Kashaf-ul-haqaiq

CHAPTER 13: REVOLUTION

Apparently this topic appears to be unrelated to the subject of this book. I would not have picked up my pen for this, but since this is being considered as part of religion nowadays, and those who oppose it are regarded as the enemies of religion, I consider it my duty to get rid of this misunderstanding as well. This would sort out the truth from falsehood and remove uncertainty and doubt.

Revolution means to turn, revolve, etc. and this can be applied to everything. The major ones are:

1.Governmental revolution.

2.Political revolution - change of system.

3.Revolution in life - Change is lifestyles.

4.Intellectual and spiritual revolution - Change of mind.

5.Religious revolution - Diverting people towards one religion away from others.

Let us now see what kind of revolution it is that has happened today and what is behind all this. It has generally been portrayed as a Shiite revolution whose purpose is the spread of religion all over the world. This is so that the work about which Allah (s.w.t.) Says ‘You wait and We too are waiting’ and for which He (s.w.t.) has kept the Imam Al Mahdi (a.s.) in occultation for, should get done before its time. It is another matter that based on the principle of ‘All deeds are based upon intentions’ completely opposite results seem to be coming out.

It is a habit of mine that whenever I need to find out about any matter then I refer to imam Ali (a.s.)’s saying in Nahj Ul Balagah ‘Whenever you are suspicious about a matter then you come to kow its result by looking at its inception’. I have been thinking about this revolution in Iran for a long time now and suddenly I came across a book entitles ‘Sunni V/s Shia A Pitiful Outcry’. This book presented such facts that answered all my questions and when you go through the arguments below you will also realise that whatever it may be, this revolution in Iran was definitely not a Shiite revolution to spread the Shiite faith. This was only the establishment of the government of the Mullahs.

WHY DID THE MULLAHS THINK OF FORMING A GOVERNMENT?

Micavelli has written in his book ‘The Prince’, that in order to establish religious ordinances, the formation of a government is necessary. This is because, however they may be, they are above reproach and the people tend to accept them easily without much opposition and discipline gets established in the society. For this he quoted the example of the Roman emperor Romulus’s heir Numa who diverted his people towards religion and happily governed them in peace and security.

The point is that from the governments of the Banu Umayya and Banu Abbas to the Othmania caliphates, all of them were dependent on the Fatwas of the accursed people. Even an eternally accursed ruler like Yazeed depended upon a Fatwa for the killing of Imam Husayn (a.s.). Even in Iran the mullahs were heavily involved with the previous Shah’s government. In all these periods the Fatwas of the mullahs were for sale and strengthening the grip of the kings. Slowly, slowly the realisation dawned upon the mullahs that if based on their Fatwas which were bought by a rulers for a few pennies they can achieve governance, then why can’t they themselves take over the rulership on the basis of all their Fatwas. And so they spun their web of Taqleed and formed a large group of their followers (muqallideen). So much Khums money was being collected from them that it even exceeded the national budget of many small countries. In other words a government within a government had been formed and this thought of forming their own government was a necessary conclusion for them.

Agha e Khomieni writes in his book ‘Islamic Government’: ‘Their plan is to keep us backward, to keep us in our present miserable state so they can exploit our riches, our underground wealth, our lands, and our human resources. They want us to remain afflicted and wretched, and our poor to be trapped in their misery. Instead of surrendering to the injunctions of Islam, which provide a solution for the problem of poverty, they and their agents wish to go on living in huge places and enjoy lives of abominable luxury.

We believe in government and believe that the Prophet (s) was bound to appoint a successor, as he indeed did. Was a successor designated purely for the sake of expounding law? The expounding of law did not require a successor to the Prophet. He himself, after all, had expounded the laws; it would have been enough for the laws to be written down in a book and put into people’s hands to guide them in their actions. It was logically necessary for a successor to be appointed for the sake of exercising government. Law requires a person to execute it.

We need righteous and proper organs of government; that much is self-evident.

Today, we have 700 million Muslims in the world, 170 million or more of whom are Shî‘ah. They are all ready to follow us, but we are so lacking in resolve that we are unable to lead them. We must establish a government that will enjoy the trust of the people, one in which the people have confidence and to which they will be able to entrust their destiny.’

Now that you have heard this from the man behind the revolution itself you should have little problems in understanding the rest of the chapter.  I would like to get rid of the misunderstanding that this is a Shiite revolution, as you can see that there was not such concept in the minds of the people who created this revolution. There was no differentiation in the minds between the Shiites and the Sunnis. The fact is that they neither believed in a Shiite government nor a Sunni government, but an Islamic government in which there is no difference between the two. Their Islam is the one which revolves around government. The main purpose of the revolution was to form a government.

You know that I do not say anything without evidence, which I aim to present later on. Let me first tell you that apart from a few minor differences in their ‘Furoo’ there is no difference between the two sects. Both sects are in fact one and the same. The teachings of the Holy Imams (a.s.) and the injustices they suffered, their killings, the suppression of the Shiites and their killings, being cemented in the walls whilst still alive, etc. which have been related in thousands on books over the centuries have all been regarded as fairy tales. Those who have been to Iran will see that the Shiite religious ordinances are slowly but surely being made to be ever closer to the Sunni ones, and the day is not far when apart from the matter of grieving for Imam Husayn (a.s.) no difference will remain between the two. Every one is aware that there is a world of difference between the two sects in the beliefs as well as actions. Take a look at a few examples.

1.The major differences is in the testimonies being borne. The Shiites bear three testimonies which includes the Mastership (Wilayah) of Imam Ali (a.s.) whilst the others just stop at two.

2.The Shiites do not ascribe a body to Allah (s.w.t.) and consider Him (s.w.t.) to be beyond sight. The other sects, however, ascribe a body for the Divine Creator and they all agree that He (s.w.t.) can be seen.

3.The Shiites believe in the Justice of Allah (s.w.t.) to be part of their primary beliefs whereas the others consider it otherwise.

4.The Shiites believe in the Infallibility of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) whereas the other sects believe that he (s.a.w.) is prone to error. The Shiites believe that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) is a Prophet all the times whereas the others consider him (s.a.w.) to be a normal person some of the time.

5.The Shiites believe in Imamate and is part of their fundamental beliefs whereas this concept simply does not exist amongst the others.

6.The Shiites believe in Raj’at (Return) whereas the others have no such belief.

I have merely glanced at the summary of the beliefs and have not paid any attention to the actions as even they have a lot of differences among themselves. You can see from above that the two major sects are fundamentally difference and those who consider them to be similar are either deluding themselves or others.

Even so, the Fatwa of Agha e Khomeini has been given on page 54 of the book ‘Sunni Shiite differences an unreal’ “This act of differences among the Ummah is forbidden in law and it is obligatory upon all Muslims to oppose this”.

This tune of the amalgamation of the two Sects is so embedded in their minds that even the Shiites today have lost faith in their own beliefs to the extent that they are not sure whether they will be going to Paradise or become the fuel of the fire of Hell. They have started blaming Allah (s.w.t.) for creating the differences between the two Sects and so these people are now trying to amalgamate the two Sects against the Plan of Allah (s.w.t.). In the first page of the above book it has been stated: ‘Whatever the reason might be behind the formation of the Sects, but the reality is that we have had to pay a very heavy price for this as the existence of these Sects has given strength to the enemies of Islam. The Shiite/Sunni difference is only a difference of actions, and this small difference does in no way justify the division of this nation into two. As it will become clear from reading this book, at the most the difference between the two is the same as the differences which exist among the four Sunni schools of thought’.

Did you realise what type of people these are and what type of Islam they have, and how much it relates to the Shiite sect? This is then evidenced further in the book: ‘New constructions and the leaders of the oil rich states and their puppets know full well that neither an army is needed nor weapons, but only a handful of pretenders are needed who can issue Fatwas as and when needed. They then got some of them to declare the revolution as a Shiite revolution’.

In order to gain conviction I am now quoting the words of Agha e Khomeini from page 54 of the book so that it can be concluded that this revolution has nothing to do with the Shiite religion: ‘We desire that we should have an Islamic government and that our decisions would be in accordance with Islamic law; the same Islam that was revealed unto the Holy prophet (s.a.w.) in which there was no concept of Sunni or Shiite sects. There were only Muslims, and the difference schools of though did not exist’.

I don’t understand how this belief came to the lips of this man and which Islam it was that he is talking about. The Islam which reached us through the Holy Imams (a.s.) is the Shiite sect, whilst the one which came through the companions formed the Sunni sects. They are trying to stop these two types of Islam and are adopting for themselves a third type. There is no doubt that the correct Islam is the one which revealed unto the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.), but how did this Islam get to them directly? Maybe someone can untangle this knot. This much is for sure that in their view both the companions as well as the Holy Imams (a.s.) are unreliable. In the madness of the unity of the Muslims, the have falsified their own religion and the people regard this as some sort of an achievement. It is further stated: ‘The stand for the unity of Muslims was regarded by some as impossible to achieve while others deemed it to be possible. They said that we should unite on common beliefs, on which faith is not necessary, neither are these from the fundamental beliefs nor from those necessities of religion who avoidance is prohibited, and respect each others emotions’.

You can realise how dangerous this ground is on which they are taking us. Based on this, the other sects have nothing to lose, but the Shiite faith is based on Justice of God (Adaalat) and Imamate, and if these two are taken away from it then where would it leave the Shiite sect?

In order to achieve their aims they have ignored what is right and what is wrong. They created a belief that it does not really matter which Sect you follow for they will all lead you to Paradise, and so on page 25 they printed a statement of Sheykh Shaltout: ‘Allah (s.w.t.)’s religion and its laws are not based on any particular school of thought. These are all sects based on jurisprudence and are all acceptable in front of Allah (s.w.t.).

They have then quoted Sheykh Muhammad Al Ghazali: ‘Both groups have paced their beliefs on the Unity of Allah (s.w.t.) and the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and none of them has any preference over the others about this, and they are seekers of salvation’.

WHO CONCEIVED THE PLANS FOR THE REVOLUTION?

There were three groups who conceived of this.

1.A specialist group of Iranian Mujtahids.

2.The Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan Al Muslimeen).

3.Jamaa’t Islami Pakistan.

Let me first introduce to you the Muslims Brotherhood.

THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

This organisation was set up by an Englishman called John Phelby who changed his name to Sheykh Muhammad Phelby. The details of this can be found in the book ‘History of the Family of Al Saud’ by Nasir Al Saeed. John Phelby go together a lot of the followers of Sheykh Abdul Wahhab with long beards and the students of Usool E Fiqh. He got them to issue Fatwas that whosoever opposes Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud is a unbelievers and should therefore be killed. An army of religious people was collected who were obedient to these Sheykhs, who were named as ‘Jaysh Al Ikhwan’ (Army of the Brotherhood).

Ibn Saud collected an army of thirty thousand of these equipped with British weapons. This army was known as ‘Jaysh Al Ikhwan Ul Muslimeen’ (The Army of the Muslim Brotherhood). This is the Muslim Bortherhood which made an appearance in Egypt. It had its branches in many parts of the world under different names. In Pakistan its branch is called Jama’at E Islami. All these branches had one aim and purpose - take control of the affairs of the country. They met with stiff opposition as there are four schools of thought among the Sunnis who opposed them. In Egypt all their activists, whose leader was Syed Qutb, were lined up and shot by the then leader Jamal Abdel Nasser. In Pakistan they were rejected by the people and their mission failed. However, in Iran where the majority of the people were Shiites, a special group of Mujtahids found it easier as a lot of them were in their Taqleed. They stepped over the dead bodies of more than a hundred thousand people and claimed the government.

