Seeking Justice and Ambition of Power

By: Dr. Muhammad Masjid-Jame‘i
The important thing here is that these two different types of attitudes and interpretations will entail absolutely different consequences. The historical experiences of Shi‘ites and Sunnis and their present conditions are mainly affected by these two types of consequences rather than by the two types of attitudes and interpretations.
One of the most important differences of these types is that the Sunni revolutionary potential in the contemporary time had an ‘ambition for power’ rather than ‘seeking justice’ the way it is within the Shi‘ite world.72 The biggest motivation and rather sensitivity and worry of revolutionary Shi‘ites at present are their seeking justice. The important characteristic of their Islamic political ideology, which is the source of their inspiration and mobility, is their seeking justice.
They have risen to establish justice, i.e. they have risen to establish an Islam whose main message is justice and the establishment of justice while the goal of the Sunni Islamic movements in general is mainly creating a powerful grand centrality. They are looking for the power and splendor of Islam like the early periods and want the Muslims to have a power like in the past. Their ideal is powerful caliphs of the early period. To them, Islam is the religion of power in the first place and its history is one of power and majesty. Shi‘ites, at least contemporary Shi‘ites, see Islam as the religion of justice in the first place and deem its true history to be one of justice and administration of justice.
For example, in the Shi‘ite view, the most important distinguishing feature of ‘Ali’s character is his appreciation of equality, justice and justice administration. The former see bright grand faces among the powerful Islamic caliphs, who ruled over the greatest empire of that time while the later find manifestations of justice and equality in the true caliphs, who lived like the most ordinary people and did not bow other than to the religion and justice.73
It is exactly because of this that the internal developments after the Islamic Revolution of Iran, especially after the committed revolutionaries took control of the power, have to be studied based on their concerns about enforcement of justice and social justice. The most important factor that formed the ups and downs in Iran in the meanwhile was exactly this. The other factors were secondary. However, if such a revolution had occurred in a Sunni country, the critical sensitivities and factors would certainly not have been so and, most probably, they would have thought of making the revolution as powerful as possible. The natural result of it would have been its further ability in achieving social integrity and absorbing those that had different thoughts in order to create a powerful centrality.74

Channels for the Manifestation of the Revolutionary Potential
From among the other important consequences of this different attitude towards security and justice is that, throughout the history, Sunni Islamic movements were generally religious or cultural and one hardly sees any political movement while in the Shi‘ite world, political movements even during the rule of Shi‘ite sultans are abundant as there were the necessary theoretical foundations for rising up against the ruler. Therefore, they were more likely to occur than where there were no such principles and such actions would be deemed illegal as causes of the order established by the ruling system.
The fact that Sunni Islamic movements in general have been religious and cultural is not because of their lack of theoretical sociopolitical foundations. In the absence of a sociopolitical channel which is both religiously acceptable and can contain and guide the revolutionary potential of the people, a tendency towards change, development and reform shall be naturally contained within the religious and cultural channel while the Shi‘ites did not have such a problem. It was likely for this potential to be put through its religiously acceptable channel, be it social or political or any other military or armed form. There was no problem in this regard. Therefore, a revolutionary potential could easily be led through its natural channel. However, this was not the case with Sunnis.
The outlets of public anger had been blocked and one could not rise up against the ruler, its oppressions and heresies. Consequently, all of these were manifested in the form of fighting heresy, religious deviation and intellectual problems so far as it does not relate to the ruler. One day in the form of fighting the Mu‘tazilites, while the other day in the form of fighting Shi‘ism, Sufism, the philosophy and the next day in the form of fighting any of the four religious branches and the jurisprudential and theologian schools and sometimes in the form of confronting the people and their beliefs claiming that they do things that are not acceptable to a certain religiously dogmatic and backward group, whereas they have adopted polytheistic tendencies and shedding their blood is allowed.75
From this historical point of view, this has been one of the important causes of the endless internal conflicts of the Muslims throughout history. Despite the many common points among the various sects of Islam, which is due to the firm, clear and explicit principles and the infinite capacity of Islam itself, the history of Islam is still full of bloody confrontations between the sects. A great part of this indeed is due to the social, political, tribal and racial factors. However, it should not be ignored that lack of an appropriate and religiously acceptable channel through which one can benefit from the revolutionary potential of the people for sociopolitical reforms was itself a factor for the deviation of this accumulated and at the same time natural force. When this force was deprived of an appropriate and religiously acceptable means to achieve its goals, it will naturally use channels and means that are acceptable to it and, instead of dedicating its force directly towards the ruling system, it will confront its brothers with various excuses.76
This is especially more important in a religion such as Islam. Islam, more than any other religion, is capable of mobilizing its hidden forces for promoting its objectives. The other religions more or less dedicate their manpower to individual salvation. It is not so in Islam. Yet, its difference with the other religions is that this individual salvation will be attained in the light of social action, any action that is dedicated to the promotion of the objectives of this religion.
The final purpose is for this religion to achieve its social objectives. Man will be happy if he puts himself at the service of realizing such a goal and ideal. It is because of this that this religion has been and is better able than the other religions to realize hidden individual talents and benefit from them for its sociopolitical progress. Therefore, a Muslim wishes to make maximum use of his power in order to promote his religion and to devote himself to this cause as much as possible, as this would finally result in his salvation. In other religions, this salvation is attained with a sort of practice on one’s soul or by individual or probably collective actions. However, in this religion, this salvation is attained mainly through individual or collective actions that somehow contribute to the promotion of the objectives. In the meanwhile, the important thing is that Islam has the ability and power to improve the internal forces of a Muslim, develop his sense of devotion and apply all of these forces.77 Further discussion is needed to better clarify this issue.

Seeking Devotion
It is principally an important human feature to be affected and attracted by something. This is one of his constant unchangeable needs. If this need is not equally found with all people, it is not because it does not exist. Rather, the reason is the scattering of their internal forces. They are attracted by numerous factors and their forces are scattered without being sufficiently concentrated for the appearance and emergence of this intrinsic aptitude.
