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Shia Religion: History, Theology, and Philosophy

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 SHIA RELIGION

History, Theology, and Philosophy

Syed M. Waqas

Islamic Philosophy and Theology

Department of Theology

Spring, 2016

Xavier University, Ohio

 CONTENTS

Chapter Page

1. Preface 3

2. Introduction 5

3. Emergence of the Shia 8

4. Major Factions within the Shi'i Faith 15

5. Messianic Philosophy 21

6. The Shia Religious Literature 24

7. Conclusion 27

8. Bibliography 29

i. Islamic Religious and Historical Sources 30

2
 PREFACE

This paper seeks to explore into the Shi'ī religion (‫)شیعہ‬, particularly the philosophy behind the

formation of the group and the subsequently developed theology on the foundation of that

philosophy. The paper presents a balanced view of the Shia faith from a Sunnī perspective. The

critique, as it is intended to be one towards its conclusion, attempts to engage with the Shia

theology and is, at times, also compared with the Sunnī theology and religious view of history.

The terms Shia and Shiite are interchangeable in their use among scholars, and therefore

it is likely that they appear interchangeably in the paper as well. However, the context will

determine the use of particular terminology. Moreover, the Shia counterpart doctrinal group of

Muslims, the Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l Jamā'ah (‫)اہل السنة والجماعة‬, will always be referred to as the

Sunnīs in the paper.

The citations from the Qur'an and the Ḥadīth will be referenced within the main text

body, whereas other citations will appear in the footnotes. Special characters for transliterating

Arabic terminology into English are also used in the paper to make matters obvious and grant

this work a somewhat scholarly character. The vowel sounds will be determined within the

framework of most accurately corresponding special characters in English to address the

inflection needs.

Another important feature that needs to be noted is the use of the term Allah. Allah is

preferred on some occasions over the English word God, for it communicates the meaning and

implication more unequivocally, especially within a Muslim context. However, this does not

limit the use of the term God in the paper, because on most occasions the regular use of the word

God makes appearance. Both of the terms are, therefore, employed according to the nature of the

context.
3
 It should also be noted that the word "cult" sometimes appears with the title Shia. It is

not, however, used in the (negative) sense to connote heresy. The word in question is, instead,

used in reference to the Shia religion's independent status, which expresses the idea of a religious

group that has a well-regulated theology in terms of appreciated set of beliefs and organized

framework of rituals. Therefore, no bias is intended in the use of the terminology throughout this

paper.

4
 INTRODUCTION

The Shias (‫)شيعة‬, the "Protestants" of Islam—but a semblance of the "Catholics" in their

icon and saint worship—are one of the two main factions of the doctrinal paradigms of Islam.

The term Shia, also written as Shi'ah, means "followers, party" or "partisans."1 Historically, there

were two Shia factions that emerged from the political chaos towards the end of the Rāshidūn

Caliphate era, the first civil war, and the appropriation of the concept sought its culmination in

the battle of Ṣiffīn. This battle was fought between the Shi'an 'Alī, "the Partisans of 'Alī," and

Shi'ān Mu'āwiyyah, "the Partisans of Mu'āwiyyah," the two groups that emerged among the

hitherto, at least ostensibly, unified body of the Muslims. Mu'āwiyyah was the son of Abū

Ṣufiyān, the archrival of the Prophet Muḥammad before his conversion to Islam, and the first

caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty at the end of the Rāshidūn Caliphate. This battle was the

ultimate point of schism between the two versions of political claims that led to the formation of

two religious factions in the times to follow. The battle took place in July 657 (Dhu'l-Ḥajj 36) on

the banks of Euphrates river near a place called Ṣiffīn in Iraq.2

The Shia religion is traditionally called Shi'ī or Tashī' Madhhab (also Ahl al-Tashī', ‫اہل‬

‫)تشیع‬. Historians agree that they are a religio-political movement that rebelled against the

orthodox mainstream Islam, the Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l Jamā'ah. As already stated, the faction took

obscure roots with the conflict over Caliphate that sparked unrest within the Muslim community,

1
Duncan S. Ferguson, Exploring the Spirituality of the World Religions, (London: Bloomsbury Academic,
2010), 192.
2
Wilfred Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate, (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1997), 232.

5
the Ummah, after the death of the Prophet Muhammad.3 However, it remained an esoteric

movement in the following period until the schism was solidified in the battles of Jamal, "the

Camel," and Ṣiffīn. It is unclear whether 'Alī, the fourth Rāshidūn Caliph, was aware of the rise

and development of a cult around his person.4 There are two different versions of the story

available to historians and both contradict one another. The Sunnī version maintains that 'Alī was

unbiased towards his predecessors and thus had never spoken ill of them. Nevertheless, the Shiite

version of the story portrays 'Alī entering into the phase of Taqiyyah, "the phase of concealment,"

while tacitly allowing his followers to drift away from the mainstream.

The Shia doctrine is strictly based upon the concept of the divinely ordained ‘political

legitimacy’ of the Prophet Muḥammad’s scions in ruling the community.5 The core teachings of

the Shia doctrine are that 'Alī, the son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet Muḥammad, and other

spiritual leaders coming from his bloodline received the infallible understanding of the divine

message directly from the Prophet Muḥammad himself.6 Based upon this central article of faith,

therefore, the Shia theology does not accept the notion of the essential equality of the

Companions of the Prophet. They maintain a fundamental difference between the so-called

divinely chosen spiritual leaders, the Imāms (‫)آئمہ‬, and other Companions, the Ṣiḥābah (‫)صحابہ‬.7

These Imāms have, they believe, every right to exercise the Qur'anic principle of Amr, “conferred

authority,” over the rest of the Ummah in both religious and worldly spheres. It, therefore, gives

sufficient space for founding a political hierarchy akin to the nature of dynastic rule, as practiced

3
Lesley Hazleton, After the Prophet: Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam (New York: Random Day,
Inc., 2009), 117-118.
4
Josef van Ess, Theology and Society in the Second and Third Centuries of the Hijra (Boston: Brill Publication, 2007),
802-803.
5
Wilfred, Succession 1-2.
6
Jonathan A.C. Brown, Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's
Legacy, (London: Oneworld Publications, 2014), 170.
The word Imāms will be used as the plural of Imām in this paper instead of its complicated Arabic transliteration.
7

6
in monarchical regimes, within Islam's system of faith and its byproduct political organ. Their

central belief publishes the Prophet Muḥammad as the precursor of a hierarchy of several Imāms

who are, by all means and qualifications, divinely ordained leaders, whereas the Prophet of Islam

is the imparter of the divine wisdom in the originator of the station of Imāmah, 'Alī.8

The daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, Fāṭimah, is omnipresent in the Shia doctrine as

bearing a very significant role in the origin and development of the cultic theology. She is

viewed as the most sacred person along with the 'blessed' persons of the Prophet Muḥammad,

'Alī, Ḥassan, and Ḥussain without any distinction among them. They are the center of the

Prophet's Ahl al-Bait, "the Household" (of the Prophet), and thus are collectively alluded to as

"the Five Purified Ones."9 It is interesting to note that there are some crude references to this

Shia article of faith that are also found in the Sunni corpus of Ḥadīth and Tafsīr.10

Moreover, the Shia perspective with regard to the Sunnīs' association with, and respect

for Fāṭimah is based on skepticism and therefore polemical in nature, for they reject that

Fāṭimah had other full sisters from the wedlock of the Prophet Muhammad and her mother

Khadījah. They also assert that she was not happy with the first and the second Caliphs, Abū

Bakr and 'Umar, in the last phase of her life. The Sunnī response to the Shia polemics will be

touched upon briefly later in this paper.

8
The doctrine of 12 Imāms is the one strongest among the Shias, and the orthodox Shia creed is
called "The Twelver Creed." More details have been given in the coming pages of this paper.
9
Panj Tan Pāk is a Farsi/Persian appellation exclusively adopted and employed in the Shia doctrine for
the five aforementioned holy personalities.
10
Cf. Ṣaḥiḥ al-Muslim, chapter "Merits of Ahl al-Bayt"; Jamiʿ at-Tirmidhi, "Kitāb al-Manāqib"

7
 EMERGENCE OF THE SHIA

The Shia movement began as a protest against the mainstream Islam towards the mid

of the 7th century CE. Traditionally, it is believed that the group took a hidden birth in the wake

of the turmoil that clouded the election of Islam's first Righteous Caliph, Abū Bakr. The Shia

doctrine, including all of its offshoots, has always declared the aforesaid election null and void.11

The Shias believe that the right of becoming the "Commander of the Faithful" (Arabic Amīr al-

Mu’minīn - ‫ )امیرالمومنین‬was divinely vouchsafed for the sacred person of 'Alī, the cousin and son-

in-law of the Prophet, and his heirs in succession after his death.12

The Shia believe that God commanded the Prophet Muḥammad to proclaim the ultimate

message of his ministry after the Farewell Pilgrimage, which was the final goal he had to

accomplish before dismissing the Ḥajj parties.13 They are convinced that the final obligation the

Prophet had to discharge himself off was the proclamation of the period of Imāmah, “Spiritual

Leadership.”14 The case of the "Twelver" doctrine among all Shia groups, for instance, is the

most relevant one in the present discussion because they believe that this period would begin

with the Prophet's son-in-law 'Alī and end with the twelfth Imām, an end time Messianic figure,

after ten more would appear in succession from the same linage. The twelfth Imām would be

born to the eleventh Imām in the light of history, but he would miraculously go into a period of

disappearance or occultation that would last until the End-Times. More discussion on different

branches of the Shia will follow in the coming pages. The Qur'anic verse always cited among the

11
Muhammad al-Da'mi, The Other Islam: Shi'ism (Bloomington, IN: The Author House, 2013), 64.
12
Brown, Misquoting 170-171
The Shia interpretation of the Sūrah Mā’idah 5:67. See Maria Massi Dakake, The Charismatic Community: Shi'ite
13

Identity in early Islam (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2007), 111.
14
Da'mi, Other Islam 86.

8
Shia to expound the purportedly foundational truth of Imāmah rationale is from the fifth Sūrah of

the Qur'an, Al-Mā’idah.15

“O Messenger! Make known that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy Lord, for

if thou do it not, thou wilt not have conveyed His message. Allah will protect thee from

mankind. Lo! Allah guideth not the disbelieving folk.”

(Sūrah Mā’idah 5:67)

The language of the above verse is instructive and relatively stricter when compared to

the regular divine communication within the framework of Waḥī, "Revelation," as manifested in

the Qur'an. The divine narrator of the Qur'an enjoins on the Prophet here is to make known to his

followers what special message has been revealed to him. The Shia believe that the Prophet

Muḥammad was a little hesitant to proclaim the period of Imāmah with 'Alī being his immediate

successor and the chief of the Imāms. His hesitation was viewed as intrusive in the divine realm,

whereupon the above verse was revealed with strict instruction to convey the message of God to

his people.16

The Shia faith glorifies a particular Prophetic Saying of obscure origin as the foundation

of the school to establish the evidence of the Shiite claim. This particular Ḥadīth is known

among the Shia as Ḥadīth al-Ghadīr, which is associated with the final obligation of the

Prophet's ministry as stated above. Ghadīr Khumm is a place outside Mecca where the Ḥajj

parties would part and take off on their different routes. Since the reported announcement was

15
Al-Suyūṭī from Dur al-Manthūr based on the authority of Ibn 'Asākir, Ibn Mardawayh and Ibn Abī
Ḥātim who narrate from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī.
16
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Study Quran, (New York: HarperCollins, 2015), 314 (footnotes)

9
made at this point according to the Shia, the report itself took its name after the place. The

Ḥadīth reads as follows:

O people, Allah is my Lord and I am the lord of the believers. I am worthier of

believers than themselves. Of whomsoever I had been Master (Mawla), 'Alī here is to

be his Master. O Allah, be a supporter of whoever supports him ('Alī) and an enemy of

whoever opposes him and divert the Truth to 'Alī.17

The theological reasoning of the Shia does not end with the above verse, for it would

have left their doctrinal position inconsistent. It, in fact, takes a step further and assigns logical

framework to the whole system of faith. The Shia faith system derives a complete pattern for the

principle of Imāmah from the metaphysics, epistemology, history, and philology of the Qur'an.

Their reading of the Qur'an radically differs from the relatively more mutually compatible

reading of the four Sunni schools. For instance, it is believed that after the proclamation of the

new era of the so-called spiritual leadership, Imāmah, the final verse of the Qur'an almost

immediately came down and pronounced the ultimate will of God. This verse declared that Islam

was sealed in perfection on that day when, according to the Shia, the initiation of the age of

Imāmah was announced by the final Messenger of God. The pivotal point of the entire prophetic

ministry and his final announcement was, the Shia scholars contend, the proclamation of 'Alī.18

God confirmed the culmination of the prophetic ministry, communication of the final message,

and initiation of the new age of spiritual leadership in the following verse.

17
This Ḥadīth also appears in the Sunni sources, whereof the most prominent is Jami’ al-Tirmidhi, “Kitab
al-Manaaqib,” Ḥadīth No. 3713
18
The event of the proclamation of 'Alī's Imāmah has been institutionalized by the Shia. They call this
eve with the ominous name of 'Eid-i-Ghadir and celebrate it by greeting one another like the Orthodox
'Eidain instituted by the Prophet Muhammad himself.

10
 “This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favour upon you and

have approved for you Islam as the religion.”

(Sūrah Mā'idah 5:3)

The Shiites, therefore, devoutly believe that their faith rests on the foundational principles

derived from the Qur'an itself, which is further complemented and augmented with the Shia

version of the Ḥadīth. A critical survey will reveal that all interpretations of the Qur'an and

compilation of Ḥadīth under the theological umbrella of the Shia bear a particular slant of the

Shi'ī hermeneutics. History, however, tells us something contrary to what the Shi'ī theology

introspects of its faith as it is flashed out in the religious books. History marks a certain period of

the post-Qur'anic age being the origin of the Shia doctrine, whereas the evolution and

transformation process of an originally political movement into a proper theological and juristic

code continued for another two centuries.19 The ultimate transformation of the crude (Imāmī)

Shia philosophy into a practicing faith came to pass only after the first "Occultation" of Al-

Mahdī.20

Historically speaking, the occasion of the death of Islam's Prophet can be deemed as the

primordial event of friction among the Muslim Ummah.21 The Companions of the Prophet,

nevertheless, did not get into a serious conflict that might give rise to riots on that occasion,

because they viewed the institution of Caliphate in the light of the Prophet’s Sunnah and were

convinced that God was working through the situation. This resolved the issues of the Prophet's

succession and the future direction of the Ummah without much delay, whereas no claimants to

19
Dakake, Charismatic Community 3.
20
Rainer Brunner, & Warner Ende, The Twelver Shia in Modern Times, (Leiden: Brill, 2001), 52.
21
Brown, Misquoting 21.

11
the Caliphate among the Companions asserted their claim to be the Caliph once Abū Bakr had

officially been chosen. Some shreds of resentment, however, survived among a section of people

who believed in the blood-oriented mode of Caliphate. This passive annoyance among some

followers of the Hāshimīs somehow survived the first two Caliphs and was subsequently

organized into a cultic protest-movement. This all came about with the aid of some foreign

usurpers who voiced the differences and capitalized on the conflicts in order to reap the harvest

of both political and economic interests. Moreover, another main reason for such a protest

against the Orthodox (i.e. Righteous) Caliphate was ethnic and geographic. New Muslims from

the Persian territory did not want to see the Arabs as their masters. Therefore, they watered the

politics of parties and continued to add fuel to the fire. Such tactics granted them space and

power, which in the long run took the form of a "Persianized Islam."22 An important historical

character often cited among Muslims as the catalyst for giving rise to the Shi'ī doctrine and

bringing about the notorious schism within the Muslim Ummah in the name of Ḥubb-i-Ahl al-

