Reminding the People of the Sunnah and Urging Them to Call the Shi'ah

The questioner : I say: May Allah greet you, O Shaykh. Regarding the rapprochement between the People of the Sunnah and the Shi'ah, this—may Allah will it—does not exist among us now. However, there is something we would like your opinion on, which is reminding the People of the Sunnah or urging them to call the Shi'ah. This is because of what you mentioned regarding the Shi'ization of many villages in your area in Syria, and also because there is Shi'ization here in the Arabian Peninsula, such as the tribes of...—also—became Shi'ah... the city. I say: It is necessary for the People of the Sunnah to fulfill their duties to one another, and that it is not possible to call the Shi'ah, and that there is no... in them. This makes them cut off hope in calling them and not call them. The reality in this age is that some of the brothers we know... and others, when they called the Shi'ah, some of them were guided. And I know some who were guided from among the Shi'ah; some of them authored books on cataloging the books of the Sunnah. He was a Shi'ite deeply immersed in Rafidism. This is one thing.
The other thing you pointed out is that the predecessors from the People of the Sunnah, or what is narrated from the Shi'ah, was that the Shi'ization there did not go beyond the creed. And what we read in some biographies of the Shi'ah, 'Abbas ibn Ya'qub..., is that he would test those who came to him by saying: Who caused the sea to flow? To whom was the greeting sent? And who caused...? If he saw that he held the creed of the Rafidah, he would answer him and narrate to him what he had, and if it was contrary to that, he would not answer him. And there are many examples like Jabir... And they mentioned many biographies of the Shi'ah narrators that he was one who cursed the Companions, and this in itself... the creed, may take a person out of the religion because of it; so what is your comment on this?

The Shaykh : My comment is that first, regarding some of the creeds that take one out of the religion, there is no doubt about that. What you mentioned about the question "Who caused the sea to flow?" is disbelief in the oneness of lordship. And I believe that in what is mentioned in the biographies of the narrators, whether it is praise or criticism, it must be received with some caution; because I cannot imagine that a scholar from among the scholars of the Muslims would conclude that so-and-so believes that 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is the one who caused the sea to flow, and yet he remains a Muslim in his view. This is impossible. Therefore, we must imagine one of two things: either it is true that this 'Abbas; what did you call him?

The questioner : 'Abbas ibn Ya'qub.

The Shaykh : Ibn Ya'qub, 'Abbas ibn Ya'qub. Either it is true that the People of the Sunnah used to narrate from him; in that case, we must imagine that they believed he was still within the circle of Islam. Or we believe that he had gone out of the circle of Islam with such a belief that undermines the oneness of lordship; so it must be one of the two. If it is said that they believed he undermined the oneness of lordship and yet they narrated from him, then the meaning of their statement that it is a condition for the narrator to be just—meaning: Muslim—this condition is nullified. Or it is that what is narrated in his biography to establish his extremism in Rafidism is from the defects and accusations in which they were lenient, just as they are lenient with the narrators of the virtues. It is not permissible to rely on such narrations to justify narrating from one whom we believe has adopted a creed that takes him out of the circle of Islam. Do we believe that any of the people of hadith, if told that so-and-so believes that 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is the one who caused the sea to flow, would consider him a Muslim? I do not believe this can be imagined for a beginner in the pursuit of knowledge, let alone the scholars of hadith. Therefore, I believe that in mentioning such narrations that attack some of the narrators whose hadith is sought by the People of the Sunnah, it cannot be that the authentic narration is what exists between the contradiction of narrating from them. So he is either a Muslim or a disbeliever. A Muslim cannot explicitly contain this false belief in his creed. Therefore, it is not permissible to argue with such narrations and... generally in spreading what is known from the religion by necessity. This is not the case with the scholars of the Muslims; but also with the common people of the Muslims. So on this basis, it is not permissible to rely on such statements.
As for what you mentioned regarding some of the Shi'ah becoming Sunni, I do not deny this. But I do not find a scholar, if he is one of those pointed out with the finger, who was a Shi'ite or a Rafidi and then announced his Islam. As for individuals, just as it happens among the Sunnis that they become Shi'ah, it can happen among the Shi'ah that they become Sunni. But from the scholars, some became Sunni, which is what you wanted to deny. In any case, I pointed out in my previous speech that the Shi'ah have excessive activity in promoting their schools of thought, and some of their deviation in their understanding of some of the rulings of the Shari'ah helps them in this. Among these is their statement that the khums is for the People of the House, so they collect the khums from the wealth of people and not from..., and they dispose of it as they please. Therefore, they have a very strong material readiness to print and distribute their writings for free. So it is necessary for the scholars of the Muslims, especially in the countries that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has blessed with abundant wealth, to compete with the Shi'ah in writings—also... in terms of the correct Sunni creed... they refute the Shi'ah in what is related to the creed; because the most important is what is established in the creed.
And... on this occasion, one of the doctors authored a book named... or something similar, and he is a doctor. In fact, in my belief, although its author is a Shi'ite, he was fair in most places, as if its author were from the People of the Sunnah. It was said that there are remnants of deviation from the Sunnah in it. I do not find it strange from such a person from the Shi'ah because it exists—also—among many of the People of the Sunnah who have deviated from the Sunnah, and your experience... is not far.
So... the book is very extensive, and I advise that he print it himself if he permits it, and it be sold in the entire Muslim world; because he is a Shi'ite who refutes the Shi'ah, and this is the strongest argument. And as it is said, he knows how the shoulder is eaten. He refuted Khomeini and refuted al-Kulayni, who is the author of "al-Kafi" and the like. But in some things, comments must be made if some of the People of the Sunnah print this book and publish it among the ranks of the Sunnah, let alone in these countries and others where some of the Shi'ah exist.
And from what I remember—for example—of the deviation in it, which they refuted the Shi'ah, I say: from the refutation, in their belief that this mushaf is incomplete and not preserved, to fighting the temporary marriage (mut'ah) which the Shi'ah call for, and they catch many of the young Muslims with it. From the deviation in it is that he mentioned the well-known hadith in some books of the Sunnah, and the people of hadith pointed out its fabrication, that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: —or as it was said. This hadith was mentioned by Ibn 'Abd al-Barr in his book "al-Jami'" and others in others from Ibn Ma'in and other scholars of hadith, who said: It is from the fabrication of the Zindiqs. And Ibn 'Abd al-Barr mentioned a benefit and a scientific note. They said in the refutation of the fabricator: We presented this hadith to the Book of Allah and found that it contradicts the Book of Allah; where He (the Exalted) said: . If this book is studied with precise scientific study, and comments are made on some of the points in it, the Shi'ite deviation is still apparent. In fact, some Muslims fell into it as we pointed out. Publishing this book saves enormous efforts for many of the scholars of the Muslims. And the owner of the house, as it is said, knows best what is in it. So this is a Shi'ite doctor who studied the Shi'ah and obtained high degrees in this study. Nevertheless, he almost left the Shi'ah. And one who does not know the details of the affairs of the Shi'ah will judge that he is a Sunni; because some of the deviations exist among the People of the Sunnah.

The questioner : It can be al-Musawi.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : Al-Musawi.

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : No, the book has been printed, but I mean that it should be printed with commentary on certain points and distributed very widely, or I have read it and looked into it.

The questioner: He is present.

Another questioner : It is available in the Kingdom...

The Shaykh : Yes, but is it commented upon?

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : That is my intention, I mean.