Sacred Side: Difference between revisions

"Al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa" means "The Sacred Side".<ref>Dihkhudā, Lughatnāma, Under the word {{ia|ناحیه}}.</ref> The term was used by the Shi'a since the first half of the 3rd/ninth 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 Imams. When they cited the sayings of or talked about Imam al-Hadi (a), Imam al-'Askari (a) or Imam al-Mahdi (a), the Shi'a used the term "al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa", instead of the Imam's (a) name.<ref>Muḥammadī Riyshahrī, ''Dānishnāma-yi Imām Ḥusayn'', vol. 12, p. 271.</ref> Thus, the use of this term to refer to Imam al-Mahdi (a) or his [[Special Deputies]] is believed to be out of [[taqiyya]] (precautionary dissimulation).<ref>Nūrī, ''al-Najm al-thāqib'', vol. 1, p. 167.</ref>