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Fazlallah Astarabadi and the Hurufis
prelims.046 17/12/2004 4:58 PM Page i MAKERS of the MUSLIM WORLD Fazlallah Astarabadi and The Hurufis “Shahzad Bashir is to be commended for producing a remarkably accessible work on a complex subject; his explanations are models of lucidity and brevity.” PROFESSOR DEVIN DEWEESE, INDIANA UNIVERSITY prelims.046 14/12/2004 1:37 PM Page ii SELECTION OF TITLES IN THE MAKERS OF THE MUSLIM WORLD SERIES Series editor: Patricia Crone, Institute for Advanced Study,Princeton ‘Abd al-Malik, Chase F.Robinson Abd al-Rahman III, Maribel Fierro Abu Nuwas, Philip Kennedy Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Christopher Melchert Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi, Usha Sanyal Al-Ma’mun, Michael Cooperson Al-Mutanabbi, Margaret Larkin Amir Khusraw, Sunil Sharma El Hajj Beshir Agha, Jane Hathaway Fazlallah Astarabadi and the Hurufis, Shazad Bashir Ibn ‘Arabi,William C. Chittick Ibn Fudi,Ahmad Dallal Ikhwan al-Safa, Godefroid de Callatay Shaykh Mufid,Tamima Bayhom-Daou For current information and details of other books in the series, please visit www.oneworld-publications.com/ subjects/makers-of-muslim-world.htm prelims.046 14/12/2004 1:37 PM Page iii MAKERS of the MUSLIM WORLD Fazlallah Astarabadi and The Hurufis SHAHZAD BASHIR prelims.046 14/12/2004 1:37 PM Page iv FAZLALLAH ASTARABADI AND THE HURUFIS Oneworld Publications (Sales and editorial) 185 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7AR England www.oneworld-publications.com © Shahzad Bashir 2005 All rights reserved Copyright under Berne Convention A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library ISBN 1–85168–385–2 Typeset by Jayvee, -
The Differences Between Sunni and Shia Muslims the Words Sunni and Shia Appear Regularly in Stories About the Muslim World but Few People Know What They Really Mean
Name_____________________________ Period_______ Date___________ The Differences Between Sunni and Shia Muslims The words Sunni and Shia appear regularly in stories about the Muslim world but few people know what they really mean. Religion is important in Muslim countries and understanding Sunni and Shia beliefs is important in understanding the modern Muslim world. The beginnings The division between the Sunnis and the Shia is the largest and oldest in the history of Islam. To under- stand it, it is good to know a little bit about the political legacy of the Prophet Muhammad. When the Prophet died in the early 7th Century he not only left the religion of Islam but also an Islamic State in the Arabian Peninsula with around one hundred thousand Muslim inhabitants. It was the ques- tion of who should succeed the Prophet and lead the new Islamic state that created the divide. One group of Muslims (the larger group) elected Abu Bakr, a close companion of the Prophet as the next caliph (leader) of the Muslims and he was then appointed. However, a smaller group believed that the Prophet's son-in-law, Ali, should become the caliph. Muslims who believe that Abu Bakr should be the next leader have come to be known as Sunni. Muslims who believe Ali should have been the next leader are now known as Shia. The use of the word successor should not be confused to mean that that those that followed the Prophet Muhammad were also prophets - both Shia and Sunni agree that Muhammad was the final prophet. How do Sunni and Shia differ on beliefs? Initially, the difference between Sunni and Shia was merely a difference concerning who should lead the Muslim community. -
Shiism: What Students Need to Know - FPRI Page 1 of 4
Shiism: What Students Need to Know - FPRI Page 1 of 4 Footnotes Search The Newsletter of FPRI’s Wachman Center Shiism: What Students Need to Know By John Calvert May 2010 Vol. 15, No. 2 John Calvert is Fr. Henry W. Casper SJ associate professor of history at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. This essay is excerpted from his book “Divisions within Islam,” part of a 10-volume series for middle and high school students on the World of Islam, put out by Mason Crest Publishers in cooperation with FPRI. Also see his “Sunni Islam: What Students Need to Know.” For information about the series, or to order, visit: http://www.masoncrest.com/series_view.php?seriesID=90 Shiism is the second-largest denomination of Islam, after Sunni Islam. Today, the Shia comprise about 10 percent of the total population of Muslims in the world. The most important group within the Shia is the “Twelvers,” so called for the 12 Imams, or leaders, they venerate. The largest concentrations of Shia Muslims are found in the Islamic Republic of Iran, where they make up 89 percent of the country’s total population; Iraq, where they comprise 63 percent of the country’s total; and Lebanon, where they are 41 percent of the total population. Numerically significant Twelver Shia communities also exist in the Arab Gulf (Bahrain, Kuwait, and northeastern Saudi Arabia), Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Subgroups within the Shia include the Zaydis, who exist mostly in Yemen; and the Ismailis, who live mainly in India, in East Africa and in scattered communities in North America and Western Europe. -
