Preface
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
May Allah shower His blessings on our beloved Prophet Muhammad (S) and his Purified Household. May Allah open our eyes and bestow on us the baseera (insight) to see the truth and an open heart to accept it. May Allah hasten the reappearance of our awaited saviour, Imam Mahdi and allow us to be among his humble devoted followers. May we see the time when he will make apparent to everyone the true teachings of Islam as they were taught by his grandfather the Prophet of Allah (S) and not the Islam that was changed by the corrupt rulers and dictators to fit their desires. May Allah continue to bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad ('a) and may He remove His Mercy from those who bear enmity towards them.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا فَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ الْحَرِيقِ
“Surely those who tormented the believing men and the believing women and then did not repent, theirs shall be the punishment of Hell, and theirs shall be the burning punishment” (85:10).
Imam Baqir ('a) said “Since the death of the Holy Prophet (S) we Ahl Al-Bayt have been humiliated, made distant and have been deprived and killed and made to leave our hometown and we felt frightened for our blood and the blood of our followers. The cheaters, through their lies, got nearer to the leaders, judges and governors in every city and our enemies told false and invalid traditions relating to their past leaders and quoted riwayah (narrations) that we had never told. They only wanted to humiliate us and wanted to accuse us of falsehood and wanted to get nearer to their leaders through lies. After the passing away of Hasan this became very common during the time of Mu’awiya. At that time, in every city, Shi’as were killed, their hands and feet were cut off and they were hanged on accusations of their being near to us and talking about their love for us. Then after that, adversities increased in numbers and strength, from the martyrdom of Husayn ('a) until the time of Ibn Ziyad. Then came Hajjaj and he killed them (Shi’a of Ali) for every doubt and accusation until it was said that this person (Shi’a) was Zindiq (atheist) and majusi (Zoroastrian) and Hajjaj liked it better that these words be used rather than say that they were Shi’a of Husayn, peace be upon him”1
إِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ عَلَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَجَعَلَ أَهْلَهَا شِيَعًا يَسْتَضْعِفُ طَائِفَةً مِنْهُمْ يُذَبِّحُ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيِي نِسَاءَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ
“Lo! Pharaoh exalted himself in the earth and made its people castes. A tribe among them he oppressed, killing their sons and sparing their women. Lo! he was of those who work corruption” (28:4).
وَنُرِيدُ أَنْ نَمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِينَ
“And We desired to show favour unto those who were oppressed in the earth, and to make them examples and to make them the inheritors” (28:5).
وَنُمَكِّنَ لَهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَنُرِيَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَهَامَانَ وَجُنُودَهُمَا مِنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَحْذَرُونَ
“And to establish them in the earth, and to show Pharaoh and Haman and their hosts that which they feared from them” (28:6).
The oppressors you will read about in this book are even worse than Pharoah. I say this because even Pharoah had enough compassion to spare the women from among Musa’s ('a) followers but look and see how these oppressors treated Lady Fatimah ('a) the daughter of our beloved Prophet (S)!
يُرِيدُونَ لِيُطۡفِـُٔواْ نُورَ ٱللَّهِ بِأَفۡوَٲهِهِمۡ وَٱللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِۦ وَلَوۡ ڪَرِهَ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرُونَ
“Intend they to put out the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect his light though averse may be the disbelievers!” (61:8).
وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مِنكُمۡ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ لَيَسۡتَخۡلِفَنَّهُمۡ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ ڪَمَا ٱسۡتَخۡلَفَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِهِمۡ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمۡ دِينَہُمُ ٱلَّذِى ٱرۡتَضَىٰ لَهُمۡ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّہُم مِّنۢ بَعۡدِ خَوۡفِهِمۡ أَمۡنً۬اۚ يَعۡبُدُونَنِى لَا يُشۡرِكُونَ بِى شَيۡـًٔ۬اۚ وَمَن ڪَفَرَ بَعۡدَ ذَٲلِكَ فَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ هُمُ ٱلۡفَـٰسِقُونَ
“Allah has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance (of power), as He granted it to those before them; that He will establish in authority their religion - the one which He has chosen for them; and that He will change (their state), after the fear in which they (lived), to one of security and peace: 'They will worship Me (alone) and not associate aught with Me. 'If any do reject Faith after this, they are rebellious and wicked” (24:55).
