AL-SHAYKH SACID — SHAYKHIYYA 403 name like 'Ukayl. The harbour is said to have belonged Bibliography: F. Rosenthal, as-Sayb al-Yundm and to the pre-Islamic Kataban [q.v], then to the so-called the Arabic Plotinus source, in Orientalia, N.S. xxi (1952), Gebanites and finally to the Himyarites. Its name is xxii (1953), xxiv (1955), repr. in idem, Greek philos- also connected with Mahra b. Haydan b. cAmr b. al- ophy in the Arab world, Variorum, Aldershot 1990, Haf, the ancestor of the Mahra [q.v]. no. Ill; complete tr. by G. Lewis, in vol. ii of the The cape was acquired from the local sultan by ed. of the Enneads by F. Henry and H.-R. Schwyzer, the French admiral Mahe La Bourdonnais in 1734. Paris-Brussels 1959, see pp. xxxii-xxxiv of the pref- Napoleon Bonaparte wished to garrison the cape, a ace; cAbd al-Rahman Badawl, Plotinus apud Arabes, proposal which was also suggested by the French gov- Cairo 1955, 184-98; W. Kutsch, Em arabisches Bruch- ernment to Muhammad CA1I Pasha [q.v.]. When the stuck aus Porphyrios (?) Peri psyches und die Frage des latter was preparing to put the plan into force in Verfassers der Bab al-Mandab in 1871. In 1884 the harbour was SHAYKHIYYA, an important school of spec- occupied by the Turks, who fortified the cape, not- ulative theology within Twelver Shl£ism, influen- withstanding continuous but fruitless attempts by the tial mainly in Persia and clrak since the early 19th French to enforce their claims. Al-Shaykh Sa'Td was century. Although at times its leaders have been bombarded by the British in 1914, but the Turks excommunicated and its doctrines condemned as held out, being supported in 1915 by troops sent by heretical, Shaykhism (also known as the Kashfiyya) the Zaydl Imam Yahya b. al-Mansur. The Turks has accommodated itself fairly successfully with the even bombarded Mayyun and temporarily closed the majority UsulT establishment and is generally regarded Straits of Bab al-Mandab. as a school (madhhab) rather than a sect (firkd). Babism Bibliography: H. von Maltzan, Reise nach [see BAB, BABIS] began in the 1840s as a radical devel- Sudarabien, Braunschweig 1873, 384-5; A. Sprenger, opment of Shaykhl heterodoxy. Die alte Geographic Arabiens, Amsterdam 1966, 67, 77; 1. Early history. M. Hartmann, Der Islamische Orient, Leipzig 1909, The origins of Shaykhism are to be found in a ii, 153, 417-18, 469; W. Schmidt, Das siidwestliche highly original attempt to effect a synthesis between Arabien. Angewandte Geographie, Frankfurt a.M. 1913, (1) the theosophical Shf'ism of Mulla Sadra ShirazI iv, part 8, 78-9; F. Stuhlmann, Der Kampfum Arabien [q.v] and the School of Isfahan, (2) the waning Akhbari zwischen der Turkei und England. Hamburgische For- tendency, and (3) what Amanat calls a "diffuse gnos- schungen, Brunswick 1916, 113-20; G.W. Bury, Arabia ticism", influenced by crypto-Isma'Ili and related ideas. Infelix or the Turks in Yemen, London 1915, 17, 27, Later Shaykhl doctrine owes much to a wish to play map opp. p. 20; A. Grohmann, Sudarabien als Wirt- down the school's own distinctiveness and effect a schajtsgebiet, 2 vols., Vienna 1922-33, i, 168, 185; compromise with the Usull establishment. British Admiralty, A handbook of Arabia, London 1920, The school's originator, Shaykh Ahmad al-AhsaJI 174. (A. GROHMANN-[£. VAN DONZEL]) (1166-1241/1753-1826 [q.v]), is still reckoned one of SHAYKH AL-TA1FA (see AL-TUSI, MUHAMMAD B. the leading ShTci 'ulama* of the early Kadjar period, AL-HASAN] . and a thinker of considerable force. His early life in AL-SHAYKH AL-YUNANI, the disguise of one al-Ahsa', a backwater with few provisions for religious of the participants in the transmission of learning, was unpropitious for one with ambitions to authoritative Neoplatonic thought to Islam scholarship; but by the time of his arrival in the based upon a translation of large portions of books Shlcl shrine colleges of 'Irak in the early 1790s, he IV-VI of the Enneads of Plotinus. Fragments with this already possessed a prodigious knowledge, not only of designation have been recovered without, however, fikh and kaldm, but of the theosophical texts that were allowing a reconstruction of the form and extent of to form the basis of a wide-ranging critique in later