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Chapter 3: Presenting some of the manifestations of this crisis from the reality of the Shia.


After presenting some of those beliefs that make the Shia avoid and doubt the Quran, it is time to show how these beliefs affect the reality of the Shia.

The first manifestation: Their refusal to make Takfeer on those who believe in Tahreef al-Quran.

When this team of Shia scholars decided that they do not believe in the distortion of the Quran, they were expected to take a strong stance towards the scholar who believe in its distortion, such as making Takfeer on them, declaring them apostates and heretics, disowning them and their beliefs, so that Allah may not place them all together in the same place on the day of judgment, but they surprised everybody with their weak stance as a result of the weakness of their spiritual link to the Quran.

Grand Ayatullah al-Marji'I Muhammad Sa'eed al-Hakeem says in "Fi Rihab al-'Aqeedah" 1/149, under the chapter "The correct stance from those who declare Tahreef":

[Yes, it is not good to go all out in attacking those who believe in Tahreef, even if they made a huge error, but it is considered a scientific mistake as a result of inattention and it does not drop their right to be treated as Muslims nor necessities their Kufr.]

One of the biggest Shia scholars who believes in the distortion of the book of Allah is al-Mirza al-Noori al-Tabrasi, he wrote an entire book to prove that the book of all has been distorted and called it "Fasl al-Khitab fi Ithbat Tahreef Kitab Rabb al-Arbab" or in English "The Decisive Speech Concerning the Distortion of the Book of the Lord of Lords ", this scholar wrote in the introduction of this book on pg.2:

[This is a subtle book, a noble compilation, that I have written to prove the distortion of the Quran and the disgraces of the people of tyranny and oppression.]

There is no doubt among healthy Muslims on the Kufr of this evil individual. However, the Shia scholars decided to praise him and venerate him instead of condemning him, Sheikh 'Ali bin Hassan al-Biladi says about him in "Anwar al-Badrayn" pg.129-130:

[The other brilliant contemporary, the trustworthy personage of Islam, the imitated and skilled scholar of narrations, al-Mirza Hussein al-Noori al-Tabrasi—May Allah’s mercy be on him—: Author of several venerable works, such as Nafs al-Rahman fi Fadail Salman, Fasl al-Khitab, Jannat al-Maawa, Mustadrak al-Wasael wa Mustanbat al-Dalael and other splendid books. This Shaykh was a proof among the proofs of Allah with respect to study, scrutiny, research, ample perception such as that of Master al-Majlisi, godwariness and scrupulosity.]

Ayatullah 'Ali al-Milani write about al-Tabrasi in "al-Muhadarat fil-I'itiqadat" 2/602:

[It is certainly correct that al-Mirza al-Noori is from among major scholars of narrations and we respect al-Mirza al-Noori. al-Mirza al-Noori is one of our major scholars, and neither is it possible for us to even slightly be hostile towards him, nor is it permissible; (doing) this is forbidden [Haram]! Verily, he is a major expert in the field of narrations from among our scholars.]

And he further says in his defense on pg.608:

[As for our anathematizing and repulsing of him from our faction, and expelling him from our circle, as demanded by some of the contemporary writers from Ahl al-Sunna, then that is wrong and absolutely impossible. Do they do this with the major Companions who were proponents of deletions (from the Quran) and with their scholars of narrations who related these opinions?]

Shia scholar 'Ali Aal Muhsin writes about him in "Li-Allah Thumma lil-Haqiqa" pg.542:

[al-Mirza Hussein al-Nouri—May Allah’s mercy be upon him—has many grateful efforts and well-known impacts in regard to the assistance of Islam. And contesting him, and his slip in this book (i.e. Fasl al-Khitab), will neither make us ignore all his efforts nor take away anything from his credibility, for every pious man has a slight fault; for every man of knowledge has a slip.

This, is along with the fact that he did not say: "The Quran present in our hands is distorted in terms of addition and deletion," rather what he said is: "Indeed, some words or verses of the Quran were omitted from the Quran present in our hands."]

Grand Ayatullah al-Khomeini says about him in "al-Arba'oun Hadith" pg.21-22:

[The master, the scholar, the altruistic, the jurist, the Muhaddith al-Mirza Hussein al-Noori may Allah fill his noble shrine with light]

Another of the big Shia scholars, Muhammad Baqir bin Muhammad Taqi al-Majisi, author of "Bihar al-Anwar" who also declared his belief in Tahreef in his other book "Miraat al-'Uqool" 12/525:

[So the narration is Sahih(authentic), and it is no secret that this narration and many of the other authentic narrations are explicit in expressing the loss of Quran and its manipulation, I find that the narrations in this regard are Mutawatir in their meaning (i.e. delivered by many narrators) and the rejection of all of them requires directly not to rely on(any) narrations at all. Even more, it is my opinion that the narrations in this regard are not inferior to the narrations about the Imamah. So how do they prove it(the Imamah) relying on narrations?]

