some reflections on alleged twelver shia attitudes towards the integrity of the qur'an

8/22/2019 Some Reflections on Alleged Twelver Shia Attitudes Towards the Integrity of the Qur'An

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REFLECT ION SNALLEG EDWELVERHI‘ITE TTITUDESOWARDH E QUR’AN

Some Reflections On

Attitudes Toward the

Alleged TbvelverSh ’te

Integrityof the Qur%n*

“Gratitude toward God teaches Man to see with the heart’s ey e the

blessings veiled in affliction.”

Annemarie Schimm el

MysficalDimensionsof hlam

Muhammad Ismail MarcinkowskiZBe 1ntmationaZlmtituteof hkzmic ZBougbt and CiMization (ISTAAC)

K w h urnp t ; Malaysstiz

his essay focuses on allegations against Twelver Shicites*concerning

their attitude toward the integrity of Qur’anic text. Those accusationsTnclude the issue of tabdfiwhich refers in the present context to

Sunnite accusations against Shicitesof having produced ‘additions’ o the

text of the Qur’Pn in order to promote the rights of the Household of the

Prophet (AbZaf-Bayt) o the leadership of the Islamic community. More-

over, the Shi‘ites have been accused of rejecting the present text of the

Qur’Pn because of supposed manipulations that are said to have beencarried out during the time of the third caliph, ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan, in order

to diminish those respective rights.* These allegations had been made in

the past and have been repeatedly put forward u p to our own times.

I stress here that this paper is not concerned with the Twelvers’ beliefs

with regard to the very natureof the Qur’Pn. Hence, I will exclude discus-

sion of the question of whether or not it has to be regarded as ‘created.’

Rather, I would like to present some of those allegations as they appear in

major Muslim heresiographical works. Thereafter, we will look to some

selected Twelver Shi‘ite sources. The present contribution is not intended

to show ‘who is right’ and ‘who is wrong’ but aims at a rational and bal-

anced deliberation of the subject. In order to get an idea of the nature of

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THE USLIMORLD V O L U M E 91 SPRING 001

the accusations that have been made by Sunnite writers in the past against

the Twelvers concerning interpolations or omissions of certain verses or

entire surahs of the Qur’an, we must look at the way the Twelvers are dealt

with in the eminent Sunnite works offihq

Alleged T w l v e r ShHte Attitudes Regarding theQueanic Text in theMirrorofMajor MuslimHeresiographicalWorks

Al-Ash‘m{260-324/873-935)

AbC al-Ijasan ‘Ali b. Isma‘il al-Ash‘ari, the famous eponym among the

Sunnites’ now prevalent school of theology, was also the compiler of

M q a h tal-L&nzyp-nw-Zkbt ih~af - .~al&. ,ne of the earliest

heresiographical works which has come down to us. Al-Ash‘ari’s work was

the most comprehensive of those I consulted.3 His work, although biased,

is in a way appealing since it provides information on the predominant

theological views, whereas other works of this genre are mostly confined

to listing names of the alleged heads of the various divisions. Al-Ash‘ari,

who refers to the Twelvers by the term af-Qzf&yah,lso mentions the

names of their imams.* But thereafter, he discusses the beliefs held by the

Imamites on the extent of the Qur’an. In regard to this issue, he cites three

distinctive views as prevalent among the ShTites in general. The first group

is said to adhere to the belief that the ‘original’ ext of the Qur’2n had been

altered by the opponents of Ablal-Bay~~owever, we are not able to

determine the views held by the second group from the M q d h t a s a part

of the extant manuscripts of the Mqdk tapp ears o be missinga6Nonethe-

less, with regard to the third group, al-Ash‘ari’s statement is quite remark-

able. (Please bear in mind that al-Ash‘ari is a scholar regarded by the

Sunnites as ‘orthodox’):

And there is the third division from among them [the Shi‘itesl, and they

are the proponents of the Mu‘tazilah and the Imamate, who maintain,

that there had been nothing omitted or added to the Qur’iin and that it is

[the same] that Allah had sent to His Prophet, un-modified and un-

changed and that it is still [in the same condition] as it was at his [time].’

Despite the above mentioned missing part of the manuscript, it is, in

light of the quoted passage, quite obvious that &zMiZis not a view held by

the entire Shi‘ite community. It is possible that some ‘extremists’(al-

GbuWdid in fact adhere to such ideas, but, as we see later, Twelvers inno way think of them as Muslims, let alone regard these extremists as

belonging to their group, Aberrations toward one side or another are also

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not unknown within the Sunnite context, as exemplified by the highly

controversial issue of 'Vision of G o d (af-mwb)in the Hereafter, in which

the Sunnites do believe, but whose possibility is categorically denied by

the Shfites as amounting to anthropomorphism &z&ibJ8

nate. But we shall see that there had been fewer differences in regard to

the extent of the Qur'Pn between Twelver theologians, such as al-Mufid,

who had been accused of affiliations with the Mu'tazilites? on the one

hand, and al-$aduq, a traditionalist of the school of Qumm, on the other.

AI-m- (a nd of4WlOtf1 entury)

The next author w e come across is Abu 'AM AllPh Muhammad b.Ahmad al-Khwarizmi. He is known for his contributions in the area of

natural sciences rather than in the genre of heresiography. Nevertheless,

his Maf?ti&af-cUhz, hich he compiled as a kind of reference work or

manual for secretaries, also contains a section on the various religions

prevalent during his lifetime.1° The divisions of Muslims are also dealt with

therein. However, al-Khwilrizmi's contribution stays within the limits of a

mere enumeration of names of sects, without touching thoroughly on the

actual beliefs held. With regard to the Twelvers, only the names of their

Imams are mentioned." Twelver beliefs concerning the Qur'iln, its extentas well as a discussion of its nature, are not treated at all. Hence, the

Mafazii aZ-cU&z is not of much help for our purposes. Nonetheless, it has

been referred to here as a typical example of an uncritical adoption of

previous heresiographical material.

