Five-way schia
The term five-Shia is a synonym often used in historical studies for the Shiite-Islamic religious community of the Zaidites .
The term refers to the fifth imam Zaid ibn Ali , recognized by the Shia , who is also its founder. Zaid was a younger son of the fourth Shiite imam Ali Zain al-Abidin (d. 713) and thus a half-brother of the fifth imam Muhammad al-Baqir (d. 732/736), who was recognized by the majority of all Shiites . But because Muhammad remained inactive in the struggle for the caliphate against the Umayyad usurpers, viewed from the point of view of the Shiites , Zaid took the initiative in Kufa in 739 and took over the leadership of the Shiites who were ready to fight. In the following year Zaid was inferior to the numerically far superior Umayyads and was killed. His decimated following ( šīʿa ) persisted, however, who recognized him as a legitimate fifth “chief” ( imām ) because of his proven willingness to fight .
The term five is used less and less in recent considerations, as it leads to the error that the Zaidites would only recognize five imams, as for example the imam ranks of the “twelve” and “ sevens ” ended with their respective imams. In fact, however, the imamate of the Zaidites continued beyond Zaid into more recent contemporary history. The last generally recognized imam was Muhammad al-Badr (d. 1996), since his death in exile in London the dignity has been vacant.
The first five imams of the Zaidis:
- Ali (X 661)
- Hassan ibn Ali († 670)
- Hussein ibn Ali (X 680)
- Ali ibn Hussein Zain al-Abidin († 713)
- Zaid ibn Ali (X 740)
literature
- Heinz Halm : The Schia . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt, 1988 ISBN 3-534-03136-9 .
- Annemarie Schimmel : And Muhammad is his prophet. Worship of the Prophet in Islamic Piety . Diederichs, Düsseldorf 1981 ISBN 3-424-00692-0 .