Sunan (Practices) of the Prophet and Ahl al-Bayt: Takbīrat al-Iḥrām

By
Haziq Sheikh
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Our aḥādīth include thousands of narrations compelling us to—or away from—particular actions. These narrations result in legal rulings that vary in nature from obligatory to forbidden. Many of these narrations deal with various sunan (singl. sunnah, “normative practices”) that are not widely known, but can easily be incorporated into one’s daily worship and devotion. Here we will briefly mention practices pertaining to the opening takbīr of the ritual prayer (ṣalāh, namāz) that a practicing Muslim performs at least five times a day. The most common practice is to recite “Allahu akbar” once while raising the palms facing outward near the level of the ears. Although this practice fulfills the religious requirement, it is actually better to recite more than a single takbīr.

The following excerpt is from the contemporary fiqh text, Minhāj al-Ṣāliḥīn, of Sayyid ʿAlī al-Husaynī al-Sīstānī:

مسألة ٥٨٥ : يجزئ لافتتاح الصلاة تكبيرة واحدة ويستحب الإتيان بسبع تكبيرات، والأحوط الأولى أن يجعل السابعة تكبيرة الإحرام مع الإتيان بما قبلها رجاءً

Issue 585: One takbīr (saying “Allahu akbar”) is sufficient for beginning the ritual prayer. It is recommended to begin it with seven takbīrs. However, it is a recommended precaution to intend the final, seventh takbīr as the formal opening (takbīrat al-iḥrām) while the preceding takbīrs should be performed with the intention of seeking Allah’s reward.

This recommended precaution means that instead of intending one of the first six takbīrs as the takbīrat al-iḥrām, i.e., the official beginning of prayer, you intend only the last of them to be as such. One would perform six takbīrs with the intention of hoping for Allah’s reward—that is, the hope that this action is desirable, technically known as niyyat al-rajāʾ or rajāʾ al-maṭlūbiyyah—and then perform a seventh takbīrah as the single takbīrat al-iḥrām.

And from Sayyid al-Sīstānī’s commentary on ʿUrwat al-Wuthqā:

مسألة ١٠ : يستحب الإتيان بست تكبيرات مضافا إلى تكبيرة الاحرام فيكون المجموع سبعة ، وتسمى بالتكبيرات الإفتتاحية ، ويجوز الاقتصار على الخمس وعلى الثلاث ، ولا يبعد التخيير في تعيين تكبيرة الاحرام في أيتها شاء ، بل نية الاحرام بالجميع أيضًا

Issue 10: It is recommended to perform six takbīrs in addition to the takbīrat al-iḥrām, totaling seven takbīrs altogether. They are called “al-takbīrāt al-iftitāḥiyyah”. It is permissible to cut back and only perform five or three takbīrs [instead of seven]. Selecting any one of these takbīrs to be the formal opening is correct, as is intending all of them to be the formal opening.

Sayyid al-Sīstānī’s footnote here explains that intending all seven as the formal opening is apparently the recommended practice (huwa al-aẓhar).

Here are some of the narrations regarding this sunnah. For brevity, the chain of narrators is truncated in the translation. These aḥādīth are from volume 6 of Wasāʾil al-Shīʿah by the respected jurist, Shaykh al-Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī.

وباسناده عن محمّد بن علي بن محبوب عن محمّد بن الحسين عن صفوان عن ابن بكير عن زرارة قال: رأيت أبا جعفر (عليه السلام) أو قال: سمعته استفتح الصلاة بسبع تكبيرات ولاءً

Shaykh al-Ṭūsī with his chain of narrators back to Zurāra: He said: I saw—or he said I heard—Abu Jaʿfar al-Bāqir begin his ritual prayer with seven takbīrs in succession.

وعنه عن أحمد عن الحسين عن القاسم بن محمّد عن علي عن أبي بصير عن أبي عبد الله (عليه السلام) قال: إذا افتتحت الصلاة فكبّر إن شئت واحدة وإن شئت ثلاثاً وإن شئت خمساً وإن شئت سبعاً وكلّ ذلك مجزٍ عنك غير أنّك إذا كنت إماماً لم تجهر إلّا بتكبيرة

Abū Baṣīr from Abu ʿAbdillāh al-Ṣādiq. He said: When you begin your ritual prayer, if you like, begin with a single takbīr. And if you wish, with 3 takbīrs. And if you wish, with five. And if you wish, then seven. Any of that will suffice for you. However, if you are leading a congregation in prayer, then only recite one of these takbīrs aloud.

محمّد بن علي بن الحسين باسناده عن زرارة عن أبي جعفر (عليه السلام) أنّه قال: خرج رسول الله (صلّى الله عليه وآله) إلى الصلاة وقد كان الحسين (عليه السلام) أبطأ عن الكلام حتّي تخوفوا أنّه لا يتكلّم وأن يكون به خرس فخرج به (عليه السلام) حامله على عاتقه وصفّ الناس خلفه فأقامه على يمينه فافتتح رسول الله (صلّى الله عليه وآله) الصلاة فكبّر الحسين (عليه السلام) فلمّا سمع رسول الله (صلّى الله عليه وآله) تكبيرة عاد فكبّر فكبّر الحسين (عليه السلام) حتّى كبّر رسول الله (صلّى الله عليه وآله) سبع تكبيرات وكبّر الحسين (عليه السلام) فجرت السنة بذلك

Shaykh al-Ṣadūq with his chain of narrators to Zurāra from Abu Jaʿfar al-Bāqir. He said: The Messenger of Allah left to pray while Ḥusayn had not started speaking, to a point where they feared that he would never talk or that he was mute. So he went out carrying Ḥusayn on his shoulder. The people lined up behind him, and he stood Ḥusayn up by his right side. Then the Messenger began the prayer and Ḥusayn recited the takbīr. So when the Messenger heard his takbīr, he repeated and recited a takbīr. Then Ḥusayn recited a takbīr. This continued until the Messenger had done seven takbīrs and Ḥusayn had done the (seven) takbīrs. So from that the tradition circulated.

و في (العلل): عن علي بن حاتم عن القاسم بن محمّد عن حمدان بن الحسين عن الحسن بن الوليد عن الحسن بن إبراهيم عن محمّد بن زياد عن هشام بن الحكم عن أبي الحسن موسى (عليه السلام) قال: قلت له: لأيّ علة صار التكبير في الافتتاح سبع تكبيرات أفضل-إلى أن قال-قال: يا  هشام إن الله خلق السماوات سبعاً والأرضين سبعاً والحجب سبعاً فلمّا اسرى بالنبّي (صلّى الله عليه وآله) وجعل يقول الكلمات التي تقال في الافتتاح فلما رفع له الثاني كبّر فلم يزل كذلك حتى بلغ سبع حجب فكبّر سبع تكبيرات فلتلك العلّة يكبّر للافتتاح في الصلاة سبع تكبيرات

Hishām b. al-Ḥakam from Abu al-Ḥasan Mūsa al-Kāẓim. He said: I said to him: For what reason did the seven takbīrs in the opening of the prayer become superior?…He, peace be with him, said: O Hishām! Verily Allah created seven heavenly realms, seven earthly realms, and seven veils. When the Prophet was taken on his miraculous journey and it was as if he were two bow lengths or even closer to his Lord, He lifted for him one of the veils, so the Messenger recited a takbīr and began saying the words that are said during the opening of prayer. Then when Allah lifted for him the second veil, he recited a takbīr. This continued until seven veils were lifted and thus he had recited seven takbīrs. So for that reason, seven takbīrs are recited in the opening of the prayer…

The above hadith is worth meditating upon. It reminds us of the ḥadīth that states that the ritual prayer is the spiritual ascension—miʿrāj—of the believer and the lifting of the veils between the worshipping believer and Allah.

For those more ambitious and capable, there is a recommended set of supplications to recite between the takbīrs.

From Minhāj al-Ṣāliḥīn:

مسألة ٥٨٨ : يجوز الإتيان بالتكبيرات ولاءً بلا دعاء، والأفضل أن يأتي بثلاث منها ثم يقول: (اللهم أنت الملك الحق، لا إله إلا أنت سبحانك إني ظلمت نفسي، فاغفر لي ذنبي، إنه لا يغفر الذنوب إلا أنت) ثم يأتي باثنتين ويقول: (لبيك، وسعديك، والخير في يديك، والشر ليس إليك، والمهدي من هديت، لا ملجأ منك إلا إليك، سبحانك وحنانيك، تباركت وتعاليت، سبحانك رب البيت) ثم يأتي باثنتين ويقول: (وجهت وجهي للذي فطر السماوات والأرض، عالم الغيب والشهادة حنيفًا مسلمًا وما أنا من المشركين، إن صلاتي ونسكي ومحياي ومماتي لله رب العالمين، لا شريك له، وبذلك أمرت وأنا من المسلمين) ثم يستعيذ ويقرأ سورة الحمد

Issue 588: It is permissible to perform the takbīrs in succession without any supplication (duʿāʾ). However, it is most virtuous to do three takbīrs [from the seven] and then say:

اللهم أنت الملك الحق، لا إله إلا أنت سبحانك إني ظلمت نفسي، فاغفر لي ذنبي، إنه لا يغفر الذنوب إلا أنت

O my Lord! You are the King, the Truth. There is not deity but You, all glory be Yours. Verily, it is I who have wronged myself, so forgive me of my sins. Surely none pardon sins except You.

Then do two takbīrs and say:

لبيك، وسعديك، والخير في يديك، والشر ليس إليك، والمهدي من هديت، لا ملجأ منك إلا إليك، سبحانك وحنانيك، تباركت وتعاليت، سبحانك رب البيت

I am here at Your service. All good is in Your hands and evil does not reach You. The guided is he whom You have guided. There is no sanctuary from You except with You, all glory be Yours. You are the Blessed and Sublime. All glory to You, Lord of the House.

Then do two more takbīrs and say:

وجهت وجهي للذي فطر السماوات والأرض، عالم الغيب والشهادة حنيفًا مسلمًا وما أنا من المشركين، إن صلاتي ونسكي ومحياي ومماتي لله رب العالمين، لا شريك له، وبذلك أمرت وأنا من المسلمين

I have turned myself to the Originator of the Heavens and the Earth, Knower of the unseen and testimony while I am a true submitting believer and I am not from the polytheists. Verily my prayer, my ritual, my life, and my death belong to God, He who has no partner. To this I have been commanded and I am from those who submit.

Then seek refuge from the accursed Satan (أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم) and recite Surat al-Ḥamd (al-Fātiḥah).

Islam and War: Sayyid Sīstānī on the Ethics of Conflict

By
al-Sidrah
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We live in a time when warfare is conducted with a level of violence unprecedented in human history. Cluster bombs are commonplace, and mass executions are so visible, they virtually disappear. In such circumstances, how can Muslims understand and live by a religion that calls to higher ideals, even as much of the Muslim world is being torn apart by violence in which their co-religionists are either perpetrators or victims of such atrocities?

In this interview, Sayyid Sulayman Hassan Abidi discusses some of the main issues addressed in Sayyid Ali al-Sistani’s 2014 letter to the Iraqi forces battling ISIS. The issues range from what role warfare and violence have in Islam, to how one can derive and stay true to Islamic ethics and virtues during these conflicts. Sayyid Sulayman Hasan provides insight into these questions and more, gleaning from both the verses of the Qur’an and the lives and words of the Ahl al-Bayt.

Multimedia Directed by Huda Abdul-Razzak

Video

Table of Contents:
0:00 – The Purpose of Sayyid Sistani’s Letter, Its Importance, and Audience
4:57 – What Role Does Violence Play in Islam?
7:29 – Islamic Ethics of War
13:10 – Islamic Ethics and Modern Warfare
17:55 – Is ISIS Faithful to the Islamic Sources?
26:00 – The Boundaries of Islam: Who Is and Is Not a Muslim?

Audio

Listen or download the audio file of the video-interview below.

Islam and War: Sayyid Sistani on the Ethics of Conflict

 

Sayyid ʿAlī Ḥusaynī Sīstānī’s Letter to the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq against ISIS

This is the official english translation provided by the Office of Sayyid Sistani in Najaf, Iraq.

Advice and Guidance to the Fighters on the Battlefields

In the Name of God, Ever-Merciful, Ever-Compassionate

Praise belongs to God, Lord of the Cosmos, and ever-lasting peace be upon the best of His creation, Muhammad and his noble and pure progeny.

I call your attention to the following:

Let the dear fighters know, the ones who have been given the honour to be present in the battlefield against the transgressors, that:

1.    Just as God, exalted is He, has called the believers to Jihad [against the transgressors] and made it one of the pillars of religion, and just as God has privileged the Holy Warriors over those who do not fight [in Jihad], He, noble is His name, has placed certain conditions and etiquettes [on the conduct of Jihad]. Such conditions are necessitated by wisdom and mandated by the primordial nature of human beings. It is necessary, then, to learn these conditions and etiquettes thoroughly and to follow them sincerely, for one who learns these conditions and follows them sincerely will receive his deserved reward and blessings from God, and one who neglects them will not receive [the blessings] he hoped for.

