Peshawar Nights: Shia Islam in Sunni Traditions

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Well-Wisher: Obviously, it is not possible for two persons to form a real unity. When I said that the Commander of the Faithful had a unity of 'self' or 'soul' with the Holy Prophet, you should not take it as actual unity, because no one has ever claimed that, and if anyone believed it they would be absolutely wrong. The unity I referred to is only assumed, not actual, and intends to indicate that both of them have the same excellence of soul and merits, not the same body. Well-Wisher: You misunderstood me. I do not unjustly censure anyone. I was not alive during the time of Amadi. Your own ulama’ have reported that he was an irreligious man. Amiru'l-Mu'minin's letter to the people of Egypt explaining his silence when deprived of the caliphate

It is strange that you call the Shi’as innovators and worshippers of the dead. They follow the injunctions of the twelve Imams, the descendants of the Prophet. However, it is not known on what grounds you attempt to force Muslims to follow the Ash'aris or Mu'tazalis regarding the fundamentals (usul) and one of the four Imams in the articles of the practice (furu') of the faith. Those who do not follow them are called Rafizis. Since Abu'l-Hasan Ash'ari, Abu Hanifa, Maliki Ibn Anas Muhammad Ibn Idris Shafi'i, and Ahmad Ibn Hanbal were like many other Muslim ulama’ and jurists, and since there is no injunction from the Holy Prophet to follow them, the restriction to follow them alone is an innovation. If I were to make this charge, what would you say in reply? Well-Wisher: Surely you know that because of the merit of the Commander of the Faithful, ‘Ali, the Bani Umayya made continued efforts through secret means and particularly through the servile flatterers of Mu'awiya, like Abu Huraira and Mughira, to fabricate such hadith.

Therefore we have not attempted to differentiate between aleph (long 'a') and fatiha (short 'a'), using 'a' in all cases. Similarly we have shown yah (long 'i') and kasra (short 'i') as 'i' except for a few cases where the words are commonly known one way, or, the other, i.e., 'Sulayman.' Hafiz: On the one hand you condemn the Ghalis, and on the other hand, you yourself unduly praise the Imams and consider their position higher than that of the prophets. Common sense denies this, and the Holy Qur'an has also declared that the prophets are placed at the highest rank. Their position lies between Divine Self-Existence and the possible. Since your assertion is not supported by reason it cannot be accepted. The rank of imamate is higher than that of general prophethood Ali's battles of Jamal, Siffin, and Nahrwan were like the battles of the Holy Prophet against the infidels The Imamate is a stage lower than the highest stage of prophethood, but it is a stage higher than all other ranks of prophethood. Since ‘Ali was raised to the stage higher than prophethood and was one in spirit with the Holy Prophet, he was endowed with the office of the Imamate and was thus superior to all previous prophets. Hafiz: The authenticity of this hadith has not been proven. Even if it were proven to be true, it would be a single narration and therefore unacceptable. Authenticity of hadith of manzila from the usual sources

Hafiz: This means, according to your reasoning, that ‘Ali's position was superior to that of the last Prophet. This is what the Ghalis believed, as you have yourself admitted. General and special prophethoodAbu Hamid Ghazali in his book ‘Manqul fi Ilmi'l-Usul’ says: "In fact Abu Hanifa distorted the religious code, made its way doubtful, changed its arrangement, and intermingled the laws in such a way that the code prescribed by the Holy Prophet was totally disfigured. One who does so deliberately and considers it lawful is an infidel. One who does it knowing it to be unlawful is a sinner." According to this great scholar, Abu Hanifa was either an infidel or a sinner.