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'Ali
in full 'ALI IBN ABU TALIB (b. c. 600, Mecca--d. January 661, Kufah, Iraq),
son-in-law of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, and fourth caliph (successor
to Muhammad), reigning from 656 to 661. The question of his right to the
caliphate resulted in the only major split in Islam (into Sunnah and
Shi'ah branches). He is revered by the Shi'ah as the only true successor
to the Prophet.
'Ali was the son of Abu Talib, chief of a local clan. When his father became
impoverished, 'Ali was taken under the care of Muhammad, then still a businessman
in Mecca, who himself had been cared for by 'Ali's father as a child. When
Muhammad felt God's call to become his prophet, 'Ali, though only 10 years
old, became one of the first converts to Islam and remained a lifelong devoted
follower of Muhammad.
According to legend 'Ali risked his life by sleeping in the Prophet's bed
to impersonate him the night that Muhammad fled in 622 from Mecca to Medina
from enemies who were plotting to assassinate him. In addition, 'Ali is said
to have carried out Muhammad's request to restore all the properties that
had been entrusted to him as a merchant to their owners in Mecca. Only then
did 'Ali himself leave for Medina. There he married Muhammad's daughter Fatimah,
who bore him two sons, Hasan and Husayn.
'Ali is said to have displayed rare courage in battle during the military
expeditions Muhammad conducted to consolidate Islam and always obtained a
lion's share of the booty. 'Ali was also one of Muhammad's scribes and was
chosen to lead several important missions. When the hostile inhabitants of
Mecca finally accepted Islam without battle, it was 'Ali who smashed the
pagan idols in the Ka'bah (holy shrine).
Muhammad died on June 8, 632. Some say he had unequivocally nominated 'Ali
as his successor while he was returning from his "farewell pilgrimage" to
Mecca. Others reject this claim, maintaining that Muhammad died without naming
a successor. 'Ali, while attending the last rites of the Prophet, was confronted
by the fact that Abu Bakr, Muhammad's closest friend and father of 'A`ishah,
one of the Prophet's wives, had been chosen caliph. 'Ali did not submit to
Abu Bakr's authority for some time, but neither did he actively assert his
own rights, possibly because he did not want to throw the Muslim community
into bloody tribal strife. He retired into a quiet life in which religious
works became his chief occupation. The first chronologically arranged version
of the Qur`an is attributed to him, and his excellent knowledge of the Qur`an
and Hadith (the sayings and deeds of Muhammad) aided the caliphs in various
legal problems.
Following the murder of 'Uthman, the third caliph, 'Ali was invited by the
Muslims of Medina to accept the caliphate; reluctant, he agreed only after
long hesitation. His brief reign was beset by difficulties due mostly to
the corrupt state of affairs he inherited. Acutely aware of the neglect of
the Qur`an and the traditions of Muhammad that his predecessors had allowed
to develop, he based his rule on the Islamic ideals of social justice and
equality. His policy was a blow to the nterests of the Quraysh aristocracy
of Mecca who had grown rich in the wake of the Muslim conquests. In order
to embarrass 'Ali they demanded that he bring the murderers of 'Uthman to
trial, and when he rejected their request, a rebellion against him was instigated
in which two prominent Meccans along with 'A`ishah, Muhammad's widow and
the daughter of Abu Bakr, the first caliph, took a leading part. This rebellion,
known as the Battle of the Camel (the camel ridden by 'A`ishah), was quelled.
A second rebellion was on the point of being crushed when its leader, Mu'awiyah,
a kinsman of 'Uthman and the governor of Syria, averted defeat by proposing
arbitration. 'Ali saw through the stratagem but was forced by his army to
accept adjudication, which greatly weakened his position.
Soon, moreover, he had to fight some of the very people who had earlier forced
him to accept arbitration but now enounced it. Known as Khawarij (Seceders),
they were defeated by Ali in the Battle of Nahrawan. Meanwhile, Mu'awiyah
followed an aggressive policy, and by the end of 660 'Ali had lost control
of Egypt and of the Hejaz. While praying in a mosque at Kufah in Iraq, 'Ali
was struck with a poisoned sword by a Kharijite, intent on avenging the men
slain at Nahrawan. Two days later 'Ali died and was buried near Kufah. (see
also Index: Camel, Battle of the)
'Ali's political discourses, sermons, letters, and sayings, collected by
ash-Sharif ar-Radi (d. 1015) in a book entitled Nahj al-balaghah ("The Road
of Eloquence") with commentary by Ibn Abi al-Hadid (d. 1258), are well known
in Arabic literature. (I.K.P.) (see also Index: "Nahj al-balaghah")
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Imam
imam n, often cap [Ar imam] (1613) 1: the prayer leader of a mosque
2: a Muslim leader of the line of Ali held by Shiites to be the divinely
appointed, sinless, infallible successors of Muhammad 3: any of various rulers
that claim descent from Muhammad and exercise spiritual and temporal leadership
over a Muslim region
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Fiqh
(Arabic: "understanding"), Muslim jurisprudence, i.e., the science of
ascertaining the precise terms of the Shari'ah, or Islamic law. The collective
sources of Muslim jurisprudence are known as usul al-fiqh (q.v.).
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Shia
Shia n [Ar shi'ah sect] (1626) 1: the Muslims of the branch of Islam
comprising sects believing in Ali and the Imams as the only rightful successors
of Muhammad and in the concealment and messianic return of the last recognized
Imam--compare sunni 2: shiite 3: the branch of Islam formed by the Shia
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Sunni
Arabic SUNNI, plural SUNNI, member of one of the two major branches of Islam,
the branch that consists of the majority of that religion's adherents. Sunnite
Muslims regard their sect as the mainstream and traditionalist branch of
Islam, as distinguished from the minority sect, the Shi'ites.
The Sunnites recognize the first four caliphs as Muhammad's rightful successors,
whereas the Shi'ites believe that Muslim leadership belonged to Muhammad's
son-in-law, 'Ali, and his descendants alone. In contrast to the Shi'ites,
the Sunnites have long conceived of the theocratic state built by Muhammad
as an earthly, temporal dominion and have thus regarded the leadership of
Islam as being determined not by divine order or inspiration but by the
prevailing political realities of the Muslim world. This led historically
to Sunnite acceptance of the leadership of the foremost families of Mecca
and to the acceptance of unexceptional and even foreign caliphs, so long
as their rule afforded the proper exercise of religion and the maintenance
of order. The Sunnites accordingly held that the caliph must be a member
of Muhammad's tribe, the Quraysh, but devised a theory of election that was
flexible enough to permit that allegiance be given to the de facto caliph,
whatever his origins. The distinctions between the Sunnites and other sects
regarding the holding of spiritual and political authority remained firm
even after the end of the Caliphate itself in the 13th century.
The Sunnites' orthodoxy is marked by an emphasis on the views and customs
of the majority of the community, as distinguished from the views of peripheral
groups. The institution of consensus evolved by the Sunnites allowed them
to incorporate various customs and usages that arose through ordinary historical
development but that nevertheless had no roots in the Qur`an.
The Sunnites recognize the six "authentic" books of the Hadith, which contain
the spoken tradition attributed to Muhammad. The Sunnites also accept as
orthodox one of the four schools of Muslim law. In the 20th century the Sunnites
constituted the majority of Muslims in all nations except Iran, Iraq, and
perhaps Yemen. They numbered about 900 million in the late 20th century and
constituted nine-tenths of all the adherents of Islam.
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Mu'tazilah
(Arabic: Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart), English MUTAZILITES, in Islam,
political or religious neutralists; by the 10th century the term came to
refer specifically to an Islamic school of speculative theology that flourished
in Basra and Baghdad (8th-10th centuries AD).
The name first appears in early Islamic history in the dispute over 'Ali's
leadership of the Muslim community after the murder of the third caliph,
'Uthman (656). Those who would neither condemn nor sanction 'Ali or his opponents
but took a middle position were termed the Mu'tazilah.
The theological school is traced back to Wasil ibn 'Ata` (699-749), a student
of al-Hasan al-Basri, who by stating that a grave sinner ( fasiq) could be
classed neither as believer nor unbeliever but was in an intermediate position
(al-manzilah bayna manzilatayn), withdrew (i'tazala, hence the name Mu'tazilah)
from his teacher's circle. (The same story is told of 'Amr ibn 'Ubayd [d.