Abii Manq i i r =AbdaI-QWral-BaghdrSd-(d. 429/1037)AbO Manyir (Abd al-Qilhir al-Baghdadi, the famous Ash'arite theolo-

gian who flourished during the rule of the Shi'ite Buyids, was the compiler

of Af-Farqbaynaf-Firi,which is considered by Sunnites to be a standardamong heresiographical works.12 Al-Baghdgdi begins his presentation of

various sects by quoting traditions on the alleged division of the Muslim

community after the demise of the Prophet. The Sunnites, the last of those

'sects' he mentions, are, in his interpretation, the only guided ones and are

therefore saved from the torments of hell in the Hereafter.13 In spite of this

obvious bias, al-Baghdadi's account is quite useful, since it also touches

upon theological questions. In particular, his presentation of the Raw34(a term prevalent among Sunnite writers when referring to ShiCites)l4s

worth notice: he divides Shi'ites into four main groups, namely theZaydtjyai, the Im-rtzr&yai, he Kaysannrwaiand the 'Extremists' (X-

Gb~Aal).'~ e divides the Imamites, in turn, into fifteen groups.16 He

The circumstance of the missing passage from the Maqdbt is unfortu-

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TH EMUSL IMWORLD VOLUME1 a SPRING001

mentions the Twelvers (al-fih~acmhanjyahJhom he refers to as al-

@.fzjyab, as the tenth of these groups.17 He confines himself to mention-

ing the names of some of their Imams and to the question of the existence

of their Twelfth Imam, who is believed by them to be hidden. Al-Baghdadi

is silent about their beliefs and theological system, in particular about those

points which would bring them, in his opinion, into opposition with the

tenets of Islam. Furthermore, the question of &zbdilwith regard to the

Qur’an is not dealt with at a11.18

Ibn Hazm (384-456/994-1064)

$alih),19 the famous Muslim thinker from al-Andalus, is of importance toour discussion. His heresiographical work, Al-F@al’al-Mzlal wa-Y-

NibaZzoappears at first glance to be more balanced than AbG Man$Or al-

Baghdadi’s Al-Faty tMyn l-Firq. bn Hazm states in his introduction to

the description of Shrite sects that he intends to give justice to all of them

by attributing no lies to them. In his own words “quoting in anyone’s

name-be he an infidel, a heretic or a (mere) sinner-a statement which he

did not make verbatim is equal to telling lies about him, and lying is not

allowed against anybody.”21But a closer look at those parts of his F i a l

concerned with the Twelvers reveals that he did not always adhere to thosenoble ideals. Without hesitation, he repeats the accusations of tabdihy

stating:

Ibn Hazm (AbO Muhammad ‘Ah b. Abmad b. Sa‘id b. Hazm b. Ghalib b.

O n e of the tenets of the Imamites-both ancien t an d modern-is that the

Koran wa s interpolated by adding passages that were not in it, by

removing a greater num ber (of verses) fro m it and altering a great

n u m b er (of verses) in it.22

Meanwhile, the reader waits in vain for any evidence to back up these

accusations from the works of the Twelvers themselves. There are manymore examples of Ibn Hazm’sobvious bias throughout his work, the

enumeration of which would exceed the framework of this paper.23 The

value of his compilation as a source of information with regard to our topic

is therefore doubtful. It should be added that Ibn Ijazm’s own quarrelsome

character and the Jdhin-approach he takes in his other works caused

difficulties for him throughout his life.24

A I - S h a h r a S t h i (d. 548/1153)AbO al-Fatb Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Karim b. Ahmad al-Shahrastani was

the compiler of another work on religious divisions. His description of the

Muslim sects, in Kita& l-MilalwaY - ~ i a l ~ ~eems to be based on the

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REFLECTIONS NALLEGEDWELVERHI'ITE TTITUDESOWARDH E QUR'AN

previously mentioned accounts by al-Ash'ari, al-Baghdadi and Ibn Uazm,

respectively. However, al-Shahrastani's compilation appears as the least

polemical work among the non-Twelver heresiographies. There may be a

surprising reason fo r this: Sunnites of the past had counted al-Shahras~ni

among the most reliable authors of the Ash'arites. Recent research,26

however, seems to have shaken these beliefs. In the view of Professor

Wilferd Madelungof Oxford, it is possible to attribute to al-Shahrastani

certain IsmP'ili beliefs2' According to Madelung, al-Shahrastani, who

flourished under the rule of the staunch Sunnite Seljuqs, had to conceal his

real views while compiling the Kitab aZ-MihZwaY-iWibaLThis theory

appears to be plausible: al-Shahrastani presents an account of the divisions

of the Shi'itesZ8 which is by far the most detailed of all the non-Twelver

sources I have consulted. H e begins his presentation of the divisions of the

Shi'ites with an enumeration of their views on the merits of 'Ali b. Abi

Talib. A more striking example of his pro-Shi'ite inclination is the chapter

which deals with the beliefs of the I~ma'ili's,~9n which he gives a full

exposition of the thought of wasan-i $abab,30 he founder of the notorious

Nizari-Isma'ili community of Mount Alamut in Northern Persia. This group

was known in the West as the 'Assassins.'

Furthermore, his presentation of the remaining divisionsof Shi(itesreveals 'insider-knowledge' on his part. The other non-Shi'ite authors

mentioned in this paper lacked this specialized knowledge. Al-

ShahrastAni's description of the beliefs of the Im am i te ~ , ~~f which the

Twelvers are a distinctive group, is penetrating. Moreover, al-Shahrastani

also addresses theological questions while discussing the distinctive

features in depth, whereas the other authors of this genre restricted them-

selves to giving lists of names. Regarding the Twelvers, Shahrastanitoo

provides his readers with a list of their Imams3*and concentrates on the

issue of the occultation of the Twelfth Interestingly, the issue ofalleged Shi'ite forgeriesof Qur'anic verses is not raised. This is surprising in

light of al-Shahrastani's possible links with the Isma'ili's of Alamut, since

the theological systemsof the Isma'ili's and Twelvers are distinctively

different from one another. The reader of the K iMb aZ-MihZwaY-NibaZ

looks in vain for the usual polemic attribution of certain 'heretical' views to

the opposite party. Accusations of such a nature would not have been

surprising if we were to suppose that al-Shahrastani was actually a Sunnite.

However, nowhere in his presentation of ShFite sects does he mention the

issue of &&fL It is thus possible to assume that he himself did not considerthose charges substantial.

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THEMUSLIMWORLD VOLUME1 SPRING0 0 1

To this point, we have been concerned with the classical works of the

genre 0fflm-q It appears that from al-Shahrastani’s time onward until the

late eighteenth century, nothing significantly new was added to the allega-tions of the past concerning &zMfiHowever, the issue was revived during

the second half of the eighteenth century. The locus of the discussion had

shifted from the Middle East and the heartlands of Islam to the Indian

subcontinent. Between 1055/1645 and 1068/1658,% there appeared in

India (at that time under Mughal rule) an anonymous book written in

Persian entitled &&k&z-iMdhahib(‘School of Religious Doctrines’). In

this book, two additional surahs and verses are mentioned which are not to

be found in the official text of the Qur’Pn. The two surahs bear the names

W -Wahiyah”and ‘W-Nuruyz. 35

The Ad i s -MB attracted considerable attention in the West. The

DabiMn-iMadhdhr’bhad been published for the first time in 1224/1809

in Cal~ utta ,3~hich was at that time already under the control of theBritish East India Company. The book describes life under Mughal rule in

India in existing religious communities. It consists of twelve chapters,

each of them dealing with a different group. Surprisingly, the author startswith the Parsis and continues with accounts of Hindus, Tibetans, Jews,

Christians, Muslims, Philosophers and Sufis.37 The account of the Parsis

seems to be the most comprehensive of the whole work. Perhaps because

of this unbalanced emphasis, the author preferred to remain unknown.

The discovery of the h 6 k t u n had been ascribed to a Shicite,38however,

without any specification of name or denomination. More recent research

has shown that the author of the Dabis-fdnwas in fact not a Muslim at all,

but rather a Parsi.39

In 1842, the aforementioned additional surahs from the A z h 3 M n - i

Madhabibwere for the first time fully translated into a European language

by the French orientalist Garcin De Ta~sy.~Only a year after this, Mirza

Alexandre Kazem-Beg, a professor at the University of Kazan and a Russian

subject, wrote a commentary on this tr an~l a t ion. ~~t is interesting how

much attention was paid to those alleged ShTite additions, particularly

among Western scholars. Interesting in this regard is the publication and

translation of a manuscript which came to light in 1912 in the Indian city of

Bankipore. Although it is said to contain the same surahs and other addi-

tions, no further information on the manuscript is provided. An English

translation of that manuscript appeared in 1913 in i55eMi .m W0dd4*

Subsequently, between 1961and 1962, the same journal published atripartite article by Daud Rahbar which contained serious accusations of

forgery against the Shi‘ites in general.43 Both St. Clair Ti~da11:~ he transla-

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REELECTIONSNALLEGEDWELVERHI‘ITETTITUDESOWARDHE QUB’AN

tor of the Bankipore manuscript, and De T a s ~ y ? ~he translator of the two

“surahs” rom the &&is~Zn,considered those machinations to be forgeries.

However, in their view, the Shi‘ites had been responsible.

A more balanced consideration of the subject of alleged Shi‘ite manipu-

lation of the Qur’iin is an article by Joseph Eliash in 1969 and published in

the journal A r a & ~ c a ~ ~liash is an eminent orientalist scholar. In his

contribution, he focuseson the theological implicationsof the respective

issues, leaving aside secondary aspects, such as different variantsof recita-

tion (alqird+zhJ 7 He categorically denies the supposed Twelver Shi‘ite

origin of the aforesaid Bankipore manuscript by stating that its only con-

nection with that sect is its supposed purchase from a Naw-bin Lucknow.In Eliash’s view, this alone is not sufficient ground for holding the Twelvers

responsible for its fa br i~ a t ion .~ ~e also states that the Ad&ki@z-i

Madhdhibcannot be logically ascribed to the Twelvers, since the name of

its author remains unkn0wn.~9“Hence, the Dzbisk2ncannot be referred to

as an ImPmi STi source and nor can its author be called an Imami STi.”50

Selected Views of Early *elver ShFiteAuthorities

on the Extent of the Qur’[email protected] al-Nawbakhti(d efore31 0/922)

Al-Hasan b. MUsii al-Nawbakhti was an eminent political figure in

BaghdPd. He was also an Imamite scholar and was responsible for compil-

ing the significant heresiographical work F i q l-Sh~~ah.~~owever, his

work mainly concerns the question of Ihdmahand gives accounts of the

various persons who laid claim to it. It does not contain a significant

amount of information on the theological systems underlying the afore-

mentioned divisions. The issue of #ba‘flis not dealt with at all. P i V a l -

Shz7ahhas been a primary source of information for Sunnite authors of

similar works.

A I - S h a y . . d - $ d O q (307-381/919-991)

AbU Ja‘far Muhammad b. ‘Ah b. al-Husayn b. Biibawayh al-Qummi is

known among the Shi‘ites by his nickname, al-Shaykh al-$adiiq (“the

trustworthy”). His output of scholarly works is said to have numbered 300,

large texts among them as well as brief treatises on miscellaneous matters.

Only around twenty of his works are known to be extant today.52He was

born around 307/919 into a Twelver Shi‘ite family of scholarsof Persian

descent in the central Iranian city of Qumm. At that time, Qumm had al-

ready produced a number of outstanding Islamic scholars, most of them

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SPRINGo o 1THEMUSLIMWORLD VOLUME1

ShTites. In particular, it has been a center for the transmission of hadith. Ibn

BPbawayh is particularly known for his extensive journeys throughout

Muslim countries to learn about authentic hadith. Because of this, he was

referred to respectfully as ra.6 aZ-mubadditbfi or “headof hadith schol-

a r ~ . ” ~ ~e compiled Man Zay&lzmh Y$iq&, one of the four most

important Twelver Shrite collectionsof hadith (aZ-Kutuub aZ-Ah‘ah). Al-

Shaykh al-$adtiq passed away in 381/991at Ram. As a first-rank traditionist,

he did not favor the works of the mukzkaZkmfn, among them his own

disciple al-Mufid. Al-Sadtiq’s works are among the most authoritative

sources on Twelver Shrite belief and law. His view on the extent of the Holy

Qur’an is therefore highly significant. In his R&dhtal-Pt&d&the states,

Our belief is that the Qur’an, which Allah revealed to His ProphetMuhammad is (the same as) the one between the two covers(daffatayn). And it is that which is in the hands of the people, and it isnot greater in extent than that. The number of surahs as generallyaccepted is one hundred and fourteen [. . I . And he who asserts thatwe say it is greater in extent than this (the present text) is a liar 1 . . .

