It comes as no surprise that...

It comes as no surprise that, centuries after the birth of Shī‘ism, Orientalists seeking support for the “democratic” orientation of Abū Bakr would use this inappropriate division to supposedly distinguish between a political Shī‘ism and a religious Shī‘ism.[^1] The origin and early development of Shī‘ite Islām is, to a great extent, a history of divisions, dissensions, and internal quarrels relating to the problem of succession.

A considerable number of movements, some of which went from partial or relative dissidence [ inshi‘āb ] to outright rupture [ fitnah ], were drawn into the center of this great storm as a result of the violence perpetrated by the political and religious authorities. It must be mentioned, however, that while some of these groups may have reached the state of sects [ furaq ] in the Christian sense of the world, in our view, even this barrier between differences does not produce clear-cut division.

On the contrary, under this umbrella, many branches flourished, some longer-lived than others, which developed alongside Shī‘ism without breaking the tie, as weak as it may have been, with the Islamic trunk from which they were born.[^2] In truth, the development of sects--that is, groups which diverge on the basis of important beliefs or practices--is the result of the closer ties established between Shī‘ism and the surrounding esoteric traditions.

The divergence and conflict between the distinct groups is related to the reaction towards an ocean of doctrinal wealth.

The Ismā‘īliyyah,[^3] for example, have a doctrine which, in many respects, makes them the heirs of the Sabian tradition of Ḥarrān which, as is known, was the depository of Hermetic and neo-Pythagorean doctrines combined with elements from Hindu occultism and Gnosis.[^4] These Sabians must not be confused with the Sabaeans or Mandaeans from southern of Iraq and Persia.[^5] One of the common mistakes made in relation to Shī‘ah Islām is the attempt to compare it with the various schisms found in Christianity.

Shī‘ism is often portrayed as a schismatic coextension of dissident groups organized in small cells or brotherhoods driven by an uncompromising parochial spirit. The concept of inshi‘āb [division] in the Islamic religion must not be confused with that of fitnah **, definitive division and irreparable rupture.** In fact, Shī‘ism suffered no “division” [ inshi‘āb ] or rupture [ fitnah ] during the Imāmate of the first three Imāms: ‘Alī, Ḥasan, and Ḥusayn.