How shi’ism appeared, according to Allamah tabatbaie’s-2
English 1576 Views |Succession and Authonity in Religions sciences accordling to shi’ism
In the second part of the grouth of shi’ism, it is supposed to the problemes of succession and authomity in religious sciences after the prophet, accoraling to shi'ah, the political methael of the selection of the caliphate and its disagreement with the shi’ile the Shiite view and the negative conseguences of this methad.
In accordance with the IsIam teaching which form its basis, shiism believed that the most important question facthng IsIam society was the elucidation and clarification of IsIam teaching and the tenets of the religious sciences. The book of God and the saying of the Holy prophet and his house hold are replete with encouragement and exhortation to acquire Knowledge, to the extent that the Holy prophet says: To seek Know ledge is incumbent upon every Muslim. Bihar al –anwar of Majlisi, Tehran, 1301-15, VoI. I.P.55. Only after such clarifications were made could the application of these teachings to the social order be considered, In other word s, shi’ism believed that, before all else members of society should be able to gain a true vision of the world and of men based on the real nature of things. Only then could they know and perform their duties as human beings –in which lay their real welfare –even if the performance of these religious duties were to be against their desires .After carrying out this first step a religious government should preserve and execute real IsIam order in society in such away that man would worship none other than God, would possess personal benefit from true personal and social justice.
These Two ends could be accomplished only be a person who was inerrant and protected by God from having faults. Otherwise people could become rulers or religious authorities who would not be free from the possibility of distortion of thought or the committing of treachery in the duties placed upon their shoulders. Were this to happen, the just and freedom- giving rule of IsIam could gradually be converted to dictatorial rule and a completely autocratic government. Moreover, the pure religious teachings could become, as can be seen in the case of certain other religions, the victims of change and distortion in the hands of selfish scholars given to the satisfstion of their carnal desires. AS confirme by the Holy prophet, Ali followed perfectly and completely the Book of God and the tradition of the prophet in both words and deeds. al- Bibayah wal- nihayah, VoI. VII, p. 360. AS shi’ism sees it, if, as the majority say, only the Quraysh opposed the rightfut caliphate of Ali, then that majority should have answerd the Quraysh by asserting what was right. They should have quelled all opposition to the right cause in the same way that they fought against the group who refused to pay the religious tax ( zakat) The majority should not have remained indifferent to what was right for fear of the opposition of the Quraysh.
What prevented the shiah from accepting the eletive method of choosing the caliphate by the people was the fear of the unwholesome consequences that might result from it. Fear of possible corruption in IsIamic government and of the destruction of the solid basis for the sublime religious sciences. Asit happened later events in IsIam history confimed this fear (or prediction), with the result that Shiites became ever firmer in their belief. During the earliest years, followers, shi’ism appeared outwardly to have been absorbed into the majority, although privately it continued to insist on acquiring the Islam scienes from the House hold of the prophet and to to invite people to its cause. At the same time, in order to preserve the power of IsIam safeguard its progress, shi’ism did not display any open opposition to the real of IsIam society. Membery of the Shiite community even fought hand in hand with the sunni majority in holy wars (jihad) and participated in public affairs. Ali himself guided the sunni majority in the interest of the whole IsIam whenever such action was necessary. (Tarikh- I ya qubi, pp. 111. 126. and 129).
the political method of the selectin of the calip by vote and its disagreement with the Shiite view
Shi’ism belives that the Diving Law of IsIam ( shariah), whose substance is found in that Book of God and in the tradition(sunnah) of the Holy prophet, will remain valid to Day of Judgment and can never, nor will ever, be altered. A government which is really IsIam can not under any pretext refuse Completely to carry out the shari’ah’s injunctions. (God say in his word: for lo! It is an unassailable seripture Falsehood cannot came at it from before it or behind it( Quran, XLI, 41-42) And He says, The decision is for Allah only ( Quran, VI, 7, also XII, 40 and 67) meaning the only shari ah is the shariah and laws of God wich much reach man though ptophecy.And He says, but he [ is the messenger of Allah and the seal of the prophets. ( Quran, XXXIII, 40) And He says Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are the disblievers. ( Quran ,V, 44). The only duty of an IsIam government is to make decisions by consultation within the Iimits Set by the shariah and in accordance with the demands of the moment.
