Ahl al-Bayt Research Articles

Shi'ism in South East Asia: 'Alid Piety and Sectarian Constructions ed. by Chiara Formichi and R. Michael Feener

Reviewed by: Shi'ism in South East Asia: 'Alid Piety and Sectarian Constructions ed. by Chiara Formichi and R. Michael Feener Majid Daneshgar Majid Daneshgar, Michael Feener, Chiara Formichit, Shi'ism, 'Alid, South East Asian religion, Shia Islam, Islamic magic chiara formichi and r. michael feener, eds. Shi'ism in South East Asia: 'Alid Piety and Sectarian Constructions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. Pp. xvi + 397. There have been many academic studies examining the history and literature of minorities (e.g., Shi'is) in South East Asia, most recently the present work, produced by Chiara Formichi and Michael Feener, a collection of essays originating in a workshop held in the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore in 2010. This book would have much to offer a reader approaching it through the lens of Southeast Asian Studies; nevertheless, given the context of this review I decided to highlight its references to Islamic rituals. [End Page 404] The book is divided into four parts. Part One deals with the historical foundations of Shi'ism in Southeast Asia. It includes a comprehensive chapter by Biancamaria Scarcia Amoretti that addresses the evolution of Shi'i devotional literature in light of the religious and political conditions of the Middle East and South East Asia. Part Two is dedicated to literary legacies. For instance, 'Alīb. Abī Ṭālib is known as the scribe of the Messenger of Islam in "the earliest surviving Javanese manuscript of Samud narrative dating from the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century" (53). As Ronit Ricci explains, 'Alī is portrayed in this manuscript as the faithful representative of Muhammad, who is fully knowledgeable. Ricci also shows that Javanese works display 'Alī as a great warrior who was able to defeat non-Muslims, including the Jewish people. Wendy Mukherjee introduces the theme of the piety (taqwa) and morality (akhlaq) of Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, in Malay texts. A Malay folk prose narrative called Hikayat Ali Kawin or "The Story of 'Alī's Marriage" provides local young brides with ethical lessons. In an Acehnese text regarding Muhammad's admonitions, and thoroughly in contrast to Middle Eastern sources, the so-called sinless Fatima (the wife of 'Alī) is replaced with the one who is accused of a major sin, adultery. Muhammad is then shown instructing his daughter on how to obey her husband. For instance: "The woman who perishes in childbirth dies a martyr's death. There is no salvation for a woman who is unfaithful to her husband; hell is her portion" (75). This is despite the fact that upon translating and interpreting some Western and South Asian religious and mystical literature dealing with Muhammad and his household (ahl al-bayt), Malays added additional fictional/imaginary elements to the body of literature. They produced both concise and lengthy folk prose narratives and treatises focusing, for example, on 'Alī (Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law as well as the first imam of Shi'a) and Fatima, whose acts, according to Shi'ism, are errorless. Malay stories also suggest that one may easily manage one's life through learning about supernatural and magical qualities (khawass) found in the Malay version of holy figures' instructions (e.g. ahl al-bayt and Sufis). Following Edwin Wieringa, who had stated that "other texts in which 'Ali and Fātimah appear, seem to be of a more obscure nature, dealing with magic and eroticism/mysticism,"1 some chapters of this volume pay particular attention to such themes. [End Page 405] On this subject, Faried F. Saenong tries to demystify the role of 'Alid's family in Southeast Asian sexual arts. He outlines different stages of intercourse in Bugis manuscripts in which "'Alī and Fātima appear in a magic formula that is supposed to be uttered by the wife, in which 'Alī and Fātima are referred to as exemplary practitioners of foreplay" (107). Furthermore, there are several pre-twentieth-century Malay manuscripts with particular references to sensual pleasure (ladzat) and the sensation of orgasm (panas) discussed by Teren Sevea. Part Three revolves around modern Southeast Asia. For example, the chapter by R. Michael Feener argues the development and reception of an old [religious] feast...

La doctrine šī‘ite duodécimaine du « changement » (badā’) face à celle de l’« abrogation » (nasḫ) des sunnites en théologie islamique

Does God’s will alternate His decisions ? To this theological question Sunnites and Šī‘ites have answered with different explanations : the first with the doctrine of « abrogation » (nasḫ) and the second with the one of badā’ (it seems to God). After having described the badā’ in the šī‘ite twelver theology, the Author proposes the translation of the chapter dealing with in the book of the Iranian ‘Allāma Ǧa‘far al-Subḥānī « The Islamic Creed in the Light of the School of the People of the House » (al-‘Aqīda l-islāmiyya ‘alā ḍaw’ madrasat Ahl al-Bayt). This doctrine tends to harmonize the free willing of God with the wise rationality of His decisions so that the changes which are le result of human free changing decisions could belong to a previous knowledge of God. But how to imagine that God is submitted to our chronological time in His eternity ? So it should be more opportune to see in the badā’ a special expression of some anthropomorphism as it is frequently done in our comprehension of the divine Beautiful Names. So there is « no change in God’s will ».

