But before we enter into a discussion of the accuracy of...

But before we enter into a discussion of the accuracy of what is attributed to them, we would like to remind you of a very serious issue relevant to seeking testimony from the statements of scholars in general; so let me say the following: Someone may seek an excuse for himself as he quite often violates religious matters by describing how the pioneers of knowledge are, how this scholar or that says such and such, and so on...

He may not confine his excuse to issues relevant to fiqh but goes on to the tenets of the faith, to history, to Tafsir , etc. He may sometimes need, before publicly stating his conviction, to pave the way for the latter with norms of introductions by distancing them from being taken with derision and amazement.

So he “smuggles” his view through some of those who are close to him, then he announces on successive occasions that he is still studying the subject, hinting at the same time at opportunities to produce the anticipated view in one way or another. When he finds no Faqih to agree with him, he resorts to obligatory precaution by saying the opposite of what he had said before, hinting or pointing at his future agreement with the fatwa .

Saying that it is precautionary to prohibit the shaving of the beard, for example, is regarded as a step on the path to making it permissible, and it is acceptable to use it as evidence...! Then you may find him saying that so-and-so scholars and renown Faqih are the first to thus advise. But if you consult their books and encyclopedia of fiqh , you will find the case being not so at all. Rather, many other Faqihs had already stated the same.

For example, you may be told on many occasions that the great religious authority Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim, may Allah have mercy on his soul, is the one to issue a fatwa that a Follower of the Book (i.e. Christian or Jewish) is tahir (clean), thus contradicting the consensus. The objective of this statement is to justify the contradiction of consensus by those concerned about such justifications.

The fact is that Ibn Abu ‘Aqal, Ibn al-Junayd and Shaikh al-Mufid may have attributed the same statement to Shaikh al-Tusi. All these men are major Faqihs of the Imamite Shi’as who have all issued fatawa prior to Sayyid al-Hakim, may Allah have mercy on him, that the People of the Book are tahir .