Bismillahirrahmaanirrahiem, may salawat and salam be showered upon the noblest Prophet and Messenger, our role model Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam, along with his family and his companions.
O Allah, we take refuge in You, we ask for help from You and we put our trust (tawakkal) on You. You are the One Who Starts and Repeats, O Allah we take refuge from the evils of our actions and we ask for help from You to always obey You, and on You we put trust (tawakkal) for all our affairs.
Since birth, what I knew of my aqeedah was only ghuluw (excessive) in loving the Ahlul Bait. We used to beg for help from them, swear by their names and return to them each time we faced disasters. My two sisters and I had completely absorbed this aqeedah since childhood.
We indeed came from a genuine Shiah family. We did not know about the madzhab of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah except that they are enemies of the Ahlul Bait of Rasulullah sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam. They had seized the caliphate from the hand of the Amirul Mu'mineen, Ali bin Abi Thalib Radhiyallahu’anhu, and they were the ones who killed Husain.
This aqeedah was more and more embedded strongly in our selves throughout the days of “Tahrim”, i.e. the day of mourning the Ahlul Bait, thus was also spoken by our Shaykh in the occasion of Husainiyyah and in the mourning cassettes that filled my drawer.
I didn't know anything about their (Ahlus Sunnah's) aqeedah at all. All that I knew about them was just that they are the people of munafiq who want to drive the noble Ahlul Bait into a corner.
The above factors are enough to cause the onset of a deep hatred in me against the adherents of that madzhab, the madzhab of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah.
Since birth, what I knew of my aqeedah was only ghuluw (excessive) in loving the Ahlul Bait. We used to beg for help from them, swear by their names and return to them each time we faced disasters. My two sisters and I had completely absorbed this aqeedah since childhood.
We indeed came from a genuine Shiah family. We did not know about the madzhab of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah except that they are enemies of the Ahlul Bait of Rasulullah sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam. They had seized the caliphate from the hand of the Amirul Mu'mineen, Ali bin Abi Thalib Radhiyallahu’anhu, and they were the ones who killed Husain.
This aqeedah was more and more embedded strongly in our selves throughout the days of “Tahrim”, i.e. the day of mourning the Ahlul Bait, thus was also spoken by our Shaykh in the occasion of Husainiyyah and in the mourning cassettes that filled my drawer.
I didn't know anything about their (Ahlus Sunnah's) aqeedah at all. All that I knew about them was just that they are the people of munafiq who want to drive the noble Ahlul Bait into a corner.
The above factors are enough to cause the onset of a deep hatred in me against the adherents of that madzhab, the madzhab of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah.
True… I hate them very much, as much as my love for the Imam. I hate them in accordance with the opinion of the Shiah as the oppressed party.
The First Shock
At that time, I was still in elementary school. At school, I heard an explanation by a senior female teacher about the subject of tawheed. She talked about shirk, and said that invoking on others besides Allah is a form of ascribing partners to Allah. For example, when someone says in a prayer: “O Fulan, save me from disaster… help me,” the teacher continued. So I said to her: "Madam, we say “O Ali”, is that also a part of Shirk?" For a moment, I saw her silent… all of the students in my school, and indeed most of its teachers are following the madzhab of Shiah… and then the teacher said in a confident tone: “Yes, it is Shirk” and right away hurled a question at me:
“Isn't do'a an ibaadah?”
“I don't know,” I said.
“Pay attention to what Allah has to say about do'a below,” she continued while reciting the verse of Allah:
At that time, I was still in elementary school. At school, I heard an explanation by a senior female teacher about the subject of tawheed. She talked about shirk, and said that invoking on others besides Allah is a form of ascribing partners to Allah. For example, when someone says in a prayer: “O Fulan, save me from disaster… help me,” the teacher continued. So I said to her: "Madam, we say “O Ali”, is that also a part of Shirk?" For a moment, I saw her silent… all of the students in my school, and indeed most of its teachers are following the madzhab of Shiah… and then the teacher said in a confident tone: “Yes, it is Shirk” and right away hurled a question at me:
“Isn't do'a an ibaadah?”
