ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Shia Rebuts Question 7: Why do Shi’a Add Ashhadu anna ‘aliyyan waliyyullah” in the Call to Prayer?

In adhan {call to prayer}, why do you say, “ Ashhadu anna ‘aliyyan waliyyullah ” {“I bear witness that ‘Ali is Wali of Allah”} and give testimony to the wilayah {guardianship} of ‘Ali ( ‘a **)?** Reply: In order to reply to this question, let us consider the following points: In their books on jurisprudence, all the Shi‘ah jurists { fuqaha } stress that to say: “I bear witness to the wilayah of ‘Ali ( ‘a )” is not part of adhan or iqamah , and no one has the right to say that it is part of any of the two.

From the viewpoint of the Qur’an, ‘Ali ( ‘a ) is one of the awliya’ , and the following verse explicitly points to his wilayah over the Muslims: ﴿ إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ اللّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاَةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ رَاكِعُونَ ﴾ “Your guardian is only Allah, His Apostle, and the faithful who maintain the prayer and give the zakat while bowing down.” [^1] The Sunni Sahih s and Musnad s include narrations that highlight the fact that the noble verse was revealed to praise ‘Ali ( ‘a ) who, while doing ruku‘ {bowing down in prayer}, gave his ring to a poor person.[^2] When this verse which refers to ‘Ali ( ‘a ) was revealed, Hassan ibn Thabit versified this event in the following poem: فأنت الذي أعطيت إذ أنت راكع فدتك نفوس القوم يا خير راكع فأنزل فيك الله خير ولاية وبينهما في مُحكمات الشرائع You are the one who donated, while doing ruku‘.

May the souls of the folk be sacrificed to you, O the best of those who bow down! Thus, God has sent down the best wilayah to you, and explained it through the decrees of the Shari‘ah. The Holy Prophet (S) said: إنما الأعمال بالنّيات.

“Verily, actions are (judged) by intention.” Since the wilayah of ‘Ali ( ‘a ) is one of the principles stipulated in the Qur’an, and the said phrase is not regarded as part of the adhan (or iqamah ), what is wrong about uttering it alongside the testimony to the apostleship of the Prophet (S)? Here, it is necessary to mention that if due to adding a sentence to adhan , the Shi‘ah must be castigated, how could the following two cases be justified?

✦ ✦ ✦