Doctrinal debates between Sunnis and Shia have existed for centuries. The religious discourse at the beginning of the 20th century warranted a cunning strategy to promote the Twelver Shia belief system; propaganda. `Abdul Hussain Sharaf al Din al Musawi was a prominent Shia cleric who published what he alleges to be a series of correspondence between him and the then Sheikh al Azhar, Salim al Bishri, which he titled al-Muraja`at; at the end of which he eventually manages to convince of the truth of the Shia school. The mutual courtesy in these letters have blinded many readers not only to the fictitious nature of the correspondence, but also the glaring mistruths and forged evidence upon which the arguments are based. While many exposes of al-Muraja`at have been penned in Arabic, this is the first comprehensive objective investigation to be written in English. This title seeks to expose the multi-layered deception in al-Muraja`at, and to provide – with Allah’s help – clarity and context to the spin in `Abdul Hussain’s tales.
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Letter 1:
I. Greeting the Debater.
II. Asking Permission to Debate.
Letter 2:
I. Greetings Reciprocated,
II. Permission to Debate Granted.
Letter 3:
I. Why do Shi’as not Uphold the Majority’s Sects?
II. The Need for Unity,
III. Unity Achieved Only by Adhering to the Majority’s Sects.
Letter 4:
I. Juristic Proofs Mandate Adherence to the Sect of Ahlul Bayt,
II. There is No Proof for Mandating Adherence to the Majority’s Sects,
III. Generations of The First Three Centuries Never Knew Those Sects,
IV. Possibility of Ijtihad,
V. Unity can be Achieved by Respecting Ahlul Bayt’s Sect.
Letter 5:
I. Admitting Our Argument
II. Asking for Detailed Proofs
Letter 6:
I. References to Proofs Mandating Following the ‘Itra
II. The Commander of the Faithful ‘alayh al Salam Invites to Ahlul Bayt’s Sect
III. Relevant Statement of Imam Zainul ‘Abidin
Letter 7:
I. Requesting Proofs from Statements by Allah and His Messenger
II. Proofs from Ahl alBayt are Circumventive
Letter 8:
I. Overlooking Our Previous Statements
II. Error in Necessity of (Logical) Cycle
III. Hadith of the Two Weighty Things
IV. Its Tawatur
V. Non Adherents to the ‘Itra Shall Stray
VI. Their Similitude to the ark of Noah, the Gate of Salvation, and the Security Against Religious Dissensions
VII. What is Meant by “Ahlul Bayt” in this Regard
VIII. Reasons for Similitude to Noah’s Ark and the Gate of Salvation
Letter 9:
I. Requesting more relevant texts
Letter 10:
I. A Glimpse of Sufficient Texts
Letter 11:
I. Admiring Our Clear Texts
II. Wondering at Compromising Them With the Majority’s Beliefs
III. Asking for Clear Signs from the Book
Letter 12:
I. Qur’anic Proofs
Letter 13:
I. Argument Regarding These Traditions Weak
Letter 14:
I. Fallacy of Opponent’s Argument
II. Opponents do not Know Shi’as
III. Distinction of Emphasizing Illegality of Falsifying Hadith
Letter 15:
I. A Flash of the Truth
II. Requesting Details on Sunnis Relying on Shi’a Authorities
Letter 16:
I. A Hundred Shi’a Authorities Relied upon by Sunnis
Letter 17:
I. Appreciating the debater’s sentiments
II. Admitting There is no Objection if Ahl ul-Sunnah Rely on Shi’a Authorities
III. His belief in the Miracles of Ahlul Bayt
IV. Dilemma at Compromising the Above with what Ahl Al Qibla do
Letter 18:
I. Sentiments Reciprocated
II. Debater’s Error in Generalizing Regarding Ahl al Qibla
III. The Nation’s Politicians are the Ones Who Turned Away from Ahlul Bayt
IV. The Imams of Ahlul Bayt are not Inferior to others
V. Which Fair Court Judges Calling Their Followers “Strayers”?
Letter 19:
I. No Fair Arbitrator Would Call Followers of Ahlul Bayt Strayers
II. Following Their Sects is Carrying out the Responsibility
III. It Could be Said that They Have the Priority to Lead
IV. Requesting Texts Relevant to the Khilafate
Letter 20:
I. A General Reference to the Texts
II. A Reference to the House on the Day of Warning
III. Sunni Reporters of this Hadith
Letter 21:
I. Raising Doubts about the Hadith’s Authenticity
Letter 22:
I. Proving the Text’s Authenticity
II. Why the Sheikhs Have Not Reported it
III. Whoever Knows These Sheikhs Knows Why
Letter 23:
I. Convinced of the Authenticity of this Hadith
II. Unreliability Based on Non-Sequential Narration
III. Its Reference to Restricted Succession
IV. Its Rebuttal
Letter 24:
I. Why Relying on this Hadith
II. Restricted Succession is Unanimously Rejected
III. Revocation is Impossible
Letter 25:
I. His Belief in the Text
II. Requesting More Texts
Letter 26:
I. Clear Texts Recounting Ten of ‘Ali’s Exclusive Merits
II. Why Rely Upon it
Letter 27:
I. Raising Doubts About the Status Hadith
Letter 28:
I. The Status Hadith Stands on Most Solid Grounds
II. Binding Proofs
III. Its Sunni Narrators
IV. Why al Amidi Suspects It
Letter 29:
I. Believing in Our Arguments Regarding the Hadith’s Sanad
II. Doubting its General Application
III. Doubting its being Binding
Letter 30:
I. Arabs Regard it General
II. Disproving Claim of Restriction
III. Disproving its Non-Binding Application
Letter 31:
I. Requesting Sources of this Hadith
Letter 32:
I. Among Its Sources: the Prophet’s Visit to Umm Salim
II. The Case of Hamzah’s Daughter
III. Leaning on ‘Ali
IV. The First Fraternity
V. The Second Fraternity
VI. Closing the Doors
VII. The Prophet Comparing ‘Ali and Aaron to the Two Stars
Letter 33:
I. When was ‘Ali and Aaron Described as the Two Stars?
Letter 34:
I. The Occasion of Shabar Shubayr and Mushbir
II. The Occasion of Fraternity
III. The Occasion of Closing the Doors
Letter 35:
I. Requesting other texts
Letter 36:
I. Ḥadith by ibn ‘Abbas
II. ‘Umran’s Hadith
III. Buraydah’s Hadith
IV. Hadith Recounting Ten Exclusive Attributes [of ‘Ali]
V. ‘Ali’s Hadith
VI. Wahab’s Hadith
VII. Ibn Abu ‘Asim’s Hadith
Letter 37:
I. “Wali” is a Linguistic Denominator; so Where is the Text?
Letter 38:
I. Explaining the Implications of “Wali”
II. Proving its Connotation
Letter 39:
I. Requesting the Wilayat Verse
Letter 40:
I. The Verse of Wilayat and its Revelation in ‘Ali’s Honour
II. Why it was Revealed
III. Why Using it as a Testimonial
Letter 41:
I.”Mumins” is Plural; Why Apply it to the Singular?
Letter 42:
I. Arabs Address the Singular Using the Plural Form
II. Testimonials
III. Quoting Imam al-Tibrisi
IV. Quoting al-Zamakhshari
V. What I have Stated
Letter 43:
I. Context Denotes “the Loved one” or the Like
Letter 44:
I. Context is not Indicative of “Supporter” or the Like
II. Context does not Outweigh the Proofs
Letter 45:
I. Resorting to Interpretation Following in the Footsteps of the Predecessors is Unavoidable
Letter 46:
I. Believing in the Ancestors does not Require Interpretation
II. Interpretation is Impossible
Letter 47:
I. Requesting testimonial traditions
Letter 48:
I. Forty Ahadith supporting the texts
Letter 49:
I. Admitting ‘Ali’s Merits
II. Such Merits do not Necessitate his Caliphate
Letter 50:
I. Why interpret text on his behalf as Indicative of his Imamate
Letter 51:
I. Rebutting the Arguments through similar ones
Letter 52:
I. Rejecting the Rebuttal’s premise
Letter 53:
I. Requesting the Hadith Pertaining to the Ghadir Incident
Letter 54:
I. Glitters of Ahadith Relevant to the Ghadir Incident
Letter 55:
I. Why use it as a testimonial if not Transmitted Consecutively?
Letter 56:
I. Natural Laws Necessitate the Consecutive Reporting of Hadith al Ghadir
II. The Almighty’s Benevolence
III. Concern of the Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam
IV. Concern of the Commander of the Faithful
V. al Husain’s Concern
VI. Concern of the Nine Imams ‘alayh al Salam
VII. Shi’as’ Concern
VIII. Its Consecutive Reporting Through the Masses
Letter 57:
I. Interpreting Hadith al Ghadir
II. The Link
Letter 58:
I. Hadith al Ghadir Cannot be Interpreted
II. Pretext for its Interpretation is Speculative and Misleading
Letter 59:
I. Truth Manifests
II. Evasion
Letter 60:
I. Evasion Refuted
Letter 61:
Requesting Texts Narrated by Shi’a Sources
Letter 62:
Forty Ahadith
Letter 63:
I. Shi’a Texts Rejected as Testimonials
II. Why Have Others Refrained from Quoting Them?
III. Asking for More Texts
Letter 64:
I. Above Texts were Quoted upon Request
II. Sahihs are Proofs against the Majority
III. Not Quoted Because of Their Existence in Our Own Sahihs
Letter 65:
I. Requesting the Ahadith Relevant to the Inheritance
Letter 66:
I. Ali is the Prophet’s Heir
Letter 67:
I. Where is the Prophet’s Will?
Letter 68:
I. The Will’s Text
Letter 69:
I. Argument of the Will’s Deniers
Letter 70:
I. The Will Cannot be Repudiated
II. Why Denied
III. Deniers’ Arguments not Binding
IV. Reason and Intellect Require it
Letter 71:
I. Why Reject the Hadith of the Mother of Believers and the best among the Prophet’s Consorts?
Letter 72:
I. She Was Not the Best of the Prophet’s Consorts
II. The Best is Khadija
III. A General Hint to the Reason Why her Hadith was Discarded
Letter 73
I. Requesting an Explanation to our Rejection of ‘Ayesha’s Hadith
Letter 74
I. Explaining Why We Reject her Hadith
II. Reason Confirms the Will
III. Her Claim that the Prophet Died on Her Chest is Refuted
Letter 75
I. Mother of the Believers is not Ruled by Emotions
II. The Pleasant and the Ugly are Denied by Reason
III. Why Oppose the Claim of the Mother of Believers?
Letter 76
I. Her Yielding to Sentiment
II. Rationale Regarding the Pleasant and the Unpleasant
III. Rejecting the Claim of the Mother of Believers
IV. Preference of Umm Salamah’s Hadith over Hers
Letter 79
I. Consensus Endorses al Siddiq’s Caliphate
Letter 80
I. No Consensus
Letter 81
I. Consensus Concluded When Dispute Dissipated.
Letter 82
I. Consensus Was Not Concluded; Dissension Did Not Dissipate
Letter 83
I. Can You Compromise the Text’s Accuracy With the Companions’ Truthfulness?
Letter 84
I. Compromising the Text’s Accuracy With Their Truthfulness,
II. Rationalizing the Imam’s Reluctance to Demand his Right.
Letter 85
I. Requesting Narration of Incidents Wherein They Did Not Follow the Texts of Hadith
Letter 86
I. Thursday’s Calamity,
II. The Reason Why the Prophet Repealed His Order Then.
Letter 87
I. Justifying and Discussing the Calamity
Letter 88
I. Pretexts Refuted
Letter 89
I. Admitting the Falsehood of Such Pretexts,
II. Requesting Narration of Other Incidents.
Letter 90
I. Usamah’s Regiment
Letter 91
I. Justifying Their Behaviour Towards Usamah’s Regiment,
II. No Hadith Curses its Draft Dodgers.
Letter 92
I. Their Pretexts do not Contradict our Statement,
II. Al Shahristani’s Hadith is Documented.
The translation of the book is still ongoing, In Sha Allah, the book will be updated as soon as new content becomes available, the pdf. file too will be updated accordingly.