Similarly...

Similarly, they regard the Shi`ah's refusal to believe in the rightfulness of the first three caliphs as well as in the excellence of the Mother of the Faithful { umm al-muminin } 'A'ishah as defect and shortcoming, and their alleged belief in the distortion { tahrif } of the Qur'an, etc. Stating the futility of the accusations and points of weakness attributed to the Shi`ah itself requires a bulky treatise.

As an example, we shall discuss here the accusation on the Shi`ah's alleged belief in the tahrif of the Qur'an. Belief in tahrif (alteration of the Qur'an) according to Sunni and Shi`ah ‘ulama’ Just as the Shi`ah are not the only ones who discuss the subject of tahrif of the Qur'an, the Wahhabis are not the only ones to discuss the preservation of the Qur'an.

Among Shi`ah 'ulama ', a number of muhaddithun have believed in the tahrif of the Qur'an; of course, they mean tahrif in a particular sense and not in the sense the Wahhabis think. A number of Sunni 'ulama ' also believe in tahrif .

For more information, one may refer to books written on this subject.[^1] Just as it is not correct to accuse Sunnis of tahrif of the Qur'an on account of the beliefs of a number of their past muhaddithun and 'ulama ', applying this belief which is held by some Shi`ah muhaddithun to all their 'ulama ', fuqaha and muhaddithun is no less incorrect. A number of authoritative books of the Ahl as-Sunnah (for example, Sahih al-Bukha r i , vol. 4, p. 11; vol. 8, p. 209; Sahih Muslim , vol. 5, p.

116; Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal , vol. 1, p. 47; Muntakhab Kanz al-'Ummal , vol. 3, p. 43), record traditions about tahrif of the Qur'an. Just as it is irrational to reject all these books, rejection the sayings and works of a number of those Shi`ah personalities who have believed in tahrif is also incorrect. For example, the book, Mustadrak , of Muhaddith Nuri is not supposed to be overlooked just because his book, Fasl al-Khitab attempts to prove the alleged tahrif of the Qur'an.

It must be noted that the meaning of tahrif of the Qur'an according to Muhaddith Nuri is different from what the Wahhabis mean. Therefore, a number of the Sunni and Shi`ah figures believe in the tahrif of the Qur'an, and the most important step in this context is the separation of the Wahhabi imperialist sect and their creation of the seed of discord between Sunni and Shi`ah Muslims.