Zaidiyyah

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

Zaidi Imāms

Followers of the Zaidi fiqh recognize the first four of the Twelve 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 descendants 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 and Ibrahim ibn Abdullah.

Law

In matters of law or fiqh, the Zaidis follow Zaid ibn Ali's teachings which are documented in his book Majmu Al Fiqh (in Arabic: مجموع الفِقه). The Zaidis are similar to the Hanafi madhhab with elements of the Jafaari madhhab.

Theology

In matters of theology, the Zaidis are close to the Mu'tazili school, but they are not Mu'tazilite, since there are a few issues between both schools, most notably the Zaidi doctrine of the imamate imamah, that are rejected by Mu'tazilites.

Unique Beliefs

The Zaidi Sects ^[1]

• The Zaidi sect was started by the followers 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. 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 as the legitimate Caliph. They also deny legitimacy to Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman, they also denounce Talha, Zubair. 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 Twelver (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 it did not amount to sin.
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.

The Zaidis do not believe in the infallibility of the Imams, nor that the Imams 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 either Hasan ibn Ali or Husayn ibn Ali. It must be noted, however, that Shi'i Twelvers do not necessarily believe in Imamate passing from father to son either, as can be seen from the transition of Imamate from the second Imam, Hasan ibn Ali, to his brother Husayn ibn Ali, after his death.

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.^{[citation needed]}

Zaidis also reject the notion of Occultation (ghayba) of the "Hidden Imām". Like the Ismā'īlīs, they believe in a living Imām (or Imāms).^{[citation needed]} Great Sunni Imam Abu Hanifa has given a Fatwa (Legal verdict) in favor of Imam Zaid^{[citation needed]} in his rebellion against Ummayid ruler of his time.

Community and former States

Since the earliest form of Zaidism was of the Jarudiyya group^[1], many of the first Zaidi states, like those of the Alavids, Buyids, Ukhaidhirids^{[citation needed]} and Rassids, 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^[2]; 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.^[3]

The Buyids were Zaidi^[4] as well as the Ukhaidhirite rulers of al-Yamama in the 9th and 10th centuries.^[5]

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 ar-Rassi Rassids (a descendant of Imam al-Hasan) who, at Sa'da, in c. 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 (see Imams of Yemen). 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.^[6]

Currently, Zaidis constitute about 40-45% of the population in Yemen. Ja'faris and Isma'ilis are 2-5%.[2],[3] In Saudi Arabia, it is estimated that there are over 1 million Zaidis (primarily in the western provinces).^{[citation needed]}

Currently the most prominent Zaidi movement is Hussein al-Houthi's Shabab Al Mu'mineen who have been engaged in a uprising against the Yemeni Government in which the Army has lost 743 men and thousands of innocent civilians have been killed or displaced by Houthi and government forces causing a grave humanitarian crisis in north Yemen. Shia Population of the Middle East^[7]

See also

Al-Zaidi (Az-Zaidi)

People with the surname 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 Asir and Northern Yemen. They are usually Zaidis or Twelvers^[6]

Zaidi Wasitis

Literature

• Cornelis van Arendonk : Les débuts de l'imamat zaidite au Yemen , Leyde , Brill 1960 (French)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Article by Sayyid 'Ali ibn 'Ali Al-Zaidi, A short History of the Yemenite Shi‘ites (2005) Referencing: Momen, p.50, 51. and S.S. Akhtar Rizvi, "Shi'a Sects"
2. ^ Article by Sayyid 'Ali ibn 'Ali Al-Zaidi, A short History of the Yemenite Shi‘ites (2005) Referencing: Iranian Influence on Moslem Literature
3. ^ Article by Sayyid 'Ali ibn 'Ali Al-Zaidi, A short History of the Yemenite Shi‘ites (2005) Referencing: Encyclopedia Iranica
4. ^ Walker, Paul Ernest (1999), written at London ; New York, Hamid Al-Din Al-Kirmani: Ismaili Thought in the Age of Al-Hakim, Ismaili Heritage Series, 3, I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies., pp. 13, ISBN 1860643213 
5. ^ Madelung, W. "al-Uk̲h̲ayḍir." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007. Brill Online. 07 December 2007 [1]
6. ^ ^{a b} Article by Sayyid 'Ali ibn 'Ali Al-Zaidi, A short History of the Yemenite Shi‘ites (2005)
7. ^ The Gulf 2000 Project SIPA Columbia University

External links

• Zayiddiyah
• Zaydism
• Majlais Al Mohammed