Q.61: SHOULD WE PROPAGATE OUR SECTARIAN BELIEFS WHEN IRAN...

Q.61: SHOULD WE PROPAGATE OUR SECTARIAN BELIEFS WHEN IRAN ADVOCATES ISLAMIC UNITY? Must we promote our school of thought to the Sunnis or should we abstain for the sake of unity? If so, should the unity be a tight and close one, or only superficial? A. There appears to be a common misunderstanding about the Iranian slogan of "Islamic Unity" in both Shi'a and Sunni circles. There are three conceivable ways of unity among the Muslims.

Two of them are: Unity in belief, that all Muslims should adopt a single set of beliefs, or Unity in Masa'il (rulings) of Shari'ah, that all Muslims should follow a single set of rites of worship, as well as personal, social, financial and penal codes Obviously both these methods are impossible to adopt. Now only remains the third way of unity, and that is the unity in face of the enemies of Islam.

It means that all Muslims should stand shoulder to shoulder to defend Islamic values, Muslim land and the Muslim people. They should forget their sectarian differences in face of the Zionists, the Americans and the Communists. This is the Islamic unity advocated by the Iranian leaders. It does not mean that we should hide our beliefs. it only implies that the sunnis and the Shi'as should not ridicule each other's beliefs and customs.

But it does not mean that we should not propagate our ideas and ideals among the Sunnis in a sober and academic manner. Q.62: SHI'A COLLECTIONS OF AHADITH Do you have books of traditions like the Sunnis' Sihah Sitta? A. If you mean books which we believe to contain only correct ahadith, as the Sunnis do about their Sihah Sitta (six correct books), or at least about Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, then the answer is 'NO'.

📌We do not believe that any book written or compiled by a non-Ma'sum is completely free of errors. But if you mean, important collections of the ahadith of the Prophet (s.a.w.a) and Ma'sumeen, then, yes, we have scores of such collections, most Important of which are the Four Early Books, and Three Later Books. Four Early Books: Compilation of the words of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and the Imams (a.s.) had started from the very beginning, though unfortunately the early writings are lost.

Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) (57 A.H.-114 AH/676 C.E.-733 C.E.) and Imam Ja'far as- Sadiq (a.s.) (83 A.H.-148 A.H7702 C.E.-765 C.E.) the 5th and the 6th Imams, were able to spread their teachings far and wide. There were four thousand disciples gathered around the 6th Imam alone.

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