I had to do a very large amount of tahlils (Laa Ilaaha Illa Allah) over a period of two or three months, but the reason why is a story for another day. One day I was doing a couple hundred at the mosque of Imam al-Shafi’i while my friend was visiting the Imam- we had decided to take shifts in visiting the Imam and guarding our shoes. When he came back he saw my rosary- or prayer bead, and remarked about how much he liked it. “I swear I would have given it to you right away except that I have been using this one for these tahlils, and it would be best to finish them using the same prayer bead. “Yes, I understand,” he said, “but there are some who criticize this, saying that the beads are just lifeless objects with no significance in their own. Do you think there is a significance in using the same beads?” He wasn’t asking because he wanted my prayer bead- but because he was genuinely interested in the answer. “I do believe it matters,” I said, “but I dont know why exactly.” But now, inshaAllah, I will be able to tell him why.

The Life of Simple Objects

Islam has a very different view of the universe than many philosophies, especially modern materialist views, and agrees much more with ancient religions like Hinduism on such matters. These objects that we think are lifeless- stones, wood, the earth- Islam tells us that they too have a life: very different than what we know as a “life” perhaps, but a type of life nonetheless. Every tree, every flower, every rock, every drop of water, and all of creation glorify Allah constantly, the Qur’an tells us. They are all “conscious” of their Creator. The Prophet (pbuh) one time picked up some pebbles from the floor and held them in the palm of his hand, and then all those around him were able to hear them glorifying Allah. In fact, some of these “lifeless” objects are more conscious of their Creator than humans, for the Qur’an tells us that some hearts become harder than rocks- that there are rocks that fall from fear of Allah, and rocks from whose cracks water gushes forth. Yet how many human hearts refuse to let the light of Faith gush through them, and how few are the hearts that tremble with fear of Allah?

Allah even offered the Heavens, the Earth, and the Mountains to bear “the Trust” but they shied away from it- only Man was foolish enough to accept it. On Judgment Day, the Earth will bear witness at every man’s trial, saying “this person did such and such to me on this spot. He did such and such a thing on this spot.” And he who does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and he who does an atom’s weight of evil will see it. Tread softly, then, on this Earth, for the Prophet (pbuh) has warned us many times about maltreating it. And keep this in mind: even the objects that you think are lifeless are constantly conscious of their Creator- but where are you from remembering Him?

The Speech of Objects

As we have mentioned, these objects that modern philosophy tells us are lifeless are glorifying their Creator, and the Prophet allowed his companions to hear their glorification. This has happened with many pious men, to whom Allah honored by allowing them to hear the glorification of creatures and objects around them, but only for short periods of time. For we cannot bear to hear them all the time- how can we eat a fruit that is glorifying its Lord, or sleep when the walls are glorifying Allah? How can we cleanse ourselves of impurities with stones, or water, while hearing them glorify Allah? It is out of His mercy that we cannot hear them.

My shaykh, and his shaykh in turn, have both written in their works a warning to their students: they said that when a seeker has reached a certain level of spiritual progress, they will begin to hear the trees and the plants saying, “I can give you such and such health benefits”, and “I can cure such and such ailment”. But those who stop to benefit from this will be distracted from the Path and lose their way. Instead, the true seeker will say: I do not seek the secrets that you offer, I only seek the Face of my Lord, the Majestic.

The Hearing of Objects

The Qur’an tells us in the chapter named after the Virgin Mary, peace be upon her, that when people say “God has taken for himself a son”, the skies almost shatter, the ground almost breaks, and mountains almost crumble at hearing such words uttered- that God has a son. The Prophet’s companion Abdullah ibn Mas’ud once said that mountains will ask other mountains if someone occupied in dhikr of Allah has passed by them today- and if they said yes, they will be happy for their sake. Then he recited the above-mentioned verses and said, “Do you think that they would hear that which is false but not that which is good?” In other words, the Universe can hear us.

Our Relationship with these Objects

One of the most famous miracles of the Prophet, one much celebrated by Jalalluddin Rumi, is the story of the tree branch. The Prophet (pbuh) used to lean on a tree branch when he gave his speeches, but then his companions built him a podium from which to speak. When he (pbuh) started speaking from the podium, they all heard the tree branch crying from its seperation from its beloved, and so the Prophet had to go and hug it!

Hazrat Inayat Khan explains that just as our words and thoughts can affect- through the power of suggestion- other humans and even animals, they can also affect objects. He says,

In this age of materialism this is not understood by most people, but from a mystical point of view it is very often as effective and wonderful as any other suggestion I have mentioned. In ancient times a hero, before going to war, used to take his sword in his hand and speak words of friendship to it from the bottom of his heart. He would say, “I have taken you in my hand so that you will be my support, my protection, and my friend on te battlefield. All else I leave at home, but you I take along with me, my friend, my beloved sword.”

A musician in India, before playing his vina, used to greet his instrument, saying, “You are my life, you are my inspiration, you are the means of elevation for my soul; I greet you humbly. You will stand by my when I play.” No one can know of its effect except the one who has spoken these words; he knows what life he has put into the object. That instrument which was an object has turned into a living being.”

All manner of practices such as invoking sacred names and repeating spiritual chants in a new house are suggestion and affect even objects. However foolish it may look from the outside, still the fact remains that all things and beings represent life, the one life, although some are more open to suggestion and feeling and others seemingly less open. But even the latter are also open to suggestion; it is we who are not open to see them receive it. The man who knows this mystery knows a wonderful law of nature. As soon as a soul is awakened to this mystery life begins to reveal itself, and the soul begins to communicate with life.” (Spiritual Dimensions of Psychology, 56-7).

The Sad Prayer Bead

A wonderful effect happens when you use a prayer bead to supplicate your Creator: First, the bead itself is worshipping its Creator, and second, you are using it to worship your Creator in your own way. The words you utter leave an effect on the bead, for the names of God leave an effect on every object. The more you use a prayer bead, the more you affect it and it affects you, and the stronger the bond you have with it. That is why many pious worshipers have very special relationships with their beads- they cannot part with them and value them highly. Many have beads that they use in their daily worship, and others that they keep for special occasions, such as when they visit the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

I was sitting with some family members last week and my cousin mentioned how he sat down with a Syrian rosary seller in Jordan, and they talked about beads for almost four hours. There are many secrets to be learned about prayer beads from an experienced prayer bead maker. “The first thing he said to me,” my cousin told us, “is that a prayer bead is either happy or sad. If it is being used regularly, then it is happy. But if it is left unused, then it becomes sad.”

At hearing this, his mother, my aunt, started laughing. What is this nonesense? But my cousin’s father-in-law, a very pious man of constant worship and dhikr, said to her,

What your son says is true. Let me tell you something. The shaykh of my tariqa, he can tell whether a bead is sad or happy. He would say to his mureeds, “have you been doing your dhikr?” Then they would usually say, “of course I do them constantly”, but the shaykh would say “let me see your prayer beads.” He would then hold them in his hand, feel them, and say “You have not used this for a week!” or “you have not used this yesterday”. He would know how much a person has been using it from touching it! He also tells us to always take care of our beads and cleanse them- to put them in water and rub them regularly.*

Prayer beads are not just lifeless objects. Like all objects, they worship their Creator, and like all objects, they can hear your worship of Allah and be affected by it. The blessings of your utterances leave a “spiritual imprint” on these beads, and you can develop a relationship with it- your soul will communicate with it. And when you sin, you are covered with a certain darkness, peculiar to that sin. If you then pick up the prayer bead without having done ritual purification in the form of wudu or ghusl, then perhaps some of that darkness will “rub off” on the prayer bead, and that might be why you must cleanse it too. You can therefore increase it in light or darkness, make it happy or make it sad.

Now think back to what the Prophet’s companion, Abdullah ibn Mas’ud said: He not only said that the mountains can hear our dhikr but that a mountain is happy for another mountain if someone doing dhikr passed by it, which tells us that doing dhikr pleases objects, and is beneficial for them.

The Prophet (pbuh) told us that the Qur’an will intercede with its reader on the Day of Judgment, asking Allah to let him enter Paradise, testifying that he read it regularly. So just as I will try to read the Qur’an daily, I plan to pick up that sad prayer bead and to use it regularly, cleanse it regularly, and keep it happy. Perhaps on the Day of Judgement it will intercede for me, saying “Oh He Who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between, and gave us the power to worship Him, for He is capable of all things: this poor slave has used me regularly in glorifying you, in witnessing to your Oneness, to your Transcendence, to your Majesty and Beauty, and in sending peace upon the light of the two abodes, your messenger Muhammad (pbuh); Oh Allah forgive him his many sins, and allow him to smell the scent of Paradise.”

* note: some prayer beads, especially wooden ones, are best not washed much, just once quickly.

I’m in Jordan for Eid, a 6-day break. Still reading Spiritual Dimensions of Psychology and I can’t possibly recommend that book strongly enough. It is the most beneficial and practical book I have read in years. I’m thinking about it and trying to apply it constantly. It’s just so amazing. Right away I ordered another book from the same series called Mastery Through Accomplishment- both being collections of his lectures and writings on these topics.

