IS KHUTBATUL BAYAN FAKE AND CONCOCTED ? OBJECTION No. 3 : Khutbatul Bayan is not found in Nahjul Balagha, but is found in some unreliable books. [See Page 1, line 1] Come Thursday, Shias all over the world dutifully assemble to recite and to listen in tearful tribute to Dua-e Kumayl. Many of the scholars and even ordinary men like me, recite Dua-e Sabah at dawn, calling out in ecstatic exhuberance “Ya man dalla ala zatihi bi zaatih”. A sizeable book under the title “Sahifa-e Alawiya” contains hundreds of supplications. “Ghuraril Hikam” is a fairly fat compilations of sayings of Imam Ali. Who but Imam Ali could have delivered a sermon without using “Alif”? Who but Imam Ali could deliver an extempore sermon without “Nukta”? Who could deliver unique judgments collected in a book called “Qazaya-e Amirul Mominin”. Imam Ali left a great treasure of excellent poetry as literary masterpieces, taught in Universities. All these books are acclaimed by scholars of the highest caliber and made a part of syllabus in universities of the highest repute. Are they found in Sharif al Razi’s Nahjul Balagha? NO. Then, are they concoctions and fabrications which ignorant people have accepted as the words of Imam Ali?” Again NO. Does the non-inclusion mean that all these great works of Imam Ali are fake? NO Yet, as a matter of fact, Sharif al Razi did not include them in Nahjul Balagha. Did he go through them and reject them as concoctions? Let us see what Razi has to say in his preface to Nahjul Balagha: “…..A group of my friends and brothers in faith…. requested me to compile a book that contains the best of Amirul Mominin’s (s) eloquence and eminence (as an orator and writer) in the form of his Sermons, writing and sayings which portray the peak of his eloquence and his mastery over the Arabic language, and which are not collectively found in any one book. …….. …….. By the Grace of Allah I have decided to place the Sermons foremost, followed by Letters and Sayings as three separate categories and in between each category I have left several blank sheets so that if something comes to light later, which is not included by me, may be inscribed and inserted in the blank pages. ……. It cannot be gainsaid that what I have in my possession and what is known to me, is far, far less than what is not within my reach. My job was to strive to the best of my capacity”. In Al Fihrist of Tusi and in Najashi’s Kitab al-Rijaal it is reported that the famous historian Abdul Aziz ibn Yahya al Jaludi [d.330 Hijri], compiled, almost a century before Sharif Al Razi, subject-wise books of Imam Ali’s words and letters as follows: (1) Kitab al Rasayil; (2) Kitab al Khutb; (3) Kitab al Mawazeh; (4) Kitab al Dua; (5) Kitab al Shayr; and (6) Kitab al Malahim [Peshangoyi]. This was a century BEFORE Nahj was compiled by Razi. The famous Shii scholar Muhammad Hasan bin Ali [d.336 Hijri], wrote in his book “Tohfatul Uqool”, again a century before Sharif al Razi, that if all the sermons and saying of Imam Ali, regarding the Unicity [Tauhid] alone are complied in one book, it will be as large as Tohfatul Uqool. It may be mentioned that Tohfatul Uqool is larger than Nahjul Balagha. Sharif al Razi omitted more than half out of the four hundred and eighty seven sermons, mentioned by Masudi in Murujuz Zahab. This too was almost a century before Razi compiled Nahj. Khutbuddin of Rwanda says that he heard the scholars of Hijaz mention that in Egypt there were more than twenty huge volumes attributed to Imam Ali Thus it is clear that apart from what is compiled in Nahjul Balagha by al Razi, there existed and may still exist a large quantum of Imam Ali’s sermons, sayings, supplications, Juristic pronunciations, poetry and other writing. After al Razi. the work of compilation continues through centuries. For instance, among scores of others, Allama Shaikh Najafi Aal-e Kashiful Ghita [d. 1354 Hijri] who, in Mustadrak Nahjul Balagha, compiled sermons and sayings of Imam Ali which are not found in Nahjul Balagha. When so much material was available, why did Sharif al Razi restrict himself only to what he compiled in Nahjul Balagha? To find