قال الله تعالی:

﴿ إِنَّمَا یُرِیدُ اللَّهُ لِیُذْهِبَ عَنْکُمْ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَیْتِ وَیُطَهِّرَکُمْ تَطْهِیرًا ﴾

Indeed Allah desires to repel all impurity from you, O People of the Household, and purify you with a thorough purification. (Sūrat al-Aḥzāb 33:33).

Prophetic traditions mentioned in both in Sunnī and Shī‘ah authoritative reference books of ḥadīth and tafsīr (exegesis of the Qur’an) have confirmed that this holy verse was revealed to exclusively refer to the People of the Cloak [ahl al-kisā’], viz. Muḥammad, ‘Alī, Fāṭimah, al-Ḥasan, and al-Ḥusayn (‘a) as the Ahl al-Bayt (People of the Household).

For instance, refer to the following references:

Sunnī

Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241 AH), al-Musnad, 1:231; 4:107; 6:292, 304; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (d. 261 AH), 7:130; Al-Tirmidhī (d. 279 AH), Sunan, 5:361 et al.; Al-Dūlābī (d. 310 AH), Al-Dhuriyyah al-Ṭāhirah al-Nabawiyyah, p. 108; Al-Nasā’ī (d. 303 AH), Al-Sunan al-Kubrā’, 5:108; 113; Al-Ḥakīm al-Nayshābūrī (d. 405 AH), Al-Mustadrak ‘ala’ ṣ-Ṣahīḥāyn, 2:416, 3:133, 146-147; Al-Zarkashī (d. 794 AH), Al-Burhān, p. 197; Ibn Hājar al-Asqalānī (d. 852 AH), Fatḥ al-Barī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 7:104.

Shī‘ah

Al-Kulaynī (d. 328 AH), Uṣūl al-Kāfī, 1:287; Ibn Babawayh (d. 329 AH), Al-Imāmah wa’ t-Tabṣīrah, p. 47, ḥadīth 29; Al-Maghribī (d. 363 AH), Da’ā’im al-Islām, pp. 35, 37; Al-Ṣādūq (d. 381 AH), Al-Khiṣāl, pp. 403, 550; Al-Ṭūsī (d. 460 AH), Al-Amalī, ḥadīth 438, 482, 783.

For more details, refer to the exegesis of the holy verse recorded in the following books of tafsīr: Al-Jassās (d. 370 AH), Aḥkām al-Qur’ān; Al-Wāḥidī (d. 468 AH), Asbāb al-Nuzūl; Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH), Zād al-Masīr; Al-Qurṭubī (d. 671 AH), Al-Jāmi‘ Li-Aḥkām al-Qur’ān; Ibn Kathīr (d. 774 AH), Tafsīr; Al-Tha‘labī (d. 825 AH), Tafsīr; Al-Ṭabarī (d. 875 AH), Tafsīr; Al-Suyūṭī (d. 911 AH), Al-Durr al-Manthūr; Al-Shawkānī (d. 1250 AH), Fatḥ al-Qadīr; Al-‘Ayyāshī (d. 320 AH), Tafsīr; Al-Qummī (d. 329 AH), Tafsīr; Furt al-Kūfī (d. 352 AH), Tafsīr at the margin of the exegesis of Sūrat al-Nisā’ verse 59; Al-Ṭabarsī (d. 560 AH), Majma‘ al-Bayān, as well as many other sources.

p: 2

WAHHABISM

AT THE CROSSROADS

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قال رسول الله صلی الله علیه و آله:

"إنی تارکٌ فیکُمُ الثَقلین: کتاب الله، وعترتی أهلَ بیتی، ما إن تمسکتُم بهما لن تضلوا أبداً وأَنَّهُما لَن یَفترِقا حتّی یردا عَلیَّ الحوضَ"

The Messenger of Allah (ṣ) said:

“Verily, I am leaving among you two precious things [thaqalayn]: The Book of Allah and my progeny [‘itratī], the members of my Household [Ahl al-Bayt]. If you hold fast to them, you shall never go astray. These two will never separate from each other until they meet me at the Pond [ḥawḍ] (of Kawthar).”

Some references:

* Al­Ḥākim an­Nayshābūrī, Al­Mustadrak ‘alā’ṣ-Ṣaḥīḥayn (Beirut), vol. 3, pp. 109-110, 148, 533

* Muslim, Aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ, (English translation), book 31, hadīths 5920-3

* At­Tirmidhī, Aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ, vol. 5, pp. 621-2, hadīths 3786, 3788; vol. 2, p. 219

* An-Nasā’ī, Khaṣā’iṣ ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, hadīth 79

* Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Al-Musnad, vol. 3, pp. 14, 17, 26; vol. 3, pp. 26, 59; vol. 4, p. 371; vol. 5, pp. 181-182, 189-190

* Ibn al­‘Athīr, Jāmi‘ al­Uṣūl, vol. 1, p. 277

* Ibn Kathīr, Al­Bidāyah wa’n­Nihāyah, vol. 5, p. 209

* Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-‘Aẓīm , vol. 6, p. 199

Naṣīr ad-Dīn al-Albanī, Silsilāt al-Aḥādīth aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥah (Kuwait: Ad-Dār aṣ-Ṣalāfiyyah), vol. 4, pp. 355-358

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WAHHABISM,

AT THE CROSSROADS

Author: Ayatullah Nasir Makarim Shirazi

Translator: Mustapha Muhammadi

Cultural Affairs Department The Ahl al-Bayt(‘a) World Assembly

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نام کتاب: وهابیت بر سر دو راهی

نویسنده: آیة الله ناصر مکارم شیرازی

تهیه کننده: اداره ترجمه، اداره کل پژوهش مجمع جهانی اهل بیت

مترجم: مصطفی محمدی

زبان ترجمه: انگلیسی

Title: WAHABISM AT THE CROSSROADS

Author: Ayatullah Naser Makarim Shirazi

Translator: Mustapha Muhammadi

Project supervisor: Translation Unit, Central Office of Research, Central Office of Researck Cultural Affairs Department, Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) World Assembly (ABWA)

Editor: Sayyida Iffat shah

Proofreader: Sayyid Baqir Husayni

Publisher: ABWA Publishing and Printing Center

First Printing: 2011

Printed by: Mojab

Copies: 5000

ISBN:

The Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) World Assembly (ABWA)

All rights reserved.

www.ahl-ul-bayt.org

info@ahl-ul-bayt.org

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Section 5:

Obduracy in accepting any innovation Another Contradiction! — 72

The reasons for the failure of Ibn Taymiah — 73

Section 6: Irrational and incorrect

perception of six Qur'anic terms Criticism and Analysis — 84 Polytheism (Shirk) — 86

Ilāh (God) — 89

Worship — 95

Intercession — 98

Lame excuse — 102

Supplication — 105

Conclusion — lll Innnovation is of three kinds — 116

Section 7:

The Calls 1. The call that was raised from Mecca — 121

Yusuf ben Alawi and his brave criticism – 121

Reviews on this book — 123

Content of the book — 126

First Area — 126

Second Area — 128

Third Area — 129

A Necessary Reminder — 130

A) The new class of Wahhabis — 131

B) The danger of Extremists — 133

2. Another Call from another brave author — 135

The Book "A Missionary and not a Prophet"! — 135

A Summary of the Book "A Missionary Not A Prophet" — 140

The first chapter: A critique of "Kashf ul-Shubahat" — 141

Exaggeration and Overstatement about Saints — 142

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The Second Chapter: A critique of Al-Dorar ul-Saniyyah — 144

Contradiction in the words of the Shaykh — 146

The third chapter: Pursuing his path — 147

The Fourth Chapter: The Muslim viewpoint — 150

The most important allegations against Wahhabi leaders! — 151

The Last Word! The Statement issued by the Council of Senior Ulema of Saudi Arabia condemning

the aggression of Wahhabis Translation of the statement by the council of the senior Ulema [religious scholars] of Saudi Arabia — 155

A concise analysis of this statement — 161

A friendly advice to the Islamic scholars of the Hijaz—162

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To assist the seekers of truth, the Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly has endeavored to present a new phase of these arguments contained in the studies and translations of the works of contemporary Shī‘ah writers and those who have embraced this sublime school of thought through divine blessing.

The Assembly is also engaged in edition and publication of the valuable works of leading Shī‘ah scholars of earlier ages to assist the seekers of the truth in discovering the truths which the School of the Prophet’s Household (‘a) has offered to the entire world.

The Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly looks forward to benefit from the opinions of the readers and their suggestions and constructive criticism in this area.

We also invite scholars, translators and other institutions to assist us in propagating the genuine Islamic teachings as preached by the Prophet Muḥammad (ṣ).

We beseech God, the Most High, to accept our humble efforts and to enable us to enhance them under the auspices of Imām al-Mahdī, His vicegerent on the earth (may Allah expedite his advent).

We express our gratitude to Ayetullah Naser Makarim Shirazi, the author of the present book, and Mustapha Muhammadi, its translator. We also thank our colleagues who have participated in producing this work, especially the staff of the Translation Office. ?

Cultural Affairs Department Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) World Assembly

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countries all over the world. The Marxism of Mao(1) does not resemble the Marxism of Brezhnev,(2) and the Communism of Tito(3) is different from the Communism of Enver Hoxha,(4) and both these are different from Fidel Castro's version, and the three are unrelated to…"(5)

Indeed, as predicted, the Marxist Soviet Union, with all the huge claims that the Capitalist

State would soon diminish and Marxism would conquer the entire world, suddenly disintegrated and joined the archives of history!

Such a prediction was neither precognition nor divination, but a consequence of Marxism itself.

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Today, all evidence and proof suggest that the life-line of the extreme form of Wahhabism has come to an end and it is rapidly losing its advocates and supporters. Today, signs of this demolition have become visible, because there are some fundamental principles of hard-line Wahhabism which cannot survive in the ‘global village’ of the 21st century.

These fundamentals are as follows:

1. Extreme ruthlessness

2. Beliefs forced on others

3. Intense fanaticism

4. Obduracy in acceptance of any new phenomenon

5. Irrational and incorrect understanding of six Quranic terms

polytheistic belief followed by antinomianism, (Ebahe) permissibility of lives and possessions.

The leader of Wahhabis regards the Muslims of our age as worse than the disbelievers of the era of unenlightenment (ignorance). Among the bitter fruits of this savage tree in our era are the "Taliban", "the Sipah e Sahaba", and "Al-Qa'idah", and we have seen the revolting image each of them has sketched in the minds of the world, and the detriment they have caused to the most peacefully progressing religion, Islam.

The Taliban:

They were formed by Mulla Mohammad Omar in 1994, in the southern parts of Afghanistan in the town of Kandahar, and from 1996 to 2001 they dominated the greater parts of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union and Afghan warriors were supported by the US, so Russia's dominance over Afghanistan did not last long.

After the retreat of the Russian forces in 1989 from the towns of Uzbek and Tajik, other small groups gained relative power. It was at this point that the Taliban forces introduced themselves as the Callers to Islam. Whilst they were predominantly from Pashtoon backgrounds, they decided to take control over the government and were supported and supplied with arms by the U.S!

At the outset of this movement thousands of young refugees, orphans and guardianless individuals joined this group.

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The Taliban introduced themselves as the army of peace! Many individuals who were mainly Pashtoon, and fed up with the wars and chaotic conditions dominating the country, supported this group; whereas many of the Taliban leaders were nurtured in the schools of extremist Wahhabis.

The Taliban began to battle in the year 1994 in the southern and western sectors of Afghanistan, and conquered Kandahar, Herat, and other neighbouring towns. In 1995 they reached the suburbs of Kabul but were backed off by state forces. They persisted until they managed to conquer Kabul in 1996, after causing the death of 50,000 people!

Burhanuddin Rabbani and Gulbadin Hekmatyar took refuge in the north of the country, and the Taliban, after occupying Kabul, executed Mohammad Najib-Allah who was ruling the country with the support of the Soviet Union.

Mulla Mohammad Omar, who was the leader of the Taliban forces, established an assembly of the leaders of the Taliban, instituted the bigoted religious rulings of extremist Wahhabism and the ultimate law was executed only by his approval!

The Taliban, through the Kabul radio and loudspeakers fitted in trucks, announced their laws to the citizens. They closed down cinemas and theatres, men were forced with lashes to offer prayers in the mosques, closed down girls' schools, and prohibited the employment of women outside the house, resulting in shortage of staff in hospitals. This was done when many of the women had lost their men in war and were financially destitute.

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The Taliban totally prohibited female education, and campaigned against any sort of modern life expositions however useful and positive they were, and considered all as heresy (bid'ah). Whilst they reproached and sometimes imprisoned individuals for not growing long beards, they expanded the cultivation of opium in Afghanistan and gave substantial support to the smuggling of narcotic substances, inspite of declaring cigarettes as unlawful! And this was because they earned considerable income from the cultivation and smuggling of opium, with which they used to purchase weaponry and kill their brothers in faith. No one knows how they justified this pragmatic contradiction; smoking prohibited, growing long beards compulsory, but cultivation and smuggling of narcotic substances on a large scale legitimate!

Without holding any trial the Taliban tortured and slaughtered people like sheep, whether they were Sunni or Shia; anybody opposing them was put to the sword. Since Osama bin Laden had accomplished many missions in the 1980s against the Soviet Regime for the good of Afghanistan, the Taliban Regime had prepared a secure location for him, and it was at the end of this battle that he established the group called "Al-Qa'idah", which played a substantial role in sustaining the Taliban and helped them battle the coalition forces in the north.

Bin Laden was somebody that the Americans had recognized as an expert and talented terrorist since he had attacked the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in the year 1998, killing 250 and 190 people and wounding more than 1400!

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According to the Americans, the September 11 attacks were carried out by Bin Laden, so obviously, the U.S. asked the Taliban to hand over Osama. However, the Taliban could never accept this request, as they were in- debted to Bin Laden and considered him a guardian of their interests.In October, the U.S and U.K begun their attacks against terrorism and directed these attacks towards the Taliban and Al-Qa'idah.

At this moment the coalition forces in the North who were now supported by the U.S, embarked upon an attack against the Taliban and invaded Kabul and other important towns. The Taliban lost and eventually ceded Herat the same year.

During the peak of power, the Taliban were supported by countries such as Pakistan, Saudi-Arabia and the U.S. However, this support did not last long.

The Taliban movement required seventy million dollars each year in 1995 and 1996, to continue its activities. According to the Indian journal "Strategic Analysis", the bulk of that budget was sustained by Saudi Arabia. "Newsweek" wrote in one of its reports concerning this issue:

"Riyadh is the most important financial supplier of the Taliban movement".

In one of his tours to Saudi Arabia, Mulla Mohammad Omar visited and held discussions with high-ranking authorities in the country, and Riyadh presented a sum of $10 million as aid to the group under his command to continue with their ceaseless brutalities. However, later

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on every body turned their backs on the Taliban and the ruling-Taliban was assigned to history(1).

Due to the outrageous brutalities of the Taliban no one defended them when the Americans attacked them, rather they assisted their decline, and despite the problems the Americans had created for the people of Afghanistan, the Afghan people preferred them to the Taliban, realizing that the ruthlessness of the Taliban was greater than that of the Americans.

forming this group was to prevent the influence of the Islamic Revolution of Iran on the people of Pakistan.

The most important objective of this group was to condemn the commemoration ceremonies of Imam Husain (‘as) and denigrate the revolution of Imam Khomeini. The "Khilafat-e-Rashed" magazine frequently stated this objective throughout the duration of its publication, and requested the Pakistani government to close down the Shi'a mosques and centres, and prevent Ashura commemoration events to be held in any school or university. However this request was never accepted by the Pakistani government.

Another ambition of this group was to campaign against a Shi'a group established in Pakistan in 1979 named the “Tehrik e Ja'faria”.

Another central cause for the institution of the "Army of companions" was to counter the threat of the growth of Shi'a military, political and religious strength in the region.

According to the statistics reported by Parvez Musharraf, four hundred people from both groups were killed in bilateral attacks in only one year. Besides their attacks against the Shi'as, this Army of the Companions attacked Iranians residing in Pakistan on the pretext that they were being supported by a Shi'a government in Iran which must be removed. Their real aim is to make Pakistan officially be declared a Sunni state.

The military fortress of this group is mainly based in the southern region of Pakistan, mainly the central and populated areas of the Punjab and the suburban areas of Karachi. The number of centres of activity and offices

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belonging to this group exceeds 500, and in each district of the Punjab province there exists a branch of this group. Approximately one hundred thousand people have registered as members of this group and they have also set up centres of activity in foreign countries, such as: The United Arab Emirates, Saudi

Arabia, Bangladesh, Canada, Yemen, India, etc.

Many schools and theological seminaries in the Punjab province are run by this group and it has been reported that many of the Sunni schools of Pakistan, are run under the supervision of the teachers and staff of the Army of Companions, and as part of their programme, they train their personnel to assassinate all opposition.

'Maulana Jhangavi was assassinated in 1990. The very same year he had participated in the national council elections but was not elected. After him Maulana A'zam Tariq took the responsibility of leading this group.

The Army of the Companions were supported by the Taliban militants and A'zam Tariq used to publicly announce his support for the leader of the Taliban. He also proclaimed the prohibition of cinema and television.

Initially, A'zam Tariq supported the Army of Jhangavi (Lashkar e Jhangavi), but in February 2003, denied his links with it, declaring that some aggressive members of the Army of the Companions were fed up with their peaceful movement for instituting Islamic law in the country, and had established this Army of Jhangavi. He denied any collaboration with them henceforth.

A'zam Tariq was held responsible for leading the assassination missions of approximately 103 cases of Shi'a leading personalities.

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The source of income of this group was at times provided by the rich-extremist Sunnis from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf, and at times by the civil fanatical parties such as the "Jama'at-e-Islami" (The Islamic Community), "Jamiat ul Ulema e Islam”(The Assembly of Islamic Clerics) and other groups sharing the same beliefs.

The State of Pakistan decided to halt the movements of all extremist groups on August 14, 2001. Five months after this decision, the Sahaba group (Army of Companions) were still continuing their radical activities. Consequently Parvez Musharraf announced the activities of this group as forbidden and attacked the group and arrested many individuals on January 12, 2002.

After this incident A'zam Tariq renewed his activities under the new title, "Islamic nation" (Millat-e-Islamiyah) and received excessive sums of money from his foreign promoters. The government of Pakistan announced this group as illegal and arrested its chief members, confiscated their bank accounts and attacked the locations of their assemblies (gathering) in houses, mosques and other places on November 15, 2003.

The government of Pakistan sentenced around 600 of those arrested to pay a fine of Rs. 100,000 each, in order to put an end to further activity by this group under a different title.

In the beginning of October 2001, "A'zam Tariq" was arrested. While in prison, he participated in the general elections of October 2001, and was elected as an independent member of the Federal Parliament from the Punjab and released from prison on October 30, 2001.

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Only a few months after his release, he began his support for the elected government of Zafarullah Khan Jamali and continued his extremist acts against Shi'as.

He was murdered on October 6, 2003. After his murder the security forces took positions in the region and the next day his followers carried out his funeral with great agitation in front of the parliament building. After that the crowd attacked shops, restaurants and a few cinemas, and set them aflame causing a great deal of devastation(1).

We all know that there are one hundred and fourteen Chapters in the holy Quran all of which, except for one, begin with the name of the Lord of Mercy and Beneficence, that refer to His All-encompassing and All-forgiving Mercy. And that one exception is related to the declaration of war against those who broke the peace treaty with the Muslims. The Quran tells the Prophet of Islam (s) explicitly that he was not made cruel and hard-hearted because that would have dispersed people from around him.

{... وَلَوْ کنتَ فَظًّا غَلِیظَ الْقَلْبِ لاَنفَضُّواْ مِنْ حَوْلِک...}

“And had you been harsh and hardhearted, surely they would have scattered from around you”. (1)

The Islamic traditions are full of such definitions of religion,"Is religion anything other than love?" (2); love for God (swt), the Prophet (s), the righteous people and all God's creation; but the deeds of the Wahhabis granted the worst pretext to the opposing forces to disgrace and defame Islam.

The leader of the Wahhabi creed Mohammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab was born in 1115 AH in Oyaynah, a small town in the Hijaz and passed away in 1207. His father, one of the Hanbali juries, was also his childhood teacher. The author of the book Ezalat-o-shobahat writes: "He was deeply influenced by Ibn-e-Taymiah and Ibn-e-Qayyem-e-Jawzi who both lived in the eighth century, and extracted the main ingredients of his thoughts from them.

Many have written that his father was disturbed by his early thinking, realizing that it contained too many ideological faults, and was worried about his future, so he constantly reproached him for his ideological waywardness.

He travelled to Mekkah and Medinah, stayed there for a period and then went to Iran and studied along-side a scholar named Mirza Jan-e-Isfahani in Isfahan. He then went to Qom for a very short stay and proceeded to the realm of the Othmani government in Syria and Egypt, finally returning to Najd in the Arab peninsula to voice his beliefs.

At first, a group opposed his views and deported him from Harimele, so he went to Ayineh. The news of his misguided ideology reached Suleiman ibn Mohammad, the ruler of Ehsa and Qatif, and he ordered Othman, the governer of Ayineh, to execute him, but as Othman did not want to get defiled by his blood, he ordered his expulsion from the town.

At last he pleaded for refuge in the town of Dar'iyeh. The governor of the region was Mohammad ibn Saud of the Ghanizeh tribe. Shaikh Mohammad met him and presented his ideology to him goading him with the hope

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that, with his assistance, he could dominate the whole of the Najd region.

Mohammad ibn Saud, the ancestor of the Saudi kings, felt that he could benefit from the presence of Mohammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab to expand his territorial control, because he had gathered around him a large crowd of enthusiastic and passionate youths who were committed to him and were being prepared by ibn Saud as a force to achieve his ambitions.

Ibn-Saud promised to support and defend the Shaikh under two conditions. Firstly, the Shaikh must not have any contact with anybody except him, and secondly to still receive that funding that he received every year from the people of Dariyeh! The Shaikh accepted the first and rejected the second obliquely and said: "Hopefully many conquests and great spoils, more than the funding of Dariyeh, become your fortune".

However it shouldn’t be forgotten that the spoils Shaikh Mohammad was expecting were in the first place the wealth of the Muslims of the Hijaz, Mekkah and Medinah and, thereafter, other Muslim countries who did not obey him, because he regarded everybody except his followers as idolaters and considered their blood and wealth as admissible.

The followers of Mohammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab attacked different towns of the Hijaz, accompanied by large scale massacres, bloodshed and plunder to propagate Wahhabism, or in fact, for power through conquest. After the death of Mohammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab the kings of Saud continued with his scheme

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and extended the circle of their reign, dominating the whole of Najd and the Hijaz.

Amongst the most horrendous actions recorded in the history of Wahhabism, also confessed by the Wahhabi historians, was the horrendous massacre of the people of "Ta'ef". More horrifying than that was the massacre of the people of Iraq and Karbala. The Wahhabis, since 1216 AH, under the pretext of spreading their definition of Tawhid attacked Najaf and Karbala several times. Many of the people of Karbala visited Najaf as a pilgrimage to Imam Ali’s Shrine (‘as). The Saudis made a surprise attack on Karbala, pulled down the city-walls, entered the city, murdered thousands of people in the streets and markets, irrespective of whether they were women and children, and plundered whatever they found in their way. They attacked Imam Husain's Shrine (‘as), which was decorated with innumerable pieces of exquisite craftsmanship, ravaged the shrine and took all the ornaments and precious materials with them.

Some have reported one hundred and fifty thousand dead! Streams of blood flowed in the streets of Karbala, and the interesting part is that they call this deed 'Striving in the way of Allah to spread ‘Tawhid' in a Muslim country!

The events of Karbala are reported by many historians. You can refer for details to The history of the Arabian Saudi State, written by the oriental scholar Nasi Lif, and Miftah

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al-Karamah by Sayyid Jawad Ameli, and other books written on this topic.(1)

In any case, Mohammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab has written several concise books in which he has openly mentioned his beliefs. He was barely literate and possessed little knowledge of the Islamic sciences because he had never studied in the main Islamic seminaries and alongside the great scholars of the past. Because of this, his belief system was extremely flawed and erroneous. Unfortunately, he insisted upon the mistakes pointed out to him by scholars.

One of his books is called Kashf al-Shubuhat (Unveiling doubts). This small book is written to answer the criticism leveled against him by mostly Sunni scholars. (2)

The following points constitute the belief system of the Wahhabis and are sufficient to show where the roots of ruthlessness originated from:

1) Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhab had an erroneous concept of Tawhid (monotheism) and Shirk(3)

(Polytheism). He regarded all those who beseech intercession from the Prophet of Islam (s) besides their

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Lord –when it complies very explicitly with the Quran and Hadith – as infidels (Kafir) and Polytheists (Mushrik) and considers their life, wealth and women as admissible.

For sure all the Muslims, including both Shi'a and Sunni seek intercession from the Holy Prophet (s) besides Allah (swt), and so their lives, wealth and women are permissible to the Wahhabis!

2) They have gone even further than that and state explicitly: For two reasons the believers of our era are worse than the disbelievers of the era of the Holy Prophet (s), whom His Holiness (s) fought against.

Firstly, the disbelievers of the Prophet's (s) era resorted to other than God only while they were in a state of repose, but -according to the Quranic Verses- they called sincerely upon God only whilst they were ensnared by a calamity (for instance when they were trapped in turbulent sea waves).

{فَإِذَا رَکبُوا فِی الْفُلْک دَعَوُا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِینَ لَهُ الدِّینَ فَلَمَّا نَجَّاهُمْ إِلَی الْبَرِّ إِذَا هُمْ یُشْرِکونَ}

"when they board the ships they invoke Allah putting exclusive faith in Him, but when He delivers them to land, behold, they ascribe partness [to Him]" (1)

But the disbelievers (polytheists) of our age resort to other than God in the two states together, both at comfort and calamity.

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Secondly the polytheists of the un-enlightenment(1) (Jāhiliyyah) epoch worshipped wood and stone, which were the creations of and obedient to God, but the disbelievers of our age worship wrongdoers (it seems that they are referring to some of the Sufi Priests)(2) so their blood, wealth and women are even more certainly admissible.

3) Another example of their ruthlessness is the discourteous manner in which they address the group of prominent Sunni scholars during discussions, using offensive and rude names, for instance:

Oh you disbeliever! أیها المشرک)) (3)

Enemies of God! ( (اعداءالله(4)

The disbelievers have some other doubt!

(( للمشرکین شبهة أخری(5)

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Those ignorant disbelievers!

(ه_ؤلاء المشرکین الجهّال) (1)

The enemies of Tawheed (monotheism)! (اعداء التوحید) (2)

One illiterate and unlearned individual prevails over one thousand scholars of disbelievers (Muslims who believe in intercession Shafāah)!(3)

The leader of this creed has attained very little from the Islamic sciences and it appears that being annoyed by the criticism of great scholars, he addresses them by various offensive names and accuses everyone of ignorance, polytheism shirk and disbelief, where as the Holy Quran states explicitly:

{...وَلاَ تَقُولُواْ لِمَنْ أَلْقَی إِلَیْکُمُ السَّلاَمَ لَسْتَ مُؤْمِناً تَبْتَغُونَ عَرَضَ الْحَیَاةِ الدُّنْیَا...}

"Do not say to someone who offers you peace, 'You are not a believer', seeking the transitory wares of the life of this world"(4)

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embrace Islam or not);(1) a religion that urges man to show kindness in turn for meanness so that the stubborn enemies would become pliant and befriend them;(2) a religion that asks; "Is religion anything other that loving each other?"(3)

They presented such an exquisite religion (Islam) so formidably that made both friend and enemy weary of it!

The true essence of Islam is always prepared to perform its job and make human beings "Enter Allah's religion in throngs"(4) group by group, but unfortunately, the acts of this ruthless and fanatic group have become a threat to the spread of Islam and Muslims globally.

Oh Lord! Bestow your guidance upon them!

to entertain the Muslim Polytheists who come every year to perform Hajj and Umrah and are served with immense hospitality!? Why? You see, these Polytheists fill their treasury.

The Holy Quran asserts that Polytheists are unclean (Najes) and permission to enter Masjid-ul-Haraam (The holy Mosque in Mecca) is forbidden to them, even if poverty is feared, for the Lord will sustain the believers out of His grace.

{یَا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُواْ إِنَّمَا الْمُشْرِکُونَ نَجَسٌ فَلاَ یَقْرَبُواْ الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ بَعْدَ عَامِهِمْ هَذَا وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ عَیْلَةً فَسَوْفَ یُغْنِیکُمُ اللّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ إِن شَاءَ إِنَّ اللّهَ عَلِیمٌ حَکِیمٌ}

"O you who have faith: the Polytheists are indeed unclean: so let them not approach the Holy Mosque after this year. Should you fear poverty, Allah will enrich you out of His grace, if He wishes. Indeed Allah is all-knowing all-Wise." (1)

How come the same polytheists happen to become monotheists and are received warmly with love and compassion as "Guests of God"(2), with major and minor lending them their homes?!

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and has displaced radical fanatics from leading the mosques, which itself is another sign of the end of Wahhabism, as it now has no place even where it came into being.

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مِنْهُمْ وَقُولُوا آمَنَّا بِالَّذِی أُنزِلَ إِلَیْنَا وَأُنزِلَ إِلَیْکُمْ وَإِلَهُنَا وَإِلَهُکُمْ وَاحِدٌ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ}

"Do not dispute with the people of the Book except in a manner which is best, barring such of them as are wrongdoers, and say, 'We believe in that which has been sent down to us and has been sent down to you; our God and your God is one (and the same), and to Him do we submit."(1)

Islam does not permit anyone to address the opposing faction by titles such as "ignorant polytheists", "enemies of God", "enemies of Tawheed (monotheism)"; to consider oneself as the axis of Islam, and to strike all and sundry with allegations of disbelief and polytheism, an act done ferociously in most of the books published by this community.

All Muslims share common principles in Islamic teachings and beliefs, and all the Islamic scholars, despite deviating interpretations of certain principles, share common doctrines in canonical matters.

These differences in opinion should not cause disputes, frays and bloodshed; they should rather, through logical reasoning and proper dialogue and discourse, harmonise ways of thinking.

The fanatic Wahhabis (the Salafis) oppose this logical and fair Islamic rationale. They believe that they must enforce their perceptions in polytheistic and monotheistic matters (Shirk and Tāwhid) on others, even if it is

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achieved by bloodshed and plundering of property, proofs of which are present in the books of the founders of this faith.

When we tell their scholars that if you are erudite, we are also erudite and we are more educated than you, and have authored more books than you have. If you are clergymen (Mujtahid) (1) we are too clergymen, the scholars in Al-Azhar and the seminaries of Damascus, Jordan and other countries have many clergymen amongst them. Why should others be compelled to accept your beliefs (on the issue of Monotheism and Polytheism) which are undoubtedly flawed in our view? They insist that what they say is Islam!!

What is their advantage over other Islamic scholars that they intend to enforce their belief on them, and why do they beat others with lashes?! They have no logical answer.

Apparently they assume they sit on the peak of knowledge and piety and everybody else has fallen into the abyss of ignorance.

This is something that nobody favors in today's world and there is no place for it amongst the Muslims. It is for this reason that we claim they are at the end of their term in this world.

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country and that is an exemplification of patriotism.(1) Is there someone who considers respect towards his homeland and soil as Shirk?!

Interesting is that all the Wahhabis show respect towards Hajar-ul-Aswad (the Black stone) and kiss it. When we say: this is nothing but a stone and our destiny does not lie in its hands, they reply: "The Holy Prophet (s) used to kiss it so we follow his tradition and kiss it!"

We say: Do you mean that the Holy Prophet (s) gave you permission to commit Shirk (Polytheism), and this is an exception so it is a kind of permissible Shirk (polytheism), or rather kissing it is not Shirk?

They reply: The companions of the Holy Prophet (s) used to kiss the Quran.(1)

We say: Has His Holiness (s) given you permission to become polytheists? Even though it is impossible for the cause of polytheism to encounter an exception:

{إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ یَغْفِرُ أَن یُشْرَکَ بِهِ وَیَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِکَ لِمَن یَشَاءُ وَمَن یُشْرِکْ بِاللّهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَی إِثْمًا عَظِیمًا}

"Indeed Allah does not forgive that any partner should be ascribed to Him, but He forgives anything besides that to whomever He wishes. And whoever ascribes partners to Allah has indeed fabricated [a lie] in great sinfulness." (2)

The annulment of Shirk (polytheism) is purely a rational decree which does not allow exception. They have no answer to offer. In short, they are submerged in a vortex of contradictions.

{جَعَلَ اللّهُ الْکَعْبَةَ الْبَیْتَ الْحَرَامَ قِیَامًا لِّلنَّاسِ وَالشَّهْرَ الْحَرَامَ وَالْهَدْیَ وَالْقَلاَئِدَ ذَلِکَ لِتَعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ یَعْلَمُ مَا فِی السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِی الأَرْضِ وَأَنَّ اللّهَ بِکُلِّ شَیْءٍ عَلِیمٌ}

"Allah has made the Ka'bah, the sacred House, a [means of] sustenance for mankind, and [also] the sacred month, the offering and the garlands, so that you may know that Allah knows whatever there is in the heavens and whatever there is in the earth, and that Allah has knowledge of all things." (1)

Every individual from near and remote should benefit equally from the house of God;

{...سَوَاءً الْعَاکِفُ فِیهِ وَالْبَادِ...}

"The native and the visitor are equal therein." (2)

Thus the responsibility of the custodians of the House of Ka'bah is only to establish order and security and provide the required facilities to the pilgrims, not to designate this Islamic centre as a base for preaching their creed and enforcing their beliefs on others.

They have no right to enforce on the pilgrims their specific perceptions on Islamic matters which oppose the

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knowledge (Ijtīhad)(1) and conceptions of the scholars of other countries. Even in the era of Ignorance(2) the job of the custodians was nothing more than what is referred to in the Holy Quran; providing water to Hajj pilgrims and the maintenance of the Holy Mosque:

{أَجَعَلْتُمْ سِقَایَةَ الْحَاجِّ وَعِمَارَةَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ...}

"Do you regard the providing of water to hajj pilgrims and the maintenance of the Holy Mosque…"(3)

Therefore if the scholars of this region have a particular view on the issue of Tawheed (Monotheism), they have no right to enforce their belief on others, especially when other great Muslim scholars consider these perceptions as invalid. For example this group regards as blasphemy(4) the "seeking of intercession"(5) from the Messenger of God (s) inferring that he intercedes for the servants whereas, others note this as perfect Tawheed. Often they regard something as Heresy while others consider it a tradition.

The Wahhabis, nor any other group, has the right to impose their thoughts and perceptions on others. I stress this point: they must only deal with the order, security and maintainence of this holy place, not designate it to a centre for preaching their creed, and it

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is interesting that the king of Saudi Arabia deems himself as the 'Servant of the Two Holy Shrines' not the 'ruler of the Two Holy Shrines'. How come the scholars of the Salafi (extremists) Wahhabis regard themselves as the "rulers of the Two Shrines"(1) even though they believe that obedience to their Rulers(2) is compulsory for them.

Of course, they must prevent acts that are prohibited according to the consensus of the scholars of Islam. In brief, the enforcement of thought by a small group who are on a lower level of knowledge, on the majority of the Muslims is not rationally acceptable. However, the fanatic Salafies use the worse kinds of methods to impose their ideology upon the pilgrims, which is very unfortunate.

{...فَبَشِّرْ عِبَادِ * الَّذِینَ یَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقَوْلَ فَیَتَّبِعُونَ أَحْسَنَهُ...}

"So give good news to my servants- who listen to the word [of Allah] and follow the best [sense] of it." (1)

It is clear that such a creed with such a culture has no place in today's world where respect towards other people's beliefs, according to intellectuals, is of significant value. This very fact has prepared the grounds for the isolation and fall of this creed, because no Muslim can tolerate allegations of being polytheists and infidels, that the custodians of the House of God openly declare them as.

The Prophet’s (s) shrine and the graves in Baqī belong to all Muslims and their guardians are only responsible for establishing order and security, providing the required facilities and preventing that which is against the consensus of all Muslims, and nothing more.

They must respect the beliefs of all Muslims of the world and refrain from profanity and disparaging remarks about their sacred adherence and not over extend themselves, as neither God nor the Servant of God (s) are pleased with that nor has this act any laudable aftermath.

The secure Abode of God must remain secure at all costs. What sort of security is that when non-Wahhabi Muslims put a foot forward and back they must be accused of blasphemy!?

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I can never forget my first visit to the House of God, when I saw a group of Muslims from different countries wanting to kiss the rostrum of the Prophet (s) and enraged the police. One agent of the "instructors to virtue" stood and uttered this profanity:

"I swear to God that it is permissible to attack this group with the sword (and shed their blood!)" (1)

What is the difference?! You kiss the cover of the Holy Quran and they kiss the rostrum that was for years the position of guidance and indoctrination of the Holy Prophet (s) of Islam. Why do you issue the decree for their murder and not for your own followers?!

You consider this act as heresy(2) but yours as a rite(3). Now we understand why the Taliban and Al-Qa'idah, who are the same extremist Wahhabis, killed in just one explosion one hundred and fifty innocent people and cause injury to three hundred, amongst which are children, infants, women and the elderly in Najaf (two years ago). These are the painful and bitter results of misguided ways of thinking which has damaged the image of Islam in the world and has made their foothold insecure, even in the Saudi kingdom, which has been their place of origin.

Can such an ideology survive?!

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scholar by the name Yousef-ibn-Alavī(1) has recently authored a book titled "Ideas- that Need to be Re-examined and Corrected"(2).

This book is regarded as one of the wonders of its kind and we hope to explore it, God willing, at the end of this book.

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"The enemy of God (Iblis) is the leader of all fanatics and fore-runner of the haughty." (1)

And regarding the praised fanaticism, he states:

"In case you cannot escape fanaticism, let your fanaticism be for noble attributes and praiseworthy acts"(2)

Despicable fanaticism has always been linked with ideological obduracy, unilateral perspectives and irrational pre-judgments, and has always been – especially in our era – the cause for hatred and underdevelopment. An indication of this kind of fanaticism is taking implacable and extreme stands, occasionally appealing to bloodshed and plunder, humiliating others, and resorting to obscene, hot-tempered and offensive phrases. Such fanatics grant no value to other people's views, have no ears for the reasoning of their opposition, and are disdainful and proud people.

All this is observed in the statements and actions of Extremist Wahhabis and unfortunately,also in the books of the leader of this group. Samples of their behavior is evident from the fact that on the slightest pretext they call Muslims Disbelievers or Polytheists: Mushrik and consider their blood and property permissible.

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Those who address the scholars and esteemed individuals of its opposition as "ignorant" and greet them with "Oh you polytheist(1), and regard whoever refuses to accept their beliefs as targets, can they ever be ready for logical discussions and dialogue or "debate in a manner which is best"?

The Holy Quran does not consider fanatics, who have no ears for other people's opinions, amongst the pious servants of God, as He says:

{...فَبَشِّرْ عِبَادِ* الَّذِینَ یَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقَوْلَ فَیَتَّبِعُونَ أَحْسَنَهُ أُوْلَئِکَ الَّذِینَ هَدَاهُمُ اللَّهُ وَأُوْلَئِکَ هُمْ أُوْلُوا الْأَلْبَابِ}

"So give good news to my servants - who listen to the word [of Allah] and follow the best [sense] of it. They are the ones whom Allah has guided, and it is they who possess intellect." (2)

The Holy Quran severely condemns those who put their fingers in their ears during the summons of the previous prophets and reveals Noah's (as) complaint to the Almighty:

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{وَإِنِّی کُلَّمَا دَعَوْتُهُمْ لِتَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ جَعَلُوا أَصَابِعَهُمْ فِی آذَانِهِمْ وَاسْتَغْشَوْا ثِیَابَهُمْ وَأَصَرُّوا وَاسْتَکْبَرُوا اسْتِکْبَارًا}

"Indeed whenever I have summoned them, so that You might forgive them, they have put their fingers into their ears and drawn their cloaks over their heads, and they persist [in their unfaith], and are disdainful in [their] arrogance." (1)

In the past, in Saudi

Arabia, every kind of logical, rational, scientific criticism of the Wahhabi creed was banned, and a severe censorship on the entry of any kind of book even from Islamic countries like Egypt was and is still disallowed. Anything, besides this principle, is exceptional.

Obviously, they will never relent from their state of obduracy nor ever gain from the logical criticism which could help in their theoretical development.

The interesting point is that the libraries of us Shias are overflowing with the books of the Sunnis (the people of tradition)(2) and the Wahhabis and we sense no danger to our faith from the presence of these books, whereas you hardly find any library in the Saudi kingdom that holds Shia books (not even a single book) let aside books on criticism of

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Wahhabism! Why are they so frightened and we not afraid at all? The conscience of an honest, honorable reader can answer this question!

Such radicalisms have never been favored in any era, let alone in this time and age. The supporters of such radicalisms should pack their gear and join history!

The Wahhabi youth have the right to ask their elders why the books of other Islamic creeds and also the books on scientific and logical criticisms of Wahhabism are not within their reach?!

However as was mentioned earlier, the moderate and enlightened strata of Wahhabis have shown willingness for dialogue and this is a gracious dawn for the Islamic world.

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polytheism!(1) And very few of these monuments are left and it is proper that Muslims cry blood, for the destruction of these valuable monuments.

Today, we all know that every nation, for the testimony of its origin, relies on its past history, and regards important monuments from the past as proof and witness of this matter. In view of this they cautiously protect their historic monuments. But this group left nearly nothing of the historic monuments of Islam in this holy land and destroyed and removed all of them, monuments that were priceless.

A clear case of that is the Baqī graveyard. The Baqī graveyard is the most important graveyard in Islam which holds an important fraction of Islamic history and is a vast and descriptive book of the history of Muslims.

The graves of the wives, offspring and the Imams of the Household of the Prophet (s) of Islam, the jurist-consults and great scholars, the highly ranked companions, great martyrs, courageous warriors of Islam are all buried in Baqī; may be more than ten thousand companions lie buried there. In other words, a huge chunk of Islamic history lies hidden in the heart of Baqī.

But today, when we enter Baqī, an unsightly wreckage, abhorrent and rugged, without any name, sign or symbol is witnessed, that moves one to tears.

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These stringent fanatics, have most unfortunately, removed these valuable historic monuments on the baseless excuse of "fight against polytheism" and un- pardonably laid the Islamic world destitute.

Indeed, this is how dangerous a fanatic can be and how he can fritter away the precious resources of the country, the resources that belong to everybody, the people of today,

yesterday, and tomorrow!

Another contradiction

When they were asked how come you removed the sepulchre and burial chambers that were assembled over the graves of the Imams of Baqī and the martyres of Ohud and others in that graveyard but you left the Tomb and the Holy Shrine of the Prophet (s) as it was? What is the meaning of this contradiction in realistic terms?

If these are symbols of idol worship and polytheism, why then have you retained this "greatest symbol" right next to this grand and splendid Mosque? And if that isn’t a symbol, then why have you removed the rest?

They have no answer to this question and they get truly cornered.

In one of my religious expeditions that took place long ago, I went to visit the Imam of Madina, who was a bright and honest person and I asked him the same question.

He tried to distract me from this annoying and unanswerable question by relating a historic event. the story related to the time of Naser-ud-Dowlah(1), about two jews who had burrowed a tunnel from the houses beside the shrine to get to the grave of the Holy Prophet (s). Naser-ud-Dowlah dreamt of the Prophet (s) asking him to save him from those two people! This dream was repeated for several nights. He wondered what was going on in Medina. He came to Medina and arrayed all the people in town, and found those two people that he repeatedly saw

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in the dream. He ordered their arrest and stopped their unholy plan from being completed.

Then he instructed his people to dig the surroundings of the holy shrine and fill it with molten metal to form a metallic wall so that no body could dare to do something like that in future.

This answer could, at most, justify the building of the underground segment of the sacred grave, but could not justify the maintenance of the Tomb, Holy Shrine and Mausoleum. However, courtesy and the feeling that he had nothing else to say and might feel embarrassed, prevented me to continue the discussion.

It was heared recently that one of the fanatic Wahhabis has said that they will demolish the Shrine and the Tomb of the Prophet (s) in the future. Although this saying is consistent with the theoretical basis of their fanaticism, it is certain that they will never have the guts to do it, especially now that the moderates of this creed have shown up.

It is strange that some people relate this saying to the leader of the Wahhabis Muhammed-ibn-Abdulwahhab. But he has considered this report as fraudulent in some of his sayings, although Hasan-ibn-Farhan Maleki(1) in his book "Pretension and not a Prophet"(2)

believes that reference to this saying: ‘If I have the ability, I will destroy the Shrine of the

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Prophet (s)’ is present in the words of Shaikh Mohammad (ibn-Abdulwahhab)!

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and refrain from it, shred to pieces the telephone line that connects the palace of the Saudi king to the central army?!

They regarded as forbidden photographic cameras and their sale and purchase was banned until recently, and the the head of the Taliban, Mulla Omar, never allowed himself to be photographed. He opposed educating girls and women even in his own special schools, considered Haram (forbidden) the driving of women even with full Hijab (covering), and considered and forbid as heresy the celebration ceremonies on the Prophet's (s) birth and other similar events! They condemn all other Sunni and Shia Muslims for committing this logical and humanistic act!

