Al-Baatiniyyah: Their Principles and Beliefs-II

The beliefs of Al-Baatiniyyah
The beliefs of Al-Baatiniyyah are hidden as their name indicates.
However, their doctrine and beliefs became known, although they were
very keen on hiding them, via those who embraced Islam from them.
However, they deny such beliefs. They show the adherents of other
faiths what they (the people of those faiths) like and favor. Thus, if
they meet Christians, they show that they believe in the Trinity and
assure them of the divinity of 'Eesa (Jesus) . If they meet Jews, they
show their hatred for Muslims and Christians. If they meet an ascetic
person, they show asceticism and aversion to the world and its people.
In fact, they disguise themselves in the beliefs of every group they
live among until people have trust in them. When this point is
reached,they start spreading their malicious allegations among them
and invite them to adopt their beliefs and disclose to themtheir
doctrines, after taking all measures to ensure that they willnever
renounce their belief.
Their Beliefs
1. Claiming that there are two eternal gods who have existed since
time immemorial and that their existence has no beginning. However,
one of them is the cause of the existence of the other. The cause (the
god who assumed creation) is the first godand the effect (the created
god) is the latter. The first is the creator with the help of the
latter, not independently by himself. Such belief was taken from
disbelieving groups such as the Dualists and the Magians, who believe
that there are two gods: the god of light and the god of darkness.
They (Al-Baatiniyyah) only changed their names.
2. They believe that the Prophet is an ordinary person upon whom a
sacred power was sent down by the first (god) through the help of the
latter (god).
3. They believe that the Quran is just an expression of the Prophet
about the knowledge sent down to him and that calling it 'the Speech
of Allaah' is only a figure of speech.
4. They also believe that every ageshould have an infallible Imaam who
supports the truth, interprets phenomena, and clarifies the ambiguity
of the Noble Quran, Prophetic narrations and matters related toreason.
They all agreed that the Imaam is exactly like the Prophet in relation
to infallibility and knowing the facts of every matter; however, he
receives no revelation. But he obtains such knowledge from the Prophet
because he is his successor and has the same status. They believethat
every age has to have its Imaam.
5. Furthermore, they believe that every prophetic Sharee'ah has a
specific period. When it ends, Allaah The Almighty sends another
prophet to abrogate the Sharee'ah of the previous prophet. Every
Sharee'ah lasts for seven centuries. So they claim that the Sharee'ah
of the Prophet was abrogated by the comingof the seventh Imaam Ja'far
ibn Muhammad.
6. Al-Baatiniyyah agree upon denying the Day of Resurrection and that
the witnessed system ofthe worldly life such as the alternation of day
and night, reproduction of human beings from sperm, reproduction of
plants, and reproduction of animals cannot be destroyed by time. They
also believe that the heavens and the earth cannot be destroyed. They
said about the Day of Resurrection that it symbolizes the appearance
of theImaam and the beginning of a new phase of life by the appearance
of the seventh Imaam who will abrogate the previous Sharee'ahs and who
willchange everything.
7. They deny the existence of Paradise and Hellfire. They also claimed
that the meaning of 'the appointed return' is that everything will
return to its original state, and that man is composed of two
entities: spiritual and material. The material entity will be
dissolved to what it was composed of and return to its original state.
That isthe appointed return of the body.As for that of the soul, if it
is righteous – according to them – it will unite after leaving the
bodywith the spiritual world from which it has separated before and
that will achieve happiness for it. However, the evil one will remain
eternally in the material world, transfer from one body to another and
thus it will suffer from pains and illnesses forever. Whenever it
leaves a body, another body will receive it. This, in fact, is the
essential part of thebelief of Brahmanic Hinduism.
8. They also believe in absolute permissiveness and renouncing all
obligations of religion. They believe that such obligations are like
the chains and burdens from which they have been released because of
following the infallibleImaam.
9. Some of them believe in the divinity of 'Ali ibn Abi Taalib . They
claim that he appeared in a human form to put his creation at ease.