CHAPTER FOUR
ON INFALLIBILITY
The Sunnis acknowledge the merits of the House of the Prophet and the correctness of their religion, but they do not say they were infallible, for every human being is prone to error. No one is exempted from error, which is a quality of human nature. The Prophet pointed this out when he said, "Man is liable to mistake, and the best of those who do are those who turn to Allah in repentance."13 While the Prophets infallibly convey the Revelation, their infallibility does not extend beyond this. How many Prophets have been admonished by Allah, and on occasions corrected? Allah mildly reproved the Prophet in a well-known Chapter of the Qur’ân, saying:
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13 At-Tirmidhî, Ibn Mâjah and Ad-Dârimî, it is narrated with a good chain of transmission; Ibnul-Athîr, Jâmi` Al-Usûl min Ahâdîth Ar-Rasûl, 2:515. (The Collection of Prophetic Hadîths Sources).
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{"He [i.e. the Prophet] frowned and turned away - Because there came to him the blind man, [interrupting]. But what would make you perceive, [O Muhammad], that perhaps he might be purified – Or be reminded and the remembrance would benefit him? As for he who thinks himself without need, - To him you give attention. And not upon you [is any blame] if he will not be purified. But as for he who came to you striving [for knowledge] - While he fears [Allah], - From him you are distracted. No! Indeed, they [i.e. these verses] are a reminder…}14
On another occasion, Allah tells Prophet Muhammad: {May Allah pardon you, [O Muhammad]; why did you give them permission [to remain behind]? [You should not have] until it was evident to you who were truthful and you knew [who were] the liars.} 15
Allah also says addressing the Prophet, {"…while you concealed within yourself that which Allah is to disclose. And you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him…"}16
There are other examples in the Qur’ân which confirm the fact that Prophets' infallibly does not extend beyond conveying Revelation. An example of this is the verse that reads, {"[Noah] said, "My Lord, I seek refuge with You from asking that of which I have
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14 Qur’ân 80:1-11.
15 Qur’ân 9:43. 16 Qur’ân 33: 37.
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no knowledge. And unless You forgive me and have mercy upon me, I will be among the losers."}17
And in another verse Prophet Ibrâhîm (Abraham) says, {"And Who I aspire that He
will forgive me my sin on the Day of Recompense."}18
Allah also tells about Yûnus (Jonah), {"And [mention] the man of the fish [i.e. Jonah], when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him. And he called out within the darknesses, “There is no deity except You; Exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers."}19
The Doctrine of the Infallibility of the Imams
The Shias believe their Imams are infallible in every respect. They see only a superficial distinction between the status of an Imam and that of a Prophet. In his book Bihâr Al-Anwâr (under the chapter entitled "Imams are more Knowledgeable than Prophets"), Al-Majlisî says, "We do not admit any difference between the concept of the Prophethood and that of the Imamate."20 Sheikh Muhammad Ridâ Al-Mudhaffar says, "We believe the Imam, like the Prophet, must be free from all forms of corruption and vice, what is apparent of them and what is concealed, whether committed deliberately or neglectfully,
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17 Qur’ân 11: 47.
18 Qur’ân 26: 82.
19 Qur’ân 21: 87
20 Al-Majlisî, Bihâr Al-Anwâr, 26:82; and Al-Kulaynî, Usûl Al-Kâfî, 21:260-263.
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from the time of infancy until death. Likewise, an Imam must be free from absentmindedness, forgetfulness and error."21
Because of the "infallibility" of their Imams, Shia scholars, including Imam Khomeini, believe their Imams' teachings have the same status as the Qur’ân. This is because the Imams are "above forgetfulness."22 It is sufficient to have a glance through the contents of Al-Kulaynî's Al-Kâfî to be acquainted with this idea; Al-Kulaynî says in the table of contents:
• The Imams have all of the knowledge that was given to the Prophets and the Angels.
• The Imams know when they will die and they only die at the time of their own choice.
