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[ Abridged version of Ghulam-Husayn Muharrami's "Tarikh-e Tashayyu az Aghaz ta Payan-e Ghaybat-e Kubra" (Qum, Iran). Book has been edited and shortened. Many chapters and notes have been removed here. ]
HISTORY OF SHIAISM
By Ghulam-Husayn Muharrami (2003)
# “Shia” in the Lexicon and the Quran
The word “Shia” in the lexicon is derived from the root-word {shayaA} which means escorting {mushayiAh}, victory and bravery {shujaah}. It is equally applied to the followers and supporters as it is usually applied to the followers and supporters of Ali. As Azhari has said, “Shia refers to a group that loves the progeny {‘itrah} and descendants of the Prophet.”
Ibn al-Khaldun says:
“Be aware that ‘Shia’ in the lexicon means ‘followers’ and ‘supporters’, and in the parlance of the past and present jurists {fiqh} and scholastic theologians {mutakallimun}, it is applied to the followers of Ali and his descendants.”
But Shahristani limits the definitional scope of the word ‘Shia’, saying:
‘Shia’ is referring to those who follow Ali alone and believe in his Imamate {imamah} and caliphate {khilafah} to be based on revelation {nass}, and they say: ‘Imamate shall not bypass him except {that it is done} through injustice {zulm}’.
There are also many cases in the Quran in which “Shia” connotes “followers” and “supporters” such as:
“Indeed Abraham was among his followers {Shia}”
and the verse,
“The one who was from his (Moses’) followers {Shia} sought his help against him who was from his enemies.”
The word “Shia” has also been mentioned in the Prophetic traditions to mean “followers and friends of Ali”.
“Shia” in the Shia references does not have more than one meaning and conception and that is belief in the succession of Ali and his eleven descendants in which no change has ever taken place since the demise of the Prophet up to the minor occultation {ghaybah as-sughra}. Just as the Shia of the second half of the third century hijri believed in all the twelve Imams, the pioneering Shia among the Companions of the Prophet also believed in this affair because they had been informed of the names of these Imams from the Prophetic traditions.
Although many of the Shia had no access to these traditions due to the atmosphere of strangulation maintained by the tyrant rulers, what was obligatory (for them) was to recognize the Imam of their respective times. As the Holy Prophet said, “He who will die without recognizing the Imam of his time dies in a state of ignorance {jahiliyyah}.”
As such, we can see that when Imam al Sadiq attained martyrdom, Zurarah who was an old man sent his son, Ubayd, to inquire about the successor of Imam al Sadiq. But before Ubayd was able to return to Kufa, Zurarah, who was about to die, took hold of a copy of the Quran and said: “O God! Be my witness that I testify to the Imamate {imamah} of the one who has been designated in this Quran.”
Of course, with the passage of time, the meaning and concept of Shia assumes an explicit form and its scope is determined. Thus, the infallible Imams have regarded those who are identified with the false sects and faiths as outside Shia circles, as Shaykh at-Tusi narrates from Hamran ibn A‘in:
I asked Imam al-Baqir: “Am I really among your Shia?” The Imam replied: “Yes, you are among our Shia in this world and in the hereafter, and the names of the Shia and their fathers are written for us. Why, are there those who turn their back to us?” I replied: “May I be your ransom! Is it possible for somebody to be your Shia and to have knowledge of your being in truth, and then to turn his back from you?” The Imam said: “Yes, O Hamran! You will not perceive them.”
Hamzah az-Zayyat, who is one of the narrators of this hadith, thus says:
Concerning this hadith we made a discussion and we were not able to understand the purport of the Imam. As such, I wrote a letter to Imam al Rida and I asked him (about this). The Imam said: “Imam al Sadiq was referring to the Waqifiyyah (a deviant sect).”
It is for this reason that in the parlance of the Shia rijal writers, the title Shia is only applied to the Shia believing in the twelve Imams and in the language of the jurists {fuqaha}, they are sometimes described as “our companions” {ashabuna} or “our Imami companions” {ashabuna al-imamiyyah}.
And those who had inclined toward the deviant sects and drifted away from the course of Shiaism have described with such labels as Fathi, Waqifi, Nawusi, etc. and if ever the names of some of them are mentioned in the Shia books on rijal, the reason is that they had narrated these traditions prior to their deviation, just as the names of a number of Sunni narrators who have narrated from the infallible Imams have been mentioned in these books.
The Sunni scholars and rijal writers, however, have used the word Shia in broader sense and they have applied it to all the sects that have separated from the body of Shiaism and even to the ghulat as well.
In addition, they also refer to those who love and admire the Ahl al-Bayt as “Shia”. This is while some of these people do not have any sort of belief in the infallibility {‘ismah} and Imamate {imamah} of the Ahl al-Bayt, such as Sufyan ath-Thawri, a rector {mufti} in Iraq who issued edicts {fatawa} based on the Ahl as-Sunnah, but Ibn al-Qutaybah has enlisted him along with the Shia. Regarding ash-Shafi‘i, who is the founder of one of the four Sunni schools of thought {madhahib}, Ibn Nadim thus says:
“Ash-Shafi‘i had extreme Shiaism {tashayyu‘}.”
Of course, during the second and third centuries hijri, besides the Shia Imami, the Zaydis constituted the greatest number of Shia. They were “Shia” more in the political sense than in ideology because, in terms of jurisprudence {fiqh}, they were not followers of the Jafari fiqh; rather they were followers of the Hanafi fiqh.
From the viewpoint of the ideological principles also, as narrated by Shahristani, “For sometime, Zayd was a student of Wasil ibn Ata’, the founder of the Mu‘tazilah (Mu‘tazilite) madhhab and has learned from him the principles of the Mu‘tazilah madhhab.”
Therefore, the Zaydis are Mu‘tazilites in principles {usul}. It is for this reason that they used to regard as permissible {jayiz} the Imamate {imamah} of a deserving person {mafdhul} in the existence of the more deserving person {afdhal} and in that they do not disrespect the two sheikhs {shaykhayn} (Abubakr and Umar). And in terms of beliefs, they are closer to the Ahl as-Sunnah, as Ibn al-Qutaybah thus says: “Among the rafidhi (Shia) sects, the Zaydis have the least extremism {ghulu}.”
It was for this reason that the uprising of Muhammad Nafs az-Zakiyyah—one of the Zaydi leaders—was praised by some jurists {fuqaha} of the Ahl as-Sunnah, and as narrated by Waqidi, Abubakr ibn Sirah, Ibn Ajlan, and Abdullah ibn Jafar—who were among the great hadith scholars {muhaddithun} of the Medina school {maktab} and from whom Waqidi himself has narrated hadith—were involved in the uprising of Muhammad Nafs az-Zakiyyah. Also, Shahristani says: “Abu Hanifah was among the followers of Muhammad Nafs az-Zakiyyah.”
The Mu‘tazilites of Basrah also agreed with the uprising of Muhammad and based on Abul-Faraj al-Isfahani’s narration, “A group of the Mu‘tazilites in Basrah such as Wasil ibn Ata’ and Amru ibn Ubayd have paid allegiance to him.”
As such, the Zaydis can be regarded as Shia only from the political viewpoint although they believe in the superiority of the descendants of Fatima.
# The Origin of Shiaism
Diverse views have been expressed with respect to the origin and beginning of Shiaism, but in general, these views can be divided into two:
1. The writers and researchers who believe Shiaism was created after the demise of the Prophet and who themselves can be subdivided into the following subgroups:
a. Those who believe that Shiaism has come into being during the day of Saqifah—that day when a group of prominent Companions explicitly said: “Ali is the most deserving one to the office of Imamate {imamah} and caliphate {khilafah}.”
b. Those who regard the emergence of the Shia as being related to the latter part of Uthman’s caliphate, connecting the spread of the views of Abdullah ibn Saba’ at this period with the beginning of Shiaism.
c. Those who believe that the Shia has come into being on the day of Fitnah ad-Dar (the day when the third caliph was murdered). Thereafter, accordingly, the followers of Ali who were the very Shia who confronted the so-called “Uthmanis”, those who were avenging the murder of Uthman. As Ibn an-Nadim thus writes:
When Talhah and Zubayr opposed Ali and nothing could convince them but to take revenge for the murder of Uthman, while Ali also wanted to fight them so as to establish the truth, on that day those who followed him were called “Shia” and he himself thus described them: “They are my Shia”.
Ibn Abd ar-Rabbih al-Andalusi also says: “The Shia are those who regarded Ali as superior to Uthman.”
d. Those who believe that Shiaism had come into existence from the coming into power, up to the martyrdom of Ali.
e. Those who link the origin of Shiaism with the event at Karbala and the martyrdom of Imam Husayn.
2. The researchers who are of the opinion that Shiaism can be traced back to the period of the Messenger of Allah. Apart from all the Shia ‘ulama’, some of the Sunni scholars also hold such a belief, just as Muhammad Kird-Ali—one of the distinguished Sunni ‘ulama’—says: “A number of the Companions during the time of the Holy Prophet were known as Shia of Ali.”
Keeping in view of the opinions presented so far, it can be said that the event of Saqifah, the latter part of the caliphate of Uthman, the Battle of Jamal (Camel), the rule of Ali, and the events at Karbala are phases of the events that have influenced the history of Shiaism.
Although the existence of a person named Abdullah ibn Saba’ is doubtful, the formation of Shiaism at these stages seems incorrect because studying the Prophetic traditions, we find that the term “Shia”, has been applied by the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad al-Mustafa, to the sympathizers of Ali before all these events, as recorded in many hadiths, some of which we shall cite below.
All these hadiths are accepted by the Ahl as-Sunnah as authentic and have been recorded in their hadith references. Take, for example, the hadiths which have been recorded by Suyuti—one of the Sunni exegetes {mufassirun} of the Quran—from the Holy Prophet on the commentary of the verse:
“Indeed those who have faith and do righteous deeds—it is they who are the best of creatures.”
Among them is this hadith of the Prophet when he said:
“By He in Whose hand my life is! Verily, this man (Ali) and his Shia shall secure deliverance on the Day of Resurrection.”
The Holy Prophet said to Ali: “God has forgiven the sins of your Shia and the followers of your Shia.”
The Prophet also said to Ali: “You and your Shia will meet (on the Day of Resurrection) at the Pool {hawdh} of Kawthar while having drank from it and having bright faces, whereas your enemies will meet me while they are thirsty and enchained.”
In a long hadith regarding the virtues of Ali, the Holy Prophet thus says to his daughter Fatima: “O Fatima! Ali and his Shia are the saved ones of tomorrow.”
Similarly, the Messenger of Allah said: “O Ali! Your sins as well as that of your progeny, your Shia and the followers of your Shia have been forgiven.”
Again, the Messenger of Allah said: “O Ali! During the Day of Resurrection, I shall cling to God while you shall hold fast to me; your descendants shall hold fast to you; and the Shia of your descendants shall hold fast to them.”
The Prophet again said to Ali: “In the hereafter, of all the people, you are the nearest one to me… and the Shia are on pulpits on light.”
Ibn Abbas narrated that Gabriel (Archangel Gabriel) gave the news that “Ali and the Shia shall be brought to Paradise along with Muhammad.”
Salman al-Farsi narrates that the Most Noble Messenger said to Ali:
O Ali! Put a ring on your right hand so as to be with the nearest ones {muqarrabin}.” Ali asked: “Who are the nearest ones?” He replied: “Gabriel and Mika’il.” Ali again asked: “Which kind of ring shall I put on?” He replied: “A ring whose stone is a red Aqiq because Aqiq is a testimony that one has acknowledged and accepted the divine servitude {‘ubudiyyah}, my prophethood {nubuwwah}, your guardianship {wisayah}, and your descendants’ Imamate {imamah}. Your followers are people of Paradise and the abode of your Shia is the Garden of Firdaws {jannah al-firdaws}.
The Most Noble Messenger again said: “Eighty thousand from my ummah shall be admitted to Paradise without reckoning.” Ali asked: “Who are they?” He replied: “They are your Shia and you are their Imam.”
Anas ibn Malik thus narrates from the Holy Prophet:
Gabriel said to me: “God, the Exalted, loves Ali to such a degree that is not expressed to any angel. Just as the tasbihs {glorifications to Allah} that are being uttered, God creates angels to seek forgiveness for the admirers and Shia of Ali till the Day of Resurrection.”
Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari narrates that the Prophet said: “By God Who sent me in truth as the Prophet! The angels are regularly seeking forgiveness for Ali and they pity him and his Shia as a father does (with respect to his child).”
Ali himself narrates that the Prophet said: “O Ali! Give glad tidings to your Shia that I am {their} intercessor {shafi‘} on the Day of Resurrection—the day when neither wealth nor child is of any benefit except my intercession {shafaAh}.”
The Holy Prophet said to Ali: “The first four persons to enter Paradise are I, you, Hasan, and Husayn; our descendants are behind us; our spouses are behind our descendants and our Shia are on our right and left sides.”
Finally, many of the Sunni muhaddithun and historians such as Ibn al-Jawzi, Baladhuri, Shaykh Sulayman al-Qanduzi al-Hanafi, Khwarazmi, and as-Suyuti have narrated that the Messenger of Allah thus said while addressing Ali: “Verily, this man (Ali) and his Shia shall secure deliverance on the Day of Resurrection.”
There are even recorded traditions from the Most Noble Messenger about some of the Shia and what is interesting here is that these have been narrated by the opponents of the Shia! For example, there is a tradition about Hujr ibn Adi al-Kindi which has been narrated by A’ishah. When Muawiya performed Hajj after killing Hujr and his companions and came to Medina, A’ishah said to him:
O Muawiya! Where was your forbearance at the time of killing Hujr and his companions? Be aware that I heard that the Messenger of Allah said: “There is a group that shall be killed in a place called Marj Adhra’ for which Allah and the inhabitants of heaven will be filled with wrath.”
Since these hadiths are undeniable and have been narrated by prominent Sunni muhaddithun, some Sunni writers have resorted to unjust interpretation of them. For instance, Ibn Abi al Hadid says:
What is meant by the Shia in many hadiths who have been given the glad tidings of Paradise are those who believe in the superiority and preeminence of Ali over others. For this reason, our Mu‘tazilite ‘ulama’ have thus written in their books and treatises, “We are truly the Shia” and this statement is nearer to reality and more akin to truth.