However, from among the many elements that can attract one, religion is undoubtedly one of the most important and powerful. This returns on the one hand to one’s intrinsic aptitude to seek the religion and God and, on the other hand, to the deep nature of the religion itself. It is because of this that it can permeate the depths of one’s subconscious and employ all his visible and invisible forces. From this point of view, there is not much difference between Islam and the other religions, such as Christianity, for example. Medieval Christianity employed its followers the same way. A Christian missionary or warrior would work and devote himself with the same passion as a Muslim missionary or jihad warrior. However, in the modern era, when Christianity, and not just Christianity but all the other religions other than Islam, made extensive reforms and put aside many of their authentic elements and primary claims, the difference in Islam and Christianity emerged. Present-day Christianity, contrary to medieval Christianity, is a set of rites with a limited capacity, incapable of mobilizing and employing all the capabilities of its followers, as in the past.
The fact that one does not see Christians nowadays who are as firm as in the past is not due to the intrinsic weakness of today’s Christianity. Rather, it is mainly due to the weakness of the version of Christianity which is now believed in because Christianity today is not as firm, determined and direct as it was in the past and is actually required of a divine religion. When a religion is set back by the modern civilization by its necessities and pressures and it retreats step by step and gives up its original values in order to adapt to the present conditions at any price, it cannot have the minimum attraction with the help of which to create love and devotion in its followers. The inattention and non-devotion of Christians nowadays is more due to the internal weakness of Christianity promoted by the modern church than to their weak faith.78
This is the difference of Islam and the other religions, on top of Christianity today. For various reasons, which related entirely to its essence and nature, Islam went, and could only go, on a path different from the one that the other religions went or had to go on in the modern centuries. Although modern Muslim thinkers wanted it and still want it to be like the other ones. It is precisely because of this that the Islamic beliefs among the masses of the people are not less original than those of their fathers in the past centuries. This means that this religion has retained its originality, purity, entirety, certainty and explicitness and has been able to preserve the same influence, attraction and potential that it had in the past centuries. It can quench the thirst of the new generation and employ them in the same way as it did their ancestors.79
Nevertheless, the discussion was that Islam can develop the internal capabilities of its followers and make them fond of it and employ their mobilized force for promoting its objectives. Now, the point is, when these forces and capabilities flourish but do not have a chance in the sociopolitical scene, it will be deviated and misled, and will turn into a force to encounter all that is deemed as heresy. When the emotions are excited, they will not submit to reason. Then the individual will seek to make his religion the most devoted by encountering whatever that is heresy. It will not matter to him if the one whom he attacks is his brother or fellow believer. He sees confronting him one whom will mean his religious purity and the victory of the religion, the truth, the Qur’an and the Prophet (S). This is not because the one he encounters is really on the wrong path. It is he who needs cases to deem as misled although this might be a mental process and an illusion, so as to apply the fire within him for devotion.80
Scenes of bloody sectarian clashes throughout the history of Islam did not just involve Shi‘ites versus Sunnis. It is surprising that sectarian violence between Hanafites and Shafi‘ites81 or the Traditionists and the non-Traditionists were far more extensive and bloodier.82 The problem was not a Shi‘ite-Sunni one—indeed, according to what was said, there was in practice a much greater number of moves by Sunnis against Shi‘ites rather than the other way round as Shi‘ites, apart from the fact that they were generally in a minority, they were not like the Sunnis in terms of facing jurisprudential and theological limitations for making and taking sociopolitical moves and actions and for having a revolutionary potential for reform. Apart from this, their jurisprudential and theological foundations, religious thought and historical experiences were not so as to consider Sunnis to be outside the religion.83 The problem was that there was no means for expressing religious purity other than by fighting heresy in the sense, as we said, of relating to the ruling system. It was as if the heresy of the other sects had attracted the entire sap of the tree of religious self-sacrifice and devotion and the other branches had been cut away. In other words, ‘sacrifice oneself for the high objectives and ideals of the religion” was put at the service of rejecting heresy, the way they called it, a current that is still going on.84

Ideology of the Ruling System
What has so far been said was related to the development of Shi‘ite and Sunni political thought in the first one or two centuries, to the background in which the Sunni jurisprudence and theology developed and what effects this background had on its realization. However, how these foundations were understood in the following centuries and how they developed are independent subjects without considering which one cannot understand the present situation, especially because their social, religious and psychological structures and institutions are formed in this same period. In the meanwhile, the religious and political method of the ‘Abbasid caliphs was more effective and critical. Although the foundations of Sunni political thought were laid at the time of the Senior Caliphs and the Umayyad, especially Mu‘awiyah, it was in fact the ‘Abbasids who developed it into a final system. They needed the religion and pretended so and made use of it as much as possible in order to preserve and continue their rule.85
The flourishing, extension and development of Islamic sciences from jurisprudence, sayings and analysis to theology, statesmanship and history, go back to the same period. Because of their general politics, it was natural that this current be strongly influenced by their interests. It practically became so influential that the Sunni jurisprudential and theological system was involved in the ruling system of the society and, finally, turned into the ruling system’s ideology and justified and legalized it.86 Later, after the fall of the ‘Abbasid caliphate, the bond was still in place and was put at the service of local rulers.
This requires further explanation. The fact is that the ‘Abbasids, in order to consolidate their power and position, needed the religion more than their predecessors. The Islamic society was more integrated and harmonious in the Umayyad period than in the ‘Abbasid period. The newly converted Muslims of the newly conquered lands in the Umayyad period were frightened of the new situation and power that had dethroned their kings. They either witnessed the events that went on or were finally in the employment of Arab or ethnic Arab rivals who had risen to fight for power. Years had to pass before they could discover that they could effectively and actively participate in the formation of the sociopolitical and even religious and cultural currents.
