Sacred Side: Difference between revisions

'''Al-Nāḥīya al-Muqaddasa''' (Arabic: {{ia|الناحیَة المُقَدَّسَة}}, literally: the Sacred Zone) is a secret word used by the [[Shi'a]] since the first half of the 3rd/9th century until the end of the [[Minor Occultation]] (329/941). It refers to [[al-'Askariyyayn]] and [[Imam al-Mahdi (a)]] or to [[Special Deputies]]. In many letters by the three Imams (a), the word, “al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa,” is used to refer to the Imam. Two [[Ziyarah Texts|Ziyaras]] of [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] are referred to as Ziyara of al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa.

“Al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa” means a sacred zone. The term was used by the Shi'a since the first half of the 3rd/9th century during the [[imamate]] of [[Imam al-Hadi (a)]] until the end of the Minor Occultation (329/941) because of tough political and social circumstances of the Shi'a and restrictions placed by [[Abbasid Caliphs]] on social communications of [[al-'Askariyyayn]]. When they cited the sayings of, or talked about, Imam al-Hadi (a), [[Imam al-Hasan al-'Askari (a)]] and Imam al-Mahdi (a), the Shi'a used the term, “al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa,” instead of the Imam’s (a) name. Thus, the use of this term to refer to Imam al-Mahdi (a) or his [[Special Deputies]] is believed to be out of [[taqiyya]] (or dissimulation).

The term was used during the Minor Occultation as a title for Imam al-Mahdi (a). Abu l-Hasan al-Irbili takes “al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa” to be a secret word used by the Shi'a to refer to the [[Twelfth Imam (a)]].

The term, “al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa,” was used by people who wrote letters (tawqi'at) to, and received replies from, al-'Askariyyayn (a) and Imam al-Mahdi (a). Some letters are cited in Shiite hadith collections written to, or received from, “al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa.” [['Allama Majlisi]] compiled a book under ''Tawqi'at al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa'' (Letters of the Sacred Zone) in which letters from [[Imam al-Zaman (a)]] to the Shi'a are collected.

There are two ziyarahs of [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] known as “al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa” one of which is referred to as the well-known (mashhura) Ziyarah al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa, and the other is known as the less known ziyarah. The well-known ziyarah was transmitted by one of the [[Special Deputies]] of [[Imam al-Mahdi (aj)]] and is cited in a number of sources, including ''[[al-Mazar (by al-Mufid)|al-Mazar]] '' by [[al-Shaykh al-Mufid]], ''al-Mazar al-kabir'' by Ibn Mashhadi, and ''[[Bihar al-anwar]]''. The less known Ziyarah al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa is also known as [[Ziyarah al-Shuhada']] (the visit to the martyrs) because Imam al-Husayn’s (a) martyred companions are mentioned therein. It is cited in ''Bihar al-anwar'' and ''[[Iqbal al-a'mal]]''.