Consider a sect, whom despite its\ntruth, is put under pressure by the government and other political and\nreligious groups. They are slaughtered in the open and in secret, never leaving\nthem a decade in peace. And the society, well despite its desire to be kind to\nthis group, is tricked by the government to maintain its hatred and animosity.\nConsidering the vast territory of the government the story gets even worse by\ngoing farther away from the residence of the Imam of this group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the midst of such conditions, the\nImam of this sect must on one hand preach religion, a duty placed upon him by\nAllah (SWT) and handed to him by the Great Prophet of Islam, to meet the\nspiritual needs of society; and on the other hand must defend the lives,\nproperties, and faith of his current followers who are under a great deal of\npressure and surveillance. The Caliph views this group as his major political\ncompetitors, and thus places them in prisons when killing is not possible.\nLikewise the scholars of other sects consider them as their theological rivals,\nand fear this sect’s popularity amongst their own followers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over time, with the wise efforts of\nthe Infallible Imams (PBUT) and their companions, the boundary of Shiite\nsociety moved out of the city of Kufa into different places of the Islamic\nstate. After the migration of Imam Reza (PBUH) to Khurasan, his family members\nwere forced out and scattered throughout the country as opposition towards them\nincreased. Many Shiites (1) moved to eastern provinces of the country and often\nlived in communities far from each other. This was a major step in the\nmigration and development of Shiite society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There however remained a communication\nproblem with the expansion process.(2) There was now a need for a systematic\nmeans of communication with the Imam, who leads and guides the whole society,\nas well as a means to correspond between the Shiites themselves. This matter\ncame to more of an importance during the time of the ninth Imam\/Imam al-Jawad\n(PBUH), which led to the establishment of a system of deputies. Within this\nsystem, the Imam would select each deputy, whom would then deliver the Imam’s\nguidance on religion and politics to the people within their region. This\nsystem had a hierarchical form and covered various geographical areas. The\ndeputies were grouped under a higher ranked deputy, who would be responsible\nfor all contacts above him, until it would finally reach the Imam himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the lifetime of Imam Hasan\nal-Askari (PBUH), despite Abbasid Dynasty’s close watch on him, the Imam had\nmanaged to maintain communication with the people through this very system of\ndeputies. He would appoint persons with bright knowledgeable backgrounds as his\ndeputies. They were selected from those people who had strong ties with the previous\nImams, or with himself, and whose academic reputation could be a firm support\nfor the Shiites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By contemplating different letters and\nsayings of Imam Askari (PBUH) one can find these letters had a great role in\nguidance of Shiites on performing their religious rituals, and on recognition\nof the Imam’s deputies. Through these letters Imam Askari (PBUH) would\nemphasize his deputies’ accountability, while also distinguishing and\nclarifying their positions and locations. With this he strengthened trust\ntoward his deputies amongst the Shiite community. And even when certain doubts\nand accusations were made towards a deputy, the Imam would reply back in\nanother letter to clarify the doubts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of the noticeable and educative\nfeatures of this system, there comes the debate of traitorous deputies, and how\nthey were dealt with through such system. In rare incidents, when a deputy from\namongst all others would fail to fight his desires, and as a result steal from\nShiite properties (3), the Imam would write a letter admonishing and removing\nthat person (whom was chosen in the first place because of his faith and obedience\nto Allah’s (SWT) laws to be a connection between the people and the Imam) from\nhis position. Such a person would be banished immediately from the Shiite\ncommunity, and as a result free the Shiite community from any further dangers\ncarried out by such person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another great application of this\ndeputy system was to avoid penetration of false groups such as people who did\nnot believe in the twelve Imams, Ghulaat (4) and other forged Shiite sects.\nThis system was especially very important to maintain the rich culture of Shia,\nand avoid vicious thoughts brought by the enemy to affect those living further\naway from the Imam. Moreover, this system (as it was started at the time of\nearlier Imams) provided a foundation for the occultation era of the last Imam\/Imam\nal-Mahdi (PBUH). Such a connection allowed the Shiite community to preserve its\nculture and eventually maintain its right thoughts from the wrong ideas of\nother sects. Furthermore, the usage of such accurate system allowed Shiite\nteachings to spread in smaller communities (such as Kash and Samarqand).\nLastly, the major means of communication were through letters, a process most\nadvanced in its time.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Reference:\n“The Political and Theological life of Shiite Imams (PBUT)” by Rasool\nJa’farian \u2013 with minor changes)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On behalf of Roshd website, we\ncongratulate Imam Mahdi (PBUH) and all the Shiites and lovers of Ahl al-Bayt\n(PBUT) on the anniversary of the birthday of Imam Hassan al-Askari (PBUH).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Footnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1- Despite the\npressures exerted by the Abbasids, the lovers of Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT) had\nincreased. Here by mentioning Shiite we mean the real followers of Ahl al-Bayt\n(PBUT) and not the lovers of Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT). Imam Hassan al-Askari has\nexplained the difference between Shia and lover of Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT) in a\nnarration. (Tafsir Imam al-Askari (PBUH) p. 316)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2- Some Shiite\ncenters at the time of Imam al-Askari (PBUH) were: Kufah, Baghdad, Neyshabur,\nQum, Aabeh, Mada’in, Khurasan, Yemen, Rey, Adhrabayjan, Samara, Jorjan, Basrah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3- These\nexpenses had a critical role in defending the Shiites, strengthening the needy\nShiites and the oppressed people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4- Ghulaat were\npeople who tried to exaggerate the position of the Imams (PBUT) to carry out\ntheir own evil plans. In some cases they introduced the Imams (PBUT) as the\nLord and in some other cases would claim to be the deputy of the Imam (PBUH).\nThe Infallible Imams (PBUT) would severely struggle with these people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Consider a sect, whom despite its truth, is put under pressure by the government and other political and religious groups. They are slaughtered in the open and in secret, never leaving them a decade in peace. And the society, well despite its desire to be kind to this group, is tricked by the government to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28248],"tags":[23392,17778,23391,23394,21598,19551,18658,23365,20271,18418,18536,23393,18897,18777],"class_list":["post-4667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-occasional-letters","tag-2006-05-07","tag-allah","tag-depyty-system-a-from-of-connection-in-shiite-society","tag-farther","tag-follower","tag-government","tag-great","tag-imam-hasan-askari","tag-meet","tag-occasion-letters","tag-prophet","tag-put","tag-story","tag-truth"],"yoast_head":"\n