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Major Occultation
In Twelver Shia Islam, the Major Occultation ( ar, ٱلْغَيْبَة ٱلْكُبْرَىٰ, ', 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 in 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imamate In Twelver Doctrine
Imāmah ( ar, إِمَامَة) 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 oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twelver Shi'ism
Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa 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 and will reappear as ''The promised Mahdi'' ( ar, المهدي المنتظر). According to the Shīʿa tradition, the Mahdi's tenure will coincide with the Second Coming of Jesus (ʿĪsā), who, along with Mahdi, would kill the Dajjal. Twelvers believe that the Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to the theology of Twelvers, the Twelve Imams are exemplary human individuals who not only rule over the Muslim community (''Ummah'') with justice, but are also able to preserve and interpret the Islamic law (''sharīʿa'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uthman Ibn Sa'id Al-Asadi
Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi al-Amri ( ar, عُثْمَان ٱبْن سَعِيد ٱلْأَسَدِيّ عَمْرِوْيّ ') was the first of the Four Deputies, who are believed by the Twelvers to have successively represented their twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, during his Minor Occultation (874–941 CE). Uthman is also said to have been a trusted representative of the tenth and eleventh Imams, Ali al-Hadi and Hasan al-Askari, respectively. The date of his death is not certain, though it is believed that Uthman did not survive al-Askari for long. 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russo-Persian Wars
The Russo-Persian Wars or Russo-Iranian Wars were a series of conflicts between 1651 and 1828, concerning Iran, Persia (Iran) and the Russian Empire. Russia and Persia fought these wars over disputed governance of territories and countries in the Caucasus. The main territories disputed were Azerbaijan, Aran, Georgia (country), Georgia and Armenia, as well as much of Dagestan – generally referred to as Transcaucasia – and considered part of the Safavid Iran prior to the Russo-Persian Wars. Over the course of the five Russo-Persian Wars, the governance of these regions transferred between the two empires. Between the Russo-Persian War (1722–1723), Second and Persian Expedition of 1796, Third Russo-Persian Wars, there was an interbellum period in which a number of treaties were drawn up between the Russian and the Persian Empires, as well as between both parties and the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman interest in these territories further complicated the wars, with both sides forming a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qajar Iran
Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک محروسه ایران '), was an Iranian state ruled by the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic origin,Cyrus Ghani. ''Iran and the Rise of the Reza Shah: From Qajar Collapse to Pahlavi Power'', I. B. Tauris, 2000, , p. 1William Bayne Fisher. ''Cambridge History of Iran'', Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 344, Dr Parviz Kambin, ''A History of the Iranian Plateau: Rise and Fall of an Empire'', Universe, 2011, p.36online edition specifically from the Qajar tribe, from 1789 to 1925.Abbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3; "In the 126 years between the fall of the Safavid state in 1722 and the accession of Nasir al-Din Shah, the Qajars evolved from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safavid Iran
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The Safavid Shāh Ismā'īl I established the Twelver denomination of Shīʿa Islam as the official religion of the empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam. An Iranian dynasty rooted in the Sufi Safavid order founded by Kurdish sheikhs, it heavily intermarried with Turkoman, Georgian, Circassian, and Pontic GreekAnthony Bryer. "Greeks and Türkmens: The Pontic Exception", ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 29'' (1975), Appendix II "Genealogy of the Muslim Marriages of the Princesses of Trebizond" dignitaries and was Turkish-speaking and Turkified. From their base in Ardabil, the Safavids established control ove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zayn Al-Din Al-Juba'i Al'Amili
Zayn al-Dīn al-Juba'ī al'Amilī ( ar, زين الدين الجبعي العاملي) (1506-1559), also known as ash-Shahīd ath-Thanī ( ar, الشهيد الثاني, ' "The Second Martyr") was a Twelver Shia Muslim scholar. Early life He was born ''Zayn al-Dīn bin Nur al-Dīn 'Alī bin Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin 'Alī bin Jamal al-Dīn bin Taqī bin Sāliḥ bin Mushrif al-'Amilī al-Shamī al-Ṭalluṣī al-Juba'ī'', in the village of Jbaa, on the 13th of Shawwal, 911 AH (1506 CE). His father, Sheikh Nur al-Din 'Ali was also a scholar. His ancestor, Sāliḥ, was a student of Allamah al-Hilli. Career and Travels Thani studied under both Sunni and Shi'a scholars in Jabal 'Amel, Damascus, Cairo, Jerusalem. In 1536, he moved to Egypt, where he learned ''Usul al-Fiqh'', geometry, prosody, medicine and logic. In 1543, he