Al-Muraja’at: A Shi’i-Sunni dialogue

Contents
Author's Biography I
Birth and Upbringing II
At Al-‘Amil III
His Reforms III
His Eloquence III
His Services III
His Quest for Knowledge V
His Works VI
His Lost Works VIII
His Manners and Gifts XI
His Travels XI
His Legacies and Construction Projects XIII
Introduction and Foreword XV
Letter 1
I. Greeting the Debater 1
II. Asking Permission to Debate 1
Letter 2
I. Greetings Reciprocated 2
II. Permission to Debate Granted 3
Letter 3
I. Why do Shi’as not Uphold the Majority's Sects? 5
II. The Need for Unity 5
III. Unity Achieved Only by Adhering to the Majority's Sects 5
Letter 4
I. Juristic Proofs Mandate Adherence to the Sect of Ahl Al-Bayt 6
II. There is No Proof for Mandating Adherence to the Majority's Sects 6
III. generations of the first three centuries Never Knew Those Sect. 7
IV. Possibility of Ijtihad………………………………………… 8
V. Unity can be achieved by Respecting Ahl al- Bayt's sect 9
Letter 5
I. Admitting Our Argument 11
II. Asking for Detailed Proof 11
Letter 6
I. References to Proofs Mandating Following the ‘Itra 12
II. The Commander of the Faithful (as) Invites to Ahl Al-Bayt's Sect 12
III. Relevant Statement of Imam Zainul‘Abidin 16
Letter 7
I. Requesting Proofs from Statements by Allah and His Messenger 19
II. Proofs from Ahl Al-Bayt are Circumventive 19
Letter 8
I. Overlooking Our Previous Statements 19
II. Error in Necessity of (Logical) Cycle 20
III. Hadith of the Two Weighty Things 20
IV. Its Tawatur 22
V. NonAdherents to the ‘Itra Shall Stray 24
VI. Their Similitude to the ark of Noah the Gate of Salvation and the Security Against Religious Dissensions 25
VII. What is Meant by "Ahl Al-Bayt" in this Regard 25
VIII. Reasons for Similitude to Noah's Ark and the Gate of Salvation 26
Letter 9
Requesting More Relevant Texts 29
Letter 10
A Glimpse of Sufficient Texts 29
Letter 11
I. Admiring Our Clear Texts 37
II. Wondering at Compromising Them With the Majority's Beliefs 37
III. Asking for Clear Signs from the Book 37
Letter 12
Qur'anic Proofs 38
Letter 13
Argument Regarding These Traditions Weak 57
Letter 14
I. Fallacy of Opponent's Argument 57
II. Opponents do not Know Shi’as 58
III. Distinction of Emphasizing Illegality of Falsifying Hadith 59
Letter 15
I. A Flash of the Truth 61
II. Requesting Details on Sunnis Relying on Shi’a Authorities 61
Letter 16
A Hundred Shi’a Authorities Relied upon by Sunnis 61
Letter 17
I. Appreciating the debater's sentiments 141
II. Admitting There is no Objection if Ahl ul-Sunnah Rely on Shi’a Authorities 141
III. His belief in the Miracles of Ahl al-Bayt 141
IV. Dilemma at Compromising the Above with what Ahl Al-Qibla do 142
Letter 18
I. Sentiments Reciprocated 142
II. Debater's Error in Generalizing Regarding Ahl al-Qibla 142
III. The Nation's Politicians are the Ones Who Turned Away from Ahl al-Bayt 143
IV. The Imams of Ahl al-Bayt (without any argument) are not Inferior to others 144
V. Which Fair Court Judges Calling Their Followers "Strayers"? 144
Letter 19
I. No Fair Arbitrator Would Call Followers of Ahl al-Bayt Strayers 145
II. Following Their Sects is Carrying out the Responsibility 145
III. It Could be Said that They Have the Priority to Lead 145
IV. Requesting Texts Relevant to the Khilafate 145
Letter 20
I. A General Reference to the Texts 146
II. A Reference to the House on the Day of Warning 146
III. Sunni Reporters of this Hadith 147
Letter 21..….……………………151
Letter 22
I. Proving the Text's Authenticity 151
II. Why the Shaykhs Have Not Reported it 152
III. Whoever Knows These Shaykhs Knows Why 153
Letter 23
I. Convinced of the Authenticity of this Hadith 155
II. Unreliability Based on Non-Sequential Narration 155
III. Its Reference to Restricted Succession 155
IV. Its Rebuttal 155
Letter 24
I. Why Relying on this Hadith 156
II. Restricted Succession is Unanimously Rejected 156
III. Revocation is Impossible 156
Letter 25
I. His Belief in the Text 159
II. Requesting More Texts 159
Letter 26
I. Clear Texts Recounting Ten of ‘Ali's Exclusive Merits 159
II. Why Rely Upon it 161