The leader of the Hawza al-'Ilmiyah in Najaf and the biggest of their contemporary scholars, grand Ayatullah abu al-Qassim al-Khoei writes statements of praise in several locations of his "Mu'ujam Rijal al-Hadith" such as in 15/221:

[9940 - Muhammad Baqir Muhammad Taqi: al-Sheikh al-Hurr said in "Tathkirat al-Mutabahireen" (733): Our master the venerable Muhammad Baqir son of our master Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi: The scholar, the virtuous, the skillful, the examiner, the scrutinizer, the learned, the understanding, the jurist, the out-spoken, scholar of Hadith, Thiqahtun Thiqah(Trustworthy Trustworthy), owner of all good traits and virtues, a man of great value may Allah prolong his stay. He has many beneficial works, such as: Bihar al-Anwar (…)

al-Ardabili said about him in his "Jami'i al-Ruwat": Muhammad Baqir bin Muhammad Taqi bin al-Maqsoud 'Ali, called al-Majlisi may Allah extend his high shadow: Our teacher, our scholar, the scholar of Islam and Muslims, the seal of Moujtahideen, the learned Imam, the examiner, the scrutinizer, of great value, of high rank, the unique in his era, unparalleled in his time, trustworthy (…) may Allah reward him with the best reward of good doers, he has good valuable books and he gave me Ijazah to narrate all of them from him, such as: Bihar al-Anwar]

Grand Ayatullah al-Khomeini says about him in "al-Arba'oun Hadith" pg.143:

[The expert examiner and unique Muhaddith our master al-Majlisi says]

and on pg.144:

[al-Majlisi may Allah have mercy on him reports]

and on pg.587:

[And the venerable Muhaddith al-Majlisi may the mercy be upon him explained]

Observe with me their shameful stance towards the book of Allah as they did not make Takfeer on those who declared its corruption nor did they even criticize them, but instead they praised them in the most eloquent style.

The second manifestation: Their great rage against some scholars in matters that are less important than the corruption of the Quran.

1- Their stance from one of their biggest scholars and writer of one of their four main books, ibn Babaweih al-Qummi al-Saduq (d.381 AH) who affirmed al-Sahu(forgetfulness) for the Prophet (SAWS).

al-Saduq said in "Man la Yahduruhu al-Faqih" 1/359-360:

[The extremists and the Mufawwidah may Allah curse them deny the forgetfulness of the Prophet (SAWS) (…) and our sheikh Muhammad bin al-Hassan bin Ahmad bin al-Walid may Allah have mercy on him used to say: "The first step towards extremism is to deny the forgetfulness of the Prophet (SAWS), and if it were permissible to deny the narrations in this regard then it would also be possible to reject all of our narrations and this would cancel the religion and the Shari'ah." and I hope for the reward by compiling the first book that proves the forgetfulness of the Prophet (SAWS) and refutes all those who deny this]

The violent and angry reply to al-Saduq by their great scholar and leader al-Mufid (d.413 AH) in his book "'Adam Sahu al-Nabi" pg.20:
[Know that the one whom we've reported this from has gotten himself into a matter that does not concern him, and he has shown how little knowledge he has and his incapability (…) he confronted an issue that he is not good at, nor is it from his specialization, nor would he be guided to it(knowledge), but the desire leads this person]

And he said about him on pg.30:

[No one would believe in it, not a Muslim, nor a person who embraced Islam then rejected it, nor a monotheist, not even a godless person would accept it for the concept of Prophet-hood, and the one whom I mentioned previously deserves this because of his Fatwa on the forgetfulness of the Prophet (SAWS), it shows the weakness of his brains and the evils of his choice and the corruption of his imagination (…) just like that reckless man claimed in his saying: that the one who denies forgetfulness of the Prophet (SAWS) is an extremist]

He also said other horrible things about him but what is above is sufficient, and as you can see this is similar to the eruption of a volcano of rage and anger, all of this because the man claimed that the Prophet (SAWS) can forget some things like the average humans. On the other hand, if al-Saduq were to claim that the Quran we have is missing a page for example, al-Majlisi would have praised him as: "Our master, the great scholar of Islam, may Allah sanctify his noble secret and fill his shrine with light."

2- Their stance on one of their biggest scholars and the Marji'i in Lebanon grand Ayatullah Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah (d. July 4th, 2010) because he questioned the Sanad of Hadith al-Ghadeer and the infallibility of Fatima (ra) and the story of the broken ribs.