Also, in the book, As-Sawa‘iq al-Mahriqah fi’r-Radd Ala Ahl al-BidA waz-Zindiqah, which is a book rejecting the Shia creeds and beliefs, while quoting this hadiths, Haythami has said:
“What is meant by the Shia in these hadiths are the Shia that no longer exist. It refers to progeny and followers of Ali who are neither afflicted with innovation {bidAh} nor curse and abuse the Companions of the Prophet.”
In reply to him, the late Muzaffar says:
“It is strange that Ibn Hajar imagined that what is meant here by the Shia are the Ahl as-Sunnah! And I do not know if the reason behind this is the similarity of “Shia” and “Sunni”. Or, it is because these two sects are identical. Or, it is for the reason that the Ahl as-Sunnah follow and love the family of the Prophet more than the Shia do!”
The late Kashif al-Ghita’ also says: “By applying the term “Shia” to the Shia of Ali, its purport can be understood because other than this group, there is no other Shia.”
The existence of the term “Shia” in the hadiths and sayings of the Prophet is clear and indisputable, and with these (unjust) interpretations, they wanted to conceal the truth but in the end they have deceived nobody but themselves. This is particularly true in view of the fact that the connotations of “Shia” has been clarified during the time of the Prophet and a number of the Companions were known at the time as “Shia of Ali”.
The Companions of the Prophet also referred to Ali’s followers as “Shia”. Hashim Marqal thus writes concerning a person named “Mahal ibn al-Khalifah at-Ta’i”: “O Commander of the Faithful! He is among your Shia.”
The Shia themselves used to call one another as Shia. As Shaykh al-Mufid narrates, some people came to Ali and said: “O Commander of the Faithful! We are among your Shia.” He in turn said: “The faces of my Shia turn pale on account of night vigil and their eyes weak due to weeping…”
In many instances, Hadrat Ali himself, as in the abovementioned case, used to apply the word “Shia” to his followers. For example, when he heard the news of martyrdom of some of his Shia in Basrah at the hand of Talhah and Zubayr, he cursed the two and said: “O God! They have killed my Shia. Kill them too.”
Even the opponents of Ali used to refer to his followers as “Shia”, just as what A’ishah, Talhah and Zubayr said during their conversation about their route from Mecca to Iraq: “We shall go to Basrah and expel the governor {amil} of Ali and kill his Shia.”
In any case, the truth of Shiaism, which is the same love and fellowship to Ali and to regard him as superior (to others), is related to the time of the Prophet. He used to enjoin the people in his speeches to follow Ali and his family as exemplified by the event in Ghadir Khumm. As Ibn Abi al Hadid says: “This report {akhbar} has been narrated by muhaddithun none of whom has been accused of rafdh and Shiaism {tashayyu‘} and they have not even believed in the superiority and preeminence of Ali over others.”
Now, we shall quote some of these hadiths. Buraydah Aslami says:
The Messenger of Allah said: “God, the Exalted, has ordered me to love four persons and said to me that He also loves them.” They asked: “O Messenger of Allah! Tell their names.” He said thrice: “Ali and then Abu Dharr, Miqdad and Salman.”
At-Tabari narrates that in the course of the Battle of Uhud, the Most Noble Messenger said: “Ali is from me and I from him.”
It has thus been narrated on the authority of Umm Salmah: “When the Messenger of Allah was angry, no one could dare to speak except Ali.”
Saad ibn Abi Waqas narrated that the Most Noble Messenger said: “He who loves Ali loves me and he who loves me loves God. Also, he who is hostile to Ali is hostile to me, and he who is hostile to me is hostile to God.”
Ibn al-Jawzi narrated that the Holy Prophet of Islam said: “O Ali! You are the separator of heaven and hell. And you shall open the door of heaven and enter it without any reckoning.”
Khwarazmi narrated in Al-Manaqib on the authority of Ibn Abbas that the Holy Prophet said:
When I was brought to the heavenly ascension {mi‘raj}, I saw that it is thus written on the gate of heaven:
“La ilaha illallah, Muhammadan Rasulullah, Aliyyun Habib Allah Hasan wa’l-Husayn Sifwat Allah, Fatima Ummat Allah, ala mabghadhuhum lanat Allah.”
Zubayr ibn Bakkar—who is among the grandchildren of Zubayr and known for deviation from the Commander of the Faithful—has narrated that the Most Noble Messenger said: “I enjoin anyone who believe in God and confirm my apostleship {risalah} to love Ali ibn Abi Talib and recognize his guardianship {wilayah}. He who loves him loves me and he who loves me loves God.”
Ibn Abi al Hadid narrates on the authority of Zayd ibn al-Arqam that the Most Noble Messenger said: “I shall guide you to something which if it would be known to you, you shall never go astray. Your guardian {wali} and Imam is Ali ibn Abi Talib. Acknowledge him as Gabriel thus informed me of it.”
After narrating this hadith, Ibn Abi al Hadid thus says:
If they would say, “This is an explicit proof for (Imam Ali’s) Imamate {imamah},” how will then the Mu‘tazilites solve this problem? In reply, we say: It is possible that the Prophet means that Ali is their Imam in religious edicts {fatawa} and laws {ahkam} and not in caliphate {khilafah}.
Similarly, what we quoted in the explanation of the statements of the great and leading Mu‘tazilite figures of Baghdad can be the answer, the gist of which is as follows: The Imamate and caliphate belonged to Ali with the condition that he would show inclination to it and fight others for it. As he relinquished it to somebody and kept silent, we do accept the guardianship {wilayah} of the other person and believe in the legitimacy of his caliphate.
As the Commander of the Faithful did not raise any opposition against the three caliphs, did not unsheathe his sword and call on the people against the three, it follows then that he has approved their caliphates. It is based on this that we do accept them and believe in their purity, goodness and righteousness. If he would have waged war against them and called on the people to fight them, we would then believe in their transgression, deviation and misguidance.
# The Other Terms for the “Shia”
After the caliphate of the Commander of the Faithful Ali and with the spread of Shiaism, in addition to the name “Shia”, other appellations such as Alawi, Imamah, Husayniyyah, ‘Ithna Ashari, Khassah, Jafari, Turabi, and Rafidhi were gradually applied to the friends of the family of the Prophet. Although the Ahl al-Bayt’s adherents as a whole were called “Shia” as usual, these appellations and titles were also applied to the Shia on various occasions.
Sometimes, the enemies also used to give certain titles to the Shia with the aim of belittling and degrading them. During the time of Muawiya, for example, the Banu Umayya and the people of Sham used the epithet “Abu Turab” {literally, “Father of the Earth/Soil”} for Ali among all his epithets and sobriquets and they used to call his Shia as “Turabis”.
After the Battle of Siffin and the rule of Ali, whenever Muawiya wanted to dispatch Abdullah ibn Hadhrami to Basrah, he would give instructions regarding the tribes but concerning the tribe of RabiAh, he said: “Leave alone the RabiAh as all of them are turabis.” According to Masudi, Abu Mikhnaf had a book entitled, Akhbar at-Turabiyyin, from which he has narrated the event of Ayn al-Warad.
The enemies of the Shia used to apply to them the label, “Rafidhi” and in most cases, whenever they liked to accuse somebody of abandoning religion, they would brand him a rafidhi, just as ash-Shafi‘i says:
“If loving the progeny {aal} of Muhammad is rafdh, the two worlds (of mankind and jinn) shall therefore be the witness that I am indeed a rafidhi.”
It has been recorded in history that after the uprising of Zayd ibn Ali, the Shia were then called Rafidhi. Shahristani thus says:
When the Shia of Kufa learned from Zayd ibn Ali that he does not declare disavowal against the two sheikhs {shaykhayn} (Abubakr and Umar) and regard as permissible the Imamate of a deserving one {mafdhul} in the existence of the most deserving one {afdhal}, they abandoned him. Therefore, they were then identified as Rafidhi because rafdh means “abandonment”.
Regarding the label, Alawi, Sayyid Muhsin Amin says:
“After the murder of Uthman and the confrontation between Muawiya and Ali, the supporters and followers of Muawiya were called “Uthmanis” as they used to love Uthman and be inimical to Ali. In addition to “Shia”, the followers of Ali were also called “Alawis”, and this practice persisted till the end of the Umayya rule. During the Abbasid period, the labels “Uthmani” and “Alawi” were abrogated and only “Shia” and “Sunni” were used.”
“Imamis” was another term applied to the Shia usually in contradistinction to the Zaydis. As Ibn al-Khaldun writes,
Some Shia believe in explicit traditions substantiating the proposition that Imamate {imamah} is solely in the person of Ali and after it will also be transferred to his descendants. They are Imamiyyah with aversion toward the two sheikhs {shaykhayn} (Abubakr and Umar) for not considering Ali as superior and not paying allegiance to him. They do not accept the Imamate of Abubakr and Umar. Other Shia believe that God did not appoint a specific person but described the characteristics of the Imam which conform to the personality of Ali and the people were at fault in not recognizing this. They do not abuse the two sheikhs and they are Zaydis.
Keeping in view of the surviving poems from the supporters and companions of Imam Husayn, it can be discerned that after his martyrdom, his Shia and supporters were also called “Husaynis”. In many of their poems they introduced themselves as “Husaynis” or “of the religion of Husayn”.
In this regard, Ibn Abd Rabbih thus says: “Among the rafidhis are the Husayniyyah and they are companions of Ibrahim al-Ashtar who used to roam around the alleys of Kufa shouting: “Ya litharat Husayn!” They were called Husayniyyah.”
Meanwhile, the term “Qat‘iyyah” {lit. “Decisiveness”} was applied to the Shia after the martyrdom of Imam Musa al-Kazim in contradistinction to the Waqifiyyah.
That is to say that they were certain and decisive with respect to the martyrdom of Imam al-Kazim and believed in the Imamate of Imam al Rida and the Imams after him, whereas the Waqifiyyah were not convinced of the death of Imam al-Kazim.
Nowadays, the label “Jafariyyah” is applied to the Shia more on account of jurisprudence in contradistinction to the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence {madhahib}. The reason for this term is that the Shia jurisprudence took form more through Imam Jafar al Sadiq compared to all the Imams and most traditions on our jurisprudence are narrated by him.
Nonetheless, keeping in view a poem we have from Sayyid Humayri, it can be understood that only on account of jurisprudence during Imam al Sadiq’s period the term “Jafari” was applied to the Shia, but this term has also been applied to them in terms of principles of religion {usul} in contradistinction to other sects. The poem of Humayri is as follows:
“In the Name of Allah, I became a Jafari, and Allah is the great.”
By becoming a Jafari, Sayyid Humayri is referring to the correct course of the Shia Imamiyyah in contradistinction to the Kaysaniyyah.
The Status of Ali among the Companions {sahabah}
The Commander of the Faithful Ali occupied a special position among the Companions of the Prophet. Masudi says:
“In terms of all the virtues and merits that the Companions of the Prophet possessed, such as precedence in Islam; hijrah {emigration}; helping the Prophet; kinship with him; contentment {qinaAh}; sacrifice {ithar}; knowledge of the Book of Allah; jihad; piety {wara‘}; asceticism {zuhd}; judgment {qadha’}; jurisprudence {fiqh}; etc., Ali had abundant share and perfect delight.”
This is apart from the fact that some of the virtues are possessed by him alone such as brotherhood {ukhuwwah} of the Prophet and statements of the Prophet such as:
“You are to me as Harun (Aaron) is to Musa (Moses),”
“Of whomsoever I am master {mawla}, Ali is also his master. O God! Befriend him who befriends him and be inimical to him who is inimical to him.”
And, also the supplication of the Prophet for him; when Anas brought a cooked bird to the Prophet, he said: “O God! Let the most beloved creature (after him) come in so as to eat with me.” Then, Ali came in and partook with the Prophet. This is while the other Companions did not possess those virtues.
Among the Banu Hashim, Ali was also the nearest person to the Prophet. He grew up in the house of the Prophet and under his training. He slept in the Prophet’s bed during the night of hijrah, returned to their respective owners the possessions entrusted to the Prophet and joined the Prophet in Medina.
The most important of all is Ali’s position in Islam. The Most Noble Messenger determined this position at the very beginning of the Prophetic mission.
When the Prophet received instruction from God to invite his kith and kin, it was only Ali in the assembly who was ready to assist and accompany the Holy Prophet. Then, in that very assembly, the Most Noble Messenger announced before the elders among his relatives that Ali is the executor of his will {wasi}, minister {wazir}, caliph {khalif}, and successor notwithstanding the fact the he was the youngest among those who were present.
The Holy Prophet informed his Companions on several occasions of the status and position of Ali, admonishing them to recognize his position. The Holy Prophet was watchful of his their attitude toward Ali particularly after the spread of Islam when many individuals with diverse motives joined the ranks of Muslims. This is especially true with respect to the Quraysh whose envy toward the Banu Hashim had amplified by then. Ibn Shahr Ashub thus narrates on the authority of Umar ibn al-Khattab:
I used to annoy Ali, the Prophet once came to me and said: “You are annoying me, O Umar!” I said: “I seek refuge in God from annoying the Messenger of Allah!” He said: “You are annoying Ali and he who annoys him annoys me”.
Musab ibn Saad has narrated from his father, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, that: “I and another person were in the mosque and we were abusing Ali. Infuriated, the Prophet came to us and said: ‘Why do you annoy me? He who annoys Ali annoys me’.”
Haythami has narrated:
Buraydah al-Aslami, who is one of those who had gone to Yemen under the commandership of Ali, says: “I went back to Medina earlier than the army. The people asked me: ‘What news?’ I said: ‘There is news. God made the Muslims victorious.’ They asked: ‘Why did you come earlier (than the army contingent)?’ I said: Ali has allocated a bondwoman from the khums for himself. I have come to inform the Prophet of it…’
When the Prophet was informed of it, he was annoyed and said: ‘Why are some people belittling Ali? Anyone who finds fault with Ali finds fault with me. Anyone who would separate from Ali has separated from me. Ali is from me and I from him. He has been created out of my essence and I from the essence of Ibrahim (Abraham) though I am superior to Ibrahim… O Buraydah! Don’t you know that Ali deserves more than one bondswoman? He is your guardian {wali} after me.
Ibn Shahr Ashub also narrates a similar hadith from Sunni muhaddithun such as Tirmidhi, Abu Na‘im, al-Bukhari, and Musalli.
