I am indebted to Maulana Sayyid Amir Husayn Naqvi and Maulana Abdul Ghafoor for their expert guidance on the Arabic text, and also in persuading me to embark upon the translation of this work.

This book is prepared primarily for a European readership, which is either working or studying in universities, and others who are new to Islam or interested to learn more about Shi’a school of thought. It also provides guidance to the young Shi’a community that is growing in the secular educational system of the West.

It is important to mention here that salutations are generally reserved with the names of the Prophets and Imams, and those are symbolically placed after their holy names. Readers must not be confused with those symbols.

Shi’as of Ahl al-Bayt have long suffered under the dictatorial regimes of Banu Umayyah and Banu Abbas. If we unfold the pages of history, we can find a long list of atrocities against the followers of Ali Ibn Abi Talib. Allama Abu Bakr Khawrzami had written a letter to the Shi’as of Nishapur reminding them of the atrocious period they had undergone in the past, when Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim, the ruler of Nishapur intended to visit them. We have presented here some extracts from that letter. He wrote:

“May God bless you as we are the same nation. God did not desire to provide us with the opulence of this world. Instead, He gathered the blessings of the hereafter by disapproving the mundane glamours for us and divided us into two groups. One of those groups was martyred in the path of God, and the rest were exiled from the cities, therefore those who survived were envious of those who had died, due to the excessive atrocities they were going through.

Amir Al-Mu’minin Ali Ibn Abi Talib (‘a) has said that calamities and misfortunes follow our Shi’as more rapidly than the water travels from the high ground towards the lower levels. The basis of this statement is the proclamation that they are born under the shadow of tyranny and their life ends before its natural sequence is completed. They do not blossom from the inside as their interior is full of excruciating pains. The humanity oppresses them and the world slips away from their grips. If we proclaim to be the ardent followers of our Imams in all avenues of religion then we must share the sufferings, which they endured in the love of God.

On the day of Saqifah, the legacy of her father was seized from Fatimah (‘a), and Ali (‘a) was deprived from his rightful position of the Caliphate. Imam Al-Hasan (‘a) was poisoned and Imam Al-Husayn (‘a) was overtly murdered. Zaid Ibn Ali was beheaded in the military encounter, while his two sons Muhammad and Ibrahim were painfully put to death by ‘Isa Ibn Musa Abbasi. Hazrat Musa Ibn Ja’far (‘a) died in the torture cell of Haroon Rashid, and Ali Ibn Musa (‘a) was poisoned by Mamoon. Idrees retreated to Fakh and then travelled to Andalus. ‘Isa Ibn Zaid died in exile, while Yahya Ibn Abdullah was murdered despite offering him official protection.

All of this is other than what Yaqoob Ibn Laees had done with the Alawites in Tabristan. Muhammad Ibn Zaid and Hasan Ibn Qasim were assassinated by the family of Sasan. Abu Sayyah attacked the Alawites of Medina, while they were unarmed, and exiled them to Samarra, this episode happened after the murder of Qotaiba Ibn Muslim Bahli, who offered protection to ‘Umar Ibn Ali. Husayn Ibn Isma’il Al-Moseehi extended his anger towards Yahya Ibn ‘Umar Al-Zaidi. And, Mazahim Ibn Khaqan committed acute atrocities on Alawites - another name for the progeny of Ali (‘a), in Kufa. As a result, there was no city in the entire Muslim Empire, where an Alawite was not murdered backed either by Umayyads or Abbasids.

The religious pride invited Alawites towards death, as they were not willing to breathe a life of disgrace. So, they chose to die with honour, in conformity with their faith in consolation of the hereafter. In this struggle no Alawite left the perishable world alone. Many of their Shi’as and friends participated on equal terms.

Othman Ibn Affan kicked Ammar Ibn Yasir in the groin and Abu Dharr was banished in the desert of Rabza. Aamir Ibn Abdul Qais Al-Tamimi was thrown out of the city, followed by Malik al-Ashtar and Uday Ibn Haatim. ‘Umar Ibn Zarara and Kumayl Ibn Ziad were exiled to Syria and Iraq respectively. Ubaid Ibn Kaab and Muhammad Ibn Hozaifa were tortured and then expelled from the city. They did whatever they wanted to do with the blood of Muhammad Ibn Saalim and Kaab Zilhatba.

Following the footsteps of Othman, Umayyads killed those who opposed them and deceived those who wanted to live in peace with them. No Muhajirin or Ansar was safe from them, since they had no regard for the heavenly law. They are used to treat general public as their slaves and considered the treasury as their personal property. They tried to demolish Kaaba and asked the companions of the Prophet to revere them. They had abandoned the obligatory prayers and desecrated the respectable Islamic sites, similar to the behaviour of the infidels.

