Al Tabarsi and the Distortion of the Qur’an
Al Tabarsi and the Distortion of the Qur’an
Al Tabarsi[1] mentions in his book al Ihtijaj (vol. 1 pg. 222) while discussing the argument of Amir al Mu’minin ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu against many of the Muhajirin and Ansar —as he claimed — he says:
Talhah said to ‘Ali, among the many questions that he posed to him, “O Abu al Hassan, I would like to ask you a question: I saw you coming out with a stamped cloth and said, ‘O people, I was still busy with the Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, giving him the ceremonial bath, shrouding and burying him, then I was preoccupied with the compilation of the Qur’an until I have completed it. I have here with me the complete Book of Allah of which not a single letter has been omitted.’ I did not reject that which you have compiled, but I have seen ‘Umar asking you to give him your copy, which you refused. So ‘Umar summoned the people and set a rule that if there are two witnesses that the verse was written in the presence of the Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam then He would accept it otherwise not. ‘Umar said, in my presence, that on the Day of Yamamah some people who recited Qur’an different from others were killed, so that has gone. A sheep came and ate a scroll while the scribes were writing and whatever was on it is also gone. The scribe on that day was ‘Uthman. I also heard ‘Umar and his people who documented it in the time of ‘Umar and ‘Uthman saying, ‘Surah al Ahzab was equal (in length) to Surah al Baqarah, and Surah al Nur has over a hundred verses.’ So what is all of this? What prevents you — may Allah have mercy on you — from taking out the Qur’an that you have and present it to the people? Yet ‘Uthman took what was compiled by ‘Umar and made a copy of it, he commanded people to read one single recitation, and he tore the Mushafs of Ubay ibn Ka’b and Ibn Mas’ud and burnt them.” So ‘Ali said to him, “O Talhah, every verse that Allah has revealed upon Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, every matter, lawful and unlawful, every punishment, or ruling or anything that the Ummah is in need of till the Day of Qiyamah is documented as dictated by the Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam with my handwriting up to the penalty of a scratch mark.”
Talhah then said, “every single thing big and small, specific and a general thing, that happened and that which will happen till the Day of Judgment is written by you?”
He said, “yes, and besides that the Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam communicated to me in private while he was sick, the keys to a thousand doors of knowledge, and each door is able to open another thousand doors. If only the people followed me and obeyed me after the demise of the Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam they would have consumed (provision) from above them and from beneath their feet — i.e. in great abundance.”
He continued in the presentation of his feeble argument until he said:
Then Talhah said, “I do not consider that you – O Abu al Hassan – have answered my question about the Qur’an convincingly, why not bring out (your Mushaf) for the people (to see).” He replied, “O Talhah, I intentionally refrained from responding to your question. Now you tell me: Whatever ‘Umar and ‘Uthman documented; is that the Qur’an in its entirety or is there part of it which is not the Qur’an?” Talhah replied, “Rather it is the Qur’an in its entirety.”
He then said, “if you accept and take whatever is in it[2], you will be saved from Jahannam and granted Jannat, for indeed in it lies our proof, and the exposition our right and the obligatory duty to obey us.”
Talhah said, “Enough, if it is Qur’an it is sufficient for me. Inform me of that which is with you of the Qur’an — its explanation and that which is lawful and unlawful — to whom will you pass it over and who will succeed you?”
‘Ali replied, “the Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam commanded me to hand it over to my successor and the best of the people after me, who is my son, Hassan, thereafter he will hand it over to my son, Hussain, then one after the other — in succession — from the progeny of Hussain until the last one will come to the pond of the Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam with the Qur’an. They will not part from the Qur’an and the Qur’an will never part from them. Except that Muawiyah and his son will rule after ‘Uthman; after him seven of the children of al Hakam ibn Abi al ‘As —in succession— as a completion of the twelve leaders of deviation. These are the same people whom the Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam saw on his pulpit pushing the Ummah away backwards, ten of them are of Banu Umayyah, and two of them are those [3] who initiated all of this, therefore they will bear the sin of this, and that of the entire Ummah until the Day of Judgment.”
