Shi'a Sunni Conflict: How a Shi'a could explain himself | Konflik Syiah-Sunnah: Bagaimana seorang Syiah memberi penjelasan

Assalamualaikum and Greetings!

Khutbah Jumaat semalam di Mesjid Negeri prompted me to write this entry, in a post-haste manner, since the sermon revolves around the subject of Shi'a (Syiah) in Malaysia, besides the usual in-conjunction-with-Merdeka sermon which I thought was a bit redundant.

I hope with this entry it should shed some light to the issue of the Shi'a-Sunni conflict (which has occurred too long a time, mind you) to both my Muslim and non-Muslim friends, and for this sharing to benefit both the readers and the writer, Inshaa Allah.

DISCLAIMER: Should there be any discrepancy or misinformation in this entry, please notify me asap and it'll be rectified immediately. Jazakallah.

       A bit of background information for those who have been fed with what the Western media has presented to the world;  the Western media such as ABC News has labeled the Syrian conflict as a "civil war" and the FSA (Free Syrian Army) as rebels when it actually is a power struggle between the Sunnis and the Shiites. A point to note is that Sunnis and Shiites are never considered as brothers in Islam as the difference between these two are so great that both consider each other as kuffars (infidels) and the dispute between the two has been going on for hundreds of years since the days of the Caliphs.

With that cleared, we shall proceed to the sharing session.

From the left: YB Steven Sim (moderator), Prof. Mohsen Kadevar.  

     Entry ini mengetengahkan dua sumber maklumat yang didapati yakni satu Public Talk anjuran Penang Institute [tempat intern gua! :D] oleh Prof. Mohsen Kadevar (Iranian exile, currently residing in US) bertajuk, "Shi'a Sunni Integrity: Against Sectarianism" held last Friday, Aug 23 and another source was yesterday's Friday sermon, just bits of it.

This entry will be divided into two parts; the first one will cover the contents of the public lecture by Prof. Mohsen Kadevar and the second one will talk a bit about the Friday sermon which prompted this entry.

The public talk aimed to establish a better understanding between Sunni and Shi'a sects by providing a platform for an open discussion (in a closed-door session), and the speaker was harping on the possibility of a Sunni-Shi'a co-existence as Muslim brothers regardless of their sects. 

*actually the venue was changed in the last minute due to the risk of having anti-Shi'a demonstrators, possibly rendering the event to be a failure*

There are three branches of Shi'ism: 

i. Ja'fari 

ii. Ismailies 

iii. Zaidies 

- The Ja'faris makes up 92% from the total number of Shi’a population

- The Hanbali (5%) and Ja’fari (15%) from the total number of Muslim population globally

- 40% local Muslim population in the Middle East comprises of Shiites

- Pakistan and India is the home for the largest group of Shi’a Muslims.

- The Sunni in Lebanon and Iraq are more accepting towards Shi’as (probably due to the larger number of Shiites there; information sources from the Q&A session)  

In response towards the hostility towards the Shi’a Muslims, Prof. Kadevar pointed out a fatwa by Shaikh Mahmud Shaltut, head of Al-Azhar University. He pointed out two main points from the fatwa:

1. Islam does not require Muslims to follow a particular mazhab (school of thought). It is the choice of Muslims & the government shall not choose for them. The Ja'fari school of thought (12 Shi'a Imaams) is a school of thought that is religiously correct to follow in worship as other Sunni schools of thought. 

2. There shall be no crime for a Muslim to transfer between the schoolf of thoughts. We (Muslims) cannot enforce them. 

In his effort to promote unity between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims, Kadevar pointed out five common issues of Shi’a & Sunni (persamaan antara Syiah dan ASWJ)

1. Shahada: he alleged that both Shi’a & Sunni utters the same one without any additions (Ali's name) for the former's. 
2. Tawhid: both believe in Allah as one god, the afterlife, etc.
3. Muhammad's Prophecy: both believe he was the last messenger
4. Koran as eternal miracle of the prophet; no part(s) omitted. It is as it is.
5. Pillars of Islam/rituals: Prayers, fasting, pilgrimage (Hajj); both parties believe in the same way.

