ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books History of Shi'ism: From the Advent of Islam up to the End of Minor Occultation Lesson 10: The Spread of Shi‘ism during the Period of Umayyad Caliphate In spite of severe strangulation and oppression perpetrated against the Shi‘ah during the Umayyad rule, the spread of Shi‘ism continued unabated.

The reason behind this was the state of oppression of the family of the Prophet (S) which prompted the people to incline emotionally toward them, causing new individuals to continuously embrace the creed of Shi‘ism. This point was completely conspicuous during the end of the Umayyad rule. The spread of Shi‘ism during the Umayyad rule had several stages, each of which had its own salient features.

The overall stages can be divided as follows: a) From 40 AH to 61 AH (the period of Imam al-Hasan and Imam al-Husayn ( ‘a )); b) From 61 AH to approximately 110 AH (the period of Imam as-Sajjad and Imam al-Baqir ( ‘a )); and c) From 110 AH to 132 AH, i.e. till the end of the Umayyad rule (the period of Imam as-Sadiq ( ‘a ).

The Period of Imam al-Hasan and Imam al-Husayn (‘a) From the time of the Commander of the Faithful ( ‘a ), the Shi‘ah was gradually formed into a distinct group and the line of the Shi‘ah was obviously clear.

For this reason, in the peace treaty with Mu‘awiyah, Imam al-Hasan ( ‘a ) stipulated the guarantee of the Shi‘ah of his father’s safety as one of the articles of the peace treaty, and nobody should protest against them.[^1] The Shi‘ah gradually trained themselves to accept that obedience to the Imam does not depend on the Imam’s actual grip on power. As such, when the people were pledging allegiance to Imam al-Hasan ( ‘a ), he made it a condition for them to obey him both in war and in peace.

In the same manner, it was made clear that Imamate { imamah } is not necessarily equal to governance and that a tyrant ruler such as Mu‘awiyah cannot be the Imam, obedience to whom is obligatory.

For example, in the sermon that he delivered in the mosque of Kufah after the peace treaty at the insistence and in the presence of Mu‘awiyah, Imam al-Hasan ( ‘a ) said: The caliph is he who practices the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet (S), and he who is practicing injustice cannot be the caliph. He is rather a king who controls a kingdom.