REL 2029 Lecture : 4th Lecture
Document Summary
Stayed back and criticized because they could not fight because they would lose: 7th century: criticized the sunni pragmatism in accepting unjust rule of umayyads, taqiyyah (strategic dissimulation, defensive, independent reasoning, minority judgment > majority imposition, consensus. Suspicion that the majority can impose on one: imams- only legitimate heirs of prophet, divine guidance. Guided by god"s will: infallible interpreters of god"s will, futuristic orientation, millennialism, mahdi. Someone is going to come back: occultation. 874 11th imam dies, succession crisis, son. Muhammad concealed by god: 5 year old is hidden by god. Preserves guiding imamate even without living imam. Permanent opposition to unjust rule of abbasids without challenging it. Hidden imam stayed in contact with 4 ambassadors, followed in 941 by greater. Bakr, umar: twelvers, ismailis, zaydis, isma"ilis, seveners (reject 8th cent jafar"s appt. of younger son instead of grandson as successor)
