Shiism and the Early Muslim Community after the Death of the Prophet (week 5)

Question 1

What is the global Muslim population today

Answer 1

2 billion

Question 2

state the split of this between shiites and sunnis

Answer 2

10-13% are shiites
87-90% are sunnis
most shiites - between 68 and 80% are concentrated in four countries - Iran, Iraq, India and Pakistan

Question 3

What was at the root of the dispute about who should succeed after Muhammads death?

Answer 3

would they be a temproral or political leader?
or would they be a spiritual and religious leader instead?
is the leader decided by consensus?
or decided by human or divine designation or assessing certain qualities?

Question 4

What were the elements complicating situation about who should follow Muhammad?

Answer 4

Tribal rivalry
Tension between the Meccan ‘Emigrants’ (muhajirun) and the Medinan ‘Helpers’ (ansar)
Question of seniority

Question 5

What is meant by tribal rivalry ?

Answer 5

Such problems existed in pre-Islamic Arabia
Following Muhammads death there were also conflicts when deciding the next leader.

Question 6

What is meant by the tensions?

Answer 6

Meccans - earlier converts who took pride in the fact that they were earlier converts
Medinan - had a significant place in allowing the migration of the religion and its spreading movement

Question 7

What is meant by the question of seniority?

Answer 7

Highly hierarchical society - elder of tribe has authority

Question 8

what question can we arise from all of this?

Answer 8

Weren’t all Muslims equal, transcending these social categorizations?

Question 9

in 632 what happened?

Answer 9

Farewell Pilgrimage; Ghadir Khumm; Death of the Prophet

Question 10

What happened here?

Answer 10

Prophet gave a speech on the way back from the farewell pilgrimage and stated:
‘Of whomsoever I am master (malwa), Ali is also his master. O God! Be Thou the supporter of whoever supports Ali and the enemy of whoever opposes him.’
(from Musnad ibn Hanbal - a Sunni Hadith collection)

Question 11

Define the key terms stated in the above quote:

Answer 11

Mawla - master
Wali - friend, helper, master, saint, etc.
Walaya - abstract noun of the above

Question 12

what are the people of the house?

Answer 12

the family of the prophet Muhammad

Question 13

What did Aisha report about

Answer 13

Aisha reported that Muhammad went out one morning wearing a striped cloak of the black camel’s hair and there came Hasan b. Ali. He wrapped him under it, then came Husayn and he wrapped him under it along with the other one [Hasan]. Then came Fatima and he took her under it, then came Ali and he also took him under it and then said: God desires to remove all uncleanliness from you, O People of the House, and to purify you completely.

Question 14

Explain what is meant here?

Answer 14

Muhammad wore a striped clock then his grandchildren joined him under the cloak and later his daughter and son did as well - Muhammad said that God wants to make them pure and clean - showing love for his family.

Question 15

When was the first civil war (fitna)?

Answer 15

656-661

Question 16

Who was it between?

Answer 16

The first inter muslim war between Shi’at Ali and Shi’a Uthman, led by Ali and Mu‘awiya.

Question 17

What was the result of this war?

Answer 17

Mu‘awiya on the verge of losing the battle calls for arbitration > Ali agrees

Question 18

What did this lead to?

Answer 18

This enrages Kharijites > Ali is murdered

Question 19

And so what happened?

Answer 19

661 Beginning of Mu‘awiya’s caliphate, commencing the Umayyad Dynasty (caliphate no longer called ‘rightly-guided’ even by Sunnis)

Question 20

what is a caliph?

Answer 20

vicegerent, representative

Question 21

Describe the sunni institution of caliphate

Answer 21

temporal leadership; a first among equals; elected ideally by consensus (later: hereditary)

Question 22

what is an imam

Answer 22

leader

Question 23

Describe the shiite institution of Imamate

Answer 23

a spiritual rank given to the best of all humans by divinely-inspired designation; independent of human consensus

Question 24

What are the major branches of Shiism?

Answer 24

Twelver or Imami (largest group)
Severe or Ismaili
Fiver or Zaydi

Question 25

What are the three necessary attributes of imams? - according to imami shiism

Answer 25

1. designated
2. infallible/sinless
3. best of all humans - most excellent in all attributes that are vital in religion

Question 26

is the authority and transmission of knowledge the same for sunnis and shiites

Answer 26

no it does differ but there are some parallels

Question 27

What do they both believe about God and revelations

Answer 27

God (as revealed through the Quran) - preserved in the Quranic text; no new revelations after that

Question 28

Is the Prophet accsesible?

Answer 28

For Sunnis:
Prophet (as known through the Sunna) - dead; only accessible through Hadith literature

For Shiites:
Prophet – dead; accessible through Hadith literature