Shaban & His New Interpretation (Part 1)

Among the latest work by the western scholarship on the history of Islam is M A Shaban’s Islamic History AD 600-750, subtitled 'A New Interpretation,' in which the author claims not only to use newly discovered material but also to reexamine and reinterpret material which has been known to us for many decades. Shaban, a lecturer of Arabic at SOAS of the University of London, is not prepared to even consider the event of Ghadir Khume. He writes: 'The famous Shi’ite tradition that he [the Prophet] designated Ali as his successor at Ghadir Khume should not be taken seriously.' Shaban gives two 'new' reasons for not taking the event of Ghadir seriously:' such an event is inherently improbable considering the Arabs 'reluctance to entrust young untried men with great responsibility. Furthermore, at no point do our sources show the Medina community behaving as if they had heard of this designation.' (1)

Let us critically examine each of these reasons given by Shaban. (a) The traditional reluctance of the Arabs to entrust young men with great responsibility. First of all, had not the Prophet introduced many things to which the Arabs were traditionally reluctant? Was not Islam itself accepted by people of Mecca very reluctantly?

 According to the Shi’ah, Allah also mentions this reluctance when after ordering the Prophet to proclaim Imam Ali as his successor ('O Messenger! Convey what had been revealed to you...'), He reassured His Messenger by saying that 'Allah will protect you from the people' (5:67).The Prophet was commissioned to convey the message of Allah, no matter whether the Arabs liked it or not. Moreover, this 'traditional reluctance' was not an irrevocable custom of the Arab society as Shaban wants us to believe.

Mr Jafri, in The Origin and Early Development of Shi’ah Islam, says: 'Our sources do not fail to point out that, though the 'Senate'(Nadwa) of pre-Islamic Mecca was generally a council of elders only, the sons of the chieftain Qusayy were privileged to be exempted from this age restriction and were admitted to the council despite their youth. In later times, more liberal concessions seem to have been in vogue; Abu Jahl was admitted despite his youth, and Hakim ibn Hazm was admitted when he was only 15 or 20 years old.' Then Mr Jafri quotes Ibn 'Abd Rabbih: 'There was no monarchic king over the Arabs of Mecca in the jahiliyyah. So whenever there was a war, they took a ballot among chieftains and elected one as 'King,' were he a minor or a grown man. Thus on the day of Fijar, it was the turn of Banu Hashim, and as a result of the ballot Al-Abbas, who was then a mere child, was elected, and they seated him on the shield.' (2)

Thirdly, we have an example in the Prophet’s own decisions during the last days of his life when he entrusted the command of the army to Usama ibn Zayd, a young man who was hardly20 years of age. (3)

He was appointed over the elders of the Muhajirun and the Ansar, and, indeed, many of the elders resented this decision of the Prophet. (4)

Notes:

1- M A Shaban, Islamic History AD 600-750, and Cambridge: University Press, 1971, p 16.

2- S H M Jafry, The Origin and Early Development of Shi’ a Islam, Qum: Ansariyan Publications, n.d., p 22.

3- 'M H Haykal, The life of Muhammad, tr Al-Faruqi (n.p., American Trust Publications, 1976, p 492.

4- See the Tabaqat of Ibn Sa’d and other major works on seerah.

From the book: Ghadir

By: Ayatullah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr

Other links:

Scholastic Study of Imamate (Definition of Imamate)

Rational Argument of the Shi’ah (Imamate is the Basis of Islam)

Imam Means an Expert in Religious Matters

Divine Designation

Prophetic Texts Relating to Imamate of Imam Ali (A. S)