The Ummah today faces serious challenges and tests of strength. As a rule, Muslims look for the reasons for this in the machinations of unbelievers who are trying to fight against Islam by all possible means. However, is this so? The famous religious educator Muhammad Karachay conducts a short excursion into some periods of the development of the ummah, using historical examples to reveal the danger of schismatics and sectarianism, called “Shiism.” He explains in detail the true essence of this movement, talks about the destructive role of Shiism and warns the Ummah against repeating old mistakes.
Recently, the Muslim Ummah has been faced with serious challenges and tests of strength. As a rule, we look for the reasons for this in the machinations of non-Muslims who are trying to fight Islam by all possible means. Is this definitely true? Are all our problems from an external enemy?
It turns out that even the slightest glance at the history of Islam, as well as the modern processes taking place around it, show that the main causes of most problems are generated by some Muslims or those who call themselves that. The roots of many of the troubles of today's Ummah date back to the times of the righteous caliphs.
Without going into the details of those events, let’s take a short excursion into the history of some periods of the development of Islam, or rather, let’s talk about the phenomenon that struck it - schismatics, sectarianism...
The first sects in Islam
The first schismatics, as is known from history, were immediately after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, in the 11th year of the Hijri (632 AD), several false prophets who appeared on the Arabian Peninsula. This was the time of the reign of the first Righteous Caliph, the Truthful Abu Bakr (11-13 AH - 632-634 AD), who appealed to the Ummah with the words:
“Can any harm befall the religion of Allah (Islam) while I am alive?”
The rhetorical question-appeal of the first comrade and the first Vicegerent of the Prophet, peace be upon him, was clearly understood by the Ummah, which was then represented mainly by companions raised by the Messenger of Allah himself, peace be upon him, and any manifestation of sectarianism was doomed to defeat. So, within 1-2 years, schismaticism was over. All of Arabia was united in the bosom of Islam, in a single state under the single rule of the First Righteous Caliph.
Idyll and stability in the Ummah continued throughout the reign of the Second Rightly Guided Caliph Umar al-Faruk (13-23 AH - 634-644 AD), as well as during most of the reign of the Third Rightly Guided Caliph Othman (23-35 BC – 644-656 AD).
WAHABITS
What does the name Wahhabis mean: Wahhabism or al-Wahhabiyya is understood in Islam as the rejection of innovations or everything that was not in original Islam, the cultivation of strong monotheism and the rejection of the worship of saints, the struggle for the purification of religion (jihad). Named after the Arab theologian Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.
When it appeared: In the 18th century. How many adherents: In some countries the number can reach 5% of all Muslims, however, there are no exact statistics.
Main areas of residence: Small groups in the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and locally throughout the Islamic world. Origin region: Arabia. Ideas They share Salafi ideas, which is why names are often used as synonyms. However, the name "Wahhabis" is often understood as derogatory.
The emergence of the Shiites
In the last years of Osman's reign, the first harbingers of a new schismaticism appeared; after the apostates and false prophets, the first sect appeared - Shiism. It was the 30s of the Hegira (650s AD), about 20 years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
A group of people, mainly from the new generation of grown-up and converted Muslims who had not been trained in prophetic education, began to exalt the companion and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) Ali. Ali was the cousin of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and married to his daughter Fatima, who is often called “the beloved daughter of the Prophet and the mother of his beloved grandchildren Hasan and Hussein. Obviously, this fact also played an important role in exaggerating Ali’s status more than he himself claimed and had in society.
The first who began to talk about the greatness of Ali was a certain Abdullah ibn Saba from among the Yemenite Jews who converted to Islam. He was an ordinary Muslim, no different from other new Muslims - Arabs, Jews, Ethiopians and others, except one day, he began to say out loud about Ali things that had no place either in the Koran or in the hadiths of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and about which they did not know companions and Muslims in general. In particular, the neophyte said that every prophet had an executor, and that Muhammad’s was Ali, and that Ali would not sin, that power should belong to Ali, and so on. Shia scholars testify to this in their books. And then a group of neophytes and youth began to gather around him.
