{"collection":"Texts of Islam","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_isl_isl_isl39_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_isl_isl_isl39_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_isl_isl_isl39_htm","license":"unknown_pending_legal_review","rights_basis":"sacred_texts_v1_preview_gate_primary_text_only; acquisition-method/ToS and compilation-copyright questions still open, not resolved by this gate","source":"sacred_texts_v1","source_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/isl/isl/isl39.htm","summary":"This is an encyclopedic/scholarly text on Twelver Sh\u012b'a Islam (the Ithna-'ashar\u012bya), drawn from the tradition of Islamic theological and historical writing. It presents the core doctrines of the sect \u2014 including Mu'tazil\u012b rationalist theology (God is essentially good, cannot do evil, creation has free will), the divine appointment and infallibility of the Twelve Im\u0101ms descended from 'Al\u012b through \u1e24usayn, and the occultation of the Twelfth Im\u0101m who will return as the Mahd\u012b. The text incorporates primary source excerpts from two major Twelver theologians: al-\u1e24ill\u012b (d. 1326), whose creed defends positions on divine speech, free will, and the rational necessity of the Im\u0101mate; and Ibn B\u0101b\u016bya al-\u1e62ad\u016bq (d. 991), whose creed enumerates the Im\u0101ms and insists each was martyred, asserts the obligatory nature of taq\u012bya (concealing one's beliefs among non-Sh\u012b'\u012bs), and condemns extremist sects. A distinctive feature is the text's emphasis on how Twelver doctrine is grounded in rational theology \u2014 arguing that God's goodness logically necessitates providing infallible guidance \u2014 rather than purely in scriptural authority. The historical framing also notes Twelver Sh\u012b'ism's political consolidation as Persia's state religion under the Safavids in 1502 and its role in Persian national identity.","tags":[],"text":null,"title":"Islam: Chapter Six: The Dissidents of the Community: 3. The Twelvers","tradition":"Texts of Islam","translated_text":null,"word_count":2244}