FABRICATED SUPPLICATIONS
Our mentor Mirza Husayn al-Nuri al-Tabrasi, in his book (written in Persian) entitled Lu’lu’-va-Murjan, states:
These words, which have been unfoundedly added to this reported tradition, are no more than heresy in the religion and venturing to the words of the Holy Imam (‘a), by adding to his words things that he did not say. Moreover, these fabricated words comprise baseless and manifestly fabricated lies. Yet, what is the most astounding is that these words are spread among people so widely that they are repeated thousands of times in the holy shrine of Imam al-Husayn (‘a) each day and night in the presence of the honorable angels and in that place, which is frequently visited by the Prophets and Messengers without finding anyone to stop or deny these lies and forgeries. As a result, these fabrications have been recorded in books and published in the collections of supplications and forms of ziyarah by some foolish inexperienced people who chose attracting titles for these books. Widespread among people, these books have been handed over from one foolish to another, causing the problem to be so augmentative that even some seekers of religious studies have been circulating them.
I, myself, met with a scholar of religious studies who was visiting the martyrs with these awful words. I thus put my hand on his shoulder gently and said to him, “It is quite awful to find a seeker of religious studies like you reading fabricated words like these in a holy place like this. Is it not?”
He answered, “These words are reported from the Imam! Are they not?”
Astonished by his question, I answered, “No, they are not?”
He said, “I have found these words written in some books.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Like Miftah al-Jinan!” he answered.
In fact, I refrained from answering him, because it was improper to argue with one who is too inattentive and too ignorant to differentiate between collections that have been collected by ordinary people and books of lofty scholars, which are considered reference books for scholars.
The Shaykh then goes on speaking about this matter, saying,
The spread of such trivial matters and insignificant heresies, such as the bathing of Uways al-Qirani and Abu’l-Darda’ who was a faithful loyalist of Mu’awiyah, the silence fasting, which is to keep silent for a whole day, and the like heresies, which have not found any one to stop or deny - these matters gave ordinary people the green light to challenge and defy the authentic religious texts and instructions. Hence, in each month and each year, we find a new false prophet or imam leading the uneducated people out of the religion in groups!
Actually, these words are worthy of ponderation, because they have been said by a lofty scholar who has full acquaintance with the taste and tendencies of the sacred religious code of law along with all its obligatory and recommended decrees. Besides, these words unveil the very much interest of this sublime scholar in this issue and reveal his depression and grief that he suppresses in his heart because of the spread of such heresies. Unlike those who have deprived themselves of the knowledge of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and sufficed themselves with familiarity with some terms and words without paying attention to the actual knowledge, this sublime scholar can comprehend the disadvantages and consequences of this issue. Moreover, such individuals who claim knowledgeability have decided the accuracy of such unfounded issues and acted upon them so awfully that they caused the matter to be more complicated and made the publics forsake such reliable reference books like Misbah al-Mutahajjid (by Shaykh al-Tusi), al-Iqbal (by Sayyid Ibn Tawus), Muhaj al-Da’awat (by Shaykh al-Tusi), Jamal al-Usbu’ (by Sayyid Ibn Tawus), Misbah al-Za’ir (by Ibn Tawus), al-Balad al-Amin (by al-Kaf’ami), al-Junnah al-Waqiyah (by al-Kaf’ami), Miftah al-Falah (by Shaykh al-Baha’i), al-Miqbas (by al-Mamuqani), Rabi’ al-Asabi’ (by al-Majlisi), al-Tuhfah (by al-Dahlawi), Zad al-Ma’ad (by al-Majlisi), and the like books to substitute them with such unfounded collections, which are full of forgeries. For instance, in the famous supplicatory prayer known as Du’a’ al-Mujir, the word bi’afwika has been added to the supplication seventy times without finding any one to deny or object to this forgery. In the famous supplication of Du’a’ al-Jawshan al-Kabir, which comprises one hundred sections, each section is given an individual forged merit.