traveled to Constantinople and met with Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Qāḍī Zāda al-Rūmī, with whom he shared multiple treatises relating to several ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God's guidance, such as struggle against one's evil inclinations, proselytizing, or efforts toward the moral betterment of the Muslim community (''Ummah''), though it is most frequently associated with war. In classical Islamic law (''sharia''), the term refers to armed struggle against unbelievers, while modernist Islamic scholars generally equate military ''jihad'' with defensive warfare. In Sufi circles, spiritual and moral jihad has been traditionally emphasized under the name of ''greater jihad''. The term has gained additional attention in recent decades through its use by various insurgent Islamic extremist, militant Islamist, and terrorist individuals and organizations whose ideology is based on the Islamic notion of ''jihad''. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid
Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Nu'man al-'Ukbari al-Baghdadi, known as al-Shaykh al-Mufid () and Ibn al-Mu'allim (c.9481022 CE), was a prominent Twelver Shia theologian. His father was a teacher (''mu'allim''), hence the name Ibn al-Mu'allim. The title "al-Mufid" was given to him either by Muhammad al-Mahdi, the twelfth Shia Imam, or by al-Rummani, a Sunni scholar, after a conversation with him. The leader of the Shia community, he was a mutakallim, theologian, and Shia jurist. He was taught by Al-Shaykh al-Saduq, Ibn Qulawayh, Abu Abdallah al-Basri and al-Rummani, and Sharif al-Murtaza and Shaykh Tusi were among his students. Only 10 of his 200 works have survived, among which are ''Amali'', ''Al-Irshad'', ''Al-Muqni'ah'', and ''Tashih al-Itiqadat''. Early life and education Al-Mufid was born in 'Ukbara, a small town to the north of Baghdad, on 11th Dhul Qa'dah in 336 Hijra. According to Shaykh Tusi, however, he was born in 338 AH, and later migrated with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khums
In Islam, khums ( ar, خُمْس , literally 'one fifth') refers to the required religious obligation of any Muslims to pay 20% of their acquired wealth from certain sources toward specified causes. It is treated differently in Shia and Sunni Islam. This tax is paid to the imam, caliph or sultan, representing the state of Islam,Abdulaziz Sachedina (1980)Al-Khums: The Fifth in the Imāmī Shīʿī Legal System Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Oct., 1980), pp. 276-277, 275-289, note 10 for distribution between the orphans, the needy, the trandedtraveler, and the descendants of Islamic prophet Muhammad. In some jurisdictions, khums is paid on minerals extracted in regions under the control of the state. Khums separate from other Islamic taxes such as zakat and jizya. In Sunni Islam, the scope of ''khums'' tax has been the spoils of war ( ar, الْغَنيمَة, al-ghanim). In Shia Islam, the scope of ''khums'' tax includes spoils of war, objects obtained f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muhaqqiq Al-Hilli
Najm ul-Din Abul-Qasim Ja'far bin al-Hasan bin Yahya bin al-Hasan bin Sa'id, famous as ''al-Muhaqqiq al-Hilli'' and ''al-Muhaqqiq al-Awwal'' ( 1205 – 1277) was an influential Shi'i Mujtahid born in the city of al-Hilla, Iraq. He played an important role in shaping Twelver Shi'ism's legal doctrines works. His legal manual, ''Shara'i ul-Islam'', has been particularly influential, attracting more than thirty commentaries. Life Muhaqqiq was born in the city of al-Hilla, Iraq, where he would spend most of his life, to a family of prominent Shi'i jurists. He studied theology, fiqh and usul al-fiqh under his father. Muhaqqiq later became the leader of the Shi'i seminary there; when Nasir al-Din al-Tusi visited the town as the representative of Hulagu, he addressed Muhaqqiq as the representative of the city's scholarly elite. Intellectual Output Muhaqqiq produced an impressive scholarly corpus during his life, treating subjects ranging from fiqh and usul al-fiqh to ethics, theology, philo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abu Jafar Muhammad Ibn Uthman
Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Uthman ( ar, أَبُو جَعْفَر مُحَمَّد ٱبْن عُثْمَان ٱلْأَسَدِيّ, ') was the second of the Four Deputies, who are believed by the Twelvers to have successively represented their twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, during his Minor Occultation (874–941 CE). Abu Ja'far in this role succeeded his father, Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Asadi, the first deputy. After some forty years in office, Abu Ja'far died in 304 or 305 AH (917 or 918 CE) and was succeeded by Ibn Ruh al-Nawbakhti, the third deputy. Abu Ja'far has been credited with the unification of the mainstream Shia. Historical background Until their deaths, the tenth and eleventh Shia Imams (Ali al-Hadi and Hasan al-Askari, respectively) were held in the garrison town of Samarra under close surveillance (or house arrest) by the Abbasids, who are often responsible in Shia sources for poisoning the two Imams. The two Imams witnessed the deterioration of the Abbasid caliph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
