لطفا منتظر باشید ...
Publisher's Preface
This book can best be described as an inquiry of an
explorer of the truth into the delicate yet essential question of: Who is better
qualified to the claim of being a follower of Islam's Prophet in spirit and in
practice? Just as it is mandatory to follow the Qur'an, it is equally essential to
follow the Prophet, peace be upon him. While the Qur'an is the Almighty's revelation, the
Prophet's statements and actions, without any doubt, are also guided by the Almighty, and
he cannot err: Nor does he speak out of desire. It is naught but revelation that is
revealed (Qur'an, 53:3-4), hence the importance of taking the Sunnah (the Prophet's
traditions and statements) very seriously.
Both major schools of Islamic law, the Sunni and the
Shia, differed with regard to the important issue of the spiritual as well as the
temporal succession of the Prophet of Islam. This difference resulted in the Muslims'
ideological division after the Prophet's death. Here is an interesting fact for your
consideration:
Both Sunni and Shia groups agree all along with
regard to the importance of the Qur'an and of the Sunnah, accepting them as the bases upon
which they establish the implementation of their faith. Despite this fact, however, the
Sunnis arrogated to themselves the title of Ahl al-Sunnah, or the people
of the Path, and the rest of the world passively gave in to this assumption and
accepted it as a fact.
In his Dictionary of Islam, Thomas Hughes
although the Shias, even to a greater degree than the Sunnis, rest their claims upon
traditional evidence, they have allowed their opponents to claim the title of
traditionists, and consequently Mr. Sale[2] and many
European writers have stated that the Shias reject the tradition.
In our times, the freedom of thought and expression,
coupled with a spirit of independent inquiry, has helped men and women to free themselves
from misbeliefs, whims, and superstitions. Amazingly, the distinct task of separating the
truth from the myth on an issue of such a great importance, namely the question of who the
genuine followers of the Sunnah of the Prophet are and who followed in his footsteps__Ali
and his friends, or the sahaba (the friends of the Prophet) who opposed the
Prophet's cousin after his death__had to be pioneered by the author of this
book who grew up as a Sunni. After several years of independent inquiry as to who was
right__Ali or his opponents__he gave up the beliefs of his ancestors
and accepted the Twelve Imams of the Shias as his rightly guided leaders
after the Prophet. The author of four previously published books (Pyam-e-Aman had
published the English translation of his first book titled Then I was Guided), Dr.
Muhammad al-Samawi al-Tijani is a great scholar and Arabist. As a student of comparative
religion, he has tirelessly pursued his quest for the truth, and he continues to write
what he calls, in the beginning of his first book, a story of a journey..., a story
of a new discovery... in the field of religious and philosophical schools.
The question of who Ahl al-Sunnah are
and who are not is critical to any believer, both in the context of history as well as in
the practice of religion today. It is also important because those who labelled themselves
as the traditionists viewed all others as heterodox in contrast to
their claiming themselves to be the orthodox. This resulted in violence and
coercion as the rulers of the time used such accusations to oppress the masses as they
demonstrated their power and ruthless control over their destiny. Western Islamists picked
up the jargon from the writers of the majority sect and divided the Muslim
world in their writings into Orthodox and Heretical, referring to
the Sunnis and the Shias respectively.[3] This
hypothetical dichotomy is misleading and completely baseless. It is also due to the lack
of understanding about the world of Islam. Western writers fail to observe that, other
than the belief in the issue of Imamate, the Sunnis have far greater differences within
their own four sects (or schools of thought) system compared to their differences with the
Shias. The views of the Hanafis regarding theological questions, for example, may well
coincide with those of the Shias while remaining in an uncompromising contradiction to
many doctrines espoused by, say, the Hanbalis, the Shafiis, or the Malikis. In sharp
contrast to the evidence of irreconcilable differences between the four Imams
who had established the afore-mentioned Schools of Sunni Thought, even with regard to
issues of minor as well as major importance, a total consensus exists among the Twelve
Imams of Ahl al-Bayt (People of the Prophet's House) on each and every doctrinal aspect of
the faith.
In his celebrated treatise titled Kitab al-milal
wal nihal (the book of religions and religious sects), al-Shahristani,
of the Muslim sects (firaq, singular: firqa) and their disagreements on four
fundamental issues: Tawhid (Oneness of God and His Divine Attributes), Adl
(justice), Iman (faith or conviction), and lastly Revelation, the Prophetic
mission, and the right to be the leader (Imam) of the Muslim community. A revealing
picture that emerges from his work shows that, unlike the usual European concept of a
religious sect, the Muslim firaq, with their different views on issues, allow a
dialogue between scholars and followers of different theological persuasions. This offers
hope that in the new information era, with people coming closer to and eager
to communicate with one another and ready to adapt to change, the Muslim world may achieve
its homogeneous synthesis, notwithstanding the minor variants, in a not too distant
future, Insha-Allah.
Dr. Tijani's book, written in Arabic, is a
voluminous work. We had to selectively though discreetly omit certain parts of it both to
ensure economy and to make it more palatable to the English speaking readers. The first
two chapters have been rewritten by Br. Yasin T. al-Jibouri in order to incorporate full
accounts of important events that took place just before the Prophet's death to provide
the reader with the context of the author's comments.
We are grateful to Br. Yasin T. al-Jibouri (P.O. Box
5132, Falls Church, VA 22044) for translating the original Arabic text of this book into
English. He, by the way, has translated, written, or edited as many as twenty-three books
and is a great asset to our community. Without his help, the publication of this book may
not have become possible. Our special thanks to Br. Nasir Shamsi who has so far edited
fifteen of the books published by Pyam-e-Aman and persevered in reviewing and editing this
book. May Allah Taala reward them both on behalf of all those who will Insha-Allah
benefit from this book, and on our own.
Pyam-e-Aman
P.O. Box 390
Bloomfield, New Jersey 07003, U.S.A.
Rabi II 1, 1416 A.H./August 27,
1995
[1] Born in
Berkshire on October 20, 1822 and died in Brighton, England, on March 22, 1896, Thomas
Patrick Hughes was a jurist, reformer, and novelist. He attained fame following the
publication in 1857 of his novel Tom Brown's School Days. His other famous works include:
Tom Brown at Oxford (which he wrote after studying at Oxford from 1842 to 1845 and which
was published in 1861), A Layman's Faith (1868), and The Manliness of Christ (1879). His
Dictionary of Islam was published by Rupa & Co. of Calcutta, India, in 1885.
[2] Rev. George
Sale is the British scholar, traveller and Arabist who, in 1734, produced one of the
earliest English translations of the Holy Qur'an, a translation which remained in
circulation for 127 years. __ Tr.
[3] The Western
Islamists misjudged, in fact exploited, the differences in the Islamic world. They tried
to apply the dichotomous division of Christianity between the Orthodox and
Heretical to the Muslim world. Needless to say that the Christian sects
maintain totally divergent views in respect of their basic beliefs viz: Oneness of God,
Sonship of Jesus and Divine Trinity. In sharp contrast, the Muslims, notwithstanding their
differences on certain issues, have consensus with regard to their basic beliefs such as
Tawheed, Oneness of God, the Prophethood of Muhammad and the Finality of his
Prophethood, and the Day of Judgment.
[4] Nicknamed
Abul-Fath, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Kareem al-Shahristani was born in Shahristan,
Khurasan, in 469 A.H./1076 A.D. and died in 548 A.H./1153 A.D. He was the most prominent
Sunni historian of religions and philosophical trends in the Middle Ages. His famous book
Kitab al-milal wal nihal was published in Cairo, Egypt, in 1288 A.H./1871 A.D.
