(part 1 of 2)
One of the most confusing scenarios for non-Muslims and new Muslims alike is the division between the Shiites and Sunnis. Some get confused when they see how every group claims to follow true Islam. To really understand this, one has to delve into the early history of Islam and see under what circumstances this division actually took place, a research that is beyond the scope of most people. Another way that is closer to the average person’s assets is to analyze which group is closer to the teachings of Islam: a simple comparison between the beliefs of the Sunnis and that of the Shiites, as well as their practices in light of the written evidence, the Quran – the revealed Word of God,
It is often seen that people attach great importance to this division. The Shiites make up only eight percent of the Muslim population, and they only reach this number after they have taken possession of certain politically important regions in the past. So in reality this is not a real division of Islam. One can confidently say that the Shiites are no more than one of the various factions that have left the pure teachings of traditional Islam. The Sunnis, on the other hand, are not a splinter group, but only call themselves to distinguish themselves from the Shiites and other renegade sects.
The word “Sunnit” itself comes from Sunnah, the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. The Sunnis strictly adhere to these teachings without any insertions, falsifications or omissions. The word „Shiit“ (in Arabic Shi’a) means „party“, „sect“, „supporter“ or „a group of like-minded individuals“. God says in the Quran to His Prophet Muhammad – Honor and Salvation on him -:
“Certainly, you have nothing in common with those who split their religion and have become camps. Your affair is with God. He will then tell them what they used to do. ” (Quran 6: 159)
Although the specific groups called Shiites were not meant by this verse, they belong to it.
If you study history a little, you will see that the term Shiit was first used among Muslims to refer to a political issue that they disagreed about 37 years after the Prophet’s death. Although the Shiites claim that their origin was in this scenario, the current term Shiite refers to this special sect that appeared much later in history. In both cases it is clear that this term was never used in the time of the Prophet. So we can say that the Shiites are a group that only appeared after the Prophet’s death.
Zoroastrians‘ shrine, Abu Lu’lu’ah, in Kashan, Iran, worshiped by the Shiites.
In the long development of Shi’ite thought, they included many foreign ideas in their beliefs. Starting with a political opinion that preferred some views of Ali’s prophet’s cousin over that of other companions, they became a sect that adopted strange ideas alien to Islam. This happened because this ideology was mainly supported by people who lived in areas far from the centers of Islamic teaching, particularly in Persia. These people were either new to Islam or even converted to Islam by name and lived in areas where a large percentage of the population had remained on their pre-Islamic religion. Here the Shia found fertile ground for the introduction of foreign ideas. They also resisted adopting some aspects and beliefs, that Islam contains. This resulted in a sect that is composed of ideas from Ju-dentum, Zoroastrianism and Islam. It is no longer surprising when we see that one of the most important Shiite shrines that many of them visit is the one of the Zoroastrians Abu Lu’lu’ah who died after the Khaliphat of Umar. It is located in the city of Kashan, in what is now Iran. Muhammad Ali Mu’zi, an Iranian Shiite researcher in France, stated: who died after Umar’s Khaliphat. It is located in the city of Kashan, in what is now Iran. Muhammad Ali Mu’zi, an Iranian Shiite researcher in France, stated: who died after Umar’s Khaliphat. It is located in the city of Kashan, in what is now Iran. Muhammad Ali Mu’zi, an Iranian Shiite researcher in France, stated:
„The fundamental foundations of the Zoroastrian religion have been incorporated into Shiism, even in some of the smallest matters … And this connection marks the brotherhood between Shiism and the former wizards of Iran.“ [1]
We will now briefly consider Shiism in one aspect , namely that of faith. The following few examples clearly show how much he deviates from the truth of the religion of Islam, which the Prophet Muhammad – honor and salvation – brought on him.
