AYATULLAH SAYEID ABUL-FADL BIN RIDA AL-BORQEI AL-QUMMI - DEMYSTIFYING SHIA CREED

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. Glory is to Allah Lord of the Worlds, Whose praise should precede all writing and every speech! May the blessings of Allah rest on Muhammad, His Prophet and Apostle, on his family and companions by whose guidance error I escaped!

Before the reader is a priceless book written by Ayatullah Sayyid Abul Fadl bin Rida al- Borqei al Qummi titled: Naqd al Murajaat (a critique of The Right Path). The book; the right path, was written by Sayyid Abdul Husain Sharafuddin al Musawi, an Iraqi Shia scholar who settled in Lebanon, for the purpose of teaching the Shia that the truth to the righteousness of their creed are supported by Ahlus Sunnah texts and for the purpose of converting the ignorant, unsuspecting Ahlus Sunnah to Shia creed or at least to put doubt in their minds with their belief in Islam

Many Muslim scholars have written replies and critiques to the book written by Abdul Husain (The Right Path), each one taking a particular form of methodology. The one before the reader is different in methodology to all other critiques and above all it was written by a former Shia scholar who has reached the position of an authority (Mujtahid) in the Shia Imamiyyah sect; and none can inform you about a thing other than a learned, expert in it.

In the course of translating this book I use the Arabic version of Murajaat and not the English translated version titled The Right Path. My reasons for doing that are: There are a lot of things that the Arabic version contains which are not found in the English translated version, for example the authors introduction to his book is not included in the English version. You also find sentences and phrases being skipped in the English version and lastly I disagreed with the English translator in his translation of some paragraphs, sentences and phrases because he at times modify them.

All the references mentioned in this book have been mentioned within the paragraph under discussion and or immediately after the quotation. This is done in order to make it easy for whoever wants to refer to them to do so with ease and comfort. I also added some footnotes in order to explain some points raised by the author; these have been numbered in numerical order, I added the initial ETN (English translators note) at the end of my footnote, while the initial ATN (authors note) is added at the end of the footnote made by the author. I named this translation as Demystifying Shia Creed.

Lastly, it is very important that one take his religion seriously; he shall not follow any creed blindly or just by reading a pamphlet or a book, nor shall he follow any creed out of sentiment, partisanship, or fanaticism or trust of so and so. One shall always seek for the truth and he shall weigh any narration, story or opinion that come to him or he come across with the Quran and sound hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) and whatever contradict the Quran and sound hadiths shall be thrown away, discarded and pulled down. Whenever you came across a book or a creed or a sect do not just flung yourself into it without cogent, diligent research in order to ascertain the truth of their claims and also by reading books that claimed that those creeds or opinions are wrong, so that you see their proofs and their arguments, thereafter you take your course on clear understanding and knowledge. These measures became necessary because religion is a serious business for Allah created you solely to worship Him. He said: And I created not the Jinns and the humans except that they worship Me (alone) (51:56). That worship shall be made with clear, sure knowledge and understanding and not by sentiment, blind following, partisanship or group feeling. So, brothers free yourselves from partisanship, and fanaticism and you will taste the sweetness of faith and be free as Allah wants you to be. Imam Ghazali lamented that some people: Judge the truth according to its professors instead of judging its professors by the standard of the truth. But a liberal mind will take this maxim from the commander of believers, Ali bin Abi Talib (r.a) when he said: Do not seek the truth by means of men; find first the truth and then you will recognize those who follow it.

May Allah made this effort bear fruits both in this world and the Hereafter. May He guide us by His Mercy to the Straight Path.

NASIRU GARBA

nasirggusau@gmail.com

The English Translator

1st August, 2016

NIGERIA