He also mentions (vol. 1 pg. 224):
In the narration of Abu Dhar al Ghifari radiya Llahu ‘anhu where he says, “when the Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam passed away, ‘Ali ‘alayh al Salam documented the Qur’an, and brought it to the Muhajirin and the Ansar. He presented it to them in accordance with the bequest of the Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. When Abu Bakr opened it, their ignominies appeared on the first page, then ‘Umar jumped and said, ‘O ‘Ali take it back, and we have no need of it.’ He then took it and departed. Thereafter he called for Zaid ibn Thabit who was a great Qari of the Qur’an, and ‘Umar said to him, ‘indeed ‘Ali came to us with a copy of Qur’an, in it is the ignominies of the Muhajirin and the Ansar, we want you to document the Qur’an for us, together with omitting any ignominy and degradation of the Muhajirin and the Ansar,” and Zaid agreed to that.
Thereafter he said, ‘when I am done with the documentation of the Qur’an in the manner that you asked me to do, and ‘Ali exposes what he documented, would not your effort be in vain?’ ‘Umar enquired, ‘what would be the solution then?’ Zaid replied, ‘you know better.’ ‘Umar said, ‘the only solution is to kill him to become free of him.’
Then he plotted that Khalid ibn al Walid should kill him, but he failed to do so. So when ‘Umar was appointed as khalifah, he asked ‘Ali to hand the Qur’an over to them, so that they could distort it amongst themselves. He said, ‘O Abu al Hassan if you brought the Mushaf to Abu Bakr, bring it to us as well so that we may agree upon it.’
‘Ali said, ‘never! That is impossible, I only brought it to Abu Bakr as a proof against you, so that you do not say on the Day of Judgment, ‘we were unmindful about this,’ nor say, ‘you did not show it to us.’ Indeed the Qur’an that is with me none can touch it except the pure and the successors from my sons.’
‘Umar said, ‘is the time of its exposition known?’ ‘Ali said, ‘yes, when my son, al Qa’im, comes, he will expose it and take it to the people and the Sunnah will be established through it.’
I do not want to present the fabricated tales and feeble arguments that are mentioned in their books, indeed whoever reads history from the reliable books, which are free from the infectious germs of Shi’ism, will realise that these rants are free of any reliability and that the Shia invented what they invented and fabricated in order to support their beliefs and to support their corrupted principles. Any person who has even the slightest knowledge of history, and (is aware) of the affinity between the Sahabah and Ahlul Bayt; and their relationships through marriage — such as between the daughter of Imam ‘Ali and ‘Umar ibn al Khattab — will come to realise the blatant distortions conjured up by al Tabarsi, and whoever follows his corrupt beliefs, which have deep roots in Zoroastrianism and Judaism.
The Shia interpretation of Islamic history is an image of a perpetual battle between establishing din and the acquisition of personal worldly desires. They also believe that Islamic values did not receive its share of being implemented, and practical demonstration of the basic principles of Islam was not achieved. At the same time they refer to the era of terror and blood-shedding, which was meted out by the Safavids, as the golden era.
Al Tabarsi is of the opinion that Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala has explicitly stated in the Qur’an the names of those who have perpetrated sins and major sins and thwarted people from the path of Allah, but the Sahabah removed those names and instead inferred to them indirectly. He says (vol. 1 pg. 370):
The indirect inference of the Qur’an to the major criminals from the Munafiqin does not come from Allah, rather from those who interpolated and distorted the Qur’an and made it into portions, those who chose this worldly life in place of din.
Allah mentions the incidents of those who distorted the Qur’an:
فَوَیْلٌ لِّلَّذِیْنَ یَكْتُبُوْنَ الْکِتٰبَ بِاَیْدِیْهِمْ ثُمَّ یَقُوْلُوْنَ هٰذَا مِنْ عِنْدِ اللّٰهِ لِیَشْتَرُوْا بِهٖ ثَمَنًا قَلِیْلًا
Those who write the ‘scripture’ with their own hands, then say, “this is from Allah,” in order to exchange it for a small price.[4]
Allah also says:
وَ اِنَّ مِنْهُمْ لَفَرِیْقًا یَّلْوْنَ اَلْسِنَتَهُمْ بِالْکِتٰبِ
And indeed, there is among them a party who alter the Scripture with their tongues.[5]
He also says:
إِذْ يُبَيِّتُونَ مَا لَا يَرْضٰى مِنَ الْقَوْلِ
When they spend the night in talks that Allah dislikes.
The belief of the Shia is that Allah made certain symbolic references in His book to the nomination of the Ahlul Bayt, and that following their guidance is obligatory, as well as loving them and disassociating oneself from their enemies.
