Fundamental Elements of Shi'ism
Although in Islam no political or social movement has ever been separated from religion, which from the point of view of Islam necessarily embraces all things, Shi'ism was not brought into existence only by the question of the political succession to the Prophet of Islam-upon whom be blessings and peace-as so many Western works claim (although this question was of course of great importance). The problem of political succession may be said to be the element that crystallized the Shi'ites into a distinct group, and political suppression in later periods, especially the martyrdom of Imam Husayn-upon whom be peace-only accen
tuated this tendency ofthe Shi'ites to see themselves as a separate community within the Islamic world. The principal cause of the coming into being of Shi'ism, however, lies in the fact that this
possibility existed within the Islamic revelation itself and so had to be realized. Inasmuch as there were exoteric and esoteric interpretations from the very beginning, from which developed
the schools (madhhab) of the Shari'ah and Sufism in the Sunni world, there also had to be an interpretation of Islam which would combine these elements in a single whole. This possibility was
realized in Shi'ism, for which the Imam is the person in whom these two aspects of traditional authority are united and in whom
the religious life is marked by a sense of tragedy and martyrdom. There had to be the possibility, we might say, of an esotericismat least in its aspect of love rather than of pure gnosis-which would flow into the exoteric domain and penetrate into even
the theological dimension of the religion, rather than remain confined to its purely inward aspect. Such a possibility was
Shi'ism. Hence the question which arose was not so much who should be the successor of the Holy Prophet as what the function and qualifications of such a person would be.
The distinctive institution of Shi'ism is the Imamate and the question of the Imamate is inseparable from that of walayat, or the esoteric function of interpreting the inner mysteries of the Holy Quran and the Shari'ah.[3] According to the Shi'ite view the successor of the Prophet of Islam must be one who not only rules over the community in justice but also is able to interpret the Divine Law and its esoteric meaning. Hence he must be free from error and sin (ma'sum) and he must be chosen from on high by divine decree (nass) through the Prophet. The whole ethos of Shi'ism revolves around the basic notion of walayat, which is intimately connected with the notion of sancitity (wilayah) in Sufism. At the same time walayat contains certain implications on the level of the Shari'ah inasmuch as the Imam, or he who administers the function of walayat, is also the interpreter of religion for the religious community and its guide and legitimate ruler.
It can be argued quite convincingly that the very demand of 'Ali for allegiance (bay'ah) from the whole Islamic community at the moment that he became caliph implies that he accepted the method of selecting the caliph by the voice of the majority which had been followed in the case of the three khulafa' rashidun or "rightly-guided caliphs" before him, and that thereby he accepted the previous caliphs insofar as they were rulers and administrators of the Islamic community. What is also certain from the Shi'ite point of view, however, is that he did not accept their function as Imams in the Shi'ite sense of possessing the power and function of giving the esoteric interpretations of the inner mysteries of the Holy Quran and the Shari'ah, as is seen by his insistence from
the beginning that he was the heir and inheritor (wasi) of the
Prophet and the Prophet's legitimate successor in the
Shi'ite sense of "succession." The Sunni-Shi'ite dispute over the
successors to the Holy Prophet could be resolved if it were
recognized that in one case there is the question of administering
a Divine Law and in the other of also revealing and interpreting
its inner mysteries. The very life of Ali and his actions show that he accepted the previous caliphs as understood in the Sunni sense of khalifah (the ruler and the administrator of the Shari'ah), but confined the function of walayat, after the Prophet, to himself. That is why it is perfectly possible to respect him as a caliph in the Sunni sense and as an Imam in the Shi'ite sense, each in its own perspective.