2.    With regards to Jihad there are general guidelines to which one must adhere even when confronting non-Muslims. The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, advised his Companions to follow these general guidelines before sending them off to battle. In an authentic tradition, it has been reported that the Imam Jaʿfar al-Sadiq (d. 765), peace be upon him, said, “When the Messenger of God, peace be upon him and his progeny, would want to send a fighting contingent he would sit down with them and advise them to represent God justly and to follow the good example of the religion of the Messenger of God. He would [further] say, ‘Do not indulge in acts of extremism, do not disrespect dead corpses, do not resort to deceit, do not kill an elder, do not kill a child, do not kill a woman, and do no not cut down trees unless necessity dictates otherwise.’”

3.    Similarly, the fighting against those Muslims who oppress [others] and who wage war [unjustly] has its guidelines and etiquettes, too. Indeed such guidelines and etiquettes informed the actions of the Imam ʿAli (d. 661), who, when confronted with such situations, admonished his followers [to follow them]. The Muslim world agreed in unanimity that the actions, guidelines, and etiquettes of Imam ʿAli are a worthy example to emulate. So pay heed to the example of Imam ʿAli and follow his path. He, peace be upon him, emphasizing on what the Prophet,peace be upon him and his progeny, had conveyed in Hadith of Thaqalayn and Gadir and many others, said, “Set your sights on the Family of the Prophet. Adhere to their direction. Follow their footsteps. Verily, the Family of the Prophet will not lead you away from the path of guidance, nor will they make you return to the path of destruction. If they rise, so shall you; and if they stand, so shall you. Do not traverse the path ahead of them, for you shall lose your way; and do not lag behind of them, for you shall perish.”

4.    By the majesty of God! By the majesty of God! Souls are sacred! Never should you do to them that which God has not deemed permissible. What great travesty it is to kill innocent souls, and what great honour it is to safeguard innocent souls, just as God, exalted is He, mentioned in His book [i.e. the Qurʾan]. The killing of an innocent soul has dangerous consequences, both in this world and in the hereafter. History has taught us that the Commander of the Faithful [i.e. ʿAli], peace be upon him, took much caution to protect the sanctity of the human soul in his wars.  He, in his historical document, said to [his companion] Malik al-Ashtar, whose friendship and proximity to ʿAli is well known, “Be vigilant! Do not spill the blood of the innocent without any right to do so, for nothing is more inviting wrath, greater in evil consequences and more effective in the decline of blessings and cutting life span more than the unlawful spilling of blood. On the Day of Reckoning, God shall judge wisely between those servants of His who spilled blood. Do not strengthen your authority by the unlawful spilling of blood, for that will surely enfeeble and weaken the authority and [may] even cause it to perish or shifting (to other who are wise). There is no excuse for you in front of God nor I, if you kill unlawfully, because that shall cause you punishment.”

If you [i.e. the fighters of the Popular Mobilisation Committees] find yourselves in an uncertain situation from which you fear the Divine Wrath, issue a vocal warning [to those fighting you], or issue a physical warning by directing your bullets in a manner which does not strike the target or cause its destruction apologizing (for such a disliked confrontation) to your Lord and taking precaution not to kill innocent souls.

5.    By the majesty of God! By the majesty of God! The lives of those who do not fight you are sacred, especially the weak among the elderly, the children, and the women, even if they were the families of those who fight you. It is unlawful for you to violate the sacredness of those who fight you except for their belongings.

It was the noble habit of the Commander of the Faithful [i.e. ʿAli], peace be upon him, to prohibit [his soldiers] from attacking the properties of the families, the women, and the children of those against whom he fought, despite efforts by some of those who [claimed to] follow him, especially the Kharijites, who insisted on legitimizing it. To refute them, ʿAli would say, “(Their) men have fought so we fight the men, but we do not inflict harm on their women and children, for they are Muslims and within the Realm of Hijra (abode of emigration). Thus you have no right over them. But whatever they procured and used against you in the course of fighting, and whatever their army possessed and acquired belongs to you. Whatever is in their homes is an inheritance for their offspring according to the ordinance of God. You have no right over their women or over their offspring.”

6.    By the majesty of God! By the majesty of God! It is [abhorrent] to cast suspicion over the integrity of people’s faith in order to target them and legitimize the taking away of that which is sacred [i.e. their life]. Alike the way of the Kharijites of the early Islamic period and their contemporary followers who are ignorant of the basic tenets of religion, following their own personal moods and whims and have sought to justify their [un-Islamic] actions by recourse to some textual evidence which they never understood. The Muslims of today have to live with the consequences of these misinterpretations.

Know that whosoever bears testimony that there is only one God and that Muhammad is His messenger is indeed a Muslim. That person’s life and property must be safeguarded. If that person falls into the trap of [theological] deviance and  religious innovations, then know that not every misguidance leads to infidelity, nor does every innovation strip one of Islam as his faith. At times, a person is subjected to death penalty due to a turmoil caused by him or due to retribution he still stays a Muslim.

In the Qurʾan, God has addressed the Holy Warriors in the following:
“O Believers, when you are journeying in the path of God, be discriminating, and do not say to him who offers you a greeting, ‘Thou art not a believer’, seeking the chance goods of the present life”. [Similarly] it has been widely reported that the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, prohibited declaring the masses of those who fought him as unbelievers; indeed this was the inclination [i.e. to declare the enemy as unbelievers] of the leaders of the Kharijites in his camp. But he [i.e. ʿAli] used to say that they [i.e. his enemies] were a people who had fallen into misjudgement and error, though this does not justify their repugnant act and could not be an excuse for their obnoxious deeds. In a sound report on the authority of [Imam] al-Sadiq who narrates on the authority of his father, peace be upon them both, that “ʿAli, peace be upon him, did not label any of those who fought him as polytheists or hypocrites but rather he would say, ‘They are our brothers who have transgressed against us’ and he would [also] say about those who fought him ‘We fight them not because we think of them as unbelievers and not because they think we are unbelievers.’”

7.    Never inflict harm on non-Muslims, regardless of their religion and sect. The non-Muslims [who live in predominately Muslim lands] are under the protection of the Muslims in those lands. Whosoever attacks non-Muslims is a betrayer and traitor. And rest assured that such an act of betrayal and treachery is one of the most repugnant acts in accordance to innate nature and the religion of God.

Regarding those who are not Muslim, God mentions them in His Book, “God forbids you not, as regards those who have not fought you in religion’s cause, nor expelled you from you habitations, that you should be kindly to them, and act justly towards them; surely God loves the just.” The Muslim must not allow the violation of the sanctity of those who are not Muslim and who live under the protection of Muslims. Rather, the Muslim must honour and guard those who are not Muslim as he would with his own family. When we read stories about the life of the Commander of the Faithful we learn that when Muʿawiya sent Sufyan son of ʿAwf from the tribe of Ghamid to carry out raids on the frontiers of Iraq – in order to frighten the people [of Iraq] – and when he [Sufyan] killed the Muslims and those who were not Muslim from among the people of Anbar, the Commander of the Faithful was saddened greatly by this. In a sermon [which followed], he [i.e. ʿAli] said, “And this one from the tribe of Ghamid [i.e. Sufyan]…his horses have entered Anbar and killed Hassan son of Hassan al-Bakri and he pushed back your horsemen from the boarders. And it has been told to me that a man from among them [i.e. the raiders] would enter the house of the Muslim and the non-Muslim women and would then forcefully remove her anklets, bangles, necklaces, and her earrings. And no woman could resist it except by reciting the verse from Qur’an “We are for God and to Him shall we return (2:156)” and seeking mercy.  Then the raiders left overloaded with wealth with no wounds or loss of life. Had a Muslim died as a result of this sorrow and regret [after the raids] then no one is to blame him. But in [in my eyes] he deserves [praiseworthy] mention.”

8.    By the majesty of God! By the majesty of God! Do not steal the wealth of people. The wealth of a Muslim is unlawful unless he agrees to its procurement. Those who usurp from others, they have obtained a piece of fire from the fires of hell. God, exalted is He, said, “Those who devour the property of orphans unjustly, devour fire in their bellies, and shall assuredly roast in a blaze.” And in a tradition reported on the authority of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, that he said, “Whosoever steals and usurps the wealth of another, God will turn away from him and will not accept and reward him for his good deeds until he repents and returns the wealth to its rightful owner.”

We also find when we read stories about the life of the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, that he forbade [his soldiers from] taking his enemy’s wealth except for that found in their military encampment. And whenever someone [from the enemy’s camp] brought forth proof that his personal wealth was taken [unlawfully] he [ʿAli] would ask that it be returned. In another report on the authority of Marwan son of al-Hakam, who said, “After ʿAli defeated us in Basra he returned to the people [i.e. soldiers] their wealth. Who brought proof was given the wealth and (even) who didn’t had proof was given by a swear on the name of his God.”

9.    By the majesty of God! By the majesty of God! Do not violate the sanctity of all things sacred. Do not violate or infringe on them with your tongue or action. Be cautious and do not target a person due to the mistakes of others. God, exalted is He, says, “And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another.” Do not base on suspicions, distorting the certainty.  Certainty entails caution and suspicion entails attacking others without proof. Your hatred of someone does not justify that you violate his sanctity, for God says: “And do not let the hatred of people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness.”

[Moreover], it has been reported that the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, that he said in a sermon in the Battle of Siffin: “Do not disrespect the corpse of the dead, and if you defeat the men of your enemies do not violate the sanctity of their women and their houses. Do not enter their houses. Do not take anything from their houses. Take only what you find in their military encampments. Do not provoke their women by harming them even though they may attack your honour and abuse your leaders and noble men. And, it is reported that after the Battle of the Camel ended, he [i.e. ʿAli] came across a large gathering of wailing women crying over their lost ones. When they saw him they shouted in one voice ‘Here comes the killer of our loved ones!’, but he [i.e. ʿAli] did not respond. After [some time elapsed] he said to some of those near to him, pointing at a room which housed [captives] among them leaders of those who fought him like Marwan son of Hakam and ‘Abdullah son of Zubayr, ‘Had I been the killer of [their] loved ones I would have killed these people, too.’

It has also been reported that when he [i.e. ʿAli] heard that some from among his companions such as Hujr son of ʿAdi and ʿAmr son of al-Hamiq slandered the People of Sham [i.e. Greater Syria] during the Battle of Siffin, he said: “I dislike for you to be of those who slander [others]. It is better for you to describe their deeds and state of action; surely this is the more refine way of speaking [about others] and more justified in excuse and rather than slander them, it is better that you say ‘O God protect our lives and protect their lives and bring harmony between us and them and deliver them from error so that the ignorant can reach to the truth one inclined towards rebellion and revolt could turn away from it.’ They [i.e. ʿAli’s companions] said, “O Commander of the Faithful, we accept your counsel and we [will] strive to imitate your mannerism.”

10.    Do not deprive any people, who do not fight you, of their rights even if they anger you. It has been reported from stories about the life of the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, that he afforded those of other faith the same [respect] he afforded to the Muslims so long as they did not wage war against him. And he would never launch a military assault unless he was attacked first. For instance, when he was in the middle of delivering a sermon in [the Mosque of] Kufa a group of Kharijites stood up and interrupted him and shouted on more than one occasion ‘Judgement belongs to God [alone]!’, to which he replied ‘Truthful words indeed but couched with false intentions. You have three rights over us: we do not take away [your right] to pray in the mosques of God; we do not deprive you from your share of the spoils of war as long as you fight along us; and we do not wage war against you unless you launch the first attack.’

11.    Know that most of those who fight you are victims who have been led astray by others. Do not let those who led others astray be better than you. Let your righteous actions, your well-wishing nature, your just conduct, your forbearance, and your avoidance of extortion, sin and aggression serve as an example for them. Whosoever helps misguided souls find the path of righteousness is like the one who saves a soul from perdition. And whomsoever misguides a person knowingly it is as if he has killed him.

We find in the stories about the lives of the Imams of the Progeny [i.e. AhlulBayt], peace be upon them, that they would go to great lengths to dispel whatever misconception those who fought them held, even if there was no hope of acceptance, seeking excuse (for unwanted confrontation) from their Lord educating the Muslim multitudes and their way of setting an example for future generations. It has been reported in some traditions on the authority of al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, that Imam ‘Ali, peace be upon him, on the Day of Basra [i.e. the Battle of the Camel], said to his companions: “Do not be quick to judge the enemy until I make clear to them what is between God, I and them.’ He [‘Ali] then approached them and said: “O People of Basra have you found in my rule any oppression? They said: “No.” He [then] said: “[Have I] broken a promise?” They said: “No.” He [then] said: “Have I shown desire for this [material] world so that I and my family took something and prevented you from having it, is this why you have breached the allegiance to me?” They said: “No.” He [then] said: “Have I applied punishment unfairly?” They said: “No.”

Imam Husayn followed a similar course of action in [the Battle of] Karbala. He took care to dispel doubt and clarify matters so that the living live and the dead die not in vain but after clear proof has been brought forth before them. In fact one cannot fight a Muslim people without establishing first a clear proof and without trying to dispel doubt and clarify misjudgement. This practise has been established in the Qur’an and prophetic traditions.

12.    Let no one [among you] think that there is a solution in oppression which cannot be gained by justice. Such a thought ascends from a narrow observation of the incidents without considering the mid and long term consequences of such an attitude. The adherents to such thoughts are those who have no information on the tradition of life and the history of nations which alerts on loosing innocent lives and spread of abhorrence in the society as a result of the atrocity of them.

