Book title:
Anwar Al-Zahra’ (“Lights of Fatimah Al-Zahra'”) by “Ayatullah” Hassan Abtahi
Scan:
Translation:
(Chapter) Is it Permissible to Prostrate to Fatimah?
(Answer by Ayatullah Abtahi): “It has reached us in our our narrations that one must prostrate after the “Seeking Help from Fatimah Al-Zahra (as) prayer” and say a hundred times, whilst in sujud (prostration): “O My Mistress, O Fatimah, Come to My Help!”
This [beseeching Fatimah whilst prostrating] is absolutely natural, for when we mention her name during prostration and ask her for help, it is an absolute requirement to pay all our attention to her and prostrate for her this is because it wouldn’t make sense to talk to Fatimah and give her all our attention whilst we prostrate to other than her.
And the truth which nobody can deny is, that if no evidences have reached us with regards to the prohibition of prostrating to other than Allah, then in conclusion we have no reason to believe in the prohibition of prostrating to other than Allah …”
shiascan.com comment:
First of all it is a lie that no narrations exist which prohibit prostrating to other than Allah in Shia books, but before getting to that, do these Shia scholars have any concern about the words of Allah?
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ وَالشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ ۚ لَا تَسْجُدُوا لِلشَّمْسِ وَلَا لِلْقَمَرِ وَاسْجُدُوا لِلَّهِ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُنَّ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ
And of His signs are the night and day and the sun and moon. Do not prostrate to the sun or to the moon, but prostate to Allah , who created them, if it should be Him that you worship.
Rest assured that the Shia clergy want us to believe that Allah prohibited us from prostrating to the sun and moon, yet prostrating and beseeching Fatimah Al-Zahra’ a hundreds of times, is exactly what He wants.
As for why many Shi’ites are ignorant of narrations about the probition of prostrating to other than Allah is due to their scholars beeing allergic to anything that (even remotely) carries the scent of Tawhid, because we often see them weakening (sometimes even completely rejecting) hadiths in their book that are non-Khurafi (superstitious), pro-Tawhid and pro-Sunnah in nature yet they are quick to accept obvious fabrications and narrations that are completely in opposition to the Qur’an and Tawhid. Take the following hadiths for example, all taken from Shia books which clearly prohibit prostrating to other than Allah under any circumstance whatsoever:
عن الاِمام الصادق عليه السلام عندما سأله زنديق: أفيصلح السجود لغير الله؟ قال الاِمام عليه السلام:« لا » قال: فكيف أمر الله الملائكة بالسجود لآدم عليه السلام؟ فقال الاِمام عليه السلام: « إنّ من سجد بأمر الله فقد سجد لله، فكان سجوده لله إذا كان عن أمر الله »
الاِحتجاج|الطبرسي 2: 218|223 كلامه في حكمة سجود الملائكة لآدم عليه السلام. انتشارات الاسوة ـ قم 1413 هـ. وبحار الاَنوار 10: 168|2 باب13 إحتجاجات الاِمام الصادق عليه السلام على الزنادقة والمخالفين.
It has been reported from Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, that once a Zindiq (hypocrite heretic …) asked him: “Is it appropriate to prostrate to other than Allah? The Imam said: “No!” He (i.e. Zindiq) asked: “Then how come Allah ordered the Angels to prostrate to Adam, peace be upon him?” The Imam answered: “Whoever prostrates due to an order of Allah is as if he has prostrated to Allah, so his prostration is in fact for Allah if it was an order of Allah (to prostrate).” [Al-Ihtijaj by Al-Tabrisi, 218 : 2, Bihar Al-Anwar, 168 : 10]
From the aforementioned hadith alone we can clearly see that the Tawhid understanding of Imam Al-Sadiq is different to those who claim to follow him and represent him as “Ayatullahs”. Imam Al-Sadiq regarded the prostration in the direction of Adam a prostration for Allah, this is due to the clear-cut evidence in the Qur’an that the Angels were ordered (as a form or respect, greeting) etc. to prostrate, not to worship, let alone to beseech Adam for help! Are Shi’ites seriously going to argue that Allah ordered us and them to prostrate to Fatimah as well? Where did Allah order us to do so?
