Shi'i Islam

A Beginner's Guide

Moojan Momen

• Publisher: Oneworld Publications
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781780747880
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

From infallible Imams to Ayatollahs in Iran, Shi'ism has long been a prominent, if misunderstood, branch of Islam. It regards Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law, as the Prophet's legitimate successor. But theological differences between the Shi'ah and Sunni Muslims have led to sectarian violence, massacres and the desecration of holy sites.In this Beginner's Guide, Dr Moojan Momen offers an accessible and comprehensive overview of Shi'ism, tracing the history of the community, its leadership and doctrines, from its inception to modern times.Packed with useful tables, family trees and text boxes, this engaging and up-to-date guide is a perfect introduction to the historical and geopolitical causes of religious tensions still troubling the Middle East today.

1

The succession to Muhammad

The Prophet Muhammad was born in the town of Mecca to a family of the clan of Banu Hashim of the tribe of Quraysh and, according to Shi‘i Traditions, on 9 May 570 CE (17 Rabi‘ I). His father, ‘Abdullah, died before Muhammad was born; his mother when he was six years of age. Muhammad was then brought up first by his grandfather and later by his uncle Abu Talib, the head of the clan. When Muhammad grew up, he was employed by Khadijah, a wealthy Meccan widow, to trade on her behalf. In about 596 CE, Muhammad married Khadijah and set up house. Although Abu Talib was an important person in Mecca, he was not a rich man and when his eldest son ‘Ali (born in about 600 CE) was five or six years old, Muhammad took him into his own house and brought him up.

According to Shi‘i Traditions, it was on 26 June 610 (27 Rajab), when Muhammad was 40 years of age, that he experienced what he would later describe as the appearance of the Angel Gabriel, who ordered him to recite verses. The first to believe in him were his wife Khadijah and his cousin ‘Ali, who was about ten years old at this time. The next to believe was Zayd, Muhammad’s adopted son. The first to believe from outside the family, and the first adult male to believe, was Abu Bakr. Soon there was a small group of believers, including ‘Uthman and later ‘Umar (after a period when he opposed Muhammad).

When, in about 613 CE, Muhammad began to preach his message publicly, he faced intense hostility. The prosperity of Mecca depended on the fact that during an annual festival the surrounding tribespeople came to Mecca and worshipped their gods in the shrine called the Ka‘bah. Muhammad’s message that there was only one God and that the worship of idols was wrong threatened the prosperity of Mecca and the livelihood of the Quraysh tribe. Although Muhammad himself was to some extent protected by his prestigious family connections, many of his followers, who were mostly of low social status, faced persecution and even torture at the hands of most of the leaders of the tribe of Quraysh, led by Abu Lahab, Muhammad’s uncle, and Abu Sufyan, the head of the Umayyad family. Since the Umayyad family will feature greatly in the later history, this is perhaps the best place to say a few more words about them. Abu Sufyan was a third cousin of Muhammad (they had a common great-great-grandfather ‘Abd Manaf). Muhammad’s clan was a senior clan in Quraysh, being responsible for taking care of the pilgrims who came to the shrine of the Ka‘bah, but other clans within Quraysh such as the Banu Umayyah (Umayyads) and Banu Makhzum had prospered much more from trade and therefore wielded great influence.

By 615 CE, the persecution of the Muslims had become so intense that Muhammad ordered a group of his most vulnerable followers to migrate to Ethiopia and seek the protection of its Christian sovereign (the Negus). The following year, the leaders of Quraysh ordered a boycott of the Banu Hashim clan. However, led by their chief Abu Talib, the Banu Hashim continued to support their family member, Muhammad, even though most were not Muslims. For a time, the clan blockaded itself in a defile to defend itself against a potential attack. This boycott failed to shake the resolve of Abu Talib and was abandoned in 619 CE. But in that year, two events occurred that severely undermined Muhammad’s position: his wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib, his two most powerful supporters, both died. Muhammad’s uncle, Abu Lahab, who had been antagonistic to Muhammad from the beginning, now became head of the Banu Hashim clan. He soon found a pretext to withdraw the family’s protection from Muhammad. This placed Muhammad’s life in danger since, according to tribal law, he could now be killed with impunity by anyone (withdrawal of clan protection meant that neither blood revenge nor blood money would be exacted for his murder). Muhammad was forced to leave Mecca and try to find a protector. At the nearby town of Ta’if, he was ridiculed and rejected. Finally, he found protection with the chief of the Banu Nawfal, a clan of Quraysh, and suffered the humiliation of returning to Mecca under the protection of a clan that was not his own and a chief who was an idolator.

