Islam Under Scrutiny by Ex-Muslims

Genesis of Shi’a Islam

In order to understand the clerical rulers of Iran, we need to learn about the genesis of their religious faith, Shi'a Islam, and the pivotal place of the Mahdi. Examination of the vast Islamic literature shows that the present sect of Shi'a Islam has evolved from a mix of cultural, political, economic and religious influences. I shall outline, in a summary form, how the belief in the Mahdi, the revered Imam whose advent is expected by the Shi'a faithful, crystallized over time. The Mahdi is expected to appear and save the world when it has reached the depth of degradation and despair. Below is a brief chronological account of how Shiism and the belief in the Mahdi as its pivotal figure were formed.

* Muhammad ruled with an iron fist while alive and no one contested his authority. He designated no heir, and left no will, oral or written, and had no male issues from any of his wives and slave women to inherit the office. Some believers, however, felt that the prophet wished for Ali, his cousin's and son-in-law, to assume the Ummah's leadership while a vast majority opted for the Arab's traditional patriarchal seniority-based practice by choosing Abu-Bakr as the Caliph.

* Abu Bakr, Muhammad's oldest high disciple and the father of Muhammad's nine-year-old child-bride Ayesha, assumed the position of the first Caliph and died shortly thereafter. He was followed by Umar ibn al-Khattāb, Uthman ibn Affan became the third Caliph, and finally by Ali ibn Abu Talib.

* Ali was considered by his admirers to be the greatest Muslim warrior and by his detractors as a vicious killer. Two of Ali's sons, Hassan and Hussein were viewed similarly. Ali was murdered, according to one version, by one of his own followers who resented Ali's capitulation to the Caliphate hierarchy. That is, the assassin and his like-minded Muslims felt that Ali betrayed Muhammad by not fighting to be his immediate successor and by consenting to be the fourth Caliph. Another version of his death is that a Persian warrior by the name of Brahman Jazyyeh killed Ali, avenging the death of numberless Persians that Ali and his people had slaughtered.

* Ali reportedly killed untold numbers of Islam's enemies, including Persians, with his much-feared sword that had its own name: Zulfiqar. He was addressed by his followers as Amir-ul-Momeneen (Commander of the Faithful).

* The death of Ali transformed the feuding among the various Muslim factions into open warfare. Some decided to follow Ali's son Hassan who was soon killed by contenders, then the faction adopted another son of Ali Hussein as their Imam. Hence, to these people, Ali was the first Imam; an appointee of Allah, without a firm basis for this belief. Ali was considered sinless and pure (taher) and immune from error. Over time, eleven males from Ali's line were taken in succession as Pure Imams.

Thus, the 12-Imamate Shi'a originated with Ali as the first, Hassan as the second, and his brother Hussein as the third Imam.

* Hussein was killed in a fierce lopsided battle with Muslim opponents of the Imamate (those who opposed the system of Imamate leadership which is based on the hereditary succession of leaders from the line of Ali.) The two major divisions in Islam diverged with Sunnis opting for the elective Caliphate and Shiites for the hereditary Imamate.

* After Hussein's death, some of his followers claimed that he had not died and that he would return. Others took to his brother Muhammad, and then later many took to Hussein's son Zayn al-Abidin, as their Imam; and when he died, many followed his son, Muhammad Al-Baqir .

* Starting with the death of Ali, a strong belief began to form among his grieving followers that he had not died and that he would return to assume his rule. This belief in the return continued and eventually metamorphosed into the notion of Mahdi, or the Sahib-ul- Zaman (the Lord of the Age.)

* When al-Baqir died, there were once again elements from among the Shi'a who denied his death and claimed that he would return one day, while others settled on his son Ja'far al-Sadiq as their Imam.

* When Ja'far al-Sadiq died, there was mass splintering among the Shi'a. Each of his sons Isma'il, Abdullah, Muhammad, Zakariyya, Ishaq and Musa Al Kazemi was claimed by various groups to be their Imam. Also a faction believed that Jaa'far did not die, he had simply disappeared from view, and that he would return one day.