Bait, "love for the Household (of the Prophet)," was 'Abdullah ibn Sabā, a Jewish convert to

Islam from Sana'a, Yemen.23 The ideas of ibn Sabā were rejected in Syria and so was his dubious

personality, which resulted in his deportation to Egypt where, according to historians, he

furthered his divisive movement.24

The rift grew bigger with the passage of time primarily under the Umayyad Dynasty. It

was still the first century of Hijrah and the Muslim Ummah was still one a nascent stage when

some far-reaching events of hostility shaped a history of conflicting religious claims. Banū

Umayyah almost always played the crucial role of opposition in such events, which was

22
Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, The Development of Metaphysics in Persia, (Lahore: Sang-e-Meel, 2004), 34.
23
Sayf ibn 'Umar cited in Wilferd, Succession 1.
24
Ess, Theology 803.

12
instrumental in subsequently their bearing the mark of 'villains' in the Shia history, theology, and

psychology. These intra-religious—but inter-doctrinal—differences became even more vivid and

vibrant particularly in the wake of those chaotic events of hostility and violence in which

individuals closely or distantly relating to Banū Hāshim, the Prophet’s clan, and his immediate

household were assassinated. After the tragic event of Karbala in 684 CE, when Ḥussain, the

revered grandson of the Prophet, and his family were invaded and killed by the Umayyad forces

under Yazīd's regime, the crude Shia movement soon afterwards assumed the form of an

organized religious group in its own right.25 The assumption of a distinct religious identity by the

movement with its own ideological fountainhead was chiefly a reaction to the political

hegemony of the Umayyad Dynasty.

Once having come to a fuller realization, the advocates of the Shia religious doctrine

ventured to revise their position on a number of subjects in order to trace Shi'ism's origin back in

to the political scenario emerged immediately after the death of Prophet Muḥammad in 632 CE.

The life and times of the Prophet himself, as already stated, were also baptized in the theological

thought of the sect to establish that Islam was manipulated by the renegades and usurpers after

the Prophet had passed away.26 Since the most ideological growth of the Shia doctrine took place

under the Umayyad rule, therefore, it became inherent in the Shiite psychology to detest, rebuke,

and curse (Tabarra) all such things as a religious obligation that belong either to the Umayyads

or to those who, allegedly, did not side with 'Alī and his successors.27

25
Rainer, Twelver Shia 132.
26
Barnaby Rogerson, The Heirs of Muhammad: Islam's First Century and the Origins of the Sunni-Shia Split (New
York: Overlook Press, 2006), 134.
27
The Shia religion has five Usul al-Dīn, "Principles of Faith," and ten Furū' al-Dīn, "Articles of Faith." The tabarra,
"curse," is the tenth article of the Shia faith as it is stipulated in the Shia books. See Mahboob Illahi, Doctrine of
Terror: Saudi Salafi Religion (Victoria, BC: Friesen Press, 2018), 58.

13
 In a critical analysis of Shi'ism, the faith-framework of the sect can be understood, by and

large, as a political school of thought. Soon after the second Fitnah or the civil war of the Islamic

history, however, the purity of its political character was lost into the religious fervor of the

protestant-adherents, which gave birth to a mindset that was sold to anti-Orthodox religious

frenzy. There was not much intellect involved in the theorizing and designing of the cult because

the primary motives were to occupy the seat of Caliphate and transfer its authority into the hands

of the Ahl al-Bait. This certainly did not come true. The intellectual watering of the cult was

mainly sourced from 'Alī's assorted lectures reportedly delivered in Madīnah and Kūfah (also

written as Kufa), which were afterwards edited and allegedly embellished by al-Sharīf al-Raḍī in

4th or 5th century AH under the title of Nahj al-Balāghah, "the Path of Eloquence."28

It was, therefore, the outcome of this particular course of history that a new school of

religious and political thought got birth within Islam's recognized theological schools from the

political psychology of the earliest form of Shi'ism. It was, in fact, the first school beyond the

orthodox Sunnī tradition, which qualifies it to be an independent religious system maintaining a

unique theology outside the mainstream. The mainstream Sunnī Islam later on took four different

routes to crystallize its theological and legal expressions. Historically, therefore, the Shia school

predates the internal Sunnī division of the schools of Fiqh.

28
Ian Richard Netton, Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilization and Religion, New York: Routledge, 2008), 477.

14
 MAJOR FACTIONS WITHIN THE SHI'Ī FAITH

The Shi'ī faith makes up to some 10% population of the Islamic world.29 This religious

division of Islam gets further intensified within the two main branches of Islam, the Sunnīs and

the Shias. The Shia religion, for instance, has three main factions within the Shi'ī faith structure

itself. These three main factions are Ithnā’ ‘Ashariyyah (the "Twelvers," which are the

mainstream), Zaidiyyah (the "Fivers" who follow Imām Zaid ibn 'Alī Zain al-' Ābidīn),

and Ismā’īliyyah (the "Seveners" who follow Ismā’īl ibn Jā’far al-Ṣādiq).30 However, the major

faction of the Shia has always been the followers of the Twelver doctrine that consist of some

60% population of the Shias in the world.31 They are also called the Imāmī Shia. This schism of

the Shias was yet again based upon the politics of the cult, for the conflicts of succession always

haunted their unity that was ideologically grounded in the concept of Imāmah. However, this

paper will hereinafter treat the subject of Shia as one organic whole and will take the Twelver

doctrine, which is the most prominent of all, as the frame of reference for the discussion.

