Are Shia Muslims hypocrites?

Are Shia Muslims hypocrites?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The requirements of Islam and belief are clear. Accordingly, regardless of their name, anyone who meets those requirements is a Muslim. It is not appropriate to accuse a sect or a madhhab of unbelief simply because of its name.

Therefore, in order to call someone who says, “I am a Muslim” a hypocrite (munafiq), it is necessary for that person to confess it himself or Allah to reveal it.

Unless one of those two conditions is met, no Muslim can be called a hypocrite in the sense of being faithless.

However, as it is stated in the hadiths, there may be those who possess the characteristics of hypocrisy despite being believers. In that case, whether one is Shia or Sunni, he can have the characteristic of a hypocrite. For example, in one hadith, the signs of hypocrisy are summarized as lying, breaking promises and betraying a trust. (Bukhari, Iman, 24)

In another narration, the element of straying into injustice is added to them when they fall into disagreement. (See Bukhari, Mazalim, 17)

It is stated in another hadith that modesty and speaking sparingly are two manifestations of belief while foul language and speaking excessively are two signs of hypocrisy. (See Tirmidhi, Birr, 80)

Thus, if a person possesses those traits, he might be a believer bearing the signs of hypocrisy though he is not a hypocrite in the sense of an unbeliever who conceals his unbelief from the perspective of faith.

Is it permissible to declare Shiites as unbelievers (to call them kafir)?

As it is known, there are various groups among the Shiites. They are referred to as Ghulat as-Shia (extremist Shiites). Such groups are outside the scope of our discussion. The others are believers and can never be declared unbelievers.

The truth is that being a believer or an unbeliever is not based on sects, but on the principles stated in the Quran and Sunnah. Whether Sunni or Shia, one who believes in Allah, the prophets, especially the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh), the heavenly books, especially the Quran, the afterlife, angels, and predestination (qadar) is a believer; one who does not believe in them is an unbeliever.

In an environment where emotions have prevailed over reason amid the turmoil of history, it is high time to abandon the bigotry arising between madhhabs.

It is a grave injustice to attribute the erroneous views regarding Ali (ra) held by those who act under the guise Ahl as-Sunnah but follow Wahhabi and Kharijite ideologies, as well as by certain political fanatics and heretics, to all Sunnis because the Sunnis themselves oppose those errors. According to them, the position of Ali (ra), as the head of the Ahl al-Bayt and as the spiritual heir representing the spiritual personality of the Prophet (pbuh), is incomparably greater than anyone else. (For further details, see Nursi, Lemalar, Dördüncü Lema)

Similarly, it is a grave injustice to cast suspicion on all Shiites by using as an excuse the errors of the extremist Shiites, such as their attribution of a kind of divinity to Ali (ra), or the errors of those who claim that the Quran is, -God forbid- incomplete, because Shiite scholars themselves oppose those errors.

To sum up, those meaningless, untrue, and harmful disputes should be put to an end immediately and controversial issues regarding details should not be brought up. In an era when attacks are being made against the religion to which Ali (ra) belonged, the Quran, the Prophet (pbuh), and even Allah, it is a serious disrespect to the values ​​that Ali (ra) defended throughout his life for Sunnis and Shias, who share those values, to abandon them and fight amongst themselves.

Moreover, the heretics who exploit those disputes will use those two Muslim communities as tools against each other, employing one to crush the other, and after defeating one, they will break the tool as well. We must not give them this opportunity. (See Lem’alar, ibid)

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