|
Muhammad Al-Mahdi
Muhammad al-Mahdi () is believed by the Twelver Shia to be the last of the Twelve Imams and the eschatological Mahdi, who will emerge in the end of time to establish peace and justice and redeem Islam. Hasan al-Askari, the eleventh Imam, died in 260 AH (873–874), possibly poisoned by the Abbasids. Immediately after his death, his main representative, Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi, claimed that the eleventh Imam had an infant son named Muhammad, who was kept hidden from the public out of fear of Abbasid persecution. Uthman also claimed to represent Muhammad, who had entered a state of occultation. Other local representatives of al-Askari largely supported these assertions, while the Shia community fragmented into several sects over al-Askari's succession. All these sects, however, are said to have disappeared after a few decades except the Twelvers, who accept the son of al-Askari as the twelfth and final Imam in occultation. Uthman was followed by three more agents, col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imamate In Twelver Doctrine
Imāmah () means "Islamic leadership, leadership" and is a concept in Theology of Twelvers, Twelver theology. The Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad, the Prophets in Islam, Prophet of Islam, in the Twelver branch of Shia Islam. According to Twelver theology, the successors to Muhammad are The Fourteen Infallibles, infallible human beings, who rule justly over the community and maintain and interpret sharia and undertake the esoteric interpretation of the Quran. The Sunnah, 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 (Islam), ''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 wahy, divine revelation, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four Deputies
The Four Deputies (, ') were the four individuals who are believed by the Twelver Shi'ism, Twelvers to have successively represented their twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, during his Minor Occultation (874–941 CE). They were also known as the Gates (), the Sufara (), or the Wukala (). Historical background Until their deaths, the tenth and eleventh Shia Imams (Ali al-Hadi and Hasan al-Askari, respectively) were held under close surveillance in the garrison town of Samarra by the Abbasids, who are often responsible in Shia sources for poisoning the two Imams. The two Imams witnessed the deterioration of the Abbasid caliphate, as the imperial authority rapidly transitioned into the hands of the Turks, particularly after al-Mutawakkil. Contemporary to the tenth Imam, the Abbasid al-Mutawakkil violently prosecuted the Shia, partly due to the renewed Zaydism, Zaydi opposition. The restrictive policies of al-Mutawakkil towards the tenth Imam were later adopted by his son, al-Mu'tami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Mutawakkil
Ja'far ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (); March 82211 December 861, commonly known by his laqab, regnal name al-Mutawwakil ala Allah (), was the tenth Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid caliph, ruling from 847 until his assassination in 861. He succeeded his brother, al-Wathiq (), and is known for expanding the empire to its maximum extent. He was deeply religious, and is remembered for discarding the Muʿtazila, ending the Mihna (a period of persecution of Islamic scholars), and releasing Ahmad ibn Hanbal. He is also known for his tough rule, especially with respect to non-Muslim subjects. He was assassinated on 11 December 861 by the Turkic guard with the support of his son, al-Muntasir, marking the beginning of the period of civil strife known as the "Anarchy at Samarra". Early life Al-Mutawakkil was born on 31 March 822 to the Abbasid prince Abu Ishaq Muhammad (the future al-Mu'tasim) and a slave concubine from Khwarazm named S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samarra
Samarra (, ') is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, north of Baghdad. The modern city of Samarra was founded in 836 by the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim as a new administrative capital and military base. In 2003 the city had an estimated population of 348,700. During the Iraqi Civil War (2006–08), Samarra was in the " Sunni Triangle" of resistance. The archeological site of Samarra still retains much of the historic city's original plan, architecture and artistic relics. In 2007, UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site. History Prehistoric Samarra The remains of prehistoric Samarra were first excavated between 1911 and 1914 by the German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld. Samarra became the type site for the Samarra culture. Since 1946, the notebooks, letters, unpublished excavation reports and photographs have been in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The civilization flourished alongside the Ubaid per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali Al-Hadi
Ali al-Hadi (; – ) was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the tenth Imamate in Shia doctrine, Imam in Twelver Shi'ism, Twelver Shia, succeeding his father, Muhammad al-Jawad (). Born in Medina in 828, Ali is known with the titles al-Hādī () and al-Naqī (). After the death of his father in 835, most followers of al-Jawad readily accepted the imamate of Ali, who was still a child at the time. Drawing parallels with the story of young Jesus in the Quran, Twelver sources attribute an exceptional innate knowledge to Ali which qualified him for the imamate despite his young age. As with most of his predecessors, Ali al-Hadi kept aloof from politics until he was summoned around 848 from Medina to the capital Samarra by the Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil (), known for his hostility towards Shia Islam, Shias. There al-Hadi was held under close surveillance until his death in 868 during the caliphate of the Abbasid al-Mu'tazz (). Still, he managed to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qa'im Al Muhammad
In Shia Islam, Qāʾim Āl Muḥammad () is an epithet for the Mahdi, the eschatological figure in Islam who is widely believed to restore the religion and justice in the end of time. The term was used as early as the eighth century to refer to a future member of the family of the Islamic prophet Muḥammad who would rise against tyranny in the end of time and restore justice. This term was already common by the end of the Umayyad caliphate and largely replaced the term Mahdi in Shia literature. The term was often qualified as al-Qa'im bi 'l-sayf () or al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah (). Twelver Shia Twelver eschatology is dominated by the figure of the twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, the son of the eleventh Imam. The twelfth Imam is also known by the titles al-Mahdi (), al-Qa'im (), and Saheb al-Zaman (). It is believed that he was born around 868, and has been concealed by God from the humanity after the death of his father in 874, who was possibly poisoned by the Abbasids. During the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abdulaziz Sachedina
Abdulaziz Abdulhussein Sachedina is an Iranian professor and the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) Chair in Islamic Studies at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Biography He has been a professor since 1975. He annually teaches courses on Classical Islam, Islam in the Modern Age, Islam, Democracy and Human Rights, Islamic Bioethics and Muslim Theology. He was born in Tanzania, his heritage originally is from India. He has an MA/PhD from the University of Toronto and has BA degrees from Aligarh Muslim University in India and Ferdowsi University of Mashad in Iran. In 1997, Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani thanked him for his translation of a book on Imam Mahdi into English, originally written by Ayatollah Ebrahim Amini. The acknowledgement letter was published by the Iranian Hawza magazine. In 1998, Grand Ayatollah Sistani issued a statement against Sachedina that advised Muslims not to listen to his talks or to ask him questions about ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hujja
A term used in Shi'i terminology, "hujja" means "proof mplied: proof of God" It is usually used to refer to a single individual in any given human era who represents God's "proof" to humanity.. The hujja is an Islamic prophet or an Imam who possess a relationship with God that is greater than anyone else. The Imam who is the hujja of his time functions as the ultimate mediator between God and humanity, giving the Imam the greatest precedence for interpretation of the Qur'an. As the mediator between God and humanity, the Imam is the only one who can properly resolve conflicting interpretations of the Qur'an's words, giving the Imam ultimate authority over divine knowledge. In Twelver Twelver Shi'ism (), also known as Imamism () or Ithna Ashari, is the Islamic schools and branches, largest branch of Shia Islam, Shi'a Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shi'a Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers to its adherents' belief in twel ... shi'ism the title "hujja" is specifically a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi
Mohammad Baqer Majlesi ( – 29 March 1699; ), also known as Allamah Majlesi or Majlesi Al-Thani (Majlesi the Second), was an influential Iranian Akhbari Twelver Shia scholar and thinker during the Safavid era. He has been described as "one of the most powerful and influential Shi'a ulema of all time", whose "policies and actions reoriented Twelver Shia'ism in the direction that it was to develop from his day on." He was buried next to his father in a family mausoleum located next to the Jamé Mosque of Isfahan. Early life and education Born in Isfahan in 1627, his father, Mulla Mohammad Taqi Majlesi (''Majlesi-ye Awwal''—Majlesi the First, 1594 -1660), was a cleric of Islamic jurisprudence. The genealogy of his family is at times traced back to Abu Noaym Ahmad ibn Abdallah Esfahani (d. 1038 AD), the author, inter alia, of a History of Isfahan, entitled Zikr-i akhbar-i Isfahan. However, his first definitive, attested ancestor appears to be Kamal al-Din Darvish Mohammad ibn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ja'far Al-Sadiq
Ja'far al-Sadiq (; –765) was a Muslim hadith transmitter and the last agreed-upon Shia Imam between the Twelvers and Isma'ilis. Known by the title al-Sadiq ("The Truthful"), Ja'far was the eponymous founder of the Ja'fari school of Islamic jurisprudence. In the canonical Twelver hadith collections, more traditions are cited from Ja'far than that of the other Imams combined, although their attribution to him is questionable, making it hard to determine his actual teachings.. Among the theological contributions ascribed to him are the doctrine of '' '' (divinely inspired designation of each Imam by the previous Imam) and '' '' (the infallibility of the Imams), as well as that of (religious dissimulation under persecution). Al-Sadiq is also revered by Sunni Muslims as a reliable transmitter of hadith, and a teacher to the Sunni scholars Abu Hanifa and Malik ibn Anas, the namesakes of the Hanafi and Maliki schools of jurisprudence. Al-Sadiq also figures prominently i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faqīh
A ''faqīh'' (: ''fuqahāʾ'', ; : ) is an Islamic jurist, an expert in ''fiqh'', or Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic law. Definition Islamic jurisprudence or ''fiqh'' is the human understanding of Sharia, which is believed by Muslims to represent divine law as revealed in the Quran and ''sunnah'' (the practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad). Sharia is expanded and developed by interpretation ('' ijtihad'') of the Quran and ''sunnah'' by Islamic jurists (''ulama'') and implemented by the rulings (''fatwas'') of jurists on questions presented to them. ''Fiqh'' deals with the observance of rituals, morals and social legislation in Islam. In the modern era there are four prominent schools (''madhhab'') of ''fiqh'' within Sunni practice and two (or three) within Shia practice. The historian Ibn Khaldun describes ''fiqh'' as "knowledge of the rules of God which concern the actions of persons who own themselves bound to obey the law respecting what is require ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major Occultation
In Twelver Shia Islam, the Major Occultation (, ', 329 AH-present, 941 CE-present) is the second occultation of the Hidden Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, which is expected to continue until his rise at the end of time to establish peace and justice on earth. While various sects disagree about the identity of the eschatological Mahdi, the belief in him remains popular among all Muslims, possibly owing to numerous traditions to this effect in canonical Sunni and Shia sources. The Major Occultation began in 329 AH (941 CE) with the death of the fourth successive agent of the Hidden Imam, Abu al-Hasan al-Samarri, marking the end of the Minor Occultation (260-329 AH, 874-941 CE). According to Twelver sources, shortly before his death, al-Samarri received a letter from the Hidden Imam, which predicted his imminent death, ordered him not to designate a successor, and announced the beginning of the "complete occultation," in which there would be no agent of the Hidden Imam, though he is b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