So I decided not to do the two posts I said I would in my last post, until I’ve finished the book. Because there’s just so much more about this that keeps unfolding to me, I have to read the whole book first. I’m even thinking seriously about translating this book, and maybe the other one I ordered, and trying to publish them in Arabic (and perhaps add footnotes to it). I think they are so needed these days.

Being in Jordan is great, to spend eid with family and friends. InshaAllah I will try to visit tomorrow the tomb of the great Sahabi, one to whom I always felt “extra” love and affection, Abu Ubaydah Amir bin al-Jarrah, radiya Allahu ‘anhu. He is about one hour away but my friend has to take me because I dont know the way. Pray for me that I am able to do the visit.

My body is feeling great here, being recharged with good health and cleansed from the impurities of Cairo, and getting food that is truly nourishing. I just read recently a passage from Charles Poliquin, my favorite expert on health, exercise, and nutrition, that shows just how powerful food’s effects are, even in only one week:

I realize how anabolic food is every time I go teach in the Dominican Republic. Last time I taught a Biosignature Modulation course in the DR, the students took my body fat Monday morning. I was at 8% and weighed 198 pounds.

Now, there’s no such thing as grain-fed in the DR; they can’t afford it, so cows eat grass. And if you eat a mango over there you have to eat it over a sink because it’s so juicy. The eggs too are far more anabolic. They’re orange and full of omega-3s, like all eggs naturally were thousands of years ago.

A DR avocado tastes like butter it’s so rich in nutrients. Eating avocados over here is like eating fiberglass once you’ve had a DR avocado. It’s like having sex with Pamela Anderson then having to have sex with Rosie O’Donnell.

Anyway, five days later, after eating only Dominican Republic foods, I weighed 209 at 6% body fat. My business partner came to finish the seminar, took one look at me and said, “What happened to you?!”

But when I work in the UK or Ireland, I lose muscle mass and put fat on almost inevitably, even though I try to eat as cleanly as possible. The quality of the food is just piss poor.

Source

So really, this week of wholesome fruits and vegetables really does make all the difference to me. Inshalla I will write soon about how I after 2.5 yrs as a vegetarian I started eating meat again- but only certain kinds of meat and in certain amounts. I will explain the rationale behind it in a future post inshaAllah, and for now I’ll just be writing about ideas and thoughts as they come to me. I’ve noticed whenever I say I’m going to write about something, it doesnt happen for a long while, so no more promises.

Wassalam.

Spiritual Dimensions of Psychology is the title of a book I bought from a London bookstore many years ago, when I first found out about Sufism. I was at this really famous big bookstore there, with my parents and found a shelf of Sufi books; I ended up carrying a huge pile with me to the cashiers. This book was one of them, and as my mom saw me take it out of the shelf she saw on the back a picture of Hazrat Inayat Khan, the author of the work, and asked if I was planning to have a beard as big as his one day!

This had been during summer break from college, and then I went back to Toronto, where I was studying, and started going to dhikr meetings of the International Sufi Order (founded by Inayat Khan), where I met some great people. One of them, a convert to Islam, told me that this was one of the best books he had read; but I hadn’t read it yet.

Many years have passed since- and I’m living in Cairo now- without me ever reading that book, or any of Inayat Khan’s, for that matter (except some random stuff on the internet). But today, I took it with me to university to lend it to someone, thinking she might enjoy it- you see I have this bad habit of recommending books to people that I never even read! I thought I’d read a few pages during the taxi ride university and very quickly I realized that she’s not getting that book- not until I’m done with it!

There was this short chapter called “Mental Creation”, only 6 pages long, that totally amazed me. So now I plan to write two posts, the first coming tomorrow insha’Allah, inspired by this chapter. One is about the power of the thoughts we create, and the second about willpower. Regarding the power of our thoughts, this reminded me of that famous film that everyone’s been talking about, The Secret. When I saw that film I was faced with two very conflicting reactions: first, I knew that a lot of what it was saying was true, about the power of our thoughts and how they affect our lives and can bring us things we want. But at the same time, I felt that the principle behind it, the “Law of Attraction”, could not be true. It just did not make sense: there must be another explanation. Well this small chapter presented the other explanation! It basically tells you the real “secret”, and I would call it the Law of Creation (and Reflection) but let’s keep it at Creation for simplicity’s sake.

