The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-10
THE RELIGIONOF THE SHAH
THE PERsIINs ARE sHIAHS, or
"FOLLOWERsv or ALI, SON.
milan OF the PROPHET.

Ucism and hTstica-No PERSIAN hAuhltu
May GO to Mecea-Baws Of the shtahs
The Shah NJ Persia Is the temporal head o
that section Of Muhammadans known us 'tht
shinhs." or "Sheeahs." lie Is the great polit
lcal and religious opponent OF the sultan OF
Turkey. who claims 10 be the Caliph or sue.
cessUr 70 the prophet Of Arabia, and Is the head
NJ the Sunni Muslims OF Turkey, but not OF
the Sunnis of India, Morocco. and AlZlcrs.
ihe Persian Muslims maintain Tint All. who
married the prophets daughter. Fatima, was
the legitimate Imam or Khalccfah the correct
rendering Of our English CeliphI. They, there.
fore. reject the three caliphs OF the sunni Mas
Inns as usurpers. namely. Abu Bakr. Omar.
and osnan. The meaning OF Shah is follow.
ers," that Is, followers OF ALL. They are called
by the Turks "Rahzi.' or the "forsakers" Of the
truth. but they call themselves tho "Imami.
yas,' because they believe that the Muslin re-
liglon consists In the true knowledge Of tho
Imam. They are also called tho twelveans,"
because they acknowledge only twelve Imams.
The present Sultan Of Turkey claims to be the
eightv'eighth in spiritual descent from the
prophet. But the people Of Persia only anknowl-
edge the following individuals as having a
rightful claim TO the position: ~ All. the SON
in'law OF tho prophet; W Hasan. the son Of
AZ; % Husain. the second son of All; a.
Takes; 90 All, NpEee; I'll TasSn 4sEnTeci
claimed to lie the Mahdi. and is supposed by
the people Of Persia to bc still alive, although
re has withdrawn for q time. lhey expect him
70 appear in the last days as the Mahdi, or the
director. which Muhammad prOphesied would
appear he, ore the day of Judgment. They as
sert that his last Imam, while "A boy, being per-
secuted by the Abbt-idcs. disappeared down a
well, at Hillah. near Basdad; and 1bn KhalLun,
lims would assemble every evening after sunset
NJ this well aud entreat the absent Imam TO APP
pear again on earth.
The shah of Persia Is In no sense regarded
as the spiritual head OF Islam. even in Per.
oia' In the present day. during The absence
to those enlightened doctors OF the law who
are supposed 10 be inspired, and are called TIE
The Persian Muslims are. however, divided
BY numerous schisms. and OF the proven
th!rty-two are assigned to tho Shiahs.
1t has often been asserted anu notably by
, Mr, sale al, in his iniroduGtiog TO the Koran.
tons. This is not correct. 1t is true that
they ne do not receive What are known as the
sunnis: but they. have five correct books
of their own. The Rev. James l.. Merrick
into English portions of the Observation-Disclosures,
the most popular book of traditions among
tte Perst4ns; which was written somewhere
The shah faith first became the national
reIiEiop Of Persia upon the accession Of Is
Mad r Shah, when at the zenith of his
power, attempted to convert the persians to
his ambitious designs. but the attempt failed.
and the attachment OF the persians to the
Shah faith has remained as decided as ever.
The present Shah OF Persia, Muzasar.u I'D
deem. is nth Of the r%eigning dynasty of the
hhlars. which took possession OF the crown
after a civil war extending over fifteen years,
from 1919 to 1894.
The enmity existing between the Sunnis OF
lurkey and the Shiahs of Persia is undying; so
much so that no Persian Muslin is allowed TO
make the pilgrimage to Mecca unless he pro.
for the time to be a Sunni.
