HISTORY OF ISLAMIC THEOLOGY (I)

HISTORY OF ISLAMIC THEOLOGY (I)

Bismillahir Rahmanir RahimAll praise is due to Allah, we praise Him and seek His assistance and guidance. We repent unto Him and seek His protection against the evils of our souls and that ofour bad deeds. Whomever Allah guides none can mislead, and whomsoever He misleads none can guide. I bear witness that there is none worthy of being worshipedexcept Allah, alone without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. MayAllah’s peace and blessings be bestowed upon him and hispure family and noble companions.((O ye who believe, fear Allahas He ought to be feared anddie not except as Muslims))((O mankind fear your Lord who created you from a single soul, and from it its mate and from the two of them scattered many males and females, fear Allah inwhose Name you beg one another, and (be mindful of) your kinship, most certainly Allah keeps a watch over you)).((O ye who believe, fear Allahand say that which is straight(and true), He will correct, for you, your deeds and forgive your sins, whoever obeys Allah and Hismessenger has certainly succeeded a great success)).As a new member of this forum, I have taken time observing the different write-ups from fellow brothers in the NMN, and was waiting for the time it will be ripeto start writing on issues thatwill be of benefit to all – bothreligiously and in their various fields of endeavour, issues that no muslim living today can afford tobe ignorant of, if he really wants to succeed in life and his role as a vicegerent of Allah on earth; and issues which unfortunately nobody seems to be turningattention to, much-less writing about.Suddenly, a can of worms was opened and the entire forum changed into a ‘battle-field’ on the issue of Mahdi and later ended in a debate on fundamentaldifferences between Sunna and Shi’ah.But let it be understood clearly, right from the on-set,that I am totally opposed to the debate. And to me, the articles written on the Mahdiand subsequentrejoinders to it, are not worth our precious time for several reasons, some of which are that some of the write-ups – especially of the person proposing the Shi’iteMahdi, lack any scholarship and academic values, for it isclear that it was copied from a book authored by someoneelse, although he does not even have thecourtesy to acknowledge the author. Of course this is a serious crime in academic cycles known as plagiarism. This fact is vividly clear to anybody who reads thesaid articles, for example at certain instances it states: ‘…as you would come to see in this book …’! And at other instances a reference is made to a footnote butno trace of it is found, whereas in other places the footnotes carry references tothe translator – of course none of us needs him to copy and force it down ourthroats and expect us to swallow it – hook, line and sinker – we can always go to any bookshop and buy the books and see for ourselves.In addition, even the source from which he copies lacks any authority because it contains multiples of errors, misrepresentations and distortions of facts. Forexample, in the first article alone, there are more than a dozen things attributed to Allah, the Prophet e and the authentic books of Sunnah which are but merefabrications as you will cometo see in this article (or may have already noticed). In factsome of these may negate one’s faith such as saying (about the Mahdi) :“during this period, the people could refer their problems to him and receivehis replies through his vicegerents” and that “for theultimate salvation of mankind, heis the Pole Star of hope on which the gaze of humanity is fixed” (compare this with the Christian belief in Jesus!!). Of course there is noneed to mention theabsurdities he wrote and claimed to be a definition and description of Ahlus Sunnah.On the other hand, the idea that there are authentic traditions of the prophet, if taken literary, will contradict the Qur’an and history etc, is wrong and apparentto anybody who has the leastunderstanding of the scienceof Hadith and explanations of the experts in this field. It is not by rejecting the authentic ahadeeth ofthe Prophet that we establishthe fallacies contained in Shi’ism, and particularly in the concept of their Mahdi.Thus let it be clearly understood that the coming of Mahdi, Isa (A.S.), Dajjal and other unseen prophecies are unquestionable facts established by the Qur’an andthe authentic Hadiths.