The Shi'ah Pioneers

An interesting book that was written by ‘Allamah Sayyid Hasan al-Sadr in response to the claims that the Shi’ah had actually contributed little or nothing to the development of Islamic sciences and were instead mere followers of what was developed painstakingly by the Sunni scholars, is titled Ta’sis al-Shi’ah li ‘Ulum al-Islami. In this book, the author proves that the opposite is true. He shows that it was actually the Shi’ah scholars who were responsible for laying the groundwork for many (if not most) of the Islamic sciences. From Sarf and Nahw to ‘Ulum al-Hadith and Fiqh, all major sciences can be traced back to a Shi’I scholar. Though personally I found that many of his arguments were a little outlandish, there is little doubt that this is a valuable work that needs to be given more attention.

Relentless Endeavours

Hassan Ali Muhammad Jaffer’s long awaited book that chronicles the life of the late Mulla Asghar M. M. Jaffer was finally published in the second half of 2009. Relentless Endeavours is a 180 page memoir written in beautiful and captivating language with the occasional witticisms common in typical British writing. Hasnain Walji’s preface is as interesting as it is original. Replete with quotes from Mulla Saheb, this work gives readers an invaluable insight into the personality of one of the greatest leaders of the Khoja Ithna’asheri Community the world has seen. The photo gallery section which comprises of 48 captioned photographs gives guidance to the imagination that is formed by the read words. Appended at the end is the unabridged version of ‘I was Saddam’s Prisoner’ that was penned by Marhum Mulla after his horrifying stint as a detainee in Iraq.

On the whole, this work is a valuable addition to the rather meager number of writings by Khoja authors on subjects relating to the community. I would have loved to see a more detailed work – 180 pages was just too short! – and it is hoped that other such works will soon be written and published. After all, the young generation will only value their history if they are privy to its otherwise unknown events and incidents. It would be wonderful if others who were close to Mulla Asghar would write about their experiences. Hasnain Walji, Sibtain Panjwani and Muhsin Jaffer, I’m sure, have shared some private moments with Mulla Saheb that nobody is aware of and would be inspiring to learn about.

من كتاب ربيع الابرار للزمخشري

عن هند بنت الجون نزل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم

 

 خيمة خالتي أم معبد، فقام من رقدته، ودعا بماء فغسل يديه،

 

 ثم تمضمض ومج في عوسجة إلى جانب الخيمة،

 

 فأصبحنا وهي كأعظم دوحة، وجاءت بثمر كأعظم ما يكون،

 

 في لون الورس، ورائحة العنبر، وطعم الشهد، ما أكل منها جائع الا شب

 

ع، ولا ظمآن إلا روي، ولا سقيم إلا بري،

 

 ولا أكل من ورقها بعير ولا شاة إلا در لبنها، فكنا نسميها المباركة؛

 

 وينتابنا من البوادي من يستسقى بها، ويزود منها؛

 

 حتى أصبحنا ذات يوم وقد تساقط ثمرها، وصغر ورقها، ففرعنا،

 

 فما راعنا إلا نعي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم؛

 

 ثم أنها بعد ثلاثين سنة أصبحت ذات شوك من أسفلها إلى أعلاها،

 

 وتساقط ثمرها، وذهبت نضرتها، فما شعرنا إلا بمقتل أمير المؤمنين علي رضي الله عنه،

 

 فما أثمرت بعد ذلك، فكنا ننتفع بورقها؛ ثم أصبحنا وإذا بها قد نبع من ساقها دم عبيط،

 

 وقد ذبل ورقها، فبينا نحن فزعين إذ أتانا خبر مقتل الحسين رضي الله عنه،

 

 ويبست الشجرة على أثر ذلك وذهبت.

More on Ikhtilaaf

 

Further to the previous post, we find that Ikhtilaaf has also been used to mean coming and going (or visiting time and again) in other ahadith. For example, in the famous hadith of 'Unwan al-Basri, he says:

 

َ كُنْتُ أَخْتَلِفُ إِلَى مَالِكِ بْنِ أَنَسٍ سِنِينَ فَلَمَّا قَدِمَ جَعْفَرٌ الصَّادِقُ ع

 

 الْمَدِينَةَ اخْتَلَفْتُ إِلَيْه

 

Furthermore, if we were to take the meaning of the prophetic tradition quoted in the first post to mean 'differences' – and this would be difficult to understand since to question that would obviously arise is: How can differences between the Muslims be a blessing? – we find that once again the Infallible Imams ('a) solve this problem beautifully as in the narration:

 

ٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ الْمُؤْمِنِ الْأَنْصَارِيِّ قَالَ قُلْتُ لِأَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع

 

 إِنَّ قَوْماً يَرْوُونَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ص قَالَ اخْتِلَافُ أُمَّتِي رَحْمَةٌ

 

 فَقَالَ صَدَقُوا فَقُلْتُ إِنْ كَانَ اخْتِلَافُهُمْ رَحْمَةً فَاجْتِمَاعُهُمْ عَذَابٌ

 

 قَالَ لَيْسَ حَيْثُ تَذْهَبُ وَ ذَهَبُوا إِنَّمَا أَرَادَ قَوْلَ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ

 

 فَلَوْ لا نَفَرَ مِنْ كُلِّ فِرْقَةٍ مِنْهُمْ طائِفَةٌ لِيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الدِّينِ

 

وَ لِيُنْذِرُوا قَوْمَهُمْ إِذا رَجَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَحْذَرُونَ

 

 فَأَمَرَهُمْ أَنْ يَنْفِرُوا إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ص فَيَتَعَلَّمُوا ثُمَّ يَرْجِعُوا إِلَى قَوْمِهِمْ

 

 فَيُعَلِّمُوهُمْ إِنَّمَا أَرَادَ اخْتِلَافَهُمْ مِنَ الْبُلْدَانِ لَا اخْتِلَافاً فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ

 

 إِنَّمَا الدِّينُ وَاحِدٌ إِنَّمَا الدِّينُ وَاحِدٌ

 

 

 

Differences Between My Ummah

The famous prophetic hadith:

الاختلاف بين امتي رحمة

al-Ikhtilaafu bayna ummati rahmah

The differences between my Ummah is a (source of) mercy

 

Is something that is often quoted but more often misunderstood. Our teacher would say that Ikhtilaaf here means mingling and visiting each other just as in the famous attribute of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) 'mukhtalaful malaa'ikah' – so the meaning of this tradition would be: The mingling and visiting each other of (members of) my Ummah is a mercy.