It has been reported in the traditions that ‘The one who finds difficulty to implement justice will find greater difficulty to deal with injustice’. The contemporary history leaves a great lesson for those who ponder on it. Few rulers, for the sake of strengthening their power, oppressed and prosecuted hundreds of thousands of people. And God, exalted is He, came at them from whence they did not reckon. As if they had destroyed their sovereignty with their own hands.

13.    It may be the case sometimes that when you adhere to good conduct and remain disciplined you suffer [military] losses; this, nevertheless, is more spiritually rewarding, everlasting end and of greater benefit. The example set by the Imams serves as a case in point. They did not wage war unless they were attacked, even if such actions caused them temporary losses. It is reported in a tradition that on the Day of the Camel when the armies gather to fight, a person from the army of the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, proclaimed, “Do not attack until I tell you to.” So some of his companions said, ‘But they have fired [arrows] at us.’ He said, ‘Wait.’ When the enemy’s fired arrows which killed one of them, he said, ‘Fight away with God’s blessing.’ Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, followed a similar course of action on the day of Ashura.

14.    Be the guardians and well-wishers of those who you are with you, so that they feel secured with you and support you against your enemies. Help the weak among them in whatever you can. They are your brothers and your family. Show compassion towards them just as you show compassion towards you own. Know that you are within God’s sight, and that He counts your actions, intents, and your inner dispositions.

15.    Do not let anything take precedence over your obligatory prayers. There is no better deed than prayers that a person can take towards his Lord. Prayer is the means through which man humbles himself before his creator and is a greeting which one offers toward Him. It is the foundation of religion and the criterion through which actions are judged. In the occasions of fear and war, God has given you some discount to the extent that proclamation of ‘God is Great’ is enough replacing the units of the regular prayer even if the person is not facing the Qibla.

God said: “Maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle prayer and stand before God, devoutly obedient. And if you fear [an enemy, then pray] on foot or while riding. But when you are secure, then remember God [in prayer], as He has taught you that which you did not [previously] know.”

God has commanded the Believers to exercise caution and not to gather for prayer at once but to take turns [performing prayer]. It has been reported in the life story of the Commander of the Faithful that he asked his companions to be mindful of the [importance of] prayer. In a sound report narrated on the authority of Jaʿfar al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, that he said, with regards to the prayer of fear, in the midst of war and confrontation: ‘Each person has to pray with indication wherever he is, even in the midst of sword fighting, wrestling and grappling. The Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, (even) prayed on the night before [the Battle of] Siffin (the night of Harir). Their prayers were nothing more than proclamations that ‘God is great’ and invocations and supplications. That was their prayer and [even then] the Commander of the Faithful did not ask them to repeat their prayers.’

16.    Help yourselves by remembering God frequently and reciting passages from the Qurʾan. Remember that one day you will revert and stand before Him. It has been reported that the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, was so watchful of remembrance of God that when in the midst of battle, on the eve of Siffin, a carpet was rolled out for him and he offered his recitation while arrows were being fired at him from all directions passing by his ears left and right, and he did not get scared and abandon his prayer until he completed it.

17.    Strive to act – may God help you- in the same righteous manner as the Prophet and his progeny, peace be upon them, acted in both the times of war and peace so you could adorn Islam and set an example as it deserves. This is the religion which is built on illumination of innate nature, reason, and good manners. Suffices to say that this is the religion that raised the banners of reason and good manners, for its foundations are built on calls to contemplate and ponder the dimensions and horizons of the life and to take lesson from it and to act accordingly God said, “And by the soul ad He who proportioned it. And inspired it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness. He has succeeded who purifies it. And he has failed who instils it [with corruption].”

The Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, said, “God has sent His messengers among them and series of His prophets to them to get them to fulfil the pledges the primordial covenant and to remind them of His blessings to them and to exhort them by preaching and to awaken the dormant intellects.”

If only the Muslims follow the true teachings of Islam and abide by them they will surely find abundant blessings that will illuminate their path and expand their horizons. Be careful and do not hold on to the ambiguous readings of the scriptures, and if it is directed towards the people of knowledge – as God has asked you to do so- they would know the proper meaning and crux of the matter.

18.    Do not be hasty in situations where caution is required else you would cast yourself to destruction. Your enemies wish for you to act in haste and improperly in precarious situations and wish for you to rush without taking any precaution and professional advice. Organise yourselves and coordinate with one another. Do not hasten to take a step forward until you are sure about its maturity, strength, necessary means, implications, guarantee of steadiness and potential results.God said, “O Believers take precaution and [either] go forth in companies or go forth all together.’ And God said, “Indeed, God loves those who fight in His cause in a row as though they are a [single] compact structure.”

19.    Those (civilians) among you should be the well-wishers of the militants, acknowledging their sacrifice and protecting them from evils. They shouldn’t be suspicious about them. God has not assigned any right upon others unless he has assigned the same for them. Each of them enjoys equal rights.

You should be aware of the fact that there is no one well-wisher than amongst you for each other, if you clean your hearts from grudge and unite together to the extent that if anyone of you commits few mistakes or even if many outrageous mistakes you should forgive, forget and overlook it. Whosoever thinks that someone else is more well-wisher than his own family, tribe and fellow citizens, he is mistaken. Those who want to experience things which have already been experienced (by others), would regret. One should know that the person who begins the forgiving and overlooking the mistakes of others is worthy of rewards of forgiveness, goodness and rectitude. God will not waste the reward of those noble deeds and at times will reward it completely in the darkness of Barzakh and the Day of Resurrection. Whosoever supports a Holy Warrior or his family and protects them, achieves an equal reward as that Holy Warrior.

20.    Everyone must let go of those sentiments which carry hatred and bigotry. Follow the noble manners. God has made people into different tribes and races so that they may know each other. Do not be overcome by narrow-minded views and personal egos. Do you not see how the majority of Muslims today are engaged in self-destruction where they spend their resources, energy, and wealth on killing and destruction of each other? They should instead spend their resources and wealth on the advancement of knowledge and multiplying their resources and improve the welfare of the people. And be aware of a punishment which shall not visit the wrongdoers among you exclusively. Indeed the trouble has arrived. Try to put out the trouble and avoid kindling it. Hold on to the rope of God collectively and do not disunite. Know that if God finds any good in your hearts, He will give you (something which is) better than what has been taken away from you. Indeed God has power over all things.

 

The Office of His Eminence SayyidʿAli al-Sistani
The Holy City of Najaf
February 12, 2015.

L.I.F.E. 2015 Intensive Studies Course Report

By
al-Sidrah
-
LIFE 2015

L.I.F.E. is an intensive studies course hosted by the Ahl al-Bayt Islamic Seminary and the Baitul Ilm Academy.  The 2015 program was optimized for adults, aged 18-35, who were interested in deepening their Islamic knowledge and insight alongside a number of resident and guest scholars.  Below you will find a summary of the three-week course.  Scroll through its pages, view-full-screen, or download the PDF file using the buttons below.

Read the LIFE 2015 Course Report

Use your arrow keys or swipe to view the report or download a PDF copy.

A Review of Shahīd Muṭahharī’s Understanding Islamic Sciences

By
Naveed Ganjani
-

Within the Imāmī-Shiʿi [1] Muslim tradition, the traditional institution of higher religious learning is commonly known as the ḥawzah ʿilmiyyah  (“intellectual citadel”). Historically, the ḥawzah ʿilmiyyah was an advanced institution for the intellectual development of the Islamic sciences. Of course, the term “science” is to be understood here in the pre-modern sense of the Arabic term, ʿilm; a systematic body of knowledge as an object of study. This is in contrast to the modern—more restricted—usage of “science” as excluding any enterprise that does not involve testable predictions and explanations about some natural or social phenomenon.[2] A comprehensive survey of some of the major Islamic sciences from one prominent perspective within the ḥawzah is found in Understanding Islamic Sciences, published in 2002 by the London-based Islamic College for Advanced Studies (ICAS).

Understanding Islamic Sciences is a useful collection of articles, authored by the late Shahīd Murtaḍa Muṭahharī and translated into English by ICAS. Muṭahharī, an influential modern Shiʿi theologian and jurist, was one of the intellectual architects of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose writings and lectures played an important role in the success of the Islamic revolution. He was martyred in 1979. Each article in Understanding Islamic Sciences introduces readers to a particular science studied in the ḥawzah ʿilmiyyah, expounds on and evaluates various theories in Islamic scholarship broadly, and serves as a guide to understanding Shiʿi Islam. Six sciences are explored in this text in the following order: philosophy (falsafah), theology (ʿilm al-kalām), mysticism (ʿirfān), jurisprudence (furūʿ al-fiqh), legal theory (uṣūl al-fiqh) and ethics (hikmah ʿamaliyyah).

The first two chapters of Understanding Islamic Sciences introduce readers to the closely-related sciences of falsafah and ʿilm al-kalām. Muṭahharī defines the latter as a science that dialectically identifies, establishes (rationally or textually), and defends Islamic doctrine.[3] The former may be defined in the following two ways: In classical general usage, falsafah did not designate a particular science but all non-textually transmitted (ʿaqlī) sciences attained through human intellect, such as metaphysics, pure mathematics, and the natural sciences. However, due to the influence of modernism, Muṭahharī notes that the term narrowed to “non-scientific” intellectual disciplines (i.e., ontology).[4] Second, in classical technical usage, falsafah referred to the specific discipline of metaphysics (al-falsafah al-ūlā), that is, “a science of the states of being from the standpoint of being.”[5] This narrower reference renders problematic the common translation of falsafah into the much broader English term “philosophy” as the latter is neither restricted to nor even necessarily cognizant of metaphysics proper. Moreover, philosophical inquiry in the Islamic scholastic realm was certainly not restricted to those who belonged to the particular schools of falsafah mentioned below.[6]

Advocates of falsafah in the technical sense of the term gradually formed into competing schools of thought that were greatly influenced by certain trends within the Hellenistic philosophical tradition.  In particular, the Peripatetic school associated with Ibn Sīnā, the Illuminationist school associated with Suhrawardī, and the School of Mullā Ṣadrā are elucidated by our author. Muṭahharī briefly discusses these major schools of falsafah, defends the Ṣadrian tradition (al-hikmah al-mutaʿāliyah), and promotes at length its solutions to various philosophical problems. These schools of falsafah were typically repudiated by scholars of ʿilm al-kalām in its early stages.  Yet, due to the significant contributions to ʿilm al-kalām by the thirteenth-century Shiʿi philosopher and theologian, Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī, Muṭahharī notes that most of the discourse of this science subsequently took on a more philosophical tone.[7] Throughout the second chapter Muṭahharī neatly discusses the origins and theological stances of various schools of theology that arose in Islamic scholastic circles, especially the Ashʿarī, Muʿtazilī, and Imāmī schools. In addition to defending the latter, our author also briefly traces the foundations of ʿilm al-kalām to the words and actions of the imams of the Ahl al-Bayt (ʿa), in contradistinction to the orientalist tendency of presenting the discipline as essentially foreign to Islam.[8]

The third chapter of Understanding Islamic Sciences deals with the science of ʿirfān, which our author divides into theoretical and practical ʿirfān. The latter is regarded as a primarily normative inquiry that aims to positively develop man’s relationship to himself, the world, and God.[9] Theoretical ʿirfān is a primarily descriptive inquiry that seeks to understand God, the world, and oneself through mystical intuition, unlike the solely ratiocinative methods of falsafah in the classical technical sense of the term.[10] At first glance, there does not seem to be any meaningful distinction between practical ʿirfān and the study of ethics. Muṭahharī however insists that practical ʿirfān ought to be rigorously distinguished by its primal concern with the relationship between oneself and God, dynamic methodology of spiritual progression, and personal profundity.[11] Much of the chapter examines the origins, mystical stations, and terminology of the discipline, and the chapter provides many brief biographies of the prominent practitioners of ʿirfān and sufism. Our author also elucidates major opinions among the Shiʿi learned on the very validity of ʿirfān as a genuinely Islamic science, basically upholding its validity as long as one critically examines its content to ensure that it is consistent with Islamic orthodoxy.[12]

Furūʿ al-fiqh and uṣūl al-fiqh are the focus of the fourth and fifth chapters of Understanding Islamic Sciences. In the terminology of the Qurʾan and hadith literature, Muṭahharī notes that fiqh is a profound and extensive understanding of Islam with no special emphasis on a certain branch of Islamic scholarship. Gradually, fiqh became associated specifically with the legal dimension of Islam. The reason underlying this shift to a narrower definition of fiqh is an intriguing object of research—Muṭahharī speculates that the particular association between fiqh and the legal dimension of Islam was due to the sheer amount of queries regarding the subject during the early centuries of Islamic scholarship.[13] He then carefully differentiates the two branches of this subject, furūʿ al-fiqh and uṣūl al-fiqh, from one another.[14] The former is the “study of secondary commands” or Islamic legal commands and principles regarded as general rules of action, whereas uṣūl al-fiqh is the study of the principles to be used in deducing such legal precepts from their appropriate sources. The greater portion of these chapters narrates the rich transnational history of the Imāmī legal tradition and its most notable jurists. Our author also briefly introduces the various branches of furūʿ al-fiqh and some of the major discussions of uṣūl al-fiqh.

