This article, entitled: “Mi’raj, the Night Ascension”, originally a section from Al-Faidh Al-Kashani’s “Nawadir Al-Akhbar”, was translated by Saleem Bhimji, the Director at the Islamic Publishing House. The article can be found on al-islam.org.
Like everything Shiasm, all revolves around Ali. Al-mi’raj was no different. In this short article, we will take a look at how Ali was included in Al-Mi’raj.
The article includes the following narration:
In the book Kashf al-Ghummah, it has been narrated from `Abdullah ibn `Umar that: “I heard someone ask the Prophet of Allah (SWT), `With what voice did Allah, the Glorified and High, speak to you in on the night of Mi’raj?”
The Prophet replied, “My Lord spoke to me with the voice of `Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) and said, `O’ Ahmad! I am an Entity that is not like anything else. I can not be compared to anything else and I know all the secrets of your heart. With the exception of `Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.), you have no other close friend. Thus, I speak to you with the voice of `Ali bin Abi Talib (a. s.) so that your heart will be at ease.””
Our criticisms:
– The extreme exaggerations by those that ascribe themselves to the teachings of Ali bin Abi Talib were once again victorious at making Ali the center of attention of another important Islamic event. Lies continuously have encompassed the Shia sect, to the extent that its followers have grown accustomed to seeing Ali portrayed as a demi-god.
– Upon returning to the source, “Kashf Al-Ghummah”, we have found that this narration is from “Al-Manaqib” by Al-Khawarizmi. The narration is numbered #61 in the latter book, and it is weak according to both Sunnis and Shias, for the narrator Lut bin Yahya wasn’t even born to have heard from Ibn Umar. See Lut’s biography in Mizan Al-I’itidal. Furthermore, it is not reasonable for one to believe that Ibn Umar would utter such a narration.
– The translator omitted a section of the translation. The Arabic text includes an attribution to Allah in which He says to the Prophet (peace be upon him):
خلقتك من نوري وخلقت عليا من نورك فاطلعت على سرائر قلبك فلم أجد في قلبك أحب إليك من علي
The correct translation: “I created you from my light and created Ali from your light, and I looked into the depths of your heart and found that you do not love anyone as much as you love Ali.”
The translator, Saleem Bhimji, translated “you do not love anyone as much as you love Ali,” to “with the exception of `Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.), you have no other close friend.” It seems that this was done in order to elevate the status of Ali since the Prophet (peace be upon him) did have other close friends.
More importantly, Saleem Bhimji, completely omitted, “I created you from my light and created Ali from your light.”
We have not arrived at a definite conclusion as to why Saleem Bhimji would omit these words. We furthermore contacted him via Twitter (@almubin), where he stated that he is away from the original text and needs a few months to returns to check it before making corrections. He also said that he was sure that the text that he translated did not contain the words “I created you from my light and created Ali from your light,” since his copy did not seem to be an academically edited copy. However, it is indicated on al-islam.org that he had translated the academically edited work.
Allah knows his intentions and will judge him accordingly if he cheated his readers. If not, then he is just another incompetent translator that was given control of a publishing house.
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