Summary Article:Defying False Claims and their Dependence on the Hadith of Guardianship
Sheikh Abu Muhamad Qara Guli
Translated by: Mujtaba Al-Helu
Ahmad Ismail and his companions have heavily founded their false claim upon the Hadith of Guardianship, which has been narrated by Sheikh Al-Toosi in his Gaiba. This study strives to diagnose the pitfalls of this claim and its dependence upon the above Hadith.
First, the narrational line of the Hadith is ambiguous, and the individuals who have narrated this Hadith are unknown. The point is that how is it possible to propose an entire ideological heritage upon an ambiguous Hadith and to excommunicate those who disbelieve this ideology? Moreover, there are other possible deviating factors that affect the narration of this Hadith, like misspelling in the books that have narrated it.
Second, the uncanny also withholds individuals from believing this claim. The uncanny is a common human feature that even the prophets share.
Third, in the Shia narratives, it is unfamiliar to mention certain characteristics in narrations, as in the above Hadith. This unfamiliarity opens the path for further skepticism.
Fourth, there are other irrational elements that further justifies the sceptic attitude towards the Hadith, as the for granted futuristic events of yamani who will rise fromyemen. Moreover, the narrations have insisted on the Shias to halt until the uprising of Al-Sufiani. The correspondence of these two events destabilizes the validity of the forged Hadith. In the same context, other narrations emphasize that those who rise before the Debut of Imam Al-Mahdi are false forgers. Ahmad Ismail is one of those who announced his Debut before the rise of Imam Al-Mahdi, a feature that proves his invalidity.
Fifth, we may add other factors that justify our withholding from adopting this false claim as the fact that mere claim of Debut is insufficient to prove the legitimacy of this claim without supporting it with any tangible proof. Despite the prior point, the matter of Debut without any proper historical support is only a proof for Ahmad Ismail and is followers. Additionally, such grave issues maintain their legitimacy and survival through secrecy, and that miracles are the last option and cannot be employed as a resort in proving such claims.
