XLVII.—THE SHI′AʾHS.
THe Shíaʾhs (lit. "followers") are the followers of ʾAli, the husband of Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad. They maintain that ʾAli was the first legitimate Khalífa, or successor to Muhammad, and therefore reject Abu Bakr, Omar, and Osmán, the first three Khalifs, as usurpers. According to the Shíʾahs the Muslim religion consists of a knowledge of the true Imám, or leader, and the differences amongst themselves with reference to this question have given rise to endless divisions. Of the proverbial seventy-three sects of Islam, not fewer than thirty-two are assigned to the Shíaʾhs.
The twelve Imáms, according to the Shíaʾhs, are as follows:—
1. Hazrat ʾAli.
2. Hasan.
3. Husain.
4. Zain-ul-ʾAbid-dín.
5. Muhammad Báqr.
6. Jáfir Sádiq.
7. Músa Kázim.
8. ʾAli Músa Razá.
9. Muhammad Taqí.
10. Muhammad Naqí.
11. Hasan ʾAskarí.
12. Abu Qásim (or Imám Mahdí).
The last Imám, Abu Qásim, is supposed by the Shíaʾhs to be still alive and concealed in some secret place; and that he is the same Mahdí, or director, concerning whom Muhammad prophesied that the world should not have an end until one of his own descendants should govern the Arabians, and whose coming in the last days is expected by all Muslims.
During the absence of the Imám, the Shíaʾhs appeal to the Mujtahids, or enlightened doctors of the law, for direction in all matters both temporal and spiritual. Since the accession of Ismaíl, the first of the Sufí dynasty, A.D. 1499, the Shíaʾh faith has been the national religion of Persia. The enmity which exists between Sunní and Shíaʾh Muhammadans is, perhaps, hardly equalled by the mutual animosity which too often exists between Romanists and Protestants.
It is not true that the Shíaʾh Muhammadans reject the Traditions of Muhammad, although the Sunnís arrogate to themselves the title of traditionists. They do not acknowledge the Siháh-i-Sita, or six correct books of the Sunnís and Wahhábís, but receive the five collections of Traditions, entitled: 1. Káfi; 2. Man-lá-yastabzirah-al-Faqíh; 3. Tahzíb; 4. Istibsár; 5. Nahaj-ul-Balághat.
The Shíaʾh school of law is called the Imámía,[1] and it is earlier than that of the Sunnís; for Abu Hanífa, the father of the Sunní code of law, received his first instructions in jurisprudence from Imám Jáfir Sádiq, the sixth Imám of the Shíaʾhs; but this learned doctor afterwards separated from his teacher, and established a school of his own.
The differences between the Shíaʾhs and Sunnís are very numerous, but we will enumerate a few of them:—
1. The discussion as to the office of Imám, already alluded to.
2. The Shíaʾhs have a profound veneration for Imám ʾAli, and some of their sects regard him as an incarnation of divinity. They all assert that next to the Prophet, ʾAli is the most excellent of men.
3. They observe the ceremonies of the Muharram in commemoration of ʾAli, Hasan, Husain, and Bíbí Fatimah, whilst the Sunnís only regard the tenth day of Muharram, the ʾA′shúráa, being the day on which God is said to have created Adam and Eve, etc.
4, The Shíaʾhs permit Mutaʾh, or temporary marriages, which are contracted for a limited period, and for a certain sum of money. The Sunnís say that Muhammad afterwards cancelled this institution.
5. The Shíaʾhs include the Majusí, or fire-worshippers, among the Ahl-i-Kitáb, or people of the Book, whilst Sunnís only acknowledge Jews, Christians, and Muslims, as Kitábíahs.
6. There are also various minor differences in the ceremony of Sulát, or prayer, and in the ablutions previous to prayer.
7. The Shíaʾhs admit a principle of religious compromise which is called Takía (lit. "guarding one's self"), a pious fraud, whereby the Shíaʾh Muhammadan believes he is justified in either smoothing down or in denying the peculiarities of his religious belief in order to save himself from religious persecution. A Shíaʾh can, therefore, pass himself off as a Sunní, or even curse the twelve Imáms, in order to avoid persecution.
- ↑ A Digest of the Imámía code has been published by Mr. N. B. E. Baillie. London, 1869.