'Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol I. Historical. Part II. J G Lorimer. 1915' [‎2354] (871/1262)

2354
Kufah and thence to Damascus, and his body lay unburied until the
next day*.
Origin of The occurrences described above gave rise to the principal schism
the Shi ah by which Islam is divided. It was maintained by the partisans of 'Ali
schism, t and his sons, who afterwards came to be known as Shi'ahs, that ; Ali
and his descendants possessed an indefeasible and exclusive right to the
Khalifate; and the Shi^ahs consequently regard all those who have
actually presided over Islam, with the exception of ''Ali and Hasan only,
as usurpers. The Shi^ah list of the true Khalifahs, or, as they term
them, of the Imams, runs as follows : (1) ; Ali, son-in-law of the prophet
Muhammad; (2) Hasan, the eldest son of ''Ali by Fatimah, the daughter
of Muhammad; (3) Husain, the second son of ' Ali by JFatimah, the
daughter of Muhammad; (4) 'Ali, surnamed Zain-ul-'Abidin, son of
Husain; (5) Muhammad-al-Baqir, son of Zain-uVAbidin; (6) J a tar-
as-Sadiq, son of Muhammad-al-Baqir ; (7) Musa-al-Kadhim, son ot
Ja'far; (8) 'AH-bin-Musa, known as Ar-Ridha, son of Musa-al-Kadhim ;
(9) Muhammad-at-Taqi or Muhammad-al-Jawad, son of Ar-Ridha; (10)
'Ali-an-Naqi, son of Muhammad-at-Taqi; (11) Hasan-al-^Askan, son
of 'Ali-an-Naqi; and (12) Muhammad-al-Mahdi, son of Hasan-al-
'AskariJ. With the last named, whom the Shi'ahs believe to be living
in concealment and whose reappearance they await, ends the senes o
' the twelve Imams; and from this number the general ^ 0( ty f 0 ^ ^ 1 a s
are described in common parlance as Ithnah-'Ashariyah, or o owers
of the Twelve/' in contradistinction to Shi'ahs belonging to various
minor sects.
Origin of The Ibadhi form of the Muhammadan religion is said to have been
the Ibadhi introduced into 'Oman by two of the Khawarij, who escaped trom
denomina- slaughter of their fellow believers by 'Ali at Nahrwan.
rn, . The descendants of 'Ali and Fatimah through males are universally
'* SaiviT" distinguished as Sadah or Sadat, that is Saiyids, and at some p ace ® ,
"Tabatahayi" the Gulf region, as in many other parts of the Muhammadan Wj
and whole communities of these persons exist: such are the j. a f • i
'Sharif Bahrain and the Shi'ah Saiyids of Gumarun in the Hayat Qis i
of the Persian coast. The Saiyids or ruli ng family of O man^;
# Though the fate of Husain excites commiseration, it is difficult to r ®f al( ^ ^
as Shi*ahs do, in the light of a Shahid or martyr. In the first place thei HP
to be no real reason for holding that descendants of Muhammad had ^
right to the Khalifate ; in the second, it seems that any right wnicn ,
have possessed was renouced b\ Hasan during his headship of the tarn y »
the third, it is clear that Husain lost his life, not in vindicating a moral ° it
principle, but merely in an attempt to wrest the temporal power ±rom^_'
should be remembered, however, that the title Shahid is very light y _
some Muhammadan countries; in places on the Indo-Afghan 1:1011 ^ w itb
an ordinary traveller who has been killed by highwaymen. Ihose w o i g0 p 08 .
Husain have perhaps a better claim than he to be considered martyrs ; a ^
sibly has his father 'Ali, who was murdered by a religious fanatic w i
ruling over 'Iraq. , 0 {
fit is not intended to imply, by what is stated in the text, that
Shi'ism, as it now exists, is merely historical. ,
The tombs of these ImSms, are, as we shall see further on, situate
except those of the second, fourth, fifth and sixth Imams, which are at ^
and tnat of the eighth, Vnioh is at Mashhad in Persia, while the last l' 11
of course no tomh.
n