Then I Was Guided By
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Then I was Guided by Sayed Mohamed Tijani Smaoui Table of Contents ● Dedication ● Foreword ● A Brief Look at my Life ● The Pilgrimage to the House of Allah ● In Egypt ● A Meeting on Board the Ship ● My first Visit to Iraq ● Abdul Qadir al Jilani and Musa al Kazim ● Sceptisism and Questioning ● The Visit to al Najaf ● A Meeting with al Ulama (Learned Men) ● A Meeting with al Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al Sadr ● Sceptisism and Perplexity ● The Journey to Hijaz ● The Beginning of the Research ● The Beginning of the Detailed Study ❍ The Companions (of the Prophet) as Seen by the Shia and the Sunnis 1. The Companions at the Peace Treaty of al Hudaybiyah 2. The Companions and Raziyat Yawm al Khamis (The Calamity of Thursday) 3. The Companions in the Military Detachment under Usamah ● The Opinion of the Quran regarding the Companions 1. The turning back Verse 2. The Holy War (Jihad) Verse 3. The Submissiveness ● The Opinion of the Messenger regarding the Companions 1. The hadith of the Pool 2. The hadith of the Competetion for this World ● The Opinion of the Companions about each other 1. Their testimony that they themselves changed the tradition of the Prophet 2. The Companions even made changes in the Prayers 3. The Companions testify against themselves 4. The testimony of the Shaykhan against themselves ● The Beginning of Change ● A Dialogue with a Scholar ● The Reasons behind enlightement 1. The text regarding the Succession of the Caliphate 2. The disagreement between Fatimah and Abu Bakr 3. Ali was more entitled to the leadership 4. The Prophetic Traditions which indicates the fact that Ali should be followed ■ The Prophetic tradition: I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate ■ The Prophetic tradition: O Ali! You hold in relation to me the same position as Harun held in relation to Musa except that there will be no prophet after me ■ The Prophetic tradition: Ali is the master of all those whom I am master. O Allah! Love him who loves him and hate him who hates him, help him who helps him and forsake him who forsakes him, and turn justice with him whenever he turns ■ The Prophetic tradition: Ali is from me and I am from Ali, and nobody can discharge my duty except myself or Ali ■ The Prophetic tradition of the House on the Day of Warning ● The Correct Prophetic traditions which indicate the fact that it is Compulsory to Follow the Ahl al-Bayt 1. The Prophetic tradition of the Two Weighty Things 2. The Prophetic Tradition of the Ship 3. The Prophetic Tradition: He who wishes to live like me ● Our Misfortune Regarding Ijtihad Against Texts ● An Invitation to Friends to join the Research ● The Guidance of Truth ● The References Dedication My book is a modest piece of work. It is a story of a journey ... a story of a new discovery, not a technical or natural discovery, but one in the field of religious and philosophical schools. Since any discovery is based primarily on a healthy mind and clear comprehension, which distinguishes human beings from all other creatures, I would like to dedicate this book to every healthy mind. A mind which puts truth to the test and knows it from the wreck of wrong. A mind which weighs all that has been said in the scale of justice, and always comes out in favor of reason. A mind which compares words and sayings, and has the ability to distinguish between the logical and the not so logical, and between the strong and the feeble. Allah, the Most High, said, Those who listen to the saying and follow the best of it, those are guided by and they are the mindful. To all of those I dedicate this book, hoping that Allah, Praise be to Him the Most High, opens our minds before our eyes, to guide us, to enlighten our hearts, to show us clearly the right way so we follow it, and to show us clearly the wrong way so we avoid it, and accepts us with His good servants, for He listens and He answers. Muhammad al Tijani al Samawi Foreword In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Universe. He created man from clay and shaped him in the best possible way. He favoured him above all other creatures and made His closest angels prostrate themselves before him. He graced him with the mind that changed his doubt to an absolute belief. He gave him two eyes, one tongue, two lips and showed him the two ways. He sent him messengers giving him the good news, warning him, and alerting him, and preventing him from going astray with the cursed devil. He told him not to worship the Devil, for the Devil is his enemy, and to worship Allah alone and follow His right path, with understanding and a convincing belief, and not to imitate the belief of his forefathers and friends and relatives who followed those before them without any clear reasoning. Who could say better things than he who called for Allah and did good deeds and said that he was one of the Muslims, may the Lord's blessings, peace and greetings be upon the Messenger who brought mercy unto the people ... supporter of all the Oppressed and the weak ... saviour of all mankind from the darkness of ignorance ... he who will guide them to the enlightened path of the faithful and the good. Our master Muhammad ibn Abdulla ... prophet of the Muslims and chief of the singularly radiant. May these blessings and greetings be upon his good and purified posterity whom Allah has chosen from among all the truthful. He stated in the Quran that we are compelled to love them, after he had purified them and made them infallible. He promised that anybody who goes on board their ship will be saved, and anybody who does not do so will perish. May these blessings and greetings be upon his honourable companions who supported him, honoured him and sacrificed themselves for him and for the victory of Islam. They knew the truth, so they pledged allegiance to him with conviction and stayed on the right path without changing it and were thankful. May Allah reward them for their services to Islam and the Muslims. May these blessings and greetings be upon their followers and upon those who kept on their path and were guided by their light ... to the day of Judgement. Please Lord accept my request for You are the All hearing and the Most Knowledgeable. Please my Lord open my heart for You are the One who guides us to the absolute truth. Please my Lord help me to express myself, for you grant wisdom to any one You wish from amongst Your faithful worshippers. Please my Lord grant me more knowledge and join me with righteous people. A Brief Look at My Life I still remember how my father took me for the first time to the local mosque where al- Tarawih prayers were performed during the month of Ramadan. I was then ten years old. He introduced me to the men who could not hide their astonishment. I knew previously that the tutor had arranged for me to perform al-Ishfa[1] prayers for two or three nights. It was customary for me to pray behind the man with some local children, and wait for the Imam to arrive at the second part of the Qur'an, i.e. surat Meriam. My father made sure that we learnt the Qur'an at the Qur'anic school as well as at home through private lessons given to us by a blind man, who was related to us and who could recite the Qur'an by heart. Due to the fact that I learnt to recite the Qur'an at an early age, the tutor tried to show his good influence on me by teaching me the kneeling points in the recital. He tested me repeatedly to make sure that I had understood his instructions. After I passed the test and finished performing the prayers and the recital, as well as I was expected to do, all the men came and congratulated me and my father, and thanked my tutor for his good efforts and blessings, and thanked Allah for Islam. The memories of the days that followed are still with me today ... I acquired so much admiration and my reputation went beyond our alley to the whole town. Those nights of Ramadan have left their religious marks on me to this day, and every time I go through an episode of confusion, I feel that there is a strange power which pulls me and puts me back on the path. Every time I felt the weakness of the soul and the meaningless of life, these memories come to me to elevate me to a spiritual level and light in my conscience the flame of belief so that I can carry the responsibility. The responsibility which was given to me by my father, or more appropriately by my tutor, to lead the group in prayers at an early age made me feel as if I was not doing enough, or at least not up to the standard which was expected from me. Therefore I spent my childhood and my adolescence in relative rectitude, but not without some innocent playing and an eagerness to know and to imitate. Throughout that period I was surrounded by the divine care which made me distinguishable amongst my brothers for my calmness and composure and for being on the right path and away from all immoral acts.