Fadlullah said in "al-Nadwah" magazine 1/422:

[Our problem is that Hadith al-Ghadeer is from the narrations that are massively narrated in both Sunni and Shia books, this is why many of our Sunni brothers discuss the content not the chain of transmission]

Let us see what this small hint towards the Sanad(chain) of Hadith al-Ghadeer created, one of the most important religious and political figure in 'Iraq, sheikh Jalal-ul-Deen al-Sagheer said while commenting on the above in his book "Lihatha Kanat al-Muwajaha" pg.74:

[This text is one of the texts that have been relied upon by our Religious Marji'i in order to issue a ruling on Fadlullah that he is misguided and he is misguidance and he is outside the folds of the truthful sect.]

Fadlullah said in "Taamulat Islamiyah Hawl al-Maraah" pg.8-9 while commenting on Fatima (ra) and Mariam (as):

[And we cannot say that there are any hidden elements that would differentiate them from the average woman, because there is no explicit proof for this]

al-Sagheer reported in "al-Muwajaha" the saying of the other Marji'is and scholars about Fadlullah on pg.13-15:

[And most of them declared that he is misguided and he is the cause of misguidance, and their stances ranged between condemning him in a written format and between those who stated that he reached a level of corruption that they placed him in the circle of Kufr (…) and we mention some of their noble names: 1- Sayyed 'Ali al-Sistani. 2- Sayyed Muhammad al-Roohani (Teacher of Fadlullah). 3- Sayyed Muhammad Sa'eed al-Hakeem. 4- Sheikh al-Waheed al-Khurasani. 5- Sheikh Jawad al-Tabrizi. 6- Sayyed Taqi al-Qummi. 7- Sheikh Muhammad Taqi Bahjat. 8- Sayyed Muhammad Husseini Shahroudi. 9- Sayyed Mahdi al-Husseini al-Mur'ashi. 10- Sayyed Muhammad al-Husseini al-Waheed al-Tabrizi. 11- Sheikh Bachir al-Najafi. 12- Sheikh Noori al-Hamdani. 13- Sheikh Ishaq Fayyad. 14- Sheikh al-Fadil al-Lankarani. 15- Shaheed Sheikh 'Ali al-Gharawi. 16- Shaheed Sheikh Murtada al-Barujurduri.]

al-Sagheer even called Fadlullah names on pg.55:

[And it is sufficient honor for him that the people describe him as the lady's man and the sexy man.]

So all of this anger and Takfeer and name calling is because he questioned that Fatima (ra) was infallible and the Sanad of the narration of Ghadeer Khum but if he had attacked the book of Allah then all you'd see is praise and respect.

3- Their stance on their scholar Ayatullah Muhsin al-Ameen al-Husseini al-'Amili (d. March 30th, 1952) who prohibited hitting one's self with swords and chains in 'Ashuraa.

Ja'far al-Shakhouri wrote in the introduction of his book "Marji'iyat al-Marhala wa Ghubar al-Taghyeer" some of the reactions of the Shia scholars to his Fatwa and I shall state some, briefly:

A- Sayyed Saleh al-Helli wrote a poem to attack him, calling all travelers who pass by Syria(Where al-Ameen was) to spit in his face.

B- Sayyed Reda al-Hindi also wrote a poem calling on the Shia to remove al-Ameen from the progeny of Fatima (ra).

C- Another stated that his Fatwa destroys the religion and the Madhab, then he likened him to Muhammad ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab al-Najdi (rah) who forbade touring and circling the graves.

This fierce attack can only be equaled with the fierce attack they did on the scholars who declared the corruption of the Quran by calling them: "Scholar of scholars, may Allah prolong his life, may Allah raise his level, may the mercy of God shower him ect…"

These three small examples show you the eruption of their rage on some of their scholars for disagreeing on small secondary issues that can never be compared to the magnitude and seriousness of the declaration of the corruption of the book of the Lord. This shows the amount of love and respect they have for the Quran, and now I ask the impartial reader: Does this show the importance and the dignity of the book of Allah in the eyes of the Shia scholars?

The third manifestation: The reluctance of teaching the Quran in the Shia Hawza(School where Shia clerics are trained).

This is the dark reality that their biggest scholars admit.