The five principles of religion (usul al-din) as stated by Shi'ism include: tawhid or belief in Divine Unity; nubuwwah or prophecy; ma'ad or ressurrection; imamah or the Imamate, belief in the Imams as successors of the Prophet; and 'adl or Divine Justice. In the three basic principles-Unity, prophecy, and resurrectionSunnism and Shi'ism agree. It is only in the other two that they differ. In the question of the Imamate, it is the insistence on the esoteric function of the Imam that distinguishes the Shi'ite perspective from the Sunni; in the question of justice it is the emphasis placed upon this attribute as an intrinsic quality of the Divine Nature that is particular to Shi'ism. We might say that in the exoteric formulation of Sunni theology, especially as contained in Ash'arism, there is an emphasis upon the will of God. Whatever God wills is just, precisely because it is willed by God; and intelligence ('aql) is in a sense subordinated to this will and to the "voluntarism" which characterizes this form of theology.[4] In Shi'ism, however, the quality of justice is considered as innate to the Divine Nature. God cannot act in an unjust manner because it is His Nature to be just. For Him to be unjust would violate His own Nature, which is impossible. Intelligence can judge the justness or unjustness of an act and this judgment is not completely suspended in favor of a pure voluntarism on the part of God. Hence, there is a greater emphasis upon intelligence ('aql) in Shi'ite theology and a greater emphasis upon will (iradah) in Sunni kalam, or theology, at least in the predominant Ash'arite school. The secret of the greater affinity of Shi'ite theology for the "intellectual sciences" (al-'ulum al-'aqliyah) lies in part in this manner of viewing Divine Justice.[5]
Shi'ism also differs from Sunnism in its consideration of the means whereby the original message of the Quranic revelation
reached the Islamic community, and thereby in certain aspects of the sacred history of Islam. There is no disagreement on the Quran and the Prophet, that is, on what constitutes the origin of the Islamic religion. The difference in view begins with the period immediately following the death of the Prophet. One might say that the personality of the Prophet contained two dimensions which were later to become crystallized into Sunnism and Shi'ism. Each of these two schools was later to reflect back upon the life and personality of the Prophet solely from its own point of view, thus leaving aside and forgetting or misconstruing the other dimension excluded from its own perspective. For Shi'ism the "dry" (in the alchemical sense) and "austere" aspect of the Prophet's personality as reflected in his successors in the Sunni world was equated with worldliness, while his "warm" and "compassionate" dimension was emphasized as his whole personality and as the essence of the nature of the Imams, who were considered to be a continuation of him.[6]
For the vast majority of the Islamic community, which supported the original caliphate, the companions (sahabah) of the Prophet represent the Prophet's heritage and the channel through which his message was transmitted to later generations. Within the early community the companions occupied a favored position and among them the first four caliphs stood out as a distinct group. It is through the companions that the sayings (hadith) and manner of living (sunnah) of the Prophet were transmitted to the second generation of Muslims. Shi'ism, however, concentrating on the question of walayat and insisting on the esoteric content
of the prophetic message, saw in Ali and the Household of the Prophet (ahl-i bayt), in its Shi'ite sense, the sole channel through which the original message of Islam was transmitted, although, paradoxically enough the majority of the descendants of the
Prophet belonged to Sunnism and continue to do so until today. Hence, although most of the hadith literature in Shi'ism and Sunnism is alike, the chain of transmission in many instances is
not the same. Also, inasmuch as the Imams constitute for Shi'ism a continuation of the spiritual authority of the Prophet-although not of course his law-bringing function-their sayings and
actions represent a supplement to the prophetic hadith and sunnah. From a purely religious and spiritual point of view the Imams may be said to be for Shi'ism an extension of the personality of the Prophet during the succeeding centuries. Such collections of the sayings of the Imams as the Nahj al-balaghah of Ali and the Usul al-kafi, containing sayings of all the Imams, are for the Shi'ites a continuation of the hadith collections concerned with the sayings of the Prophet himself. In many Shi'ite collections of hadith, the sayings of the Prophet and of the Imams are combined. The grace (barakah) [7] of the Quran, as conveyed to the world by the Prophet, reached the Sunni community through the companions (foremost among them were Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, Ali, and a few others such as Anas and Salman), and during succeeding generations through the ulama and the Sufis, each in his own world. This barakah, however, reached the Shi'ite community especially through Ali and the Household of the Prophet-in its particular Shi'ite sense as referred to above and not simply in the sense of any Alid.