The family of Umayyah had crossed all limits of corruption and lewdness. Mu’awiyah murdered Hajjar Ibn Uday Al-Kindy and ‘Amr Ibn Al-Hamaq Al-Khazaee, after agreeing to give protection to them. Ziad Ibn Samiyya murdered thousands of Shi’as in Basra and Kufa, and imprisoned the others until God recalled him to His presence to answer for his crimes as well as his excessive ills and abuse of power. After his reprehensible death his son followed his footsteps.

Yazid also copied Mu’awiyah to the last letter and killed the remaining family members of those whose elders were killed by Mu’awiyah; to the extent that he approved the killing of Haani Ibn Urwa.

When all the land was free of the family of Abu Talib, they then handed over the provinces of Hijaz and Iraq to Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf, who played with the lives of the Hashmites. He frightened Fatimids and butchered the followers of Ali and demolished the symbols of the progeny of the Prophet. Whatever he had done with Kumail Ibn Ziad, its legacy continued unabated till the end of Abbasid rule. God then decreed that with their cardinal sins; their rulership of the state must end.

Zaid Ibn Ali then stood up to save the residual Islam, but the hypocrites of Iraq abandoned him. As a result, not only was he slaughtered by the Syrians, but all his friends including everyone who had entered marital relationship with him, were also put to the sword.

When Umayyads had exceeded all limits of tyranny, God decided to an end their regime. He then placed Abu Muslim Khorasani upon their necks, who decided to be harsh with the Alawites and favoured the Abbasids. He abandoned piety and followed the coil of desire and sold his hereafter for the worldly glamour. He opened his chapter of crime with the murder of Abdullah Ibn Mu’awiyah Ibn Abdullah Ibn Ja’far Ibn Abi Talib. He appointed the devils of Khorasan, the Kharjites of Sajistan and the Kurds of Isfahan over the heads of Aali Abu Talib. They searched every corner of the state to find and kill the family members of Abu Talib. It was a miracle that his closest confidant, who superseded Abu Muslim, killed him in a manner similar to how he had slaughtered his victims.

The prison cells of Abbasids were filled with the members of Ahl al-Bayt. The missing individuals of their kins were hunted and subsequently killed. Abdullah Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdullah Hasani was murdered in the province of Sindh, in India. Still all this was small as compared to the crimes of Haroon Rashid.

The state of affair with the Abbasids was such that if a member of the Sayyid family had died there was nobody available to accompany his dead body, and nor was there anyone to bury his corpse. On the other hand, if someone subscribing to the state ideology died then all the dignitaries of the state were present to honour his funeral cortege and the mosque was full of grieving dignitaries. The state was even pleased with those whom they knew to be either atheists or agnostics, even while they were spreading their influence among local students and the intellectuals. However, if they found that someone was a Shi’a, it was legally permissible to shed his blood. They also murdered those people who named their children after Imam Ali.

It is sufficient to say that the Quraish poets, who used to write abusive poetry against Imam Ali (‘a), were endorsed and promoted. Their works were sold at elevated prices in the cities and their biographies were published officially after their death. Historians like Wahab and Waqadi used to draw references from their couplets.

However, people like Kalbi, Ashraqi Ibn Qatami, Haisam Ibn Uday and Daab Ibn Al-Kanani, who wrote eulogies for the legate of the Prophet, and described the miracles of the Prophet in their poetry were capitulated and their tongues were slashed, and their books were shredded. Abdullah Ibn Ammar al-Barqi met the same fate. Similarly, the grave of Mansoor Ibn Alzaberqan was desecrated and Daabal Ibn Ali Al-Khazaee was tortured to death, although he was the companion of Marwan Ibn Abi Hafsa.

Haroon, Ja’far and Mutawakkal never granted favour to anyone, unless they were sure that the person in question was vocally abusive of the family of Abu Talib, and belonged to the religion of Khawaraj and Nawasib.

The readers must therefore, appreciate the difficulties through which the servants of Amir Al-Mu’minin had gone through. It is no less than a miracle that the religious scholars have been able to collect all the relevant information that was necessary for the survival of the Shi’a faith. This book under consideration is the work of our grand Master Shaykh Abu Ja’far, who prepared the text to counter the propaganda against Shi’a beliefs. I pray to the Almighty God that this translation will open the doors of wisdom for the inquisitive minds of the modern society.

I must thank my wife Tahira Safi, who provided me with every opportunity to complete this task without disruption.

Thanks are also due to Mir Zamir, Mir Rajab Ali, Malik Sajjad and their families, who extended financial support to print this work.

Finally, if there are any suggestions to improve the translation of this work then your feedback will be highly appreciated.

Dr S. H. Safi

8th August 2011,

Birmingham, England