* The same splintering and confusion happened after the death of Moosa. Some denied his death, believing that he will return, some following his son Ahmad as their Imam, while others chose his other son Ali al-Rida .

* After al-Rida, many took his son Muhammad al-Jawwad -, also known as al-Taqi, and after him his son Ali al-Hadi -, or an-Naqi. At the death of Ali al-Hadi, they adopted his son Hassan al-Askari as their new- and 11th- Imam.

The above is a very brief synopsis of a tumultuous genesis of the Shi'a adoption of the Imamate belief which climaxed at year 254 AH: the time when a major section of the Shi'a accepted as their Imam the 22-year old Hassan, son of Ali al-Hadi, and 10th lineal descendant of Ali and his wife Fatima (Muhammad's daughter). Six years later, Hassan al-Askari is lying on his deathbed, but unlike any of his forefathers he leaves no offspring, no one to whom the Shi'a might turn to as their new Imam.

The Shiites, who had been regarding Hassan al-Askari as their Imam, were thrown into mass disarray. Does this mean the end of the Imamate? The end of the Imamate, they felt would mean the end of Shiism. They were not prepared for that.

The confusion that reigned among the Shi'a after the death of Hassan al-Askari is recorded by his contemporary Shi'a writer, Hassan ibn Moosa an-Nawbakhti, who reports the emergence of at least 14 sects among the followers of Hassan al-Askari, each one with a different view of the future of the Imamate and the identity of the next Imam. Another contemporary Shi'a writer, Sa'd ibn Abdullah al-Qummi, records 15 sects, and a century later the historian al-Mas'udi lists 20 separate sects.

At least four major divisions of belief emerged to deal with the crisis of not having a legitimate male from the line of Muhammad to turn to as Imam. One group accepted the death of Hassan al-Askari and the fact that he left no offspring. To them Imamate had ended in like manner that Nubuwat (mission of Muhammad himself) had ended with his death. Yet, some in this group retained hope for the advent of a new Imam.

Another group refused to accept the death of Hassan al- Askari, and claimed that he would return in the future to establish justice upon earth. The refusal to accept the death of an Imam and retain the belief in his future return goes back to the very early days of the Imamate line.

Yet another group bestowed the mantle of Imamate to Hassan's brother Jaa'far.

The final major group headed by Uthman ibn Sa'id al-'Amri claimed that Hassan al-Askari did in fact have a son, Muhammad, who had gone into hiding at the age of four for reasons of safety and no one but himself could have any contact with him. Uthman ibn Sa'id al-'Amri further claimed that as Wakeel (representative) of the Imam he was the one to collect money in the name of the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt (descendents of Muhammad).

Hassan al-Askari's own family denied the existence of any child of his, and divided his estate between his brother Jaa'far and his mother. Yet Uthman ibn Sa'id and his gang won the allegiance of the masses of the believers by denouncing Jaa'far as al-Kadhdhab (the Liar).

This school of thought ultimately became the dominant view in Shiism with a new Wakeel following the death of a previous one.

With the passage of time, in-fighting among the various claimants for being the Wakeel exposed the scheme for nothing more than a way of extracting money from the gullible faithful. Yet, the belief in the Hidden Imam and his return remains a fundamental belief of Shiites.

To this day, the ever-supplicated cry of the Shi'a faithful is Ya Saheb-ul-Zaman (Lord of the Age Mahdi) hasten your return. Who is the much prayed for Mahdi? The four-year old who never was? The four-year old who went into hiding in a well, as some Shiites believe to this day-the well in Iran's Jamkaran where president Ahmadinejad frequently visits, submits his written requests, and receives his marching orders from the Hidden Imam to whom he claims he is accountable?

Debunking the belief in the Hidden Imam and his return is pivotal to the falsifying of Shiism and helping the long-deluded Muslims in abandoning a fiction that has ruled and ruined their lives for far too long.

 


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Amil Imani is an Iranian born, pro-democracy activist who resides in the United States of America. He is a poet, writer, literary translator, novelist and an essayist who has been writing and speaking out for the struggling people of his native land, Iran. Amil Imani's Home Page: www.amilimani.com.


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Name: Editor note
Date: Thursday August 28, 2008
Time: 21:01:38 -0700

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Name: hahaha ! so islam is just another man created ideology after all ! good article !!!
Date: Thursday August 28, 2008
Time: 23:17:44 -0700

Comment

hahaha ! so islam is just another man created ideology after all ! good article !!! pls keep up this comments option also...pls !!!


Name: vbv
Date: Friday August 29, 2008
Time: 01:54:42 -0700

Comment

The very fact that shias believe in 'reincarnation' of their favourite caliph betrays their disbelief in islam, for reincarnation is blaspheme in islam and nothing can supersede Muhamad the fake prophet. So also christians have subscribed to the pagannotion of the second coming of Christ! These jokers are never tired of criticising the Hindu concept of incarnation/reincarnation > Are they not HYPOCRITES, dubious in not only their morals and character but also in stealing from older religions certain concepts and claiming it to be their own! The fact that islam has split into Sunni andShia , and further into various denominations such as sufis ,Bohras ,Ahmediyas,etc. shows that try as much as you can to suppress human creativity with a sterile and inflexible and cruel dogma, they always overcome it in ingenuous ways adopting some old philosophies clothed in islamic robes! There will never be a second coming of Jesus nor of Mahdi ,nor any other fictional character of any other creed. There never will be an end to TIME for the Universe is outside the bounds of Time and there is no "creation" , but fact remains that we are all ever evolving and Change is immutable just as death is certain. We are all products of Evolution and nothing else. We are here because our dear planet Earth is very delicately placed , with the right environment, climate, temperature and chemical composition that triggered off the generation of Life. This life is precious and can be lived only once in our conscious existence and there is no "Hereafter" of "Heaven" or "Hell" which are all figment of human imagination playing upon our insecurities and the urge to dominate one another with selfish motives of power and pelf and all the best of life that we want to possess over others. That is a fact , an undeniable fact! Religion is pure bullshit, farcical and intellectually dishonest , promising things it can never deliver. It is sectarian ,divisive, exploitative ,intolerant (especially the monotheistic creeds) and violent. Can we not live without religion espousing Humanism , peace, tolerance and allow various thoughts to flower and interact and thus leading to peace and prosperity ? Yesterday it was Christianity and today it is islam both vying with each other to claim more adherents through promoting blatant LIES and exclusivity not tolerating any other perspective to the philosophy of Life!


Name: Walter Sieruk
Date: Friday August 29, 2008
Time: 09:53:10 -0700

Comment

The ENCARTA WORLD ENGLISH DICTIONARY copyright 1999 defines Islam as "submission" based on the word "aslama" meaning "he surrendered." Given the definition it's an odd phenomenon that after about fourteen hundred years starting on September 12,2001 the meaning changed from "submission" to "peace." It's very well knoen that if the police are questioning a someone and he changes his story something is wrong. Neverless, when it comes to the religion of Islam no one gets suspicious of the change. The jihadists brag that they will win the war against the West by using the Western ignorance and naive gullible mind set on the subject of Islam. It seems that they do have some basis to that claim since so many Westerners are beguiled by the Muslims disinformation campaign.


Name: caleb singh
Date: Friday August 29, 2008
Time: 18:43:49 -0700

Comment

the bogus and fraud koran along with the fraudulent hadiths are the source of all evil http://www.wikiislam.com/wiki/The_Origins_of_the_Quran


Name: pmk
Date: Friday August 29, 2008
Time: 18:54:50 -0700

Comment

Why would Ahmadinejad and other Iranians believe the imam will reappear in Iran? At the time the last one died, Iran was still primarily Sunni. It didn't convert to Shia Islam until the first monarch of the Safavid dynasty, Ismail Shah, convinced he was the hidden imam, forcibly converted Iran from Sunni to Shia Islam sometime around 1501 C.E. Without him, Iran might have remained a largely Sunni nation. Did this shah hail from Jamkaran? Why wouldn't the site of the disappearance be somewhere in Iraq, near Karbala?


