Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

36 Introduction
the aim of corrnpting people's beliefs and keeping them away from
the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (@J.
Moreover, I have written this hook with a sincere desire to
educate the Sunni masses about the reality of the Rsifidi Shia, because
Shia ideology is present and influential among the peoples of Africa,
Asia, Europe, and North and South America. The proponents of the
RZfidi Shia point of view are active in spreading their deviant call and
are spending a lot of wealth for that purpose. They have allied
themselves with the enemies of true Islam so as to strike it, distort it
and put an end to it. This is not a new phenomenon, hut the Sunnis -
with few exceptions -are completely oblivious to their tactics; they
seem to be in a deep slumber, unaware of what is being planned
against them. Some of them say that the SunniIShia conflict belongs
in the past, but this is not trne; it indicates ignorance and shows that
the Muslim masses have been deceived in the name of bringing the
two sides together and uniting the Muslims.
The correct way to grow close together is for the Sunni
scholars to make a greater effort to spread the sound beliefs that are
derived from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of
Allah (g), to explain the soundness of those beliefs and to
demonstrate how they are distinct from the views of the followers of
innovation. Ahl as-Sunnah wal-JamZ'ah are the ones who are
following the way of the Messenger of Allah (g) and his
Companions, and their name is derived from their adherence to the
Sunnah of the Prophet a), which is encouraged in his words, "I urge
you to adhere to my ~unnah and the way of the Rightly Guided
Caliphs who come after me; cling to it and adhere firmly to it."" He
warned us not to go against it when he said: "Beware of newly
invented matters, because every newly invented matter is an
innovation, and every innovation is a going astray,"" and,
"Whoever turns away from my Sunnah has nothing to do with me."