A Shi'ite Creed
Belief Concerning Evil Doers
Says the Shaykh Abu Ja'far: Our belief concerning them (zalimun) is that they are accursed and dissociation from them is necessary. Allah the Mighty and Glorious says:
“For evil-doers there will be no helpers” (Qur'an 2:270, 3:192, 5:72).
And Allah says, Exalted is He:
“Who doeth greater wrong than he who inventeth a lie concerning Allah? Such will be brought before their Lord and witnesses will say: These are they who lied concerning their Lord. Behold! The curse of Allah is upon the wrong-doers, who debar (men) from the way of Allah, and would have it crooked, and who are disbelievers in the Hereafter” (Qur'an 11:18-19).
Ibn 'Abbas in explaining this verse says: Verily, in this context, by “the way of Allah” (sabil Allah) is meant 'Ali bin Abi Talib and the Imams, on whom be peace.
And in the Book of Allah (are mentioned) two kinds of leaders: he who guides rightly and he who leads astray. And Allah the Exalted says:
“And We made them chiefs (or leaders) who guide by Our command” (Qur'an 21:73, 32:24).
And Allah says:
“And We made them patterns[^1] that invite[^2] unto the Fire, and on the Day of Resurrection they will not be helped. And We made a curse to follow them in this world and on the Day of Resurrection they will be among the hateful” (Qur'an 28:41-42).
Now when the following verse was revealed:
“And guard yourselves against a chastisement which cannot fall exclusively on those of you who are wrong-doers” (Qur'an 8:25).
The Prophet said: He who will wrong 'Ali as regards my successorship after my death, it is as though he has denied my apostleship and the apostleship of (all) the prophets before me, on whom be peace. And he who befriends the wrongdoer is himself a wrongdoer.
Allah the Mighty and Glorious says:
“O ye who believe! Choose neither your fathers, nor your brethren for friends if they prefer disbelief to faith. Whoso of you taketh them for friends, such are wrong-doers” (Qur'an 9:23).
And He the Mighty and Glorious has said:
“O ye who believe! Be not friendly with a folk with whom Allah is wroth, (a folk) who have despaired of the Hereafter as the disbelievers despair of those who are in the graves” (Qur'an 60:13).
And He the Mighty and Glorious says:
“Thou wilt not find folk who believe in Allah and the Last Day loving those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even though they be their fathers or their sons or their brethren or their clan. As for such, He hath written faith upon their hearts. . .” (Qur'an 58:22).
And He says, Exalted is He:
“He among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them. Lo! Allah guideth not wrong-doing folk” (Qur'an 5:51).
And the Mighty and Glorious says:
“And incline not toward those who do wrong lest the Fire touch you” (Qur'an 11:113).
(The literal meaning of) zulm is the placing of a thing at a place which is not its own. So he who claims the Imamah, not being an Imam, is an accursed wrongdoer (zalim). And he who ascribes Imamah to those who are not entitled to it, he too is an accursed wrong-doer.[^3]
And the Prophet said: He, who denies 'Ali his Imamah after me, verily denies my apostleship (nubuwwa). And he who denies my apostleship has denied Allah His divinity.
And the Prophet, on whom be the blessings and mercy of Allah, said: O 'Ali, you will be the wronged one (mazlum) after me; and he who wrongs you has verily wronged me; and he who acts justly towards you has verily acted justly towards me; and he who denies your (claims) has verily denied mine; and he who befriends you has verily befriended me; and he who treats you as an enemy has verily treated me as an enemy[^4] and he who obeys you has verily obeyed me; and he who disobeys you has verily disobeyed me.[^5]
And our belief concerning him, who denies the Imamah to the Prince of Believers 'Ali bin Abi Talib, on whom be peace, and the Imams after him, is that he is the like of him who denies the apostleship of all the prophets, on whom be peace.[^6]
And our belief concerning him, who believes in (the Imamah of) the Prince of Believers and denies a single one of the Imams after him, is that he is in the same position as one who accepts all the prophets but denies the apostleship of our Prophet Muhammad. And Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq said: He who denies the least among us is like him who denies (the claims of) the first among us.
And the Prophet said: The Imams after me are twelve, the first of them is the Prince of Believers 'Ali bin Abi Talib, and the last of them is the Mahdi (rightly-guided), the Qa'im (the upholder of the true religion); obedience to them is obedience to me and disobedience to them is disobedience to me; and he who denies one of them has verily denied me.
And Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq said: He who doubts in the infidelity (kufr) of our enemies who have wronged us is himself an infidel (kafir).
And the Prince of Believers said: Ever since I was born I have always been wronged. When 'Aqil used to suffer from ophthalmia[^7] (rarnad), he used to say: Do not sprinkle eye-powder into my eyes, until you sprinkle it into 'Ali's, and they would do so although I had no ophthalmia.
And our belief concerning him who fought 'Ali is that he was an unbeliever (kafir)[^8], on account of the saying of the Prophet, on whom be the blessings and peace of Allah: He, who fought 'Ali, fought me; and he, who waged war on 'Ali, waged war on me; and he, who waged war on me, did so against Allah. And (also) on account of his (Prophet's) saying to 'Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn, peace on all of them: I am the enemy of those who wage war against you, and at peace with those who are at peace with you.
And as for Fatima, the blessings of Allah and His peace be on her, our belief is that she is the leader of the women of the world, both the earlier and the later ones.[^9] And verily Allah the Mighty and Glorious is wroth with him who evokes her anger, and is well pleased with him who pleases her, for He has weaned her and those who revere her from the Fire.
And she left the world displeased with those who had wronged her and usurped her rights, and denied her the inheritance left by her father. The Prophet said: Verily, Fatima is a part of myself; he who angers her has angered me, and he who gladdens her has gladdened me. And the Prophet said: Verily Fatima is a part of myself, and she is my spirit (ruh) which is between my two flanks.[^10] What displeases her displeases me, and what gladdens her gladdens me.
And our belief is that absolution is necessary in respect of the four idols (awthan)[^11] - Yaghuth, Ya'uq, Nasr, and Hubal, and the four (female) idols (andad[^12]) al-Lat, 'Uzza, Manat, and Shi'ra; also in respect of those who worship them, and all their partisans and followers. Verily these are the worst of Allah's creatures, and the declaration (of belief in) Allah and His Messenger and of the Infallible Imams does not become complete without seeking absolution as regards their enemies.
[^1]: So for أئِمَّة lit. "leaders".
[^2]: N erroneously يهدون instead of يَدْعُون
[^3]: BHA, no. 185 (on p.68, "(4) Fourth . . ." is really paragraph 185), and no. 209 (p.78).
[^4]: Reading as in D عاداك, not عاراك as in N.
[^5]: Compare Fyzee, Ismaili Law of Wills, 70 -71. Equality of `Ali and the Prophet, BHA, p. 71, line 1. FC, nos. 40 - 45.
[^6]: FC, nos. 48 -49; the original Arabic is clear, but the summary is too brief to be explicit. KP, xl and references; Donaldson, 351- 356.
[^7]: Reading with D فيقول لا تذَّروني حتى تذُرُّوا عليَّا فيذروني ; N لا تدروني حتى تدوروا علياً فيدروني.
[^8]: Reading with D اعتقادنا فيمن قاتل عليَّا فإنه كافر بقول النبي ص إلخ; اعتقادنا فيمن قاتل علياً [فإنه كافرٌ] قوله ص إلخ.
[^9]: Among the Shiites, Fitima is the noblest of women. Among the Sunnites, there are various views: Was. Abi Hanifa - Khadija, `A'isha, all others (MC, 130, par. 24). al-Baghdadi says that after Khadija there is a difference of opinion as regards `A'isha or Fatima; but he finally lays down the following order: Fatima, Khadija, `A'isha, Umm Salama. For Hafsa (daughter of `Umar), see MC, 183-184, It may generally be said that among the Shi'a the first place is always given to Fatima whereas among the Sunnis there is much divergence, although between Fatima and Khadija the honours seem to be very even. See s.v. Fatima, Khadija, and `A'isha in Wensinck's Handbook.
[^10]: بَيْنَ جَنْبَيْ appears to be an expressions which implies that Fatima was as close to the Prophet as his own body.
[^11]: Qur'an 71, 23 where Hubal is not mentioned, see MB, s.v.هبل.
[^12]: D. B. Macdonald, s.v. Allah in EI, i. 302; see Qur'an 53, 19 -20 and 49 where Shi'ra is mentioned.