Abdullah Ahmed Al-Osayri; Ex-Salafi... Now Shia!

Abdullah Ahmed Al-Osayri was born in the city of Mahaweet in Yemen in the year 1977. With respect to his academic studies, he was a medical student, however with respect to his religious studies; he attended lessons for Wahabis/Salafis in one of the institutions in his area for a period of three years as well as taking part in the propagation of Wahabism/Salafism for a period of one year.

The Beginning

Abdullah talks about the events which led to his guidance. ‘In the beginning I took a decision to live according to the laws of God, and to strive with respect to Islamic principles because it is the best way to live in this life and the hereafter. I had nothing but Islam, but in the Wahabi way. When I attended the lessons I was told to ridicule my intellect for according to them intellect leads man astray and so I believed them for three years learning from them and preaching for them. So brother Abdullah was misguided by the Wahabi ideology that does not permit one to use his intellect to think.

Coming closer to Shiism
Abdullah says: ‘I was lucky that I knew a Wahabi/Salafi scholar Shekh Ali Al-Herazi because we had a family tie as well as a good friendship and one day I heard from his family that he became a Shia. So I went to him with an intention to guide him, according to my views at that time. We started by discussing the issue of combing the two Salaats, and he told me that it is permissible to combine the two prayers and that this was verified in Sahih Bukhari.

On the next occasion of their meeting, the discussion was about theological issues rather than Fiqh (jurisprudence) issues as the last time. Sayed Abdullah says: ‘We started talking about Allah (SWT) attributes for the Wahabis/Salafis say that Allah is physically present on his throne so my Shia friend asked me from where we had this ridiculous ideology ?. I replied from the Sahih hadiths. Then we discussed the issue of hadiths and the correctness of the hadith books. I argued with him although I could not answer his questions at all. However, I wrote down all the points he mentioned and decided to go to my Wahabi/Salafi teacher and get a response.

I went to my Wahabi/Salafi teacher immediately and informed him of the discussion I had, and gave him the paper on which I wrote all the points. He promised me to give me a response the following day. So I went to him the next day and he recited the words of Ibn Tamiyah: The Shia are polytheist and are misguided and talking to them is dangerous. I said to him that I know that but I wanted a reply to convince my Shia friend and in a more general way it is important that when preaching I should show the people that I am on the true path and that the Shia are wrong. He said to me that if Allah (SWT) had wanted to guide my friend then he would have and no one can be Shia and be guided’.

This is the way in which Wahabis/Salafis run away from the truth- false accusations and never ever answering questions or points made to them that prove the Shia are on the right path. It is because the Wahabis/Salafis are based on a vicious falsehood, a lie, and they are truly misguided.

The Change

Abdullah recalls how he felt: ‘
For the first time I lost respect for this sect, Wahabism/Salafism, for it admits that it has no answer to reply the Shias, and that it does not know anything except saying that the Shias are misguided. Why? Just because Ibn Taymiyah said so. I took from my Wahabi/Salafi teacher a book about the Shia. He gave me a book called ‘he wide lines regarding the religion of Imamah’ so I took the book and went to my Shia converted relative Shekh Al-Herazi and I mentioned to him the accusations that the book made about the Shias, one after the other and he was very patient with me. The Shekh replied each one until I acknowledged with certainty that the Shias have not fabricated the Holy Quran, and the correctness of their beliefs regarding the companions of the Holy Prophet and his wives, and also the correctness of temporary marriage: mutaa.

Then we entered into a discussion about Islamic history after the death of the Messenger of Allah (SAW) and we discussed the political system in Islam. We debated whether the Shura is a system of leadership or whether the Immamah is the system of leadership in Islam. We talked about how the Prophet clearly stated that Ali was the leader of the Ummah after him and how Abu Bakr usurped the Caliphate. After long discussions regarding these matters, the Shaykh gave me a book called ‘Al-Murajaat’ and this book just convinced me that the Shias are on the right and all my previous beliefs were ridiculous. After that, I learnt of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain and I changed to a person who was on an enlightened path following the ways of the Prophet (SAW) and his Holy Infallible progeny (AS).

The Wahabis- troublemakers
The Wahabis/Salafis started making trouble for Abdullah. They caused fitnah and problems between him and his older brother and family. Furthermore, they turned everyone against him and started making more problems for him so that he did not get his wages.

However, Abdullah Ahmed Al- Osayri was never dissuaded and was patient. He preached the glorious path of Ahlulbayt so that his family, including his older brother, and his friends were all guided to the correct path of Shiism.