In the late Umayyad period, the days of seclusion and watching had passed. That is to say, the non-Arab Muslims entered onto the scene, providing for the fall of the Umayyad. Their fall intensified their entering on the scene in all its aspects. The other problem was the presence of new forces that not only had political claims, but had religious and cultural aspects that aggravated the sociopolitical differences despite all its positive results.87
The set of these conditions weakened the power of the ‘Abbasids compared to the Umayyads.88 This was not because, for example, the ‘Abbasid caliphs were less capable or probably less strict or tyrannical; rather, it was mainly due to the change in the conditions. The conditions in the ‘Abbasid period did not allow the pursuit of the Umayyad policies. If the Umayyads had taken power in the ‘Abbasid time, they would have followed more or less similar policies and would have a similar degree of power.
What matters here is the effect of these conditions on the Sunni jurisprudential and theological structure, which was founded and flourished mainly in this period. That is to say that the caliph’s weak military power made it necessary to use the religion as a means to consolidate his position. In fact, the religion made up for the power that could no longer be obtained by sword.
This does not mean that all the clerics who followed a similar path followed the caliph or pursued certain interests that could be gained by doing so. Doubtless, there were people among them that arrived at such conclusions only for the protection of the religion and for the security of the people. In their opinion, what mattered in those hard days of tension was a powerful centrality that could protect the religion and the people’s property and lives, while the ruler alone could not create such centrality. Therefore, the religion had to help create such centrality.
Thus, the religion was adopted as the ruler’s ideology. This did not mean that the religion responded to the ideological needs of the ruling system concerning how to run a society and how to govern. Rather, it was like a support to make up for his weaknesses and shortages. This indeed required a minimum of the religious appearances to be considered by the ruling system. It was not possible to ask the people to bow to and defend the ruling system while the system was entirely inattentive to religious appearances.89

New Objections
According to this, one has to say that, if the ‘Abbasid caliphs after Harun were not militarily weak, the Sunni jurisprudential and theological structure, at least where it concerns the political and governmental issues, would be shaped otherwise. This did not arouse any objection by Sunnis themselves until the contemporary era. In the latter period, and especially in the last two decades, numerous objections were made, some indications of which can be traced in the writings of revolutionary and even reformist Islamic or non-Islamic political groups in Egypt, northern Africa and some Arab countries.90
However, Shi‘ite ideology did not go on this route from the very beginning. Its principles were not so as to be able to turn into the ideology of the ruling system, even where the sultan was a Shi‘ite. When the religious acceptability of the ruling system is defined in connection with its conformity to the principles and conditions that the ruler of the ruling system should have, such an ideology cannot be adopted by the ruling system and cannot serve its justification.
The theoretical foundations of Sunni ideology were so that, in practice, it had no claim other than legalizing and justifying the present conditions. This was, firstly, because its theoretical and doctrinal foundations had been formed and had grown under the influence of political and historical realities, especially where it related to the early period of Islam. In other words, here the ideology was peripheral to and derived from the reality—we have already said that, in the issue of imamate and leadership, despite Shi‘ites, who first defined the position, Sunnis defined and interpreted the position in the light of the one who was in the position. To them, what had happed in the early period was true and religiously acceptable.
Naturally, they would derive the definitions and concepts from the officially accepted cases. Secondly, the reason for this was that they deemed the preservation and protection of the religion possible only in the light of the existence of the government and the governing system.91 Since this had been accepted as a principle, it would serve to justify and legalize the present situation. Their thoughts and minds were shaped like this from the very beginning, especially because, in their view, the consensus of the Companions, the Followers and the clerics of the later periods as well as the Qur’anic texts and the Prophet’s tradition approved it as well.92
The problem was not just that they had accepted such a principle. They thought this way. More importantly, they understood the religion like this and would interpret it like this. Doubtless, there were many among them who accepted and promoted this method because of bad intentions or for gaining material profit or approaching the sultan. Yet, it cannot be denied that there were also others who had accepted it for reasons that were mentioned.93
Nevertheless, these foundations were otherwise with Shi‘ites, who did not think or bow other than to their own rules, criteria and values. That is to say, they did not consider the justification of the present situation and avoiding weakening the ruler’s power and probably trying to strengthen it, as some Sunnis claimed so, to be the only way to preserve and protect the religion. At least in certain parts of history they believed the contrary. Therefore, in their opinion, the present situation has to be accepted so long as it conforms to these rules or if the conditions are so that the preservation and protection of the religion require non-opposition to the ruling system, in which case they would neither recognize it nor oppose it.94
Although this difference may not seem very important and critical at first glance, it has shown its importance in the course of the developments of the new period. The theoretical problems of contemporary Islamic movement in the Sunni world and lack of such problems among Shi‘ites are initially due to this difference as the meaningful silence of Sunni religious circles against the criticism of the new generation about their support of Islam offered and interpreted by the corrupt tyrants, whether in the past or in the present, is because of the same reason.95
Although some Shi‘ite intellectuals in Iran and in other countries have made similar criticisms against the Shi‘ite clergy, the problem here had other causes and could, therefore, be solved. Although there were some Shi‘ite clerics by the side of Shi‘ite rulers in the past, this had secondary causes and was not because they considered the ruling system as religiously acceptable or their obligation to be religiously required. The necessity of defending the true religion and a more important expediency led them to adopt such a position temporarily. Apart from this, as there was not such a necessity in the contemporary times and they had to stand up against the ruling power in order to defend and support the religion, even if the power was a Shi‘ite one, they did so.

