Amir Moghul
Bewakoof Insaan!! there is only one Shia sect all over the globe ‘Mashallah’, there are no sects within Shia’s as your maligned self try to portray, literal meaning of the word ‘Shia’ is Friend so whoever is the friend of Ahlul-bait-e- Rasul saww, he is a Shia’, [Asef]
Muslims must denounce terrorists’ use of aggressive Quranic verses: Hindu forum 12 Feb 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com
http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1189
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'Tum Amir Moghul Bhi ho, Jamshed Basha Bhi ho, Chor bhi ho, Be-Iman bhi ho, Kahne ko to Musallmaan bhi ho, Per Ye to Bataao, Kya INSAAN bhi ho'? Ps: Dushmana-e-Ahlebait sirf Haiwaan ho sakte hain Insaan nahi!!!! [Mrs. Sayyeda Kaneez]
Spiritual heritage of Imam Khomeini 09 Feb 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com
http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1183
'Tum Amir Moghul Bhi ho, Jamshed Basha Bhi ho, Chor bhi ho, Be-Iman bhi ho, Kahne ko to Musallmaan bhi ho, Per Ye to Bataao, Kya INSAAN bhi ho'? Ps: Dushmana-e-Ahlebait sirf Haiwaan ho sakte hain Insaan nahi!!!! [Mrs. Sayyeda Kaneez]
Spiritual heritage of Imam Khomeini 09 Feb 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com
http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1183
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Amir Moghul sahab
aapko is baare me kya kahna hai? "Ayesha's entry onto the battlefield of Jamal was a violation of the Quran Allah (swt) states clearly with regards to the wives of Rasulullah (s):
"And stay quietly in your houses, and make not a dazzling display, like that of the former Times of Ignorance;...." Al-Quran 33:33 Comment Our contention is that Ayesha’s leaving her residence following the demise of the Holy Prophet [s] and accompanying into battle a rebellious male movement that opposed the Khalifa of the time, was an open violation of this verse. [fikarmand Musalman]
http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/ayesha/en/index.php
Amir Moghul sahab
aapko is baare me kya kahna hai? "Ayesha's entry onto the battlefield of Jamal was a violation of the Quran Allah (swt) states clearly with regards to the wives of Rasulullah (s):
"And stay quietly in your houses, and make not a dazzling display, like that of the former Times of Ignorance;...." Al-Quran 33:33 Comment Our contention is that Ayesha’s leaving her residence following the demise of the Holy Prophet [s] and accompanying into battle a rebellious male movement that opposed the Khalifa of the time, was an open violation of this verse. [fikarmand Musalman]
http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/ayesha/en/index.php
How ‘Pakistan’s Switzerland’ became Taliban land 02 Feb 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com
http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1167
http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1167
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Dear Asef Sahab, Dear and Respected Ms Kaneez Sahiba and Mr Worried Muslim,
Answers as per my humble knowledge is as under:
Shias after Jafar [May Allah have mercy on his soul]:
The death of J'afar in 148 A.H. created a deep fissure in the Shia community. The Shias split into many groups and sects. Nau Bakhti is the fist Shia writer who has expressed his views about the genesis of Shia sects. He is of the opinion that after the death of Abu Abdullah J'afar bin Muhammad the Shias branched off into six sects -- He was buried in the same grave in Baqi in which his father and his grand father had been buried. His mother is Um Firoh bint Qasim bin Muhammad bin abi Bakr and her mother is Asma bint Abdur Rahman bin abi Bakr. The details of the six sects mentioned by Nau Bakhti are as follows:
Navusiyah:
The adherents of this sect believe that J'afar bin Muhammad is alive. He never died and will not die until he firse reppears and rules over the people. He is also the Imam Mehdi. They claim on the basis of his own words that even if his head is hurled at them from a mountain, they should not confirm it because he is one of their companions. He also said: If somebody informs you that he has nursed me during my illness and that he was present at the time of my death and that he gave me the bath and wrapped me in the coffin, even then you should not confirm it because I am your companion with the sword. This sect is known as Navusiyyah. It is named after the leader of the sect who was a resident of Basrah and whose surname was An-Navus.
Some of them believe that what had appeared was not J'afar but some one else in the image of J'afar. A group of the Sabais also joined this sect. They claimed that J'afar was thoroughly steeped in the intricacies and mysteries of religious knowledge. When some one asked the members of the sect about their conception of the Qur'an and about other peripheral issues relating to their faith, they replied that they held the same opinion as was held by Imam J'afar Sadiq. They in fact followed him blindly. It clearly proves that Shias had divided into various groups and sects during the life of Imam J'afar Sadiq.
Shamitiyah:
The second sect is called Simtiyyah or Shamitiyyah. The followers of this sect believe that after the death of Imam J'afar his son Muhammad bin J'afar holds the port-folio of Imamat. Imam J'afar had expressed his will about him when he was still a child. He often claimed that his son resembled his father Muhammed Baqir and his grandfther, the Messenger of Allah. These people acknowledge the Imamat of Muhammad bin J'afar and after him that of his son. It derives its name from its association with Yahya bin abi as-Samit or abi ash-Shamit.
