Hussaini Mission 'Suffering' from Lack of Research

Burial Chamber of Shaeed-e-Rabay at Panja Sharif in Delhi

Dr.Mazhar Naqvi

“No Sunnah is better than research”. Imamis of Indian sub-continent seems to have forgotten this significant saying of Maula Ali. The blogger is constrained to derive such a conclusion in the wake of very little research being carried out to trace the unpublished works of great Imami scholars. The publication of such works needs immediate attention, for anti Ahle-Bait (Prophet and his progeny) forces are flooding the web and book stores to prove Imami faith and practices as Un-Islamic. In response to their campaign to portray the followers of Ahle-Bait as apostate and heretic through a series of books based on unreliable and fabricated sources, Majalis are being used as a powerful weapon. But little attention is being paid to refute false propaganda against Imamis in writing. It is indeed an ironical situation. There is not dearth of material as great Imami scholars have been writing refutations since early 19^th century. Only a strong will is required to trace them, translate them into contemporary languages and publish them. This is possible only through a team of dedicated researchers who also needs to be provided with adequate resources. Unfortunately, this appears to be at the bottom of the priority list of Imamis and their leaders. The indifference is slowly but surely destroying the vast treasure left by the defenders of Imami faith like Shaheed-e-Rabay Mirza Muhammad Kamil Dehalvi (Fourth Martyr) and many others. Nawab of Jhajjhar had him poisoned to death for writing ‘Nuzhat-e-Isna Ashariya’ as a complete response to Shah Abdul Aziz’s ‘Tauhfa Ithna Ashari’. Aziz (1744-1824) had opposed and criticized severely Imami faith and their Azadari rituals in his work.

An idea about the destruction of Imami heritage in writing can be estimated from the statistics available with the blogger from different sources. Imami scholars of Kashmir alone had written 3000 books on Ahle-Bait but only 3 per cent of them now survive. The loss has been mentioned in the book titled “Danish Nameh Shiayan Kashmir” by Syed Kashmiri. Likewise renowned Kashmiri scholar Syed Ali Azhar Naqvi Khojavi (1861-1933 A.D.) and his worthy sons a Syed Ali Haider and Syed Mohammed had authored 150 books against anti-Ahle-Bait allegations but only a few of them are traceable today.

Many other Imami scholars also wrote about 10 refutations individually for the book “Ayat Bayanat” of Syed Mahdi Bahadur who had challenged the philosophy of Ahle-Bait. None of these refutations are presently available while ‘Ayat Bayanat’ has been published several times and the process is still on. Another important refutations of the book “Ayat Muhkamat- dar- Jawab Ayat Bayanat” by Syed Amir Hussain has also been published  once only. Administrator Subhan Ali Khan(1264 A.H.),who had risen to the position of deputy Prime Minister of  Awadh Kingdom was also a great scholar. He wrote over 20 books in defense of Imami faith against the works of anti-Ahle-Bait authors. One of them ‘Al-Wajizah- fi- Usule- Deen” was a brief and to the point refutation of Shah Abdul Aziz’s work. This book is also no longer available. Even descendants of Subhan Khan had no idea about his books. It is believed that about fifty seven refutations were written against Abdul Aziz Dehlavi’s book but  majority of them have  not been printed till date. Other refutations published as books such as “Abaqat ul- Anwar”, “Tashid ul-matain”, “Jawahiru Abqariah”, “Burhan us-Sa’adah”, “Sawarim Ilahiyat”, “Saife Nasiri” and many more are also not available.

Syed Dildar Ali Nasserabadi ‘ Ghufran Mab’(1235 A.H.) and his descendants such as Sultan ul-Ulema  Syed Mohammed, Syed ul-Ulema Syed Hussain, Taj ul-Ulema Syed Ali Mohammed, Mumtaz ul-Ulema Syed Mohammed Taqi, Malaz ul-Ulema Syed Abul Hassan, Syed ul-Ulema Syed Ali Naqi and other great scholars wrote  about two thousand books to protect Imami faith but only some of them have seen publication while their unpublished counterparts are lying in libraries. Grand Ayatollah Mufti Syed Mohammed Abbas Musavi Jazairi(1306 A.H.), teacher of Mir Syed Hamid Musavi, had authored  more than 300 books on Jurisprudence, Theology, Tafsir and history. Of these, only 2 books “Shulah Jawalah” and “Awraq al-Zahb” were published a few years back with others remaining unpublished.

The above examples highlight an immediate initiative to trace and publish works that were written against the allegations made by Shah Abdul Aziz Dehalvi and blind followers of his school of thought.  Aziz Dehlavi’s Persian book from the time its first publication in 1204 A.H. till has been translated into various languages and published in Urdu and Arabic on numerous occasions in India, Pakistan and Iraq. As Aziz’s work serves as a base for anti-Imami feelings, its constant refutation is essential. Lovers of Ahle-bait and their leaders must pay attention to writing after extensive research appeal as was the case even during colonial India. The performance of Imamis, their leaders and institutions has so far been not much encouraging. The scenario requires immediate change or else anti-Karbala forces will ‘flourish’ as a potential threat to humanity. They should follow Maula’s saying earnestly to keep 'Hussaini Philosophy' alive till the Day of Judgement. (References available on request.Photo Courtesy Google Image).