The concept of <i>al-wilaya </i>in the early Shiite ideology
The goal of this article is to provide a definition of the concept of <i>al-wilaya </i>as presented on the pages of <i>Kitab al-Mahasin </i>(The Book of Merits) by Ahmad al-Barqi (d. 887 or 893 CE). Overlooked by Russian Islamicists, <i>Kitab almahasin </i>offers a reevaluation of this key concept in Shiite ideology during the early stage of its * cМаргарян А.Г. 121 <i>Вестник № 3 </i>formation as well as a deeper understanding of the history of the development of Shiite Islam in the period after Muhammad b. al-Hasan (disappeared after 873/874 CE), the last Shiite <i>Imam</i>, had gone into occultation