As such, Ali had earned special respect among the Companions. Again, Ibn Shahr Ashub has thus narrated from Anas ibn Malik:
During the period of the Holy Prophet whenever we wanted to know if a certain person is a bastard or not, we would know it from the spite of Ali ibn Abi Talib. After the Battle of Khaybar, every man would hug his child and go. If ever he would see Ali along the way, he would point to Ali with his hand to the child and ask him: “Do you like this man?” If the child would say, “Yes,” he would kiss his child and if the child would say, “No,” he would put the child on the ground and say, “Go to your mother!” ‘Ubadah ibn Samit also says: “We used to test our children with the love for Ali ibn Abi Talib. If we found out that one of them does not like him, we would know that he will never be an upright person.”
During the latter years of the Prophet’s life, the issue of Ali’s position was more publicized so much so that the title wasi {executor of one’s will} became one of his widely known titles, which was accepted by both his friends and foes especially after the Holy Prophet said to Ali before going to the Tabuk expedition:
“You are to me as Harun (Aaron) is to Musa (Moses) with the only difference that there shall be no prophet after me.”
In the course of the Farewell Pilgrimage {Hajj al-Wida‘} in Mina and in Arafah also, the Holy Prophet informed the people in several speeches about twelve persons shall be his successors and all of whom are from Banu Hashim.
Finally, on the return from Mecca in Ghadir Khumm, he received instruction from God to announce the succession of Ali to all the Muslims. He ordered the Muslims to halt and mounting a pulpit made out of the camel saddles he delivered a long speech. He then said:
“Of whosoever I am Master {mawla}, then Ali is also his Master {mawla}. O Allah! Be Thou a Friend of him who is a friend of him (Ali), and be Thou an Enemy of him who is his enemy. Help him whoever helps him, and forsake him whoever forsakes him.”
Then, he asked the people to pay allegiance to Ali. Allamah al-Amini has given a comprehensive explanation of this subject in the first volume of the book, Al-Ghadir.
In this manner, the Messenger of Allah asserted his successor’s identity to the people. Thus, the public was of the opinion that after Ali would succeed (as the leader of Muslims) the Prophet after his demise. In this regard, Zubayr ibn Bakkar says: “All the Muhajirun and the Ansar had no doubt that Ali will be the caliph and master of the affairs after the Messenger of Allah.”
This subject is so clear in the poems that have been recorded from the time of Saqifah and these poems bespeak of a smaller degree of distortion that has ever happened in poetry. ‘Utbah ibn Abi Lahab recited this poem after the event of Saqifah and Abubakr’s inauguration:
“I was not imagining that the caliphate affair would be withdrawn from the Banu Hashim and much less to Abul-Hasan (Ali).
Is he not the first person to pray facing your qiblah and of the people the most knowledgeable of the Quran and the Sunnah?
He is the last person to look at the face of the Prophet; Gabriel (Archangel Gabriel) was his aid in bathing and enshrouding him (the Prophet).
They do not think about what he has and what they have; whereas within the community {qawm} there is nobody who possesses his points of goodness.
What is it that made them withdraw from him? Say that this loss of ours is the gravest of all losses! “
After ‘Utbah’s recitation of this poem, Ali asked him not to recite it again and said: “For us the safety of religion is more important than anything else.”
Ibn Abi Abrah Qurshi has also said:
“Thanks to Him Who is worthy to be praised! The dispute was no more and the allegiance was paid to Sadiq (Abubakr).
We were saying: Ali is the owner of caliphate; we were also pleased with Umar; but the best of them in this case is the old {atiq} (Abubakr)! ’.”
During the course of the dispute between the Ansar and Quraysh that had surfaced on the event of Saqifah, Amru ibn al-As has spoken against the Ansar. In reply to him, Nu‘man ibn al-Ajlan—one of the poets of the Ansar—has recited a poem in which Ali’s right has been emphasized:
“Say to the Quraysh: “We are the army of (the Conquest of) Mecca and the Battle of Hunayn, and the cavalry of Badr!”
You said that appointment of Saad to the caliphate is unlawful {haram}, but your appointment, Atiq ibn Uthman, of Abubakr is lawful {halal}.
{And you said:} Abubakr is the man of this task and can perform it well, but Ali was the most deserving of people to the caliphate.
We were on Ali’s side and he was the man for this job, but you do not understand, O Amru!
This man (Ali), by the help of Allah, calls (us) toward guidance, and forbids perversion, oppression and evil.
He is the executor of will {wasi} of al-Mustafa the Prophet, his cousin, and the killer of the champions of disbelief {kufr} and misguidance {dhalalah}. “
With the aim of thanking Fadhl Ibn Abbas who, under Ali’s order, had defended the Ansar, Hassan ibn Thabit has recited this poem:
“May God give good reward to Abul-Hasan for us as the reward is in his hand. Who, by the way, is like Abul-Hasan?
Concerning which you were a member, you were ahead of the Quraysh. Your breast is expansive and your heart tested (pure and sincere).
You preserved what the Messenger of Allah instructed regarding us. Except you, who could be foremost for him, and who could be?
Are you not his brother {akh} in guidance and the executor of his will {wasi}, and among them, the most knowledgeable of the Book and the Sunnah?”
Initially, Abu Sufyan opposed the institution of (Abubakr’s) as caliphate and defended the Commander of the Faithful. Apart from the speeches he delivered in this regard, he also composed the following poem:
“O Bani Hashim! Do not allow others to get involve in your affair especially Taym ibn Murrah or Adi.
The affair of caliphate belongs to you alone and it is only Abul-Hasan Ali who is its man.”
Finally, on that very day of Ghadir Khumm, the Prophet’s poet, Hassan ibn Thabit, asked the Messenger of Allah’s permission to narrate the event of Ghadir in poetry, and thus recites:
“Their Prophet calls on them on the day of Ghadir Khumm; now, listen to the call of the Prophet:
Gabriel brought a message from God that “You are under the protection of God; so, do not be dejected.”
Convey what has been revealed by Allah, their Lord, and here do not be afraid of the enemies.
He raises Ali along with him; while he raises the hand of Ali along with his hand, he announces in a loud voice.
Then he said to the people: “Who is your Master {mawla} and your guardian {wali}? Then, without showing inattention, they said:
“Your Lord is our Master {mawla} and you are our guardian {wali}, and no one among us today disobeys you.”
Then he said: “Stand up O Ali! For, I am indeed well pleased that you are the Imam and guide after me.”
{He then said:} “Therefore, of whomsoever I am master, Ali is his master also. May you be their true supporters!”
He then prayed, saying: “O Allah! Be Thou a Friend of those who are his {Ali’s} friends, and be Thou an Enemy of those who are his enemies.
So, O Lord! Help his supporters as they help the Imam of guidance who is like the moon during a dark night”
As is evident from this poem, in transcribing the Prophet of Islam’s speeches about Ali, Hassan has called him Imam, guardian {wali} and guide {hadi}, which clearly stipulates the leadership and headship of the ummah.
Yes, the masses of Muslims did not imagine that after the Holy Prophet’s demise, somebody would contest Ali on the issue of caliphate and succession to the Prophet. As Muawiya has written in reply to the letter of Muhammad ibn Abubakr,
We and your father during the period of the Messenger of Allah used to consider obedience to the son of Abu Talib as expedient for us and his virtues were not concealed to us. After the demise of the Prophet, your father and Umar were the first persons to trample upon his position and called on the people to pay allegiance to them.
This is why those who were not around Medina during the last months of the Prophet’s life and were uninformed of the conspiracies—such as Khalid ibn Saeed and Abu Sufyan—were vehemently agitated when they returned to Medina, after the demise of the Prophet, to see Abubakr sitting in the Prophet’s lieu introducing himself as the Prophet’s caliph. Even Abu Sufyan—when he returned from a journey and saw the situation as such—came to Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Ali and asked them to revolt in order to get their rights but they refused. Of course, Abu Sufyan has no intention in these moves.
In conclusion, although most of the Prophet’s Companions recognized the caliphate of Abubakr officially, they did not forget Ali as being the most deserving {afdhal}. Whenever he was in the mosque, no know except him would issue edict {fatwa} on religious issues as they used to regard him as “the leading judge of the ummah” {aqdhi’l-ummah} as stipulated by the Most Noble Messenger.
Umar used to say: “May God forbid that day when a problem would arise and Abul-Hasan is not present.” As he used to say to the Companions of the Prophet: “Whenever Ali is in the mosque, no one except him has the right to issue any religious edict.”
Although after the demise of the Prophet, Ali was not able to acquire political power, his virtues and distinctions were narrated by the same Companions of the Prophet. Ibn Haythami—who is one of the staunched Sunni ‘ulama’—regarded the number of narrators of the hadith about Ghadir as 30 persons from among the Companions, but Ibn Shahr Ashub has counted 80 narrators of the hadith on Ghadir from among the Companions.
Meanwhile, the late Allamah Amini has counted the following 110 narrators of the hadith on Ghadir from among the Companions.
Among the narrators of the hadith on Ghadir, individuals who had hostile relationship with Ali—such as Abubakr, Umar Uthman, Talhah, Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf, Zayd ibn Thabit, Usamah ibn Zayd, Hassan ibn Thabit, Khalid ibn Walid, and A’ishah—can also be noticed. Even those Companions who sometimes disagreed with him defended him against his enemies.
For example, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas—who was among those who voted in favor of Uthman and against Ali at the 6-man council after the death of Umar, and did not extend cooperation with Ali during his caliphate and preferred neutrality—in his conversation with Muawiya, thus said to Muawiya:
“You fought and waged war with a person who was more deserving than you to the caliphate.” Muawiya asked: “Why?” He replied: “One reason is that the Messenger of Allah said concerning: ‘Of whosoever I am Master {mawla}, then Ali is also his Master {mawla}. O Allah! Be Thou a Friend to him who is a friend of him (Ali), and be Thou an Enemy to him who is his enemy,’ and other reasons are his virtues and merits.”
Similarly, Abdullah, the son of Amru ibn al-As, along with his father was in the army of Muawiya. When Ammar ibn Yasir was killed and his head was brought before Muawiya, two persons were in dispute as each of them was claiming to have killed Ammar. Abdullah said:
“It is better for one of you to relinquish his right to the other because I heard the Messenger of Allah say: ‘Ammar shall be killed by a tyrant group’.” Muawiya was annoyed and said: “So, what is he doing here?!” Abdullah replied: “Since the Messenger of Allah ordered me to obey my father, I am here with you, but I will not fight.”
The presence of Ammar in the ranks of the Commander of the Faithful whose killers had been described by the Messenger of Allah as a tyrant group during that chaotic period was a clear testimony to the truthfulness of Ali so much so that even the son of Amru ibn al-As admitted it.
# The Role of the Quraysh in the Event of Saqifah
In spite of the event in Ghadir Khumm and the efforts of the Prophet for the succession of Ali, the gathering in Saqifah took place. The command of God was not executed and the family of the Prophet was confined at home. In this event, the role of the Quraysh must be pointed out. It is because the Quraysh were the people who wanted and succeeded in trampling upon the right of the Prophet’s progeny.
On many occasions, the Commander of the Faithful Ali emphasizes the acts of oppression and injustice of the Quraysh and their endeavors in gaining access to the caliphate. In one of his correspondence with Muawiya, Imam Hasan also described in detail the role of the Quraysh in the Saqifah event, saying:
After the demise of the Prophet, the Quraysh considered themselves as the tribe and the most nearest to him, and with this proof, they sidetracked the other Arabs and took hold of the affair of caliphate. When we, the Ahl al-Bayt of Muhammad, advanced the proposition to them, they did not behave justly with us and they deprived us of our right.
Imam al-Baqir thus also says to one of his companions:
What should we say about the oppression and injustice of the Quraysh against us, and our Shia and supporters? The Messenger of Allah passed away while the people were asked, “Who are the most preeminent of people?” Yet, the Quraysh turned away from us to such an extent that they changed the course of caliphate. They utilized our argument against the Ansar and assumed the caliphate one after the other. When it was returned to us, they broke their oath of allegiance and waged war against us…
Yes, the Quraysh had behaved this way since long time ago, so much so that the people knew they would take possession of the caliphate. For this reason, the Ansar rushed to the Saqifah so as to prevent the Quraysh from obtaining power because they were a monopolistic people.
The Reasons behind the Quraysh’s Enmity toward the Family of the Prophet
Now, this question is posed: Why did the Quraysh have enmity toward the family of the Prophet? Did they not owe their religion and the worldly life to this family? Was it not through the blessings of this family that they had attained salvation from perdition? In answering these questions, we shall indicate some points:
1. The Quraysh’s Ambition for Leadership
During the period of jahiliyyah {pre-Islamic ignorance} the Quraysh had an excellent position among the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula. In this regard, Abul-Faraj al-Isfahani says: “The Arab tribes used to consider the Quraysh as superior in everything except poetry.” This status was attained through two means:
a. Economic Clout
From the time of Hashim, the great grandfather of the Prophet, Quraysh had already started trading with neighboring lands such as Yemen, Sham, Palestine, Iraq, and Abyssinia. The Quraysh nobles had amassed legendary wealth under the aegis of this trade. God, the Exalted, described this commerce as the source of the Quraysh’s welfare and comfort, saying:
“{In gratitude} for solidarity among Quraysh, their solidarity during winter and summer journeys, let them worship the Lord of this House, who has fed them {and saved them} from hunger, and secured them from fear.”
b. Spiritual Position
Due to the existence of the Ka‘bah, the pilgrimage site of the Arab tribes in their territory, the Quraysh occupied a special spiritual position among the Arabs. Especially after the event of the Companions of the Elephant and the defeat of Abrahah the honor of the Quraysh, the custodians of the Ka‘bah, was further enhanced and this event turned to be in their favor.
They called themselves as Al Allah {Family of Allah}, Jiran Allah {Neighbors of Allah} and Sakkan Haram Allah {Residents of the House of Allah} and in doing so, they consolidated their religious position.
As such, on account of sense of power, the Quraysh were inclined to exclusivity and they tried to prove their superiority. Since Mecca was a sort of capital for the Arabs, owing to the presence of the Ka‘bah, and most of the denizens of the Arabian Peninsula used to come and go there, the Quraysh imposed their customs and traditions to those who came to Mecca.
One example regards the garment used when circumambulating the Ka‘bah {tawaf}, which the pilgrims were required to purchased from them. Therefore, whenever they sensed, during the advent of the Most Noble Messenger, that teachings of Islam are not compatible with their sense of exclusivity and superiority, they refrained from accepting the teachings vehemently opposing these precepts with all their might and utilizing all their power to annihilate Islam.
