8. Misinterpreting the origin of the Shī‘ah school of thought 7. Misinterpreting the reality of the Shī‘ah identity 6. Misinterpreting the reality of the Imamate in the Shī‘ah doctrine 5. Misinterpreting the reality of the Shī‘ah sources 4. Misinterpreting some Shī‘ah expressions 3. Misinterpreting the reality of the aims of the Shī‘ah’s school of thought 2. Misinterpreting the reality of the sharī‘ah and reli-gious injunctions in the Shī‘ahs’ doctrine 1. Misinterpreting the reality of divinity and Prophesy in the Shī‘ahs’ doctrine Negative consequences of the problem of mingling among the Wahhābīs
The above picture shows that these 8 errors are the end result of the very five causes and that this sedition can have dire consequences.
Before proceeding with the factors that have helped in the emergence and expansion of the Wahhābīs’ problem of mingling the Shī‘ism with Extremism, we should mention a few points.
1. The problem of confusing Shī‘ism with Extremism, already existing within Wahhābīs ideological system, has not appeared out of the blue. It is the outcome of many factors that joined hands in the course of time and created this problem. It has scientifically been proved that contrary to certain discoveries that are the result of a mental spark, historical problems do not appear spontaneously.
2. It is very hard to diagnose the causes of historical problems, since these are processes which are different from those at work in a simple ordinary illness. You will see that certain factors do not induce the problem, but they develop it.
3. It is impossible to diagnose the factors that have brought this particular problem about except through a careful study of the history of this problem. For this reason we went through all relevant Wahhābīs literature and after long years of investigation and study, we became aware of the background of the problem and then recognized the causal factors. Through these investigations, it became clear to us that the roots of this problem in Wahhābīs ideological system go back to the time the Wahhābī school emerged during the Ottoman rule.
To seize the power in hand, the Ottoman government was at severe wars against the Shī‘ite safavid kings. In order to urge the people to fight against the Shī‘ite Iranians, the Ottoman government drew up an agenda for excommunicating the Shī‘ites and for permitting the shedding of their blood. This plan infiltrated into the Indian subcontinent where a Shāh ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Dihlawī, influenced by the project, wrote a book called al-Tuhfah al-Ithnā ‘Ashariyyah. The Ottoman government published a summarized version of this book among the Sunnīs, thus intensifying the differences between Shī‘ism and Sunnism. This book had a great influence on Wahhābīs’ behavior towards the Shī‘ites and on the formation of the problem of equating Shī‘ism with Extremism.
We can clearly see the impression this book has left on Muhibb al-Dīn Khatīb in his book al-Khutūt al-‘Arīdah fī Dīn al-Imāmiyyah, a summary of al-Tuhfah al-Ithnā ‘Ashariyyah. This book is one of Wahhābīs’ sources in their study of Shī‘ism. Khatīb himself was one of the founders of Wahhābīs’ ideological system whose approach left a lasting influence on Wahhābīs’ studies of Shī‘ism, which is clearly felt in the writings of Ihsān Ilāhī Zahīr.
Historians are well aware of the political conditions governing the time when the book al-Tuhfah was written. All Indian historians have said that this book was published in Oudh, the kingdom of Lucknow at the end of 12th Century after Hijrah when there were desperate political struggles between the sultāns, kings, who supported Shī‘ism and those who supported Sunnīs at Lucknow area. No doubt such books do great services to governments’ political aims and intentions. That is why we see that these books are usually donated to governors and kings involved in the strife.
Mahmūd Shukrī Ālūsī, who has summarized the book al-Tuhfah, has w4ritten the following statements in the introduction to the book:
“I dedicate this book to God’s vicegerent on the earth and the Prophet’s representative in reviving the religion, that is, the personage who best observes peoples’ rights, administers the affairs by drawing up exact plans and applying a deep insight, adopts the best approach in stabilizing people’s affairs and their safe-keeping, and favors the scholars and the benevolent of his country… and he is the Commander of the Faithful, whose obedience is obligatory on all, the king of the lands and the seas, the monarch, the son of the monarch, the combatant king ‘Abd al-Hamīd Khān, the son of the combatant king ‘Abd al-Majīd Khān. O God! Support him through your help, and make him victorious for Thy name to be glorified; remove the seditions of the black-hearted enemies of his and Thine, and crush them with the sword of thy rage and domination.”[1]
He then continues in this way: “My aim at dedicating this book to his lofty precinct is to obtain his look cast on the book so it will be accepted. It is then that I will, God willing, have a wish fulfilled. I have prepared this book in nine chapters, the first of which explains Shī‘ites sects and their state…”[2]
It is a pity that this book, which was published in a special political situation, shaped the Wahhābīs system of thought so effectively that they are still following on the same track, and are ignoring the oppositions raised by the eminent Sunnī scholars against the book. This book is indeed an offspring of politics. That which comes together with politics should leave together with politics.
