Documents of the Right Word

animosity towards hadrat Alî since the so-called earliest times,” he
states.
Islamic scholars have given valuable answers to Hurûfîs’
slanders and innumerable books have been written to this effect.
One of them is the book Izâlat-ul-hafâ an khilâfat-il-khulafâ, by
Shâh Waliyyullah Dahlawî, one of India’s greatest Islamic
scholars. Together with its Persian and Urdu versions, it comprises
two books. It was reproduced in Pakistan in 1382 [A.D. 1962]. It
explains in a splendid style and in detail how superior each and
every one of the As-hâb-i-kirâm was. We shall give our response
with the translation of a passage from the book Tuhfa-i-Isnâ
Ash’ariyya, which was written in Persian by Abd-ul-’azîz ’Umarî
Dahlawî. This scholar was Shâh Waliyyullah Ahmad Dahlawî’s
son. He passed away in Delhi in 1239 [A.D. 1824]. The book Tuhfa
exists in the library of the University of Istanbul with the code
number 82024. Its Urdu version was printed in Pakistan. Abd-ul-
’azîz Dahlawî states:
In a hadîth-i-sherîf reported by hadrat Abû Sa’îd-i-Hudrî, our
Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ says to hadrat Alî, “As I
fight over the revelation of Qur’ân al-kerîm, so you will fight over
its interpretation.” This hadîth-i-sherîf shows that Sunnites are
right. For it informs that in the combats of Camel and Siffîn there
will be disagreements in the interpretation of Qur’ân al-kerîm, that
is, there will be different ijtihâds. Their quoting this hadîth-i-sherîf
for refuting Sunnites is an indication of sheer ignorance. For this
hadîth-i-sherîf shows that those who fought against hadrat Alî (in
the combats of Camel and Siffîn) were wrong in their
interpretation of Qur’ân al-kerîm. And it is a fact admitted by
Shiites as well that wrong interpretation of Qur’ân al-kerîm is not
a cause of disbelief.
2- “While one of them was vying for the office of caliphate,
putting forward his old age, another was fighting to bring others
into subjection,” he says.
With the expressions ‘old age’ and ‘vying for the office of
caliphate’, he casts allusions to hadrat Abû Bekr. That hadrat
Abû Bekr was elected Khalîfa by the unanimous vote of the
Sahâba and that hadrat Alî said, “I know Abû Bekr is superior to
us all,” are naked facts written in full detail in books by all
scholars. Many a time the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi
wa sallam’ appointed hadrat Abû Bekr as the Emîr. After the
Holy War of Uhud some intelligence arrived informing that Abû
Sufyân was going to attack Medîna. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi
– 214 –