But the will of God was something else, and in the end, He made His prophet prevail over them. From the 8th year after hijrah, a number of the Quraysh nobles went to Medina and joined the ranks of Muslims, but they did not desist from their hostility.
For instance, Hakam ibn Abi’l-As used to ridicule the Prophet and on account of which the Messenger of Allah exiled him to Ta’if. As the Quraysh were not able to confront the Prophet, they conceived a new plot and that was to confront his successor.
Time and again, Umar said to Abbas: “The Arabs did not want prophethood {nubuwwah} and caliphate {khilafah} to be confined to the Banu Hashim.”
The Quraysh also said:
If anyone from the Banu Hashim took the reign of caliphate, caliphate will never slip out of this family and it will never be relinquished to us. But if a non-member of the Banu Hashim assumed it, it will move around us and be assigned to all of us.
The people at that time were also aware of this mentality of the Quraysh. As narrated by Bara’ ibn Azib, “I was sympathetic toward the Banu Hashim. When the Holy Prophet passed away, I was afraid that the Quraysh was thinking of taking the caliphate out of the Banu Hashim and I was at a loss to understand.”
The Quraysh’s approval of the caliphate of Abubakr and Umar was motivated by their own benefits. For, at the time of his death, Abubakr said a number of Quraysh who have come to his support: “I know that each of you imagines that the caliphate shall belong to him, but I chose the best among you.”
Ibn Abi al Hadid says: “Quraysh was displeased by the prolongation of the caliphate of Umar, and Umar was aware of this issue and he was not permitting them to go out of Medina.”
2. Tribal Rivalry and Envy
One of the dire spin-offs of the tribal structure was intense struggle among the tribes, and God, the Exalted, points to this issue in some surahs of the Quran such as Surah at-Takathur and Surah as-Saba’.
Since the period of jahiliyyah, there had been a power struggle between the Banu Hashim and the rest of Quraysh tribes. On the event of digging the Zamzam well by Abd al-Muttalib, the entire Quraysh tribes rallied together against the Banu Hashim and they were not ready to allow the honor of digging the Zamzam well to go to Abd al-Muttalib alone. Therefore, Abu Jahl used to say:
We used to compete with the Banu Hashim over the possession of nobility. They fed people; we fed them too. They gave riding animals to people; we also gave. They gave money; we also gave. It was to such an extent that we closely competed with each other, and we became like two racing horses. Then, they said: “There emerged from among us a prophet who receives revelation from heaven.” Now, how could we compete with him? By God! We shall never believe in him or recognize him.
Umayya ibn Abi’s-Salt, one of the nobles and great men of Ta’if and one of the Hunafa, did not embrace Islam for the same reason. For many years, he had been waiting for the promised prophet to come. But he had been waiting as such so as to acquire this position himself. After becoming aware of the beginning of the Prophet’s mission, he refrained from following him identifying the reason for this as shame of the women of Thaqif, saying: “For a long time, I was telling them: ‘I shall be the promised prophet.’ Now, how could I bear for them to see me following a youngster of Banu Abd al-Manaf (referring to the Prophet)?”
Yet, despite their will and envy, God lead His Prophet to triumph crushing their pomp. After the 8th year hijrah, when most Quraysh nobles had emigrated to Medina, their irritation and envy toward the family of the Prophet were mostly the result of instigation of these “new Muslims”.
Ibn Saad has narrated thus:
One of the Muhajirun said many times to Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib: “Your father Abd al-Muttalib and Ghaytalah, Banu Sahm’s female fortune-teller, were both in the fire. Finally, Abbas was infuriated and slapped him. As a result, his nose bled. That person came to the Prophet and made a complaint against Abbas. The Messenger of Allah asked his uncle Abbas to explain and Abbas complied. Thereafter, the Prophet said to that man: “Why are you annoying Abbas?”
Due to his special position, Ali was the most envied by them. Imam al-Baqir says: “Whenever the Holy Prophet mentioned the virtues of Ali or recited a verse of the Quran which was revealed concerning him, some of those who were in the assembly would stand up and leave.”
As such, the Holy Prophet has been reported many times to have said: “He who is envious of Ali is envious of me and he who is envious of me is an infidel {kafir}.”
Even during the time of the Prophet, some would even express their envy and would actively annoy and disturb Ali. Along this line, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas has thus narrated: “Another person and I were in the mosque and we were abusing Ali. While furious, the Prophet came to us and said: ‘Why do you annoy me? He who annoys Ali annoys me’.”
3. The Quraysh’s Enmity toward Ali
Finally, the most important reason for depriving Ali was Quraysh’s opposition and enmity toward him as they had suffered heavy losses from him, for, in battles during the time of the Prophet, Ali had killed their unbelieving fathers, brothers and relatives. As Yaqubi writes concerning the events on the initial days of the caliphate of Ali:
All the people paid allegiance to him except three persons from among the Quraysh: Marwan ibn al-Hakam, Saeed ibn al-As and Walid ibn ‘Uqbah. On their behalf, Walid said to Commander of the Faithful: “You have inflicted a blow to all of us. You slaughtered my father after (the Battle of) Badr. You killed the father of Saeed in the battle and as Marwan’s father returned to Medina, you complained to Uthman.”
Similarly, during Ali’s caliphate Ubayd Allah ibn Umar requested Imam Hasan to visit him and he has appointment with him. When Imam Hasan paid him a visit he said: “Your father has inflicted a blow to the first and last person of Quraysh and the people are hostile to him. Help me to depose of him and let you come in his stead.”
When Ibn Abbas was asked why the Quraysh are hostile to Ali, he said: “It is because Ali sent the first among them to the fire {of hell} (by killing them in battles while in a state of unbelief {kufr}) and put to shame the last among them.”
The rivals of Ali also kindled the fire of this displeasure of Quraysh toward him thus taking advantage of it. For instance, Umar ibn al-Khattab said to Saad ibn al-As: “You are staring at me in such a manner as if I killed your father, but I did not. It is Ali ibn Abi Talib who has killed him!”
After receiving a fatal blow at Ibn al-Muljim’s hand, Ali himself pointed out the magnitude of Quraysh’s enmity toward him in a poetical line:
“The Quraysh wished to kill me, but they did not succeed to do so.”
# The Silence of the Commander of the Faithful Ali
Now, let us examine why after the event of Saqifah and the commencement of Abubakr’s rule, Ali did not insist on claiming his indisputable right, and why after obtaining certainty on the ineffectiveness of some months of arguments and proofs, he did not resort to armed struggle.
In view of the fact that a number of the Prophet’s great Companions were his staunch supporters and that the common Muslims had also no opposition to him, it can be said in general that the Commander of the Faithful Ali took into account the interest of Islam and the Muslims and preferred to keep silent. As he says in his Khutbah ash-Shaqshaqiyyah,
“I put a curtain against the caliphate and kept myself detached from it. Then I began to think whether I should assault or endure calmly the blinding darkness of tribulations wherein the grown-up are made feeble and the young grow old and the true believer acts under strain till he meets Allah (on his death). I found that endurance thereon was wiser. So I adopted patience although there was pricking in the eye and suffocation (of mortification) in the throat. I watched the plundering of my inheritance… “
Of course, keeping Ali’s speech in view, other secondary factors concerning his silence can be pointed out.
1. The Discord among Muslims
The Commander of the Faithful says:
“When God took the soul of His Prophet, the Quraysh self-centeredly considered themselves superior to us and deprived us—who were the most deserving for the leadership of the ummah—of our own rights. But I saw that patience and forbearance with respect to this affair is better than the dissension of Muslims and shedding of their blood. It is because the people then had newly embraced Islam and the religion was like a goatskin full of milk which has frothed and the least sluggishness and negligence would spoil it and the most trivial difference would turn it upside down. “
2. The Danger Posed by the Apostates {murtaddin}
After the demise of the Prophet, a large number of the Arab tribes that had accepted Islam during the last years of the Prophet’s life turned back from the religion and became apostate, and this danger always seriously threatened Medina. As such, in order not to weaken the government in Medina in front of them, Ali was forced to keep silent. Ali says:
“I swear by Allah that at that juncture it could not even be imagined that the Arabs would snatch the seat of the caliphate from the family and descendants of the Holy Prophet and that they would be swearing the oath of allegiance for the caliphate to a different person. At every stage, I kept myself aloof from that struggle of supremacy and power-politics till I found the heretics had openly taken to heresy and schism and were trying to undermine and ruin the religion preached by our Holy Prophet.
I felt afraid that, even after seeing and recognizing the evil, if I did not stand up to help Islam and the Muslims it would be a worse calamity to me than my losing authority and power over you, which was only a transient and short-lived affair. Therefore, when I stood up amidst the sweeping surge of innovations and schism the dark clouds of heresy dispersed, falsehood and schism were crushed and the religion was saved.”
Imam Hasan also writes in a letter to Muawiya: “Since we were afraid that the hypocrites and the other Arab parties could render a blow to Islam, we ignored our right.”
Even a number of those in whose heart faith had not entered, as testified by the Quran, and had accepted Islam out of compulsion, as demanded by their inner hypocrisy, they did not accept the guardianship {wilayah} of the Commander of the Faithful. They even complained about this guardianship during the Prophet’s lifetime. On the commentary of the Quranic verse, “An asker asked for a punishment bound to befall,” Tabarsi has thus narrated from Imam al Sadiq:
After the event of Ghadir Khumm, a nomadic Arab by the name of Nu‘man ibn al-Harith al-Fihri came to the Prophet and said: “You commanded us to testify that there is no deity but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah. You ordered us to perform jihad, fast, pray, and pay zakah and we obeyed. But you are not satisfied with all this and you raised your cousin by your hand and imposed him upon us as our master by saying Ali is the master {mawla} of whom I am mawla.’
Is this imposition from Allah or from you?” The Messenger of Allah said: “By Allah who is the only deity! This is from Allah, the Mighty and the Glorious.” On hearing this reply Nu‘man ibn al-Harith turned back and proceeded toward his she-camel saying: “O Allah! If what Muhammad said is correct then fling on us a stone from the sky and subject us to severe pain and torture.” He had not reached his she-camel when Allah flung at him a stone which struck him on his head, penetrated his body and left him dead. It was on this occasion that Allah, the Exalted, caused to descend this verse.
In the event of Saqifah, these people were also siding with the Quraysh. As narrated by Abu Mikhnaf, a number of nomadic Arabs, who had to the vicinity of Medina for transactions and were present in Medina during the demise of the Prophet, had actual physical role in urging the people to pay allegiance to Abubakr.
3. The Safety of the Progeny of the Prophet
The original inheritors of the Prophet and the upright adherents of the religion are the members of the Prophet’s family. They were the partner of the Quran, the second previous legacy of the Prophet and the interpreters of the religious laws, and they showed to the people the pristine and genuine Islam after the Prophet’s demise. Their extinction would be an irreparable loss. The Commander of the Faithful said:
“Then, I looked and found that there is no supporter for me except my family {ahla bayti}, so I refrained from thrusting them unto death.”
The Concrete Political Formation of the Shia after the Event of Saqifah
Although Ali distanced himself from the political scene with the formation of Saqifah, the Shia in the form of a particular group with a particular political orientation was formed after the event in Saqifah and were collectively or individually defending the truthfulness of Ali.
They first gathered in Fatima’s house and refused to pay allegiance (to Abubakr) as they faced the onslaught of the Saqifah architects. But since Ali was not pleased to act violently against them for the sake of the preservation of Islam, he challenged them to a debate and argumentation. Bara’ ibn Azib thus narrates:
I missed the cases regarding Saqifah. As I went to the Mosque of the Prophet {Masjid an-Nabi}, I saw Miqdad, ‘Ubadah ibn Samit, Salman al-Farsi, Abu Dharr, Hudhayfah, and Abul-Haytham ibn Tayyiham were talking about the event that took place after the demise of the Prophet. He went together to the house of Ubayy ibn Ka‘b who said that his view is the same with whatever Hudhayfah would say.
Finally, on that Friday, the Shia of Ali went to the Prophet’s Mosque to debate with and condemn Abubakr. In this regard, Tabarsi thus narrates:
Aban ibn Taghlib asks Imam al Sadiq: “May I be your ransom! When Abubakr sat in the place of the Messenger of Allah, was there anyone who protested?” The Imam said: “Yes; there were twelve persons from among the Muhajirun and the Ansar such as Khalid ibn Saeed; Salman al-Farsi; Abu Dharr; Miqdad; Ammar; Buraydah Aslami; Abul-Haytham ibn Tayyihan; Sahl ibn Hanif; Uthman ibn Hanif; Khuzaymah ibn Thabit Dhu’sh-Shahadatayn; Ubayy ibn Ka‘b; and Abu Ayyub al-Ansari.
They gathered in a certain place and discussed together the event in Saqifah and were thinking of a solution. Some said: “We shall go to the mosque and let Abubakr come down from the pulpit. Some others did not agree with this idea, considering it unadvisable. They then came to Ali and said: “We will go and pull Abubakr down from the pulpit.”
The Imam said: “They are many. Once you go ahead with this and act violently, they will come and say: “You pay allegiance otherwise we shall kill you.” Instead, you have to go to him and tell him what you have heard from the Messenger of Allah and this is all of the proof. They came to the mosque and the first person among them who spoke was Khalid ibn Saeed al-Umawi, saying: “O Abubakr! You are aware that after the Battle of Banu Nadhir, the Holy Prophet said: ‘You have to know and keep my will. After me, Ali shall be my caliph and successor among you. My Lord has thus ordered me’.” After him, Salman stood up and made his famous statement in Persian language: “Kardid, nakardid.”
After their argumentation, Abubakr descended from the pulpit, went to his house and did not go out for three days until such time that Khalid ibn Walid, Salim Mawla Abu Hudhayfah and MuAdh ibn Jabal along with many others went to Abubakr’s house and gave him will power. Umar went along with this group to the mosque entrance and said: “O Shia and supporters of Ali! Be aware that if you would utter these words again, I will behead you.”
Similarly, a number of those Shia from among the Companions who, at the time of the Prophet’s demise, were on a mission outside Medina, such as Khalid ibn Saeed and his two brothers, Aban and Amru, protested against Abubakr after their return from their place of mission. As a sign of protest, all the three brothers did not continue their function which was collection of zakah, saying: “We shall not work for someone else after the Prophet.”