The vow of allegiance to Abu Bakr at saqifah,which was motivated at lest in part by political considerations, and the incident described in the hadith of “ink and paper “which occurred during the last days of the illness of the Holy prophet, reveal the fact that those who directed and backed the movement to choose the caliph through the process of election believed that the Book of God should be preserved in the from of a constitution. They emphasized the Holy Book and paid much less attention to the words of the Holy prophet as an immutable source of the teachings of IsIam. They seem to have accepted the modification of certain aspects of IsIamic teachings concerning government to suit the conditions of the moment and for the sake of the general welfare.
This tendency to emphasize only certain principles of the Divine Law is confirmed by many sayings that were later transmitted concerning the companions of the Holy prophet for example, the companions were considered to be independent authorities in matters of the Divine Law (mujtahid) being able to exercise independent judgment (ijtihad) in public affairs. It was also believed that if thaysucceeded in their task they would be rewared by God and if they falied they would be forgiven by Him since they were among the companions. This view was widely held during the early years following the death of the Holly prophet. Shi’ism takes a stricter stand and believes that the actions of the companions, as of all other Muslims, should be judged strictly according to the complicated incident involving the famous general Khalid ibn walid in the house of one the prominent Muslims of the day, Malik ibn Nuwajtah, which led to the death of the latter. The fact that Khalid was not at all taken to task for this incident because of his being an outsnding military leader(Tarikh -1 ya’qubi, voI, II, p. 110: Tdrikh-I Adil fida ,voI, p.158.) shows in the eyes of shiism an under lenience toward some of the actions of the companions which were below the norm of perfect piety and righteousness set by the actions of the spiritual elite among the companions.
Baning the companions of the prophet from writing hadith
Another practice of the early years which is criticized by shi’ism is the cutting off the Khums from the members of the Household of the prophet and from the Holy prophet s relatives. (al- Durrai- manthur, VOI, III, p. 186, Tarikh-I, ya qubi, VoI, III, p. 48. Besides, the necessity of the khums has been mentioned in the Holy Quran: And know that whatever ye take of spoils of war, lo! afifth( khumus) thereof is for Allah, and for the messenger and for Kinsmen …(Quran, VIII, 41)). Likewise, because of the emphasis laid by shiism on the sayings and the sunnah of the Holy prophet it is difficut for it to understand why the writing down of the text of hadith was completely banned and why, if a written hadith were found, it would be burned. (During his caliphateAbu Bakr collected five hundred hadiths. Aishah recounts. One night I saw my father disturbed until morning. In the morning he told me. Bring the hadiths, Then he sell them all on fire, (kanz al- ummal of Ala al-Din Muttagi, Hyderabad, 1364- 75- VOI, v. p. 237) umar wrote to all cities stating that whosoever had a hadith should destroy it. ( kanz al – ummal, VOI, v, p. 237) Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr says: During the time of umar hadiths in creased. When they were brought to him he ordered them to be burned ,( Tabaqat Ibn sad Beirut, 1376, VOI, p, 140). We know that this ban continued through the caliphate of the khulafa rashidun into the Umayyad period (Tarikh-I Abi- I fida, VoI, I, p. 151, and other similar sources) and did not cesa until the period of umar ibn Abdal- Aziz, who ruled from A.H. 99/A.D.717To A.H. 10 1/A. D. 719.
During the period of the second caliph ( 13/634- 25/644) there was a continuation of the policy of emphasizing certain aspects of the Shari’ah and of putting aside some of the practices of the which the Shiites believe the Holy prophet taght and practiced. some practices were forbidden, some were omitted, and somewere added for instance, the pilgrimage of tamattu (a kind of pilgrimage in which the umrah ceremony is utilized in place of the hajj ceremony) was banned by umar during his caliphate, with the decree that transgressors would be stould, this in spite of the fact that during his final pilgrimage the Holy prophet – peace be upon him – instiuted, as in Quran Surah II,196, a special from for the pilgrimage ceremonies that might be performed by pilgrims coming from far away. Also during the life time of the prophet of God temporary marriage( mutah) was practiced, but umar forbade it. And even though during the life of the Holy prophet it was the practice to recite in the call to prayers, Hurry to best act “ ( hayya ala khayr el- amal), umar ordered that it be omitted because he said it would prevent people from paeticipating in holy war, jihad. ( It is still rectied in the Shiite call to prayers,but not in the sunni call). There were also addititons to the shariah: during the time of the prophet a divorce was valid only if the three declarations of divorce ( I divorce thee) were made on three different occasions, but umar allowed the triple divorce declaration to be made at one time. Heavy penalties were imposed on those who broke certain of these new regulations, such as stoning in the case of mutah marriage.
