The history of the Shi’a Faith of Islam has been the history of blood and tears. Scattered through its pages are events replete with persecution and sufferings. On the intellectual level, the Shi’a Faith has been misunderstood and, therefore, misconstrued. A minor prejudice at the top assumes alarming proportions by the time it reaches the masses. A minor difference among the scholars becomes the bone of contention. It is, therefore, not surprising that there should be a terrible misrepresentation of our faith and our beliefs. Since the Shi’a happen to be in minority it is easy for their opponents to use their venomous efforts to defame them.

Their image is disfigured, their views are distorted, and their beliefs are misrepresented. The Shi’a Faith is presented, both in form and contents, in a manner which is totally opposed to its reality. This is really a source of grave injustice which must be nipped in the bud.

When we examine the causes of this pathetic plight of the Shi’a Faith, we come to the painful realisation that partly we ourselves have also been responsible for it. If our opponents misconstrue our intentions and misrepresent our cause, it is something we can easily understand. However, when we take stock of what we ourselves have done in this respect, we find that we have miserably failed to counteract the prejudiced statements of the narrow-minded opponents.

This fact will become crystal clear when we look at our publicity media. Everyone knows that in modem times publicity is the very tongue we speak with. Without publicity, we are no more than dub fellows. One can imagine how a dumb man can plead his case. The question is: Do we have this tongue? Do we make our voice heard? What publicity channels do we have in foreign lands? How is our cause presented to others? What literature is there to project the Shi’a Faith? If the answers to these questions are in the negative, are we not justified to be called tongueless and dumb. If in such a state of affairs we are misunderstood, the fault is no doubt ours.

It is true that books and treatises have been published. They are good in a way but the question here is whether they meet the requirements of the situation as it stands, not ·only among the Muslims but also among the non-Muslims. We stand all the more handicapped when our beliefs have to be interpreted and explained in the light of new developments in the field of science and technology.

The truth is that we are like silkworms weaving around ourselves a big cocoon of superstitions and imaginary supports, not knowing that we are making ourselves captives of our own superstitions. It is good to have a fort for self -defence but the fort should not turn mto a prison for ourselves. Once we lose contact with the outside world and, once we get sidetracked from the latest developments in life around us, we become backbenchers to begin with, ultimately to sink into oblivion in due course of time.

The Christians have their missions all over the world. They have powerful media publicity. There is an influx of their literature. There is a flood of their propaganda. How do we stand compared to them? The question of our being eloquent and logical does not at all arise. It is thus evident that our cause goes by default. It is thus apparent that Islam gets misunderstood even among the Muslims themselves, much less to be said about the non-Muslims.

It is our own faults which make ourselves misunderstood by our Sunni brethren as well as the non-Musims. This is the plight of our social life! When we look within ourselves, we find that our superstitious and vague customs are the biggest weapons in the hands of our adversaries. These irrational usages provide material for anti-Shi ‘ah propaganda in the hands of others.

There are certain rites and rituals being followed by the credulous and ignorant people. Unfortunately, they are attributed to Shi’a beliefs and practices. Lighting candles before the oven; fastening materials to the drinking fountains; reciting of the tragedies of Karbala near a pot containing Samnu, cooking soup ascribed to the name of Imam Zayn al-’Abidin with well-known formalities and ceremonies, dried fruit associated with the name of Imam ‘Ali Mushkil Kusha, dramatisation of the events of Karbala, providing water and broom to welcome Khizr and a hot of other rituals are the stock in this trade. What wonder if they recoil on our own discredit!

If we study the hostile propaganda against the Shi’a we still find at its root superstitions and meaningless rituals. So far as the basic articles of our faith are concerned, they stand resplendent in all their purity and sublimity and not a shadow of doubt has been cast upon them.

The gist of the whole thing lies in the double-fold action of clearing the deck and putting the house in order. The first is the need to cleanse our house of these superstitions and the second is to establish powerful publicity media with two specific objectives in mind. One is to present the Shi’a Faith in its pristine purity and glory and the other is to counteract the hostile propaganda in the most effective manner possible.

Kashif Al-Ghita’, the great Shi’a saint and research scholar has very rightly enunciated the Faith in the Ja’farite jurisprudence by publishing his renowned book “Asl Ash-Shi’a Wa Usuluha” in Arabic. By dint of the might of his powerful pen and by his analytical approach, he tore us under the screen of superstitions that had overshadowed the true complexion of Shi’a Beliefs and presented to the Mulims in general the Shi’a Faith in its original purity. His brilliant exposition of the Shi’a case aimed at proving the fact that the Shi’a neither were a sect of idolaters nor were they a sect outside the pale of Islam.

The book was aimed at convincing all the ranks of the Muslims that the Shi’a never considered Imam ‘Ali to be an incarnate of Allah or to be more suited and more entitled to the Prophethood than the Holy Prophet himself! It was further to prove that the Shi’a were not at all guilty of introducing innovations in Islam or of tampering with the text of the Holy Qur’an.

On the contrary it was intended to show that in the matter of basic principles and fundamental beliefs as well as in the subsidiary issues, the Shi’a Faith has derived profusely from the Holy Qur’an and Ahadith (traditions) and from the teachings of Ahl al-Bayt (the Holy Progeny) being closest to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him and his progeny, and on account of their being fully conversant with his traditions and being duly imbued with the spirit of those traditions.

It was in this setting that this book was published. It fulfilled the purpose of its publication so admirably that it had to be reprinted more than 18 times and it ran short of stock every time. Demand for it came from most of the Muslim countries and it had to be translated into numerous languages. In order to make oneself truly acquainted with the truth about the Shi’a Faith, this book is a must for every Muslim, Shi’a or Sunni.

This book is a source of guidance even for the followers of Ahl al-Bayt. Through it, they can learn the truth about themselves and their faith. In regards to the Muslims in general it will serve as a powerful medium of understanding and conciliation between the two great sects of Islam. With true understanding, there will be opened for all of us the gateways of unity, friendship and amity so that the Muslims should constitute a single and integrated echelon to combat the enemies of Islam, about whom the Holy Qur’an says:

“Allah loves those who fight for His cause in ranks firm as an unbreakable concrete wall” (61:4).

In view of the great service this book has rendered to the Muslim cause, we pray for the soul of the· revered Allama to rest in eternal peace.

The Publishers