When discussing the relevance and value of holy figures in academia, culture and society, it is perhaps easy to compartmentalise them within the realms of theology, ritual worship and communal guidance. This is especially the case when we consider that historical analysis of saints, whether Prophets or Imams, positions their actions and work as mainly appealing to their own religious believers. These labels continue to exist today but where labels are not necessarily applicable is in the realm of the holy figure’s vision for society and humanity. Here, holy figures have the ability to transcend sectarian and cultural labels and extend their relevance to a more universal audience and to universal problems. In this article, I aim to use the heritage of the tenth, eleventh and twelfth Shi‘i Imams, Ali al-Hadi, Hasan al-Askari and Muhammad al-Mahdi (who at one point in their lives resided in Samarra, Iraq) as a case study in order to show how a holy figure’s vision can be contextualised for contemporary society.
Source: World Journal of Islamic History and Civilization
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