A critical psychoanalysis of the Shia ideology and doctrine will systematically grant a

glimpse into the weaknesses of the theological foundations of the faith and will therefore reveal

the self-contradicting character of its theological structure. From a psychological standpoint, the

Shia doctrine reflects an attitude of inherent frustration and contention toward the other doctrinal

schools among Muslims. Their esoteric nature of the religious paradigm has always lacked

tolerance for the exoteric Sunni Orthodoxy. This esotericism has kept them aloof for almost a

millennium in spite of having grown to millions in numbers. Since the Shia movement, in the

29
Cyril Glasse, The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, (New York: HarperColins, 1989), 364.
30
Juan Eduardo Campo, Encyclopedia of Islam, (New York: Facts On File, 2009), 348.
31
Cyril, Encyclopedia 364.

15
first place, began as a protest against the alleged political usurpation of the non-Hāshimīs, i.e.

those not directly coming from the clan of the Prophet, the cult nurtured its psychology along

divisive lines. The movement, therefore, owes its raison d'être to the ideology of 'sacred politics,'

which is usually idealized as God-directed polity and God-permeated politics—a notion that sits

at the heart of the Shia faith.32 They have always believed that Imām, a divinely appointed

spiritual leader who is in no way less than a prophet in authority and rank, will mentor, lead, and

direct the Ummah politically as well as spiritually. In other words, the ‘sacred’ and

the ‘secular’ are coalesced in the Shia doctrine in order to baptize and legitimize their

miscellaneous doctrinal positions as a self-consistent ‘holy' idea. This notion is not foreign to

Islam with reference to the role of a prophet, especially the Prophet of Islam; the formation of

another theological stream in the post-prophecy age, however, is an unwarranted political growth

of the original idea.33

It is important to note that the Twelver Shias have been the major faction of the Shi'ī

religion throughout history, and they still dominate the Shia faith in the world. Their foundation

as a religious group within a minority group is stronger than other schools claiming to be the true

adherents of the Shi'ī tradition. The Ḥadīth that supports the doctrine of the twelve Caliphs is

called the Ḥadīth al-Ithnā ‘Ashar Khalifah, “the Prophetic Saying for the Succession of Twelve

Caliphs.”34 One of the Shia sources reports the canonicity of the Twelver doctrine from the fifth

Imām, Muḥammad al-Bāqir, which apparently establishes the legitimacy of the doctrine of

32
Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr, The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam will Shape the Future, (New York:
Norton, 2006), 38.
33
Tim Dowley, Introduction to World Religions (3rd ed., Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2018), 547.
34
The most authentic Sunnī Ḥadīth books, Ṣaḥiḥ Bukhārī, Ḥadīth No. 9329 and Ṣaḥiḥ Muslim, Ḥadīth No.
4483, also assign credibility to the idea of ‘Twelve Leaders/Caliphs.’ For instance, the Ḥadīth from Ṣaḥiḥ
Muslim reads: “The Messenger of Allah said: This affair (Islam) shall neither pass nor will come to an end
while my "twelve caliphs" pass in it. All of them will be from Quraish.”

16
twelve Caliphs. The report portrays a Kerygma-style picture typical to early Islamic with overtly

Shiite bearing.

Jabir said: I asked Imām Muḥammad al-Bāqir about the meaning of this (Qur'anic)

verse: "Verily the number of the months … (9:36)." He breathed long (out of sorrow) and

said: "O Jabir, the 'year' is my grandfather, the Messenger of Allah, and the members of his

family are its 'months' who are the twelve Imāms, and are … (naming the Imāms one by

one). They are the Proofs of Allah on His creation, and Trustees of His revelations and His

knowledge… So wrong not your souls in them' and believe in all of them to be guided.35

The above report reflects the Shia belief in the divine ordination, divine assistance, and

foreknowledge of the twelve Imāms. The act of naming all twelve Imāms one after another by

Imām Bāqir who himself happens to be the fifth of the twelve speaks unequivocally of the

assumption that all Imāms have been granted the knowledge of future. Such metaphysical

notions take the Shiite theology far beyond mystical orientation into an independent religious

paradigm in its own right—akin to the ancient Israelite doctrine of special prophecy and favorite

race. A historian's critique can precisely establish the fact of the post-dated creation of the above

account, which presents what the narrator of the report centuries down the road made the Imām

say what he wanted him to say instead of what the Imām had originally said.

The Twelvers remained an esoteric sect until 17th century CE with its mystery rites and

cultic practices exclusive to the community. The nature of the cult's religious orientation and

practices, particularly the occult after the alleged vanishing of the last Imām, may well label the

medieval Shi'i faith system as a ‘mystery cult’ bearing resemblance with the ancient Near

35
Sheikh al-Ṭūsī, Kitāb al-Ghaiba

17
Eastern cults.36 Speaking generically of the overall protest movement under the Shi'i umbrella,

the real test of the Shiites approached twice in the history of Islam: first in Egypt when the

Ismā’īlīs came to power in 9th century and then in Iran in 17th century when

the Ṣafvīds established their dynastic rule. The followers of the religion, therefore, achieved at

least two times what they had always desired for as a distinct religious group: political authority.

However, historically speaking, they failed to implement the original proposition of their

doctrinal, the political supremacy of the Ahl al-Bait, and enact justice after injustice had been

done to the Ahl al-Bait in particular and the members of the group in general. The politically

underprivileged Muslim groups under their rule, the Sunnīs, heavily suffered at their hand,

because revenge was institutionalized through the means of persecution and forced conversion.

One of the Western historians of the Shi'ī religious movement, for instance, writes the following:

Isma‘il crushed all the silsilahs (Sufi orders); the graves of their ancestors were destroyed,

not to mention what befell their successors… He eradicated most of the silsilahs of Sayyids

and Shaykhs.37

The inception of the Shiite regimes both in Egypt and Iran brought no significant change

in the existing theology of the movement and they, as a result of that, could not deliver in the

sense the group had desired throughout their history of existence. The community continued to

mourn and protest the so-called ‘heinous usurpation’ of the Companions of the Prophet, who, the

Shias contend, laid hands on the Caliphate unjustly and completely neglected the legitimacy of

'Alī and his descendants. They did not abandon to mourn their political deprivation despite

having achieved it, namely the long-desired authority (‫ )األمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر‬and a sovereign

36
Brown, Misquoting 169.
37
Colin P. Mitchell, The Practice of Politics in Safavid Iran: Power, Religion and Rhetoric, (New York:
Tauris Academic Studies, 2009), 24, 67.

18
state to practice it. They could, in fact, plant the ideology of the Shi'ism in its pragmatic form.

The protest movement and the mourning practices, having fervently been institutionalized,

nevertheless, took solid religious shape, as they began to be intensely practiced after the

declaration of Fiqh al-Jā'far as the state-religion of the Ṣafvīd Iran.

Mullah Bāqir Majlisī (1616-1698 CE) is historically credited with the revival of the

Twelver doctrine in its modern form.38 Mullah Bāqir's theological reformation brought about a

radical transformation in the age old theological system of Shi'ism, and it therefore bloomed to

take on the form of a practicing religion from an esoteric "mystery cult" of the past. In fact, there

was no institutionalized Ta'ziyyah before 17th century in the way it is seen across the global in

the Shiite community today. It, however, became the central institution of the Shia faith to mourn

the oppression of the enemies of Ahl al-Bait and the martyrdoms of the Imāms after the Majlisī

Reformation. Several other significant reforms were also introduced under the legalistic

patronage of Mullah Bāqir Majlisī. Sufism, for instance, was closely linked with the Shi'ī faith

prior to the Majlisī reforms and its practice was normally viewed as another path to attaining the

spiritual Shia ideal.39 However, Mullah Majlisī. set out to chasten and purify the Shi'ī creed, and

therefore he started the reformation process with the consent of the Ṣafvīds that continued until

the time the two paths became divorced.40 It is, therefore, historically true to maintain that what

is seen today as the Fiqh al-Jā'far of the Imāmī Shiites is a relatively more recent concept. The

present stage of the evolution of the Shiite creed is a modern version of the expression of the

same protest movement that was initiated by the so-called Partisans of 'Alī in the seventh

century.

38
Said Amir Arjomand (ed.), Authority and Political Culture in Shi'ism (Albany, NY: State University of New York
Press, 1988), 111, 268.
39
Moojan Momen, Introduction to Shi'i Islam, (New York: Yale University Press, 1985), 116.
40
Momen, Introduction 116-117.

19
 The Shia doctrine succumb to the historical reality with reference to its political ideology

in the post-Imāmah era, which they style as the era of ignorance and disorder. This belief grants

the Shia a most desired opportunity to erect the concept of a messianic deliverer, a Messiah in

the likeness of Jesus Christ, called al-Mahdī, "the One Divinely Guided." This end-times savior,

beyond question, bears an enormous resemblance with the New Testament "Christ" in all major

aspects including inception, disappearance and second coming. He will "battle the Antichrist and

usher in a period of peace and justice before the end of the world."41 The details on this subject

follow in the upcoming chapter.

41
Brown, Misquoting 46.

20
 MESSIANIC PHILOSOPHY

Muḥammad al-Mahdī, they say, is the son of the 11th Imām, Ḥasan al-‘Askarī. He

disappeared in the wake of his father's murder and the Shiite persecution in the Abbasid reign in

a cave near Samara, Iraq. This event came to pass when the Caliph’s forces were attempting to

track him down and arrest under the charges of rebellion. The Abbasid Caliph wanted to slay the

6-year old ‘miracle-working’ spiritual leader of the Twelvers, for he feared sedition and

insurrection from his partisans. He escaped the Abbasids army successfully and entered in a little

cave in Samara eventually disappearing from everyone.42 According to the Shia belief, he is not

only alive, but he also exercises power and exerts influence in the world on the places of his own

choosing.43 This particular attribute of the hidden Imām is expressed in the epithets Imām al-

Zamān and Imām al-Asr, both meaning "the Leader of the Age."

