ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Strife-free Dialogue (A Step towards Understanding) Introduction In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful The unity of the Islamic nation is, undoubtedly, a pleasant, idealistic and desirable concept that has been advised and emphasized in the original documents of Islam: the Qur’an and the narrations [ hadith s] .

Like many other words such as science [ ‘ilm ], Imamate, caliphate, wisdom [ hikmah ], and piety, the meaning of the word hadith has gradually changed and deviated to the extent that now it may mean something quite different from what it was originally meant to convey. Approximation [ taqrib ] i.e., closeness of the Islamic sects, denotes the following ideas, whether we desire it or not: a. Keeping silent in the presence of opponents, and refusing to engage in any scholarly debate with them. b.

Believing that every religion is right. c. Accepting that the followers of Imamiyyah school of thought are not the only people who will be saved in the hereafter. d. Saying there is a need to review some of the points in the Shi‘ah doctrine and those in the religious texts. e. Agreeing that various Muslim schools of thought stem from the independent judgements of the ‘ulama’ , viz. their ijtihad . f. Confirming all the [ sahabah ] as righteous.

Those who hold the above ideas say that “Right” cannot be monopolized by any specific group because it is distributed among all the sects with each entitled to a share. The dictum “the saved group” cannot apply to one particular sect; all ideological differences stem from some sort of desirable personal judgment, viz. ijtihad , made on the basis of religious texts. We, the Shi‘ah, should, therefore, avoid calling other ideologies “false” or “deviated”.

Where there is a difference of opinion, we should remain silent and accept that others are also right. We should not call them “malicious” or “those who devise a secret plan”; the Shi‘ah community should forget all feelings of enmity towards opponents, because these feelings are utterly undesirable. They say that there is no disagreement between our doctrines and great juridical pillars; the disagreement on Imamate is merely a difference of applicability.

Those who claim the above, say, “We do not reject the idea of Imamate, and we have religious proof as to who should occupy the rank of Imamate and Caliphate.