Suppression of Destructive Efforts The third reason special...

Suppression of Destructive Efforts The third reason special importance was paid to the security system of the virtuous community was to protect the virtuous community from individuals surreptitiously entering the community to damage, defame, or achieve futile personal benefits at the expense of common interests of the community, such as by use of siege and house arrest—under which the Holy Imams of the (‘a) lived in the later ages—virtually imprisoning leaders and religious scholars of the virtuous community in their homes during various periods of tyrannical rule.

If we take a look at the goals of the security system of the virtuous community carefully, we discover that this system is not restricted to protecting the community against external persecution or achieving flexibility in activities; rather, it includes opposing the movements of the ghulat (extremists) and the opportunists who falsely claimed Shi’ism in order to attain personal interests. In the coming chapter, we will discuss these facts in more detail.

[^1]: - I have discussed this topic in my book entitled ‘al-wihdah al-islamiyyah min manzur al-thaqalayn (Islamic Unity from the Perspective of the Two Weighty Things—i.e. the Holy Qur'an and the )’, pp. 162-186 and in an independent lecture, to which I have referred in Book III, Chapter: