Contrary to present day Nasibi propaganda, Sunnis have also regarded Shias as Muslims It is strange to see that hardline Nawasib of present era such as those belonging to Sipah-e-Sahaba, are trying to preach to their naïve adherents that Shias have always been unanimously considered as Kafir according to the Sunni clergy which certainly is a baseless and false propaganda. Allow us to begin with the remarks of non other than Ibn Tamiyah who despite all of his Nasibism and sheer hatred for Ahlulbayt and his Shias, did not equate Shias with Kufr. He wrote in Minhaj al-Sunnah, Volume 2 page 452: والإمامية الاثناعشرية خير منهم بكثير فأن الإمامية مع فرط جهلهم وضلالهم فيهم خلق مسلمون باطنا وظاهرا ليسوا زنادقة منافقين “Twelvers Imamis are much better than them (Ismailis) whilst they (the Twelvers) are extremely ignorant and misguided but they are Muslim externally as well as internally and are neither infidels nor hypocrites” Since Nasibi followers of Sipah-e-Sahaba are followers of Hanafi-Deoband school, allow us to cite Allamah Abdul Ali Muhammad Sahalwi al-Ansari al-Lucknawi in his authority work Fawateh al-Rehmut Ba-Sharah Musalam Al-Sabut, Volume 2 page 243: فان الصحيح عند الحنفية أنهم ليسوا بكفار According to the Hanafis they (Rawafidh) are not kafir. Similarly we read in Nehayat al-Muhtaj, Volume 6 page 258 by Ramli: لا نكفره ببدعته كما هو ظاهر كالشيعة والرافضة “We don’t deem them kafir because of their innovation, such as the Shia and the Rafidha” Ghazali states in “Defa an al-Aqida wa al-Sharyi’a” page 221: وكان خيراً للسنيين أن يفهموا أن الشيعة يلزمون أنفسهم سنن صاحب هذه الرسالة ويعدون الانحراف عنه زيغاً “It is better for Sunnis to realize that the Shias firmly hold the Sunnah of the Prophet and they believe diverting away from it constitutes misguidance” On page 187 we read: وأصول الإيمان ثلاثة هي الإيمان بالله والإيمان برسوله والإيمان باليوم الآخر وما عدا ذلك فروع. واعلم أنه لا تكفير في الفروع إلا في مسألة واحدة وهي أن ينكر حكماً ثبت عن النبي بالتواتر القاطع وأجمت عليه الأمة بسائر طوائفها كإنكار الصلوات وجوب الصلوات الخمس أو صوم رمضان The pillars of faith (Iman) are to believe in Allah, His Apostle and the hereafter, other than these (others) are considered branches. You should know that there is no Takfir because of branches except in one matter, which is to deny a firmly proven ruling from the Prophet via a definite successive narration that has acquired a consensus amongst all sects of the nation, such as denying the five prayers or fasting during Ramadhan. On page 188 we read: ومع أننا ننكر قول الشيعة ذلك فإننا لا نكفرهم Whilst we reject the statements of Shias but we do not deem them to be Kafir. Sheikh Umar Telmasani in his book Zakrayat la Muzakerat, page 249 quotes Hassan Bana’s statement (the founder of Muslim brotherhood Islamic movement) in this way: اعلموا أن أهل السنة والشيعة مسلمون You should know that the Ahlul Sunnah and Shia are Muslims. Imam Ibn Abdeen wrote in Hashyat Rad al-Muhtar, volume 3 page 50: إذا كان يفضل علياً أو يسب الصحابة فإنه مبتدع لا كافر “If he prefers Ali or curses the Sahaba, he is an innovator but not Kafir” Compare this view of Imam Ibn Abdeen with his another view wherein he ruled that whoever believed that the world has no beginning is Kafir (meaning that Ibn Taymia is a Kafir). We read in Hashyat Rad al-Muhtar, volume 3 page 49: الحق عدم تكفير أهل القبلة وإن وقع إلزاما في المباحث بخلاف من خالف القواطع المعلومة بالضرورة من الدين مثل القائل بقدم العالم The correct view is not to issue Takfir against the people of the Qibla even if they indulge in wrong statements unless if they oppose a certain issues of religion such as saying that the world has no beginning. Name of Rasheed Reza needs no introduction particularly for the Salafi/Wahabis. In Mujalat al-Manar, Volume 7 page 457: وقد صرحوا بصحة إيمان الشيعة لأن الخلاف معهم في مسائل لا يتعلق بها كفر ولا إيمان فالشيعي مسلم They (Sunni scholars) declared that the Shia faith is correct because the dispute between them is not linked to the issues of Kufr or Eman, therefore the Shias are Muslims.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 11:00:54 +0000