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(lit.: “return”), theological term that has had many meanings according to the context in which it was professed. RAJʿA (lit.: “return”). Abuʾl-Ḥasan Ašʿari (q.v., d. 935) introduces this concept in his work Maqālāt al-eslāmiyin as a belief held by a large majority of the “Rāfeża”—which in this context means Imami Shiʿites (Ašʿari, p. 46; on the term in general see Kohlberg, “Rāfiḍa”). In his Ketāb al-enteṣār, the Muʿtazilite Ḵayyāṭ (d. between /902 and 912) also attributes this doctrine to the Rāfeża, all the while adding that the latter conceal it from non- Shiʿites (Ḵayy…

(lit. “Lady of the Land,” i.e., of Persia), said to be the daughter of Yazdegerd III (r. 632-51), the last Sasanian king. ŠAHRBĀNU (lit. “Lady of the Land,” i.e., of Persia), said to be the daughter of Yazdgerd III (r. 632-51), the last Sasanian king. According to the beliefs of the Shiʿites, in particular the Twelvers or Imamis, but also of a substantial number of Sunnis, she became the principal wife of the third Imam, Ḥosayn b. ʿAli, and the mother of the fourth Imam, ʿAli b. Ḥosayn b. ʿAli Zayn al-ʿĀbedin (q.v.).…

an extremist Shiʿite sect named after Abu’l-Ḵaṭṭāb al-Asadi (killed ca. 755) who for some time was an authorized representative of Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādeq (d. ca. 765) in Kufa. A version of this article is available in print Volume XVI, Fascicle 2, pp. 127-129 ḴAṬṬĀBIYA (Khattabiyya), an extremist Shiʿite sect named after Abu’l-Ḵaṭṭāb al-Asadi (killed ca. 755 CE), who for some time was an authorized representative ( dāʿi) of Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādeq (d. ca. 765) in Kufa. Our knowledge of the Ḵaṭṭābiya comes primarily from two well-known theologians, who show little agreement: …

b. ʿALī b. Šahrāšūb b. Abī Naṣr b. Abi’l-Jayš (b. Sārī, Māzandarān; d. Aleppo, 2 September 1192), the most illustrious Imami scholar of the 12th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume VIII, Fascicle 1, pp. 53-54 EBN ŠAHRĀŠŪB, ABŪ JAʿFAR (or Abū ʿAbd-Allāh) ZAYN-AL-DĪN (or ʿEzz-al-Dīn, Rašīd-al-Dīn) MOḤAMMAD b. ʿALī b. Šahrāšūb b. Abī Naṣr b. Abi’l-Jayš (b. Sārī, Māzandarān; d. Aleppo, 22 Šaʿbān 588/2 September 1192), the most illustrious Imami scholar of the 12th century. He was also called, though rarely, Ebn Kīā…

Shiʿite doctrine is usually considered to be based on five principles. However, to articulate matters of faith in such a manner seems reductionist and late. SHIʿITE DOCTRINE. Shiʿite doctrine is usually considered to be based on five principles. The first three, called “the principles of religion” ( oṣul al-din; a somewhat ambiguous ascription which may also mean “theology”; Gimaret EI ²), are fully shared with Sunnism: belief in the unity of God ( tawḥid); in the mission of the prophets and especially that of the last among them Moḥammad ( nobowwa); belief in the existence of reward…

Dissimulation, called taqiyya in Arabic, is the action of concealing one’s religious convictions when divulgence would bring danger or death. Two Qurʾānic verses seem to allow Muslims to conceal their true convictions in case of danger: Q 3:28 and 40:28 (cf. Q 16:106). The two main terms for tactical dissimulation or mental concealment in matters of faith found in these verses are taqiyya, literally “care” or “fear” (from the same root w-q-y come tattaqū and tuqātan in Q 3:28), and kitmān, literally “the act of concealing or hiding” (from k-t-m, cf. yaktumu in Q 40:28).The first Muslims …

Heresy is dissent from commonly accepted doctrine with a tendency towards sectarianism. Heresy, of course, only has meaning in light of orthodoxy, the elaboration of which in Islam seems to have begun as a traditionalist reaction to the politico-theological policies of the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Maʾmūn (r. 198-218/813-33; Lewis, Observations, 43-4; Makdisi, Ibn ʿAqīl, 26-7). Although the Qurʾān is the foundational text of Islam, it is difficult to locate a strict concept of heresy within it. Nevertheless, as Muḥammad is not understood to deliver a new message,…

The term me ʿ rāj means “instrument of ascension,” more specifically associated with the Prophet Mohammad's “heavenly or celestial ascent”. MEʿRĀJ The term me ʿ rāj means “instrument of ascension,” more specifically associated with the Prophet Mohammad's “heavenly or celestial ascent”. MEʿRĀJ i. DEFINITION Derived from the Arabic instrumental form mefʿāl, the term meʿrāj means “instrument of ascension,” either a “ladder” or a “stairway;” it can also designate the place one revolves or from where one climbs. However, in a technical sense and often accompanied by the article al-, it …

daughter of the Prophet Moḥammad. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 4, pp. 400-404 i. IN HISTORY AND SHIʿITE HAGIOGRAPHY The diametrically opposed views of Henri Lammens, who made the first attempt at a biography of Fāṭema, providing a pale, even negative picture, and Louis Massignon (continued by Henry Corbin, q.v.), who conceived an ideally mystical figure, reflect to some extent the information provided in the sources, particularly the earlier sources, characterized as they are by lac…

The following series of articles provide an overview of some historical, contemporary, and especially political aspects of the topic that are of special interest and relevance in the world today. ISLAM IN IRAN. Although a large number of articles in this Encyclopaedia are devoted to specific aspects of Sunnite Islam in general and Shiʿite Islam in particular, the following series of articles provide an overview of some historical, contemporary, and especially political aspects of the topic that are of special interest and relevance in …

theories of the origins and structure of the universe. A version of this article is available in print Volume VI, Fascicle 3, pp. 303-329 COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY i. In Zoroastrianism/Mazdaism The “orthodox” myth. The extant Avesta contains no systematic exposition of the cosmological beliefs of the people among whom it was composed and who eventually brought Zoroastrianism to western Iran. Such expositions are known only from much later, in the Pahlavi tradition of the Sasanian period. The main texts are the Bundahišn and the Selections of Zādspram, both of which, however, clearl…