A Study of Sunni Islam from the Perspective of Shiʿi Scholars

This study examines the claim made by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dimashqiyyah that the Imāmī Shīʿa regard Ahl al-Sunnah as unbelievers (kuffār). In his work, al-Dimashqiyyah cites the opinions of the authors of Ṣāḥib al-Ḥadāʾiq, ʿAllāmah al-Majlisī, and Ṣāḥib al-Jawāhir to argue that the Imāmī Shīʿa excommunicate Sunnis. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, the present study examines Shiʿi narrations and the opinions of Shiʿi jurists and concludes that the term kufr (disbelief) mentioned in certain narrations refers to disbelief in contrast to faith (īmān), rather than disbelief in contrast to Islam. In other words, denying the guardianship (wilāyah) of the Imams leads to exclusion from the realm of faith but does not remove a person from the fold of Islam. Accordingly, Ahl al-Sunnah are not considered outside Islam; rather, they are regarded as believers in the essential principles of Divine Unity (Tawḥīd), Prophethood (Nubuwwah), Resurrection (Maʿād), and other core tenets, while their deficiency lies in the doctrine of wilāyah. Furthermore, evidence such as the application of the legal rulings concerning the ritual purity of Muslims (ṭahārat al-muslimīn), the continuous historical practice of social interaction with Sunnis, and narrations distinguishing between Islam and faith all support this position. Prominent Shiʿi scholars, including Khwājah Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, Shaykh al-Mufīd, Shaykh al-Ṣadūq, Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī, Shaykh al-Anṣārī, Imam Khomeini, and Sayyid Abū al-Qāsim al-Khūʾī, have explicitly recognized Ahl al-Sunnah as Muslims. According to the Shiʿi perspective, only the Nawāṣib, the Ghulāt (extremists), and the Khawārij are regarded as unbelievers. Therefore, al-Dimashqiyyah's claim that the Imāmī Shīʿa generally excommunicate Ahl al-Sunnah lacks a sound evidential basis and is refuted through a comprehensive examination of Shiʿi jurisprudential and ḥadīth sources.