Letter 27
Raising Doubts About the Status Hadith 163
Letter 28
I. The Status Hadith Stands on Most Solid Grounds 163
II. Binding Proofs 163
IV. Why al-Amidi Suspects It 166
Letter 29
I. Believing in Our Arguments Regarding the Hadith's Sanad 167
II. Doubting its General Application 167
III. Doubting its being Binding 167
Letter 30
I. Arabs Regard it General 168
II. Disproving Claim of Restriction 169
III. Disproving its Non-Binding Application 170
Letter 31
Requesting Sources of this Hadith 171
Letter 32
I. Among Its Sources: the Prophet's Visit to Umm Salim 171
II. The Case of Hamzah's Daughter 172
III. Leaning on ‘Ali 173
IV. The First Fraternity 173
V. The Second Fraternity 173
VI. Closing the Doors 175
VII. The Prophet Comparing ‘Ali and Aaron to the Two Stars 176
Letter 33
When was ‘Ali and Aaron Described as the Two Stars? 177
Letter 34
I. The Occasion of Shabar ,Shubayr, and Mushbir 177
II. The Occasion of Fraternity 178
III. The Occasion of Closing the Doors 181
Letter 35
Requesting Other Texts 187
Letter 36
I. Hadith by Ibn ‘Abbas 187
II. ‘Umran's Hadith 187
III. Buraydah's Hadith 188
IV. Hadith Recounting Ten Exclusive Attributes [of ‘Ali] 191
V. ‘Ali's Hadith 191
VI. Wahab's Hadith 192
VII. Ibn Abu ‘Asim's Hadith 192
Letter 37
"Wali" is a Linguistic Denominator; so Where is the Text? 193
Letter 38
I. Explaining the Implications of "Wali" 193
II. Proving its Connotation 193
Letter 39
Requesting the Wilayat Verse 197
Letter 40
I. The Verse of Wilayat and its Revelation in ‘Ali's Honour 197
II. Why it was Revealed 198
III. Why Using it as a Testimonial 200
Letter 41
"Mumins" is Plural; Why Apply it to the Singular? 201
Letter 42
I. Arabs Address the Singular Using the Plural Form, 201
II. Testimonials, 201
III. Quoting Imam al-Tibrisi, 203
IV. Quoting al-Zamakhshari, 203
V. What I. have Stated. 203
Letter 43
Context Denotes "the Loved one" or the Like 205
Letter 44
I. Context is not Indicative of "Supporter" or the Like, 205
II. Context does not Outweigh the Proofs. 206
Letter 45
Resorting to Interpretation Following in the Footsteps of the Predecessors is Unavoidable 209
Letter 46
I. Believing in the Ancestors does not Require Interpretation 209
II. Interpretation is Impossible 209
Letter 47
Requesting Testimonial Traditions 211
Letter 48
Forty Ahadith Supporting the Texts 211
Letter 49
I. Admitting ‘Ali's Merits 227
II. Such Merits do not Necessitate his Caliphate 228
Letter 50
Why Interpret Texts on His Behalf as Indicative of His Imamate 228
Letter 51
Rebutting the Arguments Through Similar Ones 231
Letter 52
Rejecting the Rebuttal's Premises 231
Letter 53
Requesting the Hadith Pertaining to the Ghadir Incident 233
Letter 54
Glitters of Ahadith Relevant to the Ghadir Incident 233
Letter 55
Why Use it as a Testimonial if not Transmitted Consecutively? 241
Letter 56
I. Natural Laws Necessitate the Consecutive Reporting of Hadith al-Ghadir 241
II. The Almighty's Benevolence 242
III. Concern of the Messenger of Allah (s) 243
IV. Concern of the Commander of the Faithful 244
V. al-Husain's Concern 248
VI. Concern of the Nine Imams (as) 248
VII. Shi’as' Concern 249
VIII. Its Consecutive Reporting Through the Masses 250
Letter 57
I. Interpreting Hadith al-Ghadir 255
II. The Link 255
Letter 58
I. Hadith al-Ghadir Cannot be Interpreted 256
II. Pretext for its Interpretation is Speculative and Misleading 259
Letter 59
I. Truth Manifests 263
II. Evasion 263
Letter 60
Evasion Refuted 264
Letter 61
Requesting Texts Narrated by Shi’a Sources 269
Letter 62
Forty Ahadith 269
Letter 63
I. Shi’a Texts Rejected as Testimonials, 281
II. Why Have Others Refrained from Quoting Them? 281
III. Asking for More Texts. 281
Letter 64
I. Above Texts were Quoted upon Request 281
II. Sahihs are Proofs against the Majority 281
III. Not Quoted Because of Their Existence in Our Own Sahihs 281
Letter 65
Requesting the Ahadith Relevant to the Inheritance 287
Letter 66
Ali is the Prophet's Heir 287
Letter 67
Where is the Prophet's Will? 291
Letter 68
The Will's Texts 291
Letter 69
