Who made up the term Rafidha? Was it Zaid bin Ali? And is it true that he used to befriend Abu Bakr and Umar?

Such a false claim is based on a silly and weak narration by the so called Ahlul-Sunnah [1] found within a fatwa issued by the Mufti of Egypt or the dean of Al Azahar mosque in Cairo. However, if you look carefully in page 11 of the same reference, you will find that the person who wrote the introduction of the book cited the sources of the narration, which are all Bakri sources. He said:

“In the history account reference by Al Yafiaai, a Bakri, he stated that: when Zaid wanted to revolt, a group of people approached him and said we would join you if you renounce Abu Bakir and Omar, So he replied that he would not do so, so they replied in turn: then we would reject you, Zaid then said: go away as you are the rejectionists, and the group that stayed with him was known as the Zaidies”. [2]

The truth of the matter is that the name Rafidha or rejectionists was widely known before the account of that fabricated incident by many years, Ibn Al Aatham narrated that Muwayah sent a letter to Amer bin Al Aas (may the wrath of Allah be upon them both) in which the following statement came: “The rafidthah of Yemen, Basrah, Kufa and Hejaz are being assembled in aid of Ali bin Abi Talib”. [3]

The term Rafidha was used to describe the followers of Ameer Al Moumneen (peace be upon him) as evidenced by the usage of the term by Muwayah himself 80 years approximately before the fabricated account that was alleged to have been narrated by Zaid bin Ali as reported by the alleged narration that we mentioned earlier.

In fact the Shia reference accounts talk about an altogether different narration related to Zaid bin Ali and his position against those who mixed their faith with loyalty to the pure household of the prophet on the one hand and their affection to Abu bakir and Omar on the second hand.

In Rijjal Al Kishi [4] you will find this narration:

“Sudayer said that he went together with Salamah bin Kuhail and others to meet Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (peace be upon him).Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (peace be upon him) was with his brother Zaid bin Ali, some of those who were in the council said to Zaid: 'we are loyal to Ali and Hassan and Hussain and renounce their enemies', Zaid said: 'good!'

"Then they said but we also are loyal to Abu Bakir and Omar and renounce their enemies, Zaid then turned towards them and said: 'so you also renounce Fatima, you have cut off/ stranded/isolated/ discontinued/ or cut short our case, may Allah Al Might cut you out'. From that moment they became known as the Batryah because the verb cut off or cut short in Arabic means (batara).

Therefre, the term Batryah means those who mix up their loyalty to the pure household of the prophet (peace be upon him and his family) together with the endorsement and recognition of their enemies like Abu Bakir, Omar and the rest of the gang of Saqeefa and whoever approved it.

[1] Musnad Zaid Ibn Ali, page 46.

[2] Musnad Zaid Ibn Ali, page 11.

[3] Al Futooh, by Ibn Aatham, vol. 2, page, 382.

[4] Rijjal Al Kishi, page 236.

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