One of the most troublesome points for the Shia faith is the fact that its central tenet, the concept of Imamah and the designation of the twelve Infallible Imams, is altogether missing from the Quran. To the Shia, the belief in the twelve Imams is central to one’s faith and the one who denies the Imamah of these twelve men does not die a complete believer. Therefore, it is mysterious that Allah did not include this belief in the Quran, even though much lesser important matters were in fact mentioned therein.
The classical Shia scholars rectified this discrepancy by claiming that the Quran was tampered with by the Sahabah (the Prophet’s Companions) who sought to prevent the rule of Ali (رضّى الله عنه) and the line of Imams after him; according to these Shia, the Sahabah removed verses and even entire Surahs from the Quran (including the so-called Surah al-Wilayah) in order to hide Allah’s Commandments to follow the twelve Imams. This belief in Tahreef (corruption or manipulation) of the Quran became a central part of the classical Shia theology. However, when the mainstream Muslims heard of this deviant belief, they reacted by burning to the stake the heretics who claimed such a thing. It was thus that the Shia scholars decided upon using Taqiyyah (lying to save oneself) in order to save the Shia masses from extinction. These classical Shia scholars feared that the welfare of the Shia masses was far too important and it was best to hide this view using Taqiyyah.
In the modern day, the Shia scholars have continued this tradition of Taqiyyah, publically denying–even to their own followers–the belief in Tahreef. The Shia propagandists have taken Taqiyyah one step further by simply denying that this was ever a Shia belief to begin with. Unfortunately, the classical Shia books–written by the founding fathers of Shia theology–are evidence to the contrary: the prevailing view of the men who founded the Shia theology, whose books form the basis for modern day Shia scholarship, was that Tahreef of Quran did in fact happen.
In this article, we will examine the view of ash-Shaykh al-Mufid, one of the most well-respected Imami scholars of theology; he is cited by the Shia as being one of the pivotal thinkers who contributed to the development of Imami doctrine. It would not be an overstatement to say that the Shia hold Shaykh al-Mufid in higher regard than all of the contemporary Ayatollahs combined.
As we all know, it was Caliph Uthman bin Affan (رضّى الله عنه) who completed the compilation of the Quran into what became known as the Mushaf. Shaykh al-Mufid claimed, like his other Shia colleagues, that Uthman (رضّى الله عنه) did not properly compile the Quran and that parts of the Quran were left out (i.e. omitted) from the Mushaf, in particular those verses in the Quran in which the names of the twelve Imams were mentioned. Shaykh al-Mufid claimed that Amir al-Mu’mineen Ali (رضّى الله عنه) was the only one who compiled the entire Quran and that this edition was currently being held by Al-Qaem (i.e. Imam Mehdi) who would reveal this complete version when he would return from his occultation.
And yet, in the typical tradition of Taqiyyah, the Shia propagandists provide a half-quote to make it appear as if Shaykh al-Mufid did not believe in Tahreef. This is the half-quote that is commonly propagated by the Shia:
All of what is between the two covers of the Quran is the Speech of Allah Ta’ala and His revelation; it does not contain any sayings of human beings…Authentic Hadiths have passed from our Imams (A.S.) that they have ordered (us) to read what is between the two covers, and that we do not resort to any other, be it in addition or subtraction…They (A.S.) prevented us from reading the Quran contrary to what is mentioned between the two covers.
Source
Book Title: Masa’il as-Sarawiyya
Author: ash-Shaykh al-Mufid
Publisher: Dar al-Mufid in Lebanon, Beirut [1993]
Editor: Sa’ib `Abd al-Humayd
Page(s): 78-81
And we find this misleading half-quote dutifully reproduced by many Shia propagandists and even by many Shia lay-persons who have never actually opened this book in their lives. It is altogether stunning at how deceptive this half-quoting is. Let us then turn to these same pages from that same book and expose the Shia deception by reading the entire passage in lieu of this cut and spliced version. Shaykh al-Mufid says:
All of what is between the two covers of the Quran is the Speech of Allah Ta’ala and His revelation; it does not contain any sayings of human beings, and it is most of what has been revealed, and the rest of what Allah Ta’ala has revealed as Quran is bestowed with (Al-Qaem) the Preserver of Shariah and Custodian of Rulings with none of it being omitted, even though the one who has compiled what is between the two covers as present today (Uthman) did not include this in the compilation due to reasons such as: his shortcomings in knowing some (of it), what he had doubts about, and some which he included and others he meant to exclude, while Amir al-Mu’mineen (Ali) compiled the revealed Quran from beginning to end, and collated it as it is supposed to be collated: so he put the Makki (verses) before Madani, and abrogated verses before those abrogating them, and put all of it as it is required to be put, and for this reason (Imam) Jafar ibn Muhammad as-Saddiq said: “By Allah if the Quran was read as it was revealed you would have found our names as those before us were named”…
Authentic Hadiths have passed from our Imams (A.S.) that they have ordered (us) to read what is between the two covers, and that we do not resort to any other, be it in addition or subtraction until the Qaem emerges and he would read to people the Quran as Allah Ta’ala revealed it and as collected by Amir al-Mu’mineen (Ali) and they forbade us from reading what is mentioned in Hadith of words that are in excess of what is established in the Mushaf because it did not come through Mutawatir (narrations), but through individual (narrations), and a person can commit mistakes in conveying it, and whenever a person reads what is contrary to what is in the two covers he will make himself prone to (the attacks) of those who differ with us (i.e. Sunnis), and to the mighty (Sunni rulers) and thus he would expose himself to perishing. Thus, they (A.S.) prevented us from reading the Quran contrary to what is mentioned between the two covers.
Source
Book Title: Masa’il as-Sarawiyya
Author: ash-Shaykh al-Mufid
Publisher: Dar al-Mufid in Lebanon, Beirut [1993]
Editor: Sa’ib `Abd al-Humayd
Page(s): 78-81
How dramatically different is the truth from what the Shia try to portray! The very quote that the Shia use to defend Shaykh al-Mufid is the very proof that we use to damn him. Let us summarize what Shaykh al-Mufid said in the above quote:
1) Yes, everything in the Quran that we have now is from Allah and nothing in it is from humans. So there are no additions to the Quran.
2) However, there are deletions (i.e. omissions) from the Quran! These missing parts of the Quran are with Imam Mehdi (i.e. Al-Qaem). Uthman (رضّى الله عنه) did not include these parts in the Mushaf we have today for a variety of reasons (and he names those reasons).
3) The names of the twelve Imams are actually mentioned in the complete Quran which is with Al-Qaem, and these verses were omitted by Caliph Uthman (رضّى الله عنه). Al-Qaem will reveal the missing verses when he returns from his occultation.
4) Yes, we know for sure that there are missing parts to the Quran, but we cannot be sure what exactly those missing parts are; we don’t know which of those Hadith which tell us the missing verses are correct and which are not. We will have to wait for Al-Qaem to come and inform us which are the true additions to the Quran.
5) Taqiyyah: We should deny that anything is missing from the Quran for fear of the Sunni reaction and backlash against the Shia masses.
May Allah guide us to the Truth!
Article Written By: Ibn al-Hashimi, www.ahlelbayt.com
