The Twenty-Third Spurious Argument:
THE ORIGIN OF SHIISM
Some people fabricate lies against the Shias claiming that Shiism is a new doctrine and that it was originated by the influence of the Persian Magi and the Jews.
THE ANSWER
Neither the following of Imam Ali nor is Shiism a new thing. In the Prophetic traditions mentioned in the books of our Sunni brothers, Imam Ali's followers were called the Shia of Ali.
We have mentioned enough traditions in our book Mawsu'atul-Mahaasin wa al-Masaawi' fil-Islam-Encyclopaedia of Merits and Offences in Islam.
Ibn Hajar said in his book as-Sawa'iq ul-Muhriqa p. 96 -Egyptian edition-, that ad-Daylami mentioned a tradition saying that the Prophet (s) said,
"O Ali, Allah has forgiven you, your progeny, your wives and your Shia (followers). Be delighted…"
The same hadith has been mentioned by ibnul-Maghazili in his book al-Manaqib, al-Hamawini in Fara'id us-Samtayn, al-Manaawi in Kunuz ul-Haqaayiq p. 202, al-Qanduzi in Yanabi' ul Mawaddah p. 270, Abu Bakr bin Shihab in Rashfat us-Sadi p. 81, -Egyptian edition- and others.
Furthermore, ad-Daylami recorded that the Prophet (s) said,
"O Ali, you and your Shia will come to me at the Pond in Paradise quenched with shining faces, while your enemies will come to me thirsty and necks thrust forth."
This very tradition has been mentioned by al-Manaawi in Kunuz ul-Haqaayiq p. 203, -Bolaq edition-, by al-Qanduzi al-Hanafi in Yanaabi' ul Mawaddah p. 182, -Egyptian edition-, and Muhammad Saalih at-Tirmidhi in al-Manaaqib ul-Murtazawiyya p. 101, -Bombay Edition-.
Ad-Daylami mentioned in his book Firdous ul-Akhbar that Umm Salama (the Prophet's wife) said that the Prophet (s) had said:
"Ali and his Shia -followers- are the winners on the Day of Resurrection."
The same was also mentioned by al-Manaawi in Kunuz ul-Haqa'iq p. 98, and al-Qanduzi in Yanabi' ul Mawaddah p. 188 and 237, -Istanbul Edition-.
Sabt bin al-Jawzi has mentioned in his book Tadhkirat ul-Khawaas p. 59, a tradition narrated by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri that the Prophet (s) looked at Ali bin Abu Talib and said:
"This Man and his Shia are the winners on the Day of Resurrection."
Al-Khatib al-Khawarizmi mentioned in al-Manaaqib p. 178 that the Master of Narrators, Abu Mansur Shahrdar bin Shirwayh bin Shahrdar told him in his letter from Hamadan that Abul-Fat'h Abdus bin Abdullah bin Abdus al-Hamadani told him that Sharif Abu Talib al-Mufazzal bin Muhammad bin Tahir al-Ja'fari (may Allah be pleased with him) in his house in Isfahan, Sikkatul-Khawr that Sheikh Abu Bakr Ahmad bin Musa bin Mardwayh bin Fawrak al-Isfahani told him that Ahmad bin Muhammad bin as-Sariy told him that al-Munthir bin Muhammad bin al-Munthir told him that his father told him that his uncle al-Husayn bin Sa'd told him that his father told him that Isma'il bin Ziyad al-Bazzaz told him that Ibrahim bin Muhajir told him that Yazid bin Shurahil al-Ansari, Imam Ali's clerk, told him that he had heard Imam Ali (a) saying,
The Prophet (s) said to me while he was leaning on my chest, O Ali, you have heard Allah's saying: Those who believe and do good; they are surely the best of men. (98:7)
They are you and your Shia. My rendezvous and yours will be at the Pond when the nations gather for the Judgement and you (and your Shias) will come with honor and radiant."
This tradition was also mentioned by as-Suyuti in his ad-Durr ul-Manthur vol. 6 p. 379 -Egyptian edition-.
Al-Khatib ul-Baghdadi mentioned in his Muwazzih Awham uj-Jam' wa at-Tafriq vol. 1 p. 43;
Heidarabad, that Abul-Hasan Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahid bin Muhammad bin Ja'far told him that Ali bin Umar ad-Darqutni told them that Abul-Hasan Ali bin Muhammad bin Ubayd told them that Ahmad bin Hazim told them that Sahl bin Aamir told them that Fuzeil bin Marzuq heard from Abul Jihaf, from Muhammad bin Amr bin al-Hasan, from Zaynab, from Fatima the daughter of the Prophet (as) that the Prophet said to Ali,
"O Abul-Hasan (Ali), you and your Shia will be in Paradise." Al-Haythami mentioned in his book Majma'uz-Zawa'id vol. 10 p. 21 -Egyptian edition-, that Umm Salama said: "When the Prophet (s) was in my house one night, Fatima and Ali sat with him. He raised his head towards them and said,
"O Ali, be delighted. You and your Shia will be in Paradise."
He also mentioned, in vol. 9 p. 173, a tradition narrated by Abu Hurayra that the Prophet (s) said to Ali, 'You and your Shia are with me in Paradise."
The same was mentioned by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi in his The History of Baghdad vol. 12 p. 289 -Egyptian edition-.
Ibnul-Maghazili ash-Shafie has mentioned, in al-Manaqib p. 293 tradition No. 335, that the judge Abu Ja'far Muhammad bin Isma'il al-Alawi told them that Abu Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Ithman al-Muzani, who was called ibnus-Saqqa' told them that Abu Abdullah Ahmad bin Ali al-Razi told them that Ali bin al-Hasan bin Ubayd ar-Razi told them that Isma'il bin Ibban al-Azdi told them that he heard a tradition narrated by Amr bin Hurayth, from Dawud bin Sulayk, from Anas bin Malik that the Prophet (s) had said,
"Seventy thousand from among my umma will enter Paradise without there being any reckoning." Then he looked at Ali and said: "They are from your Shia and you are their Imam."
This hadith was mentioned by al-Khawarizmi in his al-Manaqib p. 229, ibn Hasnawayh al-Musily in Durr Bahr il-Manaqib p. 119, and al-Qanduzi in Yanabi' ul Mawaddah p. 124.
Besides, these traditions are the historical facts that the Sunni books and history have certified. They have demonstrated that Shiism originated just after the Prophet's death when some people exploited the situation when Imam Ali and the Prophet's family were occupied with the Prophet's funeral preparations. In spite of the fact that the Prophet had recommended Ali to be his successor and that they had paid homage to Ali in Ghadir Khum, they arranged to give their allegiance to Abu Bakr as caliph after the Prophet (s). This prompted Imam Ali and his followers to protest and refuse to pay homage to Abu Bakr. This led Umar to attack the house of Fatima, the
Prophet's Daughter, and set it on fire. Other accidents happened after that. Since then, those who had supported Imam Ali (a) came to be known as the Shia of Ali (followers) and their doctrine came to be known as Shiism. There were no Jews or Magi among them. The ruling authorities persecuted them whereas Jews and Christians were best liked by the State. It was allowed for Ka'bul-Ahbar (previously a Jew) and the like to sit in the Prophet's Mosque and to talk to Muslims about Jewish ideas. The ruling authorities allowed storytellers to sit in the mosques and tell Jewish, Christian, and pre-Islamic stories, and they encouraged poets to recite poems about love, wine, praise and satire. At the same time, the ruling authorities prevented the Prophet's family and others to publicize the Prophetic traditions, giving the excuse that they might be mixed with Qur'anic verses!
Finally, we do not have save Allah to judge.
