SHI`AS ARE THE AHL AL-SUNNAH

About the Book

This book, which is written by a well known scholar, a graduate of the Sorbonne, who switched from one Muslim school of thought to another, attempts to prove that the Muslims who truly follow the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet of Islam are actually none other than those referred to as the Shi`as. It details how these Shi`as (or Shi`ites) learn this Sunnah from the closest people to the Prophet of Islam: his immediate family members. It traces the history of the Muslims of the first Islamic century and how they split into two camps, thus setting the foundations for both of these major sects. It also deals with the persecution to which the immediate family members of the Prophet of Islam were subjected and the politicians who played a major role in widening the gap between the followers of this sect and those of that. As for its style, the author restricts himself to quoting major authentic Sunni works to prove his point, relying on an in-depth study of the Islamic history in general and of that of the first century in particular. Many controversial themes are discussed in this book, including that of the infallibility of the Prophet of Islam and of the Twelve Imams who descended from Ali and Fatima, cousin and daughter of the Prophet respectively. Finally, the book concludes with an Appendix containing an Arabic poem in one thousand lines in praise of Commander of the Faithful Ali composed by an Iraqi poet for the Arabic speaking readers.

About the Author

Author Dr. Muhammad al-Tijani was born in Gafsa, Tunisia, on February 2, 1943 in a Malekite Sunni family. He kept adhering to his parents’ beliefs till he met in al-Najaf al-Ashraf, Iraq, the renown religious scholar, theologian, thinker and economist, Muhammad-Baqir al-Sadr, so he embraced then and there the faith of the Shi`a Ja`fari Ithna-`Asheri (Twelver) School of Muslim Law and wrote, in addition to this title, many books, including: Then I was Guided, which details his acceptance of the said fath, Ask Those Who Know (or “So Ask the People of the Remembrance [Qur’an]”), With the Truthful; So Traverse the Earth; All Solutions are with the Messenger’s Progeny. Three of his books are available in Urdu, and some of his works are also available in French, Turkish, Farsi (Persian) and Swahili. Al-Tijani earned his M.A. degree from the University of Paris then his Ph.D. from the Sorbonne following the acceptance of his thesis titled The Philosophical Theories in Nahjul-Balagha. Two books impressed al-Tijani more than others: Nahjul-Balagha and Al-Muraja`at. The Translator of this book, Yasin T. al-Jibouri, has so far written, edited and translated a total of 62 books and other publications. He edited three English translations of the Holy Qur’an. Among his famous works are: Allah: the Concept of God in Islam (in two Volumes), Kerbala and Beyond: an Epic of Immortal Heroism and Mary and Jesus in Islam. The list of his most important translations, in addition to this one, includes: Al-Muraja`at: A Shi`i-Sunni Dialogue, Maqtal al-Hussain, Tragedy of Fatima Daughter of Muhammed: Doubts Cast and Rebuttals and Nahjul-Balagha: the Path of Eloquence (in three Volumes). Amazon (www.amazon.com) is marketing all of these and many of his other works. He earned his graduate degree from an American university in 1978, taught English in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States and is presently preparing more works for publication. Mr. Nasir Shamsi, Editor of this book, holds an M.A. with honors in English. He was editor-in-chief of Message of Peace, a bulletin of Pyam-e-Aman Publications and was also chairman (1994 – 95) of the Muslim foundation of New Jersey. He has written numerous articles and edited many religious books all of which have been published in the United States. Read more about him in the Editor’s Preface.