Shi'ism and Its Types During the Early Centuries

Supplement 3

In another instance, in a letter to one of his officers assigned for the collection of zakat, in which the Imam sets forth the manner in which the latter is to approach the people, he writes to him to make the following announcement while approaching the tribes:

O creatures of God! The waft of God and His vicegerent has sent me to take from you God's due pertaining to your property. [^85] The expressions "waliullah" and "khalifatulluh," applied by the Imam to himself, are entirely Shii conceptions.

In any case, the conception of wilayah is one that grew during the caliphate of Imam Ali (a) and it characterizes the Shi'i viewpoint concerning Imamate. [^86] In the course of several sermons that he delivered during the period of his caliphate the Imam makes prophesies of future events, which are traditionally known as malahim wa al-fitan.

In these statements, the like of which were never heard from any other caliph, he would make prophesies about the future, though of course not as a political analyst. The attraction of the Imam's personality for the mystics and the sufis had roots in his profoundly pious and ascetic life-style and thinking.

It led to a conception of his personality that introduced him as someone who was a perfect instance of the high spiritual station of wilayah. The conception of wilayah as a preeminent spiritual station has roots in the statements and conduct of the Imam himself, who would make declarations from the minbar (pulpit) formally claiming to possess the knowledge of everything and asking the people to question him about anything before the time when he would not be in their midst. [^87]

At the conclusion of the citation of these precedents it would be appropriate to mention an important episode. When A'ishah was preparing to stage a rebellion against Imam Ali, Umm Salamah, one of the most dignified wife of the Prophet (s), tried to persuade her against carrying out her plans. Abd Allah ibn Zubayr objected to her and said, "You have been an enemy of the family of Zubayr since past days."

Umm Salamah said to him, "Do you think that the people will follow Talhah and your father while Ali is still in their midst about whom the Messenger of Allah (s) said, " Ali is the wali of every believer, man and woman, after me." Abd Allah said, "We have not heard any such thing from the Messenger of God." Umm Salamah said to him, "If you haven't, your aunt, A'ishah, certainly has. I myself heard the Messenger of Allah say:

Ali is my successor (khalifah) amongst you, in my life and after my death; whoever disobeys him disobeys me."

A'ishah too confirmed that she had heard such a statement from the Prophet (s). [^88]

On the basis of what has been mentioned, one may say in explanation of certain statements of Imam Ali (a) in the Nahj al-balaghah which refer to the allegiance of the Muhajirun and the Ansars that the popular principle of caliphal election until that time was the allegiance of the Muhajirun and the Ansars, an allegiance which was also pledged by them to the Imam.

The Imam was forced to take recourse to this principle in defence against the opposition of those who had broken the allegiance they had sworn him (nakithin) and those who had rebelled against him (qasitin). As a result of this argument of the Imam, many people accepted his leadership and went to war against his enemies.

Verses have been narrated from one of the Imam's supporters in affirmation of the validity of his caliphate and the people's commitment to him. Their author compares the covenant that the people made with him to those made with the first two caliphs:

The people have made with him a pledge and a covenant, Like the covenant made with Abu Hafs (i.e. Umar) and Abu Bakr.

So pledge allegiance to him and do not turn back an apostate, I exhort you to take refuge its Allah from apostasy. [^89] However, the Imam himself did not consider such an approach as the basis of the legitimacy of his Imamate, nor was such a basis subscribed to by his close companions, who considered his Imamate to be something that lay beyond the allegiance of the Muhajirun and the Ansar.

That which is certain is that, as was mentioned earlier, Shi'ism grew in l its extent and character during the events that occurred in the aftermath of the assassination of Uthman and the caliphate of Imam Ali. Earlier, only a few of the Prophet's Companions possessed such a tendency. But for reasons that were mentioned, Shi'ism spread in Iraq.

