SHI’ITES
The loyal followers of Ali known as
the Shi’at Ali, or “party of Ali” have continued to fight for what they
consider to be divine rights in the rule of the Islamic world.
The Shi’ites can be seen lacerating themselves
during the annual commemoration of the martyrdom of past leaders.
The Shi’ite faction which became the
state religion of Iran brought about new ideas regarding divine eligibility to
the caliphate which is linked to the royal blood line of the prophet.
Out of this conviction sprang an elite group
of “Ismailites” who held a secret order similar to western Masonic mysticism in
which members were led to believe they would hold the keys of the
Talim
or Secret Doctrine (that God is All) elevating them above every creed and
law.
This required a somewhat more
allegorical interpretation of the Qur’an.
It also required of course total obedience to the Dai-d-Duat, or Grand
Master of the order.
Often times
esoteric views have been put forth related to numerology and transmigration of
the soul from the dead to certain living leaders or Imams.
Some of these ideas are most difficult for
the western mind to grasp.
Their
numerology ideas are possibly linked to ancient Jewish mysticism called the
kabballa, or even numerical patterns in the Bible.
A group of twelve Imams, the “Twelvers,” in
Iran claimed to direct the world’s future and around them developed a tradition
of followers making pilgrimages to their tombs.
A considerable business is maintained around the burial of corpses of
the faithful around the cities where these tombs are found.
They are carted here from considerable
distances.
Imam Husain, the grandson of
the prophet being an important focus of honor.
Husain is one of those martyrs for whom the faithful flail themselves
with an assortment of blades during the Ashura, or traditional day of mourning
at the memorial in Karbala, Iraq.
It is
a frenzied form of mourning that few in the west can wrap their minds
around.
Boys as young as five or six
years old take part to show their bravery and devotion.
A student of the Bible might have Old
Testament scenes of the conflict with Elijah and the prophets of Baal come to
mind.
The prophets of Baal used similar
methods for getting the attention of their god.
The mystical idea of the reappearance of a
Hidden Imam as the
Mahdi (Guided One), who will bring peace and justice
has been promoted through various leaders who have preached Islamic
reform.
This became the foundation of
the Fatimid dynasty.
One present day sect, the Druze,
believes that God was incarnated in al-Hakim, the sixth Fatimid caliph in Cairo
(1016).
The Druze religion is a somewhat
underground belief system found in Lebanon and southern Syria.
Abu al-Abbas, great-great-grandson
of one of Mohammed’s uncles, proclaimed himself caliph in 749. Embittered to see the liberal Umayyad, tribal
enemies of the prophet carrying the caliph torch for Islam, he took on an addition
to his name, al Saffah, the Bloodthirsty. He announced a great feast for eighty Umayyad
leaders during which his soldiers fell upon the unsuspecting dinner guests with
their swords.
Another rival caliphate, an Umayyad
descendant who fled a Abbasid massacre brought about the Umayyad dynasty and
caliphate of Spain with its capital in Cordoba until 1031.
Muslim Spain had rejected al-Saffah’s
authority.
In the 10th century the
Fatimid caliphates ruled much of north Africa and posed a serious threat to the
Abbasids in Baghdad.
So went the ebb and
flow of Arab politics and Muslim rule.
Had it not been for infighting among Muslim kingdoms, some say, Islam
would have swept Christian Europe off the map.
Often the main cohesive glue that has held Islam together has been its
view of their common enemy, or mission field; that is non-Muslims.
A common enemy has been at times a uniting
force among religions of the western world as well.
In peace times they might argue over
theological and historical differences, but in the fox hole they find
themselves praying and dying together.
In 1258 Baghdad had a major setback
when it was disciplined by invading Mongols from the east.
The city was sacked and the caliphate came to
an end.
This horde of invaders were stopped
from spreading further west by Syrian troops.
Strangely enough, after a time these invaders embraced Islam.
Baghdad was hit again in 1393 by Tamerlane,
another descendant of Chinggis Khan.
He
posed a serious problem for the Muslim world until his death in 1405.
After World War I under pressure from the west the Ottoman title
of caliph was abolished by Turkish nationalists causing much consternation and
frustration in the world of Islam. There have been efforts in Egypt to
reestablish the caliphate with little success.
