Shi'ism and Its Types During the Early Centuries

Supplement 5

In these verses, as well as those which have been narrated from Abbas ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, one can well discern the Shii belief of the Imam's companions, something which possesses doctrinal dimensions and is far different from mere political support and favour. During the life of Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn ('a) the creedal Shiis were clearly recognizable. Ibn Ziyad is reported as having told Amr ibn Hurayth, "I do not fear any danger for him (i.e. Yazid) from Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr; rather, I fear for him. from the quarter of the Turabiyyah, the Shiah of Abu Turab Ali ibn Abi Talib. [^122]

During this period, the slogan of the Tawwabin was restoration of the rule of the Household of the Messenger of Allah. Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah, while recounting the preeminence of the Household of the Prophet (s) and the insult which was dealt to them in the events of Karbala', pointed out the way to repentance in these words:

I summon you to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the His Prophet, to avenge the blood of his household, and to jihad against those who permit what is unlawful and the renegades. Should we be killed, that which is with is God is better for the virtuous, and should we be victorious we shall restore this affair to the household of our Prophet. [^123]

The slogan of the Tawwabun was that in case of victory they would restore the Prophet's family's right to rule:

We shall restore the affair to the household of our Prophet, through whom God has blessed us and honoured us. [^124]

By the time of the uprising of Mukhtar, creedal Shi'ism had become not only well established in Kufah, the emergence of the ghulat had become an issue. The criticism of Kufan nobility against the Shi'ism of Mukhtar and his supporters was that they showed disaffection towards "the righteous predecessors" (aslafuna al-salihin). [^125] Probably what they meant was the Shiis' condemnation of many Companions of the Prophet (s) for their deviant actions.

Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Sajjad ('a) in his supplications presents creedal Shiism in quite distinct and clear terms. In his supplications there is hardly any which does not invoke blessings on 'Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad.' The employment of this expression clearly indicates its connotations. One finds such expressions as:

Muhammad and his Household, the pure ones and the good ones, the elect and the chosen, repeatedly in his supplications. [^126]

The Imam's emphasis on mentioning the Prophet's progeny by the side of the Prophet's' name, in accordance with the command of God to invoke blessings upon the Prophet (s), has a great importance for the expression of Shi'i belief. Before citing some of the relevant statements from the Imam's supplications, it would be proper to mention a narration concerning the affirmation of the linkage between the Prophet and his Household. The Imam would say, God has made it obligatory upon the whole world to invoke blessings upon the Prophet (s), and He has united us with him. Someone who invokes blessings upon the Prophet (s) but does not invoke blessings upon us, his invocation of blessings is deficient and incomplete and such a one has forsaken God's commands. [^127]

The raising of the issue of Imamate in the supplications of Imam Sajjad (a) is a clear instance of the explication the Sht'j concept of Imamate in supplications. In them the concept of Imamate, aside from the aspect of worthiness for caliphate and leadership, is projected in its most sublime form as a divine office held by the infallible Imams as heirs to the knowledge of the prophets, especially that of the Noble Messenger (s). Here we will mention some of such statements from the supplications. In some of them, Imam Sajjad ('a) declares:

My Lord, bless the best of his (i.e. the Prophet's) Household, those whom Thou hast chosen for Thy affair, appointed the treasurers of Thy knowledge, the guardians of Thy religion, Thy vicegerents in thy earth, and Thy arguments against Thy servants, purified from uncleanliness and defilement with a thorough purification by Thy desire, and made the mediation to Thee and the road to Thy paradise. [^128]

O God, this station belongs to Thy vicegerents, Thy chosen, while the places of Thy trusted ones in the elevated degree which Thou hast singled out for them have been forcibly stripped! [But Thou art the Ordainer of that-Thy command is not overcome, the inevitable in Thy governing is not overstepped! However Thou willest and whenever Thou willest! In that which Thou knowest best, Thou art not accused for Thy creation or Thy will!] Then Thy selected friends, Thy vicegerents, were overcome, vanquished, forcibly stripped; [they see Thy decree replaced, Thy Book discarded, Thy obligation distorted from the aims of Thy laws, and the Sunnah of Thy Prophet abandoned!] O God, curse their enemies among those of old and the later folk, and all those pleased with their acts, and their adherents and followers! [^129]

And bless Thy chosen, O God, from Thy creation, Muhammad and his descendants, the friends selected from among Thy creatures, the pure, and make its listeners to them and obeyers, as Thou has commanded! [^130]

O God, surely Thou hast confirmed Thy religion in all times with an Imam whom Thou hast set up as a guidepost to Thy servants and .lighthouse in Thy lands, after his cord has been joined to Thy cord! Thou hast appointed him the means to Thy good pleasure, made obeying him obligatory, cautioned against disobeying him, and commanded following his commands, abandoning his prohibitions, and that no forward-goer go ahead of him or back-keeper keep back from him! So he is the sanctuary of the shelter-seekers, the cave of the faithful, the handhold of the adherents, and the radiance of the worlds! [^131]