The final article of Understanding Islamic Sciences is about hikmah ʿamaliyyah, translated as “Islamic Morality and Ethics.” Muṭahharī engages in a comprehensive treatment of certain complex matters, such as the nature of human beings in contrast to other animals, the nature of religiosity, and the relationship between religion and science. Readers will unfortunately not find a clear understanding of hikmah ʿamaliyyah and how this science differs from ʿilm al-akhlāq, which is also translated as “ethics” in this series.[15] Indeed, the final chapter strikes one as a mere extension of the first, centering on the conclusions of the practical aspect of falsafah.

It should be kept in mind that Understanding Islamic Sciences is not intended to introduce the disciplines of the ḥawzah in their entirety. So other important areas of inquiry, whether foundational subjects like classical Arabic syntax or more advanced subjects like Qurʾanic exegesis, are not expounded in much detail. Readers unfamiliar with the ḥawzah may not recognize the historical centrality of uṣūl al-fiqh and the arguments of competing perspectives within the institution over the validity of certain subjects and theories that are defended by our author. Understanding Islamic Sciences is a fruitful survey for the student of Shiʿi Islam, giving a deeper appreciation of some of the major sciences studied in the ḥawzah. For the Imāmī-Shiʿi audience in particular, it provides a broader understanding of one’s own intellectual heritage and significant exposure to other Islamic schools of thought.

 

[1] “Imāmī” will be used synonymously with “Twelver” throughout this review.

[2] J.L. Heilbron, ed. The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science (NY: Oxford, 2003), vii.

[3] Murtaḍa Muṭahharī, Understanding Islamic Sciences (London: ICAS, 2002), 53.

[4] Ibid., 19-20.

[5] Ibid., 14.

[6] Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Traditional Islam in the Modern World (London: KPI, 1987), 184.

[7] Murtaḍa Muṭahharī, Understanding Islamic Sciences (London: ICAS, 2002), 72.

[8] Ibid., 77-78

[9] Ibid., 91.

[10] Ibid., 92.

[11] Ibid., 91-92.

[12] Ibid., 95.

[13] Ibid., 144.

[14] Ibid., 180-181.

[15] Ibid., 49.

A Salute to the Master of Martyrs: An Excerpt

By
al-Sidrah
-

The Islamic Texts Institute under the direction of Shaykh Rizwan Arastu has recently published an original translation and commentary on Ziyārat ʿĀshūrāʾ, a devotional salutation to the Prophet’s (ṣ) grandson Imam Ḥusayn (ʿa), recited on the day of his tragic martyrdom.  The translation is lucid, and the commentary profound, with subjects ranging from Imam Husayn’s birth to the logic of laʿn. Below, please find a short excerpt from this work, titled, “A Salute to the Master of Martyrs: A Commentary on Ziyārat ʿĀshūrāʾ.”  Click the below cover image to download a PDF of the excerpt.

Salute-front-cover-FINAL-312

 

Purchase a copy at the Islamic Texts Institute.

Notes on the Importance of Congregational Prayer

By
Sakeb Ali
-

All praise belongs to the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth, who has chosen Islam as our religion. Islam addresses the needs of all people—all the physical and spiritual, individual and social, inner and outer aspects of our faith.

Faith is not about proclaiming the basic tenets of Islam by words alone. It requires heartfelt belief, powerful enough to manifest in righteous actions. The Qurʾan in many verses clarifies this strong relationship, and mentions faith and righteous deeds together:

وَعَدَ اللَّـهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَ‌ةٌ وَأَجْرٌ‌ عَظِيمٌ

Allah has promised those who have faith and do righteous deeds forgiveness and a great reward. [1]

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَآمَنُوا بِمَا نُزِّلَ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَهُوَ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّ‌بِّهِمْ كَفَّرَ‌ عَنْهُمْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ وَأَصْلَحَ بَالَهُمْ

But those who have faith and do righteous deeds and believe in what has been sent down to Muhammad—and it is the truth from their Lord—He shall absolve them of their misdeeds and set right their affairs. [2]

وَالْعَصْرِ‌. إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ‌. إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ

By Time!  Man is indeed in loss, except those who have faith and do righteous deeds, and enjoin one another to [follow] the truth, and enjoin one another to patience. [3]

Prayers—Before Prophet Muhammad’s (ṣ) Time

Performing the daily prayers is the most important obligation for all Muslims, whether rich or poor, men or women, healthy or ill. Previous religious communities were also required to pray, though the manner of praying may have differed. This is made clear in the Qurʾan:

Prophet Ibrāhīm prays to his Lord:

رَ‌بِّ اجْعَلْنِي مُقِيمَ الصَّلَاةِ وَمِن ذُرِّ‌يَّتِي رَ‌بَّنَا وَتَقَبَّلْ دُعَاءِ

My Lord! Make me a maintainer of prayer, and among my descendants [as well]. Our Lord, accept my supplication. [4]

وَاذْكُرْ‌ فِي الْكِتَابِ إِسْمَاعِيلَ إِنَّهُ كَانَ صَادِقَ الْوَعْدِ وَكَانَ رَ‌سُولًا نَّبِيًّا. وَكَانَ يَأْمُرُ‌ أَهْلَهُ بِالصَّلَاةِ وَالزَّكَاةِ وَكَانَ عِندَ رَ‌بِّهِ مَرْ‌ضِيًّا

And mention in the Book, Ismāʿīl (Ishmael—ʿa). Indeed, he was true to his promise, and an apostle and prophet.  He used to bid his family to [maintain] the prayer and to [pay] the zakat, and was pleasing to his Lord. [5]

In Allah’s conversation with Mūsā (Moses—ʿa):

إِنَّنِي أَنَا اللَّـهُ لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدْنِي وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِ‌ي

Indeed I am Allah—there is no god except Me. So worship Me, and maintain the prayer for My remembrance. [6]

When Prophet ʿĪsā (Jesus—ʿa) spoke to the people:

قَالَ إِنِّي عَبْدُ اللَّـهِ آتَانِيَ الْكِتَابَ وَجَعَلَنِي نَبِيًّا. وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَ‌كًا أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُ وَأَوْصَانِي بِالصَّلَاةِ وَالزَّكَاةِ مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا

He said, “Indeed I am a servant of Allah! He has given me the Book and made me a prophet. He has made me blessed, wherever I may be, and He has enjoined me to [maintain] the prayer and to [pay] the zakat as long as I live.” [7]

The Importance of Prayer

The Qurʾan emphasizes prayer’s importance in many verses, repeating the word ṣalāh (prayer) 79 times. Many aḥādīth also emphasize its significance; we will suffice here with two:

The Prophet (ṣ) said:

أَوَّلُ مَا افْتَرَضَ اللٌّهُ عَلى أُمَّتِي الصَّلَوَاتُ الْخَمْسُ وَ أَوَّلُ مَا يُرفَعُ مِنْ أَعْمَالِهِمْ الصَّلَوَاتُ الْخَمْسُ وَ أَوَّلُ مَا يُسْأَلُونَ عَـنْهُ الصَّلَوَاتُ الْخَمْسُ

The five prayers are the first mandate of God upon my ummah; the five prayers will ascend first from their acts of worship; and the five prayers will be the first thing they will be asked about. [8]

Imam Muḥammad al-Bāqir (ʿa) said:

أَلصَّلاَةُ عَمُودُ الدِّينِ مَثَلُهَا كَمَثَلِ عَمُودِ الْفُسْطَاطِ إِذَا ثَبَتَ الْعَمُودُ ثَبَتَ الأَوْتَادُ وَ الأَطْنَابُ وَ إِذَا مَالَ الْعَمُودُ وَ انْكَسَرَ لَمْ يَثْبُتْ وَتِدٌ وَ لاَ طُنُبٌ

The prayer is the pillar of religion and its parable is that of the tent’s poles—when the pole remains sturdy, the pegs and ropes are also sturdy, but when the poles bend and break neither peg nor rope holds. [9]

Congregational Prayers—In Qurʾan and Aḥādīth

It is highly recommended to pray the daily obligatory prayers in congregation. Praying in congregation is mentioned in the Qurʾan and its benefits are highlighted in numerous aḥādīth:

Shaykh Abū ʿAlī al-Faḍl al-Ṭabarsī mentions in his Qurʾanic exegesis, Majmaʿ al-Bayān, that the latter part of the following verse is referring to performing the prayers in congregation.

وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَارْ‌كَعُوا مَعَ الرَّ‌اكِعِينَ

And maintain the prayer, and give the zakat, and bow along with those who bow [in prayer]. [10]

Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (ʿa) said:

مَنْ صَلّى الغداةَ و العِشاءَ الآخرةَ في جماعةٍ فَهُوَ فِي ذِمَّةِ اللهِ عزّ وجلَّ وَ مَنْ ظَلَمَهُ فَأَنَّما يَظْلِمُ اللهَ وَمَنْ حَقَّرَهُ فانّما يُحَقِّرُ اللهَ عزّ وجلّ

The one who prays the morning prayer [fajr] and last prayer of the evening [ʿishāʾ] in congregation is in the protection of Allah; whoever wrongs him has wronged none other than God Himself—the Lofty and Sublime—and whoever belittles him has belittled none other than God Himself—the Lofty and Sublime.[11]

Imam Muḥammad al-Bāqir (ʿa) said:

لا صلاةَ لِمَنْ لا يَشْهَدُ الصلاةَ مِنْ جِيرَانِ المسجدِ إِلَّا مريض أَوْ مَشغول

Invalid are the prayers of he who neighbors the mosque and yet does not pray there, unless he is sick or occupied. [12]

All the jurists of both our time and the past have emphasized that praying in congregation is highly recommended, especially with respect to fajr and ʿishāʾ prayers.

Congregational Prayers—In the Prophet’s Time

Prayer was legislated before the migration to Medina, and the Prophet used to pray in congregation whenever it was possible. It is also reported that Imam ʿAlī and Lady Khadījah used to pray behind the prophet in Masjid al-Ḥarām.

When the Prophet and his companions migrated to Medina, they were able to practice their religion freely, and this enabled the Prophet and his companions to build mosques in and around the city. One would expect that there would be only one mosque in Medina where all Muslims could gather to offer prayers behind the Prophet, but in fact there were quite a few. Among the well-known are:

  • al-Masjid al-Nabawī, built by the Prophet in the heart of the city.
  • Masjid Qubāʾ, the first mosque built on the outskirts of Medina during the Prophet’s migration.
  • Masjid al-Qiblatayn, in which the qiblah changed from Bayt al-Maqdis in Jerusalem towards the Kaʿbah in Mecca while the Prophet was praying.

The Qurʾan also mentions a mosque which was built with ulterior motives, a mosque the Prophet was ordered not to pray in:

وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مَسْجِدًا ضِرَ‌ارً‌ا وَكُفْرً‌ا وَتَفْرِ‌يقًا بَيْنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَإِرْ‌صَادًا لِّمَنْ حَارَ‌بَ اللَّـهَ وَرَ‌سُولَهُ مِن قَبْلُ وَلَيَحْلِفُنَّ إِنْ أَرَ‌دْنَا إِلَّا الْحُسْنَىٰ وَاللَّـهُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّهُمْ لَكَاذِبُونَ. لَا تَقُمْ فِيهِ أَبَدًا لَّمَسْجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى التَّقْوَىٰ مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ أَحَقُّ أَن تَقُومَ فِيهِ فِيهِ رِ‌جَالٌ يُحِبُّونَ أَن يَتَطَهَّرُ‌وا وَاللَّـهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُطَّهِّرِ‌ينَ

As for those who took to a mosque for sabotage and for defiance, and to cause division among the faithful, and for the purpose of ambush [used] by those who have fought Allah and His Apostle before—they will surely swear, “We desired nothing but good,” and Allah bears witness that they are indeed liars. Do not stand in it ever! A mosque founded on piety from the [very] first day is worthier that you stand in it [for prayer]. Therein are men who love to keep pure, and Allah loves those who keep pure. [13]

The presence of multiple mosques in the city of Medina suggests that performing the prayers in congregation was an important part of the daily routines of the Muslims of Medina.

Congregational Prayers—Socio-Political Benefits

Along with spiritual rewards and benefits, there are many socio-political benefits of congregational prayer. Allah and his beloved Prophet (ṣ) have set a high goal for the Muslim society, which is mentioned in both the Qurʾan and the aḥādīth:

إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ

The faithful are indeed brothers…[14]

Imam al-Ṣādiq (ʿa) is reported to have said:

المؤمنون في تبارهم وتراحمهم وتعاطفهم كمثل الجسد، إذا اشتكى تداعى له سائره بالسهر والحمى

“Believers are like a single body in their mutual goodness, compassion, and affection; when it suffers [from pain], the rest of the body (also) reacts with a fever and sleeplessness.”[15]

We care for our biological brothers and sisters and respond to them in their times of need. Allah and His Prophet expect us to care for the rest of the believers in the same way. Congregational prayers can help in achieving this goal, as we get a chance to meet and interact with other believers, and share our joys and concerns with each other.

