Ghulat: Difference between revisions
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'''Ghulāt''' ({{lang-ar|غلاة}}; lit. "extremists",<ref name="EI2">{{Cite encyclopedia | edition = 2nd| publisher = Brill Academic Publishers| volume = 2| pages =1093–1095 | last =Hodgson | first = M. G. S.| title = GHULĀT | encyclopedia = [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]| year = 1965 }}</ref> the adjectival form of '''ghulū'''), is a term used in the theology of [[Shia Islam]] to describe some minority Muslim groups who either ascribe divine characteristics to a member of [[Muhammad]]'s family ([[ahl al-bayt]]), or hold beliefs deemed deviant by mainstream Shi'i theology. In later periods, this term was used to describe any shia group not accepted by the [[Zaydis]], orthodox [[Twelvers]], and sometimes the [[Ismailis]].<ref name="EI2" /> |
'''Ghulāt''' ({{lang-ar|غلاة}}; lit. "extremists",<ref name="EI2">{{Cite encyclopedia | edition = 2nd| publisher = Brill Academic Publishers| volume = 2| pages =1093–1095 | last =Hodgson | first = M. G. S.| title = GHULĀT | encyclopedia = [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]| year = 1965 }}</ref> the adjectival form of '''ghulū'''), is a term used in the theology of [[Shia Islam]] to describe some minority Muslim groups who either ascribe divine characteristics to a member of [[Muhammad]]'s family ([[ahl al-bayt]]), or hold beliefs deemed deviant by mainstream Shi'i theology. In later periods, this term was used to describe any shia group not accepted by the [[Zaydis]], orthodox [[Twelvers]], and sometimes the [[Ismailis]].<ref name="EI2" /> |
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Some Sunni scholars considered the [[Safavids]] ghulu because they cursed the [[Sahaba]], but this have been extended to all Shia Muslims who curse the Sahaba. |
Some Sunni scholars considered the [[Safavids]] ghulu because they cursed the [[Sahaba]], but this have been extended to all Shia Muslims who curse the Sahaba.<ref>The Sahaba, chapter 1, page 24</ref> |
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The usage derives from the idea that the importance or the veneration of such a religious figure has been "exaggerated". |
The usage derives from the idea that the importance or the veneration of such a religious figure has been "exaggerated". |
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Revision as of 03:39, 16 December 2011
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Ghulāt (Arabic: غلاة; lit. "extremists",[1] the adjectival form of ghulū), is a term used in the theology of Shia Islam to describe some minority Muslim groups who either ascribe divine characteristics to a member of Muhammad's family (ahl al-bayt), or hold beliefs deemed deviant by mainstream Shi'i theology. In later periods, this term was used to describe any shia group not accepted by the Zaydis, orthodox Twelvers, and sometimes the Ismailis.[1]
Some Sunni scholars considered the Safavids ghulu because they cursed the Sahaba, but this have been extended to all Shia Muslims who curse the Sahaba.[2]
The usage derives from the idea that the importance or the veneration of such a religious figure has been "exaggerated".
History
Traditionally, the first of the gulāt was Abd Allah ibn Sabaʾ, who may have denied that Ali had died and predicting his return (rajʿa), which was considered one form of ghulū. Also, the notion of the absence (ghayba) of an imam who is due to return and establish justice as Mahdi seem to have appeared first among the ghulāt.[1] Other positions which seem to have been considered ghulū by early writers were the (public) condemnation (sabb) of Abu Bakr and Umar as usurpers of Ali's right to be a successor of Muhammad, and the notion that the true imams were infallible (maʿsūm).[1]
In later periods, mainstream Shia groups, especially the Imamiyya, have identified three acts that have been judged as "extremism" (ghulū). These acts of heresy are: the claim that God sometimes takes abode in the bodies of the Imams (ḥulūl), the belief in metempsychosis (tanāsukh), and considering Islamic law to be not obligatory (ibāḥa), similar to antinomianism.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d Hodgson, M. G. S. (1965). "GHULĀT". Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 1093–1095.
- ^ The Sahaba, chapter 1, page 24
- ^ Halm, Heinz (2004-07-21). Shi'ism. Edinburgh University Press. p. 154. ISBN 9780748618880.
Further reading
- Tucker, William Frederick (2008). Mahdis and millenarians: Shī'ite extremists in early Muslim Iraq. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521883849.
- Moosa, Matti (1987). Extremist Shiites: the ghulat sects. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815624110.
- Halm, Heinz (1982). Die islamische Gnosis: die extreme Schia und die ʻAlawiten. Artemis Verlag. ISBN 9783760845302.
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