There are various articles of belief in Islam, and from them branch different beliefs that all people who profess Islam must recognize. They are mentioned in the following verse:
„… Kindness is rather that one believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the books and the prophets …“ (Quran 2: 177)
This is also mentioned in the prophet’s statement, may God praise him:
„Believe is that you believe in God, the angels, the scriptures, the prophets, the last day … ”(Sahieh Muslim)
This short treatise will only touch superficially some of these articles of faith and mention some things in which the Shiites believe and in what they differ from the Muslims.
Believe in God
Pure belief in God is the most important aspect of the religion of Islam. During the first 13 years of Muhammad’s prophecy, he corrected people’s belief in God, warning them not to worship others other than God, be they angels, prophets, saints, martyrs, trees, stones, stars or idols. He explained to them that only God alone, the One who created them, is worthy of worship. Very few legislations and religious acts were ordered during this time. Most of the Qur’an itself calls for true belief. God says in the Quran that worshiping others besides Him is the greatest of all sins that eternal damnation in hellfire entails.
„Whoever associates with Allah, Allah forbids paradise, and his refuge will be the (hell) fire.“ (Quran 5:72)
This is the uncompromising belief of Islam, and it is the foundation through which one enters the community of believers. We do find, however, that the Shiites do glory and worship to others besides God and „idolize“ them. Great “saints” and martyrs, such as Ali, Hussein, Fatimah, have to pay homage to their imams and are directly implored in times of need. They both believe that they can answer their appeals and that they could stand up for them with God, which is clearly unbelief according to Islam [2]. God says:
“Or (is it better) Who will hear the person in need when he calls him and takes away the evil and makes you successors (on) the earth?” (Quran 27:62)
Another important teaching that Shiism clearly violates is the concept that God alone directs the affairs in the universe and He alone knows the invisible. The Shiites attribute these qualities to their leaders, who they call imams, and give them a higher position than the prophets and angels. God says:
“Say: about the hidden do not know who is in heaven and on earth, except Allah; and they don’t notice when they’re raised. ” (Quran 27:65)
The Shiites attribute many of God’s attributes to their imams. Some of them even think they would cause the lightning [3]. But Allah says that such things He does alone:
“And it belongs to His (Allah) signs that He lets you see the lightning (as a reason) for fear and desire (of rain) and lets water come down from heaven and with then bring the earth back to life after her death. There are truly signs in it for people who understand. ” (Quran 30:24) Relevant
Shi’ite texts state:
„The imams have knowledge of everything that has been in the past and what will happen in the future and nothing is hidden from them.“ (Al-Kulaini, Al-Kaafi, p.260)
„The Imams have knowledge of all the books disclosed, regardless of the languages in which they were revealed.“ (Ibid, p.227)
“The imams know when they will die and they do not die unless they want to do it themselves” (Ibid, p.258)
“Everything on earth belongs to the imams.” (Ibid, p.407)
There are many other matters of faith in Shiism that clearly contradict Islam and throw a person out of the “community of believers”. For this reason, Muslims do not recognize Shiism as a representative of Islam, but they are more correct in believing that it contradicts the foundations of Islamic teaching.
Footnotes:
[1] The role of Zoroastrianism in the development of Shiism.
[2] Biha’r Al-Anwa’r, Al-Majlisi. An example of such an unnatural belief can be found in the statement of one of their imams or leaders.
“When the Prophet Noah (peace be upon him) almost drowned in the water, he called on God the Almighty with our names (ie in the name of the Imam). Then God Almighty came to his aid. When the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) was thrown into the crackling fire, he prayed to God and God Almighty in our name, commanded the fire to be cold and a place of safety for him [Abraham]. When the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) struck the sea with his stick to get a way, he called God on our behalf and God made the sea dry up. When the Jews finally planned to kill Jesus (peace be upon him), he prayed to God in our name and was saved from death. God may have raised him. ” (Wasa’il As-Sheea, 4/1143)
[3] Bihaar al-Anwar, Al-Burhan, and others.
