Eighth Hadith: Prejudice (‘Asabiyyah)

بِالسَّنَدِ المُتَّصِلِ إِلى مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يَعْقُوبَ عَنْ عَلِيٍّ بْنِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنِ النَّوْفَلِيِّ، عَنِ السَّكُونِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِاللهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ: مَنْ كَانَ فِي قَلْبِهِ حَبَّةٌ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ مِنْ عَصَبِيَّةٍ بَعَثَهُ اللهُ يَوْمَ القِيَامَةِ مَعَ أَعْرَابِ الجَاهِلِيَّةِ.

Muhammad ibn Ya’qub (al-Kulayni), from ‘Ali ibn Ibrahim, from his father, from al-Nawfali, from al-Sakuni, who reports on the authority of Abu ‘Abd Allah (Imam al-Sadiq ) (A) that the Prophet (S) said, “Whosoever possesses in his heart ‘asabiyyah (prejudice in any of its forms such as tribalism, racism, nationalism) even to the extent of a mustard seed, God will raise him on the Day of Resurrection with the (pagan) Bedouins of the Jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic era).”

From Forty Hadith, An Exposition by Ayatullah Sayyid Imam Ruhallah al-Musawi al-Khomeini

Monday, May 25, 2015

Knowing who are Imams Really ARE?

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."

.


.


.


.


.

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.


[i] Ma'ani Al-Akhbar

No comments:

Post a Comment