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The eloquence of the hadiths of Ahl al-Bayt () and their impact on linguistic correction

The eloquence of the tongue that characterized the hadiths of Ahl al-Bayt (G), devoid of vulgarity and savage strangeness, plentiful in words, abundant in meanings, which did not involve defects or slips, and was the purest language, and the sweetness of eloquence after the Qur’an. It was supposed to set the balance, the control for the highest levels of eloquence and clarification, from which the linguistic rules are taken, at their various phonetic, morphological, grammatical, and semantic levels, and to take what corresponds to the melody of their sayings, and to subtract those that reject them.

Analyzing the Juridical reasons of corporate social responsibility in private sector with an emphasis on the necessity of paying Khums

Organizations act as a link between the individual and society and are considered as one of the most basic components of social configuration of modern human beings which need society and people to ensure access to basic survival needs. On the other hand, these organizations as legal entities are responsible to be responsive towards the demands of society. The concepts such as corporate social responsibility and its dimensions and components have attracted the attention of many researchers. This study was conducted to analyze the juridical reasons of corporate social responsibility in private sector with an emphasis on the necessity of paying Khums. According to Ahl al-Bayt view, the necessity of Khums in business profitability and all human revenues is simply proved, but the extent of paying Khums has been generally stated and it has not mentioned who should pay this Khums. It is taken directly from the religious texts that the focal point is the profit which is obtained from trade and business and therefore khums is not related to special group or individual. It is not necessary to oblige the tradesman to any religious orders because Khums is obligatory on possessions/profits owned by a person which are achieved from private organizations or not. Regarding the importance of financial gain and the required conditions related to Khums, It seems that everyone who has a profit or revenue will be obliged to pay Khums whether he has real or legal entity.

THE FACE OF HADRATMASUMAH (AS) IN ARABIC POETRY

HadratMasumah (AS) is one of the imam-borns that have been highly regarded by people especially the authorities and scholars. Her shrine is the destination of all mystics and interested people in Ahl al-Bayt. Everyone shows and expresses their devotion in a special way. In the area of culture and literature, the poets have used panegyry and eulogy to describe this lady of dignity. However, the review of Arabic literature guides us to the point that since her era namely the Abbasid until the contemporary era, the contribution of contemporary Arab poets has been significant than the previous eras. It can be said that the contemporary era is the most flourished era that the Arab poets described and praised HadratMasumah (AS). There are two reasons that why there are not anything available. Perhaps they are among the lost works of Shia or the poet did not dare to write them due to the political status of that era. However, it must be said that due to the presence of holy shrine of HadratMasumah (AS) in Iran, the Persian poem is richer than the Arabic poem in terms of panegyry and describing her. In the present descriptive-analytical study, a selection of panegyry by the Arab poet about HadratMasumah (AS) is discussed.

DEMOCRACY AND RELIGION: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

This article is devoted to the analysis of the current state of Shi’a Islam in light of the 6th General Meeting of the “Ahl al-Bayt” (“Family of the Holy Prophet”) World Assembly.

The position of the Shiites towards the extremist Islamic currents until the end of the Abbasid era

We touched on the position of the Shiites on extremist currents, and it is one of the largest Islamic sects, and it has strong and firm stances towards these currents, especially Ahl al-Bayt (B). I have avoided verbosity in presenting some vocabulary that might arouse the ire of some researchers, who are not accustomed to the critical approach, so I referred the matter to the sources and references that can be referred to directly to find out the contradiction in some of its resources or texts, especially the ideological ones. It has been shown that delving into the depths of these extremist currents dates back to the historical period that followed the death of the Prophet (7) and extended to several decades later.

