Ahle Bayt Repo

عربي

What is the meaning of Rawafidh

Hadith No: 1
Al-Tabari - History of al-Tabari
Year 122 AH - Account of the Martyrdom of Zayd ibn Ali
Volume: (7) - Page Number: (181)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
- .... And his son Ja'far ibn Muhammad was alive, and they said: "Ja'far is our imam today after his father, and he is more deserving of leadership than his father. We will not follow Zayd ibn Ali, for he is not an imam." So Zayd called them the Rāfiḍa (Rejecters), and they today claim that it was al-Mughīra who named them the Rāfiḍa when they separated from him.

Reference: Taarikh al-Tabari Book 7
Hadith No: 2
Ibn Khaldun - Tarikh Ibn Khaldun
Chapter Three: From the First Book on General States, Kingship, Caliphate, and Sovereign Ranks
And the Conditions That Arise in All of This, Containing Principles and Complements
Chapter Twenty-Seven: On the Doctrines of the Shiites Regarding the Rulings of Imamate
Volume: (1) - Page Number: (248)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
- .... And he took it from Wasil ibn Ata, and when the Imamiya debated Zayd on the Imamate of the Two Sheikhs and saw him affirming their leadership and not disavowing them, they rejected him and did not consider him one of the Imams. And thus they were called Rafdah.

Reference: Tarikh Ibn Khaldoon Book 1
Hadith No: 3
Ibn Khaldun - Tarikh Ibn Khaldun - Completion of Volume Two ...
Continuation of the discussion on the Generations of the Arabs ... - Completion of the Third Class of Arabs ...
News of the Alawite State contesting the State of Banu Abbas
Volume: (4) - Page Number: (6)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
- .... And they opposed Zaid with that, as well as Hussein, who called for him in Kufa, and those who did not disavow the two Shaykhs rejected him so they were named Rafdah for that.

Reference: Tarikh Ibn Khaldoon Book 4
Hadith No: 4
Ibn Khaldun - Tarikh Ibn Khaldun (History of Ibn Khaldun) - Completion of Volume Two ...
Continuation of the discussion on the Generations of the Arabs ... - Conclusion of the Third Class of Arabs ...
The account of the Ismaili State, starting with the Ubaydiyya caliphs in
al-Qayrawan and Cairo, and what dominion they had in the east and the west
Volume: (4) - Page Number: (37/38)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
- .... They may also be called Rafidah. It is said that when Zaid the Martyr emerged in Kufa and the Shi'a disagreed with him, they engaged in debate with him about the two Sheikhs and that they wronged Ali. He denied this to them, so they said to him: "And you too, was no one unjust to you, nor do you have any right in the matter?" And they turned away from him and rejected him, so they were called Rafidah.

Reference: Tarikh Ibn Khaldoon Book 4
Hadith No: 5
Al-Farahidi - Kitab al-'Ayn - Letter Dhad - Trilateral Correct Forms
Chapter on Dhad, Ra, and Fa Together (Dhad Fa Ra - Ra Dhad Fa - Fa Ra Dhad - Ra Fa Dhad) Applicable Forms
Volume: (7) - Page Number: (29)
- .... Rafdh: Ar-Rafdh: Abandoning something and rafdh: a thing that is moving and dispersed, with the plural form being arfadhu, similar to the arfadhu of people during travel. Arfadhu of a thing is where the wind gathers it in places and disperses it. Al-'Ifdah (to shed tears) means to flow abundantly. Ar-Rawafil (the Rejectors): troops who left their leader and dispersed, with each group of them being a Rafidh, and they are also a people with their own opinions and debates called al-Rawafil. The attribution to them is Rafidhi.

Reference: Kitaab Al Ayn Book 7
Hadith No: 6
Ibn Manzur - Lisan al-Arab - Dhimm - Chapter on the Letter Raa
Volume: (7) - Page Number: (157)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
- .... and the Rawaafid: soldiers who abandoned their leader and turned away, so each group among them is a Rafi d, and the term used to describe them is Rafi di. And the Rawaafid are a people from the Shia who were named thus because they abandoned Zaid ibn Ali. Al-Asma'i said: They had pledged allegiance to him, then said to him: "Disavow the two Shaykhs, and we will fight alongside you." He refused and said: "They were the ministers of my grandfather, so I will not disavow them." So they rejected him and turned away from him, and thus they were called Rawaafid.

Reference: Lisaan al Arab Book 7
Hadith No: 7
Al-Zubaidi - Taj al-Urus from Jawahir al-Qamus - Rafd
Volume: (18) - Page Number: (350)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
- .... and the Rafidah are all troops, and there is no mention of 'all' in the authentic texts or in al-Abab, and in Lisan, there are troops that left their leader and dispersed, as mentioned in the authentic texts and in al-Abab, and went away from him, and the Rafidah are a group among them, and the term used for them is Rafidi and the Rafidah are also a group of Shiites.
- .... Al-Asma'i said they had pledged allegiance to Zayd ibn Ali ibn Husayn ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah have mercy on them: then they said to him, "Dissociate yourself," and in some sources, "Declare yourself free" from the two Shaykhs, "and we will fight alongside you." But he refused and said, "They were the two ministers of my grandfather, (peace be upon him), so I will not dissociate myself from them." In some versions, it is stated, "I am with the ministers of my grandfather." So they abandoned him, rejected him, and withdrew from him, as mentioned in al-Abab and Lisan, and they were named Rafidah, with the term Rafidi referring to them.