his work. It is also debatable whether al-Shaykh al- years. Yunanf was substituting for the name of a given More importantly, he had experienced numerous philosopher and even might have belonged to the dreams and visions, chiefly of the Imams, allowing entire lost Arabic Plotinus source. The wide range of him to claim privileged understanding of the Kur'an meaning of shaykh [q.v.] permits a choice between and Traditions. This claim to intuitive knowledge sets "Greek Teacher" and "Greek Old Man"; occasional al-Ahsa'I apart from the representatives of the two Greek references to some Neoplatonists as germ, among main currents of ShlT thinking then contending for them Porphyry (see Kutsch), might perhaps tip the dominance: the Usulls, with their emphasis on iajtihdd scales in favour of "Old Man", whether Porphyry's through reasoning, and the Akhbans [see AKHBARIYYA role in the Arabic Plotinus reflects historical links [see in Suppl.], who stressed a literal adherence to the FURFURIYUS] or not (see Zimmermann). In addition to texts themselves, without recourse to iajtihdd. the fragments from the Enneads, al-Shaykh al-Yunam Having acquired licences from several eminent muaj- is credited with a brief treatise on topics of Neoplatonic tahids, in 1221/1806 al-Ahsa'I travelled to Persia. Here philosophy. In this case, as well as in other references, he remained for almost twenty years, patronised by there can hardly be any doubt that he was under- Fath CA1T Shah [q.v] and a succession of Kadjar nota- stood to be one and same person, even where he is bles. He lived mainly in Yazd (1806-14) and Kir- brought into contact with ancient philosophers or, manshah (1814-21), where he enjoyed the patronage rather mysteriously, is described as a pupil of Diogenes of Muhammad CA1T Mlrza and wrote some of his (see Siwdn al-hikma, ed. D.M. Dunlop, 56-7, 58-61). most important books, including the Sharh al-zjydra al- The manifold problems connected with this figure can- o^amfa al-kabira (his magnum opus) and commentaries not be separated from the entire complicated and on the Risdla al-ilmiyya of Muhsin Fayd al-Kashani fateful history of the Arabic Plotinus, for which see and the fArshiyya and Mashdfir of Mulla Sadra. UTHULUDJIYA. In 1822 in Kazwfn, al-Ahsa'I first encountered a 404 SHAYKHIYYA

charge of apostasy, and in the last four years of his recognition of a single, divinely-appointed mediator life, spent largely in Karbala', he became the object between the Imam and the faithful (identified with of a campaign of vilification. He died on his way to al-Ahsa'f, Rashtf, and, it would seem, Kirmanf him- Mecca on 21 Dhu 'l-Ka£da 1241/27 June 1826, aged self). Later, however, almost certainly as a reaction seventy-three. to the Bab's advancement of similar claims, this was Al-Ahsa'f was succeeded in Karbala' by a younger modified to a more general advocacy of the 'ulama3 Persian'disciple, Sayyid Kazim Rashtf (d. 1259/1844; and other holy figures as representatives of the Imam. birth dates range from 1198/1784 to 1214/1799-1800 In many respects, this debate prefigures that around [<7.fl.]), like his mentor the product of a non-clerical Khumaynf's concept of wildyat al-faklh and whether family. Rashtf remained in Karbala' until his death its application should be to a single individual or a and, despite repeated denials that he had established collective body of mu$tahids. a new madhhab within Islam and insistence that he Kirmanf's most significant break with the doctrine was no more than an expounder and defender of the of an inspired guide came, however, with his appoint- views of al-Ahsa'f, became an effective focus for the ment of his own son, Muhammad Khan (1263-1324/ allegiance of a small but influential grouping of culamd3 1846-1906) and the creation of a spiritual dynasty and laymen. A school had effectively been created: similar to those found in Sufism. Leadership of the on Rashtf's death, his followers split into radically dif- school was passed down through a series of Ibrahfmf ferent factions. This division, which has recently been khans (generally known by the tide Sarkar Aka): Hadjdj studied in some detail by Amanat, Bayat, and Mac- Zayn al-cAbidfn Khan (1276-1360/1859-1942),' Abu