It is note worthy that this Muhammad bin J'afar made his appearance during Mamun's reign and invited the people to pledge at his hand. The residents of Madinah took the oath of allegiance at his hand. The residents of Madinah took the oath of allegiance at his hand in his capacity as Amir-ul-Mominin. A number of battles were fought between his army and the army of Mamun. The armed forces of Mamun were commanded by Harun bin Musayyh. Then Harun dispatched a brigade which surrounded him on all sides. It was almost an invulnerable spot and access to it was extremely difficult. The siege continued for three days. When their rations and water zeroed out, his companions scattered away in all directions. He sought amnesty for his companions and Harun readily agreed. Mufid has stated that, like the Zaidiyyah sect, they believed in rebellion with the sword. This is one of the reasons that a number of adherents of the Zaidiyyah Jarudiyyah sect were also converted to this sect.
Fathiyah:
Kashi says that the followers of this sect believe in the Imamat of Abdullah bin J'afar bin Muhammad. The person after whom it is named had a clumsy head. According to an other version he had bent feet. The third explanation is that it was called Fathiyyah on account of its association with Abdullah bin Fatih, a Kufi chieftain. Most of the scholars and jurists of this group believed in his Imamat, but when they were handed down the tradition from their Imams that the Imamat would be transferred to the eldest son of an Imam on his death, they fell prey to doubts and suspicions. Abdullah himsellf died seventy days after the death of his father and with the exception of very few people, most of them believed in the Imamat of Abul Hassan Musa. They now clung to the belief that the Imamat would be distributed among the two brothers.
Nau Bakhti, the Shia writer, believes that a large number of Shia scholars and jurists were inclined towards this sect. They had no doubts whatsoever about the Imamat of Muhammad bin J'afar and they were convinced that it would pass down to his children as part of their inheritance, but when Abdullah died, he did not leave any son behind to claim Imamat.
Mufid writes that after Ismail, Abdullah bin J'afar was the eldest among his brothers but his father preferred other brothers over him. One of the charges levelled against him was that he did not see eye to eye with his father. It is also stated that he had relations with Hashwiyyah and was also inclined towards Marhaba. When he claimed Imamat after the death of his father, he based his claim on the fact that he was the eldest among the brothers. Therefore one group among the companions of Abu Abdullah pledged at his hand, but later on when they discovered that his claim was propped on fragile crutches and the claim of Abul Hassan was based on stronger arguments, they backed out of his Imamat and acknowledged Abul Hassan as their Imam. Only a limited group of his followers remained loyal to him through the spate of fluctuations that marked his career. The sect that believed in the Imamat of Abdullah bin J'afar was known by the appellation of Fathiyyah. Urbili has mentioned them in "Kashf-ul-Ghummah". This sect is also called Amariyyah as Ashari has discribed in his "Maqalat-I-Islamiyyin". This designation originated in its association with a person named Amar. It is noteworthy that according to the Shia Imams--who are innocent in their eyes -- Imamat is the right of the eldest son. Kulaini writes:
"It is attributed to Abu Abdullah that the eldest son is chosen Imam if he has no defect or flaw".
On the basis of this tradition he claimed Imamat for himself. He bolstered his claim with the argument that he was the eldest among his brothers. That is why a bunch of Abu Abdullah's companions had endorsed his claim with the argument that he was the eldest among his brothers. That is why a bunch of Abu Abdullah's companions had endorsed his claim and declared their allegiance to him. But one fails to understand why they suddenly backed out of their commitment though he was free of any defect or flaw. They, of course, stress the fact that his beliefs conflicted with the beliefs of his father. An other point to be noted here is J'afars son Muhammad also denied the Imamat of his father and opposed his views and beliefs as has been stated by Tabrisi and Mufid.
Fourth Sect:
This sect subscribed to the Imamat of Musa bin J'afar and denied the Imamat of Abdullah. He staunchly believed that his father held erroneous and flawed convictions. A detailed account of this sect will be found in reference to Musa Kazim.
Ismailis:
The fifth and sixth sects are jointly called Ismailiyyah. First I shall reproduce the opinions of Shia writers about this sect. Nau Bakhti entertains the notion that according to one Shia sect Ismail bin J'afar is entitled to Imamat after the death of his father J'afar bin Muhammad. They came out with a categorical denial that Ismail had died during the life of his father. They believe that his father had only staged a dress rehearsal of his death as he was scared of him. So he very cunningly and diplomatically made him invisible. They hold the opinion that Ismail will not die until he rules over the world and leads the entire mankind as their Imam. He is also the Imam Qaim because his fater had hinted at his Imamat. He made it binding on every one to acknowledge his Imamat and spelled out clearly that he would be his successor and whatever the Imam says is based on truth. And when his death was revealed, we at once grasped the truth of his statement that he was the living Imam and had not died. This sect carries the exclusive tag of Ismailiyyah.
It is further divided into a number of other sects. I will only make a brief survey of these sects to highlight their salient features. Mufid has mentioned under the heading "Abu Abdullah's children, their number, names and an account of their lives" that Ismail was the eldest among his brothers. Abu Abdullah loved him deeply. A group of his companions was convinced of his succession on account of his age, and the inclination of his father towards him. He also held him in deep affection. But he died at Ariz during the life of his father. From there, the people carried his dead body over their heads and brought it to Madinag where he was buried at Baqi.
