Whom do we Follow?

The extremists would like to transform Islam into the church of the middle ages, where people would not appeal to anyone except the papal hierarchy and to the priest. They should have no recourse in thinking critically about anything. It is an extension of the notion that the Bible could only be understood by the priests!

The extremists said, “The Qur’an has an esoteric meaning that the masses cannot understand, just as there is no book wherein the authentic narrations have been exclusively collected for people to refer back to.”

Consequently, the masses fall into confusion; the books are filled with spurious narrations, and the Qur’an is only understood by the clergy. What then remains for them from which they may draw their religion?

As I mentioned earlier, the Marja’s do not mention proofs for the majority of their fatwas. I have come across many books of fatwa, such as Minhaj al Salihin, al Masa’il al Muntakhabah, Ajwibat al Masa’il, Ajwibat al Istifta’at, al Fatawa al Muyassarah, amongst a host of others. I found that there is generally no evidence for these fatwas, neither from the Qur’an, nor the Hadith of the most honourable Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, nor from the sayings of the blessed progeny. Where, then, is the way of the Ahlul Bayt in all of this?

One or two verses are mentioned in the author’s introduction or in the introduction of the translator. Were you to remove this introduction, you would not be able to tell whether you are reading a book of fatwas from a Muslim scholar or a book of legal rulings authored by a rabbi or priest. People, out of their simple-mindedness or their innocent-confidence, follow these fatwas without demanding evidence for their statements! Is the adherence to the way of the Ahlul Bayt ‘alayhim al Salam, nothing more than an empty claim, and an invention of a new system that contradicts their way. Can the Marja’s claim compliance with the Qur’an, and the way of the Ahlul Bayt?

Let us assume that a Christian, or anyone else for that matter, wants to know what Islam is; what are we meant to tell him? Do we say, “The primary source of legislation for the Muslims is incomprehensible directly but has an exegesis; you need this exegesis as an intermediary to decipher the Qur’an’s cryptic passages.”?

Would a person fleeing from the ordination of ministers accept my invitation to the ordination of Marja’s? Would anyone accept that I said to them, “Our Prophet failed to influence those around him in his era,” and, in the same breath, claim that he is the greatest personality in history?

Alternatively, is it better for me to simply be embarrassed of my religion and its teachings, and apply the Hadith falsely attributed to Imam al Sadiq ‘alayh al Salam, “O Sulaiman! You are upon such a religion that whoever conceals it will be honoured by Allah, and whoever reveals it will be disgraced by Allah.”[1]

There is a group that has proliferated our society, a group that is duped and blinded from reality, a group upon whom the charlatan clergy apply the Hadith falsely ascribed to Imam al Sadiq ‘alayh al Salam, “Hold firm to Taqiyyah (subterfuge), for he is not from us who does not make it his distinguishing characteristic with those from whom he is safe, so that it may become his disposition with those whom he fears.”[2]

So, they employed the concept of lying and deceit in order to find justifications for the illogical positions that they hold, giving the false impression that this is the religion of the most honourable Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and his pure Household ‘alayh al Salam.

NEXT⇒ Why do these People Lie?

[1] Al Kulayni: Al Kafi, 2/222; Al Hurr al ‘Amili: Wasa’il al Shia, 16/235.

[2] Al Hurr al ‘Amili: Wasa’il al Shia, 16/212; al Majlisi: Bihar al Anwar, 72/395.

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