The innovations of the Shia has revolved around extremism and exaggerations and this is strictly prohibited as the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, commands us in reliable narration saying:

” لا تطروني كما أطرت النصارى عيسى بن مريم ولكن قولوا عبد الله ورسوله “

“Do not exaggerate my praise as the Christians exaggerated the praise of (Jesus) son of Mary, verily I am only a slave, so say: the slave of Allah and His Messenger.” [Reported by al-Bukahri and Muslim]

Yet watch what their scholars and laity alike attribute to the cousin of the Messenger of Allah (s):

Ali ibn Abi Talib himself, may Allah be pleased with him, said that two groups of extremists would destroy themselves in his case. This has been narrated in Sunni and Shia books. Here are authentic (hasan) ahadith from Sunni sources where Ali (r) condemns two extremist groups, his alleged lovers (the Shia Rafidah) and his enemies (Khawarij and Nawasib/Nasibah).

Sunni hadith #1

فيك مثل من عيسى أبغضته اليهود حتى بهتوا أمه وأحبته النصارى حتى أنزلوه بالمنزلة التي ليست به ثم قال : يهلك في رجلان محب مفرط يقرظني بما ليس في ومبغض يحمله شنآني على أن يبهتني

الراوي: علي بن أبي طالب المحدث: أحمد شاكر – المصدر: مسند أحمد – الصفحة أو الرقم: 2/355
خلاصة حكم المحدث: إسناده حسن

The Prophet (s) told Ali (r): “There is in you the like of ‘Isa; the Yahud hated him to such an extent that they slandered his mother. The Nasara loved him to such an extent that they raised him to a status that he is not deserving of.” Then (‘Ali) said: “Two types of people will be ruined because of me: someone who is extreme in their love for me, extolling such virtues of me which I do not possess, and someone who is extreme in their hatred, causing him to slander me.”

Narrator: Ali ibn Abi Talib.
Source: Musnad Ahmad 2/355.
Grading: Ahmad Shakir said: “Hadith has a hasan [good] chain of narrators.”

 

Sunni hadith #2

قال علي رضي الله عنه: يهلك في رجلان مفرط فى حبى ومفرط فى بغضى

الراوي: أبو حبرة شيحة بن عبدالله الضبعي المحدث: الألباني – المصدر: تخريج كتاب السنة / ظلال الجنة – الصفحة أو الرقم: 984
خلاصة حكم المحدث: إسناده حسن

Ali (r) said: “Destroyed are two (kinds of) men, the one who loves me excessively and the one who slanders me hatefully.”

Source: Kitab Fada’il al-Sahaba 2/571 no. 964, Kitāb al-Sunnah no.984 of Ibn Abi Asim.

Grading: Graded with a hasan chain of narration by Al-Albanī in Zilal al-Jannah

 

Sunni hadith #3

قال علي رضي الله عنه : ( ليحبني قوم حتى يدخلوا النار في ، وليبغضني قوم حتى يدخلوا النار في بغضي‏ ).‏

قال الألباني في “ظلال الجنة” (983) : [ إسناده صحيح على شرط الشيخين ]

Ali -May Allāh be pleased with him- said,

“A people will love me until they enter the Hellfire due to their (extreme) love for me, and a people will hate me until they enter the Hellfire due to their hatred for me.”

Source: Kitāb Faḍāʾil aṣ-Ṣaḥābah 2/565 no.952, Kitāb as-Sunnah no.983 of Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim.

Grading :Graded Al-Albānī in Ẓilāl al-Jannah with a Ṣaḥīḥ chain of narration upon the condition of the two Shaykhs (al-Bukharī and Muslim).

 

Shia hadith #1

 

قال علی بن أبي طالب علي السلام: اللهم انی بریء من الغلاة کبراءة عیسی بن مریم من النصاری اللهم اخذلهم ابداً و لا تنصر منهم احدا

.بحارالانوار، ج 25، ص 284

Ali (a) said: “O Allah, I am truly free and innocent of the Ghulat (exaggerators/extremists) as is Jesus the son of Mary of the Nasara (Christians). O Allah! Humiliate them (Ghulat) and do not make any of them victorious.” [Birah al-Anwar, vol. 25, pg. 284]

 

Shia hadith #2

ثُمَّ أَنْتُمْ شِرَارُ النَّاسِ، وَمَنْ رَمَى بِهِ الشَّيْطَانُ مَرَامِيَهُ، وَضَرَبَ بِهِ تِيهَهُ ! وَسَيَهْلِكُ فِيَّ صِنْفَانِ: مُحِبٌّ مُفْرِطٌ يَذْهَبُ بِهِ الْحُبُّ إِلَى غَيْرِ الْحَقِّ، وَمُبْغِضٌ مُفْرِطٌ يَذْهَبُ بِهِ الْبُغْضُ إِلَى غَيْرِ الْحَقِّ، وَخَيْرُ النَّاسِ فيَّ حَالاً الَّنمَطُ الاْوْسَطُ فَالْزَمُوهُ، وَالْزَمُوا السَّوَادَ الاَعْظَم فَإِنَّ يَدَ اللهِ مَعَ الْجَمَاعَةِ، وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَالْفُرْقَةَ! فَإِنَّ الشَّاذَّ مِنَ النَّاسِ لِلشَّيْطَانِ، كَمَا أَنَّ الشَّاذَّةَ مِنَ الْغَنَمِ لِلذِّئْب أَلاَ مَنْ دَعَا إِلَى هذَا الشِّعَارِ فَاقْتُلُوهُ، وَلَوْ كَانَ تَحْتَ عِمَامَتِي هذِهِ

All this is also related in Shia sources, for in the famous book Nahjul Balaghah (sermon 126) Ali said:

“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 [of sectarianism], kill him, even though he may be under this Turban of mine (i.e. myself).”