This was a short introduction of The Muslim Brotherhood about which the author writes: ‘In this book the position of the Shiites in the well known organisation of the Arab world, The Muslim Brotherhood,  has been clearly set out. The top Scholars of the Shiite world are the founding fathers of this’ - (Page 3). Now we come to the main purpose of the revolution which is to be found on page 143 of the book.

‘In the book Al Harkat Al Islami Wa Tahdeeth, Ghanoushi has considered this new thinking to be the same as the one by Imam Hassan Al Banna, Allama Mawdudi, Syed Qutb and Imam Khomeini’.

The compiler is of the opinion that a new discipline will emanate from Iran. Under the heading ‘What do we mean by a new movement?’, he writes: ‘Our purpose is that thinking which will come about from the formation of an Islamic government and this explanation is in accordance with all the three movements - The Muslim Brotherhood, Jama’at E Islami Pakistan, and Iran’s Islamic revolution’.

THE STARTING POINT

In the book ‘Sunni V/s Shia A Pitiful Outcry’ he writes on page 17 : One of the thinkers of The Muslim Brotherhood, Suleym Al Hansawi, has written in his compilations Al Sunnat Al Muftara: ‘During the formation of this organisation for the unity of the Muslim countries Imam Hassan Al Banna and a Shiite Mujtahid were present. Unity between The Muslims Brotherhood and the Shiites was created resulting in the tour of Cairo by Nawwab Safavi in 1954. Everyone knows that Imam Hassan Al Banna met Ayatullah Kashani in 1948 during Hajj and there was an understanding and similarity of views between them’.

And when Nawwab Safavi went to Damascus he met the caretaker of The Muslim Brotherhood Dr. Mustafa Al Sibai. When Dr. Sibai complained about the irrelidousness of the Shiites and their inclinations towards nationalistic parties, Nawwab Safavi said in clear words, ’Those Shiites who wish to be true Ja’faris should join The Muslim Brotherhood.

This is the Nawwab Safavi who was the leader of the Fidayee E Islam. Despite having the Shiite ideology they still hold the belief in Muslim Unity and they have with them a detailed plan for this. One page 19 he is quoted as saying: ‘Come, let us all work together for Islam and forget everything else in this struggle. Hasn’t the time arrived for the Muslims to become aware and eradicate the differences between the Shiites and the Sunnis.

When the Shah of Iran ordered the execution of Nawwab Safavi, Fateh Yaqin of The Muslim Brotherhood commented: ‘In this way a Shiite Muslim has become part of the martyrs of The Muslim Bortherhood. Is there any Nwwab present in Iran today who can correct what is happening?’ The writer says: ‘And so Fated Yaqin was waiting for another Nawwab from Iran. But O my God! Why are these people so worked up about the Nawwab of Iran? These Nawwabs are greater than the previous ones’.

If you were now to think over this drama played out in the name of Muslims Unity, you will not come across the names of the Hanafis, Shafeis, Malikis and Hanbalis anywhere. Are they not all Muslims? Should they not have been included in this Muslim unity? But no! In all this they are nowhere to be seen. Only two groups stand out as hot headed in this. The Muslim Brotherhood and its branches and some Iranian Mujtahids. This is sufficient for you to realise what the purpose of all this was.

The following conclusion can be drawn from all the evidence presented above:

1.On Page 12 there is a statement from The Muslim Brotherhood: ‘This revolution is under the leadership of such an Imam who is the collective pride of Islam and the reason for the high status of the Muslims’.

2.On page 41 - In west Germany a historical leader of The Muslim Brotherhood, Assam Al Attar, sent quite a few congratulatory telexes to Imam Khomeini and asked the Imam of the Ummah to supplicate for him. His recorded cassettes have been distributed among the young Muslims.

3.On Page 141 - In Sudan, The Muslim Brotherhood had a great demonstration in the University of Khartoum and Hassan Al Turabi who is a well known politician, went to see Imam Khomeini and expressed his full support.

4.On Page 43 - Faqih Yaqeen, a leader of The Muslim Brotherhood has made more than one trip to Iran and has expressed his support in his speeches. In Jordan, Abdul Rahman Khalifa, who is the leader of The Muslim Brotherhood there, has also expressed his support for the revolution, before and after it. Niyaz Yusuf, a poet, has advised all Muslims to support Imam Khomeini in his poems. He says: ‘Khomeini is the Imam and Guide who has got rid of injustice. (It is surprising that he has not seen the injustices in Saudi Arabia and did not start a movement over there. This is because they have already established themselves over there. Their main purpose was for the destruction of the Shiite Sect in which they have succeeded. And so if they do not celebrate over this then what else will they do?) We have given our commitment to Imam Khomeini and we will eradicate the darkness of polytheism with our blood so that there will be light in the universe.

5.The Fatwa of Maulana Maudid of the Jama’at E Islami Pakistan has been printed in the magazine ‘Al Dawah’ of 1979: ‘Khomeini’s revolution is an Islamic revolution. All the Islamic organisations and youth groups are involved in this. All Muslims in general and Islamic organisations in particular should help this revolution in every which way they can’.

6.On Page 50 - Maulana Maudidi, who was a great thinker of this century and is revered by many has said that it is the religious, moral and legal duty of every Muslim to support this revolution.

You have seen the praise of Maulana Maududi. It has been assumed that it is the religious, moral and legal duty of every Muslim to follow Maulana Maududi. Their predicament is that they could not even manage to hold a gathering in their own headquarters due to lack of support. The situation of Jamaat E Islami is in front of your eyes and all Sects are aware of this. Sometimes they seek support from the Hanafis and sometimes from the Deobandis. There is a very strong and deep relationship between the revolutionaries and the Jamaat E Islami Pakistan. This can even be gauged by the fact that soon after the revolution, the first group that visited Iran was not a Shia one but a group of Jamaat E Islami Pakistan under the leadership of Mian Tufail Muhammad.

THE DREAM OF RULING THE WORLD

The plan of the Mullahs was not restricted to Iran, but they were aspiring to rule the world and they wanted all the people to be clothed in this. And so, on page 55 of the book it says: ‘Iranian Muslims, alongside the true believers have lifted the banner of the preservation of all religions’. And on Page 42,: ’It was thought that the armies of the other countries would bring down their respective governments just as the Iranian brought down the regime of the Shah’. Apparently, these are just a few words, but ponder over this and you will see that what this was leading to was wholesale bloodshed and destruction’.

On Page 47, this was issued from the international organisation of The Muslim Brotherhood: ‘Kill the opposition in your area for this opportunity may never arise again’.

Iqbal had told the truth when he said: ‘The religion of the Mullahs is mischief in the way of God’.

They had even carved out their authoritative boundaries, after their conquest of the world. On Page 29: ‘The Muslims Brotherhood’s leader of the first line of the current times, Syed Hadi, writes in his book ‘Al Islam: ‘Each sect will have autonomous authority in its own area and they will chose their own leaders. It will be obligatory upon all of them that they should be obedient to the caliphate’.

LICENCE OF THE REVOLUTION

It has been proven from above that this revolution had nothing to do with the Shiites. It was due to the fact that the leaders were Shiites, therefore they needed some sort of legitimacy for this, and so they made use of two things as a shield. The Holy Quran and the life of the Holy Infallibles (a.s.).

The problem was not of Caliphate or Imamate or Trusteeship or Ul Il Amr, but of making claims to these so that legitimacy can be obtained for their actions. On Page 72 of the book ‘Islamic Government and the Rule of the Jurist’: ‘That Quran whose stance is against the Emperors’.

What I am saying is that if someone were to hold this belief without referring to the Holy Quran then that is another matter. Those that are aware of the Quranic Injunctions or those that read the Quran with its translation will find it difficult to believe this stance. The Holy Quran is the Proof of Allah on His servants and not a declaration of an emperor. Go and read the whole Quran. There is no place where Allah (s.w.t.) has instructed His (s.w.t.) Prophet to overcome a king. Allah (s.w.t.) did not send the Prophets so that they should leave aside the propagation of religion and get involved in political affairs and the achieving the rulership of governments. Did any Prophet tell the king of his time that he should abdicate in his favour? The Prophet Musa (a.s.) did not tell the Pharaoh that he should hand over his government to him (a.s.). he (a.s.) told the Pharaoh to hand over the Israelites so that he (a.s.) should guide them and correct them. In the story of Prophet Dawood (a.s.) also we cannot see that he (a.s.) was told by Allah (s.w.t.) to overturn the throne of Goliath, but it was the people who requested Prophet Dawood (a.s.) to appoint a king for them so that they can defend themselves. Prophet Dawood (a.s.) fought against Goliath, in the army of Talut as an ordinary soldier. It was not his (a.s.) aim to dethrone Goliath and become the king. It was a defensive battle which is ingrained in human nature.

Out of all the Prophets, only four of them had a government - Prophet Dawood (a.s.), Prophet Sulayman (a.s.), Prophet Yusuf (a.s.) and the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.). None of them struggled to achieve their governments and none of the other Prophets expressed such an intent. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) did not overcome Madina and established a government there. He fled from Mecca due to the dangers there and migrated at the request of the people of Madina. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) did indeed call them towards the true religion but did not aspire for their government. And so for the claim that: ‘The Holy Quran’s whose struggle is for standing against the emeperors’, is nothing but a false accusation against the Holy Quran and make is a plaything. It is possible for this to be the view of Hassan Al Banna, or Nawwab Safavi or The Muslim Brotherhood, but the Holy Quran is free from such frivolities.

HOW WAS THE MAP OF THE REVOLUTION MADE?

Although evidence from the Holy Quran was given to prove the creation of the revolution, you will be taken by surprise when you realise the factors behind this revolution. The Holy Quran is nowhere to be seen.

On Page 152 - ‘When I was in prison, I came across the books of Nehru. He wrote these books when he was in prison and did not know whether he will be released or be killed. He had mad a plan for the independence of India. When he was released, he acted upon the very same plan that he had conceived of whilst in prison, and he became the prime minister of four hundred million people’.

I have no need to say any more about this. The plan of Nehru and the shield of the Holy Quran. Anyhow, this was his first reason. The second reason was the reference to the lives of the Holy Imams (a.s.), which is even more dangerous than the first. The first thing he did was to speculate on the thinking of the Holy Imams (a.s.). What would they have done in this situation? What would they think about? He found all this out and in this inspirational state he did not even spare the Holy Imams (a.s.). The second thing he did was to utilise the situation of the Banu Abbas with the Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.). Why did he do that? Only for the gaining of government.

On Page 74 - ‘The oppressor rulers knew full well that if the Holy Imam (a.s.) have time to spare then they will surely take a stand and make life difficult for us. You can see that Haroun kept the Holy Imam Musa Al Kadhim (a.s.) in prison for many years and Manoun kept the Holy imam Ali AL Ridha (a.s.) under close scrutiny and eventually had him poisoned. This was not because they were of the Family of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) but Haroun and Mamoun understood them to be on the true religion. Anyway, this was because they knew that the children of Ali (a.s.) were desirous of government and claim that the Caliphate is rightfully theirs. They thought that if the Holy Imam Musa AL Kadhim (a.s.) were to be left free then it is possible that when the circumstances are favourable to him (a.s.) then he (a.s.) would take a stand and destroy their governments. And so they never gave them respite. Do not have any doubts that had the Holy Imam Musa Al Kadhim (a.s.) been given any leeway he (a.s.) would have definitely taken a stand and brought down their governments. These people were desirous of the governments of Banu Abbas and would sacrifice everything for that. They did not have any particular enmity with the Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.).

