Zaydism

Zaidiyya, Zaidism or Zaydism (Arabic: الزيدية az-zaydiyya, adjective form Zaidi or Zaydi) is a Shī'a maðhab (sect, school) named after the Imām Zayd ibn ˤAlī. Followers of the Zaidi fiqh are called Zaidis (or are occasionally called Fivers in the West). However, there is also a group called the Zaidi Wasītīs who are Twelvers (see below).

Zaidi Imāms

Followers of the Zaidi fiqh recognise the first four Ithnaˤasharī Imams but they accept Zayd ibn Ali as their "Fifth Imām" instead of his brother Muhammad al-Baqir. After Zayd ibn Ali the Zaidi recognize other descendents of Hasan ibn Ali or Husayn ibn Ali to be Imams. Other well known zaidi imams in history were Yahya ibn Zayd, Muhammad al Nafs az-Zakiyah, Ibraheem ibn Abdullah etc..

Muhammad	Last Prophet
Ali ibn Abu Talib	1st Imam
Hasan ibn Ali	2nd Imam
Husayn ibn Ali	3rd Imam
Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al Abidin	4th Imam
Zayd ibn Ali ash-Shahid	5th Imam

Law

In matters of law or fiqh, the Zaidis follow Zaid ibn Ali's teachings which are documented in his book Al Majmu al fiqh. The Zaidis are closest to the Sunnī Hanafī maðhab and Sunnī Shafi'i maðhab with elements of the Shi'i Jafari fiqh schools.

Theology

In matters of theology, the Zaidis are close to the Mu'tazili school, but they are not Mu'tazili since there are a few issues between both schools.

Unique Beliefs

The Zaidi Sects

• The Zaidi sect was started by the Sahaba of Zaid bin 'Ali, his companions Abu'l Jarud Ziyad ibn Abi Ziyad, Sulayman ibn Jarir, Kathir an-Nawa Al-Abtar and Hasan ibn Salih.
• The Zaidi sect then divided into three groups:

1. The earliest group called Jarudiyya (named for Abu'l Jarud Ziyad ibn Abi Ziyad), was opposed to the approval of certain companions of Muhammad of Abu Bakr. They held that there was sufficient description given by the Prophet so that all should have recognised Imam 'Ali. They therefore consider the companions sinful in failing to recognise Imam 'Ali. They also denied legitimacy to Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman, they also denounce Talha, Zubair, and Aisha. This sect was active during the late Umayyad and early 'Abbasid period. Its views although predominant among the later Zaidis, became extinct due to similarities with the Ithna 'Ashari sect.
2. The second group, Sulaimaniyya (for Sulayman ibn Jarir), held that the Imamate should be a matter to be decided by consultation. They felt that the companions, including Abu Bakr and 'Umar, had been in error in failing to follow Imam 'Ali but did not amount to sin. Talha, Zubair, and Aisha became disbelievers.
3. The third group is Tabiriyya, Butriyya or Salihiyya (for Kathir an-Nawa Al-Abtar and Hasan ibn Salih). They are virtually identical in belief with the Sulaimaniyya, differing only in that that the Tabiriyya do not revile 'Uthman.

Zaidi beliefs are moderate compared to other Shi'i sects. The Zaidis do not believe in the infallibility of the Imams, nor that they receive divine guidance. Zaidis also do not believe that the Imamate must pass from father to son, but believe it can be held by any Sayyid descended from both Hasan ibn Ali or Husayn ibn Ali .

Zaidis believe Zayd was the rightful successor to the Imāmate because he led a rebellion against the Umayyads, whom he believed were tyrannical and corrupt. Muhammad al-Baqir did not engage in political action and the followers of Zayd believed that a true Imām must fight against corrupt rulers.

Zaidis also reject the notion of Occultation (ghayba) of the "Hidden Imām". Like the Ismā'īlīs, they believe in a living Imām (or Imāms).

Community

Since the earliest form of Zaidism was of the Jarudiyya group, many of the first Zaidi states such as the Alavid, Buyid, Ukhaidhirid and Qasimid (Founding Zaidism of Yemen) were inclined to the Jarudiyya group.

The first Zaidi state was established in Daylaman and Tabaristan (northern Iran) in 864 C.E. by the Alavids; it lasted until the death of its leader at the hand of the Samanids in 928 C.E. Roughly forty years later the state was revived in Gilan (north-western Iran) and survived under Hasanid leaders until 1126 C.E. After which from the 12th-13th centuries, the Zaidis of Daylaman, Gilan and Tabaristan then acknowledge the Zaidi Imams of Yemen or rival Zaidi Imams within Iran.

The Buyids were reported to have been Zaidi, as well as the Ukhaidhirite rulers of Najd in the 9th and 10th centuries.

The leader of the Zaidi community took the title of Caliph. As such, the ruler of Yemen was known as the Caliph, al-Hadi Yahya bin al-Hussain bin al-Qasim (a scion of Imam al-Hasan) who, at Sa'da, in 893-7 C.E., founded the Zaidi Imamate and this system continued until the middle of the 20th century, until the revolution of 1962 C.E. that deposed the Zaidi Imam. The founding Zaidism of Yemen was of the Jarudiyya group, however with the increasing interaction with Hanafi and Shafi'i Sunni Islam, there was a shift from the Jarudiyya group to the Sulaimaniyya, Tabiriyya, Butriyya or Salihiyya groups.

Zaidis form the dominant religious group in Yemen. Currently, they constitute about 40-45% of the population in Yemen. Whilst Ja'faris and Isma'ilis are 2-5%.[1],[2] In Saudia Arabia, it is estimated that there are over 1 million Zaidis (primarily in the western provinces) and 3-4 million Jafaris (primarily in the eastern provinces.[3]

Currently the most prominent Zaidi movement is Hussein al-Houthi's Shabab Al Mu'mineen who have been the subject of an ongoing campaign against them by the Yemeni Government in which the Army has lost 743 men and thousands of innocent civilians have been shelled or displaced by government forces.

Shia Population of the Middle East

Al-Zaidi (Az-Zaidi)

People with the last name Al-Zaidi (Az-Zaidi) are Sayyid, Arab descendents of Zayd bin Ali that either stayed in Kufa, Iraq or returned to Al-Hijaz and migrated to Al-Asir and Northern Yemen. They are predominantly Twelvers but some are of the Zaidi fiqh

Zaidi Wasitis

Some Zaidis are known as Wasitis. Zayd ibn Ali was martyred in Kufa, Iraq, many of his descendents either returned to al-Hijaz or remained in Iraq. Some of those who stayed in Iraq settled in Wasit. Some descendants from Wasit then moved to the Indian subcontinent. These Zaidis believe in twelve Imams and are part of the Shia Ithna Asharia. Most of them settled in India and Pakistan. The biggest group of Zaidis believing in twelve Shia Imams is known as Saadat-e-Bara. Saadat means descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and Bara means twelve in Hindi and Urdu. Saadat-e-Bara's numbers are highest in Karachi (Pakistan) and Muzaffarnagar (India).

Literature

• Cornelis van Arendonk : Les débuts de l'imamat zaidite au Yemen , Leyde , Brill 1960 Template:Fr icon

External links

• Zayiddiyah
• Zaydism