In addressing Ali, Khalid ibn Saeed said: “Come forward so that I could pay my allegiance to you as you are the most deserving person in the position of Muhammad.”
Throughout the 25 years of the three caliphs’ rule, The Shia from among the Companions were always introducing Ali as the caliph and commander of the faithful in truth. Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud used to say, “Based on the injunction of the Quran, there are four caliphs, viz. Adam (Adam), Dawud (David), Harun (Aaron), and Ali.”
Hudhayfah also used to say: “Anyone who wants to witness the Commander of the Faithful in truth shall meet Ali.”
Harith ibn Khazraj, the standard-bearer of the Ansar in the battles of the Prophet, used to narrate that the Holy Prophet said to Ali: “The inhabitants of the heavens have called you ‘Commander of the Faithful’ {Amir al-Mu’minin}’.”
Yaqubi writes:
After the six-man council proposed by Umar and the selection of Uthman, some were showing inclination toward Ali and speaking against Uthman. A certain person thus narrates: “I entered the Mosque of the Prophet {Masjid an-Nabi}. I saw a man sitting on his two knees so impatiently as if he was shouldering the entire world, and while being taken by them, he was addressing the people: ‘How surprising the Quraysh are!
They took out the caliphate from the family of the Prophet while among this family was the first believer, cousin of the Messenger of Allah, the most learned and knowledgeable of people about the religion of God, and most insightful of people to the right course and the Straight Path {Sirat al-Mustaqim}. They took the caliphate from the Imam of guidance, the guided {mahdi}, pure {tahir} and chaste {naqi}, and their objective was not for the reformation of the ummah and religiosity. They rather preferred the world to the hereafter’.”
The narrator says: “I approached and asked him: ‘May Allah be merciful to you! Who are you? And who is the person you are talking about?’ He said: ‘I am Miqdad ibn Amru and that person (I am referring to) is Ali ibn Abi Talib.’ I said: ‘You stage an uprising and I will help you.’ Miqdad said: ‘My son, this work cannot be done by just one or two persons’.”
During the caliphate of Uthman, Abu Dharr al-Ghaffari also used to stand by the door of the Mosque of the Prophet and say:
Anyone who knows me has recognized me and anyone who does not know me should then know that I am Jundab ibn Junadah, Abu Dharr al-Ghaffari… Muhammad is the inheritor of the knowledge of Adam (Adam) and all virtues of the prophets, and Ali ibn Abi Talib is the successor of Muhammad and the inheritor of his knowledge.
O confounded and wandering ummah after the Prophet! Be aware that if you would have made superior the person who had been made superior by God and have fixed the wilayah {guardianship} on the family of your Prophet, blessings from above and below will be bestowed on you and every matter you would want the information about which will be obtained from them from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet. But now, you did something else, you would see the consequences of what you have done.
Yes, the group of the first Shia and its formation had been initiated by the great Companions of the Prophet, and through these same Shia from the Companions that Shiaism was transferred to the next generation of the Tabi‘un {Followers}. And it was the result of their efforts that at the end of the rule of Uthman, from the political perspective, the ground for Ali’s caliphate was paved.
# The Shia among the Companions {sahabah}
We said earlier that the first person to call the followers of Ali as “Shia” was the receiver of the divine revelation, Muhammad al-Mustafa. During the time of the Holy Prophet a number of his Companions were known as “Shia of Ali”. In Khatat ash-Sham, Muhammad Kird Ali thus writes:
During the period of the Holy Prophet, a number of the great Companions was known for their fellowship and friendship with Ali such as Salman al-Farsi who used to say: “We pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah that we would be the well-wishers of Muslims and that we follow and befriend Ali ibn Abi Talib”; and Abu Saeed al-Khudri who used to say: “We were ordered five things, of which the people acted upon the four but have abandoned one of them.”
He was asked: “What are the four?” He replied: “Prayer, zakat, fasting in the month of Ramadan, and Hajj” He was again asked: “What is the thing that the people abandoned?” He replied: “The wilayah {mastership} of Ali ibn Abi Talib.”
The person asked: “Is this also obligatory like the others?” {Among the Shia were} also Abu Dharr al-Ghiffari, Ammar ibn Yasir, Khadiqah ibn Yaman, Khuzaymah ibn Thabit Dhu’sh-Shahadatayn, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Khalid ibn Saeed, and Qays ibn Saad.
Regarding the pioneering Shia, Ibn Abi al Hadid also says, thus:
The talk on the superiority of Ali is an old subject in which a great number of the Companions and Followers {tabi‘un} believed. Among the Companions were Ammar; Miqdad; Abu Dharr; Salman; Jabir; Ubayy ibn Ka‘b; Hudhayfah; Buraydah; Abu Ayyub; Sahl ibn Hunayf; Uthman ibn Hunayf; Abul-Haytham ibn Tayyihan; Khuzaymah ibn Thabit; Abu’t-Tufayl Amir ibn Wathilah; Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib; and all members of the Banu Hashim and Banu Muttalib. At the beginning, Zubayr also believed in Ali’s superiority. They were a few from among the Banu Umayya such as Khalid ibn Saeed and later on, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz.
In Ad-Darajat ar-RafiAh fi Tabaqat ash-Shia, Sayyid Ali Khan ash-Shirazi has allotted a certain part to the Shia among the Companions. He has first mentioned the members of the Banu Hashim and then the other Shia among the Companions. In the first section which is related to the Shia Companions among the members of the Banu Hashim, it is thus stated:
Abu Talib; Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib; Abdullah Ibn Abbas; Fadhl Ibn Abbas; Ubayd Allah Ibn Abbas; Qithm Ibn Abbas; Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Abbas; Tamam Ibn Abbas; Aqil ibn Abi Talib; Abu Sufyan ibn Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib; Nawfal ibn Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib; Abdullah ibn Zubayr ibn Abd al-Muttalib;
Abdullah ibn Jafar; Awn ibn Jafar; Muhammad ibn Jafar; RabiAh ibn Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib; Tufayl ibn Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib; Mughayrah ibn Nawfal ibn Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib; Abbas ibn ‘Utbah ibn Abi Lahab; Abd al-Muttalib ibn RabiAh ibn Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib; and Jafar ibn Abi Sufyan ibn Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
In the second section (the non-Banu Hashim Shia among the Companions), Sayyid Ali Khan has thus recorded:
Amr ibn Abi Salmah; Salman al-Farsi; Miqdad ibn Aswad; Abu Dharr al-Ghiffari; Ammar ibn Yasir; Hudhayfah ibn Yaman; Khuzaymah ibn Thabit; Abu Ayyub al-Ansari; Abul-Haytham Malik ibn Tayyihan; Ubayy ibn Ka‘b; Saad ibn ‘Ubadah; Qays ibn Saad; Saad ibn Saad ibn ‘Ubadah; Abu Qutadah al-Ansari; ‘Udayy ibn Hatam; ‘Ubadah ibn Samit; Bilal ibn Rubah; Abul-Humara’; Abu Rafi‘; Hashim ibn ‘Utbah ibn Abi Waqqas;
Uthman ibn Hunayf; Sahl ibn Hunayf; Hakim ibn Jablah al-Adwi; Khalid ibn Saeed ibn al-As; Walid ibn Jabir ibn Talim at-Ta’i; Saad ibn Malik ibn Sinan; Bara’ ibn Malik al-Ansari; Ibn Hasib Aslami; Ka‘b ibn Amru al-Ansari; RafaAh ibn Rafi‘ al-Ansari; Malik ibn RabiAh Saeedi; ‘Uqbah ibn Umar ibn Tha‘labah al-Ansari; Hind ibn Abi Halah at-Tamimi;
Ju‘dah ibn Hubayrah; Abu ‘Umrah al-Ansari; Mas‘ud ibn al-Aws; Nadhlah ibn Ubayd; Abu Burzah Aslami; Mardas ibn Malik Aslami; Musur ibn Shidad Fahri; Abdullah ibn Budayl al-Khaza‘i; Hujr ibn Adi al-Kindi; Amru ibn al-Humq al-Khaza‘i; Usamah ibn Zayd; Abu Layla al-Ansari; Zayd ibn al-Arqam; and Bara ibn Azib Awsi.
The author of Rijal al-Burqa has also mentioned the Shia and supporters of Ali among the Companions of the Prophet in a certain part of his book, thus:
Salman, Miqdad, Abu Dharr, and Ammar, and after these four persons, Abu Layla, Shabir, Abu ‘Umrah al-Ansari, and Abu Sinan al-Ansari, and after these four persons, Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari; Abu Saeed al-Ansari whose name is Saad ibn Malik al-Khazraji; Abu Ayyub al-Ansari al-Khazraji; Ubayy ibn Ka‘b al-Ansari;
Abu Burzah Aslami al-Khaza‘i whose name is Nadhlah ibn Ubayd Allah; Zayd ibn al-Arqam al-Ansari; Buraydah ibn Hasib Aslami; Abd ar-Rahman ibn Qays whose epithet Safinah Rakib Asad; Abdullah ibn Salam; Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib; Abdullah Ibn Abbas; Abdullah ibn Jafar; Mughayrah ibn Nawfal ibn Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib; Hudhayfah al-Yaman who is included among the Ansar; Usamah ibn Zayd; Anas ibn Malik; Abul-Humra’; Bara’ ibn Azib al-Ansari; and Arafah Azdi.
A number of the Shia ‘ulama’ and rijali scholars believes that the Shia among the Companions were more than this number. For example, Shaykh al-Mufid regards all the Companions who have pledged allegiance to Ali in Medina especially those Companions who accompanied him in the battles as among the Shia and those who believed in his Imamate {imamah}. In the Battle of Jamal (Camel), one thousand five hundred Companions were present.
It is thus recorded in Rijal Kashi:
Among the pioneering Companions who traversed the path of truth and believed in the Imamate of the Commander of the Faithful Ali are the following: Abul-Haytham ibn Tayyihan; Abu Ayyub; Khuzaymah ibn Thabit; Jabir ibn Abdullah; Zayd ibn al-Arqam; Abu Saeed Sahl ibn Hunayf; Bara’ ibn Malik; Uthman ibn Hunayf; ‘Ubadah ibn Samit, and after them are Qays ibn Saad; ‘Udayy ibn Hatam; Amru ibn Hamq; ‘Umran ibn Hasin; Buraydah Aslami; and others who are described as “basharun kathir” {many people}.
In the marginal note of Rijal Kashi on the definition and explanation of the term “basarun kathir”, the late Mirdamad says: “It means many people from among the prominent Companions and leading Followers {tabi‘un}.”
Sayyid Muhsin Amin has also said:
Be aware that many of the Companions believed in the Imamate of the Commander of the Faithful to count them is not possible for us to do and the narrators of traditions have consensus of opinion that most of the Companions accompanied and sided with the Commander of the Faithful in the battles.
In one of his letters to Muawiya, Muhammad ibn Abubakr identifies the presence of the Companions of the Prophet at the side of Ali as one of the signs of his rightfulness.
Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfah, a loyal supporter of Ali who was a maternal cousin of Muawiya, and owing to his friendship with Ali, languished in the prison cell of Muawiya and finally died there, thus addressed Muawiya in one of their conversation:
From the moment I have known you, whether during the pre-Islamic period of ignorance {yawm al-jahiliyyah} or during the advent of Islam, you have never changed and Islam has not been added to you. And one of the manifestations of this fact is that you are condemning me for loving Ali notwithstanding the fact that all the ascetics and devoted worshippers of the Muhajirun and Ansar are in his company while in your company are perverts and hypocrites.
Of course, not all of those who were enlisted in the army of the Commander of the Faithful can be considered Shia. But since he was the official caliph, they accompanied him. This statement can be said to be correct with respect to the other people, for the Companions who accompanied him were always assisting the Imam in proving his rightfulness. As Salim ibn al-Qays has narrated,
The Commander of the Faithful mounted the pulpit in Siffin and everyone including the Muhajirun and Ansar enlisted in the army gathered around the pulpit. The Imam praised and glorified Allah and then said: “O people! My virtues and merits are more than that which can be counted. It is enough to say that when the Messenger of Allah was asked about the verse, “And the Foremost Ones are the foremost ones: they are the ones brought near {to Allah},” he said: ‘God has revealed this verse about the prophets and their successors {awsiya’}.
I am superior to all prophets and messengers and my successor {wasi} Ali ibn Abi Talib is the foremost among the successors’.” At that moment, seventy persons from among the Companions who participated in the Battled of Badr, most of whom were from the Ansar, stood up and testified that they have heard the same thing from the Messenger of Allah.
# The Periods of Historical Development of the Shia
1. The Shia during the Period of the First Four Caliphs
The Shia during the reigns of the first three caliphs, viz. Abubakr, Umar and Uthman, has distinctive features which can be expressed in the following manner:
1. During the reigns of these three caliphs, the Shia were subjected to many pressures with the exception of the initial days after the event of Saqifah. It can even be said that many of the Shia were deprived of key positions on account of their being Shia.
2. After the event of Saqifah which brought about dichotomy on the issue of leadership over the Muslims and led to the division of Muslims into two main groups, the Ahl as-Sunnah were referring to the caliphs of the time on the scientific, jurisprudential, ideological, and other problems, whereas the Shia were referring to Ali.
The Shia’s practice of referring to Ali regarding scientific issues, jurisprudence and other Islamic sciences in general, continued with the pure Imams after the martyrdom of Ali.
The reason behind the Sunni-Shia difference in jurisprudence {fiqh}, hadith, tafsir {exegesis of the Quran}, kalam {scholastic theology}, among others is this very fact that the reference authorities of these two groups were different and distinct from each other.
3. Just as Ali had unofficial political and military cooperation from afar with the caliphs of the time as far as protection of the lofty interests of Islam was concerned, a number of distinguished Shia among the Companions also assumed military and political positions with the consent of Imam Ali. For example, Fadhl Ibn Abbas—Ali’s cousin and defender during the event in Saqifah—held a military position in the army of Sham and passed away in 18 AH in Palestine.
Hudhayfah and Salman became the governors of Mada’in one after the other. Ammar ibn Yasir was appointed by the second caliph as the governor of Kufa after the tenure of Saad ibn Abi Waqqas.
Hashim Mirqal, who was one of the sincere Shia of the Commander of the Faithful and was martyred in the Battle of Siffin on the side of the Imam, was one of the outstanding commanders during the periods of the three caliphs and conquered Azerbaijan in 22 AH. Uthman ibn Hunayf and Hudhayfah ibn Yaman were commissioned by Umar to measure the lands of Iraq.
Abdullah ibn Badil ibn Waraqa’ al-Khaza‘i, one of the Commander of the Faithful’s Shia whose son was one of the first martyrs in the Battle of Jamal (Camel), was one of the military commanders and conquered Isfahan and Hamedan.
Similarly, individuals such as Jarir ibn Abdullah Bajalli and Qurzah ibn Ka‘b al-Ansari who were among the Commander of the Faithful’s distinguished men during his caliphate, held administrative and military positions during the periods of the three caliphs. Jarir conquered the territory of Kufa and became the governor of Hamedan during Uthman’s reign. Qurzah ibn Ka‘b al-Ansari also conquered Shahr-e Rey during the period of Umar ibn al-Khattab.
Manifestation of Shiaism during the Caliphate of Ali
Although the root of Shiaism can be traced back to the time of the Prophet, its manifestation came after Uthman’s assassination and Ali’s caliphate. During this period the demarcating line became clear as Ali’s supporters and followers openly declared and expressed their Shiaism. Shaykh al-Mufid narrates, thus:
A group of people came to Ali and said: “O Commander of the Faithful! We are among your Shia.” The Imam looked carefully at their faces and said: “But why can’t I see the countenances of the Shia in you?” They asked: “O Commander of the Faithful! How should countenances of the Shia be?”
He said: “Their faces are pale from excessive acts of worship at night; their eyes are weak from weeping profusely; their backs have curvature for standing for long time in prayer; their stomachs can reach their backs for fasting a lot; and the dust of humility and lowliness has settled in them.”
Also, poems were recited during the caliphate of Imam Ali in which Ali has been described as the rightful Imam and successor, and the leader after the Prophet. As Qays ibn Saad was saying,
“Ali is our Imam and that of others. The Quran has been revealed for this purpose.”
Khuzaymah ibn Thabit Dhu’sh-Shahadatayn used to say:
“May I be the ransom of Ali! He is the Imam of the people, the light of creation and the asylum of the God-conscious ones.
He is the successor {wasi} of the Prophet, the husband of Batul (Fatima), the Imam of creation, and radiant sun.
He is the Imam of creation and gave in alms {sadaqah} his ring while he was in the state of bowing {ruku‘}, and what a good deed he performed!
God, the Exalted, made him superior to others and revealed the Surah “Hal ata” about him.”
In some poems, the Imam’s Shia also introduced themselves to the religion of Ali. For example, while engaged in a fight against a person named Amru ibn Yathribi from among the army of Jamal {camel} during the Battle of Jamal, Ammar ibn Yasir recited thus:
“O Ibn Yathribi! Leave not the battlefront so that we could fight against you over the religion of Ali. I swear to the House of God that we are the foremost ones to the Prophet.”
Even the enemies and adversaries were using the same descriptions for the Shia. For example, in a poem, proud of killing the supporters of Ali, Amru ibn Yathribi says:
“If you do not know me, I am Ibn Yathribi, the killer of ‘Ilba’ and Hind al-Jamali. I am also the killer of Ibn Sawhan for the crime of following the religion of Ali. “
2. The Shia during the Period of the Umayya Caliphate
The period of the Umayya caliphate was the most difficult time for the Shia, starting from 40 AH up to 132 AH. All the Umayya caliphs with the exception of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz were sworn enemies of the Shia. Of course, after caliph Hisham the Umayyas were preoccupied with the campaign against internal revolts and the Abbasid movement and the past harsh treatments of Shia were lessened.
The Umayya caliphs were living in Sham, the capital of the Umayya rule, and in most cases, the rulers adopted the policy of bloodshed with respect to the Shia-populated territories, exerted pressure on the Shia.
Among all the enemies, it was the Umayya rulers who focused most on the Shia relentlessly annoying and disturbing them, with Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad and Hajjaj ibn Yusuf being most notorious among them.
Ibn Abi al Hadid, the well-known scholar in the Sunni world, thus writes:
The Shia were being killed wherever they were. The Umayyas used to mutilate the hands and feet of individuals for being suspected as Shia. Anyone who was noted for his love and attachment to the family of the Prophet would either be imprisoned, his possessions be plundered, or his house be demolished. The pressure and restrictions imposed upon the Shia reached a point where the charge of friendship with Ali was considered as worse than the accusation of disbelief {kufr} and infidelity, entailing severer punishments.
In adopting this violent policy, living conditions for the people of Kufa was the worst because Kufa was the Shia capital of the time.
Muawiya designated Ziyad ibn SUmayya as the ruler of Kufa and later on assigned the governorship of Basrah to him. Ziyad was once in the rank of the supporters of Ali and he knew them all very well. He pursued the Shia and found them in whatever nook and corner they would hide. He killed them; threatened them; mutilated their hands and feet; blinded them; hung them on palm trees; and expelled them from Iraq so much so that not a single well-known Shia remained in Iraq.
Abul-Faraj Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ali ibn al-Jawzi has said:
“When a number of the Shia protested against Ziyad, who was then delivering sermons from the pulpit, he ordered the mutilation of the hands and feet of eighty persons. He used to gather the people in the mosque and ask them to curse Ali and if anyone refused to do so, Ziyad would order that his house be demolished.”
Ziyad, who ruled alternately for six months in Kufa and the next six months in Basrah, appointed Samurah ibn Jundab as his deputy in Basrah so that he could administer the city during his absence. During that period Samurah killed 8,000 people. Ziyad once asked him: “Are you not afraid that you might have killed one innocent person among them?” He replied: “Even if I have to kill two times that figure, I am not afraid of such a thing.”
Abu Suwar Adwi says: “One morning, Samurah {killed} 47 persons from among relatives, all of whom were memorizers of the Quran {hufaz}.”
Muawiya, in a directive to his officials and workers, wrote that they should not accept the testimony of even one of Ali’s Shia or family members. In another directive, he thus wrote:
If two individuals would give testimony that a certain person is among the friends of Ali and his family, his name should be erased from the record of the public treasury {bayt al-mal} and his salary and stipend should be cut off.
After subjugating Mecca and Medina,Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the bloodthirsty and cruel Umayya agent, was appointed as the governor of Iraq, the center of the Shia gathering, in 75 AH by the Umayya caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. Having covered his head and face, Hajjaj entered the mosque of Kufa incognito. He passed by the line of people and mounted the pulpit.
He remained silent for a long moment. Murmuring among the people started as to who he is. One person said, “He is the new ruler.” The other one said, “Let us pelt him with stone.” Many others said, “No, let us listen to what he will say.” When the crowd silenced, he uncovered his face and uttering a few sentences, he terrified the people so much so that the small stones in the hands of those who were ready to pelt him fell on the ground spontaneously. At the beginning of his speech, he thus said:
“O people of Kufa! It has been for many years that you have taken chaos, sedition {fitnah} and insubordination as your slogan. I can see heads similar to ripe fruits that must be separated from the body. I shall strike on your heads to such an extent that you would find the way to submission. “
Hajjaj implemented a rule of terror throughout Iraq and the eastern districts and unjustly killed many prominent figures of Kufa and pious people.
Masudi thus writes about the crimes of Hajjaj:
“Hajjaj ruled for twenty years and the number of those who were killed during this period by the swords of his headsmen or torturers exceeded 120,000 people. This figure does not include those who were killed by Hajjaj’s forces in the war against him.”
At the time of Hajjaj’s death, 50,000 men and 30,000 women were languishing in his infamous prison. Among them 11,000 were naked. Hajjaj used to imprison men and women in one cell. His prison cells were roofless. As such, the prisoners were not secure from the summer heat or the winter rain and cold.
The Shia were usually victims of Hajjaj’s prison, torture, persecution, and murder. The best evidence that reflects the miserable plight of the Shia during the Umayya period and the intensity of the Umayya policy of strangulation is the complaint of the Shia to Imam Sajjad about the oppression and tyranny perpetrated against them. The late Majlisi has narrates:
The Shia came to Imam Zayn al-Abidin complaining about the pressure and strangulation, saying: “O son of the Messenger of Allah! We were expelled from our cities and eliminated by atrocious killing. They cursed the Commander of the Faithful in the cities as well as in the mosque of the Messenger of Allah, on top of his pulpit.
No one prevented it and if any of us would protest, they would say, “This is a turabi (i.e. Shia); they would report it to the ruler, writing to him that so-and-so has said something good about Abu Turab (Imam Ali). The ruler would order them to beat that person, imprison him and finally kill him.”
# The Spread of Shiaism during the Period of Umayya Caliphate
In spite of severe strangulation and oppression perpetrated against the Shia during the Umayya rule, the spread of Shiaism continued unabated. The reason behind this was the state of oppression of the family of the Prophet which prompted the people to incline emotionally toward them, causing new individuals to continuously embrace the creed of Shiaism.
This point was completely conspicuous during the end of the Umayya rule. The spread of Shiaism during the Umayya rule had several stages, each of which had its own salient features. The overall stages can be divided as follows:
a) From 40 AH to 61 AH (the period of Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn);
b) From 61 AH to approximately 110 AH (the period of Imam Sajjad and Imam al-Baqir); and
c) From 110 AH to 132 AH, i.e. till the end of the Umayya rule (the period of Imam al Sadiq.
a) The Period of Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn
From the time of the Commander of the Faithful, the Shia was gradually formed into a distinct group and the line of the Shia was obviously clear.
For this reason, in the peace treaty with Muawiya, Imam Hasan stipulated the guarantee of the Shia of his father’s safety as one of the articles of the peace treaty, and nobody should protest against them. The Shia gradually trained themselves to accept that obedience to the Imam does not depend on the Imam’s actual grip on power. As such, when the people were pledging allegiance to Imam Hasan, he made it a condition for them to obey him both in war and in peace.
In the same manner, it was made clear that Imamate {imamah} is not necessarily equal to governance and that a tyrant ruler such as Muawiya cannot be the Imam, obedience to whom is obligatory. For example, in the sermon that he delivered in the mosque of Kufa after the peace treaty at the insistence and in the presence of Muawiya, Imam Hasan said:
The caliph is he who practices the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet, and he who is practicing injustice cannot be the caliph. He is rather a king who controls a kingdom. He shall enjoy for a short period and after that, his joy shall be curtailed and he must be called to account.
Among the salient features of the Shia’s society at this stage is the unity and solidarity among them, which resulted from the status of the Shia leaders. Until Imam Husayn’s martyrdom, we cannot see of any split among the Shia. Imams Hasan and Husayn had a certain status in the sight of Muslims which none of the pure Imams after them ever attained.
They were the well-established progeny of the Prophet. During the Battle of Siffin, when he saw that Imam Hasan was enthusistically rushing toward the battlefront, the Commander of the Faithful said:
“Hold back this young man on my behalf, lest he causes my ruin, because I am unwilling to send these two (Hasan and Husayn) toward death, lest the descending line of the Prophet is cut away by their death.”
Imams Hasan and Husayn also occupied a position of respect among the Companions of the Prophet. This fact was demonstrated in the people’s pledge of allegiance to Imam Hasan in which the Companions of the Prophet accepted his caliphate and none protested. As such, during Imam Hasan’s caliphate we cannot see any problem (in terms of his legitimacy being challenged) except from Sham.
When the Imam concluded a peace treaty and wanted to leave Kufa to return to Medina, the people wept profusely. In Medina also, his position is clear from a Qurayshi’s report to Muawiya. In his report to Muawiya, a Qurayshi man thus wrote:
“O Commander of the Faithful! Hasan performs his dawn prayer in the mosque and he remains in the state of prostration till the sun rises. Then, he inclines to one of the mosque’s pillars and anyone who is in the mosque can benefit from his services and talks to him until the rising of the sun {at noon}. He performs a two-rakAh prayer, stands up, goes out, asks about the condition of the wives of the Prophet, and then returns to his house.”
Imam Husayn, like his distinguished brother, occupied a highly respectable position such that even Abdullah ibn Zubayr, a staunch enemy of the Ahl al-Bayt, could not deny the station of Imam Husayn. While the Imam was still in Mecca, the people were not paying attention to Zubayr halting the progress of his campaign. Thus, he wanted the Imam to leave Mecca as soon as possible. He said to Imam Husayn, hence: “If I had the same position you have in Iraq, I would have hastened to go there.”
The station of the Imam was such that his refusal to pay allegiance to the caliph rendered the government of Yazid to be questioned. It was for this reason that the ruling authority insisted on him giving his pledge.
These two persons were held in such high esteem and respect among the Banu Hashim that not only could none from Banu Hashim have a leadership claim during their lifetime, but also none could even claim to be the chief of the Banu Hashim. When Imam Hasan passed away on the account of the effect of poison given by Muawiya, Abdullah Ibn Abbas was then in Sham. Muawiya said to him: “Ibn Abbas, Hasan died and you became the chief of the Banu Hashim.” Ibn Abbas said: “So long as Husayn is there, I am not.”
Even Ibn Abbas, in spite of his intellectual and political position, being a reporter of hadith and exegete of the Quran and, according to the Sunnis, even higher in rank than Imams Hasan and Husayn, was offering services to them. It is thus narrated in the document of Ibn Abi Ziyad:
Ibn Abbas prepared the riding horses of Hasan and Husayn, keeping the stirrup until they rode. I said: “Why are you keeping stirrup for them even though you are older than them?” He said: “You fool! Don’t you know who they are? They are the sons of the Messenger of Allah. Is it not a great honor that God has granted me the opportunity to keep the stirrup for them?”
The Impact of the Karbala Movement on the Spread of Shiaism
After Imam Husayn’s martyrdom the Shia, owing to the loss of one of their key supporters, were extremely frightened losing hope in an armed confrontation with the enemy. With the occurrence of the heart-rending event of Ashura the Shia movement received a devastating blow within a very short period of time.
As the news of this event spread within the Muslim lands, especially in Iraq and Hijaz, intense fear prevailed in the Shia communities. This was because it became increasingly clear that Yazid is determined to stabilize his rule even to the extent of killing the son of the Prophet, taking as captives his women and children, and that he would not refrain from any crime in order to strengthen the pillars of his government.
The effect of this intense apprehension was most obvious in Kufa and Medina, and it multiplied with the Hirrah tragedy and the intense and merciless crackdown of the popular ‘Medina movement’ by Yazid’s forces. Severe strangulation in the Shia-populated territories of Iraq and Hijaz especially in Kufa and Medina, was rampant shattering the Shia cohesion and formation.