 

Comment:  Nobody could have possibly find a better description for the Shia than this. ‘Ali (a) 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) & ‘Omar (ra) i.e. the Sunnis.

The Shia love Ali so much that they exaggerate and exalt his status to a level of Shirk, thereby going away from rightfulness. They exaggerate so much that they call Ali to be the Yadullah (Hand of Allah), Wajhullah (Face of Allah), Aynullah (Eye of Allah) etc.

They call Ali the “Mazhar Al Aja`ib” (The Executor of Wonders) and “Mushkil Kusha” (the Remover of Hardships), they claim he is “Hadhir Nadhir” (omnipresent i.e. present in all places) in order to justify their (millions) of supplications to him (in the name of intercession/Shafa’ah and Tawasul). Look how loving Ali too much has caused them to exaggerate his status like the Christians did with Jesus, and look how this leads to Shirk.

‘Ali’s (r) Khutbah can’t be about the Nusayris (to Twelvers extremism starts with those who openly claim ‘Ali to be God Almighty Himself!) i.e. the Ghulat (according to the Twelver Imami Rafidah, in reality they are Ghulat themselves). So if the exaggerators (Ghulat) are the wrong group, who is the middle group? Where is Ahlul-Sunnah? Of course, 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).

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?

 

Extremism and exaggeration (ghuluw) does not start by believing that ‘Ali and the Imams are literally Gods! That’s a shallow and dangerous understanding

Some people like to live in a world whereby they can claim everything and anything about the Prophets, saints, Pirs or Imams of the progeny of Muhammad (s), so long as they don’t claim that they were literally gods. This is wishful thinking and when you’re being lowered into your grave, there will be no escape for attributing something to the Imams or Prophets which they did not claim for themselves. If a Prophet or Imam did not claim something about themselves through clear narrations we have no right to use linguistic gymnastics or weak and fabricated narrations to claim otherwise due to our “love”.

The Imams, due to their experience with the Ghulat in their own time, and due to their farsightedness, knew how dangerous this disease of ghuluw is, and how it can take people away from the correct religion and make them busy in innovations and rituals which have no basis in Islam. This is the reason why the Imams warned us, by harshly condemning and cursing the Ghulat, so that we take all the necessary precautions in order to keep ourselves safe from this deadly disease of Ghuluw, but unfortunately, these warnings of the Imams were forgotten and today, modern day Twelverism is based on the narrations of many Ghulat (Kuffar) of Kufa and Qom who have attributed all sorts of lies and exaggerations to the Ahlul-Bayt.

We know that Ahlul-Bayt were all upright people of the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and repudiate all the deviant creeds and principles that some of the extremist Shiaa ascribed to them. For instance, it was said to ‘Ali ibn Husayn:

عن عمرو الأصم قال : قلت للحسن بن علي إن هذه الشيعة يزعمون أن عليا مبعوث قبل يوم القيامة قال : كذبوا و الله ما هؤلاء بشيعته لو علمنا أنه مبعوث ما زوجنا نساءه و لا اقتسمنا ماله

“I said to Ali ibn Husain, ‘These Shia claim that Ali will be resurrected before the Day of Resurrection (Rafidi belief of Raj’ah). He said: They lie and these are not his Sh’a for if we knew that he will come back we wouldn’t have allowed his wives to remarry nor divided his wealth (as inheritance).’” [Reported by Imam Ahmad no. 1265 and al-Arna`ut verified the chain of narraters as good]


It is reported that Al-Hasan b. Al-Hasan b. ‘Ali ibn Abî Talib – Allah have mercy on him – said to a person from the Rafidah:

“Love us, but if we disobey Allâh, then hate us; for if Allâh was going to benefit anyone because of his relation to the Messenger of Allâh – peace and blessings be upon him, without obedience [to Allâh], He would have benefitted the mother and father [of the Prophet].” [Al-Dhahabi in his Siyar A’lam Al-Nubala` 4:486]

 

And it is reported that he as the leader of Ahlul-Bayt in his time would say:

«أيها الناس! أحبونا حب الإسلام؛ فما برح بنا حبكم حتى صار علينا عارًا»

“O people, love us with the love of Islam (unexaggerated), for your kind of love has become heinous spot against us.” [Ibn Sa’d, al-Tabaqat 5/214; Ibn Kathir, Bidayah wa al-Nihaayah 9/110.]