762].) Variously maligned as free thinkers and heretics, the Mu'tazilah,
in the 8th century AD, were the first Muslims to use the categories and methods
of Hellenistic philosophy to derive their three major and distinctive dogmatic
points.
First, they stressed the absolute unity or oneness (tawhid) of God. From
this it was logically concluded that the Qur`an could not be technically
considered the word of God (the orthodox view), as God has no separable parts,
and so had to be created and was not coeternal with God. Under the 'Abbasid
caliph al- Ma`mun, this doctrine of the created Qur`an was proclaimed (827)
as the state dogma, and in 833, a mihnah or tribunal was instituted to try
those who disputed the doctrine (notably the theologian Ahmad ibn Hanbal);
the Mu'tazili position was finally abandoned by the caliphate under al-Mutawakkil
c. 849. The Mu'tazilah further stressed the justice ('adl) of God as their
second principle. While the orthodox were concerned with the awful will of
God to which each individual must submit himself without question, the Mu'tazilah
posited that God desires only the best for man, but through free will man
chooses between good and evil and thus becomes ultimately responsible for
his actions. So in the third doctrine, the threat and the promise (al-wa'd
wa al-wa'id), or paradise and hell, God's justice becomes a matter of logical
necessity: God must reward the good (as promised) and must punish the evil
(as threatened).
Among the most important Mu'tazili theologians were Abu al-Hudhayl al-'Allaf
(d. c. 841) and an-Nazzam (d. 846) in Basra and Bishr ibn al-Mu'tamir (d.
825) in Baghdad. It was al-Ash'ari (d. 935 or 936), a student of the Mu'tazili
al-Jubba`i, who broke the force of the movement by refuting its teachings
with the same Hellenistic, rational methods first introduced by the Mu'tazilah.
Mu'tazili beliefs were disavowed by the Sunnite Muslims, but the Shi'ites
accepted their premises.
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Hadith
ha.dith n, pl hadith or hadiths often cap [Ar hadith, lit., speech,
report] (ca. 1817) 1: a narrative record of the sayings or customs of Muhammad
and his companions 2: the collective body of traditions relating to Muhammad
and his companions
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St. Athanaisus
(b. c. 293, Alexandria--d. May 2, 373, Alexandria; feast day May 2), theologian,
ecclesiastical statesman, and Egyptian national leader; he was the chief
defender of Christian orthodoxy in the 4th-century battle against Arianism,
the heresy that the Son of God was a creature of like, but not of the same,
substance as God the Father. His important works include The Life of St.
Antony and Four Orations Against the Arians.
Life and major works. Athanasius received his philosophical and theological
training at Alexandria; in 325 he attended Bishop Alexander of Alexandria
as deacon at the Council of Nicaea. A recognized theologian and ascetic,
Athanasius was the obvious candidate to succeed Alexander when the latter
died in 328. The first years of his episcopate were devoted to visitation
of his extensive patriarchate, which included all of Egypt and Libya. During
this time he established important contacts with the Coptic monks of Upper
Egypt and their leader Pachomius. Soon began the struggle with imperialist
and Arian churchmen that occupied much of his life. He used political influence
against the Meletians, followers of the schismatic bishop Meletius of Lycopolis,
who had gone back on the plans made at Nicaea for their reunion with the
church; but he refuted specific charges of mistreatment of Arians and Meletians
before a hostile gathering of bishops at Tyre (in modern Lebanon) in 335,
which he refused to recognize as a general council of the church. When both
parties met the emperor Constantine at Constantinople in 336, Athanasius
was accused of threatening to interfere with the grain supply from Egypt,
and without any formal trial Constantine exiled him to the Rhineland.