In describing this sorrowful condition, Imam al Sadiq says: “After the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, the people dispersed from around the family of the Prophet except three persons, viz. Abu Khalid Kabuli, Yahya ibn Umm at-Tawil and Jabir ibn Mutam.”
In describing this period, Masudi the historian also says: “Ali ibn Husayn assumed the Imamate secretly with utmost dissimulation {taqiyyah} at a difficult time.”
This state of affairs persisted till the end of Yazid’s rule. After Yazid’s death, the Shia movements started and continued till the stabilization of the Umayya rule during the caliphate of Abd al-Malik. This period was a good opportunity for the spread of Shiaism.
One of the important impacts of the Karbala movement was the delegitimization of the Umayya rule in the public opinion. The infamy of the government reached a point where the position of caliphate was in its lowest degree and the people were no longer viewing it as a sacred institution.
The poem below addressed to Yazid’s grave in Hawarin expresses this infamy:
“O grave that is in the city of Hawarin! The worst of people is inside you.”
At that time, with the exception of the people of Sham, the Muslims—both Sunnis and Shia—were opposing the Umayya caliphate and Sunni and Shia revolts were frequently happening. Yaqubi thus writes:
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan wrote to his governor Hajjaj ibn Yusuf: “Do not afflict us with the shedding of the blood of the progeny of Al Abi Talib because we saw what fate the Sufyanis (descendants of Abu Sufyan) met as the result of their killing.”
Finally, the blood of Imam Husayn demolished the palace of the Umayyas. Muqaddasi says: “As God saw the oppression and injustice of the Umayyas against the family of the Prophet, He gathered an army from the different parts of that Khurasan and sent it to them at the darkness of the night.”
Meanwhile, the state of oppression of Imam Husayn and the martyrs in Karbala expressed the love for the progeny of the Prophet in the hearts of the people and strengthened their position as the descendants of the Prophet and the true protectors of Islam.
Most of the uprisings during the Umayya period took place in the name and for the sake of avenging their blood, and revolutions used to be formed under the slogan, “Ya litharat Husayn” {O helpers of Husayn!}. Even the uprising of a person like Ibn AshAth in Sistan was formed under the name of Hasan al-Muthanna (son of Imam Hasan).
For this reason, the hadiths regarding Imam Mahdi as the avenger {muntaqam} of the progeny of Muhammad gained prominence. The people were waiting for the avengers against the Umayyas and due to impatience and the peak of waiting, they would sometimes conform the name “Mahdi” to the name of leaders of the movements and uprisings.
In the meantime, the pure Imams and the progeny of the Prophet kept on reviving the memory and reminiscence of the martyrs of Karbala. Whenever he desired to drink water, Imam Sajjad would shed tears profusely when he set his sight on the water. When he was asked about the reason behind this reaction, he said:
“How could I not cry when the water was set free for the wild animals and beasts of prey of the deserts, but it was denied to my father?” One day, a servant of the Imam said: “Is there no end for your agony?”
The Imam said: “Woe unto you! Ya‘qub, who on account of the disappearance of only one of his twelve sons, so cried a lot during their separation that his eyes turned blind and on account of his agony his back bent. This is while his son was alive. But I was an eyewitness to the killing of my father, brothers, uncles and 18 persons from among my relatives whose corpses were scattered on the ground. So, how could it be possible for my agony and anguish to end?”
Imam al Sadiq was encouraging the poets to recite poetry as elegy to Imam Husayn, saying: “Whoever would keep on reciting poem about Husayn and prompt the people to cry, paradise shall be incumbent upon him and his sins shall be forgiven.”
In this way, Imam Husayn became the symbol of Shiaism. As such, in many stages of history such as the period of caliph Mutawakkil visitation {ziyarah} to the grave of the Imam was forbidden.
# The Period of Imam Sajjad
The period of Imam Sajjad can be divided into two stages:
The first stage covers the events after the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, the destabilization of the Umayya rule and finally the end of rule of the Sufyanis (descendants of Abu Sufyan) and the succession to power of the Marwanis (descendants of Marwan ibn al-Hakam), the internal struggle among the Umayyas and their entanglement with the uprisings and revolts up to the stabilization of the rule of the Marwanis. The second stage covers the time of governorship of Hajjaj ibn Yusuf and the defeat of Abdullah ibn Zubayr in Mecca up to the commencement of the Abbasid movement, which is also related to the initial period of the Imamate {imamah} of Imam al-Baqir.
After the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, the Umayyas were, on the one hand, entangled with the uprisings of the people of Iraq and Hijaz, and experiencing internal struggle on the other. The government of Yazid did not last long. Yazid died in 64 AH after three years of rule.
After Yazid, his son Muawiya II came to power. He ruled for not more than 40 years when he stepped down from the office of the caliphate and died soon after. With his death the internal squabble among the Umayyas began. Masudi describes the event after the death of Muawiya II which indicates the intense greed and rivalry among the Umayyas over the leadership, as thus:
Muawiya {II} died at the age of 22 and was buried in Damascus. With the burning ambition of becoming the next caliph, Walid ibn ‘Utbah ibn Abi Sufyan came to the front to lead the prayer for the corpse of Muawiya {II}, but even before finishing the prayer he received a fatal blow and was killed. Then, Uthman ibn ‘Utbah ibn Abi Sufyan led the prayer for him, but he was also not approved by them to assume the office of the caliphate. So, he was forced to go to Mecca and join Ibn Zubayr.
Three years had not yet passed when the rule of the Sufyanis came to an end. Many of the people throughout the Muslim lands including a number of the Umayya chiefs and governors such as Ḍahaq ibn Qays and Nu‘man ibn Bashir had inclined toward Ibn Zubayr. It was at this time when Ibn Zubayr drove the resident Umayyas out from Medina including Marwan.
The Umayyas proceeded toward Sham and since there was no caliph in Damascus, the Umayyas elected Marwan for the caliphate, followed by Khalid ibn Yazid and after him Amru ibn Saeed as his successor. After sometime, Marwan removed Khalid ibn Yazid and appointed his son Abd al-Malik as his successor. For this reason, Khalid’s mother who was married to Marwan poisoned Marwan killing him. Abd al-Malik also removed Amru ibn Saeed on his way and appointed his son instead as his heir apparent.
Meanwhile, the Umayyas were gripped by revolts and uprisings. These upheavals can be divided into two distinct types: One type was the uprisings without Shia underpinning. The Hirrah uprising and the revolt of Ibn Zubayr belonged to this type. The essence of Ibn Zubayr’s revolt is obvious because the leader of the revolt, Abdullah ibn Zubayr was a staunch enemy of the progeny of the Prophet.
He nursed this grudge in his heart owing to the defeat he and others, including his father, suffered in the Battle of Jamal (Camel) and the ensuing events. His brother MusAb, however, had Shia inclination and married the daughter of Imam Husayn, Sakinah. As such, his campaign gained momentum in Iraq and the Shia of Iraq joined with him in the resistance against the Umayyas. After Mukhtar Ibrahim al-Ashtar was in his company and was killed beside him.
The Hirrah uprising had also no Shia underpinning and Imam Sajjad had no hand in it. When Muslim ibn ‘Uqbah was asking the allegiance of the people in Medina, compelling them to pay allegiance, like slaves, to the Umayya caliph (Yazid), he accorded him due respect to Imam Sajjad and did not complain against the Imam (for not expressing allegiance).
The other uprisings had Shia underpinning.
The Shia Uprisings
The uprising of the tawwabun {the repentant ones} and that of Mukhtar were Shia uprisings. The base of these two uprisings was Iraq, Kufa in particular, and the constituent forces were Shia of the Commander of the Faithful. In the army of Mukhtar, non-Arab Shia could also be amply noticed.
There is no doubt about the essence of the uprising of the tawwabun. This uprising was based upon correct motives and yearning for martyrdom, and it had no objective other than avenging the blood of Imam Husayn and wiping off their sin for not assisting the Imam by being killed in the way of fighting against his murderers.
After leaving Kufa, the tawabun proceeded toward Karbala, rushing toward the grave of Imam Husayn for ziyarah and at the beginning of their movement, they thus said:
O God! We did not assist the son of the Prophet. Forgive our past sins and accept our repentance {tawbah}. Shower mercy {rahmah} upon the soul of Husayn and his righteous and martyred votaries. We bear witness that we believe in the things for which Husayn was killed. O God! If You would not forgive our sins and reckon us under the scale of mercy and clemency, we will be doomed to perdition and wretchedness.
After the arrival of Muslim ibn Aqil in Kufa Mukhtar was collaborating with him. But because of this collaboration, he was apprehended and imprisoned by Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad. After the event of Ashura he was freed through the mediation and petition of Abdullah ibn Umar, his brother-in-law (his sister’s husband).
He arrived in Kufa in 64 AH and after the tawwabun movement, he started his movement and by using the slogan, “Ya litharat Husayn” {O helpers of Husayn!} he was able to gather the Shia, the non-Arabs in particular, around him. With these forces, he succeeded in punishing the murderers of Imam Husayn for what they had done, such that in one day he was able to kill 280 of these criminals and destroy the houses of those who escaped such as that of Muhammad ibn AshAth, and on the contrary, he mended Hujr ibn Addi’s house, a loyal supporter of Ali, which was destroyed by Muawiya.
Contradictory views have been expressed about Mukhtar. Some have regarded him as a true Shia while others have said that he was a liar. Ibn Dawud thus says about Mukhtar in his book on rijal:
Mukhtar is son of Abu Abid ath-Thaqafi. Some Shia ‘ulama’ have accused him of Kaysaniyyah and in this regard, they have cited Imam Sajjad’s refusal of his gift. But this cannot be a reason for rejecting him because Imam al-Baqir thus said about him: “Do not speak ill of Mukhtar because he killed our murderers, did not allow our spilled blood to be disregarded, gave our daughters in marriage, and at the time of difficulty he distributed properties among us.
When Abul-Hakam, son of Mukhtar, came to Imam al-Baqir, the Imam showed him a great deal of respect. Abul-Hakam asked about his father, saying: “The people are talking about my father, but your view, whatever it is, is the criterion.” At that moment the Imam praised Mukhtar and prayed for God to have mercy on him, saying: “Glory be to Allah! My father said that the affection of my mother was from the property that Mukhtar sent to my father.”
And the Imam said many times: “May God have mercy upon your father! He did not allow for our right to be trampled. He killed our murderers and did not permit our blood to be disregarded.”
Imam al Sadiq also said: “In our family there was a woman who did not comb and apply henna to her hair until Mukhtar sent the heads of the murderers of Husayn.”
It has been narrated that when Mukhtar sent the head of the accursed Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad to Imam Sajjad, the Imam prostrated and made benevolent prayer for Mukhtar.
Meanwhile, the reports that have been transmitted to reproach Mukhtar are fabrications of the enemies.
With regard to the charge of Kaysaniyyah against Mukhtar and his alleged role in the creation of the Kaysaniyyah sect, while defending Mukhtar and rejecting this accusation against him, Ayatullah al-Khu’i thus writes:
Some Sunni ‘ulama’ associate Mukhtar with the Kaysaniyyah sect and this is definitely a false statement because Muhammad al-Hanafiyyah never claimed Imamate {imamah} for himself for Mukhtar to call on the people to recognize his Imamate.
Mukhtar was killed prior to Muhammad al-Hanafiyyah’s demise and the Kaysaniyyah sect came into being after Muhammad al-Hanafiyyah’s death. But as to the fact that they regard Mukhtar as “Kaysan” (it is not because he was following the Kaysaniyyah sect), granting that this label is appropriate for him, its origin is traceable to the same questionable report from the Commander of the Faithful who is alleged to have said: “O Kays! O Kays!” Thus, he was called, “Kaysan”.
Stabilization of the Rule of Marwan’s Descendants (Period of Strangulation)
As mentioned earlier, the second phase of Imam Sajjad’s period was the stabilization of the rule of the Marwanis (descendants of Marwan ibn al-Hakam). After the killing of Abdullah ibn Zubayr in 73 AH, the clan of Marwan stabilized its own rule, and on this path, they took advantage of the existence of notorious headsmen such as Hajjaj ibn Yusuf.
Hajjaj would not spare from committing any crime in the way of eliminating an enemy. He even targeted the Ka‘bah destroying it by a shower of catapulted fire stones. He would kill the opponents of the Umayyas, Shia or non-Shia, wherever he would find them. The uprising of Ibn AshAth against him in 80 AH gained nothing, and Hajjaj’s despotism engulfed the whole of Hijaz and Iraq until 95 AH.
Imam Sajjad lived during that period, conveying the Islamic and Shia knowledge and teachings through supplications. During that period, the Shia were either fugitives, languishing in prison, killed at the hands of Hajjaj, or exercising extreme dissimulation {taqiyyah} by hiding their true faith. As such, the people had no courage to approach Imam Sajjad and his close supporters were very few.
The late Majlisi thus narrates: “Hajjaj ibn Yusuf killed Saeed ibn Jubayr because of his contacts with Imam Sajjad.” Of course, during that time, on account of the pressures exerted against the Shia, they migrated to the various parts of the Muslim lands and became the agents of the spread of Shiaism. During the same period, some Shia in Kufa migrated to territories surrounding Qum, stayed there and contributed to the spread of Shiaism in that place.
The initial period of Imam al-Baqir’s Imamate also coincided with the persistent dominance of the Umayya rule. During at time, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, an authoritative and despotic caliph, summoned Imam al-Baqir along with his son, Imam al Sadiq, to Sham.
He did not neglect to annoy and vex them. During his reign, Zayd ibn Ali ibn Husayn staged an uprising and was martyred. Although the restraints and pressures exerted on the Shia were somehow mitigated during the caliphate of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, the period of caliphate was, nevertheless, short. After two odd years of rule, he passed away in a suspicious manner.
Of course the Umayyas were not able to extinguish the light of truth through pressure and restriction, and failed to erase the virtues and excellence of the Commander of the Faithful Ali from the people’s memory, and that was the will of God. Ibn Abi al Hadid thus says in this regard:
If God, the Exalted, had not endowed leadership to this man (Ali), even a single hadith concerning his virtues and excellences would not have been narrated because the Marwanis were so harsh in relation to the narrators of his virtues.
# The Beginning of the Abbasid Campaign and Its Effect upon the Spread of Shiaism
The campaign of the Abbasids started in 111 AH. On the one hand, it contributed to the spread of Shiaism in the various territories of the Muslim world, and on the other, the acts of strangulation of the Umayyas were lessened. As a result, the Shia were able to have a relative breathing space.
During this period, the infallible Imams laid down the Shia juristic and scholastic foundations and Shiaism entered a new stage.
In general, during the Umayya period there was no split between the descendants of Ali and the descendants of Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib and there was no quarrel between them. In this regard Sayyid Muhsin Amin says: “The descendants of Ali and the descendants of Abbas during the Umayya rule were treading the same path. The people who assisted them believing them to be more qualified to the caliphate than the Umayyas were known as the Shia of Muhammad’s progeny.
During this period, there was no difference in religious opinion between the descendants of Ali and that of Abbas. But when the Abbasids came to power, Satan hatched the seed of discord between them and the descendants of Ali, and they perpetrated numerous acts of oppression against the descendants of Ali. For this reason, the Abbasid campaigners were calling the people to please the progeny of Muhammad while recounting the states of oppression the Prophet’s progeny were enduring. Abul-Faraj al-Isfahani says:
After the killing of Walid ibn Yazid and the emergence of differences among the Marwanis (descendants of Marwan ibn al-Hakam), Banu Hashim’s campaigners and propagandists went to various places, and the first thing they were expressing was the merits of Ali ibn Abi Talib and his descendants. The said to the people: “How could the Umayyas afford to kill and displace the descendants of Ali?”
As a result, during this period Shiaism remarkably spread. Even the hadiths related to Hadrat Mahdi spread rapidly among the people of various regions. Khurasan was the main sphere of activity of the Abbasid campaigners. For this reason, the Shia numbers there increased rapidly to such an extent that, as narrated by Yaqubi,
After the martyrdom of Zayd (ibn Ali ibn Husayn) in 121 AH, the Shia in Khurasan were agitated and stirred up. The Shia publicized their belief. Many of the Abbasid campaigners used to approach them and recount the crimes committed by the Umayyas against the progeny of the Prophet. This subject and news was imparted to people in every city in Khurasan by Abbasid campaigners who went there and dreams and aspirations in this regard were seen and books were taught.
Masudi also narrates a subject which expresses the spread and prevalence of Shiaism in Khurasan. He thus writes: “In 125 AH when Yahya ibn Zayd was killed in Juzjan, the people named all the male infants born in that year were named Yahya.”
The influence of the Abbasids in Khurasan was greater as Abul-Faraj thus says while stating the profile of Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib:
The Khurasani Shia thought that Abdullah was his father Muhammad al-Hanafiyyah’s heir and that he was the Imam, and appointed Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah Ibn Abbas as his successor, and that the successor of Muhammad, Ibrahim, was the Imam from whom the Imamate extents to the Abbasids through inheritance.
As such, the bulk of the Abbasid army was constituted by the Khurasanis. In this regard, Muqaddasi says:
As God saw the oppression and injustice of the Umayyas against the family of the Prophet, He gathered an army from the different parts of that Khurasan and sent it to them at the darkness of the night. During the advent of the Mahdi there is more expectation from the people of Khurasan.
Given this, the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet had occupied a distinct position among the people such that after the victory of the Abbasids, a person named Sharik ibn Shaykh Mahdi in Bukhara staged an uprising because of the Abbasids’ acts of injustice against the progeny of the Prophet, saying: “We did not pay allegiance to them for us to commit oppression, shed the blood of people unjustly and commit acts against the truth.” He was repressed and killed by Abu Muslim.
1. Shiaism during the Period of Imam al-Baqir and Imam al Sadiq
The second period of the Imamate of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir and the initial period of Imam Jafar al Sadiq’s Imamate coincide with the Abbasid campaigns and Alawi uprisings such as that of Zayd ibn Ali, Yahya ibn Zayd, and Abdullah ibn Muawiya—one of the grandchildren of Jafar ibn Abi Talib at-Tayyar—and the emergence of Abu Muslim al-Khurasani as the deputy of the Abbasid campaigners in Khurasan in inciting the people against the Umayyas.
Meanwhile, the Umayyas had internal factional disputes and problems among their supporters because there was a serious clash between the Mudhiris and Yamanis among the Umayya supporters in their respective spheres of influence. These revolts and entanglements made the Umayyas negligent of the Shia.
As such, the Shia were able to enjoy a relative breathing space; relaxation from the state of intense dissimulation {taqiyyah}; reorganize themselves; and reestablish contacts with their leaders.
It was at this period when the people turned toward Imam al-Baqir to benefit from the blessings of which they had been deprived for many years. The Imam rose up in order to keep alive the school {maktab} of the Ahl al-Bayt. He engaged in guiding and enlightening people conducting teaching sessions in Medina and Masjid an-Nabi in particular. He served as the reference authority for people, solving their scientific and juristic problems, as such his view served as proof for them. Qays ibn Rabi‘ narrates that he asked Abu Ishaq about wiping {masa’} of slippers (during the performance of ablution {wudhu‘}) and Abu Ishaq said:
Like other people, I used to wipe my slippers (in ablution) until such time that I met a man from the Banu Hashim whose equal I have never met before. I asked him about the case of wiping the slippers (in ablution). He prohibited me from doing it, saying: “The Commander of the Faithful did not do it.” From then on, I stopped doing it.
Qays ibn Rabi‘ also says: “After hearing this statement, I also stopped wiping my slippers (in ablution).”
A certain man from among the Khawarij (Kharijites) came to Imam al-Baqir. While addressing the Imam, he said: “O Abu Jafar! What do you worship?” The Imam said: “God.” The man asked: “Can you see Him?” The Imam replied: “Yes, but the vision cannot witness Him while hearts with the truth of faith can see Him. He cannot be discerned through analogy {qiyas}. He cannot be perceived through the senses. He is not like human beings…” The Kharijite man left the Imam while saying: “God knows well to whom He shall entrust His message {risalah}.”
The scholars such as Amru ibn Ubayd, Tawus al-Yamani, Hasan al-Basri, and Nafi‘ Mawla ibn Umar used to refer to the Imam for solving scientific and juristic problems and issues.
When the Imam would arrive in Mecca, people would rush to ask him questions on matters pertaining to the lawful {halal} and the prohibited {haram}, considering the chance of asking the Imam a boon and a means of acquiring more knowledge. Imam al-Baqir’s teaching sessions were attended not only by students but also the scholars of the time. When Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik arrived in Mecca for Hajj, he witnessed these teaching sessions that were an opportunity for him.
He sent someone to ask the Imam on his behalf as to what the people will be eating on the Day of Judgment {mahshar}. In reply the Imam said: “On the Day of Judgment there are trees whose fruits shall be eaten by the people and rivers whose water the people shall drink so as to feel easiness for the Reckoning.” Hisham again sent that person to ask the Imam, hence: “Shall the people have time to eat and drink?” The Imam said: “Even in hell there shall be opportunity to eat and drink, and the dwellers of hell shall also ask for water and other graces of God.”
Zurarah (ibn A‘yan) says:
I, along with Imam al-Baqir, was sitting beside the Ka‘bah, while the Imam was facing the Ka‘bah. The Imam said: “Looking at the Ka‘bah is indeed an act of worship.” Then a certain man (from Bajilah) came and said: “Ka‘b al-Ahbar used to say: ‘The Ka‘bah prostrates to the Temple of Jerusalem everyday’.” The Imam said to the man: “What do you think about what Ka‘b was saying?” The man answered: “Ka‘b was telling the truth.” The Imam was annoyed and retorted, saying: “No, you have lied and Ka‘b has lied.”
Great ‘ulama’, jurists {fuqaha} and hadith scholars {muhaddithun} were trained under the blessed feet of the Imam, such as Zurarah ibn A‘yan about whom Imam al Sadiq said: “If it were not for Zurarah, there was a probability for the hadiths of my father to be lost forever.”
Muhammad ibn Muslim heard thirty thousand hadiths from Imam al-Baqir. Another scholar who learned from the Imam was Abu Basir about whom Imam al Sadiq said: “Had it not been for them, the works of prophethood {nubuwwah} will be terminated and be antiquated.”
Other prominent figures such as Yazid ibn Muawiya al-Ajali, Jabir ibn Yazid, Hamran ibn A‘yan, and Hisham ibn Salim were among those who were trained in the school {maktab} of the Imam.
In addition to the Shia scholars, many of the Sunni ‘ulama’ have also studied under the Imam and narrated hadiths on the authority of the Imam. As Sabt ibn al-Jawzi says, “(Imam) Jafar used to narrate hadiths of the Prophet from his father.” As such, a number of the Followers {tabi‘un} such as Ata’ ibn Abi Rubah, Sufyan ath-Thawri, Malik ibn Anas (founder of the Maliki school of thought {madhhab}), Shu‘bah, and Abu Ayyub Sijistani have narrated hadiths from the Imam.
Furthermore, thousands of learned men in jurisprudence and hadith attained progress in the Imam’s school and his hadiths were spread far and wide so much so that Jabir al-Ju‘fi, who was a great muhaddith, has narrated seventy thousand hadiths on the authority of the Imam. This state of affairs continued until Imam al-Baqir attained martyrdom on Dhu’l-Hijjah 7, 114 AH.
The University of Imam al Sadiq
In view of the then prevailing conducive political atmosphere, Imam Jafar al Sadiq pursued his father’s scientific movement and established a large university and center of learning whose horizon reached far and wide. Shaykh al-Mufid says:
The knowledge of the Imam has been so widely narrated that it became proverbial to various many and its fame spread to every nook and corner. None of the progeny of the Prophet match him (in this regard) whose knowledge and learning have been so widely transmitted.
Amir Ali thus writes about the Imam:
Those philosophical discussions and debates in all the Islamic centers became widespread and the guidance and instructions given in this regard were made possible only by the university that has been established in Medina under the supervision of Hadrat Sadiq, a great grandchild of Hadrat Ali. He has been one of the great ‘ulama’ with precise views, a deep understanding, and well-versed in all the branches of knowledge of the time. In reality, it is he who is the founder of the rational academy in Islam.
As such, those who were lovers of knowledge {‘ilm} and thirsty for the Muhammadan gnosis {ma‘rifah} rushed from different parts of the then Muslim world to that heroic Imam in multitude, and benefited from his abundant spring of knowledge and wisdom. Sayyid Ilahil says: “In Kufa, Basrah, Wasit, and Hijaz, people of every tribe sent their children to Jafar ibn Muhammad. Many of the Arabs and Persians, the people of Qum in particular, came to him.”
In his Al-Mu‘tabar, the late Muhaqqiq (al-Hilli) thus writes:
During the period of Imam al Sadiq various branches of knowledge that were transmitted from him astonished the great thinkers. A group of about four thousand rijali scholars have narrated hadiths from him, and by his teachings a great number of people in the various sciences attained mastery to such an extent that his answers to their questions were compiled in four hundred books {musannafat}, which were called “Usul”.
In his book, Dhikra, Shahid al-Awwal also says: “Four thousand people from Iraq, Hijaz, Khurasan, and Sham put into writing the answers of Abu Abdullah Imam al Sadiq to the questions.”
In this manner, the seekers and lovers of knowledge and learning used to benefit from the Imam. Outstanding scholars in various branches of the revealed {naqli} and rational {Aqli} sciences of the day such as Hisham ibn Hakam, Muhammad ibn Muslim, Aban ibn Taghlib, Hisham ibn Salim, Mu’min Taq, Mufadhdhal ibn Umar, Jabir ibn Hayyan, etc. were trained under the blessing of his presence.
Their compilations which are known as the Usul ArbaAmi’ah, are the basis of the four Shia books on hadith, viz. Al-Kafi, Man La Yahdharah al-Faqih, At-Tahdhib, and Al-Istibsar.
The disciples of Imam al Sadiq were not all Shia as most of the Sunni scholars of the day have also studied under his guidance. Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, a Sunni author, thus writes in this regard: “The leading figures (in jurisprudence and hadith) such as Yahya ibn Saad, Ibn Jarih, Malik, Sufyan ath-Thawri, Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah, Abu Hanifah, Sha‘bi, and Ayyub Sijistani have narrated hadiths on his authority.”
Abu Hanifah, the founder of the Hanafi school of thought, has said:
I used to go to Jafar ibn Muhammad for sometime. I used to see him in one of the three conditions: either he was praying, in the state of fasting, or reading the Quran. I never saw him narrating the hadith without performing ablution. The one superior to Jafar ibn Muhammad in knowledge, devotion and piety has not been seen by any eye, heard by any ear, or perceived by any heart.
The Imam’s teaching sessions were attended by those who later founded schools of jurisprudence attending as philosophers, as well as students of philosophy from far and wide. After learning the sciences from their Imam, they would return to their homelands and conduct teaching sessions of their own.
The Muslims used to gather around them and they in turn impart the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt propagating Shiaism. When Aban ibn Taghlib would come to Masjid an-Nabi, the people would reserve for him the pillar against which the Prophet used to lean, and he would narrate hadiths to them. Imam al Sadiq used to say to him: “Sit in the mosque of Medina and issue religious edicts to the people as I like persons like you to be seen among my Shia.”
Aban was the first person to have written something on the sciences of the Quran {‘ulum al-Quran} and he was also so well-versed in hadith that he used to sit in Masjid an-Nabi and the people would come and ask him. Through his various styles of speaking, he would answer them and impart the hadiths of the Ahl al-Bayt to them.
In Mizan al-I‘tidal, adh-Dhahabi thus says regarding him: “If the hadith of individuals such as Aban who are accused of being Shia is rejected, a great part of the Prophetic works would have perished.”
Abu Khalid al-Kabuli says: “I saw Abu Jafar Mu’min Taq sitting in Masjid an-Nabi while the people of Medina gathered around him and posed their questions on jurisprudence {masa’il} to him and he would answer them.”
Shiaism during that period was so spread that some people, in a bid to acquire social standing among the people, resorted to fabricating hadiths from the Imams to draw people’s attention by interpreting the traditions in their own favor.
For example, Imam al Sadiq—in reply to one of his companions named Faydh ibn Mukhtar who asked about the reason behind the contradiction in hadiths—thus says: “These people are not seeking the pleasure of Allah in narrating the hadiths and expressing our views. They are rather seeking the world and each of them is aspiring to be leader.”
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