It is reported that Abu Abdullah made a lot of hue and cry over his death and gave people the impression as if the world had come to its end. He advanced towards the hearse without his shoes and sheet of cloth and ordered the hearse to be placed on the ground many times before the burial. He repeatedly uncovered his face and gazed at it again and again. He did so consciously because he wanted to assure the people who believed in his Imamat that he had actually died. In this way he wanted to quell their doubts in his own life time. Those who held the belief that Ismail would replace his father after his death as Imam, back - tracked in their belief after the confirmation of his death. Only a few of them still tagged on to the conviction that he had not died but was still alive. These people were only remotely linked with his father and were not considered among his close associates and companions.
When Sadiq died, one of the groups felt inclined to believe in the death of Musa bin J'afar. The people rather split into two groups. One of the groups squirmed out of its belief that Musa bin J'afar was alive. They inducted his son Muhammad bin Ismail into Imamat. They believed that his father was the Imam and after his death his son had a better claim to Imamat than his brother. The other group remained unshaken in its belief that Ismail was alive. These people can be counted on one's fingers and it is extremely difficult to find now even a single survivor of this group. Both these groups bear the tag Ismailiyyah. The central prop of their faith is the continuous and uninterrupted circulation of Imamat among his children as part of their heritage.
The other Shia books, e.g., "Sharah Ibn abi al-Hadid", Ayyan-ush-Shia" and "Ash-Shia fit Tarikh" also endorse this belief. Among the Sunni scholars Ashari Baghdadi, Asfraini, Razi, and Shahristani etc. have also mentioned it. Ibn Khaldun observes:
Ismailiyyah sect believes in the Imamat of Ismail. He substantiates this statement with the help of a specification made by his father, though he had expired before his father. But this specification restricts the Imamat to his children as is established by the example of Harun and Musa. The adherents of Ismailiyyah sect believe that Imamat was transferred from Ismail to his son Muhammed Maktum and he is the first of the hidden Imams. It is part of their conviction that Imams occasionally slip under cover when they are not accorded the requisite quantum of hoour and recognition and are temporarily replaced by their claimants as a make-shift justification of their presence. But when they are publicly recognized and honoured, they appear along with their claimants. They believe that after Imam Maktum Imamat passed on to J'afar Sadiq and from him it slipped into the hands of Muhammad Habib who was the last of the hidden Imams. He was succeeded by his son Abdullah Mehdi whose presence was first formally publicized by Abu Abdullah Shi'i in Katamah and the people swarmed around him to pledge at his hand. Then he brought him out of Sajlamasah and he was corwned king of Qairwan and the West. Later, his son was made the king of Egypt. This fact is recorded in the book of history. Since they acknowledge the Imamat of Ismail, they are known by the epithet Ismailiyyah. They are also known as Batiniyyah on account of their affiliation with the hidden or veiled Imam, and on account of their heresy they are also called heretics. The articles of their faith represent a blend of primitivism and modernism: By the end of fifth century Hassan bin Muhammad Sabah invited people to follow the Ismailliyyah Imams. He captured a number of forts and castles in Syria and Iraq, but when calamity clipped his over-grown wings, his forts were divided among the Kings of Turkey and Iraq.
Shahristani ovserves that, according to Ismailiyyah, Ismail succeeded J'afar as Imam. There is a specification to this effect arrived at through mutual consensus. But there is a difference of opinion among them about his death. Whether he died during the life of his father or not is a moot point. Some of them are of the opinion that Isamil had not actually died. His death was publicized only as an act of dissimulation to bamboozle Banu Abbas. The governor of Mansur in Madinah was made a witness to Ismail's death. Others believe that he had died but the specification is irreversible: it can not be wreched back. Therefore, according to the specification, Imamat will circulate only among his children and will not be claimed by any one outside his family. According to them Muhammad bin Ismail was the Imam after his father Ismail. This sect is called Mubarkiyyah. Again some of them believe in the discontinuity of Imamat after Muhammad and believe that he will reappear after his disappearance, while others extend the chain of Imamat of those who appeared after them.
Shahristani has reproduced the Shia arguments in support of Ismail's Imamat. Ismail bin J'afar was the eldest son of his father. There was an explicit indication of his Imamat. As long as his mother lived, Imam Sadiq neither married an other lady nor any slave girl. He acted on the Prophetic Sunnah because the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not marry any other lady during the life of Hadhrat Khadijah. Hadhrat Ali also followed the same precedent as he did not enter into any other marital alliance during the presence of Hadhrat Fatima. The difference of opinion relating to his death during the life of his father has already been pointed out. Some people believed that his death was a cinch and the "Nas" or specification transferred the Imamat especially to his children, as on account of the specification of Musa, Imamat had been transferred to the children of Harun because Harun had died during the life of his brother Hadhrat Musa. Since "Nas" is irreversible, the Imamat passed down to his children and remained confined to the members of his family. And the application of "Bada" to the clause of specification sounds absolutely impossible because an Imam singles out only that son among his children about whose Imamat he has heard from his forefathers. It is obvious that Imamat can not be determined on the basis of doubt and ignorance. It presupposes definite knowledge and authentic information on the part of the Imam who comes out with the specific anticipation.
