Kashaf-ul-haqaiq

CHAPTER 1: CARELESSNESS

SALVATION RESTS ON BELIEFS

Every religion has certain principles, which are embedded in its roots and executed through its codes of practice, and give out fruits through its branches. It is pointless to think about the branches when there are no roots. Therefore, survival of a tree is dependent upon its roots and not on its branches.

Based on intellect we can therefore conclude that the survival of a religion is also based on beliefs and not on the performed deeds. If the beliefs are incorrect then abundance of deeds are of no use whereas if beliefs are correct then the scarcity of deeds will be acceptable. Regarding this matter Allamah Hilli has written in his book ‘Ahsan Ul Aqaaid’ on page 9: ‘The principles of religion are those which form the foundation of religion. If any one of these is removed then religion does not remain intact’.  On page 10 he states: ‘The acceptability of worship and deeds as wells are salvations rests on the principles, understanding of a religion and its creed. It is the principles, which form the criterion for reward and punishment.’

Those that hold correct beliefs, but have ugly deeds will suffer punishment in the hereafter after which they will be the recipient of Divine rewards due to their correct beliefs. Eternal punishment is only for those unbelievers that do not believe in the principles of religion.

[Shakir 52:21] And (as for) those who believe and their offspring follow them in faith, We will unite with them their offspring and We will not diminish to them aught of their work; every man is responsible for what he shall have wrought.

This verse does not state that the children were the doers of good deeds, rather it refers to the children who followed them in faith.

In ‘Kitaab Ul Mo’min’ Imam Muhammad Baqirasws has said: “On the Day of Judgment the Lord of the Universe will stop Hisazwj true believer and make him count each and every one of his sins and forgive them all. Neither a Prophet nor an angel would be aware of this”.

In another tradition, it has been narrated that Allahazwj the Self-Sufficient will cover up the sins of a believer and will not make his sins known to others.

These sins will then be ordered to turn into good deeds. This has been revealed in this manner:

[Shakir 25:70] Except him who repents and believes and does a good deed; so these are they of whom Allah changes the evil deeds to good ones; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

The last thing that I would like to say regarding this matter is that there is a unanimously accepted Prophetic tradition that : ‘My Ummah would be divided into 73 sects, out of which only one would go to Paradise whilst 72 of them would go to Hell’.  So, from the 72 sects that will go astray, even if one person were to go to Paradise then this tradition will have been falsified. It follows from this that from the one sect that is destined for Paradise, even if one person were to go to Hell, even then this tradition will not deliver its promise.

Now, it is a matter of fact that many sects have been formed, not on the basis of deeds but on the basis of beliefs. This argument of mine can be verified by Allama Hilli’s book ‘Ahsan Ul Aqaaid’ where he said: ‘From the Holy Prophetsaww’s nation, the seventy two sects that are destined for Hell and one which is destined for Paradise, is not based on deeds, for the deeds of all the people to be the same is against reason. Some will be carrying out religious obligations without failure whilst others will be careless in performing them. Since people’s deeds are not of the same status and kind, therefore punishment and rewards will also be different. The one sect that is destined for Paradise will surely be due to its beliefs and not due to its good deeds. Since all the people of a particular sect profess to the same beliefs, therefore it is possible to refer to the whole sect as the one destined for Paradise or the one destined for Hell fire.’

It is therefore imperative upon the ‘Ummah’  that they should analyse their beliefs on the basis of intellect. Wrong deeds can therefore be subject to forgiveness, but if the beliefs are wrong then the possibility of forgiveness does not exist.

Now I am going to quote to you some more traditions from Al Kafi so that there will remain no possibility of refutation after this.

AL KAFI - H 966, Ch. 86, h 4

He has narrated from Hisham ibn Salim from Habib al-Sajistani from abu Ja‘far, recipient of divine supreme covenant, who has said the following:

“Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, has said, ‘I will cause to suffer punishment all those (citizens) who live a religious life in Islam with belief in and acknowledgement of the guardianship of unjust 'A'immah (leaders without Divine Authority) who do not possess authority from Allah, even though such followers are (apparently) virtuous and pious in their deeds. I will forgive all those (citizens) who live a religious life in Islam with belief in and acknowledgement of the guardianship of an Imam who is just in his dealings and possesses authority from Allah, even though such followers in their dealings are unjust sinners.’”

Imam Jafar-e-Sadiqasws said: ‘No deed is harmful in the presence of Eman (as sins will be forgiven) but no deed is beneficial in the presence of Kufr.  Have you not pondered that Allahazwj Says: There is nothing which is in the way of their forgiveness except for their denial of Allahazwj and His Prophetsaww as they eventually die in the state of Kufr.

