A Shi’i-Sunni dialogue (also known as ‘The Right Path’)
Letter 45
Resorting to Interpretation, Following in the Footsteps of the Predecessors, is Unavoidable.
Muharram 6, 1330
Had it not been for the caliphate of the Righteous Caliphs, which is correct beyond any doubt, we would not have had any choice other than accepting your view and interpreting this verse and others according to your own judgement, but to cast doubts about the soundness of their caliphate, may Allah be pleased with them, is out of the question. Resorting to interpretation, then, is unavoidable, since we have believed in them as well as in those who swore the oath of allegiance to them, Wassalam.
Sincerely,
Letter 46
Muharram 6, 1330
The three righteous caliphs, may Allah be pleased with them, are, indeed, the subject of the study and debate; to use such caliphate, however, to rebut our arguments is totally rejected.
I Believing in the Ancestors does not Require Interpretation
1) To believe in those caliphs, as well as in those who swore allegiance to them, does not require interpreting the arguments. In justifying their caliphate, you yourselves resort to interpretation, as we will clarify if necessary.
II Interpretation is Impossible
2) Interpreting the texts which we have stated to you is impossible; so is the case with what we have not stated yet, such as the Ghadir’s hadith and that of the Will, particularly when backed by irrefutable traditions which support one another, the latter being sufficient by themselves to require reference to manifest texts. Whoever acquaints himself with the latter will find them irrefutable testimonials and unequivocable verdicts, Wassalam.
Sincerely,
Did the Prophet say ‘Follow the tradition of my Caliphs’ Part 1