Certainly, according to prominent jurist-consults and the scholars of Jurispridence(1), heresy has a different meaning.

"Heresy"(2)

has its own particular interpretation, which is: "Heresy means to include that which is not from religion into religion"(3) Certainly no body makes use of the new

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inventions such as bicycle, telephone, picture camera and computer… for being an obligatory(1) affair or a recommended(2) religious practice, but just as an ordinary matter, like different kinds of food, clothing and buildings that change with the passage of time and take on a new form.

Some acts that we perform are conventional acts, which are not related to religion, akin to the examples mentioned above: disparity in clothing fashions, means of travelling, domestic goods, foods, rituals and habits.

Heresy (Bid'ah) implying beneficial innovations in these matters is certainly a very admirable act and is an indication of the development of human civilization, therefore neither is a bicycle Satan's steed nor a picture camera Satan's eye. Neither are different telephone brands the cause of degeneration and corruption, nor the celebration ceremonies held for the birth of great ones in religion considered as sin. The birthday party for each and every member of a family, a great religious scholar, or palatial ceremonials for the Holy Prophet (s) and the great personalities of religion are not sinful.

We have no reason to prohibit(3) performing the above except misunderstanding the denotation of heresy and lack of knowledge of the jurisprudential meaning of this term and misapprehending conventional affairs as religious rulings.

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We are not only concerned with the shrine and the tomb of religious pioneers, which is a subject for another discussion, but with the ordinary graveyards. In Saudi Arabia graveyards are the most hideous and repulsive areas resembling a barren desert, rock-ribbed, rugged and disorganized, with not one straight stone on any one grave!

The ordinary building of graves is a conventional act amongst all nations and rational-beings in the world who try to construct the graves in a manner that retains their respect, and prevents them from being belittled and affronted, placing plants and trees in their surroundings to bring calm and tranquility to their remains.

For the poets and the pioneers in knowledge and literacy, appropriate burial chambers are built with respect to their status, and for every person according to his position. This is a humanistic and conventional act, it is neither heresy nor polytheism nor idol-worship but a respectful humane ritual, whereas, prohibited heresy(1) means adding something to religious rulings.

Nowadays everywhere in the world centennial ceremonies are held for leaders, poets, inventors, and outstanding human beings to motivate the youth towards knowledge and science and its developoment. Can any rational person call this heresy or polytheism, or that something is being added to religion?!

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Yet, if it is done for religious personalities to attract the public towards their notions, teachings and agendas, and create a solid bond between them, how can this act be called heresy or polytheism?

Conventional innovations are sometimes aligned with religious matters and without being merged with them gain the title of heresy. For instance, today we see many minarets in Masjid-ul-Harām and Masjid-un-Nabi that had certainly not existed at the time of the Prophet (s). The Mihrāb(1) of the Holy Prophet (s) has been decorated with beautiful and artistic designs, and many Quranic Verses have been printed with beautiful calligraphy on the walls and inside the arches of the Prophet's (s) Mosque. The name of his Holiness (s) and all the Imams (disciples) of the Household (s) and some of the renowned traits of Islam can be spotted on the facade of one of the courtyards of the Mosque.

None of these were present at the time of the Prophet (s). Are they therefore, considered as heresy and forbidden? If they are, why then do the Wahhabis not remove them all? After all it is under their control, and if it is not heresy, then why don’t they allow the same elsewhere?

Surely no body initiated these with the intention of making it a part of religious rulings, but are only the result of a series of conventional acts prompted by the love and respect of people.

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Those who are against these social practices by Muslims and non-Muslims, due to ideological obduracy, have no place in today's world and must be dispatched with, unless the moderate party amongst them rectifies and recompenses for these huge mistakes.

We reiterate that forbidden and harām heresy is when I claim that I do something on the premise that it is a religious ruling while there is nothing on this regard in both the general and specific laws.

Heresy means adding some parts to prayer or the fast or the rites and rituals of Hajj or claim that religion has commanded us to celebrate such and such night for the birth of the Prophet of Islam (s).

Unfortunately obduracy and the lack of information have caused these two subjects: "Conventional innovations" and "religious heresy" to be misconstrued.

For instance, he stated that the intention of visiting the Shrine of the Prophet (s), and requesting blessings and resorting to the Household of the Prophet (s) was akin to polytheism! He denied the virtues of the Household of the Prophet (s) that are explicitly mentioned in the books of the people of Sunnah(1) and even in the Musnad of his own Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and tried, just like the Bani Umayyah, to disparage the status and position of Imam Ali (‘as) and his descendants.

But the incitements of Ibn Taymiah were not accepted by the Sunni scholars, and except for a few of his own students like "Ibn Qayyim", the rest of them opposed him and authored many different books discrediting him and his heresies. Among them was "Thahabi"(2) from the scholars of his own age who wrote him a letter of reproach, and demanded his submission to the truthful traditions.

"Thahabi" writes in his address: "Now that you are in the seventh decade of your life and your departure from this world is nearby, is it not time for you to repent and be penitent?"

The supreme judge of the four Sunni faiths in Egypt announced the ideas of Ibn Taymiah as false and heresy.

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But in the twelfth century, Mohammed ibn Abdul-Wahhab emerged and supported the ideas of Ibn Taymiah, and stressed his new ideas the most.

In addition to the above mentioned beliefs, Ibn Taymiah held certain other beliefs. In the year 698 AH,(1) he used to openly enter into ideological discussions, and debate with his opposition. Among his beliefs and attitudes some that can be referred to are the following:

1. He used to implement the religious limits himself.

2. He used to shave the heads of children!

3. He was set for war against those who disagreed.

4. He proscribed people from giving oblations.

5. He believed in the possibility of corporeal sighting of God!!

6. Regarding the Kharijites(2) (Rebels) he wrote: "Although the Kharijites were excommunicated from religion yet they were the most veracious people!" (3)

Amongst his positive actions was that he struggled against the Mongols in year 702 AH.

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Allamah Amini, after mentioning the allegations by Ibn Taymiah in rejecting the tradition of "the commencement of the Prophet's (s) call"(1) [Warn the nearest of your kinsfolk" (Sura Al-Shu'ara 26: 214)] and stating that he does not authenticate the evidence of this tradition, states:

"This statement is not unexpected of him because he is a fanatic who insists on denying the self evident truths and excommunicating Muslims. He is especially harsh in negating whatever is related to the virtues of the Prophet’s Household (s)." (2)

In another instance he adds:

"This was why he was persistently criticised by the great clerics of Sunnah, among whom is Shukāni, who narrates from Mohammed Bukhāri Hanafi that he excommunicated him and said: "Whoever calls Ibn Taymiah by the title of 'Shaikh-ul-Islam', is an infidel (Kāfir)."" (3)

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Amongst the fervent supporters of Ibn Taymiah was Ibn Kathīr, the author of the book "Al-Bidāyah and Al-Nihāyah" (Died in 744 AH), who has defended and praised Ibn Taymiah through out his book.

Out of the contemporaneous clerics with Ibn Taymiah, one who has defended him and as a result, has been despised by his community is the famous traditionist Abu Al-Hajjāj Mezi, owner of the book "Tahdhib ul-Kamal", who passed away in the year 742 AH.

Among other students of Ibn Taymiah is Ahmad ibn Mohammed Meri Lebli(1) who was, according to Ibn Hajar, opposed to Ibn Taymiah at first, but after paying him a visit became his friend and student and wrote his manuscripts and promoted and supported him on the issue of denying travel permission for paying a visit to the Prophet’s (s) Tomb. Ultimately, Ikhnāyee, a Mālekī judge, summoned him and gave him a sound whipping so that his body became all bloody, and then ordered the personnel to mount him upside down on a mule and take him around the town to humiliate him.

The greatest student and fervent supporter of Ibn Taymiah was without doubt Ibn Al-Qayyem Al-Jooziyah(2),

who was in all the declarations and beliefs, his indisputable adherent and advocate, and responsible for

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the publication and expansion of Ibn Taymiah's beliefs both during his life-time and after his death. He went to prison with Ibn Taymiah time after time, and just for this reason they whipped and humiliated him by taking him around the town on a camel, and then imprisoned him with Ibn Taymiah in the fort of Damascus. (1)

Now we return to the main topic of discussion, which was why Ibn Taymiah did not succeed in arranging the Salafi banquet in Syria, but Mohammed ibn Abdul-Wahhab managed to do so in the region of Najd and also managed to extend that to the whole Arabian peninsula and recorded these beliefs in history under his own name under the title of “Wahhabism".

There were two major causes for that:

Firstly, Damascus was one of the centres of the Islamic sciences at that time, and it had lots of prominent scholars and Islamic seminaries; they firmly resisted the misconceived ideas of Ibn Taymiah, and although he had found a notable number of supporters, they demolished his influence with logical reasoning, whereas the Najd region at that time was very poor in this respect, and the doubts inserted by this group did not face much resistance and was soon spread among the common folk. Every region that was full of scholars and scientists remained safe from their affliction.

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Moreover, at that time there were serious power struggles among the tribes of Najd. According to the existing history, Mohammed ibn Abdul-Wahhab took advantage of this situation and made a contract with the descendents of Saud that they promote his ideas, in return for which he would support them to gain power over the warring factions.

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{وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُم مَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ لَیَقُولُنَّ خَلَقَهُنَّ الْعَزِیزُ الْعَلِیمُ}

"If you ask them, 'Who created the heavens and the earth?' they will surely say, 'The All-mighty, the All-knowing created them'." (1)

And elsewhere He says:

{قُلْ مَن یَرْزُقُکُم مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ أَمَّن یَمْلِکُ السَّمْعَ والأَبْصَارَ وَمَن یُخْرِجُ الْحَیَّ مِنَ الْمَیِّتِ وَیُخْرِجُ الْمَیِّتَ مِنَ الْحَیِّ وَمَن یُدَبِّرُ الأَمْرَ فَسَیَقُولُونَ اللّهُ فَقُلْ أَفَلاَ تَتَّقُونَ}

"Say, 'Who provides for you out of the sky and the earth? Who controls [your] hearing and sight, and who brings forth the living from the dead and brings forth the dead from the living, and who directs the command? They will say, 'Allah'. Say, 'Will you not then be wary [of Him]?" (2)

According to these Verses the Arab polytheists, considered the one and only God as the Creator of the universe and the Benefactor for servants and the Superintendent and Contriver of the world. Then what was their polytheism in? Their only problem was with the Oneness in Worship, meaning that they worshipped idols and some of the righteous personalities. In other words the Arab polytheists never repudiated the Oneness of the

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Creator, Benefactor and Lord of the worlds, but they were polytheistic in God's worship and thus Islam called them to the worship of the only One God.

2. The idea of Polytheism denotes man's invoking an entity other than the One God and taking refuge in that entity for resolving difficulties (for instance when he calls upon the Messenger of God or Imam Ali), as the holy Quran states:

{...فَلَا تَدْعُوا مَعَ اللَّهِ أَحَدًا}

"So do not invoke any one along with God" (1)

3. If somebody seeks intercession from the Prophet of Islam (s) or any one of the Islamic prime-leaders and righteous personalities, this act of his is polytheism! His life and wealth is admissible to the monotheists! Because he is a polytheist and it is admissible to arrogate the life, wealth and woman of every polytheist. The Holy Quran suggests:

{قُل لِّلَّهِ الشَّفَاعَةُ جَمِیعًا لَّهُ مُلْکُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ثُمَّ إِلَیْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ}

"Say 'All intercession rests with Allah. To Him belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; then you will be brought back to Him" (2)

4. Moreover, when the Arab polytheists were denounced for idol-worship, they said:

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{...مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلَّا لِیُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَی اللَّهِ زُلْفَی...}

"We only worship them so that they may bring us near to Allah" (1)

And the Holy Prophet (s) never accepted this claim from them.

Thus they worshipped idols not because they were the Creator or benefactors, but as intercessors only. Thus, anyone who considered anything other than God as the intercessor was just like the Arab polytheists and his blood and wealth was admissible!!

This was a brief account of their statements on the issue of Monotheism and polytheism.

In a precise analysis, the incorrect and faulty interpretation of "Six Quranic terms" has caused him to regard all Muslims except the followers of his beliefs as polytheists.

Why are they not ready to sit with the scholars of Al-Azhar, Damascus, Qom and Najaf for logical discussions to elucidate the truth? Why are they not ready to initiate a friendly debate in accordance with the commands of the holy Quran:

{...فَبَشِّرْ عِبَادِ* الَّذِینَ یَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقَوْلَ فَیَتَّبِعُونَ أَحْسَنَهُ...}

"So give good news to my servants - who listen to the word [of Allah] and follow the best [sense] of it." (1)

If they did so, all the pure Muslim blood would not be shed nor their possessions plundered; the enemies couldn’t dominate them and the Zionist minority couldn’t play about with their destiny. It is not known what sort of answer they have prepared to put forward before God on the Day of Judgment?

However, the six fatal words are as follows:

1. Shirk (polytheism) and Mushrik (polytheist) [in the holy Quran]

2. Ilah(2) (God) [in "لا إله إلا الله" in the Holy Quran]

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1. Worship(1) [in the Holy Quran]

2. Intercession(2) [in the Holy Quran]

3. Supplication(3) [in the Holy Quran]

4. Heresy(4) [in the Holy Quran and tradition]

which will deprive him of Heaven(1). The 'Minor Shirk' is when man is concerned about other-than-God in some affairs, which is the same as ostentation or hypocrisy. The Holy Quran suggests:

{وَمَا یُؤْمِنُ أَکْثَرُهُمْ بِاللّهِ إِلاَّ وَهُم مُّشْرِکُونَ}

"And most of them do not believe in Allah without ascribing partners to Him." (2)

Therefore the reality of 'Major Shirk' is to regard someone as God's counterpart and coequal in Creating and Owning, Lordship and Worship.

But if we say, his Holiness Jesus (PBUH) healed the incurable ill by God's will, and revived the dead by God's will, and through the knowledge that he had acquired from God gave news of the unknown and the hidden, neither have we sought the path of polytheism nor have we spoken falsely.

Doesn’t the Quran tell in the name of Jesus (‘as):

{... وَأُبْرِیءُ الأَکْمَهَ وَالأَبْرَصَ وَأُحْیِی الْمَوْتَی بِإِذْنِ اللّهِ وَأُنَبِّئُکُم بِمَا تَأْکُلُونَ وَمَا تَدَّخِرُونَ فِی بُیُوتِکُمْ إِنَّ فِی ذَلِکَ لَآیَةً لَّکُمْ إِن کُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِینَ}

"And [he will be] an apostle to the children of Israel, [and he will declare] 'I have certainly brought you a

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sign from your Lord: I will create for you out of clay the form of a bird, then I will breathe into it, and it will become a bird by Allah's leave. And I heal the blind and the leper and I revive the dead by Allah's leave. And I will tell you what you have eaten and what you have stored in your houses. There is indeed a sign in that for you, should you be faithful." (1)

Therefore, if we plead with the Holy Prophet (s) and some of God's righteous servants such as the Imams of the Prophet’s Household (‘as) for such affairs in the same manner, meaning requesting "by God's will", not only is it not Shirk (Polytheism) but it is perfect Tawheed (monotheism), as we never place them on the same level and rank, nor treat them as God's partners, or independent of God in effect. In actual fact, we deem them as obedient servants and executors of His commands.

