isma and bada

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SIX BELIEFS

Introduction

isma, bida, muta, bada, takia and huja are six concepts held by various people.

Book of God, Holy Koran contains verses that approve these values.

isma means infallibility of a person.
bida means inventing something new in religion.
mutah means marrying a person for a limited period.
bada means altering fate into new destiny.
takia means hiding true views from others.
huja means proof God's existence in a person.

Al Olonzo
2 April 2011


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CONCEPTS OF ISMAH AND BADA

Ismah

Ismah is the concept of infallibility or "divinely bestowed freedom from error and sin" in Islam. Muslims believe that Muhammad and other prophets in Islam possessed ismah. Twelver and Ismaili Shī‘ah Muslims also attribute the quality to Imāms and Fatima Zahra, daughter of Muhammad. Zaidi Shia however, do not attribute ‘ismah to the Imāms.

The concept that Islam had sinless messengers is believed to have arisen from a speech given by Abu Bakr following Muhammad's death, in which he states that "God has elected Muhammad over all other human beings, and has protected him from moral weaknesses".

The doctrine has been rejected by some, such as the Kharijites, who point to the second ayah in the Surah of Al-Fath, in which God says to Muhammad that he will; "forgive thee thy faults of the past and those to follow".

Shia Islam

According to Twelver Shī‘ah, the Fourteen Infallibles (Masumeen) are historical figures who are infallible which means "divinely bestowed freedom from error and sin" in Islam. The Twelver Shī‘ah believe that Muhammad, his daughter Fatima Zahra, and the Twelve Imams are infallible.

According to Shī‘ah theologians, infallibility is considered a rational necessary precondition for spiritual and religious guidance. They argue that since God has commanded absolute obedience from these figures they must only order that which is right. The state of infallibility is based on the Shī‘ah interpretation of verse of purification.[Qur'an 33:33] Thus they are, the most pure ones, the only immaculate ones preserved from, and immune to, all uncleanness. It doesn't mean that supernatural powers prevent them from committing a sin, but it is due to the fact that they have absolute belief in God so that they find themselves in presence of God. They have also complete knowledge about God's will. They are in possession of all the knowledge brought by the angels to the prophets (nabi) and the messengers (Rasul). Their knowledge encompasses the totality of all times. Thus they act without fault in religious matters.

The ascription of infallibility to the Imāms is encountered as early as the first half of the 8th century, second century of Islamic calendar, and it was soon extended to the prophets. The doctrine came to exclude the commission on their part of any sin or inadvertence, either before or after their assumption of office. As for Fātimah, her infallibility derives from her being a link between prophethood and Imāmah, the two institutions characterized by infallibility, as well as by her association with the Imams and their attributes in numerous traditions. There is general agreement among Twelver Shī‘ah authorities that all fourteen are superior to the rest of creation, including even the major prophets.

Khomeini's interpretation
A more recent and very influential Shī‘ah interpretation of ismah by Ruhollah Khomeini holds that truly faithful and pious Muslims — not just prophets and imams — could possess ismah because it could be created by "nothing other than perfect faith." He preached that

“infallibility is borne by faith. If one has faith in God, and if one sees God with the eyes of his heart, like sun, it would be impossible for him to commit a sin. .... In front of an armed powerful [master], infallibility is attained.”

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Bada

Bada (meaning: "revealing after concealing", or "alteration in the divine will") is a Shia concept regarding God. It refers to God revealing His true will about a decision, wherein the people thought His will had already been made on that issue. The Shia do not believe that God had no knowledge of the ultimate outcome.

Explanation of Bada’

The Shi’a concept of Bada’ can be thoroughly explained through the words of Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari (a disciple of Ayatollah Khomeini):

“In Islam there is an issue called bada' (revision). The concept of bada' has an apparent meaning which few would regard as acceptable. Some have even criticized the Shi'ah for believing in bada'. The meaning of bada' is revision in Divine Destiny (qada'), meaning that God has not fixed a definite and final form for the course of human history. In other words, God says to man: "You yourselves are in charge of the fulfilment of Divine Destiny, and it is you who can advance, stop or reverse the course of history." There is no blind determinism either on the part of nature or the means of life or from the viewpoint of Divine Destiny, to rule over history.”