But although the exciting cause or the Shah
,,chism was a dispute, regardinR the claims OF
ny Cause les far deeper in the immpassapbie
THEOLOGICAL gulf which separates the Aryan
md Semitic races. Owing to the strongly cen.
rallied form Of government. the empire OF
he Sassanidrs succumbed at once before the
of the Arabs. But Persia was
c%endants Of the Caliph Ali encouraged the
'ersians to rise as one man against their Arab
\ rabs. were willing to espouse any cause
shich would enable them to throw OF the
OF the Arab conqueror.
The Muhamnadans of the province of Oudh
n British India, including the city of Luck.
ow, are for the most part shiahs. and there
.hiah,s. the law is always administered
{ JURISPRUDENCE is of earlier date than that OF
he Sunmis. Those who are interested in the I
iirable English exposition OF Shtah law in I
lr: y: b; +. Baillie's Digest Of the Imameea !
ode. lie differences extend to the laws OF q
slavery. inheritance. preemptlon, a
nd those Of evidence. g
There are also some peculiar differences be- !
seen the religious observances OF the Sunnis q
Turkey aud the Sh!ahs of Persia. The Per- I
ans observe the ceremonies OF the Muharram
ommemoration OF the persecution and mar. 4
ron of Hasan and OF Husain. They have b
'Neral differences in their !iturgical cere- 7
,onies. as Tor example the position and attl- :
le fire worshippers OF Persia are in possession II
an inspired record from God. while the sun. 7
= N uH. "a n kklYlaP "a n IN laura -EtE . r
I'd ;Musl!ns ~ in possession of diviuely in %
ired books. They have such a profound ven, y
at many Of their sects regard him as an in. 81
Of divinity. while they all assert a.
ost perfect OF men. A peculiar feature in a
liah law is its sanction. OF Mutah. or tempo. -.
ry marriages. 1t is this, sanction which has =,
,e u canker worm. Mutah Is a marriage ,
attracted for Ii United period FOR II certain SUN e.
npded upon a sanction which was given by Il
prophet o: Arabia to his soldiers at Khyber. 81
1t the Sums hold that the sanction was only az
%nporary. and was abrogntel by the prophet m
nself. 1t is unquestionahly the greatest a.
ve visited Persia can, testify, as to its de-, 70
tdIng influence upon tbs people. &c
In many respects the peoaIe Of Persia can ne ne
freely lie said to he orthodox Muslims, even ~
en we regard, The term ''!r,hodox" from &c
= standpotnt of Muslin tsachigg. They are ~
book, the. :udHndri, occupies a place almost u,
al to thc Koran. They are what are called WI
III u itISluh term ucIINtl tllNcF from tho
able "suf.' WOOL, on account OF the woollen
- worn by. these ]ascetiCS, or from the
~'safu,' purity, with reference 10 tho ,
'rt maze 10 attain metaphysical purity. or -
IN the Greek SOFIA wisdom, or, according yo,
several Arabic di rtiouaries, from ''sufa," u l
name of a tribe OF Arabs who were ascetics ".
the times Of ignorance" and were engaged ~
!usively in the heather worship OF tho .soS
CCan temple. G
o the students of comparative religion it is lar
lent that Persian mysticism Is identical 50,
h the mysticism OF the Hindu and the Buddh- i ~
IL Is merely a M~uhammadAu adaptation 'Hai
he same conception. I,
hus.. according to Persian mysticism. hui :.
\ life Il u Journey" and the seeker after 7
Is IA traveller" The great business OF the ,b''
Keller is 10 exert himself and strive Ia al III
!, that, perfect knowledge Of God which H.
II lead the wandering sou, onward. stage inr I'M
stage, until 1t reaches the desired gual-per. ~
uutou with the Divine Being, ahsorp- frmn
e annihilatI4n. This journey is repre-. bs5
red by one Persian writer AS consisting II ~,
r stages. First, humanity; secondly, the mn
IRE ~ angels; thirdly, the possession Of ~
e. fourthly, extinction. scholars have h,i
N tried To explain away this term Just as -
have tried TO explain away the Buddhist hrs
n NtFWlnu. Rut In nimits ~ AZ. ,tIan "a ~,