He says (vol. 1 pg. 376):
Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala made these symbolic references in his book which nobody knows except Allah, His prophets, as well as His proofs (Imams) on earth. This is on account of His knowledge regarding what the distorters would do in terms of omitting from the Qur’an the names of the Imams, as well as their deception in beguiling the Ummah to assist them in their wicked actions. Therefore He resorted to these inferences and made their hearts and eyes blind to them, because of the negligence they would perpetrate and so forth. From the discourse that indicates to what they have done in the Qur’an, and He made the People of the Book (the Ahlul Bayt) the adherents to the Book, and those who know the outer and inner meanings is “tree whose root is firmly fixed and its branches (high) in the sky, it produces its fruit all the time, by permission of its Rabb,” meaning He makes known this knowledge from time to time, and comparing its enemies to be, “the people of the cursed tree” those who tried “to extinguish the light of Allah using their mouths, but Allah refuses except to perfect His light.” If the hypocrites — may Allah curse them — were to know the meaning of these verses which I have explained just now then, they would have omitted them in the same manner as the other verses they omitted. But Allah had already decreed from before that He would establish proof upon His creation, as Allah says:
قُلْ فَلِلّٰهِ الْحُجَّةُ الْبَالِغَةُ
Say, With Allah is the far reaching (i.e. conclusive) argument.[6]
Allah covered their eyes and set veils upon their hearts from pondering over it that is why they left it as is, and He veiled it from those who would seek to distort it. The successful ones are enlightened to it, while the wretched ones are blind to it, and he to whom Allah has not granted light — for him there is no light.
Indeed it is the knowledge of Allah — according to the Shia — with regard to what the Sahabah would have done with regards to changing, distorting and omitting in the Noble Qur’an that divides the Qur’an into three categories. The first category is equally known to all, i.e. both the ignorant and the knowledgeable. The second category is that which is known only to those who embrace the belief and the way of Islam, act upon its instructions, love the one who practices upon it and call towards it; and they are the Ahlul Bayt and their Shia — they are the chosen people of Allah.[7] The third category is that which is known by Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala, and those who are firmly grounded in knowledge and the Imams. Allah only divided the Qur’an into the categories mentioned so that it may serve as a proof against those who distort the Qur’an and claim to have knowledge of the Qur’an.
He further says (vol. 1 pg. 376):
Indeed Allah, through His infinite mercy and kindness to His creation, through His gracefulness and His knowledge of what the distorters will do in terms of changing His Book; divided His words into three categories. The first category is known by the ignorant and the knowledgeable alike. The second category is known only by the one whose mind is pure, whose perception is very subtle, and who has the ability of differentiation of what is correct, from those whose chest Allah has expanded towards Islam. The final category consists of that which is known only to Allah, His Trustees (the Imams) and those firm in knowledge. Allah did this so that the people of falsehood — who usurped the inheritance of the Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam — should not claim knowledge of the Book, which Allah did not grant them, and so that they will depend upon the one who was appointed over their affairs, but they arrogantly disobeyed him (i.e. Imam ‘Ali and the Imams after him) while fabricating lies against Allah and being deceived with the abundance of their helpers, and those who opposed Allah and His Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
He then explains to us these three categories (vol. 1 pg. 377):
As for the knowledge which is known by the ignorant and knowledgeable it is the virtue of the Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam in His book, such as the following verses:
مَنْ یُّطِعِ الرَّسُوْلَ فَقَدْ اَطَاعَ اللّٰهَ
He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah.[8]
An example of the second category is the verse:
اِنَّ اللّٰهَ وَمَلٰئِکَتَهیُصَلُّوْنَ عَلَی النَّبِیِّؕ یٰاَ أیُّهَا الَّذِیْنَ اٰمَنُوْا صَلُّوْا عَلَیْهِ وَسَلِّمُوْا تَسْلِیْمًا
Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Nabi, and His angels (ask Him to do so). O you who have believed, ask (Allah to confer) blessing upon him and ask (Allah to grant him) peace.[9]
As this verse has an apparent meaning and an esoteric meaning. The apparent meaning is:
صَلُّوْاعَلَیْهِ
Ask (Allah to confer) blessing upon him.
While the inner meaning is contained in.
