Reply to anti-Shia propaganda
There has been continuous propaganda about Shia beliefs and practices since the early days of Islam which has unfortunately persisted in the minds of other sects. Even the most sacred and revered personalities were not spared. Case in point, when news of Hazrat Ali’s martyrdom during sajda came to the Umayyad Capital of Damascus, people remarked “Since when did Ali pray?”. The incident below about Imam Hussain further shows how much the poison spread against these personalities had worked its way among the people:
Abdullah bin Afeef Azdi returned to Kufa after 6 months to find the whole city empty. When he met his daughter she told him to go to a desert named Karbala because a rebel was leading an uprising there and the city’s ruler had ordered there should be no man in Kufa who isn’t occupied with killing him. Before Abdullah left his daughter said that since you are going to war and in a war one gets spoils of war please bring an Aqeeq-e-Yemeni for me if possible so I can make a necklace out of it. Abdullah reached Karbala on Asr-e-Ashur during the heat of battle and saw a horse-rider single handedly fighting and dispersing a huge army. Anyhow Abdullah fixed his position closely behind the man’s horse and had taken out his sword when the man asked him to come near him. Hearing this Abdullah started to tremble wondering who is this man who knows me by name. As Abdullah got closer the man took out a ring from his fingers, told him this is a Yemeni Aqeeq and asked him to give it to his daughter. He also asked him to tell her I am not a rebel but rather Hussain the son of Fatima Zehra.
The purpose of this propaganda was/is to probably associate Kufr with Shia’ism to make the murder of Shias more palatable, even though nowhere in the Quran does it say Kufr is a basis for murder.
I will try to address some of this propaganda here by distilling some answers I have come across from Shia scholars:
Disrespecting Sahaba is part of Shia faith:
It has to be acknowledged that some fringe Shia ‘zakirs’ have demonized the Sahaba for cheap popularity. As a point of principle however, while there is no doubt about the disagreements between the Sahaba and Imams, the Shia Imams treated them with utmost respect (and in religious matters full cooperation) and that is how their followers should treat them as well. Even when they went to war, the ethics were not forgotten:
After victory in the Battle of Camel, a war imposed upon Hazrat Ali, who was the person appointed by him to hold Hazrat Aisha when she came down from the Camel and escort back to Medina with complete dignity? To even Hazrat Aisha’s surprise according to some narrations, it was the only ‘mahram’ in his army, her brother Mohammad bin Abi Bakr. Even in the heat of war, there was no question of disrespect.
Hazrat Ali was the first 3 Khalifas’ most trusted advisor in matters of jurisprudence and war, so much so they said they don’t want to be alive the day Ali is not there for counsel. He raised the first Khalifa’s son as his own (Mohammad bin Abi Bakr) and 3 of his children are named Abu Bakr, Umar and Usman.
Mourning is not allowed for more than 3 days:
Another misrepresentation I heard growing up was that it is not allowed to mourn for more than 3 days and this one piece of propaganda has probably stopped thousands from taking part in observation of Ashura. It is something someone unversed in Quran and Sunnah may fall for but Quranically false as this interaction of the fourth Imam (who was present at Karbala) with a visitor shows:
A visitor asked Imam Sajjad as to how long would he continue mourning and he replied:
“Prophet Yaqub (as) had 12 sons and only one of them got lost (Yusuf(as)) and despite knowing that he was still alive, he cried until his eyes became white and his back got bent — I had witnessed 17 members of my family being slaughtered around me like sheep and you ask me as to how long I would continue mourning?”
On another occasion someone asked Imam Sajjad the same question and he replied we observe so that Muslims don’t forget Karbala like they forgot Ghadeer.
Lastly, to the best of my knowledge, the Prophet called the year of the death of his uncle and wife ‘Ām al-Ḥuzn (the Year of Sorrow).
Visiting shrines is innovation in religion (bidah):
People make pilgrimages to the Holy Shrines simply out of love and reverence (sometimes despite mortal dangers) and no explanation and reasoning is really necessary. If one has to be given however, anything that takes a person away from God is a sin and anything opposite is sawaab. The reason people visit is to gain proximity to God by gaining proximity of the Imams.
As to how gaining proximity with Imam can help gain proximity to God, there is the widely accepted hadith: I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate. To understand God, it is necessary to understand the Prophet and to understand the Prophet, understanding Ali (the first of Imams) is important. This also explains the place of Imams in the hierarchy as some people also accuse Shias of (God Forbid) putting the Imams over the Prophet.
A similar sentiment was expressed by Ghalib:
Imam Hussain’s lack of judgement led to accidental murder of his family:
The Prophet had foretold Imam Hussain and Bani Hashim of Karbala eons before the event. It was no accident.
Refutation for the accidental murder of family is that everyone had a role in Karbala. Ali Akbar’s (who resembled the Prophet) martyrdom was there to show there was no Muslim in Yazid’s Army, Hazrat Abbas’s (who resembled Hazrat Ali) was there to show there was no Shia and Ali Asghar’s was to show there was no human.
