Rebecca Masterton

Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been teaching for seventeen years through different media, and has also worked in media for ten years, producing and presenting programs for several TV channels.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 4 anni fa

It may be due to the region in which those scholars live and therefore which types of thought have influenced the idea of spirituality in that region. The term 'irfan' began to be used under the Safavids, to distinguish it from 'Sufism', or 'tasawwuf', which came to be associated with many spurious groups adopting various practices that had little basis in Islam. If we use the term 'Islamic mysticism', it covers a wide range of spiritual trends which have been incorporated into the field. The type of 'irfan' that may be found in Khorasan would differ from that found in Baghdad. Generally, 'irfan' as understood today, includes the thought and practice of mystics, be they Sunni or Shi'i and be their mysticism influence by Platonism or Neo-Platonism. This view of 'irfan' takes an inclusive approach to spiritual tendencies among mystics.

With regard to 'philosophy'  - this term in the Muslim world basically means Platonic-Aritotelian influenced philosophy. There are many other kinds of philosophy also - so the condemnation of philosophy does not mean philosophy per se, but this Greek-influenced trend.

Primarily, both these fields have been disapproved of in narrations attributed to the Imams (as), because both side-line or play down the central pillar of walayah. According to traditional Shi'i narrations, the Imam is the gateway to Allah (swt), the Greatest Sign and the Qutb. Ma'rifah of the Imam = Ma'rifah of God's theophany on earth. There is no greater sign than the Imam (Imam 'Ali (as) says this in Usul al-Kafi). 

The are narrations from the Imams that indicate that certain people used to sit in their circles, learn their doctrines, and then go and attribute those doctrines to themselves. This could be one root of the beginnings of Sufism. Hakim Tirmidhi, in his book Sirat al-Awliya' (The Concept of Sainthood) pretty much repackages the Imami concept of walayah, but replaces the Imam with that of the Saint, or Waliyullah (Friend of God). At the same time, he was writing polemical treatises against the Shi'a. Therefore, those who, in time of the Imams, sat in dhikr circles, or passed on the teachings of the Imams, while effectively breaking their allegiance to the Imam and attributing their teachings to themselves, were condemned. Thus, those who say that 'what it matter where these teachings come from? It all leads back to Allah' overlook the fundamental pillar of walayah and loyalty to the Imam. In effect, if you steal someone's teachings, then those teachings are transmitted on a foundation of betrayal. So there is an ethical problem here.

Some argue that the narrations attributed to the Imams that condemn irfan and philosophy are not authentic. This would require more expert investigation to ascertain their status.

With du'as

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answer updated 4 anni fa

Islamically, people that suffer from mental health disorders that involve a change of personality, or a lack of awareness about what they are doing and saying, are not to considered to be in a state of responsibility for their actions. A person can only be obeyed if they are aware of themselves and what they are commanding; if they are in a state of conscious responsibility for their actions. When your husband is more 'himself', stable and conscious of his actions, then he can be obeyed; if he is going through a psychotic episode, and is not aware of the requests, or the consequences of those requests that he is making, then it is not obligatory to follow them. Of course, maintaining love and respect for him remains an obligation.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answer updated 4 anni fa

Today, scientists have found that some types of schizophrenia, which include hearing voices or having visions, may be caused by low copper levels in the body. Please get the person a full check on metal content in their system. One man commenting under the youtube video below says that he managed to cure his brother's schizophrenia:

For deflecting others' negativity which may affect the mental state of someone, it is good to recite 10:81-2; 79:28 and 7:118-22. This is from Tibb A'imma, pps 149-150.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 4 anni fa

Nahj al-Balagha is an excellent source for understanding what the dunya is for human beings. What the dunya is depends upon how you see it and what you do here.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 4 anni fa

'The Message' by Ayatollah Ja'far Sobhani.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 4 anni fa

There is an interesting book entitled 'Mysticism in Iran: The Safavid Roots of a Modern Concept' by Ata Anzali. The blurb says : ""Mysticism" in Iran is an in-depth analysis of significant transformations in the religious landscape of Safavid Iran that led to the marginalization of Sufism and the eventual emergence of 'irfan as an alternative Shi'i model of spirituality. 

Ata Anzali draws on a treasure-trove of manuscripts from Iranian archives to offer an original study of the transformation of Safavid Persia from a majority Sunni country to a Twelver Shi'i realm. The work straddles social and intellectual history, beginning with an examination of late Safavid social and religious contexts in which Twelver religious scholars launched a successful campaign against Sufism with the tacit approval of the court. This led to the social, political, and economic marginalization of Sufism, which was stigmatized as an illegitimate mode of piety rooted in a Sunni past. 

