Reza Shah Kazemi Justice and Remembrance Introducing the Spirituality of Imam Ali( a.s ) www.islamic-sources.com justice and remembrance Dedicated to Seyyed Hossein Nasr justice and remembrance Introducing the Spirituality of Imam ʿAlī Reza Shah-Kazemi I.B.Tauris Publishers london • new york in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies london Published in 2006 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Rd, London w2 4bu 175 Fifth Avenue, New York ny 10010 www.ibtauris.com in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies 42–44 Grosvenor Gardens, London sw1w 0eb www.iis.ac.uk In the United States of America and in Canada distributed by St Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New Yorkny 10010 Copyright © Islamic Publications Ltd, 2006 All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. isbn 10: 1 84511 065 x isbn 13: 978 1 84511 065 9 A full cip record for this book is available from the British Library A full cip record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress catalog card: available Typeset in Minion Tra for The Institute of Ismaili Studies Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall The Institute of Ismaili Studies The Institute of Ismaili Studies was established in 1977 with the object of promoting scholarship and learning on Islam, in the historical as well as contemporary contexts, and a better understanding of its relationship with other societies and faiths. The Institute’s programmes encourage a perspective which is not confined to the theological and religious heritage of Islam, but seeks to explore the relationship of religious ideas to broader dimensions of society and culture. The programmes thus encourage an interdis- ciplinary approach to the materials of Islamic history and thought. Particular attention is also given to issues of modernity that arise as Muslims seek to relate their heritage to the contemporary situation. Within the Islamic tradition, the Institute’s programmes promote research on those areas which have, to date, received relatively little attention from scholars. These include the intellectual and literary expressions of Shi‘ism in general, and Ismailism in particular. In the context of Islamic societies, the Institute’s programmes are informed by the full range and diversity of cultures in which Islam is practised today, from the Middle East, South and Central Asia, and Africa to the industrialized societies of the West, thus taking into consideration the variety of contexts which shape the ideals, beliefs and practices of the faith. These objectives are realized through concrete programmes and activities organized and implemented by various departments v vi justice and remembrance of the Institute. The Institute also collaborates periodically, on a programme-specific basis, with other institutions of learning in the United Kingdom and abroad. The Institute’s academic publications fall into a number of inter- related categories: 1. Occasional papers or essays addressing broad themes of the re- lationship between religion and society, with special reference to Islam. 2. Monographs exploring specific aspects of Islamic faith and culture, or the contributions of individual Muslim thinkers or writers. 3. Editions or translations of significant primary or secondary texts. 4. Translations of poetic or literary texts which illustrate the rich her- itage of spiritual, devotional and symbolic expressions in Muslim history. 5. Works on Ismaili history and thought, and the relationship of the Ismailis to other traditions, communities and schools of thought in Islam. 6. Proceedings of conferences and seminars sponsored by the Insti- tute. 7. Bibliographical works and catalogues which document manu- scripts, printed texts and other source materials. This book falls into category two listed above. In facilitating these and other publications, the Institute’s sole aim is to encourage original research and analysis of relevant issues. While every effort is made to ensure that the publications are of a high academic standard, there is naturally bound to be a diversity of views, ideas and interpretations. As such, the opinions expressed in these publications must be understood as belonging to their authors alone. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ix Prologue: The Sources of Imam ʿAlī’s Intellectual Legacy 1 1. Introducing Imam ʿAlī and his Spiritual Ethos 11 Biographical Sketch 13 The Spirit of the Intellect 22 The Discourse to Kumayl 36 2. A Sacred Conception of Justice in Imam ʿAlī’s Letter to Mālik al-Ashtar 73 Contemporary Ethics and the Iḥsānī Tradition 73 Justice versus Tyranny 85 Moral Conscience and Spiritual Consciousness 95 The Virtue of Worship 114 3. Realization through Remembrance: Imam ʿAlī and the Mystical Tradition of Islam 134 Dhikru’Llāh as a Polish for Hearts 141 Remembrance as the Quintessence of Worship 156 The Reality of Remembrance 161 Appendices I. The First Sermon of Nahj al-balāgha 208 II. The Letter of Imam ʿAlī to Mālik al-Ashtar 219 Bibliography 237 General Index 246 Index of Qurʾānic Verses 252 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge the invaluable sup- port I have received from Dr Farhad Daftary, Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications, and Associate Director of The Institute of Ismaili Studies. It was primarily thanks to him that I was given the time and space to research and write the chapters mak- ing up this book. I am also most grateful to Professor Azim Nanji, Director of the IIS, for the constant and stimulating encouragement I have received from him in regard to my approach to Imam ʿAlī; this was of particular value in helping to think of ways of making the Imam’s intellectual and spiritual legacy more accessible to a wider audience. Among my colleagues at the Institute, Mr Muhammad-Reza Jozi, was a continuous source of inspiration for me during my work on the essays that make up this book. His in-depth knowledge and sensitive appreciation of Imam ʿAlī’s perspective furnished me with a veritable touchstone; his expertise constantly reminded me of the extent to which I was—and remain—a mere beginner in regard to the monumental teachings of Imam ʿAlī. The vastness of his knowledge in this field has helped me to appreciate more acutely the paucity of mine. I am also deeply grateful to Dr Feras Hamza for his advice on Arabic literature. As regards the editing of the book, special thanks go to Mr Kutub Kassam, who not only edited the text with great diligence and vigi- lance, but also engaged deeply with its intellectual content, making several valuable suggestions which, I believe, have resulted in a significantly improved text. I am also grateful to Patricia Salazar and ix x justice and remembrance Nadia Holmes who contributed to the final stages of the production of this book. Julia Kolb and Sorbon Mavlonazarov provided unfail- ing help on the administrative front, and contributed much to the maintenance of a pleasant, creative and stimulating ambience in the Department of Academic Research and Publications. I am also grateful to Dr Muhammad-Ja‘far Elmi, Director of the Islamic College for Advanced Studies, London, for reading parts of the text and making some useful comments and suggestions. Chapters 2 and 3 of this book are expanded versions of much shorter essays that were first written as conference papers. Chapter 2 is based upon a paper entitled ‘A Sacred Conception of Justice’, which was delivered in Tehran in March 2001 at the International Conference on Imam ʿAlī, organized by the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies. I am grateful to its Director, Professor Mehdi Golshani, for providing the impetus for the conference and encour- aging me to expand this paper. It was first published as part of the proceedings of the conference in Journal of Humanities (nos. 4 and 5, Tehran, Winter 2000 and Spring 2001). Chapter 3 is based upon a paper entitled ‘Imam ʿAlī and the Remembrance of God’, which was delivered at the conference entitled ‘The Ahl al-Bayt in Islam’ in Sarajevo, Bosnia, May 2002, organized by the Ibn Sina Foundation, to whose driving force, Mr Saeid Abedpur, I am greatly indebted. R.S.-K. prologue The Sources of Imam ʿAlī’s Intellectual Legacy One of the reasons why so little has been written by Western schol- ars on the intellectual content of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib’s legacy is the controversial question of the authenticity of the extensive corpus of teachings attributed to him in the Islamic tradition. Before entering into our own reflections on the spiritual teachings within this corpus, therefore, it would be as well to begin this book with a brief look at the controversy. In large part, the controversy has centred on the status of the Nahj al-balāgha,1 the principal text containing the Imam’s sermons, letters and sayings. This text will be the most important of the primary sources referred to in the essays making up the present book. The Nahj was compiled by al-Sharīf al-Raḍī (d. 406/1016), a renowned Shi‘i scholar of ʿAbbāsid Baghdad.2 He compiled the text from all the sources available to him, often travelling great distances in search of material attributed to Imam ʿAlī. He collected whatever he could find in the way of quoted sermons, letters, testaments and short, aphoristic sayings, selecting for the Nahj those which he deemed to be the most important in literary terms. The result is a text which is something of a patchwork, with no clear order, either in chronological or thematic terms.