It is the intense love for Ali and his progeny through Fatimah that compensates for the lack of attention towards, and even neglect of, the other companions in Shi'ism. It might be said that the light of Ali and the Imams was so intense that it blinded the Shi'ites to the presence of the other companions, many of whom were saintly men and also had remarkable human qualities. Were it not
for that intense love of Ali, the Shi'ite attitude towards the
companions would hardly be conceivable and would appear
unbalanced, as it surely must when seen from the outside and
without consideration for the intensity of devotion to the
Household of the Prophet. Certainly the rapid spread of Islam, which is one of the most evident extrinsic arguments for the divine origin of the religion, would have been inconceivable without the companions and foremost among them the caliphs. This fact
itself demonstrates how the Shi'ite views concerning the companions and the whole of early Sunnism were held within the context of a religious family (that of the whole of Islam) whose existence was taken for granted. If Islam had not spread through the Sunni caliphs and leaders many of the Shi'ite arguments
would have had no meaning. Sunnism and its very success in the world must therefore be assumed as a necessary background for an understanding of Shi'ism, whose minority role, sense ofmartyrdom and esoteric qualities could only have been realized in the presence of the order which had previously been established by the Sunni majority and especially by the early companions and their entourage. This fact itself points to the inner bond relating Sunnism and Shi'ism to their common Quranic basis despite the outward polemics.
The barakah present in both Sunnism and Shi'ism has the same origin and quality, especially if we take into consideration Sufism, which exists in both segments of the Islamic community. The barakah is everywhere that which has issued from the Quran and the Prophet, and it is often referred to as the "Muhammadan barakah" (al-barakat al-muhammadiyah).
Shi'ism and the general esoteric teachings of Islam which are usually identified with the essential teachings of Sufism have a
very complex and intricate relationship.[8] Shi'ism must not be
equated simply with Islamic esotericism as such. In the Sunni world Islamic esotericism manifests itself almost exclusively as
Sufism, whereas in the Shi'ite world, in addition to a Sufism similar to that found in the Sunni world, there is an esoteric
element based upon love (mahabbah) which colors the whole structure of the religion. It is based on love (or in the language of
Hinduism, bhakta) rather than on pure gnosis or ma'rifah, which by definition is always limited to a small number. There are, of course, some who would equate original Shi'ism purely and
simply with esotericism.[9] Within the Shi'ite tradition itself the proponents of "Shi'ite gnosis" ('irfan-i shi'i) such as Sayyid Haydar Amuli speak of the equivalence of Shi'ism and Sufism. In fact in his major work, the Jami' al-asrar (Compendium of Divine Mysteries), Amuli's main intention is to show that real Sufism and Shi'ism are the same.[10] But if we consider the whole of Shi'ism, then there is of course in addition to the esoteric element the exoteric side, the law which governs a human community. Ali ruled over a
human society and the sixth Imam, Ja'far al-Sadiq, founded
the Twelve-Imam Shi'ite school of law.Yet,as mentioned
above, esotericism, especially in the form of love, has always occupied what might be called a privileged position within Shi'ism, so that even the Shi'ite theology and creed contain formulations that are properly speaking more mystical than strictly theological.
