Ghaiba

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Ghaiba ( Arabic غيبة, DMG ġaiba  'hiddenness, absence') is a belief concept that forms the core of the eschatology of many Shiite beliefs . Each of these groups has its Hidden Imam . A life in secrecy is also assumed by Jesus in Islam.

The various Shiite schools differ on the one hand in the Imam from which they accept a Hidden Imam (e.g. Twelve Shiites or Seven Shiites ) and on the other hand in their conception of secrecy: the majority of Shiites , especially the Twelve Shiites , believe that the last Imam will not had died, but lived on in the secrecy from which he would come back as Mahdi at the end of time . The Ismailis, on the other hand, believe by a majority that a line of hidden imams continues in secret from father to son until it appears again in public in the form of the Mahdi. The best-known example of this is the claim of the Fatimid caliph Abdallah al-Mahdi . The return of the Imam does not necessarily mean the end of time for Ismailis.

The idea of ​​secrecy first appeared in 700 among the Kaisanites , a group of Shiites living in Kufa who considered Muhammad ibn al-Hanafīya , the son of Ali and one of his female slaves, to be the fourth imam; he did not die, but withdrew from the world and lived in hiding.

The Sabaʾiyya , who are waiting for Ali's return, form a special group . Ali reigned as the 4th caliph and is the first imam to represent the founding figure of the Shiites. The Sabaʾiyya (see also ʿAbdallāh ibn Sabaʾ ) consider reports of his murder in 661 to be untrue and regard him as the only imam who continued to live in secrecy.

Twelve Shiites

Among the Twelve Shiites , Muhammad al-Mahdī , the son of the 11th Shiite Imam Hasan al-ʿAskarī , is considered the 12th and "hidden" Imam, although the historical existence of this son outside of the Twelve Shi'a is not undisputed. According to the doctrine of the Twelve Shiites, Muhammad was hidden from persecution by the Abbasids while his father was still alive , so that the time of concealment began with the death of the 11th Imam. The 12th Imam is said to have stayed in contact with his followers through his representatives (wakīl). These are also called "speaking imams" (ناطِق, DMG nāṭiq ) or emissaries ( Arabic : sufarāʾ ; singular: safīr ). This "little concealment" ended with the death of the fourth emissary in the year 940. Since then the 12th Imam has lived in the "great concealment", in which he no longer has any contact with the living, although he is still considered to be alive. The Hidden Imam is said to come back as a Mahdi at the end of time .

According to Suhrawardi , the Mahdi is incognito present, but he cannot reveal his presence because he would immediately lose his spiritual power.

Ismailis

For the Ismailis the secrecy began with Ismail , the son of Jafar as-Sādiq , who is generally recognized as an imam . The Ismailis assume that Ismail, who was chosen by his father as his successor, did not die in 760 (as the Twelve Shiites narrate), but hid himself from the oppression of the Abbasids . According to Ismaili doctrine, his line continued in secret from father to son.

Qarmatians (Seven Shiites)

After two generations, the Ismailis split in different directions: the Qarmatians consider Muhammad ibn Ismail , according to Ismaili counting the 7th Imam, as the "Hidden Imam". These seven Shiites are similar in concept to the twelve Shiites. This tradition is continued today by the Bohras in Bombay .

Fatimids

Other lines of succession arose in 902, when the Ismaili Dāʿī Abdallah al-Mahdi appeared with the claim to be "descendant of the last known Imam" and 11th Imam . This claim was recognized by most of the Ismailis, but not by the Qarmatians . Abdallah al-Mahdi founded the Caliphate of the Fatimids (910–1171), from whose successor disputes the following Ismaili directions and the Druze emerged.

Nizarites

The Ismaili Nizarites consider Nizār ibn al-Mustansir , who was passed over to the throne of the Fatimid caliphate in 1094 , as the rightful 19th imam. Since then, the Imamat has been passed on from father to son. Since these Imams did not hide, no new period of secrecy began for the Nizarites. The Assassins of the Crusades belonged to this direction . After the destruction of the Nizarite fortress of Alamut by the Mongols , there was also a split between two lines, the Mu'minites who still live in Syria and the Qasimites who came to India via Persia. Aga Khan IV , the current descendant of the quasimite line, is recognized as an imam by most of today's Nizrats.

Tayyibites

Another split among the Ismailis took place in 1130 after the assassination of the 10th Fatimid caliph and 20th Imam al-Amir . With his son at-Tayyib Abi l-Qasim , according to the teachings of the Tayyibites (cf. Bohras and Dawudi Bohras ), a new period of secrecy ( called Satr ) that continues to this day began . Among the Tayyibites, the representatives of the Hidden Imam are the Dā'ī al-Mutlaq .

Druze

The Druze counts the 6th Fatimid Caliph and 16th Imam al-Hakim not only as a Mahdi but even as an incarnated deity. The status of the Druze as Muslims is therefore controversial.

literature

  • Hussein Ali Abdulsater: "Dynamics of absence: Twelver Shiʿism during the Minor Occultation" in the magazine of the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft 161/2 (2011) 305–334. Digitized
  • Said Amir Arjomand: "The Crisis of the Imamate and the Institution of Occultation in Twelver Shiʿism: A Sociohistorical Perspective" in International Journal of Middle East Studies 28/4 (1996) 491-515.
  • MacDonald, DB; Hodgson, MGS: G̲h̲ayba ( Encyclopaedia of Islam  : in 12 vols. [With indexes etc.] / ed. By PJ Bearman, Th. Bianquis, CE Bosworth, E. van Donzel, WP Heinrichs et al. - 2nd ed. - Leiden : EJ Brill, 1960-2005.)
  • Walter Madelung: "Authority in Tvelver Shiism in the Absence of the Imam" in Religious Schools and Sects in Medieval Islam . London 1985, pp. 163-173.
  • Heinz Halm : The Shiites . 2005

Web links

References and footnotes

  1. For example, 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 well-informed about the requirements of the time and capable of leadership to [...] "

    - Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1979
  2. “Muhammad, the son of 'Ali and the Hanafitin Khaula, was born AH 21 = AD 642 (by Ibn Khalligän) and died in Medina AH 81 = AD 700. His followers (Kaisanites), however, believe that he did not die , but keep yourself hidden, some say in the Radwagebirge in the west of Medina, others say on the island of Kharag in the rock under the mosque. "( dsr.nii.ac.jp : Friedrich Sarre & Ernst Herzfeld: Iranische Felsreliefs . Berlin 1910) . The followers of al-Muchtar ibn Abi Ubaid ath-Thaqafi recognized Ali's son as their Imam and Mahdi.
  3. Jafar is the 6th imam among the Twelve Shiites (with Ali as the first imam), but 5th among the Ismailis (as Ali is not counted).