EARLY
ISLAMIC HISTORY - 2
The
Quraysh Tribe :
The Quraysh were the dominant tribe of Mecca. They were
divided into numerous sub-clans. Mohammad was a member of the Banu
Hashim or the Hashemite sub-clan (the present ruling family of Jordan
call themselves Hashemites). After the consolidation of Islam,
the Quraysh gained supremacy of the ummah, the Muslim community.
The three caliphate dynasties, the Umayyad Caliphate, the Abbasid
Caliphate and the Fatimid Caliphate all came from the Quraysh tribe.
Succession: Mohammad's Bloodline & Wives :
[Also see Wives of the Prophet Muhammad at Islam Awareness. Sources
include Sahih Muslim Hadith (Abul Husain Muslim bin al-Hajjaj al-Nisapuri),
Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith, Sunan Abu-Dawud (Abu-Dawud Sulaiman bin
Al-Aash'ath Al-Azdi as-Sijistani), History of Al Tabari Volume 9,Ibn
Warraq and Al Ghazali. Modern sources are Wikipedia, Karen Armstrong
and D.A. Spellberg. For an explanation of the Hadith, see below.]
According
to Sahih al-Bukhari (1:5:268), narrated Qatada: Anas bin Malik said,
"the Prophet used to visit all his wives in a round, during
the day and night and they were eleven in number. I asked Anas,
"Had the Prophet the strength for it?" Anas replied, "We
used to say that the Prophet was given the strength of thirty (men)."
And Sa'id said on the authority of Qatada that Anas had told him
about nine wives only (not eleven)." According to other reports,
the Prophet may have had up to thirteen wives.
At
age 25, Muhammad wed his wealthy employer, the 40-year-old merchant
Khadijah. While in her employ, she entrusted him with some of her
wealth, asking him to trade with it in Syria on her behalf.
According to the literature, Mohammad was already "well known
for his honesty, truthfulness and trustworthiness." He returned
from Syria after having made a large profit for Khadijah. On his
return they wed.
Khadijah
died in the 25th year of their marriage and out of respect Mohammad
did not re-marry until two years after her death, after which he
married Sawda bint Zama who was 55 years of age.
Prior
to this marriage, Sawda had been married to a paternal cousin of
hers. At about the same time as this marriage, Mohammad was betrothed
to Aisha, young daughter of his close friend Abu Bakr who would
later become the first caliph. By giving Mohammed his daughter in
marriage, Abu Bakr became Mohammad's father-in-law. According to
the Hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari quoted below, Aisha was six (some
say nine) years of age at the time of her betrothal and she was
betrothed to another man, but that agreement was set aside. Their
marriage was consummated about three years later when she was nine
and the Prophet Mohammad was fifty-six years of age.
The
quotes from the Hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari (Volume 5, Book 58, Number
234-6) are as follows :
Narrated Aisha :
234: "The Prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six (years).
We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj.
Then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew (again)
and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I was playing in a swing
with some of my girl friends. She called me, and I went to her,
not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand
and made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then,
and when my breathing became all right, she took some water and
rubbed my face and head with it. Then she took me into the house.
There in the house I saw some Ansari women who said, "Best
wishes and Allah's Blessing and a good luck." Then she entrusted
me to them and they prepared me (for the marriage). Unexpectedly
Allah's Apostle came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed
me over to him, and at that time I was a girl of nine years of age."
235:
That the Prophet said to her, "You have been shown to me twice
in my dream. I saw you pictured on a piece of silk and some-one
said (to me). 'This is your wife.' When I uncovered the picture,
I saw that it was yours. I said, 'If this is from Allah, it will
be done."
Narrated
Hisham's father :
236: Khadija (the prophet’s first wife) died three years before
the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or
so and then he married 'Aisha when she was a girl of six years of
age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old.
Muhammad
wished to divorce the middle-aged Sawda, but Sawda offered to give
her turn of Muhammad's conjugal visits to Aisha to prevent this.
