Body and soul are the two components of human beings; one is the husk and the outer shell while the other is the kernel and an inner spirit. Both dimensions need nourishment as well as protection. Almighty God says:

وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّاهَا

“[I swear] by the soul and Him who shaped it [perfectly]” (91:7).

فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا

“And then inspired it [the innate ability to understand] what is right and wrong for it!” (91:8).

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا

“Indeed, successful is he who purifies it” (91:9).

وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ دَسَّاهَا

“And indeed, failure is he who corrupts it.” (91.10).

Each human being has the potential of soaring to the level higher than that of the angels and that top place in the pyramid of God’s creation can only be reached by developing one’s spiritual dimension.

Islam guides humans on both planes of their being: the ritual as well as the spiritual. The Prophet Muhammad instructed the people on simple matters of hygiene, such as cleanliness, wudu’ and ghusl, as well as on loftier matters of spiritual ascension; he urged his followers to be physically strong to defend themselves in battlefields, and also charted for them the heavenly path of spiritual wayfaring.

After the death of the Prophet, regrettably the majority of Muslims were unable to combine the ritual and the spiritual dimensions in their religious life. They experimented with their faith in different ways: from the absolute freewill theory of Mu’tazilah to the disguised predetermination [kasb or iktisab, lit. “acquisition”] of Ash’ari, from literalism or “fundamentalism” of the Hanabilah to the esoteric explanations of the extremists, from indiscriminate adherence to hadith by the Malikis to the personal opinions [qiyyas] of Abu Hanifah. Eventually, the Sunni Muslims settled with the Ash’ari theology and the jurisprudence of their Four Imams. However, the lack of spirituality in this strand of Islam gave rise to Sufism among the Sunnis.

All along there was a minority which maintained, preserved, and spread the wholeness of Islamic teachings, and that was the Shi’ah strand of Islam headed by the Imams from the family of the Prophet, the Ahl Al-Bayt. Shi’ism emerged as the natural product of Islam which combined within itself its ritual as well as the spiritual dimensions. It is a path whose theology, jurisprudence, and spirituality flow from the same spring, the Ahl Al-Bayt. And, therefore, you will observe that the Shi’ah very rarely felt the need to form distinct spiritual fraternities like the Sufis among the Sunnis. You will indeed find ‘urafa’ [scholars who specialize in gnosis] among the Shi’ah but not murshidin [spiritual masters] as found among the Sufis.

A Shi’i Muslim refers for all his religious guidance - from theology to jurisprudence, from ritual or spiritual - to the Ahl Al-Bayt. Even if he just follows the rituals with understanding and comprehension, he will be led to the spiritual path. For example, a simple recitation of the Du’a’ Kumayl, taught by Imam ‘Ali, elevates a Shi’i from the basic level of worshiping God out of fear [khawf] to the level of worshiping God out of love [hubb]. And so there is no wonder when we see that almost all the Sufi fraternities trace their chain of masters back to one or the other Imam of Ahl Al-Bayt.

In this background, it was indeed a pleasure to read and review the English translation of Professor Luis Alberto Vittor’s Shi’ite Islam: Orthodoxy or Heterodoxy translated by Dr. John Andrew Morrow. The book has excellently captured the exoteric as well as the esoteric dimensions of Imamate. I am sure that readers will come to realize that while Sunnism is more a legalistic aspect of Islam and Sufism is more a spiritual, mystical dimension, Shi’ism is the true legacy of the complete Islam of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his progeny).

May Almighty Allah bless the writer as well as the translator and commentator for their worthwhile contribution towards the understanding of Shi’ah Islam!

Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi

Jaffari Islamic Center

Toronto, Canada