It was also during the period of the rule of the second caliph that new social and economic forces Ied to the uneven distribution of the puplin treasury ( bayt al- mal) among the people, (Tarikh-I yaqubi, VOI, 11, p, 131, Tarikh-1 Abi I – Fida, VOI, I, p. 160) an act which was alter the cause of bewildering class differences and rightful and bloody struggles among Muslims. At this time Mu’awiyah was ruling in Damascus in the style of the Persian and Byzantine kinge and was even given the little of the khusraw of the the Arabs ( apersin title of the hightest imperial power ). but no serious protest was made against him for his worldly type of rule. (Usd al- ghabh of Ibn Athir, cairo, 1280, VOI.)
Deviatin manner of the thind caliph
The second caliph was killed by a Persian slve in 25/644. In accordance with the majority vote of a six man council which assembled by order of the second caliph before his death, the third caliph was chosen. The third caliph did not prevent his Umayyad relatives from becoming dominant over the people during his caliphate and appointed some of them rulers in the Hijaz Iraq, Eqypt, and other Muslim lands. These relatives begen to be tax in applying moral principles in government. Some of them openly, committed injustice and tyranny, sin and Iniquity, and broke certain of the tenets of firmly established IsIamic Iaws.
Before long, streams of protest began to flow toward the caplial. But the caliph, who was under the influence of his relatives – particularly Marwan ibn Hakam (Tarikh-I ya qubi, VoI, II, p, 150, Tarikh Tabari, VoI, III, p.)- did not act prompty or decisiviely to remove the cause against which the people were protesting. Some times it even happened that those who protested were punished and driven away.
An incident that happened in Egypt illustrates the nature of the rule of the third caliph. A group of Muslims in Egypt rebelled against uthman. uthman sensed the dander and asked Ali for help, expressing his feeling of contrition. Ali told the Egyptians, you have revolted in order to bring justice and truth to life. Uthman has repented saying I shall change my ways and in three days will fulfill your wishes. I shall expel the oppressive rules from their posts. Ali then wrote an agreement with them on behalf Uthman and they started home. On the way they saw the slave of Uthman riding on his camel in the direction of Egypt. They became suspicious of him and searched him. On him they found a letter for the governor of Egypt containing the following words. In the name of God. When Abd al- Rahman ibn Addis comes to you beat him with a hundred lashes, shave his head and beard and condemn himto long imprisonment. Do the same in the case of Amr ibn al’Hamq, suda ibn Hamran, and Urwah ibn Niba, the Egyptians took the letter and returned with anger to Uthman, saying ,” you have betrayed us!” Uthman denied the letter. They said, your slave was the carrier of the letter .He answered, He has committed this act without my permission and knowledge. They said, The letter is in the hand writing of your secretary, He replied, This has been done without my and permission and Knowledge. They said, In any case you are not competent to be caliph and mush resign, for if this has been done with your permission you are a traitor and if such important matters take place without your permission and Knowledge then your incapability and incompetence is proven. In any case, either reaign or dismiss the oppressive agents from office immediately. Utyman answred, If I wish to act according to your will, then it is you who are the rulers. Then, what is my function? They stood up and left the gathering in anger. (Tarikh- i Tabari, VOI, III, pp, 409, Tarikh-i yaqibi, voI, II.pp. 150- 151).
During his caliphate Uthman allowed the government of Damascus, at the head of which stood Mu’awiyah, to be strengthened more than ever before. In reality. The center of gravity of the caliphate as political power was concerned was shifting to Damascus and the organization in Medina, the capital of the IsIamic world. Was politically no more than a from without the necessary power and substance to support it (Tarikh- i Tabari, VOI, III, p, 377).Finally, in the year 35/ 656, the people rebelled and after a few days of siege and fighting the third caliph was killed.