• The Imams know all that was and all that is and all that may have been but was not; nothing is hidden from them.23
• The Imams know all the revealed books in the languages that they were revealed.
• When Imams have the upper hand, they will judge as Prophet Dâwûd (David) used to do; they should not be questioned about the evidences of their judgments.
• None collected all the Qur’ân but the Imams.
• The only truth known to human beings is that which has been brought to them by the Imams, anything not coming directly from them is falsehood.
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21 Muhammad Ridâ Al-Mudhaffar, `Aqâ’id Al-Imamîyah, 95.
22 Ayatollah Khomeini, Al-Hukûmah Al-Islâmiyyah (Islamic Government), pp. 91, 113.
23 Khomeini says, "We do not imagine that the Imams could be forgetful or neglectful of anything, we believe that they encompass entirely the well-being of the Muslims."
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• The Earth is entirely in the hands of the Imam.
Another Example of Exaggeration
In his book, Hayâtul-Qulûb (Life of Hearts), Al-Majlisî writes that the Prophet was once sitting while Al-Husayn was on his right thigh and his son Ibrâhîm on his left thigh. He would kiss this one and then that one. The Angel Jibrîl (Gabriel) was sent down and said, "Verily, your lord has sent me to tell you that they cannot live at the same time; choose one of them over the other, and sacrifice the second to the first."
The Prophet looked at his son Ibrâhîm and wept. Then he said to Jibrîl, "I have sacrificed Ibrâhîm for Al-Husayn, and am content with the death of Ibrâhîm so that Al-Husayn may live and prosper."24
Similarities with the Christians: Atonement and Penance
The Shias' exaggerations about their Imams have led them to believe that loyalty toward the Imams is more important than prayer, Fasting, giving Zakâh, and Pilgrimage to Mecca. Al-Kulaynî tells us that Abû Ja`far said, "Islam is built on five things: Prayer, Zakâh, Hajj, Fasting, and loyalty toward the Prophet's Household."25 Someone asked
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24 Al-Majlisî, Hayâtul-Qulûb, 2:593.
25 In Shia books, this is called wilayat [trans].
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him, "Which of these is the most important?" He said, "Loyalty toward the Prophet's Household."26
The Shia scholars say that whoever declares his allegiance to the Prophet's Household is among the people of Paradise. It does not matter what he has done in this world.
Further, they claim that Imam Ja`far As-Sâdiq said, "Allah had written a book two thousand years before He created all things and it remains with Him beneath the Throne. (It says) 'O Shias of the Family of Muhammad, I have forgiven you even before you have disobeyed Me. Whoever comes without having denied the Imamate of Muhammad's Household, I will admit him to Paradise, a mercy from Me.'"27 The Shias have fabricated hadîths indicating their superiority over other people. They claim that Allah created them from special clay, different from the clay all other human beings were made from. They went further claiming that Allah will not forgive anyone other than them and that they are the successful people on the Day of Resurrection.28
According to them, Imam Ja`far As-Sâdiq said, "Allah has created us from the highest degree in Paradise and has also created the souls of our Shias from the highest degree in Paradise."29 Fathul-Lâh Al-Kâshânî says in his book Manhaj As-Sâdiqîn (Way of the Truthful) that "the love for `Alî is a virtuous deed30 that no wrong doing can wipe away.
. . . Our love for the Household of the Prophet causes sins to fall like the leaves fall from
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26 Al-Kulaynî, Usûl Al-Kâfî, 2:18-20; also Al-Majlisî, Bihâr Al-Anwâr, 68:83-97 (the chapter is entitled, "No Deeds are Accepted except by Loyalty to the Prophet's Household").