You have read the reasoning given above. Remember this! There is no honour for anyone except that which has been given in charity from the door of the Holy Infallibles (a.s.). And so, from someone’s words, whoever it may be, were to degrade the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) in any way then this is the criterion which should be used and these words should be rejected without a moment’s hesitation otherwise you will end up being unjust to the Holy Infallibles (a.s.). They have done this because they have considered the Holy Imams (a.s.) to be similar to themselves - helpless. They have assumed that the Holy Imam (a.s.) would also be dependent upon reasons just like us.  He (a.s.) has no personal actions. He (a.s.) reacts to the prevalent circumstances. And if nothing could be done then he (a.s.) kept quiet. As if keeping quiet is due to his helplessness and not his policy. All this is either due to the lack of understanding of the station and greatness of the Holy Imams (a.s.) or is being done deliberately. You tell me! How was it possible that Ali (a.s.), who lifted the gate of Khyber with his two fingers, was taken away by a few people with a rope around his neck? And if they say that Ali (a.s.) was alone, then how come nobody  from the multitude had the courage to exhume the body of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.)? Ali (a.s.) was alone even then. Does this person who has offered this lame excuse not realise that each of the Holy Imam (a.s.) has his own purpose to fulfil which he (a.s.) does so at its appropriate moment in time? He (a.s.) does not do anything else except fulfil this purpose regardless of the circumstances that prevail.

AL KAFI - H 735, Ch. 61, h2

Ahmad ibn Muhammad and Muhammad ibn Yahya have narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Husayn from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from abu al-Hassan al-Kinani from Ja‘far ibn Najih al-Kindi from Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Ubayd Allah al-‘Umari from his father from his grandfather from abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, who has said the following: “Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High sent a document to His prophet, recipient of divine supreme covenant, before his death. He then said, ‘O Muhammad, this is your will to the noble ones in your family.’ He asked, ‘Who are the noble ones in my family, O Jibril (Gabriel)?’ He then said, ‘They are Ali ibn abu Talib and his sons, recipients of divine supreme covenant,’ On the document there were several seals of gold. The Prophet, recipient of divine supreme covenant, delivered it to (Amir al- Mu’minin) Ali, recipient of divine supreme covenant, and commanded him to open one seal and follow the instructions for him therein. (Amir al-Mu’minin) Ali, recipient of divine supreme covenant, then opened one seal and followed the instruction in it. Then he delivered it to his son al-Hassan, recipient of divine supreme covenant. He opened a seal and followed that which was therein (to follow). He then delivered it to al-Husayn, recipient of divine supreme covenant.. He opened one seal and found therein instructions that asked him to rise for martyrdom with a group of people. That there will be no martyrdom for them except along with you and sell yourself to Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High. He followed all the instructions. Then he delivered it to Ali ibn al-Husayn, recipient of divine supreme covenant. He opened one seal and found therein instructions that asked him to fix his gaze just before him and remain silent, secluded in his house, and worship his Lord until his death will arrive. He did as he was instructed and then delivered it (the sealed document) to his son Muhammad ibn Ali, recipient of divine supreme covenant. He opened one seal and found therein instructions that asked him to speak to people and make them learn. That he should not fear anyone except Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High; no one can harm him. He followed the instructions and then delivered it to his son Ja‘far, recipient of divine supreme covenant.. He opened one seal and found therein instructions that asked him to speak to people, make them learn, propagate the knowledge of his family (Ahl al- Bayt) and affirm the veracity of his righteous ancestors. That he should not be afraid of anyone except Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High; he is secure and safe. He did as was instructed and then delivered it to his son Musa, recipient of divine supreme covenant.. In the same way Musa, recipient of divine supreme covenant, will deliver it to the succeeding Imam and so on up to the appearance of al-Mahdi, recipient of divine supreme covenant.’”

AL KAFI - H 737, Ch. 61, h4

Al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Ash‘ari has narrated from Mu‘alla ibn Muhammad from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Harith ibn Ja’far from Ali ibn Isma‘il ibn Yaqtin from ‘Isa ibn al-Mustafad, abu Musa al-Darir who has said the following: In the script of al-Safwan there is the following addition: “Ali in Ibrahim has narrated from his father from ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abd al- Rahman al-’Assam from abu ‘Abd Allah al-Bazzaz from Hariz who has said the following: “I said to abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, why is it that you, members of the family of the Prophet, recipients of divine supreme covenant, live such short lives? Your deaths are so close and soon after the other Imam even though people need you so much?’ “The Imam said, ‘For every one of us there is a document that contains what he needs to do within his time. When his assignment according to the commandments therein is complete, he learns that his time of death has arrived. The Prophet, recipient of divine supreme covenant, comes to him to give the news of his death and informs him of all that is for him with Allah.’

Can you accept that a seeker of knowledge like myself is aware of these statements while the one who is emulated by multitudes of people is unaware of this? And his statement, ‘Do not have any doubts that had the Holy Imam Musa Al Kadhim (a.s.) been given any leeway he (a.s.) would have definitely taken a stand and brought down their governments’, how much does it carry in the light of this? Only two possibilities exist based on his reasoning. Either the Holy Imam (a.s.) was unaware of his plan of action or else he (a.s.) did not carry it out due to lack of courage. Whichever of the options you chose, you will end up losing your faith. The only possibility that exists otherwise is to openly falsify the one who is reasoning like this.

The reality is that historically as well as from the statements of the Holy Imam (a.s.), this reasoning which has been presented, cannot be proven. If Imam Musa Al Kadhim (a.s.) wanted to overthrow the government he (a.s.) could have done so, but he decided to keep quiet as this was the right thing to do. If Imam Ja’far Al Sadiq (a.s.) wanted to rule, he (a.s.) would have accepted the requests of the Khorasanis and assumed the Caliphate, as this was a golden opportunity for him (a.s0), but did not do so. Alas! These accusations have been thrown as the Holy Imams (a.s.) that they (a.s.) used to make war preparations at home, and had the opportunity arisen, they would have taken a stand and overthrown the government. What is strange is what he has said about the Banu Abbas that they neither had any particular enmity against the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) nor against the Holy Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.). This was just a political matter just like when Aurangzeb has his brothers killed and Mamoun had his brother Ameen killed. This is despite the fact that every page of history as well as the statements of the Holy Imams (a.s.) bear witness that these accursed people were enemies of God, enemies of religion, adversaries of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and His Family (a.s.). They were thirsty for their blood and used to envy the greatness of their (a.s.) position and status. They were afraid that the multitudes of followers of the Holy Imams (a.s.) might rise up against them, although the Holy Imams (a.s.) never made any such moves and they always used to reiterate that this will be done by the Al Qaim (a.s.). Despite this, a lot of people of low understanding (whose understanding was similar to the Mujtahids of today) used to take a stand against the governments, and they never had the support of the Holy Imams (a.s.).

WHAT KIND OF REVOLUTION WAS THIS?

From the discussion above it has become crystal clear that this revolution was at the most a political revolution. It was never ever a sectarian, religious or spiritual one. If you were to ask me proof of this then I will say that there is no better proof than witnessing it. Hearsay evidence is something else whereas eyewitness is something else. I hereby invite you to go to Iran and survey the situation for yourself. I am not saying this by just sitting in my living room, rather I am making this statement after having been there myself and interacted with the people of Iran. These are the conclusions that I have reached:

1.The Iranian currency has fallen in value by a third.

2.Inflation is sky high.

3.People’s purchasing power is on its last breath.

4.People are complaining about their poverty.

5.People are finding it difficult to make ends meet.

6.Harsh and crazy laws have resulted in the virtual obliteration of the tourist industry. In this situation, calling this a cultural revolution is a joke.

Intellectual, religious and spiritual revolution is one where the people’s thoughts have been changed and they freely adapt to the new life. Changing people’s lives by the force of law cannot be called a revolution. When you survey the situation you will see that the situation is quite opposite to the drum that is being beaten that the people have changed into being pious, God-fearing overnight and that they are now avoiding frivolities,

1.The people’s appearance is different from their actual lives. The women observe Hijaab when they go out and about, but at home they are the same as what they used to be during the previous regime.

2.During marriage and other occasions, the custom of dancing is still being carried on to the extent that the bride herself participates in dancing.

3.Music is being played commonly. Recorded tapes are being sold openly in the market place. They used to listen in secret before, but now it is being done in the open. It looks as if the government is turning a blind eye to this desire of its public. This is being done in the buses, hotels, and even in the parks which are under the control of the government. It is apparent from this that music has been accepted as part of life in Iran.

4.Drugs taking has increased and even under aged children can be seen to be smoking cigarettes openly. This is due to the cultural environment prevalent.

5.Men and women can be seen to be walking around hand in hand in parks and other places. It is another matter that the woman is clad in Hijaab.

6.Gambling dens have increase. If you were to take a tour of Isfahan especially at Pul Khwaju you will see a completely different world over there.

7.The custom of keeping bear is slowly decreasing and now more and more men are shaving off their beards.

8.The custom keeping a rosary in the hand and playing with it is also on the decrease. People are slowly returning back to their previous lifestyle.

9.They are considering the Holy Shrine of the Holy Imam Al Ridha (a.s.) as a goldmine. Instead of respecting and honouring the visitors, they are profiteering from them. The shopkeepers, taxi drivers and the government itself is involved in this. They are charging the visitors more in places where tickets need to be bought. In this situation, to call this a religious, spiritual, intellectual and moral revolution is a crazy man’s dream. It is clear that this was nothing but a political revolution whose main purpose was to achieve power regardless of the price which needs to be paid. This has had not effect on the individual or the collective state of the people.

RESULTS OF THE REVOLUTION

The background and the powers on which this revolution was brought about, those in the know knew full well the logical results of this. Whipping up religious fervour and madness to  bringing about a revolution and to expect good results is in itself a crazy thought. And so enmity, envy, narrow mindedness, extremism, hard attitudes, revengefulness, expressed itself in this religiousness. The attitude of respecting other people’s views was eroded and the thinking ‘I am the only one who is right and everyone else is wrong’ was created. In the political, cultural, national and international arenas a hard-line attitude was adopted instead of an understanding one. Internally people were forced to adopt a robotic life. Killings and looting became a daily routine. Fear was implanted upon the people with the help of religious military forces so that no one would have the courage to lift his head. On the international scene Iran became isolated due to these policies. Only a few day had passed after this revolution, there was talk about exporting it to other countries based on the policies of The Muslim Brotherhood. As the Shiites were greatly influenced by the Mullas, those countries where the Shiites were the majority, it was only natural for the rulers to take notice and alarms bells started ringing. The Iran Iraq war was due to this. One day the veil will be removed as to who was behind this revolution. It is necessary to take a look at the effects of this in the Shiite world and in Iran itself was well.

1.The biggest effect was that Iran stopped becoming a nuclear power. All the agreements had been signed with European countries, technology from China, and Plant from Russia.

2.Before the revolution Iran had become the Superman of the area and no one had the courage to do anything about it. Iran had such a large array of helicopters which was even bigger than that of America itself. It had an air force which was even more modern than that of Israel. It had more than forty thousand tanks and other hardware which cannot even be numbered. After the revolution I don’t what happened to this. Did the earth swallow this or the sky took it up. The situation was such that even a small country like Iraq invaded Iran and got it embroiled in a baseless eight year war. Iran was moved fifty years back in its progress. Historically, a lot of powers have wreaked destruction upon Iran, but the destruction that was brought about by this revolution far exceeds all of these enemies.

3.Religious terrorism became the rule from which no one was safe. The police Savak was replaced by the revolutionary guards who considered everyone as their slaves. Even today they are treating visitors like prisoners of war in the name of security. The situation in Iraq is even more difficult but they do not treat visitors like this.

4.A show off society was born which had made exoteric worship as its bedspread and cover. These people had prostration marks on their foreheads and rosaries in their hands, but their purpose was to gain the world in the name of religion.