We should make every effort to gather at the nearest mosque or Islamic center to offer daily prayers in congregation. Praying at a mosque has higher rewards, but if one cannot do that due to distance or because of other reasons, congregational prayers can be done at home with one’s family members to reap the benefits of the congregational prayer. All that is required to establish congregational prayer is that the prayer leader be a Shiʿi who is sane, upright in character, of legitimate birth, and able to correctly articulate at least Surat al-Ḥamd and the second surah. If there is a male in the congregation then the prayer leader must be male; but if the congregation is made entirely of women, then a woman can lead the prayer. The congregation must have at least one follower of discerning age or older.

We make efforts to gather our family at the dinner table; similar efforts to gather family for congregational prayer can help remind everyone in the family about the purpose of life and help in developing the family’s spirituality. The Prophet, Lady Khadījah, and Imam ʿAlī praying together in the early days of Islam is a good example for us to follow.

If one has an option to offer prayers alone or in congregation, at home or at a mosque, then praying at the mosque has much higher reward. The following excerpt from the book al-Rawḍah al-Bahiyyah fī-Sharḥ al-Lumʿah al-Dimashqiyyah, one of the most celebrated and well-known textbooks of Islamic law in the Shiʿi world, illustrates this point:

“It is recommended to offer obligatory prayers in congregation; performing the daily prayers in congregation has been especially emphasized. The reward of one prayer done in congregation is equivalent to 5, 7, or 20 prayers when the prayer leader is not a religious scholar; behind a religious scholar, it is equivalent to one thousand prayers. If done in a mosque, reward increases considerably: praying behind a non-religious scholar is equivalent to twenty seven hundred prayers and praying behind a religious scholar is equivalent to one hundred thousand prayers. This reward multiplies with each person joining in congregation up to the tenth; if participation in congregation goes beyond that, nobody can count the reward except for Allah.”

I pray to Allah, that He guides us all to His path, and gives us the opportunity to perform this highly virtuous deed of congregational prayers on a daily basis.

 

[1] Al-Māʾidah: 9. Translations of Qurʾanic verses are from ʿAlī Qulī Qarāʾī’s Qurʾanic translation; translations of aḥādīth are by the author.

[2] Muḥammad: 2.

[3] Al-ʿAṣr: 1-2.

[4] Ibrahīm: 40.

[5] Maryam: 40.

[6] Ṭāhā: 14

[7] Maryam: 30-1

[8] Al-Hindī, ʿAllāmah ʿAlī al-Muttaqī ibn Jāsim al-Dīn, Kanz al-ʿUmmāl, vol. 7, 18859‌, (Beirut: Muʾassasah al-Risālah, 1985), 276.

[9] Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿah, vol. 4, 4464 (Beirut: Muʾassasah Āl al-Bayt—ʿalayhim al-salām—li-Ihyāʾ al-Turāth, 1993), 27.

[10] Al-Baqarah: 43

[11] Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Bābawayh al-Ṣadūq, “al-Jamāʿah wa-Faḍlih” in Man lā-Yaḥḍuruh al-Faqīh, vol. 1, 1099 (Beirut: Dār al-Turāth li-l-Matbūʿāt, 1994), 308.

[12] al-Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿah, vol. 8, 10696, 291.

[13] Al-Tawbah: 107-8

[14] Al-Ḥujurāt: 10

[15] al-Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿah, vol. 12, 14507, 424.

The Start of the Month of Ramaḍān: Legal Opinions and Community Cohesion

By
Sayyid Sulayman Hassan
-

For many Muslims, the determination of the Islamic calendar can be a source of confusion—and often, such as when there are multiple dates for the beginning of Ramaḍān or for the two ʿĪds, it can be a cause of considerable frustration as well.

The article below was originally written some years ago to shed light on the operation of the Islamic calendar and answer common questions that arise when various individuals and organizations reach different conclusions about the start of the month. We are publishing it in an updated version in this issue of al-Sidrah before the start of the blessed month of Ramaḍān.

˚ ˚ ˚

Questions about the calendar and the importance of sighting the crescent moon are not exclusive to the modern era. As the Qurʾān tells us, such questions existed in the time of the Prophet (s) himself.

We read in Sūrat al-Baqarah of the Qurʾān:

They ask you about the crescents. Say: They are times appointed for the people and for the hajj… (al-Qurʾān, 2:189)

This verse sets the new crescent as the standard for the beginning of the Islamic month. In this way, Islam introduced a purely lunar calendar that was distinct from the different calendars in use at the time in Arabia and elsewhere. Along with verses 36 and 37 of Sūrat al-Tawbah, which prohibit any form of modification or tampering with the calendar, this verse introduced a uniquely observational calendar that was directly accessible to the people without making them dependent on calculations, astrologers, or any central coercive authority.

By establishing such a standard, Islam empowered the people: unlike other religions and civilizations, no emperor, priest, or king could impose his authority upon them by controlling or abusing the religious calendar. At the same time, a corresponding responsibility was placed on the people’s shoulders: to determine each new month, they would have to learn to communicate with each other effectively and negotiate differences of opinion and understanding that naturally arise in any area of human endeavor.

For the Islamic calendar to fulfill its proper and intended function in society and in order to avoid doubt, confusion, and disunity, Muslims need to have some familiarity with the legal criteria for determining the beginning of the month.  The first question which generally arises is, “Why can’t Muslims achieve unity on such an important issue in the first place?”

The Role of Ijtihād

To answer that question, it is important to understand the nature and importance of the process of ijtihād—the process of deriving religious laws from the Qurʾān and Sunnah—within Islam, especially in the school of Ahl al-Bayt (a). When there are different fatāwā (pl. of fatwā) or religious rulings about an issue, it is common for people to ask questions along the lines of, “Why don’t the scholars just get together, solve the issue, and give a single answer?”

This question reflects the natural tension that exists between free scholarly debate and uniformity of action.  In any field of human endeavor, there is a tradeoff that arises in allowing academic disagreement: it permits scholarship to progress and develop, but it also leads to less conformity and agreement in practice. Two doctors may reach different conclusions about the best way to treat an illness; economists may offer different models and suggestions to prevent a recession; and jurists may differ in their interpretation of secular or religious law. On the other hand, imposing a specific solution or answer to a problem prevents confusion and disunity in practice, but it stifles the advancement of knowledge.

Within the Sunni world, the introduction of the four well-known schools of fiqh—Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, and Ḥanbalī—was just such an attempt to impose conformity on people’s religious practice by the Abbasid government of the time, who feared the proliferation of ever-increasing schools of fiqh among Muslims. By limiting the acceptable legal schools to four, they hoped to keep differences of opinion and practice within a manageable level.

However, within the school of Ahl al-Bayt (a) the practice of ijtihād has remained a continuous and unencumbered process from the time of the Imāms until the present day. The minor differences in religious rulings that do sometimes result are far outweighed by the benefits of the dynamic process of religious scholarship.

The Role of Taqlīd in Religious Practice

It is a misconception that taqlīd means following a faqīh (Islamic jurist) in all matters pertaining to religious practice.  In reality, there is a difference between the legal ruling and its application. Taqlīd means abiding by the religious verdicts and rulings of a faqīh; these rulings are commonly known as fatwā (pl. fatāwā) in Arabic. However, the application of those rulings in daily life depends on determining that the conditions to which a particular ruling applies actually exist, and that is neither the role of a faqīh, nor necessarily his area of expertise.

For example, the faqīh will give us the ruling that wine is najis and ḥarām to ingest, and he will explain the standard by which to determine what constitutes wine. That standard—his religious ruling—is binding on those who follow him. But if we take a particular liquid to him and ask, “Is this wine?” the answer is not binding. Even if he says with certainty that it is wine, if we know he is wrong or even if we are uncertain, we are no more bound by his pronouncement than that of someone else. Instead, we have to refer to our own certainty or to experts who can make that determination. The faqīh himself may or may not be such an expert with regard to a particular subject.

The moon sighting is one such issue where some people assume they should simply follow their faqīh in his declaration, but like the example given above, that is not what taqlīd entails. One refers to the faqīh to determine what standard to apply in starting the new Islamic month, but actually applying the standard is not subject to taqīid.

Declaration of the First of the Month by a Faqīh

Although the start of the Islamic month is not subject to taqlīd, there are some jurists who say that a faqīh can make a ruling declaring the beginning of the month. This is known as a ḥukm and not a fatwā, because it too has nothing to do with taqlīd. For the followers of jurists who consider such a declaration valid, it is binding if it is made by any faqīh—not only the faqīh whom that person follows in taqlīd.

To illustrate this point, let us look at the rulings of some of our present-day jurists. Sayyid Sistani holds that the faqīh does not have the prerogative of declaring the start of a new month, and such a declaration is not binding on others, though it is recommended to observe precaution (for example, by fasting without the intention of Ramaḍān):

The 1st day of any month will not be proved by the verdict of a Mujtahid and it is better to observe precaution.[1]

In contrast, both Sayyid Khamenei and Shaykh Makarim Shirazi consider the ruling of a jurist to be authoritative. In his answers to legal queries, Sayyid Khamenei states:

… and similarly if a religious jurist rules about the crescent, his judgment will be a religious hujjah (authority) for all believers, and it is obligatory on them to obey it.[2]

It should be noted that this only applies if the religious authority actually issues a ruling regarding the beginning of the month. If however, he is personally convinced about the moon sighting without issuing a ruling to that effect, that does not mean others are required to follow the same dates as he is following:

Until a religious authority issues a decree announcing the sighting of the new crescent, the mere ascertaining of it by him is not sufficient for others to follow him, unless they are convinced thereby of the end of Ramaḍān.[3]

and

In addition, even the ruling of a religious authority will not be binding on those who, through whatever means, know that ruling to have been made in error.[4]

Thus, for followers of Sayyid Sistani, they cannot follow the statement of either their own faqīh or any other jurist unless they are personally satisfied that it is correct (or, of course, if the crescent has been established by other means.)

Followers of Sayyid Khamenei or Shaykh Makarim, however, would have to follow the declaration of a religious authority, even if that declaration was not made by the jurist they follow in taqlīd. So a ruling by Sayyid Khamenei would be binding on followers of Shaykh Makarim as well.

Criterion for the Start of the Month

There is a near consensus among Shīʿī jurists that the criterion for the start of the Islamic month is for the new crescent to be visible in the sky; most jurists specify that it must be visible to the unaided eye (and not through a telescope or other instrument). The visible crescent is not the same as the new moon, which is actually invisible from earth. The crescent usually becomes visible one or two days after the new moon. Unlike the new moon, the visibility of the crescent cannot be calculated or predicted with absolute certainty.

Using Astronomy to Determine the Start of the Month

There is also consensus among jurists that using astronomy or calculations to determine the new month is not allowed, unless one derives certainty through those means. In that case, it is permitted.[5]

There is a common misconception that astronomy gives definitive answers and should be able to resolve any disputes about the beginning of the Islamic month. In reality, the visibility of the crescent is different from calculations of sunrise, sunset, the new moon, and so forth—all of which can be calculated with precision.

The visibility of the new crescent depends on many different factors, including the age of the moon, its angular separation from the sun (which affects how much of the moon’s surface is illuminated), and when the moon sets. Experts have created models based on these and other factors that in some instances can rule out the moon’s visibility and in other instances can say with certainty that the moon will be visible, but this is not true in all cases.

Thus, even though it cannot be relied on in entirety, there is a clear role for astronomy in moon sighting, especially in ruling out reports or claims of seeing the crescent where such a sighting was not actually possible.[6]

Eyewitness Testimony of the Moon sighting

There are several ways to establish the new crescent. Whether a jurist’s declaration is binding or not was discussed above. The other ways are:

  1. for a person to see the crescent personally,
  2.  for its sighting to have been established with certainty (for example if a large number of men and women saw the moon),
  3. for thirty days to have passed from the start of the previous month,
  4. or for two ʿādil witnesses to testify that they have seen the crescent.

With regard to the testimony of two ʿādil witnesses, there are two opinions among Shīʿī jurists. One holds that their testimony is valid as long as:

  1. they do not contradict one another[7]
  2. they are not contradicted by at least two other ʿādil witnesses who say the crescent moon was not visible[8]
  3. a person does not have personal certainty that they are in error.[9]
  4. Sayyid Khamenei and Shaykh Makarim Shirazi hold this view.[10]

Sayyid Sistani, however, expresses the conditions for the testimony of witnesses to be admissible differently:

If two just (Adil) persons say that they have sighted the moon at night. The first day of the month will not be established if they differ about the details of the new moon. This difference can be either explicit or even implied.

For example, when a group of people goes out in search of a new moon and none but two Adils claim to have seen the new moon, though, among those who did not see, there were other Adils equally capable and knowledgeable [in terms of locating the crescent], then the testimony by the first two Adils will not prove the advent of a new month.[11]

Thus, in the view of Sayyid Sistani, the sighting of the moon should be something that is clearly and unambiguously established. If the crescent is visible in the sky and many people go out to look for it, it does not make sense for many or most of them not to see it. In several questions that were asked of him, Sayyid Sistani has specified that this standard applies even if the reported sightings of the crescent were more than two in number:

لو كان هناك اكثر من شاهدین عادلین بالرؤیة (اربعة او ستة او ثمانیة شهود بالرؤیة) فهل هذا یعني وقوعهم بالخطأ والاشتباه علیه تترك شهادتهم؟

الجواب: یمكن الخطأ في العشرة ایضا.

