IV
THE BASIC PILLARS OF ISLAM
ACCORDING TO THE
IMAMIYA SHIITE

By definition, a religious sect provides a method for understanding Islam an approach to uncover its meanings. Accordingly, our effort here would be incomplete without identifying the basic pillars of Islam as understood by the school of the Prophet Household. These pillars are discussed in the following sections:

1- Al-Tawheed or the belief in divine unity:

In one of his speeches, Imam Ali reported to have said:

The basic thing in religion is knowing God; the perfection of knowing him is believing in him; the perfection of believing in him is in worshipping only him, and the perfection of worshipping him is in loyalty to him⁽⁵⁷⁾.

Undoubtedly, the basic pillar of the Islamic faith is believing in Allah as the one and only God, asserting his freedom of human or other creatures' characteristics and recognizing his absolute perfection and possession of Asma al-Husna [beautiful or most exalted names]. Much attention is devoted by the Quran to defining divine unity, explaining God's attributes and enumerating his names. God characterized himself to mankind through his revelations to the Prophet. His greatness and uniqueness can also be recognized by the human mind.

When Quranic commentaries multiplied, new sects adapted different understandings of the Holy Book and eventually unorthodox theories and sects arose such as al-Tajseem and al-Tashbeeh,⁽⁵⁸⁾ (anthropomorphism), al-Hilul,⁽⁵⁹⁾ al-Itihad,⁽⁶⁰⁾ al-Gulu and Ghulat,⁽⁶¹⁾ (extremists or Zealots), and al-Jabir (Necessetarianism). In response the Imams of Prophet Household confronted these unorthodox ideas and novelties and called upon Muslims to uphold the true doctrine of divine unity as found in the Quran.

The Imamiya belief regarding divine unity is clearly expressed in a reply by Imam Jafar al-Sadiq to a letter from one of his disciple who complained in it of "group of people in Iraq who describe God figuratively". The Imam wrote back:⁽⁶²⁾

You have asked about divine unity.. There is nothing like God, the All-Hearer, All-Seeing who is above and beyond the attributes ascribed to him and the descriptions of those who liken him to his creatures, and hence lie against God. Know that the true faith regarding divine unity is found in the Quran's revelations concerning God's characteristics so reject al-Tashbeeh and al-butlan because neither is correct. God is the constant Allah who is above description, so do not forsake the Quran and lose the right path after the message has been revealed".

On the basis of this principle, the Shiite established their own doctrinal vision and elaborated its structure.

The Imams of the Prophet Household persevered in their efforts to expose and denounce all unorthodox views which deviated from the Quranic concept of divine unity. And in conformity with this standpoint, jurists of the Imamiya shiite ruled that such views amount to heresies.

To illustrate, al-Shaikh al-Mufeed, an Imamiya Shiite theologian of the fourth Hijra century wrote:⁽⁶³⁾ "the Gulat (zealots or extremists) who claim to be Muslims ascribed divinity or prophecy to Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib and the Imams of his posterity and in effect transgressed the limit in describing their eminence in religion and in this world. Hence they are heretics condemned by Imam Ali to death"⁽⁶⁴⁾ and the Imams ruled that they committed heresies and forsook Islam.

In conclusion, the concept of divine unity held by the Imamiya Shiite is based on the Quran and a recognition of the unity of God in essence, attributes and acts and that he alone must be worshipped. Upholding this viewpoint embroiled them in ideological conflicts with proponents of ideas and conceptions which do no conform to their understanding of the Quranic concept of divine unity.

2- God's Justice:

Based on their belief in divine unity and God's exemption from injustice, the Imamiya shiites established that God is just in the obligations he imposes on his worshippers and in his recompense of them. Accordingly, they maintained that God does not impose duties on humankind in excess of their capabilities. They also rejected the theory of al-Jabur⁽⁶⁵⁾ or the Necessitarian and established that man is essentially free to choose his action, and whether he elects to be obedient or disobedient is of his own volition. And since he is a free, uncorked agent he is therefore responsible for his acts and accordingly recompensed as the following verses indicate: "Have we not given him two eyes, a tongue, and two lips and shown him the two paths"⁽⁶⁶⁾ and "we have endowed him with sight and hearing and be he thankful or oblivious of our favours, we have shown him the right path"⁽⁶⁷⁾.

Imam al-Sadiq explained the concept of God's justice in his reply to a question by one of his disciples on whether God has given mankind total freedom of action: "God is too generous to give them total freedom of choice". And then the companion asked him: "Did he then compel them to disobey?" Al-Sadiq answered him: "God is too just to coerce a person to commit a certain act and then punish him for it"⁽⁶⁸⁾.

