History of Islam, Part 4: Partisans of Ali
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In the previous three episodes of the
History of Islam, we described the first three Caliphs and their characteristics. We also discussed their most notable accomplishments and how they ruled the Caliphate.
Abu Bakr, the wise community leader and the founder of the Caliphate had died from a fever.
Umar, the military thinker and founder of
Islamic jurisprudence was stabbed in his stomach by a mentality disturbed
Sassanid slave. And
Uthman the merchant, the builder was beaten to death in his study room by his fellow Muslims. Now it was the fourth
Caliph’s turn, but the future for Ali looked bleak at best.
Ever since the dispute between Ali and Abu Bakr over the succession of
Muhammad, which we discussed in Part 1, Ali had gained a fiercely loyal following. And despite Ali’s allegiance and loyalty to the first three Caliphs, a large group of Muslims still considered Ali as the only chosen and legitimate successor of Muhammad.
According to
Shia scholars, during the rule of the previous Caliphs, Ali’s family was harassed, a portion of their property was seized, and in one instant even resulted in the miscarriage and the death of his wife
Fatima. However,
Sunni scholars say the allegations regarding the seized property are made up, and that the miscarriage and death of Fatima was an accident. What we know for certain is that, despite everything, Ali remained a strong supporter of unity amongst Muslims and he continued to advise the Caliphs on a variety of political and religious subjects. For example, it was Ali who advised
Caliph Umar to set the
First Hijra, which marks the emigration of Muhammad from
Mecca to
Medina, as the beginning of the
Islamic lunar calendar.
In his spare time, Ali held sermons and lectures and over the years his followers grew in numbers, eventually they became known as the
Party of Ali or the
Partisans for short, which in
Arabic means the
Shiites.
The Partisans had titled their leader as the
Imam. If the mainstream
Sunni Muslim community had the Caliph, then the Shiites would have the Imam. Thus the meaning of Imam has different meanings for Sunni and
Shia Muslims. Aside this title
difference, there was no cultural or religious difference between the Muslims at the time, there were no sects, cults or branches. More importantly were was no schism. At least, not in the beginning and not in the open.
Soundtrack:
Decisions Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under
Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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