Ithna Ashariyah: Difference between revisions

The term '''Ithna ‘Ashariyah''' (“T'welver”) or Imami refers to the denomination of [[Shi‘ism]] to which the majority of Shi‘as worldwide adhere. The Ithna ʿAshariyah are also known as Imamiyah because of their main tenet regarding the necessity of the [[imam]] for the establishment of the ideal Muslim community under divine revelation. The term Shiʿa is generally applied to the Twelvers, despite the fact that there are other factions, such as the [[Ismaʿiliyah]] and [[Zaydiyah]], that are also included within Shiʿi Islam.

Characteristic of Twelver Shi‘ism is recognition of the authority of twelve successive imams (spiritual leaders) who were members or descendants of [[ahl al-bayt]] (the prophet [[Muhammad]]’s immediate family). Their authority is said to have been transmitted over time via the lineage of Muhammad’s daughter [[Fatima]] and her husband, [[‘Ali ibn Abi Taleb]]. Also characteristic of Twelver Shi‘ism is an emotional attachment to ahl al-bayt that manifests itself in annual rituals commemorating the battlefield death of the [[imam Hussain]], grandson of Muhammad.

The Ithna ʿAshariyah trace their history to the investiture, in Ghadir Khumm (modern-day Juhfah), of [[ʿAli ibn Abi Talib]], the first imam, with [[wilaya]] (discretionary authority) by [[Muhammad]] after the Prophet 's Farewell Pilgrimage. Following Muhammad 's death in 632, the leadership of the nascent community was assumed by the Prophet 's leading companion, [[Abu Bakr]], but a group of Muslims refused to accept him as caliph. This group constituted the nucleus of the early [[Shiʿa]] (“partisans”). They believed that ʿAli was Muhammad 's rightful successor and that those who usurped his right were sinners. This belief marked the genesis of the Shiʿi concept of [[imamate]]. Although ʿAli did not assume political authority until after the third caliph, ʿUthman, was murdered in 656, he was regarded by the Shiʿi as the imam, that is, a person qualified to assume temporal and spiritual authority. Following ʿAli 's murder in 660, the imamate continued with [[Hasan]] (d. 669) and Hussain (d. 680), the sons of ʿAli and his wife [[Fatima]], Muhammad 's daughter.  

The second most significant event during the formative period of the Ithna ʿAshariyah was the murder of the third imam, [[Hussain]], on the plains [[Karbala]], Iraq, in 680. The Karbala episode provided the Shiʿa with the ethos that led to the distinct Shiʿi belief system, which is constructed around the notion of divinely designated ideal leadership, and the pathos that set the tone of the Ithna ʿAshari religious praxis for posterity. From the Ithna ʿAshari perspective, Karbala became the paradigm for defiance against the unjust authority that culminated in martyrdom ([[shahadah]] in the sense of sacrificial death in the path of God). It also marked a shift in the subsequent role of the Shiʿi imam from politically activist upholder of just authority to politically quietist successor of Hussain. The imamate was identified more in terms of the imam 's religious-legal knowledge of Islamic revelation than his activist posture as the redresser of the wrongs committed against the [[ahl al-bayt]] (the Prophet 's family).  

[[ʿAli Zayn al-ʿAbidin]] (d. 714), [[Muhammad al-Baqir]] (d. 733), and [[Jaʿfar al-Sadiq]] (d. 765), the fourth, fifth, and sixth imams, inaugurated the era of devotional, theological, and juridical formulations of the Ithna ʿAshariyah. Whereas for the Muslim community in general the second half of the eighth century was a period of political and social unrest, for the Shiʿa it was the critical phase of self-definition in the face of competing and politically supported religious expression. The replacement of the [[Umayyad]]s by the [[ʿAbbasid]]s in 748 and the political turmoil that ruled in the central lands of the caliphate afforded these imams necessary time to shape the future direction of the Ithna ʿAshariyah. Through the spiritual and intellectual leadership of al-Baqir and al-Sadiq, the Shiʿi developed distinctly Shiʿi Quranic exegesis, through well-documented Prophetic [[hadith]]s (reports), including ones related by the imams, and a highly sophisticated juridical tradition, which subsequently earned them a distinct recognition in the larger community as the followers of the Jaʿfari madhhab (rite).

The succeeding imamate of al-Sadiq 's descendants, from [[Musa al-Kazim]] (d. 799), the seventh imam, to [[Muhammad al-Mahdi]] (disappeared in 874 to return as the Mahdi, “divinely guided” leader of the ummah [community], at the End of Time), the twelfth and last imam, was the most difficult period for the Ithna ʿAshariyah. The imams lived either incarcerated or under surveillance for suspected activities against the caliphate. The Shiʿa were faced with unrelenting ʿAbbasid atrocities and had little or no access to their imams. Under those conditions, the imams appointed their nuwwab (personal deputies), who conveyed their teachings and collected religious dues, such as the khums (originally a fifth of the spoils of war) and zakat (alms), from their followers. This deputyship gradually evolved into the influential religious institution among the Shiʿa that culminated in the [[wilaya]] (comprehensive guardianship) of the qualified mujtahid (or faqih; jurist-theologian) under the Qajar and post-Qajar jurists.

The obligation of tawalla (befriending) has led to two important religious practices unique to the Shiʿis: first, the [[ziara]] (visitations) to the mashhad (mausoleums) of the imams and their descendants; and second, [[majalis]] (devotional gatherings) to mourn the [[martyrdom]] of [[Imam Hussain]] on [[Ashura]], the tenth day of [[Muharram]], in [[Karbala]]. Both these practices have provided the Shiʿi minority with a renewed sense of loyalty to the Prophet 's family. The shrine cities of [[Karbala]], [[Najaf]], [[Mashhad]], and [[Qom]] have functioned as the religious centers for the ordinary Shiʿis and learning centers for their mujtahids, who continue to teach in the holy sanctuaries. The Muharram commemoration has fostered among the Shiʿa an identity consonant with their vision of history in which the godly people suffer at the hands of the oppressors until God commands the [[Mahdi]] to restore justice and equity on earth.

* Ayoub, Mahmoud M.Redemptive Suffering in Islam: A Study of the Devotional Aspects of ʿĀshūrāʿ in Twelver Shīʿism. The Hague, 1978.

* Brunner, Rainer and Werner Ende (editors). The Twelver Shia in Modern Times: Religious Culture and Political History. Leiden: Brill, 2001.

* Jafri, S. H. M.Origins and Early Development of Shiʿa Islam (updated edition). London, 2000.

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* Newman, Andrew J. Twelver Shiism: Unity and Diversity in the Life of Islam, 632 to 1722. Edinburgh University Press, 2013.

* Sachedina, A. A.The Just Ruler (al-Sulṭan al-ʿĀdil) in Shīʿite Islam: The Comprehensive Authority of the Jurist in Imamite Jurisprudence. New York, 1988.

* Sachedina, A. A.“Activist Shiʿism in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon.” In Fundamentalisms Observed, edited by Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby, pp. 403–456. Chicago, 1991.

* [http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0400 Oxford Islamic Studies Online]

* David Pinault (2004). “Imami (Twelver)”. Encyclopedia of Islam and Muslim World (ed. Richard Martin). P: 624-628. New York: Macmillan.