Well, the majority of Shi`as today are the Twelve Imaamers, the "Ithnaa `Ashariyyah" as they are called in Arabic. It is this sect that the `Ulamaa of the past termed "Rawaafidh", or "Raafidhah". You get many sects among the Shi`as, some more extreme than others. The vast majority, though, are the Twelvers. According to the guys at rejectionists.blogspot.com, 85% of Shi`as belong to the Twelve Imaamers branch of Shi'tism. Now, the Shi`as in Syria are even worse than them: the ones in Syria are the `Alawiyyoon (Alawites). These guys are so bad that even the Twelver Imaamers used to consider them to be Kaafirs! The `Alawiyyoon (Alawites) openly worship Hadhrat `Ali رضي الله عنه as a god. In their temples, there is no Salaah or anything like that. Not at all. What do they want with Salaah. No, in their temples, a bunch of old-fashioned looking men and women gather around with guitars, sing old-fashioned Shirk songs, and dance. That is their version of Salaah.
Then you get the "Zaydis". People claim that this group does not have all of the same beliefs as the Ithnaa `Ashariyyah (Twelve Imaamers). However, who are the Zaydiyyah today and how many of them are there? The Houthis in Yemen are Zaydis, but they display enmity towards Sahaabah and Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jamaa`ah, and do a lot of the things which the Muslims claim the Zaydis are innocent of, and in addition to this, the Houthis fight against Islaam and - not to forget - even tried to fire a missile at Makkah. They have a fight with the Saudi government, and that's understandable, but if they had any bit of Imaan in them, they would not fire missiles into Makkah and Madeenah which Islaam regards as the "Sacred Lands". Carelessly firing missiles like that shows that they wouldn't mind bombing the Ka`bah as well. Their fight should be restricted to the Saudi government and army, not to Haramain Shareefain. As a result of this and several other factors, even the Twelver Shias say that the Houthis are just covert Twelvers themselves and the whole "Zaydi" thing is a lie on their part. This brings up the following very important question: "Do Zaydis even exist anymore?" Maybe they existed in the past, during the lifetime of Imaam Zayn-ul-`Aabideen and for some time afterwards. But can anyone bring a Zaydi in today's time? Right now? The Zaydis seem to be like dinosaurs. The claim people make about the Zaydi Shi`as is that they believe the same as Ahlus Sunnah in almost everything, and that one of the only things they do different is that they say Hadhrat `Ali رضي الله عنه should have been the first Khaleefah, but at the same time, they accept the Khilaafah of the first three Khulafaa and they respect all of the Sahaabah.
The thing is, I don't go in for hypothetical situations. I don't like hypothetical questions either. I don't even believe in answering them. I believe only questions that have some bearing on the lives of people should be answered. Questions like, "Is dinosaur meat Halaal?" And "Can I marry a female Jinn?" is ridiculous and don't deserve an answer. We tell people like that, "Once you've found a dinosaur and slaughtered it, we'll give you the Fatwaa on whether it's permissible or not." And "Once you've found yourself a Jinn girl, bring her here and we'll see about performing the Nikaah."
We have to give the Fatwaa on the majority. The majority of Shi`as in the world are the Twelve Imaamers. We cannot concern ourselves with this possibly non-existent "Zaydi" group of dinosaurs from the Mesozoic Era 65 million years ago. Here and now, who are the Shi`as in the world? The Shi`as existent in this day and age are the Twelvers, primarily. They're the ones who fill up Iran and Pakistan. They all have the following beliefs in common:
1) Hatred towards the Sahaabah.
2) Accusing Hadhrat `Aa'ishah رضي الله عنها of committing a Faahishah (shameless act).
3) Believe that the Qur'aan was altered (Tahreef-ul-Qur'aan).
4) Believe that the Twelve Imaams are Ma`soom (sinless) and they worship these Twelve Imaams.
If you've got a bag full of rotten potatoes, you'll say "it's a bag full of rotten potatoes." Yet, there may be one solitary potato laying right at the bottom of that bag which isn't rotten. But who cares about it? The rest of the 89 potatoes in the bag are rotten, so it's a rotten bag of potatoes. You can't say, "It's a bag of fresh potatoes." just because there is a possibility of there being one solitary potato at the bottom that hasn't turned rotten yet. You have to focus on the majority.
That is why, `Ulamaa like Maulana Rashid Ahmad Ludhyanvi took a very practical approach: They said that the Shi`as today are Kaafirs. They didn't make exceptions, because firstly, no one even knows if Zaydis still exist. You'll get a whole bunch of Twelvers who will pretend to be Zaydis but will stab you in the back the moment you turn around. Remember that Taqiyyah is a core principle of Shi'tism. They have made lying part of their religion. So, when speaking to Ahlus Sunnah, they may deny that they believe the Qur'aan is created, that they hate the Sahaabah, etc. But get them when they're alone, and you see their true face.
You know, one of my Asaatidhah studied in Jaami`ah Binnoria, in Binnori Town, Karachi. During his student days, the teachers at the Jaami`ah (university) in those days wanted the students to do research about the Shi`as on their own, so what they did is, they used to have certain groups of students dress up as Shi`as, in those black suits and everything, and infiltrate the Shi`a "Husainiyats" (that's what they call their temples). My Ustaadh was one of those who used to get chosen for the job. They'd take recorders with them and record everything. That's how the teachers at the Jaami`ah did a lot of their research on the Shi`a sect and why they in particular were very harsh when it came to the Shi`as. The other `Ulamaa in India and Pakistan had a much more lenient approach because they had simply taken the Shi`as on their word. Binnori Town's guys, on the other hand, were not satisfied with that. They wanted to know the truth. So the students would infiltrate, pretending to be Shi`as, and Now you'd see what the Shi`as truly believe. They don't know that there are Sunnis around, so all of their real beliefs and hatred now starts to pour out.
When dealing with a sect like the Shi`as that believe in and promote Taqiyyah, you can Never take them on their word. If you're dealing with a Shi`a who pretends to be a "Zaydi", write to him under a different account pretending to be a Shi`a also, and speak to him, and you'll find out his true beliefs. The "Zaydis" are dinosaurs. There are just Twelvers and others more extreme than them.
The practical approach is to give a blanket Fatwaa against all of them and disassociate with all of them as a whole. If one of them accepts Islaam, that's a different story. But otherwise, it's foolish to allow yourself to be stabbed in the back. The most treacherous cult in the entire world are the Shi`as. I think this whole "Zaydi" thing is a bunch of wolves wearing the skins of sheep.
Islaam teaches people to be smart. One of the specialities of Hadhrat `Umar ibn al-Khattaab رضي الله عنه is that in his entire life, he never deceived anyone nor was he ever deceived. Also, in a Hadeeth, Rasoolullaah صلى الله عليه وسلم says:
لا يلدغ المؤمن من جحر واحد مرتين
"A Mu'min is not stung from the same hole twice." [Narrated in Saheeh al-Bukhaari.]
Meaning, when a person has Imaan, Allaah Ta`aalaa gives him enough brains to not be taken for a ride by every charlatan who puts on a pretense. With Imaan Allaah Ta`aalaa also gives a person Firaasah.
The Shi`as - as a whole - pose a danger to Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jamaa`ah. Their ideology as well as their actions.
It's not the Kuffaar who are the most dangerous; it's the Munaafiqeen. It's always been the Munaafiqeen.
