“And they kept weaving the plots against the king and Nizam al-Malik...

“And they kept weaving the plots against the king and Nizam al-Malik, making him responsible for this matter, since he was its mastermind, so much so till the evil hands stretched out to snatch him away.” __ pp. 154-55. “And it had negative results.” “And it produced reverse negative results.” __ p. 127. “Is not mut’a their only solution for ridding themselves of reckless sexual energy and in order to protect themselves against debauchery and men’s delinquency?!

Is not mut’a better than adultery, homosexuality or masturbation?” __ p. 124. Weak Expressions The book contains a host of weak expressions such as: “... a blindly fanatical man” __ p. 17. “... were fully available in Ali (as)” __ p. 116. “... and he used to love (as) very, very much.” __ p. 17. “Second: Its narrators and isnad are inaccurate.” __ p. 76. “Some of those present ridiculed and slandered him.” __ p. 18. “He was young, whereas Abu Bakr was advanced in age.” __ p. 113.

“It was I who attended the meeting and the debate.” __ 156. “The religion of Shi’ism is the truth, there is no doubt about it.” __ p. 156. Grammatical Errors Arabic grammatical errors can be detected (by those familiar with Arabic grammar) in many places [in the said book]. Refer to these page numbers: 61, 93, 115, 151 and 149. Other grammatical errors occur on these pages as well: 144-45.

Correction Another oversight in the book occurs in the Arabic text of verse 10 of Chapter 90 [of the Holy Qur’an]. Malik-Shah: The Knowledge-Loving Ignorant Man On p. 17, he has described the Seljuk king Malik-Shah as “a young man, open-minded, loves knowledge and scholars.” Although he loves knowledge and scholarship, he apparently did not benefit from such love.

He, as the book under discussion portrays him, was the most ignorant of all people about the simplest matters and the most axiomatic Islamic and historical matters, as if he lived in an island then entered just recently in the Muslims’ lands. He even does not know about the existence of followers of a sect called “Shi’a” who, as the book states on pages 25-26, comprise half the population of the Muslims whom he ruled.

He does not even know the meaning of the word “Shi’i” in addition to other historical and non-historical issues. We do not know why his father, Sultan Alp Arsalan, neglected to educate him and prepare him to assume his post, and why he did not gather the most learned, renown and experienced scholars and specialists to teach him.