سَلِّمُوْاتَسْلِیْمًا
The inner meaning here is, surrender completely to the one whom He recommended and appointed as a successor, whom He has favoured upon you, and that which He has entrusted him. This is the category which I mentioned its meaning is only known by the one whose mind is pure, whose understanding is profound, and whose skill of differentiation is correct. Similarly the following verse:
سلام على آل يس
Peace upon the family of Yasin[10]
Because Allah gave this name to the Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam when He said:
یٰسٓۚ وَ الْقُرْاٰنِ الْحَکِیْمِ
Yasin, by the wise Qur’an.[11]
Allah knew that they would omit the following verse:
سلام على آل محمد
Peace upon the family of Muhammad
As they omitted other verses. The Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam continued showing affection towards them, bringing them closer, seating them on his right and his left hand, until Allah permitted Him to banish them from his company when He said:
وَ اهْجُرْهُمْ هَجْرًا جَمِیْلًا
And avoid them with gracious avoidance.[12]
He also said:
فَمَالِ الَّذِیْنَ کَفَرُوْا قِبَلَكَ مُهْطِعِیْنَ عَنِ الْیَمِیْنِ وَعَنِ الشِّمَال ِعِزِیْنَ اَیَطْمَعُ كُلُّ امْرِیًٔ مِّنْهُمْ اَنْ یُّدْخَلَ جَنَّةَ نَعِیْمٍ کَلَّاؕ اِنَّا خَلَقْنٰهُمْ مِّمَّا یَعْلَمُوْنَ
So what is (the matter) with those who disbelieve, hastening (from) before you, (O Muhammad). (To sit) on (your) right and (your) left in separate groups? Does every person among them aspire to enter a garden of pleasure? No! Indeed, We have created them from that which they know.[13]
Similarly Allah says:
یَوْمَ نَدْعُوْا كُلَّ اُنَاسٍ بِاِمَامِهِمْ
(Mention, O Muhammad), the Day We will call forth every people with their record (of deeds).[14]
He did not call them with their names, nor the names of their fathers and mothers (but just said “people”).
Al Tabarsi blames the scholars of the Shia for stating the names of those who distorted and altered the Book of Allah and the verses they distorted, since the belief of Taqiyyah[15] prevents this, and in so doing the proof of the opponent and their creed is strengthened. He says in the first volume (pg. 371):
It is not permitted under dictates of Taqiyyah to mention explicitly the names of the distorters, nor the names of those who added verses to the Qur’an from themselves; because in so doing the proof of the disbelievers, the people of destruction and the people of deviation is strengthened. Taqiyyah is also needed in breaking this clear knowledge which is firm within the hearts of the one who disagrees and the one who agrees of following and obeying them as well as being pleased with them, the other reason also is that; these people of corruption in the past[16] and present time[17] are more than the people of truth.[18] To be patient or obey the people in charge is necessary[19], due to the statement of Allah to His Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam:
فَاصْبِرْ کَمَا صَبَرَ اُوْلُوا الْعَزْمِ مِنَ الرُّسُلِ
So be patient, (O Muhammad), as were those of determination among the messengers.[20]
And His obligation similar to this upon His auliya and those who obey Him, He says:
لَقَدْ کَانَ لَكُمْ فِيْ رَسُوْلِ اللّٰهِ اُسْوةٌ حَسَنَةٌ
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern.[21]
This response is sufficient for you on this topic; indeed the law of Taqiyyah prohibits the explicit mention of anything more.
He says in volume 1 (pgs. 377 – 378):
If I were to explain in detail everything that was omitted, changed, distorted and whatever is under this topic, it would be a long discussion. It is clear that Taqiyyah prohibits exposing the merits of the auliya as well as exposing the defects of the enemies.
[1] He is Abu Mansur Ahmed ibn ‘Ali al Tabarsi, I did not come across the date of his birth nor his demise, He authored numerous books, among them are: al Kafi in fiqh, Tarikh al A’immah, Fadl al Zahra’, Mufakharat al Talibiyyah, Kitab al salah, Taj al Muwalin and al Ihtijaj. Many of the scholars of Shia have praised him, and praised his books, specifically al Ihtijaj. Sayed Muhammad Bahr al ‘Ulum said that “this author wrote his book to defend the (corrupt) belief by showing those who fumble about on the path of deviation, the light of guidance and goodness. He expounds and clarifies all the aspects of the Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and his family members as well as their followers. Let him reveal to the people of depth the high status and high rank which was experienced by this elite. This book is a reliance of great scholars and investigators even though much of the ahadith are Mursal ahadith. The fact of the matter is that the great level of reliability that the author holds has cultivated in the hearts of the (later) authors reliance upon the book and quoting from the book without investigating thoroughly the asanid of each hadith.”