(( ﻟﻮ ﻟﻢ ﻳﺒﻖ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺪﻧﻴﺎ ﺇﻻ ﻳﻮﻡ ﻟﻄﻮﻝ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﺫﻟﻚ ﺍﻟﻴﻮﻡ ، ﺣﺘﻰ ﻳﺒﻌﺚ ﻓﻴﻪ ﺭﺟﻼً ﻣﻨﻲ ﺃﻭ ﻣﻦ ﺃﻫﻞ ﺑﻴﺘﻲ ، ﻳﻮﺍﻃﺊ ﺍﺳﻤﻪ ﺍﺳﻤﻲ ، ﻭﺍﺳﻢ ﺃﺑﻴﻪ ﺍﺳﻢ ﺃﺑﻲ ، ﻳﻤﻸ ﺍﻷﺭﺽﻗﺴﻄﺎً ﻭﻋﺪﻻً ﻛﻤﺎﻣﻠﺌﺖ ﻇﻠﻤﺎً ﻭﺟَﻮﺭﺍً (( ﺃﺑﻮ ﺩﺍﻭﺩ ﻭﺍﻟﺘﺮﻣﺬﻱ ﻭﺃﺣﻤﺪ ﻭﺍﻟﻄﺒﺮﺍﻧﻲ ﻓﻲﺍﻟﻜﺒﻴﺮ ﻭﺍﻟﺼﻐﻴﺮ ﻭﺃﺑﻮ ﻧﻌﻴﻢ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺤﻠﻴﺔ .((Even if nothing remains of this world except a day, Allahwill prolong that day till he sends in it a man from my progeny or from my family (Ahlul-Bayt). He willbear my name, and the name of his father will be thesame as the name of my father. He will fill the world with justice and equity as it has been filled withinjustice.)) Reported by Abu Dawud (2/207), and also Tirmizi, Ahmad, Tabarani and Abu Nu’aim.And that these issues are in no way contradictory nor in any disagreement with any text of the Qur’an, but rather those doubting them are either ignorant of theauthentic view or have misconceptions about them – of course water may taste bitter to a feverish person – but who is to blame? The Prophet e said “The cure ofignorance is to ask” (those who know).But to say, as the Shi’ites will want us to believe, that Mahdi is existing in occultation for almost 1200 years and other such fairy tales, is but a mockery of Islamand is far from what Islam refers to on Mahdi, although this issue will be dealt with atan appropriate time in sha Allah.Now let it be understood thatthe Mahdi issue is neither the right topic to start with nor is it the bone of contention between Shi’ah and other muslims. And asstated earlier the so called ‘debate’ on certain issues between Shi’ah and Sunnah is a complete waste of time, a complete waste of efforts and a misplacement ofpriorities out of which no fruits will come. I am sure those sincere minds like that of Br. Sulaiman Aremu and others will agree with me, especially after followingthe debate to where it stands. My reasons for rejecting this kind of debate are :1. That the sources of the Shi’ites are totally different from those of other muslims, both in Creed and Jurisdiction, because the book in which every muslim’sbelief is built, that is, the Qur’an is doubted by the twelver Shi’ites. The Sunnah believed in by the muslims isnot accepted by the Shi’ah except a tiny fractionthereof, and consequently they have other sources that are unique to them among all muslims, some of which are : sayings of their Imams, Al-Jafr, Mushaf-Fatimah, and scriptures revealed to their Imams, andother sources of deriving jurisdiction.2. As a result of what is mentioned in No. 1, the Shi’ites differ from all muslims in their fundamental articles of creed which are unique and peculiar to them fromthe time of those disputes that occurred in the early centuries of Islam, and are never in agreement with any of the muslim sects on these particular issues. Howcan it be possible now in the fifteenth Islamic century that such agreements be reachedthrough debates like this, where most – if not all – of the audience as wellas the participants are not equal to this kind of task. By this I mean :3. Most of the subscribers in this forum are not known to be specialised in Islamic studies, but rather they are agroup of respected and honourable Nigerians, withkeen interest in knowing and practising Islam, and some civilised intellectuals educated in various professions (may Allah reward all of them with paradise). Althoughthat does not mean they are ignorant of Islam, but we should know that issues of this nature should not be regarded like current affairs where everyone has whatto say, professionals and lay men alike.4. Debates like this – if there is any need of it – should be between experts from both sides in a separate forum, that is on private e-mail addresses, the result ofwhich will later be made known to the NMN and its members. And the medium of communication should