نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسنده
استادیار و عضو هیأت علمی مجتمع آموزش عالی بنت الهدی وابسته به جامعه المصطفی العالمیه، قم، ایران
چکیده
کلیدواژهها
موضوعات
عنوان مقاله [English]
نویسنده [English]
In the fifth to tenth centuries AH, the strategic land of the ancient Levant (al-Shām), comprising Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine, was the arena of a sensitive and fateful encounter between two discourses: Imami Shi'ism and Sunnism. Nevertheless, advantages such as the historical precedent of the Sunni community's presence, which was linked to the time of the Islamic conquest of this land; demographic predominance; the political backing of centralized and aligned governments that had gained general political and social acceptability due to their successful record in containing external crises and were prepared to employ all their capacities to strengthen this discourse; and the presence of first-rate Sunni scholars alongside it, had placed the Sunni discourse in a superior and hegemonic position—the result of this situation being extremely difficult and arduous conditions for Twelver Shi'ism.
However, according to historical evidence, Imami Shi'ism was astonishingly present and active in the Levant in subsequent centuries, and despite the research conducted, the resolution of this historical paradox still requires investigation in order to answer the following questions: How did the Imami Shi'is of this region survive those difficult and arduous conditions, and what strategies did they adopt in the face of the hegemonic Sunni discourse?
The present study, employing a descriptive-analytical method, seeks to answer the above question in order to trace the reasons for the vitality and dynamism of the Shi'a of this region in the tenth century AH, and to arrive at scholarly and practical models that the Shi'a can adopt according to the requirements of the time and the capabilities at their disposal for improving their situation or preserving their existence.
The findings of this research indicate that Imami Shi'ism, in this discursive atmosphere, encountered the aforementioned situation with two positions: active and passive. A portion of the Shi'i body saw the preservation of their current existence in aligning themselves with the rival. However, another portion envisioned a broader prospect before themselves, such as guaranteeing the survival of their discourse in subsequent periods; consequently, cognizant of the perilous nature of this path and taking into account the four factors of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and environmental challenges, they placed a series of strategies on their agenda that were not equal in terms of effectiveness. Among these, the strategy of taqiyya (dissimulation), although adopted by both the scholars and the commonality of the Shi'a, was effective merely for preserving life and alleviating suffering under those harsh conditions.
However, a strategy such as the establishment of a government, in addition to providing the ground for the Shi'a to assert themselves against the rival discourse, helped—by preparing the ground for the growth of Imami Shi'i thought—to strengthen the doctrinal foundations of the Shi'is, to delineate identity boundaries, and to guarantee their survival in the future.
The strategy of debate (munāẓara) was likewise often dependent upon the existence of a Shi'i power capable of protecting the scholar who participated in the debating assembly; however, in terms of effectiveness and in clearing the reputation of Imami Shi'ism from certain accusations and rumors, it had the full and complete effect of the strategy of elucidating Shi'i doctrines.
The strategy of migration (hijra) at this juncture encompassed a twofold direction: the migration of the Shi'i commonality to inaccessible regions for the preservation of their lives, and the short-term or permanent propagational migration of Imami Shi'i scholars to this region, which brought about the preservation of life and, at the same time, the further maturation of the semantic system of the Imami discourse, and whose blessings manifested in the transformation of the Jabal Amil region into a focal point of Shi'ism—a centrality one of whose results was the establishment of Shi'i seminaries and, consequently, the emergence of great scholars such as al-Shahid al-Thani, whose scholarly legacy was preserved in his patron of learning family.
This focal point acquired the capacity to purify Shi'i thought in other regions, such as Safavid-era Iran, from the deviant ideas of the Sufi current.
It may be said that the operational model of the Shi'is in this discursive encounter was, first, the establishment of a government where possible, and in the event of success, they would utilize all the capacities of that government to strengthen their own system of thought; however, in the event of the impossibility of establishing a government, the utilization of the region's indigenous capacities and the internal capabilities of the discourse was placed on the agenda, and at the same time, they would await an opportunity in the future as actively as possible, adopting patience and silence.
کلیدواژهها [English]
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