Shia’s Belief System (Part 2)

Religion

Written by: Dr. Kazem S. M. Mesbah Moosavi

Published on: September 25th, 2019

PART TWO: SHIA AND THE ACCUSATION OF CURSING THE PROPHET’S COMPANIONS

Click here for Part 1 | Part 3

Dr. Kazem Mesbah Moosavi

The following is part of a series of interviews, in relation to the Shia’s Belief System, conducted by Sajid Sajidi with a Shia scholar and thinker, Dr. Kazem Mesbah Moosavi, the founder and president of Islamic Iranian Centre of Imam Ali. Dr. Mesbah Moosavi is a graduate-researcher from Elmiyeh Seminary in Qom, Iran and received his PhD from McGill University. He has taught for many years as the professor of Islamic studies, theology and philosophy at Elmiyeh seminary, as well as in a number of universities, including McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He has authored many published and unpublished articles in psychology, philosophy, and Islamic studies. There are hundreds of videos of his lectures available for researchers.

*PBUH; Peace Be Upon Him/Her

One of the justifications of Salafi-Wahhabism in considering Shias as kafir (unbeliever) and launching wars against Shias refers to the accusation of Shiats as those who curse the companions of the prophet (*PBUH). Is there any validity to such an accusation?

There are radical and extremists in both the Sunni and Shia sects. We must not paint everyone with the same brush. There are some extremist Sunnis whom are known as Nasebis; they curse Imam Ali (PBUH). Their justification is that Muawiyeh hated Imam Ali (PBUH) and that was why for many years he fought with Imam Ali (PBUH). He had ordered all the people to curse Imam Ali (PBUH) in their Friday “khutbahs” (sermons) at their mosques, which continued to spread throughout the whole Islamic hemisphere. When Imam Ali (PBUH) was eventually killed, and Muawiyeh gained exclusive power in the Islamic world, the practice of cursing Imam Ali (PBUH) continued in all Ommiyat regimes for decades until the time of Khalif Omar Ibne-Abul Aziz, who then forbid the practice of cursing Imam Ali (PBUH) in the Friday “khutbehs”.

Without question, the majority of Sunnis disapprove of such a nasty tradition, but can they stop the Nasebis from continuing in doing so?

I am sorry, but I cannot understand how any Muslim can curse Imam Ali (PBUH) to whom the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, “la yobghezoka illa munafiq; no one hates you, except the hypocrite.”

Yes, there are many similar hadiths regarding Imam Ali (PBUH), reflecting unfortunately, Muawiyeh and all Ommiyat dynasty were greatly hostile towards Imam Ali (PBUH); they would imprison, torture, and even kill those who tried to narrate any hadith from the Prophet (PBUH) regarding Imam Ali (PBUH). Despite all their efforts to stop any narrations regarding the admiration of Imam Ali (PBUH), many hadiths can still be found in the Sunni books.

Can you give an example?

One of the great Sunni scholars, Al-Muttaghi Al-Hindi, in his book, “Kanzul Ommal”, vol. 11, P. 614, hadith # 32981, quotes the following narration from the Prophet (PBUH):

“Ali is the gate of my knowledge and the one who explains the revelation to my Ummah after me; to love him is the very essence of the faith and to hate him is hypocrisy, and to look at him is kindness.”

Thank you professor. That was a very informative discussion. You spoke about an extremist Sunni group who cursed Imam Ali (PBUH), but what about the shias extremists who curse some of the companions of the Prophet (PBUH)? Could you shed some light about their actions and justifications?

First of all, the great Shia scholars and supreme leaders of Shias, like Ayatollah Sistani and Ayatollah Naser Makarem have forbidden to curse the companions of the Prophet (PBUH). But the extremists cannot be stopped. One may not to generalize and judge all Shias as extremists.

What is the justification of the extremists in cursing?

No matter what, no one can justify cursing the companions of the Prophet (PBUH).

I do agree with you. However, I am curious as to why some extremists are angry with some of the companions.

They try to justify their wrong actions based on a number of reasons. For example, they state that the first and the second Khalif made the Prophet (PBUH) upset and angry by hurting his beloved daughter, Fatimeh Zahra (PBUH), and making her angry. She had refrained from speaking to them till the day she passed away.

Is there any truth to this story? Is there any references to any of the Sihah Sittih books which are, as you know, the authentic books of hadiths according to Sunni perspective?

Yes, they are right and this has been narrated in Sihah Sittih as well.

For example, you may look at the following hadiths in Sahih Al-Bukhari 4/42 hadith # 3093:

«فَغَضِبَتْ فَاطِمَةُ بِنْتُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلي الله عليه وسلم فَهَجَرَتْ أَبَا بَكْر، فَلَمْ تَزَلْ مُهَاجِرَتَهُ حَتَّي تُوُفِّيَتْ».
صحيح البخاري: 4/42، ح 3093، كتاب فرض الخمس، ب 1 ـ باب فَرْضِ الْخُمُسِ .