5.Beliefs were destroyed and Mullah worshipping reached its peak. The Kalema was changed and the national kalema was adopted from the adversaries. In the Adhaan, instead of saying Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar separately, it was being recited together. From the third testimony, ‘Ameerul Mo’mineed Imamul Muttaqeen Aliyyun Wali Ullah’ was taken out. In the prostration they started using their knees instead of their palms. In the Slaam they have started looking left and right.

These were just a few examples, otherwise a whole book can be written about this.

THE EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION ON PAKISTANI SHIITES

There is a basic difference between the religious background of Iran and Pakistan. In Iran, both the Mehraab and the Mimbar were in the hands of the Fuqaha, and so during and after the revolution they used these two tools to their full extent. They had very few obstacles in this. In Pakistan the Mehraab was in the hands of those who play around with Fatwas whilst the Mimbar had always been in the hands of the Zakireen who used to teach people about their beliefs and recite the praises of the Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.) and their grief and thus strengthen their faith. From the smallest to the biggest of the Zakireen, all their methodologies were the same and they hand control over the beliefs of the people and so the Fatwa players had difficulties in spinning their webs here. And so started the conflict between the Mehraab and the Mimbar. An organisation was set up to discredit the Zakireen and that the control should rest with the Fatwa players. It was either the centuries old tradition or the grace of the Master (a.s.) that the people stayed focussed towards the praises of the Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.). From the Mahraab, instead of the praises of the Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.), they started heaping praises on the leaders of Iran and got people acquainted with their titles. Such an environment was created as if the Holy Imam (a.s.) had himself appeared in the shape of these Mullahs. It became obligatory to obey the Mullahs just like obedience is obligatory to the Holy Imam (a.s.). A group of seven Mullahs was created to discredit the Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.) as much as possible through their lectures. These satanic thoughts of their is to be found in books like ‘Ahsan Al Fawaaid’ and ‘Usool al Shara’ie’ which are available even today. Since all this was done with the blessings of the government, there it kept quiet about it and did not oppose them even the slightest. This was the government’s purpose anyhow that the Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.) should be discredited to such an extent so that their own leaders should have some respect among the people. But the Zakireen did oppose these lectures of theirs and a lot of books were written against them, but nevertheless, a group of people came into being that started worshipping the Mullahs and was happy with the disrespect of the Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.). This small group is still existing today and is a thorn in the hearts of the Shiites.

Over here a paramilitary force was set up similar to the revolutionary guards of Iran. This group’s purpose was that if anyone were to speak against any mullah then it would act against him. And so attacks were started against the Zakireen who used to explain the true beliefs of the Shiites and expose their deceit. For example the attacks against Allamah Taaj Ud Deen Hyder and Allamah Abdul Hakeem Buturabi. They used to recite slogans even during the Majalises of the Holy Imam Husayn (a.s.) in order to divert the attention of the people away from the Holy Imam Husayn (a.s.) and towards their own leaders. They changed the Durood and started singing the praises of the Mullahs which was the constitution of this group. I even heard a person say: ‘The reason why Imam Husayn (a.s.) did not pray the afternoon prayer was because he was drenched in blood which is unclean and so prayer could not be done’.  This group is still around today and has closed its eyes on the hereafter in it worship for authority and government. The common Shiite is fearful of this group and is scared of speaking out against them. This group has forgotten the lessons of history and does not understand that there is nothing that is eternal over here and there is an ending to every beginning over here. Maybe these people are unaware of what is to happen after this ending.

On the other hand in Iran a group of Mullahs was set up to start heaping praise on the revolutionary leaders rather than the Holy Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.) so that people would slowly become unaware of their true beliefs and divert them towards exoteric acts of worship. This was because the people would then be dependent upon the Mullahs for their exoteric acts of worship and the mission of the Mullahs would move forward.

What happened is Pakistan was the religious terrorism became a way of life. Paramilitary groups began to be set up whose declared intention was to preserve the Azadaari of the Holy Imam Husayn (a.s.) but in reality it was to beat up and kill those Shiites who did not conform to their views. Contemporary history is witness to all this. In this way it became common knowledge that the Shiites of Pakistan were also trying to bring about a revolution similar to the one in Iran. The other Sect vehemently opposed this. Apart from Jamaat E Islami, all the others strongly opposed this. The other Sect then set up their own paramilitary forces whose main purpose was the general massacre of the Shiites. The indoctrination of these forces was that Paradise would become obligatory on the one who kills Shiites, or loot their properties, or inflict some sort of loss on them. There were some people among the Shiite leadership who added fuel to this fire instead of calming things down. They were waiting for the time when massacres of the Shiite would become commonplace and there would be no safety for them. When this situation arose, their dreams, which had had dreamt along with The Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat E Islami, came true.

When you look at the big picture you will see that these dreams were not of their but of their masters, and that they were nothing but pawns in the big game. And so they started their slogans once again which they had at the start of the revolution who purpose was the destruction of the Shiite beliefs. In order to stop this bloodshed an inter Muslim organisation was set up and an agreement was signed. Have a look at this agreement and see for yourself. I am quoting this from page 3 of the magazine Zulfiqar of 12th September 1995: ‘The honour of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.), the Holy Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.), the Holy Imam Mahdi (a.s.), the pure wives of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.), the honourable companions, and the rightly guided caliphs are part of faith. The who rejects them is outside the fold of Islam. Insulting them and discrediting them is forbidden and a crime’. This was signed on the 14th April 1995 by Mawlana Shah Ahmad Noorani, Mawlana Syed Sajid Ali Naqvi, Mawlana Syed Ali Al Musawi, Mawlana Muhammad Fazal Hyder (General secretary of Wafaq Shia Ulama), Mawlana Mureed Abbas Yazdani, Mawlana Qazi Husayn Ahmad, Mawlana Samee Ul Haq, Mawlana Zia Ul Qasim, Professor Sajid Meer, Mawlana Agham Taza Pooya, etc. etc.

Since there is a mention of the ‘rightly guided caliphs’ in this covenant that was signed, the magazine then goes on to explain this term.

RIGHTLY GUIDED CALIPHS

In explanation of the famous statement of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) that there will be twelve caliphs after him (s.a.w.), the famous Sunni Judge Qazi Ayyaz has written in his book ‘Al Shifa’, and the scholar Ibn Hajar Askalani in his commentary of Sahih Al Bukhari, jalal Ud Deen Suyuti in Taarikh Ul Khulafa, Mulla Ali Qadri in Sharah Fiqah Akbar and Shah Wali Ullah Dehlavi in his book Azaalat Ul Khifa have listed them as follows: -

1.Abu Bakr

2.Umar

3.Uthman

4.Ali (a.s.)

5.Muawiya

6.Yazeed

7.Abdul Malik Bin Marwaan

8.Walid

9.Suleyman

10.Yazeed Bin Abdul Malik

11.Hisham

12.Walid Bin Abdul Malik

Then there is a quote from Ibn Taymiyya, ‘Some are of the opinion that Yazeed was from among the companions and some think he was a prophet and some think he was from among the rightly guided caliphs’.

Under this there was an excerpt from a interview of the Sipah E Sahaba leader Mawlana Qasimi: ‘Despite our sacrifices, we only agreed with this covenant to be signed because if this can stop the cursing of the companions then we would have achieved our purpose. In 1400 years these two Sects have finally agreed that the one who abuses the rightly guided caliphs, the pure wives, the honourable companions, has nothing to do with Islam. Sajid Naqvi and Mured Abbas Yazdani are signatories to this that those who abuse the rightly guided caliphs, the Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.) and the companions of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) is outside the fold of Islam’.

And so it is my advice to the Shiites that they should investigate the happenings at Saqeefa, the injustice upon the Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.), the burning of the door of the Holy Lady Fatimah (a.s.) and the martyrdom of her unborn child Mohsin, the battles of jamal, Siffeen and Nahrwaan, the killing of Imam Ali (a.s.), and Imam Hassan (a.s.), the tragic events of Karbala and the treatment of the Holy Family (a.s.), and the injustices that were heaped upon the other Holy Imams (a.s.), and forget about all that has been written in their books now. They should stop their mourning sessions of the Holy Imam Husayn (a.s.) as the finger now points to big people, and they might now end up being outside the fold of Islam. They should now come to a new Islam which was the one presented by the originators of the revolution. There is victory for them in this. We come from Allah (s.w.t.) and to Him we return. I have no more strength now to write any more about this revolution. Whoever wants to do whatever can do it. My work was only for the uncovering of the veil. And that I have done.

The reality is that all this audacity and courage was possible because the public was fooled into believing that the Holy Imams (a.s.) were just sitting tight at home and did not leave any guidance for us. The Holy Imam Mahdi (a.s.) did not guide us as to what our way of life should be during the major occultation and so the complete running of the affairs of religion is in the hands of the Mullahs. They cant turn and twist it as they feel like. They can play with it as they like and we have no choice but to be obedient to them.

In order to do away with this misunderstanding I am hereby quoting the Hadeeth of the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) in reference to what our way of life should be during the major occultation. There are numerous such Hadeeth and it is obvious that it is not possible for me to quote all of them and so I am only quoting a few of them by way of sample in which the Holy Imams (a.s.) have strongly forbidden us to get involved with the formation of government, political affairs of the state, violent demonstrations, and armed rebellions.

The Holy Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) said: ‘I am advising you to fear Allah (s.w.t.), stay away from the crowds of people and stay at home. Stay away from those of our family that take up armed rebellions as they have no purpose or destination. Know this as well that whichever group that takes a stand will not be able to eradicate injustice not will it be able to bring honour to religion, but afflictions will come upon them which will break them up’ - BIHAR UL ANWAAR VOL 11; PAGE 276 (URDU)

The Holy Imam Ja’fa Al Sadiq (a.s.) said: ‘You people sit at home. When you see me that I have associated myself with someone, then arm yourselves and come towards me’. - BIHAR UL ANWAAR VOL 11; PAGE 287 (URDU)

The Holy Imam Ja’far Al Sadiq (a.s.) said; ‘At this time sit at home and your coming out will create strife as Allah (s.w.t.) will occupy with those matters which they do not approve of. - BIHAR UL ANWAAR VOL 11; PAGE 287 (URDU)

The Holy imam Ja’far Al Sadiq (a.s.) said: ‘You keep your mouths shut and sit at home as this matter will not be for you nor for the people’ - BIHAR UL ANWAAR VOL 11; PAGE 289 (URDU)

The Holy Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) said: ‘So long as the earth and the sky are silent, you remain silent as well and do not come out as when the Master of the Time (a.s.) comes it will not be hidden from anyone. - BIHAR UL ANWAAR VOL 11; PAGE 281 (URDU)

It is written in Nahj Ul Balagah that the Holy Imam Ali (a.s.) said: ‘Hold on to the earth and be patient during afflictions, do not give movement to your hands and your swords at all, hold your tongues, when Allah (s.w.t.) is not in a hurry for you then why are you in a hurry? - - BIHAR UL ANWAAR VOL 11; PAGE 291 (URDU)

The Holy Imam Ali Ibn Husayn (a.s.) said: ‘By God, if anyone were to take a stand before the appearance of the Holy Imam Mahdi (a.s.), his example is that of a baby bird whose wings have not yet fully developed. Comes out of its nest and the children capture it and start playing with it’. - BIHAR UL ANWAAR VOL 12; PAGE 85 (URDU)

The Holy Imam Ja’far Al Sadiq (a.s.) said: ‘Sit at your homes silently so long as the earth and the sky remain silent, but when you get the news that Sufyani has made his stand then immediately come to us even though you may have to walk all the way’. - BIHAR UL ANWAAR VOL 12; PAGE 85 (URDU)

The Holy Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) said: ‘There is no better Jihad in this time than Hajj, Umrah and nearness to the Holy Imam (a.s.)’. AL KAFI , BOOK OF DIVINE PROOF, CHAPTER 40, H8 (URDU)

The nine Hadeeth above and the one I am about to quote hereby completes my book and they should be taken as the conclusion of this last chapter. I do not have any better proof than this nor does any person of faith has any need for it. Look at this last Hadeeth and remember me in your prayers.

