نشریه سراج منیر
سال هفتم شماره 26 (تابستان 1396)

Inspired by extremist groups such as the Khawarij and rigid mindsets of individuals like Ibn Taymiyyah, some groups have embarked on excommunicating Muslims, murdering them and plundering their property and thus presenting a distorted and ugly image of Islam to the world. In this study, the chronology of the development of the phenomenon of takfir (excommunication) in the Islamic world has been studied to specify not only the groups but also the motives and purpose behind excommunicating others. Such acts which have taken place over the history of Islam have had a juridical aspect and they have, therefore, led to violation of other people's blood and property. The Kharijites were the first group to label others as disbelievers. However, the act of excommunicating done by followers of other sects had a theological approach and was largely motivated by religious fanaticisms. For this reason, they did not consider others as being out of the fold of Islam, nor did allow their followers to violate others' blood and property. Following the Kharijites, the juridical excommunication (takfir fiqhi) was not committed so often until Ibn Taymiyayyah emerged out of nowhere and revived the said practice. After a few centuries, Wahabism inspired by Ibn Taymiyyah's rigid thoughts propagated and promoted a mindset which led to creation of Takfiri Salafi or Jihadi groups in the contemporary world. These groups are brutal and engage in murdering and plundering Muslims.

Ibn Taymiyyah denies, in many cases, the authenticity of the traditions that have been reported concerning the position and status of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS). One of the traditions rejected by Ibn Taymiyyah is a well-known hadit from the Prophet (S) about the rank and status of Imam Ali (AS) where he says: "And he is the master of every believer after me." Ibn Taymiyyah argues that, in this tradition, the term 'wali' refers to the Prophet's friendship with Ali (AS) in which case there had been no need for this tradition because everybody knows that they were friends and if it meant emirate of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), then instead of the term wali, another word such as wāli (governor) should have been used. Contrary to what Ibn Taymiyyah has claimed, this hadith has been narrated by numerous accredited Sunni scholars and hadith experts, and the chain of transmission of the hadith includes narrators who are trustworthy in their opinion. As well, Sunni etymologists and exegetes have used the term 'wali' in the sense of a governor in the position of a subject which rejects Ibn Taymiyyah's weak claim about the falseness of the above tradition.

The Society of the Muslim Brothers better known as the Muslim Brotherhood is one of the largest Islamic movements in the Arab world that came into being in reaction to the influence of Western domination and culture following the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. Its aim was to establish an Islamic government. Hasan al- Banna's policy and that of his comrades about establishing an Islamic government was a step-by-step policy. That is, through cultural activities and to avoid violence and extreme behavior they sought to gradually pave the way for establishment of an Islamic government. Following the assassination of Hasan al-Banna and the coming to power of Hasan al-Huzaibi as a general guide, trouble and irregularities began to emerge in Muslim Brotherhood; the unity and harmony that characterized the organization vanished. Meanwhile, Sayyid Qutb, who was one of the scholars of the Islamic world, joined Muslim Brotherhood. Known for his Islamist tendency and antagonism towards global arrogance (international imperialism), he filled the ideological vacuum in Muslim Brotherhood. He made his presence felt among its members and wrote many books which heavily influenced the organization and its members in a number of ways. His works helped, for example, reconstruct and reunify Muslim Brotherhood in early 1960s as well as made them prefer a radical and extremist approach over political reconciliation which ultimately resulted in the creation of radical groups such as the Islamic Liberation Organization, Al-Takfir wal –Hijra and Islamic Jihad Organization. The emergence of Qutbi movement which exists among Muslim Brothers as of today and the current leaders of this organization such as Muhammad Badi' and Mahmud 'Izzat are examples of Sayyid's influence in this organization.

According to Wahabis, tabarruk or the practice of seeking blessing (barakah) in something is forbidden since it is a bid'ah and a polytheistic conduct. They are restricting its permissibility to certain cases. As a matter of fact, there are traditions in Sunni sources about tabarruk indicating that the companions (Sahaba) did seek blessing. Those traditions reject Wahabis' claims about tabarruk being restricted to few things. Keeping in view the fact that Sahih Bukhari is one of the most authentic and important books among Sunnis, both muqallids and salafis, the narrations in this book indicating the permissibility of tabarruk show clearly that Wahabis' belief is entirely opposed to that of Sunnis.

The imperial states do everything they can to enter countries with rich first hand and crude underground resources. They do so under one pretext or another to secure their own best interest. Middle Eastern countries, especially the Arab populated regions, having huge oil resources are not an exception. The UK government's financial and military support of the Wahabi state of Saudi Arabia and Saudi monarchy is a proof of this claim. The UK has been the most important factor responsible for the spread of Wahabism and authority of Saud family in the Arabian Peninsula. The UK's financial backing to bring about and strengthen Wahabi domination in the region can be examined in the context of the physical presence of Britain in Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf coast. It has been there to support and empower the Saud family, confront and overthrow the Ottoman Empire (e.g. the Qatif and Cox contracts), to keep up its military and financial support among the Arabs (elites and Saud family) through spies such as St. John Filby, Edward Lawrence and William Shakespeare.

The Iranian Call and Reform Organization (ICRO) is a group influenced by Muslim Brotherhood. According to them, it is necessary for the followers of various denominations to stand together and united. They have announced that tolerating others and having a pluralistic approach towards the followers of other sects is one of their fundamental beliefs. It is now important to know what they mean by tolerance in the above context. What are the positive and negative aspects of their pluralistic attitude? As well, what principles is their approach based upon? Are those principles correct? If they are incorrect, what are the problems with them? According to ICRO, tolerance is based on three main principles. In other words, the solution they present for approximation is based on three principles or foundations: 1. Cultural and psychological foundation: That is, psychologically the individual and culturally the society should be prepared to tolerate the followers of other faiths and denominations. 2. Ontological foundation: That is, the people living in the society should reach a level of understanding where they admit that the world is based on diversity. 3. Epistemological foundation: That is accepting ontological pluralism categorically as explained and said by Bahrami Niya, or it is belief in the theoretical and non-evidential issues of the religion as stated in an article whose content is endorsed by the said organization. The problem with the second principle is that they even believe that diversity emanating from man's bad choice is a reality in the creation. The third foundation also, if it means accepting religious pluralism categorically, is faced with the objections that are raised against pluralism. However, if it is intended to accept pluralism in theoretical and inconspicuous issues, it can be possible in two ways: If it means that different views in theoretical issues are different perceptions and understandings of the truth and that each and every one of these ideas reflect the truth in its own way, then the objections which are raised against religious pluralism, are raised against it too. One of the objections is that it amounts to combining between contradictions which is logically impossible. In case, it is intended to accept the likelihood and possibility of any mistakes in making religious inferences, it is acceptable and there would be no objection to it.