3. Shaikh al-Tusi (d. 460 A.H.)

 

The sect’s mentor, Shaikh Muhammed ibn al-Hasan al-Tusi, may Allah have mercy on him, has said,

 

One of their offenses which were held in contempt was their beating Fatima (A.S.). It is narrated that she was whipped, and it is well known and without any contention among the Shi`as is that `Omer (ibn al-Khattab) hit her on the stomach, so she miscarried Muhassan. Such a narrative is quite famous among them. Add to this their attempt to burn her house when some people sought shelter in it, refusing to swear the oath of allegiance to him (to Abu Bakr).

Nobody denies this narrative at all because we have proven how such a narrative is transmitted by way of the Sunnis via al-Balathiri and others, and the narratives transmitted by the Shi`as are numerous, and there are no contradictions in them.

Nobody has the right to say that if this were true, it would not be a serious charge because an imam has the right to threaten those who refuse to swear fealty to him unlike other Muslims. This is not true because there is no excuse whatsoever for anyone to burn the house of Fatima (A.S.) and of the Commander of the Faithful (A.S.) and of al-Hasan (A.S.) and of al-Husain (A.S.)... Can a heinous action such as this be really justified?!

Rather, one will be acting contrary to the consensus of the Muslims had such consensus been fixed and proven. It is accurate and fixed when the Commander of the Faithful (A.S.) and those who refused to swear the oath of allegiance (to Abu Bakr) from among those who sought shelter at Fatima’s house entering into it and not getting out of it.

What “consensus” is this while the Commander of the Faithful (A.S.) refused to endorse it, let alone others who refused to swear the oath of allegiance to him? Anyone, such as al-Juba’i and others, who says so clearly demonstrates his animosity and fanaticism because the incident of the burning took place prior to the (forced) swearing of allegiance by the Commander of the Faithful (A.S.) and the group of men who were then at his house (who were likewise forced to swear it). They claimed such “consensus” after such swearing, that is, when those who refused to swear did indeed swear it (though against their wish). What we have rejected is surely contemptible.[1]

 

Shaikh al-Tusi has also said the following:

 

Al-Balathiri, quoting al-Mada’ini from Maslamah ibn Muharib from Sulayman al-Tamami from Aba `Awn, says: “Abu Bakr sent (`Omer) to Ali (A.S.) requiring him to swear the oath of allegiance to him, but he refused, and also refused with him a number of others. Fatima (A.S.) met `Omer at the door and said to him, `O son of al-Khattab! Are you really going to burn my house door?!’ He said, `Yes.[2] And this is stronger than what your father had brought (!).’ Ali went and swore it.”

This same incident is narrated by Shi`as from many avenues. It is interesting that it is also narrated by the mentor of Sunni narrators of hadith, but they used to narrate what would safeguard them. They may be alert to some of what they narrate, so they stop their narration thereof. Yet what “choice” can one have when he sees his house door set to fire so that he would be forced to swear fealty?[3]

 

[1]Talkhis al-Shafi., Vol. 3, pp. 156-57.

[2]Ibid., Vol. 3, p. 76. Sayyid al-Murtada, Al-Shafi, Vol. 3, p. 241. Al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 28, pp. 389, 411 and the footntoe on p. 268. Al-Balathiri, Ansab al-Ashraf, Vol. 1, p. 586. Refer also to the following references:

Ibn `Abd Rabbih, Al-`Iqd al-Farad, Vol. 4, pp. 259, 260. Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-`Ummal, Vol. 3, p. 149. Al-Riyad al-Nadira, Vol. 1, p. 167. Al-Mukhtasar fa Akhbar al-Bashar, Vol. 1, p. 156. Al-Tara’if, p. 239. Tarikh al-Khamas, Vol. 1, p. 178. Nahj al-Haqq, p. 271. Nafahat al-Lahat, p. 79. Al-`Awalim, Vol. 11, pp. 602, 408. Ibn Hamzah, Al-Shafi, Vol. 4, p. 174.

[3]Talkhis al-Shafi, Vol. 3, p. 76.