This is the habit of the Shia in confirming an assessing any information. All that matters to them is the establishing what the Shia believe regarding the divine nature of their Imams, fabricating defamatory statements about their opponents, this is the yardstick of accepting any book and giving credibility to any author who adheres to this convoluted methodology.
Al Bahrani mentions in al Kashkul (vol. 1 pg. 301): “al Majlisi says in the beginning of al Bihar in the second chapter: “The book al Ihtijaj even if most of the ahadith are Mursal, the fact is this is one of the well-known books, al Sayed ibn Tawus has praised this book and many of the later scholars followed him on this.”
Al Khowansari says in Rowdat al Jannat (vol. 1 pg. 19): “The book al Ihtijaj is reliable and known by many, it comprises all the proofs that he came across of the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and the Imams, even from many of their esteemed students as well as some of the wretched opponents.”
Agha Buzurg al Tehrani says in al Dhari’ah (vol. 1 pg. 281): “In this book are the proofs of the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and the Imams as well as some of the Sahabah, some scholars, and some of the pure descendants. Most of the ahadith in this book are Mursal, except what he narrates from the Tafsir of al ‘Askari as clearly stated in the beginning of the book after the introductory sermon. So this is one of the books that was relied upon by many great scholars, the likes of ‘Allamah al Majlisi, Muhaddith al Hurr and their likes.”
Yusuf al Bahrani says in Lu’lu’at al Bahrayn (pg. 341): “The author of Amal al ‘Amal says about al Tabarsi: “He is Sheikh Abu Mansur Ahmed ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib al Tabarsi, an outstanding scholar, a Muhaddith and reliable transmitter. He has a book by the name of al Ihtijaj ‘Ala Ahl al Lijaj, a good book, filled with points of benefit, he narrates from al Sayed al ‘Alim al ‘Abid Abu Jafar Mahdi ibn Abi Harb al Hussaini al Mar’ashi who narrates from al Sheikh Abu ‘Abdullah Jafar ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmed al Dowrisi from his father from al Sheikh Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al Hussain ibn Babawayh al Qummi.”
[2] Referring to the so-called Qur’an that Imam ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu documented according to the Shia claim.
[3] He refers to Abu Bakr and ‘Umar radiya Llahu ‘anhuma — may Allah curse the fabricator and the one who believes in the authenticity of this prattle.
[4] Surah al Baqarah: 79
[5] Surah Al ‘Imran: 78
[6] Surah al An’am: 149
[7] Refer to the chapter Sha’b Allah al Mukhtar of our book Haqiqat al Shia wa al Tashayyu’.
[8] Surah al Nisa’: 80
[9] Surah al Ahzab: 56.
[10] This is a distortion of the Qur’anic text, the verse actually appears in the noble Qur’an as follows:
سَلَامٌ عَلَىٰ إِلْ يَاسِيْنَ
Peace upon (Nabi) Elias. (Surah al Saffat: 130)
[11] Surah Yasin: 1
[12] Surah al Muzzammil: 10
[13] Surah al Ma’arij: 18
[14] Surah Bani Isra’il: 71
[15] Refer to the chapter al Shia wa al Taqiyyah from our book, Haqiqat al Shia wa al Tashayyu’ and our book, al Khumayni wa al Taqiyyah.
[16] He means the Sahabah radiya Llahu ‘anhum.
[17] He intends the Ahlus Sunnah. Refer the chapter Mowqif al Shia min Ahlus Sunnah from our book, Haqiqat al Shia wa al Tashayyu’ and from our book, Mowqif al Khumayni min Ahlus Sunnah.
[18] He refers to the Shia, they regard themselves to be on haqq (truth) and besides them to be on batil (astray)
[19] This is when practicing Taqiyyah, but when they will have their own state, they will abandon Taqiyyah. The current situation is a better testimony for this, not soon after the Iranian Shia state was established that many scholars popped up from them announcing clearly that their revolution must go on to the neighbouring countries. They therefore started the fitnah in some countries of al Khalij such as Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, they started war against Iraq with the purpose of protecting the Shia there. When they were asked to stop the butchering in these three areas, followed by United Arab Emirates, they refused completely. In the initial stages when the Iranian revolution broke out against the previous Shah, he was convicted with some allegations; one of them was the crime of excluding Bahrain and not including it in Iran.
[20] Surah al Ahqaf: 35.
[21] Surah al Ahzab: 21