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3 - Community

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2014

Najam Haider
Affiliation:
Barnard College, New York
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Summary

Two historical narratives are shared by all Shī‘ī groups. The first focuses on the succession to the Prophet and, specifically, the community's elevation of Abū Bakr to the caliphate over the superior claims of ‘Alī. The second centers on the death of Ḥusayn (the Prophet's grandson) and a small contingent of his family and followers at the hands of an Umayyad army in 680. The discussion that follows explores the importance of each of these narratives in the construction of a distinct Shī‘ī identity.

The Succession to Muḥammad

According to the Shī‘a, the Muslim community's rejection of ‘Alī marked a fundamental departure from Muḥammad's desires and represented a loss of legitimate political and religious leadership. As mentioned previously, this event is often cited as the starting point for the Sunnī-Shī‘a division. In reality, however, its significance emerged gradually through its incorporation into a growing corpus of polemical arguments. The most important of these arguments combined (i) events and statements from the Prophet's life with (ii) general expectations for succession embedded in the Qur’ān. The Twelvers and Ismā‘īlīs were particularly interested in historical episodes that suggested that the Prophet had explicitly appointed ‘Alī as his successor. This was a product of their requirement that an Imām be formally designated (naṣṣ) by his predecessor (see Chapter 2). The Zaydīs were bound by no such requirement and offered a more subtle case for ‘Alī's claims grounded primarily in Qur’ānic expectations. Each of these arguments is discussed in this section.

Type
Chapter
Information
Shi'i Islam
An Introduction
, pp. 53 - 83
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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References

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  • Community
  • Najam Haider, Barnard College, New York
  • Book: Shi'i Islam
  • Online publication: 05 August 2014
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139381710.009
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  • Community
  • Najam Haider, Barnard College, New York
  • Book: Shi'i Islam
  • Online publication: 05 August 2014
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139381710.009
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Community
  • Najam Haider, Barnard College, New York
  • Book: Shi'i Islam
  • Online publication: 05 August 2014
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139381710.009
Available formats
×