Footnote
On page 78 of The Qur'an: A Short Introduction, Farid Esack tells us, in a footnote to a passage on the controversy over whether the copy of the Qur'an that 'Ali ibn Abi Talib compiled differed significantly from the one which became the standard text under 'Uthman,
The Rafidis, usually descripted as "a group of extremist Shi'is" alleged the 'Uthman had expunged some verses from the Qur'an (Zarkashi 1972 1:240). Literally, meaning "repudiators", the term was also used as a term of abuse by some Sunni theologians for all Shi'is. None of the earlier Shi'i groups that rejected the authenticity of the 'Uthmannic canon are still in existence.
The last sentence is phrased oddly.
None of the earlier Shi'i groups that rejected the authenticity of the 'Uthmannic canon are still in existence.
it is interesting to see how the Qur'anic sanction of taqqiyyah (dissimulation) is interpreted by Sunni polemicists. Thankfully, their scorn blinds them to its use.
argh. apparently, HTML is not enabled in your comments yet.
first para should be ital, since it is quoting.
phrase hyper-links:
"Qur'anic sanction of taqqiyah"
http://www.al-islam.org/shiism/10.htm
"interpreted"
http://islamicweb.com/beliefs/cults/shia_taqayyah.htm
Aziz,
Sorry about the lack of HTML -- I'm trying to allow it in comments. Bear with me...
HTML enabled!