 In the name of God, the beneficent, the merciful, As-salamu alaikum my dear respected viewers and welcome to the second episode of the Islamic Expansion series here on Current Events. As always, I'm your host Ali Jassim. In the previous episode, we discussed with our dear guest Sheikh Muhammad Al-Halli the expansion of the Islamic religion in general. However, in this episode, we will speak about the expansion of the Shi'a Islam, the sect that was found by Amir al-Muminin and the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them. Today, dear viewers, as we answer questions like if we were to compare the population of Shi'a Muslims with the Sunni Muslims, in the guest's opinion, which one will grow faster than the other? And which sect in Islam is growing faster every day? Is it the authentic Islam, which was established by the Prophet Muhammad's holy household? Or is it the deviant sect, which was established by the Saqifah and Anta Allah alayhim? Here to discuss these issues, and many more as my dear guest, he is a prominent Islamic preacher and teacher of Islamic studies at a number of universities in the west, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Halli. Stay with us, dear viewers. As-salamu alaykum, once again, dear respective viewers. Welcome to the second episode of the expansion of Islam series. In this episode, we will discuss the expansion of Shi'a Islam here with my guest, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Halli. As-salamu alaykum, Sheikh. Alaykum, As-salamu alaykum. Welcome to the show. Thank you very much. Sheikh, let's begin with this first question. If we were to compare the population of the Shi'a Muslims with the Sunni Muslims, in your opinion, which one will grow faster than the other? And is the birth rate the only factor that is increasing in the followers of religion? Or can other factors play a role in this equation? Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem. In the name of Allah, the most compassionate, the most merciful. The comparison between the different schools of thought as far as their numbers has been the subject of discussion and some research recently, where we find some of the research organizations have such as Pew International Research and others Pew Research Center have suggested that then the percentage, so to speak, for the Shi'a population in the world is 10 to 15 percent of the Muslim Ummah of the Muslim countries or the Muslim population around the world. And the Sunni approximately 80 to 85 percent. However, in reality, we find there are flaws and problems with this particular estimate because in our own research and the research conducted by other organizations, it seems that the number at least is 25 percent of the Muslim world that are following the school of Ahlan Bayt, the Shi'a. And today, what we find with regards to the numbers, so to speak, I mean, one of the reasons for this is, of course, the large number of the Shi'as that are present in Iraq, in Iran, in Bahrain, in Lebanon, in Pakistan, in Saudi Arabia, in Indonesia, in places, and also the rising number in the West as well in Europe and in America's. You find a good number of Shi'as there, and you find a very similar percentage in these countries as well, 20 percent of the Muslims, so to speak. But in my opinion, having studied the last maybe 10, 15 years and what has happened, there is absolutely no doubt that the Shi'as are being targeted and killed much more than the Sunnis. Nobody can even estimate or can compare that because you look at the countries like we have mentioned, like Iraq, like in Syria, like, for example, in Saudi, like in Bahrain, like in Pakistan, the number one targets are the Shi'a. They're the most oppressed. The most oppressed, the most executed and tortured and killed and so on and so forth. And therefore, despite having, despite this, however, and we don't have international figures and research to support this claim, but we can say from the evidence, anecdotal evidence that we have gathered from different parts of the world, that the number of the Shi'as is definitely increasing at a higher rate than the number of Sunnis. And the reason for that is because of the number of factors, which is not certainly about birthrate because birthrate could be argued to be quite similar in countries which are Shi'a as well as countries who are non-Shi'a in the Muslim world. However, today we have the ease by which the teachings of the School of Ahl al-Bait is being presented to the world. We have the internet. We have satellite channels. We have publications which are easily being distributed more and more. So for example, in Northern Africa, countries such as Tunisia, countries such as Morocco, in Egypt, we find the increase in the number of Shi'as, considerable increase. We find even in places where the Shi'as are heavily persecuted, like in Saudi, the satellite channels and the debates that