This continued until the turmoil organized by this group, as a result of which the Third Righteous Caliph, the son-in-law of the Prophet, peace be upon him, his companion and favorite Osman Zin-Nurein, the owner of two luminaries, who received such a nickname because he was married to two daughters of the prophet (peace be upon him), was killed to him).
The senior Companions appealed to Ali to take upon himself the burden of the Caliphate. After some persuasion, he agreed and was proclaimed the Fourth Righteous Caliph. This circumstance further spurred a group of schismatics to excessively exalt Ali, and the same Abdullah ibn Saba declared the “divinity of Ali.” His group echoed these words.
Ali heard about this and ordered them to be seized and brought to him. And when they brought him, he ordered to dig a hole and turned to those people and said that if they did not renounce their words, did not repent, he would burn them in this hole. These people were surprised and said that they were informed that Ali himself recognized his divinity. And when Ali explained to them that this was kufr, disbelief, that he could not say such a great crime before Allah, and one part of this group repented and returned to Islam and Caliph Ali freed them. The other part persisted and were burned in that pit by Ali himself. And the third group hid, they loudly declared repentance, but among themselves they said that only Allah punishes with fire, and that Ali punished people with fire, which means he...
After these events, Shiite schismatics disappeared from the life of the Ummah for many years.
This continued while Ali was alive, then after his shahada, his son Hasan recognized Muawiyah as caliph, and until he, after his death, appointed his son Yazid as his successor caliph.
All the companions accepted this decision based on their considerations of maintaining stability, except for 2: Abdullah ibn Zubeir (grandson of Abu Bakr) and Hussein ibn Ali (grandson of the Prophet, peace be upon him).
And it was here that the second wave of Shiism appeared. Residents of the Iraqi city of Kufa wrote a letter to Hussein, son of Ali, that they also refused to recognize the power of Yazid, son of Muawiya, and were ready to swear allegiance to him and invited him to Iraq for this. Hussein believed them and went to Iraq...
The story ended with the betrayal of Hussein by the newly minted Shiites and the martyrdom of the Prophet's grandson. However, this is a topic for a separate conversation, and in the hope that we will have another opportunity to study in detail the history of those times, I return to the given topic of our conversation.
Overcoming hostility
Having delved into the study of the question of who the Salafis are, we can come to the conclusion that the use of the ideology of religious movements for the selfish purposes of the ruling elite fuels wars and bloody conflicts. At this time there is a change of power. However, people's faith should not become the reason for fratricidal enmity.
As the experience of many Eastern countries shows, representatives of both orthodox movements in Islam can coexist peacefully. This is possible with the appropriate position of the authorities in relation to the religious ideology of each community. Any person should be able to profess the faith that he considers correct, without claiming that dissenters are enemies.
An example of the peaceful coexistence of adherents of different faiths in the Muslim community is the family of Syrian President Bashad al-Assad. He professes the Alawite movement, and his wife is Sunni. It celebrates both the Muslim Sunni Eid al-Adh and the Christian Easter.
Delving deeper into Muslim religious ideology, one can understand in general terms who the Salafis are. Although they are usually identified with Wahhabis, the true essence of this faith is far from similar views on Islam. Rough replacement of the basic principles of the religion of the East with principles beneficial to the ruling elite leads to aggravation of conflicts between representatives of different religious communities and bloodshed.
The ideology of Shiism and its delusions
After the betrayal of the Shiites, which led to the death of Hussein in 61 AH (682 AD), may Allah be pleased with him, again any manifestations of them disappeared for many years, remaining a marginal underground group.
Later, towards the end of the Umayyad rule (132 AH - 753 AD), during the next period of political crisis associated with the change of dynasties (Umayyad-Abbasid), the Shiites again entered the scene of the life of the Ummah. And it was then that Shiism transformed from a purely political group into a real religious-political movement. Shiism arose as a group, a party that opposed the election of caliphs and advocated the transfer of power to representatives of the family of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, soon became closely associated with the Persian national movement, which opposed itself to Arabism and began to take shape in the modern sense of the word “Shiism.” The religious doctrine of the Shiites contains elements of old Persian religions and simply pre-Islamic pagan traditions.