So insha’Allah I’ll get started on these posts tomorrow, which would help me organize and crystallize my thoughts on the matter. I’m thinking I’d copy the chapter, or parts of it, and add “commentary” in the way of Traditions of the Prophet and other great men, that would give more support and clarification.

Of course it might be wise to wait until I’m done with the whole book before doing this, but then again I’m not very wise. And I can always edit my posts later.

And with Allah comes success.

Thank you Suleiman!

I was holding off writing new posts because of the comment problem, but insha’Allah I’ll get back to it now.

There seems to be a problem with my theme that is keeping anons (and maybe others as well) from writing comments. The good support team is looking into it. For now you can leave comments on my old blog, riyada.blogspot.com

The great sufi masters of the Tariqa Muhammadiyya movements all spoke out against smoking and criticized it strongly. Here are some explanations on why they considered it to be haram.

We begin with Abd al-Aziz al-Dabbagh (d. 1719) because of his historic precedence and because the book of his teachings, al-Ibriz, is one of the most widespread and highly valued Sufis works today . He said, “Tobacco is forbidden (haram) because it harms the body, because those who smoke it have an addiction to it that keeps them from worship of Allah and cuts them off from it…and because the angels are hurt by its smell.”

His student asked, “But garlic and onions and the like have a bad odor and eating them is not forbidden.”

He replied, “If the right of the human and the right of the angel came into conflict, then the right of the human is given precedence because everything was created for the sake of humans, and therefore that which benefits humans is not forbidden even if it harms angels. And in garlic and onions are clear benefits, in contrast to smoking for it has no benefit….” (1)

Another great shaykh among the Muhammadiyya turuq was Ahmad Tijani (d.1815), founder of the Tijaniyya. He declared Tobacco to be forbidden based on the Prophetic tradition that “All that causes a state of weakness is prohibited”, and tobacco causes a state of weakness because of the smoker’s addiction and dependency.

Al-Tijani also demanded that smokers repent or they will not die a good death, and when one of his followers was dying, he started uttering vulgar words and was not able to say the Shahadah, despite having been a pious man of much worship. When al-Tijani found out that he smoked, he said that this was why he could not utter the Shahadah on his deathbed and that he must repent immediately.

Al-Tijani’s companions refused to give the litanies of the path to any seeker who smoked Tobacco, and if they found out that someone smoked they forced them to quit their litanies until they stopped smoking. (2)

Then came the student of al-Dabbagh’s student, the great scholar Ahmad ibn Idris (d. 1837). He was just as strongly opposed to smoking. When teaching a Prophetic hadith about Allah’s hatred for money squandering, he said,

And the greatest waste of money is in Tobacco. For I heard that in a previous year in which it was scarce, people used to buy it for 11 Riyals a pound. What mind does such a person have? Is there a mind behind this? No, it is far behind! Did he clothe he who has no clothes, or feed the hungry? And it doesn’t nourish or satiate…. And it causes illness: do you not see the chimneys of kitchens, how their shafts become blackened from the smoke that passes through them? So how do you think is the chest and throat of the smoker? Rust has piled up in them, so what benefit is sought from a person whose state is thus? For we have known many who quit it and became much happier, had lesser expenses, and their disposition came back to balance as they have told us; and they were able to sleep better, sleep being the source of man’s rest and mental stability. So what waste of money is worse than this waste?

And I was told by him in whose truthfulness I have no doubt, and in whose story I trust, that he saw the Prophet (pbuh) in his sleep and said to him: ‘Oh Messenger of God, is tobacco halal or haram‘? So he turned to Aisha who was next to him and said: ‘If she smoked it I would not come near her’. So he said, ‘Is it halal or haram’? He said, ‘If she smoked it I would not come near her’ three times. The man of the vision said, “I thought about saying to him: Did you forbid it in the Sharia? And if so, in which part of hadith? But I forgot because of the state I was in.”

So look at that which, had Aisha the mother of the believers smoked, the Messenger (pbuh) would have parted with her. What greater catastrophe is there than the separation of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and the Mother of the Believers, and what greater exposition of its prohibition than this? And he who has seen the Prophet (pbuh) in a dream has truly seen him, and he who has seen him in sleep is as if he has seen him in waking. (3)

Ahmad ibn Idris’ grandson Muhammad al-Sharif relates that a scholar asked Ahmad ibn Idris to help him see the Prophet (pbuh) in a dream. So when Ibn Idris saw the Prophet (pbuh) he said: ‘Oh Messenger of God, so-and-so wants to see you in his sleep’, but then the Prophet turned away from him. Then the next time he saw him he mentioned the same thing and the Prophet turned away from him again and it happened a third time. So Ahmad ibn Idris wondered why the Prophet turned away every time he mentioned this man, and the Prophet turned back toward him and said: “This man smokes, and I do not go to him who smokes.” Ahmad ibn Idris told this to the scholar the next time he saw him, which caused him to cry until he fainted. After this he repented for who he had been doing and God accepted his repentance and the Prophet visited him in his sleep for the sake of shaykh Ahmad ibn Idris.