It is weird that the Wahhabi leaders have misinterpreted the term "Shirk", and regarded as "Shirk" every appeal to God's righteous servants who don’t act but by God's consent, a notion against the explicit inference of the Quran!?

Assume that one owns a servant who is dutiful towards his master and never performs any act without his permission. If somebody asks him to request his master for something, is the asking person considering the servant as equal to or equally ranked or as partner to his

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master, or in his service?! Does any enlightened conscience accept the statement, that this act is "Shirk"? The fault stems from this point: they haven’t and will not place the Quranic Verses besides one another so that their true meaning becomes evident, but insist on acknowledging only that which is in accordance with their interpretation.

{أَمِ اتَّخَذُوا آلِهَةً مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ هُمْ یُنشِرُونَ * لَوْ

کَانَ فِیهِمَا آلِهَةٌ إِلَّا اللَّهُ لَفَسَدَتَا فَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَرْشِ عَمَّا یَصِفُونَ}

"Have they taken gods from the earth who raise [the dead]?T Had there been gods in them(1) other than Allah,

they would surely have fallen apart. Clear is Allah, the Lord of the Throne, of what they allege [concerning Him]."(2)

In these Verses "Aleha"(3) the plural of "Ilah" has clearly come to infer the meaning of "Creator".

In another Verse this same meaning is apparent in a more lucid manner:

{مَا اتَّخَذَ اللَّهُ مِن وَلَدٍ وَمَا کَانَ مَعَهُ مِنْ إِلَهٍ إِذًا لَّذَهَبَ کُلُّ إِلَهٍ بِمَا خَلَقَ وَلَعَلَا بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَی بَعْضٍ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا یَصِفُونَ * عَالِمِ الْغَیْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ فَتَعَالَی عَمَّا یُشْرِکُونَ}

"Allah has not taken any offspring, neither is there any God besides Him, for then each god would take away what he created, and some of them would surely rise up against the others. Clear is Allah of what they allege! T The Knower of the seen and the unseen, He is above having any partners that they ascribe [to Him]." (4)

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In these verses the existence of any another creator except the unitary Allah has been negated (and that is achieved by the term "Ilah") that if there was any other creator other than Him, the order of the universe would have been devastated. This verse clarifies the polytheistic Arab belief in the plurality of creators, for it states: "He is above having any partners that they ascribe [to Him]".

Consequently to restrict the call of Islam to "Tawheed (oneness) in worship" and the lack of attention to other branches of Tawheed (monotheism), is a grave mistake and against the Quran.

The Wahhabi obsession with their perception of the concept of "monotheism" and "polytheism" led them to easily bypass those verses in the Quran that were not in favour of their perception and intentionally neglect them, although most of them were supposedly memorisers of the Quran. Unfortunately, memorising the Quran does not always imply understanding the Quran!

Furthermore, it is drawn from other Quranic Verses that a group of idolators believed in the "divinity"(1) of the idols and their influence on their destiny. They were superstitiously convinced that the idols’ wrath fell upon those who were against them, and they brought good fortune to those who believed in them. For instance, the idolators at the time of Hud sated:

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{إِن نَّقُولُ إِلاَّ اعْتَرَاکَ بَعْضُ آلِهَتِنَا بِسُوءٍ قَالَ إِنِّی أُشْهِدُ اللّهَ وَاشْهَدُواْ أَنِّی بَرِیءٌ مِّمَّا تُشْرِکُونَ}

"All we say is that some of our gods have visited you with evil.' He said, ' I call Allah to witness – and you too be [my] witnesses – that I repudiate what you take as [His] partners." (1)

A famous poem composed by an Arab poet in reprehending the tribe of "Bani Hanifah" during the era of paganism is a witness to this claim! When there was a year of famine the people of this tribe had to eat the idol that they had made with dates:

"The tribe of Bani Hanifah devoured their God in the year of famine and hardship,

Were they not afraid of the chastisement of their Lord?"(2)

The poem has ascribed the word Lord (ربّ) to the idols, and has warned the devourers of the idol against the detrimental consequences of their deed lest they get harmed by them. Another poem states:

"Is their lord the idol that the foxes urinate on? "(3)

Throughout the history of idolatry, ascription of the words "Lord" (ربّ) and "lords" (أربابّ) to the idols,

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testifies that they believed part of the superintendence of the affairs of universe was in the hands of the idols.

Thus when Joseph (Yusuf ‘as) wanted to invite the polytheistic prisoners towards Tawheed (monotheism), he said:

{یَا صَاحِبَیِ السِّجْنِ أَأَرْبَابٌ مُّتَفَرِّقُونَ خَیْرٌ أَمِ اللّهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ}

"O my prison mates! Are different masters better, or Allah, the One, the All-paramount?" (1)

Observe the word lords (أربابّ) in this verse, the plural of Lord (ربّ)]

The Messenger of Allah (s) according to explicit Verses of the Holy Quran addressed the polytheistic people of the Book:

{قُلْ یَا أَهْلَ الْکِتَابِ تَعَالَوْاْ إِلَی کَلِمَةٍ سَوَاءٍ بَیْنَنَا وَبَیْنَکُمْ أَلاَّ نَعْبُدَ إِلاَّ اللّهَ وَلاَ نُشْرِکَ بِهِ شَیْئًا وَلاَ یَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضاً {أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللّهِ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَقُولُواْ اشْهَدُواْ بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ}

"Say, 'O people of the Book! Come to a word common between us and you: that we will worship no one but Allah, that we will not ascribe any partner to Him, that we will

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not take each other as lords besides Allah.' But if they turn away, say, 'Be witnesses that we are Muslims’(1)."(2)

The use of the term lords(3) clearly demonstrates that they were also ensnared by polytheism on the issue of Allah's lordship. In another Verse from this Surah we read:

{وَلاَ یَأْمُرَکُمْ أَن تَتَّخِذُواْ الْمَلاَئِکَةَ وَالنَّبِیِّینَ أَرْبَابًا أَیَأْمُرُکُم بِالْکُفْرِ بَعْدَ إِذْ أَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ}

"And He would not command you to take the angels and prophets for lords. Would He call you to unfaith after you have become Muslims?" (4)

Regarding the idolators of the pagan era the Holy Quran states:

{وَاتَّخَذُوا مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ آلِهَةً لَعَلَّهُمْ یُنصَرُونَ}

"They have taken gods besides Allah [hoping] that they might be helped." (5)

Hence, they were ensnared by polytheism in its branch of Lordship and regarded the idols as surely effective in their fortunes.

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Abraham (‘as) initially referred to the moon, the sun and the stars and said, "This is my lord",(1)

until he saw the fallacy of their belief. His emphasis on lordship clearly shows that the idolators of Babylon, regarded the moon, the sun and the stars as governers of their lives. His statements in Namrood's presence express the same thoughts.

The conclusion is that Ilah does not only mean the worshipped diety, but at times it is used as creator and at times as lord. Thus, the polytheists were not only ensnared by polytheism in worship but also believed their idols to be creators and lords.

Considering the shallow perceptions the Wahhabis have of the Quranic Verses, particularly of the term "Ilah", can they determine whose blood is permissible and whose wealth they can plunder? Indeed, how worthless has become the life and the wealth of a Muslim!!

هُمْ فِیهِ یَخْتَلِفُونَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا یَهْدِی مَنْ هُوَ کَاذِبٌ کَفَّارٌ}

"Look! [Only] exclusive faith is worthy of Allah, and those who take guardians besides Him [claiming] 'We only worship them so that they may bring us near to Allah', Allah will indeed judge between them concerning that about which they differ. Indeed Allah does not guide someone who is a liar and an ingrate." (1)

The polytheists are being condemned for seeking intercession of their idols to whom they prostrated, prayed, and also worshipped.

When we go for pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Messenger of Allah (s) and appeal to him to be our intercessor both in this world and the hereafter, are we worshipping him? Do we fall to the ground and prostrate before him?

What has seeking intercession got to do with worship? Who ever is familiar with language and customary practice, knows that if somebody came to Prophet Isa (’as) and brought his blind child and said, ‘If you claim that you cure the blind by God's will, cure my child by God's will’, which part of this practice is worship?! This is a practice that the Holy Quran has regarded acceptable.

"Worship" as a term and as a customary practice refers to utmost humbleness before somebody, like prostration and

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genuflection (bowing in prayer), but requesting somebody has no connection with this matter.

Ragheb mentions in Mufradat:

"Servitude is expressing abjection and worship is superior to that because it is the utmost abjection".(1)

We read in Lisan al-Arab:

"The basis of servitude is humbleness and abjection." (2)

It is interesting that the leader of the Wahhabi creed has paid great attention to the sentence: "so that they may bring us near to Allah"(3), but has heedlessly gone past the beginning of the sentence "'we only worship them so that…"(4), so the problem lies with worshipping other than God, not with "requesting intercession for closeness to Allah" and that being an intercession by God's consent.

Indeed, when one enters a subject matter with incorrect pre-judgements, it sees only that which is in harmony with his intention, and he who opposes, at times never sees it and at times intentionally denies it and issues the verdict for the murder of millions of those Muslims who he decides are mushrik! Then he regards their blood, property and reputation as permissible!

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Islam, act upon all its teachings and rituals, abstain from all the sins, pay their alms(1)

and all their religious taxes carefully, perform the pilgrimage to the house of Allah from distant locations, memorize the Quran and are erudite in all the Islamic principles, are worse than the alcoholic murderers and ignorant savage idolaters who never believed in anything and were infected by all sorts of sins? How can anyone acknowledge this logic in today's world?!

Has Shaikh al-Islam made a new discovery in this matter that remained undiscovered for all the Islamic scholars throughout history except for him and his Excellency Ibn Taymieh?!

The reality is that the basis of the idea of intercession has been confirmed through many Quranic Verses, and according to the consensus of the Islamic scholars it is an accepted premise which even the Wahhabis do not repudiate but admit explicitly.

Another point is that the impracticality of intercession by intercessors without Allah's consent is also an accepted premise because it has been explicitly mentioned in more than five Quranic Verses; amongst which is Ayat al-kursi which reads thus:

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{...مَن ذا الَّذی یَشفَعُ عِندَهُ إلّا بِإذنِهِ...}

"Who is it that may intercede with Him except with His permission?" (1)

Unity of Divine Actions(2) states every action in the universe must occur by God's consent and no one is His partner in it, and if an intercession takes place, it is by His order and consent, and since He is All-wise, His order and consent takes place according to wisdom, and only to those does He bestow consent for intercession who have the competency for intercession, and have not burned the bridges behind them by means of contumacy.

Thus far, there is agreement in all matters, then where does the difference lie? The difference lies where the scholars of Islam state that requesting the Prophet (s) for that which Allah has bestowed upon him (i.e the status of intercession) is an admirable act and not only is it not against Tawheed but it verifies it, but the Wahhabis claim that if you seek his intercession you'll become an infidel and a polytheist and your blood and wealth will be admissible!!

Is intercession considered as void? No, because it is legitimate according to the concensus of all the scholars. Does the Prophet (s) lack the status of intercession? Everybody asserts that indeed he has that status. Then where does the problem lie? TheWahhabis state that he

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has the status of intercession but if you request him you'll be an infidel! They quote the Quranic Verse which states that the Arab polytheists claimed that they worshipped the idols so that they could become their intercessors before Allah, so your action is exactly like the act of the Arab polytheists. Is it?!

We assert that they worshipped the idols; we never worship the Prophet and his Household (s), and seeking intercession without worship is totally different.

They insist it is just what they say!

We state: The Quran itself instructs the sinful to go to the Prophet (s) and plead with him to ask for forgiveness of Allah so that Allah forgives them:

{وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَاؤُوکَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِیمًا}

"If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked Allah's forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful." (1)

And more indicating than that is once we read the story of Jacob (Ya'qoob ‘as) when the sons of Jacob

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after confessing their misconduct and offence towards Joseph (Yusuf ‘as), pleaded with their father (for intercession) to ask Allah for their forgiveness, they said:

{قَالُواْ یَا أَبَانَا اسْتَغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا إِنَّا کُنَّا خَاطِئِینَ* قَالَ

سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَکُمْ رَبِّی إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِیمُ}

"Father! Plead [with Allah] for forgiveness of our sins! We have indeed been erring.'

He said, 'I shall plead with my Lord to forgive you; indeed He is the All-forgiving, the All-merciful.'" (1)

Not only did Jacob (‘as) not negate this request which was the request for intercession with Allah, but he recieved it warmly. Does a Prophet of Allah invite his sons to polytheism and heresy?

Notice thoroughly that at this point the matters of polytheism and heresy are removed from the picture, and the issue of worthlessness has come about, and they state that if it was during their lifetime, it would not have been polytheism or heresy, but if it was after their demise, it’s a worthless act, and this is the indication of renouncement of all their previous allegations. We state that it is neither heresy nor is it worthless, as no Muslim allows himself to declare that the status of the Holy Prophet of Islam (s) was less than an ordinary martyr on the battlefields of Badr and Uhud, for, they are:

{...أَحْیَاءٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ یُرْزَقُونَ}

"Living and provided for, near their Lord"(1)

But the Prophet (s) becomes dust?(2) Which cruel person can say such a thing?! It appears that their mistake emerges from where the Quran tells the Prophet(s):

{إِنَّکَ لَا تُسْمِعُ الْمَوْتَی وَلَا تُسْمِعُ الصُّمَّ الدُّعَاءَ إِذَا وَلَّوْا مُدْبِرِینَ}

"Indeed you cannot make the dead hear, nor can you make the deaf hear the call when they turn their backs [upon you]."(3)

Whereas this Verse refers to the ordinary people not the Prophet (s) or the righteous and the pure.

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They must be asked then, why do you send regards to his Holiness (s) during the ritual prayer:"Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and God's mercy"(1). Do you send blessings and greetings to someone who (God forbid) does not percieve anything?

Do you have faith in the Verse:

{إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِکَتَهُ یُصَلُّونَ عَلَی النَّبِیِّ یَا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَیْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِیمًا}

"Indeed Allah and His angels bless the Prophet; O you who have faith! Invoke blessings on him and invoke Peace upon him in a worthy manner."(2)

God and those who have faith, who are you sending your blessings and mercies to? To someone who (God forbid) does not perceive anything?! Why have you signposted this Verse above the Sacred Sepulcher of His holiness (s)?

{...لَا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَکُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِیِّ وَلَا تَجْهَرُوا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ کَجَهْرِ بَعْضِکُمْ لِبَعْضٍ أَن تَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالُکُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَشْعُرُونَ}

"O, you who have faith! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet and do not speak aloud to him as you shout to

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one another, lest your works should fail without your being aware."(1)

Why don’t you allow anyone to raise his voice besides the Sacred Sepulcher of the Prophet(s)? If you believe that after the demise of the Holy Prophet he doesn’t apprehend anything (God forbid),(2) what do these contradictory actions and statements imply?!

relief from a debt or cure for an illness, or the like, has supplicated (invoked) the Prophet (s) or that saint, and supplication is considered as worship, in fact it is the core of worship. Such a person has worshipped other than God and has become an atheist, because "Tawheed" is not complete unless one deems God unique in divinity, in being the Creator and the Sustainer (provider), and refrains from considering any other being as the Creator or Sustainer, and does not worship other than Him. No one must perform some of the prayers for other than God."(1)

Such statements are precisely what are repeated in many of their books.

