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The name "Shi'ism" is derived
from the Arabic phrase "Shiat
'Ali," which literally means
the partisans or party of Hadrat 'Ali
(d. 661). The cousin and son-in-law
of the Prophet Mohammad, Hadrat Ali
was believed by most Muslim historians
(but not all) to be the first male
to embrace the Prophet's message of
Islam. His
partisans were those who believed
that Hadrat Ali was the rightful successor
of the Prophet and that Hadrat Ali
had been chosen by the Prophet to
succeed him in his role as the political
and spiritual leader of the Muslims.
The three caliphs who preceded Hadrat
Ali -Hadrat Abu Bakr, Hadrat Umar,
and Hadrat Usman - were not intended
by Prophet Mohammad to be his immediate
successors.This was in contrast to
the belief of the Sunnis, who did
not believe the Prophet had selected
Hadrat Ali to serve in that role.
The Imam is regarded by Shia not merely
as a political leader but as a metaphysical
being, one who is without sin, whose
doctrinal pronouncements are infallible
and who bestows true knowledge on
humanity. The Imams are referred to
within the Shia tradition as masum
- free from error or sin - and are
regarded by the majority of Shias
as twelve in number. The last Imam,
the Mahdi, is believed not to have
died but to be in hiding and will
appear at the end of time in order
to bring about the victory of the
Shia faith.
The Twelvers are by far the largest
group of Shia Muslims, because the
Iranians are Twelvers. Perhaps eighty
percent of the Shias are Twelvers.
Twelvers constitute ninety percent
of the modern population of Iran and
fifty-five to sixty percent of the
population of Iraq. Twelver Shias
are the majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain,
Azerbaijan and also have substantial
populations in Saudi Arabia, Turkey,
Pakistan,
Lebanon, Syria, India, Afghanistan
and Banladesh.
The following of Imam Jafar Sadik bifurcated
into two branches - the Ismailis,
the followers of Ismail, and the Musawite,
the supporters of Imam Musa Kazim,
who later on came to be known as Twelvers,
or Ithna
Asharites. Canonical schools in
Islam are called "Fiqh's".
the only Fiqh's in Shia Islam, are
Usuli, Akhbari,
and Shaykhi.
These 3 all belong to the
Ithna-Ashari or mainstream Shia
Islam, which believes in the 12 Shia
Imams; hence the name which means
"Twelver's".
Those who believe that the third son
was the rightful ruler of Islam are
called the "Twelvers", because
they believe that there were 12 Imams.
The last one is still alive, according
to the Twelvers, and has been hiding
in a cave for the last more than one
thousand years. They hold that the
twelfth Imam (Mohammad) who disappeared
about 874 is still living. He will
come out and resume his rule soon,
the Twelvers say.
Modern Twelvers believe that, for his
own protection, Imam Mohammad al-Mahdi
went into "occultation"
(hiding). He is reported to have communicated
to the faithful via intermediaries
called Babs (Gates), the first of
whom was Uthman al-Amri. When the
last of the four gates died in 941
CE, the lesser occultation ended and
the greater occultation began. The
line of Twelver Imams came to an end.
About the time the lesser Occultation
came to an end the Twelvers came to
believe that the Twelfth Imam would
return to earth in the last days as
the Mahdi, and would establish a reign
of justice and peace on earth. After
his coming, they believe, Christ will
return. Some from Iran claimed when
Imam Khomeini was alive that he was
in fact the "Disappearing Imam"
who had come back to rule. Others
said that he was the Mehdi or "Promised
Messiah".
The Twelvers are the largest Shia group
today, but they are not the only one,
and historically they were often a
very small, weak group. They emerged
as a distinct Shia group mostly in
the third Muslim century (the eighth
century C.E.) after the death of the
twelfth Imam. Twelver Shiasm appears
to have grown in size partly because
it did not have a living Imam; many
other descendants or alleged descendants
of the Prophet called themselves the
Imam, formented militarty revolt,
and were killed. By not having a living
Imam, Twelver Shiasm was able to survive
and grow, and other Shias often were
absorbed into it when their revolts
were crushed and their Imams executed.
In law, the Twelvers do not accept hadiths,
transmitted by people hostile of the
Imans such as Hadrat Ayesha, daughter
of Hadrat Abu Bakr and wife of Prophet
Mohammad, and make use also of the
sayings of the Imams. In addition
to the Shia regulations for the prayer
call and ablutions, they admit the
doctrine of taqiya or katman, the
prophecy or even necessity of hiding
one’s true beliefs among non-Shias...and
they retain the peculiar institution
of legal temporary marriage between
a free man and woman for mut‘a (pleasure).
An integral part of the Shia doctrine
of the Imam is that he is the legitimate
political leader of Islam; just as
the caliphs usurped Hadrat Ali's authority,
modern governments, in the absence
of the authority of the Imam, are
not legitimate. Most Imams of the
Twelver line, after Imam Hussain's
martydom, did not make a claim to
political leadership; rather, they
acknowledged the authority of the
caliphs, and urged their followers
to do the same. Thus political quietism
was a common option pursued by Twelver
Shias. Early Shia thinkers living
after the occultation of the Imam
felt leaderless. They felt a profound
alienation from the world and generally
adopted a quietest political policy.
Within Twelver Shia Islam there are three
major legal schools, the Usuli, the
Akhbari and the Shayki. Akhbaris constitute
a very small group and are found primarily
around Basra and in southern Iraq
as well as around Khorramshahr in
Iran. The dominant Usuli school is
more liberal in its legal outlook
and allows greater use of interpretation
(Ijtihad) in reaching legal decisions,
and considers that one must obey a
mujtahid (learned interpreter of the
law) as well as an Imam.
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last updated:
Tuesday, January 03, 2006 09:43:21 -0500 |
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