have taken place and the ease. Because if you think about it, if we go back maybe 15, 20 years time, if you have a Sunni who is sitting at home and is wondering who the Shi'as are, what are their teachings? I've heard about them. They may be a friend or somebody is a Shi'a, but I'm not comfortable to go and ask them what is their Aqidah, what is their true belief. They are restricted unless they go and buy a book. If they're in a country where Shi'a books are banned, and that is the case in many countries today, because they realize the problems they're facing with the expansion of the Shi'a ideology. And there have been many of these Salafi Wahhabi ideology scholars, so to speak, or preachers who have come out on television, you see them on these YouTube, they have gone crazy. They say, the Shi'a are spreading. We have to stop it. They fear, yes, one of them was so angry, that he began to hit the pulpit that he was, and he wanted to do this, very, very shouting, because it's the frustration they see it. They know it as well. They know it's happening. So this individual 20 years ago may find difficulty and then give up. Today it takes him or her one minute, go online on the internet and search. Switch on the television. And there are many Shi'a satellite channels that many people around the world can obtain as well. So the availability of Shi'a belief now, and the Aqidah and the lectures from Shi'a Ulama, and the material that is present, the Shi'a books that is present online, has made it much more accessible for the Muslim world and the non-Muslim world, by the way, to accept Shi'a Islam. In this few days, I'm here in the Holy City of Karbala, and with me there's a brother who's from America, and he first embraced Islam as he does, and he chose the path of the School of Khilafa. And then after maybe one or two years, because of the accessibility of this information, he was introduced to the School of Ahlul Baytan, and Alhamdulillah, today he's a Shi'a. So the key thing is it is something that we find more and more prevalent today, and that is the expansion of the Shi'a numbers. And I tell you, this is the reason why you have people working extra hard to cause damage to Shi'a numbers. So they plant bombs, they execute, they kill, and so on. They think that by doing that, people like Daesh and their supporters and Wahhabism, they think that, okay, the number is increasing, the best way we can do is to kill more. But of course, what this is also doing is people are asking a question, why is Shi'a has been targeted? Because the more they are targeted, the more people are wondering, there must be some truth about them that they are peaceful, they themselves are not killing others. So what is the reason, and that is also leading to more questions being presented, more research, more investigation. And from my experience, many of the Shi'a, and I don't want to generalize, but many of the Shi'a scholars are much more open to questions and happy to sit in dialogue and discussion. And people are discovering that, whereas in some schools of thought, they close the door on thought, and that's the Ba'bul-i-Qtihad, the ability to develop this extrapolation of laws from the Quran and Asuna. Whereas other schools of thought, they're more stagnant, and they're saying, no, no, for example, don't ask this question, let's not go into details. So they stimulated, yeah, yeah. So we have stimulated thought and have encouraged development and are for progression and for the answering of people's queries and questions. Yes, sure. Can the ideology of the followers of Saqifah, may Allah be with them, and Wahhabism bring peace to the world? Or will the Islam of Ma'am Ali ibn Abi Talib, and it's true Shi'a followers bring peace to the world? This is an obvious question, but... Yeah, well, today, if we were to explain to the respected viewer, what are we talking about when it comes to these two ideologies? We are talking about one system which is purely based on violence, rejection of the other, the killing of the other, the forcing of the belief on their throats, otherwise there will be severe punishment and consequences. The image that is very backward and which is very distorted of Islam, on the other hand, we have the Islam of peace, the Islam of love, the Islam of development, the Islam of knowledge, the Islam of taqwa and spirituality, and that is the teachings of the Ahlul Bayt, Alayhum Salam. So, there is no doubt that today, when the world witnesses their atrocities and their terrorist actions, they are waking up to this reality. You look at 9-11, it was perpetrated by the supporters of Wahhabism. You look at in 7-7, in the United Kingdom, the bombings that took place on the underground, on the buses, it was perpetrated and committed by people of the ideology of Wahhabism and this taqfiri mentality, Al Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram, Taliban, all the same in that ideology. All of them come back to this particular establishment of this ideology, which is Salafi Wahhabi. If you look at what has happened in Paris, if you look at what is happening in Iraq with ISIS and Daesh, you look at what happened in Belgium, all these have a common denominator and that is Wahhabism. And so, the world is not like, one of them is an example and the others. That is why today, the position of the School of Ahl al-Bait and the Maraji An'a wa Ulama has been to present us ourselves with our true identity and that is the Shia of Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon them. We are the Shia of the Ahl al-Bait because the moment people realize that we are in that particular category, we are followers of these holy individuals that propagated the message of tolerance, the message of respect, the message of love, the message of peace. And this is very crucial in this day and age because there have been a number of misconceptions and very much a confused state in the minds of non-Muslims and others as well. When they see someone saying, Allahu Akbar and beheading, when they see someone with a beard holding a Quran and this and that and so on and so forth. And so, it even for the Shias today, again, it provides them with a great opportunity to speak to people about the wonderful personalities of the Ahl al-Bait, alaykum as-salam, to really show their true love and devotion to the Ahl al-Bait by speaking to individuals and propagating them in the right manner. Imam al-Ridha, alayhi as-salam, would say to us as a clear message. He says, Ahyu amranah rahimallahu man ahya amranah. Revive our affairs. May God as mercy and blessings be upon the ones who revive our affairs. And he was asked how, he would respond to ta'allamuna ulumana. You learn our teachings, what the Ahl al-Bait, this wealth, this amazing treasure of knowledge, what ta'allamuna hal nas. And then you teach it to the people. Fa inna nasa lau alimu mahasina kalamina lat taba'una. Imam gives us all a guarantee. If people were to hear us, to hear what we have to offer, they, and to understand they would follow us. It's inna fitra. To follow Allah Subhanu ta'ala. And the ones whom Allah Subhanu ta'ala has chosen for us as the leaders after the Holy Prophet. Peace and blessings be upon them all. So the distinction today must be made between the Islam of the Prophet and the Ahl al-Bait and the so-called hijacked Islam of Bani Umayyah. The Islam of those who have taken the rights from the Ahl al-Bait, alayhum sallam. The ones who have taken their Haqq, the ones who have oppressed the Ahl al-Bait, the Islam of Bani Abbas. This, and the Islam of Taliban and ISIS and Daesh. This distinction must be made in order for people to have an understanding of the true teachings of the beautiful religion. Yes, Mashallah. Thank you for that, Sheikh. Will the growth of the Shi'a Muslim's population and publicizing the true Islam which was preserved through Imam Ali ibn Abi Talim and Imam Hussein, peace be upon them, improve the life conditions of the people in the Western world? Why? There are so many areas we can talk about that the Ahl al-Bait, alayhum sallam, have given us guidelines and instructions and teachings to really uplift our physical and spiritual presence in this world before the Akhirah, of course. First thing we have to say is the Quran is the constitution for the well-being and the happiness of human beings in this world and in Akhirah. Now, who understands the Quran? Who can interpret the Quran? Who can provide us with the correct teachings of the Quran? I give you one example. We have verses in the Quran which, if it's taken out of context, is used by terrorists to perpetrate and commit crimes. Chapter nine, verse number five, kill the disbelievers wherever you find them. If people do not have the right guidelines, the right guidance, the right instructions and leadership, then they will definitely go astray. And this was predicted by the Holy Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi wa sallam in a hadith which is mutawater, lafzhi, in other words, the exact term was used by the Holy Prophet in Sunni and Shi'a narrations. You'll find that he says, I leave for you two things. If you hold onto them strongly, you will never go astray. Kitab Allahi wa atrati ahlabayti. They are my book and my progeny, the ahlulbayt. They will not separate. They are inseparable until they meet me on the Pond of Kother on the day of judgment. So that means the ahlulbayt and the Quran are hand in hand. That means the Quran can only be understood by the ahlulbayt. That means the ahlulbayt are the manifestations of the Quran. They are the walking Quran. Amir al-Mu'mineen says, I am the Quran that speaks. So you look at examples in history. You look at one after the other of how the ahlulbayt demonstrated these values that we need today. Today, there is so much injustice. Today, there is so much crime. Today, there is so much lawlessness. You come and you find that United Nations in 2002 had produced the document with regards to the rulership in the Arab world. And they have used the example of the letter of Amir al-Mu'mineen that is found in Nadi al-Balaqat to Malika al-Ashtar. And you find them talking about how Amir al-Mu'mineen demonstrated this magnificent values of justice and adalah. You find Christian authors like George Jodak, he's written this famous book, Ali, Sult al-Adalat al-Insaniya, Ali, This Voice of Human Justice. Now, when he talks about Amir al-Mu'mineen and his principles, it truly is a exemplary nature for all of us to follow. That today in the world which is gripped with injustice, we need to look at the justice of Amir al-Mu'mineen, peace be upon him. And with the Ahl al-Bayt, alayhum as-salam, we understand their mercy. In this world, which is now full of hatred, Amir al-Mu'mineen, just for examples, for the respected viewers to appreciate. In the battlefield in Safin, Amir al-Mu'mineen has no water with his army. And they are pleading with the, or asking the army of Mu'awiyah to give them water. They would not. Now, we are talking about thousands of soldiers. Imam al-Salam charges to front and takes control of the water. Now, his companions are saying, we do the same for Mu'awiyah. Amir al-Mu'mineen says, no. We feed them water. But you feed your own enemies water? Yes, even in the horses, even in the animals. Same for Imam Hussain al-Salam in Karbala. He feeds the army of al-Hur who had come to force him not to go to Kufa. He feeds him themselves individually. In his holy hands, he feeds them water. Such was the mercy and the love. Such was the thinking of altruism and self-sacrifice. You look at Sayyidatun Nisa, Fatima al-Zahra, peace and blessings be upon her. Such an honorable lady who, example after example of her life, that she would give away everything that she had to the poor and the needy. The Qur'an demonstrates this, where you taimoon al-Ta'ama al-Hubbihi, miskinan, yateeman, aseera, three consecutive days they were fasting. They give the entire food to the poor, desperately poor, to the orphan, to the captive. Yet at the same time, what do you find? You find that these individuals, they lived the simplest of lives and they had the highest morality, their akhlaq was superb. And God has chosen them. And for us today, when it comes to advances in knowledge, we can seek inspiration from them. When it comes to how to get close to Allah, spirituality, we can learn from them. We can, when it even comes to political governance, justice and equity and other matters, we can certainly seek guidance from them. All the facets of life, they are a wealth of information and knowledge. They are the ship of salvation that we invite people and invite ourselves even to investigate further and to delve deeper and to be illuminated and for our hearts and our souls to be purified with taking them as the role model. And that's why the Quran tells us, qulla assalukum aleyhi ajran illa al-mawaddatafil qurba that the Prophet of Islam says, just show love and respect and following of my family and you see the real positive change that will happen in the Surah. The last question, is it fair to say that the ideology of the Shi'a Muslims is based on logic and makes perfect sense? In your opinion, what are the most effective methods to publicize the teachings and traditions of Prophet Muhammad and his household, peace be upon them, to the whole world? You know, this way, people would get familiar with the true religion of Islam and the open-minded would revert to this religion. Absolutely correct. I would say that this school of thought, the school of the ahl al-bayt is one that has emphasized on the role of the akal and the intellect. And today, there are many who would want to see that role being played, that function, that faculty being demonstrated because too often on the other side, it has been ignored and people don't understand. Why should women be banned from driving, for example? What is the reason? There is no akal behind it in Saudi, for example. You look at the school of ahl al-bayt, no doubt. It is rational in its deduction and it's certainly compatible with this day and age, with the challenges that are being faced. And we are, Alhamdulillah, being able to provide the answers to modern day problems and difficulties. But starting from day one after the sad waqat and Shahada of the Prophet, we find that from that time, the role of the intellect was very much emphasized. In that, if we talk about, for example, how such a prominent individual, like the Holy Prophet, who's come for the final and the greatest of messages, that's the religion of Islam, the teachings and the religion, would leave this world without having somebody who would carry on the message. I just narrate to you this story, which is a very important story, to