Some of them were of the opinion that Ismail had not died but his death was paraded as a diplomatic charade so that no one would think of his murder. There are many arguments in support of this statement. One of the arguments is that Ismail's younger brother Muhammad (he was his brother from the mother side) came over to the bed on which he was sleeping. He pushed aside the sheet with which he had covered himself. He looked at ismail who had opened his eyes. Muhammad got the jitters and came running to his father and said to him: "my brother is alive! my brother is alive". On hearing this J'afar siad that the children of the Messenger of Allah always ended up that way; but he has also raised eyebrows at the desirability of witnesses to testify the death of Ismail. When the news was conveyed to Mansur that Ismail bin J'afar had been spotted in Basrah and he had prayed for a cripple whose healthy was immediately restored, he sent a message to Sadiq confirming that Ismail was alive. the testimony of the administrators of Madina aslo supported the view that he had not died.
Shias believe that after Ismail, Imamat passed on to his son Muhammad who is the seventh Imam. His Imamat completed the round of seven Imams of the Shias and triggered a new round of invisible Imams. These Imams visited the towns secretly and their visible agents propagated on their behalf. It is their conviction that the world has never been stripped of the existence of a living Imam as it is consistent with its very genesis and development. Whether the Imam is visible or invisible, his signs and the persons who implement these signs must be made apparent. It means that a form of "transparent secrecty" must govern the conduct of an Imam. It is also of their faith that the Imams revolve around the number seven, as there are seven days in a week, seven skies and seven constellations. The injunctions of Naqaba revolve around the number twelve. That is why Imamiyyah grew skeptical about the absolute number of the agents of Imams. Mehdi will appear after the invisible Imams. The Shias believe that any one who dies without recognizing the Imam of his times dies in fact the death of ignorance. Similarly if some one dies without the band of his Imam round his neck also dies the death of ignorance. The most popular epithet is the conviction of its adherents that each external appearance has an internal correlative, each visible act has an invisible motive and each divine injunction is matched by a corresponding interpretation which manifests itself in the form of a concrete exemplification. The members of this sect are also known by the titles of Qiramtah, Mazdkiyyah and Mulhidiyyah though they have never admitted the relevance of these titles to their system of belief. They pride in calling themselves Ismailiyyah because it distinguishes them from other sects -- but their modern successors relinquished their tactics. Hassan bin Sabah could not satisfactorily contradict the objections of his detractors. He sought the help of the people for the accomplishment of his mission and locked himslef up in his fort. But on his way to the fort he died in Shaban 483 A.H. He had migrated towards the region of his Imam and had imbibed from him the art of converting people to their brand of religion. On his return he impressed upon the people the necessity of determing the place and position of the true Imam. He added that their sect differed from other sects on the basis of a unique set of priorities and their Imam was unique because he was not the Imam of other people and exclusively belonged to them.
Qiramta:
Ismailiyyah gave birth to a number of sects of which Qiramtah is the most famous. This sect is affiliated to Hamadan Ashat who was popularly known as Qarmat because he was short-statured and had very small feet and he walked with short steps (Such a person is called Qirmat is Arabic language). This man appeared on the soil of Kufah in 264 A.H. His religion spread in Iraq. Mudathir Matuq appeared in Syria while Abu Said Janab was propagating his views in Bahrin. He and his sons ruled over a sprawling kingdom until they clashed with the armies of Abbasi Caliphs and captured the territories of Baghdad, Syria, Egypt and Hijaz, and their agents spread out in large numbers in different parts of the territory.
A party of the people accepted their invitation.they were impressed by their knowledge of the heart and the mind. Their psychological approach to religion was fairly developed and they explicated the injunctions of Islam and Sharia in the light of their inner illumination. They shuffled the injunctions of Sharia out of their charted course and clamped highly capricious interpretations on them. They were not only themselves out of foucs, but also defocussed those who followed them.
There are other statements also bearing on the appearance and nomenclature of this sects. According to Witwat he appeared in Kufah in 278 A.H. during the caliphate of Motamid. His eyes were deep red on account of which he was awarded the epithet Qirmitiyyah. Since this word was rather uneasy to articulate, they clipped its extra syllables and chiselled it down to a disyllabic structure Qirmat. Then he mentions his vicious teaching and ugly innovations. He adds that Moaz Farimi and the commander of his armed forces Jauhar had fought many bloody battles with Qiramtah in 362 A.H.
Ibn Khalkan writes that Qirmatah is ascribed to Qirmat who lived in Kufah. He was affiliated to a religious cult that was more notorious for its devilish practices than it was famous for its saintly indulgences. He appeared during the Caliphate of Motazid in 281 A.H. According to an other tradition he appeared in 278 A.H.
Abul Fida' hods the opinion that he appeared in the same year (278 A.H.) in Kufah, and the man he invited to acknowledge his religion was a Shaikh who pretended to be ill in a settlement of Kufah. One of the residents of that area who was popularly known as Kirmitiyyah on account of the redness of his eyes, as Kirmitiyyah is the Nabati word to designate this ophthalmic condition, invited him to his residence. When the Shaikh recuperated from his illness, he was also known by the name of the person who had provided him shelter and treated his illness. Then out of purely abbreviational considerations he came to be called as Qirmat. He attracted a number of stupid and irrational villagers towards his perverse brand of religion who turned into his zealous supporters without much thought.
