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a Vault of Shia Islamic Books History of Shi'ism: From the Advent of Islam up to the End of Minor Occultation Lesson 1: Historical References In this writing, I do not claim to be able to comprehensively study and analyze everything that is relevant to the history of Shi‘ism. Instead, I shall try to cite the most important references and citations, and to present and analyze them concisely.

Since there have been many books on history and books about the life account of the Infallibles { ma‘sumin }[^1] ( ‘a ) as well as books on hadith s and rijal ,[^2] which are related to the history of Shi‘ism, I have divided the references dealing with the history of Shi‘ism into two: (1) special references and (2) general references, which we shall deal with in two lessons. Special References In this lessons, some of the references on the history of Shi‘ism have been cited.

These references which have been introduced in brief are the following: Maqatil at-Talibiyyin ; Ad-Darajat ar-Rafi‘ah fi Tabaqat ash-Shi‘ah ; A‘yan ash-Shi‘ah ; Tarikh ash-Shi‘ah ; Shi‘eh dar Tarikh ; Jihad ash-Shi‘ah ; and Tarikh-e Tashayyu‘ dar Iran az Aghaz ta Qarn-e Haftum-e Hijri . Maqatil at-Talibiyyin One of the most significant references dealing with the history of Shi‘ism is the book Maqatil at-Talibiyyin .

Its author, Abu’l-Faraj ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Isfahani, was born in 284 AH in the city of Isfahan. He grew up in Baghdad and was educated under the guidance of scholars and learned men there.

His genealogy can be traced back to the Umayyads but he is a Shi‘ah { ‘alawi madhhab }.[^3] As indicated in its title, the book deals with the descendants of Abu Talib { talibiyyun } who were killed at the hands of the oppressors and tyrants of the time, as the author thus writes: In this book of mine, by the help and will of Allah, I shall give a summary of the reports on the murdered ones among the descendants of Abu Talib from the time of the Messenger of Allah (S) up to the moment when I started writing this book in Jumadi al-Awwal 313 AH (circa July-August 925 CE).

It includes those who were killed by means of eating or drinking poison; those who escaped from the ruler of the time, hid somewhere else and died there; and those who died while languishing in prison. And in mentioning them, I observed the chronological order of their deaths and not their merits…[^4] This book is generally divided into two parts.