Their reference for the verdict that announces the infidelity of those who call upon other than God, is the above Quranic Verse which was mentioned in San'ani's words, and also other verses such as the following:

1.

{وَأَنَّ الْمَسَاجِدَ لِله فَلَا تَدْعُوا مَعَ الله أَحَدًا}

"The places of worship belong to Allah, so do not invoke anyone along with Allah."(2)

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2.

{لَهُ دَعْوَةُ الْحَقِّ وَالَّذِینَ یَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ لاَ یَسْتَجِیبُونَ لَهُم بِشَیْءٍ...}

"[Only] to Him belongs the true invocation; and those whom they invoke besides Him do not answer them in any way."(1)

3.

{إِنَّ الَّذِینَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ الله عِبَادٌ أَمْثَالُکُمْ...}

"Indeed those whom you invoke besides Allah are creaturs like you."(2)

They conclude from these verses, precisely what was mentioned in San'ani's declarations. According to them, no one has the right to even say: "O,Messenger of God, intercede for me before God", since he will then become an atheist and one whose blood can be shed. With this decree, they execute thousands and thousands of people and raid their wealth.

Now we return to the Holy Quran, and inquire about the meaning of the term supplication from the Quran, so it elucidates for us that supplication and calling upon other than God is at times heresy and at times faithfulness; but these people due to lack of knowledge or incorrect interpretations, have gone so far astray.

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Nevertheless, the term supplication has appeared with diverse meanings in the holy Quran:

1. Supplication inferring worship in verse 18 of surah(1) Al-Jinn:

{... فَلَا تَدْعُوا مَعَ الله أَحَدًا}

"So do not invoke anyone along with Allah."(2)

The phrase along with Allah(3) demonstrates that the holy verse commands men not to take anybody as God's partner nor worship other than Him.

The witness to this claim is Verse 20 of the same Surah (with one verse gap), which states:

{قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَدْعُو رَبِّی وَلَا أُشْرِکُ بِهِ أَحَدًا}

"Say, 'I pray only to my Lord, and I do not ascribe any partner to Him.'"(4)

Every Muslim is aware that supplication in this sense, is specific to God, and He takes no partners, and there is no scope for doubt and suspicion.

2. Supplication (دُعَاء) in the sense of summoning towards something, of the same kind to what is reported about Prophet Noah (‘as), where the Holy Quran states:

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{قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّی دَعَوْتُ قَوْمِی لَیْلًا وَنَهَارًا* فَلَمْ یَزِدْهُمْ دُعَائِی إِلَّا فِرَارًا}

"He said 'My Lord! Indeed I have summoned my people night and day * But my summons only increase their evasion." (1)

It is evident that these summons and calling of the people, are similar to inviting people to faithfulness, and such summons are identical to faithfulness and its execution was incumbent upon the Prophets of God.

And similarly, God states to the Prophet of Islam (s):

{ادْعُ إِلَی سَبِیلِ رَبِّکَ بِالْحِکْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ...}

"Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good advice."(2)

3. Supplication(3) in the sense of entreating for a need, for instance:

{وَلاَ یَأْبَ الشُّهَدَاءُ إِذَا مَا دُعُواْ}

"The witnesses must not refuse when they are called." (4)

Such calling and summons is done in ordinary affairs, and certainly whoever performs it wouldn’t become an infidel, but in fact he would be obeying Allah’s command.

Sometimes it is by means of the extraordinary, a miracle, which can be of two types:

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It can be accompanied by the belief in the independence of other-than-God in effectiveness, and it might be a plea to a great person to ask God for what we want.

The first type is a form of Shirk (polytheism), because independent in effect is only the pure entity of God; all the ordinary causes and effects get all they have from God and perform only by his consent.

Upon this ground, the Holy Quran states:

{ادْعُ إِلَی سَبِیلِ رَبِّکَ بِالْحِکْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ...}

"Say, 'Invoke those whom you claim [to be gods] besides Him. They have no power to remove your distress nor to bring about any change [in your state]."(1)

No conversant believer or faithful Muslim holds such a belief about anyone of the Prophets and God's saints.

As for the second type, it is Tawheed (monotheism or the belief in oneness) where one takes someone to be the intercessor and mediator to the divine threshold and deems God as the cause of all causes and conceives everything under His supremacy and authority, yet by resorting to God's saints, implores them to plead for them with God, and this is the exact Tawheed and belief in the Supreme Divine Providence.

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The Holy Quran states: The Children of Israel came to Moses and asked him to request God for miscellaneous foods (other than manna and quails):

{وَإِذْ قُلْتُمْ یَا مُوسَی لَن نَّصْبِرَ عَلَی طَعَامٍ وَاحِدٍ فَادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّکَ یُخْرِجْ لَنَا مِمَّا تُنبِتُ الأَرْضُ مِن بَقْلِهَا...}

"And when you said, O Moses, 'We will not put up with one kind of food. So invoke your Lord for us, that He may bring forth for us of that which the earth grows – its greens and its cucumbers,… ." (1)

Moses never complained about their addressing him! He didn’t turn around and say: ‘Why don’t you request God directly as this is blasphemy and polytheism’. On the contrary, he asked God for their request and it was responded to with, "you will indeed get what you ask for! (2)" Besides that, He told them that they had left the better food for inferior food.

few Verses and manipulated matters for their own good and then decreed the majority of Muslims as infidels and polytheists, and even more pitiful than that, they carried that out in practice, and executed a large majority of sincere Muslims and plundered their wealth.

Innovation

The sixth Quranic term, misinterpreted by this group of Wahhabis, is Bid'ah(1) (or innovation).

The Holy Quran, while denouncing and reprehending the issue of monasticism, states:

{...وَرَهْبَانِیَّةً ابْتَدَعُوهَا مَا کَتَبْنَاهَا عَلَیْهِمْ إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ رِضْوَانِ اللَّهِ فَمَا رَعَوْهَا حَقَّ رِعَایَتِهَا...}

"But as for monasticism, they innovated it – We had not prescribed it for them – only seeking Allah's pleasure. Yet they did not observe it with due observance."(2)

The Christians innovated a kind of monasticism and renunciation which was not assigned by God, even then they never adhered to it. The meaning of the Verse is that God had not instructed them to monasticism (but it was

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an innovation of their own). Allah had recommended Seeking the pleasure of Allah(1), which they never observed.

In any case, this Verse reproaches this kind of innovation, which, according to some historians, came into being only a few centuries after the Holy Messiah (‘as), due to some historic events that resulted in the defeat of the Christians. They were forced to flee to the mountains and deserts and take refuge in a life of isolation, and eventually monasticism took on a religious garb.

Initially the Anchorites (Christian monks) headed off for "monasteries". Thereafter, they were joined by the anchoresses and monasticism was established.

Amongst the traditions that fallaciously accompanied monasticism was the complete renunciation of marriage, which was against the basic nature of mankind and it became the basis for corrupting it.

Will Durant (1885-1981), the famous Western historian, has discussed the hermits, which is attention grabbing. He confesses that the joining of anchoresses (the monastic women) began from the fourth century and the achievements of monasticism reached their peak by the tenth century. (2)

Although the anchorites and anchoresses carried out many different social services, but the social and ethical corruption that arose within their ranks were rather embarrassing and he thinks it would be better to

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withdraw from their mention. This has also been pointed out in the books by Christian historians. Indeed, the result of innovations mostly goes astray.

Anyhow, in addition to the aforementioned Verse, there are many traditions in reproach of innovation cited in the Islamic sources. Among them is the famous Prophetic tradition; Every innovation is misguidance! (1), which has been mentioned in many books such as Musnad Ahmad(2),

Mustadrak al-Sahīhayn(3), Sunan al-Baihaqī(4), al-Mu'jam al-awsat Tabrānī(5) and Sunan ibn Majeh(6).

The extremist Wahhabis, on reading such traditions, without understanding the meaning of innovation, initially opposed any novel phenomenon, to the point of calling the bicycle the steed of Satan, and opposing the telephone. As they saw the world moving rapidly towards industrialization, they finally submitted to the industrial phenomena in the West. Not only did they submit to it, they got drowned in it, and today we find Saudi Arabia packed with different brands of the latest fashionable cars, modern ventilation devices, most eye-catching home furniture and even different sorts of supermarkets and Westerns meals, which everybody, adult and child, learned or ignorant use.

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Meanwhile, they have stopped opposing these innovations, and have focused on opposing innovations that, according to them, have a colour of religion. For instance, building tombs on graves, ceremonies to commemorate the birth of the Prophet (s) and religious saints, memorials for mourning the loss of martyrs and their like are condemned as innovations. Anyone who performs these functions is considered to be an innovator and deserves to be censured.

But it is important to know the meaning of innovation and in which case is it forbidden?

"Innovation" (Bid'ah) literally means any sort of good or bad addition to religion, and according to the scholars of jurisprudence, "admitting that which is not of religion into religion." (1) If we attach that which is not part of religion into religion, and regard that as a divine rule, we have committed innovation.

This is done in two ways: turning an obligatory act into a prohibited one or a prohibited act into an obligatory one, and turning a forbidden act into an admissible act or an admissible act into a forbidden one.

For instance, to say that usury is unavoidable in today's banking system, it is therefore accepted, or that the religious command to cover (Hijāb) is related to the past but today unveiling is permissible, are clear examples of innovation because they pay no respect to

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Divine commands and declare the forbidden permissible.

Sometimes we regard as part of religion that which is not mentioned in religious rulings or in the book and tradition; for instance, regarding cultural behaviour as part of religion like the funeral ceremonies for the dead on the third, seventh and fortieth day (after their demise), or considering the celebration and rejoicing on Islamic Eids as religiously obligatory.

the centres of Wahhabism and the Prophet’s (s) mosque are full of them.

Also the massive changes, which have taken place in Masjīd ul-Harām by no means resemble the time of the Holy Prophet (s), like building a second floor over the site of the Sa'i (ritual of running) between Safa and Marwa, and the new odd ammendments in Jamarāt, and the relocation of the places of slaughter to the outside of Mina and the like.

These innovations are there to ease difficult tasks and reduce problems and hazards and are not considered as special religious rulings nor regarded as Bid'ah (innovation in religious sense).

Arranging sessions for Quranic competitions and selecting the best reciters, memorizers and interpreters of the Holy Quran were not present at the time of the Holy Prophet (s); these are innovations that are thought to bring progress in religious aims and objectives, with no claim that they are part of religion. Similarly, respect for the dead is shown by holding their memorials in specific points in time. Besides these, organizing conferences, religious seminars and ceremonials for the elites of religion, celebrating birthdays of the leaders of religion and commemorating their martyrdom or demise. Such events serve the cause of Islam and Muslims, and help create awareness amongst Muslims.

These traditions arouse awareness and awakening among the youth, and attract towards Quranic and Islamic knowledge and religious affairs, and closing down such programs would cause great loss to Muslims.

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These are a series of traditions which nobody regards as commanded by God or His Messenger (s) while being performed. In other words including that which is not part of religion into religion without considering it divinely decreed. Therefore, it is wrong to call it Bid'ah on the premise that Every innovation is aberration(1), so it should be considered as misguidance.

3. There exists another type of innovation, as the forbidden innovation, which was refered to in the beginning: breaking the inviolable sanctuary(2) of religion and establishing a ruling against the rulings of religion or adding or deducting a ruling without there being a reason for it in religion.

But the extremist Wahhabis, due to their lack of knowledge regarding Islamic jurisprudence and the principles of jurisprudence,(3) (methodology of deriving law from Islamic sources) fail to differentiate between these three kinds of innovation, and for the slightest reasons they accuse their Muslim brothers of Bid'ah, as easily as they accuse them of polytheism.

We end this discourse with a saying from the prominent scholar and famous lecturer of Masjid ul-Harām, Yūsuf ben Alawī Mālekī,.

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Below is a summary of his account of Bid'ah in his book, The Concepts That Need To Be Corrected under the heading Good and Bad Innovations:

Some sordid ignorant and narrow-minded extremists, who gratuitously relate themselves to the righteous forebearers(1),

campaign against and reject every valuable invention on the premise that it is an innovation and every innovation is aberration, without making a distinction between correct innovation and heresy(2) or distinguishing between good and bad innovation.

This distinction is approved by common sense and the intellect, and the prominent scholars of Principles of Jurisprudence such as "Nawawi", "Suyouti", "Ibn Hajar" and "Ibn Hazm" have assented to this distinction.

When we put together the Prophetic tradtions which interpret one another, and revise them collectively, the same conclsuion is deduced.

Amongst these traditions is: Every innovation is aberration(3), which condemns those depraved innovations that come in under none of the principles of religion.

He adds: innovation in its literal sense (i.e the act or process of inventing or introducing something new), is not prohibited; that which is prohibited and considered as misguidance is the innovation in its religious sense like "

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Adding something to the ruling of religion and giving it a religious colour and appearance" on the premise that it is transmitted by an owner of religion, so it must be accepted and practiced.

But worldly innovations are by no means prohibited.

Therefore, dividing innovation into two branches; good and bad, is just literal. Actually, religious innovation is of only one type which is prohibited and if those opposing this division knew the meaning of the source of division, they would not oppose it and would recognize that the dispute is only terminological.

Indeed, among the worldy innovations, many valuable matters are found which must be pursued, while there are matters that are nothing but mischief and corruption. (Referring to some of the social dissipations) (1)

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authored many books on Islamic sciences. He was strictly against the extreme, fanatic Wahhabis and he eventually wrote the book "The Concepts That Need to be Rectified"(1) criticising their thoughts and beliefs.

He criticized the most important ideological foundations of this extremist group in a very scholarly and polite manner and relied commonly on the Quranic Verses and the Traditions of the Holy Prophet (s) narrated by the authentic sources of the Sunnis. He drew on books and sources, the authenticity of whose content, even the extremist Wahhabis were not able to deny.

He came on stage on the premise that there existed a series of concepts in the minds of this group that needed to be corrected because they declared Muslims to be infidels and made their lives and wealth permissible, and destroyed the unity of Muslims. Thanks to his endless efforts, he managed to deal with the matter very well.

This book is unique for certain reasons:

1) This book was republished ten times in a period of only ten years. In just one year this book was published four times and it aroused great interest among the people in most Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia!

2) A great number of prominent scholars of the Sunnah in Egypt,

Morocco, Sudan, Bahrain, Pakistan, the Emirates and other countries wrote approving reviews on this book praising his courage in presenting his thoughts in this book, of which 23 reviews covering 70 pages precede his

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manuscript. This reveals the consensus on its content, and even these reviews themselves make fascinating reading.

3) This book was published in "Dubai" and despite the harsh censorship that the fanatic Salafis imposed on the book market in the Saudi kingdom where they allowed no book criticising their ideas to enter this country, this book was openly being sold in the markets of Mecca from where we purchased it. This shows that the new class of Wahhabis do not support the thoughts of the fanatic Salafis, and regard it necessary to reconsider them.