illustrate the role of akal, the role of intellect and rationality, that in Saudi, there was once in a book shop, there's people buying books, there was a Shia scholar. He was trying to buy some books. And the keeper, the book shop owner, came to him and said to him, "'I realize that you are a Shia "'and I have a problem with your madhab.'" So the Shia scholar said, "'What is the problem with our madhab?' He said, "'The problem is you exaggerate the day of Ghadir. "'The day of Ghadir, you think it's big, "'eat and you celebrate and you make it too big. "'It is just the day where the Prophet said, "'Ali is my friend, nothing like this.'" So the Shia scholar said, "'I am happy to sit down with you "'and we present evidence and I show you "'how, for example, over 300 Sunni scholars "'have demonstrated the significance of this day "'and have narrated what has happened "'and how we can prove that the word mullah here "'doesn't mean friend, but complete authority.'" As the Quran says, "'And Nabi U'la bil-Mu'mineena min-Anfusihem," the Prophet has authority over the believers more than they have over themselves. And so on, I could present you with this evidence and we can discuss because our faith is the religion and the teachings of dialogue. Imam Al-Sadiq, alaihi salam, would sit days and months with atheists and they say, we don't believe in God. He said, okay, let me prove to you. He did not hold a sword on them and say, you must become Muslim. That's not our teachings, it's not like that. So this scholar said, let us sit down now and we discuss. The shopkeeper said to him, okay, let's put a diary date tomorrow, sometime. We sit somewhere and we have a debate discussion. The she asked, I said, I have one shot, one condition. What is that? He said, the condition is we do this discussion now, now, now, this moment. We sit somewhere and we have a debate. The shopkeeper of the bookstore said, I cannot. Why? He said, because I'm the keeper of the store. And if I go to somewhere to sit in the room and to have a debate with you about Eid al-Ghadeer, the shop itself will be empty. There is nobody to sell the books. How can I leave the shop without having somebody to look after it? This is the role of Aqan, the she asked to him, look. You are having a shop with books and you do not want to leave it without somebody to sell the books. And you want Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to take the soul of the Prophet and leave Muslims without appointing somebody to lead them. So you can see that he made him think, I have just a few books, but I don't have someone to look after, so I don't want to go and have a debate. But you want the whole religion, the Prophet to leave this world and say, okay, you choose Shura, whatever you want, and they did in Saqifah, and the disasters that happened. The key thing is today, if we think rationally, and the ones who have embraced the school of Ahl al-Bait are the ones who have gone back to the Aqala intellect. They are the ones who have found their ability to rationalize arguments and to present proof and to be able to think, not just to follow. Oh, but this and that. But I will be in trouble. No, no, free your mind. Look at the facts. Look at the reality of what has happened. How can I be following individuals that came openly and said the Prophet of Islam has lost his mind, has become delirious in Nahul-e-Yahjur? How can I be following individuals and not following others who were the main people in the battlefield, like Amir al-Mu'minin, not never go back? Yes? Karrar ghayr farrar, Amir al-Mu'minin, whereas others, they would go back. How can I be not following an individual who the Prophet of Islam said, aliyun ma al-haq wa al-haqqu ma al-ali? Truth is with Ali and Ali is with the truth. But the truth revolves around Ali, not the other way around. Yes? How can I not be following an individual? According to Sahih Muslim, that the Imam himself, Ali ibn-e-Talib, al-Ali salam says, kanat li manzila tana'indr Rasool-Allah. This manzila, this position that I had with the Holy Prophet, no one else had. Yes? Anam ad-dinatu l-ailmu al-Aliyum baba. Hundreds of narrations that highlight the Maqam and the status of the Commander of the Faithful. All intellect, if we sit and think for a moment, we are able to appreciate the superiority and the haqq, which is quite evident. So today, no doubt. Today, this is something that we have to be using and certainly more and more people are discovering and finding out. Thank you so much for that, Shekna. Brothers and sisters, this concludes the second episode of the Islamic Expansion series. Be sure to stay tuned for the third episode, which we will discuss our role to expand this faith. Thank you, dear viewers, for watching, and we thank our dear guest, Sheikh Mohammed Ali, for joining us once again. And thank you very much. Wassalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Mashallah.