The Development of the Concept of “Principles of Faith” among the Shi’ī Sects of Zadiyyah and Isma’īliyyah

Nowadays the discussion of “principles of faith” (Usūl ul-Dīn) forms one of the most important Islamic kalām discussions. The question which is existed here is that whether the concept of “principles of faith” have been existed in this same shape from the first or it appeared in a specific period and passed a certain history. In order to answer this question, the history of the development of “principles of faith” must be studied. The kalāmī thoughts of the Zaydī and Isma’īlī Shi’a are counted of the preceded Shi’ī kalām thoughts. Therefore in the present article, the development of the concept of “principles of faith” in kalām of the Zaydī and Isma’īlī Shi’a is examined so that in addition to clarification of the roots of forming of this concept in the Shi’ī tradition, the historical bases for the development of this concept in the Imāmī Shi’a kalām also been established. Those Zaydī works that had set forth the concept of principles of faith, usually named six items as principles of faith: monotheism, justice, prophecy, Imāmah, the stance between the two stances (manzalatun bayn al-manzalatayn) and promise and threat (al-wa’d wal-wa’īd). The Isma’īlī Shi’as counted seven items as their principles of faith that consist in: guardianship (wilāyah), purification (ṭahārah), prayer (ṣalāt), alms (zakāt), fast (ṣawm), pilgrimage to Mecca (ḥajj) and Jihād (religious war). Among these seven items, there are items like prayer, alms, fast, ḥajj and Jihād that are counted by other denominations such as the twelver Shi’a as the subdivisions (furū’) of faith. Of course each of these items passed its own historical development.