What is related concerning the prohibition of reading the whole of theQur’Bn in a single night, and that it is not permissible to complete therecitation of the Qur’an in less than three days is (also) a verification of

what we have said.54

This statement by al-$addq is interesting for a number of reasons. First,

it shows that there must have been during the lifetimeof the Shaykh, if not

earlier, accusations against the Twelvers regarding their alleged beliefs

concerning the Qur’An’s extent which caused him to refute them in this

drastic manner. Second, it shows the high regard which this distinguished

authority paid to the text of the QurYin, a text considered by him as authen-

tic, even in the redaction of the third “Rightly-guidedCaliph.” However, his

viewpoint does not come as a surprise if we take into account his afore-

mentioned fame as a traditionistof the school of Qumm. In order to arrive

at a deeper understanding of the Twelvers’attitude on this topic, it is

helpful to look at the views held by the mutakaZZimfnof that time. For this

purpose, we will turn our attention to al-Saddq’s disciple, a l - M~ f i d .~ ~

Al-Shayfi al-Mmd (336-413/948-1022]Abti ‘Abd Allah Muhammad b. Mubammad b. al-Nu‘man al-BaghdPdi

al-Karkhi was of Arab descent and is said to have produced 200 works.

Only little more than ten percent of his works survive. He is perhaps the

most famous of the Twelver scholars of the Boyid period, mostly becauseof his contributions in the field of kaZdmand his skill in polemical debate

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with contemporary opponents such as al-BAqillani. He was also an eminent

jurisprudent and, as we have seen above, had received excellent training

by al-Shaykh al-Sadttqin the science of hadith. Al-Mufids theological

expertise led him to criticize his teacher on a number of occasions. His

treatise Th&fbal-IYiqdaZ4 56 a ‘correction’of al-SadCq’sRisahtaf-

fi@&-4 must be seen in the context of those controversies. However, al-

MuRd did not restrict his criticism to matters of theology but, in his Tibfb,also vehemently rejected al-Sadttq’s frequent refuge to single Traditions

(a&bh-t-af4bad,articularly in the context of the issuingof legal state-

ments. Nevertheless, al-MuRd, who found something to dispute in almost

all of his teacher’s statements, did not object to the views held by al-$adttqconcerning the extent of the Qur’gn. In fact, al-Mufid’s Tqbfbdeals on two

occasions with the views expressed by al-$adaq in his Ri~akzd$~oncern-

ing the nature of the Qur’gn, but does not refer to his beliefs on its ex-

tent.58 This is perhaps an indication of his concurrence on this matter.

However, in another work, al-Mufid took a clear position. In his AwdW al-

Ma@& he deals with the nature of the Q ~ r ’ a n : ~ ~

I say that detailed hadith have come from the Imams of the Family of

Mubammad about the difference between the Qur’an and the curtailing

and abridgement that some evil men have made in it.

ment, putting certain parts before and others after. N o one who knows

anything about the abrogating and the abrogated (verses) and the

Meccan and the Medinian (surahs) has any doubt about what we say.

As for omission, reason does not deny that it (could have) happened.

I have investigated the thesis of those who asserted it, have discussed it

at length with the Mu‘tazilah and others, and have not heard from them a

conclusive argument against this thesis. A number of the ImPmites have

said that no word, verse, or surah is missing, but that what had been set

down in the text of the Commander of the Faithful [the first Inxim ‘Ali b.Abi ‘Falib] has been omitted-namely, the interpretation and explanation

of its meaning according to the truth of revelation. That too is confirmed

and revealed, even though it does not belong to the collection of G o d s

speech which is the inimitable Qur’an. For the interpretation of the

Qur’an has also been called ”Qur’an.”God has said: “And hasten not with

the Qur’an before its revelation has been completed to you, and say, My

Lord! Increase my knowledge.”G0 o the interpretationof the Qur’2n is

[also]called Qur’Pn. There is no disagreement among the commentators

about this. My opinion is that this thesis is more likely than that claiming

omission of words from the Qur’an itself rather than just its interpretation.

I lean towards this and ask G o d s help to what is right6’

So, as for the way it is put together, what exists needs rearrange-

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Al-Mufid’s statement is far more detailed than that of al-Sadtiq, and is

significant in that it aims at a kind of Twelver ShTite/Sunnite rapproche-

ment with regard to their respective views concerning the extent of the

Qur’An. Moreover, it seems to signify a certain reconciliation with the

Qumm school of ShPite traditionists, such as al-Shaykh al-Saduq.62 Further-

more, al-Mufid’s position on the question of the arrangement of the Qur’an

is not surprising in the light of the fact that some of the “long”surahs of the

Qur’an contain verses which can be traced back to the Meccan as well as

Medinan periods. Interesting also is his view concerning the version of the

Qur’an which is said to have been with ‘Mi b. Abi Talib at the time of the

demise of the Prophet and whose extent is, according to al-Mufid, not

different from the edition of ‘UthmPn. Thus, from this presentation of the

views of two of the most outstanding and authoritative personalities of the

Twelvers (one in the field of hadith and the other in the field of speculative

theology), we can conclude that Shi‘ite beliefs concerning the extent of the

Qur’an and the impossibilityof the omission of certain parts of it are not

significantly in opposition to those held by the Sunnites. But al-Mufid went

even deeper into the subject, while referring to the question of possible

additions to the Qur’an:

As for additions to it, that is certainly false from one aspect and possiblefrom another. The respect in which it is certainly false is that anyone

should be able to create an addition amounting to a surah that could pass

for such in the eyes of the experts in eloquence. As to the respect in

which it is possible, one or twowords may have been added, or one or

two etters or the like, not amounting to the length required for

inimitability. And this might pass even in the eyes of most of the experts

as the words of the Qur’2n. However, when this happens, God must

show it and make the truth clear to His servants. I do not assert that it has

happened. Rather I incline to the view that it has not, and that the Qur‘an

is free of it. With me in that is a tradition from Ja‘far al-$adiq.@

Al-Alhmahd-HU(648-726/1250-1325)Another eminent Twelver Shi‘ite scholar of later medieval times is al-

Hasan b. Ytisuf b. a1 Mutahhar al-Villi. He is more commonly referred to as

al-Allamah al-Hilli and lived during the time of the Mongol flkhanids (654-

754/1256-1353), whose dominions encompassed most of Persia, Iraq and

the Caucasus. Among his works we also findtwo exegetical works, the

K iMba L q a w l a l - ~ j ~ f i ~ & ~l-mflanand the K i i bnubj’al-r’hzdnfi

& $ - f r a l - @ ~ a ~one of which is extant todayVblHis theology had beenexplored thoroughly in the doctoral dissertationof the German scholar

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Sabine S~ hm id tk e. ~~ith regard to al-Allamah’s thought concerning the

miraculous character of the Qur’An, Dr. Schmidtke stresses his conviction of

its inimitability. The Qur’an al-Hilli summarizes in his Manrfhyal-pq%fi

zqt2laZdin represents the viewpoint of the three Muslim scholars as fol-

lows:

The advocates of the doctrine of prevention disagreed among them-

selves. Some held that God deprived them of the power for this [match-

ing the Qur%inl. Others said that God deprived them of the motive for this

together with the occasion ha&&) necessitating it s existence. Others

held that He deprived them of the knowledge by which they would have

been able to match it. 66

Al-Allamah appears to entirely reject the concept of prevention from

forgery, since this idea seems to diminish the unique character of the

Qur’An:

If the miracle were the prevention the Qur’an would necessarily have to

be at the height of weakness [in eloquence], since prevention from

matching weak speech is a greater miracle than prevention from match-

ing eloquent speech?’

This view is quite significant to our context. In al-villi’s view, theprevention from matching the Holy Book s no evidence for its miraculous

character. It is rather its eloquence and beauty that contributes to its

uniqueness.

The Views ofT h r e e Contemporary Scholars

A I - I . -Khii21 (1899-1992)I would like to conclude with a brief look at the writings of three

scholars of our own times. Al-Sayyid al-ImAm Abu al-QAsim al-Musgwi al-

KhWi (1899-1992), whom I had the honor of visiting in his home in Najaf in1989, has been among the most eminent Twelver ShTite maraJi”al-#qZ&d

of the twentieth century. His view concerning ‘extremism’ in terms of

matters of belief as expressed in the book A M c b ofrskzmkAcQ an

English translation of his Arabic work TawdibaLMm&q a treatise on the

practical obligations of Twelver Shi‘ite Muslims, seems to contribute con-

siderably toward a more rational discussion of the actual theological

convictions of the Shi‘ites. He states,

An infidel, i.e. a person who denies Allah or the Day of Judgement, orassociates anyone else with Allah, is impure. Similarly Ghuliit and

Khawarij and Naw2sib are also impure. The People of the Book (Jews,

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THEMUSLIMWORLD VOLUME1 0 S P R I N Go o 1

Christians and Sabaeans) are pure according to some well-known

Mujtahids.@

The term Ghuldf is explained by the translator as “those [people], who

believe an Imam to be ‘God’ or say ‘God has penetrated into an ImBm”’

whereas the meanings of Khawdnfand Nawciibin these contexts are

given as “those, who are inimical towards the Holy ImAms.”@

Professor Dr. Abdoljavad Falaturi is a contemporary Iranian scholar

who had been working extensively on the historical development of the

Twelver Shi‘ah. Previously, Falaturi, who now bears the title emeritus, had

been teaching Islamic Studies at Cologne University. He has contributed

tremendously to the understanding and scientific study of the TwelverShi‘ah in Europe by establishing the ‘ShTite Library’ at his institute. Falaturi

has also written an excellent introduction to the Twelver Shi‘ah faith, which

can be counted as one of the most accurate in this field, in which he dealsextensively with ou r subject:70 Toward the beginning of his elucidations,

Falaturi recollects the opinions of al-$adOq and al-Mufid in order to c l a r i ~

the Twelvers’view on the subject.71 Furthermore, he rejects the BzbkMn-i

M a dh a Mb y considering it to have been fabricated in India.’* In Falaturi’s

view, most original evidence for the baselessness of all the allegations

concerning fa&diiowever, seems to be the Qur’An itself. Prof. Dr. Falaturiquotes the ninth verse from the fifteenth surah al-&.j!

We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly

guard it [from cor r~ pt io nl .~~

In this way, Falaturi brings those who accuse the Twelvers into opposi-

tion with the Qur’an. Falaturi’s article, which he compiled more than thirty

years ago, constitutes an important contribution in this area, since he was

instrumental in changing erroneous conceptions, many of which still

prevail among Muslims and non-Muslims alike, concerning the tenets ofthe Twelvers. In fact, Falaturi can be considered an advocate of inter-

confessional as well as intra-Islamic dialogue. His understanding of reli-

gion stretches the boundaries of narrow-mindedness and fanaticism.

