Bismilahir Rahmanir Rahim
As salamu alaikum.
On the anniversary of
the beginning of the Prophetic mission I found myself asking a lot of
questions. Beyond the traditional self-reflection that I have been reminded
about again and again from our beloved Imams (a.s.) that accountability is the
marker of a true Shia I am wondering about how much like Prophet Muhammad
(s.a.w.) I am as a striving Shia. Muhammad and His God Before the Revelation describes,
“the relationship of Muhammad with his Lord before Islam was in essence Islam
(submission). Allah (SWT) loves it, so He (SWT) chose Muhammad (SWT) to spread
this Message and make it a path and religion for all of mankind. Allah (SWT)
designated Muhammad as the messenger and prophet of Islam; Muhammad would
invite the people to it because he already practiced it, mastered it, and was
sincere in it.”
How can I invite
people to Islam (da’wah)? By submitting to Allah (swt), practicing Islam,
mastering Islam and being sincere in living in Islamic way of living.
How can I best submit
to Allah (swt)? By learning what Allah (swt) asks of me in the Holy Qur’an and
following the perfect models of Ahlul Bayt (a.s.). I would be remiss not to mention at this
juncture that one can not know and love the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) and their
teachings and simultaneously diminish their history and elevate a limited
understanding of Imam Husayn in lieu of a more comprehensive and
scholarly-based understanding of the full imamate.
Part of the
difficulty in achieving this goal is the fact that Shia sources are difficult
to access in English and many other languages for that matter. This of course is a sad irony in that our
beloved Imam Ali al-Ridha has said, “May God have mercy on him who revives our
cause … [by] learning from our teachings and teaching them to others, for if
people only knew the beauty of our words, they would undoubtedly follow us.” [i]
Its also a sad
reality that even when people wish to study directly from the sources in Howza
it is extremely difficulty, especially for converts to attain visas and maneuver through
the discrimination and suspicion that comes with the logistics of Howza studies
in Qom or Najaf.
I recently came
across a chart that depicts the lineage of the Ithna Asheri Imamate and I would
like to share it here as it was published in an academic publication that does
not offer free public access.
Before I post the
image below I do want to place some context that inspired me to discuss this
issue further. Years ago I stumbled across a post on Shiachat.com in which
persons were literally verbally assaulting one another for either embracing the
possibility of African imams or adamantly rejecting the idea and 2 weeks ago I
was at a gathering of Shia women were some of these ideas about ethnic
superiority were being repeated. So once
again I reiterate how can I or anyone know their imams if they are perpetuating
false descriptions of them and denying their ethnicity; which I can not fathom
a reason aside from racism or in its Islamic understanding, asabiyyah.
Without further ado
here is the chart…
Now as I tell my students, "Imagine your imams (a.s.) as you always have and get a strong mental picture."
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Now imagine that they were BLACK....
All I am advocating for is searching out the truth and truly getting to know our imams (a.s.) so that we can say that we love and respect them. How can I prepare for my Imam (ajf) if I don't know where he was from or what he will do or if I harbor some concept of racial superiority that the Imam either lives up to or "fails" to live up to.
Images used above are
curtesy of the author of the text in which they were originally printed. The
full article can be found here: Inloes, Amina. "Racial othering in Shii
Sacred History: Jawn Ibn Huwayy the african Slave, and the Ethnicities of the
Twelve Imams." Journal of Shi'a Islamic Studies. 7.4 (2014): 411-439.
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