Eoin, is of wide significance, since it encapsulates some '1-Kasim Khan (1314-89/1896-1969), and cAbd al- of the most important tensions in Kadjar Shfcism. Rida Khan (d. 1979). This period saw mounting con- The two most extreme divisions to emerge after servatism, particularly with regard to social reform 1844 were Babism, which rapidly outgrew its Shaykhf and acceptance of Western ideas. Bayat speaks of origins to proclaim a new revelation and a new Shari'a, intellectual stagnation in a situation where original and a conservative branch based in Tabriz. This lat- Shaykhf doctrine was taught privately while public ter group included leading culama\ merchants, govern- profession was made of orthodoxy (Bayat, 181). ment officials, and notables; after a period of wholesale During the leadership of Hadjdj Muhammad Khan, separation from the religious mainstream, it merged tension between Shaykhfs and their opponents, known with it and lost its character as a distinct school. as Balasarfs, erupted into violence on several occa- The successive claims of Sayyid cAlf Muhammad sions, culminating in virtual civil war in 1905 (Mac- Shfrazf, the Bab [q.v.], were a logical development of Eoin, Bdldsan). Identification of the Shaykhfs with several strains in Shaykhf thinking, most importantly Kadjar interests, and Muhammad Khan's own hard- the emphasis on intuitive knowledge and the concept line royalist stance, encouraged a widening of the of a single individual, the Perfect Shf'f or bdb, who issues to a point where the original dispute was eclipsed could act as an infallible guide to the Imam. Both by growing agitation for a constitution. al-Ahsa'f and Rashtf seem to have been regarded (and Following the assassination of cAbd al-Rida Khan to have regarded themselves) in this light; the latter in the aftermath of the Iranian revolution of 1979, divided the dispensation of Islam into two distinct the headquarters of the school was moved to Basra periods: a cycle of outward observances (which came in clrak, where leadership passed to Hadjdj Sayyid to an end after twelve centuries) and one of inner cAlf Musawf. truth (which began with the appearance of al-Ahsa'f). At its height in the last century, Shaykhism was 2. Kirmanf Shaykhism. an influential school with converts in all the main The Bab's chief rival for the allegiance of the school Persian cities, 'Irak, India, and eastern Arabia. In was Hadjdj Muhammad Karfm Khan Kirmanf (1225- Persia, the membership included high-ranking govern- 88/1810-70), the eldest son of Ibrahfm Khan Zahfr ment officials and even Muzaffar al-Dfn Shah [q.v.]: al-Dawla, the governor of Kirman and Balucistan in this respect, it appears to have been an acceptable (1803-24) and one of al-Ahsa'f's leading patrons in alternative to Sufism, following the collapse of the Persia. A member of the ruling Kadjar family by Ni'matullahf revival of the early 19th century. birth and marriage, Karfm Khan's role as a religious 3. Doctrine. leader in the Kirman region was both strengthened In broad terms, Shaykhf doctrine differs very little and complicated by his position as the senior mem- from that of orthodox Twelver Shf'ism, and is gen- ber of the powerful Ibrahfmf clan and his control of erally little further from it than the views of the theo- its financial resources. The history of Kirmanf Shay- sophical thinkers: if anything, al-Ahsa'f and Rashtf khism is closely linked both to the fortunes of the made greater efforts than Sadra and his followers to Ibrahfmf family and wider political developments. remain part of the official religious system. Despite A prolific writer and would-be polymath, Karfm an obvious debt to Ibn al-'Arabf and the Shf cf theoso- Khan sought to reconcile Shaykhf teaching with Usulf phers, al-Ahsa'f disagreed with them on several impor- orthodoxy, insisting that the school agreed in all its tant issues, in particular the doctrine of the oneness main principles (usul) with traditional Shf'f doctrine, of existence (wahdat al-wu$ud). Since God remains while differing only in practice (Juruc). The clear het- ontologically separate from and inaccessible to cre- erodoxy of the Bab and his followers was both an ation, al-Ahsa'f emphasised the role of the