Historical Study of the Semantic Evolution of the Term " Rāfīḍa" in the First Three Centuries AH

The term Rāfīḍa ​​was widely used in the first centuries. This title was applied to identify Shiite groups in the first century and became widespread in the second and third centuries. There have been various and sometimes contradictory views about this term. The main meaning of this term has evolved over time and other meanings have been added to it. The main question is: what was the meaning of Rāfīḍa ​​in the first three centuries and what was its first usage? The main hypothesis is that the basic meaning of rafḍ (rejection) was to consider the caliphate of Shaykhayn (Abū Bakr and Umar) illegitimate, which gradually evolved in meaning and concept. This article has used descriptive-analytical and multidisciplinary methods and has employed various approaches of sectarianism, historiography, and hadith studies. We tried to explore different perspectives and provide the ability to evaluate them. The result of this article is that Rāfīḍa was formed within the framework of a sectarian title for the notoriety of the Shiites in the first century and spread in the following centuries being a pretext for rejecting them.