Although great supplications of supreme significances, eloquent expressions, and articulate words have been authentically reported, we find such collections fabricate an extremely meaningless supplication, called Du’a’ al-Hubbi. Moreover, it is falsely claimed that this supplication was drawn down from the peak of the Divine Throne!! The merits that are fabricated for this invented supplication are so astounding that they astonish and confound any one who reads them!! We seek Allah’s protection against so. The following forgery is thus said about this supplication: Archangel Gabriel informed the Prophet Muhammad (s) that Almighty Allah says: I shall never chastise any servant who carries this supplication with him even if that servant deserves Hellfire to be his abode and has spent his entire lifetime disobeying Me and has never prostrated himself even one time before Me!! I thus grant him the reward of seventy thousand prophets, seventy thousand religious individuals, seventy thousand martyrs, seventy thousand watchful performers of prayers, those who give clothes to seventy thousand ones who could not find anything to put on, and those who fed seventy thousand hungry individuals!! I shall also grant him excellent merits as many as the number of the pebbles in deserts!! I shall grant him the reward of seventy thousand areas on the earth, the reward of Muhammad the Seal of Prophets, the reward of Jesus the Spirit of Allah, the reward of Abraham the Intimate Friend of Allah, the reward of Ishmael the slaughtered for Allah’s sake, the reward of Moses the Spoken by Allah, the reward of Jacob the Prophet of Allah, the reward of Adam the well-chosen by Allah, and the reward of (the Archangels) Gabriel, Michael, Seraph, ‘Izra’ili and the other angels!! O Muhammad, as for any one who prays Me with this supplication or carries it with him, I shall forgive him and I am too reticent to punish him... etc.!!
Actually, instead of laughing at such funny and nonsensical fabrications, we must weep for the books and writings of the Shi’ite scholars - these precious books and writings, which have attained the climax in accuracy, correctness, and proficiency because they were in most cases copied by experienced and religious individuals who used to compare their copies with other copies handwritten by scholars and revised by experts. Hence, whenever a difference is found, they would refer to these differences in margins.
For instance, the copier of the famous supplication of Makarim al-Akhlaq comments on the phrase wa-balligh bi’imani in a footnote that the copy of Ibn Ashnas has mentioned this phrase in this form: wa abligh bi’imani, and the copy of Ibn Shadhan has mentioned this phrase in this form: allahumma abligh bi’imani. Hence, we find footnotes in such revised books mentioning that Ibn Sakun has written the phrase in such-and-such form while al-Shahid has mentioned it in such-and-such form... etc.
This is the supreme rank in accuracy and proficiency that the books of Shi’ite scholars used to enjoy and this is the supreme efforts in revision and correctness that they used to do to their works. Unfortunately, we find that such accurate books have been abandoned and substituted with books like Miftah al-Jinan, which has been already mentioned, to be the one and only book widely circulated among people and referred to by ordinary and elite people and Arabs and non-Arabs! This is because the experienced and religious people have no longer paid attention to the traditions and reports and have no longer referred to the books written by the scholars and jurisprudents of the Ahl al-Bayt School.
Moreover, they have no longer denied such innovative and unfounded additions and they have no longer refuted the forgeries of fabricators and fakers and the distortions of the ignorant ones. They have no longer stopped the unqualified people and the foolish from interfering in these issues until we have had to come upon false supplications that were forged according to personal tastes and fake forms of ziyarah and prayers that were published in a collection of fabricated supplications.
The result has been that many books like Miftah al-Jinan sprouted up! As the problem proliferated, fabrication and distortion have spread out to creep into other books and writings. For example, the newly Persian book of Muntaha al-Amal has been messed up by its author according to his own personal inclinations and notions. Hence, in two lines of the book, the author has foisted the word alhamdu-lillahi (All praise be to Allah) four times into an authentically reported tradition, as follows:
As for Malik ibn Yusr the accursed, his two hands were paralyzed due to Imam al-Husayn’s invocation of curse on him. All praise be to Allah. In Summer, his two hands would be like two dried up woods. All praise be to Allah. In Winter, blood would fall in drops from his two hands. All praise be to Allah. So, the end of his affair was perdition. All praise be to Allah.
On other occasion, the author foisted the Persian word khanum (lady) after the names of Lady Zaynab and Lady Ummu-Kulthum as a sign of reverence and respect for these two ladies.
Because the author disagreed with Hamid ibn Qahtabah, he distorted his name into Hamid ibn Qahbah; yet, he mentioned as footnote that some copies had written the name of this man as Hamid ibn Qahtabah. Moreover, the author wrote the name ‘Abdullah instead of ‘Abd-Rabbih, and the name Zajar ibn al-Qays instead of Zahar wherever he would mention him in the book. Even the name of Ummu-Salamah, he wrote it as Ummul-Salamah!
However, my purpose behind mentioning these examples is to highlight the following two facts:
