Sheikhism

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The Shaykhism or Scheichismus ( Arabic الشيخية asch-schaichiyya , DMG aš-šaiḫīya , Bahai transcription Sh ay kh ism ) is the youngest of the three schools of the Twelve Shiite Islam . It was founded in the early 19th century by Sheikh Ahmad al-Ahsā'ī . While it was able to attract a broad and influential following, its doctrine always remained controversial.

In the middle of the 19th century, a significant part of his following accepted the claims of the Bab and thus formed the core of the new Babism movement . Those Sheikhi who did not embrace Babism followed in the majority Karīm Khān Kirmānī, who weakened the majority of the controversial teachings of Sheikhism and adapted them to Uṣūlism (the most common school). Today there are still Sheikhi minorities of around 200,000 in Iran and around 300,000 in Iraq and the rest of the Gulf region .

to teach

In order to have knowledge of something, there must be a certain similarity between what is known and what is known. However, since there is no resemblance between God and man, man can never know the essence of God. Any knowledge a person has about God is only the product of his imagination. From God comes his will, which conditions all creation. This image of God rejects the Sufi concept of existential unity and mystical union with God .

God himself has two kinds of knowledge: an essential one, which cannot be separated from his essence, and a created knowledge that becomes reality when God acts within creation. This principle can also be applied to all other attributes of God. This view is in conflict with the common ideas of the Imamites, but can be associated with medieval scholasticism . A distinction is made between essential and accidental attributes of God. Essential, "essential" attributes are closely related to the essence, such as the existence of life. Accidental attributes, such as anger or grace, are independent of the essence, and changing them does not affect the essence.

The prophets act as mediators between humans and God. The prophets are neither identical with God nor with humans. Not only are the prophets ordinary people whom God has chosen to receive His revelation, but they are endowed with unique abilities that would even be beyond the capabilities of the perfect human. This goes against the Sufi idea that a person can reach the level of a prophet through spiritual self-purification.

The first creation that God made was the creation of the light of Muhammad . From this light, in turn, the twelve imams arose . From the light of the imams, in turn, came the believers and so on. So the imams are an instrument of creation , they even condition it, since God created the world for their sake. They are intermediaries through which man can achieve a certain idea of ​​God and through them God's generosity reaches people.

Between the material and the spiritual world there is a mediating intermediate world, the " Hūrqalyā ", the world of archetypal images. In orthodox Islamic eschatology , the idea of purgatory (“ Barzach ”) comes closest to this teaching. In the material world, the human body corresponds to the Hūrqalyā. The living but hidden twelfth Imam ( Muhammad al-Mahdī ), the cities of Jābulsā and Jābulqā, where his whereabouts are believed, and many other eschatological concepts exist in Hūrqalyā. It was precisely this idea that brought Sheikh Ahmad into conflict with the entire Islamic orthodoxy, but for him it was his main undertaking to bring Islam, especially its eschatological ideas, into harmony with rationality.

According to this teaching, the concealment of the twelfth imam does not mean that he is hiding somewhere in the material world, so that no physical contact with him is possible. He does indeed exist in Hūrqalyā, and for those who are earnestly trying to reach him in this world he continues to serve as a Shiite imam. The initiation of the seekers into the divine mysteries is particularly emphasized.

Hūrqalyā also plays an important role in relation to the resurrection on the last day. It is not the material body that arises, but its equivalent in Hūrqalyā, the "fine body". Heaven ( janna ) and hell ( jahannam ) are also the result of human actions, which create appropriate conditions for this person for his personal existence in Hūrqalyā.

The ascension of Muhammad is not understood as a journey of the physical body but as one of the subtle body in Hūrqalyā.

The four basic principles of faith (Ūṣūl ad-Dīn) are understood:

  1. Unity ( Tawheed ) and righteousness ('Adl) of God (Allaah)
  2. Prophethood (Nabuwwa) and resurrection (Ma'ād) on the day of judgment
  3. Leadership of the Imamate (Imāma)
  4. Presence of a "perfect Shiite" (ash-Shī'ī al-Kāmil or ar-Rukn ar-Rābi 'or Rukn-i Rābi') who acts as an intermediary between the hidden Imam in Hūrqalyā and the physical world. This perfect Shia is the leader of the Shaykhī and their hierarchical structure. (Therefore, the early Shaykhī were considered first Sheikh Ahmad and then Sayyid Kāzim as guides and gate (Bāb) to the hidden Imam.)

