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28 March 2024 / 18. Ramadhan 1445

Presidents Letter for Community Members and Leaders

Read in French here. 

In the name of Allah, the All-Beneficent, the Ever-Merciful.

Respected Community Leaders & Members

Salamun Alaykum.

I pray you are well.

My felicitations on the birth anniversary of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (as) whose expectant mother was hosted in God’s House, who was meticulously trained by the Holy Prophet(s), who defended, expounded & lived by God’s Eternal Word, till he was martyred. Also, condolences on the wafat of his Holy daughter Sayyida Zaynab binte Ali (sa), peace be upon them both, the propagator of the tragedy of Kerbala and defender of the Divine cause of Imam al-Husayn (as)

In October 2017, the Secretariat of The World Federation was inundated by messages from community members worldwide who had shown concerns on video clips and speeches relating to Aqa’id matters, Fiqhi Masa’il, Marja’iyyat, Arbaeen, etc. circulating in social media.

The World Federation commissioned Islamic Education Department led by one of our leading community scholars Shaykh Murtadha Alidina to carry out a comprehensive study and understanding of the views expressed.  The process undertaken by the department involved tracking down and listening to the full lectures, statements or reading whatever documents that were produced and available.  The next step was to seek clarifications from the speakers to ensure they represented their views.

After completing the investigation, Shaykh Murtadha Alidina and I then visited His Eminence Ayatollah Udhma Sayyid Ali Husayni Sistani (may God protect our scholars) on 15th February 2019, and we sought advice from His Eminence on these matters. In addition to the verbal guidance His Eminence gave us, we also received written guidance from his office, which I have attached to this letter.  We also met Ayatollah Udhma Shaykh Ishaq Fayyaz, Ayatollah Udhma Sayyid Saeed al-Hakim, and Ayatollah Udhma Shaykh Bashir Najafi. We discussed the same matter with them and sought their advice and guidance as well.

Furthermore, Shaykh Murtadha Alidina visited and discussed the issue with other leading Mujtahideen in Najaf as well as Maraje and high-ranking scholars in Qum.

We received robust, succinct, explicit, and direct guidance from all these scholars. The common points of advice received from them are as follows:

  1. The views expressed by such scholars directly contradict the explicit text of the holy Qur’an and the blessed Sunnah reported from the Great Prophet (saw) and His Purified Progeny (as).

  2. Nobody subscribes to such ideas except one who does not have sufficient competence in the field of Islamic Jurisprudence; therefore, such a person is not qualified to teach those ideas.

  3. Even if someone is assumed to be qualified enough to engage in such discussions, it is not right that they present such specialist issues to the general public as non-specialists would not be able to correctly grasp what is being said.

  4. It is inappropriate for a religious preacher (Muballigh) to use the Mimbar to spread their personal opinions which create divisions and differences in the community. Rather, it is the duty of a Muballigh to invite people towards strengthening their faith and to spread its well established moral, social, and spiritual teachings as represented in the clear verses of the Holy Book and the beautiful sayings of the Holy Prophet (saw) and the Holy Guides (as).

  5. It is the duty of the community leadership, parents, and all believers, to refrain from entrusting the community and our children with religious training from such preachers. Rather, it is their duty to refer to others who are reliable from among the people of knowledge, piety, and righteousness.

Alhamdulillah, very clear guidance has been provided to us. We should all feel proud to be followers of a Madhhab that has been bestowed with such scholars. They have unanimously guided us with explicit and clear guidance on such matters.

I, therefore, implore the leadership of our community and in particular leaders and committees who have the responsibility of inviting preachers to our communities and to parents who have the primary responsibility to provide authentic source of guidance for their children,   to enjoin, promote, and act upon the clear advice provided to us by our Maraje.

The attached guidance is from the office of His Eminence.  May I request that you act upon this guidance.

The Islamic Education team will be running a series of videos and articles on intellectually empowering the community with greater Islamic knowledge. The launch will be announced shortly so keep tuned on our social media platforms for more updates. 

We pray for the hastened reappearance of our Twelfth Imam, Al-Hujjat, Al-Mahdi Sahibuz Zaman (aj).