Some elements of Shiism, in particular its theocratism and belief in the return of the hidden imam ("hidden" 12 centuries ago), who will certainly come and establish Shiite rule over the world, or the "vicarity" of God and the infallibility of their imams, are reminiscent of Judeo-Christian beliefs. Certain details also allow us to assume the influence of Zoroastrianism, which was the official religion of ancient Persia.
The key postulate of Shiism, which was the cause of the schism, is the recognition of the only legitimate successors of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, only Ali and his descendants from Fatima.
It is important to note that Ali himself accepted the opinion of the overwhelming majority of Muslims about the election of the most worthy caliph and swore the oath in turn to all three of his predecessors, Abu Bakr, Umar and Osman, as a result of which Shiism did not survive at the beginning of the Islamic era, but appeared in the second or third centuries.
SUFIS. WHAT DOES THE NAME MEAN?
Sufis
Sufism or tasawwuf comes in different versions from the word “suf” (wool) or “as-safa” (purity). Also, originally the expression “ahl al-suffa” (people of the bench) meant the poor companions of Muhammad who lived in his mosque. They were distinguished by their asceticism.
When it appeared: VIII century. It is divided into three periods: asceticism (zuhd), Sufism (tasawwuf), and the period of Sufi brotherhoods (tariqa).
How many followers: The number of modern followers is small, but they can be found in a wide variety of countries.
Main areas of residence: Almost all Islamic countries, as well as certain groups in the USA and Western Europe.
Ideas and customs: Muhammad, according to the Sufis, showed by his example the path of spiritual education of the individual and society - asceticism, contentment with little, contempt for earthly goods, wealth and power. The Ashabs (companions of Muhammad) and Ahl al-Suffa (people of the bench) also followed the right path. Asceticism was characteristic of many subsequent hadith collectors, reciters of the Koran and participants in jihad (Mujahideen).
The main features of Sufism are very strict adherence to the Koran and Sunnah, reflection on the meaning of the Koran, additional prayers and fasts, renunciation of all worldly things, the cult of poverty, and refusal to cooperate with the authorities. Sufi teachings have always focused on the individual, his intentions and awareness of truths.
Many Islamic scholars and philosophers were Sufis. Tariqats are real monastic orders of Sufis, glorified in Islamic culture. Murids, students of Sufi sheikhs, were brought up in modest monasteries and cells scattered across the deserts. Dervishes are hermit monks. They could be found very often among Sufis.
The formation of the Shiite doctrine
In the 3rd century, so-called Shiite scholars began to appear, who collected fables or wrote books of dubious or completely fictitious nature justifying their worldviews.
For example, according to the Shiite legend, rewritten by their leaders, the last 12th imam disappeared at the age of 9, this event happened no later than 878 AD. The Shiites firmly believe that he did not die, but was in some kind of concealment and that he must return at the end of time and establish Shiite rule over the world. Hence the Shiites call the last imam, the lost 9-year-old child, the “Hidden Imam” or sahib az-zaman (the lord of time, muntazar (the expected Mahdi-messiah).
It should be noted that in Shiism, unlike Sunnism, the imam is a mediator between God and man, a kind of bearer of the divine substance, which fundamentally contradicts the strict Monotheism of the Koran, which is adhered to by Sunni Muslims, which was adhered to by the companions of the Prophet Muhammad, and he himself, the world to him. Shiites believe that their imam is infallible, has supernatural powers, and has occult knowledge.
It should be noted that it was these erroneous worldviews that led the Shiites to conflict with Muslims and their separation into an independent sect, more reminiscent of later Christianity than early Islam.
Supporters of Shiism adhere to a certain hierarchy of mula religious figures, reminiscent of the hierarchy of pagan priests, headed by the “ayatollah”.
In the teachings of Shiism, there are principles that the Prophet Muhammad himself, peace be upon him, did not know about, or did not want to tell others about, such as:
- Belief in the Imamate and “infallible imams”;
- Belief in the coming of the “Perfect Shia”;
- Belief in the incompleteness of the Koran and that it “still continues to be sent down into the hearts of Shiite imams”;
- In addition to Mecca and Medina, Shiites, unlike the general mass of Muslims, make pilgrimages to Karbala, Najaf, Kazimein, and Imamites also to Samarra, Mashhad and Qom (burial places of imams and their relatives).
