So, we must have a clear situation in this concern to be...

So, we must have a clear situation in this concern to be able say to the doers of good among the Shia that they have done well and to the wrong doers among them that they have done wrong and sinned. We do not fear in the blaming of any blamers, for we just seek the contentment of Allah the Almighty. We must distinguish the fundamentals of Islam and that which is really in the s haria from traditions, habits and personal conclusions.

And as we have been frank and daring in criticizing some companions of the Prophet (S) for the violations they had committed, we also have to criticize some Shia and not keep silent before their violations. However, there is an important difference here.

What the companions changed and invented became parts of the religion, which changed the rulings of Allah and His messenger, but what some of the Shia changed or invented did not change any divine rulings, nor did any one of them say it was obligatory; nevertheless, we must criticize it. I shall discuss the most important points raised about these new invented things (heresies) through which some others criticize and try to falsify Shiism and ascribe to it different kinds of defects.

Dear reader, you yourself may suffer from them and not find a satisfying answer that will assist you to face an opponent or convince yourself. These new things in fact, are heresies fabricated against Shiism and Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) who always refused and refuted every heresy whatever it was and whatever it adorned and called “ a good heresy ”.

They, peace be upon them, have often and always declared that they did not say or do anything except according to the sayings and doings of their grandfather the Messenger of Allah (S). Thus, everything that came out after the infallible Imams (a.s.) are heresies - that harm and not benefit, alienate and not attract, complicate and not make it easy. The learned youth find in them a flaw in Shiism and may find it very difficult to justify or refute them.

We mention here, for example, some of those heresies, which the Sunni criticize the Shia for: the exaggeration in the rituals of consolation in Ashura where some people beat themselves with chains, daggers, and knives until they bleed, the disorder in offering the prayer and the indifference to other praying people, smoking in mosques and places of prayer, neglecting the Friday Prayer, and some other things that we shall mention later on which prevent many people from getting to the truth.