Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Alhassanain (p) Network for Islamic Heritage and Thought

ShiaPer Islam

Author: Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Hussein Tabatibaei

www.alhassanain.org/english

Table of Contents

Introduction 5

The Meaning of Religion (din), Islam, and Shi'ism 5

PART I: THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SHI'ISM 7

CHAPTER I THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF SHI'ISM 7

The Cause of the Separation of the Shi'ite Minority from the Sunni Majority 8

The Two Problems of Succession and Authority in Religious Sciences 9

The Political Method of the Selection of the Caliph by Vote and Its Disagreement with the Shi'ite View 10

The Termination of the Caliphate of 'Ali Amir al-mu'minin and His Method of Rule 14

The Benefit which the Shi'ah Derived from the Caliphate of Ali 18

The Transfer of the Caliphate to Mu'awiyah and Its Transformation into a Hereditary Monarchy 18

The Bleakest Days of Shi'ism 19

The Establishment of Umayyad Rule 20

Shi'ism During the 2nd/8th Century 22

Shi'ism in the 3rd/9th Century 23

Shi'ism in the 4th/10th Century 24

Shi'ism from the 5th/11th to the 9th/15th Centuries 24

Shi'ism in the 10th/16th and 11th/17th Centuries 25

Shi'ism from the 12th/18th to the 14th/20th Centuries 25

CHAPTER II DIVISIONS WITHIN SHI'ISM 26

Zaydism and Its Branches 27

Isma'ilism and Its Branches 27

The Batinis 28

The Nizaris, Musta'lis, Druzes and Muqanna'ah 29

Differences Between Twelve-Imam Shi'ism and Isma'ilism and Zaydism 30

Summary of the History of Twelve-Imam Shi'ism 31

PART II: Shiites Religious Thought 33

CHAPTER III THREE METHODS OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT 33

FIRST METHOD: THE FORMAL ASPECT OF RELIGION 35

The Different Facets of the Formal Aspect of Religion 35

Traditions of the Companions 36

The Book and Tradition 36

The Outward and Inward Aspects of the Quran 37

The Principles of Interpretation of the Quran 39

Hadith 40

The Method of Shi'ism in Authenticating the Hadith 41

The Method of Shi'ism in Following the Hadith 41

Learning and Teaching in Islam 42

Shi'ism and the Transmitted Sciences 43

SECOND METHOD: THE WAY OF INTELECTION AND INTELLECTUAL REASONING 44

Philosophical and Theological Thought in Shi'ism 44

Shi'ite Initiative in Islamic Philosophy and Kalam 44

Shi'ite Contributions to Philosophy and the Intellectual Sciences 45

Outstanding Intellectual Figures of Shi'ism 46

THIRD METHOD: INTELLECTUAL INTUITION OR MYSTICAL UNVEILING 48

Man and Gnostic Comprehension 48

Appearance of Gnosis (Sufism) in Islam 48

Guidance Provided by the Quran and Sunnah for Gnostic Knowledge 50

PART III: Islamic Beliefs From The Shiites Point Of View 52

CHAPTER IV ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD 52

The World Seen from the Point of View of Being and Reality ; The Necessity of God 52

Another Point of View Concerning the Relation Between Man and the Universe 52

The Divine Essence and Qualities 55

The Meaning of the Divine Qualities 56

Further Explanation Concerning Qualities 56

Qualities of Action 57

Destiny and Providence 57

Man and Free Will 58

CHAPTER V ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROPHET 61

Toward the Goal: General Guidance 61

Special Guidance 62

Reason and Law 63

That Mysterious Wisdom and Consciousness Called Revelation 63

The Prophets - Inerrancy of Prophecy 64

The Prophets and Revealed Religion 65

The Prophets and Proof of Revelation and Prophecy 66

The Number of the Prophets of God 67

The Prophets Who are Bringers of Divine Law 67

The Prophecy of Muhammad 67

The Prophet and the Quran 70

Chapter VI Eschatology 73

Man is Composed of Spirit and Body 73

A Discussion of Spirit from Another Perspective 74

Death from the Islamic Point of View 74

Purgatory 74

The Day of Judgment - Resurrection 75

Another Explanation 77

The Continuity and Succession of Creation 79

CHAPTER VII ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE IMAM (IMAMOLOGY) 80

The Meaning of Imam 80

The Imamate and Succession 80

Affirmation of the Previous Section 85

The Imamate and Its Role in the Exposition of the Divine Sciences 87

The Difference Between Prophet and Imam 88

The Imamate and Its Role in the Esoteric Dimension of Religion 88

The Imams and Leaders of Islam 90

A Brief History Of The Lives Of The Twelve Imams 92

The First Imam 92

The Second Imam 94

The Third Imam 95

The Fourth Imam 99

The Fifth Imam 99

The Sixth Imam 100

The Seventh Imam 101

The Eighth Imam 101

The Ninth Imam 103

The Tenth Imam 103

The Eleventh Imam 104

The Twelfth Imam 105

On the Appearance of the Mahdi 105

The Spiritual Message of Shi'ism 108

Introduction

This book, which we have called Shi'ite Islam, seeks to clarify the true identity of Shi'ism which is one of the two major branches of Islam - the other being Sunnism. It deals in particular with the way Shi'ism originated and later developed, with the type of religious thought present in Shi'ism, and with Islamic sciences and culture as seen from the Shi'ite point of view.

The Meaning of Religion (din), Islam, and Shi'ism

Religion. There is no doubt that each member of the human race is naturally drawn to his fellow-men and that in his life in society he acts in ways which are interrelated and interconnected. His eating, drinking, sleeping, keeping awake, talking, listening, sitting, walking, his social intercourse and meetings, at the same time that they are formally and externally distinct, are invariably connected with each other. One cannot perform just any act in any place or after any other act. There is an order which must be observed.

There is, therefore, an order which governs the actions man performs in the journey of this life, an order against which his actions cannot rebel. In reality, these acts all originate from a distinct source. That source is man's desire to possess a felicitouslife , a life in which he can react to the greatest extent possible the objects of his desire, and be gratified. Or, one could say that man wishes to provide in a more complete way for his needs in order to continue his existence.

This is why man continually conforms his actions to rules and laws either devised byhimself or accepted from others, and why he selects a particular way of life for himself among all the other existing possibilities. He works in order to provide for his means of livelihood and expects his activities to be guided by laws and regulations that must be followed. In order to satisfy his sense of taste and overcome hunger and thirst, he eats and drinks, for he considers eating and drinking necessary for the continuation of his own happy existence. This rule could be multiplied by many other instances.

The rules and laws that govern human existence depend for their acceptance on the basic beliefs that man has concerning the nature of universal existence, of which he himself is a part, and also upon his judgment and evaluation of that existence. That the principles governing man's actions depend on his conception of being as a whole becomes clear if one meditates a moment on the different conceptions that people hold as to the nature of the world and of man.

Those who consider the Universe to be confined only to this material, sensible world, and man himself to be completely material and therefore subject to annihilation when the breath of life leaves him at the moment of death, follow a way of life designed to provide for their material desires and transient mundane pleasures. They strive solely on this path, seeking to bring under their control the natural conditions and factors of life.

Similarly, there are those who, like the common people among idol-worshipers, consider the world of nature to be created by a god above nature who has created the worldspecially for man and his goodness. Such men organize their lives so as to attract the pleasure of the god and not invite his anger. They believe that if they please the god he will multiply his bounty and make it lasting and if they anger him he will take his bounty away from them.

On the other hand, such men as Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians, and Muslims follow the "high path" in this life for they believe in God and in man's eternal life, and consider man to be responsible for his good and evil acts. As a result they accept as proven the existence of a day of judgment (qiyamat) and follow a path that leads to felicity in both this world and the next.

The totality of these fundamental beliefs concerning the nature of man and the Universe, and regulations in conformity with them which are applied to human life, is called religion (din). If there are divergences in these fundamental beliefs and regulations, they are called schools such as the Sunni and the Shi'ite schools in Islam and the Nestorian in Christianity. We can therefore say that man, even if he does not believe in the Deity, can never be without religion if we recognize religion as a program for life based on firm belief. Religion can never be separated from life and is not simply a matter of ceremonial acts.

The Holy Quran asserts that man has no choice but to follow religion, which is a path that God has placed before man so that by treading it man can reach Him. However, those who have accepted that religion of the truth (Islam) march in all sincerity upon the path of God, while those who have not accepted the religion of the truth have been diverted from the divine path and have followed the wrong road.

Islam etymologically means surrender and obedience. The Holy Quran calls the religion which invites men toward this end "Islam" since its general purpose is the surrender of man to the laws governing the Universe and man, with the result that through this surrender he worships only the One God and obeys only His commands. As the Holy Quran informs us, the first person who called this religion "Islam" and its followers "Muslims" was the Prophet Abraham, uponwhom be peace.

Shi'ah, which means literally partisan or follower, refers to those who consider the succession to the Prophet - may God's peace and benediction be upon him - to be the special right of the family of the Prophet and who in the field of the Islamic sciences and culture follow the school of the Household of the Prophet.