Apparently, dissidents from Medina, the hypocrites spread false
rumours in an attempt to create internal dissention amongst the
Muslims. One of the rumours was that while Mohammad was defending
Medina from a raid, Aisha left her camp to search her lost necklace,
and returned with a Companion of Muhammad. Mohammad, however, disregarded
the rumours and received a revelation from God, after which he smiled
and said, "Do not worry, Aisha, for Allah has revealed proof
of your innocence." She remained his favourite wife.
One
of Muhammad's wives, Zaynab bint Jahsh, was his cousin. She was
close to Aisha's age. When she became a widow, Muhammad arranged
for her to marry his adopted son Zayd. Zaynab and her brothers disapproved
of the arrangement because (according to Ibn Sa'd), she was of aristocratic
lineage and Zayd was a former slave. The marriage nevertheless took
place and was then dissolved after which Mohammed married Zaynab.
Sanction for such a marriage was given by God in the Quran / Kuran
(33:36-37).
At
about the same time, Umm Salama Hind bint Abi Umayya became widowed
and Mohammad proposed marriage. She said she was reluctant to
accept for three reasons that might lead to an unsuccessful marriage:
she suffered from jealousy, her old age, and the need to support
her young family. But Muhammad replied that he would pray to God
to free her from jealousy, that he too was of old age, and that
her family was like his family. She eventually consented.
It
is not clear if Mariah al-Qibtiyya was also one of Mohammad's wives.
Some sources state that she was an Egyptian Coptic Christian slave,
sent as a gift to Muhammad from Muqawqis, a Byzantine official,
and she may have remained a slave. But other sources say that since
serving as a concubine is forbidden in Islam, Mohammad married Mariah.
Mohammad
had other wives. For further information on the wives listed above
and on his other wives, see Wives of the Prophet Muhammad at Islam
Awareness.
According
to the Quran, to preserve their respect and honour, God forbade
anyone to marry the wives of Muhammad after he died.
Mohammad's Children :
Mohammed and his first wife Khadijah had two sons, Qasim and Abd-Allah
(nicknamed al Tahir and al Tayyib), and four daughters - Zaynab,
Ruqaiya, Umm Kulthum and Fatimah. Qasim died before his second birthday.
Abd-Allah also died in childhood in 615. Only one daughter, Fatima
(and her children) survived her father. Some say that his daughter
Zaynab, mother to a daughter called Amma or Umama, survived him
as well.
Shia
scholars dispute the paternity of Khadijah's daughters, as they
view the first three of them as step-daughters - daughters from
previous marriages and only Fatimah as the daughter of Muhammad
& Khadijah. The Shia scholars conclude that the other 'daughters'
were step-daughters.
Khadijah
purchased a slave Zayd ibn Harithah (c. 588-629 CE) who she and
Mohammad later adopted. Zayd became a prominent figure in the early
Islamic community and the only one of Sahaba, Mohammad's companions
and inner council, named directly in the Qur'an. He died at the
Battle of Mu'tah.
Of
his other wives, only one, Mariah al-Qibtiyya, bore him a son, but
the child died when he was ten months old.
Succession Through Ali. Sharif & Sayyed :
Other than Fatimah, all of Mohammad's children died during his
lifetime. Fatimah married Ali, Mohammad's cousin. From what we understand,
Muhammad told Ali that God had ordered Muhammad to give his daughter,
Fatimah, to Ali, his cousin, in marriage. As such the only direct
blood line of which we have information is that through Fatima and
Ali.
Fatima
died six months after the prophet's death.
While
Fatimah was his most beloved, Ali had several wives. He had four
children by Fatimah, two sons Hassan and Husain, and two daughters,
Zaynab and Umm-Kulthum.
Ali's
other sons were al-Abbas born to another Fatimah, and Muhammad ibn
al-Hanafiyyah born to Khawla, another wife who was part of the Hanifa
clan.
Mohammad's
great-grandchildren are titled 'Sharif' for descendants of Hassan,
and 'Sayyed' for descendants of Husain. A number of Muslims
have these titles as last names though we are not sure if in the
process they are claiming lineage to the Prophet.
Today,
there are many who claim to be descendants of Muhammad. One of them
is the Hashemite King of Jordan. There are also a number of people
with the name Sayyed in Iran, Iraq and Pakistan.
Islamic Divisions - Sunni & Shia :
With the death of Islam's prophet Muhammad (570-632), disagreement
broke out over his succession. While Ali was preparing his father's
body for burial, Umar ibn al-Khattab, a prominent companion of Muhammad,
nominated Muhammad's long-time friend, collaborator and general
Abu Bakr, as Mohammad's successor and first caliph. The choice was
disputed by some of Ali's supporters, but the election of Abu Bakr
was announced to the community as a fait accompli. When Fatimah
questioned the decision, the response was "O daughter of the
Messenger of God! We have given our allegiance to Abu Bakr. If Ali
had come to us before this, we would certainly not have abandoned
him." to which Ali responded, "Was it fitting that we
should wrangle over the caliphate even before the Prophet was buried?"
Another
version of what happened after the election is that after the election,
Umar and Abu Bakr went to Ali's home to demand his oath of allegiance,
failing which they would set the house or door on fire - which they
did, pushing open the burning door onto Fatimah. Fatimah threatened
to 'uncover her hair' at which point Bakr and Umar withdrew. Ali,
it would seem did not assert his claim further in order to prevent
dividing the community. Ali did eventually pledge allegiance to
Abu Bakr, then Umar and to Uthman as well, saying he did so for
the unity of Islam but it was also clear to him that he did not
have the support of the larger part of the Muslims. The Bakr-Umar-Uthman
coalition, however, seemed not just strong, but able to gain fairly
wide-spread acceptance of their authority.
As
far as we can understand the politics of the dispute, it appears
the the principle argument was whether Mohammad's successor should
be appointed by the Sahaba, the inner circle of Mohammad's companions
that was now a supreme council of Muslim leaders, or should be a
member of Mohammad's family and bloodline. Ali was Mohammad's son-in-law
but he was also his cousin, thereby making him and his children
a part of Mohammad's bloodline through both himself and his wife
Fatimah.
The
Sunnis state that Abu Bakr was the first caliph and successor to
leadership of the Islamic ummah. Sunnah means traditions. The Sunnis
accept Ali as the fourth caliph.
The
Shia, however, only accept Ali as the first caliph and imam. The
Shia hold that Muhammad's (570-632) family, the Ahl al-Bayt (People
of the House) are imams who have special spiritual and political
authority over the community, and Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law,
was the first of these imams and was the rightful successor to Muhammad
rather than the caliph Abu Bakr. Ali's supporters called themselves
Shia meaning supporters of Ali.
The
Sunni's are Shia are further divided.
The
Ismaili Shia trace their own leadership from the seventh imam, Ismail
bin Jafar (721-755), and believe that the law, embodied in the Quran
and the sayings and practices of Muhammad, is accompanied by a mystical
teaching passed from one imam to the next.
In
summary, the Sunni argue that the Caliph, the successor of the prophet
Muhammad, should be elected. The Shia argue that succession should
remain within the direct line of the prophet's closest relatives,
the Imams. The Sunnis, stressing Islam's historic emphasis on effective
political engagement, opted for caliphs who were primarily political
and military leaders; the Shia looked for leaders known for wisdom
and spirituality.
Mahdi & Shia Beliefs :
Both the Sunni and Shia believe as part of Islamic prophesized
eschatology, that the Mahdi or Mehdi will appear as a prelude to
the Day of Judgment, and who with Jesus will rid the world of all
wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.
The
Mahdi will be known to the world by possessing certain features.
These are listed at Wikipedia. These include him of Mohammad through
Fatima, bearing the name Mohammad and that he will carry a black
flag.
The
majority of Shia believe there was an unbroken line of 12 imams
- the last of whom, Muhammad ibn Hasan ibn Ali, was born in 868
CE. In 939, rather than allowing him to die, God hid Muhammad ibn
Hasan. The Twelver, or Imami Shia believe that Muhammad ibn Hasan
ibn Ali eventually will return as the Mahdi to usher in a reign
of justice.
The
concept of the Mahdi was used by Iranian Revolutionary Sects that
emerged after the death of Abu Muslim. These sects either thought
of Abu Muslim returning as the Mahdi or accompanying the Mahdi.
While
both Sunni and Shia accept the coming of the Mahdi, some reject
the notion. Allama Iqbal's Iqbal Nama (Volume 2, Bazm-e-Iqbal, Lahore,
Pakistan, Letter No. 87) is quoted in Wikipedia as stating, "As
I think, the concept of the Mahdi, Masih and Mujaddad is a completely
Iranian and Ajmi (cf. Ajam below) perception. This concept has no
link to the Qur'an, Islam and Arabic perceptions."
Caliph & Caliphate :
With the support of the factions within Mohammad's inner circle,
Abu Bakr was installed as the first caliph and the first caliphate,
or Islamic government - whose legal constitution was Shariah law
- was established. Some sources state that it was Abu Bakr who was
the first to accept Mohammad's teachings and Mohammad's closet companion.
By
way of further explanation, the caliph is the head of state in a
caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic ummah,
that is, the Islamic community ruled by the Shariah law. The caliph
is more that a leader in Islamic eyes. The word caliph stems
from the word khalifah meaning successor or representative. The
caliph is then seen as a successor to Mohammed.
Imams & Ali :
The choice of Abu Bakr as successor and leader of the ummah was
disputed by another faction of Muhammad's companions. This faction
held that it was an Ahl al-Bayt or 'person of the (Mohammed's) house,
a male family member of Mohammad, who was the true inheritor of
Mohammad's leadership over the ummah. They further held that Ali
- Ali ibn Abi Talib - Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, had been
designated as successor by Muhammad himself at Ghadir Khumm. The
Shia therefore rejected the legitimacy of Abu Bakr's claim to inheriting
the leadership of Islam and the Islamic community.
Ali, Hassan & Husain :
Ali was appointed the fourth caliph by the Sahaba (Muhammad's
companions / council) in Medina after the assassination of the third
caliph, Uthman ibn Affan. Ali too was assassinated in 661 CE. His
assassin was Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam, a Kharijite who slashed Ali
with a poisoned sword. The assassination took place at Kufa, in
today's Iraq, a town that Ali had made his base and garrison town.
Ali was buried at the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq.
Ali's
eldest son, Hassan, the next Shiite Imam, succeeded Ali as the caliph
in Kufa. However, under terms of a peace treaty he negotiated with
with Muawiyah I, he relinquished control of Iraq following a reign
of seven months. The Shia believe that Hassan was poisoned by his
wife in Medina, in 680 CE, Arabia, on the orders of the Caliph Muawiyah.
Hassan
was succeeded by the younger brother Husain who was killed the same
year leading an uprising against the newly installed caliph Yazid
I. Husain questioned the legitimacy of Yazid's caliphate and was
killed returning to Kufa by Yazid's forces in what is called the
Battle of Karbala. The slain bodies of Husain and his supporters
were mutilated by the victors. For the Shia, Husain came to symbolize
resistance to tyranny and his martyrdom in 680 CE is commemorated
on the 10th (Ashura) day of Moharram, the first month of the Islamic
calendar. Ashura is a day of mourning for the Shia, some of whom
indulge in including self-flagellation as a way of experiencing
the pain felt by Husain. Shia also believe that the battle of Karbala
was battle between good and evil, the forces of Yazid I representing
evil, injustice, tyranny, and oppression. The Shia believe that
the path that Yazid was directing Islam was motivated by personal
greed, and further that Yazid was publically going against the teachings
of Islam and changing the sunnah of Muhammad. Yazid I was the second
Umayyad caliph, the first being Muawiyah I.
