The Example of the Imams After the Prophet’s death...

The Example of the Imams After the Prophet’s death, the Muslims were very much divided on the issue of leadership. This gave birth to the two groups known as the Shi’a and the Sunnis. The Shi’a lived by the shari’a by following the Qur’an, and the sunna of the Prophet and of the Imams.

The sunna, in Shi’a definition, means “the sayings, deeds and silent approval of the Prophet and the twelve infallible Imams of Ahlu “l-bayt.” Although the issue of the leadership has already been discussed in another lesson in Part One, I would like to mention one reason why the Imams of Ahlu 1-bayt are preferable as the source of the sharia than anyone else. The Muslims of the early days realized the importance of the Prophet’s sunna and started to memorize his sayings known as hadith.

Later generations preserved the saying they had heard from the companions of the Prophet in the books of hadith. Even the actions of the Prophet, observed by his companions, were preserved in writing. But this process of preserving the sunna of the Prophet “was not immune from mistakes and forgery. Many sayings were invented and wrongfully attributed to the Prophet during the early period of the Islamic history, especially during the Umayyid era.

At times, the rulers bribed the companions to fabricate ‘hadith1 in their favour and/or against their opponents. At other times, some people invented ‘hadith’ for apparently good causes not realizing that they were using the wrong means of trying to make people more religious!

Abu ‘Ismah, Faraj bin Abi Maryam al-Marwazi was asked: “From where have you got all these traditions narrated through ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn ‘Abbas, from the Prophet, describing the reward of reciting each and every surah (chapter) of the Qur’an?” He said, “I found people interested only in the fiqh of Abu Hanifah and maghazi of Ibn Ishaq; therefore, I forged these ahadith for the pleasure of God to bring them back to the Qur’an.” In this background of the early development of hadlth, we must find an authentic and informed source for the sunna of the Prophet.

When you look at the Muslims of the Prophet’s days, you can find no one who was more knowledgeable, informed, reliable and closer to the Prophet than the Ahlu 1-bayt, the family of the Prophet: Fatimah, ‘Ali and their sons.