Just at this time, when Muhammad’s fortunes were at their lowest ebb, an event occurred that presaged the turn of the tide. At the annual pilgrimage and festival in Mecca in the summer of 620, Muhammad met six men from the tribe of Khazraj of the town of Yathrib, some 300 kilometres north of Mecca, and converted them to his teachings. The following year, five of them returned and together with another seven, received instruction from Muhammad at secret meetings at a pass called al-‘Aqabah, near Mecca. They pledged to follow his teachings but did not pledge to take up arms on his behalf. When it was time for them to return to Yathrib, Muhammad sent one of his Meccan disciples with them. Muhammad’s teaching spread in Yathrib and the following year, 622 CE, seventy-two men and three women came from there to Mecca to pledge their allegiance to Muhammad, again at al-‘Aqabah. Since these represented prominent members of both Aws and Khazraj, the two major rival tribes of Yathrib, and they now promised to protect Muhammad with arms if necessary, Muhammad decided to move to Yathrib. He instructed his followers to leave secretly until only Muhammad himself, ‘Ali, Zayd and Abu Bakr were left in Mecca. The Meccan leaders were alarmed at the departure of the Muslims and dismayed at the disregard they showed for kinship ties. They decided that Muhammad must be killed. That night, however, Muhammad slipped away from the town with Abu Bakr and hid in a nearby cave. To fool the assassins, ‘Ali slept that night in the Prophet’s bed. Muhammad managed to reach Yathrib, which was henceforward called Madinat an-Nabi, the City of the Prophet, or just Medina for short. This move of the Prophet from Mecca to Medina signalled the turnabout in his fortunes and that year, 622 CE, the year of the Hijra (Hegira, Emigration), is the starting point of the Islamic calendar. Muhammad was 52 years old by this time.

Although his followers were at first a minority, Muhammad greatly improved his position when he was called upon as an outsider to arbitrate in an ongoing dispute between the two main tribes of the town, Aws and Khazraj. His successful resolution of this problem, through a series of treaties creating a confederation of all the tribes in the town, gave him a position of great power and influence. As the number of converts to his religion increased, Muhammad became the de facto ruler of Medina.

There were, however, two groups of people who created problems for Muhammad within Medina. An important faction of the people of the town resented his rule. Under the leadership of ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy, this faction, known to later Islamic history as the munafiqun (the hypocrites), sought to undermine Muhammad’s leadership and create alliances among his opponents. Although the Jews of Medina had originally welcomed Muhammad, who was preaching a monotheism not dissimilar to their own religion, they soon fell out with him and some 16 months after his arrival in Medina, Muhammad signalled his displeasure with the Jews and strengthened the new Islamic identity by changing the direction of Islamic prayer from Jerusalem to Mecca.

Externally, Muhammad also faced problems. Relationships with Mecca, which were already bad, deteriorated further after a number of raids upon their caravans....

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Map
• Introduction
• 1. The succession to Muhammad
• 2. The life and times of the Twelve Imams
• 3. The political leadership of the Shi‘ah
• 4. The intellectual and spiritual history of Shi‘i Islam
• 5. Shi‘i Islam as a lived religion
• 6. The role and position of women
• 7. Shi‘i doctrines and practices
• 8. Alternative Shi‘i communities
• 9. Shi‘i Islam in the contemporary world
• Glossary
• Bibliography