(Original Source: http://marifah.net/articles/TakeNotice-SaidFoudah.pdf)

All praise belongs  to Allah,  the Lord of  the worlds. May peace and prayers be upon our liege lord Muhammad, and upon his family and purified and goodly companions. To proceed:
 
A phenomenon has appeared in some of the Muslim communities of Europe that is a cause for us  to enquire and research. This phenomenon  is  the Shi’ism of some of  the common  laity who were  once  considered  Sunnis.  In  this  brief  paper  I wish  to  explain  the weakness  of  the  Shiite doctrine in certain matters in order for the Sunni to be clear on his position vis-á-vis this sect.
 
THE ORIGIN OF SHI’ISM
 
Shi’ism  appeared  in  the  Islamic  Umma  after  the  first  generation.  During  the  era  of  the companions,  there  was  no  sect  with  this  name,  and  this  doctrine  was  unknown  in  the  first generation. The Shiite sect was not founded and it did not gain support until the third and fourth generation after the Hijra, and it did not gain power until the seventh generation and afterwards. It has never had a strong state until this era 1 – an era in which we live with humiliation and deep darkness. In reality, this is not important from an ideological or doctrinal perspective; however from a historical perspective, it is  important as  it  shows how the Imami Shiites have adopted a corrupt view and a destitute school of thought.
 
Among  their many claims,  the Shiites claim  that  the companions of  the Prophet (Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) apostatized from Islam because of their alleged usurpation of the Caliphate from Imam ‘Ali. They claim that this event was well known and mass transmitted during the era of the companions, and that the Noble Messenger (Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)  ordered  for  the  Caliphate  to  go  to  ‘Ali,  and  they  claim  that  the Caliphate  is  textually  given  to  twelve  Imams  from his pure progeny,  and based upon  that,  the rightly guided Caliphs – may Allah be pleased with all of them and elevate their lights – usurped the Caliphate from Imam ‘Ali.
 
In reality,  this claim  is a  superstition among  superstitions;  it  is  incorrect  to say  that  it warrants investigation  and  inquiry.  The  end  result  of  these  words  is  an  attack  against  the  Prophet (Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) himself,  because  their  statements  imply  that  the  infallible  Messenger  did  not  choose  his companions well and  that he did not know  those  in his midst, and  that he did not deliver wise counsel to us by warning us from them! 
 
I once mentioned this to one of the Shiites I saw here [in Jordan]. He responded by saying that their apostasy took place after he (Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) passed on and joined the higher gathering [al-rafiq al-‘a’la]. In reality, that is type of dimwittedness and wilful blindness; in real life they negate that any such thing  could  happen  to one of  the  infallibles  among  the  Imams of  the Prophet's (Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Salam)  family  [Al  al-Bayt] and they claim that the Imams of Al al-Bayt know the unseen and that nothing is hidden from them whatsoever. This is found in the book al-Kafi by al-Kulayni and it is one of their well known sources, so how can they affirm that for the Imams and not affirm it for the Messenger (Salla Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). Based on their own words, do not my arguments apply to them?
 

GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS 
 
I  do  not wish  to  go  into  a  great  amount  of  detail  regarding  the  doctrine  of  the  Ithna  ‘Ashari Shiites, however I will say this:
 
First of all, there are a large number of books  that explain the beliefs of  the Shiites and refute the doubts they sow in issues of creed and history and more. It possible to review the books on heresiology  such as al-Farq bayn al-Firaq of  Imam al-Baghdadi and al-Milal wa al-Ni3al  of al-Shahrastani, and the more generalised Sunni books on creed also prove beneficial with respect to this topic. You should however beware of the book, Minhaj al-Sunna of Ibn Taymiyya because he filled it with a great deal of falsehood that is not allowed for a Muslim to believe, and for the sake of refuting the Shiites, he allowed himself to utter opinions  that no rational person would say. Whether it is in matters of creed or the differences that took place among the companions: he does not represent the Sunnis.
 
Secondly,  there are many  issues  that clearly  illustrate  the  falsehood of  the  Ithna  ‘Ashari Shiite school of thought. The most important of these issues are the following:
 
The  Shiites  themselves  narrated  in  their  books  that  our  liege  lord  ‘Umar  b.  al-Khatab (Radhia Allahu Anhu)
married another daughter of our liege lord ‘Ali besides Fatima. This means that our liege lord ‘Ali did not declare ‘Umar and Abu Bakr to be disbelievers as the Shiites mentioned. Rather, he was with them as a brother, a helper, and an aid. 
 
Only a dolt can claim that our liege lord ‘Ali was afraid or compelled. The bravery of our liege lord ‘Ali a was mass transmitted leaving no doubt therein. How can someone claim that he was afraid of ‘Umar and his severity even though he was never known to be fearful? And assuming that he was actually silent due to particular circumstances, why is that silence not enough for the Shiites when it was enough for the Imam?
 