“I don't know,” I said.
“Pay attention to what Allah has to say about do'a below,” she continued while reciting the verse of Allah:
وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ
“And your Lord says: "Call upon Me; I will respond to you. Indeed, those who disdain My ibaadah (worship) will enter Hell contemptible."” (Ghaafir: 60).
“Doesn't Allah explain in this verse that supplicating (making do'a) is an ibaadah (worship), and then threaten the people who are reluctant and takabbur (arrogant) against the aforesaid ibaadah with Hell?” she asked.
After hearing that statement, I felt an awkwardness… I felt upset… a myriad of feeling clung to my mind which I could not let out. At that moment, I wished I never had asked her that question. So I stared at her for the second time… she remained firm like a mountain.
I waited with patience the time to return home, I hoped maybe my father could give a solution to my problem… so soon as I returned from school, I asked my father about what had been said by the teacher that day.
My father right away said that the teacher was one of the people who hate Imam Ali. He said that we do not worship Amirul Mu'mineen, we do not say that he is Allah, with which your teacher accused us of doing shirk… my father explained.
Actually I was not satisfied with my father's answer, because the teacher had used daleels (proofs) from the verses of Allah. Then my father tried to explain to me the errors of the Sunni madzhab which resulted in the increase of my hatred, and I was increasingly confident on the falseness (batil) of their madzhab.
I remained upholding my madzhab, the madzhab of Shiah; until my younger sister continued her career as an employee in the Health Department.
Now, let my sister continue her story…
After entering the world of careership, I became acquainted with an Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah akhwat (sister). She is an akhwat who is multazimah (obedient) and has a noble akhlaq. She was well liked by everyone, be they Sunni or Shiah. I too love her so and dreamed that, if only she was a follower Shiah madzhab.
Due to the love, I even strove so that my working hours coincided with her working hours, and I often talked over the phone with her after the working hours.
My mother and siblings knew how close my relationship with her was, therefore I never told them frankly about the aqeedah of my good friend, but I say to them that she was a Shiah, it's no other than because, I didn't want them to interfere with our relationship.
After hearing that statement, I felt an awkwardness… I felt upset… a myriad of feeling clung to my mind which I could not let out. At that moment, I wished I never had asked her that question. So I stared at her for the second time… she remained firm like a mountain.
I waited with patience the time to return home, I hoped maybe my father could give a solution to my problem… so soon as I returned from school, I asked my father about what had been said by the teacher that day.
My father right away said that the teacher was one of the people who hate Imam Ali. He said that we do not worship Amirul Mu'mineen, we do not say that he is Allah, with which your teacher accused us of doing shirk… my father explained.
Actually I was not satisfied with my father's answer, because the teacher had used daleels (proofs) from the verses of Allah. Then my father tried to explain to me the errors of the Sunni madzhab which resulted in the increase of my hatred, and I was increasingly confident on the falseness (batil) of their madzhab.
I remained upholding my madzhab, the madzhab of Shiah; until my younger sister continued her career as an employee in the Health Department.
Now, let my sister continue her story…
After entering the world of careership, I became acquainted with an Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah akhwat (sister). She is an akhwat who is multazimah (obedient) and has a noble akhlaq. She was well liked by everyone, be they Sunni or Shiah. I too love her so and dreamed that, if only she was a follower Shiah madzhab.
Due to the love, I even strove so that my working hours coincided with her working hours, and I often talked over the phone with her after the working hours.
My mother and siblings knew how close my relationship with her was, therefore I never told them frankly about the aqeedah of my good friend, but I say to them that she was a Shiah, it's no other than because, I didn't want them to interfere with our relationship.
The Beginning of a Hidayah
Today, my friend and I were in the same shift. I asked her: “Why are there Sunni and Shiah out there, and why does this split happen?” She then answered softly:
“Ukhti, first of all forgive me for what I will have to say… actually you are the ones who disassociate yourselves from the religion, you are the ones who disassociate yourselves from Al-Qur’an and you are the ones who disassociate yourselves from tawheed!!”