Grand Ayatullah al-Khomeini writes about it in "al-Quran al-Thaqal al-Akbar" pg.32:

"I call on the Hawzat(Plural of Hawza) of knowledge and the universities of researchers, rise and save the glorious Quran from the evils of the ignorant and immoral scholars that attacked it and continue to attack the Quran intentionally. From my knowledge I say in all seriousness that I feel sorry for my life that I've wasted on the path of ignorance and misguidance, and you O brave sons of Islam, wake up the Hawzat and the universities so they may pay attention to the Quran and all the sciences related to it, and make the Quranic education your aim and your highest goal. So that you may not regret it at the end of your lives when old age strikes you, then you feel sorry for the days of youth, like the author himself.]

This document alone is more than enough to prove this dark reality that hit the Shia as a result of their beliefs, it comes from their biggest contemporary scholar and the creator of the Islamic state of Iran himself, when he admits the seriousness of the situation in the Shia schools and universities and how Quranic studies have been abandoned. He regrets this and feels sorry for the life he wasted in ignorance and misguidance away from the book of Allah al-Quran.

The current leader of Iran 'Ali al-Khaminaei also writes about this Quranic crisis in several locations, we quote some from the book "al-Hawza al-'Ilmiyah fi Fikr al-Imam al-Khaminaei" pg.59-60:

[al-Hawza al-'Ilmiyah, as a result of circumstances and certain conditions and because of a specific view, was distanced historically from paying great attention to the Quran and the Quranic studies. This distance from the Quran and its sciences has left plenty of negative marks on the course of studies and teaching in al-Hawza al-'Ilmiyah]

And he said:

[The isolation away from the Quran which has taken place in the Hawzat, because we are not delighted with it(Quran), has caused many problems in our present and future, also distancing ourselves from it(Quran) causes short-sightedness]

And he said:

[What causes one to wonder, is that the student of religious studies can become a 'Alim(scholar) and a Moujtahid in Islamic thought and jurisprudence without (the need of) the glorious Quran "The book of revelation".]

And he said:

[It is unfortunate that we can begin our studies and continue them until receiving an Ijazah of Ijtihad without the need of checking the Quran even once (…) Why is this? because our studies do not depend on the Quran.]

And he said:

[From here, we find that the solution lies in returning the matters to their proper courses, and building the base of our Islamic studies from "al-Kitab wal-Sunnah", we shouldn't allow the knowledge that was created beside the book and the Sunnah to be the primary basis in a way that the study of the book and the Sunnah turn into secondary sub-studies]

And he said:

[We must not overlook the Quran, and the Quranic studies, and understanding the Quran and being delighted with it, and the Quran has to be a part of our studies in al-Hawzat al-'Ilmiyah, and our students need to memorize it or at least a part of it.]

Grand Ayatullah Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah says in the book "Thawabit wa Mutaghayirat al-Hawza al-'Ilmiya" by Dr. Ja'far al-Baqiri pg.111:

[We may be surprised to find out that the Hawza al-'Ilmiyah in Najaf or Qum or others do not possess a curriculum for teaching the Quran!!]

Grand Ayatullah Muhammad al-Ya'aqoubi leader of the Shia "al-Fadeelah" party in 'Iraq admits to this reality in several locations in the book "Thalathah Yashkoun: al-Quran, al-Masjid, al-Imam" pg.39:

[And I had previously stated in some of my books that it is really unfortunate, that the Quran is missing from the curriculum of the Hawzat, it was planned in a way that the student does not need to dive into the glorious Quran from the beginning of his studies until their end]

And he said:

[And maybe the student at the Hawza might reach a high rank in Fiqh and Usool but he never got to live the life of the Quran nor did he have the experience of interacting with the Quran and understanding it as a message of restoration, and you would see days and weeks passing by and the student of knowledge has not touched the Quran to recite its verses and think about them, because there is no deep spiritual connection between him and the Quran (…) And this is a great disaster for the Hawza and society, and maybe some of them do not know how to read it correctly.]

Ayatullah Muhammad Baqir al-Hakeem writes about teaching Tafseer courses in the Hawza, in "Tafseer Surat al-Hamd" pg.4-5:

[And I had taught this course in a time when the Arabic Hawza in Qum, was unfortunately not committed to teaching it in its general curriculum]

Dr. Ja'far Baqiri also wrote about this in several locations in "Thawabit wa Mutaghayirat al-Hawza al-'Ilmiyah"pg.109-110:

[From the main foundations that were not met with appropriate attention from the Hawza which suits their importance is the Quran, and all that is related to it from knowledge and facts and secrets, it is the most weighty thing and the origin of the Islamic entity in general.]

And he said:

[And it was not integrated into the curriculum adopted by the student of religious sciences during the entire period of his studies, and his knowledge of it is not examined at any point during the course of his studies]

And he said:

[It is possible for the student of religious sciences to rise in the ranks of knowledge, and to reach the farthest point (The rank of Moujtahid) without having been introduced to the Quranic studies and secrets, or without having given it attention even as far as how to recite it properly.]

