'Ali calls to unity & says kill who leaves it - Nahjul Balagha Sermon 126/127

[Husayn]

Why isn't this sermon used more often against modern day Shiis? I remember when I first encountered it I suffered a migraine for about a year trying to make excuses that made sense (I failed, and everything that I read failed too).

وَسَيَهْلِكُ فِيَّ صِنْفَانِ: مُحِبٌّ مُفْرِطٌ يَذْهَبُ بِهِ الْحُبُّ إِلَى غَيْرِ الْحَقِّ، وَمُبْغِضٌ مُفْرِطٌ يَذْهَبُ بِهِ الْبُغْضُ إِلَى غَيْرِ الْحَقِّ، وَخَيْرُ النَّاسِ فيَّ حَالاً الَّنمَطُ الاََْوْسَطُ فَالْزَمُوهُ، وَالْزَمُوا السَّوَادَ الاََعْظَم فَإِنَّ يَدَ اللهِ مَعَ الْجَمَاعَةِ، وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَالْفُرْقَةَ! فَإِنَّ الشَّاذَّ مِنَ النَّاسِ لِلشَّيْطَانِ، كَمَا أَنَّ الشَّاذَّةَ مِنَ الْغَنَمِلِلذِّئْبِ. أَلاَ مَنْ دَعَا إِلَى هذَا الشِّعَارِفَاقْتُلُوهُ، وَلَوْ كَانَ تَحْتَ عِمَامَتِي هذِهِ



With regard to me, two categories of people will be ruined, namely he who loves me too much and the love takes him away from rightfulness, and he who hates me too much and the hatred takes him away from rightfulness. The best man with regard to me is he who is on the middle course. So be with him and be with the great majority (of Muslims) because Allah's hand (of protection) is on keeping unity. You should beware of division because the one isolated from the group is (a prey) to Satan just as the one isolated from the flock of sheep is (a prey) to the wolf. Beware; whoever calls to this course, kill him, even though he may be under this headband of mine.

http://www.imamalinet.net/old/en/nahj/nahj.htm - Sermon 127

'Ali (ra) says to the Khawarij - be with the great majority of Muslims. Were they Rafidi Ithna 'Asharis?  Can the Ithna 'Asharis possibly use this excuse? No, they can't.

So who were the great majority of Muslims in his time - they were definitely those who loved and revered Abu Bakr (ra) & Umar (ra).

Here is a thread from shiachat on this topic, and here are some responses:

http://www.shiachat.com/forum/topic/234930678-sermon-127-about-the-kharijites-from-nahj-al-balaghah/

Salam, I believe this part of the Sermon is referring to the Ghulat. The Ghulat are so called "shia" who called Ali (as) God (astagfrollah).

Also from where did you get this quote from? The actual book or from a site? Because I've seen so many lies about the book and quotes that don't exist. l'll look for it.

He says that this has to do with the exaggerators. So if the exaggerators are the wrong group, who is the middle group? Where is Ahlul Sunnah? Ofcourse, they must be on the opposing end, they must be the "haters", and apparently the great majority of Muslims and the middle group are somehow the Ithna 'Asharis, during the time of 'Ali (ra).

And then he tries to find excuses to reject that it even exists (because clearly his fitra is telling him that these words are dangerous to his religion).

Another guy says:

Yes, Imam Ali is big on unity, but this does not mean that he is saying that he is not the Imam, nor is he saying that those in opposition to him (i.e. Abu Bak'r and Umar) are correct. He is saying that those who love him to the level of extremism (i.e. Ghullats), and those who hate him (i.e. the dogs like Abu Sufyan and Muawiyah) will be punished. Those in the "middle path" are those pious and learned individuals do not cause the disunity and factions.

If you think about it, he was the Imam whether or not people accepted him or not. There is no compulsion in religion. People are free to do as they will. It is an order by Allah that you do not force people to follow your religion. Imam Ali knew that there is greater harm done through disuniting the Muslim Ummah and causing them to fight amongst themselves. He kept his patience.

Such was the wisdom of the Imams of Islam. Such is the level of guidance they offered us. Such is the blessing that is bestowed upon the world by The Almighty. Right here is a beautiful proof that the justice of Allah would never allow the world to be bereft of an Imam such as the beloved Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib. What a genius religion Islam is.