The Holy Imam Ja’far Al Sadiq (a.s.) said: ‘Before the appearance of Al Qaim (a.s.), whichever standard (flag) is raised, then know that its leader is Taghoot (Satan) who is worshipping someone other than Allah (s.w.t.)’ - - BIHAR UL ANWAAR VOL 11; PAGE 287 (URDU)

This book was completed in November 1999 which corresponds to Rajab 1420.

APPENDIX

UNDERLYING INTENTION

I am presenting a gift to all those believing men and women who had aligned themselves with falsehood only due to lack of knowledge. As they had not been exposed to the truth before therefore they should now come towards it as a bird returns to its nest and prove the fact that ‘Everything returns to its origins’.

REFUTATION OF ACTION

I have no idea how many drowned and how many survived, but I am certain that the number of those who survived far exceed those that drowned, for which there is no amount of thanks that I can give in the presence of the Holy Imam Mahdi (a.s.) which will be sufficient. The reactions which I have received from not only Pakistan, but India, England and other countries as well, clearly prove to me that no matter how strong falsehood may be, it is not possible for it to eradicate the truth. Falsehood is not something which can be eradicated and that tells me that the believers hearts are not bereft of movement in matters of faith.

As Iqbal has said - Soften yourself and you will see that this clay is very fertile.

The only regret I have is that so far I have not received any academic response to my book. For example someone may have pointed out that in this book a particular reference is incorrect, or a particular Verse is incorrect or the conclusions that have been reached from them are not correct. The voice that was heard was that ‘The write is an unbeliever! He has taken money from American and Israel. The buying of this book, reading it and keeping it at home amounts to disbelief’. Etc. Etc. Only those that do not have any evidence or proofs make this kind of talk. There is no basis for these kind of reactions. These kind of crazy assertions are not something on which time or paper should be wasted in response to it, but I do not want the Shiites to be left in any misunderstanding, no proof should be left out and there should be no room for escape.

WHAT IS THIS NEW THING?

One thing that was said was, ‘This has been happening for a long time now and no one has raised a voice against it, so who is this guy who is creating new things in matters of religion?’ The point is that if a blind person were to be given eyesight all of a sudden then everything will look new to him. This is their condition. These people have kept the Shiites in the dark about their real religion, and so many lies have been spoken that the Shiites have now come to believe these lies as the truth, and so if someone were to speak the truth to them then they would consider it to be a new thing. When you read this book you will realise that I have presented the interpretation of the Verse of the Holy Quran as explained by the Holy Infallibles (a.s.). The Hadeeth I have presented are from extremely old Shiite source books. The ‘Book Of Suleym Bin Qays Hilali’ is the first Hadeeth book of the Shiite Sect written at the time of the Holy Imam Ali (a.s.). This book has been verified by three Infallible Imams (a.s.) - The fourth, fifth and sixth Holy Imams (a.s.). I have presented quotations from this book.  I have also quoted from Al Kafi which was written during the minor occultation of the Holy Imam Mahdi (a.s.). There is no record of any reprimand about this from the Holy Imam (a.s.) and so this cannot be doubted. Then there is the period of Shaykh Sadouq which is very near to the beginning of the major occultation. I have quoted from his books Man La Yahzurul Faqih and Illul U Shara’ie. I have also quoted from the sermons of the Holy Imam Ali (a.s.) to be found in Nahj Ul Balagah and Nahj Ul Israr.

Sahifa Kamila is collection of  supplications as taught by the Holy Imam Al Bin Husayn (a.s.) and is considered to be a very authentic book. I have quoted from this books as well. Nobody can dispute against the person of Allamah Majlisi, I have quoted from his books as well. I have also quoted from the well known Mara’jas, Allamah Hilli, Allamah Toosi, Allamah Muhammad Baqir Khowansari, Allamah Bakhshashi, Agha e Khomeini, Allamah Dastaghayb, Mufti Ja’far Husayn etc. Can you please tell me where have I brought a new thing from? The inventors of new things are those who have spoiled the map of the Shiite Sect and have established a religion which has neither to do with the Holy Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.) nor with their (a.s.) religion. They have prohibited the asking of questions and in this way the whole population has been made to be subservient to them.

THIEVES BLOWING THE WHISTLE

The second accusation that has labelled against me is that I am breaking up the community and creating differences between them. Glory be to Allah (s.w.t.)! The people who are throwing this accusation at me are the very ones who have been doing nothing but this for centuries. Every person has his own set of beliefs, his actions are difference from others, some are emulating this guy and some the other (Taqleed), some are reciting something as an obligatory act and some as a recommended one, some are considering a thing to be prohibited whilst the same thing is considered by others as lawful and permissible, in one Mosque two congregational prayers are seen. Who has created these differences? Me?

I have a pamphlet on me which has a photograph of a particular Ayatullah and people have been invited to do his Taqleed as he is the real Ayatullah. Then there is a reference to a particular person who was given the title of Ayatullah whilst he was in prison in order to save him from the death penalty. Who has done all this mess? And the blame is on me? If in a crowd of falsehood, the raising of the voice of truth an inviting people to it equates to the spread of dissension, then I accept this accusation willingly. If you were to take dissension to mean who you are saying it to be then all the Prophets (a.s.) would come under this as whenever a Prophet (a.s.) the people became divided into two groups of those with the truth and those with the falsehood. There can never be a compromise between truth and falsehood. Whoever reads my book will testify that its very purpose is to eradicate dissension, and that is through obedience to the Holy Infallibles (a.s.).

Is this not a central point on which the whole Shiite world can get united on? Is it no obligatory upon all to grab hold of the Firm Handle (Urwat Ul Wusqa)? I have a whole chapter dedicated to differences in my book where this matter has been extensively discussed in the light of Divine Verses and the statements of the Holy Infallibles (a.s.). And who is there who can accuse me of spreading dissension?  Except for the one whose income has been adversely affected of course.

A BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE

This is also some sort of a joke. The accusation is that this is not an academic book. And when questioned as to why this is so, then answer comes back that this has been written in a layman’s language and is therefore not a scholarly work. Glory be to Allah (s.w.t.)! Glory be to Allah (s.w.t.) again! These people are in need of a psychologist. Remember this and know this well that this is also a conspiracy which has been played out on the Shiites throughout the centuries that the books should be written in such a manner that it would be impossible for the common man to understand them and the knowledge should become exclusive to a particular group of people only and that the people would always be dependent upon them and keep their collars round their necks. And now if someone were to bring the knowledge to the doorsteps of the common people in their own language then obviously this would be unacceptable to them as their conspiracy would break up.

DOCTORPHOBIA

I am surprised that despite all the evidence and proofs these people, be they learned or ignorant, keep on repeating the same thing over and over again that ‘If someone is sick then he needs to see a doctor and therefore if a religious problem arises then he needs to go and consult the priest’. From the first day they said from the pulpit of ‘Baab Ul Ilm’ that: ‘This person wants everyone to become a Mujtahid and if this were possible then everyone would also become doctors’. This is a very big false accusation against me. I definitely do not want every person to become a Mujtahid. In fact I do not want anyone to become a Mujtahid. That thing which has nothing to do with the religion of Ahl Ul Bayt (a.s.) and has been taken from their (a.s.) enemies, how can I encourage people towards it?

Medical science is a worldly profession and Allah (s.w.t.) hasn’t told us to adopt worldly professions that everyone should become doctors, engineers or lawyers. This is up to the individual which branch of knowledge he wishes to learn and which one he wishes to ignore. He can even decide not to do that and earn his living doing menial jobs. Allah (s.w.t.) has regarded all types of methods to earn a living to be an act of worship provided they are lawful in religion. In the matter of religion, however, Allah (s.w.t) has not left us free to decide but has made the acquisition of knowledge and obligation upon all Muslims. The Pure and Holy Imams (a.s.) has severely reprimanded those who depend upon others for knowledge and do not bother acquiring it themselves. Therefore the example of medical science with the knowledge of religion cannot be valid.

The second point which is necessary to make is that whether it is a doctor or an engineer, going to them is merely for consultation. You may have seen advertisements in various hospitals promoting medicine after which there are the words, ‘If the symptoms persist consult your physician’. You will also have seen that we can go to any doctor that we feel like and there are no restrictions. We do not have to go to a particular one only. Going to a particular doctor does not restrict us from going to another one. There is also another warning which is displayed in the hospitals, ‘Medication can be dangerous’. In other words, it could be dangerous to treat ourselves through medication without having consulted the doctor first. Now, if these people have decided that the cure for religious ‘ailments’ has been given to us by the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and the Holy Imams (a.s.), and then if someone were to create his own ‘medication’ in the form of religious laws and get other people to partake from it, would this not constitute ‘self-medication’?

The third thing is that, be it a doctor or a lawyer, we have to consult them out of necessity. These illiterate friends of mine have taken this to equate to Taqleed (Blind emulation). Even the most serious person will not be able to hold back his smile at this. When we need to have a haircut we go to the barber for it, does this now mean that we are in his Taqleed? When we want to have our shoes repaired and go to the shoemaker for it does this mean that we are now his Muqallideen? (Emulators) And so by consulting the doctors we are not emulating him, but rather we are only consulting him. When turning towards a doctor does not constitute Taqleed then how can consultation with a priest, be so. Why are we being forced into it? This matter will become more clear by way of an example. Supposing a priest were to become sick and goes to the doctor. According to them he will then be doing his Taqleed. Now, the situation would be that both of them are in each other’s Taqleed according to them. This like the chicken and egg situation. Which came first? Only those who are blind of intellect will regard the turning towards the doctors and engineers as Taqleed. These people do not understand what connotations come out of this. It is proven from history that whenever prophet (a.s.) or the Holy Imams (a.s.) fell ill, they consulted the physicians. But these people have their businesses to run and if the Holy infallibles (a.s.) get degraded in the process then so be it.

IGNORANT RESPONSE

One Allamah expressed intense disgust over my book. Someone asked him: ‘Sir! If this book is so bad and a lot of people are being misguided with it, why do you not write a response to it?’ He replied arrogantly, ‘We do not respond to ignorant people!’

First of all, I have neither claimed to be a scholar, nor have I adorned myself with any titles. Furthermore the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) has defined an ignorant person in this way: ‘One who claims to be learned is the ignorant’. Praise be to Allah (s.w.t.)! I fall outside the ambit of this definition of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.). This Allamah should worry about himself as he has adorned himself with the title of ‘The Most Knowledgeable One’ (Allamah).

CONSPIRACY TO DESTROY SHIITE LIFE

One person was so impressed with this book that he expressed his feelings that he agreed with all of it. Then he met this ‘teacher of angels’ who said to him: ‘My friend! This book is very dangerous’. He asked: ‘And why is that so?’ The guy said: ‘Have you not read the chapter on Khums? This is a conspiracy to destroy the Shiite way of life’.

Firstly, someone should ask him what connection do the Shiites have with Khums, for it is only for the Family of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and not for the general public. Now, listen to me about the attitude that prevail against the Family Member of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) (Sadaat).

First of all they ruin their honour by asking them for proof of being Seyyids. Now where on earth is he supposed to get this certificate from? And even if he does succeed in doing so, when are they going to accept it anyhow? The want a Priest to certify it as he also has a living to make.  Now, how does a strange Mullah know whether a person is a Seyyid or not? He just has to take some money and issue a certificate. And when this Seyyid gets this certificate to go and collect Khums he find that there is a long queue before him. And when he finally gets his turn, he gets a miserly two hundred rupees in his hand from which he has to run his home, pay for hospital care and educate his children with it. The correct thing for these degenerate people to do would be to deliver the Khums monies directly to the homes of the Seyyids and not to make them queue up for it. When the government imposes a tax, does it come to their doors to collect it or do they go running towards their office to pay it in case they get imposed with a penalty. This situation of the Seyyids was either seen during the rule of the Umayyid and the Abbasid dynasties or it is being seen now at the hands of those who call themselves Shiites.

