What could have come as a shocker for common Muslims recently was the attack on Prophet Muhammad's beloved wife, Ayesha (may Allah be pleased with her), by Kuwaiti Shiite cleric Yasser Al-Habeeb in London. Insulting or harming the Prophet's wife (may Allah be pleased with her) is insulting and harming the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself. Even the man with the least amount of chivalry and self-respect would not allow people to insult his wife. How then could one dare to speak about the wife of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)?! The Prophet (peace be upon him) was actually very sensitive about his wives and Allah thus warned the believers about hurting them. Allah titled them the “Mother of the Believers” in the Qur'an. His wives were considered so precious that Allah instructed the believers to talk to them from behind a screen and He also forbade anyone from marrying them after the Prophet's death. “When you ask his wives for something, ask them from behind a screen. That is purer for your hearts and for their hearts. It is not for you to cause injury to the Messenger of Allah, or ever marry his wives after him. To do that would be something dreadful in the sight of Allah.” (Qur'an, 33:53) When the hypocrites of Madina attacked Ayesha (may Allah be pleased with her) with a horrendous slander that no believer could have come up with, Allah revealed 20 verses in the Qur'an in her defense. The verses – found in the beginning of Surah An-Nur – have been read for over 1,400 years and will be read until the Day of Judgement. Such is the honor of our mother Ayesha. It is no secret that most beloved of all to the Prophet (peace be upon him) was Ayesha (may Allah be pleased with her), as the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself said in a Hadith collected by Al-Bukhari and Muslim. The Prophet (peace be upon him) would drink from the exact spot of the container that Ayesha drank from, just to show his love. Near his death, the Prophet (peace be upon him) sought permission from his other wives to spend his last few days in the house of Ayesha (may Allah be pleased with her). He (peace be upon him) passed away in the lap of Ayesha (may Allah be pleased with her). She was also a distinguished scholar of Islam. Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “We the Companions of Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) never had difficulty in understanding a Hadith except that when we asked Ayesha we found she had some knowledge about it.” Masruq said: “We swear by Allah, we have seen senior Companions of Allah's Messenger asking Ayesha about inheritance laws.” (Ibn Al-Jawzi, Sifah Al-Safwah, vol. 1, p. 319) Her piety and deeds were no less exemplary, after all she was the wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Her nephew Urwah Bin Al-Zubayr said: “Ayesha (may Allah be pleased with her) gave 70,000 (Dirham) in charity, while her own skirt used to be patched.” (Abdullah Bin Mubarak in Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqa'iq, vol. 1, p. 588, no.705) Common Muslims, who have little exposure to what Shiite doctrines are, may wonder just how a sect could go to such an evil extreme. The reason why we don't get to know much about them is because of a fundamental tenet that hardcore Shiites adhere to: Taqiyyah. Taqiyyah is translated literally as “speaking contrary to one's inner beliefs.” It is often translated by the Shia propagandists as “dissimulation”, which means “the act of deceiving.” The Shiites believe in hiding their faith. They pretend and even lie without blinking an eyelid because according to them this is not only OK to do, but something they must do. So they may pretend to be Sunnis and when asked about the Companions and the Prophet's wives, they may say words of reverence and regard with their lips. The evidence for Taqiyyah is found in one of the most revered books of Shiites: “Mix with them (i.e. non-Shiites) outwardly but oppose them inwardly.” (Al-Kafi, vol. 9, p. 116) This is very similar to what Allah says about the hypocrites in the Qur'an: “When they (hypocrites) meet those who believe, they say: ‘We believe.' But when they are alone with their evil ones, they say: ‘We are really with you, we (were) only jesting.'” (Qur'an, 2:14) Cursing the Companions, except a selected few that they want to believe in, and the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is what Shiism stands upon. It is not really the love of the Ahl Al-Bayt (again a selected few) that forms their core, because even the Ahl Al-Sunnah love the Ahl Al-Bayt. Their belief system, therefore, is based on hating those who have been clearly praised and loved by the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself. For any Shiite reading this: Isn't it time to make the switch now from a sect that preaches hatred and permits crimes to the mainstream body of Muslims that embraces all the Ahl Al-Bayt and Companions, does not extol them to a status more than they deserve, neither does it debase any of them, but holds them with respect and reverence. The plain, clear and straightforward path is the path that Allah's Messenger and His Companions were upon.
