WHAT ATTITUDE SHOULD THE SUNNI HAVE TOWARDS RAFIDITES: ON A TREATISE FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE MAXIM GORKY SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY (ST. PETERSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY)

Abstract

Abstract. This paper deals with the materials of a medieval treatise Muqaddima dar aswala wa ajwaba dar radd-i rafada li bad-i muhaqqiqin. Supposedly, the author of this work was a famous Muslim scholar and theologian ‘Ali b. Sultan Muhammad al-Harawi al-Hanafi al-Qari. This essay, written in the form of questions and answers, describes, according to its author’s position, the proper relation of faithful Muslim (Sunni of Shafi i) to the followers of blameworthy innovations (mubaddi) and ‘apostates’ (rafada, Shia); noteworthily, the author does not distinguish between the representatives of these two groups. This work is a striking example of ideological campaigns led in Iran and Central Asia over Shia-Sunni contradictions.