This was part of a question regarding a case in which more than two ʿādil witnesses report seeing the moon even though it is not astronomically possible:

What if there are more than two ʿādil witnesses to the sighting (four, six, or eight witnesses to the sighting)?  Does this mean that they are in error and their testimony will be rejected?

Answer: Even ten people can be in error [let alone a smaller number].

Another question and answer deal specifically with the issue of a crescent that was seen by some people but not others:

في بعض الشهور يعلن عن ثبوت الهلال عند بعض العلماء في بعض بلاد الشرق استناداً الى أقوال بعض من شهدوا برؤيته فيها، ولكن يقترن ذلك ببعض الأمور:
أـ كون الشهود وعددهم 30 مثلا ـ موزعين على عدة بلدان، مثلا (2) في أصفهان، (3) في قم، (2) في يزد، (4) في الكويت، (5) في البحرين، (2) في الأحساء، (6) في سوريا، وهكذا.
ب ـ صفاء الافق في عدد من البلاد الغربية واستهلال المؤمنين فيها مع عدم وجود مانع لرؤية.
ج ـ اعلان المرصد الفلكي البريطاني انه يستحيل رؤية الهلال في تلك الليلة في بريطانيا ما لم يستخدم المنظار)التلسكوب( وأن رؤيته بالعين المجردة إنما يتيسر في الليلة اللاحقة.
فما هو الحكم في هذه الحالة؟ افتونا مأجورين.
الجواب: إنّ العبرة باطمئنان المكلف نفسه بتحقق الرؤية أو بقيام البينة عليها من دون معارض، وفي الحالة المذكورة ونظائرها لا يحصل عادة الاطمئان بظهور الهلال على الأفق بنحو قابل للرؤية بالعين المجردة، بل ربما يحصل الإطمئنان بعدمه وكون الشهادات الصادرة مبنية على الوهم والخطأ في الحس، والله العالم.

During certain months, it is declared that the sighting has been proven according to some religious scholars in some eastern countries. This is based on the testimony of those who have sighted the new moon. Such declarations are usually coupled with the following facts:

  1. The witnesses who sighted the moon and who number around thirty, for example, are scattered in various cities such as 2 in Isfahan, 3 in Qum, 2 in Yazd, 4 in Kuwait, 5 in Bahrain, 2 in Aḥsāʾ, and 6 in Syria, etc.
  2. The sky was clear in a number of cities in the West, and the believers went out in the attempt to sight the moon; and there was nothing preventing the sighting.
  3. The observatories in England announced that it was impossible to sight the new moon that evening in England except by using a telescope; and that its sighting with the naked eye would be possible only in the following night. So, what is the ruling in such a case? Please guide us, may Allāh reward you.

Answer: The criterion is the satisfaction of the individual himself [1] about the actual sighting [of the new moon] or [2] the proof of sighting without any counter claim. In the case mentioned above, satisfaction is not normally achieved concerning the appearance of the new moon on the horizon in such a way that it could have been sighted by the naked eye. On the contrary, one is satisfied that it was not sighted and that the testimony [of sightings in the Eastern cities] is based on illusion and error in sight. And Allāh knows the best.[12]

In short, the beginning of each Islamic month must be based on certainty, and even the testimony of trustworthy and ʿādil witnesses cannot be utilized unless it fulfills the standard mentioned above.

Evaluating Sighting Reports Scientifically

As mentioned earlier, astronomical models are still not precise enough to tell us with absolute certainty exactly where the crescent will or will not be visible in all cases. This is because of the many factors, both astronomical and atmospheric, that affect its visibility.

At the same time, it is frequently possible to scientifically rule out the prospect of sighting in a particular area, a fact which we can also see reflected in the questions posed to Sayyid Sistani that are quoted above. Experts have created astronomical models that explain the possibility of seeing the crescent in terms of “visibility curves” that spread westward across the globe. These curves, plotted on a map or globe, show where the crescent should be visible with ease, where it may be visible under perfect atmospheric conditions, where optical aids may be needed to find or see it, and finally, where the crescent will not be visible at all, even with telescopes.

The models created in this way are based on astronomical realities and are corroborated by years, or even centuries, of observations, and thus are extremely reliable—especially in ruling out any report of sighting the crescent that originates from outside of even the widest visibility curve (in which the crescent can only be seen with optical aid, not with the naked eye). So if there is a case where a reported sighting conflicts with conclusive astronomical data, it can be discounted.

Reported Sightings and Astronomical Models

One might be tempted to say that if the moon sighting is reported by trustworthy and ʿādil witnesses even though the astronomical models show it to be impossible, that should call into question the validity of those models rather than result in the discounting of the witnesses’ testimony.

To understand why that is not necessarily the case, it is important to understand that it is entirely possible and even common for people to think they have seen the moon when in reality they have not. Clouds, dust, pollution, and other natural factors can sometimes be confused for the young crescent. And of course, today there are also many manmade objects in the sky that can confuse even an experienced observer, such as aircraft and various types of satellites. This type of confusion existed even in the era of the Imāms, as evidenced by this ḥadīth from Imām Ṣādiq (a), in which he was asked how many witnesses are sufficient in sighting the crescent.  The Imām replied:

إن شهر رمضان فريضة من فرائض الله، فلا تؤدوا بالتظني.  وليس رؤية الهلال أن يقوم عدة فيقول واحد: قد رأيته، ويقول الآخرون: لم نره؛ إذا رآه واحد رآه مائة، وإذا رآه مائة رآه ألف.  ولا يجزئ في رؤية الهلال إذا لم يكن في السماء علة أقل من شهادة خمسين، وإذا كانت في السماء علة قبلت شهادة رجلين يدخلان ويخرجان من مصر.

Verily, the month of Ramaḍān is one of the Divine obligations, so don’t base it on conjecture. And sighting the crescent is not for a group to go out, and then one says, “I have seen it,” while the others say “We didn’t see it.” If one sees it, a hundred see it, and if a hundred see it, a thousand see it. And in sighting the moon, the testimony of less than fifty is not sufficient if there is no obstacle in the sky; and if there is an obstacle, the testimony of two men who enter and leave a city is acceptable.[13]

There are several other similar aḥadīth from the Imāms that demonstrate that mistaken sightings were an issue even in that era, before pollution and the presence of foreign objects in the sky were as much of an issue as they are today.

Thus, if the astronomical models and data are conclusive in eliminating the possibility of sighting, that determination in fact can be relied upon even if there are reports of the moon sighting. However, if the scientific models are not conclusive, the eyewitness testimony cannot be discounted.

Conclusion

It sometimes happens that various Shīʿī and Sunnī centers arrive at different dates for the start of the Islamic month. In accordance with the different scholarly opinions, some rely on reported sightings, while others make use of astronomical models and calculations. Whatever determination an individual may make, it is important to bear in mind that unity does not require conformity, but rather respect and understanding for those who may have come to a different determination.

 

[1] Islamic Laws, Issue 1740.  See also المسائل المنتخبة، المسألة 475.

[2] “وهكذا لو حكم الحاكم الشرعي بالهلال كان حكمه حجة شرعية لعامة المكلفين ووجب عليهم اتباعه.”

[3] Practical Laws of Islam, Question 839.

[4] Tawḍīh al-Masāʾil, Shaykh Makarim Shirazi, Issue 1456.

[5] Tawḍīh al-Masāʾil, Shaykh Makarim Shirazi, Issue 1457. See also Islamic Laws, Sayyid Sistani, Issue 1741.

[6] “On the Crescent’s Visibility,” S. Kamal Abdali, Ph.D. (http://patriot.net/~abdali/ftp/moon.pdf)

[7] For example, if one says the moon was in one direction and the other says it was in another direction, their testimony will not be valid.

[8] In this case, if two ʿādil witnesses say, “We saw the crescent,” and two others say, “We did not see it,” the testimony of the first group will be admissible. But if the second group actually denies and the sighting of the crescent itself, for example, by saying, “We looked, and the crescent wasn’t there,” then the two conflicting testimonies cancel each other and neither is admissible.

[9] For example, if two ʿādil witnesses testify to seeing the moon but a person is satisfied by scientific or other means that their sighting is mistaken or in error.

[10] Practical Laws of Islam, Issue 837; Tawḍīh al-Masāʾil, Issue 1456. Shaykh Makarim adds that if the two witnesses mention attributes of the crescent that indicate they made a mistake, their testimony does not prove the new month—even if they don’t contradict one another.

[11] Islamic Laws, Issue 1739.

[12] See http://www.najaf.org/english/book/5/ and http://www.rafed.net/books/fegh/moqtarabin/se4.html#15.

[13] Wasāʾil al-Shīʿah, vol. 10, p. 289

Devotional Theology: An Interview with Shaykh Vinay Khetia

By
Trenton Carl
-

Al-Sidrah had the pleasure of speaking with Shaykh Vinay Khetia about his Ph.D. thesis which he is currently writing on the duʿāʾ and ziyārāt of the Ahl al-Bayt.

In this interview, he introduces his educational background before elaborating on his research. Of particular interest is his explanation of the history and focus of scholastic commentaries on Shīʿī devotional literature. He explains that this process perhaps started in the 13th century with Sayyid ibn Ṭāwūs, expanded in the Safavid era, and has continued through to the contemporary period. He also provides the names of contemporary ʿulamaʾ who have written on the duʿāʾ of the Imāms, and the academic scholars and ʿulamaʾ that he is working with to complete his thesis.

Beyond speaking about the academic nature of his topic, Shaykh Khetia provides some useful insight for how communities and individuals who are not fluent in classical Arabic can effectively engage with, and develop a spiritual connection to, various duʿāʾ and ziyārāt. This includes what one should focus on when reading, and how an individual can build an Arabic vocabulary that will deepen their connection to the subtle meanings embedded in the texts.

We pray for Shaykh Khetia’s success and look forward to benefiting from his research in the future. Use the player below to listen.

Interview with Shaykh Vinay Khetia – Du’a

 

Shīʿī Theology through the Lens of Divine Justice

By
Azhar Sheraze
-

Part 1 of a Summary-Review of  Shīʿī Islam: An Introduction

Najam Haider’s book Shīʿī Islam: An Introduction is one of the latest additions to a growing body of academic scholarship on Shīʿī Islam. The book is unique: it is neither a typical theological primer nor a plain historical account. Many other introductory level texts are limited to theological or legal tracts without regard for historical context. Others are primarily historical and may overemphasize contentious moments in history. Haider attempts to historically situate the primary doctrines of Shīʿī Islam and the developing Shīʿī community, and explains that the development of its theology influenced the way Shīʿī Muslims remembered their past – suggesting that theology and history are intertwined. In this summary review, I present an overview of this book with special attention to the Twelver school and include comments wherever it may be useful to our community. Part one of this series will focus on the book’s introduction and its exposition of theological issues related to the concept of Divine Justice.

Shīʿī Islam as an Independent School

The introduction gives an expectation of a thoughtful account of Shīʿī Islam in contrast to Sunnī Islam, and does so without essentializing their differences or exaggerating their similarities. Haider recognizes that many works tend to present Shīʿī Islam as originating from the political controversies over the succession of the Prophet (ṣ) or focus on peripheral differences between the schools – like the issue of the placement of the hands in prayer. These works may perpetuate the misconception that Shīʿī Islam is an accident of history. They may also overlook the methodological and theological elements of Shīʿī Islam that are indicative of more than just political disagreements between groups of Muslims, and may also gloss over distinct Shīʿī trends that existed before the Prophet’s (ṣ) death. The book recognizes most of these broader elements, including their characteristic position on the nature of God and religious authority, and this helps the reader appreciate Shīʿī Islam as a relevant school of Islam that links itself to Islam’s religious heritage in a deeper way. Special attention is given to the idea of development of the school, implying an interplay of social, political, and intellectual forces at work as Shīʿī Islam expressed itself over time. It also suggests the advent of a theological consolidation close to the 10th century and speaks of rapid changes within Shīʿī scholarship and authority as the community moved towards the modern period. Later on in this piece, we will make some remarks about the possible implications of these assessments. Three groups associated with Shīʿī Islam are discussed in this book: the Twelvers, the Zaydīs, and the Ismaʿīlīs.

