Page 116 - Arabian Studies (V)

106 Arabian Studies V
moderate Imam who will try to encourage the liberal ‘alamo ’ succeeds the
partisan Imam. But the ruling class of factionaries86 around him will mani­
pulate the partisan warrior elements so as to divest the Imam of his might
and power and impose the opinion it wishes.
(/) Yemeni history tells us that the very learned Sayyid Muhammad b.
Isma‘11 al-Amlr, born in 1099 H. (A.D. 1687-8), a leading personality of
the liberal Hashimite 'ulama\ exemplifying the high-minded struggle
against the partisan Imamic attitude, endured87 numerous afflictions in the
time of al-Mutawakkil ‘ala ’llah al-Qasim b. al-Husayn, then (in that of)
al-Husayn b. al-Qasim and in the days of the Imam al-Mahdl al-‘Abbas b.
al-Husayn.88
(g) Al-Mansur confided to him the office of preacher in the Great Jami
’-Mosque of San‘a’.89 Then he attempted to drop the mention of the
Imams at the (Friday) address. So the family of the Imam conspired with
an alien person called al-Sayyid Yusuf al-'Ajami90—they conspired to
murder Muhammad b. Isma4?! at the next Friday (prayer), but al-Mansur
put them under detention, [17] subsequently expelling al-‘AjamI from the
Yemen and releasing the others, but he did not permit al-Amlr (to deliver)
the address after that. They had accused al-Amlr of ‘hostility91 to the
People of the House’, although he was one of them. This was because they
were considering him presuming to (exercise) independent judgement in
that which is contrary to the general (Zaydi) doctrine92 in such matters as
raising and clasping the hands in the prayer.93
(g) The very learned al-Shawkani94 is of the opinion that the culpability
was not that of the people at large, ‘for they follow any croaker’. If they
: are told, ‘This is truth’, they take sides for it.95 If they are told, ‘This is
false’, they take sides against it. The culpability is the culpability only of
defective jurisprudence (fiqh) that accuses of unbelief (kufr) anyone
wishing to be liberated, to exercise independent judgement (ijtihad) and
hold independent views.96
(0 It is curious that the very learned al-Shawkani, a most scholarly
person of penetrating judgement (ra*y) considers this partisan attitude is
not religious but, on the contrary, temporal, and that it assumes the veil of
religion only. This is because a common contrived and hypocritical notion
is wide-spread among people that defending and partisanship for the
People of the House profits one for the most part, more especially if the
partisan is so arrogant as to threaten those liberal 'ulama* whose minds
entice them into exercising independent judgement on some matter, in
opposition to the People of the House.97
(J) Al-Shawkani said, It had happened that rumours had spread abroad
against the very learned Muhammad b. Isma‘11 al-Amlr to the effect that
he was opposing the People of the House, and persons of ulterior motives
disseminated these among some partisan milieux. So they rallied in revolt
against the Imam because of his support of Muhammad b. Isma‘11 al-
Amir. The Imam attempted to convince them but they would not be satis­
fied until he had assigned them 20,000 riyals per annum.98
(A:) Al-Shawkani said, ‘So they left off rebellion against the Imam since
their sole object of desire99 was (the goods of this) [18] world’.