Rashidun Caliphate :
The first four caliphs after the death of Mohammad were known as
the Rashidun Caliphate. The first three of the Rashidun caliphs
were friends and mutual supporters. Ali was the outsider despite
being a member of Mohammad's family.
Abu
Bakr held the caliphate for two years (632-634) and was succeeded
by his nominator Umar (also Omar).
Umar
ibn al-Khattab (c. 586/59-644) was caliph from 634 to 644. He was
a brilliant general and a tough administrator. He was responsible
for defeating the Persian armies in 636 at the battle of Qadisiyyah
(now in South-Central Iraq), securing the Persian lands west of
the Zagros, and again in 642 in the battle of Nehavand (near Hamadan),
securing the Persian lands east of the Zagros. The Persian captives
were taken to Arabia in shackles as slaves, one of whom, Firooz,
an enslaved artisan, managed to assassinate the Caliph Umar. It
is quite remarkable that despite all their internal problems, the
Muslims were still able to set about conquering a great part of
the Persian empire.
Upon
Umar's assassination, Uthman became the caliph from 644 to 656 when
he was assassinated by rebel Muslims. Ali finally became caliph
between 656 and 661, the last of the Rashidun caliphs, after which
the caliphate was taken over by the Umayyads.
Umayyads :
The Umayyads claimed that Umayya and Mohammed were cousins having
descended from the same grandfather Abd Manaf belonging to the Quraysh
tribe. The Shia state that Umayya was an adopted son and therefore
not a blood relative.
Muawiyah I :
Muawiyah was the son of Abu Sufyan (560-650), the Quraysh Meccan
commander who fought against Mohammad during Mohammad's eight caravan
raid. Abu Sufyan was the commander of the guards protecting
the caravan. Both Mohammad and Sufyan belonged to the same tribe,
the Quraysh (of which Mohammad's Hashemite were a sub-clan), and
as his successors claimed - to the same family. Sufyan later helped
negotiate the surrender of Mecca to Mohammad.
Muawiyah
became a scribe for Muhammad, and during the first and second caliphates
of Abu Bakr and Umar, fought with the Muslims against the Byzantines
in Syria. When Uthman ibn Affan, a cousin of Muawiyah, became the
third caliph, he appointed Muawiyah Governor of Syria. After his
murder, Ali was appointed the fourth and final Rashidun Caliph.
He expelled Muawiyah from the Governorship because Muawiyah refused
to pledge allegiance to him. Because the murderers of Uthman supported
Ali's caliphate, Muawiyah refused to pledge allegiance to Ali until
the murderers were brought to justice.
Muawiyah
began an insurrection that eventually led to his seizing the caliphate
after Ali's assassination while praying in a mosque at Kufa (Iraq).
Yazid I :
Yazid I (645-683) was the second Umayyad caliph. He ruled for
three years from 680 CE until his death in 683 CE, and it was during
his rule that Husain. Mohammad's grandson was killed. Yazid succeeded
to the caliphate by birthright and not by election by a grand council
of the inner circle of Islamic leaders. His father Muawiyah
took it upon himself to appoint his son as successor and crown prince.
Husain protested this appointment as being against the spirit of
Islam and debated the move with other Islamic leaders in Medina
back in Arabia. During this debate Muawiyah died in 680 and Yazid
assumed the title of caliph. It is reported that several leaders
back in Kufa wrote Husain letter supporting him should he decide
to seek becoming caliph.
In
order to procure the loyalty of the different Islamic governors,
Yazid sent them a letter asking them to swear allegiance to him.
Husain was among three who refused to take the oath of allegiance.
Despite being advised by notables such Abdullah ibn Umar and Abdullah
ibn Abbas, Husain decided to travel to Kufa with a group of about
a hundred supporters that included women and children in his immediate
family. While in transit, the people of Kufa abandoned their
loyalty to Husain switching their loyalty to the new caliph Yazid
instead. Yazid had one of Husain's supporter in Kufa, Muslim ibn
Aqeel, killed. Ubayd-Allah ibn Ziyad, governor of Basra and
a Yazid loyalist, captured and executed one of Husain's messengers
riding to Kufa instigation an uprising. Ziyad sent his own messengers,
one to Kufa warning its residents against any attempts at an insurgency
and another to Husain informing him and he could "neither proceed
to Kufa nor return to Mecca, but you can go anywhere else you want."
Undaunted by the threat Husain continued his journey to Kufa.
One
of the other notables who opposed Yazid's appointment as Caliph
and had not sworn allegiance was Abdullah ibn Zubair, nephew of
Aisha, Muhammad's third wife. Zubair launched an insurgency
in the Hejaz. Yazid sent armies against him in 683. After the Battle
of al-Harrah, Medina was recaptured and Mecca was also besieged.
During the siege, the Kaabah was damaged. The siege ended when Yazid
died suddenly in 683 CE.
By
all accounts Yazid was not popular. According to a Wikipedia
page, Ibn Kathir, a pupil of Ibn Taymiyya and a 14th century Sunni
scholar, wrote in his book Al Bidayah wa al Nihayah, "Tradition
inform us that Yazid loved worldly vices, would drink, listen to
and kept the company of boys with no facial hair, played drums,
kept dogs, not a day would go by when he was not in a drunken state."
According to Muhammad Zakariya al-Kandahlawi, "Yazid sent
an army to Medina comprised 60,000 horsemen and 15,000 foot soldiers.
For three days they shed blood freely, 1,000 women were raped and
700 from the Quraysh and Ansar were killed. Ten thousand women and
children were made slaves." Ibn Kathir further states, "Muslim
was ordered to ransack Medina for three days. Yazid committed a
major sin. Sahaba and their children were slaughtered openly; other
heinous acts were also perpetuated." Also, "When Yazid
wrote to Ibn Ziyad (governor of Basra) ordering him to fight Ibn
Zubair in Mecca, he (Ziyad) said 'I can't obey this fasiq (order).
I
killed the grandson (Husain) of Rasulullah upon his orders, I'm
not now going to assault the Kaaba." Al-Dhahabi, another 14th
century Sunni author cite a Ziyad Hurshi as saying, "Yazid
gave me alcohol to drink, I had never drunk alcohol like that before
and I enquired where he had obtained its ingredients'. Yazid replied
'it is made of sweet pomegranate, honey from Isfahan, sugar from
Hawaz and grapes from Burda... .Yazid indulged in alcohol and would
participate in actions that opposed the dictates set by Allah."
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, a 16th century Sunni Islamic scholar called
Yazid one of the most debased men in history and a kafir (infidel).
Sharh Fiqh Akbar writes, "Following the murder of Husain, Yazid
said 'I avenged the killing of my kafir relatives in Badr through
killing the family of the Prophet.'"
The Ajam Lands of Iran & Iraq - Stronghold of Shia Islam :
Today, the strongholds of Shia Islam are Iran and that part of Iraq
which the Arabs called Eraq-e Ajam - Iraq east of the Euphrates
and south of ancient Ctesiphon up to the borders of Iran. The
Arabs called the Persians 'ajam' meaning mute or dumb - a very unfortunate
term towards people with this physical impairment which we regrettably
use in this context. The Arabs also appear to have used the same
descriptor for the portion of Iraq that embraced Shia Islam.
When
Ali was caliph, rather than Mecca or Medina, he made Kufah (near
present day Najaf in Iraq), his capital. Today, Kufah remains a
Shia centre.