Argument of the Will's Deniers 297
Letter 70
I. The Will Cannot be Repudiated 298
II. Why Denied 305
III. Deniers' Arguments not Binding 305
IV. Reason and Intellect Require it 305
Letter 71
Why Reject the Hadith of the Mother of Believers and the best Among the Prophet's Consorts? 307
Letter 72
I. She Was Not the Best of the Prophet's Consorts 307
II. The Best is Khadija 308
III. A General Hint to the Reason Why her Hadith was Discarded 309
Letter 73
Requesting an Explanation to our Rejection of ‘Ayesha's Hadith 311
Letter 74
I. Explaining Why We Reject her Hadith 311
II. Reason Confirms the Will 316
III. Her Claim that the Prophet Died on Her Chest is Refuted 317
Letter 75
I. Mother of the Believers is not Ruled by Emotions 319
II. The Pleasant and the Ugly are Denied by Reason 319
III. Why Oppose the Claim of the Mother of Believers? 320
Letter 76
I. Her Yielding to Sentiment 320
II. Rationale Regarding the Pleasant and the Unpleasant 322
III. Rejecting the Claim of the Mother of Believers 324
IV. Preference of Umm Salamah's Hadith over Hers 329
Letter 77
Why Prefer Umm Salamah's Hadith to ‘Ayesha's? 331
Letter 78
More Reasons for Preferring Umm Salamah's Hadith 331
Letter 79
Consensus Endorses al-Siddiq's Caliphate 337
Letter 80
No Consensus 337
Letter 81
Consensus Concluded When Dispute Dissipated 343
Letter 82
Consensus Was Not Concluded; Dissension Did Not Dissipate 343
Letter 83
Can You Compromise the Text's Accuracy With the Companions' Truthfulness? 351
Letter 84
I. Compromising the Text's Accuracy With Their Truthfulness 351
II. Rationalizing the Imam's Reluctance to Demand his Right 354
Letter 85
Requesting Narration of Incidents Wherein They Did Not Follow the Texts of Hadith 357
Letter 86
I. Thursday's Calamity 357
II. The Reason Why the Prophet Repealed His Order Then 362
Letter 87
Justifying and Discussing the Calamity 365
Letter 88
Pretexts Refuted 368
Letter 89
I. Admitting the Falsehood of Such Pretexts 373
II. Requesting Narration of Other Incidents 373
Letter 90
Usamah's Regiment 373
Letter 91
I. Justifying Their Behaviour Towards Usamah's Regiment 381
II. No Hadith Curses its Draft Dodgers 382
Letter 92
I. Their Pretexts do not Contradict our Statement 383
II. Al-Shahristani's Hadith is Documented 385
Letter 93
Requesting Narration of Other Incidents 387
Letter 94
His Order (s) to Kill the Renegade 387
Letter 95
Justifying not Killing the Renegade 391
Letter 96
Justification Rejected 391
Letter 97
Requesting Narration of all Such Incidents 393
Letter 98
I. Glittering Proofs 393
II. Reference to Other Incidents 394
Letter 99
I. Their Preference of the Common Interest in Those Instances 395
II. Requesting the Rest 395
Letter 100
I. The Debater Digresses from the Subject-Matter 395
II. Responding to His Request 396
Letter 101
Why didn't the Imam Cite the Ahadith of Caliphate and Wisayat on the Saqifa Day? 399
Letter 102
I. Why the Imam Abstained on the Saqifa Day from Citing Such Texts 399
II. Reference to his and his Followers' Arguments Despite Obstacles 402
Letter 103
Looking for His and His Followers' Arguments 403
Letter 104
I. A Few Incidents When the Imam Argued 403
II. The Argument of al-Zahra' (as) 408
Letter 105
Requesting Narration of Other Such Incidents 411
Letter 106
I. Ibn ‘Abbas's Argument 411
II. Arguments of al-Hasan and al-Husayn 414
III. Arguments of Prominant Shi’ah Sahabah 414
IV. Reference to their Applying the Will as an Argument 415
Letter 107
When did they Mention the Will? 417
Letter 108
The Recommendation as Evidence 417
Letter 109
Why do Some Fanatics Question the Derivation of the Shi’a School of Muslim Law from the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt (as)? 431
Letter 110
I. Shi’ah Faith is Sequentially Derived from the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt 431
II. Advancement of Shi’ahs in Recording Knowledge During the Sahabah's Epoch 434
III. Their Authors Contemporary to the Tabi’in and the Latter's Followers 438
Letter 111
Conviction 449
Letter 112
Appreciation 449
Glossary 451
Index 457