The Shi‘ite Stance
The important thing, nevertheless, is that, for certain reasons, the way the clerics stood by the side of the sultan was different in the Shi‘ite and Sunni history. A Shi‘ite cleric could never accept the legality of the power attained by religiously unacceptable means and which acts with a method contrary to the religious rules. Because of this, he could not approve it in this respect. If he had to approve and support him, it was for peripheral and secondary reasons.96 However, a Sunni cleric did not face such a limitation. To him, the ruler simply because he was the ruler and had the power was religiously acceptable and had to be obeyed. At least, he would deem any opposition to him as religiously prohibited. If some of the early jurisprudents expressed doubts as to the necessity of obeying a ruler only because he was a ruler, they did not yet unanimously agree on the acceptability of opposition.97
Indeed, a moral and pious factor prevented the pious Sunni clerics and jurisprudents from getting close to the sultan. They would stay away from the sultanate as it often involved material pleasures, tyranny, violation of others’ rights, lavish drinking and forgetting about the afterworld and the Resurrection. They would similarly avoid the company of the others who lived a similar life. As we said, this mainly had moral rather than doctrinal reasons. According to pious Sunni clerics, the sultan himself was one who had to be avoided in order to avoid the world and the pursuit of worldly pleasures. They followed sayings in this regard that advised avoiding the sultan.98
Considering the above points, one has to see now why some Shi‘ite clerics, some of whom were among the best-known of their time and even the following times, stood by the sultan’s side. In fact, most clerics in the Safavid time were so.
The basic reason for this was the political conditions of those times and the constant tensions between the Safavids and the Ottomans. The rivals of the Ottomans, i.e. the Safavids, were Shi‘ites. Therefore, it would be in the Ottomans’ interest to introduce the Shi‘ites as people away from or even outside of and opposing Islam. By doing this, they could arouse the support and courage of their people and persuade them, under the claim of defending the religion and gaining rewards in the afterworld, to do things that they liked and they managed in so doing.99 However, the important point is that these actions and arousals were and could not merely be against the Safavids and would naturally include the Shi‘ites that lived within the Ottoman territory. It was exactly because of this reason that they were under constant pressure, harassment, murder and pillage. Some of the slaughters were so extensive that the Shi‘ites in some parts were eliminated forever. As an example, Sultan Salim I, after he dethroned his father Sultan Yazid II and killed his brother and took the throne, in the very beginning ordered the beheading of 40,000 Shi‘ites.100
In fact, the political rivalry between the two had resulted in religious rivalry or rather hostility. The fact is that, if it is assumed that the two had a similar role in arousing political rivalry, the Ottomans doubtless had a greater share in arousing religious hostility because the Safavids were Shi‘ites and the Shi‘ites had never throughout the history considered the Sunnis to be outside of Islam so as to fight them on such grounds.101 However, the contrary is true. For reasons that are beyond the present discussion, there were numerous occasions when the Sunni mobs, provoked by a worldly cleric or a bloodthirsty emir, attacked Shi‘ites. The same was true in this case, i.e. the Ottoman sultans could easily employ such a mentality in order to provoke the people to fight against Iran or the Shi‘ites within their territory. Indeed the undesirable consequences of such provocations were far deeper and longer lasting than was expected by the sultan or the other provokers.102
72. A‘lam al-Mawqi‘in, vol. 3, pp. 3-4.
73. For example, see India and Pakistan, pp. 37 and 38.
74. For example, see the well-known magniloquent speech of Rashid Rida in approving the caliphate of Sharif Husayn in Menna in Thawrah al-‘Arab didd al-Atrak, pp. 320-6, and words of Sharid Husayn at the end of Rashid Rida’s speech, ibid., p. 342, and also the introduction by Muhibb ad-Din Khatib to Al-‘Awasim min al-Qawasim, where he praises even the Umayyad caliphs because they expanded the territory of Islam with their power (p. 3). Also see Khasar al-‘Alam bi Inhitat al-Muslimin, pp. 299-319.
75. One of the best examples is the letter of Zaynab al-Ghazali, the well-known Egyptian writer to Yasir ‘Arafat when the centers of the Palestinian Liberation Organization in Tunisia were bombarded by Israeli airplanes.
76. There is a long bloody history for religious dreams in Islam, in which the Hanbalits had the greatest share—exactly because of their fanatic populist beliefs and the strict and repellant psychology that is the outcome of such beliefs—so far that even the Ash‘arites, who are well-known for fanaticism and strict attitude, have complained of their fanaticism, dogmatism, atrocity and mischief.
For example, a group of Ash‘arite clerics in the time of Khwajah Nizamu’l-Mulk wrote him a letter in support of the head of the Ash‘arites of their time, ‘Abu’l-Qasim Qushayri, in which they complained of what the Hanbalits did and asked for his effective support. It is interesting to know that they wrote the letter at a time when the Ash‘arites and the Shafi‘ites were in the peak of their power. This shows the amount of pressure that the Hanbalites exerted on non- Hanbalites and one can imagine how hard they pressued the other sects, “…A group of rabbles who call themselves Hanbalites committed disgusting heresies in Baghdad which no apostate, let alone monotheist, would let himself do.
They disrespected the imams of the past and abused the followrs of truth and the religious people in mosques, circles and bazaars…” Al-Milal wa’n-Nihal, Subhani, pp. 279-82.
One can find numerous stories in Tabaqat al-Hanabilah, which the Hanbalites themselves wrote as biographies of their great clerics. The following story is an example of the disturbances they made, “In the second trip of Tabari from Tabaristan to Baghdad, one Friday, in the congregation mosque, the Hanbalites asked his view about Ahmad Hanbal and the story of God sitting in heaven. He responded that Ahmad Hanbal’s opposition did not count. They said that the clerics consider him in the disputes. Tabari said, ‘I neither saw him or any story about him nor any of his trustable companions. The story of God’s sitting in the heaven is an impossible thing.’”
“When the Hanbalites and Traditionists heard this, they attacked him and threw their inkwells at him. Tabari took refuge in his house. The Hanbalites, of whom there were thousands, stoned his house so that a great pile of stone was made in front of his house. Nazuk, the police chief of Baghdad with thousands of police arrived and rescused Tabari from the mob, while staying there for one day and ordered for the stones to be taken away.” The Wahhabis, p. 27. Also see the pain that ‘Izz ibn ‘Abdu’s-Salam, one of the greatest 7th-century clerics suffered from the Hanbalites. Al-Islam bayn al-‘Ulama’ wa’l-Hakimun, p. 192.