Muhammad Ali's Main Bout: African American Economic Power and The
1 Muhammad Ali’s Main Bout: African American Economic Power and the World Heavyweight Title—by Michael Ezra Muhammad Ali announced at a press conference in January 1966 that he had formed a new corporation called Main Bout, Inc. to manage the multi-million-dollar promotional rights to his fights. “I am vitally interested in the company,” he said, “and in seeing that it will be one in which Negroes are not used as fronts, but as stockholders, officers, and production and promotion agents.” Although racially integrated, Main Bout was led by the all-black Nation of Islam. Its rise to this position gave African Americans control of boxing’s most valuable prize, the world heavyweight championship. Ali envisioned Main Bout as an economic network; a structure that would generate autonomy for African Americans. Main Bout encountered resistance from the beginning. It came initially from white sportswriters. But about a month after Main Bout’s formation Ali’s draft status changed to 1-A, which meant that he had become eligible for military service in the Vietnam War. When Ali then opposed the war publicly, politicians nationwide joined the press in attacking Main Bout. The political controversy surrounding Ali made it easier for Main Bout’s economic competitors— rival promoters, closed-circuit television theater chains, and organized crime—to run the organization out of business. Money and politics were important elements of white resistance to Main Bout as was the organization’s potential as a black power symbol. Like his civil rights contemporaries, Muhammad Ali understood the importance of economic power. -
Saudi Arabia 2020 International Religious Freedom Report
SAUDI ARABIA 2020 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT Executive Summary According to the 1992 Basic Law of Governance, the country’s official religion is Islam and the constitution is the Quran and Sunna (traditions and practices based on the life of the Prophet Mohammed). The legal system is based largely on sharia as interpreted by the Hanbali school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. Freedom of religion is not provided under the law. The law criminalizes “anyone who challenges, either directly or indirectly, the religion or justice of the King or Crown Prince.” The law criminalizes “the promotion of atheistic ideologies in any form,” “any attempt to cast doubt on the fundamentals of Islam,” publications that “contradict the provisions of Islamic law,” and other acts including non-Islamic public worship, public display of non-Islamic religious symbols, conversion by a Muslim to another religion, and proselytizing by a non-Muslim. In practice, there is some limited tolerance of private, non-Islamic religious exercise, but religious practices at variance with the government-promoted form of Sunni Islam remained vulnerable to detention, harassment, and, for noncitizens, deportation. According to Shia community members, processions and gatherings continued due to decreased political tensions and greater coordination between the Shia community and authorities, and Ashura commemorations (of the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed) were marked by improved sectarian relations and public calls for mutual tolerance. Shia activists stated, however, that authorities continued to target members of their community on a religious basis with security operations and legal proceedings. In July, Shia Rights Watch (SRW) reported that security forces raided the largely Shia town of Safwa, resulting in several arrests and one injury. -
The Glory and Dignity of the Woman from the Viewpoint of Imam Ali (P.B.U.H)
Open Journal of Women's Studies Volume 1, Issue 1, 2019, PP 39-43 The Glory and Dignity of the Woman from the Viewpoint of Imam Ali (P.B.U.H) Dr. Mohammad reza Afroogh Islamic Azad University, Lorestan, Iran. *Corresponding Author: Mohammad reza Afroogh,. Islamic Azad University, Lorestan, Iran. [email protected] ABSTRACT Allah Almighty has created Man of both sexes, men and women, and each of them has a special attributes to achieve spiritual achievements with good merit and to thrive on the direct path of their talents. Islam does not regard the superiority of individuals as being male and female, but it is based on pure faith, righteous deeds and doing divine assignments, and does not make any action even a little disadvantageous. Nevertheless, in some societies there is the false view of women so there is a need to write articles and reciprocating women on the basis of authentic Islamic sources. In this article some aspects such as: women's nature, women's duties, reverence for women, and introduction of women's social participation patterns, women's mother position and women's position in the family are collected from Imam Ali (P.B.U.H)* point of view with documents in Nahj al-Balaghah. *Imam Ali (P.B.U.H) is the first Imam of Shia among Muslims. This great unique man has been praised by all religions and denominations because his superiority in knowledge and virtue Keywords: Woman, Mother, Family, Imam Ali (P.B.U.H), Nature. INTRODUCTION her to take part of the burden of the mission of Imam Ali (P.B.U.H), as a great Islamic figure, educating the community and take the path of has drawn a long standing for women and perfection. -