The Development of Shīʿī Islam

Shīʿī Islam: An Introduction

Section I begins with an introduction of modern Shīʿī theology along with a brief narrative of the historical development of these ideas during the eighth and ninth centuries onwards[1]. During this period, Shīʿī scholars engaged in intense debates with scholars from the Ashʿarī and Muʿtazilī schools. The book suggests that much of Shīʿī doctrine was formulated in light of this debate, particularly with the Muʿtazilah. In fact, by the tenth century it states the Shīʿah selectively appropriated certain principles from Muʿtazilī doctrine while rejecting other principles that conflicted with the central Shīʿī doctrine of Imāmah (translated as “legitimate leadership”). Haider admits in a footnote that this framing is oversimplified. The footnote recognizes the development of Shīʿī doctrine was certainly not a one-way appropriation by Shīʿah who simply took from the Muʿtazilah. The book states a number of Muʿtazilī theologians themselves became Shīʿī, indicating a more dynamic interplay between the two schools.[2] It may be useful to point out that the idea of Shīʿah doctrine “developing” may seem incongruous to a practicing Shīʿī audience. First, it need not be problematic if understood as a scholarly attempt to consolidate and articulate the teachings of the Qurʾān, the Ahl al-Bayt, and reason into theological form.[3] Development would then mean continuous effort to couch an eternal truth in time, in a particular type of language, alongside changing contexts, and in light of newly developing sciences. The book emphasizes the changing aspects of this development, but does not provide believers insight to the extent to which these efforts can unveil higher truths about the realities underlying Islamic beliefs, which is perhaps outside the scope of the book. Second, some Muʿtazilī scholars trace their formulations to Imām ʿAlī (a), indicating the possibility that both schools were drawing from similar inspiration in parallel.[4] Third, the book does not explore the possibility that Shīʿī scholars may have utilized formulations similar to the Muʿtazilah for the sake of debate or analysis and thus may not have viewed the formulations themselves to be fundamental to their own religious commitments.

Shīʿī Islam in Relation to the Muʿtazilah

The book characterizes the Muʿtazilah as a theological school known for emphasizing ʿaql (translated as “reason”) as paramount in theology, ethics, and Qurʾānic exegesis. It lists five core beliefs that were associated with the Muʿtazilah, which are:

  • Ṭawhīd (translated as “Divine Oneness”): that the descriptions of God mentioned in the Qurʾān (g., the Face of God, the Hand of God, etc) are metaphorical and should not be interpreted in anthropomorphic terms[5]
  • ‘Adl (translated as “Divine Justice”): that God is Just in a way that we can rationally understand, or in other words, God must align to a moral standard that human beings know to be correct by means of reason
  • That God strictly upholds the reward of righteous believers and the punishment of sinners
  • An intermediate position on grave sinners as fāsiq, who are condemned to hell but maintain their legal standing as Muslims
  • The principle of enjoining good and forbidding evil, requiring Muslims to act to reform their own communities

Muʿtazilī scholars did not consider the office of Imāmah as a principle because it was not reserved for a specific divinely sanctioned lineage, with some going further to state that an imām is not necessarily required at all times.

While the Muʿtazilah criticized the Shīʿah for their positions, the book states that most of the broader Shīʿī community aligned themselves with Muʿtazilī positions, especially the Zaydiyyah who accepted nearly all of their theology (but they still restricted the office of Imāmah to the descendants of Imām ʿAlī (a)). It is said that the Twelvers affirmed the first and second, conditionally accepted the fifth, but rejected the third and fourth. The third principle left little-to-no room for intercession (shafāʿah), due to a belief that the office of Imāmah was not merely political leadership but also involved the Imām’s (and Prophet’s) role in the guidance and salvation of their loyal followers. The book states that the Twelvers rejected the fourth principle as being merely a political move to absolve certain companions of grave sins or acts of apostasy, such as waging war against Imām ʿAlī (a). It is noteworthy, that many contemporary jurists, such as Sayyid Sīstānī, hold the legal opinion that the sin of public enmity towards the Ahl al-Bayt (a) does indeed take one outside the fold of Islam if it is done by one who knows this is against Prophetic teachings.[6] As for the Ismaʿīlīs, chapter one does not say much about their relationship to these principles due to the complications of having living Imāms who had the power to change doctrine each generation.

Shīʿī Islam in Relation to Sunnī Scholars

The book accounts for another major opposition to Muʿtazilah theology among Islamic scholars: traditionists who adopted a literalist interpretation of revelation and aḥadīth and therefore “rejected the very project of theology.”[7] It goes on to state that a middle position was founded in the tenth century known as the Ashʿarī school which accepted the emphasis of the religious texts over-and-above reason, but defended these positions using rational discourse. The Ashʿarī school would eventually become the dominant position within Sunnī Islam.[8]

As an aside, readers would have benefited from a discussion on the use of the term “literalist”. The book may give one the impression that a literal interpretation is something only undertaken by traditionists. After all, recent Twelver scholars like Sayyid al-Khuʾī have explained the importance of literal (or perhaps “apparent”) meanings in texts but explain them in a way that maintains the sophistication and profundity of the revealed sources which do not limit them to mundane interpretations.[9]

Divine Justice – A Point of Contention between Schools

One of the larger contentions of Sunnī Ashʿarī scholars with the Shīʿah was over the issue of Divine Justice. As explained in chapter one, Ashʿarīs argue that God is just by definition, and so what God chooses to do, decide, command, and prohibit is what defines goodness and justice. Going further, people are not in a position to apply such labels to God since their power of reason cannot independently determine what is just and moral, whether for God or for themselves. Any attempt is speculative at best. God’s actions may not necessarily accord with a human determination of what is right or wrong, and may even flatly contradict. One must discover what is just by seeking recourse to God’s own words, found in revelation and prophetic teachings. This contrasts with the Shīʿī position. The book explains that the Shīʿah believe that God is just in a way humans can rationally understand, and therefore justice and morality are capable of being independently understood by means of reason. God’s actions must align must “accord with the basic postulates of reason”.[10] Contenders of the Shīʿah may argue that this imposes rules on God.

Divine Justice: Morality and Law

The book outlines the perspectives of both Sunnī and Shīʿī schools on morality and law. Their ethical and legal outlooks differ because how they differed on the question of Divine Justice. The book mentions that both Shīʿī and Sunnī scholars believe all people have an intrinsic human proclivity (fitrah) towards the belief in monotheism. However, Sunnīs derive ethical and legal conclusions from an engagement with revealed sources (such as the Qurʾān and aḥadith), using intellectual tools such as reason, qīyās (translated as “analogical reasoning”), and the consensus of previous expert opinions (ijmāʾ) to extract prescriptions from revealed sources. Revealed sources are central to Sunnīs. For them, reason does not have the independent power to derive ethical conclusions of its own, and must operate through the text in order to uncover ethical prescriptions.

The book is less clear on the Shīʿī perspective on morality and law. Shīʿī scholars are said to also engage with the revealed sources using reason to extract detailed prescriptions. It suggests that reason can independently grasp the existence of the correct ethical system, and is theoretically capable of ascertaining the divine purpose of laws derived from revealed sources. This is because reason can ascertain objective morality and so can recognize its correspondence in the sources. Reason therefore plays a more prominent role in ethics and in the derivation of law. The book makes a suggestive statement that Shīʿī jurists even uphold the theoretical possibility of utilizing reason alone in the derivation of legal rulings, but states that they rarely do so. The reader is not likely to glean from the book a clear picture of how this is accomplished.

At this point I would like to anticipate questions by referring to the teachings of a prominent contemporary Shīʿī theologian, Shaykh Jaʿfar Subḥānī.[11] As he elucidates, the Shīʿī position on Divine Justice does not limit the power of God nor impose upon Him external rules. Any sound determination of reason would be consonant with God not because it externally forces Him to be a certain way, but precisely because it derives from Him as part and parcel of His creation. In a manner of speaking, God’s revelation has two forms: the words of scripture, and the Divinely-inspired human nature, or fitrah. The fitrah is manifested in the human proclivity for goodness and antipathy for evil, and this manner of being grants humans a perceptive power known as reason which can recognize right and wrong. Reason and revelation together communicate the way God would want us to approach ethical decisions. To reject either one is to reject His wisdom. In the words of Shaykh Subḥānī, “reason does not impose an obligation on God, but rather unveils something from God.”[12] Haider hints at this, stating that the Shīʿī scholars “are not placing a constraint on God but merely providing an empirical description of His actions.”[13] This description can help us reconcile why it is impossible to accept that a fair God could place an infallible saint in hell for his or her many good deeds.

Second, among Shīʿī scholars is much discussion over the value and limits of reason in determining ethical prescriptions independently of revelation. It is clear, however, that good and evil are said to be intelligible at least in a general way and we do not need revelation to confirm this.[14] This opinion would suggest that normal people are not capable of determining the precise details of all fair and unjust acts, but are capable of knowing the basic postulates of reason that clearly reveal injustice as generally wrong and God as just. And so, for example, any person or idea that encourages wholesale genocide of innocents could be ruled out immediately on this basis. Revealed sources would thereafter play an important role in explicating the details of a truthful religion which would be inaccessible to reason alone. Traditions speak of this dual-natured guidance, reason being an inner proof and prophetic guidance being an outer proof.[15]

Third, some argue that reason is supposed to lead all people to the same conclusions since it is a universal human faculty, and so the existence of debate is evidence enough that it has no such ability to independently arrive at moral truths. A response given is that not all determinations of reason are alike. Some are self-evident while others require contemplation and the blossoming of the intellect. This is perhaps why some people do not recognize certain rational principles as others do; hence the disagreement.[16] Finally, some have problematized the issue further by pointing out paradoxes in ethics; for example, lying may sometimes be justified in order to save a large number of people from a tyrant. If reason understands both lying and murder as wrong, what apart from revealed sources could arbitrate this moral dilemma? Reason comes to our aid once again; it independently understands that although lying and murder are evil, a lie compared to a pending mass-murder is certainly less evil.[17]

The Implications of Divine Justice on the rest of Shīʿī Theology

Moving onward, the book links the Shīʿī position on Divine Justice to their peculiar perspectives on free will, the existence of evil, Imāmah, and social justice.

Divine Justice Implies Free Will

Although practical and experiential reasons are posited for assenting to the idea that humans enjoy freedom in their actions, the Shīʿī scholars also believe that reason can perceive the tyranny or capriciousness of a God who compels our actions yet holds us accountable. Shīʿī scholars support this position by recourse to Qurʾānic verses that confirm our ability to choose between right and wrong. Other verses that appear to imply a divinely appointed destiny for people are given philosophical interpretations which reconcile the decrees (qadā’) and determinations (qadar) of God with free will.

Reconciling Divine Justice with Evil

The doctrine of Divine Justice made it difficult to resolve the apparent paradoxes of evil in a world created by a merciful, good God. The book suggests that Shīʿī scholars refused to ascribe evil to God, despite His absolute control over every created thing, and attempted to resolve this difficulty in three ways. First, evil is a necessary corollary of the material world, and the existence of a world with some evil in it means that it must have a greater purpose. Second, a substantial amount of evil in the world is a consequence of human free-will (e.g. oppression by tyrants) which as mentioned before is a necessary part of our existence, but absolves God of the moral responsibility of evil human behavior and requires moral agents to rectify such evil (the practical application of these efforts varied with the different Shīʿī schools, but all recognized the Imām at the helm). Third, from a philosophical perspective, evil is actually non-existential and takes place where God’s will is absent, like a shadow which is simply the absence of sunlight.

Reconciling Divine Power with Free-will and Evil

The book moves on to explain the supposed inconsistency between an omnipotent God with free-will and evil. Both appear to imply that God is not in control of human action. The book does not resolve this difficulty directly, but makes an association between this paradox and another well-known problem where God is tasked to create an illogical creature or one He cannot overcome, like a 5-sided triangle or an immovable rock. Shaykh Jaʿfar Subḥānī clarifies that God’s infinite power extends to all possible beings, while impossible beings are so deficient and limited as to not be capable of accepting God’s grace to exist.[18] So the limitation is not with God, but to that which is incapable of receiving God’s grace. As Imām ʿAlī (a) states, “God has no connection with incapacity, so that about which you asked about (ie, impossible beings) cannot be.”[19] The book does not rigorously engage with the possibility of a world without evil, or whether such a world would be a better one, although Shīʿī scholars have done so in the past.

The Sunnī opinion on both free-will and evil is presented by the book as contradictory: they uphold predestination in theory while simultaneously acknowledging the Qurʾānic verses that imply free-will. There is apparently no need to resolve this difficulty since reason is not necessarily in a position to independently grasp an explanation. Sunnīs did develop concepts like kasb which reconciled a form of human agency with God’s omnipotence, but the details are not presented in the book. Sunnīs also discussed theodicy and evil by referencing revealed sources. This appears not to be an attempt to resolve rational contradictions in theology but rather to explore religious sources for guidance.

Divine Justice implies Imāmah

Shīʿī doctrine holds that one of the central consequences of Divine Justice is the belief in luṭf (grace), whereby God acts in humanity’s best interests. Prophethood is therefore predicated on the principle of God’s grace, delivering to humanity essential guidance that most if not all human beings could not have understood on their own. The Shīʿah take this principle a step further arguing for the need of proper interpretation of the Prophet’s revelation, and hence the need for an Imām to preserve the truth in its correct form. A few more distinctive theological beliefs unfold thereafter, including the Twelver and Ismaʿīlī belief in Imāmah and ‘isma (infallibility) of the divinely appointed personalities who are responsible for infallibly conveying and preserving the divine message. The Zaydiyyah do not go so far and believe instead that human reason is sufficient for grasping at a proper interpretation of revelation and concentrate instead on Imāmah’s political and social aspects.