Anzali directs the reader's attention to creative and successful attempts by other members of the ulama to incorporate the Sufi tradition into the new Twelver milieu. He argues that the category of 'irfan, or "mysticism," was invented at the end of the Safavid period by mystically minded scholars such as Shah Muhammad Darabi and Qutb al-Din Nayrizi in reference to this domesticated form of Sufism. Key aspects of Sufi thought and practice were revisited in the new environment, which Anzali demonstrates by examining the evolving role of the spiritual master. This traditional Sufi function was reimagined by Shi'i intellectuals to incorporate the guidance of the infallible imams and their deputies, the ulama.

Anzali goes on to address the institutionalization of 'irfan in Shi'i madrasas and the role played by prominent religious scholars of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in this regard. The book closes with a chapter devoted to fascinating changes in the thought and practice of 'irfan in the twentieth century during the transformative processes of modernity. Focusing on the little-studied figure of Kayvan Qazvini and his writings, Anzali explains how 'irfan was embraced as a rational, science-friendly, nonsectarian, and anticlerical concept by secular Iranian intellectuals.'

Pre-Buyid Shi'ism, which we find in Usul al-Kafi, spoke about an 'irfan that was based upon ma'rifa of the batin of the ontological Imam (the Imam as Light). The Imam as an external manifestation of the Intellect illuminates the intellect of the Shi'a (again, 'aql having a very specific definition, being that faculty that perceives the truth of the signs of Allah).

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 4 anni fa

She must perform ghusl before commencing to pray.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 5 anni fa

The narration about not plucking the eyebrows is from Abu Hurayra, who even was accused by 'A'isha of narrating things that weren't true. He is rejected by Shi'i scholars due to his unreliability. Hence, there is no narration in Shi'i sources about women not being allowed to pluck their eyebrows.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answer updated 5 anni fa

It is reported supposedly from Ja'far as-Sadiq and Imam 'Ali (as) that Imam Hasan divorced a lot, and had up to 90 wives. (Suyuti) [This report has no isnāds]

Abu Talib Makki (d. 386 AH/996 AD), author of Qut al-Qulub, repeated the allegation that Imam Hasan (as) divorced a lot.

‘After a thorough study of these reports, I have found that the first man known to accuse Imam Hasan of "marrying and divorcing" was the 2nd Abbasid Khalifa, Mansur, who because of his dynastic policies was bent upon belittling Amir al-Mu'minin `Ali and his descendants. […] For this purpose, he gave a public address after that mass arrest, in which he shamelessly said: "By God, we left the descendants of Abu Talib and the Khilafat; we did not interfere at all. `Ali ibn Abi Talib became Khalifa. After him Hasan ibn `Ali became Khalifa. By God, he did not deserve it. He was offered money, which he accepted; Mu'awiya sent him a message that he would make him his successor. So, Hasan abdicated the Khilafat and left the government and power. He left everything to Mu'awiya, and turned his attention, to women, marrying one woman today, divorcing another one tomorrow. He remained like this till he died in his bed."

(AI-Mas'udi; in Muruj al-Dhahab, Vol.3, p.226).’ (Sayyed Saeed Akhtar Rizvi, Imam Hasan 'The Myth of his Divorces', Al-Serat, Vol 4 (1978), No 3). 

http://www.al-islam.org/al-serat/imamhasan.htm

He actually only had three wives, the last of which poisoned him, at the request of Yazid ibn Mu’awiya (See Suyuti again)
 

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 5 anni fa

Abu Hanifa al-Nu'man ibn Thabit; Anas ibn Malik; Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i and Ahmad ibn Hanbal. The first two Sunni Imams studied under Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, the sixth Imam of the Shi'a.

In general, they rely upon the narrations of companions that are rejected by the Imams of the Shi'a owing to the fact that these companions actively opposed the fourth caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib. The Imams of the Twelver Shi'a narrated directly back to the Prophet (s) via Ali ibn Abi Talib.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 5 anni fa

They rejected the legitimacy of the caliphates of Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman. Initially the name was used pejoratively by the 'Uthmaniyya, but it was taken up and used by the Imami Shi'a themselves.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 5 anni fa

I have not come across any ayah or any hadith that says so, although there may be hadiths that do.