Rafida
Encyclopedia
Rāfiḍah is a collective noun which means "defectors" or "deserters". The word is derived from the Arabic consonantal root ر ف ض, which as a verb means "to desert". The non-collective singular form is rāfiḍī "a deserter". This is an Islamic term which refers in a derogatory way to those who, in the opinion of the person using the term, reject so-called legitimate Islamic authority and leadership. To those who the term is being directed towards, rafida is a pejorative appellation, a negative affect, and an abusive nickname.
The term is used today by many Sunni Muslims
to refer to Shi'i Muslims who do not recognize Abu Bakr
and his successors as having been legitimate rulers (Rashidun
) of the early Muslim community. The Shi'a, in turn, may refer to Salafi
s as "Nasibi
s" or "Wahhabi".
against the Umayyad Caliphate. This uprising foreshadowed the collapse of the dynasty, which in turn led to the split between those Shi'i Muslims who agreed with Zayd and those who did not. The meaning of the term went through several changes over time. It became a popular pejorative term for Twelvers, intended to recall their rejection of Zayd ibn Ali and of the first Sunni Rashidun, namely Abu Bakr, Umar
, and Uthman
.
There is much debate of the exact origin of rafida; one example of an early instance is from the Maḥāsin of Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad Barqī, who died in 888 CE. A section of the Maḥāsin reveals occasions of the use of rafida ascribed to Ja'far al-Sadiq
:
Mughira ibn Shu'ba
is said to have coined the term rafida against those who had rejected him.
Others refer to another historical text for its origin. Ja'far al-Sadiq believed that rafida was an honorific given first by God and preserved in the Hebrew Bible
and the New Testament
: he mentioned that there were 70 men among the people of Pharaoh who rejected him and his ways and rather joined Moses, and God called those 70 men Rafida. The Twelvers believe that after the death of Muhammad, they were the only ones who rejected evil, making them the successors of the original Rafida. They considered their rejection of evil to be leaving the power of Zayd ibn 'Ali and staying true to the ways of Ali
. However, the term does not appear in the Qur'an. There are also those who insist that rafida was mentioned in the original texts, but the enemies later deleted the context including rafida.
used it in his description of the Alawi
s, considered by many as a ghulat
sect, during his visit to Syria
in 1326. The term continues to be used in this way today. Rafida was also sometimes used to indicate extremists and ash-Shi'i for moderates. The pejorative use of the term continued to denote the Twelvers throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. Additionally, Sunnis used the example of the Dajjal
to describe the ultimate rejector of their ways; "Dajjal" was worse than calling a Shi'i Muslim a rafidi.
When they wanted to be derogatory, Sunnis called their Shi'i opponents Rawafid and the Shi'ites responded by calling their Sunni opponents Nawasib.
At certain points, the Shi'i decided to turn this negative term that was being used against them daily and turn it into something positive. The Shi'is sometimes designated themselves as Rawafid, which is someone who refuses; it's also a derogatory term applied by the Sunnis to describe the Shi'is who refused to accept the early caliphates. They decided to refer to themselves a Rawafid since it gave them a sense of pride because the revolted against Zayd ibn 'Ali's tyranny. Through the years, Rafida was transformed within the Shi'i world from an abusive nickname into a name signifying special praise, making it a positive term. Not only did they use the word as honorific amongst the community, they furthered the positive term by writing it into ancient history stories where they had always rejected evil, not turned towards evil.
Until 1993, schoolbooks in Saudi Arabia openly denounced the Shi'i and Sufi beliefs and referred to the Shi'i as rafida in the books. The curriculum was changed after protests and rafida is no longer used in the text books; the Shi'a beliefs are still however denounced in the books.
The term is used today by many Sunni Muslims
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
to refer to Shi'i Muslims who do not recognize Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr was a senior companion and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632-634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death...
and his successors as having been legitimate rulers (Rashidun
Rashidun
The Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first four Caliphs who established the Rashidun Caliphate. The concept of "Rightly Guided Caliphs" originated with the Abbasid Dynasty...
) of the early Muslim community. The Shi'a, in turn, may refer to Salafi
Salafi
A Salafi come from Sunni Islam is a follower of an Islamic movement, Salafiyyah, that is supposed to take the Salaf who lived during the patristic period of early Islam as model examples...
s as "Nasibi
Nasibi
Nasibi is an Islamic term used by the Shias for someone whom they claim hate the Ahlul Bayt of the prophet Muhammad, their followers and others whom they consider as heretic...
s" or "Wahhabi".
Origin
The term rafida followed the Shi'a from a very early period, back to the uprising of Zayd ibn AliZayd ibn Ali
Zayd ibn ‘Alī was the grandson of Husayn ibn Alī, the grandson of Muhammad. Zayd was born in Medina in 695. His father was the Shī‘ah Imam ‘Alī ibn Husayn "Zayn al-Abidīn"...
against the Umayyad Caliphate. This uprising foreshadowed the collapse of the dynasty, which in turn led to the split between those Shi'i Muslims who agreed with Zayd and those who did not. The meaning of the term went through several changes over time. It became a popular pejorative term for Twelvers, intended to recall their rejection of Zayd ibn Ali and of the first Sunni Rashidun, namely Abu Bakr, Umar
Umar
`Umar ibn al-Khattāb c. 2 November , was a leading companion and adviser to the Islamic prophet Muhammad who later became the second Muslim Caliph after Muhammad's death....
, and Uthman
Uthman
Uthman ibn Affan was one of the companions of Islamic prophet, Muhammad. He played a major role in early Islamic history as the third Sunni Rashidun or Rightly Guided Caliph....
.
There is much debate of the exact origin of rafida; one example of an early instance is from the Maḥāsin of Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad Barqī, who died in 888 CE. A section of the Maḥāsin reveals occasions of the use of rafida ascribed to Ja'far al-Sadiq
Ja'far al-Sadiq
Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq was a descendant of Muhammad and a prominent Muslim jurist. He is revered as an Imam by the adherents of Shi'a Islam and as a renowned Islamic scholar and personality by Sunni Muslims. The Shi'a Muslims consider him to be the sixth Imam or leader and spiritual...
:
A man came to Ja'far al-Sadiq saying that someone had warned him against becoming a Rafidi and Ja'far replied "By God, this name which God has granted you is excellent, as long as you follow our teaching and do not attribute lies to us." Muhammad al-BaqirMuhammad al-BaqirMuḥammad ibn ‘Alī al-Bāqir was the Fifth Imām to the Twelver Shi‘a and Fourth Imām to the Ismā‘īlī Shī‘a. His father was the previous Imām, ‘Alī ibn Ḥusayn, and his mother was Fatimah bint al-Hasan...
also mentioned an instance when he pointed at himself stating "I am one of the Rafida."
Mughira ibn Shu'ba
Mughira ibn Shu'ba
al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah ibn Abī ʿĀmir ibn Masʿūd ath-Thaqafī was one of the more prominent companions of Muhammad.-Muqawqis:Mughira had a dialogue with both Muqawqis, Vicegerent of Egypt and Caesar.Mughira was impressed by the dialogue with Muqawqis...
is said to have coined the term rafida against those who had rejected him.
Others refer to another historical text for its origin. Ja'far al-Sadiq believed that rafida was an honorific given first by God and preserved in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
and the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
: he mentioned that there were 70 men among the people of Pharaoh who rejected him and his ways and rather joined Moses, and God called those 70 men Rafida. The Twelvers believe that after the death of Muhammad, they were the only ones who rejected evil, making them the successors of the original Rafida. They considered their rejection of evil to be leaving the power of Zayd ibn 'Ali and staying true to the ways of Ali
Ali
' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
. However, the term does not appear in the Qur'an. There are also those who insist that rafida was mentioned in the original texts, but the enemies later deleted the context including rafida.
Usage
The fourteenth-century Sunni traveler Ibn BattutaIbn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta , or simply Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad–Din , was a Muslim Moroccan Berber explorer, known for his extensive travels published in the Rihla...
used it in his description of the Alawi
Alawi
The Alawis, also known as Alawites, Nusayris and Ansaris are a prominent mystical and syncretic religious group centred in Syria who are a branch of Shia Islam.-Etymology:...
s, considered by many as a ghulat
Ghulat
Ghulāt , is a term used in the theology of Shia Islam to describe some minority Muslim groups who either ascribe divine characteristics to a member of Muhammad's family , or hold beliefs deemed deviant by mainstream Shi'i theology...
sect, during his visit to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
in 1326. The term continues to be used in this way today. Rafida was also sometimes used to indicate extremists and ash-Shi'i for moderates. The pejorative use of the term continued to denote the Twelvers throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. Additionally, Sunnis used the example of the Dajjal
Dajjal
al-Masih ad-Dajjal , is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology. He is to appear pretending to be Masih at a time in the future, before Yawm al-Qiyamah , directly comparable to the figures of the Antichrist and Armilus in Christian and Jewish eschatology, respectively.-Name: is a common Arabic word ...
to describe the ultimate rejector of their ways; "Dajjal" was worse than calling a Shi'i Muslim a rafidi.
When they wanted to be derogatory, Sunnis called their Shi'i opponents Rawafid and the Shi'ites responded by calling their Sunni opponents Nawasib.
At certain points, the Shi'i decided to turn this negative term that was being used against them daily and turn it into something positive. The Shi'is sometimes designated themselves as Rawafid, which is someone who refuses; it's also a derogatory term applied by the Sunnis to describe the Shi'is who refused to accept the early caliphates. They decided to refer to themselves a Rawafid since it gave them a sense of pride because the revolted against Zayd ibn 'Ali's tyranny. Through the years, Rafida was transformed within the Shi'i world from an abusive nickname into a name signifying special praise, making it a positive term. Not only did they use the word as honorific amongst the community, they furthered the positive term by writing it into ancient history stories where they had always rejected evil, not turned towards evil.
Current
In Saudi Arabia today, Shiites are referred to still as rafida. In Iraq, anti-Shi'a material is still surfacing. A discourse was released after improvement by the name of "The Rafida in the Land of Tawhid", which included orders by a member of the Higher Council, to kill Shi'is.Until 1993, schoolbooks in Saudi Arabia openly denounced the Shi'i and Sufi beliefs and referred to the Shi'i as rafida in the books. The curriculum was changed after protests and rafida is no longer used in the text books; the Shi'a beliefs are still however denounced in the books.
See also
- Succession to MuhammadSuccession to MuhammadThe Succession to Muhammad concerns the various aspects of successorship of Muhammad after his death, comprising who might be considered as his successor to lead the Muslims, how that person should be elected, the conditions of legitimacy, and the role of successor...
- NasibiNasibiNasibi is an Islamic term used by the Shias for someone whom they claim hate the Ahlul Bayt of the prophet Muhammad, their followers and others whom they consider as heretic...
- Words to denote religious opponents
- TakfirTakfirIn Islamic law, takfir or takfeer refers to the practice of one Muslim declaring another Muslim an unbeliever or kafir...