The fourth manifestation: Shia scholars and students of knowledge avoiding its recitation.

Abandoning the Quran in one's daily life was an inevitable consequence caused by their deviant beliefs and twisted look at the Book of Allah.
Ayatullah Muhammad al-Ya'aqoubi says in "Thalathah Yashkoun" pg.10, footnote #3:

[I read a number of random samples from students who wished to enroll in the honorable Hawza, to discover their relation to the Quran, and supposedly they had to represent a certain level of awareness and faith that pushes them into following this path, but I found out that some of them had not finished reading the entire Quran even once, and one individual who delivers sermons on the Mimbar only finished it twice in his entire life, and many of them read some chapters in religious occasions and seasons. That was as far as reciting it, but as far as understanding its meanings and contemplating on its notions and contents, there was absolute ignorance.]

That quote above is the testimony of an expert who teaches at the Hawza and has a lot of contact with the students and knows the secrets that are hidden from the average Shia laymen.

The fifth manifestation: Mocking those who emerge themselves in Quranic studies and lowering their status.

We saw their abandonment of the book of Allah and how even their students of knowledge and scholars never paid much attention to reciting it or teaching it, and here we will see their reaction to those that decided learn it, explain it and teach it.

Supreme leader of Iran 'Ali al-Khaminaei says in "al-Hawza al-'Ilmiyah fi Fikr al-Imam al-Khaminaei" pg.59-60, and in "Thawabit wa Mutaghayirat al-Hawza" pg.110-112:

[The matter did not stop at this point in the Hawza al-'Ilmiyah, but it surpassed it, as being interested in Quranic studies has become an object of mockery in the eyes of some who claim knowledge, those who declare that all the knowledge is restricted in the circle of Usooli and Fiqhi research. This was what fired the arrows of criticism towards those who busy themselves with the Quran and its studies]

And al-Khaminaei said:

[If a person wanted to attain any scholarly rank in the Hawza al-'Ilmiyah he had to avoid explaining and making Tafseer of the Quran otherwise he'd be accused of ignorance (…) they looked at the scholar who makes the Tafseer and benefits the people by his interpretations as an ignorant who has no real scholarly weight, so he'd be forced to abandon his study (…) Do you not consider this a disaster!?]

Famous Iranian scholar and philosopher al-Shaheed Murtada Mutahhari talks about this in several locations in his book "Ihyaa al-Fikr al-Deeni fil-Islam" pg.44-46:

[The old generation itself has abandoned the Quran and left it, then they blame the new generation for being ignorant in the Quran!? It is we who have abandoned the Quran and we expect from the new generation to be attached to it, and I shall prove to you that the Quran is abandoned among us (…) leaving the Quran is the cause of our current sadness and depression, we are included among those that the Prophet (SAWS) complained about: {And the Messenger has said, "O my Lord, indeed my people have taken this Qur'an as [a thing] abandoned."} (Quran 25:30).]

And he says:

[If a certain individual was knowledgeable about the Quran, meaning he would contemplate its deep meanings a lot, and studies its interpretation thoroughly, how much respect do you think he would have among us!? Nothing. On the other hand, if an individual reads the book of "Kifayah" by al-Mulla Kazim al-Khurasani, he would be a respected and distinguished personality.]

And he said:

[A month ago, one of our close virtuous men was privileged by visiting the holy steps, when he came back he said that he was honored by visiting Ayatullah abu al-Qassem al-Khoei may Allah preserve him, and he asked him: "Why did you leave the lectures of Tafseer you used to deliver in the past!?" He replied: "There are obstacles and problems in teaching Tafseer." so I said: "But al-'Allamah al-TabaTabaei still continues to deliver his lectures of Tafseer in Qum." So he said to me: "al-TabaTabaei is sacrificing himself!" meaning he is sacrificing his social image and that was true.]

In other words, being knowledgeable about the Quran is considered an act of suicide among the Shia scholars. These O dear readers are the effects of the fractious schizophrenia and the continuing crisis between the Shia scholars and the Holy Quran, and all of it resulting from their adoption of those poisonous beliefs, and maybe some of the good hearted Shia will not allow their scholars to place a solid huge Dam between them and the Quran.

{ Thereafter they could neither scale it, nor could they pierce it. } [al-Quran 18:97]

- The End -

Written by the ex-Shia, our respected Sheikh 'Abdul-Malik al-Shafi'i under the original title of "al-Fesam al-Nakid", translation done by Hani al-Tarabulsi al-Shafi'i on February/28/2012.