prophets impetus to this policy and an aid in furthering it. and imams as intermediaries between the divine and Hence his ambivalence over the doctrine of the Fourth human worlds. Within this context, he regarded the Support (al-rukn al-rabic\ with which he became par- imams as the four causes of creation: active (they are ticularly associated. In a novel reworking of the the locations of the divine will); material (all things traditional five bases of religion (divine unity, prophet- have been created from the rays of their lights); for- hood, resurrection, divine justice, and the imamate), mal (God created the forms of all creatures from the Kirmanf reduced them to three (knowledge of God, lights of their forms); and final (God created all things prophethood, and imdmd) and added a fourth pillar, for their sake). knowledge of the friends and enemies of the Imams. It was this view that led to one of the earliest argu- In its original formulation, this doctrine leaned towards ments against al-Ahsa'f, namely, that he held the SHAYKHIYYA — SHAYKHU, LUWlS 405 imams to be creators instead of God. Although he Mahfuz (ed.), Sirat Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsd't, Baghdad denied this criticism in its extreme form, and argued 1376/1957 (autobiographical accounts); H. Corbin, that his views were based on well-known traditions, Terre celeste et corps de resurrection de I'Iran Mazdeen a there is no doubt that the imams and their role as riran Shi(ite, Paris 1960, Eng. tr. Spiritual body and manifestations of the divinity played a central role in celestial earth: Jrom Mazdean Iran to Shicite Iran, Princeton his theology. Belief in the necessity for the continu- 1977 (contains translations from works by several ing presence of an imam combined with al-Ahsa'I's Shaykhl leaders); idem, L'ecole shaykhie en theologie own conviction of the possibility of visionary contact shi3ite, in Annuaire de I'Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, and inspiration to produce a central doctrinal focus Section des Sciences Religieuses (1960-1); Hadjdj Mu- on intermediacy in each generation. hammad Karim Khan Kirmam, Irshdd al-cawamm; This itself led to the view that religious truth has G. Scarcia, Kerman 1905: La "guerra tra Seifyi e Bd- developed through the ages, mankind being likened Idsan", inAIUON, N.S., xiii (1963), 195-238; M. Mu- to a growing child in need of progressively stronger darrisl Cahardihf, Shayhhigan, Bdbigan, 2Tehran 1352 diets. Alongside the idea of an age of inner truth suc- Sh./1972; Abu '1-Kasim b. Zayn al-£Abidm Khan ceeding one of outward observance, Shaykhf teaching Kirmanf, Fihrist-i kutub-i Shaykh Ahmad Ahsd'i wa sd'ir proposed that humanity had either come of age or mashdyikh-i 'izdm, 3Kirman 1977 (comprehensive bio- was about to do so—a doctrine which had its strongest bibliographical information); D. MacEoin, From Shay- impact on Babism and its successor, Baha'ism [q.v.]. khism to Babism: a study in charismatic renewal in Shi'i Rashti's belief that a new age of spirituality had Islam, Ph.D. diss. Cambridge University 1979; idem, started with al-AhsasI seems to have given rise to EIr, art. Ahscfi, Shaikh Ahmad b. ^ayn-al-Dm', idem, speculation within the school as to the possibility of EIr, art. Bdldsan; idem, EIr, art. Cosmology in Shai- the advent of the Twelfth Imam's imminent advent, khism', V. Rafati, The development of Shaykhi thought in but how extensive such chiliastic expectation really Shifi Islam, Ph.D. diss. UCLA 1979; Mangol Bayat, was it is very hard to establish. The Kirmam Shaykhls Mysticism and dissent: socioreligious thought in Qagar Iran, naturally play down all suggestions of messianism, Syracuse 1982, chs. 2, 3 and passim; Abbas Amanat, while modern Baha'Is exaggerate its role on the basis Resurrection and renewal: the making of the Babi movement of oral statements. In their writings, both al-Ahsa'I in Iran, 1844-1850, Ithaca & London 1989, chs. 1, and RashtT adopt a conventional attitude to the ques- 6; M. Momen, The works of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsd'l: tion of the Imam's return. Nevertheless, the fact that a bibliography, Baha'i Studies Bulletin Monograph Rashti's death was immediately