Shia esotericism

As we have said, the Esotericists (al-Bāṭiniyyah) are known as the group that conceals its beliefs and does not reveal them; therefore, it is characterized by secrecy. By another definition, they are the groups that "claim" the existence of an inner meaning (bāṭin) to religious texts, as they go beyond the apparent (ẓāhir) meaning of the texts and are not satisfied with it.

As a technical definition of the Esoteric group to which we belong, they are the group that followed Ali, may his glory be exalted, and witnessed miracles and a power in him that surpassed human ability. They deduced, through the traditions narrated from our masters—the lords of wisdom and lesson—that these miracles were the work of a great, present, and powerful creator. As they were commanded, they negated all forms and figures from him. Thus, and with the guidance of the Lord, they did not become worshippers of idols and stone. They directed their worship to the Meaning and the inaccessible Unseen, and they knew that his appearance was like the appearance of the moon. Then, they followed his appearance in every age and time throughout the entire line of the Imamate—glorified is He who is never absent. Through their submission and readiness, they became worthy that their Lord would bestow upon them some of His inexhaustible knowledge. The features of this group began to clarify, bit by bit, with each Imam from our masters, until a set of beliefs was formed among them, which was later recorded by some of the scholars.

The emergence of such a group is an inevitable and necessary matter with the appearance of any religion or call. This is attributed to the disparity in people's understanding and the difference in their capacity and ability to comprehend realities. Thus, it was necessary for the divine discourse—whether through the Prophet, the Imam, or the direct divine address in His appearance—to be, as we have said, at different levels. He addressed people each according to their level of knowledge. The result of this difference was the emergence of many groups after every messenger and religious call. (This is in addition to other reasons, of course, but they are not the topic of this article.) Each group claims the truth and presents the religion according to the texts that reached them or the level at which the messenger spoke to them.

We do not support the notion of specifying a particular year during the time of the Imams or after them for the emergence of this group.