It is hoped that this valuable book will help in unifying the Muslims and remove the grounds of dispute."(1)

2) Shaikh Ahmad Al-Ewadh, the head of the Assembly of Religious Decree in Sudan writes in his review:

"Fortunately, I was informed of the book written by the honorable intellectual Ben Alawī Mālekī Makkī Hasanī - the servant of knowledge in the Two Holy Shrines – titled The Concepts That Need to be Rectified.

This book speaks of rectifying the fallacious concepts that are related to three affairs:

"The first is the ideological debate where he proves through logical reasoning and justifications that the standards chosen for blasphemy and deviation by a group (of Wahhabis) are corrupt.

The second is the discourse related to the Holy Prophet of Islam (s) and the reality of prophethood.With firm reasons, he has proved the concept of acquiring blessings from the Prophet (s) as correct and its subsequent effects.

The third discussion is related to the intermediary world(2), and the legitimacy of the visit to the Shrine of the Prophet (s) and other related issues. This scholar

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has carefully and successfully rectified misleading thoughts." (1)

3) Abdul-Salām Jobrān, the head of the Regional Scientific Assembly in Morocco, alongwith the members of that Assembly, has jointly written a comprehensive review of this book. A section of that review is as follows:

"When this book was offered to the informed scholars, they all endorsed it and praised the author for fulfilling this obligation before God, the Holy Prophet (s) and the Islamic nation, it being the responsibility of all scholars… Thus the members of the Scientific Assembly of Morocco under the guardianship of the head of that Assembly, after being informed of the book, read it and announced their approval of the entire book, expressed their gratitude to the great author, and congratulated him for undertaking this vital task." (2)

Furthermore, in praising this book, sensational and moving verses were composed by great poets, of which we will touch upon only three couplets.

These three couplets are from the poem that Shaikh Muhammad Salem Adood, the former head of the High Judicial Court in Mauritania and a member of the

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Jurisprudential Assembly of the Islamic World Association(1) composed in Mecca:

Confusing, mistaken and ambiguous

Concepts are clarified by him for us

Deception, absurdity and falsehood take flight

When reasoning pure and evidence delight

How Alawi clears those concepts with ease

No great scholar has done for centuries(2)"(3)

"Many people (the fanatic Salafis), may Allah rectify them, have gone astray in understanding the principle which excommunicates somebody from Islam, to the extent that whoever disagrees with them, that is, almost all the Muslims on earth – except their small minority – are regarded by them as disbelievers!!"

He believes that the leader of this faith was not in favour of such extremism. He refers to the famous Prophetic tradition: Revilement of Muslims is debauchery and their killing is disbelief(1), and censures the vilification and prosecution of Muslims; gives sufficient reasons to clarify the borders between belief and disbelief, and, thenceforth, points out their faulty reasoning which has led to their mistaken concepts.

It is interesting to note that his tone against the Salafis is, at times harsh and, occasionally, furious at the contemptuous terminology used by them.

For instance, he quotes from their works:"At times people request things from the Prophets and other Saints that no one except Almighty is capable of giving, and this is Polytheism (and disbelief)."

In reply he asserts: "This saying results from inadequate knowledge and understanding of a practice that has existed among Muslims since the beginning. People entreated those gracious individuals to pray to God and ask for His Glory to resolve an irresolvable problem, and countless cases of these pleadings to the Prophets are seen in authentic Islamic traditions; such as, the

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treatment of cureless maladies, the falling of rain, the gushing of spring water from the fingers of the Prophet (s), the sufficiency in a small quantity of food to feed and satiate a large crowd, and similar cases."

At the end he suggests: "Do they understand the meaning of Tawheed (monotheism) and Kufr (disbelief) better than the Prophet(s)? This is something that no ignorant Muslim, let alone scholars, could dare to imagine." (1)

His tone is polite throughout, but his language is harsh against their anathemas, accusations of debauchery and insulting statements.

the Sunni orthodoxy so that there remains no room for any doubt, and then he names the companions that acquired blessings from the traces of the Messenger of God (s).

He wonders why despite all these manifest traditions and authentic evidence, a group with ears and eyes folded, denies this fact and condemns it as a type of ignorance and demagogy. (1)

In a simple, common sense, logical response, Ben Alawi tells them that these commemorations are conventional affairs, and nobody performs them as a religious ruling and, therefore, they have nothing to do with innovation and non-innovation. But they certainly involve crucial side-effects that shouldn’t be overlooked. The message of Islam at all costs should be conveyed to people in these glorious gatherings. He concludes: these gatherings are, in reality, very precious occasions, which must be guarded and taken advantage of in the best manner, and those who oppose them and strive for their elimination, are ignorant and narrow-minded. (1)

crowd of fanatics, in which the same old and coarse method of excommunication was employed and the decree for his infidelity was issued. (Books by the name "Discourse with Maleki" and "Refutation to Maleki on his Misguidance and Indecency")

Not only were these books condemned by readers but were regarded, by a collection of the scholars of Al-Azhar, as of service to the Zionists and an attack upon Islamic unity. Ben Alawi was still very much respected by the people of Saudi

Arabia, and tens of thousands of people participated in his funeral procession, and the Saudi leaders visited his house several times to condole with his family.

This popular response demonstrated the general opinion of the people against the extremist Wahhabis and their weapon of excommunication and anathemisation!

However, the chief justice of Mecca summoned him to court in Riyadh and pronounced him guilty. He defended his writings for a few hours and at last he said: This is my personal judgement. At most, you are a Muslim jurist and I too am a Muslim jurist and no jurist can impose his opinion on any other jurist. The court acquitted him!

great scholars. They demonstrate the following characteristics:

1) They respect other people's beliefs, don’t accuse Muslims of polytheism, blasphemy and forbidden innovation, and are weary of bloodshed.

2) They welcome dialogue and logical discourse among Islamic creeds and have ears for what other people say, and read other people's books.

3) They don’t consider forbidden the new positive maninfestations of contemporary lifestyle whilst there is no reason for their prohibition, and they do not object to commemorating the great saints of religion, nor confuse the religious with traditions.

4) They allow women, to receive education and take part in social constructive activities, provided they observe their Islamic covering and the standards of chastity.

5) They are ready to collaborate with the other Islamic sects and their hatred is focused on those who aim to obliterate Muslims. They will gradually displace the extremely coarse fanatic Salafis. The expansion of this group is evident in the scientific and cultural encounters during pilgrimage and its impact is noticed in the recently published books.

We believe that the elimination of that group and emergence of this, can help to sketch an appropriate image of Islam in the world, and reimburse this chaste faith which has been endangered by the dogmatic and aggressive beliefs of the past Salafis, and God willing,

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prepare the ground for entering Allah's religion in throngs(1), and set the stage for Islam to find its real place in the world.

The Muslims of the world welcome the emergence of such a crowd, and consider it as an important factor in stabilizing the pillars of Islamic brotherhood and unifying the Muslims against the enemies who are striving to emasculate and affront Muslims. The commentaries that a mass of Islamic scholars wrote on Alawi’s book, is another witness to this fact.

It is upon the Saudi leaders to promote this progress by opening their closed borders to Islamic books and the writings of other Muslim countries, prepare the grounds for dialogue between the Islamic creeds and encourage interaction between the scholars of these countries. This will be beneficial both for them and the Islamic world!

mentioned in Scripture and Tradition, such as "Creator of the Heavens and Earth", "Most Compassionate of the compassionate" and other similar attributes specific to Almighty God, should not be used for God's Saints as neither are they satisfied by this nor is this in accordance with Islamic teachings.

The insistence of some ignorant people on these matters has caused a group who are similar to the Extremist group in ignorance, to stand in opposition and declare that the Holy Prophet (s) (God forbid) is powerless to do anything after his demise, including intercession and prayer for the believers and even going to visit His (s)Tomb is forbidden innovation and so prohibited.

And this is what the Master of the faithful, Imam Ali (‘as) states: "Two kinds of people will be damned on my account: The friends who form exaggerated opinions about me and the malevolent enemies who under-estimate me" (1)

The Khavarej and the Nasebies set the grounds for the existence of the Extremists(2),

and the Extremists in turn promoted the Khavarej. It is the duty of the Islamic scholars to make every effort to guide the Extremists and on the other they should answer the sophistries of the hard-line Wahhabis. It is difficult to keep the solidarity of the less learned masses of people in such affairs, but even harder at times when some apparently learned ones

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stumble onto either side. "May Allah the Almighty keep us away from extremism and guide us towards the right path."

Wahhabis, he is not concerned with anything at all; he even neglects the many threats that intimidate him on behalf of the Extremist Wahhabis, as he calls them (1).

3. He is well-versed in Islamic faith and religious sources, and he is especially good at employing the terms used by the opposite side against them, and he has amusingly dedicated a part of his book to “the contradictions and inconsistencies in the statements of Muhammed bin Abdul-Wahhab”.

4. He believes that the Extremist Wahhabis who regard the life, wealth and reputation of the non-Wahhabi Muslims permissible, are ensnared by fanaticism and are a threat to Islam, Muslims and the region.

5. He has focused most of his criticism on the two books "Kashf-o-Shobahat"(2) and "Kitab-o-Tawheed"(3) by Muhammed bin Abdul-Wahhab, and he addresses the sources of many of his accounts to the book, "Al-Dorar-o-Seniyah"(4).

Al-Dorar-o-Seniyah is compiled by Abdul-Rahman bin Muhammed bin Qasim Al-Hanbali, who has compiled the set of books, articles and letters by Muhammed bin Abdul-Wahhab and a group of Wahhabi chiefs from the time of the Shaikh till today. He died in the year 1392 AH. Ben Baz, a famous Wahhabi Jurist who died recently, used it

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as a text book to teach from. This book of ten volumes is a very good source of information about Wahhabism.

6. The author of "A Missionary not a Prophet!" did not remain safe from the threats and pressures of the extremist Wahhabis and the verdict of his ex-communication has been issued, as done to Ben Alawi Maleki, and it is not clear what sort of destiny is awaiting him. However, he has done Islam a great favour through this book and proven that bloodshed and anathemisations are alien to Islam and are the result of mistaken interpretations of Islamic instructions.

7. He states in the introductory discussions to his book: "The truth is that I prepared this new reading of the books by Muhammad ben Abdulwahhab prior to September the eleventh, and after that event I was not very keen to publish it (as it might cause accusations against Muslims in the course of this event), but as I watched the extremist Wahhabis constantly holding seminars and conferences to acquit the leader of this creed, Sheikh Muhammad, and declare him innocent of any fault, I saw it necessary to unveil the truth so that they deal even-handedly with the matter and admit the mistakes made by the Sheikh in issuing verdicts of ex-communication. "(1)

8. He starts off by saying: Mohammad ben Abdulwahhab was a reformer not a prophet!

He then clarifies: ‘We are situated in the middle of two extremist groups; some regard him as an infidel,

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and others treat his sayings and speeches as prophetic phrases which no one can censure; both are mistaken.

9. In another part of his speech he says, "The Sheikh was not unique in speaking or summoning" he suggests: "Some followers of the Sheikh reckon him as unique in knowledge and erudition, and condemn all the Islamic countries who did not accept the call of Wahhabism as territories of infidelity and polytheism, and furthermore, reckon all the scholars in those countries to be ignorant individuals who know nothing of Islam!!" (1)

He then adds: "Unfortunately, I found the origins of ex-communicating Muslims and the basis for regarding their countries as the countries of infidelity and all their scholars as infidels, in the words of Sheikh himself, and I will shortly mention the sources for that."

He then asserts: "Certainly, the Sheikh and his adherents have not pursued the right path in this doctrine. Some of the mistakes that the Sheikh and a number of his followers committed, especially with regard to the ex-communication of Muslims, entrapped many admirers of knowledge – either due to extremism or imitation – and as a result many abrasive acts were recently carried out, (in different parts of the world) and a group, by exploiting the same reasoning used by the Sheikh created terrifying events (and embarked upon horrendous killings and still does so!)"

10. Mentioning the blunders of the Sheikh by any scholar in the Saudi kingdom inevitably resulted in indignity and

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disgrace. Thus criticising these beliefs became an imperative duty and made me enter this discussion.

It is obligatory for every scholar and every citizen in the country (of Saudi Arabia) to do what they can to liberate us from these aggressions and ex-communications, and abstain from promoting what will only harm our country and people in the long-term, although (some might think) it might have short-term benefits. We must cleanse our country and our religion from the filth of oppressive ex-communication and the shedding of innocent blood.

At this moment in time, there is not one day that we don’t receive atrocious news of horrendous aggressions committed in Iraq. Every day tens, and at times, even hundreds of people are hunted down through car bombings, and in most cases you notice suicidal motives behind these operations which reveals that it is the job of those who regard themselves as Muslims and the rest as infidels whose life and wealth are permissible to them.

This is the end product of the teachings of the school of the Sheikh who migrated from the Hejaz to Jordan and from there to Iraq. In his footnotes at some stage in this chapter the author proposes that the Westerners, especially the Americans, through destructive political, martial and economic policies and multi –lateral aids to the tyrant Israel, have been the originators of these oppressions. In another section of his sayings he goes on to explain where this unruly ex-communication, which is causing chaos, even inside Saudi Arabia, has originated from?! And finally he arrives at the conclusion that the teachings of the Sheikh and his school of thought are the main causes of these aggressions.

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All that violence; ranging from the aggressions by the Ikhwan group in the Najd region and thereafter in the sacred city of Mecca, to other aggressive operations and bombings elsewhere in different regions of Saudi Arabia, are the products of the Sheikh's teachings.

He then adds: "Since those who created these aggressions and bombings, are not foreigners who have migrated to the Hejaz from other countries, if we claim they have all received aspirations from the Sheikh's culture and teachings, we are not far from the truth, and if one refers to their statements one would surely confess to this fact."

And finally in the fifth chapter he criticizing the ideas of those opposing the Sheikh and separates the extremists from the moderates and aligns himself with the moderates.

And amazingly he states at the end: "The summary of the discussions is that the Sheikh has gone the wrong way on the issue of ex-communication. Confessing this matter, in the face of the reasons that we possess, is an easy task for the fair-minded. Neither is Islam destroyed by this confession nor does the sun rise from the West, (its just that a fallible human commited a mistake)." (1)

This criticism will certainly purify this creed from the horrendous and inhuman aggressions they have been committing in the name of Islam. The least that will happen is that it will settle the moderate Wahhbis in place of the extremist Wahhabis.

writing this book, but what should I do when everybody kept quiet’.

disbelievers and are even worse than the polytheists of the era of paganism. (1)

Ibn Farhan is astounded that the opposers of exaggeration, are themselves given to unbelievable exaggeration about Sheikh Mohammad ben Abdulwahhab by regarding him pure from making any mistake, calling him "the patriarch of existence", (2) a term that they don’t even allow to be used for the Holy Prophet (s).

And in the last critique (the thirty-third critique), he addresses the Sheikh and states that on page 70 of his book, the only exception that he has made on the issue of blasphemy (or ex-communication) is of those who are "reluctant" (unwilling), meaning those who are forced to make a blasphemous statement. He has then referred to the Qur'anic verse "Except he who was compelled". Ibn Farhan mentions another party mentioned in the Quran, who rose in denial of some religious matters (while they believed in the fundamentals of Islam), due to unawareness and ignorance, or as a result of incorrect understanding of the Qu'anic verses and narrated traditions. Those people, according to the Quran and traditions, are excused and are not considered as disbelievers.

