1. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims
  2. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

23 Questions

If the Quran talks about the virtues of the Sahabah, such as in 48:18, 9:100 and 3:155, why do Shias say that they don't follow them?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

None of the verse you quoted praised all the Sahaba and there is no single verse in Quran praising all of them all the times. 
 Quran praised the companions who followed and obeyed the Prophet (SAWA) and not those who disobeyed him. Quran blamed many companions for misbehaving with the Prophet like shouting at him from behind his house ( Verily , those who shout calling you from behind the houses, most of them do not have sense. (Sura Al-Hujuraat, verse 4). Many companions used to leave the Prophet while he was delivering Friday sermon (Sura 62, verse 11).

Many companions wee unhappy with the orders of th Prophet which are from Allah (Sura 8, verse 5).

Qyran has mentioned in many verses how many companions ran away from the battle field leaving the Prophet (Sura 3, verse 153). Even some of them tried assassinating the Prophet when he was returning from Tabuk. (Sura Al-Tawbah, verse 74).

We read in Quran many verses about the companions of previous prophets who disobeyed him like Prophet Musa who suffered a lot from many of his companions. This proves that not all companions are pious. We respect those companions who followed and remained obeying the Prophet (SAWA) unlike those who disobeyed him. The Prophet himself informed that many of his companions will go astray after him. This is in Saheeh Al-Bukhari (Hadeeth 6213).and Saheeh Muslim, volume 4, page 1793 (edition of Daar Iyyacheri Al-Turaath).

The claim that all the companions were pious is against Quranic verse, and against authentic Hadeeths, and it was fabricated for political reasons to justify the wrong actions committed by some companions who joined and supported tyrant rulers.

'Wassalam.
What is the stance of Shia Islam regarding Khabbab ibn al Aratt, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

Khabbab ibn Al Aratt was from the pious companions of the Prophet (S.A.W.A) and from the companions of Ameerul Mo'mineen (A.S). He declared his Islam is Makkah and for that the Mushriks of Makkah tortured him severely. He migrated to Madina and he took part in the battles of the Prophet. He narrated from the Prophet 32 Hadith's (narration). The Prophet has appointed him to distribute the Alms from the Badr. He migrated to Kufa and passed away there in the year 37 after Hijra. Imam Ali (a.s) prayed for him as he was a sincere momin. Wassalam 
If folding hands in prayer was a government order, what benefit did that government get from it? Did Imam Ali or any other Sahaba oppose this order?
Mahmood Abu Maryam

The default position when you stand up to commence prayer is putting hands on the side - sadl al-yadayn. This was the way Muslims in Medina, Makka, and later in cities such as Kufa, would have been praying, until the rise of the Umayyads in Syria.

The contrary position of qabd - folding hands - almost certainly got introduced by Mu’awiya and this Umayyad custom survived into Sunni orthodoxy, except for the Maliki madhhab.

Professor Yasin Dutton has written an interesting paper - Amal vs Hadith in Islamic Law - that tackles this topic where he says:

  • The non-Sunni madhhab’s, however - the Ithna Asahri Shi’a, the Zaydi’s, the Isma’li’s and the Ibadi’s (Khawarij) - are all agreed, along with the majority of the Maliki’s, on sadl.

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, a prominent contemporary Sunni scholar, has explained, in a video you can find online, how the act of folding hands, versus not, was seen as an indicator of political affiliation during those days such as the civil war between Imam ‘Ali and Mu’awiya. Clearly he sees sadl as the more authentic and well-evidenced position.

He makes the following key points:

  • People who were on the side of Imam ‘Ali in the civil wars prayed with their hands by the side (sadl)
  • Even the Khawarij who seceded from the side continued to pray like that.
  • Later Shi’a Imams, for instance Imams al-Baqir and Ja’far al-Sadiq, prayed the same way, without folding.
  • Basically the outward form of a person, practicing sadl or qabd, used to be an immediate and visual indicator of their political position with respect to Imam ‘Ali or Mu’awiya.

Hope this helps.
What was the criterion for recognising the hyprocrites according to Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari (r) and other virtuous companions of Holy Prophet (saw)?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

The criterion of hypocrites is disliking Imam Ali (AS) as the Prophetic Hadeeth states: No one likes Ali but a believer, and no one  dislike him but a hypocrite. ( Saheeh Muslim 113) and Tirmithi 3651 and Al-Sunan Al-Suggra by al-Nasaa'ee 4978 and Sunan Ibn Maajah 111.

Soyooti narrated in his book al-Durr Al-Manthour, V.6, P.66 from Abdullah Ibn Mas'ood saying: During the time of the Messenger of Allah, we did not recognize the Munafiqs (Hypocrites) but only by their disliking Ali ibn Abi Talib. 
Wassalam.