Is Shia the Right Faith

Question

I am a Shia Muslim living in Canada. I read your comments. You may have asked your wife that prove that Shia is right path and because she did not have enough knowledge from Holy Quran, she may not have been able to respond you. But I can do that with verses of Holy Quran and true ahadith from Bukhari and Muslim who are Sunni.

Response

I have addressed a similar concern to a Sunni/Shia question on my website previously. In that response, I have said to the questioner,

My brother, there is no reason why you should believe that you are necessarily on the right path, and there is no reason why she (his wife) should believe the same.

In other words, I have not suggested that his wife necessarily needs to prove why Shiaism is the correct faith nor have I implied that the questioner needs to do the same. In fact, the question of whether it can be proven or not does not even arise in the first place.

Instead, my suggestion was the following:

I think both you and your wife should turn to God and His word. Quran has been revealed to us for nothing but guidance. It prescribes the way we should live and deal with others and solves all the problems, including the one that you are facing. There is only one ultimate truth and that is the Quran. I think both of you should study Quran together, and help each other understand the Quran with an unbiased and honest attitude. After that, you may realize that you have differences of opinion. If your intentions are honest, these minor differences shall not be of concern. And when you understand something in Quran different from what you believe in, then you should change your ways and believe in Quran for it is the word of the Lord of the Worlds.

In other words, what I am suggesting is that we should understand Quran as a book that is above everything else, and see what it is trying to say. Whatever it says, we should accept. Now, it is possible that we may still differ with each other, but as long as we are open to corrections and are concerned with growing ourselves spiritually, then those differences are not important. On the other hand, if we close ourselves to everything except our own beliefs, then our situation does not stay much different from those people who rejected the word of God because it was different than what they believed in. For instance, Quran says,

أَمْ آتَيْنَاهُمْ كِتَابًا مِّن قَبْلِهِ فَهُم بِهِ مُسْتَمْسِكُونَ * بَلْ قَالُوا إِنَّا وَجَدْنَا آبَاءنَا عَلَى أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَى آثَارِهِم مُّهْتَدُونَ

Or have We given them a Book before this to which they are holding fast? Nay! they say: "We found our fathers following a certain religion, and we do guide ourselves by their footsteps." (Quran 43:21-22)

I have not claimed that they should drop their beliefs altogether, whether Sunni or Shiite. On the other hand, I believe that it is much more important to sit down and understand the word of God and live our lives accordingly.

I hope this response of mine lets you understand what my intention is. Shias are as much of brothers to me as other Muslims are.