Al-Muraja'at A Shi'i-Sunni dialogue
A Shi'i-Sunni dialogue
(also known as 'The Right Path')
Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din al-Musawi
Translated from the Arabic by
Yasin T. al-Jibouri Published in May 1994 by the
Imam Husayn (a.s.) Islamic Foundation
Beirut, Lebanon
 Author's
Biography
Introduction
and Foreword
I Greeting the Debater,
II Asking Permission to Debate.
I Greetings Reciprocated,
II Permission to Debate
Granted.
I Why do Shi`as not Uphold the
Majority's Sects?
II The Need for Unity,
III Unity Achieved Only by
Adhering to the Majority's Sects.
I Juristic Proofs Mandate
Adherence to the Sectof Ahl alBayt,
II There is No Proof for
Mandating Adherence tothe Majority's Sects,
III Generations of The First
Three Centuries Never Knew Those Sects,
IV Possibility of Ijtihad,
V Unity can be Achieved by
Respecting Ahl alBayt's Sect.
I Admitting Our Argument,
II Asking for Detailed
Proofs.
I References to Proofs Mandating
Following the`Itra,
II The Commander of the
Faithful (a.s.) Invites toAhl alBayt's Sect,
III Relevant Statement of
Imam Zainul`Abidin.
I Requesting Proofs from
Statements by Allah and His Messenger,
II Proofs from Ahl alBayt
are Circumventive.
I Overlooking Our Previous
Statements,
II Error in Necessity of
(Logical) Cycle,
III Hadith of the Two Weighty
Things,
IV Its Tawatur,
V NonAdherents to the `Itra
Shall Stray,
VI Their Similitude to the
ark of Noah, the Gateof Salvation,
and the Security Against Religious Dissensions,
VII What is Meant by "Ahl
alBayt" in this Regard,
VIII Reasons for Similitude
to Noah's Ark and theGate of Salvation.
Requesting More Relevant Texts
A Glimpse of Sufficient Texts
I Admiring Our Clear Texts,
II Wondering at Compromising
Them With the Majority's Beliefs,
III Asking for Clear Signs
from the Book. A Glimpse of Sufficient Texts
Qur'anic Proofs
Argument Regarding These Traditions Weak
I Fallacy of Opponent's Argument,
II Opponents do not Know
Shi`as,
III Distinction of
Emphasizing Illegality ofFalsifying Hadith.
I A Flash of the Truth,
II Requesting Details on
Sunnis Relying on Shi`a Authorities.
A Hundred Shi`a Authorities Relied upon bySunnis
I Appreciating the debater's
sentiments,
II Admitting There is no
Objection if Ahlel-Sunnah Rely on Shi`a Authorities,
III His belief in the
Miracles of Ahl al-Bayt,
IV Dilemma at Compromising
the Above with what Ahl Al-Qibla do.
I Sentiments Reciprocated,
II Debater's Error in
Generalizing Regarding Ahl al-Qibla,
III The Nation's Politicians
are the Ones Who Turned Away from Ahl al-Bayt,
IV The Imams of Ahl al-Bayt
(without anyargument) are not Inferior to others,
V Which Fair Court Judges
Calling Their Followers "Strayers"?
I No Fair Arbitrator Would Call
Followers of Ahl al-Bayt Strayers,
II Following Their Sects is
Carrying out the Responsibility,
III It Could be Said that
They Have the Priority toLead,
IV Requesting Texts Relevant
to the Khilafate.
I A General Reference to the
Texts,
II A Reference to the House
on the Day ofWarning,
III Sunni Reporters of this
Hadith.
Raising Doubts about the Hadith's Authenticity
I Proving the Text's
Authenticity,
II Why the Shaykhs Have Not
Reported it,
III Whoever Knows These
Shaykhs Knows Why.
I Convinced of the Authenticity
of this Hadith,
II Unreliability Based on
Non-Sequential Narration,
III Its Reference to
Restricted Succession,
IV Its Rebuttal.