3- Prophecy:

The Shiite belief in prophets and prophecy is also based on their understanding of divine unity. Al-Muqdad al-Sayuri defined the prophet "as a person who reports from God without human intermediaries"⁽⁶⁹⁾. The prophet receives the message, religious knowledge and divine instructions in the form of revelations through an angel, an inspiration or a vision.

The prophets are the elites of God's creation, chosen by him because he knows them to be capable of conveying his message. They are exempted by God from disobeying him so that they can serve as models for mankind and disseminators of his laws by words and deeds.

The historical origin of the prophecy is made clear in the following Quranic verse:⁽⁷⁰⁾

Mankind was once one nation. then God sent forth prophets with good tidings and warnings, and with these he sent down the book in truth to judge between people in matters which they dispute.

The Imamate's importance in Islamic thought emanates from the fact that it succeeded the prophecy and constituted the natural extension of the prophet's efforts in leading the nation, disseminating the Islamic doctrine, and applying and safeguarding the laws. This point has been expounded earlier.

4- The After Life:

The Quran teaches us:

It is not righteousness that you turn your face towards east or west but it is righteousness to believe in Allah, the Last Day, the angels the Book and the Prophets"⁽⁷¹⁾.

and also:

You must not reckon those who were slain in the cause of God as dead, They are alive and well provided for by their Lord"⁽⁷²⁾.

One of the basic tenets of Islam is a belief in the after-life, resurrection, final judgement and recompense. With the exception of few philosophers who believed in spiritual resurrection, Muslims hold that the resurrection is corporeal. They also share a belief in al-Barzakh which is a form of existence intervening between death and Judgement Day. Another related article of faith is the belief that a dead person is interrogated in his grave and subsequently rewarded or punished.

Shiite scholars have devoted much attention to explaining these basic tenets.

The distinguished theologian al-Hili wrote the following commentary on the belief in the resurrection and recompense in the after-life:⁽⁷³⁾

This is a major tenet, and its confirmation is one of the religion's pillars. Whoever denies it is by consensus a heretic and anyone who dose not believe in corporeal resurrection, reward and punishment and the description of the after-life is also a heretic by unanimous agreement.

The viewpoint of the Imamiya scholars on the Barzakh is summed up by the theologian al-Majlisi as follows:⁽⁷⁴⁾

Recompense in the Barzakh has been agreed upon by the [Muslim] nation now and in the past. Only an insignificant minority of Muslims have rejected it and these have been unanimously opposed. Congruent traditions supporting this consensus have been narrated by Imamiya and other Muslim sources.

Al-Shafa (Intercession):

A closely related tenet to the belief in the after-life and Judgement Day is al- Shafa or intercession. Muslims not only believe in corporeal resurrection, the Barzakh state and recompense but also believe in intercession as expressed in the Quran and the Prophet's traditions. Those empowered to intercede, i.e. ask clemency for sinners, include the Prophet, his Household, benevolent believers, martyrs and the faithful in general as indicated in the following Two verses: "They intercede for none save those whom he accepts"⁽⁷⁵⁾ and 'no intercession shall avail with him but that which he himself allow'⁽⁷⁶⁾. On the same subject the Prophet is reported by the companion Abu Thar to have said: "I beseeched my Lord for intercession for my nation and he granted me that, and God willing it will be obtained for anyone who worship only God"⁽⁷⁷⁾. Another saying by the Prophet reported by the companion Abu Saeed al-Khudari shed further light on how faithfuls benefit from intercession:⁽⁷⁸⁾

One man of my nation may intercede for a group of people who would enter Paradise as a result of this. One man may intercede for a whole tribe and they would enter Paradise due to his intercession. And one man may intercede for another man and his household and they would enter paradise because of his intercession.

Imam Jafar al-Sadiq regarded intercession as one of three basic tenets: "whoever denies the following three things is not one of our followers: the ascension, interrogation in the grave and intercession⁽⁷⁹⁾. It is worth mentioning here that the belief in intercession does not license believers to disobey or neglect their religious duties. Basically, a Muslim is recompensed in accordance with the principles laid down by the Quran as follows: "Each man shall be judged by his own labours"⁽⁸⁰⁾, and "Whoever has done an atom's weight of good shall see it and whoever has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it"⁽⁸¹⁾. However, God by his mercy and kindness lightens the faithful of their burdens of sins by overlooking some of these transgressions. This is done by accepting intercession on their behalf and granting them forgiveness and clemency in view of their faith and good deeds.