The state of the noble Imam\u2014the forerunner, the pure, the guide, the
rightly guided\u2014Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Him), and his rising
among the community of his grandfather, was manifest among
creation; none separated from him except this sect, the Ra fid ah,
regarding whose misguidance the noble report has come.
The reason for their separation from him is mentioned in the Kitab
Ma\u02bfrifat Allah by the Imam al-Ha d\u012b ila al-H aqq (Peace be Upon Him),
and in other works of the Imams and the Ummah. The Ummah agreed
that the Ra fid ah are the faction that reneged against Imam Zayd ibn
\u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Him); however, the reports differed concerning the
reason for their reneging. The Ahl al-Bayt (Peace be Upon Them) are
most knowledgeable in this matter. This faction followed its earlier
seceding predecessors, the H aru riyyah, as Imam Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace
be Upon Him) said: \u201cO Allah, place Your curse\u2014and the curse of my
fathers and grandfathers, and my curse\u2014upon these people who
rejected me and withdrew from my pledge of allegiance, just as the
people of H aru ra \u02be rejected \u02bfAl\u012b ibn Ab\u012b T a lib (Peace be Upon Him)
until they fought him.\u201d
As for the narration of the general historians, it is stated in History of
Nations and Kings by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, volume (8), p.
272, events of the year 122, as follows: \u201cWhen Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b feared that
he would be seized, he hastened before the time he had set between
himself and the people of Ku fah \u2026 until he said: When the
companions of Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b who had pledged allegiance to him saw
that Yu suf ibn \u02bfUmar had been informed of Zayd\u2019s affair and that he
was sending agents against him and seeking information about him, agroup of their leaders gathered to him and said: \u2018May Allah have mercy
on you\u2014what is your view regarding Abu Bakr and \u02bfUmar?\u2019 \u2026
\u2026 until he said: Zayd said to them: \u2018The most severe thing I say
regarding what you mentioned is that we were more entitled than all
people to the authority of the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him
and his family and grant them peace); the people appropriated it over
us and pushed us away from it, yet that did not reach, in our judgment,
the level of disbelief. They assumed authority, judged justly among the
people, and acted by the Book and the Sunnah.\u2019
They said: \u2018Then these did not wrong you if those did not wrong you;
so why do you call to fighting a people who are not unjust?\u2019\u201d
He said: \u201cThese are not like those. Indeed, these are oppressors\u2014
against me, against you, and against themselves. We only call you to
the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet (May Allah bless him
and his family and grant them peace); to revive the Sunnahs and
extinguish the innovations. If you respond to us, you will prosper; and
if you refuse, I am not a guardian over you.\u201d So they parted from him
and broke their pledge of allegiance. They said: \u201cThe Imam has
preceded.\u201d They used to claim that Abu Ja\u02bffar Muh ammad ibn \u02bfAl\u012b \u2014
the brother of Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b \u2014was the Imam. He had passed away by
then, while his son Ja\u02bffar ibn Muh ammad was alive. They said: \u201cJa\u02bffar
ibn Muh ammad is our Imam today after his father, and he is more
entitled to the matter after his father. We will not follow Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b ,
for he is not an Imam.\u201d So Zayd named them al-Rafidah.
He said: A group among them, before his uprising, went to Ja\u02bffar ibn
Muh ammad ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Him) and said to him: \u201cZayd ibn
\u02bfAl\u012b is among us and people are pledging allegiance to him\u2014do you see
that we should pledge allegiance to him?\u201d He said to them: \u201cYes\u2014
pledge allegiance to him; by Allah, he is our best, our master, and the
best of us.\u201d They then returned and concealed what he had
commanded them.
Al-Dhahab\u012b said in Siyar A\u02bflam al-Nubala\u02be, vol. 5, p. 389, in the entry on
Imam Zayd, as follows: \u201cHe narrated from his father Zayn al-\u02bfA bid\u012b n
and his brother al-Ba qir \u2026\u201d until he said: \u201cAnd from him narrated his
nephew Ja\u02bffar ibn Muh ammad, Shu\u02bfbah, Fud ayl ibn Marzu q, al-Mut t
alib ibn Ziya d, Sa\u02bf\u012b d ibn Khuthaym, and Ibn Ab\u012b al-Zina d. He
possessed knowledge, dignity, and righteousness. He erred and rose
up, and he was martyred.\u201d
Until he said: \u201c\u02bfI sa ibn Yu nus said: The Ra fid ah came to Zayd and
said: \u2018Disavow Abu Bakr and \u02bfUmar so that we may support you.\u2019 \u2026
They said: \u2018Then we reject you.\u2019 Hence they were called al-Ra fid ah. As
for the Zaydiyyah, they spoke by his word and fought alongside him.\u201d
And Isma \u02bf\u012b l al-Sudd\u012b mentioned from him: \u201cThe Ra fid ah are at war
with us; they rebelled against us.\u201d
\u02bfAbdulla h ibn Ab\u012b Bakr al-\u02bfAtak\u012b narrated from Jar\u012b r ibn H a zim, who
said: \u201cI saw the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant
them peace) as if he were leaning upon the plank of Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b ,
saying: \u2018Is this how you deal with my son?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u02bfAbba d al-Rawwa jin\u012b said: \u02bfAmr ibn al-Qa sim informed us. He said: I
entered upon Ja\u02bffar al-S a diq (Peace be Upon Him) while some of the
Ra fid ah were with him. I said: \u201cThey disavow your uncle Zayd.\u201d He
said: \u201cAllah disavows whoever disavows him. By Allah, he was the most
learned among us in the Book of Allah, the most knowledgeable
among us in the religion of Allah, and the most dutiful to kinship
among us\u2014there has not remained among us his like.\u201d
Al-Dhahab\u012b said: \u201cI say: He went out with interpretation, and he was
killed as a martyr; would that he had not gone out.\u201d
I say: Has there occurred, in the narrations of the early authorities, any
mention that would justify transferring the designation Rafidah to
those who preferred \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Him) over the early shaykhs?
This is falsehood and slander without any justification. For we andthey have agreed that the Ra fid ah are those who rejected Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b
(Peace be Upon Him).
Nashwa n al-H imyar\u012b said in his book al-Hur al-\u02bfIn in the discussion of
the Ra fid ah, as follows: Zayd said to them: \u201cAbu Bakr and \u02bfUmar are
not like these. These are oppressors against you, against themselves,
and against the Household of their Prophet. I only call you to the Book
of Allah so that it may be acted upon, to the Sunnah so that it may be
practiced, to extinguish innovations, and to remove and exile the
oppressors from Banu Umayyah. If you respond, you will prosper; and
if you refuse, you will lose\u2014and I am not a guardian over you.\u201d They
said: \u201cIf you do not disavow them, then we reject you.\u201d Zayd said: \u201cAlla
hu akbar. My father narrated to me from the Messenger of Allah (May
Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) that he said to
\u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Him): \u2018There will be a people who claim love for
us; for them is a nickname. When you meet them, kill them, for they
are polytheists.\u2019 Go\u2014indeed you are the Ra fid ah.\u201d They parted from
Zayd that day, and he named them al-Ra fid ah, and thus this name
came to apply to them.
Al-Sayyid Abu T a lib Yah ya ibn al-H usayn ibn Ha ru n al-H asan\u012b
narrated in his book al-Di\u02bfamah that all the factions of the Ummah
agreed upon the imamate of Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Him) except
this previously mentioned faction. He said: When his virtue and
precedence became manifest, his knowledge and excellence appeared,
and his perfection\u2014by which he surpassed the people of his age\u2014
became known, the groups of people, despite the differences of their
views, gathered upon pledging allegiance to him. The Zayd\u012b was not
more eager for it than the Mu\u02bftazil\u012b , nor was the Mu\u02bftazil\u012b quicker to it
than the Murji\u02be\u012b , nor the Murji\u02be\u012b than the Kha rij\u012b . His pledge of
allegiance thus encompassed the factions of the Ummah despite their
differences, and none deviated from pledging allegiance to him except
this small, ill-fated group.
Until he said: He was the most excellent of the \u02bfItrah, because he
shared with their collective matters in ways in which they did notshare with him. Among them is his distinction in \u02bfilm al-kalam\u2014which
is the noblest of sciences and the path to salvation, the knowledge
without which the other sciences are of no benefit\u2014along with his
precedence therein and his renown among the elite and the common
people.
This is Abu \u02bfUthma n \u02bfAmr ibn Bah r al-Ja h iz describing him in the
craft of theology, boasting of him, and bearing witness to the utmost
degree of his precedence. Ja\u02bffar ibn H a rith, in the Kitab al-Diyanah,
and many of the Mu\u02bftazilah of Baghdad\u2014such as Muh ammad ibn
\u02bfAbdulla h al-Iska f\u012b and others\u2014attribute themselves to him in their
books and say: \u201cWe are Zayd\u012b s.\u201d Sufficient for you in this matter is the
attribution of the Mu\u02bftazilah to him\u2014though they view people with an
eye like that with which the angels of the heavens view the inhabitants
of the
earth, by way of analogy. Were it not for the manifestation of his
knowledge, excellence, and precedence over all others in virtue, the
Mu\u02bftazilah would not have submitted to him.
Until he said: And among what indicates the soundness of what al-
Sayyid Abu T a lib narrated\u2014regarding the consensus of the factions
of the Ummah upon Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b \u2014is what occurred from the virtue of
a Kha rij\u012b poet who elegized Zayd (Peace be Upon Him) and
reproached the Zaydiyyah, saying:
O Abu al-Husayn\u2014affairs extend afar, O Abu al-Husayn\u2014if only the
Shurat were a band.
And he also said:
O Abu al-Husayn\u2014affairs extend afar, O Abu al-Husayn\u2014if only the
Shurat were a band.
And he also said:
[20\/6] The sons of Darzah abandoned you, cut off; They left the son of
Fatimah\u2014his noble forefathers.
The sons of Darzah abandoned you and fled; They left you hanging\u2014
your water withheld.