77. This is exactly opposite to the stances of the Shi‘ite Imams. They never ignored the basic role of the ruling system in corrupting the people. Therefore, they paid attention to individual upbringing as they did to social reform and especially reforming the ruling system.
Even where deviation from the right path was for reasons other than inherent mischief and the power was in the hands of an individual or system with such characteristics, they did not show much willingness to confront such individuals. For example, Imam ‘Ali thus (‘a) wrote in his will about the Rebels, “After me, do not fight with the Rebels because one who seeks the truth but goes on the wrong path is not like the one who seeks falsehood and achieves it.” Sermon 61, Nahj al-Balaghah, edited by Subhi Salih.
From the very early days of the appearance of Islam, this religion could employ its followers and especially the youth successfully. Such a mechanism was in the first place due to the characteristics of this religion and its coordination with the human nature. This continues to date and will continue in the future.
In this regard, one can reflect on the speech of Abu Hamzah Khariji when he addressed to the people of Hijaz, who criticized his supporters for his young age, “O’ the people of Hijaz! Do you blame the young age of my companions? Is it not true that the Prophet’s Companions were young too? Young people who lived in their youth [as piously] as old people. They take their eyes away from evil and their feet are hard to move on the wrong path. They are thin and weak because of staying awake at night to worship. God looks at them in the dark of the night while their backs bend on the Qur’an because they see a verse that tells of the paradise and cry happily about that. And when they read a verse corcerning hell, they yell as if they hear sounds come from the hell… In the most frightful moments of the battlefield when the pioneers of the army tremble with the fear of death and from the dazzle of the swords and spears, they see the fear of enemy minute compared to their fear of God and step forward. The wild animals go to their dead bodies and the birds fly to them. So many eyes that cried with the fear of God through the night are taken in beaks of the bids and so many hands that prostrated through the night for long periods of time are cut from the wrist…” Al-Bayan wa’t-Tabyin, vol. 2, pp. 102-3.
His description of the religius piety of his young followers and that they think but to the promotion of the religion while devoting themselves for this cause is one that is more or less true about all times. For example, see the various issues of the magazine An-Nadhir, the organ of Syrian Ikhwan al-Muslimin and books that study the actions and spirits of the devotees of Islam. Also, see Payambar wa Fir‘un (The Prophet and the Pharaoh).
78. For further explanation, see On Being a Christian, especially pp.31-4.
79. Gibb truly attributes this to the nature of Islam, “The belief system of Islam is a consolidated, positive and emphatic collection. These characteristics are due to the Qur’an, the sayings, the tradition and the shari‘ah.”
80. The study of the psychological, religious and morals of the Sa‘udi Ikhwanites and their actions well reveals this. See The Wahhabis, pp. 446-59. For example, Hafiz Wahabah, who was closely familiar with them and witnessed their wars, says in this regard, “The Ikhwanites are not afraid of death. They embrace death in order to return to God. When a mother says goodbye to her child, she says, ‘God will bring us and you together in heaven.’ Upon attacking, their slogan is, ‘O’ God we only worship You and get help only from You.’ I witnessed some of their wars and saw how they embrace death and go to the enemy group by group while thinking only about breaking and killing the enemy’s army. The Ikhwanites in general have no mercy. They release no one and, wherever they go, they are the messengers of death.”
The Wahhabis, p. 452, quoted from Jazirat al-‘Arab fi’l-Qarn al-‘Ishrin, p. 314. Wajjan Filbi says about them, “The Ikhwanites have prohibited murders, pillage, banditry, smoking and living a good comfortable life. Their attempts were mainly focused on saving for the other world. Other than themselves, they called all the other Islamic sects polyetheists and idolaters.” The Wahhabis, p. 449, quoted from the Tarikh-e Najd, pp. 305-8.
81. For finding out about the competition between the Hanafites and Shafi‘ites, which prepared the ground for many conflicts, the following story, which is quoted from Hindu Shah, is worth reflecting upon, “Khwajah was the follower of the Supreme Imam Shafi‘i. Sultan Malik Shah built a school. When they wanted to write which group attended the school, they asked the Sultan.
He said, ‘Although I am a Hanafite, I have constructed this for God Almighty. It is not good to protect and let a group attend and prohibit another.’ He said that the followers of both Imams had to attend the school equally and cooperatively. As the Sultan was a Hanafite, they wanted to write the name of Imam Hanafiyyah before the name of Imam Shafi‘i. Khwajah did not allow this. The book had to wait for a while… Finally, it was decided that it should be written, “Endowed to the followers of the two Imams from the early imams of Islam.” Majalleh-ye Daneshkadeh-ye Adabiyyat wa ‘Ulum-e Insani (Journal of the Faculty of Literature and Humanities), serial no. 56, p. 742, quoted from Tajarub as-Salaf, pp. 277-8.
82. “The strong fanaticism between Shafi‘ites and Hanafites, between maturidiyun (‘those who follow their wishes’) and Ash‘arites, between Sunnis, Mu‘tazilites and Shi‘ites was one of the most important factors to weaken the Muslims. One who reads Muqaddasi’s Safarnameh and Yaqut’s Mu‘jam al-Buldan, will find out to what extent such fanaticism resulted in destruction of lands, killing of people and creating disturgances…” Zuhr al-Islam, 4, p. 102.
“In 350 AH, there was a great dispute between Sunnis and Sudanese soldiers on one hand and Shi‘ites on the other hand. The soldiers would ask anyone that they saw on the street, “Who is your uncle?” If he failed to say Mu‘awiyah, they would beat him severely or even kill him. In the years, 408, 444, 445 and 449 AH, there were terrible conflicts and many from both sides were killed…” Al-Fikr as-Siyasi ash-Shi‘i, pp. 285-8.