Reference: Taaj al Uroos min Jawahar al Qamus Book 18
Hadith No: 8
In Shia Sources
Al-Majlisi - Bihār al-Anwār
Volume: (65) - Page Number: (96)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
- ( The Virtue of the Rāfidah and Praise for the Name) : Ibn Asbāṭ was narrated to have said, from ʿUtaybah, a reed seller, from Abā ʿAbdillah (peace be upon him), who said: "By Allah, what a wonderful name He has granted you! O Allah, may you keep taking our words to heart and not lying about us." He also said to me, Abā ʿAbdillah (peace be upon him), that this statement was made because I had been told that a man said to me: "Beware of being a Rāfidī." This was because I had only said this to him, that is, (peace be upon him) made this statement because I had informed him.

Reference: Behaar al-Anwaar Book 65
Hadith No: 9
Al-Majlisi - Bihār al-Anwār
Volume: (65) - Page Number: (97)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
- It was narrated from Ibn Yazid, from Safwan, from Zayd al-Shihām, from Abī al-Jarūd, who said: May Allah make him deaf as He made him blind if he did not hear Abā Ja'far (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) and a man saying: "So-and-so has named us with a name." He asked, "And what is that name?" He replied, "The Refusers." Then Abā Ja'far (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) gestured with his hand to his chest and said: "I am one of the Refusers, and he is one of mine." He said it three times.
- It was narrated from Ibn Yazid, from Ibn Mahbūb, from Muhammad ibn Sulaymān, from two men, from Abī Baṣīr, who said: I said to Abā Ja'far (peace be upon him and his holy progeny): "May my life be sacrificed for you, a name by which we were named has made the rulers regard our blood, our wealth, and our punishment as lawful." He asked, "And what is that name?" I replied, "The Refusers." Abā Ja'far (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) said: "Seventy men from the army of Pharaoh rejected Pharaoh and came to Mūsā (peace be upon him)." There was no one in the community of Mūsā who was more diligent or loved Aaron (peace be upon him) more than them, "So the people of Mūsā named them the Refusers, and Allah revealed to Mūsā to keep this name for them in the Torah, for I have bestowed it upon them. That is a name Allah has bestowed upon you."
- Furr from Muhammad ibn al-Qāsim ibn Ubayd, from al-Hasan ibn Ja'far, from al-Husayn, from Muhammad, meaning ibn Abd Allah al-Hanẓalī, from Wakī' ibn al-Sulaymān al-A'mash, who said: I entered upon Abī Abd Allah, Ja'far ibn Muhammad (peace be upon him and his holy progeny), and said: "May my life be sacrificed for you! People call us Rejectors, and what are the Rejectors?" He replied: "By Allah, they did not name you that, but Allah named you that in the Torah and the Gospel, on the tongues of Mūsā and 'Īsa (peace be upon them). This is because seventy men from the people of Pharaoh rejected Pharaoh and entered the religion of Mūsā. Allah, the Exalted, named them the Refusers," and revealed to Mūsā to affirm this in the Torah until it is established on the tongues of your Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny). So Allah differentiated them into many groups and branches, and they rejected good, as you rejected evil, and you remained steadfast with the People of the House of your Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny). You went where your Prophet went and chose what Allah and His Messenger chose. So rejoice, then rejoice, for you are the ones who are blessed, whose good deeds are accepted, and whose misdeeds are overlooked. Whoever does not meet Allah with what you have met Him with, their good deeds will not be accepted, and their misdeeds will not be overlooked." O Sulaymān, did this please you? He said: "Add to it, may my life be sacrificed for you." He replied: "Indeed, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has angels of good deeds who seek forgiveness for you until your sins fall away like leaves from trees on a windy day." And this is the saying of Allah, the Exalted: {Those who bear the Throne and those around it glorify [Allah] with praise of their Lord and believe in Him and seek forgiveness for those who believe} (Ghafir 40:7). They are our Shia, and it is, by Allah, for them." O Sulaymān, did this please you? He said: "May my life be sacrificed for you, add to it." He replied: "There is no one on the religion of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) except us and our Shia, and the rest of the people are innocent of it."

Reference: Behaar al-Anwaar Book 65
Hadith No: 10
Mawla Muhammad al-Mazandarani - Sharh Usul al-Kafi
Volume: (5) - Page Number: (106)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
- .... And the mainstream narrators reported that Zayd did not denounce the two Shaykhs, and for this reason, the people of Kufa rejected him, calling the Shiites 'Rawafidh' (Rejecters) for this reason.

Reference: Sharh Usool al-Kaafi Book 5