27 Al-Bahrânî, Al-Burhân fî Tafsîr Al-Qur’ân 3:228.
28 Al-Majlisî, Bihâr Al-Anwâr, 68:1-83; also 98-149 and 149-199.
29 Al-Kulaynî, Usûl Al-Kâfî, 3:4; Al-Majlisî, Bihâr Al-Anwâr, 52:12.
30 Arabic: hasanah [trans].
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a tree."31 Al-Kulaynî says in Al-Kâfî, "The pen is lifted up (i.e., no deed, good or evil is recorded…)32 from our Shias, even if they come with as many sins as there are drops of rain, or pebbles."33 In the introduction to Tafsîr Al-Burhân, we are told that Allah said, "`Alî Ibn Abû Tâlib is the My Proof to My creation. Whoever acknowledges this will not enter the Hellfire, even if he disobeyed Me, and no one will enter Paradise who denies this, even if he obeyed Me."34 Finally, it is narrated that when a man told one of the Imams, "I love those who observe fasting but I do not fast, and I love those who observe prayer but I do not perform prayer." The Imam said, "You will be with those whom you love."35
A Response to these Accounts
If it is true that the mere love for Imams is an act of piety that cannot be wiped out by any sin, then what need is there to observe anything else in the Sharî`ah? Is the love for `Alî and the Imams more important to Allah than obedience to Him and fulfilling the obligations of His religion?
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31 Fathul-Lâh Ibn Shukrul-Lâh Al-Kâshânî (d. 978/1570), Minhâj As-Sâdiqîn fî Ilzâm Al-Mukhâlifîn, 8:110.
32 Rufi`a al-qalam is an Arabic idiom that means to be "unaccountable for one's sins," it appears in a well-known hadîth where the Prophet said "Rufi`a al-qalam `an …" "No deed, good or evil is recorded for the insane until they come to reason, for a child until he comes of age, or for the sleeper until he awakes." [trans].
33 Al-Kulaynî, Usûl Al-Kâfî.
34 Al-Bahrânî, Al-Burhân fî Tafsîr Al-Qur’ân, 1: 23.
35 Al-Kulaynî, Usûl Al-Kâfî, p. 8.
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If the mere love for Allah and His Messenger is not enough to protect the believer from chastisement, how could the love for `Alî alone, unsupported by any good deeds, not only save him from all punishment, but wipe out all his evil deeds? This belief diverts people from the principal purpose for which Allah created them and makes the love for `Alî, not the worship of Allah, the object of all creation. Allah has created us to do good deeds; He says, {"[He] Who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed…"}36
`Alî Ibn Abû Tâlib: Hero of Islam and Pride of all the Muslims
According to the Sunnis, `Alî Ibn Abû Tâlib, the husband of Fâtimah, the father of Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn, was the hero of the Muslims and the source of their pride and selfrespect.
He was one of the greatest sons of Islam and a defender of the Prophet, even from an early age. To love him and his family is an important aspect of faith, to disparage them is an act of hypocrisy.
Yet, they (the Sunnis) do not agree with the Shias when they say that mere love for `Alî will wipe away sin, while no amount of good deeds can make up for hatred toward him. The Sunnis also do not believe that merely looking into the face of `Alî is an act of worship. The love that wipes away all sins is a Christian notion of forgiveness. They say their love for Christ will ensure the forgiveness of all their sins on the Day of Judgment, even without good deeds.
The Sunnis reject the quasi-divinity that the Shias have bestowed on `Alî. In Tafsîr Al-Burhân, we read that Allah said, "`Alî Ibn Abû Tâlib is My proof before all creation and My light . . . [he is] the custodian of My knowledge." In the same book, we read
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36 Qur’ân 67:2.
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that Allah has created the heavens and the earth from the light of the Prophet, while the `Arsh (the Throne) and the Kursî37 are created from the light of `Alî Ibn Abû Tâlib.38 Similarly, it is common for Shias to slap their knees after finishing prayer and say, "Tâh Al-Amîn (the Trustworthy (Angel) has gone astray)." This is to reproach the Angel Jibrîl who brought the Revelation to Muhammad when he was supposed to take it to `Alî Ibn Abû Tâlib, at least according to the Shias. That they do this is a matter of common knowledge, and had we not seen it ourselves, we would not have mentioned it.