According
to Rasul Ja'fariyan in his Four Centuries of Influence of Iraqi
Shi'ism on Pre-Safavid Iran, the migration of members of a tribe
of the Ash'ari from Iraq to the city of Qum (south of today's Tehran),
Iran, towards the end of the seventh century CE was one of the first
major steps towards the establishment of Imami Shi'ism in Iran.
This was followed by the influence of the Shi'i tradition of Baghdad
and Najaf on Iranians during the eleventh and twelfth centuries
CE.
The
Safavid dynasty (1501 - 1722) that came to rule the lands that were
previously Iran-Shahr, made Shia Islam the official state religion
in the early sixteenth century. The Safavids laid the foundation
of alliance between the religious classes, the Ulama, and the merchant
class, the Bazaari - descendants of the old Iranian-Aryan traders.
In some ways, this move reverted to the power alliances during the
Sassanian years and earlier. The priests and merchants became power
brokers and had the ability to change governments. They were also
conduits through which the ruling class asserted their rule over
the people. The tillers of the soil were traditionally the least
empowered and worked in a servile manner for the feudal landed nobility,
priests and wealthy merchants. The most recent revolution in
Iran against the Pahlavi monarchy was precipitated by the Shah's
launch of his own White Revolution, a redistribution of land to
farmers, a move greatly opposed by the land-owning mullahs or priests
and the Bazaari merchants. During Sassanian times, it is the
oppression of the working farmers by the landed wealthy that weakened
the Zoroastrian state and left it vulnerable to the Arab Islamic
invasion. Such is the way the world turns and history repeats itself.
The
Shia-Sunni divisions now appears to have become an Iran-Arab division.
Today, Iran's influence in the Islamic world works through its Shia
connections in those countries, noticeably in southern Iraq and
Lebanon. The influence in Iraq goes beyond southern Iraq since the
Shia now form the largest religious group in Iraq. The Saudi
Arabians are greatly concerned about the increase of Iranian influence
in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim who had
persecuted the Iraqi Shia. The present Shia led government sent
the Sunni Saddam to the gallows, and from what we hear, Sunni Muslims
have been bombing Shia mosques and shrines. The Saudi Arabians
have also launched a campaign for international recognition to rename
the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Gulf.
The Hadith :
Hadith are words or actions ascribed to the Prophet Muhammad. While
the Quran contains the Prophet's revelations (wahy), the Hadith
contain all that he did, said, enjoined, forbade or did not forbid,
approved or disapproved. Sanction to record the Hadith apparently
stems from the Prophet Muhammad himself who encouraged his followers
to write down his words and actions.
A
sub-category of the Hadith is Hadith Qudsi, meaning Sacred Hadith.
They are sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims regard the Hadith
Qudsi as the words of God, Allah, repeated by the Prophet.
The
two main denominations of Islam, Shi'ism and Sunnism, have different
sets of Hadith collections. Sunni and Shia Hadith collections differ
because scholars from the two traditions differ as to the reliability
of the narrators and transmitters. On the one hand, Sunnis favour
narrators who took the side of Abu Bakr and Umar rather than Ali
in the disputes over leadership that followed the death of the Prophet
Muhammad. The Shi'a on the other hand see these narrators as unreliable.
Sunnis also accept narrators such as Aisha, his favourite wife,
whom the Shia reject. The Shia prefer narrations sourced to Ali,
the family of the Prophet Muhammad, and their supporters. Differences
in Hadith collections have contributed to differences in worship
practices and shari'a law and have hardened the dividing line between
the two traditions.
There
is another group of Qur'an alone Muslims, also known as Quranists.
They are Muslims who follow the Qur'an exclusively considering it
to be the only sacred text in Islam. They reject the religious authority
of Hadith.
Some
of the Hadith are found online at www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/.
Another online resource is ahadith.co.uk/.
Source
:
http://www.heritageinstitute.com/
zoroastrianism/history/
islamichistory2.htm