An Investigation into the Historical Evolution of the term Rafiḍa in the First Three Centuries

The word “Rafiḍa” has been widely used in the writings of scholars in the early centuries about Shiites. This term was originally referred to as various Shiite groups and possibly non-Shiites. Over time, in the second and third centuries, the index of followers came to Ahl al-Bayt. Therefore, it is necessary to achieve a clear and scientific picture of the various dimensions of this term research. Of course, great efforts have been made by some respectable writers. But because of the lack of comprehensiveness to all aspects of the subject, it is an independent and comprehensive research field. In this regard, attempts have been made to explore, in which a representation of the origin and semantic evolution of this term is presented. All the hadiths narrated in the sources of Sunni and Shia narrative are gathered and reviewed. Also, all the signs of reference are extracted from various works. In this paper, analytical and comparative descriptive, historical and narrative reports have been published. He tried to assemble in the form of an impartial historian, by following historical and hadithic evidence, to gather all the points raised them to be compared, in order to achieve a meaningful result. In the meantime, several views have been presented, some of which have been taken up in a broad political sense. Some have been identified by radicals separated from the Zayd army (121 AH). Of course, some have attributed Rafḍ to Ibn Saba and his extreme thoughts. But it seems that Rafiḍa was formed as a sectarian nickname for Shiite accusations in the first century and was prevalent in the era of Imam Sajjad. The title was used by the Umayyad Caliphate initiative to suppress the Shiites and has evolved over time in the second and third centuries.