ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Role of The Ahl Al-Bayt in Building The Virtuous Community Book One: Goals And Characteristics Preamble The (‘a) worked in the Muslim community within two major frameworks and in two interlaced spheres: First : They worked amidst the wide-ranging domain of Muslims and interacted with the community in general and in its broad extremities.

Within this scope, the adherents and believers in the (‘a) were not distinguishable from the other individuals of the Muslim community except by the amount of their doctrinal, spiritual, and emotional attachment to the (‘a). This was demonstrated by their doctrinal and political loyalty to the (‘a) as well as moral commitment and obedience to their commands and instructions.

Second : They worked privately with special Muslim individuals who interacted with the (‘a) at a higher level and believed in the ’s special role in Islamic ideology based on the principle of Imamate (i.e. leadership of the Muslim community) and the divinely commissioned successorship of the Holy Prophet (S).

It is important to note that those involved in the second circle became a virtuous community of special identity and a righteous entity enjoying its own features and known in the Muslim milieus as ‘ the Shi’ah (adherents) of the (‘a)’. They were not differentiated from the Muslims of the first wider circle solely due to their inclination towards the movement of the (‘a).

Rather, the individuals of this special circle were promoted on account of the responsibilities and instructions directly placed upon them by the Holy Imams of the (‘a), whose purpose beyond such promotion was to engender this community and entity. To sum up, this entity, the Shi’ah of the (‘a), did not exist arbitrarily. Such faithful individuals were the outcome of a purposeful and focused plan designed by the Holy Imams (‘a) to build this virtuous community.

The Holy Imams (‘a) had realized that their general goals, one of which was to defend the entity of Islam and to safeguard the existence of the Muslim nation, would not be achieved if they directed their efforts to the totality of Muslims represented by the first circle. The achievement of this goal, along with its various aspects, depended upon the features of perpetual cognizance, continuous emotional momentum, and presence of a leader who could undertake the mission of enlightenment.