Misconceptions about Shi'ism

by Talib Moore



I’m sure many of you have experienced times during
your life where people have questioned you about
your beliefs; Inshallah this article will help tackle
some of the misconceptions about Shiism.

A few days ago a brother came to me and said “Do
you know why the Shia people are wrong?” I replied
“Why?” He told me “You believe that Ali (as) should
have received the Qur’an, not the Prophet (saw)!”
I was shocked to hear such a misconception!

1) why was he dictating our beliefs, and how would he know
if he had not even researched his claim? It fully invalidated
his point.

2) Why would we emulate the Prophet if we did not believe he deserved the
Qur’an? We need to find out where people get this
nonfactual information about us as this is where people
manipulate our teachings to make Shiism out to
be a distorted vision of Islam.

This story reminds me of when I was relaxing in a
park with friends. They had asked me to tell them
about the tragic ordeal of the Prophet’s (saw) pure
family. After I had told them they were left in awe
but as soon as I had finished, one listener asked me
what sect I followed. When the reply was Shia, he
asked- “aren’t those the crazy Muslims that beat themselves
up?” It just goes to show how much respect
people show of our view of Islam.

A few years ago another friend of mine questioned
me about why we “harm” the body blessed from
Allah (swt) by performing the act of mourning known
as Matam. At first I was reluctant to answer as I did
not think I would make the right point. After a few
seconds of thought I asked my friend how fasting felt.
He told me on some days it hurt but that he still
persevered and fasted the next day and the next. I
said “so sometimes it did hurt but you still did it even
though it might hurt again?” and he said “Yes it is wajib”.
I told him one of the reasons Muslims fast is to feel
what needy people feel and to feel the pain of hunger,
by doing so making you more considerate of
them. So if every year we “harm” the body that Allah
gave us by Matam don’t you put your body in a similar
ordeal when fasting, deliberately to experience
what some have to go through every day?

That is yet another misconception about Shiism.
Many people need to open their eyes and realise that
our practices are not that far-fetched and we commit
to acts like Matam because people such as the
Prophet (saw), Imam Ali (as), Imam Husayn (as) and
Hazrat Abbas (as) to name a few gave everything
they held dear to themselves away to preserve the
true message of Islam.

When researching for this article I was intrigued to
find a quote on AIM Islam stating-"The first time I
encountered Islam was in a bookshop in Rome...I had set
my eyes on an Italian translation of the Holy Quran. It
was a short surah "In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate,
the Merciful. Say: He is One, The Almighty,
needed by everyone but Who needs none. He is father of
none nor is He born by anyone. He is like none and is
One." (Surah Ikhlas). These brief sentences...hit me like a
powerful bomb and shattered all my thoughts and beliefs
as taught by the Vatican centre regarding the Father, Son
and the Holy Spirit…Spell-bound, I continued my studies
on Islam...I finally became Muslim and I am presently
making efforts to learn Arabic in order to translate Islamic
works in foreign languages as service to Islam and my
God."

To hear such things make me think to myself –
Subhanallah, the Qur’an can inspire such things! I
often used to ask converts how they discovered
Islam and why they were drawn to this beautiful
religion. One, in particular, told me he went to
church every Sunday but never really grasped the
religion and there was always something he felt he
wasn’t being told. I think the reason why he felt that
way was because they forced him into the religion
and suffocated him. He had read Surah Al Hamd and
said ever since he had heard its English translation it
stuck in his mind and drew him to Islam through the
power of speech, not sword.

There is also a hadith narrated by Bukhari and Muslim
that really shows how well Islam works even for
people who have not yet seen the beauty of it.
Hakim ibn Hizam said to Rusulillah (s.a.w.), "You know
that in the days before Islam I used to maintain family
ties, free slaves, and give charity. Will I be rewarded for
any of those deeds?" Rusulillah (s.a.w.) replied, "You
accepted Islam with all the good you did in the past."
This shows the beauty of Islam because even when
you are not a follower your thawab is carried on and
your past sin is all forgiven.

Even today Islam is the fastest growing religion in the
world and remains today, the most practical.