83. “Among the Islamic sects, Shi‘ites were subject to killing and violation more than the others. There were many reasons for this; most importantly because the people inclined towards them since they [their leaders] were as the Prophet’s Family. The tendency grew so strong that it very worried and terrified the Umayyad and the ‘Abbasid and they became strict on them, prosecuted and tortured them.” Islam bila Madhahib, p. 285.
84. Many of those who now, especially in black Africa, the Indian Subcontinent and the Far East, spend their energy to fight Shi‘ism have the same motivation. They seek a means to do their duty in the religion and are ready to give their life in order to promote their religion and its purification. However, since they do not have the means to this goal and, at the same time because of their unawareness and naïveté, are under the influence of the hostile propaganda of Wahhabis against Shi‘ites, which is full of lies and slanders, are ready to do all they can for this cause in order to do their duty properly. These have to be considered separately from spiteful Wahhabis who are aware of what they are doing for their own interests. See Afriqa: Mirath-e Gozashteh wa Mawqi‘iyyat-e Ayandeh (Africa, the Past Heritage and the Future Situation), pp. 112-4.
85. “In 143 A.H., Muslim clerics began to put in writing the sayings, jurisprudence and analyses. Ibn Jarih did this in Mecca, Malik wrote the book Mu’atta in Medina, Owza‘i in Syria, Ibn Abi ‘Urubah and Himmad ibn Salmah and others in Basrah, Mu‘ammar in Yemen, Sufyan Thawri in Kufah, Ibn Ishaq wrote Maghazi and Abu Hanifah wrote on jurisprudence and collected opinions. Much was done on the compilation and classification of the sciences and various books were written on Arabism, language, history and the stories of the past. Prior to this, the clergy talked of memorizing and would narrate science from reliable books that had not been complied.” Tarikh al-Khulafa’, p. 261.
In order to study what factors and reasons prevented the writing of the Prophetic sayings in the early period, see Al-Milal wa’n-Nihal, pp. 51-71, and also see the discussion in the book Adwa’ ‘ala’-Sunnah al-Muhammadiyyah in this respect on page 261 and thereafter. In the beginning, the clerics, following the tradition of the past, were not willing to write books and, when Hisham forced Zahri to do so, the others followed suit. Ibid., p. 262.
86. See the introduction to Wasa’il ash-Shi‘ah, vol. 1, pp. 35-49, printed by Al al-Bayt Institute. Concerning the ‘Abbasid policies, see Goldziher, Muslim Studies, pp. 75-7.
87. An example of non-Arab and especially Iranian influence in the early ‘Abbasid society can be noticed in this story. Mansur asked Imam Musa ibn Ja‘far to attend the Nowruz feast to visit the presents. The Imam refused. Mansur said in response, “This ceremony is held for political reasons and for pleasing the army.” Jawahir al-Kalam, vol. 5, p. 42.
88. In the last century, classical Sunni thought, especially where it concerned the relations of the clergy and the sultans’ and caliphs’ courts has been sharply criticized. The critics are from various groups and do so with different motivations. Some are clergy, like Shaykh Kushak, Khalid Muhammad Khalid and the Ikhwan al-Muslimin-dependent clergy in general, above them Sayyid Qutb. Other than these, they are leftists and progressivists, libral or freethinkers.
Criticism of some of them, who are generally from the first group, is reformist, constructive and sympathetic while that of the others is bitter, disturbant and, probably, despicable and destructive. Concerning the views of Shaykh Kushak, see Payambar wa Fir‘un (The Prophet and the Pharaoh), pp. 219-20. For views of Khalid Muhammad Khalid, see Ash-Shi‘ah fi’l-Mizan, pp. 375-8. For views of clergy supporting al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin, see Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun wa’l-Jama‘at al-Islamiyyah, pp. 262-70. For criticisms of the second group, see Al-Islam wa’l-Khilafah fi’l-‘Asr al-Ḥadith, pp. 9-34, especially 18-23, and introduction by Muhammad ‘Amarah to Al-Islam wa Usul al-Hukm.
89. “In the early 4th centuary A.H., most ‘Abbasid lands were governed by local governments without any or with little connection to the ‘Abbasids and only symbolized by mentioning the caliph’s names in sermons. As a result, their territory was in practice limited to Baghdad and a small part of Iraq.” Nizam al-Wizarah fi’d-Dawlah al-‘Abbasiyyah, p. 19.
90. As an example, concerning the religious policy adopted by the Seljuks and their employing the policy for consolidating their political position, see Nizam al-Wizarah fi’d-Dawlah al-‘Abbasiyyah, pp. 47-50. Regarding their religious policies, Ibn Athir says, “When the Seljuks took power, they revived the grandeur of caliphate, which had been weakened, especially during the vizierate of Nizamu’l-Mulk. He carried this out in the best way possible.” See ibid. when quoting from At-Tarikh al-Bahir fi’d-Dawlah al-Atabakiyyah, p. 51, and also An-Naqd, pp. 47-8, which provides a positive account of their religious actions.
This policy was followed by the ‘Abbasid themselves. Al-Bandari says that the ‘Abbasids—he means in 6th centuary A.H., improved the caliphate’s image so that “Baghdad was so grand to its enemies that taking it would be impossible. Therefore, no king made any attempt to conquer it.” Nizam al-Wizarah fi’d-Dawlah al-‘Abbasiyyah, p. 64 quoting Al Saljuq, p. 268. For further explanation, see ibid., pp. 62-7.
91. A‘lam al-Mawqi‘in, vol. 1, pp. 47-8. Grunebaum thus explains the major characteristics of the Muslim government and its role in preserving the religious and moral authenticities: 1. The purpose of the creation of man is worship. 2. Perfect worshipping requires a group of believers. 3. To have such an ummah, a government is needed. 4. The first duty of the government is to provide the grounds for worshipping.” G.E. Grunebaum, Islam, 1969, p. 127.
