Sanctifying the Legacy

·                      Some “accuse” us of sanctifying the legacy, be it lean or pithy, following the principle of, “We found our forefathers on a course, and surely we are guided by their footsteps” (Qur’an, 43:22).

·                      For example, why should we not “sanctify” the book by Salam ibn Qays?! Is it not a legacy document?!

·                      We say that we do not need to emphasize that what we need of the legacy is what has been verified for us through sound and binding scholarly proofs in a way that mandates upon us to uphold it, defend it, and not to permit anyone to be disrespectful to it since it represents a religious and Islamic fact.

·                      As regarding Salam’s book, we have said that mere trusting its contents, according to us, and according to other scholars as well, does not mean it is due to its legacy; rather, it is due to verifying such contents through evidence.

·                      These folks have overlooked the fact that we, at the same time, while emphasizing our endorsement of Salam’s book based on evidence, we have discussed the book titled Conference of Baghdad’s Scholars, and we hold a view in its regard which we have recorded in our book titled Tragedy of al-Zahra’ (A.S.). Our scientific approach in the writing of Tragedy of al-Zahra’ (A.S.), as it is in all other books of ours, proves the fact that we adopt the evidence: we go wherever it takes us.

·                      We say the following to anyone who has any complaint against us: It is not sufficient to let accusations fly around. They have to be backed by irrefutable proofs; otherwise, those who let them fly around will themselves be the accused who may not be able to prove their innocence from that in which they let themselves fall.