- Shiites recognize as legal temporary marriage, a pagan custom abolished by the Prophet himself, peace be upon him during his lifetime and confirmed by the righteous caliphs.
- In Shiism, a cult of martyrdom and holy martyrs has developed, as well as a ritual of self-flagellation for Imam Hussein’s own betrayal, which led to his death. This is what the ritual of “cleansing from the sin of betrayal with one’s own blood” is dedicated to on the Day of Ashura, the day of Hussein’s death, when Shiites draw blood, and sometimes beat themselves to death.
At a time when, with the time of the Prophet Muhammad himself, peace be upon him, he bequeathed 6 pillars of faith, showing the inconsistency of the Shiite worldviews with his teachings.
The difference between Wahhabism-Salafiism and Sunni principles
To understand who Salafis and Wahhabis are, one should consider their basic ideological principles. Researchers argue that these two religious communities are identical in meaning. However, it is necessary to distinguish the Salafi direction from the Takfiri one.
The reality today is that Salafis do not accept new interpretations of ancient religious principles. Acquiring a radical direction of development, they lose their fundamental concepts. Even calling them Muslims is a stretch. They are connected with Islam only by the recognition of the Koran as the main source of the word of Allah. Otherwise, Wahhabis are completely different from Sunni Salafis. It all depends on who is meant by the general name. True Salafis are members of a large group of Sunni Muslims. They should not be confused with radical sects. Salafis and Wahhabis, whose differences are fundamental, have different views on religion.
Now these two essentially opposite groups are mistakenly synonymized. Wahhabis-Salafis arbitrarily adopted features completely alien to Islam as the fundamental principles of their faith. They reject the entire body of knowledge (nakl) transmitted by Muslims since ancient times. Salafis and Sunnis, whose difference exists only in some views on religion, are opposite to Wahhabis. They differ from the latter in their views on jurisprudence.
In fact, the Wahhabis replaced all the ancient Islamic principles with new ones, creating their own sharihad (religious territory). They do not respect monuments, ancient graves, and they consider the Prophet simply a mediator between Allah and people, without experiencing the reverence inherent in all Muslims. According to Islamic principles, jihad cannot be declared arbitrarily.
Wahhabism allows one to lead an unrighteous life, but after accepting a “righteous death” (exploding oneself to destroy the “infidels”) a person is guaranteed a place in heaven. Islam considers suicide a terrible sin that cannot be forgiven.
Geography of the spread of Shiism
So Shiism is the largest religio-political sect that broke away from Islam in the second and third centuries of Islam? Do Shiites consider themselves Muslims? According to statistics, 5-7% of Muslims are Shiites. However, they are divided into many sects among themselves. The largest of them are
Shia sects
- Jafarites
- Zaydis
- Alawites
“Jafarites” are followers of the “12 imams”, “Zaidi”, “Alawites” and others.
In the middle of the eighth century, Shiism was divided into two movements - extreme and moderate. The first group included the “extreme” (Gulat) and the Ismailis, the second group included the Zaydis and the Imamis. Other sects of Shiism are also known - Druze, Alawites and others.
Followers of Shiism are found in small inclusions in different countries, but most of them are in Iran, Azerbaijan, a little more than half of the population. A small part of the population is Shiite in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and Bahrain. There are few Shiites on Russian territory, mainly Azerbaijanis. In the Soviet Union, one of the hotbeds of Shiism was the Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan.
SALAFITS - THEY ARE MOST OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS
Salafis
What does the name mean: As-salaf - “ancestors”, “predecessors”. As-salaf as-salihun is a call to follow the lifestyle of the righteous ancestors.
When it arose: Developed in the 9th-14th centuries.
How many adherents: According to American Islamic experts, the number of Salafis around the world can reach 50 million.
Main areas of residence: Distributed in small groups throughout the Islamic world. They are found in India, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan and even Western Europe.
Ideas: Belief in an unconditionally one God, non-acceptance of innovations, alien cultural admixtures in Islam. Salafis are the main critics of Sufis. It is considered a Sunni movement.
Famous representatives: Salafis consider Islamic theologians al-Shafi'i, Ibn Hanbal and Ibn Taymiyya to be their teachers. The well-known organization “Muslim Brotherhood” is cautiously classified as Salafists.
