"By quoting and criticizing these books, we aim at warning and awakening the Islamic "ummah" (to the fact) that these books create the greatest danger for the Islamic community, they destabilize the Islamic unity and scatter the Muslim lines. In fact nothing can disrupt the ranks of the Muslims, destroy their unity, and tear their Islamic fraternity more severely than these books."
Allamah Amini, in the preface to volume 5, under title of "Nazariyah Karimah" (the respected theory) on the occasion of a plaque of honor forwarded fromEgypt for "al-Ghadir", clearly sets forth his view on this issue and leaves no room for any doubt. He remarks:
"People are free to express views and ideas on religion. These (views and ideas) will never tear apart the bond of Islamic brotherhood to which the holy Qur"an has referred by stating that "surely the believers are brethren"; even though academic discussion and theological and religious debates reach a peak. This has been the style of the predecessors, and of the "sahaba" and the "tabi"un", at the head of them.
"Notwithstanding all the differences that we have in the primary and secondary principles, we, the compilers and writers in nooks and corners of the world of Islam, share a common point and that is belief in the Almighty and His Prophet. A single spirit and one (form of) sentiment exists in all our bodies, and that is the spirit of Islam and the term "ikhlas"."
"We, the Muslim compilers, all live under the banner of truth and carry out our duties under the guidance of the Qur"an and the Prophetic Mission of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). The message of all of us is"Surely the (true) religion with Allah is Islam ... (3,18)" and the slogan of all of us is "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger." Indeed, we are (the members of) the party of Allah and the supporters of his religion. In the preface to volume 8, under the title of "al-Ghadir Yowahhad al-Sufuf fil-Mila al-Islami", "Allamah Amini directly makes researches into the role of "Al-Ghadir" in (the establishment of) Islamic unity. In this discussion, this great scholar categorically rejects the accusations leveled by those who said: "Al-Ghadir" causes greater discord among the Muslims. He proves that, on the contrary, "Al-Ghadir" removes many misunderstandings and brings the Muslims closer to one another. Then he brings evidence by mentioning the confessions of the non-Shi"ite Islamic scholars. At the close, he quotes the letter of Shaykh Muhammad Sa"eed Dahduh written in this connection.
To avoid prolongation of this article, we will not quote and translate the entire statements of Allamah Amini in explaining the positive role of "al-Ghadir" in (establishing) Islamic unity, since what has already been mentioned sufficiently proves this fact.
The positive role of "al-Ghadir" is established by the facts that it firstly clarifies the proven logic of the Shi"ahs and proves that the inclination of Muslims to Shi"ism - notwithstanding the poisonous publicity of some people - is not due to political, ethnic, or other trends and considerations. It also verifies that a powerful logic based on the Qur"an and the "sunnah" has given rise to this tendency. Secondly, it reflects that some accusations leveled on Shi"ism - which have made other Muslims distanced from the Shi"ah- are totally baseless and false. Examples of these accusations are the notion that the Shi"ites prefer the non-Muslims to the non- Shi"i Muslims, rejoice at the defeat of non-Shi"ite Muslims at the hands of non-Muslims, and other accusations such as the idea that instead of going to hajj pilgrimage, the Shi"ahs go on pilgrimage to shrines of the Imams, or have particular rites in prayers and in temporary marriage. Thirdly, it introduces to the world of Islam the eminent Commander of the faithful "Ali (pbuh)who is the most oppressed and the least praised grand Islamic personality and who could be the leader of all Muslims, as well as his pure offspring.
Translated by Mojgan Jalali
