Al-Baatiniyyah: Their Principles and Beliefs-III

Examples of the deviated interpretations of Al-Baatiniyyah
It has previously been mentionedthat the belief of Al-Baatiniyyah
isbased on the distortion of the apparent meanings of the Quran and
Sunnah (Prophetic tradition) to other esoteric meanings. Amongst such
naïve distortions istheir claim that fornication does not mean the
illicit insertion of the male organ into the woman'svagina; rather, it
means putting the sperm of the hidden knowledge into the soul that has
not yet adopted their faith. Accordingly, they see no harm in
fornication.
They also claim that purification does not mean performing Wudhoo'
(ablution), but it meansrenouncing and purifying oneself from any
belief other than giving pledge to the Imaam. Moreover, they claim
that fasting does not mean abstaining from all that can break fasting
in a specific period, but it means abstaining from unveiling the
secret. As for Tawaaf (circumambulation) around the Sacred House seven
times, they said it means circumambulation around Muhammad and the
rest of the seven Imaams. They interpretthe five prayers as
indications to the four pillars and the Imaam. Consequently, there is
no need for performing those prayers thatMuslims perform.
Amongst the examples of their interpretations of the miracles of the
prophets are that they interpret the flood of Nooh (Nuh) as the flood
of knowledge that drowned those who adhere to the outer, exoteric
meaning ofthe Quran and Sunnah. As for the fire into which Ibraaheem
(Abraham) was thrown, it is just the anger of the Nimrod and not a
real fire. They also claimed that the Jinn of Sulaymaan (Solomon) were
in fact the Baatiniyyah of that age, and that the devils are
Ath-Dhaahiriyyah (i.e. those who oppose Al-Baatiniyyah), those to whom
the hard works are commissioned, and the like of their hallucinations
that make everyone laugh at them due to their naivety and foolishness.
Examples of the atrocities of Al-Baatiniyyah
If the discussion of the beliefs of Al-Baatiniyyah clarifies the
hiddenthoughts of that group, their practices against Muslims, when
they feel powerful, clearly show the hatred they harbor in their heart
towards Muslims. The following lines are just a reminder; the history
of Muslims with the Baatiniyyah is a bloody one. We will not list all
of their atrocities against Muslims, as a few will suffice.
The most notorious and atrocious incident that afflicted Muslims in
their most sacred places and during their best days at the hands of
Al-Baatiniyyah and at the hands of the worst and most wicked man was
what Al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer mentioned in his book Al-Bidaayah
wan-Nihaayah,
"In 317 A.H., a caravan of Iraqi pilgrims set out to Makkah under the
leadership of Mansoor Ad-Daylami. They arrived peacefully. Many other
caravans arrived from everywhere. All of a sudden, they were attacked
by the Qaramati and his group on the day of At-Tarwiyyah (8th of
Thul-Hijjah). He plundered their money and killed them. He massacred
pilgrims in the streetsand paths of Makkah, in Al-Masjid Al-Haraam and
even in the Ka'bahitself. Then their leader Abu Taahir, may Allaah
curse him, sat before the doors of the Ka'bah and said while the
people were being killed around him, 'I am forAllaah and with Allaah.
I am, I am, I give life to people and inflict death upon them.'
"People were running away from them and seeking protection in the
cloth that covers the Ka'bah but to no avail. They were killed while
they were in that state and while they were performing Tawaaf. When
Al-Qarmati, may Allaah curse him, finished his mission and committed
atrocitiesagainst the pilgrims, he ordered that the dead bodies be
buried inthe well of Zamzam, while many of them were buried in their
places in Al-Haram. They were neither washed nor shrouded, nor was the
funeral prayer offered for them because they were martyrs and also in
the state of Ihraam. He destroyed thedome of the well of Zamzam,
ordered that the Ka'bah be eradicated and its Kiswah (covers) to be
taken off. He and his followers tore the Kiswah. He also ordered a man
to mount theKa'bah and remove its Meezaab (drain pipe of the Ka'bah's
roof) but that man fell on his head anddied to enter the Hellfire.
"At that point, he left the Meezaab and ordered that the black stone
be removed from its place. A man came to it and hit it with heavy
metal in his hand and said, 'Where are the successive groups of birds,
where are the hard and solid stones?' (This is in reference to the way
Abrahah, who had tried to attack the Ka'bah earlier in history,
perished) and removed it from itsplace and carried it to their
country. It remained in their possession for 22 years until they
returned it in 339 A.H. Indeed we belong to Allaah, and indeed to Him
we will return."