Today, I stumbled upon something very interesting. In the depths of the infamous Shia website”al-islamorg” I came accross a pretty delicate confession, a one that is anything but in favour for many Shias, especially in the current political climate where many of them try to throw Sunnis under the bus by making false claims that beheadings, burning etc. were committed by “evil” Sahabah like Khalib Ibn Al-Walid, Abu Bakr etc. only and since they are revered by Sunnis that will equal to

Sunnism = root of Isis and “Islamic” terrorism.

Let’s see what one of the most influential Shia websites in the history of the world wide web has to say:

Greater Sins – Volume 1 AUTHOR(S): Ayatullah Sayyid Abdul Husayn Dastghaib Shirazi has exhaustively explained the phenomenon of sin, the classification of sins, and the necessity of avoiding them. He has also described fifty different types of Greater Sins. See also part II and III of this book. About sins and particularly the greater sins (Gunah-e-Kabira). Covers sins such as association with God (Shirk), fornication, drinking alcohol, and gambling.

In vol. 1 under the chapter of Eleventh Greater sin: Sodomy he mentions the traditional Shia view with regards to the punishment for “homosexuals”:

The Punishment of Sodomy

Since sodomy is a greater crime than adultery and its evils are worse, the punishment for sodomy is also more severe than that of adultery according to the Islamic law. Islam prescribes capital punishment for the active as well as the passive partner in the crime. If both are major and sane, both of them have to be killed. The active partner is beheaded with the sword or killed by stoning or burnt alive or thrown from a height with the hands and the legs tied. These are the ways prescribed for punishing the criminal, but it is at the discretion of the Judge to determine the method. Similarly, the method adopted for the death of the passive partner is also determined by the Qazi.

According to Amir ul-Mu’minīn ‘Ali (a.s.), a person who has committed this sin must also be burnt after being killed.

Fire Did Not Burn the Repentant!

There is a tradition from Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) in the book al-Kāfi (Section on Penal Code), that:

One day ‘Ali (a.s.) was sitting with his companions when a man approached and said “O Chief of the Believers, I have committed sodomy with a boy, please purify me (impose legal penalty upon me) ‘Ali (a.s.) told him, “Go home, you may have had some misunderstanding.”

The next day the man returned and repeated his confession and requested for penalty. ‘Ali (a.s.) said,

“Go home, you may not be in your sense right now.”

He went away only to return the third time and repeat his confession and again asked for punishment.

At last when he came for the fourth time, ‘Ali (a.s.) said,

“The Holy Prophet (S) has prescribed Three methods of dealing with the situation, you may choose any one of the three deaths – by having the arms and feet tied and thrown from the cliff, being beheaded or being burnt alive.”

He said, “O, ‘Ali (a.s.) which is the worst of these methods?” Imam replied, “Burning alive.” “Then I choose this death.” said the man. By permission of ‘Ali (a.s.), he stood and prayed two rakāt prayer and then said, “O Allah ! A sin was committed by me of which You are well aware. Then I had the fear of this sin, I came to the Successor of your Prophet and requested him to purify me. He gave me a choice of three deaths. I chose the most dreadful death. I pray to you to consider this penalty as the expiation of my sin and do not burn me in the fire of Hell which is ignited by you.”

Then he got up weeping and jumped into the pit into which the fire had been lit. He sat in the fire and the fire engulfed him from all the sides. ‘Ali (a.s.) began to weep, upon seeing this condition and the other companions were also in tears.

‘Ali (a.s.) said, “Arise, the one who has caused the angels of the earth and the sky to weep. Allah has certainly accepted your repentance. Get up but never approach the sin that you have committed.”

It so happened that the man came out of the fire unscathed. The fire could not burn he one who repented.

A quick search on Arabic Shia websites leads one to the original text of the narration, it is in Kulayni’s (Furu’) Al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 201 (and the narration has been authenticated by Al-Majlisi with a hassan/good grading in his Mir’at Al-‘Uqul, vo. 23, p. 306):

اب (آخر منه) – علي بن إبراهيم، عن أبيه، عن ابن محبوب، عن ابن رئاب، عن مالك بن عطية عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: بينا أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام في ملا من أصحابه إذ أتاه رجل فقال:
يا أمير المؤمنين: إني قد أوقبت على غلام فطهرني، فقال له: يا هذا امض إلى منزلك لعل مرارا هاج بك فلما كان من غد عاد إليه فقال له: يا أمير المؤمنين إني أوقبت على غلام فطهرني فقال له: يا هذا امض إلى منزلك لعل مرارا هاج بك حتى فعل ذلك ثلاثا بعد مرته الأولى فلما كان في الرابعة قال له: يا هذا إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله حكم في مثلك بثلاثة أحكام فاختر أيهن شئت، قال: وما هن يا أمير المؤمنين؟ قال: ضربة بالسيف في عنقك بالغة ما بلغت أو اهداء  من جبل مشدود اليدين والرجلين، أو إحراق بالنار فقال:
يا أمير المؤمنين أيهن أشد علي؟ قال: الاحراق بالنار قال: فإني قد اخترتها يا أمير المؤمنين قال: خذ لذلك أهبتك  فقال: نعم فقام فصلى ركعتين ثم جلس في تشهده فقال: اللهم إني قد أتيت من الذنب ما قد علمته وإني تخوفت من ذلك فجئت إلى وصي رسولك وابن عم نبيك فسألته أن يطهرني فخيرني بين ثلاثة أصناف من العذاب اللهم فإني قد اخترت أشدها اللهم فإني أسألك أن تجعل ذلك كفارة لذنوبي وأن لا تحرقني بنارك في آخرتي ثم قام وهو باك حتى جلس في الحفرة التي حفرها له أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام وهو يرى النار تتأجج حوله (3) قال: فبكى أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام وبكى أصحابه جميعا فقال له أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام: قم يا هذا فقد أبكيت ملائكة السماء وملائكة الأرض فإن الله قد تاب عليك فقم ولا تعاودن شيئا مما قد فعلت

Conclusion:

One might argue that the man came out of the fire unscathed, however, this doesn’t change the fact that according to ‘Ali, in Shia sources, burning an “homosexual” alive is one of the legal penalties preached by ‘Ali. Shias have to choose: Either they claim that there is no Islamic rule whatsoever, i.e. the Shari’ah has been cancelled  (due to the myth of an hidden “Imam”) and hence no punishments can be imposed (this is an actual view of a group of classical Shia scholars and very few today) except by an “infallible”, or they must accept that burning an “homosexual” alive is the tradition of “their” first “infallible” which they have to act upon.