The Term Shi‘a in the Quran: Difference between revisions

Over time, within the context of Islamic sects, Shi‘a came to denote the group that believes in the Imamate of the Ahlul Bayt.<ref>Ibn Athīr Jazrī, Mubārak b. Muḥammad, al-Nihāya fī Gharīb al-Ḥadīth wa al-Athar, ed. Ṭāhir Aḥmad al-Zāwī and Maḥmūd Muḥammad al-Ṭanāḥī, Qom: Muʾassasa Ismāʿīliyyān li-l-Ṭibāʿa wa al-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 4th edition, 1364 SH, vol. 2, p. 519.</ref> Today, [[Shi‘a Muslims]] are those who uphold the immediate succession of [[Ali ibn Abi Talib (PBUH)]] to the [[Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)]] and assert that leadership is divinely designated through explicit textual evidence (nass). <ref>Shaykh Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad, Awāʾil al-Maqālāt, p. 35.</ref><ref>Shahrastānī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Karīm, al-Milal wa al-Niḥal, vol. 1, p. 146.</ref>

The term Shi‘a was first applied to the followers of Ali (PBUH) by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) himself. Renowned [[[Sunni]] scholar Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti narrates from [[Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari], Ibn Abbas, and [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]] that the Prophet, in interpreting the verse: {{quran|إِنَّ الَّذینَ آمَنُوا وَ عَمِلُوا الصَّالِحاتِ أُولئِکَ هُمْ خَیْرُ الْبَرِیَّةِ|ترجمه=Indeed, they who have believed and done righteous deeds - those are the best of creatures|سوره=Al-Bayyina|آیه=۷}}; pointed to Ali (PBUH) and said:

::"You and your followers (Shi‘a) will be the successful ones on the [[Day of Resurrection]]".<ref>Suyūṭī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Bakr, al-Durr al-Manthūr fī al-Tafsīr bi-l-Maʾthūr, Qom: Kitābkhāna ʿUmūmī Marʿashī Najafī, 1st edition, 1404 AH, vol. 6, p. ۳۷۹.</ref>

::"By the One in whose hand is my soul, this man [Ali] and his followers will be triumphant on the [[Day of Judgment]]". When this verse was revealed, the Companions began referring to Ali (PBUH) as "the best of creatures" (khayr al-bariyya). <ref>Suyūṭī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Bakr, al-Durr al-Manthūr fī al-Tafsīr bi-l-Maʾthūr, Qom: Kitābkhāna ʿUmūmī Marʿashī Najafī, 1st edition, 1404 AH, vol. 6, p. ۳۷۹.</ref>

* {{quran|قُلْ هُوَ الْقادِرُ عَلی أَنْ یَبْعَثَ عَلَیْکُمْ عَذاباً مِنْ فَوْقِکُمْ أَوْ مِنْ تَحْتِ أَرْجُلِکُمْ أَوْ یَلْبِسَکُمْ شِیَعاً|ترجمه=Say, He is the [one] Able to send upon you affliction from above you or from beneath your feet or to confuse you [so you become] factions (Shiya‘) and make you taste the violence of one another. Look how We diversify the signs that they might understand.|سوره=Al-An‘am|آیه=۶۵}}.

* {{quran|وَ لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنا مِنْ قَبْلِکَ فی شِیَعِ الْأَوَّلینَ|ترجمه=And We had certainly sent [messengers] before you, [O Muhammad], among the sects (Shiya‘) of the former peoples.|سوره=Al-Hijr|آیه=۱۰}}.

* {{quran|ثُمَّ لَنَنْزِعَنَّ مِنْ کُلِّ شیعَه أَیُّهُمْ أَشَدُّ عَلَی الرَّحْمنِ عِتِیًّا|ترجمه=Then We will surely extract from every faction (Shi‘a) those of them who were worst against the Most Merciful in insolence.|سوره=Maryam|آیه=۶۹}}.

* {{quran|إِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ عَلا فِی الْأَرْضِ وَ جَعَلَ أَهْلَها شِیَعاً|ترجمه=Indeed, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and made its people into factions (Shiya‘), oppressing a group among them.|سوره=Al-Qasas|آیه=۴}}.

* {{quran|مِنَ الَّذینَ فَرَّقُوا دینَهُمْ وَ کانُوا شِیَعاً کُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِما لَدَیْهِمْ فَرِحُونَ|ترجمه=Of those who have divided their religion and become factions (Shiya‘), every faction rejoicing in what it has.|سوره=Al-Rum|آیه=۳۲}}.

* {{quran|وَ إِنَّ مِنْ شیعَتِهِ لَإِبْراهیمَ|ترجمه=Indeed, among his followers (Shi‘a) was Abraham.|سوره=As-Saffat|آیه=83}}, here, [[Prophet Abraham]] is described as a follower of [[Prophet Noah (PBUT)]].

* {{quran|وَ دَخَلَ الْمَدینَه عَلی حینِ غَفْلَه مِنْ أَهْلِها فَوَجَدَ فیها رَجُلَیْنِ یَقْتَتِلانِ هذا مِنْ شیعَتِهِ وَ هذا مِنْ عَدُوِّهِ فَاسْتَغاثَهُ الَّذی مِنْ شیعَتِهِ عَلَی الَّذی مِنْ عَدُوِّهِ فَوَکَزَهُ مُوسی فَقَضی عَلَیْهِ قالَ هذا مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّیْطانِ إِنَّهُ عَدُوٌّ مُضِلٌّ مُبینٌ|ترجمه=And he entered the city at a time of inattention by its people and found therein two men fighting: one from his faction (Shi‘a) and one from among his enemy. And the one from his faction (Shi‘a) called for help to him against the one from his enemy, so Moses struck him and [unintentionally] killed him. [Moses] said, This is from the work of Satan. Indeed, he is a manifest, misleading enemy.|سوره=Al-Qasas|آیه=15}}, this verse refers to a follower of [[Moses]] and a follower of [[Pharaoh]] as Shi‘a.

* {{quran|وَ حیلَ بَیْنَهُمْ وَ بَیْنَ ما یَشْتَهُونَ کَما فُعِلَ بِأَشْیاعِهِمْ مِنْ قَبْلُ إِنَّهُمْ کانُوا فی شَکٍّ مُریبٍ|ترجمه=And prevention will be placed between them and what they desire, as was done with their kind (Ashya‘ihim) before. Indeed, they were in disquieting denial.|سوره=Saba|آیه=54}}, referring to like-minded followers.

* {{quran|إِنَّ الَّذینَ فَرَّقُوا دینَهُمْ وَ کانُوا شِیَعاً لَسْتَ مِنْهُمْ فی شَیْءٍ|ترجمه=Indeed, those who have divided their religion and become sects (Shiya‘) - you, [O Muhammad], are not [associated] with them in anything.|سوره=Al-An‘am|آیه=۱۵۹}}.