Furthermore, bada' does not occur in the knowledge of God (which is absolute and unchanging, and is described as "al-lawh al-mahfûz” – i.e. the protected tablet), it can only occur in the knowledge of humans and angels (which is not necessarily absolute, and is described as "lawhu 'l-mahw wa 'l-ithbat” – i.e. the tablet that can be erased and re-written).[9][10] An example of this is stated by Imam Ali:

"You read the Book (i.e., the Qur'an) at night as well as day; so is there anyone among you who knows what was revealed in it? If it had not been for a verse in the Book of Allah, I would have informed you of what has happened (in the past), what will happen, and what shall happen until the Day of Resurrection. And that is the verse: 'Allah erases and confirms what He wishes, and with Him is the Mother of the Book.' [Surah Ar-Ra'd: 39]..."

This last passage is significant; in it, although Imam 'Ali claims to have the access to 'ilmu 'l-ghayb (knowledge of the unseen) he acknowledges that it is totally dependent upon the will of Allah.[14]

Examples of Badā'

In the Quran

According to the Qur'an, God originally appointed thirty nights of worship for Moses, and later increased it to forty nights before granting him the Torah:

“And We appointed with Musa a time of thirty nights and completed them with ten (more), so the appointed time of his Lord was complete forty nights.” [Qur'an 7:142]

The wisdom behind the change in the length of appointment was only known afterwards, wherein the people took to disbelief:

“And remember We appointed forty nights for Moses, and in his absence ye took the calf (for worship), and ye did grievous wrong.” [Qur'an 2:51]

The change from thirty nights to forty nights do not reflect a change in God's knowledge, but only a change in the knowledge that Moses possessed.

During the life of Muhammad

The Muslim's initially faced Jerusalem during their prayers, up until 17 months after the Hijra. Thereafter Muhammad was commanded to change the direction of prayers (Qibla) towards the Ka‘bah of the Sacred Mosque. The wisdom behind the change was also mentioned in the Quran:

“..and We appointed the Qibla to which thou wast used, only to test those who followed the Messenger from those who would turn on their heels (From the Faith).” [Qur'an 2:143]

The change once again reflects only a difference in the knowledge of Human beings.

Badā' with respect to Imāmate

An example of Bada' with Imamate is offered by three of the early Shia scholars:

Kulayni in ‘al-Kafi,’ vol. 1, pg. 326, 328,

Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid has narrations: for – ‘al-Irshad,’ pg. 336-37; and, against – Shaykh al-Mufid. "Kitab al Irshad". http://www.al-islam.org/masoom/bios/7thimam.html. Retrieved 2009-05-25.

Shaykh Tusi in ‘Al-Ghaybah,’ pg. 120, 122.

Narrations from these sources state that the Imāmates of Mūsā al-Kādhim and Hasan al-‘Askarī were given to them after the death of their siblings, who were originally supposed to be the Imāms. Due to these narrations, the belief among the Ismaili Shi’a that the Twelver Shi’a replaced Isma'il ibn Jafar with Musa al-Kadhim through the excuse of bada’, has been a point of criticism by the Ismaili’s against the Twelver’s. However these narrations are rejected by Twelvers based on narrations from Muhammad, as well as narrations from the respective fathers of those Imāms, in which they were directly named as the successors to the Imāmate.

As well, even though Shaykh Tusi cited some of the traditions, he himself along with Shaykh Saduq were both opposed to the idea of Bada' with regards to Imāmate, arguing that if matters as important as Imāmate were subject to change, then the basic fundamentals of belief should also be subject to change. Muhammad Baqir Majlisi has also offered explanations of the concept of bada'.

