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Moses At Sinai

The following quote is a commentary on the nature of God by a major Shi’ah thinker, Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (AS), who is also considered an important mystical figure. Moses (AS) is a major figure in the Muslim tradition, and symbolically is used to reference legalism and law. His interaction with the Divine helps to establish our understanding of God. As far as we can tell, the first major development of the concept of divine speech was the work of the sixth imam of the Shi`ah, Ja`far al-Sadiq (d. 148/765). Respected for his piety and wisdom by all Islamic sects, Ja`far…

What is Shi’ism?

In the contemporary period Shi’ah is the standard short form for Shi’ah Ali, the Partisans of Ali. The Shi’ah have a history that goes back as far as the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and form one of the two main schools of thought in Islam; the other group being the Sunni, short for Ahl us-Sunnah wa Jama’ah, the People of Tradition and Consensus. The main division between these two groups relates to questions of religious authority, and who has that authority. In this post I want to give a brief outline of Shi’ah understandings of authority. Rather than cover…

Navroz Mubarak 2007

Yes, it is a hybrid date format. But the holiday is now hybrid. Little bit of Zoroastrianism, little bit of Iranian nationalism, little bit of Islam, little bit of 21st century style globalization. Here is a good, short history of contemporary Navroz. Just a clarification, the Ismailis don’t recognize Navroz as Hazrat Ali’s birthday, we recognize Yawm-e Ali as a separate holiday. Navroz is also a marker of the solar new year for most Ismailis. The Fatimids marked a celebration of the holiday as well in the 11th century. (see Ritual, Politics and the City in Fatimid Cairo). Here’s the…