Doctrines of Shi i Islam: A Compendium of Imami Beliefs and Practices

doctrines of shian explains the intricate relationships between the mysteries of the created universe, relationships and connections of which the people of the time had no inkling. The disclosure of these mysteries, by an unlettered individual, living in the midst of people ignorant of all such things, could only have come about by means of divine revelation. Many examples of this can be given, but we shall restrict ourselves here to one alone: The discovery of the law of universal polarity is a major finding of modern science; the Qur>an, at a time when there was not even the slightest information on such matters, refers to this law as follows:

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Doctrines of Shian has prophesied events, giving precise and definite information about them before they unfolded, exactly as predicted. There are several examples of this, but we shall refer to just one. When the God-fearing Christian Byzantines (al-Rïm) were defeated by the fire-worshipping Sassanids, the pagan Arabs took this as a good omen, declaring that they, too, would prevail over the God-fearing Arabs of the peninsula. As regards this event, the Qur>an gives precise information: The Romans have been defeated in the nearer land, and they, after their defeat, will be victorious within ten years—God’s command in the former case and in the latter—and on that day believers will rejoice. (Sïra alRïm, xxx:2–4) The events took place exactly as predicted, and both God-fearing groups, the Byzantine Christians and the Arabian Muslims, prevailed over their respective enemies (Iranian Sassanids and the pagans of Quraysh). Thus we find at the end of the verse a reference to the happiness of the believers, for these two victories were simultaneous. The Qur>an has spoken of the lives of the Prophets and of past communities, in a number of Sïras and in various ways. It might be said that, being the final Revelation, the Qur>an clarifies much of the information found in previous Scriptures pertaining to the Prophets of the past, their missions, and their communities. In the Qur>anic accounts of the lives of the Prophets, there is not the slightest divergence either from the dictates of the intellect or of innate human nature, on the one hand, or from what the supreme status of the Prophets implies, on the other. Article 74 Evidence and Testimony of the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet The assembling of evidence and testimonies, as stated earlier, is one means by which the veracity of the claim of the Prophet can

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be proven. Here we shall briefly allude to some of this evidence which shows clearly the authenticity of his claim. 1. The quality of the life of the Prophet prior to his receiving his mission. The Qurayshi tribesmen referred to the Prophet as alAmín, ‘the Trustworthy’, before he received his call, entrusting to his safe-keeping their most precious possessions. When they were re-building the Ka, xxii:107) We see here that his mission and call is to all ‘the people’ (alnås):57 O people! The messenger hath come unto you with the truth from your Lord, so believe, it is better for you.(Sïra al-Niså>, iv:170) Of course, at the time when he began his mission, it was natural that he first make his admonitions to his own people before warning a people to whom no previous Prophet had been sent:

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Doctrines of Shian, while clearly establishing a particular community as the recipient of the mission, immediately follows this with a statement indicating that all those who receive the message are invited to follow it: And this Qur>an hath been inspired in me, that I may warn therewith you and whomsoever it may reach.(Sïra al-Anan states: And We never sent a Messenger save with the language of his folk, that he might make [the message] clear for them. (Sïra Ibråhím, xiv:4) But, as we have said, the fact that the Prophet of Islam was sent with the language of his own people does not mean that his mission was limited to them alone. Article 78 The Prophethood of the Prophet of Islam was the Seal (khåtam) of Prophethood, just as the divine law he brought placed the seal of finality upon all divine laws, and the Revelation that came through him was the seal of all previous revelations. In other words, after him no more Prophets will arise, and the law established by him will prevail until the Day of Resurrection. That is, there will be no further revealed laws; hence all claims to revealed status for any subsequent Law are null and void. The question of finality has been clearly expounded in Qur>anic verses and hadiths, and cannot be refuted. We allude to some of these below.