(part 2 of 2)
The Schahaadah
Shiism differs from Islam even in the first and most important pillar of Islam, the Schahaadah. This is the testimony that no one but God is worth worshiping and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger (laa ilaaha illa-Allah, Muhammadur-Rasuul-ullah). This testimony is the most important foundation of Islam; all religion builds on this and embodies this unique, absolute monotheism and belief in God. It is so important that the Prophet implored his uncle on the deathbed to testify:
“O uncle! Say: ‚laa ilaaha ill-Allah,‘ a sentence with which I will speak to you in your favor with God. ” (Sahieh Al-Bukhari)
His uncle didn’t testify because he was afraid of what people would say about him if he exchanged his forefathers‘ religion for another one just before he died. He died and the Prophet was informed through a revelation that he was among the people of Hellfire.
The key point is that this phrase and what it contains is so important that the Prophet called it the key to Eternal Life in Paradise. He said,
„Nobody says ‚La ilaaha illa-Allah‘ and dies on it without him / she going to enter heaven (paradise).“ (Sahieh Al-Bukhari)
Since this sentence is considered the first pillar of Islam, this confession makes you a believer and gives him the opportunity to enter paradise!
The Shiites, however, have a different “creed”. Not only do they deny its meaning by associating God with others, as the following articles show, but they also add certain principles that cannot be found anywhere in the authentic texts of Islam. Her shahaadah consists of the statement: “No one is worthy of worship except God, and Muhammad is His servant and Messenger and Ali is His favorite and chosen one and follower of the Prophet.” [1]
They do this because of their extremism, which they represent in relation to the cousin of Prophet Muhammad, Ali, from whom they claim to originate. The Shiites even claim that Ali’s succession was mentioned in all the writings that were revealed to the previous prophets [2]. They explain that everyone would be asked about Ali’s succession on the day of the judgment [3], and if someone believed otherwise, he would be considered an idolater [4]. Although Ali was known as one of the most pious companions of the Prophet, we do not find a tradition in which the Prophet Muhammad would have ever mentioned his successor role. In fact, when we look at early Shiite works, they adopted these views from Abdullah ibn Saba ‚, a renegade who said Being Muslim and plotting against Khalif Uthman. Ibn Saba ‚also claimed that Ali himself was God [5]. It is clear from this that all of these views represent innovations that had never been propagated by the Prophet (may God praise him).
Belief in the Scriptures
God mentions in the Qur’an that He has revealed scriptures to the prophets that they taught and recited to their people. Some of these prophets and scriptures are mentioned in the Qur’an:
“Says: ‚We believe in Allah and in what has been sent down to us (as revelation) and in what has been sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the tribes and to what was given to Moses and Jesus and to what was given to the prophets by their Lord. We make no difference to any of them and we are devoted to Him. ” (Quran 2: 136)
“He has revealed the book to you with the truth to confirm what was (revealed) before him. And He (also) sent down the Torah and the Gospel (as a revelation). ” (Quran 3: 3)
The prophets were the ones who received revelations, and due to the fact that Muhammad – may God praise him – was the last prophet, no further scriptures will be revealed after the Quran. Nevertheless, the Shiites believe that after the Qur’an, before the Prophet’s death, another scripture was called what they call the „Fatima Tablet.“ They claim that the names of all those who are their future imams are written on it [6].
They introduced these ideas because they couldn’t find a verse in the Quran that they could use to substantiate their beliefs. However, they not only left it at that, they continue to question the authenticity of the Quran itself, claiming that it has not been preserved [7], the Quran is incomplete today and the full version is at its 12th Imam who has kept her hidden in „the cave“ for the past 900 years. They believe that if he shows up, he will bring out the full version. [8] This is in direct contradiction to the teachings of Islam, as should be clear to everyone, because God clearly states that the Quran is under His direct protection.
“The Chapter of Succession”. There is a translation in Persian on both sides.
