Consolidation of Shiism in Iran
Consolidation of Shiism in Iran
Consolidation of Shiism in Iran
CHAPTER - I
'ATi used to call his followers and those who supported him
against his
bitter enemies such as Talha and al-Zubayr as
1
•shi'ati' (my party) .
2
The term S h i ' a was d e f i n e d by al-Nawbakhti
1 . Cf . a l - A s h ' a r i , l i a q a l a t a l - I s l amiyyin . 2 v o l s . , ed . H.
R i t t e r , ( I s t a n b u l 1929-30), p p . 9 3 - 1 0 0 ; a l - B a g h d a d i , Al
f a r q bavn a l - f i r a q . e d . M. Badr, ( C a i r o 1329/1910) , p p .
7 2 - 8 2 ; a l - S h a h r a s t a n i , K i t a b al m i l a l wa-n-nijhal ; e d . W.
Cereton, (London 1946); 95-100 ( i 2 0 1 - 1 2 ) j C f , Montgomery
W a t t , The Formative P e r i o d of I s l amic Thoijight ( E d i n b u r g h ,
1973).
3. Ibid.
11 Cchapter-I3
4 . Montgomery W a t t , o p . c i t . . p. 57
Hanafiyya had not died but hid himself in the mount Radwa
the world. This was the first time that such an idea
idea was mixed with political quietism and became the main
16
were the zaydis, the Isma'ilis or the Sab^ ivva (Sevener^
which again sub-divided into several branches - the Batini*
the Nizaris or the Assassins, the Musta'lis, the Druze a
the Muganna. The sect which was clos« to sunni and wa^
moderate was the Fivers or Zaydis which had rather meagr^
importance in Iran. The Isma'ilis were more active and -for
many times led revolutionary movemants for instance'
Qaramitah or the Carmathians who apposed the Abbasids and
those who established the Fatimid dynasty in North Africa
17
and Egypt.
Sunnis, that the Shi'a -formula had not been publicly uttered
•from the pulpit since the time o-f the Imams themselves; and
that if the majority o-f the people re-fused to accept a Shi'a
ruler, it would be di-fficult to deal with the situation which
26
would then arise'. Anyhow, -finally, in 1501 Isma'il was
27
successful in introducing Shi'ism as the religion of Persia.
However, 'Shi'ism,
did not replace sunnism but became the
28
most dominant form of Islam in Persia'.
p o s t s g i v e n by t h e Sovernment.
40. Extremist i n r e l i g i o n .
43. One who may act according to his own judgement in matter
relating to religious law; who practice ijtiNid.
44. Nikki R. Keddie, op .(;it., p. 92.
28 Cchapter-n
48. Ibid., p. 47
30 Cchapter-I3
49
and principles o-f Shi'i thought and Jurisprudence. The
dominant theme o-f Shi'ism is the question o-f Imamate is an
institution o-f a succession of those w{io posses charismatic
character, who comprehend the inner sense of the revelation
of the Prophet and by which the community is guided.
49. For details about Shi'i beliefs see Muhammad. Rida a}-
Muzaffar The Faith of Shi 'a Islam , (J^nsariyan
Publication Qum, Iran 1982); al-Hasan Ibn Musa, an-
Nawbakhti, Firaq ash-Shi'a ed. H. Ritter, (Leipziq,
1935); AF. Badsha Husain, 'Shiah Islam MW 31 (1941), pp.
185-192; J. Elder, Family Life in. Shiah Islfm' MW 18
(1928), pp. 14-23; Hilli. Tabsirat al-Mut'ajll min. ed .
and tr. by Syed Manzur Mohsin Rizvi , (Aligarfj, A.M.U.,
n.d.) Ibn Sharashub (d. 588/1192), Ma'al im alf-ulama ed.
Abbas Eghbal , (Tehran 1353/1934); S. Hussain Jafri , M.,
Origins and Earl y Devel opment of Shi'a Islart, (London
and New York Longman/Librairie du Liban J979); Ali
Shariate, Selection or Election Eng. tr. by All Asghar
Ghassemy (Tehran, 1979); Paid 'Alam Sidddiai . Haqiaat-i-
liadhab-i-Shi 'a. Lahore, Tijarat Printers, 1*?78; Ibn al
Mutahhar al-Hilli, Khul asat al -makal (Tehran 1310); al-
Alusi Mahmud Shukri, liukhtasar al -tuhfa al -
ithna'ashariva; (Pr. 1301); Dwight M. Donaldson, The
Shi'ite Religion. (London, 1933).
50. Hamid Algar, Rel igion and State jjn Iran 1785-1906; The
Role of the Ulama in QaJar Period (Berkeley and Los
Angeles 1969) , p. 7.
31 Cchapter-ID
along with the community leaders. Apart from that, they had
73. Ibid.. p. 5.
74. Ibid., p. 8.
75. Ibid.
Cchapter-I3
78. Idem.
79. 'Some Misconception Concerning ^hi'i Political Theory'.
International Journal of Middle ^ast Studies^ Vol . IX,
no.l (February, 1979), pp. 9 - 25.
44 Cchaptei—II
81
Shi ^ i Jurisprudence:
As A.A.A. Fyzee writes 'within the last two
decades a great deal o-f research has been done on the Shi'a,
but the earliest phase of their religion and law remains
82
largely unexplored'.