Interestingly, on the same scan of “Ayatullah” Abtahi where he advocates prostration to Fatimah, he continues with a notorious and poor Shia (and often used by other Ahl Al-Bida’) argument trying to justify Seeking help from Fatimah in Sujud by comparing it with the Angels who prostrated before Adam or the family of Yusuf who prostrated before him:
Response to desperate and faulty Shia justification attempts and analogies (to justify their literal Catholic-like prayers to Fatimah whilst in Sujud) such as:
- Angels protrated to Adam
- The Ya’qub and his family prostrated to Yusuf
As for the Angels: Their prostration before Adam was a sign of honour and respect and out of obedience to the command of Allah. Qatadah commented, ‘The obedience was for Allah and the prostration was before Adam. Allah honored Adam and commanded the Angels to prostrate before him.’ (See Al-Tabari (1): 512). The Angels did not invoke Adam and asked him a few hundred times for help whilst in Sujud, only a Zindiq (heretic) would compare this to what Rafidis do (and in fact the Zindiqs of the past did approach the Ahl Al-Bayt with these silly comparisons, as proven in this post). It is also noteworthy that this understanding can be found in the early books of the Shia:
وقد روى أبو بصير عن الاِمام الصادق عليه السلام مايؤيد ذلك، قال: قلت لاَبي عبد الله عليه السلام: سجدت الملائكة لآدم عليه السلام ووضعوا جباههم على الاَرض؟ قال عليه السلام: « نعم تكرمة من الله تعالى »
بحار الاَنوار 11: 139|3 باب سجود الملائكة ومعناه.
On the authority of Abu Basir who narrated from Imam Al-Sadiq, peace be upon him: “I asked Abu Abdillah (Al-Sadiq): “Didn’t the Angels prostrate to Adam, peace be upon him, and put their foreheads on the ground?” He, peace be upon him, said: “Yes, as a sign of honour from Allah.” [Bihar Al-Anwar, 139 : 11]
As for Ya’qub’s, peace be upon him, case:
The prostration of Yusuf’s parents and brothers was also a prostration of greeting and honouring, which was permissible according to the law (of Allah) at that time. But according to the Sharia brought by the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), it is not permissible to prostrate to anyone at all except Allah. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If I were to have commanded anyone to prostrate to anyone else, I would have commanded women to prostrate to their husbands.”
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was known to dislike when others get up for him, as for prostrating to any other than Allah, he strictly forbad his companions to do that for anyone, including for himsef as in the case of Mu’adh who said to the Prophet, ‘I visited ash-Sham and found that they used to prostrate before their priests and scholars. You, O Messenger of Allah, are more deserving of prostration.’ The Prophet said, ‘No. If I was to command any human to prostrate before another human, I would command the wife to prostrate before her husband because of the enormity of his right on her.’ [Tirmidhi (1109)] [See, Tafsir Ibn Kathir]
The prohibition in this Sharia against prostrating to anyone at all except Allah is an aspect of its perfection in achieving true Tawhid. In our Shariah, whatever leads to haram is haram. As prostrating / bowing to other than Allah, even as a sign of respect, could lead to shirk, it is forbidden and this is based on authentic narrations.
Noteworthy: It is also confirmed in early Shia sources that the family of Yusuf prostrated in front of him as a form of greeting (not to beseech and pray to him as Shi’ites do with Fatimah and their Imams):
وعن موسى بن محمد بن علي بن موسى، سأل الاِمام علي بن محمد الهادي عليه السلام عن قول الله عزَّ وجلَّ: ( ورفع أبويه على العرش وخرّوا له سجداً) أسجد يعقوب وولده ليوسف وهم أنبياء؟…
فقال عليه السلام: « وأما سجود يعقوب وولده ليوسف، فإنّ السجود لم يكن ليوسف، كما أن السجود من الملائكة لآدم لم يكن لآدم، إنّما كان منهم طاعة لله وتحية لآدم، فسجد يعقوب وولده شكراً لله باجتماع شملهم، ألم ترَ أنه يقول في شكره في ذلك الوقت ( ربِّ قد آتيتني من الملك وعلّمتني من تأويل الاحاديث..) »
الاختصاص|الشيخ المفيد: 91 ـ 93، انتشارات مكتبة الزهراء عليها السلام ـ قم 1402 هـ. وتفسير العياشي 2: 197|82.
Imam Al-Hadi (Al-Naqi), peace be upon him, was asked with regards to the verse: “And he raised his parents to the throne and they fell down before him prostrate” Did Ya’qub, who is a Prophet, and his son prostrate to Yusuf?” He (Al-Hadi) said: “As for the prostration of Ya’qub and his son for Yusuf, the prostration was not for Yusuf as the prostration of the Angels to Adam was not for Adam, it was merely an act of obedience to Allah and a form of greeting to Adam, so Ya’qub and his son prostrated to give thanks to Allah …” [Al-Ikhtisas by Al-Mufid and Tafsir Al-‘Ayyashi 82, 197 : 2]
Finally, Ya’qub and his family did not prostrated and pray to Yusuf asking him hundreds of times for help, so the comparison is wrong, yet again …
Shia Scans 