„Certainly, it is We who have revealed the exhortation, and We will truly be her keeper.“ (Quran 15: 9)
The Shiites insist that the existing Quran must have been changed, although there is not a single proof of their stray views. One of the first to freely express this view was Mirza Hussein Muhammad Taqiy al-Noori al-Tabrasi (d. 1320 AH) in his book The Last Truth about the distortion of the Lord’s Lord’s Book [9].
The Shiites became so extreme in their belief that they even tried to insert chapters on Ali, may God be content with him, in the Quran because they could not find any clear texts. They called one of them „The Chapter of Succession“.
Believe in the prophets
As mentioned earlier, Islam teaches that the prophets were the best of humanity, specifically chosen by God for their extraordinary ability to deliver God’s message to humanity. God says in the Quran:
“Allah chooses messengers from angels, and (also) from men. Certainly, Allah is All-Hearing and All-Seeing. ” (Quran 22:75)
The prophets were the best people, living role models to emulate.
“And we have not sent a messenger without obeying him, with Allah’s permission” (Quran 4:64)
However, the Shiites believe that their imams are better than the prophets [10] and that some prophets are only due to their love are highly praised by the Imams [11].
If we wanted to mention all matters of faith in which the Shiites differ from the teachings of Islam, it would actually take up too much space. This short essay should make it clear that the Shiite beliefs have no basis in any of the teachings of Islam. It is more correctly a cluster of alien beliefs that have accumulated over a period of time and are all about extreme opinions about the leadership of certain preferred candidates known as their imams. A religion that teaches the worship of God alone and a lifestyle based on the model of His prophets, according to a message preached by all prophets, has become a life for them, that is filled only with love for Ali and confirming his claim to leadership and that of her imams. They strive to find a way to adapt the Islamic texts to their views, whether by adding, falsifying or distorting them. They claim that the beginning of creation, the sending of the prophets and the revelation of the scriptures – all serve the purpose of following Ali and the last imams [12], and even on the day of judgment their imams and not God would judge people [13 ] !! There is no reason to be amazed at who decides, according to Shiism, whether to enter paradise or hell. to adapt the Islamic texts to their views, be it by adding, falsifying or distorting them. They claim that the beginning of creation, the sending of the prophets and the revelation of the scriptures – all serve the purpose of following Ali and the last imams [12], and even on the day of judgment their imams and not God would judge people [13 ] !! There is no reason to be amazed at who decides, according to Shiism, whether to enter paradise or hell. to adapt the Islamic texts to their views, be it by adding, falsifying or distorting them. They claim that the beginning of creation, the sending of the prophets and the revelation of the scriptures – all serve the purpose of following Ali and the last imams [12], and even on the day of judgment their imams and not God would judge people [13 ] !! There is no reason to be amazed at who decides, according to Shiism, whether to enter paradise or hell.
A religion that claims love for the family of the Prophet Muhammad – may God praise him – has led them to believe that contradicts the essence of the message of Islam that the Prophet brought.
Footnotes:
[1] Abdul Kariem Muschtaq.
[2] Al-Kulaini, Al-Kaafi, 1/437.
[3] The Wilayat of ‚Ali ibne Abi Talib (as), Answering Ansar.
[4] “If you give Ali another Imam and delay Ali’s Khalifat, you are an idolater.” (Al-Kafi fil-Usool, vol.10 p.55)
[5] Rijaal al-Kishhi.
[6] Al-Kulaini, Al-Kaafi, 1 / 527-8, and many others.
[7] Usul Kafi 1: 228
[8] Al-Anwar al-Nu’maniah, 2: 360-2.
[9] Faslul Khitab Fi Tahreefi-Kitabi Rabbil Arbaab.
[10] Wasa’il As-Sheea.
[11] Bihar al-Anwar (26: 267).
[12] I’tiqaadaat (106-7)
[13] Rijaal al-Kishhi (337)
Source: https://www.islamland.com/deu/articles/schiiten-schiismus-und-islam