Peshawar Nights Book Pdf
Marthe Bernskoetter
Peshawar Nights (شبهای پیشاور در دفاع از حریم تشیع Shab-hā-ye Pishāwar) is a written firsthand account by Sultan al-Wa'izin Shirazi ("Prince of Preachers from Shiraz"),[1] recalling ten days of dialogues between two Sunni scholars and a Shia author about major topics relating to Shia Islam,[2][3] which took place in Peshawar (now in Pakistan, which, at the time, was part of British India) beginning on 27 January 1927. The book was originally written in Persian and published in Tehran and has subsequently been translated into several languages, the first English edition was published in 1977 in Pakistan.
It recounts a public debate between Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims, that took place in the city of Peshawar in the North-West Frontier Province of British India (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) for ten nights beginning on 27 January 1927. The two principal participants from the Sunni side were Hafiz Muhammad Rashid and Sheikh Abdus Salam from Kabul. The discussions were attended by approximately 200 people (Shia and Sunni Muslims) and were recorded by four reporters published following morning in the local newspapers.[2] According to the preface:
A condition of the dialogue was that only sources acceptable to both sects would be cited. The dialogue was held in Persian, commonly understood in the city of Peshawar (Note: Persian is no longer commonly understood in Peshawar). The transcript, made by four reporters and published in the newspapers daily, was published in book form in Teheran and soon became a classic authority in the East. The present work is based on the fourth edition, published in Teheran in 1971, the year in which Sultan al-Wa'izin died at the age of 75.[4]
The title of the book is a translation of the original Persian title, Shabhaye-Peshawar.[2] Since its first translation, printing & publishing in English, it been re-translated, re-printed & re-published across the world several times. A few of the major English publications available are:
The book is notable, it has not only been reprinted several times in English by different publishers across the world but also has been translated to several languages and has not only been cited by books but is also used as teaching/reference material in academia and suggested as reading material by others.
In these ten short nights, with his cogent arguments, sharp wit, and mastery of theology, he manages to convince the audience of the veracity of the Shia school of thought and the very Sunni scholars making the accusations.
This book, Peshawer nights, is a collection of the discussions that were originally published as a periodical in Farsi by reporters who recorded the event. The compilation presented here remains an indelible legacy of the culture of scholarship in the Shia school, underlining the very core culture, that of the dominance of aql and the excellent manner in exposing the faith and the practice of Islam.
Readers, both young and old, lay and scholars of all persuasions will find this enlightening book, a great source of authentic narrations and Quranic interpretations accepted by both the Sunni and the Shia. Despite being about a century old, the arguments and discussions are as relevant and fresh today as they were then.
What gets me about Peshawar Nights is how weak the Sunni debaters are. Reading some of their arguments makes you wonder if they know anything about Islam at all. I mean, I've seen better arguments from 12-year olds here on Shiachat than all four of those Sunni "scholars" combined. The debate itself is extremely one-sided. The well-wisher goes on for pages while the Sunni opponent can only muster up a sentence or two usually asking him questions more than offering rebuttals.
That's probably the reason why many Sunnis disregard it as a fabrication. Personally, I think al-Murajaat is a more believable account of Shia-Sunni debate since its more balanced. But nonetheless Peshawar Nights has a lot of good arguments which Sunnis are still unable to refute. Bless their little hearts for trying though.
Peshawar Nights is worth reading. It answers almost all if not all of the questions and queries in minds of non-Shia about the Shia faith. Sultan-al-wai'zeen Shirazi has really presented his case beautifully. A book worth reading. But I don't think it can be really classified and presented as a debate between Shia-Sunni. It is rather question and queries submitted by Sunnis on Shia faith.
^it did. It says in the book itself about people writing everything down, and news paper people taking notes about it and watching it. And then theres still till this day news paper clippings on the event.
To put it bluntly: Peshawar Nights is a piece put together for the lay people who have no grounding in Ilm Al-Rijal, Usool Al-Fiqh. Even the slightest knowledge of Mustalah Al-Hadith shows the weakness of this book.
I remember when I first read Peshawar Nights, trying to learn about Shi'ism, it was one of the few (if not only) books that I - an ignorant layman - could refute. I was insulted by the fact that the author could try to shove so much nonsense down my throat thinking I would be fooled.