Bada’ with respect to the Mahdi

In some traditions attributed to Muhammad al-Baqir the number of the years which had to elapse before the emergence of the Mahdi was specified. For example, a close associate of Imam al-Baqir called Abu Hamzah Thabit ibn Dinar, recalled in the presence of Imam al-Baqir what Imam Ali had said about the end of the period of trial for the Shi’a after 70 years, which would be followed by a period of ease and comfort. Abu Hamza complained that the period had elapsed without the prophecy being fulfilled. Imam al-Baqir explained that God initially did set the time for the Mahdi’s appearance at 70 years. However, when Husayn ibn Ali was killed the time was postponed to 140 years. This time span (of 140 years) was kept a secret and was only told to the close associates of the Imams. However, when the close associates revealed the time span to others, God delayed the appearance of the Mahdi for a further period. This time period is known only to God.

This hadith however, is not considered reliable by Shia scholars, based on the chain of narrators (isnad) of the tradition, and because there are no other people who have narrated this tradition. According to the isnad, one of the narrators in the chain would only have been one years old at the time when he heard the hadith.

Bada’ with respect to the foretold signs

According to the Twelver Shi’a, God has not promised the occurrence of the foretold signs, and thus all such signs are subject to change due to God’s new decision (bada’). The traditions state that amongst all the signs there are few signs that are definite (i.e. it is unlikely that God changes His will on their occurrence). Thus, they are very likely to take place before the advent of the Mahdi, as noted in the narration of Umar Ibn Hanzala:

“Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, "There are five definite signs before the rising of al-Qa'im, which are: (the rising of) al-Yamani and al-Sufyani, the (heavenly) cry/call (by Gabriel which will be heard all over the world), the murder of Nafs al-Zakiyya, and the sink (of the Sufyani army) into (the land of) al-Baydaa (located between Mecca and Medina).”

Even for such definite signs God reserves bada’. God may change those of the definite wills that are not categorized as His Sunan or His promises. For instance, according to Twelvers, before the reappearance of the Mahdi, al-Sufyani would certainly rise. This is a definite will, but it is not categorized as a promise. It is just an insisted future event meaning that it is unlikely that God cancels His permission for the occurrence of this event, though it is still possible. According to the following tradition, God may make bada’ even in such insisted news. Dawud Ibn al-Qasim al-Ja'fari narrated:

“We were with Imam al-Jawad when the issue of Sufyani was brought up and the traditions which state that his advent is of the definite matters. I said to Imam al-Jawad, "Does Allah make bada’ in the definite matters?" He replied, "Yes." I said, "Then, we have a fear that Allah makes bada’ in (the rising of) al-Qa'im." The Imam replied, "al-Qa'im is of the promises, and Allah does not break His promises (referring to verses 3:9 and 13:31).”

Moreover, God may cancel the occurrence of the definite signs that were supposed to take place before the advent of the Mahdi.

The possibility of bada’ means the foretold signs are subject to change or cancellation. All the mentioned signs before the Mahdi’s arrival, even if they finally occur, they may happen miraculously in an unpredictable manner. It is narrated:

“Imam Jafar Ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq said, "Expect the command/kingdom of your master (the Mahdi) in every day and night of your (life), and Allah (said) 'Every day He brings in a (new) matter/situation. (55:29)’.”

Therefore, the Mahdi may reappear at any time and his reappearance may be hastened (or postponed) without need for the occurrence of any of the reported definite signs. This can occur by asking God to advance the Mahdi’s reappearance from the bottom of one’s heart, and hence God may make bada’ and advance his reappearance.

The existence of bada’ plays a central role in the Twelver way of expecting the Mahdi. According to Twelvers, by having faith in bada’, people would keep themselves ready all the time to receive the Mahdi. However, a person who has no faith in the alteration of the signs (due to bada’) and thinks of the reappearance of the Mahdi after the sighting of the signs is actually waiting primarily for the sighting of the signs and then for the Mahdi. Such an individual may deny the Mahdi if he reappears without the signs being fulfilled, as Abu Ubaida al-Hadhaa narrates:

“ I asked Imam al-Baqir about this matter (i.e., the rising of al-Mahdi). He replied, "Because you expect that it comes to you in a (certain) way, do not deny it (if it happens in another way)."

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