Name: Azzer
Date: Saturday August 30, 2008
Time: 13:37:43 -0700

Comment

If Islam is evil why dont Islamic banks charge interest on loaned money? If Islam is evil why does Islam NOT consider new born children sinners? In Christianity, a woman having children is a fucking punishment! Yet in Islam having children is a blessing. And at least Islam is free from stupid 'doctrines' like the Trinity and original sin!


Name: Azzer again
Date: Saturday August 30, 2008
Time: 13:47:39 -0700

Comment

And if Islam is evil why are Muslims obliged to give charity, protect innocents, be honest, tolerant, compassionate. In Christianity sex is 'bad' but in Islam its a blessing. Unlike Christianity, Islam is devoid of SADISTIC STICK WEILDING SEXUALLY FRUSTRATED NUNS! Yes there are bad Muslims but is anyone aware that there are Christians who cant even name one Old Testament prophet? Some of them believe the Bible is 100% accurate! Yeah and pig might fly


Name:
Date: Saturday August 30, 2008
Time: 16:00:53 -0700

Comment

Islamic banks interest renamed as Handling fees, charity to recruit jihads and spread Islam, Innocent = who take all Koran crap without question, honesty to Allah, tolerant and compassionate to fellow brothers only. In Islam children is a blessing so breed like Pigs, give your children life like pig, cannot control and feed dozen children so they blow themselves like a pig and thus respect the Pig, because its a fellow brother.


Name: Tony
Date: Saturday August 30, 2008
Time: 16:25:32 -0700

Comment

the prophet said that the one who takes the Baih pledge first is the one who the Muslims have to listen to. so that means the one who embraced Islam first which was Abu Bakr


Name: Azzer Again: educate yourself!
Date: Saturday August 30, 2008
Time: 19:46:38 -0700

Comment

Your ignorance is astouding! Christianity does NOT teach that sex is bad. It teaches ADULTERY is bad. Does not being able to name "one Old Testament prophet" make a person BAD? It's called history, dude! Islam doesn't have nuns, but it has preachers who call for the death of non-Muslims. It has people who dance in the streets when one of their loved ones kills a non-Muslim. It has people who congratulate their neighbors for raising their own children to believe that killing someone else is the ultimate achievement. Aren't you PROUD?


Name: Zombie Fried Chicken
Date: Saturday August 30, 2008
Time: 20:06:16 -0700

Comment

Hey Azzer, do Muslims give charity to non-muslims? Does their charity go to medicine, education and food, or to indoctrination and bomb making? Do Muslim women like the feeling of child-birth? Is it better than sex, since they may lack clitori? Is the entire judeo christian scripture totally corrupt? What did your Muslim prophet Esa teach,was it exactly what Muhammad taught which was exactly the opposite of what God taught when he visited us in the diminshed form of Yashua? Do not confuse the doctrine of men or demons with the Word of God.


Name: Re Zombie Fried Chicken
Date: Sunday August 31, 2008
Time: 03:55:11 -0700

Comment

I am not a Muslim. The history of Christianity and sex is grotesque. Nuns are the worst. Why do they abstain from sex? How were they created? By magic?. It is only a 'tradition' that mother of Jesus remained a virgin not a fact. Jesus taught about marriage while Paul said not marrying is 'a good thing'. Yeah good going Paul, just contradict your master


Name: ha ha ha .....
Date: Sunday August 31, 2008
Time: 21:49:49 -0700

Comment

AZZER, if Islam is good, what is its contribution to human life? Even the most simple medicine, ASPIRIN, was found by a Christian. Was Mrs. Curie a moslem? No !!! The relativity theory found by Einstein, a Jew. Was he a Moslem? No!!! How can a religion, which brings only stupidity to humankind, makes great innovation? Only donkeys will believe that, ha ha ha .......


Name: It's a good thing for you(above)
Date: Monday September 08, 2008
Time: 21:57:14 -0700

Comment

That you don't live in an islamist dominated country for they would put a price on your head for telling of some of the horrors they do!


Name: Reader
Date: Tuesday September 09, 2008
Time: 09:15:42 -0700

Comment

All Semitic religions call for a rescue: a resurrection, Day of Judgment, Reappearance.... When any lunatic tales, hopes, and fables does not work, then missionaries, jihadists, and other alternatives take the job.


 
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