Finally, I would like to mention al-Shaykh Mahmud alShalt0t (1893-

1963),74 the late head of Al-Azhar University, the most respected institution

of Islamic learning in the Sunnite world. Al-Shaltat had been famous for his

reformist ideas in terms of Islamic ed~c at io n. ’~erhaps more important

was his role as an ardent advocate of cooperation and understanding

between the various sects of Islam, between Sunnites and Twelver Shi‘ites,in particular. In this regard, he issued a declaring lawful the study

of and adherence to theJa$vf rite, the school of jurisprudence of the

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REFLECT ION SN ALLEGEDWELVERHI‘ITE TTITUDESOWARDH E QVR’AN

Twelvers.” As did al-ImPm al-Khu’i, his Twelver Shi‘ite colleague, the late

al-Shaykh Mabmud al-Shaltut also rejected any form of fanaticism. He

issued the following famous statement concerning the Twelvers:

The madhhabknown as the Twelver Shi‘ah ImPmite is one in which

worship Oaabbudlmay be legally performed on par with the madhhabs

of the Sunnis. [. . . Muslims should know this and refrain from fanati-

cism in favour of a particular madhhab. They are all earnest seekers of

truth (mujtahidiin), rewarded and accepted by God.’*

Concluding R e m a r k s

Material for this essay has been compiled with the intention of contrib-uting some facts to a discussion which, in the past, had often tended

toward irrationality. In the first part of this contribution, we focused on the

allegations against the Twelver Shi‘ah concerning kzbdflwhich had been

put forward by Sunnite compilers offrapliterature in the past and by

other authors up to the present time. In the second part, I rejected these

allegations as being without substance. It should thus be clear that the

Qur’Pn of the Twelver Shi‘ites is the same which is in the hands of the

Sunnites and accepted by them as authentic.

In my personal understanding, the obtaining of knowledge fromauthentic sources is vital fo r peace and understanding between Muslims

themselves as well as between Muslims and other religious communities.

In order to achieve this goal, howledgablereligious scholars are indis-

pensable, i.e. with respect to the Muslims, scholars who are able to ex-

press their views based on the revealed sources Qur’Pn and Sunnah.

Perhaps, not all the Sunnite compilers offrtzq-literature are to be blamed

for the numerous mistakes and misconceptions in their works, and not all

of those accusations originated in hatred toward other theological systems

within Islam. Some of those compilers may simply have lacked consider-able knowledge.

One of the most astonishing circumstances with regard to Muslim

‘heresiography’ is the seemingly unconcerned manner in which Muslims

had been excluded by their respective opponents from the community of

Islam. The ability to listen is therefore crucial for a deeper understanding of

religion. For a Shi‘ite Muslim, for instance, there exist countless inconsis-

tencies and misconceptions in Sunnite theology. But the sincerity and

honesty of one’s opponent should not be easily questioned. The same is

due to the eminent scholars of the Twelvers, such as al-Shaykh al-MuBd,perhaps the most significant scholastic theologian of his time, but whose

distinguished and original works are almost unknown among the Sunnites.

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Endnotes* The au thor of the present con tr ibution is Senior Research Fellow an d teach es

history at the International Institute of Islamic Th ou gh t an d C ivilization (ISTAC), KualaLum pur, Malaysia.

(a/-Sbi‘ataf-l&dm&yaf af-nbnd cmbanyyabJAfter the Sunnites, the Tw elvers constitute

the se con d largest denomin ation within Islam.T he Qur’anic view o n this item is clear an d needs no e laborat ion here . Refer in

particular to 2:23, lo:%, 11:13an d (regarding ingratitude) 17:89 [English translations fromthe Q ur 9n are t o ‘Abdullah YDsuf ‘Ali (ed., trans.), 78eMeaningof tbeHo&Qut.an. NewEdition with Revked Trambtion and Com men tav(Brentw ood, Maryland: Amana

Co rpo rat ion , 199411.Abu ’I-Ijasan ‘Ali b. Isma‘il al-Ash‘ari, M aq d& ta/ -lfd m ijy in, ed. Hellmut Ritter

(Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH , 1980,third edition). For information o n furtherem inen t heresiographical material refer to Hellmut Ritter, ‘Muh amm edanischeHiiresiographien (Philologika III),” D e r h l a m 28 (1929): 34-55.

1. Th rou gho ut this pa pe r the term Sbri‘abrefers exclusively to the Tw elv er Shi‘ah

2.

3.

4. Al-Ash‘ari,Mqdlat a/-h/dmi&yin, 17-18.

5. Zbid, 47.6. fbid

7. lbid,English translation mine. Ma-Y-firqab a/-fba/itbab m i n h u m w a - b um a/-

qdWnabi-7- i Vizdfwa- ’/-im&mabYaz(amtina annaY-QuFan m a nuqqqa minhu #a-/a

zuyyidajbiw a - a n n a b u ‘a/a m a a n z a f a Ylabu t a V h ‘a/anabijyihi ‘akaybiY-sa&m /ampgbayyim wa-lamyukddiluwa-la zdlu ‘amma kdna ‘afaybg

d’aprds qu elques auteurs si‘ ites duodecimains,” in LeSbi<kme mdm i te. ColloqeiedeStrmbourg 6-pMai1966: d. T. Fah d (Paris: Pre sses Universitaires de France, 1970),31-54.

9. Co nsu lt Al-Ash‘ari, Maqdkit af-Zsfdmiyyin, 225-26 o n al-Ash‘ari’s p res en tat io n ofthe views of th e Mu‘tazilites conce rnin g the issue of tab41

10. An English translatio n of this part is to be found in Clifford Edmun d Bosworth,“AI-KhwPrizmion Theology a nd Sects: Th e Chapter on Ka&m in the Mafdtfh a/-rU/um,”Bu//etin dcy gtudesonenta~‘ees391977): 85-95. Al-Khw arizmi himself wa s a secretary,serving und er the Samanids at Bukhara.

8. Refer on this issue to G eorges Vajda, “LaProblJme de la Vision de Dieu (Ruya)

11. /bid,89-90.12. Aba Man sur ‘Abd al-Qahir b. T ih ir al-Baghdadi, A/-Fa?q bayn a/-Firaq(Beirut:

Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 1405/1985). O n this heresiographical comp ilation consult als o

the article by Hen ri Laoust, “La classification d es sec ts dan s le F a r i d ’ a l -Baghdadi,” RewedesgtudesMamiques29 (1961): 19-59.13. Al-Baghdadi, A/-Farq bayn al-Firaq,244.14. O n the Shi‘ite application of this locution refer t o Etan K ohlberg, “Th e Term

15. Al-BaghdPdi, A-Farq bayn aL-Firag 16.

16. fhd, 36.17. Zbid, 43.18. AI-Baghdadi presents only a short credoof the Sun nite view o n the n ature of the

19. For an interesting biography of Ibn Baz m refer to the excellen t article by R.

20. Th e Arabic text this had at the time of the compilation of this paper not been

Rapda in Imami Shi‘i Usage,”Joum a/of th eA m er ica n Orierzta/Socie&- 99 (1979): 395-402.