There is another hadith in Sahih Al-Bukhari, 5/82, hadith #4240:

فَوَجَدَتْ فَاطِمَةُ عَلَي أَبِي بَكْر فِي ذَلِكَ – قَالَ – فَهَجَرَتْهُ فَلَمْ تُكَلِّمْهُ حَتَّي تُوُفِّيَتْ .
صحيح البخاري: 5/82، (ص 802 ح 4240) كتاب المغازي، ب 38 ـ باب غَزْوَةُ خَيْبَرَ.
صحيح مسلم: ج 5، ص 154، ح 4471، كتاب الجهاد والسير (المغازي )، ب 16 ـ باب قَوْلِ النَّبِيِّ صلي الله عليه وسلم، ج لاَ نُورَثُ مَا تَرَكْنَا فَهُوَ صَدَقَةٌ.
فَهَجَرَتْهُ فَاطِمَةُ، فَلَمْ تُكَلِّمْهُ حَتَّي مَاتَتْ .
صحيح البخاري، ج 8، ص 3، ح 6726، كتاب الفرائض، ب 3 ـ باب قَوْلِ النَّبِيِّ صلي الله عليه وسلم لاَ نُورَثُ مَا تَرَكْنَا صَدَقَةٌ .ا

All right, even if the Khalif had angered Fatimeh (PBUH), how did the Shias come to conclude that bothering Fatimeh (PBUH) is like the one who bothered the Prophet (PBUH)?

If someone acknowledges that the Khalif hurt Fatimeh (PBUH), then according to both Sunni and Shia sources, bothering Fatimeh (PBUH) is equivalent to the bothering of the Prophet (PBUH).

According to the hadith, narrated in both Sihah Sitteh and Shia books, the Prophet (PBUH) said: “Fatimeh is a part of me; whoever makes Fatimeh angry, he has made me angry. This is the translation of the hadith in sahih Bokhari 210/4, hadith # 3714.

حدثنا أبو الوليد حدثنا ابن عيينة عن عمر و ابن دينار عن ابن أبي مليكة عن المِسْوَر بن مَخْرَمَة أنّ رسول اللّه صلي اللّه عليه وسلم قال: «فاطمة بَضْعَة منّي فمن أغضبها أغضبني».
صحيح البخاري 4/210، (ص 710، ح 3714)، كتاب فضائل الصحابة، ب 12 ـ باب مَنَاقِبُ قَرَابَةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلي الله عليهوسلم . و4/219، (ص 717، ح 3767) كتاب فضائل الصحابة، ب 29 ـ باب مَنَاقِبُ فَاطِمَةَ عَلَيْهَا السَّلاَمُ .
عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي مُلَيْكَةَ، عَنِ الْمِسْوَرِ بْنِ مَخْرَمَةَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلي الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ وَهْوَ عَلَي الْمِنْبَرِ: «إِنَّ بَنِي هِشَامِ بْنِ الْمُغِيرَةِ اسْتَأْذَنُوا فِي أَنْ يُنْكِحُوا ابْنَتَهُمْ عَلِيَّ بْنَ أَبِي طَالِب فَلاَ آذَنُ، ثُمَّ لاَ آذَنُ، ثُمَّ لاَ آذَنُ، إِلاَّ أَنْ يُرِيدَ ابْنُ أَبِي طَالِب أَنْ يُطَلِّقَ ابْنَتِي وَيَنْكِحَ ابْنَتَهُمْ، فَإِنَّمَا هِيَ بَضْعَةٌ مِنِّي، يُرِيبُنِي مَا أَرَابَهَا وَيُؤْذِينِي مَا آذَاهَا».
صحيح البخاري ج 6، ص 158، ح 5230، كتاب النكاح، ب 109 ـ باب ذَبِّ الرَّجُلِ عَنِ ابْنَتِهِ، فِي الْغَيْرَةِ وَالإِنْصَافِ .

The same thing could be found in Sahih Muslim , vol. 7, hadith# 6201:

صحيح مسلم، ج 7، ص 141، ح 6201، كتاب فضائل الصحابة رضي الله تعالي عنهم، ب 15 ـباب فَضَائِلِ فَاطِمَةَ بِنْتِ النَّبِيِّ عَلَيْهَا الصَّلاَةُ وَالسَّلاَمُ .

If it is the case, then it means that Kalif has done something against the Prophet (PBUH)!

Whether the Khalif did such a thing or not, and what it implies should not be the focus of our discussion. We should create awareness and inform the extremists that cursing the Khalifs is forbidden. This action has been condemned by Shia scholars and Shia supreme leaders. This is absolutely wrong and cannot have justification. As Shias, we cannot, however, stop the extremists from doing so, just as our Sunni brothers and sisters cannot stop Nasibis from cursing Imam Ali (PBUH). The only thing we can do is to avoid overgeneralizations and painting everyone with the same brush.

Thank you Dr. Mesbah Moosavi for your valuable time.

Click here for Part 1.