Bazighiyya Shia

The Bazighiyya Shia (named for Bazigh ibn Yunus, to whom they were related) was a Ghulat sect of Shia Islam. They believed that Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq was God. Today, descendants of the followers of the sect either converted to Shia Islam or mainstream Twelver Shia Islam.

Beliefs

The Bazighiyya Shia had the following beliefs:

• They believed the Imams after Muhammad are (in chronological order):
  • Ali, then
  • Hasan ibn Ali, then
  • Husayn ibn Ali, then
  • Alī ibn Ḥusayn Zayn al-Abidin, then
  • Muḥammad ibn ‘Alī al-Baqir
• They believed that Ja'far al-Sadiq (who succeeded his father Muhammad al-Baqir) was not an Imam, but God Himself.
• They believed Ja'far al-Sadiq commands the Bazighiyya Shi’ites the acts of the inhabitants of heaven.
• They believed God does not look like Ja'far al-Sadiq, but He merely presents Himself to the people in Ja'far's form.
• They believed the Imams after Ja'far al-Sadiq, like the Imams before him, are not gods.
• They believed that everything that is born in their hearts is revelation.
• They believed that every Bazighiyya Shi’ite receives revelation. To support their belief they used as evidence the words of God in the Qur’an:
  • “Nor can a soul die except by the leave of God” and
  • “And your Lord inspired the bee” and
  • “And behold, I inspired the disciples to have faith in Me.”
• They believed there are among them some who are better than the angels Gabriel and Michael, and the prophets Abraham and Muhammad.
• They believed that no Bazighiyya Shi’ite will die. Rather, when one of them reaches perfection in his devotion, he is taken up to the heavenly kingdom.
• They believed they have seen those of them that are deceased, and that they see them in the morning and evening.

See also

• Islamic schools and branches
• List of extinct Shia sects

Further reading

• An Ismaili heresiography: the "Bāb al-shayṭān" from Abū Tammām's Kitāb al ..., By Wilferd Madelung, Paul Ernest Walker, pg.104