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Mu˙ammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of God, and the Seal of the Prophets; and God is ever aware of all things. (Sïra al-A˙zåb, xxxiii:40) Here, the word for ‘seal’, khåtam, means literally a ring; for at the time of the Revelation, the stamp or sign of individuals was communicated by the carved stone in a ring. They would use these rings to seal their letters, indicating thereby that they had come to the end of the letter. Taking this into account, the import of the verse quoted above becomes clearer: with the advent of the Prophet of Islam, the ‘scroll’ of prophethood and prophecy has received its terminal seal, and the ‘book’ of prophetic revelation is brought to an end. Insofar as the risåla (the divine message) means the disseminating and receiving of messages by means of revelation, it is clear that the end of prophethood also means, ipso facto, the end of the sending [by God] of divine messages.58 Amongst the various hadiths on this subject, it suffices to note the one referred to as Hadith al-Manzila (‘the [Spiritual] Rank’). The Holy Prophet appointed an—such as adding words or verses, or taking them away—is likewise excluded; thus, one can say with absolute certainty that this Scripture has not been altered in any way. 3. History shows us that the Muslims were graced in a special way as regards learning and memorizing the Qur>an. At the time of the Revelation, the Arabs were famed for their excellent, powerful memories, so much so that after hearing a long sermon just once, they were able to repeat it by heart afterwards. In such a context, where there were so many people who knew the Qur>an by heart, how could anyone claim that it might have been altered? 4. There is no doubt that Imam an having been altered. If, God forbid, such an alteration had in fact taken place, a person such as he would never have remained silent. Rather, we see the contrary: that he continuously called upon people to meditate upon the Qur>an: ‘O people, for whosoever follows the Qur>an, there is no poverty or indigence; and without following the Qur>an, there is no riches or freedom from want. So throughout your lives, sow the seed of the Qur>an [in your hearts] and follow it.’64 For these, and other reasons, the great scholars of the ahl albayt, from the beginning of Islam to the present day, have stressed the immunity of the Qur>an against any alteration (ta˙ríf). It must be stressed that this has been the position of all Shia of A˙mad b. Mu˙ammad Sayyårí (d. 286 ah). His narrations are classified as weak by those versed in knowledge of transmitters of hadith (an.68 4. Anyone wishing to attain a true understanding of the actual beliefs of a given school of thought must study the authoritative books on doctrine and belief as found in that school, rather than looking at some books of narrations compiled by those whose aim was but to gather up material, leaving to others the task of verification and evaluation. Similarly, referring to a few

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unusual opinions held by some followers of the school is insufficient for arriving at a sound knowledge of the school, as is basing oneself on the words of one or two people who oppose the majority of the authoritative scholars in the school of thought. To conclude this discussion on alteration, it is necessary to note the following points. Any mutual recrimination by the adherents of different schools of law in Islam, especially in the current age, has as a result only the weakening of the unity of the umma. If some Shian is mentioned, we observe that, after the publication of such books, Shian had been altered—basing himself upon certain narrations found in the books of the Sunnis, concerning the abrogation or writing of certain Qur>anic verses—the Shaykhs of al-Azhar repudiated the opinion and banned the book. The revealed Book for all the Muslims of the world is the Glorious Qur>an, consisting of 114 Sïras, of which the first is the Sïra al-Fåti˙a, and the last is the Sïra al-Nås. In this book of divine speech, the name ‘al-Qur>an’ has been mentioned with certain qualifying adjectives, such as Glorious (majíd), Noble (karím) and Wise (˙akím).69 Muslims occasionally refer to it as the mu˚˙af, which in Arabic denotes any collection of written pages gathered up as in a scroll. It is related that after the passing away of the Prophet, when all the Sïras of the Qur>an had been collected in a single compilation, it was proposed by certain companions to keep it in this form.70 Therefore, the mu˚˙af came to refer to the collected, written pages of a document, gathered in the form of a single book, whether it be the Qur>an or any other document. The Qur>an refers to the record of deeds as a ˚u˙uf: And when the pages (˚u˙uf) are laid open. (Sïra al-Takwír, lxxxi:10)

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Doctrines of Shi