Muhammad Ali
28 Days of Black Excellence - Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali was a heavyweight boxing champion, philanthropist, and a social activist who was considered to be one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. Ali was born on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, and was given the name Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. As a young boy, Clay was tough because he grew up in a time of segregation and racial discrimination. At 12 years old, he picked up boxing after a thief stole his bike and he wanted to be able to fight. Five years after his first amateur win in 1954, Clay won the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions in 1959. Four years after winning the light heavyweight Olympic gold medal in 1960, Clay converted to Islam and called himself Muhammad Ali, and was drafted into the military seven years later. He refused to serve due to his religious beliefs preventing him from fighting. He was arrested for committing a felony and was sentenced to five years in prison. His world title and boxing license were taken away from him, but he fought to appeal his conviction. After missing three years, Ali eventually returned to boxing in 1970 and his conviction was overturned a year later. By his retirement at 39 years old, Ali had a record of 56 wins, 5 losses, 37 knockouts and he was a three-time heavyweight champion. His most famous quote, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The eye can’t hit what the eye can’t see,” arose from his unique fighting style that earned him the title “World’s Greatest”. -
The Alevi and Questions of Identity, Including Violence and Insider/Outsider Perspectives
TINA HAMRIN-DAHL The Alevi and Questions of Identity, Including Violence and Insider/Outsider Perspectives Alevilik is the second largest religious movement in Turkey after Sunnite Islam. The Alevi worship Ali and the twelve Imams of his family. Ali is more or less deified and therefore Alevis are considered as being ghulat (‘exaggerated’, ‘extremist’) and heterodox. The elevated Ali personifies an aspiration to justice and righteousness. He fought on the side of the weak and oppressed against those with power in society. Theologically, Ali is as- sumed to be blessed by the divine light and is therefore able to see into the mysterious spirituality of Islam (Ataseven 1997: 256). Many Alevis today however totally dissociate themselves from Shi’ism. Still, the degrading label kızılbaş (‘red-head’) is associated with Ali and thus is something al- leged to be anti-Osman, since Isma’il fought against the Osman Empire. The colour red represents the blood of Mohammed: he was wounded in battle and Ali saw the prophet’s blood flowing. As Ali grew older, he wanted to remind people of Mohammed’s struggle and therefore started wearing red headgear. Red thus became the colour of the Shi’ites and over time a symbol of Shi’ite martyrdom. Later red also gained political signifi- cance for the Alevis (Ataseven 1997: 259). The religious and the political are closely intertwined, but despite this, neither the Left nor Shi’ism does simply stand on one side and the Right/Sunni on the other – there are no such simple dichotomies in reality. As for martyrdom, blood has indeed flowed, and early attacks on Alevis have great symbolic significance today. -
Formulations of Australian Isma'ili Muslim Identity
Cont Islam DOI 10.1007/s11562-017-0382-x Two cultures, one identity: formulations of Australian Isma’ili Muslim identity Karim Mitha1,2,3,4 & Shelina Adatia5 & Rusi Jaspal6,7 # The Author(s) 2017. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract The Shi’a Imami Nizari Isma’ili Muslims have often been considered the Bposter child^ for pluralistic integration (Cayo 2008). This ethos has been inculcated within members of the community, with its adherents seeing themselves as a diverse and multi-ethnic collective. Nevertheless, despite this purported pluralism, social research on the Isma’ilis has primarily focused on the diasporic and post-diasporic migrant communities of South Asian descent, the ‘first and second-generation immi- grants,’ in the Euro-American context (Mukadam and Mawani 2006, 2009; Nanji 1983, 1986). The experiences of co-religionists in other contexts have often been neglected. This study examines how members of the self-described geographically and socially isolated Isma’ili community in Australia construct their identity vis-à-vis the larger, global, Isma’ili community, and how they have responded to the potential of identity threat given the arrival of another group of Isma’ilis with a differing migratory history integrating into the extant community. Using the approach of identity process theory, this study examines how salient features of identity are constructed amongst the * Karim Mitha [email protected] 1 Edinburgh Migration, Ethnicity, and Health Research Group (EMEHRG), Centre for Population -
Islam: Sunnis and Shiites
