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Imam Musa, peace be on him, was forced during the days of al‐Mehdi to send a letter to Hisham.
He asked him to refrain from theology due to the dangerous situation, and Hisham refrained from
that until al‐Mehdi died.[1]
It is necessary to talk briefly about these subject matters; similarly, it is necessary to deal with
some important events that happened at that time and to know the policy of the then
government. That is because studying the life of the Imam, peace be on him, depends on having
knowledge of these affairs. Besides they show us great part of the political and social problems at
that time. I (the author) think that a researcher is in need of having knowledge of such matters.
Al‐Shi‘ubiya
Rwait Ronaldson, an orientalist, maintained that the appearance of the movement of al‐ shi‘ubiya,
intense conflict between the Arabs and the rest of other peoples were the most important events
happened at the time of Imam Musa, peace be on him.[2] This viewpoint is very surface. It
indicates that its owner did not study the Islamic history deeply, that he did not understand the
beginning and development of the events in history. For al‐ shi‘ubiya was not born at that time.
Rather it began before it for a long time. We will give proofs of that. It is necessary to pause to
inquire into this important event, which is the greatest of all the events with which the Islamic
world was afflicted. That is as follows:
A. The Definition of al‐ shi‘ubiya
The linguists have differed over the definition of this word (al‐ shi‘ubiya). In the book al‐Lisan, al‐
shi‘ubi is he who degrades the importance of the Arabs and sees that they have no excellence
over other than them. In the book al‐Sihah, al‐ shi‘ubiya is a sect that does not prefer the Arabs to
non‐Arabs. So according to the first definition, al‐ shi‘ubi is he who degrades the value and dignity
of the Arabs and sees that they have no excellence over those other than them. According to the
second definition, al‐ shi‘ubi is he who regards the Arabs and those other than them as equal. Ibn
‘Abd Rabba maintained this definition in his al‐‘Aqd al‐Ferid, saying: “Surely, al‐ shi‘ubiya are the
men of equality.”
The modern writers have differed over defining the meaning of al‐ shi‘ubiya. Al‐‘Adawi has
maintained that al‐ shi‘ubiya has been derived from al‐ shi‘ub, meaning the return to the past of
peoples, vainglory throughout geographical and historical fanaticism, leaving the Arabs’ message
aiming at creating new society evaluating man according to his work and service.[3]
As for al‐Duri, he believes that the concept of al‐ shi‘ubiya is complicated, that the
[1] Al‐Keshi, Rijal, p. 172.
[2] 'Aqidat al‐Shi'a, p. 163.
[3] Al‐Mujjtama' al‐'Arabi wa Munahadat al‐Shi'ubiya, p. 12.
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