Hadith and Historical Criticism of the Orientalist views on the Emergence of Shi’a

Contrary to the common belief and opinion of Shiites, who believe that the origin and emergence of Shiism was in the time of the Prophet (pbuh) and coincided with the emergence of Islam, a group of orientalists, based their own ideology, consider the Shiite religion as a historical event after the death of the Prophet (pbuh) which emerged during the Saqīfah of Bani Sāʿidah process; and some of them also consider the Shiism to have been fabricated by the Iranians against the Muslim Arabs’ domination on Iran. Other orientalists acknowledge the Arabic origin of Shiism, but believe in the influence of Iranian culture on this religion. The present research seeks to prove the Shiism is the original Islam and its emergence is on the third year of the prophetic mission simultaneous with the slogan of monotheism by using the Qurʾan verses and Nahj al-Balāghah, narrations, evidences, and historical documents. This paper criticizes the works of some orientalists with an analytical and descriptive view.