Her words sounded like thunder which pierced my heart and mind. I was indeed a person among my siblings who studied the least about the madzhab. She then said:
“Do you know that your ulama's believe that the Qur’an has been changed, they believe that everything is in the hand of the Imam, they ascribe partners to Allah, and so on…?” While she mentioned a number of issues, I was hoping that she would keep quiet because I did not believe all those.
Towards the end of the working hours, my best friend took out several sheets of paper from her bag while saying that it was his brother's writing, about the haram ruling of making do'a to others besides Allah. I took those sheets of paper, and on my way home I kept touching it while reflecting on my best friend's utterances just now.
I went into the house and locked myself in the bedroom. And then I started to read the writing. Indeed, it attracted my attention and made me reflect on it often.
The next day, my best friend gave me a book entitled “Lillaah, tsumma littaariekh” (Because of Allah, and then because of history). I swear by Allah, I was repeatedly struck reading what was written in it. Is this our religion, the religion of the people of Shiah? Is this our belief?!!
My best friend also got increasingly closer to me. She explained the reality of many things to me. She said that the Aahlus Sunnah love the Amirul Mu'mineen and his family.
True… I then switched to adhere to the madzhab of Ahlus Sunnah without anyone in my family knowing. My best friend always contacted me by phone. In fact, due to the frequency, she got to know my older sister.
Now, let my sister continue her story…
I started to get acquainted with this good akhwat. Indeed by Allah, I was getting to love her as I always heard stories about her from my younger sister. Hence, soon as I personally listened to her words, I love her even more…
Today, my friend and I were in the same shift. I asked her: “Why are there Sunni and Shiah out there, and why does this split happen?” She then answered softly:
“Ukhti, first of all forgive me for what I will have to say… actually you are the ones who disassociate yourselves from the religion, you are the ones who disassociate yourselves from Al-Qur’an and you are the ones who disassociate yourselves from tawheed!!”
Her words sounded like thunder which pierced my heart and mind. I was indeed a person among my siblings who studied the least about the madzhab. She then said:
“Do you know that your ulama's believe that the Qur’an has been changed, they believe that everything is in the hand of the Imam, they ascribe partners to Allah, and so on…?” While she mentioned a number of issues, I was hoping that she would keep quiet because I did not believe all those.
Towards the end of the working hours, my best friend took out several sheets of paper from her bag while saying that it was his brother's writing, about the haram ruling of making do'a to others besides Allah. I took those sheets of paper, and on my way home I kept touching it while reflecting on my best friend's utterances just now.
I went into the house and locked myself in the bedroom. And then I started to read the writing. Indeed, it attracted my attention and made me reflect on it often.
The next day, my best friend gave me a book entitled “Lillaah, tsumma littaariekh” (Because of Allah, and then because of history). I swear by Allah, I was repeatedly struck reading what was written in it. Is this our religion, the religion of the people of Shiah? Is this our belief?!!
My best friend also got increasingly closer to me. She explained the reality of many things to me. She said that the Aahlus Sunnah love the Amirul Mu'mineen and his family.
True… I then switched to adhere to the madzhab of Ahlus Sunnah without anyone in my family knowing. My best friend always contacted me by phone. In fact, due to the frequency, she got to know my older sister.
Now, let my sister continue her story…
I started to get acquainted with this good akhwat. Indeed by Allah, I was getting to love her as I always heard stories about her from my younger sister. Hence, soon as I personally listened to her words, I love her even more…
That day, I was cleaning the house and my younger sister was working in the office. I found a book with pictures entitled : “Lillaah, tsumma littaariekh”.
I opened it up and read it… indeed by Allah, it was not even ten pages yet, I felt limp and was unable to finish my work of cleaning the house. Just imagine, in a flash, the aqeedah that was embedded in me for more than 20 years, was smashed instantaneously.
I waited for my sister's return from her office. And then I asked her: “What book is this?”
“It's a gift from one of the nurses in the hospital,” she answered.
“Have you read it?” I asked.
“Yes, I have read it and I am confident that our madzhab is confused,” she answered.
