Expert: Le Anne Clausen - 11/14/2008

Question
QUESTION: salam walay kum brother.
i read one of the answers given by ur site.so much bad has been written about shia islam.99% of those things were FALSE.Shia islam does not say that imam ali(a.s.)is 'almighty god',neither we disbelieve in allah and his messengers.i am very disappointed by ur knowledge about the shia islam faith.i also believe that we should not divide islam into sects,but it is just a name given to the people who follow the true teachings of prophet mohammad(p.b.u.h).as far as the abu bakr,umar,usman,aisha and hafsha r concerned,they were not good people.the true deserving chalifa,after prophet mohammad's(p.b.u.h.)death was
'lion of god'ali ibne abu talib.but people were led astray.


My question is,why u people,having no knowledge about shia faith,write wrong and yourself made fake things,to satisfy yourself?          may allah guide u to write path ie shia faith.          THANKS.

ANSWER: Greetings Zeyn,

I'm sorry that someone has written bad things about Shi'a in their column.  There are a lot of authors, and I disagree with several of them.  Unfortunately, I can't go and change someone else's column, I can only write in my own.  It would be important for you to go to the exact person who has written something false and tell them.  

I do agree with you what you have said about Shi'a --that they do not claim that Imam Ali is Allah, nor do they pretend there is no Allah; and that they do respect Allah's messengers.  

I enjoyed very much living among Shi'a people in Iraq and Iran and Lebanon, and found them to be good people.  I also enjoyed living with Sunni people in Palestine, Jordan, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

I do agree also that Islam should not be divided into sects, but needs to work for healing and reconciliation, despite the paths and teachings different Muslims choose to follow.  It is a similar difficulty in Christianity.    I am sorry I am not able to help you more in this situation.  Good luck!

peace,

Le Anne

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: salamwalaykum,i read your message,and felt very happy that you dont hate shia people for they are too a follower of allah and his messenger(p.b.u.h.).i am sorry,i have many questions.one of being that,

1-the event of gadhir-e-khumb,where maula ali(a.s.)was declared as the true successor by our beloved prophet mohammad(p.b.u.h.),but i see sunni people  denying the fact and adding that the word 'maula' taken by our beloved prophet(p.b.u.h.) in his sermon of gadhir-e-khumb meant only friend.why dont they accept the simple fact that maula ali was,is and will be the true successor of our beloved prophet mohammad(p.b.u.h.) till  the day of judgement.

2-our beloved prophet mohammad(p.b.u.h) said that fatima is of him,and is his flesh.anyone who tortures her,tortures him,anyone pleases her pleases him.when maula ali(a.s.) was forced to take the pledge of allience for abu bakr.abu bakr and umar sent an army to forcefully bring ali(a.s.) in the court and accept abu bakr as the chaliph.imam ali refused to come out of the house,then the army set the house of imam ali(a.s.)on fire.fatima zehra(a.s.),came to the door and ordered the army to go away,but the brutal men did not go.a man pushed the door so hard that it hurt fatima zehra(a.s.),her ribs were broken and she lost her unborn child mohsin(a.s.),this did not end here,further she was beaten with lashes,she fell on the ground wounded,blood oosing out.maula ali was held by a rope on his neck,and was forced to go in the court.fatima zehra(a.s.)held the clothe of imam ali(a.s.)from his back and tried to stop imam ali(a.s.),but she was given a very severe beat in her hands.she was angry,which made allah angry,she put her powerful hands in the sky to curse people who were against her family,during this time allah was ready to drop the stones on the enemy of fatima zehra(a.s.)from the sky,but imam ali(a.s.) pleaded fatima zehra(a.s.) to be patient, so she calmed herself and said "allah be witness these are the people with whome i am,and always remain angry" which included abu bakr and umar.so .................my question is why sunni people   
dont curse abu bakr and umar,while fatima zehra(a.s.) cursed them?    
         thanks
may ALLAH give us the right path leading to paradise. aameen

Answer
Greetings Zeyn, and thanks for your response.  I think the best I can do here is to say that this is the deepest wound between the Sunni and Shi'a people.  Since there is so much pain in these events, I can only hope that Shi'a and Sunni people will extend each other much grace in working towards reconciliation.  

peace to you,

Le Anne