AN IMPORTANT OBJECTION

I have discussed ‘Conjecture’ as being a principle of Ijtihad in my book condemningly. I have presented Divine Verses and the statements of the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) which have strictly forbidden the use of conjecture. An objection was raised against me and a couple of Hadeeth were sent to me without any references attached to them. The first one quoted an incident whereby the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) was leading prayers when a cry of a child was hear from inside his house. He (s.a.w.) shortened his prayers and went inside the house. When he (s.a.w.) returned the companions asked him: ‘O Prophet Of Allah! Why did you shorten the prayers?’ He (s.a.w.) replied: ‘I surmised that it was Husayn (a.s.) that was crying’. Over here the Arabic word ‘Zann’ has been used by him (s.a.w.). The other Hadeeth which they presented to me is to be found in Sermon No. 54 of Nahj Ul Balagah. When the people crowded around the Holy Imam (a.s.) pressuring him (a.s.) to accept the Caliphate, he (as.) said: ‘I surmised that they would kill me’. Over here also the Arabic word ‘Zann’ has been used. The question they raised was that if the Holy Infallibles can act upon conjectures then why can’t we? What I am saying is that they have only given me a couple of Hadeeth but I am referring them to a Verse of the Holy Quran where Allah (s.w.t.) has used the term ‘Zann’ for his truthful Prophet.

[Shakir 12:42] And he said to him whom he knew would be delivered of the two: Remember me with your lord; but the Shaitan caused him to forget mentioning (it) to his lord, so he remained in the prison a few years.

There you are! Now it has been established that the word ‘Zann’ has been used for a truthful Prophet and so I hereby present my congratulations to these people.

I don’t think this argument has been presented to me out of ignorance. I am of the conclusion that this is a joke which has been played on our religion. What I find to be strange is that these people do not even shirk from falsifying Divine Verse and Holy Narrations in order to justify their conjectures. The Holy Quran is quite clear is stating that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) NEVER used to speak of his own accord. Whatsoever was revealed unto him (a.s.) is what he (s.a.w.) spoke. What has revelation got to do with conjecture? And the Holy Imam (a.s.) is reported to have said that even if all the veils were to be lifted from him, it would not make an iota of a difference to his conviction. Despite this, these people have the audacity to associate these Holy Personalities with conjecture. Any aware person will testify that a word used by different people does not always carry the same meaning. We refer to ourselves has being alive and Allah (s.w.t.) also refers to Himself as being Alive. Does the term ‘alive’ carry the same meaning for both? We have also been referred to as people and so have the Prophets (a.s.) and Holy Imams (a.s.). Does this mean that we are all the same? I would have never bothered to answer these frivolities, but as this is an academic discussion therefore I want my readers to understand this correctly.

At this juncture I would like to discuss five term which have been used for both the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) as well as the generality of people.

THOSE FIMRLY ROOTED IN KNOWLEDGE (RAASIKUNA FIL'ILM)

[Shakir 4:162] But the firm in knowledge among them and the believers believe in what has been revealed to you and what was revealed before you, and those who keep up prayers and those who give the poor-rate and the believers in Allah and the last day, these it is whom We will give a mighty reward.

The believers from among the People of the Book have been referred to as ‘Those who are firmly rooted in knowledge’.

[Shakir 3:7] He it is Who has revealed the Book to you; some of its verses are decisive, they are the basis of the Book, and others are allegorical; then as for those in whose hearts there is perversity they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation, but none knows its interpretation except Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: We believe in it, it is all from our Lord; and none do mind except those having understanding.

In this Verse it is the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) that have been referred to as those who are rooted in knowledge. How can we conclude from this that they are both equally firmly rooted in knowledge.

THE UNJUST

Take a look at these two Verses:

[Shakir 3:57] And as to those who believe and do good deeds, He will pay them fully their rewards; and Allah does not love the unjust.

[Shakir 3:86] How shall Allah guide a people who disbelieved after their believing and (after) they had borne witness that the Messenger was true and clear arguments had come to them; and Allah does not guide the unjust people.

There are numerous such Verses in the Holy Quran. Two things can be established with these two Verses - (1) Allah (s.w.t.) does not guide the Unjust. In other words the unjust would be a people gone astray. (2) Allah (s.w.t.) does not befriend the unjust. In other words the unjust would be the enemies of Allah (s.w.t.). Let us now look for the same wordings used for Prophets (a.s.).

[Shakir 2:35] And We said: O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the garden and eat from it a plenteous (food) wherever you wish and do not approach this tree, for then you will be of the unjust.

[Shakir 21:87] And Yunus, when he went away in wrath, so he thought that We would not straiten him, so he called out among afflictions: There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee; surely I am of those who make themselves to suffer loss.

Now if someone has the courage he should come forward and say that this word has been used in the same meaning here that it was used for other people. Then the ugly connotations of this would be assigned to the Prophets (a.s.) (God forbid!)

I know that these people are now going to teach me the difference meanings of the word ‘unjust’. One thing is for certain, whatever type of injustice it may be, it is the opposite of justice.

KNOWLEDGE

[Shakir 29:3] And certainly We tried those before them, so Allah will certainly know those who are true and He will certainly know the liars.

[Shakir 29:11] And most certainly Allah will know those who believe and most certainly He will know the hypocrites.

[Shakir 57:25] Certainly We sent Our messengers with clear arguments, and sent down with them the Book and the balance that men may conduct themselves with equity; and We have made the iron, wherein is great violence and advantages to men, and that Allah may know who helps Him and His messengers in the secret; surely Allah is Strong, Mighty.

If we were to take the same meaning from this word, then the conclusion would be that even Allah (s.w.t.) does not know the future events. (God Forbid!)

MAYBE (LA’ALLA)

This word is used when the speaker is not convinced of what he is saying.  Allah (s.w.t.) has Used this same word for Himself (s.w.t) on numerous occasions. A few examples of which are:

[Shakir 2:21] O men! serve your Lord Who created you and those before you so that you may guard (against evil).

[Shakir 2:52] Then We pardoned you after that so that you might give thanks.

[Shakir 2:53] And when We gave Musa the Book and the distinction that you might walk aright.

Are we now to conclude (God forbid!) that even Allah (s.w.t.) talks without conviction?

KINGDOM

[Shakir 3:26] Say: O Allah, Master of the Kingdom! Thou givest the kingdom to whomsoever Thou pleasest and takest away the kingdom from whomsoever Thou pleasest, and Thou exaltest whom Thou pleasest and abasest whom Thou pleasest in Thine hand is the good; surety, Thou hast power over all things.

[Shakir 4:54] Or do they envy the people for what Allah has given them of His grace? But indeed We have given to Ibrahim's children the Book and the wisdom, and We have given them a grand kingdom.

Are we now to take kingdom to mean the same in all these situations? This is the reason why the translators and the commentators have made us of interpretation on these occasions. The word ‘conjecture’ (Zann) also has to be looked at in the same manner. The Holy Infallibles (a.s.) are at such a high level that the mere thought of uncertainty does not arise. For ignorant people like us, acting upon conjecture is shameful and prohibited as conviction is a condition for actions.

[Shakir 10:36] And most of them do not follow (anything) but conjecture; surely conjecture will not avail aught against the truth; surely Allah is cognizant of what they do.

After all these clarifications, no doubt remains, but I would still like to explain further as to what meanings are to be taken when this word gets used for the Prophets (a.s.) and the Holy Imams (a.s.).

Zann has three meanings linguistically - conjecture, doubt, and conviction. This is to derive a conclusion based on witnessing something based on knowledge and intellect. When you realise the difference between the knowledge and intellect of the Holy Imams (a.s.) and ordinary people, the matter would become clear. All scientists, philosophers and wise people are unanimous in concluding that the human being does not use more than a third of his brain. If he were to use more than this then he would become paralysed and go mad. In this way two thirds of the brain remains unused. This is where the first stage of revelations begins. Anyway, these are the possibilities. Practically, all the intellectuals and scientists so far have only managed to used five percent of their brain. The human has yet to exceed these levels. This means that ninety five percent still remains untapped. It is irrefutable that when a human being uses his deficient intellect to get to some conclusions, the matter will always be subject to doubt. In contrast the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) use their complete intellect. It is the same with knowledge. Our knowledge is restricted and localised, whereas the knowledge of the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) unrestricted and universal. And so whatever conclusions that will be reached by them (a.s.) based on their (a.s.) knowledge will be free from uncertainty and doubt. This is the reason why Allah (s.w.t.) has condemned our conjectures whereas those of the Holy Inafallibles (a.s.) have been Praised. Too try and equate our conjectures with theirs is proof of our ignorance.

FRIDAY PRAYERS

Al lot of questions came to me regarding Friday and Eid Prayers. I never respond to irresponsible talk and am not going to do so now. However, I will respond to academic questions which are raised with good intentions. Basically, all these questions can be summarised into one: ‘Why should we not pray the Friday Prayers when there is an explicit Order for it in the Holy Quran?’ This is a reasonable question and I consider it an obligation upon myself to answer it.

The first point to note is that the Friday Prayer is completely different from other Daily Prayers. It is an obligation to ‘make up’ for the missed Daily Prayers but there is not such regulation surrounding the Friday Prayer. There is no Order to leave aside trading for the Daily Prayers like there is for the Friday Prayer. The sermon forms an obligatory part of the Friday Prayer and there is not such obligation for the Daily Prayers. It is such and obligation that during the sermon no other prayer can be prayed. The purpose of the sermon is to achieve and understanding the Holy Imam (a.s.) of our time and announce his apparent governance. The Prayer leader has to hold a stick in his hand during the sermon. All these factors point to one thing that the purpose of this is to explain the honour and dignity of the Holy Imam (a.s.). It stands to reason that this can only be done when the Holy Imam (a.s.) is physically present among us (Has come out of the major occultation). Allah (s.w.t.) neither gives us any pointless Orders nor is He (s.w.t.) in need of any of our Prayers.

OBLIGATORY PRE-CONDITIONS

Whatever obligatory acts that the Jurists deal with, they all come with conditions attached to them. These acts are only obligatory if the pre-conditions for it are met or else they become prohibited. For example, for a Prayer to be done it is a must that the clothes that we wear and the place where we Pray are not usurped property. Now if someone were to wear usurped clothes and start praying on usurped land and then respond to objections by saying that: ‘Why should I not pray when there is an explicit order for it in the Holy Quran?’, then this would testify to his ignorance and lack of intellect. And if in this condition this person does pray, then instead of worshipping Allah (s.w.t.) he would have ended up being disobedient to Him (s.w.t.). Similarly, for fasting, it is a pre-condition that a person is not sick or on a journey. And in this condition is a person insists on fasting saying that ‘Why should I not fast when there is an explicit order for it in the Holy Quran’, then he will end up being disobedient to Allah (s.w.t.) despite having fasted. For Zakaat (Poor rate) possession of taxable wealth is necessary. If someone were to say: ‘Why should I not give Zakaat when there are explicit orders for it in the Holy Quran?’ when he is not in possession of taxable wealth, then he will have rebelled against Allah (s.w.t.). It is a pre-condition of Hajj that a person has disposable income and if someone were to say: ‘Why should I not perform hajj when there is an explicit order for it in the Holy Quran?’ the he is being stubborn against Allah (s.w.t.). For Jihad the order of the Holy Imam (a.s.) is necessary and if someone were to adorn himself with weapons and come out saying: ‘Why should I not do Jihad when there is an explicit order for it in the Holy Qur’an’, then this will be classified as bloodshed and strife, not an act of worship. It is the same with Friday Prayers. This is indeed an individual obligation and whoever disputes this, is an unbeliever and an accursed one. It is necessary to understand that the Holy Quran contains summarised Orders the explanations for which were give by the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and the Holy Imams (a.s.). If you were to obtain a list of the pre-conditions of the Friday Prayer from any Mujtahid you will see that from all the pre-conditions the most important one is the presence of the Holy Imam (a.s.). Even Mufti Ja’far Husayn has accepted this. If this was not the case then there would not have been so many difference interpretations of the Quranic Verses. If there is an explicit Order to pray the Friday Prayer then how come the Mujtahids differ in the Verdicts. Some say it is obligatory, some say it is a recommended Prayer while some say it is almost an obligation, when it is an individual obligation. Agha e Khoie says that after the Friday Prayer the Mid-day Prayer (Zohr) has to be recited while Agha e Khomeini says that it should not be done. The reason for all these differences is that the occultation of the Holy Imam (a.s.) is stuck in their throats and in the interests of Muslim unity and in their desire to please their elder brothers, these Mujtahids keep giving different Verdicts for this matter. There is something fishy going on. Let me explain this by way of an example. We have freedom to eat and drink all those things which have been declared as lawful by Allah (s.w.t.), but in the month of Ramadhan these very same things become unlawful unto us during fasting. The time period that we are living in today can be regarded as the month of Ramadhan. The occultation of the Holy Imam (a.s.) has rendered many things as redundant, like Friday Prayer, Edi Prayers Holy War etc. Allah (s.w.t.) Willing when our Holy Imam (a.s.) makes his appearance, we will pray these Prayers and we will also take part in Holy Wars. To perform these actions out of desire when the pre-conditions have not been met equates to rebellion against Allah (s.w.t.) and obedience to Shaytan.

I have written all this in order to explain these matters to you so that you may understand better otherwise for a believer the order of the Holy Imam (a.s.) is sufficient. If the Holy Imam (a.s.) had not been in occultation then the believers would not wander around here and there. I have presented the order of the Holy Imam Ali Bin Husayn (a.s.) from Sahifa E Kamila in my book, and not if someone were to go against that in his obedience to someone else then he should know that this is a sign of hypocrisy.

ALTERNATE VIEW

So far I have dealt with question and objections that have been levelled against me, but I have also received letters from those who say that what I have written is insufficient and that I have omitted many other matters. The basic purpose of my book was to rectify the situation and so I included whatever I thought was necessary for it and avoided those matters which would have provoked pointless discussion. These people have sent me some questions regarding the topics of Ijtihad and Taqleed, and I think it is necessary to mention them here, but with precaution, as this has nothing to do with me but it has to do with those who are busy in promoting this system for worldly benefit. It is not on me to answer these questions but on those that indulge in Ijtihad, because the secrets of the home are known to the people of the household. These Mujtahids, their representatives and their workers should answer these questions with full responsibility, and with historical references, since they have assumed the position of being guides of the people. The people should consider it an obligation upon themselves to extract answers from these people. They should ensure that their answers are received in writing with their seals on it so that it can be verified.

QUESTIONS

1 - Although the four special representatives of the Holy Imam Mahdi (a.s.) themselves never claimed to be so, they were labelled with this and this became popular. Then the claim was made of general representation. The question is: ‘Who was the fifth representative?’ In other words, who was the FIRST PERSON to declare himself as the representative after the death of Husayn Bin Muhammad (the fourth one)? How long after his death was this first claim made? What was the name of his book, which in the language of jurisprudence is referred to as Tawzeeh Ul Masaail, and when did it first reach the hands of the people? It is being rumoured that the Abbasides burnt our libraries and so this book was also burnt with it and is no longer available these days. The question is that in those very libraries, very old books of ours like Al Kafi, Man La Yahzur Ul Faqih, Tahzee, Istibsaar, Nahj Ul Balagah,and numerous sermons of the Holy Imam Ali (a.s.), were present. How come these books were preserved whereas the only book that burned was the first Twazeeh Ul Masaail. Is there anyone who can unravel this mystery?

2 - The Mujtahids claim to be the representatives of the Holy Imam Mahdi (a.s.) and it is a principle that a representative always does the same as what the his mentor does. When we recite the salutations to our Holy Imam (a.s.) we use the words: ‘Peace be on you O Imam of the Men and Jinn’. The person has asked: ‘In the Holy Quran Allah (s.w.t.) has Declared that He (s.w.t.) did not create the Jinn and the men but for worshipping Him (s.w.t.)’ Worship denotes obedience to Commands and these have been given to us by the Holy Infallibles (a.s.). Now that these Mujtahids are claiming to be the representatives of the Holy Imam (a.s.), then it follows that commands should also must emanate from them. The commands should be for the Jinn as well as Men as obedience is obligatory upon both of them. For Men they claim to be the representatives of the Holy Imam (a.s.), but, has the obligation been lifted from the Jinns? Who is the representative for them? Do the Jinns also come to these famous people to sort out any of their problems?

A few more questions arise from the above:

•The Holy Imam (a.s.) has come as a guide to all mankind and all of the Jinns and so no one can be equal to them. The origin of the Holy Imam (a.s.) is different to those of the Jinn and the Men. Do these Mujtahids claim to be of a different origin from that of the Jinn and Men? And so how can they claim to be the representatives?

•In our salutation to the Holy Imam (a.s.) we say: ‘Peace be upon you O partner of the Holy Quran!’ Can a person who is prone to errors ever be a partner with the Holy Quran?

•In our salutation to the Holy Imam (a.s.) we say: ‘Peace be upon you O Caliph of the Most Beneficent!’ Can the representatives of this Holy Imam (a.s.) claim to be a Caliph of Allah (s.w.t.)? And if they cannot then how can they be the representatives?

•According to the well known Hadeeth, all the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) have been referred to as ‘Muhammads’. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) never spoke without revelation and therefore none of the Holy Imams (a.s.) did either. How come these claimants are making statements without Divine Commands?

3 - There is a strange claim in the Tawzeeh Ul Masaail of Syed Ali Sistani which reads: ‘By following the rules in this book, you will be free from giving account on the Day of Judgment for your actions’.

[Shakir 31:33] O people! guard against (the punishment of) your Lord and dread the day when a father shall not make any satisfaction for his son, nor shall the child be the maker of any satisfaction for his father; surely the promise of Allah is true, therefore let not this world's life deceive you, nor let the arch-deceiver deceive you in respect of Allah.

[Shakir 6:164] Say: What! shall I seek a Lord other than Allah? And He is the Lord of all things; and no soul earns (evil) but against itself, and no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another; then to your Lord is your return, so He will inform you of that in which you differed.

[Shakir 17:15] Whoever goes aright, for his own soul does he go aright; and whoever goes astray, to its detriment only does he go astray: nor can the bearer of a burden bear the burden of another, nor do We chastise until We raise a messenger.

[Shakir 35:18] And a burdened soul cannot bear the burden of another and if one weighed down by burden should cry for (another to carry) its burden, not aught of it shall be carried, even though he be near of kin. You warn only those who fear their Lord in secret and keep up prayer; and whoever purifies himself, he purifies himself only for (the good of) his own soul; and to Allah is the eventual coming.

[Shakir 39:7] If you are ungrateful, then surely Allah is Self-sufficient above all need of you; and He does not like ungratefulness in His servants; and if you are grateful, He likes it in you; and no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another; then to your Lord is your return, then will He inform you of what you did; surely He is Cognizant of what is in the breasts

[Shakir 53:38] That no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another-

The six Verses above quite clearly state that on the Day of Judgment, no one will bear the burden of anyone else. Each person will have to answer for his deeds himself. The Holy Quran has also stated that the deceivers will surely deceive us in this regard. These Mujtahids must be fathers to their own children and if they cannot bear the burden of their own children then how can they make the claim to bear the burden of other people? Does not this person who has made this claim in blatant violation of it?

4 - Who was the first person to claim that it is obligatory to emulate (Do the Taqleed of) a non Infallible. And when was this claim first made?

5 - Who was the first person to make the claim that without being in the Taqleed of a non Infallible none of the deeds are acceptable? When was this claim first made? Between the time of the last special representative of the Holy Imam (a.s.) till the time that this claim was first made, how much time had elapsed? And what will happen to those believers who left this world without being in the Taqleed of a Mujtahid?

6 - Who was the first person to have claimed to be an Ayatullah? And when he made this claim, what meaning did he make it in? And what is meant by this title these days? By placing the words ‘Great’ and ‘Grand’ along with this, what benefit is derived from it?

7 - What was the deficiency in the Mujtahids of old who never made the claim to be Naaib e Imam (a.s.), Hujjat Ul Islam and Ayatullah type of titles, and what is the speciality of the Mujtahids of today which has compelled them to make these claims.

These questions have been presented to the scholars and myself as well as my readers are awaiting answers from them.  We hope that they will give us replies that is befitting of their glorious status. Instead of throwing accusations they will adopt the way of academic discourse which should never be turned into political duels. What is acceptable is that which can be proven by evidence not by the might of an individual.

THE LATEST

I had already completed my discussion and my book had already gone to press, so it was not possible for me to add a few pages to it afterward. I have just received a letter today from someone who says that he used to be my adversary, but after reading this book he now regrets his actions and presented his apologies to me. He is my brother in faith and God Willing a believer in the sight of Allah (s.w.t.).

Concerning the book, he says that someone gave it to him and requested some answers and so he passed them on to me. This book, ‘Concerns regarding Ijtihad and Taqleed’, which has been printed by Hassan Printers of Chowk, Karachi, Pakistan. For contact they have given their phone number which is 2623515. The price tag of forty rupees has been printed on the book so that it can be established that it is indeed a book and not a pamphlet produced by way of charitable donations. Practically speaking, whoever I have spoken to is prepared to keep the Holy Quran on his head that this book was distributed freely in Masjid E Kahyr Ul Amal in Ancholi after the Majlis. It is strange that the very people who are against the distribution of free food ‘Tabarruk’ in a Mosque the ones distributing this forty rupee book.

The real problem was that since my book came in to the market, the Mujtahids and their workers came under great pressure to write and answer to it. But it will be impossible for them to falsify my book till the Day of Judgment for falsifying my book will be like falsifying the Holy Quran the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) and their own Mujtahids, because in this book there are no other references other than from these sources. And so they were trapped both ways, whether they give an answer to it or not. Now, everyone thinks that this is indeed an answer to my book ‘Kash Ul Haqaaiq’, but in reality it is not. In this book there is absolutely no reference whatsoever to my book nor have any of the points raised in the book an answer to my points.  Yes, the have certainly mentioned in their book matters which have nothing to do with the intellect nor reality in order to mislead the blind and push them into a pit. I have no concern with the blind but whatever that I have written is for people of understanding.

Writing is not a problem for me, but there is no point in purposeless discussions. If you were to look carefully into it you will see that this book actually verifies what is written in my book and does not refute it. All you need is an inquiring mind. The have presented on Quranic Verse and ten Hadeeth, which have all been explained already in my book to prove my point. Had they dealt with the points that I have made in my book then at least an academic discussion would have ensued. What have they gained from repeating the same points all over again? For their information, they have only presented eleven arguments whilst I have seventeen in my book. They should now write another book and mention the six arguments that they have missed out. This is what has been happening for centuries now.

What I have said is sufficient for this book but I think I should present a summary of it for the benefit of the publishers. But I have a slightly different approach of introducing matters. I have divided their book into different ‘books’ (sections) and summarised these separately. I never let go of truth-seeking, and so I apologise in advance.

1 - BOOK OF STRANGE THINGS

First of all this book is like a child for whom no one is prepared to be his father. There is no mention of the author of the book. One Page there is a statement which reads that: ‘A group of scholars’ have pulled their resources to put this book together. From this I can gather that all these scholars are unanimous in the views mentioned in the book.

Whoever has read my book will see that I have only presented the statements of the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) and I have invited people only towards them (a.s.). Their book is against this approach and there is a statement of the Holy Imam (a.s.) that: ‘Whenever a consensus is reached against the Holy Infallibles (a.s.), these people will be hypocrites’. They should have at least written the name of one of the ‘group of scholar’ so that he can be recognised and the book can at least be associated to him. The term, ‘A group of scholars’ is a very wide one and had different meanings in different areas. In the west even an owl is referred to as ‘wise’. If they get hold of this book of theirs, they will wonder how a group of owls have reached a consensus over it.

The second strange thing about this book is that it has proven that a child is born first then a father comes into existence. One Page 2 it is written, ‘Second Edition 2002’ when there is no mention of the first edition and no one is aware of its existence.

The third strange this appears of Pages 52 and 59 of their book where they have listed the criteria required for the understanding the Holy Quran and Hadeeth. For the understanding of Hadeeth they have listed forty nine pre-conditions. What they mean is that neither is anyone going to be able to meet these forty nine conditions nor is he ever going to touch a book of Hadeeth. In this way they have prohibited the reading of the Hadeeth of the Holy Infallibles, except for the Mujtahids. Let me list some of these conditions that they have listed.

1.The knowledge of all the narrators from the beginning till to date.

2.From the time of the companions and the Tabi’een (Repentants) till now, the knowledge of the narrators and their clans. In other words, in the past fourteen centuries whatever narrator of Hadeeth has lived, it is necessary to know the family background, lineage, etc. of all of them otherwise you cannot read Hadeeth. It is better if you remain ignorant.

3.The knowledge of the origin of the narrators. In other words he should have the knowledge of geography otherwise he cannot read Hadeeth.

4.The knowledge of the brother and sisters of the companions and the Tabi’een.

5.The knowledge of the children and slaves of the companions and the Tabi’een. This is only possible when a person is related to them and is a frequent visitor to their homes. What is beyond understanding is the connection between a Hadeeth and the brothers and sisters of the companions and the repentants. Anyhow, without this Hadeeth cannot be understood and therefore it is prohibited to touch a book of Hadeeth.

6.The knowledge of the intention of the companions and the Tabi’een. In other words, unless someone has the knowledge of the unseen, he can neither read Hadeeth nor understand it.

I don’t understand whether the Holy infallibles (a.s.) came to give religion to the people or to establish the leadership of a group. People should try and understand what kind of game is being played here.

2 - BOOK OF NATURAL INSTINCTS

Incidentally this group of scholars are experts in human psychology. They are aware that if the book is monotonous their readers would become bored and so they have stated certain things for their amusement.

On Page 79 they have quoted a Hadeeth: ‘We have forgiven Khums for our Shiites’. As the Mujtahids have full knowledge of the brothers, sisters, brother-in-laws etc. f the narrators, they have therefore derived different meanings for this statement. Some say that it is forgive for ever, some say that it is not forgive but it is not necessary for it to reach the Holy Imam (a.s.) and so it should be buried in the ground so that when he (a.s.) makes his (a.s.) appearance, then the ground would regurgitate this wealth and it will then have reached him (a.s.).

You must have found this joke amusing.

In the whole book, people have been diverted into remaining ignorant to the extent that on Page 71 they have quoted a Hadeeth of the Holy Imam Ja’far Al Sadiq (a.s.): ‘Seventy sins of an ignorant will be forgiven before one of a knowledgeable one’. Then they have quoted another one of the same Page 71: ‘The scholars indulge in contemplation whilst the idiots only copy’. Then they have quoted the Holy prophet (s.a.w.); ‘Whoever did not spend his life in seeking good knowledge has wasted it’.

You have to decide whether one has to seek knowledge or to remain ignorant.

With regard to Friday Prayer they have quoted a Hadeeth on Page 79: ‘Friday Prayer cannot be done in the absence of the Imam’. They have also quoted the Fatwa of Syed Murtaza ‘In the period of the major occultation the praying of the Friday Prayer is unlawful’. Then they have also quoted from other Mujtahids who have taken the word Imam to be a prayer leader rather than the person of the Holy Imam (a.s.) and have come to the conclusion that the Friday Prayer is permissible.

On Page 87 they have quoted two Hadeeth:

(1)It is obligatory to pray the Friday Prayer.

(2)It is obligatory to lead the Friday Prayer.

In the eyes of these people the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) have made statements with double meanings attached to them so that people would remain confused till the Day of Judgment.

This is the end result of being familiar with the brothers, sisters and the brother in laws of the narrators.

On Page 51 they have written that: ‘Therefore it is the responsibility of every person to investigate who is better than a Mujtahid on the basis of knowledge. The principles of ‘the testimony of two just people’ will be a guide in this regard, otherwise a person should have the capabilities of determining this and emulate (do the Taqleed of) a particular Mujtahid’. Each of you can understand quite clearly that it is not possible for a less knowledgeable person to understand a more knowledgeable on whether he be just or otherwise. And so they have quoted the Hadeeth of the Holy Imam Ali (a.s.): ‘A knowledgeable person understand the ignorant one as he was ignorant before, but an ignorant person can not understand the knowledgeable one as he we never knowledgeable before’. This statement has actually sunk the ship of Ijtihad and Taqleed right here. Since it is not possible for a less knowledgeable person to know the knowledgeable one then how is it possible for him to do his Taqleed. In real life, it is the Mujtahid with the strongest lobby, and whose agents manage to convince the people of his stature, that draws the biggest following, be he the most knowledgeable or not. I have many examples of this in front of me but I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to quote them over here.

On Page 64 the write: ‘If the Holy Imam (a.s.) wanted to appoint representatives then he (a.s.) would have done so as soon as he went into major occultation. It is the view of the group of scholars the he (a.s.) should have left a ten kilometre long list of people to be followed from the start of the major occultation up until the time of his (a.s.) appearance’. The point is that whenever a person becomes an adversary of the Holy Infallibles (a.s.), Allah (s.w.t.) crucifies his intellect.

3 - BOOK OF PROBLEMS

This book contains such statements that give rise to questions.

On Page 54 they write: ‘The work of a Mujtahid is to find the solutions to all the problems of ordinary people from the Holy Quran and the Sunnah, and not get involved in discussions outside of this’.

The question is that if the limits of the Mujtahids are as defined by them above then why did they jump into politics? Why did they get involved in the formation and the break-ups of governments? Are these matters to do with the future topics of Ijtihad? If they are then why did the Mujtahids of old avoid this? In this very age, why did Agha E Khoie sit in a corner away from all of them?

On Page 40 they have written: ‘It is proven from history that the first one to divert people away from Ijtihad and Taqleed was the founder of the Akhbari Sect Mullah Muhammad Amin Astarabadi, who wrote in his book ‘Fawaaid Al Madina’ the first treatise against Ijtihad and Taqleed in eleventh century Hijra.

Over here also a question arises. This was the situation of the people of that time. The people who are against Ijtihad and Taqleed are being accused of receiveing dollars from America and this is being advertised in their sermons and pamphlets. The question is, who was giving dollars to Muhammad Amin Astarabadi in the eleventh century. Did America exist at that time? We can prove that it was the English that created the group of people who wear black and white turbans on their heads. Whoever has read the book, ‘Memoirs of Hempher’ will testify to this.

4 - BOOK OF DISBELIEF

This book contains such statements that give rise to disbelief.

One Page 7 they have quoted the Holy Imam Mahdi (a.s.): ‘The Mujtahids that meet all the conditions are my example and are trustees of the prophets (a.s.) and the Imams (a.s.)’.

These people should drown themselves. For the sake of a few worldly gains they are adamant at selling their hereafter. They are so ignorant that neither do they know the meaning of the word ‘example (Misl)’ nor are they aware of the meaning of the word ‘trustee (Waaris)’. They should first ask their superiors for the correct meanings of these words before slapping themselves in the face. Neither the origincal Arabic of these ‘Hadeeth’ have been give nor their references. I hereby challenge anyone to bring me these ‘Hadeeth’ in Arabic with these very words being used, from even the most torn book, then I will give him a reward of then thousand rupees. If not, then it becomes obligatory upon all the believes to supplicate to Allah (s.w.t.) to send curses upon the liars. The fear of God has left their hearts and in the protection of a non infallible person prone to errors, they are prepared to do anything. In their very book they have quoted a Hadeeth of the Holy Imam Ja’far AL Sadiq (a.s.) on Page 27: ‘Whoever is bereft of the fear of God cannot be a scholar’.

On Page 24 they have written: ‘It is not right to say that that knowledge and Hadeeth should be sought from the Holy imam (a.s.) when the trustees of Prophets (a.s.) are present’. Both of the points made in this are against the Holy Quran. I will only believe them when they give me a written falsification of Ziyarat E Warisa. O group of scholars! What have you to say?’

On Page 71 it is written: ‘The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) has said: “Whoever welcomes a scholar it is as if he has welcomed me; whoever visited a scholar it is a though he has visited me; whoever sits near me it is a though he has sat near me and whoever sits near me it is as though he has sat near Allah (s.w.t.)’.

If the meaning derived from the word ‘scholar’ is taken to denote the Mujtahids then understand that you have washed you hands off Tawheed. The scholars are those who are the manifestation of Allah (s.w.t.), whose desires and the Desires of Allah (s.w.t.) and whose intentions are the intentions of Allah (s.w.t.). Looking at them is like looking at Allah (s.w.t.), the understanding of whom is like understanding Allah (s.w.t.), obedience to whom is obedience to Allah (s.w.t.), whose words are the words of Allah (s.w.t.) and whose actions are Allah (s.w.t.)’s actions. This is not a reference to those who have been born from a impure clot and is entrapped in the affairs of this world. For God’s sake! Take pity on yourself. You are not going to live in this world forever.

Doubts have been raised, for example - Who is a scholar, the meaning of Fiqh, Faqeeh and Tafaqqoh, difference between a Mujtahid and a Narrator of Traditions etc. I have no need to write on these once again. You should refer to the appropriate chapter in my book. I have been very brief in my introduction of their book, otherwise there are many other things to say about this. But I have neither the strength nor desire to deal with all these frivolities. In the end I only want to ask one thing: ‘You have not mention the Eid Prayers or the supplication recited therein, anywhere in your entire book. What have you to say about this disbelief that you are committing and getting others to do so as well?’ Do you not know that the word ‘Khayr’ (good) is in reality the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) themselves? If good were to separate from them even for an instant then it would lose its existence. Then what does it mean by the sentence ‘O Allah (s.w.t.) make us enter into good in the same way as you have made Muhammad (s.a.w.) and his (s.a.w.) Family (a.s.) enter’? Have you any instance whereby good was separate from them (a.s.) even for an instant? Do you also not know what is meant by the word ‘Suu’ (evil)? Evil is evil, be it small or large. In your supplications you used the words ‘Kulli Suu’ (all evil). Then what is meant by the sentence: ‘O Allah (s.w.t.) remove us from all evil just like you have removed Muhammad (s.a.w.) and his (s.a.w.) Family (a.s.)? Have you any instance in your mind when these pure persons were immersed in all evil even for an instant? Do you not believe in the Verse

Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying.

O have you exceeded the Jew in the enmity towards the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and his (s.a.w.) blessed Family (a.s.)?

With none but Allah is the direction of my affair