“How about you?” she asked.
“It was only a few pages,” I answered.
“What is your opinion on it?” she asked.
“I think this is all a lie, because if it is true, it means that we have been downright astray,” I answered.
“Why don't we just ask about its contents to the Shaykh?” I requested.
“Wow, a good idea,” she said.
I then sent the book to the Shaykh though my younger brother. I requested so that he would ask the Shaykh whether what were written in the book are true, or they are just lies and empty talks?
My brother came to the Shaykh and gave him the book. So the Shaykh asked him:
“Where did you get this book from?”
“It's a gift from one of the nurses to my sister,” he answered.
“Let me read it first,” the Shaykh said, while I hoped in my heart that soon he would say that all those are lies against the Shiah people. However, it was never to happen!
Batil (falsehood) will surely perish…
I kept waiting for the answer from the Shaikh for ten days. My hope remained the same, maybe I would get something from him that is comforting to the heart.
However, during those ten days, I experienced a lot of changes. Now my sister's best friend often talked at length with me over the phone, she even seemed to forget that she initially wanted to talk to my younger sister. We talked at great length about various issues.
Once she asked me: “Are you satisfied with what we practice all these while as a people of Shiah?” I thought that she was a Shiah, and she knew it…
“I guess we are on the right path,” I answered.
“Then what's your opinion regarding your sister's book?” she asked. I was silent for a moment… and then I said:
“I have given that book to a Shaykh so that he will explain the real nature of the book.”
“I think he will not give you a helpful answer, I have read it before you repeated times and I investigated the truth of its contents… evidently what's contained in it are indeed bitter truth,” she explained.
“I then became convinced that what we believe all along are batil,” she continued.
We continued to chat over the phone and most of the conversation was about the issue of tawheed, ibaadah to Allah and the confused beliefs of the Shiah. Every day when my sister returned from office, she would pass some brochures about the aqeedah of Shiah, and during that time I was in a quandary…
I remembered again the words of my teacher which I had already forgotten. I delegated my younger brother to meet the Shaykh and to get back the book from him, along with his refutation. However, I swear by Allah, this Shaykh again and again eluded from meeting my brother. Whereas previously, he used to look for my brother often, and now instead it was brother who had to call him. However, the family of the Shaykh said that he was not around, and when my brother stumbled upon him in the Husainiyyah [A ritual of the Shiah in commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Husain bin Ali radiyallahu'anhu] event and asked him about the book; the Shaykh only said: “Later,” and so it went for two months.
During that time, my relationship with my sister's best friend through the phone was getting more frequent, and in between that she explained to me that she is a Sunni, a.k.a. Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah. She asked me:
“Honestly, what makes you people hate the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah?”
I did hesitate for a moment, but answered: “It's because of their hatred against the Ahlul Bait”.
“Ya Ukhti, the Ahlussunnah in fact love them,” she answered.
And then she went into detail about the love of the Ahlus Sunnah for the entire household of Rasulullah sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam, different from the Shiah Rafidhah who in truth hate some of the Ahlul Bait, such as the wives of the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam.
True, I now know about the aqeedah of Ahlus Sunnah wa Jama’ah and I am starting to love the aqeedah that is compatible with the fitrah and far from the attitude of ghuluw (extreme)… far from shirk… and far from lies.
The real truth started to be visible to me, and I was confused whether I should leave the religion of my ancestors and family? Or forsake the religion that that is pure, the ridha (pleasure) Allah and His Jannah??
Yes, in the end I made the right choice and I became an Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah. I then contacted the solihah akhwat (righteous sister) and I told her that I was being 'reborn' that day.
I am a Sunni, a.k.a. Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah.
That akhwat uttered takbir through the phone, and my tears flowed out at that instant… the tears that cleansed the deepest part of my heart from the remaining aqeedah of Shiah that is full of shirk, bid’ah and khurafat (myths)…
Thus was our story… and not along after we received hidayah, our youngest sister and one of her best friends also received hidayah as a gift from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’aala.
(Your sisters who have repented)
No comments:
Post a Comment