If you  [o Shiites] believe  that  the  Imams are  infallible and  that  they can never make mistakes, how  then  do  you  explain  Imam  al-Lasan’s  decision  to  relinquish  the Caliphate  and  give  it  to Mu‘awiya b. Abi Sufyan? One of  the major  authorities of  the Shiites,  al-Majlisi,  attempted  to explain  this  in  his  book Bihar  al-Anwar.  He  wrote  many  volumes  and  contended  with  this question  in  a  way  that  does  not  come  from  a  person  of  intellect. He  couldn’t  even  convince himself much  less  anyone  else  that what  al-Lasan  did was  right!  So,  do we  say  that  al-Lasan erred –  thereby  invalidating  the premise of your doctrine – or do we  say  that he was correct – thereby  invalidating  the  premise  of  your  doctrine  as well  –  or  do we  say  that  he was  a  noble companion  from  the  family of  the Pure  and Noble Messenger,  however he was  a human who erred and was correct and who was not infallible and who did not know the unseen? Or, do we say that he did that as a political manoeuvre, even though that entails misleading those after him and concealing the truth that the infallible should openly declare and not hide? "Openly call that which you are commanded and turn away from the ignorant. We shall certainly suffice you from those who mock And Allah shall protect you from the people".
 
It is not my intention here to speak in detail about the tribulations that took place between the companions, however there is no harm in saying that the Sunni doctrine is that Imam ‘Ali was correct  and  that Mu‘awiya  b. Abi  Sufyan  was mistaken.  Beyond  that, Ahl  al-Sunna  disagree regarding their stance on Mu‘awiya. I do not wish to go into that here for it has its own area of explanation.
 
The stance of the Shiites with respect to the Qur’an shows without doubt that they are misguided and  deviated.  The  majority  of  them  believe  that  the  Qur’an  has  been  altered  by  way  of subtraction (not addition), and a small number of them believe that it was not altered by way of either subtraction or addition. My words here are directed to many of them, such as al-Kulayni, al-Majlisi  (the  author  of Bihar  al-Anwar  that  is  over  one  hundred  volumes), Ni‘matullah  al-Jaza’iri, and many others. They explicitly stated that one of the necessary tenets of their doctrine
is belief  the Qur’an has  been  altered by deletion. Some,  such  as  al-Ba3rani  in his  exegesis al-Burhan, went as  far as  to bring alleged examples of  things deleted  from  the Qur’an. My words here are addressed to these people. There is no doubt whatsoever that by this [belief] they have left the fold of Islam – the religion that has the Holy Qur’an as its greatest sign: "No falsehood comes to it from in front or from behind: a revelation from the All-Wise and One worthy of all
praise Indeed we have certainly revealed the Reminder and indeed we shall certainly preserve it".
 
All who hold the belief that the Qur’an is either missing parts or has extra parts is a disbeliever according the consensus of all of the Muslims from every sect and faction – except these Shiites who despite this, continue to defend their Imams who openly uttered such statements.
 
Some  of  the  Shiites  today  say  that  they  do  not  hold  this  belief  and  they  say  that  this  issue  is differed over and that the correct position is that there is no alteration. I say: that is the ugliest of excuses;  this  issue  is  not  differed  over  among  the Muslims.  This  issue  does  not  hold  the possibility of disagreement. It is therefore obligatory upon you to declare your disavowal of those who have maligned the realities of the religion with those words! Some naïve people attempt to deny  these  beliefs  among  the  Shiites, however  those  I mentioned,  clearly  and  explicitly  stated that and their books are published and well known. I have read them myself and I did not quote
them from a third party.  
 
AN  IMPORTANT CONCLUDING REMARK
 
Some of those who jealously defend the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunna attempt to refute the doubts of the  Shiites  by  ascribing  statements  to  them  they  never  said  and  by  accusing  them  of  holding certain  opinions  even  though  the  Shiites  themselves  charge  those who  belief  such  things with disbelief. An example [of these statements] include the claim that Jibril a erred in delivering the Message and that ‘Ali d exists in the clouds and that the thunder is his voice, and other beliefs that are the exclusive beliefs of the Isma‘ilis, Druze and Nusairis. Those groups are disbelievers
according  to consensus, so it is incorrect to ascribe the Shiites with something unless it  is  from their books. We should not seek to argue with them about anything other than what they believe in,  lest  we  fall  into  slander  and  lies:  "Do  not  let  your  hatred  for  a  people  cause  you  to  act unjustly". 
 
Whoever would like more details then he should peruse the works of the esteemed and reliable scholars. I ask Allah to protect you and me out of His favour and generosity.

1 Although they did have the Safavid Empire and other smaller areas that did not last long.