The Sunnis also reject what some of the Shia scholars, such as Al-Kishshî, attribute to `Alî. They write that `Alî said, "I am the countenance of Allah, I am at the right hand of Allah, I am the first and the last, I am the ascendant and the intimate39, I shall inherit the earth, I am the way of Allah."40 The Shia scholars have exaggerated the status of `Alî even to the point Al-Mufîd said that Allah used to talk confidentially to `Alî.41
As such, we should learn a lesson when considering how the Christians started by only stretching the truth a little, but with time they continued to do this inflating their stories until they ended worshippers of Jesus instead of being worshippers of Allah.
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37 Chair or footstool; it is not to be confused with the Al-`Arsh (the Throne), which is infinitely higher and greater than Al-Kursî. See the Qur’ân: 2: 255. (trans.)
38 Al-Bahrânî, Al-Burhân fî Tafsîr Al-Qur’ân, 4:226. 39 When these attributes are mentioned in such absolute way, especially in upper case, they refer to Allah, Exalted be He. (trans.)
40 Al-Kashshî, Ar-Rijâl, 184.
41 Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn An-Nu`mân Al-Mufîd, Al-Ikhtisâs (Specialization); Khomeini praises this man and says that he was a faqîh [A knowledgeable scholar of Islamic jurisprudence who deduces the legal rulings from the sources of Islamic Law] and a mujtahid [A jurist qualified to attempt a reasoned or deduced solution for unprecedented legal problems] (see Ayatollah Khomeini, Al-Hukûmah Al-Islâmiyyah, 58). 33
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Such fanaticism has even led some groups of Shias, such as the Nusayriyyah and the Druze, to worship `Alî, who they say is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. While the Twelve-Imam Shias theoretically say that these groups are disbelievers, in fact, they are in accordance with them from a practical point of view.
The Christians show excessive love for Jesus, but they go no further than this and do not follow what he taught. The important thing to their minds is to glorify him; they do not consider that anything they could do in this respect could be wrong. In this way, they have combined their love for him with their own desires. The point of religion is not to instill in a person an overwhelming love that clouds his mind and judgment. His love will not intervene on his behalf before his Lord. We see the love for Allah in obedience to Him, in following His Commandments. This is the evidence of true love, and its final witness. Such a love must be reciprocal, it cannot be one-sided. To demonstrate, while the Christians love the Messiah, he does not love them, because they have abandoned both reason and legitimacy through their exaggeration of his status. Likewise, the Jews love Moses, but he does not love them, for they have defied the Law that he brought them.
What the Prophet's Household said about Shia Extremism?
Members of the Prophet's Household spoke of people who would make exaggerated claims about them. `Alî Ibnul-Husayn Zayn Al-`Âbidîn, the Fourth Imam, said "The Jews loved Ezra so much that they finally said [that he was the son of Allah]. But Ezra is not one of them and they have nothing to do with Ezra. The Christians loved Jesus so much that they finally said [that he is the son of Allah]. But Jesus is not one of them and they have nothing to do with Jesus. There will appear among our supporters
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people who will love us so much that they will finally say about us what the Jews said about Ezra, and what the Christians say about Jesus. We have nothing to do with them, and they have nothing to so with us."42
`Alî also is reported to have said, "Two groups will find destruction because of me: One will exaggerate their love for me to the point that it leads them away from truth, and the other will exaggerate their hatred for me to such a degree that it leads them away from truth. The best of my supporters are those who are moderate." 43
Al-Kashshî, a Shia authority on Hadîth, reports that Ja`far As-Sâdiq said, "We certainly are not free of those who will attribute false reports about us. . . . We have no greater enemy than those who take advantage of our name."44
Only Hypocrites Dislike the Prophet's Household
The Sunnis obey the Prophet, who said, "I adjure you in the Name of Allah to look after my household." They believe that to speak ill of them is evidence of hypocrisy. They also consider that `Â’ishah is a member of his household,45 and whatever hurts her hurts the
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42 Al-Kashshî, Ar-Rijâl, p.111.