In addition to its law and the esoteric aspect contained in Sufism and gnosis, Shi'ism contained from the beginning a type of Divine Wisdom, inherited from the Prophet and the Imams, which became the basis for the hikmah or sophia that later developed extensively in the Muslim world and incorporated into its structure suitable elements of the Graeco-Alexandrian, the Indian, and the Persian intellectual heritages. It is often said that Islamic philosophy came into being as a result of the translation of Greek texts and that after a few centuries Greek philosophy died out in the Muslim world and found a new home in the Latin West. This partially true account leaves out other basic aspects of the story, such as the central role of the Quran as the source of knowledge and truth for the Muslims; the fundamental role of the spiritual hermeneutics (ta'wil) practiced by Sufis and Shi'ites alike, through which all knowledge became related to the inner levels of meaning of the Sacred Book; and the more than one thousand years of traditional Islamic philosophy and theosophy which has continued to our day in Shi'ite Persia and in adjacent areas.[11] When we think of Shi'ism we must remember that, in addition to the law and the strictly esoteric teachings, Shi'ism possesses a "theosophy" or hikmah which made possible the vast development of later Islamic philosophy and the intellectual sciences from the beginning, enabling it to have a role in the intellectual life of Islam far outweighing its numerical size.
The respect accorded to the intellect as the ladder to Divine Unity, an element that is characteristic of all of Islam and especially emphasized by Shi'ism, helped create a traditional educational system in which rigorous training in logic went hand in
hand with the religious and also the esoteric sciences. The
traditional curriculum of the Shi'ite universities (madrasahs) includes to this day courses ranging from logic and mathematics
to metaphysics and Sufism. The hierarchy of knowledge has made
of logic itself a ladder to reach the suprarational. Logical demonstration, especially burhan-or demonstration in its technical sense, which has played a role in Islamic logic that differs from its use in Western logic-came to be regarded as a reflection of the Divine Intellect itself, and with the help of its certainties the Shi'ite metaphysicians and theologians have sought to demonstrate with rigor the most metaphysical teachings of the religion. We see many examples of this method in the present book, which is itself the result of such a traditional madrasah education. It may present certain difficulties to the Western reader who is accustomed to the total divorce of mysticism and logic and for whom the certainty of logic has been used, or rather misused, for so long as a tool to destroy all other certainties, both religious and metaphysical. But the method itself has its root in a fundamental aspect of Islam-in which the arguments of religion are based not primarily on the miraculous but on the intellectually evident[12]-an aspect which has been strongly emphasized in Shi'ism and is reflected in both the content and the form of its traditional expositions.
Present State of Shi'ite Studies
Historical factors, such as the fact that the West never had the same direct political contact with Shi'ite Islam that it did with Sunni Islam, have caused the Occident to be less aware until now of Shi'ite Islam than of Sunnism. And Sunni Islam also has not always been understood properly or interpreted sympathetically by all Western scholars. The West came into direct contact with Islam in Spain, Sicily, and Palestine in the Middle Ages and in the Balkans during the Ottoman period. These encounters were all
with Sunni Islam with the exception of limited contacts with Isma'ilism during the Crusades. In the colonial period India was
the only large area in which a direct knowledge of Shi'ism was necessary for day-to-day dealings with Muslims. For this reason
the few works in English dealing with Twelve-Imam Shi'ism are mostly connected with the Indian subcontinent.[13] As a result of
this lack of familiarity many of the early Western orientalists brought the most fantastic charges against Shi'ism, such as that its views were forged by Jews disguised as Muslims. One of the reasons for this kind of attack, which can also be seen in the case of Sufism, is that this type of orientalist did not want to see in Islam any metaphysical or eschatological doctrines of an intellectual content, which would make of it something more than the famous "simple religion of the desert." Such writers therefore had to reject as spurious any metaphysical and spiritual doctrines found within the teachings of Shi'ism or Sufism. One or two works written during this period and dealing with Shi'ism were composed by missionaries who were particularly famous for their hatred of Islam.[14]
It is only during the last generation that a very limited number of Western scholars have sought to make a more serious study of Shi'ism. Chief among them are L. Massignon, who devoted a few major studies to early Arab Shi'ism, and H. Corbin, who has devoted a lifetime to the study of the whole of Shi'ism and its later intellectual development especially as centered in Persia, and who has made known to the Western world for the first time some of the metaphysical and theosophical richness of this as yet relatively unknown aspect of Islam.[15] Yet, despite the efforts of these and a few other scholars, much of Shi'ism remains to this day a closed book, and there has not appeared as yet an introductory work in English to present the whole of Shi'ism to one who is just beginning to delve into the subject.