followed by a fran- no. 1 [1992]. (D. MACEOIN) tic outburst of millenarianism suggests that, at the SHAYKHU, LUWIS, conventionally L. CHEIKHO, very least, talk of living gates to the Imam had excited with the correct name Rizk Allah b. Yusuf b. cAbd speculation that the Mahdl himself might soon make al-Masfh b. Ya'kub (1859-1927), Jesuit scholar and his appearance. polygraph. He was the author of many works on In their lifetimes, however, orthodox criticism of Arabic language and literature, especially, Christian al-AhsaJf and Rashtl found a particular focus in the Arabic, and founder of the journal al-Mashnk. Ori- former's teaching on the eschatology of the individ- ginally from upper Mesopotamia, he spent most of ual. In several works—notably the Shark al-zjyara—he his life in Beirut. developed an original doctrine of resurrection based Born at Mardln [0.0.], now in Turkey, he came to on a complex system of physical and spiritual bodies Beirut at the age of nine for secondary education. (for details, see MacEoin, Cosmology, Corbin, Terre celeste, He entered the Jesuit order in 1874, studied for four 146-74). According to this scheme, man possesses four years in France, and on his return to Lebanon, taught bodies: two ajasad and two ajism. For the orthodox, in the Jesuit secondary school in Beirut where he the crucial problem with this system, which involves began publication of his Madjdni al-adab. After further resurrection in an interworld known as Hurkalya, was studies at the Universite de Saint-Joseph, in England, its denial of a return for the first ajasad, the fleshly Austria and Paris, where he became familiar with li- body of terrestrial elements. Although the ShaykhT braries there and with current orientalist scholarship, doctrine does not entirely spiritualise the process of he returned in 1894 to Beirut and stayed there sub- resurrection, it tended to be interpreted in that way stantially until his death, devoting himself to work on by the school's opponents. Arabic language and literature and to editing al-Mash- 4. Literature. rik, founded by him in 1898. The corpus of written materials produced by the A catalogue of his impressive literary output, virtually school's leadership is enormous, although very little exhaustive, has been given by C. Hechaime, his suc- has been penned by adherents. A great deal still exists cessor as editor of al-Mashrik, in his Bibliographie ana- only in manuscript form, although the Shaykhf com- lytique du Pere Louis Cheikho, avec introd. et index, Beirut munity of Kirman has made microfilm copies of all 1979, which also includes (161-78) everything which the originals in its own library. Their Sacadat Press had until then appeared on Shaykhu, during his life- has published reliable editions of works by all the time and afterwards, and in both the Arab world and shaykhs, amounting to several hundred volumes, and that of Orientalist scholarship. plans to issue more. A full bibliography of Shaykhl Of his 2,750 writings, the greater part of which— writing from al-AhsaJi to Abu '1-Kasim Khan may be though not the most important—appeared in al-Mash- found in the latter's Fihrist, to which Momen's The rik, some 979 titles are devoted to Christianity and works of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsd'I is useful addition. its writings, not directly concerned with Arabic studies. Bibliography: Shaykh Ahmad b. Zayn al-Din But his major works included his anthology of Arabic al-Ahsa'I, D^awamf al-kalim, 2 vols., Tabriz 12737 literature, the Maajdni al-adab ft hadd'ik al-Arab, Beirut 1856-7, 1276/1860 (94 treatises); idem, Shark al- 1882-3, 6 vols.; his Shark on it, 3 vols.; and its Fahdris. ziydra al-ajdmi'a al-kabira, new ed., 4 vols., Kirman The whole work had a great success, with many 1355-6 Sh./1976-7; Sayyid Kazim Rashtl, Dalll al- editions. He edited, from manuscript, the Arabic ver- mutahayyinn, n.p. 1276/1859-60; Shaykh cAbd Allah sion of Katila wa-Dimna [q.v.] (1905), the diwdm of Ahsa'T, Sharh-i hdldt-i Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsd3l, Bombay Abu VAtahiyya (1886, 1887), of al-Khansa', and 1309/1892-3 (the main biographical source); H.CA. above all, of the H omasa of al-Buhtun (1910). In the