The above story is, however, questioned by historians and it is often maintained in the

light of independent sources that the eleventh Imām did not have an heir. He died in the court of

the Abbasids and was survived by no physical progeny.44 Ḥasan al-'Askarī's heirs were his

followers and the Mahdī legend was either created by some of his close followers or it naturally

grew out of the chaos to satisfy the cravings of the orphaned Shiites.45

42
Al-Da'mi, Other Islam, 139.
43
Rainer, Twelver Shia 40.
44
Brown, Misquoting 170.
45
The Mahdī story resembles the Christ of the Synoptic Gospels, especially Mark, at this stage. Mark
16:8, for instance, is the actual ending of the Gospel of Mark according to textual critics where the story
comes to a sudden end on the 'empty tomb' and the horror of the women. However, other two Gospels,
Matthew and Luke, further develop the story afterwards and add more details acting naturally in
accordance with the cravings of the Christian community. Interestingly, later versions of Mark too
appear to have been added at least 14 more verses into the last chapter and the legend gets an
actualized picture with the Resurrection of Christ to earn his followers what Aristotle terms 'catharsis.'

21
 The concept, in its original form, appears to have been borrowed from Christianity,

especially from the versions of Christianity then extant in Arabia and its surroundings. There

were two major branches of Christianity in Arabia at that time, the Monophysites and the

Nestorians. Both of those groups had Gnostic bearings on their teachings. This, though

obscurely, connects the Shi'ī faith with the Gnostic Christian teachings, because there is a strong

presence of gnosticism in the Shia faith often termed as 'Ilm bi'l-Wadī'ah. Similarly, 'Irfān is also

frequently used to refer to the form of gnosis that is only achievable by the select few. Such

gnosticism is particularly observable when it comes to the absolute ‘holiness’ of the Prophet,

elevated status of his household, the spiritual powers of the Imāms, and the mystical privileges of

the descendants of 'Alī and Fāṭimah. Moreover, another form of the gnosis is visible in the

paradox of the Zāhir, “Apparent,” and the Bāṭin, “Hidden,” which represents the age old mystery

of the appearance-and-reality illusion.46

Gnostic precepts and the general character of the occult are, moreover, traceable through

critical reading into the text of the book associated with 'Alī, Al-Nahj al-Balāghah. It, as a matter

of fact, undergirds the 'mystical' and the 'gnostic' notions of a more mature phase in the Shiite

community.

After the disappearance of Al-Mahdī, the Shiite community came to believe in two

transitions of "Mahdī Disappearance/Occultation" they call Ghaibat'l Ṣughrah, "Minor

Occultation," and Ghaibat'l Kubrah, "Greater Occultation." The Minor Occultation continued for

a little more than half a century of al-Mahdī’s initial disappearance, and a few chosen

individuals, four canonized by the priesthood, were believed to have been privileged with the

46
Arjomand, Authority 12.

22
secret connection with the hidden Imām.47 Here these mouthpieces of the Imām al-Mahdī acted

in the fashion of the "Apostles of Christ" who Jesus Christ, according to the canonical Gospels,

chose to express his will.48 Al-Mahdī acted in a like manner in the Twelver paradigm and chose

four such individuals (Arabic al-Nuwāb al-Arba’a, “the Four Leaders”) that he was satisfied with

to reveal the Shia Kerygma from his Occultation. The will of the final Imām, therefore, mattered

in every issue of religious as well as worldly import among the Twelver Shiites and it was why

the Imām continued issuing his verdicts for a few generations from the lips of his elects.

However, this age of Minor Occultation all of a sudden came to an end with the complete

stoppage of its all-powerful ‘hidden’ communication after 67 years of the disappearance event.

The Imām stopped revealing himself to anyone after the death of his final Safīr, "Ambassador."49

This meant, as it was understood, that Imām al-Mahdī denounced electing Shiite individuals after

that point and disowned his community in toto. Ever since the death of the last ambassador of the

Imām in 941 CE, the Shiites have been praying as a religious obligation for the appearance of

the hidden Imām who is now referred to as Imām-al-Muntazar, "the Awaited Leader."50 The

Shia “Apocalypse” will take place, according to popular belief, at the end of the Greater

Occultation and the hidden Imām will appear towards the fullness of time to 'fill the world with

justice.'51.

47
Sayyid Muhammad Hossein Ṭabatabai, Shi'ite Islam, (New York: New York State University Press,
1975), 210-211.
48
Al-Da'mi, Other Islam 138.
49
Ṭabatabai, Shi'ite 211
50
Sometimes Al-Mahdī is also called Al-Muntazir instead of Al-Muntazar, which means the 'one who
waits (for the time to unfold).'
51
Brown, Misquoting 170.

23
 THE SHIA RELIGIOUS LITERATURE

The Shia religious literature reflects almost the same variety in its corpus as does the

Sunnī religious literature. Their fundamental—as well as common—source of faith and religious

ritualism is the book of God, the Qur'an. Although some circles within the Shiite school have

attempted to dispute the Qur'anic position due to its recension and collection by the first Caliph

Abū Bakr and later by the third Caliph 'Uthmān, the overall consensus nevertheless has been that

of endorsing the divine status of the Holy Book. The Shiite 'Ulamā', therefore, derive the

theology of the cult from the Qur'an in order to incorporate the creed of the Imāms and ritual

worship in it.

The second source for all religious truths is Ḥadīth. The Shia rationale of Ḥadīth remains

radically indifferent to, and independent of its counterpart, the Sunnī Ḥadīth. The science and

philosophy behind their composition of Ḥadīth are particular and different from that of the

Sunnīs. Therefore, the principle and the end goal both hinge upon different doctrinal positions

and cater the Shia exposition of faith alone. Their view of the Ḥadīth does not resonate with the

Sunnīs from any perspective. They do not, per se, distinguish between a statement of the Prophet

Muḥammad and statements made by the twelve Imāms with respect to their theological

importance.

