The four emissaries of the Twelfth Imam
The four emissaries or four ambassadors or four mediators of the Twelfth Imam are collective terms for a group of people from Islam of the Twelve Shiites (Imamites), whose belief in the Mahdi , the expected savior and at the same time hidden Twelfth Imam, forms the core of their eschatology . Arabic terms for this group of people are Abwāb , singular: Bāb (“gates, gates”); Sufarāʾ , singular: Safīr ("ambassador"), Na'ib (member of parliament) or Wakil (lawyer). These terms refer to the belief of the Twelve Shiites in the Twelfth Imam and his concealment ( ġaiba or Ghaiba ), more precisely: his “little concealment” ( al-ġaiba aṣ-ṣuġrā in the period from 874 to 941.
Through these four ambassadors, he kept in contact with his followers during his “little concealment”, who then acted as mediators between him and his remaining followers. They sent him questions and secretly delivered his answers.
After the death of the fourth ambassador (941), the Twelfth Imam is said to have withdrawn into the “great secrecy” ( al-ġaiba al-kubrā ), which continues to this day.
Four ambassadors of the Twelfth Imām
The four ambassadors were:
- Uthman ibn Said al-Asadi
- Abu Dschafar Muhammad ibn Uthman (d. 917)
- Abu l-Qasim al-Husain ibn Ruh an-Nawbahti (d. 938)
- Abu l-Husain Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri (d. 941)
literature
- Verena Klemm: The four sufarāʾ of the Twelfth Imām. For the formative period of the Zwölferšīʿa. In: The World of the Orient. 15 (1984) 126-143.
- Mariella Ourghi : Shiite Messianism and Mahdi Belief in Modern Times . Communications on the social and cultural history of the Islamic world, Volume 26. Würzburg: Ergon, 2008. ISBN 9783899136593
Web links
Individual evidence
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↑ Principle 5 of the Iranian Constitution states:
"In the Islamic Republic of Iran, during the absence of the raptured 12th Imam - may God that he comes as soon as possible - the leadership mandate (Imamat) and the leadership authority (welayat-e-amr) in the affairs of the Islamic community is available to the just, God-fearing, brave legal scholars who are informed about the requirements of the time, capable of leadership to [...] "
- Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1979 - ↑ Encyclopaedia Iranica : BĀB (1)
- ↑ Encyclopædia Iranica: ḡayba (Pers. Ḡaybat)
- ↑ The Deputies of Mahdi ( Verena Klemm , Encyclopædia Iranica)