Spiritual Gems: The Mystical Qur’an Commentary Ascribed by the Ṣūfīs to Imām Jaʿ far al-Ṣādiq (d. 148/175) trans. and annotated by Farhana Mayer (review)

Reviewed by: Spiritual Gems: The Mystical Qur’an Commentary Ascribed by the Ṣūfīs to Imām Jaʿ far al-Ṣādiq (d. 148/175) trans. and annotated by Farhana Mayer Hamid Algar Spiritual Gems: The Mystical Qur’an Commentary Ascribed by the Ṣūfīs to Imām Jaʿ far al-Ṣādiq (d. 148/175), trans. and annotated by Farhana Mayer, 2011. Louisville, Kentucky: Fons Vitae, lxi + 273 pp, $24.95. isbn: 978-1-89178-530-6 (pbk). Sixth among the imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq’s centrality to Twelver Shiʿism transcends by far the purely numerical, something that requires no elaboration for readers of this journal. Occasional attempts have nonetheless been made to align him with Sunni Islam, or even to appropriate him for it outright.1 More commonly encountered and less implausible are the connections with Sufi tradition with which Imam Jaʿfar has been credited. Many references to Imam Jaʿfar are to be found in early Sufi texts, and he is included in the lines of spiritual transmission claimed by several Sufi orders.2 Impressive, too, are the numerous works with Sufi content with which he has been credited.3 They include brief texts such as Miṣbāḥ al-Sharīʿah wa Miftāḥ al-Ḥaqīqah, regarded as authentic by Ayatollah Ḥusayn Ansāriyān, who wrote on it a massive commentary replete with hadith from the Ahl al-Bayt and citations from Shiʿi gnostics such as Fayḍ-i Kāshānī.4 Best known and most influential among works of this type attributed to Imam Jaʿfar is the collection of exegetical comments incorporated by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī (d. 330/942) in his Ḥaqāʾiq al-Tafsīr, one of the earliest Sufi commentaries on the Qurʾan; it has now been translated into English by Farhana Mayer as Spiritual Gems: The Mystical Qurʾān Commentary Ascribed by the Ṣūfīs to Imām Jaʿ far al-Ṣādiq (d. 148/175). The caution thus displayed with respect to the attribution is contradicted by a description of the book on its back cover as, straightforwardly, an ‘important corpus from al-Ṣādiq.’ As Mayer makes plain in her lengthy [End Page 507] introduction, her main concern is with the intrinsic worth of the text, not with its ultimate authorship (xxv). But were it not for the attribution to Imam Jaʿfar, these exiguous exegetical notes might not have received the attention they have, and it can be argued, too, that the understanding of at least some of them is dependent on identifying the author. In her survey of the problem (xxv–xxix), Mayer first discusses the similarities and differences between Sulamī’s text of the commentary attributed to Imam Jaʿfar and what has been falsely regarded as a straightforwardly Shiʿi recension of the same by al-Nuʿmānī. She then summarizes the findings of three scholars who have previously addressed the topic: Louis Massignon, Paul Nwyia (whose edition of Sulamī’s text she includes at the end of the book), and Gerhard Böwering (although she makes no mention of Böwering’s article, ‘The Light Verse: Qurʾānic Text and Sufi Interpretation’, in Oriens XXXVI (2001), 113–44, where he straightforwardly characterises the text as ‘pseudo-Jaʿfar’ [135]). Two, far more detailed analyses of the problem, unmentioned by Mayer, also deserve attention: Akbar Thubūt, ‘Nigāhī bih Ḥaqāʾiq al-Tafsīr va Ziyādat-i Ḥaqāʾiq al-Tafsīr va Barrasī-yi Pārihʾī az Ārā-yi Muḥaqqiqān dar īn Bāb’, in Āyīnih-yi Mīrāth, IV (1), Spring 1385 AH (solar)/2006, 51–72; and Yunus Emre Gördük, İmam Cafer Es-Sadık ve Ona İsnad Edilen İşarî Tefsir (Istanbul: İnsan Yayınları, 2011).5 Both reach the same inconclusive conclusion: that although the text cannot integrally be ascribed to Imam Jaʿfar with absolute certainty, parts of it may indeed have been derived from his teachings (Gördük, 216; Thubūt, 52). Especially problematic in the text attributed to Imam Jaʿfar is an effusive laudation of the first...

Kedudukan Wanita dalam Perspektif Syi’ah

Women have a respectable position in Islam. Besides already mentioned in some verses of the Qur’an, the virtue of women is also much expressed through the words of the Prophet SAW. However, it will be different when viewed from the Shites perspective. the sect, that claimed that the entire thought derived from the Ahl al-Bayt turned out to have a different view with regard to the position of women. The discussion in this paper is more emphasis on the study of Turath. Turath study is intended study of classic books written by scholars of shi’ah. The research focused on women’s rights in various aspects. The conclusion that can be drawn from this paper turns Shites tend to demean women. From the side of the faith, Shite women will certainly not obtain a higher degree of faith than men. Starts from this, they deny some rights that should be owned by women. Rights are neglected, among others: the right to religious education and the public, rights in muamalah (relationship), and the right in the household. Especially, when women are faced with a belief in the urgency of Mut’ah, then by itself be marginalized women. Due to Mut’ah are supported by the shariah, actually is a form of insult the dignity of women.