Regarding the common misconceptions about Shi’a Muslims from the Sunni perspective, he explained during the questions & answers session:

• “They believe that Gabriel (Jibrail) made a mistake the prophecy is given to Muhammad when it was supposed to be given to Ali (one of Muhammad's companions).”  To this, Kadevar explained that he never heard of such thing and said that this line of thinking is not in the mind of any Shiites
• Regarding the issue that Shi’a alleging the Koran is not yet complete, that there are some chapters missing, he said that Shiites use the Mushaf Uthmani (standard version of the Koran)
• Insulting the prophet’s companions are not allowed for Muslims. Radiallahuanhu is used to refer to all companions of Muhammad. Inilah jawapan Kadevar bila ada terdapat peserta bertanyakan tentang isu pengikut Syiah mencerca sahabat-sahabat nabi.
• When opined about taqiyyah, Kadevar asserted that it is allowed in Islam to do so in order to save one’s aqidah and he put forth a hadith (which I’m not sure it is genuine or not) that it is not a crime/sin for a Muslim to do so.

          As for me, after opening my mind and also giving him the benefit of the doubt to explain himself as a Shi’a scholar and I could conclude that he or other Shi’as are not to be trusted. He even went flat out as to accuse that most of the hadiths narrated by the likes of Bukhari and Muslim, Abu Daud, etc. as unauthentic. A thought ran across my mind, “Who are you to deny the authenticity of the hadiths even though you claim that you’ve spent half of your life studying about Islam??” [Ko sape doh nak cakap hadis-hadis tu palsu??]  and as far as I’m concerned, he may be spreading falsity about Shi’a ‘Muslims’. He may be carrying out taqiyyah throughout the whole session.

Ada juga masa Q&A session tu, sekumpulan wanita (yang aku boleh assume sebagai Muslim, sebab dia Melayu, cakap Melayu orang puteh, tapi pakaian langsung tak menggambarkan seorang Islam...oops!) bertanyakan yang "If I were to hypothetically say that I don't want to be either a Sunni or a Shi'a, and to follow the prophet's teachings as it is without binding myself to any mazhab, can I considered to be a good Muslim?" --- jawapannya: susah kalau tak ikut mazhab sebab ada ritual dalam Islam yang spesifik, yang ditunjuk caranya, diajar dalam mazhab seperti menunaikan Haji...jadi seorang Muslim mesti memilih mazhab yang dia perlu pegang. And he told the woman to observe and follow Islamic teachings (maknanya suh tutup aurat le tuuu). 

*Benda basic pun ko tak cover, ada hati berkeinginan untuk tidak memilih mazhab? #facepalm*
**Doakan je la dia...mungkin dia tak tau tutup aurat tu wajib. Husnuzon, bro. 

To top that, Dr. Yusuf Qardhawi, a well-known influential Islamic scholar and theologian has issued the fatwa which stated that Sunni Muslims are not to trust Shi’as as they too, had deceived him (link here) and had labelled Hezbollah (a Palestinian political party) as a party of Satan for defending Bashar Al-Assad’s Shi’a government.

As for yesterday’s sermon, it has been gazetted by the National Fatwa Council that Shiites are considered as non-Muslims as their teaching is diverted from the aqidah of Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah (diverted from the Prophet’s teachings). *tengok…aku tak tido masa khutbah ok! :P

To those who want to argue about freedom of religion, here’s your crux: you can say that it is a basic human right to believe in anything they want, to worship whatever deities/idols… BUT, as long as the Shi’as want to be labelled as Muslims, WE Sunni Muslims have the RIGHT to prevent them from ever spreading the ideology to our Muslim brothers as it has been CONFIRMED THAT THEY ARE NOT FOLLOWING THE PROPHET’S TEACHINGS. 
There are also some quarters saying that the government have no rights at all to determine what the people choose to have faith in. Well, in Islam we believe that it is the obligation for a Muslim leader to take care of his subjects especially regarding aqidah as they will be asked about it during the Day of Judgment. Therefore, please…let us deal with this matter without any intervention before it evolves to a stage four cancer in our country.

Ends.

Nota kaki:

1. Please note that anything that is being shared here is taken verbatim (all of the contents are from the public talk and there was no further research/clarification that I have made after the event.)
2. Fatwa: A ruling point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority e.g. Ulamas, Muftis.
3. ASWJ: Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah
4. Secara umumnya Sunni Muslim sedia maklum yang pengikut Syiah sangat mengagungkan Saidina Ali sehingga ke tahap mencerca para sahabat yang lain, memasukkan nama Ali ke dalam kalimah syahadah mereka sampaikan ke tahap mendakwa Jibril tersalah hantar wahyu kepada Muhammad untuk menjadi nabi. Na'uzubillah!
5. Shahada: the Muslim profession of faith (there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah)
6. Tawheed: Concept of Monotheism in Islam (konsep tentang adanya hanya satu Tuhan dalam Islam)
7. Jangan tuduh aku Syiah pulak. Aku cuma menulis berdasarkan apa yang disampaikan ok.