The Extremist Shia

The Jews and their followers were able to split the unity of the Islamic Ummah into two halves: Sunnis and Shia. But were they satisfied with that? Never! Because their goal is much larger than that: to corrupt and destroy the beliefs of those who followed them, to remove them permanently from the ranks of the Muslims under the guise of defending the Ahlul Bayt radiya Llahu ‘anhum. So, ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’—the Yemeni Jew—began to outwardly project asceticism, piety and religious zeal, and publicly exaggerated his love for the Ahlul Bayt, until he claimed that Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala had incarnated in ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib radiya Llahu ‘anhu in the same way that the Apostle Paul—the Christian Jew—claimed that Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala had incarnated in ‘Isa ibn Maryam ‘alayh al Salam. The incarnation of Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala in ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu, according to his claim, makes him worthy of worship and deification, just as the Christians did with ‘Isa ibn Maryam ‘alayh al Salam. So, those of whose hearts Islam could not take hold believed in his claim, and they went to ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu and said to him, “You are Allah, our Creator and Provider.” ‘Ali shuddered at this statement and was taken aback and appalled by the whole matter. So, he called them to repentance, but they persisted with their claim. Therefore, he had them thrown into the fire and recited:

لما رأيت الأمر أمراً منكراً أججت ناري ودعوت قنبراً

When I realised that the matter was something reprehensible,

I lit my fire and called Qanbar.

So, while they were in the fire, they shouted, “No one punishes with the fire, except the Lord of the fire! So, you are indeed Allah!”^[1]

This statement started, in various forms, and echoed throughout every corner of the Islamic state, until it settled in the hearts of ignorant people who were delighted with such claims, for political and vengeful purposes. Some Persians were at the forefront of those who exploited these claims, as the Persian Empire had flourished for twelve centuries, its armies reaching Greece and Egypt. However, the Arab Muslims put an end to it and dealt it a final blow. Meanwhile, some Persians, in whose hearts Islam had not taken hold, would not forget their past glory, while the hearts of some were not at peace with the Shari’ah. In addition to this, some others remained nostalgic for the myriad religions that had filled the East, such as Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Mazdaism, Manichaeism, and others, so they tried to colour Islam with them in order to synthesize what is in Islam and what they were used to. Among some, the desire for revenge against the Arabs Muslims who destroyed these vast empires still remained. All of these factors directed the thoughts of people to that which was being disseminated by the Jew ‘Abdullah ibn Saba’. So, they developed into various extremist sects that opposed the moderate Shia and the Ahlus Sunnah wa al Jama’ah. They established various inflammatory doctrines designed to tear apart Islamic unity. This, after they took cover under the love of the Ahlul Bayt and the tragedy of what occurred to ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu, his sons, and grandsons after him, so that they could conceal their true nature. In Islamic history, these sects were referred to as the Ghaliyah (extremists). Abu al Hassan al Ash’ari tells us why they were called by this name:

إنما سموا بالغالية لأنهم غلوا في علي وقالوا فيه قولا عظيماً

They are referred to as the Ghaliyah because they went to extremes with regards to ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu and they said grave things about him.^[2]

The ‘ulama’ and fuqaha’^[3] of the muslims have always opposed them and clarified the reality pertaining to them while warning the Muslims against their falsehoods. Al Shahrastani says:

الغلاة اسم على أولئك الذين غلوا في حق أئمتهم حتى أخرجوا من حدود الخلقية وحكموا فيهم بأحكام الإلهية فربما شبهوا واحداً من الأئمة بالإله وربما شبهوا الإله بالخلق وهم على طرفي الغلو والتقصير وإنما نشأت شبهاتهم عن مذاهب الحلولية ومذاهب التناسخية ومذاهب اليهود والنصارى إذ اليهود شبهوا الخالق بالخلق والنصارى شبهت الخلق بالخالق فسرت هذه الشبهات في أذهان الشيعة الغلاة حتى حكمت بأحكام الإلهية في حق بعض الأئمة

The Ghulat^[4] is the name given to those who went to extremes regarding their Imams, to the point that they went beyond the limits of creation and considered them divine. They may liken one of their Imams to Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala, and they may liken Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala to His creation. They are on the extremes of exaggeration and negligence. Their doubts arose from the doctrines of incarnation, the doctrines of reincarnation, and the doctrines of the Jews and Christians, since the Jews liken the Creator to His creation, and the Christians liken the creation to the Creator. These misguided ideas were interpreted in the minds of the extremist Shia, to the point that they applied divine attributes to some of the Imams.^[5]

Ibn Khaldun said:

ومنهم أي الشيعة طوائف يسمون الغلاة تجاوزوا حد العقل والإيمان في القول بألوهية هؤلاء الأئمة إما على أنهم بشر اتصفوا بصفات الألوهية أو أن الإله حل في ذاتهم البشرية وهو قول بالحلول يوافق مذهب النصارى في عيسى صلوات الله عليه

Among them (i.e. the Shia), are sects called Ghulat who have gone beyond the limits of reason and belief in saying that these Imams are divine, either because they are human beings who possessed divine attributes or because Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala incarnated into human form, which is an expression of incarnationism that agrees with the Christian doctrine of ‘Isa ‘alayh al Salam.^[6]

Ibn Babawayh al Qummi^[7], one of the main scholars of the Imami Twelver Shia, says:

اعتقادنا في الغلاة والمفوضة أنهم كفار بالله جل اسمه وأنهم شر من اليهود والنصارى والمجوس

It is our belief about the Ghulat (extremists) that they are disbelievers in Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala and are worse than the Jews, Christians, and Magians.^[8]

Al Sheikh al Mufid, one of the main scholars of the Twelver Shia, says about them:

الغلاة المتظاهرون بالإسلام هم الذين نسبوا أمير المؤمنين والأئمة من ذريته عليهم السلام إلى الألوهية والنبوة و وصفوهم من الفضل في الدين والدنيا إلى ما تجاوزوا فيه الحد وخرجوا وهم ضلال كفار حكم فيهم أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام بالإكفار والخروج عن الإسلام

The extremists who pretend to be Muslims are those who attributed divinity and prophethood to the Commander of the Faithful ‘alayh al Salam and the Imams from his progeny ‘alayh al Salam and described them as having excellence in religion and the world to a level that exceeds the limits. They are misguided disbelievers, and the Commander of the Faithful ‘alayh al Salam ruled correctly against them that they are infidels outside the pale of Islam.^[9]

Among the most infamous of these extremist sects is one that still survives into our present day: the sect of the Nusayriyyah.

NEXT⇒ The Nusayriyyah Sect

^[1] Al Damluji: Al Uluhiyyah fi Mu’taqidat al Islamiyyah, pg. 108.

^[2] Al Ash’ari: Maqalat al Islamiyyin, 1/66.

^[3] Plural of faqih: an expert in Islamic jurisprudence.

^[4] Synonym for Ghaliyah.

^[5] Al Shahrastani: Al Milal wa al Nihal, 1/10.

^[6] Ibn Khaldun: Al Muqaddamah, pg. 832.

^[7] A metronym for someone born in the city of Qum, in present-day Iran.

^[8] ‘Abdul Hamid: Dirasat fi al Firaq wa al ‘Aqa’id al Islamiyyah, pg. 68.

^[9] Al Mufid: Tashih ‘Aqa’id al Imamiyyah, pg. 64.

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