Shīʿī Islam Quotes

“The principle of divine oneness (tawḥīd) held the attributes of God in the Qur’ān to exist only metaphorically to avoid any potential for anthropomorphism. Qur’ānic descriptions of God's “hand” (Q10:48) or of His “sitting on a throne” (Q5:20) were metaphors for His grace or His power and did not reflect a physical reality. This belief led to the doctrine most directly associated with the Mu‘tazila – namely, a belief in the createdness of the Qur’ān. This held that the Qur’ān was created by God in time as opposed to existing eternally as part of God's essence. The latter possibility was seen (by the Mu‘tazila) as compromising divine oneness by allowing for a second eternal entity (i.e., the Qur’ān).4”
― Najam Haider, Shīʿī Islam: An Introduction

“In other words, the Zaydī, Ismā‘īlī, and Twelver Shī‘a offered competing visions of the early history of Islam that aligned with their particular theological outlooks. As the experiences and circumstances of each Shī‘ī community changed, they continually reimagined their past to make sense of their present.”
― Najam Haider, Shīʿī Islam: An Introduction

“This book traces the development of Shī‘ī communities by examining the dynamic interplay between theology, memory, and historical circumstance.”
― Najam Haider, Shīʿī Islam: An Introduction