92. Concerning the value and importance of consensus, especially the consensus of the Companions and the Senior Caliphs, which, in Subhi Salih’s words, is the third source of Islamic shariah legislation, and how it has been the source of many governmental and caliphate affairs, see An-Nazm al-Islamiyyah, p. 281. The author believes that the most important aspect for caliphate itself is consensus and the sayings that have been provided in this respect have been aimed at further consolidating and approving something whose source was proved with consensus.
93. Read these words of Ibn Taymiyyah, “Ahmad ibn Hanbal writes an account of ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar, who in turn quotes the Prophet (S) as saying, ‘Any person in any part of the earth shall appoint one as leader.’ The Prophet (S) necessitated having a leader even in a small community so it may be a lesson for other communities. God necessitated recommending the good and prohibiting the evil. This can be carried out only with power and leadership. In addition, the other necessary obligations such as jihad, administration of justice, hajj, the Friday, the feasts, victory of the oppressed and enforcing the other orders can be carried out only with power and leadership.
Therefore, it has been quoted that, “The king is God’s shadow on the earth.”, “Sixty years living under a tyrant leader is better than one night without a sultan.” These are proved by experience.” Then he adds, “It is because of this that the good people of the past such as Fudayl ibn ‘Ayyad, Ahmad ibn Hanbal and the others said, ‘If there is one prayer that we can do and will be fulfilled, it will be a prayer for the sultan.” As-Siyasah ash-Shar‘iyyah, pp. 138-9. Also see Tabaqat al-Hanabilah, 2, p. 36.
94. “The truth is that Fatimite policies and those of Al Buyeh do not express Shi‘ite beliefs. They were governments in their own time.” Ash-Shi‘ah wa’l-Ḥakimun, p. 7.
“…Therefore, actions of kings who called themselves Shi‘ites have nothing to do with Shi‘ite beliefs and Shi‘ites do not see any relation between themselves and these rulers and think that any seizure by them is a personal one. If it is according to the Qur’an and the Tradition, it is right. Otherwise, they are sinners.
Therefore, the Shi‘ites divest themselves of any responsibility in the rulers’ seizures. As politics is mixed with religion and, at the same time, politics has not been manifested other than in the practice of the Infallible Imams, Shi‘ite political thought cannot go beyond the opinions and practice of the Imams. Principally, Shi‘ite political thought can be clarified according to Shi‘ite views and actions regarding political issues. Any action or seizure from a Shi‘ite and any view that he expresses, if being according to the orders of the Infallible Imams, is part of Shi‘ite political thought. Otherwise, it is separate therefrom.” Al-Fikr as-Siyasi ash-Shi‘i, p. 280. For further explanation, see ibid., pp. 268-71.
95. For example, see this bitter and destructive criticism by Mustafa Shukri, who founded an armed Islamic movement in Egypt and was executed after being arrested and tried, which is about the Four Leaders of Sunni jurisprudence. In fact, he tries not only them, but also mainly the jurisprudents of the later periods and those of his time and accuses them of being accomplices of the sultans. In response to the question why the Four Leaders claimed they took religious expertise to its ultimate limit, he says, “So that they and their writings would be admired and they would be idols to worship like gods in temples. Therefore, they put themselves between God and the believers and took themselves outside Islam. They belong to the Ignorance and savagery.”
Then he adds, “Did those who claimed that jurisprudence was completed really do so? No, they did so for the public and the remainder of the Muslims but left it open to interpretation through generations of court clergy so that the latter may issue fatwas proportionate to the ruling opinions, no matter who and what opinion rule, and so that, in the name of Islam, they can propagate sins and legalize the illegal. If we were to provide examples of the present and of the past, no one could deny… because there are cases of prescribing adultery, usury and legalizing the government on principles other than divine principles and even cases of approving prostitution and drinking alcohol in the name of Islam.”
Then, he gives examples of fatwas issued in his time. Payambar wa Fir‘un (The Prophet and the Pharaoh), pp. 88-9.
96. For example, see Nokhostin Ruyaruyiha-ye Andisheh-garan-e Iran (The First Encounters of Iranian Thinkers), pp. 323-66.
97. A small group of Sunni jurisprudents have allowed opposing the corrupt ruler if there is no way to make him go on the right path other than by the force of the sword. See the considerable views of Imam al-Haramayn Juwayni in Sharh al-Maqasid, pp. 271-5. Indeed, as it has already been said, these have always been and remained in a minority.
98. In his readable book Talbis Iblis, Ibn al-Jawzi mentions the various traps that the Satan may set for jurisprudents, including their approaching the sultans. He talks on this elaborately, “… In addition, entering a sultan’s court is a dangerous thing to do because, although one may have good intentions in the beginning, one will gradually change as a result of being respected and tipped or by having greed and avoiding advising the good and prohibiting the bad. Sufyan Thawri used to say, ‘I fear a sultans’ respect rather than insult because then my heart will incline towards them. The clergy of the past avoided the sultans because of their oppression while the latter asked them for fatwas and judgments. Consequently, a group was formed that were fond of the world, would learn sciences that would be useful to emirs and would run to them with these sciences in order to have worldly fortunes…” Talbis Iblis, pp. 118-9. Such criticisms can be found in abundance in books of the sayings, ethics and history.
For example, Ghazali elaborates on the position that the cleric scholars have to adopt towards sultans, “…And this was the practice and habit of the scholars in advising the good and prohibiting the bad. They were saved by not fearing the sultans and relying on God. They were satisfied with God’s orders and willing, if God wanted to make them martyrs. As they had pure intentions, their words were very effective on hearts and would soften them. However, greed has now closed the mouths of the clerics and silenced them. If they say something, their words do not suit their actions and, therefore, they will not succeed. If they are honest in what they say and have good intentions, they will succeed. The corruption of the people is because of the corruption of the sultan and that of sultan is because of the corruption of the clergy. The corruption of the latter is for love of wealth and positions. One who is filled with the love of the world cannot lead the rabbles to the right path let alone the kings and great people.” Ihya’ ‘Ulum ad-Din, vol. 7, p. 92.
