangerous subject, and made them feel that I was not so sure about
the meanings of certain things, and I expressed some anxiety and doubt
about some matters. They accepted my invitation and decided to come to my
house after work. After they arrived, I let them read "al-Murajaat", and
suggested to them that its author claimed many strange things about Islam.
The book aroused the interest of three of them, as for the fourth who
taught Arabic, he abandoned us after four or five meetings, saying, "The
west now is exploring the moon, and you are still researching into the
Islamic Caliphate."
Within a month we finished the book, and the three friends were
enlightened and I supported them and helped them along the way and gave
them all that I had accumulated from experience and knowledge during the
years of investigation. I started to taste the sweetness of guidance and
became very hopeful about the future. Frequently, I invited friends from
Gafsa who I used to know through the mosque's school or the Sufi orders in
addition to some of my faithful students. A year passed, and praise be to
Allah, we became a large number. We were all friends of Ahl al-Bayt. We
are the friends of their friends, and the enemy of their enemies, we
celebrate their festivals and mourn during Ashura.
Two of my early letters which carried the news of my enlightenment were
sent to al-Sayyid al-Khu'i and al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, during
the festivity of al-Ghadir, which we celebrated for the first time in
Gafsa. Everybody got to know about my conversion to Shiism and that I was
calling people to follow Ahl al-Bayt, and all sorts of accusations and
rumours started to go around the country. I was accused of being an
Israeli spy working to make people doubt their religion, that I cursed the
Companions and was planning to cause disturbances among the people ...
etc. In the capital Tunis I approached two friends, Rashid al-Ghannushi
and Abdul Fattah Moro, who expressed strong opposition to my ideas. and in
a conversation that took place in Abdul Fattah's house I said that as
Muslims, we ought to re-read our hooks and look again at our history, and
I gave Sahih al-Bukhari as an example, for it contains materials that any
sensible person would find difficult to accept. They became very angry
with me and said, "Who are you to criticize al-Bukhari?" I did my best to
persuade them to be involved in the research, but they refused, saying,
"If you yourself have become Shii, that is your business, but do not try
to convert us to Shiism. We have a more important task than that: namely
to resist the government which does not work according to Islam."
I answered by saying, "What is the use? If you come to power, you will do
more than they are doing now, because you do not know the true Islam."
Thus our meeting ended with a state of aversion between us.
Some people from The Muslims Brotherhood ran a campaign against us,
because they were not aware at that time of the Islamic Trend Movement,
and started to spread rumours among their ranks that I was a government
agent and that I was encouraging Muslims to doubt their religion in order
to keep them away from the main issue: namely resisting the government.
Gradually people started to make us feel isolated, especially the young
members of the Muslims Brotherhood and the Shaykhs who follow Sufi ways,
and we experienced difficult times, living like strangers in our own
homes and among our own brothers. But Allah - praise be to Him - changed
our situation for the better, and many young people from various cities
came to see us to investigate the truth, and I tried my utmost to persuade
them, and as a result many young men were able to see the light; they were
from Tunis, Kayrawan, Susa and Sidi Bu Zayd. During my summer visit to
Iraq I travelled through Europe and met friends in France and Holland and
discussed the subject with them, and praise be to Allah, they too saw the
light.
I was absolutely delighted when I met al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Sadr at his
house in Holy Najaf where he was surrounded by a group of learned
people. He introduced me to them as being the seeds of Shi'ism (following
Ahl al-Bayt) in Tunis. He also told them that he had cried when he first
received my letter which carried the news that we had celebrated the
festival of al-Ghadir, and how I complained about the difficulties we were
facing including malicious rumours and isolation.
Al-Sayyid said: It is inevitable that we pass through difficult times
because the path of Ahl al-Bayt is a difficult one. A man once came to see
the Prophet (s.a.w.) and said to him, "O Messenger of Allah, I love you."
He replied, "Then expect many tribulations. " The man said, "I love your
cousin Ali." He replied, "Then expect many enemies." The man said, "I love
al-Hasan and al-Husayn. " He replied, "Then get ready for poverty and much
affliction." What have we paid for the cause of justice for which Abu
Abdullah al-Husayn (as) paid his life and the lives of his family's
members and companions; and for which the Shiis along the path of history
have paid and are still paying up to the present day as a price for their
allegiance to Ahl al-Bayt? My Brother, it is inevitable that we go
through difficulties and give sacrifices for the cause of justice, and if
Allah helped you in guiding one man to the right path, it is worth the
whole world and what is within it.
Al-Sayyid al-Sadr also advised me against isolating ourselves and ordered
me to get even closer to my Sunni brothers whenever they wanted to keep
away from me, and to pray behind them so that there would be no rupture in
relations, and to consider them innocent victims of distorted history and
bad propaganda, because people are the enemy of what they do not know.
Al-Sayyid al-Khu'i also advised me on the same lines, and al-Sayyid
Muhammad Ali al-Tabatabai al-Hakim had always sent us letters full of
advice that had a great influence on enlightened brothers.
My visits to the Holy City of Najaf and its learned people became more
frequent, and I committed myself to spend each summer holiday near Imam
Ali and attend the lessons of al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, from which
I reaped great benefits. I also promised myself to visit the graves of all
the twelve Imams. and Allah helped me to realize my wish for I was even
able to visit the grave of al-Imam al-Rida which is situated in Mashhad,
on the borders between the U.S.S.R. and Iran. There I met some of the most
outstanding scholars, from whom I benefited a great deal.
Al-Sayyid al-Khu'i, whom we follow in our religious affairs, gave me
permission to use Khums and Zakat to help our enlightened group, and to
give them what they needed regarding books and grants and many other
things. I also was able to establish a small library which contained some
important references connected with the research which belonged to both
parties [Sunnis and Shiis]. I called it "Ahl al-Bayt Library" and
benefited many people, praise be to Allah.
Fifteen years ago Allah doubled my joy when the clerk to the city council
of Gafsa agreed to naming the street where I live "Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib
(as) Street". I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for that
honourable gesture, for he is one of the hard-working Muslims and has a
great respect and love for Imam Ali, and I presented him with
"al-Murajaat" by Sharaf al-Din. He and our group have mutual respect and
love for each other, so may Allah reward him well and grant him whatever
he wishes.
There were some wicked people who tried to remove the street's sign, but
all their attempts were in vain. and Allah willed it to stay where it was,
and we received letters from all over the world carrying the name of Imam
Ali ibn Abi Talib's street, whose honourable name blessed our good city.
In accordance with the advice of Ahl al-Bayt (as) and the advice of the
learned scholars of the holy city of Najaf we are determined to keep in
touch with our brothers from the other madhahibs and have maintained our
relation with al-Jamaah by praying together. Thus people started asking
us about our prayers, ablution and our beliefs.