The Emperor's death in 337 allowed Athanasius to return to Alexandria, but
Constantine's son Constantius, emperor in the East, renewed the order of
banishment in 338. Athanasius took refuge at Rome under the protection of
Constantius' brother Constans, emperor in the West. An Arian bishop, Gregory,
was installed at Alexandria; Athanasius, however, kept in touch with his
flock through the annual Festal Letters announcing the date of Easter. Pope
Julius I wrote in vain on his behalf, and the general council called for
343 was no more successful--only Western and Egyptian bishops met at Sardica
(modern Sofia, Bulg.), and their appeal for Athanasius was not accepted in
the East. In 346, however, Constans' influence secured his return to Egypt,
where he was welcomed as a popular hero. Athanasius' "golden decade" of peace
and prosperity followed, during which he assembled documents relating to
his exiles and returns in the Apology Against the Arians. Nevertheless, after
the death of Constans in 350 and the following civil war, Constantius, as
sole emperor, resumed his pro-Arian policy. Again political charges were
brought against Athanasius, his banishment was repeated, and in 356 an attempt
was made to arrest him during a vigil service. This time he withdrew to Upper
Egypt, where he was protected in monasteries or friendly houses. In exile
he completed his massive theological work Four Orations Against the Arians
and defended his conduct in the Apology to Constantius and Apology for His
Flight. The Emperor's persistence and reports of persecution at Alexandria
under the new Arian bishop George led him, in the more violent History of
the Arians, to treat Constantius as a precursor of Antichrist.
The death of Constantius, followed by the murder of the unpopular George
in 361, allowed Athanasius to return triumphantly once more to his see. In
362 he convened a council at Alexandria during which he appealed for unity
among those who held the same faith but differed in terminology. The way
was thus prepared for the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity--"three Persons
in one substance"--which stresses distinctions in the Godhead more than
Athanasius usually had done. The new emperor, Julian the Apostate, rather
petulantly ordered Athanasius to leave Alexandria, and he sailed up the Nile
again, remaining in exile in Upper Egypt until Julian's death in 363. In
365 the emperor Valens, who favoured Arianism, ordered his exile once more,
but this time the popular bishop merely moved to the outskirts of Alexandria
for a few months until the local authorities persuaded the Emperor to reconsider.
Finally, Athanasius spent a few years in peace before his death in 373. (see
also Index: Alexandria, Synod of)
Other works.
Athanasius' two-part work of apologetics, Against the Heathen and The Incarnation
of the Word of God, completed about 335, was the first great classic of developed
Greek Orthodox theology. In Athanasius' system, the Son of God, the eternal
Word through whom God made the world, entered the world in human form to
lead men back to the harmony from which they had fallen away. Athanasius
reacted vigorously against Arianism, for which the Son was a lesser being,
and welcomed the definition of the Son formulated at the Council of Nicaea
in 325: "consubstantial with the Father."
Among Athanasius' other important works are The Letters [to Sarapion] on
the divinity of the Holy Spirit and The Life of St. Antony, which was soon
translated into Latin and did much to spread the ascetic ideal in East and
West. Only fragments remain of sermons and biblical commentaries; several
briefer theological treatises are preserved, however, and a number of letters,
mainly administrative and pastoral. Of special interest are the letter to
Epictetus (bishop of Corinth), which anticipates future controversies in
defending the humanity of Christ, and the letter to Dracontius, which urges
a monk to leave the desert for the active labours of the episcopate. Precision
of thought, tireless energy in defense of his convictions and the freedom
of the church, and (within certain limits) breadth of understanding have
given Athanasius an important place among the teachers and leaders of the
church; and as an Egyptian patriot he is also a significant figure in the
history of his country.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The great Benedictine edition of the works of Athanasius (1698), reprinted
in J.P. Migne, Patrologia Graeca, vol. 25-28 (1857), is being replaced by
that begun by H.G. Opitz (Athanasius Werke) in 1934; major works are translated
in the "Post-Nicene Fathers," Series 2, vol. 4, Select Writings and Letters
of Athanasius (1892)--the "Prolegomena" to this volume by A. Robertson remains
the most complete life. For later discoveries and studies, see H.I. Bell
(ed.), Jews and Christians in Egypt (1924); and the brilliant summary by
F.L. Cross, The Study of St. Athanasius (1945). There are useful sketches
in G.L. Prestige, Fathers and Heretics (1940, reprinted 1963); and in R.W.
Thomson's edition of Contra Gentes and De Incarnatione (1971). For further
references, see E.R. Hardy (ed.), Christology of the Later Fathers (1954);
and J. Quasten, Patrology, vol. 3, pp. 20-79 (1960).
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