On Thursday\u2014not for the drink of the drinker\u2014In a place of spectacle
for the eyes.
And H asan ibn \u02bfAl\u012b ibn Yah ya ibn Ab\u012b Ya\u02bfla narrated from \u02bfUmar ibn
Mu sa , who said: I said to Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Him): \u201cWas \u02bfAl\u012b
an Imam?\u201d
He said: \u201cThe Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and his family
and grant them peace) was a sent Prophet. No one among creation was
in the rank of the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and his
family and grant them peace), nor did \u02bfAl\u012b have what the extremists
claim. When the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and his
family and grant them peace) passed away, \u02bfAl\u012b thereafter was the
Imam of the Muslims\u2014in their lawful and unlawful matters, in the
Sunnah from the Prophet of Allah, and in the interpretation of the
Book of Allah. Whatever \u02bfAl\u012b brought of lawful or unlawful, or Book or
Sunnah\u2014rejecting it was disbelief. That remained so until he
unsheathed the sword, made his call manifest, became entitled to
obedience, and then Allah took him as a martyr.\u201d
\u201cThen came al-H asan and al-H usayn (Peace be Upon Them). By Allah,
they did not claim the rank of the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless
him and his family and grant them peace), nor was there from the
Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them
peace) regarding them what he said regarding \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon
Him)\u2014except that he said: \u2018They are the masters of the youth of
Paradise.\u2019 Thus they are as the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless
him and his family and grant them peace) named them. They were two
just Imams, and they remained so until Allah\u2014Exalted is He\u2014took
them both as martyrs.\u201d
Then we were the progeny of the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless
him and his family and grant them peace) after them\u2014descendants of
al-H asan and al-H usayn. There was among usno Imam whose obedience was obligatory. By Allah, neither \u02bfAl\u012b ibn al-
H usayn\u2014my father\u2014nor anyone else claimed the rank of the
Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them
peace), nor the rank of \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Him). Nor was there from
the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and his family and grant
them peace) regarding us what he said regarding al-H asan and al-H
usayn, except that we are the progeny of the Messenger of Allah (May
Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace).
So these people say: \u201cYou envied your brother and your nephew.\u201d Do I
envy my father a right that is his? What an evil son I would be among
sons! I would then be a disbeliever if I were to deny him a right that is
his from Allah. By Allah, \u02bfAl\u012b ibn al-H usayn did not claim it, nor did my
brother Muh ammad ibn \u02bfAl\u012b claim it\u2014from the time I accompanied
him until he parted from me.
Then he said: Indeed, the Imam from among us, the Ahl al-Bayt (Peace
be Upon Them), whose obedience is obligatory upon us, upon you, and
upon the Muslims, is the one who unsheathes his sword, calls to the
Book of his Lord and the Sunnah of his Prophet (May Allah bless him
and his family and grant them peace), proceeds according to its
rulings, and is known for that. That is the Imam whose ignorance is
not permissible for us nor for you.
As for one who sits in his house, lets down his curtain, closes his door
upon himself, upon whom the rulings of the oppressors are carried
out, who neither enjoins good nor forbids evil\u2014how could such a one
be an Imam whose obedience is obligatory?
Regarding the merit of Zayd is what Muh ammad ibn Sa lim narrated.
He said: Ja\u02bffar ibn Muh ammad (Peace be Upon Him) said to me: \u201cO
Muh ammad, did you witness my uncle Zayd?\u201d
I said: \u201cYes.\u201d He said: \u201cDid you see among us anyone like him?\u201d
I said: \u201cNo.\u201d
He said: \u201cBy Allah, I do not think you will see among us anyone like
him until the Hour is established. By Allah, he was our master; he left
among us no equal to him in religion nor in worldly affairs.\u201d
And it is narrated from Muh ammad ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Him) that
he said\u2014pointing to Zayd\u2014: \u201cThis is the master of Banu Ha shim. If he
calls you, then answer him; and if he seeks your help, then help him.\u201d
[Al-Tuhaf: Sharh al-Zulf, by the Imam who renewed the religion, Majd
al-D\u012b n ibn Muh ammad ibn Mans u r al-Mu\u02beayyid\u012b (Peace be Upon
Him).]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The state of the noble Imam\u2014the forerunner, the pure, the guide, therightly guided\u2014Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Him), and his risingamong the community of his grandfather, was manifest amongcreation; none separated from him except this sect, the Ra fid ah,regarding whose misguidance the noble report has come.The reason for their separation from him is… Continue reading Who are the Ra fid ah<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":796,"featured_media":0,"parent":23199,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jet_sm_ready_style":"","_jet_sm_style":"","_jet_sm_controls_values":"","_jet_sm_fonts_collection":"","_jet_sm_fonts_links":"","footnotes":""},"post_subject":[],"class_list":["post-23553","the_postes","type-the_postes","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/the_postes\/23553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/the_postes"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/the_postes"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/796"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/the_postes\/23553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23554,"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/the_postes\/23553\/revisions\/23554"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/the_postes\/23199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_subject?post=23553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}