I am not concerned with the issue whether the person who extended the invitation to Qiramatah was Qirmat himself or someone else who ahd acquired tha same identity and functioned as his surrogate. I am concerned only with the date of appearance of this sect in order to determine its appearance or non-appearance during the period of the Imams of Ahl-i-Bait. As already stated, there are a number of conflicting versions about the time of their appearance. But the most probable conclusion seems to be that they appeared in 278 A.H. after the termination of the period of Imams and during the Sifra period.
In the opinion of Ashari, Qiramatah believe that the Prophet (peace be upon him) specified the Imamat of Hadhrat Ali; he specified the Imamat of his son Hadhrat Hassan who indicated the succession of his brother Hadhrat Hussain. He specified Ali bin Hussain as his successor who predicted the Imamat of his son Muhammad bin Ali. He specified his son Jafar as the Imam after him who reserved Imamat for his son Ismail who passed it on to his son Ismail who passed it onto his son Muhammad. They also believe that Muhammad bin Ismail is still alive and he will not die until he rules over the entire earth as its undisputed king. In their eyes he is also the Mehdi about whom there exists an unequivocal specification. They have tried to reason out their stand on the basis of the precedents set by their forefathers who had clearly spelled out that the seventh Imam would be the "Qaim" Imam.
Dear Asef Sahab, Dear and Respected Ms Kaneez Sahiba and Mr Worried Muslim,
Answers as per my humble knowledge is as under:
Shias after Jafar [May Allah have mercy on his soul]:
The death of J'afar in 148 A.H. created a deep fissure in the Shia community. The Shias split into many groups and sects. Nau Bakhti is the fist Shia writer who has expressed his views about the genesis of Shia sects. He is of the opinion that after the death of Abu Abdullah J'afar bin Muhammad the Shias branched off into six sects -- He was buried in the same grave in Baqi in which his father and his grand father had been buried. His mother is Um Firoh bint Qasim bin Muhammad bin abi Bakr and her mother is Asma bint Abdur Rahman bin abi Bakr. The details of the six sects mentioned by Nau Bakhti are as follows:
Navusiyah:
The adherents of this sect believe that J'afar bin Muhammad is alive. He never died and will not die until he firse reppears and rules over the people. He is also the Imam Mehdi. They claim on the basis of his own words that even if his head is hurled at them from a mountain, they should not confirm it because he is one of their companions. He also said: If somebody informs you that he has nursed me during my illness and that he was present at the time of my death and that he gave me the bath and wrapped me in the coffin, even then you should not confirm it because I am your companion with the sword. This sect is known as Navusiyyah. It is named after the leader of the sect who was a resident of Basrah and whose surname was An-Navus.
Some of them believe that what had appeared was not J'afar but some one else in the image of J'afar. A group of the Sabais also joined this sect. They claimed that J'afar was thoroughly steeped in the intricacies and mysteries of religious knowledge. When some one asked the members of the sect about their conception of the Qur'an and about other peripheral issues relating to their faith, they replied that they held the same opinion as was held by Imam J'afar Sadiq. They in fact followed him blindly. It clearly proves that Shias had divided into various groups and sects during the life of Imam J'afar Sadiq.
Shamitiyah:
The second sect is called Simtiyyah or Shamitiyyah. The followers of this sect believe that after the death of Imam J'afar his son Muhammad bin J'afar holds the port-folio of Imamat. Imam J'afar had expressed his will about him when he was still a child. He often claimed that his son resembled his father Muhammed Baqir and his grandfther, the Messenger of Allah. These people acknowledge the Imamat of Muhammad bin J'afar and after him that of his son. It derives its name from its association with Yahya bin abi as-Samit or abi ash-Shamit.
It is note worthy that this Muhammad bin J'afar made his appearance during Mamun's reign and invited the people to pledge at his hand. The residents of Madinah took the oath of allegiance at his hand. The residents of Madinah took the oath of allegiance at his hand in his capacity as Amir-ul-Mominin. A number of battles were fought between his army and the army of Mamun. The armed forces of Mamun were commanded by Harun bin Musayyh. Then Harun dispatched a brigade which surrounded him on all sides. It was almost an invulnerable spot and access to it was extremely difficult. The siege continued for three days. When their rations and water zeroed out, his companions scattered away in all directions. He sought amnesty for his companions and Harun readily agreed. Mufid has stated that, like the Zaidiyyah sect, they believed in rebellion with the sword. This is one of the reasons that a number of adherents of the Zaidiyyah Jarudiyyah sect were also converted to this sect.
Fathiyah:
Kashi says that the followers of this sect believe in the Imamat of Abdullah bin J'afar bin Muhammad. The person after whom it is named had a clumsy head. According to an other version he had bent feet. The third explanation is that it was called Fathiyyah on account of its association with Abdullah bin Fatih, a Kufi chieftain. Most of the scholars and jurists of this group believed in his Imamat, but when they were handed down the tradition from their Imams that the Imamat would be transferred to the eldest son of an Imam on his death, they fell prey to doubts and suspicions. Abdullah himsellf died seventy days after the death of his father and with the exception of very few people, most of them believed in the Imamat of Abul Hassan Musa. They now clung to the belief that the Imamat would be distributed among the two brothers.