Qur’an. Refer to ihd,266-267.

Amaldez, “Ibn l jazm,” Encydopaedia ofZs/am, New Editio n, 3:790-799.

available to me. Il cn ce , I refer in th e following to its English translation by IsraelFriedlaender, “Th e Hete rodox ies of the Shiites in the Presentation of Ibn l jazm”

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REFLECTIONSNALLEGEDWELVERHI‘ITETTITUDESOWARD QUR’AN

[translation]f o u m fof theAmen2anOnentafSoc iely28 (1907 -08): 1-80 a n d idem, “TheHeterodoxies of he Shiites in the Presentation of Ibn Ija zm ” [commentaryl,foumafof the

Am erz can Onerztaf So ciep 29 (1909-10): 1-183. Friedlaender’s translation comprises onlythat part of Ibn Ijazm’s F&a/whicb dea ls with the divisions of th e Shi‘ites.

21 . Friedlaender, op. it [translation], 41.

22 . /&id, 1. See also the Friedlaender’s n otes to this passage: Friedlaender, op. il,

23 . Refer or instance to F riedlaender, 46. cit [translation], 53, regarding his remarks

24 . See R. Arnaldez, “Ibn va zm ,” 7 9 2 .

25 . It had b ee n available t o m e in a n English translation: AbQ-Fath Muham mad b.

[commentary], 62-63.

o n the Shi‘ite marriage practices.

AbO’l-Qasim ‘Abd al-Karim b. AbO B akr al-Shah rasta ni, “Kitab al-Milal wa’l-Nifal,” ran s. A.

K.Kazi an d J. G. Flynn, AbrNabmin8 (1969-1969): 36-68; 9 (1969-1970): 81-107; 10 (1970-

1971): 48-75, 15 (197 4-1975): 50-98. On h is heresiographical work refer also to DominiqueSourd el, “La classification des s e c t s islamiques dan s le Kitdbaf-Mihfd’al-Shahrastani,”StudiaZshtizica 31 (1970): 239-47.

Widerlegung du rch Nagir ad-Din atO, si,”&ten des U.7.Kongmssesurdrabatik undZsfatizw&emchaJ, Cdttingen, 1974ed. Albert Dietrich (Gottingen: Vande nhoeck &

Ruprecht, 1976, Abhand lungen de r Akademie d er Wissenschaften in Gottingen, Phil.-hist.Klasse, Dritte Folge, 981, 250-59.

26. Wilferd Madelung, “ASSahrastanisStreitschrift geg en Avicenna u nd ihre

27 . Refer in particular t o ibid,250-252 and 258.

28 . See op.at.,AbrNahmin 15 (1974-1975): 50-98.

29 . Zbid, 0-97.

30. /bid, 94-97.On p.

94h e refers to the respective work

ofHasan-i ‘$abah

b yaliteral quotation from i t “W e shall rep rod uc e in Arabic what h e ha s written in Persian, but

the translator must no t be censured. The o n e wh o succeeds is the on e wh o follows truthand avoids falsehood, a nd it is God w ho gives success and he lp.”

31 . Z’id, 6 4-75.

32. /bid,75.

33. /bid, 71-75.

34. Fath-Allah Mojtaba’i, “Da bastan-e M ada heb ,” E n c y c f o p e d i a I m n i c a , vol. 6 , fasc.5, 532. See alsoJ. Horovitz, [H. Massel, “Da bistan al-Madhah ib,” E n c y c f o w e d i a ofhhm,

New Edition, 2:74.

228.

35 . W.St. Clair Tisdall, ’Shi‘a Ad ditions t o t he Kor’a n,” 7 3 e M m f e m Wodd 3 (1913):

36. MojtabPi, “Dabastan-e Ma baheb ,”534.

37. Zbid, 533.

38 . See for instan ce St. Clair Tisdall, “Shi‘a Additions t o th e K or’an,”227 a n d w i n .39 . Mojtaba’i, ”Dabastan-e Mad aheb,” 533-34.

40 . Garcin De T assy, “Chapitre inconn u d u C oran,” ourna / As i a t i que l 3 ( 18421, 431-

41 . Mirza Alexandre Kazem -Beg, ”Observations su r chapitre inc onn u du C oran ”,439.

foumafmiatiiel4 (1843): 371-429. It beco mes clear from his ow n statem ents thatKazem-Beg himself was a d evo ut Christian. I was, however unable to find out whethe r heconverted to that religion. Th e expres sion ‘Mimd,’ actually a Persian title, suggests Iranianor perhaps Caucasian origin.

42. St. Clair Tisd dll, “Shi‘a Add itions to the K or’an,”227-41.43. Da ud Rah bar, “Relation of Shi‘a Theology to the Q ur’an,” 7 B e M o s f e m Wodd 50,

no . 2 (April 1961): 92-98; 52, no. 1 @an. 1962): 17-21; 52, no. 2 (April 1962, no . 2): 124-28.

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44. St. Clair Tisda ll, ‘Shi‘a Ad ditions to th e Kor’an,” 229.

45. Refer to De Tassy’s no te in Kazem-Beg, “Obse rvationssur chapitre inconnu d u

46. Jose ph Eliash, “‘The hi‘ite Qur’an’. A Reconsideration of Goldziher’s

47 . Refer o n this item t o A. Jeffery, “ Th e Qur’an Readings of Zaid b. ‘Ali,” Riv&&

48. Eliash, “‘The Shi‘ite Qur’an’. A Reconsideration of Goldziher’s Interpretation ,”19.

49. This was the state of knowledge a t the t ime of the compilation of Eliash’s article.50. Eliash, “‘The Shi‘ite Qur’an’. A R econ sideratio n of Goldziher’s Interpretation ,”20.51. AbQ Mubarnmad al-Ijasan b. MOsa al-Nawbak hti, Flraqu l-Sb irah (Najaf: Al-

Matba‘at a]-Ijaydariyyah, 1355 Iunar/1935). Refer also to Wilferd Madelung, ‘Bemerkungenzu r ImA mitischen Firaq-Literatur,” DerZshn4 3 (1967): 37-52.

