Introducing the Shi’a

Collected From: Md.Shabbir Alam

1. Shi’a in light of the Holy Qur’an)

The concept of Sharia was first propogated by Hadhrath Nuh (as). The
followers of Hadhrath Nuh (as) path were referred to as Shi’a. This is clear
from the fact that we read when referring to Hadhrath Ibrahim (as) Allah
(swt) says that he was was following the religion of Hadhrath Nuh (as).

We read in Surah as Saffat verse 83:

“Verily Ibrahim was a Shi’a of Nuh”.

The Prophet (saaws) was likewise from the people of Ibrahim, that is because
Allah (swt) says in Surah al Baqarah verse 134:

“They say: "Become Jews or Christians and you would be guided (To
salvation)." Say No (I would rather) follow the Religion of Abraham”

This therefore means that Hadhrath Muhammad (saaws) was a Shi’a of

Hadhrath Ibrahim (as) - who was a Shi’a of Hadhrath Nuh (as). The term
Shi’a, should therefore not be viewed with hostility rather previous Prophets
and their adherents were Shi’a.

“And he entered the City at a time when its people were not watching: and
he found there two men fighting,- one of his Shi’a, and the other, of his
enemies”. (Quran 28:15).

In this verse, Hadhrath Musa (as)’s party are referred to as Shi’a because
Hadhrath Musa (as) was Shi’a. His followers were Shi’a as declared by the
Holy Qur’an. This fact is acknowledged by the scholars of Ahl’ul Sunnah.

In Tafsir Bidhawi Volume 4 page 125 (Egypt edition) “One was his Shi’a in
others one that followed his path”.

Allamah Farah Baghawi in his “Mu’allim ul Tanzil” Volume 3 page 175 (India,
Bombay edition) writes:

“The fighter was a Shi’a - a momin, his enemy was a Kaffir”.

 Shi’a in light of hadith of the Prophet (saaws )

Hadhrath Ali (as) and his Shi’a are the best of crea tions

It is in p raise of the Shi’a of Ali, that Allah (swt) sent down the following
revelation: “Those who b elieve and do r ighteous deeds are th e b est of the
creatures. Their reward fro m their Lord shall b e everlasting gardens, b elow
which flo w rive rs, they will ab ide there forever. W ell pleased is God with
them and they are well pleased with Him” (Quran 98:7)”. M uhammad b in
A li narrates in Tafsir ib ne Jarir, V olume 33 page 146 (Cairo edition) that the
P rophet (saaws) said “The b est of c reations are you A li and your Shi’a s.
Jalaladin Suyuti, (849 - 911 AH) is one of the highest ranking Su nni scholars of
all tim e. In his his com m entary of this verse, he records throu gh 3 asnad
(chains) of nar rators, tha t the P rop het (saaws) told his com p anions that the
verse referred to Ali and his Shia: “I swea r by the one who contro ls m y life
that this m an (Ali) and his Shia shall secure deliverance on the day of
ressurection” 1 .
The 3 Sahaba who nar rated this hadith are (1) Ali (as) him self (2) Jabir bin
Abdu llah Ansari (ra) (3) Abdu llah ibne Abbas (ra). They are acknowledged
by the m ajority school as tru thfu l narrators of hadith. Had this been in a Shi’a
book, ou r op p onents wou ld have deem ed it a forgery, bu t it’s p resence in
their own books has p erp lexed the m inds of m any of their scholars. There are
no hadith in which the P rop het (saaws) gu aranteed p aradise for a sp ecific
Sahaba and his followers, with the sole excep tion of Ali (as) and his Shi’a.
O ther Su nni scholars have also recorded this hadith from Jabir bin Abdu llah
Ansari in their com m entaries of the above verse 2 .
Hadhrath Abdu llah ibne Abbas narrates “that when this verse descended the
P rop het (saaws) Ali you and you r Shi’a will be joyfu l on the Day of
Ju dgem ent” (ibid Su yu ti).
A hmad ib n Hajr al M akki qu otes from Im am Dar Q atany in his al Sawaiqh al
M u hriqa p age 159 (Cairo edition) “O Abu l Hasan you and you Shi’a will
attain p aradise”.

T he Shi’a will enter Heaven with the Prophet (saaws), Hadhrath Ali (as )
and the pure Im am s
Ibn Hajr records this tradition from Im a m T abarani:
“O Ali four people will enter heaven first of all. M e , you, Hasan, Hussain
and your descendents will follow us and our wives will follow our
descendents and our Shi’a will be to the le ft and right of us”.
T he Prophet (saaws) prom ised to m ee t Ali (as ) and his Shi’a at the fountain
of Kawthur

1 T DM Volume 6 p age 379 (Ca iro edit ion)

2 T afsir F atha ul bay an Volume 10 p age 333 (E gy pt edit ion)
T afsir F atha ul Q adir, Volum e 5 p age 477
Hadhrath Ali na rrates in Ta fsir Durre M ansur, V olume 6 page 379 (Cairo
edition) “Have you not heard this verse “Their re ward fro m the ir Lord shall
be everlasting gardens, below which flow r ivers, they will abide there
forever”? This verse refers to you and you Shi’a, I promise you that I will be
meet you at the Fountain of K awthur”.

Seventy thousand Shi’as will enter Heaven without any questioning

W hilst salvation will be for the S hi’a of course deeds will differ amongst the
followers. It is indeed part of the articles of faith of the Ahl’ul Sunnah that:

“Prophet M uhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) had once

observed that as many as seventy thousand of his fo llower s will be a llowed
entry in to paradise without any questioning” 3 9 .

The question that one should ask is ‘Did the Prophet (saaw s) expand any fur ther
on w ho this bles sed group w ould be? ’ The answer is recorded by the Shafi
scholar al M aghazli who records a tradition from Anas bin M alik, that he
heard the Prophet (saaws) say:

“Seventy thousand people will go to heaven without questions, the Prophet

then turned to Ali and said ‘they will be from among your Shi’a and you
will be the ir Imam 4 0 ”

The companions, the M uhajireen and A nsar were Shi’a

The highly respected Sunni scholar A l M uhaddith Shah A bdul A ziz Dehlavi
in his discussion of hadith relating to Ali and his Shi’a writes: “T he title Shia
was first given to those M uhajireen and Ansar who gave B ayah to Ali (may
Allah enlighten his face ), they we re his s teadfast faithful follo wers during
his (Ali’s) khila fat, they remained close to him, and they always fought his
enemies, and kept on following Ali’s com mands and prohibitions the true
Shia are these who came in 37 H ijr i” 2 (NB 37 Hijri -the year Hadh rath Ali
(as) fought M u’awiyah at Siffeen).
* The S hi`as are the peop le w ho lo ve w ha t the Prop he t's Pro ge ny lo ves, a nd the y are
lo ya l to s uc h Pro ge ny. Re fer to p. 189, Vo l. 8, of Lisa n a l-Arab le xico n b y Ab ul-Fad l
Ja ma l ad-D in M uha mmad Ib n Ma nzur (630 - 711 A.H./1233 - 1311 A.D.).

39 Islam : The Basic Articles o f Faith - Acco rding to the Beliefs o f the Ahl al Sunna wa al Jam a’a - a
Mo dern English translatio n o f Bahar-e-Shariat Part One (Unam ed author) page 67 (First edition,
C rescent Publishing, Ro chdale 1998)

40 Manaqib Ali al Murtaza, page 184 by al Maghazli al Shafii

2 T aufa Ithna A shari, (G ift to the T w elvers) (Farsi edition p 18, p ublishers Sohail A cad emy , Lahore, Pakistan).