43 Al-Murtadâ, Nahjul-Balâghah, 2:8.
44 Al-Kashshî, Ar-Rijâl, 257 and 259.
45 Ahlul-Bayt; There is much evidence to support this position in the Qur’ân. For example, the wife of Al-`Azîz says to her husband what came in the verse which reads, {"What is the recompense of one who intended evil for your wife but that he be imprisoned or a painful punishment?"} (Qur’ân 12: 25) Similarly, when the Angels spoke to the wife of Ibrâhîm they said, {"…May the mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you, people of the house…"} (Qur’ân 11: 73) Allah also says, addressing the wives of the Prophet, {"Allah intends only to remove from you the impurity [of sin], O people of the [Prophet's] household, and to purify
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Prophet. To defame `Â’ishah is to defame the Prophet since Allah has said, {"Evil words are for evil men (or evil women for evil men), and evil men are [subjected] to evil words (or evil men for evil women). And good words are for good men (or good women for good men), and good men are [an object] of good words (or good men for good women)."}46 Is it possible that the Prophet would take evil woman into his house and that Allah would leave him in this situation? The books of the Shias are not free of accusations against `Â’ishah and Hafsah. For example, they say that the Prophet once pointed to `Â’ishah's house and said, "Disbelief springs from this place."47 They also say that `Â’ishah and Hafsah plotted to poison the Prophet.48 How is this possible for them to honor the Prophet and his household while curse his wives, whom Allah has called "Mothers of the Believers?" Allah says, {"The Prophet is more worthy of the believers than themselves, and you with [extensive] purification."} (33: 33) While some people have said that this cannot refer to the wives of the Prophet since the grammatical form used in this verse is masculine (`ankum) and assert that if it had been meant to refer to the wives of the Prophet, it would have been feminine (`ankunna), it does, in fact refer to them. This is clear when we consider that masculine verb forms do refer to feminine subjects in other verses of the Qur’ân. In the verse 28: 29, Moses says, to his "ahl (i.e., family)", "Stay here" (i.e., imkuthû - second person masculine plural). According to Shia sources, this refers to Moses’ wife, even though the verb is masculine. See also Al-Fadl Ibnul-Hasan At-Tubrasî, Majma` Al-Bayân li `Ulûm Al-Qur’ân, 4: 211, 4: 250; Al-Qummî’s Tafsîr, 2: 139; Al-Kâshânî, Manhaj As-Sâdiqîn, 7: 95.
Allah tells Lût (Lot), {"Indeed, we will save you and your family [ahl], except your wife"} (Qur’ân 29: 33). This is evidence that the word ahl includes wife, for if Lût's wife had believed, she would have been saved together with the rest of Lût's family (ahl), while if she had not disbelieved, she would not have been expressly excluded from them.
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46 Qur’ân 24: 26.
47Al-Husayn Al-`Âmilî, Wusûl Al-Akiyâr ilâ Usûl Al-Akhbâr, p. 79.
48 Al-Majlisî, Hayâtul-Qulûb, 2:700.
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his wives are [in the position of] their mothers…"}49 How can anyone who claims to be a believer reject that `Â’ishah is his mother in faith, when this is clearly stated in the Qur’ân? What are we to think when they quote the Qur’ân saying, {"Allah presents an example of those who disbelieved: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot…"}50 and use this to prove that `Â’ishah and Hafsah had apostatized? Is this not much like the hypocrisy of `Abdullâh Ibn Saba’ who accused the wives of the Prophet of perversion and corruption?
The Shias' doctrines about the Prophet's family are difficult to comprehend, for while they exaggerate the status of some of its members to the point of declaring their divinity, they degrade others and curse them. They even deny that some of them are members of the Prophet's Household at all.
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49 Qur’ân 33: 6. 50 Qur’ân 66: 10.