There is a high probability of these newspaper clippings being in possesion of the families who are original residents of this place. I personally haven't seen those newspaper clippings as i haven't strived to get them. I will try to get some info in this regard as it would be quite interesting.
To be honest I would agree with this statement to the extent that for any Shia, Peshawar Nights should be a starting point only - perhps just to identify some of the topics of debate. And some of the Shia position on this debate.
There are Sunni refutations on the web (search thru this site and you'll probably find them) and they do deal with issues such as whether the debate was actually published and there are also queries about the references that are cited, for example.
heres an Idea, since the book is available ONLINE (just c\scroll up, go where it says "online books" under the shiaschat banner. click on it. look for peshawar nights, its there, click on it. look for the references yourself. most sunni hadith collections are online as well.
RUBBISH. i am from peshawar even rhe shias from peshawar dont take it seriously. its meant to stereotype sunni ulama on shia beliefs. they dont even give the family the scholars which is very important in our pakhtoon culture.
3) quoting from Imam Tabari's Tarikh, which includes authentic as well as fabricated reports, and reports from shias, khawarij, murji'a, qadariyya and others - due to which EVERY report's chain has to be individually evaluated, and this is not done by Mister Shirazi
4) Calling non-Sunnis 'your foremost scholars', and quoting from other unknown and totally alien books without giving any thought to the tahqeeq of the writings or an analysis of the chains of transmission.
Well-Wisher: Agreed. For a manlike me, who is proud enough to claim relationship with the Prophet,it is not fair to go against the examples set forth by my ancestor,the Prophet of Islam.
I will repeat: Peshawar Nights is possibly the sorriest piece of writing put together by any propagandist of any faith, and it's a pity that many people actually believe the content of this book is sound.
It is outrageous enough for me that Mister Shirazi supposedly whipped out volume and page numbers, and isnads in an un-planned program of discussion.. let alone the fact that the so-called sunni 'Sheikh' in the book is more jahil than the average sunni who knows arabic and has access to arabic books.
The whole Sunni system of hadith studies is flawed. The problem is in order for a hadith to be considered authentic it must be relayed by a 'sunni' transmitter. Anything coming from a Shia transmitter is considered unauthentic.
unfortunately, thanks to the umayyads, a good number of hadiths were fabricated, adulterated and deleted. if a sunni person really wants to look for the truth, they need to take ALL the hadiths, whether they are relayed from sunni, shia or anywhere else and compare them. Try and eliminate hadiths based on contradictions not simply based on 'oh it had a shia relator' or 'oh it's unauthentic'. Goldzhier (sp?), a western scholar has done this. He too is in agreement that the Shia position is the correct position.
the problem with arguing with Sunnis is that they are very aqeedah driven, whereas we are very rationale driven. They can simply refject a hadith saying 'oh it's a weak hadith' and live comfortabely; whereas for us it's more important to look into it and find why that hadith would have been fabricated (if it was fabricated).
however, peshawar nights in general while it may not be the most convincing books, did prove that the guy arguging knew the available sources much better than the other group. A more 'academic' bookw hcih might appeal to sunnis is, 'The succession to Muhammad" written by Wilferd Madelung of Cambridge.
When a young scholar from Iran visits the city of Peshawer (in now eastern Pakistan), he Is invited by the great Sunni scholars of the time to answer allegations of the Shia creedal beliefs and practices. Over ten nights, this an erudite and incredibly well-versed young scholar, Sultanul Waizin Shirazi, eloquently exposes the true Islam and the false memes levelled against the Shia, mesmerising the audience with his in-depth knowledge of the books of the Sunni schools of thought and the Holy Quran.
Sultan al-Wa'izin al-Shirazi was born on Dhu l-Qa'da 7, 1314 (April 9, 1897) in Tehran. He went to al-'Atabat al-'Aliyat to learn Islamic disciplines. He traveled to many places abroad, such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and India. His most important travel was to Peshawar in which his well-known debates with Sunni scholars occurred.
In his sojourns in different areas of the world, Sultan al-Wa'izin held meetings of preaching and sermons, and debated with scholars of different Islamic sects. He debated with some Indian scholars in a meeting where Gandhi was present. He finally died on Sha'ban 17, 1391 (October 8, 1971) at the age of seventy-five in Tehran and was buried in the Abu Husayn Cemetery in Qom.
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