The Fifth Chapter

This chapter comprises of:

Their influence on the Muslim World
The Ruling Regarding them

Their influence on the Muslim world

The influence the Shia have had upon the Muslim world in the various stages of history is a very vast and great topic; it includes several topics and various dimensions which necessitate multiple books and demand a lot of effort. Studying the historical events which took place in Iraq alone in the fourth and the fifth centuries when the Shia had a very great impact is a very broad topic. So how much more strenuous would it be to discuss their impact on the entire Muslim world. Likewise, studying the ever-increasing Shia movements in our times in various parts of the Muslim world and the results that they are producing requires field studies, mass networks, and multiple journeys.

All of this cannot possibly be put together in a book, let alone a chapter of a book which is primarily concerned with studying and analysing the principle doctrines of the Shia.

It is for these reasons that I will suffice in this chapter upon allusions, cursory glances and concise words. Similarly I will suffice on portions of the topic rather than its whole, on one example of one town and one time, for example, rather than doing an in-depth and extensive study.

In order to not let the discussion lose focus I will mention the impact they have had in various spheres of life, i.e. are the following:

Doctrinal and ideological sphere
Political sphere
Social sphere
Economical sphere

This is a mere categorisation, otherwise the influences they have had in these spheres are interlinked. This is because the misfortune of innovation is such that it affects all spheres of life. A person who will study the history of this Ummah and the development of various innovative ideologies which emerged throughout time will sense the harms thereof in the entire Muslim empire. Listen to, for example what Ibn Taymiyyah has said regarding the fall of the Umayyad Empire:

إن دولة بني أمية كان انقراضها بسبب هذا الجعد المعطل

The fall of the Umayyad Empire was due to this Ja’d, the denier of the attributes of Allah[1], amongst other reasons.[2]

He further says:

وهذا الجعد إليه ينسب مروان بن محمد الجعدي آخر خلفاء بني أمية، وكان شؤمه عاد عليه حتى زالت الدولة، فإنه إذا ظهرت البدع التي تخالف دين الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم انتقم الله ممن خالف الرسل وانتصر لهم

Marwan ibn Muhammad al Ja’di, the last of the rulers of the Banu Umayyah, is attributed to this Ja’d. His misfortune turned against him and caused the fall of the empire. When innovations which oppose the Sunnah of Rasul Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam emerge Allah takes revenge from those who oppose the prophets and grants them victory.[3]

This Islamic interpretation of historical events is in contrast to the approach of many historians who only analyse history from a purely materialistic perspective; it is that branch of knowledge which can only be understood by the people of iman.

NEXT⇒ The Doctrinal and Ideological Sphere

[1] i.e. al Ja’d ibn Dirham, the first person to deny the names and attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala.

[2] Majmu’ Fatawa Sheikh al Islam Ibn Taymiyah 13/182.

[3] Ibid. 13/177.

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