With Salaams and Duas,

Anwarali Dharamsi

President

15th Rajab 1440

Guidance from the office of His Eminence


Question to the Office of His Eminence Sayyid Ali Husayni Sistani and its Response


 

QUESTION

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST BENEFICENT THE MOST MERCIFUL

To the office of His Eminence, Supreme Marja, the Grand Ayatullah Syed Ali Sistani (May Allah prolong his life)

As-Salamu Alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

We would like to submit to your Eminence that in the recent years there have appeared some people who claim to be learned, and who spread amongst our youths issues especially about the fundamental beliefs of the faith (Usool-e-Deen) and the practical branches of faith (Furoo’-e-Deen) for example :

  1. the claim that salvation in the hereafter does not exclusively depend on embracing and believing in the religion of Islam;
  2. that what is continuous and eternal is the spirit and essence of the Qur’an, and not the form of its teachings;
  3. that perfection of religion was not possible to have been accomplished during the time of the Prophet (SAW);
  4. that there is no reprehensibility in apostasy if it means conversion from an extremist Islam to another faith which promotes peace and love;
  5. that there are imperative modifications required in ‘Ibada, for example,e salat, sawm, hajj according to the demands of our time;
  6. that the Prophet (SAW) did not specify the final legislations in issues regarding buloogh (puberty), marriage, divorce, etc., and therefore there is no objection with what is known as civil marriage and civil divorce;
  7. that there isa need in this age to change the laws of inheritance and diyah (blood money) to ensure gender equality;
  8. that the buloogh (wherein the religious obligations are applicable) cannot be specified by a particular age or specific physical signs rather it is based on the maturity of the personal capacity of the individual, male or female;
  9. that the obligation for the woman to cover her head in front of non-mahram is not a general law rather it depends on the type of looks of the male towards the female;
  10. and that the religiously responsible individual in our age does not need to refer to the fuqaha (experts of Islamic jurisprudence) to determine his religious duty in many cases because he himself is capable of determining his duty as a result of his higher maturity and awareness, and development of his intellect. 

And there are many other similar ideas. Some of them have established an academic institution to train religious students according to these and similar thoughts. This is in addition to them spreading these views from the mimbar or during lectures on religious and other occasions.

Therefore, we refer to the office of the Supreme Marja (may God prolong his life) to guide our youths, male and female, in the Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaats (communities) on how to deal with such people who espouse the above-mentioned path.

With sincere appreciation and gratitude, 

World Federation of KSIMC, London

12th Feb 2019


Response

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Many of the above mentioned statements contradict the explicit text of the holy Qur’an and the blessed Sunnah reported from the Great Prophet (SAW) and His Purified Progeny (AS); and some of these issues contradict with the most clear and authenticated (deductive) principles used in deriving the religious laws from their sources. So, nobody subscribes to such ideas except one who does not have sufficient competence in this field (of Islamic Jurisprudence) and, therefore, he is not qualified to teach them.

Secondly, it is not right for the one who addresses the general public to present to them specialist issues wherein the audience has no grasp of the prerequisites of the issue as per the required academic standards, even if the speaker is assumed to be qualified to engage in such discussions. Of course, the problem is compounded if the speaker himself is not qualified for such discussion as is the case regarding several of those who ascend the pulpit who have not been through the religious studies in well-established centers of knowledge, rather the maximum of their resources are some general religious knowledge.

Thirdly, the duty of the Muslim preacher (muballigh) is to invite people towards Usool-e-Deen and to spread its well established teachings as represented in the clear verses of the holy Book and the beautiful sayings of the Holy Prophet Mustafa (SA) and the Holy Guides (AS); and to enjoin people and to guide them so they can grow in faith in God and in preparation for the day of judgement, and to strive to spiritually develop their souls and to purge them from evil traits and moral vices, and to adorn them with moral virtues and noble traits; and to better their relations and interactions with others even with those who differ with them in faith and belief.

It is inappropriate for the religious preacher (muballigh) to use the mimbar to spread his personal opinions which create divisions and differences among the religious people. So, whoever adopts this style of teaching and lecturing, it does not behoove the believers (may Allah increase their honor) to be inclined towards them and to entrust them with the religious training of their children; rather it is their duty to refer to others who are reliable from among the people of knowledge, piety and righteousness.

And God is the Guide to the straight path.

Stamped: Office of His Eminence Ayatullah Sistani,

An-Najaf Al-Ashraf

9th Jamadiul Thani 1440


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