Men's documentation of the martyr Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr

It is well known that the Ahl al-Bayt school (peace be upon them) produced scientific personalities at the level of structure and application. Islamic knowledge was influenced by what was distinguished by its cognitive rooting in the legal product. And with broad horizons, therefore, we notice the depth of production as the research is rooted and deepened, and the impact of the cognitive achievement in this school, and this is what we find clearly in the school of the martyr Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, as his school was characterized by the comprehensiveness of all branches of Islamic and human knowledge. It is multiple in all aspects of life, and It was not limited to specializing in the sciences of Islamic law from jurisprudence and principles only, although this field was the broadest of his scientific achievements and innovations.

Wa-bi-Rādhān mā bi-Rādhān...: The landed property of ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd

AbstractDigitized text repositories (such asal-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr,al-Maktaba al-ShāmilaandMaktabat Ahl al-Bayt) open new horizons in the study of early Islamic history. By employing them it was found that ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd had at least four courts, two in Kūfa and two in Medina, and at least two estates cultivated by sharecroppers, one in Rādhān near Kūfa and another in Saylaḥīn near Qādisiyya. His situation is comparable to that of a member of the pre-Islamic Sassanian landed aristocracy of absentee landlords. He also had three households in three different places. The desire for control and worldly assets is human, and those who lack it never make it to the highest echelons of power. Put differently, hagiography should not be mistaken for historiography. Whether or not Ibn Masʿūd's Rādhān should be linked with the Rādhānite Jewish merchants remains an open question.

IDEOLOGISASI MAZHAB SYIAH DI BALIK PERIODISASI SEJARAH TAFSIR AL-QUR’AN

This paper will examine the penetration of the Shia’s ideology in the periodization of the Qur’anic exegesis (Tafsir). It argued that periodization phases showed the evidence of the ideologization tracing back to the Shia’s exegetic activities by using the the theories of Gramsci’s hegemony and counter-hegemonies. This paper revealed also that, as opposed to Sunni Qur’anic exegesis, the Shia’s Qur’anic exegesis reached its peak at the period of ahl al-Bayt.Keywords: Shi’ah, Tafsir al-Qur’an, Ideologi, Periodisasi.

Shaping Shiʿa Identities in Contemporary Indonesia between Local Tradition and Foreign Orthodoxy

This article reflects on the impact of transnational flows of students, pilgrims, and literature from Iran to Indonesia on the shaping of Shiʿa Islam in Indonesia since 1979, with a focus on the post-Suharto era (1998–2012) and the performance of ʿ Āshūrāʾ commemorative rituals. Since the early days of its Islamization, Southeast Asia has featured several literary and ritual practices rooted in a combination of Islamic and local traditions; most notable are those expressing patterns of pre-sectarian devotion towards the ahl al-bayt – drawing a parallel with Marshall Hodgson’s framework of ʿAlid piety (1955). Based on ethnographic and archival research, the author suggests that in the decades following the Iranian revolution some of these practices were abandoned in favour of a paradigm of devotion promoted by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The polarization of practices, and the relationship between organizations representative of these two approaches, is illustrated through an analysis of the performative means used to represent the tragedy of Karbala during ʿĀshūrāʾ events in Bandung, Bengkulu (West Sumatra), and Jakarta in 2011. In Bandung the play “Tragedi Karbala” was performed by a Sundanese theatrical group staging a local text; in Bengkulu the traditional Festival Tabot took place following a pattern determined by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture in the early 1970s but now under the sponsorship of the Iranian Embassy; the Jakarta event featured a taʿziya troupe brought from Iran by the Embassy’s cultural office.

Ortak Kültür Değerlerimizin Şifresi

Alevi-Islam faith comes to Anatolia from Khorasan via the immigration of the Turks. It is the synthesis based on Sufism philosophy interpreted with Qur'an and the cultures of Anatolia and Khorasan. It is known that they have maintained their rituals based on the love of ahl al-bayt and the reflection of Qur'an understanding into society by believing and having faith in cem houses at the present time manifestly for 1400 years. Turkmens adapted Islam into their faith-culture that they transmitted from father to son while most of them became migrants. While dedes were performing their worship related to dervish order, they prevented the society from assimilation. Dedes fell behind the people coming to the cities in terms of the accumulation of oral culture. Because of this, the intellectuals had a lot of works to do. Because of the grouping in cities, increase in communication media and change in worldview, the applications in cems did not satisfy our educated youth. Opening cem houses in every district was not sufficient. In order to turn them into a religion and culture center, they were supposed to be improved. The number of exploiters increased. The faith of Islam, which was adapted into traditional culture values that the society had decreased. Alevi Turkmens were a closed society, intermarried in villages and cities, performed their cem rituals in private because of the pressure, hid their identities when they were asked by Sunnis and as a result of the differences arose out of the effects of village and city life they were settled in the suburbs of metropolitans in a village manner. Most of them hid their identities and were open to assimilation by narrating because of the effects of city culture and neighborhood pressure.