an answer, we have to look into the circumstances and the personal inclination of Sharif al Razi. Early in his childhood al Razi memorized the Quran and mastered its exegeses. His scholarship in religious sciences was well known and at a very young age he was appointed the Chief Justice by the Abbasid Caliph. The independence of his nature and spirit could be gathered from the fact that he preferred to resign from the post of Chief Justice, rather than affix his stamp on a decree sanctioning war against the Fatimids of Egypt. As a jurist and a scholar in theology and statecraft, what interested Sharif al Razi most was the historical, sociological and political aspects of Imam Ali’s sermons, sayings and writing. He wanted to place before the world, in Imam Ali’s words, the then prevailing political and sociological order and Imam Ali’s own view and reaction to particular situation. Even the sermons relating to Tawhid are intermingled with the history of creation of the universe and mankind. Though some of the sermons in Nahjul Balagha foretell future events, they are bereft of mysticism and are based on the information on future events, passed on to Imam Ali by the Prophet (s). Sharif al Razi wished to bring out sermons, sayings and writing of a generally acceptable nature dealing with history, politics and social order that prevailed during Imam Ali’s time. Nahjul Balagha was compiled towards the end of the fourth century Hijri. Sharif al Razi died 430 Hijri. Sharif al Razi avoided religious polemics and discourses in mysticism. He restricted himself to such lurking questions as to why Imam Ali reacted as he did to the political situation that arose after the departure of the Prophet (s). Therefore, Nahjul Balagha earned instant appreciation and was accepted unquestioningly for about two centuries. Imam Ali’s sermons, sayings and writing were quoted frequently from the Nahjul Balagha, in full or in part. Then, two centuries later came ibn Khalkan [d.681] who insinuated that the trend and tenor of the contents raises the doubt that Nahjul Balagha, after all, might be the writing of Sharif al Razi and not Imam Ali (s). Later, Zahabi raised ibn Khalkan’s suspicion to a level of certainty that Nahjul Balagha is a fabrication because he found that his two shyooq Abu Bakr and Omer were abused in Khutba-e Shiqshiqiya. The dust of unfounded prejudice and suspicion was cleared when it was pointed out that Khutba-e Shiqhiqiya was traceable to Sunni books long prior to Nahjul Balagha. Three great Sunni scholars – ibn Abil Hadid, Shaikh Sulayman al Khanduzi and Abdoh, popularized Nahjul Balagha among the Arabs and Muslims. Later Germans and Russians researched and found astonishing scientific truths and revelations in Nahjul Balagha. Now, universally Nahjul Balagha is acknowledged as the collection of Imam Ali’s sermons, sayings and writing. On the other hand compilers of other books, such as Nahjul Israr, concentrated on the mystic nature of the sermons of Imam Ali. The tragedy with Islamic literature, more particularly Shiite literature is that it was destroyed by both alien troops as well as Muslim who conquered Muslim territories. The compiler of Nahjul Israr gives at page 19-21 a detailed account of the vandalism and destruction of Islamic libraries. As a result of the destruction of libraries and Shiite literature, it became necessary to compile Imam Ali’s work according to the topics and methods preferred by each compiler. In compiling Nahjul Balagha Syed al Razi chose the subjects dear to him and the compiler of Nahjul Israr preferred what was preferred to him. The two compilations are complimentary and not exclusive of each other. Therefore, to classify anything other than what is found in Nahjul Balagha as unauthentic, is the height of injustice coupled with ignorance. Abu Zain’s inclusion of habitual one line verdicts without analyses, reasoning or thoughtful consideration of Khutbatul Bayan, does not justify the obvious bias and prejudice against Imam Ali.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 19:39:55 +0000
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