REL 137g 1st Edition Lecture 22 Current LectureIsmail, the 7th imam dies and his son, Muhammad ibn Ismail followsHis followers completely branch off and create their own doctrine This community is separate from the 12ers He disappears, enters into occultationVery mysterious, it is not known when he will returnMessiah-ism Followers are called the FatimidsOne of the most powerful dynastiesWould rival the AbbasidsSettled in CairoRuled over a predominantly Sunni populationThey made no attempt to get rid of the Sunnis Ghadir Khumm Brook or stream where the Prophet is reported to have said that Ali is his ‘patron’Anyone who supports Muhammad must support AliShiite 12ers take this report as an explicit command to have Ali has Muhammad’s successor Zahir vs. BatinZahir; manifest exoteric, clear meaningBatin; hidden, esoteric, figurative and metaphorical meaning The number 7History cycles in 77 prophets who come with each of these cycles With a manifest message Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad The Silent One or the Sanit (asas; foundation)Comes after the first 6 prophets Then followed by 7 imams He is the one who brings the batin; the hidden meaning of the message Ali is the silent oneHe rises back to the level of the natiq; “speaker” Brings a new law, exoteric revelation Pulls back all the veils from the words of the Qur’an and ProphetExposes hidden meaning Antinomianism is a prominent featureMoral law is of no use because faith alone is needed for salvation Caliph vs. sultanAuthority vs. powerThe sultan cannot be caliph because of the Sunni doctrine that says a caliph must be from the tribe of the Prophet, from the Quraysh Eventually the caliph ceases to have ultimate powerThe traditional caliphate dies with the Mongol invasionIs replaced by the sultanLeads to the decentralization of the Muslim communityWith no caliph to unite them Sultan can only rule over the state, not over the entire community Under the sultanState – policyJurists -
View Full Document
Unlocking...