He then concludes: ‘One of the shortcomings of the Sheikh's methodology lies in his procedure of taking hold of one Qur'anic verse or a single tradition and

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leaving aside the rest of the verses and traditions, and this is a very grave mistake.'

while Ibn Taymiah, with all his exaggerations and hostilities towards the Shia regards them as Mulsims (even though he considers Shias as the people of forbidden innovations), but says explicitly that they are not infidels (disbelievrs).’ (1)

The author then suggests: ‘It was only after these inhuman and un-Islamic fatwas that the killing of the Shia, who were the ones who actually laid the foundations for the most developed doctrine of Tawheed (monotheism) in Islam, began and continues to this day.

2. The Sheikh states: ‘Whoever curses a companion of the Holy Prophet (whoever it may be) is an infidel! (2)

Ibn Farhan Maleki states clearly, ‘Mo`awiyah according to the explicit text of Sahih Muslim(3) commanded his people to curse Imam Ali (‘as) (and for decades, from the pulpits, speakers cursed Imam Ali (‘as). In spite of this, did the Shaikh call Mo'awiyah an infidel? (4)

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This Maleki Sunni scholar states: ‘It has been seen that Sheikh Mohammad, defends himself thus: "The enemies claim that I ex-communicate individuals upon suspicion, I regard ignorant individuals who haven’t been provided with proof as infidels. This is a great calumny. They intend to break up people from the religion of God and His Messenger." (1)

Ibn Farhan states: ‘This very claim by the Sheikh is an implicit ex-communication in relation to those who have not embraced Wahhabism, since he means that the religion of God and His Messenger, that they intend to distance the people from, is the creed of Wahhabism. Therefore, those opposing Wahhabism, disbelieve the religion of God and His Messenger.’ (2)

3) If he finds the power and ability he will demolish the Tomb and the Holy Shrine of the Prophet (s)! (And akin to the shrines of the Imams of the household and other dignitaries in Baqee, he will level it to the ground.)

4) He regards the visit to the sepulchre of the Prophet (s) as forbidden!

5) He regards everybody as infidels, except those who follow him!

He has denied many other statements similar to these, while they are either found explicitly in his books or heard in his speeches, and this amazing contradiction surprises anyone who goes through his work with an open mind.

1) Stating blatantly that all the people of Mecca and Medina are infidels (who at that time had not embraced the creed of Wahhabism). (1)

2) Whoever has accepted the call of Mohammad Ibn Abdulwahhab but still believes that his father passed away as a Muslim, is an infidel! He must be forced to repent. Whoever refuses to repent, must be beheaded! His wealth will be confiscated by the Islamic government's state treasury! If he has performed Hajj (pilgrimage) prior to this he must repeat his Hajj, since it was before accepting Wahhabism and he was then still a polytheist, (2)

3) The entire Ottoman Empire was infidel, and whoever did not consider that government as infidel was an infidel. (3)

4) The Ash'aries were infidels as they were unaware of the meaning of the two testimonies;(4) the Mu'tazelies were also infidels. (5)

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5) The withholder of alms (compulsory purifying tax) was an infidel. (1)

6) Those who employed non-Muslims in their offices and homes, those who neglected many religious obligations and performed many of the religious prohibitions, knew nothing of the two testimonies except for its pronunciation, were all infidels and apostates! (2)

Hasan Ibn Farhan after mentioning the twenty seven errors that the students of the Sheikh and his followers had made in ex-communicating the Muslims, continues to say: "After all this overindulgence in the matter of ex-communication whose like you wouldn’t find anywhere, a group of the Wahhabi scholars pointed their aggressive ex-communicative attacks towards Sayid Qutb, Mawduodi, Ikhwan ul-Muslimeen and Hizb ul-Tahrir. It is true that they were afflicted by immoderation in the political field, but their immoderation did not by any means reach the immoderation of Wahhabis in all aspects, be it political, theological, jurisprudential, cultural or social; fairness is indeed lacking here." (3)

He then adds: "Thinking about the previous statements, is there anything left of the so called 'holy struggle' programme (and the attack against Muslims) that the Wahhabis have forgotten to mention?" (4)

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And at the end of this discussion he points out that after Mohammad Ibn Abdulwahhab the surge of ex-communication overtook the Wahhabis themselves, where by some ex-communicated others and captured their women! He then mentions several of these incidents with reference to the book Al-Dorar ul-Sonniyah.(1)

He ends this chapter on a hopeful note and states: ‘The son of the founder of the Wahhabi creed, Abdullah Ibn Mohammad, moved to Egypt after the collapse of "Darieyah" (a town in the Hejaz), and was transferred from that closed fanatical environment to a more open environment where he attained some new awareness, resorted to the school of moderation, denied the decree of ex-communicating different groups of Muslims due to religious innovations that his father believed in, and declared that no one could be ex-communicated unless he or she denied one of the necessities of religion or acted upon a deed which according to Muslim consensus is a cause for ex-communication. (2) (3)

must only be admitted as their fallacy (especially regarding their ex-communications).

In this chapter, he names twenty two people among the Sunni scholars most of whom were from Najd and Mecca, and some of the scholars of Damascus, Iraq, Tunis and Morocco, who all stood against the Sheikh, and some even wrote books denying the sayings of Mohammad ibn Abdulwahhab. (1) By doing so, he shows that most of his opposition rose from his own region or were his own relatives!

Thereafter, he quotes from the famous author of the book "Da'wa al-munawe'in" (دعوی المناوئین), Sheikh Ahmed Zaini Dahlan, that: "The Wahhabis regard no one as monotheist, except he who follows every single word of their sayings!" (1)

He quotes another famous scholar, Zahawi, who said if somebody asked him what the Wahhabi creed was and what its objective was, he would say in reply to both questions: "Ruling all Muslims in the world as infidels! This short answer is sufficient for these kinds of questions."

Hasan Ibn Farhan tries to acquit Sheikh of the other three accusations. However, the first accusation which he has accepted is not at all a minor accusation, considering the fact that the holy Quran strictly prohibits accusing other Muslims of infidelity including those who only pretend to be Muslims:

"Do not say to someone who offers you peace 'you are not a believer' so as to attain the worldly life's enjoyable accessories [and to take possession of his property]."(2)

Considering the explicitness of this Holy Verse, is there any room left for ex-communicating Muslims?!

The Almighty states in another place:

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"Should anyone kill a believer intentionally, his requital shall be hell to remain in it [forever]; Allah shall be wrathful at him and curse him and He shall prepare for him a great punishment."(1)

This verse sends a shiver down the spine of any true believer; intimidated by the fire of hell, and it being an eternal punishment combined with Divine wrath and vengeance, is a description that has not been mentioned for any of the great sins – except for homicide.

Describing the Divine punishment as eternal – in view of the point that this great punishment is specifically for dis-believers – shows that the killers of Muslims will definitely die faithless, and their eternal stay in hell is certain.

Now think of the status of those who murdered, on baseless excuses, the believers who established prayer and fasted and performed all the Islamic rituals, then captured their women and plundered their belongings. Not one person, but hundreds or even thousands of people including men, women, infants, old and young were devastated. And they call it the religion of Islam and the Mohammadi Tawheed and consider themselves to be the rescuers! "We seek refuge in Allah." Whereas they are the referent of this Holy Verse:

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"And Satan has made their deeds seem decorous to them thus he has barred them from the way [of Allah], so they are not guided." (1)

Fortunately, many of the followers of this creed have recently noticed their mistake and now regard the ex-communication of Muslims as a great sin, even if they are according to them, the people of innovation. Hopefully, this will cleanse Islam of aggression and terror.

At the end – for a hopeful ending – we will go over a very important declaration which was recently written and published by a group of scholars, jurists and traditionists of Saudi Arabia: This declaration was published in numerous newspapers, but we quote it from the book "معجم طبقات المتکلمین" (The glossary of the rankings of theologians).

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for the servants of God and fulfilment of duty, in order to eliminate any misunderstanding of Islamic concepts.

On this basis the following points are mentioned and success from Allah in their fulfilments is pleaded:

1) Ex-communication (regarding one as an infidel [Kafer]) is a religious ruling which requires certain criteria to be appointed by God and His messenger, just as the permissible, the prohibited and the compulsory rulings must be set by Allah. Moreover, ex-communication and the sayings and deeds which are sometimes considered as blasphemy (Kufr) are not equivalent to the greater blasphemy which will cause expulsion from the religion of Islam.

Therefore – since the ruling to ex-communication must be on behalf of Allah and His messenger – it is not permitted to ex-communicate someone unless a clear proof from the book and tradition witness his blasphemy, hence, suspicion and presumption is never sufficient, because very heavy rulings will be laid on this judgement. While we believe that according to the principle that asserts "legal punishments are repudiated through doubts" we must not act without certainty, in the case of "ex-communication", due to the significant impact that it incorporates, it is even more important than the fixed penalties and thus the Holy Prophet (s) forewarned everybody of ex-communicating someone who is not really an infidel, and stated:

"If somebody addresses his Muslim brother as: O Kafir! (Infidel) and is speaking the truth, the opposite side will be ensnared in divine retribution, but if he is lying this will return to him."

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At times certain phrases are seen in the Book and traditions which reveal that a certain word or deed or belief will result in blasphemy, while there are certain obstacles which prevent this ruling. This is similar to the other rulings which are not ascertained without the assemblage of all legal causes and conditions and the elimination of the obstructions. For instance, heritage is one of the divine rulings which comes with kinship but at times certain obstacles prevent this ruling to materialize, like disparity in religion. Also, there are instances when somebody is forced to utter blasphemous statements but it does not make him an infidel (as he has been compelled); at times one might utter a blasphemous statement in a state of excessive joy or anger (when one is not in control of his emotions) and it would not lead to his infidelity. This is much the same as the famous story where somebody said in a state of extreme bliss: "Oh God! You are my servant and I am your Lord!"

Significant and threatening consequences proceed from haste in ex-communication, amongst which are declaring a person's life and property as permitted for offence, preventing his inheritance and declaring his separation from his wife, which are amongst the consequences of apostasy. How can a Muslim be allowed to accuse another Muslim without being absolutely certain and not having the smallest of doubts (and take the responsibility for all these?)

Hastiness in excommunication has great dangers, since Almighty God states:

"Say [O, Messenger] The things that My Creator and Nurturer has forbidden are: Shameful deeds whether

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committed openly or secretly: and sins and unjust Rebellion and considering partners for Allah for which Allah has not sent down any authority; and saying things about Allah of which you have no knowledge." (1)

According to this Holy Verse any kind of indecent act, aggression, polytheism and undeserved accusations and baseless statements about God are considered as forbidden.

2) The outcome of this false ideology (accusing Muslims of polytheism), that is regarding lives as permitted for offence, dishonouring and disgracing other people and plundering their properties, and exploding buildings, vehicles, business and trade centres, according to the consensus of all Muslims are forbidden and sinful acts, as they will lead to the dishonouring of lives and possessions and will destroy the peace and security of the people who make journeys every day morning till evening from their houses to their work places. These dreadful deeds will also dismantle the public interests of society without which life will become unbearable.

Islam has honoured the properties, belongings and lives of Muslims and allows no one to trespass their inviolable sanctuary, and among the last issues that the Holy Prophet (s) announced to all Muslims in his farewell pilgrimage was that he stated: "Your lives, property and belongings must be honoured by all of you, just as you honour this

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month (prohibited month) and this Holy Land (Mecca). He then repeated: Oh Lord! Be witness that I said (that which I had to say)!"

This tradition is approved unanimously by the narrators.

And he stated further: "A Muslim is prohibited to dispossess another Muslim of his belongings; his life, property, women, and reputation". He also said: "Refrain from injustice since an unjust person wil be alone in darkness on Judgement day."

Moreover the glorified Lord has threatened those who shed the blood of the innocent, with the severest punishment:

"Should anyone kill a believer intentionally, his requital shall be hell, to remain in it [for ever]; Allah shall be wrathful at him and curse him and He shall prepare for him a great punishment." (1)

And also with regards to the inadvertent killing of a non-believer who lives under the refuge of Muslims, he said: "Must pay blood money and award compensations to his family." (2)

In view of all these, what would be the ruling for his deliberate killing? For sure this crime would be greater and its punishment more severe.

In an authentic tradition from the Holy Prophet (s), it has been mentioned that he who kills a non-Muslim who is in treaty with the Muslims will never smell the scent of heaven!

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3) This council announces to all the people of the globe that Islam repudiates these sorts of invalid beliefs and regards all that is being carried out presently in some countries, like the killings of the innocent, exploding of houses and vehicles, city centres and private property and destruction of work places, as a heinous crime.

Similarly, every Muslim who believes in God and the day of judgement is weary of these acts. These acts are performed by those whose thoughts have deviated and gone astray, so the blame for these crimes falls solely on them and should not be aligned with Islam nor the Muslims who are guided by Islam and adhere to the Holy Quran and the traditions.

These are obscene acts of corruption and ruthless homicide which are not accepted by Islamic divine law and basic human nature.

Thus the Islamic traditions have strictly prohibited these actions, and have forbidden companionship with these kinds of people….

This statement ends with several verses and traditions that demonstrate Islam as the religion of love, friendship, cooperation in goodness and virtue, logical faith and wise dialogue, the religion of abstinence from any sort of violence and aggression.(1)

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1) wealth and reputation because this act might lead to the infidelity of its doer.

2) This statement improved the detestable and aggressive picture that this group had sketched of Islam to the world and demonstrated that the real Muslims were weary of these actions, especially since those acts granted a very good excuse to the lords of the church and the Zionists, to introduce this ugly sketch as the real face of Islam and frighten the world by it. We seek refuge in God from the detriment of the ignorant, and pray that God guides everyone towards the straight path and relieves them from the traps of Satan.

and other parts of the world. Those aggressions that defame the glorious religion of Islam, which is for sure the future faith of the whole world, and offers the best means of propaganda to the enemies of Islam, and ruins all the efforts that the Islamic thinkers, missionaries and informed Islamic writers have carried out in the way of propogating Islam. Condemn all that injustice and regard it as an example of the extinction of a race and generation(1) which is mentioned in the Quran.

3) To make way for friendly and logical dialogues on the basis of mutual respect without affront (disrespect) and accusations of polytheism and ignorance, with the other Islamic scholars and accept that which they find true according to this verse "those who listen to the word [of Allah] and follow the best [sense] of it".

4) To open their ideological and geographical borders to the scientific and logical books of the Islamic creeds and to feel no danger for themselves in doing so, and to exchange students and learners with the seminaries of other Islamic countries.

5) To remove the walls of distrust, suspicion and bad intention between themselves and other Muslims and to be in touch and visit each

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other's seminaries and be prepared to participate in the conferences on different Islamic matters in any part of the Islamic world.

6) To warn their friends against considering their exegesis of divine law on the major and minor matters as the reality of Islam and regard other than that as blasphemy, wrong-doing and forbidden innovation, and to hear the message of the Holy Verse that states: "We do not grant you knowledge, except a little."

Whenever these six principles are put into practice it is hoped that unity amongst the ranks of Muslims will prevail and the reaching out for Allah's cord will be desired and Islam’s objective to "prevail over all religions" will be accomplished.

In the hope of such a day… with Allah as the helper INSHAALLAH.

Muharram ul-Haram 1426

Nasir Makarim Shirazi.

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