Islam Guidance

WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF SKEPTICISM

WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF SKEPTICISM
Skepticism about religious laws made by certain individuals has different motivations. Part of it is by prejudiced and malevolent individuals aimed at diluting Muslims' ideology so as to carry out their destructive plots in the Islamic society and to attain their satanic goal. Another part arises from ignorance of the truth and philosophy of the heavenly teachings. These skeptics see the external face but they are unaware of the philosophy behind them. These people are ignorant, arrogant, egotist, and unwilling to understand the philosophy of the religion.

THE SKEPTICISM OF A MATERIALIST THIRTEEN
CENTURIES AGO
Ibn-Abi'l-Aujaa was unbeliever. He was an abusive orator whom scholars avoided for his sharp tongue. It was Hajj season when he was sitting with a group of unbelievers in the Sacred Mosque looking at pilgrims mockingly. In another corner of the Mosque, Imam Sadiq (a.s) was sitting surrounded by the Shiites who benefited by his
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1 See Tuhaf ul-Uqoul; 371
2 See al-Mahajjat ul-Beizaa; vol. 2 p.210
3 See Safinat ul-Bihar, Vol. 2 p.71

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heavenly knowledge. The unbelievers turned to Ibn-Abi'l-Aujaa saying: ?How good it is to debate with the man sitting there surrounded by his devotees making him ashamed!?
Ibn-Abi'l-Aujaa who was too proud of himself said: ?I will go right now and make him helpless.? Entering into the Imam's assembly, Ibn-Abi'l-Aujaa said: يا أبا عبدِ الله، إنّ المجالسَ أماناتٌ ولا بُدّ لكُلِّ مَن كان به سُعالٌ أن يسعلَ، فتأذنُ لي بالسؤالِ؟
?O Abu-Abdullah, assemblies are safe. (He was afraid of being killed by the believers.) Everyone having phlegm in his chest has to cough it out. (i.e. one who has a question has to ask it.) Can I ask you a question??
The Imam (a.s) gave him permission. Ibn-Abi'l-Aujaa bared his heart shamelessly of his atheistic ideas in an enchanting rhymed prose, mocked the Hajj rites, and insulted the pilgrims, adding: إلى كمْ تدُوسونَ هذا البَيدرَ وتلوذُونَ بهذا الحَجرِ وتعبُدونَ هذا البيتَ المرفوعَ بالطّوبِ والمدَرِ وتُهروِلونَ حولَهُ هروَلَةَ البعيرِ إذا نفرَ؟ مَن فكّر في هذا وقدّرَ علِمَ أنهُ فِعْلُ غيرِ حكيمٍ ولا ذي نظرٍ. فقُل فأنتَ رأسُ هذا الأمرِ وسَنامُهُ وأبوكَ أُسُّهُ ونِظامُهُ.
?Till when will you work in this threshing-floor, seek refuge to this stone, worship this house made of mud and stone, and go round it like frightened camels? Anyone reflecting on the matter will find out that it is unwise act. Give me the answer, you who are at the top, a prominent personality, and a person whose fathers set up and maintained this religion.?
Even nowadays such a question are asked by some of the so-called intellectuals!
However, Imam Sadiq (a.s) who was the propagator of the monotheistic school of Islam and had trained students in his mystical sessions, uttered sentences that exposed the evil intention of Ibn-Abi'l-Aujaa and his co-thinkers and bewared them of the sinister fate awaiting them. He (a.s) said: إِنّ مَن أضلّهُ اللهُ وأعمى قلبَهُ استَوخمَ الحقَّ ولم يستعذِبْهُ وصارَ الشَيطانُ وليَّهُ وربَّهُ ويورِدُهُ مناهِلَ الهَلَكَةِ ولا يُصدِرُهُ.

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?Whomever Allah causes to go astray and to be blind in heart will find the truth bitter and will have Satan as guardian and lord, and will be damned to perdition from which there is no return.?1
The Imam (a.s) then made statements the summary of which is as follows: This Kaaba is the House that God has appointed as a means to test His servants making them duty-bound to respect and visit and to be a balance from man's devotion and obedience to God. Through the Kaaba, the devoted believers are made distinct from hypocrites. This House is the resting-place for the prophets, Kiblah of worshippers, and a means to please God. Therefore, the aim of Hajj is to worship God?the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the human soul and body?, not the stone. Kissing or caressing the Black Stone, too, is aimed at carrying out God's order.

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