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 8: The Shi‘ah among the {sahabah} We said earlier that the first person to call the followers of ‘Ali ( ‘a ) as “Shi‘ah” was the receiver of the divine revelation, Muhammad al-Mustafa (S). During the time of the Holy Prophet (S) a number of his were known as “Shi‘ah of ‘Ali”.

In Khatat ash-Sham , Muhammad Kird ‘Ali thus writes: During the period of the Holy Prophet (S), a number of the great was known for their fellowship and friendship with ‘Ali such as Salman al-Farsi who used to say: “We pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (S) that we would be the well-wishers of Muslims and that we follow and befriend ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib”; and Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri who used to say: “We were ordered five things, of which the people acted upon the four but have abandoned one of them.” He was asked: “What are the four?” He replied: “Prayer, zakat , fasting in the month of Ramadan, and Hajj ” He was again asked: “What is the thing that the people abandoned?” He replied: “The wilayah {mastership} of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib.” The person asked: “Is this also obligatory like the others?” {Among the Shi‘ah were} also Abu Dharr al-Ghiffari, ‘Ammar ibn Yasir, Khadiqah ibn Yaman, Khuzaymah ibn Thabit Dhu’sh-Shahadatayn, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Khalid ibn Sa‘id, and Qays ibn Sa‘d.[^1] Regarding the pioneering Shi‘ah, Ibn Abi’l-Hadid also says, thus: The talk on the superiority of ‘Ali is an old subject in which a great number of the and Followers { tabi‘un } believed.

Among the were ‘Ammar; Miqdad; Abu Dharr; Salman; Jabir; Ubayy ibn Ka‘b; Hudhayfah; Buraydah; Abu Ayyub; Sahl ibn Hunayf; ‘Uthman ibn Hunayf; Abu’l-Haytham ibn Tayyihan; Khuzaymah ibn Thabit; Abu’t-Tufayl ‘Amir ibn Wathilah; ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib; and all members of the Banu Hashim and Banu Muttalib. At the beginning, Zubayr also believed in ‘Ali’s superiority.

They were a few from among the Banu Umayyah such as Khalid ibn Sa‘id and later on, ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz.[^2] In Ad-Darajat ar-Rafi‘ah fi Tabaqat ash-Shi‘ah , Sayyid ‘Ali Khan ash-Shirazi has allotted a certain part to the Shi‘ah among the . He has first mentioned the members of the Banu Hashim and then the other Shi‘ah among the .