Muhammad al-Sharif also relates about his father Abd al-Aali, Ibn Idris’ son, the following: A man came to my father and said, “This is the price of the wheat, and this for the fava beans, and this for the tobacco.” So Abd al-Aali said with anger, “subhanAllah brother! Who told you to plant tobacco on our land?” And he refused to take the money from the tobacco, and ordered the man to leave the land a whole year without any plant until it is purified.

Finally, Muhammad bin Ali al Yamani, the great grandson of Ahmad ibn Idris through his other son Muhammad al-Qutb, was once invited to the house of a man in Dunqula, Sudan. He accepted the invitation. Before that day came, he passed by the store of the man who invited him and saw him selling tobacco so he said: “subhanAllah brother, you sell tobacco? Your food is haram and I withdraw my acceptance of your invitation”, and he did not go to his house. (4)

There are many more examples from other turuq and other shaykhs, but these shall suffice to show how serious of a sin smoking was considered for these Muhammadan Sufis: It annulled your permission to recite the path’s litanies, it kept the Prophet (pbuh) away from you, it made any money made from it haram, and therefore your food and that which you bought with your money haram, and it prevented you from every Muslim’s greatest wish: husn al khatimah, sealing one’s life with a good end.

And think about this: If tobacco makes the land on which it is planted impure, then what of the body that inhales it?

————

1. al-Lamati, al-Ibriz min Kalam Sidi Abd al-Aziz al-Dabbagh, Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, pg 260-1.

2. sufi.forumup.co.uk/post-2201-sufi.html

3. Ahmad ibn Idris. al-Iqd al-Nafees, Cairo: Dar Jawami’ al-Kalim, pg 60-1.

4. Saleh al-Jaafari. al-Muntaqa al-Nafees, Cairo: Dar Jawami’ al-Kalim, pg 93.

Isma means infallibility and impeccability: to be free from error or sin. Imami (Twelever) and Ismaili (Sevener) Shiis hold that their Imams have isma. The following is based on the notes I used in order to give a short lecture on the topic.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In the earliest Islamic period, the Muslim people had not yet formed clear-cut sects like Sunnism or Shiism. Instead, there were opposing trends, each with tens, sometimes hundreds, of groups under its fold. This was especially true of the Alid, or proto-Shia, movement, which was consisted of hundreds of different groups with highly divergent, even conflicting, beliefs. From this same group, for example, would come the Abbasids who overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate and replaced it, as well as the proto-Shia followers of Jafar al-Sadiq’s sons, who would form the Abbasid dynasty’s enemies, the Imami (Twelever) and Ismaili (Sevener) Shii sects.

Because of this situation, there were no universally approved leaders of the Alid movement- but there were always certain stars that shined more than the rest. After Imam Ali’s two sons from his wife Fatima (al-Hasan and al-Husayn) died, the next most important figure behind whom the Alids flocked was Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya. This was a third son of Ali, but from a wife that he took after the passing of Fatima (r.a.).

At the time of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr had set himself as a counter-caliph to the Umayyads, and had met the approval of all of the Hijaz, reducing the Umayyad control to Syria. Thus the Muslims were divided into three large camps: The Zubayrids, the Umayyads, and the Alids who followed Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya. Ibn al-Hanafiyya had so much prestige among the people, and so many followers, that he could have easily taken the Caliphate for himself- but he did not seek it. Whoever he would give allegiance to, would therefore be more likely to win, but he refused to give his allegiance to someone who did not meet the approval of all Muslims.

At that time, all indications pointed toward a Zubayrid victory, except that their constant battles with Kharijites weakened them enough for the Ummayyads to defeat them under the leadership of the infamous al-Hajjaj. When Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya saw that the Ummayads won, he gave them his allegiance, in order to preserve the unity of the Muslim ummah, even though he could have revolted against them, even toppled them.

But after Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, the Alids did not have another great leader for a while. They all loved and respected al-Husayn’s son Ali Zainul Abidin, but he had no political role. His own son Zaid did not consider his father to be an Imam because he never sought power or held it. The proto-Shiis were again just a large array of different groups with divergent beliefs, united only in their desire to topple the Umayyads and put a Hashemite in power. Back then the movement was called a Hashimiyya movement, because they wanted someone from the Prophet’s clan Bani Hashim, a subdivision of Quraysh. Being a descendant of the Prophet (and Ali) was not a prerequisite for all groups, and eventually it was the Abbasids, descendants of the Prophet’s uncle al-Abbas, who would come to the forefront of the Hashimiyya movement.

After the passing of Ali Zainul Abidin, more revolts against the Umayyads ensued. One major revolt was led by Zaid, his son, who fought against the Ummayad caliph Hisham and was defeated. A large section of the Hashimiyya/Alid/proto-Shias had made Zaid their Imam, and these would later become known as the Zaidi Shia- the third largest Shia group still extant today. Other Shia with more extremist beliefs offered him his allegiance on the condition that he denounce the Prophet’s companions Abu Bakr and Omar. When he refused to say anything but praise about them, they withdrew their support, and he said, “laqad rafadtumuni” (you have rejected me), after which they became known as Rafida (the rejectors), which is a label still used today to denounce the Shia.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE DOCTRINE

All this historical introduction was important to make two points clear:

1) There was still no clear Imamate among the proto-shiis. Each group had its own leader.

and 2) The Zaydis were the first major sect to form from among the proto-Shia. This happened around the middle of the 8th century (Zayd’s revolt took place in December 740). The Zaydis do not believe in the Isma, or infallibility, of Shia imams. This is clear evidence that the idea of the Isma had not yet emerged, or at least, had not taken hold, among the proto-Shia groups.

The other main figure that emerged at that time was Zaid’s brother, Muhammad al-Baqir. Those who did not follow Zaid flocked around Muhammad, and when Zaid died he became the major figure among the proto-Shia.

This time, the time of Muhammad al-Baqir, is a major turning point for these Alid movements. The reason is that at this time, Muhammad al-Baqir was the only heavyweight figure, and most, if not all, Alid groups considered him as their imam. It was at this time that the idea of a single imam who is divinely guided and immune from sin or error, in other words, ma’sum, really emerged and began to gain widespread acceptance among the proto-Shia. Muhammad al-Baqir and his descendants did not seem to have openly claimed this idea but did not criticize it either, allowing this idea to spread and take hold.

Around this time (750) the theologian Hisham b. al-Hakam worked out the first clear doctrine of isma. He said that Prophets may disobey God but then be reproached by the Qur’an. The Imams, however, could never err, sin, or disobey God in anyway (presumably because there could be no new revelation to reproach them). Obviously this doctrine in which Imams seemed better than Prophets will be changed with time.

Muhammad al-Baqir was succeeded by his son Jaafar al-Sadiq, who also gained the unanimous support of the Alids. Thus began to emerge the idea of a succession of Imams, and idea that was not present before, and does not exist in Zaidi thought. But for non-Zaidi Alids, this belief that the imams are divinely appointed, and that it is transferred from father to son, became the accepted doctrine.

These divinely-appointed imams were thought to have inherited all the knowledge of the Prophet, and thus to be identical with him in knowledge and wisdom.

They developed the doctrine that out of God’s divine kindness and grace, there has to be at all times a guide to whom people can turn for certitude in religious matters and who can settle all problems with perfect justice. At first there were prophets, and them Imams. They argued that due to God’s grace, it was impossible for the world to ever lack such a perfect living Guide. The isma of the Prophets and Imams thus became an early cardinal dogma.

Because of their belief that there will always be a living Imam ma’sum to guide them, the majority of the proto-Shia developed the following belief: That rational methods of deducing religious law, like individual reasoning, analogy, or transmission of hadith all corrupted the religious law. Reasoning is faulty and hadith might be false or inaccurate- only mass-transmitted hadiths are acceptable. Only an Imam ma’sum can protect the law from corruption. This meant a clear condemnation of the entire science of usul al-fiqh and of the reliance on singly-transmitted traditions (hadiths).

[When their line of Imams unexpectedly came to an end after Jaafar al-Sadiq’s 5th descendant, they had to reverse their entire doctrine regarding jurisprudence and hadith, in order to fit the reality of them lacking a living imam. However all their previous doctrines still exist in their oldest books.]

This, however, was only the majority opinion. Many companions of the Imams considered them to be pious learned men, whose authority based purely on a scholarly basis. Many companions of the Imams believed that the Imams used analogical reasoning or independent judgment in legal opinions, and would thus question them on basis of their rulings, argue with them, and even outright disagree with them.

