Misinterpretation
The question is: from whence comes the venom which is used
against Islam and its Holy Founder? How is it that some non-
Muslim scholars misunderstand Islam, while others understand
and appreciate it? This is the question for which we must find an
answer. This misunderstandiug exists not only in the minds of
the anti-Islam element, but also in the minds of some Muslims
whose only available source of knowledge is literature in the
Engstsh language which provides faulty information about Islam
and its Founder. However sincere these Muslims are in seeliing
to know the tr'ith of Islam, the literature available to them
makes
them doubt the claims of Islam to be God's revealed religion and
its Holy Founder the Apostle of God.
Consider, for insance, the following:
1 The labricated story of the Holy Prophet being
frightened by the heavenly Messenger, being comforted
by Lady Khadija, and being advised of the apostleship
conferred on him by Waraqa bin Nawfil.
2 The fiLise stories of sexual lust indulged in by the Holy
Prophet
3 Descriptions of the defensive resistance which Islam
was forced to exercise, such as wielding the sword for
territorial ambition.
4 The fabricated story of the Holy Prophet seating one of
his wives on his shoulders to show her the slave dance.
5 The denial of the miracles of the apostles of God and the
Holy Prophet.
6 The false story of the Virgin Mary having contact with
Joseph in the Sanctuary, assigning a huruan father to the
Holy Prophet Jesus and thus denying his miraculous
birth.
7 Creating doubts upon the bodily Ascension (Me'raj) of
the Holy Prophet.
8 Aligning the sinful ones with those purified by God
Himself.
9 Misinterpreting the Qur'anic laws of heritage relating to
the Apostles of God.
10 Inventing false traditions in the name of the Holy
Prophet.
11 Hiding the defects, drawbacks and the natural
deficiencies of some pet heroes, and praising them in
spite of their known errors, and presenting even tyrants
as leaders of the faith.
12 Lowering the position of the holy ones in favour of those
who can never be their equal.
13 Misinterpreting verses of the Holy Qur'an to suit a
particular theory.
14 Misinterpreting the significance of the most important
historic event of Ghadeer-e-Khum.
15 Denying that the Holy Prophet appointed his succor,
claiming that he left this world without doing so.
16 Presenting as legal and warranted the acts of some
political leaders after the departure of the Holy Prophet,
and presenting them as heroic deeds for the faith
Such falsehoods and misrepresentations appear in the
translations and works of many non-Muslim writers. And those
who take guidance from the Holy Ahlul-Bait have a
responsibility to present the truth to the world and correct the
lies
against Islam which are misleading many men and women who
are searching for the truth.
Besides the above falsehoods, there is also mischievous
propaganda against the genuineness of the Holy Qur'an, which
throws doubt about the completeness of the Holy Book and the
arrangement of the material in it
In reply to this hostile material which is misleading its
readers, the only source of correct information about the faith
and
its truths is the verdict of the Ahlul-Bait, the authorities
divinely
set up by the Lord through the Holy Prophet. The pity is that
this
panacea for all evils has not been made available by us for the
information and guidance of seekers of the truth and as an
answer to the hostile forces.
Therefore, instead of attempting to answer each mischievous
publication and each mischief-maker who may appear on the
scene each day in a different garb, the foremost concern of the
advocates of Islam and its Holy Founder is to put a stop to
these poisonous publications and bring Out an authentic version
of the Holy Qur'an in the English language so that there will be
no misunderstandings of the Qur'anic truth either by uninformed
friends or misinformed foes. With such an authentic source, we
can quell all antagonistic movements against the teachings of
Islam and the Holy Prophet by making available to the misguided
ones an authentic source of the faith. Until this is done, errors
and misunderstandings will continue to occur. And to do the
task, the responsibility rests with whose who call themselves the
devotees of the Ahlul-Bait, the Shias.
I considered it my first concern to clarify the actual position
of the Holy Qur'an, which is the greatest and ever-current miracle
of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the last Apostle of God until the
Day of Final Judgement. Because of the importance of this
subject and its direct concern with the faith, I have taken detailed
notes from Hujjatul Islam Ayatullah A1haj Allama Agha Mirza
Mahdi Pooya Yazdi, one of the well-known authorities on the
Holy Qur'an and Islam. These notes were prepared with special
care and effort, using authentic sources, and are presented with
maximum brevity.
There is clear evidence of the following:
1. The Qur'an, as a whole and complete Book, was
revealed to the Holy Prophet on the Night of Qadr
(2:185,44:3,97:1).
2. In the course of its Tanzeel, or gradual revelation, as and
when the verses were revealed, the Holy Prophet put
them in their respective places as he was divinely
directed to do.
3. The Holy Qur'an was recorded in writing at least by the
following:
(a) Ameerul Momineen Ali ibne Abi Taleb, whose
collection contained not only the text, but also the
notes - both ordinary and special - from the Holy
Prophet.
(b) Abdullah ibne Mas'ood
(c) Ma'aaz ibne Jabal
(d) Obai ibne Kaab
4. The Holy Prophet, before his departure from the world,
made the well-known historic announcement,
universally acknowledged by the Muslim world, that he
was leaving behind for the people (not one particular
person, for the words are clear, Feekom, "among you")
the Saqalain (or Thaqalain), the two weighty or
important things, the Kitaaballah, the Book of God and
the Ahlul-Bait. This shows that by that time the Qur'an
had been collected and formed a complete Book.
5. If the Qur'anic verses had not been collected into a
complete Book, what was the Book to which Omar
referred when he said in reply to the demand of the Holy
Prophet for pen and paper, Hasbona Kitaaballah,
"Sufficient for us is the Book of God."
With all this unchallenged evidence of history, any one who
suggests that the verses of the Qur'an were collected by some one
else, or who suggests its Tahreef is either betraying a
determination not to know the truth, or an inability to understand
it Readers may refer to the notes by Ayatullah Pooya Yazdi on
Tahreef where they will find the truth about the compilation of
the Qur'an and the genuineness of the version in our possession.
In addition to the detailed notes from Ayatullah Pooya Yazdi,
I wrote to the great scholar-divines, the Mujtahids in Iran and
Iraq, and have obtained their respective verdicts on Tahreef in
the Qur'an, providing a decisive verdict for the Shia world. (See
the Fatwas).
Thus, any talk denying the genuineness, completeness,
originality and correctness in the arrangement of the material in
the Qur'an is anti-Shia and anti-Islamic.
With regard to the other doctrines of Islam, about which
many slanderous allegations have been made aimed at poisoning
the mind of the general public, I have given short explanatory
notes under each topic, and have quoted one or two of the many
verses of the Qur'an on which the doctrine and its practice are
based. This has been offered to the seekers of the truth, and that
the general public may know what is meant by the original Islam
which, in order to distinguish it from other sects, is termed
Shiaism.
|