This tendency is called an Alit and Shi'i tendency. Its weak degree involved the rejection of Uthman and affirmation of the caliphate of Imam 'Ali ('a), and in its most developed form it meant the affirmation of the Imamate of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib ('a) after the Messenger of God (s) and his superiority over other caliphs. There were as well certain extremist tendencies that emerged during this period about whose exact extent and character there is a difference of opinion. [^90]

Another trend that emerged and grew during this period was the Uthmanid tendency It emerged during the events of the Battles of the Camel and Siffin. Although the protagonists of this trend faced a defeat during the Battle of the Camel, but its effects remained in Basrah, and the people of this city were known for their Uthmanid affiliations. [^91]

Another branch of this trend came to dominate Syria (al-Sham) during the Umayyad era and it came to rule over Iraq. The rule of the Umayyads was an expression of the domination of the Uthmanid creed. This creed did not acknowledge the legitimacy of the caliphate of Imam Ali (a), and its argument was that the third caliph was killed by the Imam or at his instigation. Moreover, it asserted that there was not a general consensus of the people about his caliphate.

This belief was prevalent among the Uthmaniyyah, who were the prototypes of the latter-day Ahl al-Sunnah. During that era, the terms the Shiah and the Uthmaniyyah stood in contrast to one another. The 'Uthmaniyyah believed that Mu'awiyah was the next legitimate caliph after 'Uthman. The basis of his legitimacy, as they claimed, was Mu'awiyah's kinship with Uthman and his claim to be the next of kin in this case of homicide (wali al-dam). [^92]The two cities of Basrah and Kufah with their Uthmanid and Shi'i inclinations were considered rival towns.

Another interesting aspect of the Battle of the Camel was the greater prominence acquired by Shi'ism in contrast to the Uthmanid creed. During the course of the battle, Amr ibn Yathribi, who killed Zayd ibn Suhan, a companion of the Imam, said that he had killed the latter in a state when he was an follower of "the creed of Ali" (din-i 'Ali). On the other hand, Ammar Yasir, addressing Amr, said these verses during that battle:

O Son of Yathribi, I wilt not leave the field Until I fight you while I am on the creed of 'Ali.

We and the House of God are nearer to the Prophet. [^93]

The term "creed of Uthman" (din-i 'Uthman) emerged in opposition to the term "creed of 'Ali." A poet belonging to Syria declared concerning the Syrian troops:

Eighty thousand strong whose creed is the creed of Uthman, Squadrons, amongst whom is Gabriel who leads them on. [^94]

Another Syrian poet who was at Siffin introduced himself in these words:

I am a descendant of the lords of the princes of Ghassan, And today I am a follower of the creed of Uthman. [^95]

Rifa'ah ibn Shaadad also declared in a couplet:

I am the son of Shaddad, on the creed of Ali, I am not a friend of Uthman, son of Arwa. [^96]

It has also been stated concerning the Syrian troops that they were eighty thousand soldiers who "followed the creed of Uthman." [^97]

After the martyrdom of Imam Ali ('a), the people of Iraq pledged allegiance to Imam Hasan. Among them were Shiis who actually had belief in the Imamate of Imam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba ('a) and they swore allegiance to him on that basis.

Of course, in these circumstances there exited in general two tendencies, Shi'i and Uthmanid. The religious tendency of the people of Kufah was predominantly Shi'i, in the sense that they did not acknowledge Uthman and affirmed the caliphate of Imam Ali ('a). During the five years of the Imam's rule they had been influenced by him and his companions. They followed the Alid tendency in religion and disdained the 'Uthmanid tenets. Opposition to Uthman and his ill fame in this city was such since the era of Imam Ali that Jarir ibn Abd Allah al-Bajali said, "I would not stay in a town where they formally denounce Uthman." [^98]

To the point that is relevant to the notion of Shi'i Imamate, there is evidence that Imam Ali designated his son as his successor, although the Sunni writers have not referred to it as signifying successorship. [^99] In this regard, a tradition has been narrated from the Messenger of God (s) that is cited in many sources. It reports the Prophet (s) as stating: