The Social Identity of Imamiyah Shia in the Early Centuries; a Historical-Sociological Analysis of Ibn-e-Monir Tripoli’s Balladry

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Abstract

Both the fourth and fifth centuries are considered as the era of
the political-religious power and dominance of Shiism over the
world of Islam. Shiites’ geographical expansion throughout the
world of Islam, accompanied by the political support of the two
states of Buyid Dynasty in Baghdad and the Fatimids in Egypt
and Shamat(The Levant) region, allowed Shiites to both freely
express their beliefs and perform many of their rites. According
to the bipolar conflict theory in sociology, investigating Shiites’
doctrinal-social status, based on the texts and reports indicating
Shiite-Sunni confrontations of identity, could be one of the
sources for the social-historical analysis of those times. One
of the important sources in this regard is the famous balladry
by Ibn-e-Monir Tripoli named Ttryh, in which these clashes of
identity are well depicted. Ibn-e-Monir, being impressed by an
incident occurred between him and one of the then grandees in to Sharif, in which he pictured a host of beliefs and confrontations
present in the then society. The range of the issues posed in
this poem, including doctrinal beliefs, ritual inconsistencies
and practical issues (namely jurisprudential), shows all the
confrontations present at that time. Examining the verses of this
poem, the present study seeks to first demonstrate the origin
of Shiite beliefs and rites passed down by Ahl al Bayt (Family of
the Prophet); and second, point out the historical evidences and
the existence of disconformity among the Islamic sects of the
then society, especially in Baghdad as the residence of Sharif and
Shamat and Egypt as the residence of Ibn-e- Monir

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