Through him, establish Thy book, Thy bounds, Thy laws, and the norms of Thy Messenger's sunnah (Thy blessing, O God be upon him and his Household), revive the guideposts of Thy religion, deadened by the wrongdoers, burnish the rust of injustice from Thy way, sift the adversity from Thy road, eliminate those who deviate from Thy path, and erase those who seek crookedness in Thy straightness! Make him mild toward Thy friends, stretch forth his hand over Thy enemies, give us his clemency, his mercy, his tenderness, his sympathy, and make us his hearers and obeyers, strivers toward his good pleasure, assistants in helping him and defending him, and brought near through that to Thee and Thy Messenger (Thy blessings, O God', be upon him and his Household). [^132]

From the passages that have been cited, it becomes clear that the Imam was intent on propagating the Shi'i belief in Imamate as the most important of Shi'i conceptions. Similar statements concerning the high station of the Ahl al-Bayt are found in Imam Ali's statements in the Nahj al-balaghah. The original Shi'i doctrine and beliefs that were prevalent among the generality of the Shiah were inspired by teachings whose groundwork was laid by the Imams.

In the period under discussion, Imam Muhammad Baqir ('a) and Imam Jafar al-Sadiq ('a) were exponents of this original tendency The followers of Imam Muhammad Baqir consisted of a large number of narrators of traditions whose names are collected in Shi'i works of rijal such as the Rijal of Shaykh Tusi. [^133] One of the implications of the belief in the divine office of the Imamate was that only the traditions narrated through the Imams were to be considered as reliable in matters of law and Shari'ah.

In other words, the Imams employed all their efforts to introduce the Ahl al-Bayt as the sole authority to lead the people in religious and political life. The notion of obligatory obedience to the Imam was central to this outlook and it implied the necessity of referring to the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt in all affairs as set forth in the statements of the Imams from Imam M onwards. Earlier we have reviewed the statements of Imam Ali ('a) regarding the station of the Ahl al-Bayt.

Towards the end of the first century and the beginning of the second, when Imam Muhammad al-Baqir and Imam Jafar al-Sadiq assumed the leadership of the Shi'ah, there emerged various creeds and sects each of which claimed the leadership of Muslims. Most of them acknowledged the political authority of the ruling caliphs so as to secure the people's religious leadership for themselves. But the Shi'i Imams in their statements stressed the principle, which is also mentioned in the hadith al-Thaqalayn, a famous tradition of the prophet, that the only valid source of the Shari 'ah were the Qur'an and the Ahl al-Bayt.

In the statements of Imam Baqir ('a) there are many instances in which the people are summoned to acquire their religious teachings from the Ahl al-Bayt as the sole source of authentic Sunnah and hadith. In a tradition it is reported that Imam Baqir ('a) said to Salamah ibn Kuhayl and Hakam ibn Uyaynah:

You will not find in the east or the west any sound piece of knowledge except that which is drawn from us. [^134] In another statement referring to al-Hasan al-Basri, who was a well-known scholar of those times, the Imam said: Let Hasan go wherever he may, by God, he would not find knowledge anywhere except here. [^135] In another tradition it is stated:

Let they people go wherever they may want, but, by God, the affair lies nowhere but here (i.e. his own house). [^136] These statements expressly call upon the people to consider the Ahl al-Bayt as the sole authority on religious teachings. The acceptance of such summons meant the acceptance of Shiism. In another statement Imam Muhammad Baqir declares: The Household of Muhammad are the doors leading to Allah, who call the people to paradise and lead them towards it. [^137] In another tradition he states:

Everything that does not derive from this house is disastrous. [^138] Our purpose behind citing these statements is to make clear the decisive role that they played in the development of Shiism from a historical point of view.

Similarly in another statement Imam Muhammad Baqir is reported to have declared:

O people, where are you going, and where are you being led away? It is through us that God guided the first of you and it will be through us that the last one of you will be guided. [^139]

When Hashim, the Umayyad ruler, came to Madinah, among things that the Imam said to him was the following: All praise belongs to God who sent Muhammad with the truth as the prophet, and honoured us through him. We are those whom God has elected over His creatures and chosen over His servants and (we re) His vicegerents. The felicitous are those who follow us and the wretched are those who oppose us and are hostile to us. [^140]

It was on account of these statements that Hisham summoned the Imam to Syria. In the traditions of Imam Sadiq ('a) too one finds a large number of statements which introduce the Ahl al-Bayt and their traditions as the sole means of guidance. In one of them the Imam declares: O people! Take care to follow the legacy of the Apostle of Allah (s) and his Sunnah and the legacy of the Imams of guidance from the Household of the Apostle of Allah (s). [^141]

In another statement addressing Yunus ibn Dabyan, the Imam says:

O Yunus, if you seek authentic knowledge, it is with us, the people of the Prophet's household, for we have inherited it and have been bestowed with the canon of wisdom as well as conclusive judgement. [^142]

Imam Sadiq declares in another tradition:

Verily, in our possession is that by virtue of which we do not stand in need of the people and the people stand in need of us. Verily, in our possession is a book (sahifah) dictated by the Apostle of Allah and in the handwriting of Ali, in which is mentioned everything pertaining to what is lawful and unlawfu1. [^143] These statements reiterate what Imam Ali used to declare in his sermons addressed to the people of Kufah: