Question
If Shi‘is are wrong in their beliefs according to sunnis then why did their imams who were close relatives of Hazrat Ali (rta) lead them (shi‘is)? Or in other words what did Shi‘a imams call themselves, sunni or shi‘i?
Answer
First, we need to understand our religion from the Qur’an. If we can find the belief of Shia Muslims in the Qur’an then it is correct and if not, then it cannot be correct. This is as simple as that.
Second, if we want to use this argument then nearly every belief or every sect in Islam can be argued to be on the basis of correct premises. Shia itself has been divided into tens of branches, some of which are currently existing. The same question can be asked about all these sects of Shia. The correct method of thinking however is to evaluate people by their arguments rather than to evaluate arguments by looking at people who have said them (this itself is an advice that is narrated from Ali).
Third, if you look at the more reliable narrations from Ali, Hassan, Hussain, Ali b. al-Hussain you do not find any explicit references to the core Shia belief (as we know it today). If you look at the narrations from Muhammad b. Ali and Jafar b. Muhammad you will find two types of narrations from them. Those in which they deny any divine status/position and those in which (quite contrary), they consider divine status/position for each other. Technically speaking many of the latter type of narrators can be proved to be unreliable and weak according to the Shia books of Rijal.
My belief is that Shia Imams used to call themselves with the same title that the Prophet (sws) used to call himself, that is, Muslim.
Verse 22:78 considers this title to be fully satisfactory for us and my belief is that the Shia Imams did not ignore this verse but were in fact among the best who obeyed it.
Answered by: Farhad Shafti
Date: 2015-02-18