Nau Bakhti, the Shia writer, believes that a large number of Shia scholars and jurists were inclined towards this sect. They had no doubts whatsoever about the Imamat of Muhammad bin J'afar and they were convinced that it would pass down to his children as part of their inheritance, but when Abdullah died, he did not leave any son behind to claim Imamat.
Mufid writes that after Ismail, Abdullah bin J'afar was the eldest among his brothers but his father preferred other brothers over him. One of the charges levelled against him was that he did not see eye to eye with his father. It is also stated that he had relations with Hashwiyyah and was also inclined towards Marhaba. When he claimed Imamat after the death of his father, he based his claim on the fact that he was the eldest among the brothers. Therefore one group among the companions of Abu Abdullah pledged at his hand, but later on when they discovered that his claim was propped on fragile crutches and the claim of Abul Hassan was based on stronger arguments, they backed out of his Imamat and acknowledged Abul Hassan as their Imam. Only a limited group of his followers remained loyal to him through the spate of fluctuations that marked his career. The sect that believed in the Imamat of Abdullah bin J'afar was known by the appellation of Fathiyyah. Urbili has mentioned them in "Kashf-ul-Ghummah". This sect is also called Amariyyah as Ashari has discribed in his "Maqalat-I-Islamiyyin". This designation originated in its association with a person named Amar. It is noteworthy that according to the Shia Imams--who are innocent in their eyes -- Imamat is the right of the eldest son. Kulaini writes:
"It is attributed to Abu Abdullah that the eldest son is chosen Imam if he has no defect or flaw".
On the basis of this tradition he claimed Imamat for himself. He bolstered his claim with the argument that he was the eldest among his brothers. That is why a bunch of Abu Abdullah's companions had endorsed his claim with the argument that he was the eldest among his brothers. That is why a bunch of Abu Abdullah's companions had endorsed his claim and declared their allegiance to him. But one fails to understand why they suddenly backed out of their commitment though he was free of any defect or flaw. They, of course, stress the fact that his beliefs conflicted with the beliefs of his father. An other point to be noted here is J'afars son Muhammad also denied the Imamat of his father and opposed his views and beliefs as has been stated by Tabrisi and Mufid.
Fourth Sect:
This sect subscribed to the Imamat of Musa bin J'afar and denied the Imamat of Abdullah. He staunchly believed that his father held erroneous and flawed convictions. A detailed account of this sect will be found in reference to Musa Kazim.
Ismailis:
The fifth and sixth sects are jointly called Ismailiyyah. First I shall reproduce the opinions of Shia writers about this sect. Nau Bakhti entertains the notion that according to one Shia sect Ismail bin J'afar is entitled to Imamat after the death of his father J'afar bin Muhammad. They came out with a categorical denial that Ismail had died during the life of his father. They believe that his father had only staged a dress rehearsal of his death as he was scared of him. So he very cunningly and diplomatically made him invisible. They hold the opinion that Ismail will not die until he rules over the world and leads the entire mankind as their Imam. He is also the Imam Qaim because his fater had hinted at his Imamat. He made it binding on every one to acknowledge his Imamat and spelled out clearly that he would be his successor and whatever the Imam says is based on truth. And when his death was revealed, we at once grasped the truth of his statement that he was the living Imam and had not died. This sect carries the exclusive tag of Ismailiyyah.
It is further divided into a number of other sects. I will only make a brief survey of these sects to highlight their salient features. Mufid has mentioned under the heading "Abu Abdullah's children, their number, names and an account of their lives" that Ismail was the eldest among his brothers. Abu Abdullah loved him deeply. A group of his companions was convinced of his succession on account of his age, and the inclination of his father towards him. He also held him in deep affection. But he died at Ariz during the life of his father. From there, the people carried his dead body over their heads and brought it to Madinag where he was buried at Baqi.
It is reported that Abu Abdullah made a lot of hue and cry over his death and gave people the impression as if the world had come to its end. He advanced towards the hearse without his shoes and sheet of cloth and ordered the hearse to be placed on the ground many times before the burial. He repeatedly uncovered his face and gazed at it again and again. He did so consciously because he wanted to assure the people who believed in his Imamat that he had actually died. In this way he wanted to quell their doubts in his own life time. Those who held the belief that Ismail would replace his father after his death as Imam, back - tracked in their belief after the confirmation of his death. Only a few of them still tagged on to the conviction that he had not died but was still alive. These people were only remotely linked with his father and were not considered among his close associates and companions.
When Sadiq died, one of the groups felt inclined to believe in the death of Musa bin J'afar. The people rather split into two groups. One of the groups squirmed out of its belief that Musa bin J'afar was alive. They inducted his son Muhammad bin Ismail into Imamat. They believed that his father was the Imam and after his death his son had a better claim to Imamat than his brother. The other group remained unshaken in its belief that Ismail was alive. These people can be counted on one's fingers and it is extremely difficult to find now even a single survivor of this group. Both these groups bear the tag Ismailiyyah. The central prop of their faith is the continuous and uninterrupted circulation of Imamat among his children as part of their heritage.