Shīʿī Islam and the Qurʾān

As a final comment, the book’s theological account lacks a serious treatment of the Shīʿī relationship to the Qurʾān. The reader may be left with the impression that Shīʿī Islam does not center itself around Islam’s divine text nor have its own exegetical perspectives. The book focuses on its role in clarifying ethical prescriptions and law along with providing supporting evidence for doctrine. We believe mainstream Shīʿī Islam recognizes both the Qurʾān and Imāmah as two foundational sources for orienting believers towards a comprehensive Islamic worldview, as is suggested by the famous Hadīth al-Thaqalayn, and this would have been worthwhile to explore further due to the misconception that the Shīʿah underemphasize the Qurʾān and overemphasize Imāmah.[20]

Conclusion

Shīʿī Islam: An Introduction is a well rounded primer to Shīʿī Islam. Its first section takes the reader through the distinctive theological positions of modern Shīʿī Islam, tracing their roots to the historical debates with other schools of theology. The book avoids certain pitfalls common to other introductory level books by recognizing this school as theologically distinctive rather than merely politically charged, having its own unique approach to Islam. It also makes bold claims regarding the development of Shīʿī theology as something of an appropriation of Muʿtazilah thought, although we shared an alternative perspective where Shīʿī scholarship ran parallel, but in conversation, with Muʿtazilah scholars who share similar inspirations and sources of knowledge. The book places special emphasis on the historical development of Shīʿī theology, but we suggested the need for more explanation and nuance in describing how theological developments can relate to primordial Islamic truths. Finally, Shīʿī approaches to fundamental theological issues lead to distinctive perspectives on human reason, ethics, exegesis, and doctrine. The most well-known consequence of Divine Justice is the Institution of Imāmah, the cornerstone of Shīʿī theology. In part two we hope to explore the book in further detail, focusing on its characterization of Imāmah.

 

[1] The adjective “modern” is used because the author suggests that the earlier Shīʿī community may not have articulated these doctrines or presented them in the way familiar to the later Shīʿī community.

[2] For a treatment of one such scholar, ibn Qiba, please refer to Hossein Modarressi’s Crisis and Consolidation Crisis and Consolidation in the Formative Period of Shīʿite Islam: Abū Jaʿfar ibn Qiba al-Rāzī and His Contribution to Imāmite Shīʿite Thought.

[3] Murtaẓa Mutahharī states in Introduction to Ilm al-Kalam: “…’ilm al-kalam, like any other field of study, developed gradually and slowly attained maturity.”

[4] Muḥammad Riḍa Jaʿfarī in the chapter “The beliefs of the Imamiyyah” in An Introduction to the Emendation of A Shi‘ite Creed (http://www.al-islam.org/introduction-emendation-shiite-creed-muhammad-rida-jafari), wrote, “…it is enough to point out that al-Ka‘bi al-Balkhi, the Qadi ‘Abdu ‘l-Jabbar, Ibnu ‘l-Murtada and Nashwan al-Himyari trace the origin of the Mu‘tazilah School, with respect to Justice and Unicity, to the Commander of the Faithful…” His various sources can be found in his footnote.

[5] In addition to what is stated by Haider in the book, the Muʿtazilah held that the Divine attributes are not distinct from God’s essence—that is, God’s Being is not distinct from His Mercy, Power, Knowledge, etc.

[6] ʿAli Husaynī Sīstānī, al-Masāʾil al-Muntakhabah, (Maktab Samāḥat al-Sayyid Āyat Allāh al-ʿuẓmā al-Sayyid al-Sīstānī), 86.

[7] Najam Haider, Shīʿī Islam: An Introduction, (NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 15.

[8] Although Ashʿarī theology was at one time dominant in Sunnī Islam, in recent times it has been challenged by Modernist and Salafī conceptions of theology.

[9] al-Sayyid Abū al-Qāsim al-Khuʾī, Zawahir al-Qur’an: The Authority of the Book’s Literal Meanings, trans. Mujahid Husayn, http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/general-al-tawhid/zawahir-al-quran-authority-books-literal-meanings.

[10] Najam Haider, Shīʿī Islam: An Introduction, (NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 18.

[11] Sayyid Sulayman Hassan, “Kalām Lecture based on Muḥāḍarāt fī al-ilāhiyyāt li-Samāḥat al-ʻAllāmah al-Muḥaqqiq Jaʻfar al-Subḥānī” (class, Ahl al-Bayt Islamic Seminary, March 1, 2015).

[12] Alī Rabbānī Gulpāyigānī, Muḥāḍarāt fī al-ilāhīyāt li-Samāḥat al-ʻAllāmah al-Muḥaqqiq Jaʻfar al-Subḥānī, (Qum: Muʼassasat al-Imām al-Ṣādiq, 1421).

[13] Najam Haider, Shīʿī Islam: An Introduction, (NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 25.

[14] Jaʿfar Subḥānī, trans. Reza-Shah Kazemi, Doctrines of Shiʿi Islam, (London: I.B. Tauris, 2001), 50.

[15] Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqub al-Kulayni, trans. Rizwan Arastu, al‑Kāfī: Book One: Book of Intellect and Foolishness, (Monmouth Junction, NJ: Taqwa Media, 2012), 77.

[16] Sayyid Sulayman Hassan, “Kalām Lecture based on Muḥāḍarāt fī al-ilāhiyyāt li-Samāḥat al-ʻAllāmah al-Muḥaqqiq Jaʻfar al-Subḥānī” (class, Ahl al-Bayt Islamic Seminary, April 5, 2015).

[17] Sayyid Sulayman Hassan, “Kalām Lecture based on Muḥāḍarāt fī al-ilāhiyyāt li-Samāḥat al-ʻAllāmah al-Muḥaqqiq Jaʻfar al-Subḥānī” (class, Ahl al-Bayt Islamic Seminary, April 5, 2015).

[18] Jaʿfar Subḥānī, trans. Reza-Shah Kazemi, Doctrines of Shiʿi Islam, (London: I.B. Tauris, 2001), 36.

[19] Jaʿfar Subḥānī, trans. Reza-Shah Kazemi, Doctrines of Shiʿi Islam, (London: I.B. Tauris, 2001), 37.

[20] “The Prophet has said, ‘I leave among you two facts, if you hold to them firmly, you will never be misled: the Book of Allah, the most Holy, the most High, and my family…”, in Muhammad Sarwar’s translation of al-Kāfī (NY: Islamic Seminary Inc., 2014) .

A Sketch of Muftī Jaʿfar Ḥusayn’s Contributions to the Shīʿī Community

By
Sakeb Ali
-

Imām ʿAlī (a) spent his entire life, from his youth until his final breath, in the service of Islam. His life story provides abundant illustrations of moral rectitude from a variety of perspectives: he exhibited the highest ethical standards as a political leader, a scholar, an army general, a father, and in many other capacities throughout his life. It was because of these unique virtues that Imām Alī (a) served as the greatest role model for countless generations of Muslim scholars and leaders. A contemporary Islamic scholar who endeavored to follow Imām ʿAlī’s comprehensive example was Muftī Jaʿfar Ḥusayn. He spent most of his childhood and youth studying Islam, to eventually actively serve his community by preaching and providing political leadership in difficult times; he gave many personal sacrifices for the greater good of the community through his years of service.

Muftī Ja`far could have limited himself to the traditional roles of preaching, teaching his students, writing, or devoting himself to political work. Instead, he attempted to emulate Imām ʿAlī comprehensively; he dedicated his life for Islam, striving in the path of Allah, and became successful in various spheres of life. We may learn many lessons from his life, but among the greatest lessons are to dedicate ourselves to the path of Allah with pure intentions, to work sincerely, and to bear hardships patiently in His way. One should be willing to devote oneself to whatever is the need of the time rather than solely focusing on what one wants to do based on one’s personal taste.

Below is a brief summary of his life and some of his achievements along with translated excerpts from his work in Urdu, Sīrah of Imām ʿAlī.

˚ ˚ ˚

Muftī Jaʿfar Ḥusayn[1] was born in 1914 in Gūjrānwālā, Punjāb. He learned Qurʾān and Arabic from his uncle, Ḥakīm Shihāb al-Dīn, from the age of five to seven. After that, he learned ḥadīth and fiqh from different scholars. Then he went to Lucknow, India and studied there for nine years in Madrasah e-Nāzimiyyah. In 1935, he moved to the Ḥawzah of Najaf, Iraq, and studied there for five years with various scholars including Āyat Allāh Sayyid Abū al-Ḥasan Iṣfahānī, Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn Rashtī, Shaykh Ibrahīm Rashtī, Sayyid Jawād Tabrīzī, Shaykh Mirzā Bāqir Zanjānī, and Shaykh Sayyid ʿAlī Nūrī.

After completing his studies in Najaf, he returned to Lucknow and then finally settled in Gūjrānwālā. He provided many services by imparting religious education and providing social and political leadership for the Shi`ah community in the newly-formed country of Pakistan. Among his activities are the following:

  • Establishment of the first Shīʿī school of learning, Madrasah e-Jaʿfariyyah, in the town of Gūjrānwālā, Punjab
  • Ensuring the recognition of Jaʿfarī fiqh with governmental backing in Pakistan
  • Formation of Shīʿī zakāt committees in order for the Shīʿah to be able to pay zakāt according to the requirements of Jaʿfarī fiqh
  • Establishment of an organized press for the community and issuing a daily newspaper
  • Prescribing separate curriculum for Shīʿī theology in schools, providing students a choice to study Shīʿī theology or Sunnī theology
  • Removing the impediments to the observation of ʿazādārī by the Shīʿah Community
  • Formation of a national Secretariat to coordinate with and guide the Shīʿah Community in an organized manner

As far as recognition of Jaʿfarī fiqh by the government was concerned, he traveled across the country, addressed press conferences, and met government functionaries to galvanize action toward the matter. He never compromised on his principles and, to achieve this lofty goal, he resigned from the membership of the Islāmī Naẓāriyyātī council, thus giving up his honorarium, which was his only source of income at that time.

He was also famous for his literary works which included the Urdu translation of Nahj al-Balaghah and al-Ṣahīfat al-Sajjādiyyah. He also wrote a two-volume book on the Sīrah of Imām ʿAlī (a). In this book, he gives a very detailed biography of Imām ʿAlī (a) from his birth to the end of his life. The author touches upon his genealogy, his character and habits, knowledge, and bravery, and he presents details of many important events that took place in his life.

To conclude this brief sketch of Muftī Jaʿfar Ḥusayn’s life, a few excerpts from his book on Imām ʿAlī (a) are presented below. In addition to a biography of the Imam, the book discusses the eloquence of the Imām (a) in speech and writing, quoting some of the sayings which he introduced to the Arabic language and certain phrases which can be best understood by those familiar with Arabic literature.

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Imām ʿAlī (a) and Knowledge of Literature

Imām ʿAlī’s (a) speeches and sermons played a major role in developing Arabic literature and making it reach great heights. He gave the language a new literary and expressive style, opened new pathways for eloquence, and taught the rules of Arabic grammar. He left deep impressions in all fields of literature; scholars consider his sermons and his words to be an inspiration for future orators and writers.

Imām ʿAlī (a) and Arabic Grammar

Abū al-Aswad mentions that he once went to Imām ʿAlī (a) and saw that he was deep in thought. He asked him what he was pondering upon and the Imām (a) explained that non-Arabs were using words which were grammatically and syntactically incorrect. If attention would not be given to proper Arabic speech, it would gradually become difficult to understand what people were intending to say. After much deliberation, he decided to define the rules so that a distinction between correct and incorrect speech could be made. Abū al-Aswad then said to the Imām (a) that if he would do this, the Arabic language would live forever; otherwise it would digress from the language of the Qurʾān.

Abū al-Aswad mentions that he came to Imām ʿAlī (a) three days later and the Imām (a) gave him a leaf with the following written on it:

Words are of three types: nouns, verbs, and particles. A noun is a word which gives news about something named, a verb is a word which gives news about an action, and a particle is a word which neither has the meaning of the noun nor the verb.

Then Imām ʿAlī (a) said: “O Abū al-Aswad! You should know that things are of three types: Apparent, hidden or something which is neither apparent nor hidden (like demonstrative pronouns).” After this he defined some further rules and said: “Follow this path (nahw).” Because of these words of Imām ʿAlī (a), the rules of Arabic grammar are even today known as “Nahw.”

Imām ʿAlī (a) and Poetry

Imām ʿAlī (a) inherited the art of poetry and usage of words from his father, Abū Ṭālib. He has written poetry in the areas of asceticism and high morals. A few couplets from his poetry are presented below:

Peace on the people of the grave, the effaced,
Like they had never attended any gathering,

And had not drank cold water,
And had not eaten ripe or dried dates,

Tell me which grave among you is lowly,
And the one which is superior and honorable?

Imām ʿAlī (a) and Writing

Imām ʿAlī (a) was an expert in writing as well. Writing the verses of the Qur’an and recording traditions of the Prophet (ṣ) are attributed to him. Not only did he guide toward the rules of grammar and the utilization of dots in orthography, he also presented other rules of writing as well.

To encourage good handwriting, he (a) said: “Write with good handwriting as it is among the keys of sustenance.” It is also recorded that he said: “Good handwriting is wealth for the poor, beauty for the rich, and perfection for a scholar.”

On another occasion, to stress its importance, he said: “Teach your children to write.”

[1] More information can be found at: http://www.islam-laws.com/marja/muftijafar.htm

 

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