Fatima.Mernessi_The-Forgotten-Queens-of-Islam-EN

124 The Arab Queens
The third key meaning expressed in the word shi'a is 'setting fire',
which implants in our mind the idea of conflict and destruction. It
is even the definition of a fanatic, who denies the right to differ.
'Do not use the word shaya'a'', Ibn Manzur admonishes us, 'to mean
"stir up the fire" [shaya'a al-nar], that is, to make it flame up by
throwing little pieces of wood on it.' In fact, he explains, 'one says
shuyu' or shiya' for the little pieces of wood with which one stirs
up the fire.' Finally, he quite logically concludes, by association of
these ideas, that shaya'a al-rajul means 'to burn a man'.
There is still the fourth key idea: shi'a as the dissemination of
a secret. This dimension will show us the place of clandestine
indoctrination and initiation of the adherents as necessary techniques
for the survival of an opposition. The Shi'ite opposition was
known for its cult of secrecy and clandestinity for the new recruit
as the sole means to guarantee success. 'AH, the Yemeni sovereign,
husband of Asma and founder of the Sulayhi dynasty, is a perfect
example of this. He operated for 15 years in the shadows before
coming out as an armed opponent confronting the Sunni caliph of
Baghdad.
These ideas of secrecy and clandestine operations, that is, a
particularly close control of information and its circulation, are
characteristic of any opposition in Islam. In order to understand
them better let us return to the invaluable pages of Ibn Manzur:
'shi'a, to disseminate, is used for a piece of news that circulates
among the crowd.' 18 Thus, he explains, al-sha'a means 'information
that everybody knows about'. The same root is used in modern
Arabic to designate the dissemination of light: hence, ashi'a (rays
of light) and isha'at (dissemination of false rumours). To say 'divulge
a secret', Ibn Manzur reminds us, there is a word formed from
shi'a: 'If I say asha'tu al-sirra, that means that I have revealed it to
others.'
In the eleventh century, at the time of 'Ali al-Sulayhi, Shi'ism
was no longer a marginalized political opposition reduced to the
clandestine activity that had been its traditional place until then. It
took on the status of a true official Shi'ite caliphate established in
Cairo, with pomp and rituals hitherto never seen among the Sunnis.
This was the Fatimid caliphate, the bitter enemy of the Sunni
caliphate of Baghdad. 'Ali, the Yemeni sovereign, was a vassal of
the Fatimids of Cairo and, as such, determined to undermine Sunnism.
But the secrecy aspect of Shi'ism should not be seen just in
terms of its historical status as a marginal opposition. It had to do
above all else with its vision of the world, its deepest philosophy.