Imamah (Twelver Shi`i Doctrine)
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Imamah (Twelver Shi`i Doctrine)
Imāmah () means "leadership" and is a concept in Twelver theology. The Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in the Twelver branch of Shia Islam. According to Twelver theology, the successors to Muhammad are infallible human beings, who rule justly over the community and maintain and interpret sharia and undertake the esoteric interpretation of the Quran. The words and deeds of Muhammad and the Imams guide the community. For this, the Imams must be free from error and sin and chosen by divine decree— ''nass''—through the Prophet. Shi'a believe that divine wisdom—'Aql—is the source of the souls of the Prophets and Imams and gives them esoteric knowledge—''hikmah''—and that their suffering is a means by which their devotees may acquire divine grace. The Imam is not the recipient of divine revelation, but has a close relationship with God, who guides him, allowing the Imam in turn to guide others. The Imamat, or bel ...
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Imamah (Shia Doctrine)
In Shia Islam, the Imamah () is a doctrine which asserts that certain individuals from the lineage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad are to be accepted as leaders and guides of the ummah after the death of Muhammad. Imamah further says that Imams possess divine knowledge and authority (Ismah) as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of Muhammad. These Imams have the role of providing commentary and interpretation of the Quran as well as guidance. Etymology The word "Imām" denotes a person who stands or walks "in front". For Sunni Islam, the word is commonly used to mean a person who leads the course of prayer in the mosque. It also means the head of a ''madhhab'' ("school of thought"). However, from the Shia point of view this is merely the ''basic'' understanding of the word in the Arabic language and, for its proper religious usage, the word "Imam" is applicable ''only'' to those members of the house of Muhammad designated as infallible by the preceding Imam. ...
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Husayn Ibn Ali
Husayn ibn Ali (; 11 January 626 – 10 October 680 Common Era, CE) was a social, political and religious leader in early medieval Arabia. The grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Alids, Alid (the son of Ali ibn Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib, Abi Talib and Muhammad's daughter Fatima), as well as a younger brother of Hasan ibn Ali, Husayn is regarded as the third Imam in Shia Islam after his brother, Hasan, and before his son, Ali al-Sajjad. Husayn is a prominent member of the Ahl al-Bayt and is also considered to be a member of the Ahl al-Kisa and a participant in the event of the mubahala, event of the ''mubahala''. Muhammad described him and his brother, Hasan, as the leaders of the youth of Paradise in Islam, paradise. During the caliphate of Ali, Husayn accompanied him in wars. After the assassination of Ali, he obeyed his brother in recognizing the Hasan–Muawiya treaty, Hasan–Mu'awiya I treaty, despite it being suggested to do otherwise. In the nine-year pe ...
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Theopany
Theophany () is an encounter with a deity that manifests in an observable and tangible form.. It is often confused with other types of encounters with a deity, but these interactions are not considered theophanies unless the deity reveals itself in a visible form. Traditionally, the term "theophany" was used to refer to appearances of the gods in ancient Greek and Near Eastern religions. While the ''Iliad'' is the earliest source for descriptions of theophanies in classical antiquity, the first description appears in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''. In numerous creation stories, a deity or deities speak with many kinds of animals, often prior to the formation of dry land on earth. Definition and etymology The term theophany derives from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "appearance of a god", from ( ''theós'' "divinity", and (, "to show" or "to appear"). In classical usage, it referred to visible appearances of deities to humans, especially in mythological contexts. These co ...
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Shafa'a
''Shafa'a(h)'' (, "intercession") in Islam is the act of pleading to God in Islam, God by an Wali, intimate friend of God (a Muslim Wali, saint) for forgiveness of a believing sinner. The word ''Shafa'ah'' is taken from ''shaf '' () which means ''even'' as opposed to ''odd''. The interceder, therefore, adds his own recommendation to that of petitioner so that there are two individuals—an even number—pleading for forgiveness. The prestige of the intercessor strengthens the otherwise weak plea of the sinner. Accordingly, ''Shafa'ah'' is a form of prayer to God by one who is near to Him on behalf of a member of the believing community seeking deliverance from eternal damnation (though not necessarily from temporary punishment). Controversies concerning ''Shafa'at'' have arisen over who may intercede with God. Some maintain that supporters of Wahhabism deny the Shafa’ah of Muhammad, while at least some supporters insist they only oppose the seeking of Shafa’ah from "the dead ...
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Hereafter
The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's stream of consciousness or identity continues to exist after the death of their physical body. The surviving essential aspect varies between belief systems; it may be some partial element, or the entire soul or spirit, which carries with it one's personal identity. In some views, this continued existence takes place in a spiritual realm, while in others, the individual may be reborn into this world and begin the life cycle over again in a process referred to as reincarnation, likely with no memory of what they have done in the past. In this latter view, such rebirths and deaths may take place over and over again continuously until the individual gains entry to a spiritual realm or otherworld. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism, and metaphysics. Some belief systems, such as those in the Abrahamic tradition, hold that the dead go to a specific ...
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Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides its religious significance, it is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature, and has significantly influenced the Arabic, Arabic language. It is the object of a modern field of academic research known as Quranic studies. Muslims believe the Quran was orally revealed by God to the final Islamic Prophets and messengers in Islam, prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad through the Angel#Islam, angel Gabriel#Islam, Gabriel incrementally over a period of some 23 years, beginning on the Night of Power, Laylat al-Qadr, when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632, the year of his death. Muslims regard the Quran as Muhammad's most important Islamic view of miracles, miracle, a proof of his prophet ...
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Assassination Of Ali
Ali, Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Rashidun Caliphate, Rashidun caliph () and the first Imamate in Shia doctrine, Shia Imam, was assassinated during the Fajr prayer, morning prayer on 28 January 661 common era, CE, equivalent to 19 Ramadan 40 Islamic calendar, AH. He died of his wounds about two days after the Kharijite dissident Ibn Muljim struck him over his head with a poison-coated sword at the Great Mosque of Kufa, located in Kufa, in present-day Iraq. He was about sixty-two years of age at the time of his death. Ibn Muljim had entered Kufa with the intention of killing Ali, probably in revenge for the Kharijites' defeat in the Battle of Nahrawan in 658. He found two accomplices in Kufa, namely, Shabib ibn Bujra and Wardan ibn al-Mujalid. Unlike Ibn Muljim, the swords of these two missed Ali and they fled, but were later caught and killed. Before his death, Ali requested either a meticulous application of to Ibn Muljim or his pardon, and he was later executed by Hasan ib ...
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Common Era
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the original Anno Domini (AD) and Before Christ (BC) notations used for the same calendar era. The two notation systems are numerically equivalent: " CE" and "AD " each describe the current year; "400 BCE" and "400 BC" are the same year. The expression can be traced back to 1615, when it first appears in a book by Johannes Kepler as the (), and to 1635 in English as " Vulgar Era". The term "Common Era" can be found in English as early as 1708, and became more widely used in the mid-19th century by Jewish religious scholars. Since the late 20th century, BCE and CE have become popular in academic and scientific publications on the grounds that BCE and CE are religiously neutral terms. They have been promoted as more sensitive to non-Christia ...
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Ali Ibn Abi Talib
Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until Assassination of Ali, his assassination in 661, as well as the first imamate in Shia doctrine, Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Fatima bint Asad, Ali was raised by his elder cousin Muhammad and was Early Muslims, among the first to accept his teachings. Ali played a pivotal role in the early years of Islam when Muslims were severely persecuted in Mecca. After immigration () to Medina in 622, Muhammad gave his daughter Fatima to Ali in marriage and swore a pact of brotherhood with him. Ali served as Muhammad's secretary and deputy in this period, and was the flag bearer of his army. Numerous sayings of Muhammad praise Ali, the most controversial of which was uttered in 632 at the Ghadir Khumm, "Whoever I am his , this Ali is his ." The interpretation of the polysemous Arabic word is disputed: For Shia Islam, Shia Musl ...
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Twelver Shi’ism
Twelver Shi'ism (), also known as Imamism () or Ithna Ashari, is the largest branch of Shi'a Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shi'a Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers to its adherents' belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as the Twelve Imams, and their belief that the last Imam, Imam al-Mahdi, lives in occultation (''ghayba'') and will reappear as "the awaited Mahdi" (''al-Mahdi al-muntazar''). Twelver Shi'as believe that the Twelve Imams are divinely appointed as both spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and that they possess special knowledge and authority to guide the Muslim community. According to Twelver theology, the Twelve Imams are exemplary human individuals who rule over the Muslim community (''Ummah'') with justice, and are able to preserve and interpret the Islamic law (Sharia) and the esoteric meaning of the Qur'an. The words and deeds (''sunnah'') of Muhammad and the Imams are a guide and model for the Muslim comm ...
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Caliph
A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entire Muslim world (''ummah''). Historically, the caliphates were polities based on Islam which developed into multi-ethnic trans-national empires. During the medieval period, three major caliphates succeeded each other: the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), and the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1517). In the fourth major caliphate, the Ottoman Caliphate, the rulers of the Ottoman Empire claimed caliphal authority from 1517 until the Ottoman caliphate was Abolition of the Caliphate, formally abolished as part of the Atatürk's reforms, 1924 secularisation of Turkey. An attempt to preserve the title was tried, with the Sharifian Caliphate, but this caliphate fell quickly after its conquest by the Sultanate o ...
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Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Muslim community, being appointed at the meeting of Saqifa. This contrasts with the Succession of ʿAlī (Shia Islam), Shia view, which holds that Muhammad appointed Ali, Ali ibn Abi Talib () as his successor. Nevertheless, Sunnis revere Ali, along with Abu Bakr, Umar () and Uthman () as 'Rashidun, rightly-guided caliphs'. The term means those who observe the , the practices of Muhammad. The Quran, together with hadith (especially the Six Books) and (scholarly consensus), form the basis of all Fiqh, traditional jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. Sharia legal rulings are derived from these basic sources, in conjunction with Istislah, consideration of Maslaha, public welfare and Istihsan, jur ...
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