This is different from the basic principles of the Orthodox Imamites. They know five basic principles of faith, whereby the unity and justice of God and the prophecy and resurrection are understood as individual principles and the presence of the perfect Shiite is unknown.

Leaders

Sheikh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i

Sheikh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i began at the age of about 40 years with his studies in the Shiite centers of Najaf and Karbala . He achieved sufficient recognition in these circles and was declared a mujtahid , an interpreter of Islamic law . He was able to assert himself in discussions with Sufis and Neoplatonic scholars and gained their recognition. He explained that these are sciences within the framework of the Koran and that the Koran contains all of human knowledge. For this purpose, he developed a system for interpreting the Koran and tried to find out more about current scientific topics in the Muslim world. His views were valued by some of the clerics with whom he debated prior to his trip to Yazd . During his stay in Yazd he wrote most of his books and letters. Sheikh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i left Sheikhism only two years before his death, yet his leadership was undisputed by his followers until his death. He chose Sayyid Kāzim Rashti to succeed him .

Sayyid Kāzim Rashti

Sayyid Kāzim Rashti said he did not live to find the promised Mahdi himself. Instead, he instructed the Sheikhi to find the Mahdi, who, according to their belief, had come back at that time.

Many Sheikhi saw Mullah Husayn as the Mahdi they were expecting, but he refused them and ordered them to keep looking for the Mahdi. Nevertheless, many sheiks spread the news that Mullah Husayn was the returned Mahdi. In 1844 sheikhism finally split into two camps. One part continued to search for the Mahdi and the other continued to see the Mahdi in Mullah Husayn.

Mullah Husayn and Sayyid Ali-Muhammad

On May 23, 1844, during his search for the Mahdi, Mullah Husayn met Sayyid Ali Muhammad in Shiraz . Sayyid Ali Muhammad assumed the title of "Bab" on the same day and claimed to be the promised Mahdi. Mullah Husayn and many Shaikhi followers accepted this claim and became the first followers of Bab (see letters of the living ). However, the bab was arrested on charges of apostasy and heresy and publicly executed on July 9, 1850. Most of the Babis then turned to Bahāʾullāh , who declared that he was the revealer of God announced by the Bab. Since then, the Baha'i have viewed sheikhism as the forerunner of their own religious traditions.

Karim Khan

Hadj Karim Khan Kirmani made himself leader of the sheikhi who did not join the Bab. He criticized the Bab and wrote four letters against his claim. Bahāʾullāh described Karim Khan again as a "fool against his better judgment". Karim negated some of the more radical teachings of Ahmad al-Ahsa'i and Kazim-i-Rashti and tried to return sheikhism to its original teaching.

literature

  • Vahid Rafati: The Development of Shaykhī Thought in Shī ʿ ī Islam . A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements of the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic Studies. Los Angeles 1979 ( Online on Bahá'í Studies Web Server - unpublished).
  • Moojan Momen: An introduction to Shi ' i Islam. The history and doctrines of Twelver Shi ' ism . Yale University Press, New Haven 1985, ISBN 0-300-03499-7 , pp. 225-231 .
  • Peter Smith: Shaykhism . In: A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith . Oneworld Publications, Oxford 2008, ISBN 978-1-85168-184-6 , pp. 312 .
  • Peter Smith: Shí'ism . In: A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith . Oneworld Publications, Oxford 2008, ISBN 978-1-85168-184-6 , pp. 312-313 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nabíl-i-Zarandí: The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative . Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois, USA 1932, ISBN 0-900125-22-5 , pp. 16 ( online ).
  2. ↑ Nabíl-i-Zarandí: The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative . Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois, USA 1932, ISBN 0-900125-22-5 , pp. 47 ( online ).
  3. ↑ Scholarship on the Baha'i Faith , Moojan Momen
  4. ↑ Bahāʾullāh: Kitab-i-Aqdas - The Most Holy Book . Bahai Verlag, Hofheim-Langenhain 2000, ISBN 3-87037-339-3 ( online - verse 170).