Islam: Sunnis and Shiites Christopher M. Blanchard Analyst in Middle Eastern Affairs March 3, 2010 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RS21745 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Islam: Sunnis and Shiites Summary The majority of the world’s Muslim population follows the Sunni branch of Islam, and approximately 10-15% of all Muslims follow the Shiite (Shi’ite, Shi’a, Shia) branch. Shiite populations constitute a majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan. There are also significant Shiite populations in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen. Sunnis and Shiites share most basic religious tenets. However, their differences sometimes have been the basis for religious intolerance, political infighting, and sectarian violence. This report includes a historical background of the Sunni-Shiite split and discusses the differences in religious beliefs and practices between and within each Islamic sect as well as their similarities. The report also relates Sunni and Shiite religious beliefs to discussions of terrorism and sectarian violence that may be of interest during the 111th Congress. Also see CRS Report RS21695, The Islamic Traditions of Wahhabism and Salafiyya, by Christopher M. Blanchard. Congressional Research Service Islam: Sunnis and Shiites Contents Historical Background ................................................................................................................1 International Terrorism..........................................................................................................1 -
Islam: Sunnis and Shiites
Order Code RS21745 Updated December 11, 2006 Islam: Sunnis and Shiites Christopher M. Blanchard Analyst in Middle Eastern Affairs Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Summary The majority of the world’s Muslim population follows the Sunni branch of Islam, and approximately 10-15% of all Muslims follow the Shiite (Shi’ite, Shi’a, Shia) branch. Shiite populations constitute a majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan. There are also significant Shiite populations in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen. Sunnis and Shiites share most basic religious tenets. However, their differences sometimes have been the basis for religious intolerance, political infighting, and sectarian violence. This report1 includes a historical background of the Sunni-Shiite split and discusses the differences in religious beliefs and practices between and within each Islamic sect as well as their similarities. The report also relates Sunni and Shiite religious beliefs to discussions of terrorism and Iraq that may be of interest during the first session of the 110th Congress. This report will be updated as necessary. Related papers include CRS Report RS21432 and CRS Report RS21695. Historical Background The differences between the Sunni and Shiite Islamic sects are rooted in disagreements over the succession to the Prophet Muhammad, who died in 632 AD, and over the nature of leadership in the Muslim community. The historic debate centered on whether to award leadership to a qualified, pious individual who would follow the customs of the Prophet or to transmit leadership exclusively through the Prophet’s bloodline. The question was settled initially when community leaders elected a companion of the Prophet’s named Abu Bakr to become the first Caliph (Arabic for "successor"). -
2021 Ismaili Studies Conference
Third International Ismaili Studies Conference Histories, Philosophies & Communities Friday, August 6 - Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Hosted by Leiden University Shi’i Studies Initiative Convened by: Dr. Khalil Andani (Augustana College) Dr. Ahab Bdaiwi (Leiden University) Organizing Committee: Dr. Daniel Beben (Nazarbayev University) Dr. Ali Asgar Alibhai (University of Texas at Dallas & EODIAH) Dr. Alyshea Cummins (University of Ottawa) Syed A. H. Zaidi (Emory University) Register and Attend the Conference at bit.ly/IsmailiStudiesConference Welcome to the Third International Ismaili Studies Conference (2021) Welcome to the Third International lsmaili Studies Conference, "Histories, Philosophies and Communities," organized by the Leiden University Shii Studies Initiative. This Conference builds on the progress of the 2014 and 2017 Ismaili Studies Conferences held at the University of Chicago and Carleton University respectively. These conferences are a progressive and autonomous endeavor for presenting the work of academics based in universities and research establishments and independent scholars engaging with the intellectual space termed broadly called "Ismaili Studies". The ISC is not aligned with any communal, political, or ideological organization. The conferences seek to provide multi- disciplinary and interdisciplinary platforms for scholarly exchanges. ISC2021 is pleased to welcome speakers from multiple countries and presentations on a variety of academic and constructive themes. This year's ISC includes: Keynote Address by Prof. Karim H. Karim; several panels on Ismaili history, esoteric exegesis, literature, and contemporary Ismaili theological reflection; and the announcement of the (inaugural) 2021 Karim and Rosemin Karim Prize; and a concluding Scholars Roundtable featuring senior scholars of Ismaili Studies. ISC offers a unique forum for academic discussion and debate in lsmaili Studies.