The other Shia books, e.g., "Sharah Ibn abi al-Hadid", Ayyan-ush-Shia" and "Ash-Shia fit Tarikh" also endorse this belief. Among the Sunni scholars Ashari Baghdadi, Asfraini, Razi, and Shahristani etc. have also mentioned it. Ibn Khaldun observes:
Ismailiyyah sect believes in the Imamat of Ismail. He substantiates this statement with the help of a specification made by his father, though he had expired before his father. But this specification restricts the Imamat to his children as is established by the example of Harun and Musa. The adherents of Ismailiyyah sect believe that Imamat was transferred from Ismail to his son Muhammed Maktum and he is the first of the hidden Imams. It is part of their conviction that Imams occasionally slip under cover when they are not accorded the requisite quantum of hoour and recognition and are temporarily replaced by their claimants as a make-shift justification of their presence. But when they are publicly recognized and honoured, they appear along with their claimants. They believe that after Imam Maktum Imamat passed on to J'afar Sadiq and from him it slipped into the hands of Muhammad Habib who was the last of the hidden Imams. He was succeeded by his son Abdullah Mehdi whose presence was first formally publicized by Abu Abdullah Shi'i in Katamah and the people swarmed around him to pledge at his hand. Then he brought him out of Sajlamasah and he was corwned king of Qairwan and the West. Later, his son was made the king of Egypt. This fact is recorded in the book of history. Since they acknowledge the Imamat of Ismail, they are known by the epithet Ismailiyyah. They are also known as Batiniyyah on account of their affiliation with the hidden or veiled Imam, and on account of their heresy they are also called heretics. The articles of their faith represent a blend of primitivism and modernism: By the end of fifth century Hassan bin Muhammad Sabah invited people to follow the Ismailliyyah Imams. He captured a number of forts and castles in Syria and Iraq, but when calamity clipped his over-grown wings, his forts were divided among the Kings of Turkey and Iraq.
Shahristani ovserves that, according to Ismailiyyah, Ismail succeeded J'afar as Imam. There is a specification to this effect arrived at through mutual consensus. But there is a difference of opinion among them about his death. Whether he died during the life of his father or not is a moot point. Some of them are of the opinion that Isamil had not actually died. His death was publicized only as an act of dissimulation to bamboozle Banu Abbas. The governor of Mansur in Madinah was made a witness to Ismail's death. Others believe that he had died but the specification is irreversible: it can not be wreched back. Therefore, according to the specification, Imamat will circulate only among his children and will not be claimed by any one outside his family. According to them Muhammad bin Ismail was the Imam after his father Ismail. This sect is called Mubarkiyyah. Again some of them believe in the discontinuity of Imamat after Muhammad and believe that he will reappear after his disappearance, while others extend the chain of Imamat of those who appeared after them.
Shahristani has reproduced the Shia arguments in support of Ismail's Imamat. Ismail bin J'afar was the eldest son of his father. There was an explicit indication of his Imamat. As long as his mother lived, Imam Sadiq neither married an other lady nor any slave girl. He acted on the Prophetic Sunnah because the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not marry any other lady during the life of Hadhrat Khadijah. Hadhrat Ali also followed the same precedent as he did not enter into any other marital alliance during the presence of Hadhrat Fatima. The difference of opinion relating to his death during the life of his father has already been pointed out. Some people believed that his death was a cinch and the "Nas" or specification transferred the Imamat especially to his children, as on account of the specification of Musa, Imamat had been transferred to the children of Harun because Harun had died during the life of his brother Hadhrat Musa. Since "Nas" is irreversible, the Imamat passed down to his children and remained confined to the members of his family. And the application of "Bada" to the clause of specification sounds absolutely impossible because an Imam singles out only that son among his children about whose Imamat he has heard from his forefathers. It is obvious that Imamat can not be determined on the basis of doubt and ignorance. It presupposes definite knowledge and authentic information on the part of the Imam who comes out with the specific anticipation.
Some of them were of the opinion that Ismail had not died but his death was paraded as a diplomatic charade so that no one would think of his murder. There are many arguments in support of this statement. One of the arguments is that Ismail's younger brother Muhammad (he was his brother from the mother side) came over to the bed on which he was sleeping. He pushed aside the sheet with which he had covered himself. He looked at ismail who had opened his eyes. Muhammad got the jitters and came running to his father and said to him: "my brother is alive! my brother is alive". On hearing this J'afar siad that the children of the Messenger of Allah always ended up that way; but he has also raised eyebrows at the desirability of witnesses to testify the death of Ismail. When the news was conveyed to Mansur that Ismail bin J'afar had been spotted in Basrah and he had prayed for a cripple whose healthy was immediately restored, he sent a message to Sadiq confirming that Ismail was alive. the testimony of the administrators of Madina aslo supported the view that he had not died.
