The Shahaadah
The Shism even differ with Islam in the first and most
important pillar of Islam and faith, called the Shahaadah, the testimony
one gives upon affirming their faith in Islam, that none deserves worship but
God, and that Muhammad is His slave and messenger (laa ilaaha ill-Allah).
This testimony is the most important aspect of Islam, and the whole religion is
built upon it, and embodies this unique and total monotheism and belief in God.
So important is it that the Prophet pleaded to his uncle who was on his
deathbed to testify:
“O uncle! Say ‘laa ilaaha ill-Allah,’ a
phrase for which I will plead on your behalf in front of God.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
His uncle did not say this testimony due to his fear of
what people would say about changing the religion of his forefathers upon death.
He died, and the Prophet was informed by revelation that he was among the
people of Hell.
Point being, this phrase and what it entails is so
important that the Prophet made it a means of everlasting life in Paradise. He said:
“No one says ‘La ilaaha ill-Allah’ and dies firmly
upon it, but he/she will enter Heaven (Paradise).” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
Thus is this phrase considered the first pillar of
Islam, the very statement that rendered one a believer, gives him an opportunity
to enter Paradise!
The Shiites, however, have a different ‘testimony of
faith’. They not only negate it meanings, as shown in the previous articles by
associating others with God, but they have also added certain principles
nowhere to be found in authentic texts. Their shahaadah comprises of
the statement: “none deserves worship but God, and that Muhammad is His slave
and messenger, and Ali is His beloved and chosen one, and successor to the
Prophet.”
This is due to the extremism they have in regards to the
cousin of Prophet Muhammad, Ali, to whom they claim their origin. The Shiites
even claim that the succession of Ali was mentioned in all of the scriptures
revealed to the previous prophets.
They claim that all will be asked about the succession of Ali on the Day of
Judgment,
and that if anyone believes differently, they are considered polytheists. Although
Ali was known to be one of the most pious of the companions of the Prophet, in
no narration can we find that Prophet Muhammad ever mentioned his succession in
rule. Actually even when we look at early Shiite works, they themselves
attribute this belief to Abdullah ibn Saba’, a renegade who claimed Islam and
plotted against the Caliph Uthman, and also claimed that Ali was God Himself. Thus
it is clear that these beliefs are all innovations never preached by Prophet
Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him.
Belief in the Scriptures
God mentions in the Quran that He revealed Scriptures to
the Prophets which they taught and recited to their people. Some of these Prophets
and Scriptures are mentioned in the Quran:
Say, “We believe in Allah and that which has been sent down to
us and that which has been sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and to
the tribes, and that which has been given to Moses and Jesus, and that which
has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between
any of them, and to Him we have submitted (in Islam).” (Quran 2:136)
“It is He (God) Who has sent down the Book to you with truth,
confirming what came before it. And He sent down the Torah and the Gospel.”
(Quran 3:3)
It was the Prophets who received revelation, and due to
the fact that Muhammad, may God praise him, was the last prophet, there will be
no other Scriptures revealed after the revelation of the Quran. The Shiites
however, believe that there was a scripture revealed after the Quran before the
death of the Prophet, which they call the ‘Tablet of Fatimah’. They claim,
that in it were the names of all those who were to be their Imams in the
future.
They invented these ideas due to the fact that they
could not find any verses in the Quran which they could use to defend their
views. They did not cease at this, but also went on to directly challenge the
authenticity of the Quran by stating that its has not been preserved, and
that the Quran today is incomplete, and that the complete version is with their
12th Imam who has been in hiding for the past 900 years in ‘the
cave’. They believe that when he emerges he will bring forth the complete
version. This, as should be clear to all, is in
direct opposition to the teachings of Islam, as God clearly states that the
Quran is under the direct protection of God:
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“The Chapter of
Succession”. On both sides is a translation in Persian.
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“Verily it is We Who have sent down the Reminder and surely,
We will guard it (from corruption)” (Quran 15:9)
The Shiites assert that the existing Quran must have
been altered, since there is no reference to any of their strayed beliefs in it.
One of the first to explicitly state this view was Mirza Hussein Muhammad Taqiy
al-Noori al-Tabrasi (d. 1320 AH) in his book The Final Verdict on the
Distortion of the Book of the Lord of Lords.
The Shiites became so extreme in their beliefs, that
they even attempted to insert chapters about Ali, may God be pleased with him, in
the Quran, since they could not find any clear texts. One of them is what they
called “The Chapter of Succession”.
Belief in the Prophets
As mentioned earlier, Islam teaches that the Prophets
were the best of humanity, specifically chosen by God due to their excellent
qualities specifically to preach the message of God to humanity. God says in
the Quran:
“Allah specially chooses Messengers from angels and from humans.
Verily, Allah is All-Hearer, All-Seer.” (Quran 22:75)
The Prophets were the best of humans, living examples to
be emulated:
“We sent no messenger except to be obeyed, by Allah’s leave…”(Quran
4:64)
The Shiites, however believe that their Imams are
better than the prophets, and that some prophets were highly praised only
due to their love of the Imams.
If one was to mention all the beliefs of the Shiites in
which they have opposed the teachings of Islam, it would definitely need many
volumes to do so. It should be clear, however, from this short discourse that
the beliefs purported by Shiism has no basis in any of the teachings of Islam,
but rather that it is a conglomeration of foreign beliefs evolved over a period
of time, all of which revolve around extremist views concerning the leadership
of certain favored candidates, known as their Imams. A religion which
teaches the worship of God alone and living a life taught by God’s prophets, a
message preached by all prophets, has for them become a life and existence
solely based upon love of Ali and affirming his and their Imam’s claim to
leadership, struggling to find ways to fit into Islamic texts by addition,
interpolation, or misrepresentation. Creation comes into being, Prophets are sent
and Scriptures are revealed, all for the purpose of succession of Ali and the
latter Imams,
and even on the Day of Judgment, it will be their Imams, not God, who
will judge people.
It is no matter to wonder, then, what the basis of entering Heaven or Hell will
be according to Shiism.
A religion based upon a claimed love of the family of
Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, has lead them
to beliefs contradicting the very essence of the message brought by him, the
message of Islam.
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