85
established in opposition to Sunni Islam.
85. Ibid.
86. Who wrote Kitab al-Irshad. Tehran, 1377. He was
considered as the first scholar who pioneered the
tradition of comprehensive scholarship in the Shi'i
world.
87. Abu Ja'far Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan Ibn 'AH al-Tusi (d. 22
Muharram 460/December 2, 1067). He was the first a'lim
to found the science of comparative fiqh. On the life
and works of al-Tusi see Wahid Akhtar 'An Introduction
to Imamiyyah Scholars! Shaykh al Ta'ifah al-Tusi; Life
and Works' Al-Tawhid (English), Vol. IV, no. 2, Rabi'al
Thani - Jamadi al-Thani 1407 (December 1986 - February
1987), pp. 126 - 165.
48 Cchapter-I3
91
In case of ijma^. it is regarded that all the
decisions which were agreed upon Ijma^ of the whole
community cannot exclude the opinion of the Hidden Imam.
This has been stated by the Ithna ^Ashari writer, Hasan b.
Zayn'l - din b.'Al i Ahmad al-'Amili, known as Shahid-i
92
Thani , in his book Ma'alimu'd-din fi M - usuj where he says
that imja' among the ithna' Ashari means 'agreement o-f whose
who interpret in their rel igious judgements (-t-atawa shar-
' ivva) the commands o-f the imams on a particular question'
'Thus for any major point o-f law or doctrine individual
Bhi'i mujtahids came to various dif-fering opinions <iktilaf)
through use of ijtihad. From considering these varying
opinions, the comunity
finally arrives at a consensus
94
(ijma') which is the truth'. It is clear that the mujtahids
the only duty is to interpret the law and not to create laws
or deduce the rules. In Shi'i belief the Imam will ever
iniiiiim> Hill
X
In order to understand Shi'i legal theories
one needs to understand the legal distinction between he who
imposes the law (mukal 1 i-f) and he who is required to obey it
(mukal 1 a-f) . The takl i-f doctrine has been developed by
Shaykh Saduq in his book I ^tiqadat. The doctrine of takl i-f
concerns with the obligation to obey the laws. ' In this
doctrine Sod is mukal 1 i-f who imposes the laws upon man, the
mukal 1 a-f. Through Imam God en-forces his laws and later on
the mujtahids serve by interpreting them.
112
and 'Ali-Ilahi.
113
The Drama of Husavn's Martyrdom and the Passion PJLftyjt:
112. Ibid.
113. For the 'symbolic importance' of the passion plays see
E.L. Peters, 'Aspect of rank and status among Muslims
in a Lebanese village', in Mediterranean Countrymen,
Essay on the Social Anthropol ogy of the Mefiiterranean .
(ed.) J. Pitt-Rivers, Monton, (Paris and the Hague),
1963, pp. 159-200.
114. The passion play is, related to the phenomenon known
®s tawwabun or the penitents. See S.H. Jafri, Origins
and Earl v Development of Shi'a Islam pp. 22-33, 235-6,
passim.
115. Jean Calmard 'Muharram ceremonies and diplomacy,
(prel iminary study) in QaJar Iran s Pol itical.. social
and cultural change. 1800-1925 eds. Edmund Bosworth and
Carole Hillenbrand (Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh,
1983), p. 213.
58 Cchapter-I]
116
The mourning o-f Husayn on 'Ashura (the
tenth) in the form o-f drama, it is believed, was introduced
117
in the tenth century while the passion plays started in the
118
•seventeenth century during the Safavids. As there was a
difficulty in the Safavid period in imposing Shi'i faith in
the territory of Iran, an effort was made by Shah' Abbas I
(1588-1629) to support the traditional mourning ceremony
together with the commemoration of the Karbala tragedy. By
the eithteenth and nineteenth centuries it became more
itnportant particularly under Nasir al-Din Shah. Nasir al-
Din Shah himself built a royal stage for the display in
Tehran.
116. I.e. the name of the first month of the Islamic year.
It is also the name given to the days of mourning spent
by the Shi'is in commemoration of the martyrdom of
caliph 'Al i and of his two sons, Hasan and Husayn.
C.F., 'Rev. Edward Sell , The Faith of Islam (Delhi,
1986), p. 418. These days of mourning are observed by
the Shi'i Muslims 'but the tenth day of 'Muharram is
observed by the Sunnis in commemoration of its having
been the day on which Adam and Eve, heaven and hell ,
the pen, fate, life and death, were created' (Ashura')'
Thomas Patrick Hughes, A Dictionary of Is!am art.
'Muharram (Delhi, 1973), p. 407 Cf., Encyclopaedia of
Isl am (N.ed.), art. 'Ashura'.
119
In 1936 Resa Shah had banned the carrying o-f
the naqi in the city, but three villages outside Yazd
continued the ceremony. Such ceremony was accompanied by
the parade of floats representing Karbala episode. In towns,
during the first ten days of Muharram the activities would
120
reach its apex rawdas from several neighbourhood mosques
121
were held in each evening.
which the men take o-ff their clothes to the waists in order
127
to beat themselves. At the noon o-f 'Ashura the nagl is
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