One of Jaafar al-Sadiq’s most competent companions was known Abu Basir. He was highly praised by the Imams and is considered one of the four elite scholars of the Shia religion. He did not accept the legal opinions of Jaafar’s son and successor Musa al-Kazim and thought that he had not yet acquired an adequate knowledge of law. This goes against the belief, held by the majority, that upon the Imam’s death, all of his knowledge is transferred to son.

At this point there was a major split in the Shia community. Jaafar al-Sadiq had first appointed his son Ismail as his successor, and a large portion of the community started looking to him for guidance, because they believed that the Imamate is transferred at the time of appointment. However Ismail died, while his father was still alive, and so Jaafar appointed his son Musa al-Kazim as successor. This created a split between those who chose to follow Ismail’s son Muhammad (the Ismaili or Sevener Shiis), and those who chose to follow Musa al-Kazim (later to become the Imami or Twelever Shiis). Ismail’s infant son Muhammad disappeared, and the Ismailis held that he had gone into occultation, and that he will come back at the end of times as the Mahdi.

As for those who followed Musa, the proto-Twlevers, their line of imams continued. In the year 874, the 4th Imam to lead the proto-Twelevers after Musa (considered the 11th imam in general by the Shia), died. With him ended the line of living Imams. His followers resorted to the belief that he had given birth to a son, the 12th imam, who had been concealed from the community and will emerge from his occultation at the end of time as a full-grown man, and as the Mahdi. As you can see, this idea of occultation was not new. In fact it was first held by some extremists regarding Ali when he died, and later Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, and then Ibn al-Hanafiyya’s son, then the Ismailis, and now it was taken up by the proto-Twelvers. As mentioned above, this suddenly brought about the very situation that the proto-Shia had been claiming, in their debates with Sunnis, was impossible: that the world could exist without a living, present, infallible Imam, who will solve any religious problem and ensure justice. In fact that had earlier held that only an infallible Imam could execute hudud punishments (severe punishments for adultery, theft, murder, etc).

Because of this sudden reversal, the Shia had to abandon their earlier doctrine and borrow Mutazili beliefs, which placed a high emphasis on mental reasoning. These were the very beliefs they had attacked for centuries, when they did not expect their line of imams to die. They became necessary at this time, however, to work out problems in the absence of living imams.

But as we said before, there was always the minority view that the Imams were not infallible and that they were scholars who exercised reasoning and mental judgment. This view was held, as mentioned, by close companions to the Imams, and was now upheld by some of the later theologians. One prominent example is Muhammad b. Qiba al-Razi, one of the leaders of the Shia community in the tenth century, and highly respected by later scholars. He said that the Imams were only pious scholars who had comprehensive knowledge of the Quran and Tradition. Some of the traditionists of Qum, who at that time became the very backbone of Shia thought, held the same opinion.

In 945, an unprecedented event took place: A Zaydi Shia dynasty known as the Buwayhids conquered Baghdad, and turned the Sunni Caliph into a puppet figure. The Buywahids (aka Buyids), allowed Shia thought to flourish in the Caliphal capital, Baghdad. It was at this point that the proto-Twelver community began developing a clear-cut doctrine, and became what is now known as Imami or Twelver Shi’is. The Twlever Shia doctrine began to spread, and it was strengthened by a re-writing of the past, so that it appeared as though there was a continuous line of Imams, by succession, from the time of Ali until the twelfth Imam. Many traditions were invented and sayings ascribed to earlier Imams. The later generations of Buwayhid rulers eventually became Twelver Shii’s themselves. But they kept the Abbasid Caliphate in place, and their political enemy was in fact the Ismaili Shia Caliphate in Egypt.

At this period, known as “The Shia Century”, the doctrine of the Isma developed as follows:

* Ibn Babuya (d. 991), held that Imams and Prophets were immune from both error and sin. However, the Imams were not immune from sahw (inadvertence: to make an oversight, an unintentional mistake, or a careless omission). He argued they did such mistakes to remind people that they were only human.

* Shaykh al-Mufid (d. 1022), held that Imams and Prophets were immune from inadvertence, forgetfulness, and major sins. However, they were capable of committing minor since before their prophethood or imamate, as long as they were not disgraceful.

and finally

* Sharif al-Murtada (d. 1044), who held that they were immune from any error or sin, both before and during their prophecy or imamate. This is the accepted belief today.

———————-

All information about the actual doctrines on Isma and the beliefs of the imams and their companions comes from Shia sources. They can be found in:

- Modarressi, Hossein. Introduction to Shii Law: A Bibliographical Study. London: Ithaca Press 1994.