Encyclopediao fhhm ,New Edition, 3:726-727 an d ‘Ali Agghar Faqihi, AI -lB uy ab (Tehran[?I: Chapkhanah-yi Diba, 1366 solar/1987), 278-279.

Coran ,” 427-29.

Interpretation,”A m b l c a 16,fasc. 1(1969): 15-24.

deglistudlorien/a/i16 (1936): 249-289.

52 . For information o n Ibn Bab awa yh, refer to Asaf A. A. Fyzee, ‘Ibn Babawayh(i),”

53. Faqihi , A l- iB ay b, 278.54. AbQJa‘far Muhammad b. ‘Ali b. l -uusayn b. Babawayh al-Qummi al-.$adQq,

I ‘ t r i j d d t a l - z m d m r ~ b .A SbFiteCred trans. Asaf A. A. Fyze e (Teh ran: World

Organization for Islamic Services, WOFIS, 1402 lunar/1982, revised ed ition), 7. For theArabic text consult idem, IViqddd[ai-Imami&yab (Rhdht al-ZV lqdddd (Najaf: Matba‘at al -MurtaJawiyyah, 1 343 unar/1926), 132-133.

55. “Thebeneficial.”

56. O n al-Mufid, refer t o Wilferd Madelung , “A l-Mufid,”EncyclopdiaofZshm,NewEdition, 7:312-13, a n d t o my forthcoming article, “ Se leb ed Aspects of the Life and W ork of

Al-Shaykh al-Mufid.”57. AbO ‘Abd Allah Muham mad b. Mubarnmad b. al-Nu‘man al-Baghdadi al-Karkhi

al-Shaykh al-Mufid, Ti@,$ l-ZTiqd&f (Beiru t: Da r al-Kitab al-Islam i, 198 3).58. Al-Mufid, Th,@i,$ l-IYlqddaf,99-101 flnu&lal-m@land 102-5 f l nuzti/al-

QuPanJ

59. Refer to the abov e quotation from al-SddOq’sRkdlab .60. For al-Mu fids views o n the character of th e Qur’an, refer t o Martin J. M cDermott,

7B e 7BalogyofAl-Sbaykb A /-M ufidd 41’1022)(Beirut: Dar el-Machre q Ed iteurs , 1978)

86-99.

61. @P“n, 20:114.62. English translation, ta ke n from McDermott, 7Be7BeulogyofAl-SbaykbA/-M@d

(d. 41Y2022), 96-97. For the Arabic text refer to al-Mufid, %W d’zlal-M qd& ”Muanmfdtal-Sbayhb al-Mufid 14 vols. (Tehra n: Mu’tam ar al-‘Ilami li-Alfiyyat al-Mufid[“Congressof th e Millenium of al-Mufidl, 1413 lunad1993 , 4BO-81. See also Dom iniqueSourd el, “L‘Imamisme vu par le Cheikh al-Mufid,” Re yu ed m &udesblamiqzies, 40 (1972):217-296.

63. O n selected issues pertaining to th e Shi‘ite app roac h toward s the Traditions, referalso to my forthcoming article “A Glance o n th e first of the four canonical NaditbCollections of th e Twelver-Shi‘ites: A/-Kafi by al-Kulayni (d. 328 or 329 A.H./940 or 94 1C.E.).”

64. McDermott, 7Be 7Balou fAldbaykbA/-Mufd(d 42Y102!,97-98.For theArabic text, con sult al-Mufid, “Awa’il al-M aqil %t ,”oc.cit., 4231-82.

65. Sabine Schmidtke, 7Be 7Bmlogy Ofal-Hlhmab al-&il..(d 726/1.2!Berlin:Klaus Schwa rz Verlag, 1991,Islamkundliche Untersuchungen Band 152),72.66. See the previous note .

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REFLECTIONS N ALLEGEDWELVERHI‘ITE TTITUDESOWARDHE QUIPAN

67. Quoted from Schmidtke, 7he i%mlou of ul-‘A/kimabul-&ilk(d 726/1323,

68. Quo ted from ibM, 156.69. Al-Sayyid al-Imam AbO ‘I-Qasim al-MOsawi al-Khti’i,Arficlmoffihmic Ac&Ol-

Fafdw& trans. M. Fazal Ha q (London: Islamic Seminary, 1982),20. O n issues pertaining to

contem porary Twelver Shi‘ite fufifrrefer to M ahmoud Ayoub, “T he Speaking Qur’an an dth e Silent Qur’an. A Study of the Principles a nd Developm ent of Ima mi Shi‘i tafiftf inAppmcbes o tbeH&toryof fbe/nfepr?tafion of fbeQur‘un, d. Andrew Rippin (Oxford:Clarendon Press, 19881,177-198 186 a n d 191 o n at-Kha’i’s approa ch).

70. Al-Khti’i, ArficlesoffildmicActS Al-FufdMA trans. M . Fazal Haq , 20, n. 1 a n d 2.

71. Abdoljavad Falaturi, “D ie Zwolfer-Schia au s d er Sicht eines Schiiten: Problem eihrer Untersuchung,” n Fa.&$@ Its: CmM, zum siebzlgsfen&bunwag (5Mu= 1966)

gewidmetmn Fmnden undScbulm, ed. Erwin G raf (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1%8),91-95.

152.

72. /&id,91.73.- Ibid, 94-95.

74. Ibid,91.

75. For biographical information, co nsu lt Kate Zebiri, MubmridSbaltrifund1slumicModern&m (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993),11-38.

76. F. R. C. Bagley, “T he Azhar a nd Shi‘ism,” meMos&m World 50, no. 2 (1960):

122.

77. Th e original Arabic version h ad b een publish ed in MabmOd aldh alttit, “Fatwa,”i?zh$Lzf ul-fi&m, 1 1 (1959): 227-28.A co mp lete English translation of al-Shaltat’s afwrfisgiven in Bagley, “The k h a r an d Shi‘ism,” 123-24.

78. Bagley, “Th eAzhar an d Shi‘ism,” 124.

79. Ibid

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154

some reflections on alleged twelver shia attitudes towards the integrity of the qur'an

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