- Mansab Jafri

Again, supposedly the two wrong groups are the exaggerators and the haters, and the middle group is.... who exactly? The Ithna 'Ashari Shias? The great majority of Muslims were the Ithna 'Ashari Shias during the time of 'Ali??

Nonsense, again.

Another guy says:

most likely you read from a Nahjal Balagah translated by sunni scholars. because i read different versions of this book,many of the books say different stories.... look on www.AZADARI.NET ... its a shia of Mohammed,Fatema, and Ali website u can read Nahjal Balagah there also.

Again, this must have been translated or written by a Sunni, right!?!

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Now, famous poster macisaac says:

Just a quick note. There have been (and apparently still are) groups that believed that the Imam was actually God incarnate (a`udhu billah). These are referred to as the "ghulat", but there have been a number of such groups. Their deviant beliefs were often accompanied by other heresies such as saying that the Shari`a was only symbolical (i.e. you don't really need to pray, fast, etc.). The Imams have cursed these people, and we in turn don't consider them even to be Muslims. Perhaps this is what was being referred to here (Allahu `Alam).

And this guy is supposed to be knowledgeable and intelligent? Why, because he can look up names in books of Rijaal?

What a ridiculous response. Again, the ghulat (who believe 'Ali is God) are one of the wrong groups. So the Ithna 'Asharis, the ones who believe he is a divinely appointed infallible with knowledge of all things - this is the middle group? This is the great majority of Muslims?

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And then the mod Aliya posts (before closing the thread):

ghulats were those that 'loved him too much' that ascribed things to Imam Ali (as) such as have been mentioned (like him being God, astaghfirullah).

Kharijites were those that hated Imam Ali (as).

the middle ground being spoken about were the majority of the ummah (without specifying differences between shia and sunni that have become more divided over time).

I'm closing this thread, because there are TONS of threads on this sermon, and they're all the same. It is NOT talking about shias as the ones who love Imam (as) too much, nor sunnis (or other sub-non-shia groups) as the ones that hate Imam (as). If anyone wants to learn more, they can google search within the site.

Again, the same ridiculously bad reasoning - the wrong groups are the haters and ghulat, and the middle group is..... both the Ithna 'Asharis and the Sunnis?

[Taha]

Nahj Al-Balagha is not a book of hadeeth but rather a book of Balagha.

That's the excuse I got, that it's unreliable.

[Husayn]

Nahj Al-Balagha is not a book of hadeeth but rather a book of Balagha.

That's the excuse I got, that it's unreliable.

That's a good excuse.

Now, keep rejecting what's unreliable, and insha Allah, you will reject the entire sect and become a good, upstanding member of Ahlul Sunnah wal Jama'a.

[MuslimK]

An Iranian Shia scholar (on anti-Sunni tv) once claimed, after a Sunni caller quoted a sermon, that Nahjul balagha is not authentic because most of the sermons are taken from Sunni sources.

[Hani]

Shareef al-Radi is a confused deviant. I know brilliant sermons who are very eloquent and POPULAR by `Ali but he never included them as there's open praise for certain individuals in them.

The above is narrated from `Ali and the Prophet (saw) in the books of Ahlul-Sunnah, it's quite obvious what `Ali is talking about. Who is this group who loved him too much to the extent that they left the majority? Answer: Imamiyyah.

As brother Husayn said, HOW can the middle path be both Ahlul-Sunnah and the Twelvers? They're not united and one of these two groups loves `Ali EXTREMELY as is shown by their behavior, I say the Ghulat in this narration includes all the Imami sects who say `Ali's infallible, knows the unseen, speaks to angels, does miracles, does not forget, can defeat armies on his own, knows every detail about religion and hidden meanings of the Qur'an etc...

Refer to my small funny article here:
http://twelvershia.net/2014/03/15/imams-wear-clothing-made-from-angel-feathers/

[ahlebaitlover]

Fantastic sermon.
Shaykh AbdulHaleem on Al Islam Productions made a video on this sermon. Please visit it on youtube and listen to it. He mentioned excellent points. Its food for thought for the shias.

[Furkan]

It's clear who the extremists are. Classical shiite scholars must have wanted to delete this from najh ul balagha, but somehow it didn't happen, too bad for their followers :p