- Encyclopedia of Islam 2: Isma

- Madelung, Wilferd, “Authority in Twelver Shiism in the absence of the Imam”, La notion d’autorite au Moyen Age: Islam, Byzance, Occident. Presses Universitaire de France, Paris 1982, pp. 163-74.

- Ayatollah Ja’far Sobhani,  Doctrines of Shi’i Islam: A Compendium of Beliefs and Practices, trs. Reza Shah Kazemi,  London: I.B. Tauris, 2001.

Technorati Tags: Shia, Shiism, Islam, Isma.

Over the past 4 or 5 years, I have been realizing just how much Twelever, or Imami, Shiism is similar to Christianity, primarily Roman Catholicism. I never really had a conscious effort to compare the two, but every once in a while I’d learn of something in Shiism that would remind me of Christianity and think “huh”. Sadly I never wrote them down as they came along so I’ve forgotten a lot of these similarities.

Just yesterday I was watching tv with my aunt and we saw some Shii supplications being chanted and my aunt noted how much it resembled, in style, the supplication of priests and pastors. This led me to try and list for her the similarities between Shiism and Christianity.

Well, on the very same night, I was reading a magazine at the doctor’s office and was surprised to find a short book review for a book comparing Roman Catholics to Twelver Shi’is! The book is called Roman Catholics and Shi’i Muslims: Prayer, Passion, and Politics and is written by James A. Bill. The review itself was short, but it gave some more examples. So here is a short list of the similarities that come to my mind, as well 3 or 4 from the book review. The most important similarities are of course those of doctrine, but I will list those toward the end.

* First of all, the most important event in the history of Shi’i Islam is the Battle of Karbalaa, in which the Prophet’s grandson al-Husayn, peace be upon them both, and his family, were martyred. This martyrdom has almost the same significance for the Shii’s as the crucifixion does for Christians.

* The identical practice of passion plays, in which Roman Catholics and Twelver Shii’s commemorate and re-enact the Crucifixion and the massacre at Karablaa, respectively.

* Shii’s self-flagellate every year in large processions, in order to atone for their sin: the fact that they (or rather their ancestors) failed to support al-Husayn at Karbala. This practice is usually looked down upon by the Shi’i Ulama but they cannot say anything against it because of its popularity with the public. Since the 13th century, and throughout the middle ages, there was a large Flagellant movement in which processions would walk long distances flagellating themselves, sometimes during a pilgrimage, and this is still practiced today by some Christian groups. It was outlawed by the Catholic Church, however.

* Al-Husayn’s mother Fatima, daughter of the Prophet, peace be upon them all, has taken a very similar role in Twlever Shiism as the Virgin Mary in Christianity, and even the paintings they do of Fatima are almost identical to those that Christians do of the Virgin Mary. While painting of humans, especially religious figures, is strictly forbidden by Islam, Twelever Shi’is have always drawn the family of the Prophet, in the same style as those of Mary and Jesus are drawn in the Christian tradition.

* Christianity was at first the religion of the weak and oppressed (I’m remember here what Nietzsche wrote about religion in general), and in the same way, the first proto-Shii groups provided a cause for the weak and disaffected within Muslim society, and as these groups had not really developed an ideology yet, most of their followers came because they felt oppressed.

* Twelver Shiis and Roman Catholics share a hierarchy of priesthood (ulama in the case of the Shiis). This does not exist in Sunnism, but the hierarchy is elaborate and well-defined in Shiism.

* At the top of the hierarchy for Roman Catholics is the pope, while for Twelver Shiism it is the 12 Imams and those who represent the twelvth Imam now that he is in occultation. Both the Roman Catholic pope and the 12 Imams are thought to be infallible. Even the highest level of ulama today for shii’s, the Ayatollah, are considered to be almost infallible. While they are not said to be infallible, they are treated in the same way. This is why in Twelever Shiism no Ayatollah can ever reverse the fatwa of a previous Ayatollah, because that would imply a mistake on the behalf of an Ayatollah.

My next post will be about the historical development of the idea of infallibility of the Imams in Shii thought, insha’Allah. It is based completely on Shi’i sources and studies of Shi’i sources.

* The importance of - and impatience for- the return of Jesus/the Mahdi in Christianity and Shiism. Much more so than in Sunni Islam.

Those were some similarities that I can think of right now, but there were many more that I feel I had noted and have forgotten. I’m sure the above-mentioned book has many more examples and a deeper level of analysis but I dont think I’ll be buying it.

Technorati Tags: Shia, Roman Catholic, Islam.