Principles of the Shi'a denomination

Priority: b, Quality: c
From wikishia
Shi'a Beliefs
Theology
Tawhid (Monotheism)Tawhid of Essence • Tawhid in Attributes • Tawhid in Actions • Tawhid in Worship
Other BeliefsTawassul • Shafa'a • Tabarruk
Divine Justice
Bada' • Amr Bayn al-Amrayn
Prophethood
Infallibility • 'Ilm al-ghayb • Mu'jiza • Integrity of the Holy Qur'an
Imamate
Infallibility • Wilaya • 'Ilm al-ghayb • Occultation of Imam al-Mahdi (a) (Minor Occultation,Major Occultation) • Reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (a) • Raj'a
Resurrection
End Time • Hereafter • Barzakh • Embodiment of Actions •Bodily Resurrection • Al-Sirat • Tatayur al-Kutub • Mizan • Hashr
Other Outstanding Beliefs
Ahl al-Bayt (a) • The Fourteen Infallibles • Taqiyya • Marja'iyya • Tawalli • Tabarri

Principles of the Shi'a denomination are the fundamental beliefs in Shi'a Islam, including monotheism, prophethood, resurrection, divine justice, and imamate. According to the Shias, denial of any of the first three principles (monotheism, prophethood, and resurrection), which are the principles of the religion, amounts to disbelief in (and excommunication from) Islam, but the denial of divine justice or imamate only amounts to excommunication from the Shi'a denominations, and not Islam. What distinguishes Shias from other Islamic sects is that they view Imamate as fundamental to religion, which is why they are called "Imamiyya." Moreover, the belief in the principle of divine justice distinguishes Mu'tazila and Shia from Ash'arites, which is why the Shia and Mu'tazila are called "'Adliyya."

Place

The principles of the Shi'a denomination are the five principles (monotheism, prophethood, resurrection, imamate, and divine justice),[1] which constitute the foundation of the Shi'a denomination.[2] The belief in all of these principles makes one a Shi'a, and the disbelief in any of them means that the person is not a Shi'a. The first three principles (monotheism, prophethood, and resurrection) are the Principles of the religion (Islam), the disbelief in which amounts to one's excommunication from Islam.[3]

Exclusively Shi'a Principles

Imamate[4] and divine justice[5] are the exclusive principles of the Shi'a denomination.

Imamate

Main article: Imamate

Imamate is the belief that imamate (leadership of the Islamic society and the succession of Prophet Muhammad (s)) is a divine position.[6] On this doctrine, God has appointed twelve persons from the descendants of the Prophet (s) as Imams.[7] Here are the twelve Imams in order: Imam 'Ali (a), Imam al-Hasan (a), Imam al-Husayn (a), Imam al-Sajjad (a), Imam al-Baqir (a), Imam al-Sadiq (a), Imam al-Kazim (a), Imam al-Rida (a), Imam al-Jawad (a), Imam al-Hadi (a), Imam al-'Askari (a), and Imam al-Mahdi (a).[8]

Why is Imamate a Principle of the Denomination?

According to Muhammad Husayn Kashif al-Ghita' in his Asl al-Shi'a wa usulu-ha, Shiism is distinguished from other Islamic sects by its belief in imamate.[9] It is because of their belief in the imamate of the twelve Imams that they are called' "Imamiyya."[10] Thus, imamate is a principle of the Shi'a denomination, the denial of which amounts to excommunication from Shiism.[11]

Divine Justice

Main article: Divine Justice

This is the belief that God justly acts in the existential and legislative systems, and never does any injustice.[12] 'Adliyya (that is, Shia and Mu'tazila who believe in divine justice) believe that the goodness and badness of things are rational. In this way, to say that God is just is to say that He acts in accordance with the goodness of things and does not do injustice because of its badness.[13] In contrast, Ash'arites believe that the criterion for justice is God's act; that is, whatever He does is just and good, even if it counts as unjust from the human perspective.[14]

Why is Divine Justice a Principle of the Denomination?

According to Misbah Yazdi, a Shi'a philosopher (d. 2021), divine justice counts as the principle of Shiism and Mu'tazilism because of its significance in theology.[15] Moreover, Murtada Mutahhari, a Shi'a intellectual (d. 1979), believes that divine justice is among the principles of the Shi'a denomination because ideas such as the denial of human free will had become common among Muslims, which implied that it was unjust for God to punish sinful people because they had no free will and their acts were compulsory.[16] The Shi'a and Mu'tazila believed that it was incompatible with divine justice to punish people without free will, which is why they came to be known as 'Adliyya (believes in divine justice).[17]

The Common Principles

  • Monotheism: the belief in God's existence and oneness, and the belief that He has no partner.[18]
  • Resurrection: the belief that humans come back to life after their death and their good or bad acts will be judged.[22]

Notes

  1. ↑ See: Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Dānishnāma-yi ʿaqāʾid-i Islāmī, vol. 8, p. 99.
  2. ↑ See: Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Dānishnāma-yi ʿaqāʾid-i Islāmī, vol. 8, p. 97.
  3. ↑ Kāshif al-Ghitāʾ, Aṣl al-Shīʿa wa uṣūluhā, p. 210; See: Khomeiniī, Kitāb al-ṭahāra, vol. 3, p. 437-438.
  4. ↑ Lāhījī, Guhar-i murād, p. 467; See: Subḥānī, al-Ilāhīyāt, vol. 4, p. 10.
  5. ↑ Misbāḥ Yazdī, Āmuzish-i ʿaqāʾid, p. 161.
  6. ↑ Kāshif al-Ghitāʾ, Aṣl al-Shīʿa wa uṣūluhā, p. 211.
  7. ↑ See: Lāhījī, Guhar-i murād, p. 585.
  8. ↑ Khazzāz, Kifāyat al-athar, p. 53-55; Ṣadūq, Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, p. 253-254.
  9. ↑ Kāshif al-Ghitāʾ, Aṣl al-Shīʿa wa uṣūluhā, p. 221.
  10. ↑ Kāshif al-Ghitāʾ, Aṣl al-Shīʿa wa uṣūluhā, p. 212.
  11. ↑ Kāshif al-Ghitāʾ, Aṣl al-Shīʿa wa uṣūluhā, p. 212.
  12. ↑ Muṭahharī, Majmūʿa-yi āthār, vol. 2, p. 149.
  13. ↑ Subḥānī, Rasāʾil wa maqālāt, vol. 3, p. 32.
  14. ↑ Subḥānī, Rasāʾil wa maqālāt, vol. 5, p. 127.
  15. ↑ Misbāḥ Yazdī, Āmuzish-i ʿaqāʾid, p. 161.
  16. ↑ Muṭahharī, Majmūʿa-yi āthār, vol. 2, p. 149.
  17. ↑ Muṭahharī, Majmūʿa-yi āthār, vol. 2, p. 149.
  18. ↑ Kāshif al-Ghitāʾ, Aṣl al-Shīʿa wa uṣūluhā, p. 219.
  19. ↑ Kāshif al-Ghitāʾ, Aṣl al-Shīʿa wa uṣūluhā, p. 220.
  20. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 11, p. 32.
  21. ↑ Qur'an 33:40.
  22. ↑ Lāhījī, Guhar-i murād, p. 595; Kāshif al-Ghitāʾ, Aṣl al-Shīʿa wa uṣūluhā, p. 222.

References

  • Kāshif al-Ghitāʾ, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Aṣl al-Shīʿa wa uṣūluhā. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Imām ʿAlī, [n.d].
  • Khazzāz al-Qummī, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Kifāyat al-athar fī l-naṣṣ ʿalā l-aʾimmat al-ithnā ʿashar. Edited by ʿAbd al-Laṭīf Ḥusaynī Kūhkamaraʾī Khoeī. Qom: Bīdār, 1401 AH.
  • Khomeiniī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Kitāb al-ṭahāra. Tehran: Markaz-i Nashr-i Āthār-i Imām Khomeinī, 1358 Sh/1427 AH.
  • Lāhījī, Mullā ʿAbd al-Razzāq. Guhar-i murād. Tehran: Nashr-i Sāya, 1383 Sh.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Second edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
  • Misbāḥ Yazdī, Muḥammad Taqī. Āmuzish-i ʿaqāʾid. Second edition. Tehran: Nashr-i Sāzmān-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī, 1384 Sh.
  • Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Muḥammad. Dānishnāma-yi ʿaqāʾid-i Islāmī. Qom: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1385 Sh.
  • Muṭahharī, Murtaḍā. Majmūʿa-yi āthār. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Ṣadrā, 1390 Sh.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Kamāl al-dīn wa tamām al-niʿma. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Islāmiyya, 1395 AH.
  • Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. Al-Ilāhīyāt ʿalā hudā al-kitāb wa l-sunnat wa l-ʿaql. Fourth edition. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Imām al-Ṣādiq (a), 1417 AH.
  • Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. Rasāʾil wa maqālāt. 2nd edition. Qom: Muʾassisat Imām al-Ṣādiq, 1425 AH.
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