The first caliph was selected through the vote of the majority of the companions, the second caliph by the will and testament of the first, and the third by a six- man council whose members and rules of procedure were organized and determined by the second caliph Altogether, the policy of these three caliphs, who were in power for twenty – five years, was to execute and apply IsIamic Iawa and principles in society in accordance with ijtihand and what appeared most wise at the time to the caliphs themselves. AS for the IsIamic sciences, the policy of these caliphs was to have the Holy Quran read and understood without being concerned with commentaries upon it or allowing it to become the subject of discussion. The hadith of the prophet was recited and was transmitted orally without being wriien down.
Bauning and destructing of writing hadiths
Writing was Iimited to the text of the Holy. Quran and was forbidden in the case of hadith. (Sahih of Bukhari, VOI, p, 98, Tarikh- i yaqubi, VOI, II, p. 113).
After the battle of Yamamah which ended in 12/633 may of those who had been reciters of the holy Quran and who knew it by heart were killed. As a result Umar ibn al- Khattab proposed to the first caliph to have the verses of the holy Quran collected in written from, saying that if another war were to occur and the rest of those who knew the Quran by heart were to be killed, the knowledge of the next of the holy Book would disappear among men. Therefore was necessary to assemble the Quranic verses in written from.
from the Shi’ite point of view it appears stange that this decision was made concerning the Quran and yet deapite the fact that the prophetic hadith, which is the complement of the Quran, was faced with the same danger and was not free from corruption in transmission, addition, diminution forgery and forgetfulness, the same attention was not paid to it. On the contrary, as already mentioned, writing it down was forbidden and all of the written version of it that were found were burned, as if to emphasize that only the text of the Holy Book should exist in written from. As for the other IsIamic sciences, during this period little effort was made to propagate them, the energies of the community being spent mostly in establishing the new sociopolitical order. Despite all the praise and consecration which are found in the Quran concerning Knowledge ( ilm), and the emphasis placed upon its cultivation, the avid cultivation of the religious sciences was postponed to a later period of IsIamic history.
Most men were occupied with the remarkable and continuous victories of the IsIamic armies, and were carried away by the flood of immeasurable booty which came from all directions toward the Arabian peninsula. With this new wealth and the worldliness which came along with it, few were willing to devote themselves to the cultivation of sciences of the House hold of the prophet, at whose head stood Ali, whom the Holy prophet had introduced to the people as the one most versed in the IsIamic sciences. At the same time, the inner meaning and purpose of the teaching of the Holy Quran were neglected by most of those who were affected by this change. It is strange that, even in the matter of collecting the verses of the Holy Quran, Ali was not consulted and his mane was not mentioned among those who participated in this task, although it was known by every one that he had collected the text. Of the Holy Quran after the death of the prophet. (Tarikh i ya qubi, VOI, II, p. 113, Ibn Abi – Hadid, VOI, p,9).
It has been recounted in many traditions that after receiving all egiance from the community, Abu Bakr sent some one to Ali and asked for his allegiance. Ali said Ihave promised not leave my house except for the daily prayers until I compile the Quran. And it has been mentioned that Ali gave his allegiance to AbuBakr after six months. This it is proof that Ali had finished compiling the Quran. Likewise, it has been recounted that after compiling the Quran he placed the pages of the Holy book on a camel and showed it to the people. It is also recounted that the battle of yamamah after which the Quran was compiled, occurred during the second year of the caliphate of Abu Bakr. These facts have been mentioned in most on history and hadith which deal with account of the compiltion of the Holy Quran
Conchusion
These and similer events made the followers of Ali more firm in their belief and more conscious of the course that laybefore them. They increased their activity from day to day and Ali himself, who was cut off from the possibility of educating and training the people in general, concentrated on privately training an elite.
During this twenty- five year period Ali lost through death three of his four dearest friends and associates who were also among the companions of the prophet. salman al- Farsi, Abu Dharr al- Ghifari, and Miqdad. They had been constant in their friend ship with him in all circumstances. It was also during this same period that some of the other companinons of the Holy prophet and a large number of their followers in the Hij az, the yemen, Iraq, and other lands, joined the followers of Ali. AS a result, after the death of the third caliph the people turned to Ali from all sides,swore allegiance to him and chose him as caliph.
Sources
shiah- pages: 66 to 81
Keywords
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