Imam Jafar-e-Sadiqasws said: In the presence of Eman, no misconduct is going to have any detrimental effect (in the hereafter) whereas in the state of Kufr, no benefit will be transferred from the performed good deeds.

Imam Jafar-e-Sadiqasws said that Amir ul momineenasws frequently used to say in his sermons: O people! You better adhere to Deen as it is far beneficial to perform sins while clinching onto the Deen as compared with those good deeds which are carried out while remaining outside the Deen.  (In the hereafter) Muslims’ bad deeds will be forgiven but non-Muslims good deeds will not be accepted.”

Now there is no doubt about the fact that salvation rests on beliefs and not on the performed deeds. It is from here that I start my discussions.

Now that the importance of the principles of beliefs has become clear the question arises in the mind that how much effort has gone into propagating the beliefs. How much teaching and preaching has been done to the Shia people about their beliefs except for the fact that they have been made to just remember them superficially. Place your hand on your heart and ask yourself how many Shias are aware of the concepts of Tawheed (Divine Unity) and Adalat (Divine Justice)? Who is there among them who understand Nabuwwat (Prophethood) and the secrets of Imamat? How many of them know what the Day of Judgment is and what will happen there? I would not be wrong if I say that 99.9% of them are unaware of these principles of religion, to the point that they cannot even explain even their basic definition. In their view religion is only the performance of deeds, and take their principles as part of their culture and tradition.

THREE TYPES OF SINS

It is an obligation upon us to keep ourselves safe from sins. This means that we have to keep away from injustice because Allahazwj has revealed in the Holy Quran the conclusion that on the Day of Judgment a caller shall cry out ‘Curse of Allahazwj is on the unjust’.

It has been narrated from Imam Mohammed Baqirasws that:

“ZULM (or sins) are of three types

1-The one which Allahazwj will forgive

2-The second which Allahazwj will not forgive

3-The third which Allahazwj will not ignore until justice is done

The one which Allahazwj will not forgive is ‘SHIRK’, and the one which Allahazwj will forgive are those sins which a person would committed on himself in the matters which are between him and his creator (such as prayers, fast etc). The one which will not be ignored until justice is done are those that a person has committed against other human beings”

This is the scientific age and everything gets done scientifically. If someone were to give you multiple tasks to perform what would you do? Would you start from whatever tasks are in hand and take it from there or would you first make a priority list.

Let’s say for example that you have run out of flour in your home and your family is hungry, while one family member happens to be ill and needs attention. What would you do? Would you go and buy the flour first to feed the family or would you first take the sick person to the hospital? Obviously every person of intellect would first give priority to take the sick to the hospital and then buy the flour, because the other family members would still live, albeit being hungry, but not taking the sick to the hospital would endanger his life. My Masterasws has divided sins to be of three types. One, which will be, forgiven, one which will only be forgive after punishment or compensation and one which will never be forgiven. Now if you have the intention to stay away from sins, which of the sins will you worry about first? Which one the second? And which one is the third?

In my preface to this book, I had written those logical points, which I am sure will appeal to your intellect. I am reiterating this appeal. You let me know using your own intellect whether you will first try and stay away from those sins which will never be forgiven, or not? Then you will worry about the second type and then lastly about those sins where my Masterasws has given me hope of forgiveness. So, now the list of sins to stay away from is somewhat like this.

1-Shirk

2-Dealing with others

3-Obligations of religion

But the priests of our religion have reversed the above order completely. They have explained to us our religions obligations and given them the top priority, secondly, to the matters of dealings with others and lastly they have told us about Shirk. Even then, they have only said that we should not believe in more than one God. If you were to even pay a little attention to this you will see that at the present time hardly any work is taking place in the Shiite world to explain the principles of religion. All our resources are being spent on explaining how to perform our ablution correctly, if we forget one cycle in our prayer then what shall we do etc. And most importantly, focus has been more on how to collect Khums. When you listen attentively to those that lead prayers and ascend the pulpits, and analyse their speeches you will realise that their main purpose is Khums and nothing but Khums.

How did this come about? Why were our preferences changed to be in the reverse order? Why have we been kept unaware of our beliefs? We shall consider all these points in the next chapter, but before we proceed to the next chapter please reflect upon this, as it is a matter of eternal life, either of damnation or salvation, eternal punishments or eternal rewards. Do not take this lightly as it could cost us an unrecoverable loss, an opportunity which will never be given to us again!