It was to overcome this deficiency that in 1962 Professor Kenneth Morgan of Colgate University, who pursues the laudable goal of presenting Oriental religions to the West from the point of view of the authentic representatives of these religions, approached me with the suggestion that I supervise a series of three volumes dealing with Shi'ism and written from the Shi'ite point of view. Aware of the difficulty of such an undertaking, I accepted
because of the realization of the importance which the completion of such a project might have upon the future of Islamic studies and even of comparative religion as a whole. The present work is the first in that series; the others will be a volume dealing with the Shi'ite view of the Quran, written also by 'Allamah[16] Tabataba'i, and an anthology of the sayings of the Shi'ite Imams.
During the summer of 1963 when Professor Morgan was in Tehran we visited 'Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i in Darakah, a small village by the mountains near Tehran, where the venerable Shi'ite authority was spending the summer months away from the heat of Qum where he usually resides. The meeting was dominated by the humble presence of a man who has devoted his whole life to the study of religion, in whom humility and the power of intellectual analysis are combined. As we walked back from the house through the winding and narrow roads of the village, which still belongs to a calm and peaceful traditional world not as yet perturbed by the sound and fury of modernism, Professor Morgan proposed that 'Allamah Tabataba'i write the general volume on Shi'ism in the series and also the volume on the Quran. Later I was able to gain the consent of this celebrated Shi'ite authority that he put aside his monumental Quranic commentary, al-Mizan, to devote some of his time to these volumes. Having studied for years with him in the fields of traditional philosophy and theosophy, I knew that of the traditional Shi'ite authorities he was the one most qualified to write such a work, a work which would be completely authentic from the Shi'ite point of view and at the same time based upon an intellectual foundation. I realized of course the innate difficulty of finding a person who would be a reputable religious authority, respected by the Shi'ite community and untainted by the influence of Western modes of thought, and at the same time well enough conversant with the Western world and the mentality of the Western reader to be able to address his arguments to them. Unfortunately, no ideal solution could be found to this problem, for in Persia, as elsewhere in the Muslim world, there are today usually two types of men concerned with religious questions: (1) the traditional authorities, who are as a rule completely unaware of the nature of the psychological and mental structure of modern
man, or at best have a shallow knowledge of the modern world, and (2) the modernized so-called "intellectuals," whose attachment to Islam is often only sentimental and apologetic and who usually present a version of Islam which would not be acceptable to the traditional authorities or to the Muslim community (ummah). Only during the past few years has a new class of scholars, still extremely small in number, come into being which is both orthodox and traditional in the profound sense of these terms and at the same time knows well the modern world and the language necessary to reach the intelligent Western reader.
In any case, since the aim of Professor Morgan was to have a description of Shi'ism by one of the respected traditional Shi'ite scholars, the ulama, it was necessary to turn to the first class, of which 'Allamah Tabataba'i is an eminent example. Of course one could not expect in such a case the deep understanding of the Western audience for whom the work is intended. Even his knowledge of Sunni Islam moves within the orbit of the traditional polemics between Sunnism and Shi'ism, which has been taken for granted until now by him as by so many other of the prominent ulama of both sides. There are several types of Muslim and in particular of Shi'ite ulama and among them some are not wellversed in theosophy and gnosis and limit themselves to the exoteric sciences. 'Allamah Tabataba'i represents that central and intellectually dominating class of Shi'ite ulama who have combined interest in jurisprudence and Quranic commentary with philosophy, theosophy, and Sufism and who represent a more universal interpretation of the Shi'ite point of view. Within the class of the traditional ulama, 'Allamah Tabataba'i possesses the distinction of being a master of both the Shari'ite and esoteric sciences and at the same time he is an outstanding hakim or traditional Islamic philosopher (or more exactly, "theosopher"). Hence he was asked to perform this important task despite all the difficulties inherent in the presentation of the polemical side of Shi'ism to a world that does not believe in the Islamic revelation to start with and for whom the intense love of Ali and his Household, held by the Shi'ites, simply does not exist. Certain explanations, therefore, are demanded that would not occur to a person writing and thinking solely within the Shi'ite world view.
