نشریه سراج منیر
سال هشتم شماره 30 (تابستان 1397)

The blame put on Shia of having an unfavorable view towards the companions (better known as Sahaba) of the Holy Prophet (S) has a long history. Ibn Taymiyya is one of those people who has more than anyone else accused Shia of disavowing the Sahaba. With different words and under different pretexts, he has accused Shia of being very unfavorable and disrespectful towards the companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, and that only an insignificant number of them are respected by them, whereas in fact, the truth of the matter is that the close and outstanding companions of the Prophet (S) who were too many are commemorated and respected by Shia Muslims. Prominent Shia scholars give them special respect and consider them as having the status of interceding with Allah for His servants. In biographical works authored by Shia scholars, many a number of them have been described as trustworthy and reliable.

One of the current concepts in social jurisprudence is the concepts of Darul Islam (abode of Islam) and Darul Kufr (abode of unbelief). Many Muslim scholars have classified human societies based on this binary division of the territory of Islam and territory of unbelief or infidelity, and by extension, they have made mention of numerous rules and concepts regarding the places and people residing there. Ibn Taymiyya, the originator and founder of Salafi mind has offered a new classification. In addition to Darul Islam and Darul Kufr, he has also introduced Dar Murakkaba. Following him, however, Abu Muhammad Maqdisi who is also one of the intellectual leaders of Salafim (best known as the spiritual mentor of Jordanian jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the initial leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq) has been highly influenced by Ibn Taymiyya. He has accepted Ibn Taymiyya's classification of lands and territories, and he issues verdicts based on the same classification. As well, regarding Darul Islam and Darul Kufr, Ibn Taymiyya and Abu Muhammad Maqdisi are of the view that the criterion for an abode to be called that of Islam or disbelief is the number and majority of people. Darul Kufr is the same as Dar al-Harb without any differences between them. If we look at the textual sources as well as the words of Muslim scholars, it becomes clear that the division of lands into three territories such as Darul islam, Darul Harb and Dar Murakkaba is incorrect for the countries. As well, not only majority but also other criteria such as the practice of religious rites can be a criterion for considering a land as the abode of Islam or the above of unbelief not to mention the fact that the use of the term Darul Harb (House of War) for all non-Muslim countries is wrong.

Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab's Kitab al-Tawhid contains a lot of narrations which, according to his followers, are authentic. In this study which has been conducted with an analytical and descriptive method, some of the traditions and repots of this books which are mudarraj and proved to be poor in terms of their chains of transmission and some others which are against explicit and established religious doctrines are examined. In the critical assessment of these traditions discussed in this article, not only the words of prominent Sunni scholars but also the confession of the annotators and researchers of Kitab al-Tawhid who were the intellectual followers of the shaykh (Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab) have been used.

In jurisprudence, Salafism is independent from other four jurisprudential schools of jurisprudence. They condemn those who follow the four schools of law and believe in the door of Ijtihad being open.  This article studying the Salafi jurisprudence from an ideological - historical perspective seeks to focus on the demerits of Salafi jurisprudence in sociological and historical courses. The founder of Salafi jurisprudence is Ibn Taymiyya who initiated the theory of the openness of the door of Ijtihad and that eventually led to the emergence of Salafi jurisprudence.  Condemning Taqlid and excommunicating the followers of the four denominations, he believed that Ijtihad had to be conducted based on the Book of Allah and Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family. In the twelfth century, three influential figures named Ibn Al-Amir San'ani, Shah Waliullah Dehlavi and Muhammad Ibn  Abdul Wahhab became familiar with his thoughts and beliefs leading to promotion and growth of Salafi jurisprudence in the society.  This trend continued in the 13 and 14th centuries inspiring Muslim Brotherhood and Jihadi Salafism to follow Salafi jurisprudence today.  The course of development of Salafi jurisprudence among Salafi movements shows that this jurisprudential method seeks violence and it has, from the beginning as of today, adopted a method whereby lots of Muslims have been excommunicated and labeled as non-Muslims. As well, this jurisprudence has opted for permissiveness as part of the religion and has led some Muslims to follow the Salafi jurisprudence based on the inner desires, and to choose the easiest rules as they wish. At times, they have chosen the words of some jurists which deal with excommunication or Takfir of other Muslims.

Salafists and Wahhabis condemn and forbid istighatha (beseeching for help) describing it as shirk (polytheistic), innovation and ghulu (exaggeration). In this regard, they have made use of reasons and arguments which are in contradiction with Qur'an and narrations of Ahl-e Sunnah. Relying on Quranic verses and authentic Sunni traditions and reports, this article proves that the Salafists' claims about prohibition of beseeching help from anyone other than Allah, the Glorified, and limiting the permissibility of istighatha to certain specific manifestations of it such beseeching help from living people in possible undertakings is not acceptable. Thus, these people who are opposed to istighatha have not been able to find a solid and concrete proof, and it can be said that neither textual sources nor the human reason confirm and validate their belief. Moreover, given the fact that over the history, Salafists' views in various areas have been subject to changes, this study using an analytical descriptive method brings together and criticizes Salafists' opinion about istighatha.

The global threat of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after the events of September 11th has increased the conflict between Shiites and Sunnis. Many news headlines have been devoted to violence in the Middle East and Pakistan causing challenges among the states in regional and international levels.  Both extremist Muslims and some Western experts and analysts speak of a conflict among civilizations or cultural war between Muslims and Westerners. This discourse and the violence that originates in it again give rise to the question as to what the relationship between Islam and violence and terrorism. Is Islam a special and violent religion? To prove their claim, critics of Islam make use of some verses as well as some discourses such as Jihad and other events in the history of Islam referring to them as signs and proofs confirming the fact that the main reason behind the extremist conducts of Muslims and the emergence of Islamic terrorism are some verses of the Quran. A question that naturally comes up is: What do the Qur'an and Shari'ah say about violence, Jihad and war? What are the main slogans chanted by terrorists in the name of Islam? This article examines these questions as well as the spread of global jihadist movements, especially al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the roots and origins of their advent, their ideologies and plans.