Jā’far al-Ṣādiq, the 6th Shiite Imām, is reported in the principal Shia Ḥadīth book, Kāfī

al-Kulaynī, as laying out the Shia vision of the Ḥadīth. He maintains that the words of an Imām

are the words of the Prophet and the words of the Prophet are God’s words. We must do well to

bear in mind that the Prophet Muḥammad appears to be merely the figurehead of the cult,

whereas 'Alī, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, is the nucleus of the Shia doctrine. The

24
dynamics and mechanics of the cult originate from the sermons of Jā'far al- Ṣādiq, hence the

Twelver dcotrine is jurisprudentially named after him as Fiqh al- Jā’fariyyah.

The most practical theological books among the Shia after the Qur'an itself are Kāfī fī

‘Ilm al-Dīn by Muḥammad ibn Yā’qūb al-Kulaynī and Man lā Yahduruhu al-Faqih by 'Alī ibn

Bābawayh Qummī, both written in 10th century CE. According to both of these books of the Shia

Ḥadīth discipline, there is a catchy debate in the Shia doctrine over the survival of the original

Qur'an—whether or not the Qur'an survived the age of usurpation and chaos after the Prophet’s

death. One group believes that the Qur'an is intact and was never tampered with, though its

impeccable knowledge is with the Imāms alone. This is to suggest that the Imāms are the

infallible exegetes of the Qur'an. On the other hand, a good number of them believes that the

present version of the Qur'an is incomplete, because its original complete copy was the Codex

of 'Alī, which was passed down to his descendant Imāms generation after generation until it

reached the 12th Imām, Al-Mahdī. This original Qur'an is now in the possession of Imām Mahdī,

who, as the final guardian of the Qur'an, will return it to the Prophet Muḥammad himself near the

End-Times.52

The Shia principles of Tafsīr and Fiqh also revolve around the persons of the Imāms. The

Prophet of Islam again only nominally appears every now and then and that too to endorse the

'divinely aided' sayings and acts of 'Alī and his sons. These two disciplines reflect the Shia

esoteric psychology that has always clouded the Shia faith system. The gnostic rationale of

special knowledge to which only Imāms are entitled remains inconsistent with the orthodox

stance of the Sunnī schools. The Sunnis put the echelon of the prophets above all kinds of human

52
Al-Hilaali, Kitaab Sulaym bin Qays, “Imāms of the Rescued Sect,” 110; Abū Mansūr al-Ṭibrisi, Al-Ihtijaaj,
81.

25
beings, whereas the Shias have set up a different hierarchy, which views the Imāms and the

Ma'ṣūmīn even above the prophets. The only exception in this category is the Prophet

Muḥammad himself.

26
 CONCLUSION

The Shia Madhhab is the fifth canonically recognized school of the Muslim Ummah. It is

widely followed by millions in the Islamic world, whereas the Sunnīs, especially those who

follow any Silsilah or Ṭarīqah, respect the Shiite doctrine of the Imāms and accept influence

from their mystical system. On the other hand, there are also conservative classes within the

Sunnī Schools that declare Shi'ism as a deviation of the true faith and those followers of this

creed as unbelievers. This approach represents the other extreme among the Sunnīs, particularly

the Salafī school.

Although a number of attempts have been made to systematize the Shia theology in line

with the Sunnī view of the Qur'an, it still remains inconsistent with the major portion of the

Qur'an in its orthodox reading.53 Moreover, the Shia theology often appears self-contradicting

with its paradoxical parlances regarding God, the Prophet, his Household, his Companions and

even the Messianic figure of al-Mahdī. For instance, if the Imāms had the divine aid on their

side, how could they fail or remain in a phase of silence in the face of odds. Such a stance often

appears synonymous with hypocrisy, because such a character was displayed when their call was

most needed. If God helped, as all of the schools believe, the Prophet Muḥammad to succeed in

every phase of his mission, the mission of Imāmah, given that it was divinely ordained, could not

have failed. Such logical roadblocks are usually tackled and treated with the help of Tā'wīl in

interpretation and 'Irfān in practice.

It is observable in the methodology of the Shia religious sciences that there is no scope

for the variety that the Sunnī Schools employ. The narration of Ḥadīth, for instance, does not

53
Brown, Misquoting 170-171.

27
require Isnād in the traditional orthodox sense, whereas no citations, however authentic, can be

accepted from the persona non grata Companions of the Prophet Muḥammad. Tabarrah,

"dissociation" or "rebuking," plays an important part in the Shia philosophy of religious life and

this principle mainly concerns with the Companions of the Prophet. Such a thing puts the Shias

in a position diametrically opposed to the Sunnīs because the Sunnīs maintain a fundamental

doctrinal position of not making a distinction between the Companions of the Prophet

Muḥammad.

In the end, therefore, it can be concluded in the light of history and the available materials

that the Shia creed is a byproduct of the political chaos after the death of the Prophet

Muḥammad. It was a political movement that assumed the sacred form of a religious group

begging its own identity. There is no doubt about the evolution of the Shia creed much akin to

the evolution of creed in Christianity. The transformation from the secular to sacred of the group

was a sociologically necessary event that had to take place in a natural socio-religious

environment. The followers of the group needed a complete spiritual code that they were offered

in the name of 'Alī and his descendant Imāms.

28
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