Let us Drop our Issues Before Others Do So!

 

We still hear this person saying that we have to discuss our issues in our own particular way, and if we do not do it, others will discuss them and discard them.

He means that if he discusses some issues, his name should not be chewed especially since the issue “is not relevant to the basics of the creed.” We consider confiscating the government as the greatest of all crimes because it is relevant to the entire Islamic reality. Keep in mind that what we said about the issue of al-Zahra’ (A.S.) is not motivated by our realization of the importance of the Islamic unity. We still are ready to debate anyone who wishes, so let him visit us at home and discuss whatever he pleases.

Our response is as follows:

 

FIRST: The trials and tribulations which al-Zahra’ (A.S.) had to endure are not far from the confiscation of the caliphate because what she underwent came within the mechanism of such confiscation and is not separated from it at all. If the confiscation of the caliphate is regarded as a great crime, as the man himself describes, then the manner in which that was achieved is even more awful and more ugly. So, to become acquainted with what they did to al-Zahra’ (A.S.), so that they could attain the caliphate, is to be familiar with a decisive evidence testifying to the nature of their practices and to the circumstances which surrounded the confiscation of this very important issue which is relevant to the entire Islamic reality.

 

SECOND: We are unable to identify the connection between our not discussing our issues and others discarding them. Are they so weak and flimsy?! Or can anyone find it reasonable to assume that the inquirer wants to say that we have to discard our own issues before others do so, as we have indicated earlier?!

 

THIRD: In other statements which he made, this individual says that he puts forth questions and does not want to discuss the case, nor does he want to look for answers. Rather, he demands the others to respond to them. He neither confirms nor denies anything. So if one neither confirms nor denies, can he be counted among those who discuss the issues in their own way?!

He even declares that he is not interested in the subject of breaking the rib of al-Zahra’ (A.S.); so, why insist on raising questions about this issue in particular?!

It is obvious that one who restricts himself to putting forth questions only to make a query and only to learn should not be scandalized. This is why nobody scandalized anyone who did so. Yes, scandalizing is appropriate, even obligatory, of one who puts forth this subject in a non-scholarly manner, that is, passing it on to the public in order to stir doubts in the souls of simpletons and naive people who do not have sufficient knowledge, without providing them with a final solution. Rather, you see him seeking help from scores of proofs for denial in the manner of stirring questions! So, when someone came along to get the scholarly response to the public, certain people considered doing so “scandalizing”!

 

FOURTH: It is not fair that someone asks the public to discuss with him at home behind four walls while reserving for himself the right to declare, with all the news media under his disposal, whatever comes to his mind even it be mere questions or views about basic or non-basic Islamic issues, feeling proud that such is his habit and in the open air.

Then, if someone wants to declare a view which differs from his, even without pointing a finger at his own person, since the man might consider it a “challenge” and a departure from what is taken for granted, will he still be scandalizing him?! So he assaults him with various charges, facing him with psychological warfare, with sharp words and with other means, considering him as one who has committed the greatest sin of all, thus the offender exposes himself to a sure peril...

 

FIFTH: The method of this individual’s treatment of some issues points out to his desire to flirt with certain parties on the Islamic field, for one reason or another. Otherwise, why does he insist on claiming that the assailants who were brought by `Omer loved al-Zahra’ (A.S.) and respected her, then saying that Ali (A.S.) represented an “opposition” and was a rebel against the caliphate, that he was sought for arrest because of that, that the nature of matters required subduing the rebels, and that the Muslims understood the text of the Ghadir’s hadath in a different way, etc?!

 

SIXTH: True, the issue of assaulting al-Zahra’ (A.S.) is not one of the tenets of the creed, but this does not mean that it has no impact on its doctrinal aspect. It actually is one of the most important issues of Islam and belief because it touches upon the issue of the Imam and of the Imamate after the Messenger of Allah (A.S.), and it gives people a clear vision regarding an issue which remains the basic axis in the major conflicts which have afflicted this nation with regard to the issues of its faith and doctrine. It is, then, a political event which impacts the Imam and the Imamate, and it is a very serious doctrinal issue.