Documents of the Right Word

e rewarded rather than punished, i.e. they will be given thawâb
(for their painstaking performance of ijtihâd).” Identical
statements are written in the Shiite book Me’âlim-ul-usûl.
However, teachings inferred through ijtihâd should not disagree
with Qur’ân al-kerîm or hadîth-i-sherîfs or the ijmâ’i ummat
(unanimity of the Sahâba).
If it had been a sin to give a fatwâ disagreeable with the ijtihâd
of the Ahl-i-Bayt, hadrat Huseyn would have been sinful. As it is
stated by Abû Muhnel Ezdî, a Shiite scholar; Hadrat Husayn did
not like his (elder) brother hadrat Hasan’s making peace with
hadrat Muâwiya. He told his brother that he had made a mistake.
If refusing the ijtihâd of one of the twelve Imâms and saying that
he erred in his ijtihâd indicated enmity towards him, hadrat Hasan
would necessarily have been inimical towards hadrat Huseyn. This
is another point of view from which it is seen quite clearly that
those who criticize hadrat Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ and who
wage a campaign of vilification against him, are following a
profane course.
Sunnite scholars of Hadîth and mujtahids ‘rahmatullâhu
alaihim’ are renowned for their taqwâ, equity, and piety. The
hatred Shiites feel against scholars of Ahl as-Sunna originates
from the fact that the belief held by these scholars does not agree
with their credo. They cannot say that these scholars are sinful,
mendacious or fond of worldly advantages. On the other hand,
they censure some people whom they themselves call scholars.
The earliest people who called themselves Shi’î (Shiite) were
unit commanders in hadrat Alî’s army in the Siffîn War. All the
statements and behaviours quoted and described in Shiite books
and ascribed to hadrat Emîr (Alî) were narrated by these people.
On the other hand, it is written in Shiite books again, e.g. in Nehjul-belâgha,
that these people were treacherous, sinful,
mendacious, and disobedient to hadrat Emîr. Emîr ‘kerrem-
Allâhu ta’âlâ wejheh’ informed that these people were munâfiqs.
The beliefs held and the worships practised by the inhabitants of
Kûfa city were all in accordance with the reports given by these
people. The innocent (twelve) Imâms always uttered maledictions
against them, cursed them. They always repelled these people. Let
us take one of them, namely Kesâî. It is not known for certain
whether he was a Muslim. Another one is Zekeriyyâ bin Ibrâhîm.
Abû Ja’fer Muhammad bin Hasan Tûsî and others wrote what
they had heard from them. However, this Zekeriyyâ was a
Christian.
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