Six years of collaboration with 'Allamah Tabataba'i and many journeys to Qum and even Mashhad, which he often visits in the summer, helped me to prepare the work gradually for translation into English-a task which requires a translation of meaning from one world to another, to a world that begins without the general background of knowledge and faith which the usual audience of 'Allamah Tabataba'i possesses. In editing the text so that it would make possible a thorough and profound under standing of the structure of Islam, I have sought to take into full consideration the differences existing between traditional and modern scholarship, and also the particular demands of the audience to which this work is addressed.[17] But putting aside the demands made by these two conditions, I have tried to remain as faithful to the original as possible so as to enable the non-Muslim reader to study not only the message but also the form and intellectual style of a traditional Muslim authority.
The reader must therefore always remember that the arguments presented in this book are not addressed by 'Allamah Tabataba'i to a mind that begins with doubt but to one that is grounded in certainty and is moreover immersed in the world of faith and religious dedication. The depth of the doubt and nihilism of certain types of modern man would be inconceivable to him. His arguments, therefore, may at times be difficult to grasp or unconvincing to some Western readers; they are only so, however, because he is addressing an audience whose demand for causality and whose conception of the levels of reality is not identical with that of the Western reader. Also there may be explanations in which too much is taken for granted, or repetitions which appear to insult the intelligence of the perspicacious Western reader in whom the analytical powers of the mind are usually more developed than among most Orientals.[18] In these cases, the characteristic manner of his presentation and the only world known to him, that of contemporary Islam in its traditional aspect, must be
kept in mind. If the arguments of St. Anselm and St. Thomas for
the proof of the existence of God do not appeal to most modern
men, it is not because modern men are more intelligent than the
medieval theologians, but because the medieval masters were
addressing men of different mentalities with different needs for the explanation of causality. Likewise, 'Allamah Tabataba'i offers arguments addressed to the audience he knows, the traditional Muslim intelligentsia. If all of his arguments do not appeal to the Western reader, this should not be taken as proof of the contention that his conclusions are invalid.
To summarize, this book may be said to be the first general introduction to Shi'ism in modern times written by an outstanding contemporary Shi'ite authority. While meant for the larger world outside of Shi'ism, its arguments and methods of
presentation are those of traditional Shi'ism, which he represents and of which he is a pillar. 'Allamah Tabataba'i has tried to present the traditional Shi'ite point of view as it is and as it has
been believed in and practiced by generations of Shi'ites. He has sought to be faithful to Shi'ite views without regard for the possible reactions of the outside world and without brushing aside
the particular features of Shi'ism that have been controversial. To transcend the polemical level, two religious schools would
either have to put aside their differences in the face of a common danger, or the level of discourse would have to be shifted from the level of historical and theological facts and dogmas to purely
metaphysical expositions. 'Allamah Tabataba'i has not taken either path but has remained content with describing Shi'ism as it is. He has sought to do full justice to the Shi'ite perspective in
the light of the official position that he holds in the Shi'ite religious world as he is a master of both the exoteric (zahir) and the esoteric (batin) sciences. For those who know the Islamic world
well it is easy to discern the outward difficulties that such an authority faces in expounding the total view of things and especially in exposing the esoteric doctrines which alone can
claim true universality. He is seen in this book as the expositor and defender of Shi'ism in both its exoteric and esoteric aspects, to the extent that his position in the Shi'ite world has allowed him to speak openly of the esoteric teachings. But all that is uttered
carries with it the voice of authority, which tradition alone provides. Behind the words of 'Allamah Tabataba'i stand fourteen centuries of Shi'ite Islam and the continuity and transmission of
a sacred and rehigious knowledge made possible by the continuity of the Islamic tradition itself.
