Can I worship according to Shia?

- My spouse is Shiite (Jafari) an I am Hanafi. Can I worship according to Shia?

Dear Brother / Sister,

If you imitate Shia in issues contrary to Ahl as-Sunnah, your worship will be invalid. For example, washing the feet in ablution is fard according to the verses of the Quran and hadiths. However, in Shia, it is not fard to wash them; it is fard to wipe over them. Therefore, if one makes wudu according to Shia, both his wudu and his prayers are invalid.

To give a brief overview, Shia is the collective name of the communities who consider Ali (ra) as the worthiest person for the caliphate after the death of the Prophet (pbuh), who accept Ali (ra) as the first legitimate caliph, and who believe that the descendants of Ali (ra) should be the caliphs after his death.

Shia emerged as a result of the political events that began with the martyrdom of Uthman (ra) and continued with the battles of Jamal and Siffin in which Ali (ra) and many Companions participated.

The Jafariyya madhhab, named after the sixth Imam of Shia, Jafar as-Sadiq, is the fiqh madhhab of the Ithnaashariyya Shia and is also known as Imamiyya. The Shia’s understanding of Sunnah differs from that of the Sunni madhhabs in that it includes the words, deeds and statements of the infallible Imams in addition to those of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and only the hadiths narrated by Ahl al-Bayt are accepted as sound by Shia.

The Jafariyya madhhab, which differs from the Sunni madhhabs with understandings such as the infallibility of the Imams, reached different conclusions from the Sunni fiqh madhhabs in fiqh issues due to the difference in the understanding of ijma, the rejection of qiyas as evidence and the difference in procedural understandings such as the intellect (reason) being accepted as evidence.

Most of the Shiites have adopted the Jafari madhhab in fiqh.

The main fiqh issues in which the Jafari madhhab differs from Ahl as-Sunnah fiqh madhhabs can be summarized as follows:

1. Wiping over the upper part of the feet up to the ankles in wudu is one of the fards of wudu. It is not permissible to wash the feet in wudu; in addition, wiping over the khuffs (masah) is not valid.

2. Touching a dead person who has not yet been washed and has cooled down requires ghusl.

3. Prostration can only be performed on things that are of the earth and on things that the earth grows but are not eaten. It is not permissible to prostrate on things that are eaten and worn, such as gold, silver, agate, and turquoise.

4. It is necessary to add the phrase “Hayya ala alal-khayril-amal”, after “Hayya alal-falah” in the adhan, since it is a part of the adhan. The phrase “Ashhadu anna Aliyyan Waliyyullah” is not part of the text of the adhan, but it is mustahabb to recite it after the sentences of shahadah.

5. Intentionally tying the hands (putting the right hand on the left hand) in prayer invalidates the prayer.

6. Gold and silver that were not been minted as money and coins are not subject to zakah.

7. Khums (one-fifth of the profit) is given from the profits of trade goods.

8. Muta marriage is permissible.

9. A man may also marry his wife’s aunt when he is married to his wife if his wife and her aunt give consent.

10. Divorces that are not made in the presence of two witnesses are not valid.

11. The five daily prayers are performed in three times by being combined.

In conclusion, if a member of the Hanafi madhhab imitates the Shia madhhab and, for example, does not wash his bare feet during wudu but only wipes them, his wudu and the prayers he performs with it will not be valid according to any Sunni madhhab. Similarly, his mut’a marriage and his marriage contract with his aunt will be invalid as long as his marriage with his wife continues. If he performs five daily prayers by combining them in three time periods - outside of their prescribed times - it is not valid

In this respect, it is not permissible for a Hanafi person to worship according to the Jafari madhhab in issues that are completely contrary to his own madhhab and other Sunni madhhabs.

However, it is valid and acceptable for him to worship according to the Jafari madhhab in issues that coincide with at least one of the Sunni madhhabs. (see DİB, Şia, Caferiye item)

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