I Why Relying on this Hadith,
II Restricted Succession is
Unanimously Rejected,
III Revocation is Impossible.
I His Belief in the Text,
II Requesting More Texts.
I Clear Texts Recounting Ten of
`Ali's ExclusiveMerits,
II Why Rely Upon it.
Raising Doubts About the Status Hadith
I The Status Hadith Stands on
Most Solid Grounds,
II Binding Proofs,
III Its Sunni Narrators,
IV Why al-Amidi Suspects It.
I Believing in Our Arguments
Regarding theHadith's Sanad,
II Doubting its General
Application,
III Doubting its being
Binding.
I Arabs Regard it General,
II Disproving Claim of
Restriction,
III Disproving its
Non-Binding Application
Requesting Sources of this Hadith
I Among Its Sources: the
Prophet's Visit to UmmSalim,
II The Case of Hamzah's
Daughter,
III Leaning on `Ali,
IV The First Fraternity,
V The Second Fraternity,
VI Closing the Doors,
VII The Prophet Comparing
`Ali and Aaron to the Two Stars
When was `Ali and Aaron Described as the Two Stars?
I The Occasion of Shabar,
Shubayr, and Mushbir,
II The Occasion of
Fraternity,
III The Occasion of Closing
the Doors.
Requesting Other Texts
I Hadith by Ibn `Abbas,
II `Umran's Hadith,
III Buraydah's Hadith,
IV Hadith Recounting Ten
Exclusive Attributesof `Ali,
V `Ali's Hadith,
VI Wahab's Hadith,
VII Ibn Abu `Asim's Hadith.
"Wali" is a Linguistic Denominator; so, Where is the Text?
I Explaining the Implications of
"Wali"
II Proving its Connotation
Requesting the Wilayat Verse
I The Verse of Wilayat and its
Revelation in `Ali's
Honour,
II Why it was Revealed,
III Why Using it as a
Testimonial.
"Mumins" is Plural; Why Apply it to the Singular?
I Arabs Address the Singular
Using the PluralForm,
II Testimonials,
III Quoting Imam al-Tibrisi,
IV Quoting al-Zamakhshari,
V What I have Stated.
Context Denotes "the Loved one," or the Like.
Letter
44
I Context is not Indicative
of "Supporter," or theLike,
II Context does not Outweigh
the Proofs.
Resorting to Interpretation, Following in the Footsteps of the
Predecessors, is Unavoidable.
I Believing in the Ancestors does
not RequireInterpretation
II Interpretation is
Impossible
Requesting Testimonial Traditions
Forty Ahadith Supporting the Texts
I Admitting `Ali's Merits,
II Such Merits do not
Necessitate his Caliphate.
Why Interpret Texts on His Behalf as Indicative of His Imamate
Rebutting the Arguments Through Similar Ones
Rejecting the Rebuttal's Premises
Requesting the Hadith Pertaining to the GhadirIncident
Glitters of Ahadith Relevant to the GhadirIncident
Why Use it as a Testimonial if not Transmitted Consecutively?
I Natural Laws Necessitate the
Consecutive Reporting of Hadith al-Ghadir
II The Almighty's Benevolence
III Concern of the Messenger
of Allah (p.b.u.h.)
IV Concern of the Commander
of the Faithful
V al-Husain's Concern
VI Concern of the Nine Imams
(a.s.)
VII Shi`as' Concern
I Interpreting Hadith alGhadir
II The Link
I Hadith alGhadir Cannot be
Interpreted,
II Pretext for its
Interpretation is Speculative andMisleading.
I Truth Manifests,
II Evasion.
Evasion Refuted
Requesting Texts Narrated by Shi`a Sources
Forty Ahadith
I Shi`a Texts Rejected as
Testimonials,
II Why Have Others Refrained
from QuotingThem?
III Asking for More Texts.
