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Twelfth Imam
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī ( ar, محمد بن الحسن المهدي) 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 CE), possibly poisoned by the Abbasids. Immediately after his death, his main representative, Uthman ibn Sa'id, 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 ... [...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] |
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes its name. They ruled as caliphs for most of the caliphate from their capital in Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, after having overthrown the Umayyad Caliphate in the Abbasid Revolution of 750 CE (132 AH). The Abbasid Caliphate first centered its government in Kufa, modern-day Iraq, but in 762 the caliph Al-Mansur founded the city of Baghdad, near the ancient Babylonian capital city of Babylon. Baghdad became the center of science, culture and invention in what became known as the Golden Age of Islam. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as a multiethnic and multi-religious environment, garnered it a worldwide reputation as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Mu'tamid
Abu’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن جعفر; – 14 October 892), better known by his regnal name Al-Muʿtamid ʿalā ’llāh (, "Dependent on God"), was the Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 870 to 892. His reign marks the end of the "Anarchy at Samarra" and the start of the Abbasid restoration, but he was largely a ruler in name only. Power was held by his brother al-Muwaffaq, who held the loyalty of the military. Al-Mu'tamid's authority was circumscribed further after a failed attempt to flee to the domains controlled by Ahmad ibn Tulun in late 882, and he was placed under house arrest by his brother. In 891, when al-Muwaffaq died, loyalists attempted to restore power to the Caliph, but were quickly overcome by al-Muwaffaq's son al-Mu'tadid, who assumed his father's powers. When al-Mu'tamid died in 892, al-Mu'tadid succeeded him as caliph. Life The future al-Mu'tamid was a son of Caliph al-Mutawakkil () and a Kufan slave girl ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zaydism
Zaydism (''h'') is a unique branch of Shia Islam that emerged in the eighth century following Zayd ibn Ali‘s unsuccessful rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate. In contrast to other Shia Muslims of Twelver Shi'ism and Isma'ilism, Zaydis, also called Fivers, consider Zayd to be the fifth imam and successor to Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, instead of his half-brother Muhammad al-Baqir. Origin The Zaydi madhhab emerged in reverence of Zayd's failed uprising against the Umayyad Caliph, Hisham (ruling 724–743 AD), which set a precedent for revolution against corrupt rulers. According to Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, Zaydis find it difficult to "sit in their houses" and remain passive in an unjust world. Zaydis are the oldest branch of the Shia and are currently the second largest group after Twelvers. Zaydis do not believe in the infallibility of Imāms and do not ascribe them with any supernatural qualities, but promote their leadership. They also reject the notion of na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Mutawakkil
Abū al-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim bi-ʾllāh ( ar, جعفر بن محمد المعتصم بالله; March 822 – 11 December 861), better known by his regnal name Al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (, "He who relies on God") was the tenth Abbasid caliph. 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 February/March 822 to the Abbasid prince Abu Ishaq Muhammad (the future al-Mu'tasim) and a slave concubine from Khwarazm called Shuja. His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samarra
Samarra ( ar, سَامَرَّاء, ') is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, north of Baghdad. The city of Samarra was founded by Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutasim for his Turkish professional army of around 3,000 soldiers which grew to tens of thousands later. In 2003 the city had an estimated population of 348,700. During the Iraqi Civil War, Samarra was in the "Sunni Triangle" of resistance. In medieval times, Samarra was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and is the only remaining Islamic capital that retains its original plan, architecture and artistic relics. In 2007, UNESCO named Samarra one of its World Heritage Sites. 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 th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali Al-Hadi
ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Hādī ( ar, عَلِيّ ٱبْن مُحَمَّد ٱلْهَادِي; 828 – 868 CE) was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the tenth of the Twelve Imams, succeeding his father, Muhammad al-Jawad. He is known with the titles al-Hādī () and al-Naqī (). As with most of his predecessors, he kept aloof from politics and engaged in teaching in Medina. Around 848, the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil, known for his extreme anti-Shia measures, summoned al-Hadi to the capital Samarra, where he was held under close surveillance until his death some twenty years later in 868. Shia sources often hold the Abbasids responsible for his death at the age of about forty. He was succeeded by his son, Hasan, who was also held under surveillance in Samarra until his death in 874 at the age of twenty-eight. As an important center for Shia pilgrimage, the al-Askari shrine in Samarra houses the tombs of al-Hadi and his successor. The restricted life of al-Had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abdulaziz Sachedina
Abdulaziz Sachedina is Professor and International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) Chair in Islamic Studies at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Biography He has been a professor for 33 years, beginning in 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. He was one of the students of Dr. Ali Shariati 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 l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi
Mohammad Baqer Majlesi (b. 1037/1628-29 – d. 1110/1699) ( fa, علامه مجلسی ''Allameh Majlesi''; also Romanized as: Majlessi, Majlisi, Madjlessi), known as Allamah Majlesi or Majlesi Al-Thani (Majlesi the Second), was a renowned and very powerful Iranian 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 1617, his father, Mulla Mohammad Taqi Majlesi (''Majlesi-ye Awwal''—Majlesi the First, 1594 AD-1660 AD), was a cleric of Islamic jurisprudence. The genealogy of his family is traced back to Abu Noaym Ahámad b. Abdallah Esfahani (d. 1038 AD), the author, inter alia, of a History of Isfahan, entitled Zikr-i akh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
The Signed Letter Of Hujjat-Allah Al-Mahdi
The final letter of Muhammad al-Mahdi, known as the Hidden Imam in Twelver Shi'ism, to his agent Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri predicted his imminent death and announced the beginning of the Major Occultation (941–present). In Twelver belief, the Major Occultation concludes with the rise of al-Mahdi in the end of time to establish peace and justice on earth. This letter belongs to the Tawqi'at ( ar, تَوْقِيعات , lit=signed letters), a collection of signed letters and pronouncements attributed to the Hidden Imam. Etymology ( ar, تَوْقِيع , label=none) is derived from the verb ( ar, وَقَعَ, link=no, label=none), a polysemous word which often means to fall or cause to fall. itself means a person's name or mark used in signing a letter (signature). Historically, referred to a sign on camel's saddle. In this sense, came be identified with a signature of caliph or ruler on a letter. Tawqi'at is the plural form of . In Twelver literature, the for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abu Al-Hasan Ali Ibn Muhammad Al-Samarri
Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن مُحَمَّد ٱلسَّمَّرِيّ, ') was the last of the Four Deputies, who are believed by the Twelvers to have successively represented their Hidden Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, during his Minor Occultation (874–941 CE). Al-Samarri in this role succeeded Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ruh al-Nawbakhti in 937. Al-Samarri is said to have received a letter from Muhammad al-Mahdi shortly before his death in 941 CE. The letter predicted the death of al-Samarri in six days and announced the beginning of the complete occultation, later called the Major Occultation, which continues to this day. The letter, ascribed to Muhammad al-Mahdi, added that the complete occultation would continue until God granted him permission to manifest himself again in a time when the earth would be filled with tyranny. Historical background Until their deaths, the tenth and eleventh Shia Imams (Ali a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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