Interestingly, Ghazali allows entering a sultan’s court only in two cases, which indicates his politico-religious perception as, “Entering a sultan’s court is acceptable only on two grounds. First, if the king calls the cleric scholar by force rather than with respect, while the cleric knows that, if he refuses to accept the call, he will be persecuted and, if he avoids to enter the sultan’s court, this will result in the people’s uprising and in political disputes, in which case it is necessary to go to the court, not for obeying the king but for the people’s expedience so that the government will not be disturbed. The second is for removing an oppression on a Muslim or on himself…” Ihya’ ‘Ulum ad-Din, Ch. 6, as quoted in Al-Islam bayn al-‘Ulama’ wa’l-Hakimun, p. 112. Also see, Al-Fawa’id, Ibn Qayyim, pp. 149-53. Also see Goldziher, The Zahiris, p. 165, and Gibb, Studies on the Civilization of Islam, p. 145.
99. An example of this policy can be found in a sermon by a Friday communal prayer leader of Aba Sufiyah Mosque, Shaykh Ubaydullah, early in the month of Ramadan of the later years of the Ottoman caliphate, “… Here I repeated what I said before, that all the people, other than the poor, the handicapped and the blind, who are among them, the sheikhs who claim that they are inheritors of the Prophet (S), the teachers, muftis, judges, heads of Sufi sects, dervishes, merchants, craftsmen and all the people, have become apostades according to the Qur’an, are among the hypocrites and it is necessary to kill them because they have intentionally abandoned jihad with wealth and body, for whose proof there are thousands of Qur’anic verses. It is necessary to make them faithful again by: First, making them personally appear in battlefields. Secondly, they shall give half of their wealth to the seat of the Turkish caliphate so that the Turks can take revenge on their domestic and foreign enemies… If they fail to do so, i.e. to give half of their wealth to the government, their reconversion to the faith is not accepted and, on the Day of Resurrection, they will be resurrected with apostates and infidels and will go to hell…” Thawrah al-‘Arab didd al-Atrak, p. 224, from p. 25, Qawm Jadid (The New People).
100. Ma‘alim al-Khilafah fi’l-Fikr as-Siyasi al-Islami, p. 11. The elaborate account of the story can be found in the book Al-Bilad al-‘Arabiyyah wa’d-Dawlah al-‘Uthmaniyyah by Sati‘ al-Husari, the famous Arab nationalist theoretician. Pages 300-1 of Al-Fikr as-Siyasi ash-Shi‘i thus quote part of the story, “Sultan Salim became the leader of the Sunnis and took a fatwa from the evil scholars to the effect that Shi‘ites are not Muslims and it is necessary to kill them. He, therefore, ordered the beheading of any person within his territory who was known to be a Shi‘ite.” p. 38. Ha’iri quotes Sanders on Sultan Salim and his actions as saying, “During the 8 years of his reign—918-927 A.H—the Sultan attacked Iran and, from 920 A.H. onwards, he conquered Kurdistan and Azerbaijan, killing or jailing anyone within his territory who was known to be a Shi‘ite. Sunni clerics had said that killing a Shi‘ite is more appropriate than killing 70 Christians. According to an account, 40,000 Shi‘ites were killed in those events.” Journal of the Faculty of Literature & Humanities, Mashhad University, serial nos. 57-58, pp. 5, 6.
101. For exmaple, although the Seljuks for various reasons had an extensive anti-Shi‘ite policy (Nizam al-Wizarah fi’l-Dawlah al-‘Abbasiyyah, p. 47), and Khajé Nezamolmolk considered them to be infidels, saying, “Kill them whenever you see them.”, or “He ordered that the heretics be taken to the rostrums, their heads be uncovered…and it be said to them, ‘You are the enemies of the religion.’”. At the same time, however, one of the great Shi‘ite theologians of that time, Abdoljalil Qazvini, says in appreciation of the religious deeds of the Seljuks, “The truth is that, throughout the world, whatever of Islam that appears in schools, mosques, Sufi monasteries, rostrums, good traditions and rejection of heresies, is indebted to the power of Seljuk sword.” Majalleh-ye Daneshkadeh-ye Adabiyyat wa ‘Ulum-e Insani (Journal of the Faculty of Literature and Humanities), serial no. 56, pp. 744-5, quoting An-Naqz wa Siyasatnameh. There are many such examples in Shi‘ite history although contrary examples are rare.
For example, “When Nader Shah attempted in 1741 to convince the Ottoman Sultan to accept Shi‘ism as the fifth branch of the religion, he went so far as to accept to call him ‘the caliph of Islam’, but the Sultan did not accept this.
102. In many cases, Shi‘ites were under pressure, were beaten and killed by people other than the sultans. The evil clergy had a great role in this. They deceived the public and provoked them in the name of defending the religion against Shi‘ites and, principally, against those who did not have beliefs similar to theirs, “Abu Muhammad Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Khalaf Barbahari, the chief of the Baghdad Hanbalites, has special views and would treat harshly anyone that opposed his views and opinions, having his companions treat the people violently, even plundering their houses and bothering them in their trades and terrorizing whomever that would not accept what he said.
“One of the things Barbahari did was prohibiting mourning and dirge singing about Imam Husayn and the pilgrimages to his shrine in Karbala. He would order the killing of the dirge singers. Once there was a dirge singer known as Khilb, who was a master in his job and had a good voice. I [Tanukhi] heard him in the house of one of the chiefs. At that time, no body would dare mourning on Imam Husayn in public. Dirges were also rimited on mourning on Imam Husayn and the Prophet’s Family. However, when Barbahari found out about this, he ordered searching for and killing of the dirge singer.” The Wahhabis, p. 26. To find more examples on what Barbahari and his advocates did, see ibid., pp. 26-33 on the dispute with Abu’l-Hasan Ash‘ari and his views, beliefs, actions and the end of his stories. See Tabaqat al-Hanabilah, vol. 2, pp. 18-45.