Shias believe that after Ismail, Imamat passed on to his son Muhammad who is the seventh Imam. His Imamat completed the round of seven Imams of the Shias and triggered a new round of invisible Imams. These Imams visited the towns secretly and their visible agents propagated on their behalf. It is their conviction that the world has never been stripped of the existence of a living Imam as it is consistent with its very genesis and development. Whether the Imam is visible or invisible, his signs and the persons who implement these signs must be made apparent. It means that a form of "transparent secrecty" must govern the conduct of an Imam. It is also of their faith that the Imams revolve around the number seven, as there are seven days in a week, seven skies and seven constellations. The injunctions of Naqaba revolve around the number twelve. That is why Imamiyyah grew skeptical about the absolute number of the agents of Imams. Mehdi will appear after the invisible Imams. The Shias believe that any one who dies without recognizing the Imam of his times dies in fact the death of ignorance. Similarly if some one dies without the band of his Imam round his neck also dies the death of ignorance. The most popular epithet is the conviction of its adherents that each external appearance has an internal correlative, each visible act has an invisible motive and each divine injunction is matched by a corresponding interpretation which manifests itself in the form of a concrete exemplification. The members of this sect are also known by the titles of Qiramtah, Mazdkiyyah and Mulhidiyyah though they have never admitted the relevance of these titles to their system of belief. They pride in calling themselves Ismailiyyah because it distinguishes them from other sects -- but their modern successors relinquished their tactics. Hassan bin Sabah could not satisfactorily contradict the objections of his detractors. He sought the help of the people for the accomplishment of his mission and locked himslef up in his fort. But on his way to the fort he died in Shaban 483 A.H. He had migrated towards the region of his Imam and had imbibed from him the art of converting people to their brand of religion. On his return he impressed upon the people the necessity of determing the place and position of the true Imam. He added that their sect differed from other sects on the basis of a unique set of priorities and their Imam was unique because he was not the Imam of other people and exclusively belonged to them.
Qiramta:
Ismailiyyah gave birth to a number of sects of which Qiramtah is the most famous. This sect is affiliated to Hamadan Ashat who was popularly known as Qarmat because he was short-statured and had very small feet and he walked with short steps (Such a person is called Qirmat is Arabic language). This man appeared on the soil of Kufah in 264 A.H. His religion spread in Iraq. Mudathir Matuq appeared in Syria while Abu Said Janab was propagating his views in Bahrin. He and his sons ruled over a sprawling kingdom until they clashed with the armies of Abbasi Caliphs and captured the territories of Baghdad, Syria, Egypt and Hijaz, and their agents spread out in large numbers in different parts of the territory.
A party of the people accepted their invitation.they were impressed by their knowledge of the heart and the mind. Their psychological approach to religion was fairly developed and they explicated the injunctions of Islam and Sharia in the light of their inner illumination. They shuffled the injunctions of Sharia out of their charted course and clamped highly capricious interpretations on them. They were not only themselves out of foucs, but also defocussed those who followed them.
There are other statements also bearing on the appearance and nomenclature of this sects. According to Witwat he appeared in Kufah in 278 A.H. during the caliphate of Motamid. His eyes were deep red on account of which he was awarded the epithet Qirmitiyyah. Since this word was rather uneasy to articulate, they clipped its extra syllables and chiselled it down to a disyllabic structure Qirmat. Then he mentions his vicious teaching and ugly innovations. He adds that Moaz Farimi and the commander of his armed forces Jauhar had fought many bloody battles with Qiramtah in 362 A.H.
Ibn Khalkan writes that Qirmatah is ascribed to Qirmat who lived in Kufah. He was affiliated to a religious cult that was more notorious for its devilish practices than it was famous for its saintly indulgences. He appeared during the Caliphate of Motazid in 281 A.H. According to an other tradition he appeared in 278 A.H.
Abul Fida' hods the opinion that he appeared in the same year (278 A.H.) in Kufah, and the man he invited to acknowledge his religion was a Shaikh who pretended to be ill in a settlement of Kufah. One of the residents of that area who was popularly known as Kirmitiyyah on account of the redness of his eyes, as Kirmitiyyah is the Nabati word to designate this ophthalmic condition, invited him to his residence. When the Shaikh recuperated from his illness, he was also known by the name of the person who had provided him shelter and treated his illness. Then out of purely abbreviational considerations he came to be called as Qirmat. He attracted a number of stupid and irrational villagers towards his perverse brand of religion who turned into his zealous supporters without much thought.
I am not concerned with the issue whether the person who extended the invitation to Qiramatah was Qirmat himself or someone else who ahd acquired tha same identity and functioned as his surrogate. I am concerned only with the date of appearance of this sect in order to determine its appearance or non-appearance during the period of the Imams of Ahl-i-Bait. As already stated, there are a number of conflicting versions about the time of their appearance. But the most probable conclusion seems to be that they appeared in 278 A.H. after the termination of the period of Imams and during the Sifra period.
In the opinion of Ashari, Qiramatah believe that the Prophet (peace be upon him) specified the Imamat of Hadhrat Ali; he specified the Imamat of his son Hadhrat Hassan who indicated the succession of his brother Hadhrat Hussain. He specified Ali bin Hussain as his successor who predicted the Imamat of his son Muhammad bin Ali. He specified his son Jafar as the Imam after him who reserved Imamat for his son Ismail who passed it on to his son Ismail who passed it onto his son Muhammad. They also believe that Muhammad bin Ismail is still alive and he will not die until he rules over the entire earth as its undisputed king. In their eyes he is also the Mehdi about whom there exists an unequivocal specification. They have tried to reason out their stand on the basis of the precedents set by their forefathers who had clearly spelled out that the seventh Imam would be the "Qaim" Imam.
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