Measure for Measure: Prophetic History, Qur'anic Exegesis, and Anti-Sunnī Polemic in a Fāṭimid Propaganda Work (BL Or. 8419)

The acephalous British Library manuscript Or. 8419 is currently catalogued as a qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ or compilation of Islamic narratives about the prophets. However, an examination of its contents reveals that although it does focus on the various prophets – including Muḥammad himself – and their missions, the text is more accurately characterised as Ismāʿīlī taʾwīl, a commentary on Qur'anic passages that draws parallels between the struggles of the prophets of the past and the persecution of the Shīʿa in the present. The central argument of the text is that while the Shīʿī Imāms and their supporters continue the legacy of the prophets and their virtuous followers in the past, the majority of the Muslim community has gone astray just as the Jews and Christians did before them, especially in their denial of the claims of the ahl al-bayt. Various indications in the text suggest that it was produced as propaganda supporting the claims of the Fāṭimids at an early juncture in the dynasty's history, possibly during the reign of the first caliph-Imām, al-Mahdī.

The Impact of Muslim Religious Groups on the Changing Roles of Muslim Women in the Philippines: A Study of Tabligh Jama’ah, Markazosshabab, and Ahl al-Bayt

This research analyses the impact of three religious groups, Tablīgh Jama’ah, Markazosshabab fil Filibbin and Ahl al-Bayt in the Philippines on the changing roles of Muslim women. Of necessity, this research examines the coming of Islamic resurgence in the Philippines and the traditional to contemporary roles played by Filipino Muslim women. This study is based upon primary and secondary sources such as books, articles, journals, newspapers, government reports, non-governmental organization’s reports, policy statements, and press releases. The researcher also carried out interviews with key figures of the three religious. The findings show the impact of these religious groups in terms of donning hijab and participating in Islamic religious assembly or activities not just at the local but also at the national level.

AŞKA SEMAH DÖNMEK

Alevism–Bektashism is an expression of the interpretation of Islam by love. Love that forms the very essence of faith has been the most important determiner of the established procedures and pedestals of the Alevi path. Divine love as accepted as unique and genuine among all different orientations of love is sought. While Alevism becomes a path, it connects itself to the Prophet via Hazrat Ali and the ancestry of Ahl al-Bayt. The reason, essence, direction and eventually destination of love have been expressed as “the path of ‘Haqq–Mohammed–Ali’”. Because, according to the Alevi faith, Allah has created the earth, sky and eighteen thousand universes for the love of Mohammed–Ali’s children. It is also accepted that the true faith is possible only with love. Meanings present in the definition of love, such as suffering and pain, are the expected distresses in the pathway to love. On the way, the love related to the world and all things but Allah will be burned by the fire of love and annihilated. Thus, the man will die before his real death and reach the status of a human being. Within this framework, the interpretation of the faith, which is practiced through love, will be examined with reference to the main resources of Alevism–Bektashism. In addition, styles and applications, developed by using the principal resources as basis, will also be taken into consideration and examined.

MUHARREM VE AŞURE

Muharrem and Fast in Muharrem which has long been practiced within the Anatolian Alevi community is mentioned in the previous studies. These religious practices has been used when people narrate both similarity and difference between Sunnis and Alevis. In this article, these two practices will be explained based on the understanding and the practices of Muharram fasting and Ashura in the communities under its domain. At the same time, I describe the way how to understand the religious practices such like Fast in Muharrem and Ashura from the point of view of an Alevi religious leader called Dede who is descendant of Ahl al-Bayt (Dede Garkin Ocagi).In Sunnism and Shiism, Ramadan fasting is regarded as one of the most important religious practices. As for Alevis, fasting means Kerbelâ and Muharram fasting. Apart from classically being a fast, Muharram fasting signifies a period for mourning. During that time, people remember Karbala incident and they shed tears to commemorate Imam Hussein. The aim is to oppose the tyrant and to be on the oppressed side and hold out on cruelty. It is to be loyal to the hand, tongue and waist and to live honorable life.