I Above Texts were Quoted upon
Request,
II Sahihs are Proofs against
the Majority,
III Not Quoted Because of
Their Existence in Our Own Sahihs.
Requesting the Ahadith Relevant to theInheritance
`Ali is the Prophet's Heir
Where is the Prophet's Will?
The Will's Texts
Argument of the Will's Deniers
I The Will Cannot be Repudiated,
II Why Denied,
III Deniers' Arguments not
Binding,
IV Reason and Intellect
Require it.
Why Reject the Hadith of the Mother of Believers and the best
Among the Prophet's Consorts?
I She Was Not the Best of the
Prophet's Consorts,
II The Best is Khadija,
III A General Hint to the
Reason Why her Hadithwas Discarded.
Requesting an Explanation to our Rejection of`Ayesha's Hadith
I Explaining Why We Reject her
Hadith,
II Reason Confirms the Will,
III Her Claim that the
Prophet Died on Her Chest is Refuted.
I Mother of the Believers is not
Ruled by Emotions,
II The Pleasant and the Ugly
are Denied byReason,
III Why Oppose the Claim of
the Mother of Believers?
I Her Yielding to Sentiment,
II Rationale Regarding the
Pleasant and theUnpleasant,
III Rejecting the Claim of
the Mother of Believers,
IV Preference of Umm
Salamah's Hadith overHers.
Why Prefer Umm Salamah's Hadith to`Ayesha's?
More Reasons for Preferring Umm Salamah'sHadith
Consensus Endorses al-Siddiq's Caliphate
No Consensus
Consensus Concluded When Dispute Dissipated.
Consensus Was Not Concluded; Dissension Did Not Dissipate
Can You Compromise the Text's Accuracy With the Companions'
Truthfulness?
I Compromising the Text's
Accuracy With TheirTruthfulness,
II Rationalizing the Imam's
Reluctance to Demand his Right.
Requesting Narration of Incidents Wherein TheyDid Not Follow the
Texts of Hadith
I Thursday's Calamity,
II The Reason Why the Prophet
Repealed HisOrder Then.
Justifying and Discussing the Calamity
Pretexts Refuted
I Admitting the Falsehood of Such
Pretexts,
II Requesting Narration of
Other Incidents.
Usamah's Regiment
I Justifying Their Behaviour
Towards Usamah'sRegiment,
II No Hadith Curses its Draft
Dodgers.
I Their Pretexts do not
Contradict our Statement,
II Al-Shahristani's Hadith is
Documented.
Requesting Narration of Other Incidents
His Order (p.b.u.h.) to Kill the Renegade
Justifying not Killing the Renegade
Justification Rejected
Requesting Narration of all Such Incidents
I Glittering Proofs,
II Reference to Other
Incidents.
I Their Preference of the Common
Interest inThose Instances,
II Requesting the Rest.
I The Debater Digresses from the
Subject-Matter,
II Responding to His Request.
Why didn't the Imam Cite the Ahadith of Caliphate and Wisayat on
the Saqifa Day?
I Why the Imam Abstained on the
Saqifa Day from Citing Such Texts,
II Reference to his and his
Followers' ArgumentsDespite Obstacles.
Looking for His and His Followers' Arguments
I A Few Incidents When the Imam
Argued,
II The Argument of al-Zahra'
(a.s.).
Requesting Narration of Other Such Incidents
I Ibn `Abbas's Argument,
II Arguments of al-Hasan and
al-Husayn,
III Arguments of Prominant
Shi`ah Sahabah,
IV Reference to their Applying
the Will as anArgument.
When did they Mention the Will?
The Recommendation as Evidence
Why do Some Fanatics Question the Derivationof the Shi`a School
of Muslim Law from the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.)?
I Shi`ah Faith is Sequentially
Derived from the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt,
II Advancement of Shi`ahs in
Recording Knowledge During the Sahabah's Epoch,
III Their Authors Contemporary
to the Tabi`in, and the Latter's Followers.
Conviction
Appreciation
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