Then I was guided, author Muhammad al-Tijani al-Samawi writes of his discovery to the true path of Islam, that of adhering to the teachings of the Ahl Al-Bayt. In his book he describes what the scholar As-Sayyid As-Sadr relates to him: “As-Sayyid As-Sadr said: It is inevitable that we pass through difficult times because the path of Ahl al-Bayt is a difficult one. A man once came to see the Prophet (S) and said to him, “O Messenger of Allah, I love you” He replied, “Then expect many tribulations” The man said, “I love your cousin Ali” He replied, “Then expect many enemies” The man said, “I love al-Hasan and al-Husayn” He replied, “Then get ready for poverty and much affliction” What have we paid for the cause of justice for which Aba Abdillah al-Husayn (‘a) paid his life and the lives of his family's members and companions; and for which the Shi’a along the path of history have paid and are still paying up to the present day as a price for their allegiance to Ahl al-Bayt? My Brother, it is inevitable that we go through difficulties and give sacrifices for the cause of justice, and if Allah helped you in guiding one man to the right path, it is worth the whole world and what is within it”
Al-Tijani continues, “As-Sayyid as-Sadr also advised me against isolating ourselves and ordered me to get even closer to my Sunni brothers whenever they wanted to keep away from me, and to consider them innocent victims of distorted history and bad propaganda, because people are the enemy of what they do not know”2
This does not mean agree with their teachings, but rather not to shun them when they come to us. If we reject them when they come to us, make fun of them or are rude with them then how will they ever come towards Ahl Al-Bayt?
ٱدۡعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِٱلۡحِكۡمَةِ وَٱلۡمَوۡعِظَةِ ٱلۡحَسَنَةِۖ وَجَـٰدِلۡهُم بِٱلَّتِى هِىَ أَحۡسَنُۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعۡلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ عَن سَبِيلِهِۦۖ وَهُوَ أَعۡلَمُ بِٱلۡمُهۡتَدِينَ
“Invite to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knows, best who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance” (16:125).
Many Muslims have never even heard of the events that took place against the Ahl Al-Bayt. They were taught all their lives one way and that is all they have seen and the only way that they know. This book is written to teach the dear brothers and sisters what actually took place after the martyrdom of our Prophet. We cannot hold them accountable until we know that they are aware and then having known choose to reject Ahl Al-Bayt ('a). Even the idol worshippers were given a chance to hear the truth and submit so why not give this chance to our fellow Muslim’s?
وَإِنۡ أَحَدٌ۬ مِّنَ ٱلۡمُشۡرِكِينَ ٱسۡتَجَارَكَ فَأَجِرۡهُ حَتَّىٰ يَسۡمَعَ كَلَـٰمَ ٱللَّهِ ثُمَّ أَبۡلِغۡهُ مَأۡمَنَهُ ۚ ذَٲلِكَ بِأَنَّہُمۡ قَوۡمٌ۬ لَّا يَعۡلَمُونَ
“And if anyone of the idolaters seeketh thy protection (O Muhammad), then protect him so that he may hear the Word of Allah, and afterward convey him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who know not” (9:6).
I found that when researching what happened to the Ahl Al-Bayt ('a) and their followers that the accounts were spread throughout multiple books and not all present in one place, so I thought that it would be good to compile all these accounts into one place to make it easy on the reader. In this humble attempt I have compiled several excerpts about the life and struggles of the Ahl Al-Bayt (family of Muhammad) and their Shi’a (followers), and to inform the people about the oppressive events and incidents were inflicted upon the Ahl Al-Bayt (family of Muhammad) and their Shi’a (followers). I have included all of the books that I referenced for this project so that you may study them and come to your own conclusion. I hope that you, my dear brother or sister, benefit from this work and that you grow closer to Allah, our beloved Prophet (S) and his Ahl Al-Bayt ('a), inshallah (God willing).
Mateen J. Charbonneau
Note: The spellings of the names may differ, but that is because I kept the original spellings found in their respective sources.
The use of (S) after the Prophet’s name is an abbreviation for peace be upon him and his family. The use of ('a) after the names of Fatimah ('a) and the 12 Imams ('a) is an abbreviation for peace be upon him/her in Arabic; Alayhi Salam. The use of (ATF) after the name of Imam Mahdi (ATF) is an abbreviation for may Allah hasten his reappearance. The use of (RA) is an abbreviation for May Allah be pleased with him/ her in Arabic; Radi-Allahu Anhu.
Imam Sadiq ('a) said:
“Write and spread your knowledge among your brothers. If the end of your life approaches, leave your books as an inheritance for your sons, since there will come a time of sedition during which the people will only find comfort with their books.3
